The Pleasantville press., 1924-10-11
IMPROVED UNIFORM INTERNATIONAL
SllGadaySchool
' Lesson '
(By REV. p B. FITZwATER. DID,. Dean
OF the Evening school, Moody Bible In
stitute of Chicago.)
%. 1874. Western Newspaper Union,
Lesson for October II
THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT
,ssoN TExT-Matt. s:5-1s.

THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT
LESSON TExT-Matt. 6:5-fs.
GOLDEN TExT-Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done in earth. as 1t Is in
heaven.-Matt $40.
PRIMARY ToPIC-The Prayer That
Jesus Taught.
JUNIOR ToPIC-The Lords Prayer.
INTERMEDIATE AND SENIOR
TOPIC-Principles Of Christian Living.
YOUNG PEOPLE AND ADULT
TOPIC-The Sermon on the Mount in
Daily Living.
The so called Sermon on the Mount
is not indeed a sermon but proclama-
tion of the principles and laws which
shall obtain In Christ's Kingdom when
1t shah be established on the earth. In
applying the teachings of Matthew 5-7
two errors should be avoided, namely.
that of the legalist who makes these
principles the hard and fast standard
of life for the believer today and also
that of the one who denies that the
principles or laws of the Kingdom are
binding upon believers. Believers have
Sermon on the Mount that they have
to the Ten Commandments. While
free from their demands as law, they
find delight In retaining them as ex
pressions of Gods holy law and thus
rejoice in the consciousness that Christ
has met bll the requirements thereof
and that their standing before God is
In Him.
|. False Prayer (vv. sd.
1. This consists in one praying to
be seen and heard of men ". 81. To
go through the act of praying with
such an object Is to play the hypocrite.
Many of the prayers uttered in the
public sanctuary are false, for there Is
more consideration Of what the people
think than of what God thinks. In
prayer the soul is dealing with God.
Therefore, engaging in 1t to attract
mems attention is blasphemy. Men
who thus pray get a reward, but not
from God. They pray to get notice
from men and they get such notice.
2. Vain Repetition (vv. Z, 81 This
once for the thing desired, for we have
examples of Christ and Paul praying
three times for the same thing Matt.
% 1924; II Cor. 1877, 81. but rather
1t means the use of meaningless repe-
titions, the meaningless reiterations of
empty sounds. To pray thus is heathen-
ish. The heather nations in their wor-
ship of idols engage in senseless bab-
BILE. which we see in the priests of
Baal on Mt. Carmel Il Kings 1920.
II. True Prayer ". %.
Since true prayer is a definite trans
action of the soul with God, the com
munion of the human personality with
the divine personality, we should have
a real desire for fellowship with God
and then go and meet Him in secret.
Life for its fullest development
needs both solitude and companionship.
Solitude alone makes one morose,
while constant companionship makes
one shallow. God who made us knew
what our natures required. There
fore. He commands both public and
private prayer (Heb 10 :25; Matt 6 :6).
III. The Model Prayer (vv. 9-13).
This was given in response to the
disciples request that the Lord would
teach them how to pray 1t Is not.
therefore, the Lords prayer, but the
model prayer for the disciples which
involves:
1. A Right Relationship (v. 81. "Oui
Father" Only those who have become
children OF God by faith in Jesus
Christ (Gal 8 :26) can pray Alright. One
must be child of God before he can
be In communion with Cod
2. A Right Attitude wv. 9. 10).
'.Hallowed be Thy name" When one
realizes that he has been delivered
from the power of darkness and trans
lated into the Kingdom of His dear
Son (Col. l :13) by being made child
of God, he cannot help pouring out his
soul in gratitude and praise, intensely
longing for the kingdom, the righteous
rule of Christ on the earth.
8. A Right Spirit wv. 11-13).
(D That of trust which looks to
God for the supply of daily bread. We
are dependent upon Him for our daily
food.
(2) That of love which results in
forgiveness of others. God viii not
listen to the prayers of one who has
an unforgiving spirit.
(3) That of holiness which moves
one to pray not to be led into tempta-
ton and longs to be delivered from the
evil one.