It was a striking remark of a dying man, whose life has been, alas! but poorly spent, “O, that my influence could be gathered up, and buried with me!” It could not be. That man's influence survives him; it still lives, is still working on, and will live and work through all time. When he came to die, and perceived how sad and injurious his influence had been, he could not put forth his dying hand and arrest that influence. It was too late; he had put in motion an agency which he was altogether powerless to stop. His body could be buried out of sight, but not his influence; for that, alas! corrupt and evil as it is, there is no tomb, no funeral. It walks the earth a pestilence—like the angel of death.—Selected.
A Prayer for Strength
“GREAT Worker of the universe,
We bring our tasks to Thee;
Be power to our feebleness,
In doubt our wisdom be.”
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LESSON X.—DECEMBER 7.—THE WORSHIPERS.
NOTE.—In the preparation of these lessons all Scripture references, and the pages of “Christ’s Object Lessons,” should be thoroughly studied first, then the questions. The questions are not the lessons. They are only for the purpose of finding out what we have observed while studying. More of the preciousness of these lessons will be obtained if the lesson is studied each day throughout the week. In the parables of Jesus there is salvation from sin for every type of sinner—from the Pharisee to the prodigal. The notes are wholly selected from such portions of “Christ’s Object Lessons” as apply to each lesson.
9 “And He spake also this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and set all others at naught: 10 Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. 11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank Thee, that I am not as the rest of men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. 12 I fast twice in the week; I give tithes of all 13 that I get. But the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote his breast, 14 saying, God, be merciful to me a sinner. I say unto you, This man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be humbled; but he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.”
SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS.
1. To whom was this parable spoken?
2. Who went up into the temple? For what purpose? What was “the one”? “The other?”
3. With whom did the Pharisee pray? For what was he thankful? What were his good deeds?
4. In praying where did the publican stand? What was his attitude? What were his words?
5. Which of the two went home justified? Who says so?
6. How many will be abased? Who will be exalted? By whom will the exalting and the abasing be done?
14. To what point will God exalt those who humble themselves here, accepting their Redeemer as their all in all? Rom. 8: 16, 17.
NOTES.
WHOEVER trusts in himself that he is righteous, will despise others.
THE SENSE OF need, the recognition of our poverty and sin, is the very first condition of acceptance with God.
THOSE whom heaven recognizes as holy ones are the last to parade their own goodness.
GREAT as is the shame and degradation through sin, even greater will be the honor and exaltation through redeeming love. To human beings striving for conformity to the divine image there is imparted an outlay of heaven’s treasure, an excellency of power, that will place them higher even than the angels who have never fallen.
1 “Now Moses was keeping the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the back of the wilderness, and came to the mountain of God, unto Horeb. 2 And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush; and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed. And 3 Moses said, I will turn aside now, and see this great sight, 4 why the bush is not burnt. And when the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I. 5 And He said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground. 6 Moreover He said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God. 7 And the Lord said, I have surely seen the affliction of My people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of 8 their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows; and I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Amorite, and the Perizzite; 9 and the Hivite, and the Jebusite. And now, behold, the cry of the children of Israel is come unto Me; moreover I have seen the 10 oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppress them. Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth My people the children of Israel out of Egypt. 11 And Moses said unto God, Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel 12 out of Egypt? And He said, Certainly I will be with thee; and this shall be the token unto thee that I have sent thee; when thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain.”
Golden Text.—“Certainly I will be with thee.” Verse 12.
SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS.
(1) What was the occupation of Moses? For whom was he working? In what part of the country was he keeping the flock? Verse 1. Note 1. (2) Who appeared to Moses? What was peculiar about the burning bush? Verse 2. Note 2. (3) What did Moses say on beholding the strange sight? Verse 3. (4) Who then called to him from the bush? Verse 4. (5) What did the Lord say to Moses? Verse 5. Note 3. (6) Who did God proclaim himself to be? What then did Moses do? Why? Verse 6. (7) What did the Lord say He had seen and heard? Verse 7. Note 4. (8) What was now the object of His visit to earth? Verse 8. (9) How was the Lord’s knowledge of Israel’s condition reiterated? Verse 9. (10) Then what purpose concerning Moses was announced? Verse 10. Note 5. (11) What was Moses’ meek reply to this announcement? Verse 11. Note 6. (12) What promise did the Lord make to Moses? What token of his commission was assured? Verse 12.
