pel, malign the Bible, or question the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ. And each must choose whether he will stand with t h e scribes or the Savior. To charge Christ with error or deception is to charge Him with satanic posses- sion, and thus be convicted of satanic delusion (II Cor. 4:4; II Thes. 2:11, 12), and in danger of 3. The unpardonable sin. (1) That sin is defined in verse 30, and seems to consist in a wilful and malignant confounding of good with evil, Christ with unholiness, and the eternal truth of God, with the eternal lie (Jno. 8:44). (2) Do not fear that you are guilty of this so long as you fear that you are; so long as you wish to be rid of sin, Golden Text, Jas. 1:32. The heart of this lesson lies in two significant w o r d s ^ l i p and life. A be- liver's life should tally with his pro- fession. There are three figures used to illustrate the necessity of being hon- est in the profession of discipleship,— JFirst, the mote and beam teach that we cannot hide our own guilt by magnify- ing the offense of others; Second, the Tree and its fruit. The life is to be tested by its fruit, not by its leaves; Third, there is a day coming when an empty profession will be manifested by the ruins of a wrecked house. The "Word of God is a seed,—it has life-giv- ing properties,—-it must spring up and bear fruit, if it falls upon good ground. We must put into practice the Word of God. We must take its great truths into honest hearts, must let them dwell there richly, then wis must put the Word into a living message so that men may see our good works and glorify our F a t h er which is in heaven. There are many good saints who are woefully de- luded; they run from place to place to hear the Word of God; they talk know- ingly of its great truths; they are dis- criminating concerning its dispensa- tional aspects; they can . tell you all about the mistakes of Abraham, Moses, David, Peter, and Paul; they know per- fectly well where to place the Sermon on t he Mount, and the devil has de- luded them into thinking that knowl- edge of the Word and ability to split hairs is Christian living. The import-
and to know the Lord. VI. THE STRONG MAN. Satan is the "strong man." Christ came "to dlestroy the works of the devil" (Heb. 2:14; I Jno. 3 : 8 ). He began to "bind the strong man," but in His wis- dom let him loose again for a season (I Peter 5:8) and will bind him. yet (Rev. 20: 1-3), and "spoil his house" (I Cor. 15:24). VII. THE LORD'S KINDRED. 1. The Lord's blood relations have no more claim than others; not even Mary His mother. 2. His kin are His spiritual relatives. They are such as "do the will of God" (v. 32). Are you His "brother" or His "Sister?" ant question for all of us is, "Am I living out the message of the Book?" It is essential to have the Foundation, but of what avail, if there be no house built upon it? Put the Bible into flesh and blood and let it live out its wonder- ful Word in heart throbs of beating pulse. The Word is living, let it live through us. LESSON 11 Golden Text, Luke 7:28. When Jesus Christ was to be inducted into office and assume His position as the promised Messiah of the Jews and Saviour of the world, God brought a man from the wilderness to introduce Him. John the Baptist was chosen for this honorable place, clothed in camel's hair and girded with a leather girdle, in the presence of a great multitude of Jews and Gentiles, Pharisees, Scribes, soldiers and common people, John an- nounced Him to the world as the "Lamb of God." Here were two of the world's greatest men, Jesus the Supreme Man, and John, of whom He said, "there is none greater." The Lord now takes occasion to honor John who was con- fined in prison. He says John is the peer of any man ever born into the world; the world has never produced a greater man. We would have said Abra- ham, Moses, David, or Daniel was greater, but the Lord, whose thoughts are not ours and whose judgment is perfect, puts His finger upon John and says the world has never produced a greater man. His greatness must have
The Heart of the Lesson T. C. Horton LESSON 10
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