The Morris County chronicle. [volume] (Morristown, N.J.) 1877-1915, 1907-12-24
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
INTERNATIONAL LESSON CONF
MENTS FOR DEC. 20 BY THE
REV. /. w. HENDERSON.
Review For the Quartcr--Golden
Text, Ps. 65:11.

Review For the Quartcr---Golden
Text, Ps. 65:11.
Joshua, Caleb, Gideon and Samuel,
! men Of courage, of probity, and Of
/ God; Samson, the life-waster; Ruth.
| the heroine of as simply beautiful
| history as was ever penned; thes
are the characters whom we hay
| studied and discussed during til
| quarter They afford us much m
terial for contemplation, many eli
| amples and numerous warnings.
| Under the leadership of Joshi%
| Israel forded Jordan and entered tl%
confines Of the land of promise, Ell
! his skill and the fidelity of his az
sistants they we're augmented in they
/ holdings and made certain of theif
| possessions. Inspired by his trust
| God and faithfulness to the diving d
commands they prevailed againSgf
| Jericho. Caleb and Gideon emulatedAs
| the patriotism and conservation of
! Joshua and were acclaimed as great
among the hosts of Israel Samson
| threw away his opportunities and
disgraced himself. Samuel affords a 4
study of long life lived in the nup-
ture and admonition Of the Lord. 8
! Ruth exemplifies the finest qualities#
~
Through all these lessons, as
through all the pages of the Old Tess
| lament, there runs the record of the
dealings of God with His people and
the appreciation by them of the
moral and spiritual beauties that He
| is constantly calculating to the world,
The quarter is replete with illustra.
lions of our obligations to and de-
pendence upon Jehovah, with iIi-
stances of His reward for fidelity,
with object lessons Of the conse-
quences of the disregard of the i'm
mutable laws of God as they are
written in the soul Of nature and Of
man
Joshua is enabled to lead Israel
into Canaan and to establish her in
the possession Of the age long nrom>
Uses of God because of the providence
and faithfulness of Jehovah Caleb
and Gideon are made strong in their
trust and panoplied with mighty
power because of the energizing of
jehovah Samuel and Ruth are ex-
emplary of the finest virtues because
of their vision of the God who hath
before the foundation of the world
! loved and brooded over His creation.
Samson loses sight of Him, misre-
presents Him. misunderstands Him,
and SC he disgraees his God and him.
self
There are many lessons that we
might learn, many lessons that Ffea
need to learn, as we perusethe RACES
of sacred story that it has been our
high privilege to be able to study
during the past months. The stories
reveal a consciousness of the person.
atty and the presence of God thar
is too largely lacking in the lives
of multitudes of men and women in
the church and out of it to-day. Fhey
emphasize the fact that God is ruling
in His own creation and that He is
very near to such as call upon Him
and very apparent to them who will
open their eyes to the discerning OF
His manifestations and glory He is
emphatically God who is near His
! people.
/ How great the need for compre.
hension of the fact of the personality
of God is, all earnest students of the
| phenomena of the spiritual life of
| our times will testify. Especially il
\ this needful in the face of the decla-
rations that are SO often made that
God is, in His highest revelations.
a force or an energy or something of
the sort For if we are to define
God in the terms of human speech
and to designate Him by any ca
pacity of His own, let us so define
| and designate Him by the highest
! faculty that inheres in His divine
nature God is a personal God. He
| is a God of law, of force, of energy,
of hundred other things. But SUI
premely and pre-eminently, and by
His own self-revealment in Christ and
in nature and in humanity. He is
personality. And the world needs
to know Him as such, even as Israel
| had in some sort comprehension OF
Him. For the world needs to be
! loved and comforted and inspired
and saved And only personal God
| will do that There is no comfort
| in force as the supreme thing in
| eternity There is no joy in the con-
| temptation of an energy as the ulti-
mate in the everlasting scheme Of
| things. The soul of man yearns for
communion with the living soul of
| God. The personality OF man awaits
/ the coming of the personal God.
Then, too, we ought to have a
| consciousness of His presence. Every
| cloud should be glorified with Him.
Every landscape should reveal His
beauty. Every breath of invigorating
| air, every drop that we drink, every
bite that we eat, every soul that we
meet, should declare His presence.
For they do. When our souls are
warm with communion, and our songs
are resonant with praise, and our
hearts are light as we walk in the
! spiritual way; then we should be
! conscious of His presence.
To know Him and to serve Him
| is the advice of the lessons, and the
admonition of the spirit, and the part
of wisdom. For He is abundantly
| able to enlarge and magnify us and
to make our souls to abound with the
! joys of His kingdom. In Him is life.
I In the possession of Him is peace.
In His service happiness abides. In
His presence all the sorrows of earth
are forgotten and the sad heart
blooms and blossoms as the rose.
1 And when in His providence we shall
leave His service here and shall enter
into the larger and the richer life
He will grant us vision Of His face.
To know Him, to serve Him, to be
conscious of His ministration: 10
worth while. SuDremely!