far "from the t r u th as the prevailing opinion t h a t children a re not interested in Bible doctrines. Those p a r e n ts and t e a c h e rs w ho are instilling in the minds of the young the great t r u t hs of the scripture are h a v i ng the joy of seeing strong, forceful, virile Chris- tian young people. T he hope of t he Church lies in the young. Let us h a ve confidence in God's ability to i mp a rt Divine life unto t h em a nd do our best to train t h em in the strong meat of the Word. We cannot be too w a t c h- f ul concerning the t r eme n d o us influences which surround thé young, which will m a ke for their ruin, nor too e a r n e st in our effort to supply t h em with spiritual environment. July 30th and which is always the reward of t h em who seek the Lord a nd the cleansing of H is temple (1 Cor. 2:14-16). III. FOUND BY THE BOOK. (1) Shaphan read, the king heard and »'rent his clothes" (34:18, 19). Coleridge be- lieved t he Bible because it "found" him "at deeper depths than any other book." This is in h a r mo ny with David who said, "The law of the Lord Is perfect, converting the soul . . enllghtenina the eyes" (Psa. 19:7, 8); a nd with Paul, "The Word Is liv- ing and oowerful and sharper than a two- edged sword," etc. (Heb. 4:12). (2) It Is not likely that Josiah was quite Ignorant of those curses in Deuteronomy; t h ey were the basis of all the warnings of the prophets with which he m u st have been familiar, (a) P e r- h a ps the special agitation t h at seized him was due to the sentiment w a k e n ed by read- ing the hoary and original "witness against them" (Deut. 31:26). W i th w h at quickened pulse we would read an original of Paul or Peter, were it suddenly placed in our h a n d s! (b) It m ay have been due to the peculiar circumstance of unearrthing the very docu- m e nt thé precepts of which he w as u n w i t- tingly honoring, while the j u d gm e n ts of it were so disastrously manifested in the cap- tivity of the ten tribes, and thé m e n a ce of the powers t h at threatened his own people. (3) The most familiar passages find us some- times "at deeper depths" t h an ever before; and circumstances often cause men to feel a point they never saw. P e r h a ps most peni- t e n ts are brought under conviction by Scrip- t u r es they have often heard, or read, b ut which never "found" them, or were, so, found by them till now. T he Gideons h a ve m a n y an incident of t he kind to tell. A w o m an waiting for her paramour, recog- nizing th« well-known book in the hotel room, opened it, "for fun." read, locked out hor lover, and spent the hours on h er knees. If one does not obey his Biblé now, let him read it, memorize It; It may save his soul some day. (4) As In those days of Israel's apostacy, thev lost their Bible by departing from it, so in the " D a r k" or "Middle" A ares, the church lost hers. As in those days, individuals and "the sons of the pro- phets" possessed and preserved it; so did pious recluses, and mo n a s t e ry libraries, in these "ages." B ut when a Hilkinh, like Wyclife or Luther, found it, and Christen- dom heard it, it produced the Reformation. People and priest were ignorant of it; had forgotten it; forms, ceremonies, pageants,
sible every child in t he land should be brought into touch w i th t he Bible. We m u st have greater confidence in the early conversion of children and g r e a t er respect for t h em as Christians. Children are easily reached and m a ke t he best followers of the Lord. We m u st be more guarded with r e f- erence to t he training of _ t he children. Josiah h ad the benefit of spiritual tutelage from some of God's Saints. Hosea, H a b- b a k uk Zephaniah a nd J e r e m i ah all m i n- istered to the young king. T h e re w as no namby pamby sickly sentimental teaching from these worthies. There is nothing so Lesson for FINDING AND BEING FOUND BY THE BOOK OF THE "LAW. Lesson V.—2 Chron. 34-35. I. THE LOST BOOK. (1) Notwithstanding the "critics," facts show that, save Jer., Ezek., Dan., a few Psalms, Ezra, Nehemiah, E s t h e r, and halt the minor prophets, the J e ws of Josiah s time had the Old T e s t a m e n t. (2) The cost of copies hindered a general distribution even of p a r ts of the collection. (3) They were not gathered as a whole until Ezra. (3 )Whlle the people remained faithful, much of the law, and most of the historic and heroic matter mu st h a ve been in the m e m- ories of the people a:nd passed on to their children by word of mo u th (Deut. 6:4-9; Ex. 12-26 27). (4) At all times there were priests who must have preserved the "priest code," and such pious men, who were t e a c h- ers of the people by profession, would h a ve cherished all thè sacred records (Lev. 10:tt, 11). (5) The schools of the prophets (1 Sam. 10:5; 2 Kgs. 2:3, 5) no doubt had, . multiplied, and t a u g ht the Word. (6) T he particular "book" of our t e xt certainly in- cluded Deuteronomy, the 28th, 29th and 30th chapters of which contained the predicted curses already coming upon t he nation. Moses (Deut. 31:26, 27) caused this book to be deposited with the ark, with which it mu st have been t r a n s f e r r ed to Solomon s temple. Du r i ng the idolatrous days of Ahaz. Manasseh, Amon, even the Holy of holies v.as desecrated, and the a rk removed (for it w as replaced by Josiah) (2 Chron. 35:3), a nd t h us hidden, misplaced, or buried a mo ng the rubbish the roll w as lost. (7) The rea- sonable probability is t h at the book found w a s Moses' original, "by the hand of Moses" (34-14). We have Mss. copies twice a s old as t h at would h a ve been. F i f t e en priceless leaves were found by Tischendorf in the sweepings of an old mo n a s t e ry library, which resulted in t he discovery the whole "SL- naltlc" Ms. d a t i ng from 350 (?) B. C. the house of God for the restoration of H is wor- ship the "book of the law of the Lord, given by the hand of Moses" was found and b r o u g ht by S h a p h an to the king. (21 This was the crown and reward of their labors, for they had found t h at which w as "more to be desired than fine gold" (Psa. 19:10),. II. THE BOOK FOUND. (1) While cleansing and repairing
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