Covenanter Witness Vol. 55 - Rparchives.org

us"see."stand."us."world."places."the city. He rushed into Shiloh and toldof the terrible defeat. The sound of wailingand lamentation reached Eli. Themessenger was brought to him. The mansaid unto Eli, "Israel is fled before thePhilistines and thy two sons, also,Hophniand Phineas, are dead." Eli couldendure all this, terrible as it was. Whenthe messenger added, "And the Ark ofGod is taken," it was more than he couldbear. His strength was gone, he fell "andhis neck brake and he died."The wife of Phineas, even though herhusband was wicked, feared the Lord.The death of her husband, of her fatherin-law,and the terrible word that theArk of the Lord was captured causedher death. She named her child "Ichabod""inglorious."which means, She repeated these words with her dyingbreath, "The glory is departed from Israel; for the Ark of God is taken."Wasn't this a sad story? Blessings andhappiness are NEVER an outgrowth ofsin. We do not need to use our ownwords to emphasize the importance ofright living. We should remember toread our Bibles every day because onlyin His Holy Word can we learn the wayHe would have us live. Let us keep everbefore us, "that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for (Romans 5:8).May our prayer every day be,merciful to me, a sinner"! Luke 18:13.Notebook work:"God"be1. Copy and answer the four questionsat the beginning of our lesson.2. What is sin? Find the answer inthe Shorter Catechism and copy it.3. Draw a picture of an open Bible.Write a Bible verse which you think applies to this lesson across the front of it.SABBATH SCHOOL LESSONFor January 1, 1956.JESUS REBUKES INSINCERITYLuke 11:14-12:3,54-59.Printed text: Luke 11:29-44.Comments by Rev. John K. Gault, La Mirada, Calif.Theme of the Lesson:Insincerity.The Peril of(Lessons based on Internationa] Sunday SchoolLessons'Lessons ; the International Bible forChristian Teaching, copyrighted by the International Council of Keligious Education.)According to Archbishop Trench inhis interesting little book about"Words"the word "Sincere" has an interesting history. As he describes it,pottery makingwas quite a commonoccupation in some of the cities of southern Italy during mediaeval times. Andit was not uncommon for the beautiful vessels to become cracked in thebaking process. Dealers in this ware,December 14, 1955whose honesty was quite elastic, wouldfill these cracks with wax and thensell them for perfect specimens as thecracks would not be discernable. Honestdealers, however, would exhibit theirproducts and advertise them with thesetwo words, in Latin of course;"Sine"meaning without and "Cere" meaningwax. As time went on these two wordswere joined together and the wordsincere comes down to us as meaningan attitude or statement which is notfalse; without hypocrisy.Now insincerity is a most perilousstate for one to be in. For one thing,insincerity leads one to a disbelief inChrist's ability to cast out demons,which action of Christ precipitated thisconversation. If Christ is unable to castout a devil then He is also unable todo any other good deed. Jesus, in casting out the demons from the persondemonstrated His absolute power overall things in the world. Is not the devilthe author of sin and hence the originator of all suffering and maladjustment. In casting out the demons Jesuswent to the very source of all trouble.But there were those who accusedJesus of being in league with Beelzebubwhom theyDevils. What a sillycalled the Prince of theattitude for oneto take. If Jesus were in league withBeelzebub then why would He wantto cast him out? He would, rather, tryto keep the devil in a person. Jesus,however, went about doing good andone of His principle objectives was therelief of human suffering. In fulfillingHis mission in the world Jesus set himself directly opposed to all the works ofthe devil. He could not, therefore bein league with Beelzebub. As He said,"A house divided against itself shallnotInsincerity is also a great peril because in being in that state one is unable to discern the true signs. An insincere person is one who is lost in thedark.Jesus'accusers asked him for a sign.They as much as said, "If you are whatyou claim to be, then shew"Thereare none so blind as those who will notJesus refused to give them anyfurther signs becaue He had alreadygiven them plenty. He had been delivering people from their misery, particularly from being possessed with demons. What other sign was needed!Then they had the Old Testament andcould read about the repentance of thepeople of Nineveh and of the honestinquiryof the Queen of Sheba. Thatwhich they needed most of all was tolikewise make an honest inquiry andrepent of their sins. Instead they pretended to be goodnot.when they wereJonah was a sign to the people ofNineveh. Word had come to the king ofNineveh, presumably about Jonah's deliverance from the great fish. They looked on him, therefore, as one sent fromGod. When Jonah cried, "Yet forty days,and Nineveh shall beoverthrownthepeople of Nineveh "believed God, andproclaimed a fast, and put onsackcloth, from the greatest of them evento the least of them." These Jews whoaccused Jesus, because of their insincerity, failed to see in Him the Onewho came from God, yet He went inand out among them, castingmons and performingout deother wonderfulworks of healing.A sign is something to be seen. It isnot to be hidden. Manysigns in our modern age are lighted with neon lightswhich flash on and off in the darknessand thus are more noticeable. Jesuswas the sign of salvation to these Jewsyet they saw Him not because of theirspiritual myopia. Jesus said, "If, therefore, thine eye be single thy whole bodyshall be full of light. A "single" eye is onewhich can be focused upon all objectswithin range. There are diseases of theeyes which destroy this ability. Insincerity is a disease of the spiritual eye.It is indeed a great peril to be so afflicted. Because of such a malady oneis unable to focus his spiritual sightupon the Lamb of God which takethaway the sin of theAgain, sincerity is a peril because itit an appearance without reality. Thisphilosophy brought sin into the worldin the first place and it has provedthe undoing of people ever since. Sinceit looks and tastes good then it mustbe good. Millions have died becausethey reasoned thus and people have lostmuch money to fast talking swindlers.The Pharisees trusted in appearanceand not in reality.Jesus was invited to dine at the homeof a Pharisee. When the host saw thatHe did not wash before sitting down toeat he took offense.Now Jesus didnot deny that it was the proper thingto wash before eating, but undoubtedlyHe refrained from washing at this timein order that He might make an objectlesson of the Pharisees who washed sooften and so many things;but whowere, as Jesus said to His host thatday, "Your inward part is full of exwickedness."tortion andThe Pharisees also tithed everything;but they passed over "justice and thelove of God." As Jesus said to this manin whose house He dined, it was rightfor them to tithe but they disregardedthe reality of religion completely; justiceand the love of God. They also, "lovedthe chief seats in the synagogues andthe salutations in the market393