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ing alcohol, which h u rts th e body and makes the m ind dull. A t last a w ar came and they had to flee to th e city to save th e ir lives. Now while they were in the city sh u t in by th e Chaldean army, Jerem iah th e prophet invited them to a banquet and had wine set before them . Now Jerem iah th e pro phet was doing ju st as God had told him to do. At first it seems strange th a t God should have wine set before people, bu t we must remember th a t God’s people a t th is time were disobey ing him, and God knew these Recha- bites would not touch th e wine, for they had prom ised th e ir fath ers they would not, and he wanted to try them to show th e Jew ish people how they would stand true. When th e wine was set before them they said, We will
drink no wine, for our fath ers com manded us not to drink any wine. They honored th e ir fath e r by obeying him. I wonder if we stop to th in k th a t every tim e we disobey our p aren ts we dis honor them . Our memory verse tells us a wonderful tru th . Let us say it together. Children, obey your parents. When we obey them we honor them . Then too it is a command of God, so we not only dishonor our p aren ts when we do not do as they w ant us to do, but we are disobeying God every tim e we disobey bur parents. So you see, boys and girls, it is a p retty serious thing when we disobey our parents. d o s in g P ray er.—Dear Lord Jesus, help us to keep these bodies clean and pure and may we serve and honor thee by always obeying our parents.
MAY 13, 1923 THE RESURRECTION OF LAZARUS—John 11:20-27, 39-44
Golden Text: ’’And when he had th u s spoken, he cried w ith a loud voice, Lazarus, come fo rth .” (John 11:43.) Outline: (1) The" Blinding Doubts, vs., 20- 32. , (2) The Burdened Saviour, vs. 33-36. (3) The B roken Bonds, vs. 37-44. (1) THE, BLINDING DOUBTS, vs. 20-32. When she hears th a t Jesus has come, M artha goes out to meet Him. She manifests the restless sp irit which characterizes h er by going immediately,
and manifests h er doubt in her first words to Him: “Lord, if thou hadst been here, my b ro ther had not died.” Here faith and doubt are strangely mixed. M artha believed Jesus. She believed in his prayers. She believed in the power of God, b u t she doubted Jesu s’ power to raise her brother. H er love was m o re . evident th a n h er faith, but the tru est love is th e outgrow th of th e strongest faith. Then, Jesus could no t be present, bodily in all places. Now, He can and He is. He longs to have us recog nize His presence.
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