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God pass into a prayer to God. Contemplation of his at tributes always arouses devotion. It is God’s delight to satisfy desire which he awakens even as Naphtali in Deut. 33:23, “Satisfied with favor and filled with the Blessing of Jehovah.” M The lessons of this quarter on “The Missionary Message .of the Bible” may he profitably looked at from the view point of God’s Purpose, Patience, and Perseverance. The Purpose of God as regards this world is very clearly shown in these lessons. In the first les- DEVOTIONAL son God gave to Abraham this uncondi- COMMENT tional promise: “In thee shall all fami- John A. Hubbard lies of the earth he blessed” (Gen. 12: 3 ). In a very real sense the rest of the Bible is a record of God’s work in carrying out this promise. In the last lesson we studied some of the prophecies which reveal the fulfillment.—Christ reigning over all the earth in righteousness, justice, and peace— the earth filled with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. (Isa. 11:10). Lessons 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 reveal God’s thought as to how His gracious purpose is to be realized. In His love and grace He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to die for the sins of the world, and it is only on the ground of His redeeming blood that the promised blessings can come to this sinful world. Having made this all-sufficient provision, He has commissioned His followers to make known the Glad Tid ings to all the world, granting to those who obey the gracious presence and power of the Holy Spirit, without whom the work simply cannot be done. As a result of the proclamation of the Gospel, a company of believers is be ing called out, forming “the church which is His body.” When this body is completed, He, the glorious Head, will come to take His own to Himself. This, the rapture of the church, will be followed by the revelation of the Lord in glory, ushering in, in due time, that of which the poets have sung, and for which this poor world is sighing, the time of universal blessing. And how marvelous has been the Patience of God in the working out of His purpose! Think of His patience with Abraham, with Israel as a nation, with the church down through the centuries, with you and me! And we can count on His Perseverance. Some have spoken of “the perseverance of the saints.” We prefer to speak of the perseverance of the Lord. “God is not a man that he should lie; neither the son of man that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?” Num. 23:19. God grant that, as a result of the study of the quarter’s lessons, Sunday School teachers and pupils may receive an enlarged vision of their responsibility and blessed privilege in connection with this great work of world-wide missions.
are old enough to memorizing the story in Luke 2:8-20.) Now we are going to repeat together the most beautiful, and the most wonderful story in all the world. As you grow older you will always be glad you committed these wordB to memory. Of course the shepherds were fright ened at first, hut after the angels told them not to be afraid, and they knew what it all meant, they were very happy, for listen to the words of the angel who told the shepherds that this strange bright light and the star was to tell them of the coming of a baby, who was the Saviour told about by the prophets of long ago. And boys and girls do you know that when the shepherds followed the star, they found the baby Jesus in the city of Bethlehem, which Js David’s city, in a manger, just as God told the prophets so long before. You know the Bible is different from any other book, for it tells of things a long time before they happen, and they come true every time. There has never been a mistake, and there never can be a mistake, for God knows all things, and the Bible is God’s book. How happy these shepherds were as they returned making known to every one the glad news about the baby Jesus, who had come to he the Saviour of the world. Now on this star we are going to write a name on each of the five points, and they are the names the great prophet Isaiah called the one whom God told him he was going to send as a Saviour. The first name is Wonderful, and now that we know Jesus, we too say Jesus is a wonderful Saviour. The second is Counsellor, which means one who will guide us in the right way and tell us just what to do. The third name is The Mighty God. When we think of this great world, with the sun, moon and stars all working so per fectly; the mighty ocean, and so many things we can not count them, we know He is a mighty God. The fourth name is the Everlasting Father. Yes he is for ever the father of all who will love and serve Him. The prince of Peace. He is the only one who can bring real peace. Let us say our memory verse. Closing Prayer. a» DECEMBER 30, 1923 REVIEW: THE WORLD FOR CHRIST Golden Text: “They shall abundantly utter the memory of thy great goodness, and shall sing of 'thy righteousness.” Psa. 145:8. Devotional Reading: Titus 2:11-14. A jewish Rabbi of old said “Before you pray, read or repeat the 145th Psalm.” ,The Psalter is called “Tehillim,” Book of Praises. This is the only Psalm called in Hebrew “Tehiliah.” It was said to have been LESSON David’s Song of Praise, the paean par ex- EXPOSITION cellence of praise. Dimly visible over Dr. F. W. Farr the door of a ruined mosque at Damascus is inscribed the 13th verse—“Thy king dom, O Christ, is an everlasting kingdom and thy dominion endureth throughout all generations.” It is one of the al phabetic Psalms, full of praise from beginning to end. It opens with four significant “I w ills’’: “I will extol thee.” "I will bless thy name.” “I will bless thee every day.” “I will praise thy name forever.” The expressed reason for this outburst of praise is the greatness of Jehovah, a greatness which is unsearchable and inexhaustible, passed on from father to child through many generations. From the greatness of Jehovah, the Psalmist proceeds to magnify the graciousness of Jehovah whose tender mercies are over all his works. It is the chief business of the saints to speak and make known unto the sons of men the majesty of God’s kingdom. God’s majesty and tenderness are united in Christ. Four times in this Psalm does a description of
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