... Select Notes on the International Sunday School Lessons ...

31. When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:

32. And before him shall be gathered all nations; and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: 33. And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.

“I am the ResURRECTION, AND THE LIFE: he that believeth in me, though he die, yet shall he live; and whosoever liveth and believeth on me shall never die.' This promise, spoken to Martha at the grave of her brother (John 11:25, 26), has been the staff and stay of many mourning hearts.

THE MANY MANSIONS IN THE FATHER'S HOUSE (John 14: 2, 3). Jesus, on the evening before his crucifixion, comforted his disciples and his followers ever since by his promise: In my Father's house are many mansions, revealing heaven as a large place, with room for all. "Heaven will contain immense throngs without being crowded. Its children will be as the grains of sand that bar the ocean's waves, or the stars that begem the vault of night. Yet there is room! The many mansions are not all tenanted." - F. B. Meyer.

I go to prepare a place for you. We know not how he will prepare a place for us. The universe is large enough with all its stars, and there are countless numbers of places. The place for us will be the one we are fitted for, and which is fitted for us as the best home for whatever service may be our duty. And the treasures we are laying up in heaven will doubtless in some way determine the sort of mansion to be provided for us. See the dream of the rich lady who saw in heaven a splendid mansion being built for her gardener, while for herself there was building but a tiny cottage. (Select Notes, 1918, p. 261.) “ The Master Builder is doing his best with the material that is being sent up."

I will come again and receive you unto myself; that where I am ye may be also. Compare the beautiful description of the death of Christian and Hopeful, in Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress.

SECOND THE CONDITIONS OF OBTAINING ETERNAL LIFE. The one great indispensable condition of the obtaining of eternal life is FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST, who came to this earth, to make Eternal Life possible to his sinful children. John 3:16, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

John 3:15, The Son of man was lifted up by his crucifixion on the cross that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life."

Christ is the firstfruits of the resurrection because his resurrection is the pledge and assurance of the resurrection of his people, a great harvest of life, just as the first sheaf of grain is the pledge of the full treasures of autumn (Matt. 13:39; Col. 1: 18; Rev. 15; 14: 14-16). I Cor. 15: 21, "For since by man came death [Adam and his sin], by man [Jesus Christ in the flesh] came also the resurrection of the dead." Therefore Christ is more than the “firstfruits" of the resurrection; he is its fountain, and supplies the new life to all believers. This close connection between Christ's resurrection and ours is the chief reason for the importance of the doctrine.

John 6: 47," Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life."

John 17:3, "And this is life eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent."

I Pet. 1: 3-5,

by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you."

THE FINAL JUDGMENT OF THE WORLD, concerning "the things done in the body," will separate not only the wicked from the good, but also the false from the true believer in Christ. Many who in this world are by all supposed to be among the true followers of the Lamb may in that time of open hearts prove to have failed in some essential condition of the true believer.

When the Son of man comes in his glory, the nations being gathered for judgment, he will separate the sheep, who represent the righteous, and are placed on his right hand, from the goats, who represent the wicked, the false. The two species of animals, though alike in some respects, are yet very different.

34. Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:

35. For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in.

36. Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, prison, and ye came unto me.

and ye

visited me: I was in

37. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?

38. When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?

39. Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?

"When travelling between Joppa and Jerusalem, I saw, at a certain spot, a great intermingled flock of sheep and goats. The goats were all perfectly black, the sheep were all beautifully white; and thus, even to my eye, and while I was looking from a distance, the distinction between the two kinds was strikingly obvious. If a separa

"As a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats."

tion of the two had been required, there would not have been the least danger of a mistake." Morison.

The King said unto the righteous on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. Come, draw near to your Elder Brother, to your Father, to your home; for here is the place for you.

There is

The kingdom is the kingdom of heaven, in which saints reign over infinite forces and powers to make them minister to happiness and good; "The kingdom of which Christ is King, and which consists in righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost (Rom. 14: 17)." - Abbott. Prepared for you. wonderful comfort and inspiration in the assurance that God regards us as worthy of his thought and planning from the very beginning; that it was not demons, nor chance, but the wise and loving God, who planned our lives, and prepared a place for us in his work, in his kingdom, and in his home.

What had the Righteous Done? that they should be so blessed? They did exactly what Jesus had done when on the earth:

I was hungry and ye fed me.

I was thirsty and ye gave me drink.

I was a stranger and ye took me into your homes.

I was naked and ye clothed me.

I was sick and ye visited me.

I was in prison for doing right, and ye came unto me.

These were all voluntary acts done with self-forgetting love.

Note (1) that a good character, a heavenly nature, is absolutely essential to being the children of God, and receiving his reward.

Note (2) that the acts of kindness here mentioned are but specimens and illustrations of the good deeds of God's children. The good deeds are not substitutes for faith, and prayer, and love, and honesty, but they are the proofs of a right heart, from which all virtues grow. The fruits of the Spirit are the proofs of the Spirit.

"Heaven is theirs who are trying to make a heaven of this earth."

Unconscious Goodness. The righteous were so interested in their service for others that they had been unconscious of their goodness. They asked, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, etc., vs. 37-39.

The unconsciousness of the righteous shows that their virtues were sincere. We

40. And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.

41. Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:

42. For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink :

43. I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.

44. Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?

45. Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.

46. And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.

are apt to estimate the merit of our good deeds according to the struggle we make in doing them. It should be as natural as breathing, or the morning songs of birds. The King answered: Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.

