LESSON VI-November 9 ABSTINENCE FOR THE SAKE OF OTHERS (WORLD'S TEMPERANCE SUNDAY) Golden Text It is good not to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor to HOME DAILY BIBLE READINGS-M. Rom. 14.7-21. Abstinence for the Sake of Others. T. Jer. 21.3-14. Corruption and Punishment. W. Hos._7.1-7. Uncontrolled Passion. T. Matt. 24.32-51. Watchfulness. F. I Cor. 8.1-13. Self-denial. S. I Cor. 10.23-11.1. Christian Liberty. S. 1 Cor. 9.16-27. Paul's Use of Christian Liberty. STUDY Rom. 14.7-21 COMMIT vv 7, 8 7 For none of us liveth to himself, and none dieth to himself. 8 For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; or whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord's. 9 For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living. 10 But thou, why dost thou judge thy brother? or thou again, why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment-seat of God. II For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, to me every knee shall bow, 12 So then each one of us shall give account of himself to God. 13 Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but judge ye this rather, that no man put a stumbling-block in his brother's way, or an occasion of falling. 14 I know, and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus, that nothing is unclean of itself: save that to him who accounteth anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean. 15 For if because of meat thy brother is grieved, thou walkest no longer in love. Destroy not with thy meat him for whom Christ died. 16 Let not then your good be evil spoken of: 17 for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. 18 For he that herein serveth Christ is well-pleasing to God, and approved of men. 19 So then let us follow after things which make for peace, and things whereby we may edify one another. 20 Overthrow not for meat's sake the work of God. All things indeed are clean; howbeit it is evil for that man who eateth with offence. 21 It is good not to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor to do anything whereby thy brother stumbleth. WORDS AND PHRASES EXPLAINED Lesson Outline. I. The Duty of Mutual Toleration, 1-12. II. Abstinence for the Sake of Others, 13-23. 7-9. Our actions must please God, must accord with his will and not with our own. We are the Lord's both in life and death, as is proved by Christ's death and resurrection that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living. 10. But thou. The Roman brother who thinks it not right to eat meat, verse 15.-Judge. Condemn. Or thou again. The Roman brother who thinks it right to eat anything-Set at nought thy brother. Despise him.-For we shall all stand before the judgment-seat of God. God alone has the right to judge, and by him each one shall be judged. 11-12. It is written. Is. 45.23.-Confess. Or, give praise, RVm.-So then. Quarter November 9 Verses 4-10 speak of man's judging man; when he realizes his own accountability to God, he will see how unfit he is to judge another.-Himself. This is the emphatic word. 13. Judge ye this rather. Instead of thinking about your brother's conduct and condemning it, verse 10, think about your own conduct and see that it does not cause another to sin.-Stumbling block. See Mt. 18.6. 14. I know. Paul himself has no scruples about eating anything forbidden the Jews by the Levitical law.-In the Lord Jesus. See Jn. 2.24. Through communion with Christ.-Unclean. The Levitical law (Lev. XI) forbade the eating of certain animals, which were therefore called common, unclean, as opposed to what was appointed them to eat, and was therefore pure or holy.-To him it is unclean. One may not disregard his conscience. See p. 415. 15. Grieved. "It is a hurt to his conscience."-Thou walkest no longer in love. Love is the test in conduct; Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.-Destroy not with thy meat him for whom Christ died. For the sake of a little self-indulgence in eating you may be in danger of destroying one for whom Christ suffered and died. "Do not think more of your food than Christ thought of his life" (Bengel). 16. Let not then your good be evil spoken of. If you exercise your good, your Christian liberty, your right to eat anything, and thereby offend another whose conscience will not allow him to eat it, then others will speak evil of your liberty. It is too great a price to pay for a matter of so little importance. 17. This verse distinguishes what is unimportant and what is important.—The kingdom of God. Christianity.-Eating and drinking. Let these stand for the unimportant things in Church doctrines.-Righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. These are the important matters.-Righteousness. Rightdealing. In the Holy Spirit. Through his indwelling. 19. We must consider what effect our conduct will have on others.