The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1907-12-25
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
INTERNATIONAL LESSON CON-
MENTS FOR DEC. 20 BY THE
REV. I. w. HENDERSON.
Review For the Quarter-Golden
Text, Ps. 65:11.

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; these
are the characters whom we have
studied and discussed during the
quarter. They afford us much ma
| terial for 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 and
disgraced himself. Samuel affords a
study Of long life lived in the nur-
ture and admonition Of the Lord.
Ruth exemplifies 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 He
is constantly calculating to the world,
The quarter is replete with illustra.
tions of our obligations to and de.
pendence upon Jehovah, with In.
| stances of His reward for fidelity,
| with object lessons Of the copse-
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 Dronl-
ises of God because of the providence
and faithfulness of Jehovah, Caleb
and Gideon are made strong in thelr
trust and panoplted with mighty
power because OF the energlzlng 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 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 peruse the pages
eff 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;
ality and the presence of God that
is too largely lacking in the flVes
of multitudes of men and women III
! the church and out of 1t to-day. Iney
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. lie IS
emphatically a God who is near Ills
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 ls
this needful in the face of the decla,
rations that are so often made that
God is, in His highest revelations,
q force or an energy or something OF
the sort. For If we are to dehne
God in the terms of human speech
and to designate Him by any ca
nacity 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 a hundred other things. But su-
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
to know Him as such, even as lsrael
had in some sort comprehension or
Him. For the world needs to be
loved and comforted and inspired
and saved. And only personal COO
will do that. There is no comIort
! in a force as the supreme tnlns III
eternity. There is no joy in the con-
temulation Of an energy as the ultl.
mate in the everlasting scheme OF
things. The soul of man yearns LOT
communion with the living soul OF
Cod The personality Of man awaits
the coming of the personal God.
Then. too, we ought to have
onsciousness of His presence. Every
cloud should be glorified with Him.
Every landscape should reveal HIS
beauty. Every breath Of invigoratlng
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 pe
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
lows 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 vision OF His face.
To know Him, to serve Him, to be
conscious of His ministration. is
worth while. SuDremely!