Covenanter Witness Vol. 55 - Rparchives.org

QUESTIONSgeneration'Lesson Helps for the Week of July 24, 1955C. Y. P. U. TOPICSTUDIES IN COLOSSIANSChapter 1, 2.Comments and questions byAlvin W. Smith, D.D.Psalms: 47:1-7, page 120.Prayers :68:31-34,page 165.1. For new workers going to the mission fields.2. For the giving to Christ full honorfor all that He is and has done.3. For the cleansing of the churchfrom false and erroneous teachings.4. For God's blessing upon all of thesummer camps; that vacations will notbe vacations from God.IntroductionThe church in Colosse was one ofseveral churches, the care of whichcame upon Paul daily (2 Cor. 11:28).Although he had not founded it orvisited it himself, he had friends there,such as Epaphras, Philemon and Onesimus who were members of it. Colosse,a city in southwest Phrygia, close toLaodicea, had probably been evangelized by Epaphras, one of the Colossians,while Paul labored in Ephesus.Read Aloud Chapters 1 and 2PLACE AND DATE OF WRITING.There is reason to believe that Colossians was written from Rome duringPaul's first imprisonment about 62 A. D.Two other epistles also were written atthe same time, that to the Ephesiansand to Philemon. "Tychicus carried thefirst two to their respective destinationson the same trip and he was accompanied by the converted slave Onesimuswho bore the letter to Philemon."The Occasion and Object of WritingPaul was evidentlymoved to writethe Colossians on account of the visitto him made by Epaphras, the newswhich he brought and the advice whichhe sought from the apostle.Epaphras'report brought Paul both pleasure andgrave concern. Insidious and dangerousfalse teaching was beginning to threaten the very life of the church in Colosse. The leaders of this heresy were evidently Jewish Christians.to the tactics of those who made trouIn contrastble among the Galatians; these made noassault on Paul's apostolic authority butcontended themselves with hereticalteachings.This False Teaching'It was a system "partlyoriental andtheosophistic in its character (2:18) andJuly 6, 1955partly Judaical and ceremonial (2:16),which wastending on the one hand toobscure the majesty and glory of Christ(1:15; 2:8), and on the other hand, tointroduce ritualistic observances, especially on the side of physical austerities (2:16-23) opposed alike to the simplicity and freedom of the gospel, andto all the vital and true union with therisen Lord (2:19;3:1)."Part of the difficultywas centeredaround the doctrine and worship ofangels. Some imagined that the worldwas full of angels and demons who presided over all the operations of natureand entered into the closest relationswith the life of man.The apostle had to combat the definite presence of Gnostic tendencies."The basis of Gnosticism is the doctrinethat matter is evil. In creation God cannot come into direct contact with matter. It is necessary therefore to posit anumber of emanations of deity, a number of spiritual beings germinating,as it were, the first from God, the second from the first and so on until theysink lower and lower and make contactwith matter possible. Only thus couldGod have created the universe and atthe same time maintained His holinessinviolate.""It follows, then, that these gradedangelic beings are in control of the material universe in which man has to live.He must, therefore, enlist the support ofspiritual beings who will protect himagainst the forces at work in the material universe. Thus the work of Christhas to be supplemented by a cult of angels."This was the false teaching.The Apostle's Counter-TeachingAlong with his earnest prayer forthem (in first chapter) Paul wrote ofthe Absolute Supremacy of Christ inthe Universe, Creator of all things andHead of the Church. Read again ch. 1:15-20. In addition, the apostle assuredthe believers of their completeness inChrist and that nothing but union withHim is requisite for the full experienceof salvation. Read carefully ch. 2:6-15.Note the statement, 'ye are complete inHim'in 2 :10.Tactful Warning, verses 4, 8, 16, 18.Why be the loser by exchanging completeness in Christ for any philosophythat falls short and is insufficient?1. To whom, in particular was theepistle directed? Define "saints.'2. For what graces in the Colossianscould Paul give thanks?3. Who brought word of this churchand its spiritual state to Paul?4. For what did Paul pray on their behalf? 1:9-14.5. List the various things declared ofthe Son, Christ Jesus 1:14-18.6. Note the similarity of teaching in1:20-22 with that in Eph. 2:12-19.7. Explain THE MYSTERY mentioned in 1:26, 27 and 2:2. (See alsoRom. 16:25 and Eph. 3:3-10.8. What is meant by 'circumcisionwithout hands'? 2:11; Jer. 4:4; Rom.2:9; Phil 3:3.9. Whydoes the fulness of Chrisfssufficiency preclude not only the worshiping of angels, but also the worshipof saints and the 'Virgin Mary'?10. How does the doctrine of Christthe Creator of all things condemn allteaching of 'spontaneoustaught widely in science classes alongwith the idea that all things came fromforces resident in nature?PsalmsMEMORY VERSESCh. 1:17-19 and 2:6.JUNIOR TOPICJuly 24, 1,55THE SPD3S, OR TEN MENAGAINST TWOBlanche Gilchrist, Walton, N. Y.Scripture Text: Numbers 13Memory Psalm for July : Psalm 44; 1-4, page 112Psalm 1:1-3, page 2Psalm 85 :l-2, 6-8, page 207Psalm 46:1-5,page 119When Miriam became well, the pillarof cloud rose and the children of Israelcontinued on their journey. They traveled until they came to the very borderof the promised land.God commanded Moses to pick outtwelve men. There was to be one manfrom each tribe. Each man was to be aruler of the tribe. Moses said to them,"Go into Canaan and spy it out. You areto see what the land is like. See whatpeople live there. Find out whether theyare strong or weak, few or many. Findout whether the land is good or bad.Discover whether the people live intents or cities. See whether there iswood there and bring back some of thefruit of the land."The spies entered the land at thesouth. Theytraveled northward to theborder. Then, they retraced their steps.They were gone forty days. They found