March, 1936
97
T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
Our earthly friends are not the only ones who give invitations. God gives them. Here is one. It reads, “ Come; for all things are now ready.” It is an invita tion to a great and wonderful event which in the parable is pictured as the marriage supper o f God’s Son, Jesus Christ. It is interesting to notice some of the differences between earthly invitations and the one God gives. Man’s are for a short time only. God’s is for eternity. This party invitation says, “From 2 to 4 in the afternoon.” God’s invitation says: “ He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life" (John 3:36). The invitations from friends often in clude four letters, “R. S. V. P „” which stand for French words meaning, “An swer, if you please.” You are expected to let the one who has invited you know whether or not you will accept the invita tion. It is considered impolite to neglect to give your friend an answer to his invi tation. People who receive God’s invitation very often do not treat it with as much respect as they do ordinary invitations. He desires a reply, and they refuse to answer. I wish that we might make a reply to God’s invitation. In order that it may seem more real, I brought two sheets of paper on which to write the answers. On one I have written, “ I have accepted Jesus Christ as my Saviour, and will accept the invitation to be present at the marriage supper.” I am signing my name to this letter. Would you like to? If so, just where you are, bow and silently tell God you are accepting His invitation. On the other piece of paper I have writ ten, “I will not come. Have me excused.” No one would wish to come up to sign this letter; but there are many who, by refusing to accept God’s invitation, are giving Him this answer. way to glorious day, and we ourselves would be hopeless in our sinfulness. II. T he E xplanation for the E mpty T omb (4-10). The women naturally were perplexed when they did not find the body. They had forgotten the Lord’s promise that He would rise from the dead (vs. 4, 5). Had they remembered His words, they would have been filled with joy—even when the Lord died— for there would have been the thought that only three days would pass before He would be with them again, never to leave them forever—with them in a nearer and deeper fellowship than could ever be enjoyed before His death and resurrection. Because there is a forget fulness of the words o f the Lord, many BLACKBOARD LESSON
third certainly represents Gentiles, for “the highways and hedges” is a description of the country outside the city. 4. Notice also the different verbs used to describe the approach to these three groups. The first are simply “ bidden." But the servants are commanded to “bring in” the second class. And of the third group the master of the house says, "Compel them" to come in. Certainly this is grace, as Bengel remarks, “Grace no more than nature will endure a vacuum.” Golden Text Illustration Paris was the son o f Priam, King of Troy. He had stolen the affections of Helen, the wife of Menelaus, and carried her off to Troy. Thereupon Menelaus call ed upon his brother chieftains o f Greece to avenge him o f his wrong and to assist him in the recovery of his wife. Thus came about the famous Trojan War. The chief tains all responded nobly except Ulysses. He had just married the beautiful Pene lope, and was very happy with his wife and child, and much preferred, for his own convenience and self-indulgence, to be left out of the troublesome affair. Ulysses did not, therefore, respond to the call, and Palamedes was sent to Ithaca to urge him. Ulysses, unwilling to go, feigned insanity. He yoked together an ox and an ass, and began plowing the sand and sowing salt. Why are we always excusing ourselves when we hear the call of God? The un converted have oxen to prove, land to cultivate, wives to entertain, and other insane excuses; but why should not we who are called Christians be always quick to do the will of God?; But instead, too often like Ulysses, we find it convenient to be otherwise engaged, and oftentimes in works as insane as his, if only we have some pretext to plead in excuse for not answering God’s plain call to duty.— Illus trations from Mythology, by Biederwolf. How Jesus Kept the Sabbath L uke 14:1-6 Memory Verse: “Remember the sab bath day, to keep it holy” (Ex. 20:8). Approach: Jesus came to this world to tell people about a heavenly kingdom which would be theirs if they should
His hand upon him and heal him. The Jews saw the sick man and they thought to themselves, “ It’s against the law to heal on the sabbath day.” Jesus knew what they were thinking. He healed the sick man and then turned and asked them a question: “Which of you shall have an ass or an ox fallen into a pit, and will not straightway pull him out on the sabbath day?” Jesus meant to show them that they would be willing to break a law to save an animal which they needed in their farming, and yet they wanted to accuse Jesus o f breaking the law because He felt sorry for a sick man and used His divine power on the Sabbath to heal him. Object Lesson I nvitations Objects: Invitations to a party, a gradua tion, and a wedding ; a cardboard on which is printed, “ Come; for all things are now ready. Luke 14:17,” concealed in a large envelope; two sheets o f Writing paper, and two envelopes. Lesson: How would you like to be in vited to a party? It would be better still to be invited to a wedding. I brought three invitations with me—one is to attend a party ; another is for a graduation ; and the third is for a wedding.
APR IL 12, 1936 JESUS TRIUMPHS OVER DEATH (Easter Lesson) L uke 24:1-35
Lesson T ext: Lk. 24:1-12. Golden Text ^ “Because I live, ye shall live also” (John 14:19). Outline and Exposition I. T he E mpty T omb (1-3). I p there were no chapter division here, it would more easily be seen that a company o f women were the first at the tomb on the resurrection morning. The names of some of the women are given (vs. 1, 10; cf. 23:54-56). Probably the spices to be used for anointing the Lord’s body were prepared on Friday; then the women rested on Saturday, the Sabbath, and came to the tomb early on the first day of the week, or our Sunday. The obstacle at the entrance to the tomb—the stone sealed by the authority of the Roman government—was found to have been rolled away (v. 2). Similarly,' in our day, when one goes on an errand for the Lord, it is frequently found that seemingly insurmountable difficulties have been removed supernaturally. Upon entering the tomb, the women did not find what they sought (v. 3). It is fortunate both for them and for us that this was so. Had the body of the Lord re mained in the tomb, the sorrow of His disciples never would have been ended, their dark night never would have given
choose to enter it by the Door which God had provided. Jesus, Himself, was that Door. Only by leav ing their sins at the doorway with Jesus, could the pe op l e enter this perfect place. Now most of the pe o p l e with whom Jesus talked were Jews and all
their lives they had studied the Old Testa ment laws. God had given the people laws to obey. But no matter how hard they tried, they found that it was impossible to obey every bit o f the law. God showed them that they could not be perfect by try ing to obey all the laws, but that they could be perfect in God’s sight only by believing in God’s perfect One, the Lord Jesus Christ who was to come to them. Lesson Story: But many of the people still thought they could be perfect by try ing to obey the law. And they followed Jesus around trying to find times when He disobeyed what they thought the Old Testament law meant, so that they could accuse Him before the people. On one Sabbath day, a sick man stood before Jesus, hoping that Jesus would lay
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