Evening star., 1917-05-26
SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON.

his first duty would be to pray for the
presence and guidance Of the Holy
Spirit The threefold mission Of the
Holy Spirit is to convict the world OF
Tho first two things man needs to
know In order to be saved and the last
he must ever keep before him to make
the most out of life. The Comforter's
the fact that he is q sinner. and the
Savior, Christ Jesus, the righteousness
Of God. provided by divine grace tor
mans salvation.
The sense Of sin has been deadened
among men by several powerful cur
rents of thought, which with their ele-
ments Of good contain also the virus
of sin. "Materialism, which denies or
ignores the supernatural. and concen-
trates its heed on ameliorating the out
ward conditions of human life: criti-
clsm, which is clever at analysis and
dissection. but cannot construct a
foundation on which the religious fac
ulty may build and rest; and that
philosophical protest against material
ism which denies the possibility OF
sin have a tendency to influence men
to deny the deity of the Christ. The
greatest of all sins is the sin of unbe-
age. as Sunday has to this generation.
to be what the apostles were to the men
of the first Christian century, instru-
ments in the hands of the Holy Spirit to
convince men of sin because of their
disbelief in Christ.
The return of Jesus to the glory that
was His preceding His advent demon
strated He was a righteous man and
vindicated His claims to deity. The
rejectors of the Christ claimed that
He was a blasphemer, but God exalted
the Master through His resurrection
| and ascension. The very trial which
they were called upon to endure was
| necessary so that God could show that
hu 10 &c ha
| of the law for righteousness, for He
was delivered for our offenses and
raised again for our justification"
| (righteousness).
| the worlds great sin. 1t brought about
His death upon the cross, where He
| was judged for the sins of men, the
| just for the unjust. In this contest
Christ. although He suffered upon the
cross. was the victor. All who believe
| in Him as the Son of God and Savior
Of men, the Master has saved from the
power of Satan to destroy by the victory
He won over death. The prince of this
world. or Satan. will have to face a
trial before the Lord, who died upon
| the cross, at the end of this age. In
that final judgment not only will
Satan be cast out, but all those who
reject Christ will also face the one
whom they rejected when He passes
| judgment upon them.
| There was much that Christ desired
| to say to His followers, but they were
not in a state of mind to receive the
same. Into the shadows. struggles and
sufferfngs Of life the Lord assured them
that they would not go alone, for the
] Holy Spirit would come to lead them
into all truth. He would guide them in
the understanding of the Scriptures.
He would direct them in mastering
the mysteries of the universe. The
great advancement made in the scien-
| tific world has been due to His leader
ship. The way into fuller spiritual life
/ and power. that is yet to come to men
to satisfy the needs Of the soul and the
| craving of the mind for more light
can be found only by following His
| leadership.
/ Christ's promise to send His gift at
1 Pentecost of the "Holy Spirit" is a
unique and distinctive feature of Chris
| tianity. Other religions have their
founders their sacred books, their phi
losophy and their ethics. but only Chris
| tianity has the Holy Spirit. and as the
Spirit Of Christ" the spirit of Truth
and the Spirit of Grace" he unites the
Jesus Of history with the Christ of ex-
| perience. 1t is this that makes the
| essential message Of Christianity not
i Back to Christ" but "Up to Christ
! The hope for the world in these trying
days is in the presence of the Holy
Spirit with mon leading them into all
1