NOTES.
1. In the previous chapter we have the story of Moses’ flight from Egypt forty years before, of his engagement as shepherd for Jethro, and his marriage with Jethro’s daughter.
2. Fire is one of the most fitting elements to visibly symbolize the God of heaven. It is a shining light, powerful and purifying, as well as consuming of everything that is consumable in nature. “Our God is a consuming fire,” says the scripture. Heb. 12:29.
3. Humility is always the only becoming attitude before God. In the East it is deemed a proper token of respect to remove the shoes on entering the abode of human beings; then how much more in the presence of God, who made even the ground holy. A like command was given to Joshua when met by the Lord near Jericho. Josh. 5:13-15. “Before honor is humility,” was strikingly true in the experience of both Moses and Joshua.
4. Had Seen the Affliction.—It was not just then that the Lord had seen the affliction of His people in Egypt. Before Moses was born the Israelites were made to “serve with rigor” under the lash of cruel taskmasters, and Moses’ own life was spared at his birth through disregard of a cruel decree of the king. God had seen their affliction for a long time, but the opportune time for their deliverance had to be awaited. A leader had to be raised up who would walk humbly before God, and the people themselves must be disciplined to a point where they would be willing to go out of Egypt in God’s own way.
5. Moses had undertaken to deliver Israel in his own way forty years before. He had understood that God would deliver them by his hand, and was about to begin the work in a military way. But that was not God’s way. He was the real Deliverer, and the visible leader must follow His directions. He was now going to send Moses in a way that would characterize his mission as solely a work of faith in the power and wisdom and guidance of the Lord of Israel.
6. “Who Am I?”—Well might Moses, or any other human being, ask this question. He was a fugitive from Egypt, one whom the king had desired to put to death. And now he was to be sent, as he at first supposed, right into the presence of his personal enemies. This, too, when he was but a humble shepherd. The undertaking was a stupendous one, even without the opposition of the government. The preparation for the removal of two and a half or three million people, and their organization into a government in a strange land occupied by hostile peoples, was a task that would cause a man of even ordinary modesty to ask, Who am I to undertake such a work?
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HOLMAN BIBLES
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One of our most important small publications is entitled, HISTORICAL FACTS AND INCIDENTS CONCERNING SABBATH AND SUNDAY. In it you will find a large number of historical extracts, arranged in chronological order, showing the reasons given at various times for the change from the seventh to the first day of the week. One of the works from which quotations are made, and which is now in our possession, was printed in 1636, and we reproduce its title page below as a specimen of old-time printing and spelling. The tract contains this reproduction, together with others. Price, $1.32 per hundred.
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Miracles and Delusions
MIRACLES AND DELUSIONS
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This book points out the following facts:—
People crave power.
The Scriptures indicate that the time has come when a certain class will have power.
At this time there will be manifested a counterfeit power, fatal to those accepting it.
That these powers—the true and the false—are now in the world, struggling for the supremacy.
The author then goes on to explain why this counterfeit power is deceiving so many, and points out the only way of escape.
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Heralds of His Coming
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Another Boxer Uprising Predicted
It is predicted that in the near future there will be another Boxer uprising in China. These predictions come from the missionaries, and this calls to mind the fact that the missionaries warned the diplomatic representatives in Peking of the former insurrection sometime before it actually broke out, but their warnings were not heeded. It is also remembered that missionaries were extensively blamed for the ill-feeling that called out the rebellion; and now the missionaries are saying that foreign intervention, or rather the conduct of the intervenors, is the reason of their predicting a recurrence of trouble. They say, “The blunders of soldiers and diplomats during ‘the year 1900 are to be visited upon the heads of the ‘missionaries and merchants, sooner or later.’” Furthermore, it is stated by Senator Beveridge and Special Envoy Rockhill, who have recently returned from China, that the Chinese minister at Washington, because of his growing popularity in this country, is becoming suspected of being too friendly to the United States.
The Secret of Rebellion Against God
The secret of rebellion against God, of unbelief in God’s Word, is the unregenerate heart.
Obedience to All God’s Commands
To do that which pleases us among God’s commands is no proof of our love to Him, unless all He commands us pleases us. When we are “partial in the law,” choosing some commands and rejecting others, we are not obedient to God at all; we are simply doing our own way. The proof of our confidence in God is faith in the wisdom and goodness of that which He commands.
