Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1913-03-13
In The Religious World;
(REvIEw OF SUNDAY SCHOOL LEssoN)

| there Is a lack OF students Tor tn
gospel ministry is that parents ar
not setting apart their sons for thi
calling. They shrink from the sac
rifice involved In. the idea OF tn
altar. They want their children t
be prosperous and comfortable frs
Of all. 49,
All the while, the truth lies nea
to the surface that 1t is the elemen
Of sacrifice which makes life great
Scan the men you know who have
come to power in the church ant
nation, and they will be-found to b
those who have not spared them
selves. The road to leadership II
things spiritual runs over the amour
of self-sacrifce. Great characters
grow In the shadow of some Calvary
The fairest flowers found In or neal
Jerusalem were in the Garden o.
Gethsemane on the slope OF Olivet
tenderly cherished by Franciscan
monk. Life comes to beauty only as
It Is rooted deep in the soil OF sur
render and sacrifice. A parent does
most for his child when he introduces
him to the Idea. that his life has been
laid on an altar. . ..
The Test That Becomes Testimony
The iron that entered Abraham 8
soul was Jehovah's demand that he
should offer up his only son, Isaac,
as a sacrifice. At the outset. let 1t
Isaac, because he wanted Abraham.
He cared not for the fact of the
actual sacrifice, but for the spirit OF
devotion. It was merely a proof OF
his own sovereignty that he sought.
God, who is jealous God. wanted
to make clear that he was God over
Abraham's life His law runs for
ever, "Thou shalt have no other Gods
before me-" HE will not be- king
at all unless he can be king in ALL"
Because he is God, Jehovah. asks COM
plete submission on the part Of all
who accept him ashford. u.
The anguished father made all
preparations. Parents who have
parted from their children at duty's
call know Abraham's pangs. He
loved his son more than he loved his
own life; but he loved God most of
I trust him." cried his bleeding spir-
It. To Mount Moriah, the rock over
which the temple Of Solomon was
later built (the Moslems to this day
show the legendary rock Of sacrifice
to visitors to the Mosque Of Omar,
father and son repaired, three days
Journey from Hebron, their home.
Even the wood was prepared for the
sacrificial fire, and the deadly knife
appraised, when the angel Of the Lord
The sacrifice has been
made in spirit, and the flowing Of
blood counted for naught. God had
ready ram in the thicket for the
emergency. a.#. etsf
That test became Abraham's tes-
timony. All through the religious
history of the three great faiths,
Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, the
testimony Of Abraham's faith has
heartened and inspired believers.
The eleventh chapter of Hebrews
rings with 1t. Abraham believed
God, and it was counted to him for
On Mt Moriah, his
mount Of sacrifice, the father Of those
full Of faith reached the apex Of his
life; even as Christ, his greatest son,
proved his sovereignty and saviour
hood on the neighboring mount Of
sacrifice, called Calvary. ,.a
A dear old woman once said to me:
81 used to wonder when 1t was that
saw Christ's day and was
glad. One morning while I was wash
ing the breakfast dishes, bethought
me Of it. It was when he offered up
Isaac. That act Of sacrifice made him
the Christ spirit. He then
became closest to God, who offered
up his only son. .-.F@
A Heritage For Son.
Britain may set aside great sums
Of money. for Explorer Scott's fam
lily, but what heritage to the hero's
boy can equal the memory of his
fathers great name? If some of us
were more careful to bequeathe the
Of heroic and holy lives to
our sons, 1t would matter little how
much money we leave for them.
Abraham gave to- Isaac an inheritance
Of faith. He attested his belief in the
supreme reality of spiritual values.
Abraham Is the worlds most famous
because he was such man
Of faith that God could use him for the
handed down to Isaac and all the
generations since, was, Have faith in
God"
The famous author Ian Maclarenj
John Watson) ANALYSES the case of
Abraham in q way \that applies it
to every reader:
ITO emerge from the physical and
ertery into the spiritual sphere is an.
immense advance and a tremendous
risk. Any one who shifts the center
Of his life from the world which is
seen to the world which Is unseen
deserves to be called a believer.
Abraham was the first man in his
tory who dared to make his venture
and to cast himself on God. He dis
covered the new world of the Soul,
and is to this day the father Of the