The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1907-04-04
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
INTERNATIONAL LESSON COM
MENTs FOR APRIL z, BY
THE REv.I.w. HENDERSON.
Subject: Jacobs Vision and Gods
Promise, Gen. 2S:1-5, 1O-22---
Golden Text; Gen. 2S:15--
Memory Verses, 13, IA.

| aChhtott otns 80 l-Ot tU~&@-~
Golden Text: Gen. 2S:15--
Memory Verses. 13, IA.
This story of the journey Of Jacob
from his fathers house to get him a
wife is replete with lessons that are
supremely valuable for us to-day.
We shall be very foolish IL we spend
our time in disputation over the
chronology or the possibility of the
events depicted 1r this record. while
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-
don or of questioning in the blessing
that Isaac bestows upon Jacob. Get
:hee out, into proper and wisely
! selected country. and seek a 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;
| second, of the Divine contiguity;
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 1t, IS
but an incident in the dream. We
shall be unwise If we allow this to
obscure our clear vision of the Lord.
| Behold, the Lord stood above IT,
! the sacred writer tells u.s. 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 Is. No
man can do much for God unless he
has a lively consciousness of the ac-
tuality of God. No man can be ex-
POSeSN W nave lCbpCCb lOI DlNlut ut~
crees and Divine promises until he
has had a vision of divinity. We
cannot have respect, alteration, love
for being of whose existence we are
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 1t will be in
spirational to every soul to which II
Is experiential.
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 f-'low an
absentee God" with any drning
zeal. But we fain would love and die
for God who sSalways by our sides.
The sense of the contiguity of God
made Jacob a better man. 1t will
better any Liam who is conscious or
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, SUI
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 was almost beyond human
comprehension. Jacob was but a
man. And not the most characterful
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.
Critics tell us that the promise of
Jacob to give God 1.-THE of his sub
stance, in recognition of His guiding,
Is an Interpolation by another hand
at 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-
tion OF their income, OF one-tenth or
more, to the Lords work. And 1t
will never be solved until we do.
OF course Jacob was wrong when
he said that Bethel was the cato of
Heaven. And of course Jacob wan
right when he said 1t. No particular
spot under the skies is the gate 0r
Heaven. But every place may be a
gateway unto God. The gate is UNI
versally wide; It is open everywhere