T H E K I N G ’S B U S I N E S S
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Did Zacharias know the experience of Abraham, to whom God said, when He promised him a son, “ Is anything too hard for the Lord?” (Gen. 18:14). Zacharias missed a golden opportunity to magnify the name of the Lord by a child-like faith. How unbelief is regarded by God is manifested by the severity of the pun ishment He inflicted on Zacharias. Unbelief is paralyzing; it ties the tongue; it shuts the mouth and hinders testimony. When faith falters, the steps flag, the heart beats slow, the lips are lifeless. How sad the words, “ O thou of little faith, w herefore didst thou doubt?” (Mt. 14:31). . May God, the Giver of ho.pe, fill you with continuous joy and peace because you trust Him (Rom. 15:13). SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS (1) With whom was Luke associ ated in Christian work? (Col. 4:14; Philemon 24; 2 Tim. 4:11). (2) What other book besides this Gospel did Luke write? (Acts 1 :1). ( 3) Did Luke write from hearsay, or as a witness? (Luke 1:2; 2 Tim. 2 :2). (4) What is the key verse o f Luke’s Gospel? (19:10). (5) To whom else did God give a child in answer to prayer? (1 Sam. 1:27). (6) Did God send an angel to save a child? (Gen. 22:11). (7) Is prayer a Divine command? (1 Tim. 2:1-8). (8) What great price did Israel pay for their unbelief? (Heb. 3:15-19).' (9) Who glorified God by believing? (Rom. 4:20). (10) What assurance have we that God’s punishment of His children is In love? (Heb. 12:5-11). m The incarnation of Christ in its early stage was rather an obscuration than a revelation. He needed a witness, there fore, who should testify unto Him until
He should be revealed miracle - working
DEVOTIONAL in
COMMENT power. This witness By F. W. Farr was John the Baptist. For thirty years the virgin-born Son of God showed neither power or appearance differing to any great extent from those of humanity in general. As a child He grew and as a man He labored, much the same as oth ers, and without attracting attention. It was a wonderful announcement when John pointed Him out and said, “ Be hold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world.” John 1:29. Little is said of John in the New Testament. From the few facts that are related concerning him, who would venture to place him in a gallery of fame among the great ones of the earth-? Certainly no one would con sider him the greatest man who ever lived. Nevertheless, this is the eulogy of the Master and from this decision there is no appeal. Matt. 11:11. This may explain why the details of his birth are relatrd with such circumstantiality. He might not have been great in the sight of man. Judged by earthly stand ards, his life might have seemed a fail ure, but the angel declared before his birth that he should be great in the sight of the Lord. Luke 1:15. Of no other human being ever born upon this earth could it be said that he was filled with the Holy Spirit from the moment of his birth. By virtue of his relationship to the Messiah, by becoming His har binger and herald, he was lifted out of the common run of humanity into a place of unique and solitary grandeur. He was a great prophet, a great preach er, a great man. He whom God marks put for greatness will live in history when the rest of his generation are for gotten. For thirty years after his birth, John was lost to view, then like a flam ing meteor from the midnight sky, some what like Elijah in the Old Testament, he appears to Israel, coming from the
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