Covenanter Witness Vol. 55 - Rparchives.org

not."church."to the widow,"WeepThen Hecalled the young man to life, and gavehim to his mother.Fear came upon the people, and theyglorified God. Their conclusion was truethat this was a great prophet that hadcome from God. Some saw more thanthat; they believed that Christ not onlycame from God, but that He was God.That was believingunto salvation.Christ and John the BaptistWe are told very little of the acquaintance of these two. They met at the Jordan as though they knew each otherwell. John knew and testified thatChrist was the Messiah.His parentsknew of the work for which John wasborn, and surely they told John aboutit. John was not the only one that wascalled from the wilderness to take uphis great work. He seemed to know whoChrist was before he saw the sign thathad been given him. It surely was hardfor him to understand his imprisonment,and the reports of the marvelous worksof Jesus that were brought to him wereprobably very different from what hehad expected from the Messiah. John'simprisonment would seem even morestrange to his disciples. Perhaps it wasto strengthen their faith that John sentthem to ask Jesus a fair question, andJesus gave them a fair answer.There is little said of Christ's powerto do miracles. There is much said ofwhat He did. Miraculous power is not athing to be claimed. It is to be proven.There are few records either in Old orNew Testament of men being raisedfrom the dead. Those so raised, muststill meet death on the way to the resurrection. It is appointed to all menonce to die, and after that the resurrection. Sickness is not a universal affliction. Many asked Christ for healing forthemselves or their friends, and Hehealed many.That did not interferewith the general plan of Life. The raising of the dead has raised many questions that are too deep for us to solve.Christ faced death for us, that He mightlead us through death to the resurrection of life.The purpose of John in sending hisdisciples to Christ might be made moreclear by noticing what Christ said ofJohn. Repeatedly, Jesus rebuked Hisdisciples for their lack of faith, thoughthey were only disciples, learners. Johnwas in a class by himself. He was theherald that announced the coming ofthe Messiah. Surely if he had shownfear, Christ would have rebuked him.Christ did not suggest that there wasany lack of faith shown in John's question, but instead He spoke of John inthe highest possible terms.November 2, 1955There seems to be a paradox in whatChrist said of John. There had not been agreater than John. Yet among those inthe Kingdom of God, the least one wasgreater than John. There have been several explanations offered. Let us lookat Christ's own definition of greatness.Christ looked at man's definition whichHe took from the very thoughts of Hisdisciples. Would we not agree with thedisciples? Was not the one who sat atmeat greater than his servant? We usedto see the well-dressed man standingagainst the wall while a ragged littleboot-black polished his shoes.In ourrating of society, one was at the topand the other at the bottom. Which?Christ pointed out that the onewho served was the greater. So Christwho rendered the greatest service to all,is the greatest of all. He was the leastaccording to man's estimate, but thegreatest in fact. We approach greatnessby becoming like Him.The disciples strove among themselves as to which of them should bethe greatest. That is, the greatest ascompared with each other. John compared himself only with Christ. He sawno value in his own life, other thaninsofar as he could make Christ known.He must fade, in order to show the preeminence of Christ. He could not standbetween the people and Christ. In prison? Not one word of complaint. His onlyquestion, interest, is in Christ. Accordingto Christ's rating there may be othersas great, but none greater than John,except Christ who humbled Himself thatHe might become the servant of all,even the lowest.In our study of Jesus' power, is therea greater evidence than His power toproduce a man like John?PRAYER MEETING TOPICNovember 23, 1955THE AMENS OF JESUS (No. 11)THE MEASURE OF LIBERALITYComments by Rev. John O. EdgarPsalms61:1-4, page 15149:1, 4, 7, 8, page 12537:14, 22-24, page 9350:7-11, page 128Scripture Passage: Mark 12:41-44Scripture References: Prov. 11:24; IJohn 3:17; Prov. 3:9; II Cor. 8:12; IIKings 12:9Perhaps more spiritual failures havebeen caused by the wrong use of moneythan from any other single cause. Paulwrote, "The love of money is the root ofall evil."We may go through history,both Biblical and secular and we willdiscover that desire for material gainhas been involved in almost every warthat has been fought. It is not surprisingthat Jesus has so much to say aboutmoneyuse.and property and their properThe incident of the poor widow bringing her gift to the temple took place onthe last day of our Lord's earthly ministry. Sitting by the treasury of thetemple He saw the rich bringing theirgifts and presentingthem in a mannerthat would call attention to the gift.But when the poor widow came it wasin such a spirit of humility and generosity that Jesus was led to exclaim,"Verily (Amen) (Truly) this poor widow cast in more than all they that werecasting into the treasury."I. THE GIVERNo details are given as to whom thisperson may have been. It would havebeen entirely contrary to the spirit ofthe woman if the Gospel writers hadidentified her. We onlyknow that shewas a widow and that she was poor.1. She Gave In HumilityMany coming to the temple weredressed in costly apparel, designed toattract the eyes of men. When they deposited their money in the brass funnel-shaped mouth of the chest, it wasdone so there would be a resounding"clink."This was the very kind of giving Jesus had warned against in the Sermon of the Mount when He said, "Whenthou doest thine alms, do not blow atrumpet."The poor widow had grasped the spiritwhich says, "Let not thy left hand knowwhat thy right hand doeth." It is possible that she may have gone to thetemple in a furtive spirit because herclothes were not in keepingwith thoseof others. But unlike many in our generation she did not make the excuse,"My clothes aren't good enough to go toShe might also have hesitatedto go because her gift was small incomparison to that which othersbrought. But even this did not keep heraway. How happyshe must have beenwhen the Lord himself took knowledgeof her gift!2. She Gave ofHer PenuryWe do not know why she was so poor.Probably it was due to misfortune rather than indolence. People who have adeep love for the Lord's work such asthis woman had are not inclined to beidlers. Furthermore the Lord rewardsthose who are liberal with Him, andthe means are provided for daily bread.We do not know whether the womanhad children to support, but if she did itwould speak the more stronglyfaith.of herIt is not alone the rich that may bemiserly and grasping; the poor may beequallyguilty. Whether one's posses-299