Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1923-06-23
Sunday School Lesson

meekness, perseverance, under dim
culties. resourcefulness and resolu-
ton in moments of trial" The great
iioerator and lawgiver acknowledged
Him credit for the success OF his
endeavors.
All those whose characters we have
considered during the quarter proved
demonstrated their loyalty to God
and their convictions Of duty. The
sacrifices were not all alike. Ruth
was the only one who was not a
Hebrew by birth. We saw the
| tunities of her homeland that she
might sty with the lonely Naomi and
mako her happy In the land of Israel.
She proved her faith by sacrificing
her religion, idols. family and friends
mother-in-law and her God. The
courage that she exhibited resulted in
her becoming the ancestress Of David
and Christ.
Samuel was the Lincoln Of Israel.
He arose from the ranks of the poor
tentate maker of the nation. The
incorruptible Judge saved the nation
from its enemies. He won the people
back to God and guided 1t into the
kingdom. He set apart both Saul
and David in response to the divine
nation. No other arose to the lead
| ership of Israel that was as versatile
as David. Others exceeded him in
certain lines Of activity. but none
equaled him in the ability to do so
many things we'll He was a success
cutive. He touched life at more
points than others. He was tried,
as was Samuel. They proved their
faith by planning for their sue
cessors. It was the sin of Samuers
sons that caused his undoing and his
| making way for some one else.
David's own sin caused his downfall.
He proved his faith by his repentance
and devotion to Gods cause,
The three prophets, Elijah, Isaiah
and jeremiah were all tested by
trials. The courageous Elijah de-
veloped under the adversely which
| he warned the nation was certain to
come. The patriotic and cultured
Isaiah was brought to see Gods glory
| through the death of Uzziah. The
! secutfon, suffering and even death I'm
his efforts to save the nation that
he loved. Trouble deepened their
faith and loyalty to Jehovah. The
| writer to the Hebrews has pointed
] out that he saw in the sufrerings of
the righteous a providential training
for nobler characters. The experience
| of those in the exile would appear
to justify such an Interpretation of
the providential training and dis
cipline for nobler character.
{, History. 1t has been well said. is
God teaching by example. All hu-
man records contain His message, but
we find In the annals Of the Jewish
| nation His story being worked out
in the lives of men. We have failed
in our study of the past quarter If
we have neglected to see the evil
dence of Gods presence among men.
working In and through them, to ac-
| complish His purpose in the world.
Each of the heroes has a different
message to tell for each illustrates a
the shrewd courtier and practical
statesman, appears to belonged to the
present century, although he was at
tached to the ancient Persian court.
He belonged to the great because
he believed things could be done. He
| did things by his thorough methods
of studying facts. organizing his
forces and inspiring all to attempt
to do the impossible He was un-
compromising with evil. and ruled
In the fear of the Lord. He was
minded. humble, dependant upon God.
Independent of man when occasion
| required. He was a man Of gentle
ness and of frmness. of prayer and
| of push, of faith and Of works. of
caution and OF courage. of sympathy
and of persistence. of deliberation
and of energetic, prompt action"
! Esther met the call Of duty by con-
secrating herself to the task Of saw
ing her nation. She risked her all
in an effort to overcome the danger
that threatened her people. She
proved her faith by her actions. Not
a nation, but the needs of the whole
civilized world cries unto America at
this hour, If we Will exercise our
faith and heed Gods call to a life of
sacrffcial service, we will follow the
leadership of not only the Lord Jesus,
but also the example Of the Great
Men and Women of the Old Testa-
ment. The testimony Of these
heroric personalities proves that the
way OF faith. even when 1t calls for
sacrifices. suffering and service for
the glory of God and the uplift of
humanity, is the pathway to human
greatness. They call US to make our
lives like theirs footprints upon the
sand of time" that will encourage
others to have faith in our Lord and
do their duty at all times and in ali