Covenanter Witness Vol. 55 - Rparchives.org

study."pass"about."sinner."about."plea."clothezeal to rebuild their nation, not as ithad been, but as it ought to be.Unity of Purpose and Action.In the seventh month was the Day ofAtonement, followed by the Feast ofTabernacles. This was in some pointslike our Camps and Conventions. Allwho could leave their homes were expected to attend. Of course, they hadplenty to eat, but their feast was ofGood Things for the mind and spirit.These were more important than thebody.They were afraid, and not withoutcause, of the people around them. Theyfelt the need of protection. What didthey do? They set up their altar. "Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust alsoin Him; and He shall bring it to(Ps. 37:5).Even in the days of their idolatry,before they were carried away captive,they knew that the institutions given byMoses were for their good. Now, havingexperienced the evil results of neglecting them, theywere drawn togetheraround the altar, that united them notonly to God, but to one another.The Altar as an "Ancient Landmark."A neighbor pastor came to me witha plan to have all the churches in thevillage unite in an effort to have theFamily Altar established in every home.He was amazed when I told him thatI knew definitely that Family Worshipmorning and evening was the regularorder in every home in our congregation. That was a half century ago. Inhow many congregations could that besaid now?One evening in my first college year,my brother said, "prayer meeting time."I said, "I havn't time tonight. I have toHe said, "If you start that, youwill never have time." There waslarge group of the students that attended midweek prayer meeting regularly.Then there was always a large roomfull atStudents'aPrayer meeting onSabbath afternoon. What are our landmarks ?A College Student went to a farm towork in his summer vacation. The farmer took him to a field that was to beplowed, told him that to lay out thefirst land he could run his furrow acrossthe field toward that brindle cow thathe could see at the far side. When thefarmer went out to call the lad to dinner, he found that the lad had beenvery busy, had run his furrow all overthe field, always going toward the brindle cow. Fashion is like the brindle cow.The Foundation of the Temple.The Temple, among other things, wasa symbol of worship. The visible part of108the Temple was supported by a foundation that was not visible. The guardat the Washington Monument told usthat there was as much stone under theground, as above it. The foundation ofthe Temple, unseen by the eye, was onthe rock. The outward form of ourworship that is seen by men should bebeautiful. To be of value to ourselvesor others, it must be founded deep inthe love of Christ. When love waxescold, the Temple will lose its beauty.The Temple Worship as a Trainingin Unity"And they sang together." At a Revival meeting one evening, the preacherasked everyone to think of a favoritehymn. Then to get it well in mind, andbe ready at the signal to sing it. At thesignal they began, but to continue wasimpossible, and the attempt broke upin a big laugh. When our worship isbuilt on the Foundation, there is somuch joy in worshiping together, withthe spirit and the understanding, thatthere is no need to introduce thingsridiculous to make it interesting, evento the children.Those liberated slaves in their joyin laying the foundation of the Temple,sang the 136th Psalm. They sang it incourse, antiphonally. How beautifullythe Psalm was suited to the occasionand to the responsive singing! Davidhad laid a foundation for Temple musicthat no other nation had equaled. Theirrendering of the Songs of Zion wasknown even as far away as Babylon.They had kept up the art of song, forthey had 200 trained singers who returned to Jerusalem with them. Not bythe Rivers of Babylon; but is it anywonder that their Songs of Zion aredescribed as a Shout of joy, as they laidthe foundation of the Temple in Jerusalem?Every Work Built on Christ Will BeFinished.God promised Zerubbabel that hewould begin and finish the rebuildingof the Temple. Isaiah was murdered inhis youth. Was Isaiah's work finished?I see a tree. It is said to be 15 years old.It may live to be 100. Yet today, it iscomplete, perfect, beautiful. And so isthe life of everychild of God. It is apart of His plan, His plan is never leftunfinished.Ezra 3:1 "The people gathered themselves together as one man to Jerusalem."The Spirit of praise in the fellowshipof a congregation is like the sail of aship; if the sail is split, the ship makeslittle progress.Psalms:PRAYER MEETING TOPICSeptember 7, 1955HUMILITY. James 4:6-12.15 page 26138:1, 4, 5, 6,22:11,13, 14,131 : page 327M. K. Carson, D.D.page 338page 51References: Deut. 8:2-3; II Chron. 7:14;Isa. 2:9; Proverbs 15:33; 22:4; Acts 20:19; Matt. 18:4; Micah 6:8; Philippians2:8; Col. 3:12; Luke 18:14.Winston Churchill complimented a political opponent by calling him a veryhumble man, but quickly added, "And hehas a lot to be humbleThere isa great difference between the abilitiesand powers of men and some of us dohave "a lot to be humbleIn thesight of God all of us have a "lot to behumbleabout."We are not only creatures, but sinful creatures. "God bemerciful to me aAnd Davidprayed, "God be merciful to me.On Thy grace I rest my Mary,the mother of our Lord said, "Hehath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts .. . and exaltedthem of low degree." Luke 1:51-52.The Greek word for "Humility" signified at one time "meanness of spirit."But the Gospel has lifted this despisedword,"humility," until now it is calledthe "treasure-house in which all othergraces are contained."Are the othergraces possible apart from humility?But even today,"humility"in good standing, especiallyGospel isis not alwayswhere thenot preached and believed.There is no time, perhaps, when thenatural man, apart from the Gospel ofthe grace of God, is willing to confesshis inferiority and unworthiness and beclothed with humility. Even Christianpeople often despise this grace of humility as belittling to them (John 13:1-17).But surely it is one of the greatestcharacteristics of the Christian and perhaps one of the first evidences of theChristian life. The evidence of humilityis a proof of a living faith. Is there anyway by which we become a child of Godapart from humility? Is there any hopeof a manbecoming a Christian so longas he is proud and in his own estimation,sufficient in himself? "Blessed are thepoor in spirit for their's is the Kingdomof heaven." Matt. 5:3. Dr. Alfred Plummersays, "The Greek verb 'be(I Peter 4:5) is a rare and curious one.It means properly, "tie yourselves up inhumility."Humility is to be gatheredtight around us like a cloak, and tied upso that the wind may not blow it back,nor the rain beat inside it. But there isa still further and more delicate shade ofmeaning in the word. There was aCOVENANTER WITNESS