Lexington gazette. [volume] (Lexington, Va.) 1871-1962, 1908-09-30
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL,
Lesson Fourth Quarter, Fol
Oct. 4, 1903.
THE INTERNATIONAL SERIES.

ar HE TN EnNH IONRE SEnIES
% Text of the Lesson, II Sam. vi, ii:
d Memory Verse, 12-Go4den Text, Pr
e c, documentary Prepared by Re,
IS D. M. Stearns.
: copyright, 1905, by American Press Association.
' Throughout the whole Of the Scrip
! lures there is no way of reconciliation
8 to God revealed but by the great sacri
n fee on Golgotha, prefgured In every
true sacrifice from Eden onward This
s redemption is to the end that the
redeemed may serve Him, the only liv
: ing and true God, in truth with all the
!, heart proving in the daily life the
, good and acceptable and perfect will
, of God q Sam. xii, "a; Thess, /, 0, 10;
Rom. xii, l, o. 1t is for God and for
: Him alone to appoint to each one his
/ place and his service, "to every man
/ his work." and it is the privilege of
, each one to dwell with the King for
| His work" Eph ii, 10; Mark xiii, "a;
| l Chron. iv, 23). The redemption Is
, wholly His own; so are also the works
, for us to walk in and the way in
which the work is to be done. The
work of the Lord can be done only
by the redeemed Of the Lord and In
His own appointed way. There never
lived on this earth but one who al
ways thought Gods thoughts and did
Gods work in Gods way without
fail, and He who was truly Son of
God and Son of man is wondrously
typified in the ark of the covenant of
the Lord of all the earth, which is
mentioned fourteen times in this les
son chapter.
When God redeemed Israel from the
bondage Of Egypt that they might
serve Him. He gave them His holy
law from Sinai, which they promised
to keep, but while Moses was up in
the mount with God receiving the law
written on tables of stone, absent
scarcely six weeks, they broke the
whole law GAS. ii, 10) by breaking the
first commandment Then Moses. re.
turning from God, seeing their sin, as
q striking object lesson threw down
the tables and broke them. God re-
called Moses, ard, having written the
same words on tables which Moses |
had made, He commanded him to |
make an ark according to the exact |
pattern which He showed him and in |
it put the law and keep it there
So the ark Of the covenant, made of |
incorruptible wood and pure gold, typi- |
flying the pure humanity and the real
divinity of Christ, kept the holy law
which sinful Israel could not keep.
Christ alone could say, 81 delight to
do Thy will, o my God-yea thy law
is within my heart" Ops. xl, s; Heb.
X, no. AS the ark was made to keep
the holy law, the tabernacle was made
with the holy of holes specially for
the ark. and there in the hottest of all
God dwelt in the midst of His people
over the mercy seat or lid of the ark,
between the cherubim eek XIV s, 90.
The tabernacle, after all its wilder
ness journeyings, found a resting place
when Israel entered the promised
land and in the days of Samuel was
located at Shiloh q Sam. j. 8; iv, 81.
But when Israel relying upon the ark
rather than the Lord. took it to battle
with them it was taken captive by
them and never seems to have been re-
turned to the tabernacle The Phils-
tines. being plagued by the Lord be-
cause of the ark, for a sinful people
cannot tolerate the Lords presence I
apart from sacrifice. returned the ark
to Israel on q new cart drawn by two
milk COWS, the Lord guiding the cows
to Bethshemesh. where over 10000 died
because they looked into the ark. for
the law apart from the mercy seat
can bring only death The ark then
passed on to Klrjath-i earlm. where
for long years 1t continued in the house
Of Abinadab on the hill q Sam. vii,
l. p Now that David was established
in his kingdom Oh Sam. V, 12) one Of
his first thoughts was a place for the
ark of the covenant at jerusalem and
this was well and as it ought to be.
but now we have sample of thing
that is very common in the church to-
lay, the Lords work, or what pro-
'esSeS to be the Lords work. carried
IN in worldly ways David knew that
he ark should be carried only on the
shoulders of the Levites. holy men
'et apart for that purpose; yet instead
If inquiring Of the Lord, as was his
Usual custom. he consulted with his
captains and leaders and, adopting the q
Philistine method, had a new cart
made on which they started to bring
Up the ark q Chron. XIV, 2; Kill, y.
Then came trouble. The oxen Stun -
lied; Uzzah. attempting to steady the
rk, died; David was displeased with
Tod, and the ark was placed in the
ouse Of Obed-edom, where it contin.
ed three months bringing blessing
ohlis household (verses II, ~. Then
David, realizing that the fault was
is and that on the previous occasion
hey had not sought the Lord after r
he due order had the priests and
levites sanctified to bring up the ark
the Lord God Of Israel and they
ore it on their shoulders. as Moses
according to the word of
le Lord q Chron. XIV. 1915. The
lme Lord who dwelt in the midst of
;rael lives now in every true believer
Tohn xiv, %; II Cor vi, 10; Cor. vi,
D. 20), that the world may know 4
i'm and believe on Him. and to this lie
nd He desires a willing and Obedient
eople set apart wholly for Himself
II worldly conformity in the life of
clever or in the work of the church
like David's new cart, which can
lly make trouble and grieve the Spirit =
God and dishonor God in the eyes -u
those who know Him not. N