657
T h e
K i n g ' s
B u s i n e s s
October 1927
BLACKBOARD OUTLINE R ig h t s iy e n ie d EFORMS IIEMANDED IGHTEOUSNESS l/ESIRED Depart from evil and do good. —Psa. 34:14. nished a beautiful casket and many fra grant flowers for the funeral. Then
him to give up his wealth and to follow Him. When one follows God, things of the world which are contrary to the will of God he must give up, and be very firm in his stand for God and righteous-g. ness. The expression, “Learn to do well," is explained by the four following in junctions. “Seek justice" is the true at titude of every redeemed child of God. He wishes justice and righteousness to be dealt out to everyone under all con ditions. “Relieve the oppressed ” is like-| wise one of the divine characteristics which must be exemplified in the life of the faithful child of God. When Christ comes again and enters into judgment with the world He is going to deal out summary punishment to all who have op pressed the weak. “Judge the fatherless, plead for the widow." God has always been merciful to those who were unable to meet the cold world and contend for that which is just. The faithful Chris tian will always be found taking the part of the defenseless ones, for “pure re ligion and undefiled before God and the Father is this: to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction and to keep oneself unspotted from the world” (Jas. 1:27). V. 18. “Come now, let us reason to gether, saith Jehovah-, though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool." God never co erces anyone. He endowed man with in telligence ; ■hence, He respects man’s individuality and personality. The mes sage of God appeals always to the unprejudiced, open mind and will bear the closest scrutiny of scientific investiga tion without suffering any loss. Regard less of the sins of the .past, except it be that •of blaspheming against the Holy Spirit (Matt. 12:22-32), one may come and wash in the “crimson fountain” of Christ’s blood and be made white as snow. Vs. 19-29. “I f ye be willing and obe dient, ye shall eat the good of the land : but if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword; for the mouth of Jehovah hath spoken it." God wants people to be willing to do His will in preference, to their own. Man’s ways and thoughts are far beneath the ways and thoughts of God (Isa. 55:9-10). They must also be obedient, for “rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubborn ness is as idolatry and teraphim” (1 Sam. 15:23). “I f ye love Me ye will keep My commandments," said Jesus. The ma terial blessings of God to Israel were contingent upon their willingness of obe dience. Though we are not under law but under grace, to a certain extent this same principle obtains, all things being equal. Isaiah warned them if they were disobedient God would consume them with the sword, that is, He would send a foreign army to invade the country and destroy the disobedient. The guarantee of the fulfillment of both the promises and the threats is, “The mouth of Jehovah hath spoken it." —o— Worshiping God. Isa. 1:11-20. Luke 18:9-14. Memory Verse: : “I will praise Thee, O Lord, my God, with my whole heart.” Psa. 86:12. Approach: A very poor family lost a child they dearly loved. Friends fur-
are not to bring burnt offerings and the fat of rams, but are to bring as their offering to God “the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world" ?(Jn.. 1 :29), and to present their bodies, a living sacrifice unto Him (Rom. 12:1-2). V. 12. " When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand, to trample my courts?" In the law every male within certain age limits was com manded to appear before the Lord, espe cially at the three annual feasts—Passover, Pentecost and Tabernacles. But of the people of Jerusalem, Isaiah inquired who had commanded them, who were living such-impure lives, to appear at the house of God. A similar situation to this de veloped in the days of Malachi, who desired that someone might have the courage to close the door of the temple and to prevent vain worship (Mai. 1: 6-10). V. 13. “Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; new moon and sabbath, the calling of assem blies—I cannot away with iniquity and the solemn meeting." “He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer is an abomination" (Prov. 28:9). All of their offerings were un-g acceptable to God. Their different re ligious festivals, including the new moon and the Sabbath and the holy convoca tions on special days, according to the law, were very distasteful to the Lord since their lives were corrupt. The Lord could not tolerate the wickedness and at the same time accept the service rendered in the solemn assembly. V. 14. “Your new moons and your ap pointed feasts my soul hateth; they are a trouble unto me; I am weary of bearing them." Sin is so very distasteful to God that He absolutely “hated” all of their feasts and was troubled over them, being weary of tolerating them. These expres sions, of course, are what are termed “anthropomorphisms,” that is, God speaks of His attitude concerning their sacrifices in human terms. V. IS. “And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you : yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear : your hands are full of blood.” ;Their prayers did not touch God’s heart. God is characterized in Psa. 65 :2 as “O Thou that hearest prayer,” but their prayers. He refused, because their ‘sins have hid His face from you, so that He will not hear” (Isa. 59:2). Vs. 16-17. "Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil; learn to do well; seek justice, relieve the op pressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow." “Wash” is a figurative ex pression which refers to their repentance in turning to God, whereas the command, “Make you clean,” refers to their keeping themselves pure and clean. Men cannot wash themselves clean by' a reformation and good resolutions. The Corinthian Church was “washed, but ye were sanc tified, but ye were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God" (1 Cor. 6:11, cf. Rev. 1:5). Whereas the two former commands gave the positive side of their turning to God, the next two commands, “Put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil,” give the negative side of their turning. The two sides of religious life are likewise seen in Psa. 1: 1-2. To the rich young man (Matt. 19) who came to Jesus, the latter commanded
they gave the fam ily some fine fur niture, good clothes, a number of good books and beautiful pictures. Still they m o u r n ed, because nothing could take the place of their c h i l d . — Arnold’s Com.
Lesson Story : The ■stories we are having now from the Old Testament help us to understand that God wants us to worship Him with our hearts. While these people we are hearing about lived a long time ago, they are just like the people in the world today. They dis obeyed God, and disobedience always Spells “SIN.” We are going to get ac quainted with another one of God’s faithful prophets or preachers in our story today. His name is Isaiah, and the people of Israel were going through the form of Worship, bringing their of ferings, and keeping special days, but what do you think God told them through Isaiah ? He told them he was • weary with them; that all their worship was a great sorrow to Him. Oh, what sad words God had to say to His people Israel because they had wandered far away from Him. They were selfish and had no thought or feeling for the poor and suffering, but only of themselves. I wonder if we are selfish in our home, at school, or in our play. The only kind of worship that can please God must come from a pure, lov ing heart, and only Jesus can make and keep our hearts pure. Jesus tells us a story about two men who went up into the temple to pray. Now, listen carefully and see which one you think prayed the kind of a prayer that God could hear and answer. The first man thanked God that he was better than other men, and told all about the good works he was doing, and how much money he was giving to God. This man stood in a proud attitude as he prayed. The second man felt he was not worthy to come to God to pray, so he bowed his head, and would not lift up his eyes even to heaven. In his prayer, which was very short, he told God he was a great sinner, and asked God to forgive him. Which man do you think pleased God? Yes, the second man, for he admitted he was a sinner, and the Bible tells us, “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” The story tells us this man went to his home with his sins forgiven. We learn from this story that in order to wor ship God we must give Him our hearts. If we truly love God we will give Him the worship of our hearts. It will be our greatest joy to love and serve the Lord who has saved us from our sin, and is getting ready a beautiful home in heaven.
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