June, 1937
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IV. T he B ible and the C onstitution The Biblical Basis of the Constitution, a book by Dan Gilbert, is procurable for fifty cents at the Biola Book Room, 560 S. Hope St., Los Angeles, Calif., and contains valu able material for the leader who is to dis cuss this week’s topic. JULY 11, 1937 NATIONALISM OR INTERNATIONALISM ? A cts 10:34-43 Meditation on the Lesson Nationalism was a marked characteristic of the Jews. They were God’s chosen people, selected from the nations of the world to occupy a singular position in the history of the whole human race. Their separation was fourfold, as C. I. Scofield has indicated: “ Israel was called to be a witness to the unity of God in the midst of universal idolatry; to illustrate the blessed ness of serving the true God; to receive and preserve the divine revelations; and to produce the Messiah.” What a glorious heritage was theirs, and how marvelously God blessed theml In the days following the ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Jewish Messiah, God’s purpose for giving salvation to the Gentiles through the Jews was manifested. Up to this time a clear line of demarcation had been drawn between the Israelites and those of other nations. But now Jehovah, in His eternal plan of grace, was to adopt these aliens into His family, and break down the “middle wall of partition” which had separated God’s chosen people in the past. Cornelius, a Roman centurion who was searching after God, had received a vision in Caesarea in which he was directed to send for Peter in Joppa, a neighboring city. The angel’s promise was: “He shall tell thee what thou oughtest to do.” As the messengers were approaching Joppa, Peter saw in a vision a number of animals that were “ unclean” according to Jewish law. On the grounds that he could not break the law, he refused to obey the divine com mand to eat. Three times he was told that ■ what God had cleansed he was not to call common or unclean. Thus prepared by the Lord, Peter went to the centurion’s home. As he talked with Cornelius and his friends, Peter said: “ Ye know how that it is an unlawful thing for a man that is a Jew to keep company, or come unto one of another'nation; but God hath showed me that I should not call any man common or unclean.” What a miracle God had wrought in the prejudiced heart of His disciple! After this revelation from the Lord, Peter could say: “ Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of per sons.” He had begun to realize the force of the Old Testament passage with which he was doubtless familiar: “For the Lord your God is God of gods, and Lord of lords, a great God, a mighty, and a terrible, which regardeth not persons, nor taketh reward” (Deut. 10:17). With great power Peter preached to these Gentile inquirers “Jesus of Nazareth.” In Peter’s outline of the facts, the gospel of the death, resurrection, ascension, and inter
cession of the Lord Jesus Christ was shown to be international in its application. Peter now realized that the offer of salvation in Christ included every one and any one who would believe, for he said: “ T o him give all the prophets witness, that through his name ¡whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins.” A conscientious, orthodox Jew was saying “ whosoever” ! Only God Himself could have made Peter understand and accept this wonderful un folding of His plan for the world. Love for one’s nation can be a true virtue, but nationalism that is built upon pride and hate is in utter contradiction to God’s will. The Christian who understands and obeys God’s Word will not love his country at the expense of other peoples of the earth. And after all, what could be a truer demonstration of internationalism than to go into all the world preaching the good tidings of the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ? How can any of us retain a racial prejudice or feeling of superiority to those of other countries when our Lord Himself invites us all to be “ partakers of the divine nature” ? Our bitter feeling toward any human being means defeat in every part of our life. We cannot be right with Gbd while we are wrong with a fellow man; only the lives that are right with God1are winning lives. That is a striking word in a letter from Dan Crawford, the African missionary: “What a settling of old scores there is when the blood of the cross cleanseth away all crookedness between a man and a man, as well as a man and his God I No man treats Christ well who treats his brother wrong .”—Sunday School Times. II. L imitless L ove Our Christianity forbids us to limit our regard to our immediate neighbors; it re quires us to sweep with our spiritual vision the vast horizon of humanity. There is a homely proverb, “ Charity begins at home,” to which this homely addition has been made: “but does not end there.” The pa triotism that takes us out of self is good; yet alone it is insufficient. It should broad en until our regard and our interest and our love reach as far as the virtue of Christ’s sacrifice, as far as the range of Christ’s gospel. There is no limit to the comprehensiveness of the Saviour’s pity; there should be no limit to the comprehens iveness of His people’s love.—B. T homas . Helps for the Leader I. E ssential for V ictory
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JULY 18, 1937 JESUS, THE AVAILABLE FRIEND J ohn 15:12-16 Meditation on the Lesson
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In John 15 we are in the “ holy of holies” in the record of Christ’s life. The intimate, sacred character of this message continues from chapter 14 through chapter 17 in which our Lord makes His high-priestly intercession for those who believe on Him. In these chapters we are privileged to sit at the feet of the blessed Saviour with those
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