The Sabbatb

Waikato Times, Volume 109, Issue 18229, 17 January 1931, Page 14 (Supplement)

The Sabbatb

DAILY REMEMBRANCE.

TEXT AND PRAYER. January 18. Seek Eternal Things.—We look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things w'hich are seen are temporal, but the ithings which are not seen are eternal. —2 Corinthians, iv, 18. Prayer—Help us, Father, to be conscious of mur heavenly citizenship. January 19. The Resurrection —Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection and the life; he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall toe live; And whoever llveth and believeth in me shall never die.—John xi, 25. p ra yer—Thou who art the resurrection'and the life, may we live and believe in thee. January 20. What Does God Require?—And, now, Israel, what does the Lord thy God require of thee, but to fear the Lord thy God, to walk in all, his ways, and to love him, and to serve the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul. —Deuteronomy x, 12. Prayer—o God, help us to live as brothers toward all men. January 21. Have the Mind of Christ—Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.—Philippians xxv, 3. Prayer—Give me, Father, the beauty of a humble spirit. January 22. Always Protected When thou passest through’ the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee; when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned, neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. —Isaiah 43, 2. Prayer—Thou, Lord, are my refuge and my fotress; my God, in Thee will I trust. January 23. Rules for Right Living—Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice; and be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.—Ephesians iv, 31, 32. Prayer—Gracious God, keep back Thy servant also from presumptuous sins; and let them not have dominion over me. January 24. How to Overcome Evil—Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another; recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good. ■—Romans xii, 10, 17, 21. Prayer—Show me Thy ways. Lord; teach, me Thy. paths.

| THE MACCABEES.

FOR FAITH AND FREEDOM. There is a difference of opinion about the extent to which the Apocrypha should be read in public worship, but parts of it have always been welcomed by Christians. St. Jerome is justified in declaring that their writings may be read “for of life and instruction in manners.” This is obviously true of the story of the Maccabees, with its record of combined loyalties to God and country that cannot be surpassed in history’s record. When Antiochus Epiphanes, the brililant madman, not only polluted the Temple and its altar by introducing idolatrous rites and offering swine’s flesh in the sanctuary but destroyed the books of the Law and compelled the Jews throughout the country to sacrifice to the king and to cancel the Sabbath, he could not have imagined the strength of the moral and spiritual life w'hich had remained dormant in the nation so long submissive to its conquerors. There was nothing to indicate d stubborn and fierce refusal. Many of the Jewish leaders had accepted their Greek conquerors, and welcomed their culture to so great an extent that Judaism had become unmistakably Ilellenised. Yet behind this apparent acquiescence there smouldered fires of mingled loyalty to their faith and pride in their national traditions, which required only the call of a valliarrt leader to inflame the Jews to the most determined struggle for liberty. The New Loyalty. The leader appeared in Mattathias, a simple priest who refused to join in the idolatrous worship thrust upon the people in his village of Modin. Under him and his sons, who in turn gave up their lives for- the cause to which they all devoted themselves, Jewish independence was won and maintained for a century, and though the Maccabees failed to establish the nation they created that racial unity . which has persisted with fine pride of race and religion that ever since has distinguished Judaism. The Maccabean rising was a turning point in the religious history of Israel. From that time careful obedience to the Law’ became the desire of every Jew’, and the least suspicion of Genlilism was summarily rejected. The new loyalty made the Maccabean period rich in literature, and the consciousness of Divine vocation j thrilled the nation. It is to this age j 1 also that w'e may trace the first clear j affirmation of belief in a future life of blessedness for God’s people, and that hope of a glorious immortality w'hich has been appropriated and enlarged by Christianity. Laity and Religion. If to the Jew’s patriotism and relij gion were not synonymous they were , so intimately allied that for them they j could not be divided. History proves | that men may easily identify them,, but ‘ no people held the belief so clearly as -must -be pre-