THE K I N G ' S BUS I NESS
176
May, 1937
and they were ready to be good instead of wicked. So God could do things for them now. He had promised their great-grand father Abraham that He would make a great nation of his family. God was remem bering His promise, and first of all He wanted this family in Egypt for a time. Joseph didn’t understand why God let him be carried away to this country, but he followed God even in this country, and God took care of him in a wonderful way. The wicked brothers turned from their evil ways, and God brought them down to Joseph who saved them from death. If we are sorry for our sins and will turn from our wicked ways and come to the Saviour, we will find that God takes care of all our needs, too. Objects'. A heart cut from white paper, and a strong electric light bulb. (Print the word “ CHRIST” in the heart, using lemon juice or ten drops of sulphuric acid diluted with twenty-five drops of water. Stir a piece of starch the size of a small bean into four tablespoonfuls of water. Boil until the mixture is clear. Cool and add four drops of iodine. The liquid should be a light blue. Add enough cold water to make it thin enough to write. With this substance as ink, print with a sharp stick the word “ SELF.” ) Lesson: This heart is filled with self. Everything it does is for self. It reminds me of many people who are very selfish. As we see people who are selfish, we wonder how they can ever be changed, but God Lesson T ext : Hebrews 11:3-10, 17-22. Golden Text'. “These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but hav ing seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth” (Heb. 11:13). Outline and Exposition I. T he R eception of the M essages (3) A ll the Word of God is a revelation. This fact is particularly apparent in a study of the first book of the Bible. The record in Genesis takes the reader back in thought to a period before man inhabited the earth. If we are to know what occurred “in the beginning,” of necessity the truth must come to us by revelation. And it is faith alone which can receive the revela tion—not reason nor intuition. Faith could not exist without a revelation; unless God speaks there is no revelation; but when once He has spoken, faith steps in and re ceives what He declares. Thus it is that through “ faith we understand that the worlds . . . were not made of things which do appear,” that is, were not made from existing material. II. T he C ontent of the M essages (4-10) The messages of Genesis, and indeed of Object Lesson H elpful H eat
The messages speak of the walk of the believer (v. 5). Enoch was one of those who preferred to walk with God rather than with the crowd. Faith had opened his eyes. It was Enoch’s faith that gave pleasure to God. Enoch trusted God and gladly walked with Him until, as some one has said, he walked so far from the world and so close to the glory that his Divine Companion said something like this: “Enoch, you had better just step in and stay.” And Enoch stepped in by translation. For the believer in Christ Jesus, the daily walk by faith may be an uninterrupted companionship, finding its climax in fellowship in God’s house. The messages speak of the method of pleasing God (v. 6). “Without faith it is impossible to please him” ; the reason this condition obtains is that the one who comes to God must believe that God is. When one believes that God is, then, to that person, anything that God may reveal will be rea sonable and right and true. And when all things are seen to be right and reasonable, there will be no question concerning the perfection of the Lord’s conduct throughout the' ages. The messages speak of protection from judgment (v. 7). The days of Noah were notoriously evil. In those days, God re vealed the fact of a coming judgment upon the earth. Noah, in the face of all that might seem to give the lie to the revela tion, believed it. By faith he constructed the ark according to directions, and thus was protected when judgment felh Not only so, but he became heir of the righteousness which is by faith. The messages speak of confidence in God’s word (vs. 8-10). Abraham’s country and kindred and home were as dear to Abraham as these things would be to an other, but when God asked him to forsake all for what God would give him, promis ing a better country, better kindred, and a better home, Abraham' believed God and moved out. “By faith Abraham, . . . went out, not knowing whither he went.” Not only Abraham, but also his son Isaac and his grandson Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise, exercised simple faith, wait ing for the fulfillment of the divine pro mises. Faith can afford to wait. III. T he A cceptance of the M essages (17-22) First, the acceptance of the messages in volves obedience (vs. 17-19). Faith has two well-defined elements, namely, a belief in the promises of God, and an obedience to the precepts of God. The absence of either of these elements reveals that the so-called faith is not the kind which the Scriptures commend. T o say, “ I have faith” and to manifest no obedience to God’s revealed ■will is to advertise myself as the possessor of a dead faith—one that never was alive (cf. Jas. 2:17-22).. Abraham’s faith con tained both belief and obedience. He be lieved the promise of God concerning the birth of his son Isaac, and he obeyed the precept of God when he offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He received Isaac from the dead in the first instance, both himself and Sarah being “ dead” as far as bearing children was concerned; and he received Isaac from the dead, as in a figure, in the second in stance.
knows just the way by which they can be made to do less for themselves and more for others. When we let this hot bulb, representing hard trials, shine into this heart, we find that “ SELF” is leaving and another word is appearing. The word is “ CHRIST.” It is this way in life. It often takes some great trial or testing before a Christian’s friends can see not self but Christ in his life. He then becomes more kind and thoughtful of others. This heart reminds me of Joseph and his treatment of his brothers when they came down to Egypt for food. Joseph had suf fered a great deal, and had been tested. He had been a slave and a prisoner for many years. God let Joseph go through great trials, but “the Lord was with Jo seph” in all of his troubles and later made him rich and powerful. If Joseph’s brothers had come to him be fore he had been tried and tested, he might have been angry because of their unkind treatment of him, and he might have treated them in a like mariner. But now he was not thinking of himself and he forgave them. God had planned it just right. the whole Bible, speak of the salvation pro vided for sinners (v. 4). Abel, like his brother Cain, was born a sinner and hence was in need of salvation through sacrifice. In the case of Abel, his faith responded to the revelation concerning the acceptable sacrifice, while Cain went on in unbelief. Thus Abel’s was “ a more excellent sacri fice” than Cain’s, and through his offering Abel came to possess a righteousness to which God Himself testified. The founda tion of all the messages of Genesis is found in this initial sacrifice of Abel’s—a sacri fice involving blood shedding and symboliz ing the truth of vicarious atonement. This message finds its completion and perfection in the supreme Sacrifice offered upon the cross of Calvary.
JUNE 27, 1937 MESSAGES FROM GENESIS J ohn 1:1-5; L uke 17:26-32; G alatians 3:6-8; H ebrews 11:1-22; 2 P eter 2:4-10
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