-Let us follow. Many ancient authorities read we follow, RVm.-Edify. Improve. 20. Overthrow not for meat's sake the work of God. Possibly some of the "strong" Christians were on the point of disrupting the Church of Rome over the unimportant question of "meat."-The work of God. "The Christian brother, whose Christian personality is God's work" (Vincent).—All things....howbeit. The same assertion of a general truth followed by an exception as is made in verse 14. 21. Stumbleth. Many ancient authorities add or is offended, or is weak, RVm. Compare the Golden Rule and the second Great Commandment. SUGGESTIVE THOUGHTS FROM HELPFUL WRITERS 13. What a remarkable contrast there is between the true Christian's use of the power of judgment and that of the worldly-wise! These pass judgment upon others from the standpoint of personal preferences and convictions. The true Christian passes judgment upon his own conduct from the standpoint of the well-being of his brother. The one is self-centered, and is dogmatic, ignorant, and often unjust. The other is love-centered, and is self-denying, intelligent, and always merciful. Dr. G. Campbell Morgan, in Bible Notes. 14. I know, and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus. How grandly Paul swung himself into independence of character, cutting loose from the tradition of his fathers, from the leading strings of his home education; from his university culture, at the feet of Gamaliel; and, harder still to accomplish, from his own past, breaking with that sense of consistency which even strong men drag behind them, as a ship might drag a fastened rudder! Paul yielded his judgment and life to Jesus, but not until the light from that divine face shot its persuasion through his mind, and then he followed Jesus, still in absolute independence because the Master's mind had become his own. Dr. James M. Ludlow. LIGHT FROM ORIENTAL LIFE 15. If because of meat thy brother is grieved. Every meal was in a manner dedicated to the household gods by laying some portion of it on the family Quarter November 9 altar. Where one member of a heathen family had become converted, he would at once be confronted with the question, rising in his own conscience, whether by partaking of such food he might not be countenancing idolatry. On the occasion of a birthday, or a marriage, or a safe return from sea, or any circumstance that seemed to call for celebration, it was customary to sacrifice in some public temple. And after the legs and the entrails of the victim had been burnt on the altar, the worshiper received the remainder and invited his friends and guests to partake of it, either in the temple itself, or in the surrounding grove, or at his own home. Much of the meat offered in worship found its way into the common market, so that at any meal the Christian ran the risk of eating things sacrificed to idols. Dr. Marcus Dods. THE HISTORICAL AND GEOGRAPHICAL BACKGROUND It was towards the close of his third great missionary journey, in the winter of 55-56 a. d., when Paul wrote his letter to the Romans. He was at Corinth and was about to return to Jerusalem with the alms contributed by the Greek churches. "After I have been there I must also see Rome," he said in Acts 19.21, and it was this contemplated visit which led him to write to the Christians in Rome, to prepare them for his coming, to warn them against evil reports that might have reached them, and also to counsel them in matters wherein he knew they needed guidance. One of these matters concerned the eating of meat. The Jewish law made a distinction between "clean and unclean meat," that is, between meat which it was lawful for Jews to eat and that which it was unlawful. Christ had abolished the distinction: in Mark we read, "Perceive ye not, that whatsoever from without goeth into the man, it cannot defile him? This he said, making all meats clean." Peter (Acts 10) in a trance had said, "I have never eaten anything that is common and unclean" and he had heard a voice reply, "What God hath cleansed make not thou common." And the Council at Jerusalem had declared in their letter to the Christians at Antioch: (Acts 15.28): "It seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things: that ye abstain from things sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled." When the question arose at Corinth whether the Gentile Christians could partake with their heathen friends of meat which had been offered to idols, Paul's decision was that to do so was not wrong in itself, for all meat was God's gift, but that the Christians should abstain from eating it for the sake of those whose consciences held it to be wrong. These latter Paul called "the weak in the faith," but their scrupulous convictions were to be carefully tolerated by the "strong" brethren. A somewhat similar