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SuncCay SchooC Lesson The Sin Of Self-righteousness by Bessie mibon niTRODUCTIOW! vJnepetltlon Is a fine tool for Iccimlng. An elementaiy child learns books of the able by repeating the listing over and over again. ;g^h being the force of repetition, wonder why Israel did not learn 3be lesson God was trying to teach them - that faithfulness to Him 34suld bring blessings, and disobedience would bring punishment. “,*Hie description of Israel's desperate situation Is given In verses 5 6: "For (the Medlanites) came up with their cattle and their tents, Ahi they came as grasshoppers for multitude; for both they and their levels were without number; and they entered Into the land to de- It. And Israel was greatly impoverished because of the Medla- «it*s; and the children of Israel cried unto the Lord." Once again God besrd the cry of His people and raised up a deliverer to rescue them bbm their oppressors. In this lesson and the next, we learn of the «Kpiolts of their dellverer-Gldeon. THE LltaSnW; Srrhenjthe Lord's angel came to the village erfOphrah and sat under tree that belcmged to Joash, a man of the clan of Ablezer. His ^n Gideon was threshing some wheat secretly In a wine press, so Shat the Medlanites would not see him. The Loids' angel appeared to 3Jlm there and said, 'The Lord Is with you, brave and mighty man!" ;Glde«i said to him, "If I may ask. Sir, why has all this happened to us 3i the Lord Is with us? What happened to all the wonderful things 2that our fathers told us the Lord used to do - how he brought them 3?ut of Egypt? The Lord has abandoned us and left us to the mercy of ^e Medlanites." Then the Lord ordered him, "Go with all your great •strength and rescue Israel fixan the Medlanites. I myself am sending 3(bu." Gideon replied, "But Lord, how can I rescue Israel? My clan is Hhe weakest in &e tribe of Manasseh, and I am the least Important 4uember of my family." The Lord answered, 'You can do it because I 3W1 help you. You will crush the MedlaiUtes as easily as If they were 3>nfy man. (Vs. 11-16) That night the Lord told Gideon "Take your fa- j^hers' bull and another bull seven years old, tear down your father's ralter to Baal, and cut down the symbol of the goddess Asherah, 3|rhlch Is beside It. Build a well-constructed altar to the Lord your :Sod on top of this mound. Then take the second bull and bum It whole as an offering, using for firewood the symbol of Asherah you have cut down." So Gideon took ten of his servants and did what the Cord had told him. He was too afraid of his family and the people In town to do It by day, so he did it at nl^L When the people In town got uf early the next morning, they found that the altar to Ball and the lymbol of Asherah had been cut down, and that the secemd bull had been burned on the altar that had been build there. They asked each other, "Who did this?" They investigated and found out that Gideon ton of Joash had done it. Then they said to Joash, Bring your son (2ut here, so that we can kill him. He tewe down the altar to Raai and cut down the symbol of Asherah beside it." (Vs. 25-30) From then on Oideon was known as Jembbaal because Joash said, "Let Baal de- >nd himself; it Is his altar that was tc*n down." (V. 32) * God uses us for His service today. We may not be given power to woik; miracles, but nevertheless we can accomplish "miraculous" re- iults as we try to do God's will In obedient surrender to Him. One (loes not find ttiat Gideon himself worked any supernatural "wonder", ^t he became willing to follow God's instructions even when those directions were seemingly ridiculous. By doing as directed, tremen dous resiftts followed, ; Gideon did not feel he could become the deliverer of his people. He was very aware of his Inadequacy and was most hesitant to think of himself In heroic terms. When the angel greeted him as a "valiant" or '^nl^ty" man, he was quick to answer that he was far from being any such thing. He Just couldn't bring himself to believe God was going to use him and empower him. It required repeated proofs and '!checklng" by Gideon to be convinced. (Read the entire chapter of (Judges 6; better still, read the book of Ju^es.) In such reluctance to accept a position of leadership, Gideon was in good company. (Read j^OTra^ah 1; 5,6) Q^us 3,4). * When we are called to tasks of leadership or responsibility in God's wwk today, a feeling of unworthiness and Insufficiency Is In no way a disqualification. Those who recognize the ^gnlficance of the work and the demands for dedication made upon them are the most apt to be {ffiable in God's hands. We must realize how very much we depend upon God's help and blessings for the accomplishments of His pur poses through us. There is a place for self-confidence and assu rance, but It must not come from vanity or any sense of superior merit and ability. Rather, it should come from an awareness of our lack overcome tty Gods' ftillness, and of our inability ultimately made competent, through Gods' truth. His people's help and His indwelling presence. Qldeon could not defeat a false god until he believed the true Chie. Neither can we. Father, May we be willing to accept calls to service and to trust so that our Savior's help and presence will enable us to fill them with - foroefulness. Open our eyes to see, our wills to respond, and our lives to be devoted to those opportunities for growth, for service, and for ftillness of life that are offered to us. In Jesus name. Amen. By J. L. UtUe The last Idol that a sinner will give up before he Is saved Is self- righteousness. Every sinner by nature Is deceived by his wicked heart (Jer. 17:9), and