Covenanter Witness Vol. 54 - Rparchives.org

age."
. . . Little
sorry,"
nation."
strangers."
see,"
way"
REMO I. ROBB, D.D.
ECU
For Covenah
April, 1955
Illustrations for the May C.Y.P.U.
May 1
Topics
Filial Honor.
The story is told of the Dean of Can
terbury, afterwards Archbishop Tillotson,
that one day after he had attained
the churchly honors, an old man from
the country, with uncouth manners,
called at his door and inquired for John
Tillotson. The footman was about to dis
miss him with scorn, for presuming to
ask in that familiar way for his master,
when the Archbishop caught sight of his
visitor and flew down the stairs to em
brace the old man before all the serv
ants, exclaiming with tones of genuine
delight, "My father! It is my beloved
father!"
May 8
F. E. Clark (Bib. Encyc.)
A Parent's Concern for
his Child.
After the death and burial of Abra
ham's faithful wife, Sarah, the patri
arch is described as "old and well
stricken in
wonder that
this father who had tested and proven
the promises of God should have a grave
concern about the future of his son. He
was anxious that Isaac should not take
a wife from among the daughters of the
Canaanites, but that his selection should
be from among the kindred of Abraham.
This gives us an insight into the earnest
longing and aspiration of the aging pa
triarch. He wanted God's best for his
son. This is not human selfishness but a
desire for the purity and holiness of the
"godly line" through whom "all nations
should be blessed."
May 15
Evangelical Commentary. 1953
Lincoln and Solomon.
One night James Murdock, the noted
elocutionist, overheard President Abra
ham Lincoln praying. Mr. Lincoln was
on his knees before an open Bible, and
these were the words of his pleading:
"Oh thou God that heard Solomon in the
night, when he prayed for wisdom, hear
me. I cannot lead this people, I cannot
guide the affairs of this nation, without
Thy help. I am poor and weak and sin
ful. O God, who didst hear Solomon
264
when he cried tor wisdom, hear me and
save this
Evangelical Commentary, August, 1950
May 22
Russia's Ten Commandments
The new manual of godless youth, reedited
from the 1947 original is now be
ing distributed in the Soviet Union.
Here are the new commandments :
1. Remember that the clergy, regard
less of faith, is the foremost enemy of
our Communist state.
2. Thou shalt labor diligently to draw
thy friends and acquaintances toward
communism, never forgetting that the
Communist party is the supreme au
thority
world.
of the atheists of the whole
3. Teach thy friends to shun all
priests.
4. Guard thyself against spies, con
demn saboteurs.
5. Busy thyself in the propagation of
anti-religious magazines and newspa
pers.
6. Let every faithful Communist be
also a militant and forthright atheist.
7. Thou shalt resist religious ideas,
always and everywhere, protecting thy
friends from them.
8. The faithful atheist is likewise a
goodly policeman, ever watchful of the
security of the Communist state.
9. Give generously of what thou hast
to carry on missionary work among the
unenlightened, especially outside the
Soviet Union where atheism suffers un
derground.
10. Remember that if thou be not a
devoted atheist, thou canst not be a
faithful Communist nor even a firm So
viet citizen on whom our state can rely.
Atheism and communism are of one
bond, and these ideals are the founda
tions of Soviet power.
May 29
Building God's House
One Sabbath Ellen, looking
round af
ter the service was over, saw a strange
girl hurrying out. Obeying a sudden im
pulse, she ran after her. "Please don't
go till I say, 'How do you do!' " she
cried. The girl stopped abruptly. "I am
she said, "but I had begun to be
afraid that no one here cared to speak
to
"You
Ellen apologized, "we're all
so excited over our building. We are
raising the money ourselves, and it's
hard! But come let me introduce you to
a girl you'll
love."
The other girl
laughed, embarrassed. "You couldn't to
day, thank you. Just now, I don't feel
loving. But maybe I'll come back next
Sabbath. Only please, please tell your
church people to remember this: A
church isn't a building!" And then the
girl was gone.
She was back the next Sabbath. Ellen,
who was watching for her, slipped into
the seat beside her, and her hand gave
the stranger welcome. "Do you really
feel that
she asked. "I so want
to believe you do!" Ellen heard nothing
of the sermon that day; she was think
ing over and over the sermon the girl
beside her had preached. To think that
girls like that were slipping away just
because everyone was too much ab
sorbed to notice! She could watch for
them if she could not do anything else.
Two years later the church was dedi
cated. Ellen had no money and helped
very little there were tears in her eyes
as she thought how little, but how she
loved it ! She was thinking of it all when
the girl of two years before came up to
her.
"I want to tell you something, Ellen
Haworth," she said. "You won't believe
it, but it's true. Next to Doctor Bris
church." "I"
bane, you built this
Ellen
stammered. "Yes, you. You have made
everyone belong. No one ever stood out
side a group that you were in. I could
count fifty people whose contributions
should count to your credit; but that's
the least part of it; it's the feeling that's
the real thing. And that's what you have
given us all."
HAVE YOU READ THE COVENANT
LATELY
At the Sabbath morning service of the
National Convention in July, 1954, the
spirit of covenanting reached its climax.
A
large congregation of Covenanters
stood and solemnly said "I do" to the
terms of the Brief Covenant. Afterward
over 650 of them attested their promise
by signing their names.
What has happened in
since
the months
Well, the Brief Covenant has been the
COVENANTER WITNESS