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T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
January, 1936
the beings that inhabit the natural realm. They are personalities who think, plan, desire, have knowledge, and possess the power to put many o f their plans and desires into execution. They may secure such full sway over human beings that the humans are abandoned to them. No taming or binding, no treatments or medicinal care, are sufficient to deliver from demons when once they gain control; only the mighty power of the Lord Jesus Christ can break the shackles and set the demonized person free. In the next few verses, which are outside of our lesson, the man from whom the demons were cast reveals the nature o f the true Christian life. He wished to be with Jesus, desiring the person of the Lord (v. 38) ; he was obedient, even when the Lord told him to go against his own desires (v. 39) ; and he went about confessing the grace that had set him free (v. 39). The change in this man’s condition after he met Jesus is a beautiful example o f our Lord’s power to deliver and transform a soul. Points and Problems This week’s lesson deals with a man possessed by demons. The critics do not like the subject of demonism, and have tried to get rid o f it in two ways. One group argues that our Lord in His teach ing about demons only accommodated Himself to the false notions o f His day. This is a desperate expedient, for it re duces Christ to the level o f a dishonest politician. ThgS other group urges that demon-possession in the New Testament was nothing but disease which unlearned people in a prescientific age attributed to evil spirits. I wish to point out several things regarding this latter theory. 1. The New Testament writers and our Lord carefully distinguish between disease and demon-possession. See Matthew 8:16; 10:1; Mark 1 :32-34, and 6:13 for the clearest possible evidence o f this distinc tion. The passage in Matthew 10:1 is espe cially significant: “When he had called unto him his twelve disciples, he gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease.” Here sickness and disease are absolutely separated from demon-possession. Furthermore, demon possession is distinguished from not merely certain kinds of disease, but from "all manner” of disease. 2. Demon-possession, however, may pro duce certain physical and nervous disor ders. See Matthew 17:15-18 for the ac count of the father who came saying, “ Lord, have mercy on my son; for he is lunatic.” The Greek word means "epilep tic," and the symptoms indicate such a dis order. The boy, when caught by one of his spells, would fall at any place where he happened to be, often into the fire or the water. The cause o f the epilepsy was evi dently demon-possession, for our Lord cast out a demon, “and the child was cured "— cured of the epilepsy, not of the demon possession. The language is accurate: dis ease is cured; demons are cast out. 3. If demon-possession o f the New Tes tament, as some argue, is nothing but a form of insanity, how does it happen that those so afflicted seemed to recognize most clearly Christ as the Son o f God? (Lk. 8: 28). Does insanity enable the mind to per ceive more clearly? To ask the question is to answer it. The “insanity” theory breaks down completely in the face of this one fact.
Golden Text Illustration It is said to be almost axiomatic with artists that you “can’t work by two lights.” If one expects to have the proper effect of light and shade, he must have one definite, clear, strong light. Said an artist to me in his studio recently, “My studio is a northern exposure, the northern light al ways being the softest. I always work by one light.’) ? ! The Christian is an artist who always works by one light. He sets his easel so that the light from the throne of God will be thrown upon his work.— 5,000 Best Modern Illustrations, by H allock . Jesus with His Friends in a Storm L uke 8 :22-25 Memory Verse :_f‘What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee” (Psa. 56:3). Approach: One day Jesus took His dis ciples and stepped with them into a ship to cross over to the other side o f the lake. The thing that happened on this trip
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showed that Jesus’ disciples themselves found it hard to un derstand that their Master was the Son o f God, and that, be cause o f that, He had all power. L e s s o n S t o r y : Jesus was tired, and, as they sailed, He fell asleep. While He slept, a sudden storm
swept over the lake. Water splashed into the boat, and the ship was about to sink. Hastily the disciples awakened Jesus and said: “Master, Master, we perish” ! The disciples should have known that they were safe with Jesus, but Jesus was asleep, and they were frightened. After they awakened Jesus, He quietly rose and stilled the wind and the raging water, so that they ceased, and there was a calm. Then He turned to the disciples and said: “Where is your faith?” ’ The disciples looked at each other and said: “What manner of man is this! for he commandeth even the winds and water, and they obey him.” How much they had to learn about Jesus’ power! The Lord Jesus looked as if He were just a man like themselves. It was hard for them to understand that He was God.
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Objects: Two magnets and a rusty nail. (One magnet should be large and stronger than the other. Wrap white paper around the large one, and black paper‘around the other.) Lesson: Would you like to see a tug of war this morning? This will be different from anything you have ever called by that name. This black magnet is holding this rusty nail tightly. As I look at this nail, held by the black magnet, I am reminded o f the
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