■-- ■: * ^ ir-^s= ftr* | SUNDAY International 1 SCHOOL -:■ LESSON-: By HAROLD L. LUNDQUIST. D. D. Of The Moody Bible Institute of Chicago. Released by Western Newspaper Union. Lesson for July 28 Lesson subjects and Scripture texts se lected and copyrighted by International Council of Religious Education; used by pern;.'din. JESUS AND REVERENCE FOR SPIRITUAL VALUES LESSON TEXT—Exodus 20:7; Leviti cus 1.12; Matthew 5:33-37; Mark 7:5-8; 8:24-C MEMORY SELECTION—But seek ye first urn of God. and his right eousness: ar.d ail these things shall be added unto you.—Matthew 6:33. Reverence is not an incidental thing which we may or may not choose to have in our lives. It is vital. Reverence toward God and the things of God will result in re spect for all values in life. It will balance our thinking, speaking, and our acting toward our fellow men as well as toward our God. Our lesson calls for I. Reverence in Worship (Exod. 20 7; Lev. 19:12). The Lord rightfully expects from us o proper attitude tow’ard him. If we worship him as we should, we shall fil’d that other matters fall into their proper relationships. Essential in true worship is rev erence for the name of the Lord, for that name stands for all the qualities and characteristics of God. This means that there must be no taking of the name of the Lord “in vain.’’ Our use of the word "vain” car ries the meaning of "useless, with out purpose or meaning.” This is p rt of what is in mind in this com mandment. for the name of Je hovah s sacred and is to be rev erenced as standing for the eternal God. It is never to be used carelessly, or for a frivolous purpose. All too often we tell jokes or stories which have no real purpose or meaning ex cept to elicit a laugh, and in them we use the name of God. We all need to exercise care at that point. The Hebrew word translated “vain” has the additional meaning of “evil” and falsehood.” Men are so bold that they may even use the name of God to support themselves in a lie. God hears and will in no wise hold them guiltless. II. Reverence in Words (Matt. 5: 33-37). The Sermon on the Mount (so called). from which this portion of Scripture is taken, is difficult to in \irpret o the satisfaction of all. Seme disregard lla evident applica tion »o Inc kir.gdom and. af’err.pting to apply it in the midst or an u godly generation, fall into such ! consistencv that they abandon trie effort and regard the teaching of the passage as imposs.ole idealism. Others, who rightly interpre. the passage as presenting the laws end principles of life in the kingdom c' God. when it shall be fully set up on earth with Jesus as King, fail to make any application of those prin ciples to life This is also an un fortunate error. We who follow the Lord Jesus are not to swear by either things sa cred or things that might be called secular. Perhaps he has in mind that our lives should be so true that men will not need to have any kind of oath to be assured of our sin cerity and honesty. Swearing should be entirely be yond the pale with Christian men and women. It is all too common with both men and women. One fears that this is true not only in the world, but among professed be lievers in Christ. Let us stop it! III. Reverence In Works (Mark 7:5-8). Words which do not issue in wori.„ are worse than meaningless. They lead to acceptance of a formal re ligious system which is dangerous. "It gives a sense of religious sat isfaction which is very superficial, lut of some apparent value. It car ries with it no high ethical demands. It helps a man to feel religious with out being either ethical or moral. It does not probe or arouse. It soothes and calms”