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S T U D I E S I N T H E N E W T E S T A M E N T
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FOR INDIVIDUAL MEDITATION
AND FAMILY WORSHIP
1 By R. A. TORREY I UllinillllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllHIllllllllllHinilllllllHIIIllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllHIlllllllllllllllllHIlllllIHlIinilllllllHIIllllllllllllllllllllinilllllllllllllillllllllllilillllllHlllllllllllllllHlILt^ Thursday, July 1. Mark 7:31-37.
table and goes away empty. It is true He sent them away, but not until after He
Jesus was still seeking seclusion, but still could not find it. His compassion impelled Him to heal the afflicted, but He did it as privately as possible. He sighed in deepest sympathy with the .afflicted man. It re minded Him of the world’s vast sorrows (cf. Is. 63:9). All Christ’s recorded sighs and tears, including Gethsemane, were for the griefs of others, (cf. Is. 53:4, 5): If our prayers were accompanied with more heartfelt sighs, there would be more power in them (cf. Heb. 3:7; Rom. 8:26), and, if our sighs were accompanied with more prayers, they would not be so impotent. Our Lord did a few preliminary symbolic acts, and then just a word, “Be opened,” and'the mighty-deed is done. He is ready and able today to speak the word that will open our deaf spiritual ears, and to impart the power that will loose our tongues (Acts 2:1-4; 4:31). He indeed did “all things well,” and does still. This miracle was a fulfillment of prophecy (Js. 35:5, 6). Friday, July 2. Mark 8:1-9. ' Some critics take this to be simply an other report of the .miracle of five loaves and two fishes, but that theory will not bear careful examination; for it is not an ac count in another book, written by another author, but two different accounts in the same book, and, the details and surround ings are entirely different in the second rec ord. The simple truth is that our Lord, on two different occasions was moved with compassion for the hungry multitudes, and called into play His creative power to sup ply their need. In this case, as in the former one, all that sat at His table were filled. No one ever really sits down to His
had satisfied them. Saturday, July 3. Mark 8:10-13.
The purpose of the Pharisees in asking Jesus to show them a sign from heaven was to confuse and entrap Him. He had already given them an abundance of signs that He was the Messiah, and it was from no sincere seeking for light that they asked a sign on this occasion. We today have a sign from heaven that Jesus is the Messiah, namely, the gift of the Holy Ghost (Acts 2:1-4; 5:32). The revelation of the blind ness and hardness of their hearts, made by~ their asking a sign, deeply grieved our Lord (v. 12). No sign was given to that gen eration, because they were not sincere seek ers after the truth, but He told them that there were plenty of signs if they were only open-eyed to see them (cf. Matt. 16:2, 3). No one who is not taught of the Spirit can understand spiritual things (1 Cor. 2:14). .Their asking a sign, when there were so many signs already given, shows them to be “a wicked and adulterous, generation” (Matt. 16:14, cf. Matt. 12:39). Having re fused their demand for a sign, He left them: He was practicing the truth He Himself ta.ught, of not casting pearls before' swine (Matt. 7:6; cf. Gen. 6:3; Hosei 4:17; Acts 18:6). If men will not have the truth to day, Christ leaves them to their self-chosen error (Heb. 13:8; 2 Thess. 2:10-12; Rom. 1:24, 26, 28) . Sunday, July 4. Mark 8:14-21. Leaven is a product of decay, and is al ways used in the Bible as a symbol of cor ruption of life or doctrine (Ex. 12:15-19; Lev. 2:11; Luke 12:1; 1 Cor. 5:6-8; Gal.
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