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T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
November, 1933
them to testify to the marvelous change in their lives since Jesus has come into their hearts: Meditation on the Lesson In Luke 2:1-7 and Ephesians 2:11, 12 two great contrasting passages are pre sented for our meditation. The first of these contains the story o f the greatest event that has ever taken place; the other is a description o f the condition of the world if the event mentioned in the first passage had not taken place. One is a picture of song, joy, and re joicing; the other is a picture of despair and hopelessness. “Without Christ,” the world is without “hope, and without God.” Sadder words than these cannot be penned. They are the acme o f despair. They describe the condi tion the world would still be in, had not Christ come “to redeem them that were under the law.” But praise His name, He did come, and we can say with the heavenly host, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” An interesting feature of the passage in Luke is the prophetical study. Two pro phecies are fulfilled in this short passage. The first, that Bethlehem should be the birthplace o f our Lord, had been foretold by the prophet Micah 700 years before. “But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from o f old, from everlasting” (Micah 5:2). Mary lived in Nazareth, yet the prophet had said “ Bethlehem,” because, as Christ was the heir to the Davidic throne, Beth lehem was the only fitting place for His birth. We see God’s guiding providence and overruling plan in His method of send ing Joseph and Mary to Bethlehem. He used a Roman king to carry out His pur poses and to -fulfill prophecy. Little did this heathen ruler dream that his decree for taxation would help carry out a divine plan. The second prophecy is the one from Isaiah 9 :6, which was partially fulfilled at this time : “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince pf Peace.” The first clause of the verse was fulfilled literally and completely, and the remainder will also be fulfilled. The government shall be upon His shoul der when He comes to reign as mighty God and Prince of Peace. Praise God for fulfilled prophecy; it strengthens our faith. Leader’s Helps I. A n I ncomprehensible T ruth I do not know how to illustrate the in carnation. The only thing I ever thought of is very imperfect. You know how the coast line of the ocean runs from Maine to Cape Cod. Outside is the great ocean. What is inside those little curves ? The ocean, of course. You call one the ocean, and the other the harbor, or the bay, but it is all one ocean. The water is the same; it tastes the same, looks the same. Here is the great eternal God, filling all space only in one place. He flows into a little curve, Jesus of Nazareth, but it is the same God, whether He is there in heaven, or here in Jesus Christ. Oh, I hope you do not under stand this! It would be such a little thing if you and I understood it!— M c K enzie . II. A G reat S aviour We can never understand how Christ
was both God and man, and no matter how much we study God’s revelations, we shall never find in them all their message to us. When Mr. Webster was asjced if he com prehended Christ’s divinity and humanity, he replied: “ No, sir, I cannot; and I should be ashamed to acknowledge Him as my Saviour if I could. If I could compre hend Him, He could be no greater than myself, and I need a superhuman Saviour.” — S elected . III. T he R eason for O ur B lessings If Christ had not come, we would not have known forgiveness, forbearance, long- suffering, meekness, charity, patience, love, joy, peace, gentleness, goodness, kindness, tenderness, and all the other Christian at tributes. A hard place this world would be indeed!— S elected . DECEMBER 24, 1933 THE B IR TH DAY OF OUR KING M atthew 2:1-12 Suggestions for the Meeting Hymn—“Joy to the World.” Hymn—“ O Little Town of Bethlehem.” Prayer. Scripture. Hymn—“Hark! the Herald Angels Sing.” Solo—“The Birthday of a King.” Leader’s Message. Christmas Hymns : “God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen.” “ Once in Royal David’s City.” “While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks by Night.” “Jesus Shall Reign.” Quiet Hour. Benediction—Jude 24, 25. Meditation on the Lesson Everywhere throughout the East, men were looking for the advent of a great King, who was to rise from among the Jews. The expectation partly rested on the Messianic prophecies found in Isaiah 9 and 11, and partly on the later predictions in Daniel 7. Men had been dreaming of this coming King for centuries, and they would have welcomed the Lord Jesus had He come in accordance with their expectations. As it was, He came precisely as they did not expect Him, shattering their earthly hopes; therefore, they did not receive Him. These wise men from the East, whom Matthew describes, were ardent students o f astronomy. They saw in the heavens, at that time, a peculiarly brilliant star. They connected it at once with the promised “ Star out of Jacob.” Only to a seeing heart, to a soul open to God, would the star have had a meaning. This star must have been a supernatural one, a light set in the heavens by God, or a natural phe nomenon (as a conjunction o f Jupiter, Mars, and Saturn) controlled by God to guide the wise men. Whichever it was, we know the wise men received and obeyed its message, for they said, “We have seen his star in the east, and are come to wor ship him.” They brought gifts—“gold, and frankin cense, and myrrh”—gold, typical of His royalty; frankincense, symbolic of His divinity; and myrrh, representing His sufferings—“myrrh to a mortal, gold to a King, frankincense to God.” W e are told, in Matthew 2:11, that they “ fell down, and worshipped him.” They re cognized His kingship, and rendered to Him homage due a King. No doubt they would have gone back to Herod rejoicing, tailing him the good news that they had found the K ing; but God, knowing Herod’s false heart, warned them not to return that way,
and thus were the plans of the wicked Herod thwarted. Leader’s Helps I. C hristmas Christ, the Prince o f Peace, is born today. How full of love and joy our hearts should be! Refreshed our souls as with a mighty shower— Immanuel has come, to bring to you and me Salvation and deliverance from Satan’s power, Through faith in Him, who is the Living Way. May every heart and voice His praises sing, And may we, as our hallelujahs rise, Surrender all to Jesus Christ, our King. — G ertrude D ugan . II. O ur G ifts Every one who finds the Lord desires to express his worship and love by giving Him precious things. The Lord owns all things; all creation belongs to Him. What, then, can we give Him? The Lord has kindly arranged life, so that there are some things we can give Him, some ways o f expressing our love. We can give Him our hearts, our selves, our service, and all we have.— W ells . III. T he G reat S tar Some astronomers believe that they have found the great star around which the whole universe o f stars revolves; whether that be true or riot, it is undoubtedly true that the Star o f Bethlehem is the center of this world’s spiritual astronomy.— C uyler . IV. T rue W ise M en Whatever sort o f wise men they were before, now they begin to be wise men in deed when they set themselves to inquire after Christ.— H enry . V. T he G ifts of the W ise M en ’Tis not in the weight of jewel or plate, Or the fondle o f silk and fur; ’Tis the spirit in which the gift is rich, As the gifts o f the. wise men were; And we are not told whose gift was gold, Or whose was the gift o f myrrh. — E dmund V. C ooke ,. DECEMBER 31, 1933 IMPORTANT HAPPENINGS OF 1933 R omans 8 :28 Suggestions for the Meeting Hymn—“ Somebody Cares.” Hymn—“God Will Take Care of You.” Prayer. Scripture—Rom. 8:28, from memory. Quartet—“When Peace Like a River.” . Leader’s Message. Testimonies to God’s Faithfulness. Quiet Hour. Hymn—“He Leadeth Me.” Benediction—Numbers 6:24-26. As an alternate suggestion, make this a missionary meeting, and invite a dynamic missionary to bring you a message filled with illustrations of how God’s power worked among the' heathen during 1933. Whenever God’s Spirit works, important things happen. One’s soul may be stirred by recitals of how God’s saving grace lifts men out of darkness into light. This will be an inspiring way to end the old year. Meditation on the Lesson How wide is the assertion of the Apostle Paul in Romans 8 :28! It almost staggers
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