his body. Moses seems to have antici- pated t he mo d e rn wonders; as his crea- tion parables t he sleep of t h e Last Adam and t h e Bride t h at is " b u i l t" of His wo u n ds and enjoys His love ( Ep h. 5 * 22-33). V. PRACTICAL CONCLUSIONS. Xt We should p ut God first in all things. (1) All was made for H im ( P r. 1 6 : 4 ); (2) all to please H im (Rv. 4 : 1 1 ) ; (3) His purpose precedes all (Ro. 9 : 2 0 ); (4) His will is first (Ecc. 1 2 : 1 3 ); (5) its fulfillment should be ma n 's first wish (Mt. 6 : 1 0 ); (6) and e n g a ge his first effort (Mt. 6 : 3 3 ); a nd inspire his chief affection (Mt. 2 2 : 3 7 ); (7) life itself is in knowing Him (Jno. 1 7 : 3 ). 2. A right s t a rt here is a right s t a rt in doctrine, f a i th and duty. T r ue creed and right deed are built on t he fact t h at Gbi^ ma de us and is sovereign. God does not forgive sin, which is the old n a t u r e, t h at He punished with death. " T he soul t h at sinneth it shall die." Ezek. 18:4. Sins which are t he f r u it of t he old n a t u re are forgiven, b ut only on t he basis of the Blood. "Wi t h- out t he shedding of blood t h e re is n o remission." Heb. 9:22-26. This is one of the f u n d ame n t al laws of God. F or offenses of a personal character God gave a new law; one which was a revelation to His disciples; 70 x , 7. Seven is t he perfect n umb e r. Ten is the n umb er of completeness. 7 x 1 0 x 7 give 490. Forgiveness is to be full, complete, without any limitations. This is an exceedingly high and holy law and can never be reached without Divine aid. The law also affords us an insight into t he character of God's for- giveness; Wh at He commands us to do, He certainly does. We need never doubt His forgiveness, which is based upon the finished work of His Son. "Yo ur sins are forgiven you for His n ame 's s a k e ." I Jno. 2:12. If we are to h a ve unlimited forgiveness for others, how much more will He have for us? Lesson 12, December 22 Golden Text, L u ke 9 : 5 0. The golden text is " He t h at is not against us is for us." L u ke 1 1 : 23 reads, " He t h at is not with Me is against Me; and he t h at gathereth not with Me
riage. Had this t r u th remained with t h e world, t he long and s h ame f ul his- tory of woma n 's degradation could not have been. This account of her origin, so f ar f r om being absurd, is, once seen, most reasonable a nd desirable. 3. Neither reason nor facts need anjr other explanation of our origin, esper cially considered as "ma le a nd i ema l e "; nor does any other explanation explain. T h e theory of the evolution of man and woman, with their marvelous attributes and correspondences f r om independent bits of protoplasm; or chance develop- me nt f r om brutes, is indeed absurd, and demoralizing , if not dehumanizing. 4. The first surgical operation. It is only about fifty years since men learned t h at it was possible to " c a u se a deep sleep to f a l l" upon man and to remove without wa k i ng him a large portion of HE h e a rt of this lesson is to be found in the tender h e a rt a nd by this we do not me an t he senti- mental h e a r t. There' is quite a differ- ence between t he h e a rt t h at beats in real sympathy with o ne in sin and one t h at condones sin. Th e re is a great danger t h at in teaching this lesson this fact will be overlooked. God never condones wr o ng doing. He never can; neither should we. God h as a t e n d er h e a rt b ut God h as a f a i t h f ul h e a rt also. It is no kindness to a man to forgive him unless he is pentient and confesses his sin; such forgiveness would breed lawlessness. The Lord was constantly t h r ow i ng light upon the right interpretation of law and Christian conduct. The Rabbis t a u g ht t h at a man was to be forgiven t h r ee times; P e t er in his religious en- thusiasm lengthened the n umb er to seven, with a question ma r k, a nd t h o u g ht he had reached t he high water ma r k. The question of how often one shall forgive is a practical one and needs divine wisdom to appreciate t hé answer. It is not a question of na- tional sin or of social sin, b ut one of offense against a brother. F or violation of law t h e re is no forgiveness; t h e re mu st be penalty and punishment. Lesson 11, December 15 Golden Text, Ëp h e s i a ns 4 : 3 2.
The Heart of the Lesson By T. C. Horton
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