Covenanter Witness Vol. 86 - Rparchives.org

Real treasures, therefore, are notmaterial possessions but they arespiritual. In his list of beatitudes, whichare treasures, Jesus did not name onematerial form of riches. All were of aspiritual nature. In I Peter 1:5-8 thatapostle presents a list of spiritualtreasures which are to be added to one'sfaith and not one of them is of a materialwealth.4: One Will Love that which HeConsiders to Be the most Valuable.Jesus said, "For where your treasureis there will your heart be also." One'saffections will, therefore, reside in thatwhich he values the most. The heart wasconsidered the seat of one's affections.When people place more value on materialpossessions than they do on spiritualpossessions, of which the will of God iscomposed, they then indicate that theylove the world more than they love God.Jesus described His second coming inMatthew 25:31-40. "And he shall set thesheep on his right hand, but the goats onthe left. Then the King shall say unto themon his right hand, Come ye blessed of myFather inherit the kingdom prepared foryou from the foundation of the world." Theones on His right hand inherited akingdom because they had been "richtoward God." The "unsearchable riches ofChrist" can belong to every one who seeksto do the will of God and those are theriches which one should seek to lay up."Lesson based on International Sunday SchoolLessons: the International Bible Lessons forChristian Teaching, copyrighted 1967 by the Divisionof Christian Education, National Council of Churchesof Christ in the U.S.A."Junior Topicfor February 28,1971HEZEKIAH, THE GOODUnit: Later Old Testament DaysMrs. Herbert A. HaysPsalms: 46:1,2,5,6; p. 118 — MemoryPsalm; 56:3,8,9; Walk before God; 26:1-3,6, p. 61; Walking in truth; 5:1,2,3, p. 8;Prayerfulness.Memory verse: Romans 8:31b — "IfGod be for us who can be against us?"General references: II Kings 16:20;18:9; 19:3; 20:1; 10:21.Hezekiah's father, King Ahaz, was awicked king. There were only a few peopleleft in the land of Judah. Almost fromevery family someone had been killed inbattle, or had been taken to a far away12country. The few people who were left inJudah were very sad and unhappy.Hezekiah's father had led the peopleinto sin. Although Hezekiah's father waswicked, his mother had been a goodwoman, the daughter of a prophet. Shehad brought up Hezekiah to know theLord. King Ahaz died and Hezekiah wasking.When Hezekiah began his reign, hesought the Lord. God was with him, and heprospered in whatever he did.The Temple had become dirty andfilthy because it had been closed. Therewere no sacrifices there during the reignof Ahaz. Hezekiah gathered together allthe priests and all the Levites and toldthem to clean the Temple. Yes, the peoplehad forgotten God, so God forgot them andforsook them. But Hezekiah did his verybest to bring the people back again to thetrue worship.King Hezekiah revived the feast ofthe Passover. The people were so happy tohave the Passover kept again, that whenthe first seven days were up they decidedto continue the happy time for anotherweek. There was great joy in Jerusalem,for since the time of King Solomon therehad not been such a feast. Another thingKing Hezekiah did was to cause the peopleto bring to the Temple a tenth of all theircorn and wine and oil, and whatever elsethey raised. How happy the people musthave been to find the Lord again. We arehappy to be able to attend our churchesevery Sabbath. I am sure you would notwant to have the privilege of attendingSabbath School and Church taken awayfrom you, would you?Cleaning the Temple, reviving theFeast of the Passover, and helping thepeople return to the Lord were only a fewof the good things King Hezekiah did forthe people.After Hezekiah had been king forfourteen years, the king of Assyria, KingSennacherib, threatened the people ofJudah. The people were afraid. KingHezekiah did not give up. It took greatfaith, to trust in the Lord to save thepeople. He knew that if God was with themno enemy could overtake them no matterhow great the enemy was in strength andpower.Hezekiah built up all the wall aroundJerusalem, where it had been brokendown. He made it much higher, and heplaced a second wall outside the first one.He spoke encouragingly to the leaders andsaid, "Do not be afraid of the king ofAssyria, nor of all his soldiers. He mayhave more help, but we have the Lord ourGod to help us and to fight our battles."One of Sennacherib's generals saidthat the people's God would not help them.He continued to say that the people shouldnot be deceived in allowing King Hezekiahto persuade them that their God will savethem.King Hezekiah prayed to God afterhe had received a letter from the king ofSennacherib that said that no God hadever been able to save his people fromKing Sennacherib, nor ever would be ableto save them.God did hear Hezekiah's prayer.That night, the angel of the Lord went outand struck down one hundred eighty-fivethousand soldiers in the camp of theAssyrians. Yes, Hezekiah and the peoplerejoiced, but they knew who was on theirside. God and God alone can put down theenemy.We hope and pray that our Presidentwill ask God for wisdom and direction inruling this nation. May he know that allpower comes from above. There is nonegreater than God, no not one.We must do our part to help thisnation, too. Our prayers to God on behalfof our country will not go unanswered. Letus do our part.Prayer MeetingTopicfor March 3,1971The Prayer of David — Psalm 51by Rev. Jerrold S. MilroyThe title to this Psalm informs usthat David wrote it after Nathan had cometo him and rebuked him for his sin withBathsheba. It is most likely that thisPsalm was written during the yearfollowing his sin of adultery. The recordwould indicate that David was for thatperiod of time like one condemned, enduringmisery and suffering. Psalm 32 onthe other hand was written concerning thesame event, but describes the blessednessof forgiven sin. It was probably writtenafter David experienced the assurance ofGod's deliverance from sin.It would be well to read both IISamuel 11, 12 and Psalm 32 in connectionwith your study of Psalm 51 tonight.Notice in Psalm 51 the way in which Davidclearly is convicted of his sin and thenconfesses his sin to God without trying tolay the blame on others. In his prayer forforgiveness he also earnestly asks to beCOVENANTERWITNESS