Covenanter Witness Vol. 54 - Rparchives.org

Scripture References: n Cor. 9:10; Eph.
4:15; I Thess. 3:12; Heb. 6:1; I Peter 2:
2, 3; II Peter 1:5, 6; I Sam. 2:26; Luke
1:80; 2:40, 52; Acts 9:22; II Thess. 1:3;
I Cor. 13:11; Heb 5:14.
Comments by the Rev. Bruce C. Stewart
The word, "Grow," is a part of our ex
perience before we can define it. At
birth we weigh 7 pounds and are 22
inches long (more or less). We can see,
but not discern; we can hear, but not
understand; we can make noise, but not
speak; we can eat, but not appreciate;
and we can feel, but not distinguish.
However, if this is still true twelve
months later, something is wrong. Na
turally
we expect these senses to de
velop; this process of development will
best define the word "grow." And this
is true of animals, of plants, of every
"Grow"
thing that has life. might be
used as an antinym of "die" because it
is so important to life.
But this is not a biology lesson. We
want to consider growth in our spiritual
life. In the passage in Luke 2:39-52,
Jesus'
physical growth was natural and
expected (and you may be sure that Je
sus was the best athlete of His com
munity), but His growth in spiritual
things is the surprise to His parents and
the lesson to us.
In order to "grow," a thing
must be
gin to live. You cannot grow spiritually
until you have been born spiritually.
Look into your own heart to see if a
new life in Christ Jesus is present there.
If you have not given your heart to
Christ, you can go no farther with this
topic. Get right with Him. Repent of
sin, and accept Him as your Saviour.
Then it is only natural that you should
grow! "But grow in grace and in the
knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Je
sus Christ" (II Peter 3:18).
In our Covenant of 1954 we promised
"to avail ourselves of opportunities, pub
lic and private, FOR GROWTH IN
GRACE!"
Then the Covenant goes on to
point out those things which help us
to "grow."
For Discussion:
1. Consider each of the seven things in
the Covenant of 1954 which help us to
grow. In what way does each one help
us
a. Worship
b. Prayer
c. Study of the Scriptures
d. Keeping holy the Sabbath day
e. Observing the appointed sacraments
f. Giving regularly to the Lord's work
g. Seeking to win others to Christ
2. Can we grow if we neglect any one
of the seven
3. Was there a relationship between
Jesus'
sinlessness and His physical
growth His spiritual growth
4. What will help our CYPU to grow
May 25, 1955
our Church to grow What is our soci
ety doing about it
JUNIOR TOPIC
June 12, 1955
THE GOLDEN CALF
By Mrs. Ray Park, Syracuse, N. Y.
Scripture Text: Exodus 32:1-6, 15-20
Memory Verse: Exodus 20:3 Thou shalt
have no other gods before me.
Psalms
Memory Psalm for June Psalm 103,
page 247
Psalm 34:6, 7, 8, 9, page 82
Psalm 19: 1, 2, 3, 4, page 41
Last week we learned how God
showed Himself to the children of Israel
through a smoking, quaking mountain
and thunder and lightning. Then He
called Moses to the top of the mountain
and gave Him laws for the people. Moses
wrote these, then read them and the
people agreed to obey them. In today's
lesson we find the Israelites getting "off
the track."
If you have ever made a trip on a
new throughway you may remember
how fast you could travel. But do you
also remember that it was so new, and
straight,
and level that it became tire
some You rarely even slowed up for
sideroads! Sometimes drivers on a
throughway become bored and sleepy
and wish for a more interesting and ex
citing road. Something like this hap
pened to the Children of Israel. Let's
say that Moses had led them to and on
the Right-way rather than the Throughway.
Moses left on one of his trips to the
mountain-top to talk with God. He prob
ably did not realize that he would be
gone as long as forty days and forty
nights. If he had, he would have told
the people that even though it would be
a long time until he was back, yet they
on the Rightway.
must stay
But as the days and nights passed the
people began to wonder if their great
leader was gone forever. Everything was
so new to them
the country
and the
way of living. Now the one who best un
derstood it, was gone and they were
lonely, tired and perhaps afraid
wanted to find a different route.
they
They began to think of Egypt and the
gods they worshiped there the idols
that they could see and touch. Their new
God, who was a Spirit, seemed too far
away. And so they asked Aaron if he
would make them a god to worship.
Aaron was the brother of Moses; he
was in charge of the camp while Moses
was gone. What a pity that he was not
strong enough or wise enough to refuse
to do what the people asked of him! In
stead he had them bring their beautiful
golden earrings to melt and form into a
CALF
this was their new god!
How glad you and I should be that we
have grown up in a land where we learn
about the true God! We do not see or
touch Him but we feel Him in our
hearts. We can read His word and know
the way He wishes us to live. It seems
strange to us that the Children of Israel
could think of a golden calf as a god.
They even built an altar before it and
had a feast day. They killed sheep and
oxen and burned them on the altar. Then
they ate and drank, danced and sang.
Aaron, their leader, said, "This is your
god, O Israel, who brought you up out
of the land of Egypt." How they needed
Moses to help them at this time!
Of course Moses could not see all this
because he was above the clouds. His
life was so different from his people at
this time. He was alone with God, living
a simple life yet keeping busy; God was
giving him the precious stones on which
were written the Ten Commandments.
Very suddenly
Moses had to leave this
simple and peaceful life. God was aware
of all that was going on in camp. He
knew how much the people needed Moses
and He directed Moses to hurry back to
them.
Can you picture Moses coming down
the mountain carrying the large slabs of
stone
carefully guarding this precious
word of God. First he would begin to
hear strange music, then wild singing
and shouting. Finally, he would be
where he could see the dancing and
feasting before an altar which was burn
ing with a sacrifice for the golden calf
behind it.
Moses was shocked and hurt and an
gry. He cast the stones from him and
rushing to the image, he tore down and
destroyed it! He alone knew how angry
God was! He must make the people
know it! They were Children of God;
idol worship was wrong something they
were never to do!
Moses knew he had to do two things.
He must punish the people for their
wrong and he must divide them and get
rid of those who wanted idol worship.
So he set about immediately to do these
two things. He ground up the golden calf
and sprinkled the tiny grains on the
water so that the people had to drink
every bit of it.
Now you and I drink a lot of good
water. We have so much that we forget
how fortunate we are to have it. This
was not so with the Israelites. On their
journey from Egypt they had often suf
fered and become frightened because
they did not have water for themselves
and their animals. They knew how valu
able good water was and having to drink
the ground up gold was a real reminder
of the wrong they had done.
Not all of the people were sorry for
their sin. There were some who had led
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