question arose, it seems, at Rome. Paul did not approve of the scruples of those who objected to the eating of meat, but he counseled those who believed as he did to forego their own right to eat rather than lead their "weaker" brothers to violate their consciences by eating of meat also. To eat meat was not a sin, but to go against one's conscience (though wrong) was a sin. This is the theme-Abstinence for the sake of others-which is ours for our World's Temperance Sunday. SUGGESTIONS TO TEACHERS OF LITTLE FOLKS Your theme today will be the last part of our lesson topic, "For the sake of others." Do not attempt to teach the lesson text. Just say that Paul, a follower of Jesus Christ, taught long ago that there are many things we must willingly give up for the sake of others. Even animals know this. Tell about Professor Dager's dog, who followed him on a walk, and easily jumped back and forth across a big ditch, but when they went along that same road on another day, the dog would not do this. He turned and went back a long way, then crossed by a path that led down and up. Why? Because this time there was a little dog with them, and this big dog knew that if he jumped across the little dog would try it, too, and fall. So for the sake of the little dog, the big one went a long way around. Is it ever wrong for a little girl to play with dolls? Of course not, you an swer, but missionaries have found that it is wrong, sometimes. The missionaries tell the heathen that it is wrong to worship idols. The heathen see the little daughters of the missionaries playing with dolls, and they think that the dolls are idols, such as they worship in their houses. Ought not the little girls to give up playing with dolls until the people know the difference between a doll and an idol? For the sake of those whom their father is trying to teach about the true God, they must give up their own pleasure. Call for the Golden Rule, and apply it to events in your pupils' lives. SUGGESTIONS FOR BEGINNING THE LESSON For Younger Pupils. See the Historical Background. For Older Pupils. What does prophylaxis mean? Among the laws recorded in Deuteronomy there is one which aims to prevent loss of life from falling from the roof of a house. What is it? When thou buildest a new house, then thou shalt make a battlement for thy roof, that thou bring not blood upon thy house, if any man fall from thence. The owner who failed to obey this law was held responsible for the death of one who might fall from his roof. He might be strong and steady and in no danger of falling himself, but that fact did not free him from responsibility for a weaker man. This is the lesson that Paul taught the Romans: however strong they might be, safe at any height, they must build battlements for the sake of their weaker brethren. LESSON TOPICS AND ILLUSTRATIONS I A GOOD REASON FOR ABSTINENCE FROM INTOXICATING LIQUORS An Instance of Wonderful Self-Control for the Sake of Others. Two hundred feet above the East River two men were working on the Manhattan Tower of the Queensboro' Bridge. Ten feet below, half a dozen workmen were engaged, and farther down others, perhaps a score in all, toiled each at his particular task. A steel beam of several tons' weight was lowered, on the day in question, to its proper position, the business of the two men being to guide it into place. Before the great weight of steel could be securely fastened it began to slip, and the efforts of the men were powerless to keep it from sliding toward the open space below. They had only to stand out of the way to see many of their fellow-workmen crushed to death. An instant for decision, and one brave fellow gasped: "I'l stick to it if you will." The other nodded, and the two held. on grimly until their fellow-workmen could swarm up the ladders and again attach the derrick to the mighty beam. In the meantime a hand of each of the heroes had been ground off at the wrist. Why don't men do the easier things of_self-control for their brothers' sakes? Harper's Weekly. To think of Oneself is not Enough. It was in a little frontier town, some years ago, that the preacher, stopping for a short time on his circuit, was visited one evening by a young man and woman. The man, earnest-faced and direct of speech, explained their errand. He kept a little grocery store, and, like all stores of its kind in that region, it dispensed liquor as well as other articles. The young man confessed that he had grown rather too fond of drink himself, but for the sake of the girl he was to marry he had given it up, and now, that his young wife might feel safe and at rest, he wanted to sign a pledge. He asked the preacher to draw one as strong and binding as it could possibly be made, and he would never again touch intoxicating liquor. "No, sir, I will do nothing of the kind," answered the preacher