Covenanter Witness Vol. 53 - Rparchives.org

ments'yet?"perfect."complete"voice"ruler asked the Lord Jesus. Can I finddirection in Jesus' answer?"Keep theCommandments."The Ten Commandments are God's standards for mankind.They're allgood, and all in operation.You can't break one and not damageyourself.I wish I could answer like the richyoung ruler did (read Matt. 19:20). But,of course, he hadn't learned the ShorterCatechism which says, "No mere mansince the fall is able in this life perfectlyto keep the Commandments of God, butdoth daily break them in thought, wordand deed." Keepingcommandments forthe keeping's sake or for the commandsake does not cleanse my life. Therich young ruler asked, "What lack IJesus answered, "If thou wilt be perfect,Some folks try to softenthe punch of "perfection" by noting thatthe original word means "to beor "to be finished." But according toMatt. 5:48, whatever that completenessrepresents it must be measured by thecondition of "even as your Father inheaven,"and that without question isflawlessness.The way to that heavenly perfection,said Jesus to the rich young ruler, is torate everythingmaterial as "stuff to berid of" and to estimate Jesus Christ and"following Him" as life's one worthy andworthwhile treasure. Perfect, even as theHeavenly Father is perfect.Thafs the person I want to be. Butit'll take me all eternity to attain it. Stillifs a most worthy aim, and the way isclear. It's Christ's Charge and my challenge. Til Follow Him!TALK THESE ITEMS OVER:1. "Be ye thereforeWhy setideals higher than we are able to attain?2. With Matthew 5:48 as the eternalgoal, determine some in-between goalsthat will assure you you are makingprogress.3. If keeping the Commandments doesnot save us, why do we try to keep them?4. How does keeping the Commandments contribute to "the person I want tobe?"5. List good things from 1954 that willhelp you toward your ideal for 1955.SOMETHING SPECIAL:This should be a good evening for aninstallation service of the 1955 officers.JUNIOR TOPICJanuary 2, 1955by Mrs. Philip W. MartinJOHN, THE FORERUNNER OFJESUSScripture: Mark 1:1-8Memory Verse: "He must increase, but I378must decrease." John 3:30Psalms:Psalm 1:1-6, page 1Psalm 18:25, 27, 28, page 33Psalm 23:1-5, page 52Memory Psalm for January: Psalm 18:12, 13, 16, page 37For the last six months we have beenstudying the Book of Genesis. We learnedthat the first man and woman, Adamand Eve, were created holy. But welearned the sad story of how Satan entered their hearts. And more than thatwe learned that because Adam represented all mankind,we are born in sin. Butwe are thankful that the picture did notremain black and dark for us. God gaveAdam and Eve a ray of hope in Genesis3:15 when He said to the serpent, "And Iwill put enmitywoman, and between thybetween thee and theseed and herseed; it shall bruise thy head, and thoushalt bruise his heel." We now knowthat the seed of the woman is JesusChrist who was put on the cross (bruisedin His heel by the seed of the serpent,the devil). But though Jesus died yet inthree days He rose again (He bruised thehead of the serpent). And so, for the nextthree months we want to talk about thisHope which was given to Adam, andthrough him to usJesus Christ.salvation through1. What name do we give to the firstfour books of the New Testament whichtell of the life of Jesus Christ? We aregoing to follow the outline of the Gospelaccording to Mark since it is the shortestaccount, but we shall have some references to the other gospel accounts and toother parts of Scripture.We first learn about John the Baptistwho is sometimes called, "the forerunnerof Jesus Christ." A story is told concerning the transfer of Abraham Lincoln'sbody from Washington to Springfield,Illinois. As many of you know from yourstudy of history, Abraham Lincoln waskilled by his enemies while he was president of the United States. His casket wasput on a train to take his body to Springfield. A short distance ahead of his trainwent a locomotive all by itself. Thislocomotive let people know that the traincarrying Lincoln's body was comingvery soon. We could call this locomotivethe "forerunner" of Lincoln's funeraltrain. This locomotive had another purpose also. It was feared that the enemiesof Lincoln would try to destroyeven thedead body of Lincoln by trying to wreckthe train. So the little locomotive wassent ahead to see if a bridge was brokenor if something was put on the tracks. Ifthe locomotive got through then Lincoln'strain could go on through. The locomotive PREPARED THE WAY for Lincoln's train.2. What does Malachi call John theBaptist? Malachi 3:1a3. What was John the Baptist sent todo? Mark 1:24. What does John the Baptist callhimself in John 1:23? What Old Testament prophet called him this? Isaiah40:35. What is Jesus called in John 1:1?John the Baptist was called "thebut Jesus is called "the Word." Perhapsyou have turned the radio on just alittle. You know someone is speakingthe voice comes first. Then if you turn iton more you can hear the words.6. Who were the mother and father ofJohn the Baptist? Luke 1:13. Ask yourJunior leader or one of your Junior members to tell the story of the birth of Johnthe Baptist.7. What kind of clothes did John theBaptist wear and what kind of food didhe eat? Mark 1:68. Where did John the Baptist do hispreaching? Mark 1:4 and Matthew 3:19. a. What was the message of Johnthe Baptist? Matthew 3:2b. What was the message of Jesus?Matthew 4:1710. What did John the Baptist do besides Mark 1 :4.preach?11. What was the difference betweenthe baptism of John and the baptism ofJesus? Mark 1:812. How did John introduce Jesus to his(John's) disciples? John 1:29This is the same way that Jesus isintroduced to you and to me. "Behold theLamb of God which taketh away thesin of theworld."My Junior friends, doyou know Jesus as your Saviour whotakes away your sin?Then John the Baptist said somethingelse which we should think about.13. What did John the Baptist say inJohn 3:30?This is our memoryverse. "He mustincrease, but I must decrease." We mustfirst of all have Jesus in our lives andthen we must live more and more inrighteousness ("He must increase") andless and less in sin ("I must decrease").14. Tell the story of the death of Johnthe Baptist. Matthew 14:1-12.For the notebook:Have two parts to your picture separated by the word BUT. First part: a smallpicture of a cross with broken lines fromtop and bottom reaching to the top andbottom of a larger cross. Under thisprint HE MUST INCREASE. Secondpart: print the letter I and have brokenlines from top and bottom meeting at adistance. Under this print I MUST DECREASE.For the Junior Superintendent:In letters big enough for the childrento see, print on flashcards the location ofeach memory verse and have the childrenrecite the verse. Review these frequently.COVENANTER WITNESS