Covenanter Witness Vol. 55 - Rparchives.org

price."price,"wood?"up,"all his outlay and give him a fortunebesides.In "the kingdom" an honest inquirer may start out with the idea of turningover a new leaf for a record ofgood conduct, writing out a few checksfor good causes, accumulating somegood deeds, and hope thus to improvehis moral credit with God, and somewhat to lessen his guilt and fear. Ashe finds this to be a vain hope, and areal hope presents itself in the Gospelof having Christ, and all good things inChrist, he gives it his serious consideration. He concludesthat all his goodas over against Christ and all His goodis nothing, and that in the proposeddeal, he would_be receiving Christ asoffered, "without money and withoutSo he closes the deal. The covenant is made. The transaction is done.He is Christ's; and the "One Pearl ofgreatChrist, is his.As Calvin comments: "By makingmerchandise,that anyChrist does not mean,compensation is offered bymen, whereby they may secure forthemselves eternal life; for we knowon what terms the Lord invites peopleto come to Him, Isa. 55:1. But althoughthe gift of God, eternal life, is bestowed gratuitously, with whatsoever pertains to it, we are yet told to purchaseit, since we can voluntarily deprive ourselves of fleshly gratifications, that wemayafter it."not be hindered in our searchFor any who do not "diligently attend to searching the Scriptures, religious conversation, the duties of private prayer, the household, the fellowsanctuary,"ship meeting and thea quotation from Eylert would be pertinent:"Jesus here shows us the true point ofview, from which we must considerChristianity, if ever its holy design shallbe accomplished in us. It must be tous a thingwhence we must applyof the greatest importance;ourselves aboveall things to become fully acquaintedwith it, to know it always moreandmore thoroughly; and this knowledge,this conviction, will be a thing soughtafter, will be obtained with labor, application, and perseverence. . . . wemust sacrifice all, surrender all, thatis incompatible with a Christian frame,Phil.3:7-9."THE MINUTES OF SYNODARE NOW READYORDER FROM C. R. FOX209 Ninth St. Pittsburgh 22, Pa.Price $1.00W. M. S. DepartmentMrs. Ross Lanmf:. EditoiPrayer Hour. 1:00 P.M. MondayDear Mrs. Carson:SynodicalMiss Rose Huston docked at Vancouver early last Sabbath morning. Wedid not meet the boat aswe wereholding communion in Seattle. MissHuston's good friends of Manchuriadays met her and she stayed with thema few days. Now she is here in Seattle.She plans to stay on the west coastthrough most of the month of November, I believe. She is very tired andneeds to relax.SynodicalSincerely,Marian MartinProgram CommitteeMrs. Robert McConaughyMrs. S. Bruce WillsonMrs. W. S. RobbMrs. R. C. FullertonChr.Announced by our President Mrs. A.J. McFarland.They needed a pulpit for the new Salvation Army Center in Chicago. Theold master workman agreed to make afine pulpit out of special wood a proper one no dowels nor nails, beautifully grained sides and a good solid topfor the Holy Book."That's a fine idea but where shallwe find suchthey asked. Theold man smiled, "We got some onthe scrap pile waiting to be burnthe replied.So from piecesof old chests andtables that had been battered beyondrepair, the pulpit began to take form.Layer upon layer of blistered paint wasscraped away. The wood had to be sanded down till it was smooth like china.Ugly nail holes were filled and smoothed. Board had to be fitted to board bya master hand, cut exactly to specificationsperfect! The ancient cabinetmaker applied "splines," thin woodenstrips, with infinite care to hold thepieces together.The pulpit stands today sturdy andbeautiful with its broad graining andcrystal finish of SOLID OAK.He knew about scrap heaps alrightfor once he had called the filthy streethis home. He knew only Jesus can putHis Master Hand upon a piece of humanwood from the scrapit into a pulpita strongof God's workmanship ofpile and remakeuseful piecesolid oak.There are human scrap heaps in theyards of our churches. Do we with expert care pick up these pieces and makethem into useful members for God'sGlory?Dear Iva:SynodicalYour letter about our theme ARISEAND BUILD did me a lot of good. Butthe past few days I am so discouragedI do not know what to do. Please tellme why I feel this way. Sincerely,Ineeda Friend.Dear Ineeda:Your letter makes me think you areworrying too much. Last spring whenyou were tending your fine bean patch,I recall you said the hot winds woulddry up the beans before you could everharvest them. But the rains came andthe beans grew and you recall you canned a record cropyour familyof fine beans forof six. But you were nothappy because you told me that a summer like that takes everything out ofyou.Why are women like that? They seemto enjoy looking on the dark side. Weall are like that sometimes. We oftenexpect almost hope for the worstWE can not enjoy today because ofthe dread of some real or imaginarytroubles of the future.When you worry all day do you notnotice how tired you become? Constantworry tears down health and wreckshappiness. Axnious, fretful worry is asin. Worry is unbelief in God and HisWord.Face up to your troubles. Examinethem. Are they worth worrying about?Some of them are real and you don'tknow what to do. Turn them over toGod casting all your care upon Him.It will make a great difference. Youwill be surprised how easily things willwork out.Till we write again,Iva HeartTHE BRIEF COVENANT OF 1954A new printing of the Brief Covenant is now available for distribution. They may be ordered in anyquantity from Dr. Remo I. Robb,1217 Sixth Ave., Beaver Falls, Pa.The only cost to individuals or congregations requesting copies is thereturn postage.This printing has been made in accordance with instructionsSynod of 1955.at theCommittee on Future CovenantingS. Bruce Willson, Chairman.November 30, 1955 365