The Morris County chronicle. [volume] (Morristown, N.J.) 1877-1915, 1907-04-02
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
INTERNATIONAL LESSON CON-
EENTS FOR APRIL Z, BY
THE REv.I. w. HENDERSON.
Subject: Jacobs Vision and Gods
Promise, Gen. isis, 1O-22
Golden Text: Gen. 2S:15-
Memory Verses, IS, Ia.

Golden Text: Gen. 2S:15-
Memory Verses, Is, Ia,
This story of the journey of Jacob
| from his fathers house to get him
wife is replete with lessons that are
! supremely valuable for us to-day.
! We shall be very foolish if we spend
| our time in disputation over the
chronology or the possibility of the
| events depicted in this record, whiles
we miss the searching, beautiful
truths contained in it.
Isaac's trust in the ability and
| willingness of God to continue to his
| son and to fulfill the promises that
He had made to him, is the first mes
sage that we should take into our
hearts. There is no note of hesita-
ton or of questioning in the blessing
that Isaac bestows upon Jacob. Get
thee out, into a proper and wisely
selected country and seek wife,
and God bless thee with the blessing
of thy fathers. So Isaac speaks to
Jacob. There is no doubt in his
mind concerning the efficiency Of
God. He has full faith in the Di-
vine fidelity.
The vision that came to Jacob, as
he lay asleep with stones for his
couch, contains three striking les
sons: First, of the Divine reality;l
second, of the Divine contiguity;i
third, of the Divine providence.
In the dream Jacob is certified,
first of all, of the reality of God. The
ladder stretching from earth to,
Heaven, with the angels of Jehovah
ascending and descending upon it, Isl
but an incident in the dream. We
shall be unwise il we allow this to
obscure our clear vision of the Lord.
Behold, the Lord stood above it,"
the sacred writer tells us. And that
is the first great fact that the dream
certified to Jacob, the fact of the real
ity of God. The ladder was to direct
his attention to God. The angels
ascending and descending had their
impulse from the God whom Jacob
discerned at the top of the ladder.
They were to Jacob the Divine means
and method of communication. They
were incidental to the discovery, in a
peculiar fashion, to the mind of
Jacob, of the fact that God u.s. No
man can do much for God unless he.
has lively consciousness of the ac-
tuality of God. No man can be ex-
pected to have respect for Divine de-
crees and Divine promises until hen
has had vision of divinity. We
cannot have respect, alteration, love-
for being of whose existence we ar6A
ignorant or sceptical 1t was neces-@
sary that Jacob should have vision
of God for himself special, inti-
mate, personal comprehension of the
reality of God. What was necessary
for Jacob, what proved of such value
in his life; that is necessary in the
life of every man, and it will be in
spirational to every soul to which it
is experimental.
Jacob, further, was assured in his
dream of the fact of the Divine con-
tiguity; that is to say, of the Divine
nearness. God was not so far away
that He could not be seen. He was
just at the top of the ladder He
was clearly and easily visible. Jacob
didn't have to strain his eyes to catch
the vision of Jehovah. The Lord was
near enough for Jacob to discern His
lineaments and to hear the sound of
His voice. God was at hand. He
was very near. And this was another
lesson that Jacob needed to learn for
himself. He had to be impressed
with the sense of the nearness of, Je-
hovah. The further we picture God
away, the less likely we are to be
assiduous in His service. One of the
greatest motives to righteousness in
the world is the conception that God
is always near. We cannot follow an
absentee Cod with any burning
zeal. But we fain would love and die
for God who is always by our Sides
The sense of the contiguity of God
made Jacob better man. 1t will h
better any man who is conscious or II
its truth.
Then, too, Jacob received the as
surance of Divine providence. This
God who was real and near, beauti-
fully real and delightfully."- near, sue
pervises and directs the lives of those
who love Him and are amenable to
His will. Jacob needed the assurance
of the Divine guidance. This was a
marvellous promise that God gave to
him. 1t YVES almost beyond human 4
comprehension. Jacob was but
man. And not the most characterize
man in the world. Evidently he was
an average man. And, being like the
rest of us, he needed to know that
the promising Father is also the en-
abling Lord. And we, being like
Jacob, need to learn this salient
truth also.
NJ AbASo tCAA uG IAdS IAO P4OulloC VI "
Jacob to give God 1.-THE of his sub
stance, in recognition of His guiding,
is an Interpolation by another hand
at a later time. We shall not debate
that. We shall grasp the truth that
the church needs. The God of the
faiths of Jacob and of America is
deserving of at least tenth of the
income of every man. The money
question will be solved in the church
when Christians devote specific por-
ton of their income, of one-tenth or
more, to the Lords work. And it
will never be solved until we do
OF course Jacob was wrong when,
he said that Bethel was the gate of,
Heaven. And of course Jacob was
right when he said it. No particular
spot under the skies is the gate OF
Heaven. But every place may be a
| gateway unto God. The gate is uni-aa
versally wide; it is open everywhere
to the man who will use his eyes.