The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1913-03-11

WORLD
NH PROSPEROUS
MAN AND HIS SONS
The International Sunday School Les
Ion for March is Is. The Test of
~Abrahanl's Faith Gen. %: 1-i3.
CBy William r. Ellis.)

CBy william T. Ellis.)
81 tell you, the rich mans son does
mot have a fair chance in the world
todav!' cries j. Campbell White. The
raradox seems startling, at first, ard
+bau il opens into a vista of Il great
frrth. The rich mans son has too
much done for him; he Ices not knoT
how 10 do without anything he de-
e,req. The element Of sacrifice is miss
ing from his life. Nobody who has
t3"ed to learn ~self-denial, and real
service. has ever been worth his salt.
We nave a real problem in this west
.ru world today in the over-indulgel,
.aif-centered, irresponsible youths in
whose vocabulary there are no such
words as sacrifice and subordinatien.
rhc son question, as a living issue,
is brought up afresh by this Sunday
school lesson upon Abraham's offer
ING up of Isaac, the heir of he prom
,Ses. the hope of the father, and his
round we must get: the fathers
pride and happiness in his son. AS
runs the Arabic saying.
els mere any blessing better than IA
SON.?
Mans prime desire; by when his
name and he
Shall live beyond himself
Every father dreams, dreams for
his boy. A friend once bore to 4 ia
Their the news of the death of his in
fant son, but a few days old. The
father was heart-brVken, but his only
comment was, And had made such
plans for him. Abraham had lived
his later life in thoughts Of lslaC's
future. Why, the very covenant of
g. to- r. Z
upon 1saac's life. He was the link
between the old patriarch and those
descendants who according to prom
.sc. were to be as numerous as the
stars. And now, here was Jehovah
himself bidding Abraham Offer uf
Isaac as a sacrifice.
The Philosophy of The Altar.
We Shudder at the thought of hu-
man sacrifice. Were it not a boOtless
rehearsal of history, we could recoun
how the Ca%naanites and the Phoeni'
clans of old, and the Hindus ant
South Sea Islanders of a recent day
INDUCED in his terrible religious rite
while Greek mythology and moderr
Japanese history contain the sam
teaching. OF more immediate con
Germ is the altar idea in our own life
For our concern is always with tn
present-day applications of truth
ale parents HOWdOdyS OicIlh6S Dun
and daughters on the affairs of religion
and patriotism? Do mothers and ia
Tiers still solemnly dedicate their un
born or infant children to the highes
and holiea missions?
The question is timely, inasmuch a
we know hat myriads of young live
are devoted by parents to fashion an
To luxury and to money-getting. w
have cause to wonder whether moth
&c 1l ~ $1dr
To God and country. That d
commonly esteemed old fashioned
one clear reason why there is a lac
OF students for h gospel ministry
mat parents are not setting apal
their sons for this calling. The
shrink from the sacrifice involved
the idea Of the altar. They want the
children to be prosperous and CON
portable first OF all.
All the while, the truth lies nes
10 the surface that it is the elemel
of sacrifice which makes life grea
San the men you know who hay
come TO power in the church and n;
ZION, and they will be found to
hose who have not spared then
selves. The Dad to leadership
things spiritual runs over h amour
OF self-sacrifice. Great characte
grow in the shadow Of some Calvar
ny Sdli Sbt AlOWcIS 1 lOuIlO III u AO
jerusalem were in h Garden
Gethsemane on the slope of O1iv'
tenderly cherished by a Francisc:
monk. Life comes to beauty only
IT is rooted deep n the soil Of sure
der and sacrifice. A parent does mo
Tor his child when he introduces nj
To the idea that his life has been la
on an altar.
The Test That Became a TestimOl
The iron that entered Abraham
soul was Jehovah's demand that
should offer up his only son, lisa;
as a sacrifice. At the outset, let it
SAID that. clearly, God asked for Isa
because He wanted Abraham. =.
cared not for the fact of the act'
sacrifice, but for the spirit. of de-
ton. 1t was merely a proof of
own sovereignty that He sought. G.
who is a jealous God, wanted to ma
clear that He was God over Abraham