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TH E K I N G ’S B U S I N E S S
October, 1939
hundreds of dollars for the motorists who went by, as well as something for the state. It just needed to be done, and I wasn’t busy.” And that man doesn’t own a motor car himself. —Collier’s. Our Daily Bread M atthew 7 MEMORY VERSE: “He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for the service of man: that he may bring forth food out of the earth” (Psa. 104:14). APPROACH: In o u r s t o r y today, the Lord Jesus is still talking to His disciples about the way to live. And the things which He said to them are the same things that we, as His fol lowers today, should remember, too. LESSON STORY: We are going to
neither of these two Scriptures was ever intended to forbid what is called moral judgment, that is, the ability to point out sin and condemn it as sin. Such judgment is always good. Without it, exercised in some degree, there could be no such thing as even a measure of civilization. If moral judgment were for bidden, there could be no preaching of the gospel, for the presumption of all gospel preaching is that men are sinners and therefore lost. Our Lord condemned the Pharisees and scribes because they had failed to exercise “judgment” (Matt. 23:23). When He said, “Judge not,” His words must be understood in the light of the context. The Pharisees had been guilty of proud, harsh, censorious judg ment, condemning their fellow men be cause of “motes” while they themselves walked about with “beams” in their own eyes. We are not disobeying the Lord’s command when we go to the sin ner, tell him he is a sinner, and warn him to flee to Christ. But we may even preach the gospel in a self-righteous, censorious manner. We should not for get, while we preach to the lost, that we too are sinners, yet saved by grace. 2. “Let me pull out the mote . . . be hold a beam is In thine own eye” (v. 4). In this remarkable saying we have an evidence of our Lord’s sense of humor, even while condemning the sin of the hypocrite. The “mote” was a minute particle of wood, or of chaff. The “beam” was a massive piece of timber such as might be used for joists in building a house. Weymouth translates “mote" as a “splinter.” Imagine now a man with a joist in his own eye going about trying to pick splinters out pf other men’s eyes! 3. “Neither cast ye your pearls before swine” (v. 6). The word “swine” de scribed an unclean animal, and there fore became a fitting symbol oft those people who profess to be Christians, join the church, even clean themselves up morally, but who at last leave the fel lowship of the saved and return to their wallowing in the mire. Peter speaks of them in 2 Peter 2:20-22. They are not people once saved and then lost, but people who never had their h e a r t s changed by the new birth. Be careful, our Lord warns, about casting the pre cious things of God before such people. This does not mean that we should stop preaching the gospel of salvation to them, but it does mean that you can not teach them the deeper things of the Lord as you can to real children of God. Like dumb animals, they cc.n see no value in the “pearls,” and if the pastor has too many of them on his church roll, they may turn on him and “rend” him. Golden Text Illustration L uke 6:31 In New Jersey a man who lived by the side of a great national highway was seen out in the thoroughfare filling up a small hole. “Only took me a min ute,” he said, “and I probably saved
to babes in Christ. We must gtfard against two great faults: The display of zeal uncontrolled by knowledge, and the show of knowledge unaccompanied by zeal.- Only by dependence upon the H o l y S p i r i t will these dangers be avoided. II. T he P romises (7-14) The first promise has to do with prayer (vs. 7-11). Prayer involves not only asking, but also persisting and con tinuing. The promise is that every one who asks receives, and every one who seeks finds, and every one who knocks will find the door opened. In the light of such a promise as this one, many are troubled concerning supposedly unan swered prayers. But our Lord did not say that whatever is asked will be given, or whatever is sought will be found, or that every door will open. Only confu sion and disaster could follow this kind of unlimited and uncontrolled answers to prayer. But He does teach that when any one asks in fulfillment of the con ditions given in the Word of God re garding that asking, His answer will be given. The answer may not look like the thing requested. Tribulation does not look like patience, but it is the package in which patience is delivered. Trials and difficulties do not look like faith, but they are the wrappings in which faith is bestowed upon us. Prayer offered with persistence, backed by trustfulness and dependence upon God, will, in His good time, bring full an swers to God’s children (cf. 1 John 3:21, 22). The second promise has to do with thoughtfulness for others (vs. 12-14). If we want others to treat us with un derstanding and patience, in that man ner we are to treat others: But to do so is contrary to nature, and therefore requires grace. Finally, one must determinedly choose “the strait gate” and the “narrow” way if he would enter into “life.” Let the advantages of that wise choice be pre sented in all their bright attractiveness. Point and Problems 1. “Judge not, that ye be not judged” (Matt. 7:1). This passage is a favorite with unbelievers and worldly Christians. If you point out their sin, they glibly retort, “Judge not, etc.” And the same group can generally quote Romans 2:1, at least in part, “Wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself.” Now BLACKBOARD LESSON
t a l k about three things which Jesus talked a b o u t to H i s disciples o n that day so long ago. F i r s t He told them not to bother so much about tell ing other people their faults as see ing that they were doing the r i g h t
thing themselves. This is called judging others, and Jesus said, “Judge not, that ye be not judged.” The best way to help others is not to tell them they are wrong, but to show them the right way. The next thing that Jesus told His disciples to do was to ask God for the things that they needed. He said to them that God, their heavenly Father, is like an earthly father, who, when his child asks for food, would not think of giving him a stone. Now an earthly father can make mistakes and give his child something which is not good for him to have, but our heavenly Father, never. The third and very important thing which Jesus said, was that there is only one way by which we may enter heaven, and that is by entering through believ ing that God sent Jesus; His Son, into the world to die for our sins. Jesus said that this is like entering in through a straight and narrow, gate which leads to eternal life, while the broad road leads to destruction. The person who believes in God’s Word is like the man who builds his house upon a rock. No storm can tear it down. How different from the man who builds upon the sand' The first storm may wash his whole house away. Jesus Christ is the rock foundation upon which we must build. Object Lesson P ete and P at OBJECTS- Two hearts, one made of molding clay and the other cut from a rubber sponge. LESSON: Pete and Pat are Christian
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