Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-12-28

We conclude our three-month course
Of study in Some Social Teachings Of
the Bible" with this weeks lessons
Each Of these lessons has emphasized
some definite social duty, but the great
est of all possible social activities is
found in this weeks study. Every soul
born into the world has a desire to
Worship God While it is possible for
one to worship the Lord alone. and
there are times when we must be alone
with God if we would express the
deepest emotions of our souls in prayer
yet in those solitary moments when one
is alone with God "in the solitude of
the closet, on the lonely mountain top
| or the dark receSSeS of the forest" one
carries into that valley of silence the
| influence of others. One cannot get
away even in those sacred moments
| from the holding influence of one IS
parents, associates and religious instruc-
| ton.
Worship may be solitary, but study
| of the sacred Scriptures will soon re-
veal that God has placed the most en-
| phasis upon social worship. In that
| fellowship faith is quickened and
| spiritual power developed. 1t binds in
! the closest bonds of spiritual unity and
affection Christian fellowship and
! friendship. born in the worship of the
Lord Jesus, are the most sincere. sweet
est and strongest ties that bind human
| hearts together Christmas recalled
! Gods greatest gift to men. The birth
of the Christ Child in Bethlehem'S
manger revealed Gods desire to enter
| into spiritual fellowship with men of
good will everywhere Throughout the
ages the Father has been seeking
| true worshipers to worship Him in
spirit and in truth. When we bow be-
fore Him and adore our Lord and Savior
! in any congregation of His followers
| the spirit of unity and fellowship is
promoted and the oneness of Gods peo-
pie is assured.
Promoting Religious Worship.
Ezra promoted religious worship when
| he organized the pioneer Bible school.
| The whole community of fully $4,000
| assembled to hear the word of God.
! Standing upon the first pulpit that had
ever been erected, Ezra and his associ-
ates read distinctly from the word OF
God. During the rebuilding of the wall
the people were considering only their
safety from their enemies. They needed
to understand their relationship to Je-
hovah and their obligation to worship
Him. Having by prayer sought to f1t
their minds to understand Gods law.
the sacred Scriptures were read to them
distinctly. so that the whole community
was swept onward toward a great re-
vival Through the word they learned
of Gods character and His personal in
terest in their affairs. When they
learned of the law given amidst the
thunderings of Sinai and grasped Gods
demands of them, as individuals and
nation. their grief was uncomfortable.
They could not be comforted until they
heard of Gods grace and understood
how He would give them an oppor-
tunity to put in practice the precepts
and principles of His word and law. 1t
is more difficult to secure in our modern
Bible schools the worship that was
given to Jehovah in that pioneer Bible
school, Worship is the most important
part of our religious life If one is COM
PEELED to choose between attendance
upon the Sunday school and the regular
meetings of the church for divine wor-
ship, one should choose the period of
worship in preference to that of study.
Micah looked forward, as we see in
the selection assigned for our consid-
Grafton from his prophecy, to the COM
ing of the Christ. He pictured the
dawning of the period that the Chris
tan waits for today, as well as the
Jew, who looks for the Messiah's COM
ing. Micah saw that when the Mes
sianic King reigned in Jerusalem an
era of peace, prosperity and power
would come to all people through the
influence of His religious rule His
prophecy that the Christ would be born
in Bethlehem has been fulfilled, and
the world waits eagerly for the coming
of the hour when Christ shall return
to reign in Jerusalem.
In the psalm selected from the Jew
ish hymnal for today's lesson we have
one that the people sang on their an
| nual pilgrimages up to Jerusalem to
participate in their national religious
this psalm was popular hymn there
existed a union of the religious and
! civil forces, so that irreligion was con-
Sidered to be a reasonable offenSe as
well as sinful. The Jewish people hun
gered for the privileges of the temple
worship. They longed for the develop
ment of fellowship with God and His
people through worship
The temple helped develop their ma
tional unity, so the psalm breathes a
| spirit of noble and unSelfish patriotism.
The worshipers in the temple had an
| obligation to help support the nations
religious and civil life. All the faith
full worshipers of Jehovah within the
temple felt their personal responsibility
| to help maintain the divine place of
worship in Jerusalem, just as every
worshiper has the duty to help in the
/ support of his own church and ad-
men and nations.
Public Worship.
When the temple was destroyed and
| the sacrifices could no longer be offered,
/ there were many Hebrews scattered
| abroad, whose faith was weakened. In
! the epistle written to them, the writer
| calls upon these Hebrews to realize that
| they could still worship God through
| the presence of the Lord Jesus, who still
| lived and was accessible to them. There
was no reason for them to be shaken in
/ their faith. Through Him they could
! have access to Gods presence and en-
| JOY His power and fellowship through
! spiritual worship. He informed them
that if they were to draw near unto
Him with pure heart, having given up
! living life Of sin through the "appro-
! prlatlon OF Gods forgiveness and for
saking all impurities of the heart and
acts of life" He called upon them to
hold fast their public profession of faith
in the Lord Jesus through the obSerV-
ance Of the public worship of the living
Christ. There is stimulation of Chris
! tan life and activities through the aSso-
cation with Goa IS people and the join
| ing of their assemblies in the worship OF
the Lord Jesus Christ.
Our Master made it regular rule OF
His life in the flesh to attend the SerV-
| ices of public worship Of Jehovah in the
| synagogueS from. His early childhood
days up to the end of His career We
have not only His example, but the tes-
timony of millions Of His followers to
the value of regular attendance upon
divine worship, where one can share In
the songs of praise, prayers and enjoy
the instruction from the public inter-
probation Of the Bible. There is helpful