Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1917-12-12
SUNDAY SCHOOL
Lesson Il.-Fourth Quarter, for
December is, 1917.
THE INTERNATIONAL SERIES


Memory Verses, ~, 10-Colden Ten,
AEx. 2o:s-commenta,y Prepared By
Rev. o. N. stearns.
The prayer Of Nehemiah IN chapter
8 and that Of Daniel In DAN are two
of the most remarkable prayers In the
Bible. apart from John 1s--fuil Of
alteration. confession, humiliation and
true penitence. The words Of Neh- Q 8
are notable. Thou art just In all that
is brought upon us, for thou hast done
right. but we have done wfckedlyy
Neh. o 1851, Is clear and conclusive
proof that the return from Babylon
was not a fulfiilment Of Isa- 14.1-3
Mark well the contrast and note that
Babylon must yet be rebuilt to fulfill
prophecy. Neh- 10. II, tells Of sep
arations from the ungcdly and the
appointment of priests and Levites and
others to their service and provision
for the same. Chapter Is begins with
q reference to Balaam and his sin and
how he could not curse those whom
God had blessed Then we meet again
one Tobiah. bad one. who had sought
10 make Nehemiah afraid. the mobiles
OF Judah standing for him against
Nehemiah After acting as governor
for u years Nehemiah returned to
Babylon. but very soon came back to
Jerusalem and found Tobiah occupy q
chamber In the courts Of the house Of
God He quickly cast ont him and his
stun and cieansed the chambers tNeh-
6:17-1S; 1ss4-0).
He also chased from him son-in-
lew of Sanballaf the Toronto rs -.
Finding that the tifhes had not been
provided for the Leyites, he contended
with the rulers because they had thus
forsaken the house Of God. and he
caused thaf matter to be rectifed lis:
10-l4,. Finding that Jews had inter-
married with the heather and that
their children spoke partly in the Ian
guage Of the Jews and partly In an
other tongue. be cieansed them from
all strangers, reminding them of Gods
hatred of such alliances and that even
Solomon brought trouble upon himself
and upon Israel By these sins He was
beloved Of his God king over all Israel.
among many nations no king like him.
yet even him did women of other lands
cause to sin t13 :23-3D.
We might think that after the long
captivity OF Judah and the mercy of
the Lord to them In restoring them.
they, of all the tribes, would be careful
not to sin against such q God Of love
and mercy, bat they seem to have been
the leaders in all manner Of SIM and
now, after the temple had been rebuilt
and dedicated. the city rebuilt and the
worship of God restored, we find In
our lesson portion wv. LID that
they deliberately and persistently
broke the Sabbath day. Nehemiah.
with his usual frmness testified
againt them and against those Of other
nations who sought to do business on
the Sabbath and was able to rectify
this matter also. We cannot help won
dering what a few Exras and Nehe-
miahs and Daniels might accomplish
In these days Of Astounding and in
creasing iniQuity. Woridliness on the
part Of Gods processing people, me-
elect Of his house and worship and
deliberate breaking Of the Sabbath are
some Of the prominent sins, and, be-
cause sentence against an evil work
Is not executed speedily. therefore the
heart of the sons Of men Is fully Get In
them TO do evil (Eccl- SID.
The fourth commandment has the
word remember" In 1t because the
resting on one day in seven takes rs
back to Gen. 2 ia. and. while In Scrip
ture the Sabbath always means the
seventh day. our Lord rose from tho
dead on the FIRST day Of the week and
honored that day by several appear
ances to his disciples and just week
later by appearing to them again, and
1t was honored BY the early church as
their day of gathering and worship
(Acts 2O:7: Cor. 1922. Rev. ITO
may possibly refer to that day also. 1t
certainly seems fitting that those who
are risen with Christ should honor that
day instead Of the day on which His
body lay in the grave. II any find
fault with us for keeping the first day
instead Of the seventh we simply say
as kindly as possible. You are forbid
DEE TO Judge Ms in reference to the
Sabbath. and you must excuse US for
preferring the substance to the shadow
(Col. 2:16-1D.
As to how we should keep the one
day In seven which God asks for him
self, / know Of no better instruction
than lisa. 5S:13-14, which is as APP
plicable to the first day as to the sew
enth. That which Is merely our own
ways, our pleasure Of our words must
give place to his word, his pleasure
and his ways. The day r1ust be set
apart for him that he may come -spe-
cially near to us and reveal himself to
US. When he was here In his humilia-
ton be taught that 1t was lawful to
care for the needs Of our bodies on
that day and to show kindness to crea-