Covenanter Witness Vol. 55 - Rparchives.org

pleased."their army at a place called Beth-horon.Joshua did not give his enemies timeto form in line, but fell upon them suddenly so that they were driven into confusion, and fled before the men of Israel. The Lord helped His people bysending a hail-storm upon the enemy,which killed more Canaanites than werekilled by the sword.After a while Joshua looked at thesun and saw that it was going down.But the battle was not yet ended, Joshuaspoke to the sun and said :"Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon,And thou, Moon, in the valley of Ajalon."And for the only time in the historyof the world, the sun stayed in its place.God granted Joshua's prayer and madethe day longer for him. The Lord wantedJoshua to win this battle so that theland would belong to the people of theLord. If Israel had been defeated anddestroyed, instead ofCanaan, then theBible would never have been written,the worship of the true God would havebeen blotted out, and the whole worldwould have worshiped idols. The battlethat day was for the salvation of theworld as well as of Israel.After the victory Joshua followed hisenemies as they fled, and killed many ofthem, until their armies were broken upand destroyed. The five kings who hadled against Joshua were found hiddenin a cave, were brought out and wereslain, so that they might never againtrouble the children of Israel.Still the soldiers of Israel went on, formany days more, taking every city theycame to. The Lord was with them allthe time, giving courage and strengthto Joshua and his soldiers. The Lordwanted all the southern part of Canaan,from Kadish-barnea to Gaza conqueredand inhabited by the Israelites.And we know today that the Lord hassomething for you to do each day andso we must "Be strong and of good courage, fear not for the Lord thy Godwillnot fail thee, nor forsake thee."Deuteronomy 31 :6. And if you but askHim He will strengthen and sustain youso that you will be able to do wellwhatever comes for you to do, whetherit is music lessons, school lessons, homework, Bible study, and many other tasksin which Juniors are privileged to havea part.(Continued from page 201)Unit 3 four studies What is the Bible?, Authority and Inspiration of theBible, Understanding the Bible, Practical Uses of the Bible.Over 8500 copies of these studies havebeen put to use throughout the Church.Cost is 2c per copy.September 28, 19557. Tracts."Covenanter Evangelism"reprint.a 16-page"The Church of the Covenanters"a 4-page brief statement of what we believe and what we have promised ourLord. Good to hand to new adherents.Free to those who will use them.SABBATHSCHOOL LESSONOctober 16, 1955Rev. W. J. McBurney(Lessons based on International Sunday SchoolLessons ; the International Bible Lessons forChristian Teaching, copyrighted by the International Council of Religious Education.)THE BAPTISM OF JESUSLuke 3:1-38Printed Text, Luke 3:2b-8a, 9-22Memory Verse, Luke 3:22: "Thou artmy beloved son: in whom I am wellBaptisms are common. One is witnessed by a congregation, and rates aline in the church paper, and is seldomif ever heard of again. This is the storyof all baptisms, save one. Today thewhole Christian world is studying thebaptism of One Person.John had been baptising many personswho realized that they were lost sinners.They could not be saved in their sins.John baptized them for the remission oftheir sins. John could not remit theirsins. He did not have the power. But hesaw one standing in their midst who hadthe power. He had no thought of baptizing Jesus until Jesus presented Himselfand asked to be baptized. John said itwas he who needed to be baptized byChrist. But at Christ's word, John baptized him.John the Baptist.Who was he? A VOICE from the wilderness. He came and uttered his voice,and disappeared. He had done his workwell.He announced the presence ofChrist in a voice that has reached theuttermost parts of the earth. The Voicewas much more than an announcement;it was an appeal: "Prepare ye the wayof the Lord." What "Way"? The wayinto your own heart.John was born and reared for thisprecise purpose; that by preaching Baptism of repentance for the remission ofsins, he might teach men to prepare theway into their hearts for the Lord toenter. It has been said that in the lifeof everygreat man there has been aperiod of solitude in touch with nature.Moses was alone with his flocks when hesaw the Burning Bush. The Word ofGod came to John in the wilderness. Heobeyed the call and came to the Jordan,calling the people to repent of their sinsand have them taken away.Isaiah called John a Road Maker.Marveloushow some of our modernroads have been leveled, straightenedand made smooth. We must each oneprepare the entrance into our own door.The Highway.Many efforts have been made to prepare a way to glory. One of man's greatest failures was the Tower of Babel. Itsruin is complete. The Pyramids ofEgypt; the Collosseum at Rome; thePeace Palace at the Hague. And is it toosoon to add the great Home for the U.N.in New York? Then there are the multitude of tycoons and the host of thosewhose ambition is to pave with wealtha way where they can travel to glory.All these efforts fail. The way for ushas been prepared. Ours to prepare theway for the Lord to enter our hearts.Christ is our Way, by which He willlead us to Glory. But He must firstcome into our hearts before He can leadus in a life of service, and later to aHome in Glory.The Builders and Their Task.John performed no miracles. He wasGod's Voice, and all classes came tohear him. Some came to find fault. Inone sentence, John laid their purposebare. Our common use of the word"generation"is here misleading. It doesnot refer to those present,or to thoseliving at that time. It is addressed onlyto those who are the offspring, children,of vipers. Like Christ, he was callingsinners to repentance. They thoughtthat a great movement was about totake place. In their present condition,any change might bring an improvement. They did not come to help in agood work, but to take advantage byfalse pretences or trickery of whatevermight come. Now, the "Way" that theywere to build was for the Lord, that Hemight come to them. The repentance towhich John called must not be a pretense. They must cease to do evil, andlearn to do well. From Higley's Commentary; "There is a kind of workswhich is best illustrated, not by the fruittree, but by the Christmas tree. Its appurtancesare artificial. They may bevery glittering, but they are void of life.glitters.' "'All is not gold thatJohn shows that baptism in itself isnot sufficient. It is a sign, a symbol. Thephysical act makes no change in character.John Shows That Baptism Is Not inItself Sufficient.If one receives baptism in the truespirit of repentance unto new obedience,he will receive the baptism of the Holy203