thinks he has some goodness that God win take notice of and usher him Into Heaven at the very last. That Is why It Is so hard for a re ligious soul to get saved. All your life you have prided your self on the fact that vou don't live In sin as others. But when the blessed Holy Spirit awakens a religious sinner, he sees that all his righteousness Is just menstrous rags, according to Isaiah 64:6. God's Word is very plain about the total depraved sinner that God sa}rs you are in His word, long before He saves you. If you ever are to be saved. The Lord is not going to save everybody. And once you get your eyes open to God's way of salvation you wonder why you could have ever been so blind to think that you could be saved on a profession or a mental deci sion for the Lord Jesus Christ. A self-righteous sinner Is always looking down on others and pat ting himself on the back as did the old Kiarlsee. "And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted In themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a pub lican. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, 1 thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, un just, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice In the week, 1 give tithes of all that I possess. And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. I tell you, this man went down to his twuse jus tified rather than the other for eveiy one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalt ed." ftuke 18: 9-14). The Pharisee patted himself on the back, he was a self- righteous devil but the Lord didn't save him. But the old pub lican saw himself as a lost sin ner and the Lord saved him. If you never give up your Idol of self-righteousness, you'll never get sav^. That's why multitudes of our church members are not saved and never will be. You are self-righteous to the core. You think you are better than others. If the sword of total depravity ever goes home to your heart, never again will you trust your self and look down on others. The blessed soul who has come in personal contact with the Lord has a glimpse of himself as God sees him and you are hum bled because you see your filthi ness In the Face Jesus Christ. That Is of a broken heart and contrite spirit. Where do you go to find souls truly broken and walking humbly before the Lord? Ywi wcwi't find them In our Teens Are Getting Mixed Messages About Sex If we adults realty want to help prevent teen pregnancy, we have to stop talking out of both sftfes of our mouths about sex. Teenagers are bright, perceptive people, and they know when they are getting mixed signals from adults. Here are just a few examples: We tall our girls to be chased, and our boys to score. Girls generally feel more hesitation about early sex than boys do. But the red light we are flashing at girls all too often falls to stop them from having sex before they are ready, and Instead stops them from mak ing sure they have birth control before they do. And the green light we flash at boys makes It very unlficety that they will delay sexual activity. Teens of both seitos need a yellow light: a strong caution from adults about the risks and conse quences of too-early sexual ac tivity. Ws tell our teens one thing, and do another. Teens have not coruered the market on irre sponsible behavior. Often, adult men la their early 20s are the fathers of teenage girls' babies. Adults have helped to spread sexually-transmitted diseases. Adult men by the millions have walked away from their child support responsibilities. We adidts have to clean up our act brfore we can speak with au- tkority to Our children. We bemoan the teen preg- •ancy problem, but deny that our children eould be having sex. Most black adults will admit that our community, like our nation as a whole, has a serious teen pregnancy prob lem. But too often we fail to face up to that problem when it con fronts U6 in our own homes. Many parents avoid discussing sek or birth control with |helr chAdren in the mistaken fear Child Watch With Marian Wrii^t Edelman that this will "encourage" their children to have sex. Th^ look the other way even when they see clear signs that their chil dren have become sexually ac tive. Denying to ourselves and others that our children may be having sex — as 86 percent of all black teenage boys and 59 per cent of all black teenage girls do by age 18 — will not help our young people avoid the negative consequences of too-early preg nancy and parenthood. But Ini tiating honest, open, two-way communication can. churches, as a whole. Our church members are so hard hearted and cussed. Continue to listen to our late pastor. L. R Shelton, with THE VOICE OF TRUTH BROADCAST, each Sunday morning at 7:30 over WAGI FM, 105.3 Me. The Prophet Column is a paid advisement. Thursdity, Juty 13, 1989 - THE CHARLOTTE POST Classified Ads: FAST HIGHLY VISIBLE DEPENDABLE BEASLEY'S FUNERAL HOME Mrs. Jeanette Manuel, 76, 1120 Oaklawn Ave., Apt. I - died July 9, 1989, In Medical Park Nursing Home. Funeral service will be 2 p.m. at Beasley's Funer al Home Chaj>el. Burial will be In Beasley's Memorial Garden, Mt Holly - NC. Survivors are her son, Mr. Al fonso Johnson; devoted friend and care taker, Mrs. Willie Hart. INCOMPLETE Ms. Barbara Campbell Mill er, 47, of 6510 Westoiia Dr., Apt. #6 - died July 7, 1989, In Mercy Hospital. Mr. Ural Covington, of 2902 Parkwood Ave., Baltimore, MD - died July 7, 1989, In Marian G. Hospital (Baltimore. MD). 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The Charlotte Post (Charlotte, N.C.)
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July 13, 1989, edition 1
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