Lesson 105 - Elementary
Memory Verse
"I have chosen you out of the world” (John 15:19).
Notes
Happiness
It is so wonderful to think that God the Father and Jesus want all people to be happy. We know for sure that it is true, because so much has been done to make us happy. God made man for happiness. He tells us in many places in His Word how we may be happy. Adam, the first man God created, He put in the beautiful Garden of Eden. There with all the wonderful trees, flowers, fruits, and foods of many kinds, Adam had all his needs supplied. Adam was to dress or take care of this Garden. Then in the cool of the evening our dear Lord came down and talked with Adam. Perhaps they talked of the plants and how they were growing, and what should be planted next.
In these daily little visits the Lord had with Adam, He saw that Adam was lonely. God wanted Adam to be happy. He wants all His children to be happy. So He gave him Eve for a wife. Here they might have been happy always had they not sinned. But God had told them not to eat of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. A wicked serpent, or snake, told Eve to eat some of this fruit. She ate, and gave of it to Adam, and he ate also. Thus they sinned, because they had disobeyed God, and sin came into the whole world.
Disobedience and Fear
Then God came down as usual and called to Adam and said, "Where art thou?" Before this, Adam and Eve had been happy when God was near; now they were afraid. Why? Because they knew they had done wrong. Sin had made them afraid of God. Sin makes everyone afraid of God. Have you ever disobeyed your mother or father and that night when you knelt to pray you remembered what you had done and your heart was not happy? That is how Adam and Eve felt. How they missed this friendship with the Lord!
God punished them for the evil they had done, by driving them out of the Garden of Eden. An angel was placed at the gate to keep watch over the Garden so that they could not return. They lost their only true happiness, and later we find that much sorrow came into their lives.
Bad Advice
In our Scripture lesson for today the Word says, "Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungoldly." This means, happy is the man who does not take advice from wicked people. Eve listened to the counsel of the serpent and did as the serpent told her to do rather than to obey the voice of God. We know that it made them afraid of God and they were no longer happy. If they had not listened to the snake they would not have had to leave their home in the Garden.
God's Word in the Heart
The Lord wants to plant His Word in our heart that we might not sin against Him [PS:119:11]). We have such a beautiful word picture of what the Lord wants our home life to be, found in [DEU:11:18];[DEU:11:19]: "Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul,... And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up." How happy would the child of God be if he kept the Word of God always upon his heart! The peace of God would be flowing over his heart at all times. We need that abiding peace in our heart always, for we know not at what minute the Lord will come to catch us away to Heaven.
Speaking the Truth
God's Word is very plain about what we should do to be happy. We are to speak the truth, not say evil things about our friends or playmates, and do good and kind things. When we read and study God's Word and have it planted in our heart we will behave as the young man did who said he was a follower of Jesus.
A Follower of Jesus
Once a little lame boy hurried to the passenger gate of a railway station as fast as his crutches and basket of fruit and candy would permit. As the passengers rushed through the gate, a young man accidentally hit the basket, knocking the oranges and apples in every direction. He stopped only long enough to scold the boy for being in his way. Another young man who was passing by saw the boy's trouble and began picking up his fruit. As he placed it in the basket, he put a silver dollar in the little boy's hand. With a "Better luck next time" and a smile, he went his way. "Hey, Mister," called the little boy, "are you Jesus?" "No," answered his friend, "I'm only one of His followers." The people whose lives we touch need to see Jesus in your life and mine. When God's Word is hidden in our hearts then we will behave as the good young man did.
A Sinner
The Lord has promised the Christian peace, joy, happiness, God's loving care in this life, and eternal life with Him in the world to come, if we obey His Word. But to the ungoldly, or sinner, it is not so, for he shall not be happy. The Lord tells us all the things we must do to be happy, and He also tells us how the sinner will be punished for not doing what God wants him to do. When we do not do what our parents tell us to do, it grieves our parents. And when we do not do what Jesus tells us in His Word to do, it grieves Jesus. We do not want to make Jesus feel bad, but we want to make Him happy by being obedient to His Word. The sinner is like chaff from wheat. Chaff is light; when the wind blows, it blows away [PS:1:4]). The Christian is like a tree planted by the rivers of water. You have seen a tree growing by a stream of water. How tall, strong, and sturdy it grew! That is the way a Christian boy or girl appears; with the Word of God in his heart he is not afraid. He can face the world and stand tall, strong, and as beautiful as an oak tree.
The Hill of the Lord
Every boy and girl wants to go to Heaven. The Lord is preparing a beautiful place for those who love Him. But there are certain rules laid down in the Word for us to follow in order to make Heaven our home. "Who shall ascend into the hill of the LORD? or who shall stand in his holy place?" God answers this question, "He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart" [PS:24:4]). God wants us to have hands that have not done things that are wrong, a heart that is free from evil thoughts, and a tongue that speaks the truth. There in that holy and heavenly place we shall receive the blessing from the Lord, from the God of our salvation.
Questions
1. What will happen to ungodly people? [PS:1:6].
2. Who is like chaff? [PS:1:4].
3. Who is like a green tree? [PS:1:3].
4. Who shall go up into the hill of the Lord? [PS:24:4].
5. Who is the King of Glory? [PS:24:8], [PS:24:10].