The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1907-12-26
TIE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
INTERNATIONAL LESSON COM.
MENTS FOR DEC. 20 by THE
REV. I. w. HENDERSON.
Review For the Quarter--GoIdcu
Text, Ps. 05:1f.

N-ehf - VOs
Joshua, Caleb. Gideon and Samuel.
men of courage. of probity and of
God; Samson, the lfe-waster; Ruth,
the heroine of as simply beautiful
history as was ever penned; these
| are the characters whom we have
studied and discussed during the
, quarter. They afford us much ma
terlai Tor contemplation, many ex-
amples and numerous warnings.
Under the leadership OF Joshua
Israel forded Jordan and entered the
confines of the land of promise. By
his skill and the fidelity of his as
sistants they were augmented in their
holdings and made certain of their
possessions. Inspired by his trust IN
God and faithfulness to the divine
commands they prevailed against
Jericho. Caleb and Gideon emulated
the patriotism and conservation of
Joshua and were acclaimed as great
among the hosts of Israel. Samson
threw away his opportunities aud
disgraced himself Samuel affords a
study of a long life lived in the nur-
ture and admonitIon of the Lord.
Ruth exempllfles the finest qualities
of friendship and of affection.
Through all these lessons. as
through all the pages of the Old Tes-
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 10
Is constantly elucidating to the world.
The quarter is replete with illustra-
tlons of our obligations to and de-
pendence uDon Jehovah, with In
stances of Ills reward for fidelity,
with object lessons OF the conse-
quences of the disregard of the i'm
mutable laws of God rs 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 ace long prom
ises of God because Of the providence
and faithfulness of Jehovah. Caleb
and Gideon are made strong in their
trust and panoplied with a mighty
| power because of the energizing of
| Jehovah. Samuel aud 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, misunderstends Him,
and so he disgraces his God and him
self.
There are many lessons that we
might learn, many lessons that we
need to learn, as we peruso the pages
of sacred story that II has been our
high privilege TO be able TO study
during the past months. The stories
reveal q consciousness Of the person
ality and the presence of God that
is too largely lacking in the lives
of multitudes of men and women in
the church and out of it to-day. They
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 a compre-
hension of the fact of the personality
OF God is, all earnest students of tho
phenomena Of the spiritual life of
our times will testify, Especially is
this needful in the face of the decla-
ratlons that are so often made that
| God is, in His highest revelations.
a force or an energy or something OF
the sort. For II 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
a personality. And the world needs
/ a. nj
had in some sort q 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
consciousness of His presence. Every
cloud should be glorihed 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, SnOulu declare tllb pIeSenCe'
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.
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.
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 a vision of His face.
To know Him, to serve Him, to be
conscious of His ministration, is
worth while. Supremely!