" t h at we have been, with Jesus'," ' Acts ~4:13.' Every believer who lives below his privilege is a robber, who robs the world of needed testimony and robs God of H i s glory. • An Honored Position. "Therefore" stood they before the King" (vs. 19). Wh en a ma n 's standing is all right with God he can stand before kings. They pleased God by their faithfulness and it pleased the, faithful God to honor theni. "If any man] will serve Me, him will My F a t h er honor,". John 12:26. God gave the understanding and wisdom to use it, and the king recog- nized it and availed himself of it. The be- lievers who are loyal to the Lord -in the: present evil age will stand before H im in the age to come and those who are faithful to the present t r u st will be 'honored- with t he larger t r u st in thé ages to come., " portrait, so graphically d r awn in Scripture» to jot and tittle. II. THE DEDICATION OF THE IMAGE. The purpose ,-of it was: 1. To assemble the conquered peoples and compel their ac-, knowledgment of the great king's s u p r em- acy. 2. To bring the diverse, people Into contact for rrmtual acquaintance calculated to modify their natural antagonisms. 3. To commit them to common confession of the gods of Babylon, - for no empire hopes to stand without religion, and ' nothing . unites men like a common worship. - Which is a great concession to the t r u th t h at "there is one body—one Lord, one faith, one God and Father of all" (Eph. 4:4-6), and t h at the true and lasting empire cannot come till this is realized in experience (Dan. 3:2). III. THE PROCLAMATION. 1. The herald addressed'all. "people, na*" tions, and languages" (v.. 4. The Christian- herald longs for such an opportunity. The Panama Exposition will afford one, and the Bible Institute hopes to make use of it. 2. If we are to go into all the earth and preach the gospel, much more should we take a d- vantage of the world's coming to us. The King of kings gathered "peoples, nations and, languages" at Jerusalem (Acts 2:8-10), arid" His heralds called them to worship 'the "liv- ing and true God" (1 The. 1:9, 10). 3. There is a poetic correspondence between the- pro 'c-~ ]•< rnatinn of the king of Babylon and t h at of the King of Heaven. T h e r e ' i s rib ,sound of "cornet, flute, harp," etc., so sweet a§ t h at of t he Gospel. "How s w e e t - t he "name, of Jesus sbunds!"' and "every knee shall bow arid-every tongue • confess' t h at Christ'-is L o r d : t o - t he glory of God the F a t h e r ," Whose image H© is. (Phil. : 2:11), and the soul t h at will not bow toi H im shall be cast into a "lake of fire and brim- stone" (Rev. 20:15), as it is Written, "He that-belleveth not the Son . . . the wrath of God abldeth on him" (Jno. 3:36), and t h at will'be poetic retribution for them who ^burri the sons of God. Such -a: fiery fate"' a w a i t s : all Nebuchadnezzars; all antichrists, at the'- end (Heb. 10:27; 2 The. 2:8). '
Hood run hot in our veins; so t h at in a great question of compromise we would say, as aid: Joseph, "How can I do this great wick- edness and sin against God." Gen. 39:9. We need a holy purpose to keep these bodies of ours as the temples of the Holy Ghost. A Heavenly Position. "Prove thy ser- vants"- (vs. 12). P ut us to the test. Of wh at value is a mere prpfession of Christ. Count it all joy when you fall into divers temptations," Jas. 1:2. Our God delights to use us as His witnesses and- prove -through our lives t h at He is able t o ' do exceeding abundantly above all t h at we ask or think. God said to Satan, " H a st thou considered my servant Job?" Elijah gave a, challenge to the Baal worshippers, "If the Lord be God, follow H i m ," 1 Kings 18:21. All that God w a n ts is an opportunity, t o. prove through our lives, by the joyfulness of our service t h at He can give victory over sin. The world is entitled to the testimony, THE HEROES OF FAITH IN THE EUR- NACE OF FIRE. Lesson XII Daniel 3. "When thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flames kindle upon thee," Isa. 43:2. "Quenched the violence of fire," Heb. 11:34. "These are they that came out of great tribulation," Rev. 7:4. "Be thou faithful unto death (martyrdom) and I will give thee a crown of life," Rev. 2:10. I. "COMING EVENTS CAST THEIR SHADOWS BEFORE." 1. The "diadem" removed from Jerusa- lem" (JEze. 21:26) was at once seized by Babylon. Wh en t h at which hinders is "taken out of the way" antichrist springs to the saddle. Nebuchadnezzar was the anti- christ of his age and type of him who is to come. 2. H e went forth "conquering and to conquer" (Rev. 6:2), he spread strife,, famine and pestilence in the earth, and then Proceeded to gather the "scattered" tribes and realize.the plans of Ninarod so rudely disturbed when the rule passed to the "seed of Abraham" (Gen. 10:9; 11:4; 12:1, 3). 3." Full of schemes of empire he saw himself the mighty " m an of destiny," and deter-, mined to symbolize the kingdom of man in a golden colossus in the n a me of his god, of - whom he claimed to be the incarnation, and therefore of himself, "an image to the beast" (Rev. 13:14) t h at all mankind should worship him (13:15) under penalty of death (ibid). 4. AH this filled his dreams and Daniel interpreted his colòssus-vision to him; declaring the godless nature and final ruin of his glorious fabric (Dan. 2:45; Rev. 18.21, 10, 16, 17). 5. Notwithstanding Daniel's pre- dictions, certified by the miraculous repro- duction of the king's dream, t h at monarch impiously proceeded to carry out his pur- pose. He set up his idol and demanded homage to himself and his god. Thè clearest predictions of proDhecy will not deter sin- ners- in their iniquity, and in like m&nner antichrist, " t h e man of sin,'" will fill out his'
Lesson for September 17th
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