The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1919-09-11
SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON
Prepared For Readers of
The Republican.
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 18th.

For we know that if the earthly
house Of cur tabernacle be dissolved.
we have building from God, a house
not made with hands, eternal, in the
heavens. II Cor. 5:11
U. 5. WRIGHT.
The LIFE LAND.
Time is parenthesis of eternity"
Bracketed by birth and death | am
still part of it. To remove the brack
cts doesn't alter the phrase contained
within them, iC merely makes it fully
part OF the timeless message. Its i'm
portance is intensified but the wording
is not changed Gods Word spoken
into time is the same Word" ringing
thru eternal spaces. The whole reve
lation of Jesus rests upon the abiding
quality of the life to which He address,
ed the message. He might strip the
rags from Lazarus and the robe from
Dives so that they stood level but the
light that fell upon them was that of
eternity. He might call beside an open
grave but from some dim space spirit
answered to the summons. He might
bleed upon the cross but the soul of a
thief marched with Him thru the rudy
gate into Paradise. He might be prison
ed in tomb but Life unlocked the
barred doors and men knew their Lord
of time was Master also of eternity.
Every conviction of Jesus rested upon
the belief of timeless life. Every
endeavor of Paul looked toward the day
of emancipation from the dissolving
tabernacle of the body with which he
worked. Every Apostle lived and
wrought and wrote in expectation of an
endless life. All faced a land where
they would continue to exist. That there
would be any loss of identity never en-
tered their reckoning but has been born
out of the vagaries of anti-Christian
philosophy. God was still the God of
persons in Abraham, Isaac and Jacob
and these had not become meaningless
blur upon the page. Moses did not
merge into Elijah upon the mountain
top, both were distinctly present. The
Lord that the aged John saw on Pat
mos was the Master to whom he had
given the loyalty of his youth. Con-
ditions only were changed in each case
but the person was still the same. Mir
vana has no place in the Christians
faith. The person passes into land of
life and while there is a curtain be-
tween the two the person continues to
make progress having now room for ad-
vance that did not exist in the life into
which death breaks with ruthless hand.
The LAW LAND.
The life land into which the soul
presses is still under the reign of law.
Gravitation changes when we pass from
matter into mind; it no longer COM
mands. The laws of physics do not de-
termlne chemical reactions; phychology
has no wori for mechanics. Water may
be solid. liquid or gas but gravitation
knows it in whatever form we find it.
Its essence is unchanged tho It's form
varies and the law still has dominion
whatever the fashion of it. Man lives
under the sway of moral law and whje
his habitat has changed he has not and
the law holds. Life does not change
tho the form of 1t does so poral facts
cannot be altered. Jes.s pictures a
world judgment based Upon moral sane
tions known in the p,esent-day life. If |
am the same person the same moral i'm
peratives exlsc with me. Persons pass
out to find their place in moral world
that is perfectly Ineligible. There is
agreat company who haye lived the life
81 good will so that they haye been
quite unconscious of any particular vir-
tue IN the things they did they were so
much the habit of them. So honest in
their attitude that even heaven will not /
be taken upon mistake and they must
question whether some error has not
been made in the assignment. Others
who have been careful to tabulate their
good deeds and hove counted each as so
much of an asset toward their final
reckoning are inclined to dispute the
verdict that convicts them to selfish in
Indifference to the welfare of the world
in which they lived. All this is perfect
ly intelllgible under the persistence of
the person and knowledge of moral
law but meaningless if personality or
law perishes. Being myself | find my
self among like-minded persons on the
other side the veil as | have chosen to
be with hke-minded on this side and |
take my place there according to the
working of familiar laws so that life
land may be in some measure chartered
just as stars have been found from the
study of facts recorded upon a math-
NAUTICAL sheet
The HOME LAND.
Jesus knew that country as the Home
Land. To Him it was the Fathers
house and the warmth of affection
which goes with the family circle. Its