Their reward was eternal life.

"All things are yours, because ye are Christ's."

THIRD: PAUL ON THE RESURRECTION, I Cor. 15; 2 Cor. 4: 14-5: 10. St. Paul in writing to the Corinthian Christians tells them that Jesus died, and was raised from the dead. He relates the proofs of His resurrection, including the fact that he himself had seen Him alive, for "Christ is risen from the dead, and become the first fruits of them that slept [the sleep of death], for as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive."

"Some man will say, How are the dead raised up? and with what body do they come up?"

Paul answers by an illustration and an analogy.

The Farmer takes the grains of wheat and corn and sows them in the prepared soil. Just as our bodies when they die are buried in the ground.

Then the grain and other seeds rot in the damp soil.

Just as our bodies decay in the grave.

But in every good seed there exists an invisible germ of life, which no anatomist's scalpel can reach.

So there is in every Christian's soul a life which" is not quickened except it die." What the farmer sows is not that new body that shall be. For God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed its own body."

In the bright spring days we can see the fields glorious in living green. From the flower seeds sown we see the gardens blooming in beauty with every color of the rainbow, and exhaling fragrance to the world.

This is the type of the resurrection of the dead. The natural body dies, but from it rises the spiritual body. "So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: it is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. this mortal must put on immortality. Death is swallowed up in victory." The Two Watches. Sometimes in speaking to children I have borrowed from the watchmaker a good watch for which he has two cases, one of fine gold, and the other very dull and poor. In the poor case the watch is first placed; representing the body with its sickness and weakness and pain.

Then the poor case is thrown aside, and the watch is placed in the new and beautiful case, to represent the beautiful, perfect life of heaven."

Illustration. A little four-year-old girl was walking one day with her father through the village cemetery when she pointed to the graves and asked wonderingly, 'What are these for ?' They belong to the people who have gone to heaven,' her father made answer. 'To the angels ?' Yes.' Then,' she remarked thoughtfully, 'these are where they have left their clothes.'"

- Tarbell.

FOURTH SCIENTIFIC CONFIRMATION OF LIFE AFTER DEATH. The statements of Jesus are abundant proofs of life after death; but it is interesting and helpful to know what exact science can say.

Professor Thomson of New York in his epoch-making book, Brain and Personality, proves by various exact experiments that the brain is the instrument of the soul, and the soul survives though the brain is destroyed; as the musician is distinct from the organ he plays. The destruction of the organ does not imply the death of the musician. He can go where he will; he can have a newer and better organ on which

to play.

Plato and the Greek Philosophers debated over the famous question whether the relation of the soul to the body is that of the Harmony to the Harp, the music ceasing forever when the harp is destroyed; or the relation of a Rower to a Boat, the rower surviving although the boat be wrecked.

Joseph Cook takes the same position in his great lecture on Does Death End All? Death is but the separation of the soul from the body with that unseen mysterious Life from which springs the new and glorious spiritual body which God prepares for its resurrection life.

The Caterpillar and the Butterfly. Archbishop Whately in one of his annotations illustrates the preparations for our setting out on the great voyage,. our departure from this world to enter another.

There is a remarkable phenomenon connected with insect-life which presents a curious analogy. Most persons know that every butterfly comes from a grub or caterpillar, in the language of the naturalist called a larva, literally a mask " because the caterpillar is a kind of outward covering or disguise, of the future butterfly within. When the proper period arrives it becomes a pupa, enclosed in a Chrysalis or cocoon, from which it issues as a proper butterfly.

There is a sort of grub which lives in the waters of the brooks, which, at the proper season, climbs to the top of the water, on the stem of some plant, and there, out of the sight of its former companions, bursts the shell which has hidden it, and flies away,

a brilliant insect.

V. VISIONS OF HEAVEN, Rev. 7: 9-17; 21; 22, giving us a glimpse of what shall be the blessedness of eternal life; as in our previous lesson we considered the perfection toward which this world is moving.

We know nothing of the inhabitants of the vast universe of mighty stars, nor of how God is dealing with them. There are doubtless vast numbers of different methods in the various stars and systems of stars.

But in the little corner of the universe inhabited by man, we know something of God's dealings and methods.

The most notable peculiarity is that the individuals of the race live but a brief time on the earth, which is God's school for the training of His children born there, and after a few years each one ends his earthly career, and his soul is transferred to some unseen region beyond. All that have believed in Him so as to obey His commands are taken to His unseen but real Kingdom of Heaven.

The numbers are countless (Rev. 5 ; 7).

God Himself shall be with them.

No evil can enter.

The glory of God doth lighten it.

The water of life, pure as crystal, flows through it.

The trees of life with their fruits are on the border of the river.

They shall hunger no more.

God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.

There shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying.

They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Why is that other world so vague? Why is it so uncertain? . . . It is vague,

not because it is unreal, but because our faculties do not enable us to grasp it. What can we know of that world of pure spirit, where God dwells? We are not fitted to know. And so we use symbols.

...

"The uncertainty should not dismay us, but should appeal to character. When God gives me the dim, vague, unsure world of the future, he appeals to me to live by my conception of duty, by my faith in him. Risk is the challenge of the Our faith is uncertain make it certain by the way in which we meet the risk. Let us do our part well and trust God to do his part supremely well." - Dr. George A. Gordon, in The Land of Pure Delight.

hero.

One of the best poems on heaven is that by Mrs. Hemans, which should be taught, as formerly, to every child.