Covenanter Witness Vol. 54 - Rparchives.org

eth."
me."
season."
sight."
manner."
risen."
the Psalmist, the apostles and especially
through the words of Jesus His Son.
Is God speaking to any of you Jun
iors I am sure He is. Ps. 85:8. Who
was the little boy in the Old Testament
to whom God spoke I Sam. 3:8-10. God
has promised to speak through His Word
and He will keep His promise, Matt.
14 :24. Are you reading the Word of God
as though It was meant for you person
ally As you hear the Bible read by oth
ers listen to see what message there is in
it for you.
We can each one answer as Samuel
did, "Speak Lord, for thy servant hear
Moses answered God by saying,
"Here am I," but when God told Moses
that He planned to send him to Pharaoh,
to demand the freedom of the Hebrew
people, and that He had chosen him to
lead the people out of Egypt, Moses hid
his face.
Just like we do, Moses made excuses
to God, but each time God had an an
swer. He said "certainly
I will be with
you."
Moses alone could not do the great
task God had for him, but God and
Moses were to do it together. Don't we
too often think of our own weakness
rather than God's strength Moses could
not do it alone, nor could God do it
alone; He needed a man with whom, and
through whom, He could work.
When a great conqueror died, some
who had heard of his great deeds asked
to see the sword he had used. They were
surprised when they
saw how small it
was and asked, "How could this sword
win such victories"
They were told,
"You have not seen the arm that used
it."
Moses'
next excuse for not answering
God's call was, that he wouldn't know
what to say if he were asked the name
of God. He was told to say, "I AM
THAT I AM." Tell the people, "I AM
hath sent Today instead of saying
"I AM THAT I AM," we say "Jehovah."
The word Jehovah includes Jesus, the
Saviour, as well as God, and it was a
new name to the Hebrews. God told
Moses that this was His name forever;
His memorial to all who would come
after. Exodus 3:15.
Its full meaning is seen when we add
other words to the, "I AM," and make
it, "I AM the true Light." There are
many others in the New Testament, and
they all refer to Jesus our Saviour. Jun
iors see how many you can find, and list
them in your note book.
References :
Hebrews 12:9, 28; John 10:9-14; John
6:35; John 11:25; John 8:12; John 4:
25, 26; John 15:5.
Questions :
1-2. Answer the questions in the com
ments.
188
3. How many
years was Moses in
training to become a leader
4. Name a shepherd boy who became
king. 1 Sam. 16 :12, 13.
5. What excuses did Moses make to
God What was God's promise each
time Do you make excuses
6. What lessons did Moses learn
What have you learned from this lesson
SABBATH SCHOOL LESSON
April 10, 1955
Rev. W. J. McBurney
(Lessons based on International Sunday School
Lessons ; the International Bible Lessons for
Christian Teaching;, copyrighted by the Interna
tional Council of Religious Education.)
OUR ASSURANCE OF ETERNAL
LD7E
Mark 16:1-7; John 11:25-37; 14: 1-2;
I Cor. 15
PRINTED TEXT. Mark 16:1-7; I Cor.
15:3-10; 53-56; 58.
MEMORY. John 11:25, 26 "I am the
resurrection and the life; he that be
lieveth on me, though he were dead,
yet shall he live; and whosoever liveth
and believeth in me shall never die."
Among all races and tribes of men
there is a spiritual longing for the con
tinuation of life beyond what is known
on earth. Some form of after-life fills
the imagination until it becomes a be
lief. Then these believers picture the
after life according to their present
idea of pleasure or luxury, and often
bury with the dead the implements they
think will be needed for their pleasure
in their future existence. The ancient
Egyptians and the American Indians
are a good example. At the basis of
their hope, they have only their imagina
tions.
As Christians, our hope is assured by
the promises of God's Word, and proven
by the life after death of Jesus Christ.
Our Heaven is not to be patterned after
our present pleasures. A great change
will come to us, our capacity for life
will be on a much higher level. Our em
ployment and pleasure will be of a much
higher order than we can know now.
David was sure there would be no dis
appointment, for he said, "I shall be
satisfied, when I awake in thy likeness."
A small boy, delighted with the delicious
flavor of a yellow-ripe banana, asked his
father if there would be bananas in
Heaven. His wise father told him that
if he wanted bananas very much in
Heaven, he thought they would be pro
vided.
Our capacity for joy in heaven will
be influenced in measure by the joys we
cultivate on earth. There is one joy
that we may cultivate here that will
help us in the higher enjoyment of
the same exercise with saints and
angels in Heaven; namely, fellowship
with others in the praise of God. When
we
enter into the praise service in
the church and prayer meeting, we are
practicing for greater joy in the per
fected praise in Heaven.
Jesus demonstrated the resurrection
before many
witnesses. The witnesses
were of all classes. He was seen ten
times over a period of forty days.
Thomas the investigator, was a good
witness. He had examined Christ's
death, and so was able to testify to His
life.
A student challenged his teacher by
saying, "You can't prove that Jesus
ever lived." The teacher said, "How do
you know George Washington lived"
The student replied, "Why, by the
books and monuments that tell of his
life."
Then the teacher asked him if he
had not overlooked the fact that there
are a thousand books and monuments
telling of Christ, for every one that tells
of Washington.
Mark 6:1
Each of the four Gospel writers, gives
a different account of Christ's appear
do not
ances after His death, but they
conflict. In forty days he appeared ten
times, then He ascended into Heaven,
and the promise came that He would
come again. Note the careful wording:
Christ was taken up, "And a cloud re
ceived Him out of their
The
word "sight" refers definitely to the
physical sight by the physical eye. They
did not see Him ascend by their physical
eye. He will come "In like
That is, He will not be seen by the
physical eye. And then Christ appeared
to Paul, as unto one "born out of due
Perhaps it is significant that Christ
appeared first to women after His
resurrection, and that it was to these
women that He gave the first commis
sion to proclaim the Gospel of the risen
Christ. The resurrection is the heart of
the gospel.
Paul said that if Christ
did not rise from the dead, then preach
ing and faith were empty, vain.
The women who came early to the
tomb expected to find the body of
Christ there. Their disappointment at
failing to find Him was turned into
joy by the words, "He is The
Christian faith is unique among religions
in that is dares to point to an empty
tomb as a ground of hope. No other re
ligion dares do that. They may point to
the graves of their founders, and in it
are his bleaching bones. That is all the
hope that he offers to his followers. But
we may stoop
down and look into an
empty tomb, and then follow the risen
Lord, who rose from the dead and be
came the First Fruits of them
slept.
that
One of Chapman's most popular ser
mons was on the text; "And Peter."
"Tell my disciples and Peter." Where
THE COVENANTER WITNESS