Covenanter Witness Vol. 86 - Rparchives.org

Lesson Helps for the Week of July 4iSabbath SchoolLessonFor July 4,1971SET FREE TO SERVEDeut. 6:20-25; Gal. 5:13-26Comments by lohn K. GaultThe more laws a person chooses toobey the freer does he become. This is truein the physical, or natural world. Everyscientific invention operates according tocertain natural laws. As a result of this,certain scientific geniuses as Whitney,Fulton, McCormick, Ford, Marconi,Wright, Bell and many others have beenable to harness the laws governing theirmachines, and society has benefited ininnumerable ways. People are much freertoday, because they can drive anautomobile at sixty miles per hour, thanthey were seventy years ago when theyrode in horse-drawn carriages. Thedevelopment of the airplane has broughtmechanical freedom to millions of peopleevery day to fly all over the world. Anyviolation of the laws governing theoperation of modern machines can proveto be disastrous according to the worldlyforce to which they are exposed.The same principle holds true in thespiritual realm of life. The more of God'slaws one obeys the freer he becomes.God's law regulates the worship of aperson, a province which is untouched bythe civil or natural laws of man. God's lawscontrol what a person is thinking about. Nocivil law can apprehend a person simplybecause he is thinking evil, but the Biblesays, "As he thinketh in his heart so is he."The real character of a person is determinedby the kind of thoughts he is harboringin his mind and heart. A convictwho has escaped from prison is not free.The weight of the original sentence is uponhim and the imminent possibility ofrecapture is ever with him. Sin hasdeprived people of their freedom. There isno possible way in which they can regaintheir freedom save through Him whopromises to place His own perfectrighteousness to their insolvent account, ifthey will repent, "If the Son therefore shallmake you free, ye shall be free indeed."1: Parents Should Pass God'sFreedom to their ChildrenThis obligation is stated inDeuteronomy 6:20, "And when thy sonasketh thee in time to come, saying, Whatmean the testimonies, and the statutes, andthe judgments which the Lord our Godhath commanded you? Then thou shalt sayunto thy son, We were Pharaoh's bondmenin Egypt, and the Lord brought us out ofEgypt with a mighty hand" —. Three formsof God's laws are mentioned in thisquestion which a son would possibly ask ofhis parent. The first is called testimoniesand this referred to what the prophetstestified against the people for their wrongdoing.It is the function of a good witnessto testify in a suit of law. The statuteswhich a son would possibly ask aboutreferred to the written code of laws. Inevery well-organized government there iswhat is called the statute law or, in otherwords, "the law which has been writtendown and which can be referred to fromone generation to another." Then therewere the judgments which the son mightask about. These were the penalties inflictedupon evil-doers and which served asa warning that more and greater penaltieswere to follow.2: People Have Been Made Free by a"Mighty Hand."There were many circumstances inconnection with Israel's deliverance fromEgypt, which only God could accomplish.Pharaoh and Egypt had found that theslave labor of Israel was quite an asset tothat nation's economy. Ten awful plagues,the last and most devastating of which, wasthe slaying of the first-born, were requiredto convince Pharaoh that he should permitthe people of Israel to leave the country.Israel, herself, had no "mighty hand" tobring about this deliverance. The Red Seaand the oncoming chariots of Egypt's armyposed as insurmountable barriers to thesuccess of the project. There was nohuman strength which could be availablein such crises. It was the "mighty hand" ofGod which could part the waters of the seato permit Israel to pass through and bringthem back to engulf the chariots of Egypt.Their troubles were by no means overwhen they had crossed the Red Sea.Because of their lack of faith they had towander about forty years in the wildernessbut during all that time the "mighty hand"of God provided them with food to eat andwater to drink. Concerning their clothingGod reminded them in the words, "Yourclothes are not waxen old upon you, andthy shoe is not waxen old upon thy foot."3: God Gave All the Land of Canaanto Israel in Order That the People MightBe Free to Serve Him.In Psalm 105:43-45 it is said, "And Hebrought forth His people with joy, and Hischosen with gladness: and He gave themthe lands of the heathen: and theyinherited the labor of the people; that theymight observe His statutes, and keep Hislaws." And in Psalm 44:3 this same thoughtis presented. "For they got not the land inpossession by their own sword, neither didtheir own arm save them: but Thy righthand, and Thine arm, and the light of Thycountenance, because Thou hadst a favorunto them." If Israel was to serve God andfulfill the terms of the covenant given toAbraham, it was necessary that they beindependent of all other nations in whichthe people worshiped idols. Israel wasreminded again and again that it was Godwho gave them the land to live in as long asthey would obey His commandments, inorder that "He might preserve us alive" andthat "it shall be our righteousness, if weobserve to do all these commandments."Israel was "set free to serve God" and thusto fulfill her destiny in the kingdom ofGod.4: The Privilege of Freedom ShouldNot Be Abused.This is what Paul said to theGalatians in 5:13: "For, brethren, ye havebeen called unto liberty; only use notliberty for an occasion to the flesh." TheApostle is here speaking against therequirement of circumcism. He said inverses 3 and 4, "For I testify again to everyman that is circumcised, that he is debtorto do the whole law. Christ is become of noeffect unto you, whosoever of you arejustified by the law; ye are fallen fromgrace." The new converts to Christ werefreed from this old ceremonial law whichtook effect upon the flesh. This was aliberty which they had not enjoyed before.But they were not to think that thisfreedom gave them license to gratify thedesires of the flesh in many other ways. Inverse 17 he said, "For the flesh lustethagainst the Spirit, and the Spirit against theflesh: and these are contrary the one to theother: so that ye cannot do the things thatye would." The first parents in the Gardenof Eden were left to the freedom of theirown wills but they abused their God-givenprivilege and "lusted" after the flesh whichappealed to their sight and taste. The devilmakes great use of the "lusts of the flesh."The American people have liberty whichhas been grossly abused; consequentlythere is pornography, alcoholism, narcoticaddiction, and many other evils.5: Love Is the Fulfillment of God'sLaw Which Gives Real Freedom.Paul said to the Galatians, "By loveJUNE 9, 1971 11