The Mississippi enterprise. (Jackson, Miss.) 1938-current, 1962-01-27


JANUARY 20, 1862
BY Rev. George A. Harper
511 Avenue G.,
Greenwood, Miss.
REVERENCE FOR GODS
NAME.
Scripture Lesson - Exodus
POT; Matthew 5:33-37; 6:5-9.
MEMORY SELECTION -
Our Father which art in heav-
en-, followed be thy name
Matthew go. Man lost his
relationship to God through
the fall of Adam. This rela-
tionShip can only be restored
through Christ the last Adam
and the new birth. When a
person has been born again
becomes a son of God and
God becomes his heavenly
Father. The term Father"
connOtes a near and a dear
relationship which brings re-
sponsibilities, privileges and
duties to both parties. Every
Christian should learn the
near and dear relationship
that he maintains toward God
his Heavenly Father.
God is to be addressed as a
Father and His name is to be
hallowed. His name is to be
reverenced and respected.
Name is indicative of nature,
and truly Gods nature is holy
and He desires that men shall
be like Him, that is, holy
THE NAME THAT is A.
BOVE EVERY NAME: The
name of God suggests at once
our highest and hottest asso-
Citations. The name connotes
something set apart as unfor-
getably sacred. Jesus affirms
this thought of Gods name in
the prayer which He taught
His disciples when after adj
dressing God as Father in
Heaven, He adds "Hollowed be
Thy name" "And when We
pray, you must not be like the
hypocrites; for they love to
pray standing on the street
corners of the streets, and in
the synagogues, and in the
corners of the streets, that
they may be seen by men,"
To vainly pronounce the name
of the Holy One as though He
were unjust, and to blame Him
for their misfortune is wicked.
This will not 60 unpublished
by the Lord. To make use of
the Holy Name in prayer with
the purpose of focusing atten-
ton upon ourselves is discount
tenanced by our Master. 1t is
much more appropriate to take
ourselves to some secret place
where God alone is aware of
our communion with Him.
Otherwise the reward we get
from the satisfaction that peo-
pie are observing us as we
pray is the only reward which
we may expect from praying.
Jesus reminds us that our
prayers do not add anything
to Gods enlightenment. "Your
Father knowS\ what things we
have need of before we ask
him"
OATH TAKING AND REV
ERENCE FOR GODS NAME:
Jesus admonishes against the
habit of employing the Divine
name in our pledges to each
other, familiary known as
swearing. In our hard and fast
promises to each other, we are
told to limit our assurances to
such simple words as YES and
NO. We are not to swear by
the earth, by heaven or by
Jerusalem. All of these have
sacred association which
should remain inviolable. The
heaven is Gods throne; the
earth is His footstool and Jer-
usalem is the city of the Great
King. The commandment in
Exodus, Thou shalt not take |
the name of the Lord thy God |
in vain," is not merely a COM
mandment against profanity as |
is sometime supposed; but a
commandment against any
light or trifling or inconsider-
ate use of Gods name. AS be-
ginning Christians with rever-
ence for the use of Gods
name, we should aspire to
grow in this direction until
we achieve reverence for the
whole earth is full of His