Morgan County republican. (Versailles, Mo.) 1906-1914, 1907-12-19
A
LESSON
School Lessonior Dec. q, 1907
Specially Arranged for This Paper

born this day In the city OF David q
Saviour. which Is Christ the Lord."-Luke
,:11.
Comment and Suggestive Thought.
The Effect Of the First Christmas
Day Upon the World. What This
Power Has Accomplished.-The Test
of Power. How do we know what any
person or thing can do? BY what he
oh 1t has done.
| look out Of my study window and
see a number of black wires strung
along the street. They look as dead
as a door nail" But every day | hear
messages coming over them from near
and from far over the telephone.
Every night I see blazing lights from
the current passing through them.
Not long ago q man just yer the way
touched one of those wires. blown
down in q gale, and he was struck
dead. | know what those wires can
do by what they have done- There
fore, I let them alone In the street,
and I turn the switch with perfect CON
fidence when l want a light.
Last summer at Niagara l de-
scended 100 feet underground in the
city power house, and in a small brick
compartment, only a few feet square,
saw more black objects like great
rolls Of iron wire. They seemed as
lifeless and innocent as coils Of wire
In a store. / was told that the power
OF 10000 to 100000 horses resided in
those black, dull objects. How could
l know? l knew by what they did. ]
saw the cars moving all over the city,
and the streets and houses lighted at
night. And all the power and all the
light came from those black dynamos.
We e that with Christ came a new
era of the kingdom OF heaven, with
new powers for the changing of this
world from the darkness of sin into
the righteousness, love, peace, pros
perity. and all that makes perfect PEG.
pie in a perfect world. The progress
has been slow, but becomes more and
more rapid each century. The world
as 1t is to-day tells us what Christ has
done for the world.
The more Christianity, the more hap
piness; the more of all that makes the
kingdom Of heaven. The blessings
lessen and sorrows multiply inN,ropor-
ton as there is less of the Christian
religion. THE new age stands as
yet half.built against the sky, but it
Is Christ that has bull. the new age
thus far, and that building is rising
faster and faster each year.
There is a great deal of evil in the
world yet, In the best of countries, in
the best Of people. But 1t is evil fought
against. 1t is good gaining the VIC
tory slowly but surely. The very rev.
Citations Of evil. the controversies and
conflicts. are signs that the power Of
Christ is working upon the evil, a
ne%ver-ending conflict till the good has
triumphed.
The Sun C%onquering Winter.-As-
tronomers are thinking that the planet
Mars is Inhabited. Suppose that this
winter a gentleman from Mars should
come and make you a visit, being an
utter stranger to the ways of this
world. You would show him the clean,
white, snow-covered ground, the trees
beautiful in their branching twigs,
the fringes Of the hills calm, cold
sunshine, no mud, no floods, but all
peaceful as death. But you tell him
that all this is nothing to what is COM
ing next spring-the snow melted
away, the fields covered with green,
the trees bursting into leaf and flower,
the gardens radiant with color, the air
soft, with fragrance. A wonderful
transformation.
When does spring begin?" he asks.
About the 21st of March," you re-
ply.
But when the 21st of March comes,
he finds snow and slush and mud and
fogs and east winds and bare trees,
and he exclaims, as Pliable did to
Christian when in the Slough of Des-
pond, rs this the blessedness you
were describing, the beautiful spring
you pictured to me with such enthusi.
asm? Is this what your mighty sun
is doing?"
You reply, "These very things you
complain of are a proof of the power
of the sun, and Of the coming of the
spring l described. By these things
we know that spring is coming. They
r a thousand times more hopeful
than the silent Wilderness of winter
We may personally feel this power
of the coming of Christ. He came to
save and change each one of us. He
calls us to accept of him as our king,
Jul leader, and our Saviour. When we
give ourselves to Christ we do not
always. though sometimes we do,
realize tbs greatness Of the change.
When Of two boys n makes his
choice to become an educated man
and the other to live a low and selfish
and sensual life, we do not always see
a great change or difference immedi-
ately In the boys; but as the years
go by the difference grows greater
and greater.
or all things discovered In the
worlds history-mines, treasures, new
worlds-none compare with the dis
covery, each In his " experience, Of
Jesus Christ.
OF all memorial days, the celebra-
ton of Christmas by the giving of
gifts is the most appropriate, for 1t
celebrates Gods greatest gift to each
of us and to the world. Sometimes
the custom Of giving is misused, but It
is folly ito burn up the barn to get
rid of the rats"
Our best gift to God, really our only
gift, is the gift of our hearts, our love.
our service, our devotion.