The Nevada County picayune., 1912-01-26


 GOLDEN TEXT-"For mine eyes have seen thy salvation, which thou hast pre- pared before the face of all peoples. - Luke 2:30-31.
 This lesson concerns the matter of the presentation of the Christ child in the temple forty days after his birth. Ever since the redemption of the first born of Israel on that dark night in Egypt, when the destroying angel pass ed through the land and smote all the first-born of the Egyptians, the first born son of every Hebrew family be- longed unto the service of God. As a substitute for all the frst-born, the tribe of Levi was chosen to act as priests. By this, however, the Hebrew parents were not exempt from the pre- sentation of their frst-born to God. By reason of the choosing of the Le- vites, the first-born son of the family was released from priestly service on the payment of a certain amount of redemption money.
 Joseph and Mary being righteous parents, obeyed this law and presented the Christ child in the temple. In thus presenting the child, these parents realized the great truth, which all par ents should realize, that our children belong to God. and are but loaned to us. Christian parents should initiate the example of Joseph and Mary.
 Mary also made personal offering as token of her appreciation of the goodness of God. It was a small gift, it is true, but it was the best that she in her humble circumstances life could give, and, therefore, was as accept able to God as any offering of much higher value would have been. Would it not be good thing to celebrate the birth of your child by making a spe- cial offering, or gift to the cause of God, to some needy work?
 We have a wonderful description of the work of Christ in this lesson. He is the light of the world. Not one. but every nation is to feel the effect of his coming. On one occasion, when a Japanese convert to Christianity was summoned before the magistrates and called upon to give reason why he had forsaken his national religion, he was told that Japan had religion enough and did not want any more; that Confueianism was good enough l for scholars, and Buddhism for the masses. The Japanese convert replied, If Confucianism is an all-sufficient re- ligion, why is it, since the founder liv- ed thousands of years before Christ and taught during a long life, that it has not spread beyond China and Ja- pan? And if Buddhism is an all-suffi- cient religion, how is it, started by | Budda thousands of years before l long life, that it has not spread be- yond India, China, and Japan? If Christianity is a bad religion, how is it., since its founder taught three years, and was put to death when he was thirty-three years old, that it has spread over all the world?"
 Jesus is the desire of all the nations. l There Is no satisfaction to be found in l any religion outside of him. Even Simeon, representing the Old Testa- ment, did not find full satisfaction un- til he had seen the Christ child.
 The salvation of the world centers in Christ He is the only Saviour. Christ is the only person who can save the world from it's sin. The world l had had reformers, scholars, philoso- phers, philanthropists before Christ, but 1t never had a Saviour. Jesus Christ is the only person born into 1 the world with reference to the sins of men.
 We may learn a lesson of what it means to have faith in Christ from the words of Simeon He had seen no mighty works wrought by Christ; no miracles had been performed in his sight; he had heard no words of king ly dignity from the lips of Jesus; Christ had pressed upon this good mans heart no claims to Messiahship and yet with the eye of faith he saw all these things in the infant Jesus. Centuries have rolled by since Simeon lived and died, and Jesus Christ has been proven beyond all reasonable doubt to be all these things-to be, and to do all that Simeon in prophecy claimed for him, and yet we may ask, Do we believe in Christ, the Christ of tho past as he believed in the Christ of the future?"
 Christ is a revealer of mems hearts A mans character is judged by his at titude toward Christ. We see in the character of Christ absolute goodness love, truth. honor, purity. Therefore to see Christ, to see truth, love, good ness. purity. and not to love and choose him is to reveal a state of heart which, like that of Gallio, "cares foi none of these things"
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