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T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
January, 1936
NOTES on
B Y M a r y G. G o o d n e r
FEBRUARY 2, 1936 PURPOSES OF OUR SOCIETY (Christian Endeavor Day) 1 C orinthians 12:1-12 Meditation on the Lesson The church at Corinth was sadly in need of instruction concerning the true work of the Holy Spirit, and present-day believers are also frequently led astray through lack of similar teaching. Many views that are false as well as confusing and fanatical have been set forth on the subject of “the gifts” o f the Holy Spirit, with the result that the average Christian does not discern between the “Giver” and His “gifts.” Nor can such a one always recognize the evi dences that truly indicate the working of the Holy Spirit. Satan is a great imitator, and he attempt ed to counterfeit the spiritual gifts which God gave in the early church. Hence the apostle very clearly gave the true test for discovering when the Holy Spirit was speaking: “ No man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.” The Holy Spirit does not speak o f Himself. “ He shall glorify me [Christ]: for he shall receive o f mine, and shall show it unto you” (John 16:14). Any demonstration, therefore, purporting to be o f the Holy Spirit, yef failing to glorify Christ as Saviour and as God mani fest in the flesh, is not of God (cf. 1 John 4 :2,3). Likewise, if any clamor, confusion, or disorder in the assembly arises from one who claims to have the power of the Holy Spirit, there is evidence that the claimant is either a deceiver or is deceived, for “God .is not the author of confusion” (1 Cor. 14:33)i Because there are evil spirits at work, we are warned by God’s W ord: “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God” (1 John 4:1). In addition to giving principles for recognizing true spirituality, our passage in 1 Corinthians 12 gives some important teaching concerning spiritual gifts. In verse 4 we are told of the origin o f all g ifts: “There are diversities o f gifts, but the same Spirit," a truth which reminds us o f James 1 :17: “Every good gift . . . is from above.” Verse 7 brings the com forting thought, “The manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.” How reassuring! Without ex ception, every one who accepts the Lord Jesus Christ as Saviour receives a gift. What a leveler I Here we find no room for discontent or discouragement on the one hand, nor for pride on the other. The Holy Spirit is the royal Distributor (v. 11), and He does it as it “hath pleased him” (v. 18)—“as he will” (v. 11). Fur thermore, He gives each one of us a gift, not for our own ease, gratification, or en joyment, but “to profit withal.” Every one has something, and no one of us has everything. Thus we are mutually dependent on one another in this close and
vital union into which Christ has brought us. “For by one Spirit are [R. V., “ were"] we all baptized into one body” (v. 13). Paul compares our Christian unity to the oneness o f the human body: “For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.” The Christian Endeavor Society could have no greater purpose than to urge all its members to yield their all to the Holy Spirit, that He may fill them and thus use them for the glory o f Christ. The Aeolian harp, named for Aeolus, fabled among the Greeks as god of the winds, was supposed to be made by the stretching o f cords o f various lengths and qualities across a natural cavern, so that when the winds blew, the great harp would give out its melody. Thus it is with our human lives, very different one from the other in native power and quality; yet each may sound forth the gospel message; and unison, not discord, is the result if it be God’s Spirit blowing upon the strings. “We are but organs mute till the Master touches the keys, Very vessels of earth, into which God poureth the wine, Harps are we, silent harps, that have hung on the willow trees, Dumb till our heart strings swell and break with a pulse divine.” —Five Thousand Illustrations. II. Do Y our W ork I have noticed that sometimes people grow discouraged because their work does not seem to count for much. A taper lay in a drawer, and one day its owner took it out and carried it away. “Where are you taking me?” asked the taper. “To show the big ships their way across the sea,” was the reply. “But no ship could see by means of my tiny light.” “ Leave that to me,” said the owner as he lighted the huge lantern and blew out the taper. Thus it is that God uses His instruments for specific parts o f His great plan for the world. “ But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will” (1 Cor. 12:11). —Adapted from the Christian Endeavor World. III. D istribution of G ifts 1. Liberal—“To every man” (1 Cor. 12: 7). 2. Wise—“To profit withal” (v. 7). 3. Suitable—“ The word of wisdom,” “the word of knowledge” (v. 8). 4. Sovereign—“The . . . Spirit, dividing . . . as he will” (v. 11). Helps for the Leader I. T he H oly S pirit M akes M elody
IV. S trange W orking of the H oly S pirit The Holy Spirit uses a limitless variety o f means to accomplish His work. In the Sunday Companion appeared the following account: A professional diver had in his house what would strike a.visitor as a very odd chimney ornament. It was an oyster hold ing fast between its shells a piece of print ed paper. The man was diving on the coast when he observed at the bottom o f the sea this oyster on a rock, and that the paper was fastened to it. Detaching the printed scrap, he commenced to read it through the glasses o f his helmet. To his surprise, it was part of a tract concerning an offer of divine mercy in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. The diver had lived hitherto a care less, irreligious life, and had scoffed at many gospel invitations. But the Lord had not wearied of calling him to the spiritual feast of His kingdom, and here was an other and unexpected appeal. “I could hold out no longer,” said the diver, “since God’s m6rcy pursued me even to the bottom of the sea.Tjln the depths o f the ocean he re pented and trusted Christ, and came to the surface a changed man. But, as he used to observe, “ Few have been converted in a stranger place than I.” FEBRUARY 9, 1936 STONING THE PROPHETS M atthew 23:29-39 Meditation on the Lesson This portion of the Gospel o f Matthew is one o f the saddest in the New Testa ment. It is pathetic in the first place be cause it is a portion o f one o f the last re corded utterances of our Lord before He went to Calvary. The Son o f God has made His last public appeal to the scribes and Pharisees and to the other leaders in Jerusalem. They have again refused. In the discussion recorded in Matthew 22, He asked the Pharisees, “What think ye of Christ? whose son is he?” (v. 42). When they replied, “ The son o f David,” our Lord answered them by saying that David had called the Christ—the Messiah —by the title, “Lord.” And from that day forth no man asked Him any more ques tions. Faced with Jesus’ claim of deity and Messiahship, the Jewish leaders were si lenced yet disobedient. The title of our lesson, “ Stoning the Prophets,” does not fully cover the mes sage o f this Scripture passage, for a far more serious issue was at stake. In chap ter 23, Jesus denounces the scribes and Pharisees and pronounces solemn woes up on them for their awful hypocrisies and for their continual refusal to accept truth. Theywere accustomed to blame their fore fathers for killing the prophets, and they piously exclaimed: “We would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets” (v. 30). But the Lord Jesus, knowing the hypocrisy of their hearts, re minded them that they were "the children
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