Southern Christian Advocate

LESSONS FROM THE LESSON
REV. R. L. HOLROYD. YORK. S. C.
MAY 30, 1926
Genesis 28:10-22

The Promises of God.- Jacob, the younger son of Isaac and Rebekah, seemed to be little deserving of the promise he received from God at Bethel.

He was the source of much trouble in his father's house. He cheated Esau out of his birthright and tricked blind Isaac into bestowing a father's blessing upon him which blessing rightfully belonged to Esau.

The final result of his trickery and cunning was that he was compelled to leave home and become an exile. In today's lesson we find him a weary traveler seeking rest, and when the evening comes he uses a stone for a pillow, and in a lonely spot in the mountains Jacob relaxes in sleep.

As he sleeps he dreams. Passing over any effort to interpret this dream, we merely recall the promise of God that came to Jacob at this place, "Behold, I am with thee and will keep thee."

Jacob did not merit this divine favor, and yet it was bestowed. We therefore learn here, and in numberless other instances that God is gracious in the bestowal of mercy. He takes the wreck of our lives and constructs a new and nobler manhood.

He is willing to begin with the rough, unsightly stone if perchance He is allowed to mould it into a thing of beauty.

God seems to be content to use us frail, human beings in the construction of His kingdom.

There is hope here for every man. It does not matter how you have misspent your life, God will accept your offering of repentance and bless you with His presence and His companionship.

It is a great and glorious privilege to have said of us. "Ye are laborers together with Christ." We are workers along with Him in the great work of evangelizing the world.

Visions.--Already we have departed from the thought of today's lesson but hope that the departure has done no harm.

The need today is vision--a vision of God. We will arrive at the answer to the problem of life, the problem of the church, to every other vexing problem, if we are able to see God.

And all that we need in order to see God is open eyes. Most of us are as the young man at Dothan: blind, spiritually blind. Well might the prayer be offered in our behalf,

"Lord, open the people's eyes that they might see."

God still reveals Himself to His children. The voice of the Lord yet comes to the ears of men. May we have eyes that see, ears that hear, and hearts that understand.

Yes, a supreme need today is a consciousness on the part of God's people that He is near at hand. Aye, more, a certain, experimental knowledge that God is with us.

We say this is a supreme need because with this experience the church would recognize no task as impossible, and no force strong enough to successfully combat with it. "For if God be for us, who can be against us?"

Visions of Duty.-A vision of the world of men, in need, suffering, blind, deaf, lame, would come to us if we will look at the world through God's eyes. And with the realization that God is near to lend His power, will come encouragement to labor in His vineyard here.

We would not minimize the task before us. There is nothing insignificant about it. It is a task of large magnitude, problematic, intricate, calling for the best that is in us.

A vision of God will give us confidence in our ability to succeed.

Ten of the spies who visited Canaan did not see God, and therefore stood hopeless before their task. Caleb and Joshua sensed the nearness of God, and felt a bestowment of power, and had the courage to say, "Let us go over and possess it, for we are able to overcome."

A vision of God; a vision of our world task; then

"Onward Christian soldiers,
On to victory."