Covenanter Witness Vol. 53 - Rparchives.org

work,"that his family has collected along theway and buries them so that nothing shallseparate them from God.True to his promise, Jacob stopped atBethel and built an altar, El-beth-el, theGod of the house, and worshiped there.Jacob is very anxious to see his father;so they continue on their way.Rachel is taken ill and dies, but beforeher death, God gave her another babyson. Jacob named this little boy 'Benjamin', the son of myright hand whichshows what great love he had for thesons of Rachel whom he loved verymuch.They buried Rachel there, and Jacobset up a pillar to mark the grave andcalled it,"Bethlehem."What does thename, Bethlehem, mean to you?Jacob and the remainder of his familytraveled on to Hebron where they foundIsaac. What a happy meeting that was!Twenty years is a long time to be awayfrom home. Isaac was delighted to meethis grandchildren and probably told themmany stories of how God had cared forthem through the years and of the promises God had made to His children.Then Isaac died at the age of one hundred and eighty years. Esau and Jacobburied their father in the cave of Machpelah.Notice how wonderfully God changedEsau's mind. Look up Gen. 27:41. Godcan change lives of bad men to preventthem from doingevil to His children.Questions for you to answer:1. What threepersons'deaths are recorded in this chapter? Where were theyburied?2. What new name did God give Jacob?3. What covenant did God renew withJacob?4. What does Edom mean?6. Where did the Edomites settle?For your notebook, draw a map showing Jacob's journey from Haran to Hebron. At the bottom of the page write yourmemory verse.SABBATHSCHOOL LESSONNovember 7, 1945by Rev. Joseph A. Hill(Lessons based on International Sunday SchoolLessons; the International Bible Lessons forChristian Teaching:, copyrighted by the International Council of Religious Education.)THE SPLENDOR OFSELF-CONTROLPrinted Text: Proverbs 14:29; 15:1-3;16:32;20:1, 22; 23:29-35.Self-control is a part of the fruit of theSpirit. In the New Testament (Galatians"temperance."5:23) self-control is calledIn 1 Corinthians 9:25, Paul says that"every man that striveth for the masteryis temperate in all things." In this statement he is comparing the life of the252Christian with that of an athlete, who inpreparing himself for the games, abstained from unwholesome food, wine andother indulgence. An unsaved personmay exhibit a kind of self-control, outwardly; but real self-government is agift of the Holy Spirit,through regeneration. Sin has dominion over the unsaved.person; sin controls and governs histhoughts and acts. But when a person ismade a new creature in Christ, the HolySpirit takes control of his life. It is onlythe Spirit- governed person who has realself-control. In our "temperancewe should realize that an unsaved personcannot be taught true temperance, orself-control. As long as sin governs thelife of a person, his temperance can beonly outward and temporary.Temperance is one aspect of sanctification; it is co-ordinate with love, joy,longsuffering, meekness, etc. Temperancehas relevance to every area of the Christian's conduct. We shall consider someareas of conduct in which a Christian isto practice temperance.1. The control of the temper.Proverbs 14:29: "He that is slow toanger is of great understanding; but hefolly."that is hasty of spirit exaltethThere are times when a Christian shouldbe angry. His indignation should bearoused against all forms of iniquity.But a Christian should never be angrysimply because his personal rights havebeen denied or his pride injured, butrather because the law of God has beentransgressed. Anger should never be anoutburst of uncontrolled emotion, forthen the Christian must be classed withthe fool who is "hasty ofspirit."Christian anger should be a deliberate attitudecalmly contemplated and under control.Anger is a virtue; rage is a vice.Proverbs 16:32: "He that is slow toanger is better than the mighty; and hethat ruleth his spirit, than he that takethacity."Here the idea of temperance asself-government comes into clear view.A general does not take up arms againstthe enemy in a "huff" of passion. Hesits down and calmly maps out his strategy. To rise up in haste is to admit thathe has been overwhelmed by his adversary. Rage is evidence of fear and insecurity. The person who can, like agood general, control himself when theadversary strikes, also takes control ofhis adversary. The self-controlled manis better than a good general. God has ordained that man should be a prophet,priest and king. One of the domains overwhich it is granted man to rule as kingis his own person.2. The control of the tongue.Proverbs 15:1-3. A soft answer turnethaway wrath, not only of the adversarybut also of the person who speaks thesoft answer. The best wayto drive outsinful anger from our own hearts, whenwe are challenged, is to speakgraciouslyto the challenger. We may even provokehim to anger by our soft answer, but wehave control of him, and what is evenmore important, we have control of ourown spirit.Verse 2: "The tongue of the wise utterethknowledge aright; but the mouthof fools poureth out folly." This proverbsuggests the constant, unnecessary, meaningless and trivial conversation of manypeople. This is perhaps the commonest ofall sins. There are some people who almost never utter a serious word.Theycontinuously jest and pun and indulge insilly talk. Such nonsense is a sin thatshould be repented of.Profanity, vain swearing, boasting, theuse of slang and filthy talk are otherforms of folly that issue, not merely fromthe mouth but from the heart (see Proverbs 16:1, 9, 13, 21, 23, 27-30). Such foolish use of the tongue shows that the person's life is controlled by his sinful nature. He is in bondage to sin and hencedoes not have self-control. James tells usthat as the rudder of a ship controls thedirection of the voyage and even thedestination, so the tongue controls thelife and conduct of men (see James 3).An unruly tongue is the opposite of selfcontrol.3. The control of the appetite.Proverbs 23:29-35. No intoxicated person has control of himself. When drunk,a man has no more control of himselfthan he has control of an automobilewhich he attempts to drive. Intoxicationcauses a person to "utter perverse things"(verse 33), to say things he would beashamed to say when sober. Drunk mendo ridiculous and foolish things,such astaking a nap on a railroad track orsauntering across a busy intersection infront of fast-moving vehicles. A drunkperson has no fear of such dangers because he does not have control of hissenses. His mind is blurred and his thinking is distorted. No wonder a drunk manloses control of his automobile, when hedoes not even have control of himself!A drunkard lacks self-control not onlywhen intoxicated, but also when sober.He has a demanding thirst for strongdrink which dominates and masters him.The sin of drunkenness and intemperanceconsists not only in the injurydone tothe human body, but also in the enslavement of the human soul.We should remember, however,thatit is not strong drink that enslaves men'ssouls, but sin. Alcohol does not drive mento drink; it is sin that drives them todrink. It is a verycommon notion thatalcohol is intrinsically evil and has in itCOVENANTER WITNESS