decidedly. The visitor stared. He felt that his request had been misunderstood, and once more he fully set forth the situation. "I understand," said the preacher quietly. "You have given up a bad habit yourself. You want your wife to rest in peace and untroubled about you while you carry on your daily work, and that is well; but how about luring other men into the habit that you have given up as dangerous? What about the other wives you are willing to make suffer all the heartache and anxiety from which Quarter November 9 you would save your own? No, sir, I will not write that selfish pledge. Make it one to give up all traffic in the stuff, and I will do it gladly." There were a few minutes of utter silence except for the steps of the young man who paced the floor. Then he turned suddenly, grasped the preacher's hand with a grip that hurt, and the new pledge was signed. The temperance store prospered from the first, and the new home-where the wife was unafraid and the husband considered his fellow man-became a Christian home, a center of usefulness. Wellspring. Rudyard Kipling's Lesson. In his earlier years Rudyard Kipling was wont to say, "There is no harm in liquor, taken moderately." Then one night he saw two young girls made drunk by two men in a concert hall, and he wrote this confession: "My own demand for beer helped to send those two girls reeling down the dark street. It is not good that we should let it lie before the eyes of children, and I have been a fool in writing to the contrary. Better is it for a man to go without his beer in public places than to bring temptation to the lips of young fools such as the four I had seen." Abraham Lincoln's Logic. "But," says one, "what good can I do by signing the pledge? I never drink even without signing." The question has already been asked and answered more than a million times. Let it be answered once more. For the man suddenly or in any other way to break off from the use of drams, who has indulged in them for a long course of years, and until his appetite for them has grown ten or a hundred fold stronger, and more craving than any natural appetite can be, requires a most powerful moral effort. In such an undertaking he needs every moral support and influence that can possibly be brought to his aid and thrown around him. And not only so, but every moral prop should be taken from whatever argument might rise in his mind to lure him to his backsliding. But it is said by some that men will think and act for themselves; that none will disuse spirits or anything else because his neighbors do, and that moral influence is not that powerful engine contended for. Let us examine this. Let me ask the man who could maintain this position most stiffly, what compensation he will accept to go to church some Sunday and sit during the sermon with his wife's bonnet upon his head? Not a trifle, I'll venture, and why not? There would be nothing irreligious in it, nothing immoral, nothing uncomfortable; then why not? Is it not because there would be something egregiously unfashionable in it? Then it is the influence of fashion; and what is the influence of fashion but the influence that other people's actions have on our actions—the strong inclination each of us feels to do as we see all our neighbors do? Nor is the influence of fashion confined to any particular thing or class of things; it is just as strong on one subject as another. Let us make it as unfashionable to withhold our names from the temperance cause as for husbands to wear their wives' bonnets to church, and instances will be just as rare in the one case as the other. A Pledge signed for Another's Sake. Tawhiao, King of the New Zealand Maoris, was anything but an abstainer, and his evil doings were a source of perpetual anxiety. Londoners will still remember his visit to England many years ago, when he was, as far as a Maori monarch could be, one of the lions of the season. It was at the outset of his journey that he called on Sir George Gray. The latter boldly asked the question which was troubling Tawhiao's friends. What, he asked Tawhiao, would he think of a man who brought about the death of a fellow-being, or of many fellow-beings, or who destroyed the happiness of a whole nation. "Who could be so cruel. It is not possible that anybody could be so wicked," said the king. When he realized the meaning of the question he sobbed like a child, and asked Sir George pitifully what could be done lest he disgrace the Maori people while in England. "I'll tell you," said Sir George. "We'll both sign a pledge, agreeing to abstain from alcohol in any form. That pledge will mutually bind us for a number of years, and there could be no more sacred compact." Liverpool Daily Post. II FOR THE SAKE OF OTHERS For their Sakes I will order my Course with Care and Conscience. Here |