This picture was sent to the little readers of THE CHURCH AT HOME AND ABROAD from over the sea. From what country do you think? Whom do you take these persons to be? Get all the help you can-from your mothers teachers or pastors-and write to me. Every child, under fourteen years that does so, shall have a copy of the picture on a page by itself. The three who give the best account shall each have THE CHURCH AT HOME AND ABROAD for a year. Sabbath-school Work. Though the summer has been a very trying one, and stagnation and depression have more or less affected enterprises controlled by human means, it is cause for gratitude to be able to report that the Sabbath-School Missionary work has everywhere been vigorously carried forward. This is not surprising nor unusual. God ever has protected, and ever will, protect and honor his work and workers. When Christ declared, "And I, if I be lifted up, will draw all men unto me," he attached no qualification as to season nor limit to the measure of success. In addition to the force of permanent Sabbath-school missionaries, the Board has had at work in the field during the summer, a large number of students from our theological seminaries. Though we are unable, at this writing, to give the statistical results of the work accomplished, yet, judging from the monthly reports sent in by the missionaries and from their letters, we have every reason to believe that great work has been done for the Master. Many Sabbath-schools have been organized and re-organized. Thousands of familes have been visited, in which prayer has been held, and the printed truth placed. Neglected children and youth have been gathered into the Sabbath-school. means of grace have been established in communities where they were wanting. Christ has been" lifted up," and men have been drawn to Him. The While we thank God for what he has wrought, we also honor his faithful messengers, who have labored in season and out of season for the advancement of his kingdom. 1892.] Thoughts on the Sabbath-school Lessons. 351 Choughts on the Sabbath-School him into the full light of the understanding Lessons. of the Gospel, it needed that an apostle resting on the roof-top at Joppa should have a new and enlarged view of the privileges and responsibilities of the ministry to which he had been called. For the development of this missionary idea in the early church it was quite worth while that a supernatural vision and an angel messenger should be employed, for through all the ages since the church of Christ has looked back to the record for its inspiration. And what has been the result? The gospel has been preached to the Gentiles and they are coming "from the east, and from the west, and from the north, and from the south" to "sit down with Abraham, and OCT. 2.-Saul Converted. Acts ix: 1-20. The prominent feature in this type of conthe version is submission, surrender of human will to the will of God, to which it has been in conscious rebellious opposition, and the rightful supremacy of which is clearly seen. It is the giving up of a determination, known and felt to be wrong, and voluntary subjection to an authority seen and known to be right. It is not a breaking down of the will. The energy and persistence of the man, that which we significantly Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.' call his will-power, may frequently be found undiminished and may carry on a career which shall be historic and memorable. There have been no stronger human wills than those which have been most decisive in their submission to the will of God. This type of conversion does not crush the It simply reguwill, does not enfeeble it. lates it by reducing it into due subordination to the will of God. The simple record of the life and death of this beloved disciple at Joppa gives no hint of any such longing, but we may feel sure that Dorcas came back from her glimpse at the mysteries of eternity, "to take up the burdens of life again" with her earnestness of purpose undiminished, but with a deeper and more solemn appreciation of the fact that life is worth living. OCT. 16.-Peter's Vision. Acts x: 1-20. So in God's providence the supply and the need are adjusted, special messengers prepared for special work. The earnest hearted centurion had felt his way along in the darkness just as far as he could go. To bring OCT. 23.-Peter at Cæsarea. Acts x: 30-48 Cornelius was recompensed for his prayers and alms, by the visit of an angel, by the visit of an apostle, by the glad tidings of the gospel, and, to crown all, by the gift of the Holy Ghost. How striking an instance of the large and munificent scale on which God responds to the desires and efforts which his own free grace has prompted-of his "giving more" (as is his wont) "than either we desire or deserve." How wonderful a fulfillment of the promise made by our Lord both to secret alms and secret prayers—“ Thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly."-E. M. Goulbourn. OCT. 30.-The Gospel Preached at Antioch. Acts xi: 19-30. And Thus at the very beginning the blood of the martyrs was the seed of the church. Stephen slain-the disciples scattered-an ingathering of saved souls at Antioch. at this same Antioch the Church found its name—a name given, possibly, in derision at first, with taunting allusion to the crucified leader-but with a depth and preciousness of meaning to the followers of that Leader which those that gave it could never have appreciated. Christian--Christ-man-Christlike. If only all who bear the name could bear it worthily, how much more it might mean to themselves and to a world of lookers-on! |