The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1921-04-07
SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON
Prepared Especially for The Republi-
can By DIR. U. S. Wright.

Prepared Especially for The Republi-
can By DIR. U. S. Wright.
SUNDAY, APRIL 10.
BIBLE TEACHINGS ABOUT
HEALTH
l Cor. GIG, 20; 9:24-27; Gal. 81, s.
Every man that striyeth in the games
eXerciseth self-cOntrol in all
things.-I Cor. 9:25.
WHAT THE BODY is.
In the life that Paul knew, the tenn
pie was the outstanding architectural
feature. Ephesus boosted of one of
the wonders of the ancient world in
the building that was Diana's shrine.
Greece, Egypt, Rome, were marked
by structures that had been the re-
sorts of royalty and the recipients of
princely gifts! Jerusalem was the
heart of Judaism and it's temple,
planned by David and built by Solo
mon, rebuilt and adorned by every
great monarch in her history, with
treasury that could ransom the ma
ton in times of defeat, was the holi-
est spot known to a worshipper of
Jehovah. In Rangoon today the Bud
dhist temple has been covered with
gold leaf seven times, more than &c.
900 packages being required to gild
it. 1t is 365 feet high and its en-
tire umbrella roof is gold plated and
decked with jewels: 1864 rubies, Sal
emeralds and 433 diamonds starring
it's golden sky. Below hang 1466
bells cast from gold and silver that
sway with the breeze and spill their
mellow music upon every worship
per. India an dother countries have
others little less costly and the ca
thedrals of Cristendom reveal the de-
votion that rests in the human heart
in whatever scale it may have reached.
Paul knew well this feature Of life
and with his own love for that sacred
pile in the Holy City he could have
used no more vivid picture to describe
the human body than that which he
wrote to the licentious Corinthians.
"Your bodies are temples" was his
word. To folk who had been pros
tituting that very body to the use of
any passion that stirred the soul and
who held their religious building in
the highest esteem it was a startling
contrast. Instead of being something
i. that was theirs to enjoy and spend
as they chose, it belonged to God and
was His dwelling place. There should
be the same reverence given it and the
same care bestowed uDon it as upon
any other temple of Deity. Another
/ figure that the Apostle used was that
of the sacrifcial offering itself, for
they were to present their bodies a liv-
ing sacrifice, and again the meaning
was startlingly different from the
practice of that day. Only the per-
feet could be offered to God whether
Of beast or fruit and to pollute that
body and then present it was an I'M
thinkable thing. They must be pure,
whole and physically fit if they ex-
pected God to accept the gift. An
other figure would be used today prob
ably, when factories have become the |
center of our cities and civilization is
expressed in terms of economics in |
stead of religion. Paul would have |
seized that dominant trait and would |
have called the body tool, a work
shop or machine And the same care
that is given to the complicated mech
anism Of modern industry that keeps
the edge unrusted and the bearings |
.nsanded, should be bestowed upon |
this other machine which obeys the |
spirit within and is used to produce |
the things desired, whether for wor-
ship or for work. The body in the
Scripture view becomes the instru-
ment or means by which the soul may
serve God and man. God is to be
glorified by it as much as by the mind |
or spirit of the man.