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T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
April, 1939
today. The world’s need is not for educa tion and culture, but it needs to know where truth may be found, where its trouble lies, and what the remedy Is for that trouble. The needed truth is in the Scriptures, thé trouble is in the world Itself, and the rem edy is in the gospel of God. Paul felt he was a debtor to the world. He had been intrusted with the gospel, not for himself alone, nor for the Jews alone, but for the world. Because, like Paul, every Christian is a "debtor” to the world, every Christian should be able to say with Paul, “So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel.” III. T h e W orld ’ s N eed s (16, 17) Two basic needs of all men are power and righteousness. Neither of these is possessed by human ability, natural or ac quired; they are to be found only in the gospel of God. Hence, the world needs above all else, the gospel. Paul knew the gospel had power; he had seen it manifested in the market place at Athens, in the synagogue at Damascus, in a private house at Ephesus, in the prison at Philippi, and elsewhere. Hence he was not ashamed of the gospel because he knew it could meet man’s deepest need. The content of the gospel is the right eousness of God. Righteousness involves more than the refraining from doing any thing contrary to God, and the doing of everything that accords with God. The Jews tried to obtain righteousness by keep ing their law, the Greeks by obeying their conscience, but neither Jew nor G re e k - had they succeeded in fulfilling the demands of the law and of conscience—would ever have attained to the righteousness of God. The best they would have achieved would have been self-righteousness. God's right eousness, by which divine holiness and jus tice are completely satisfied, can be im parted to man only as a gift to be accepted by faith alone. Whoever receives this righteousness by faith possesses what the gospel brings, that is, salvation which is the ultimate object of the gospel of God. Points and Problems 1. The lesson for this week includes what may be truly called the introduction to the B ook o f Romans (1:1-17). This in troduction contains three very distinct and well-marked sections. First, we have what is often called the Salutation (vs. 1-7), in which the apostle begins by establishing an official relation to the church at Rome. Then second, we find a section dealing with Personal Matters (vs. 8-15), the purpose of which is to establish a more intimate re lationship with the church; or as Godet very happily puts the matter, “a heart re lationship." Third, by a very skillful lit erary transition, the apostle moves in verses 16 and 17 to a statement of what will be the Main Theme of the entire Epistle. 2. The Salutation is remarkable for the fact that it is composed of a single sen tence, extending through seven verses, con taining 93 words In the Greek and 126 words in the English translation. In this wonderful sentence the writer deals with four important subjects, each complete in itself, yet so closely related to each other that the one flows from the other without a
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'Ihe G O S P E L L IG H T P R E S S ■ H E N R I E T T A C. M E A R S , E d i t o r 1443-A NORTH VINE STREET • HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA "I purposed to come unto you” (v. 13).
complete pause in the sentence: The Messenger of God (v. 1). The Gospel of God (vs. lb-3a). The Son of God (vs. 3-5). The Church of God (vs. 6, 7). 3. The section dealing with Personal Matters is a great revelation of what the man who was once called “Saul” had be come through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is hard to believe, as we read verses 8 to 15, that the one who writes was once "Saul of Tarsus,” a blasphemer of God and a persecutor of His church. The teacher could do nothing more profitable than to have the class mark in their Bibles the verbs the writer uses in speaking of himself. ”1 thank my God” (v. 8).
'T am debtor” (v. 14). 'T am ready” (v. 15). ‘‘I am not ashamed (v. 16).
Golden Text Illustration R om an s 1:16
Dr. Talmage, the American preacher, re lates an account of an interview he had with W . E. Gladstone. He says: "I asked him whether the years had strengthened or weakened his Christian faith. W e were racing uphill. He stopped suddenly on the hillside and regarded me with a searching earnestness, a solemnity that made me quake. Then he spoke slowly, more seri ously. ‘Dr. Talmage, my only hope for the world is in the bringing of the human mind into contact with divine revelation. Nearly all the men at the top in our coun try are believers in the Christian religion. The four leading physicians of England are
“I serve with my spirit” (v. 9). “I make mention of you” (v. 9 ). “I long to see you” (v. 11).
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