THE KING’S BUSINESS
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and from other occupations (Acts 13:2) to the one occupation of proclaiming the “Gospel”, Proclaiming the “Gospel”, that is the good news of salvation f 6 r all through Christ crucified for our sins and risen again, was the one thing for which he lived. This Gospel was not something new. It had been the one great subject of Old Testament prophecy (cf. Acts 10:43). It all centered in “His Son, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh.” There is no true Gospel apart from the actual historic Jesus who was born at Bethlehem, reared at Nazareth, crucified at Calvary, raised from Joseph’s tomb, and ascended at Olivet. Though Jesus was of unquestionably real human descent as re gards His flesh, his body, He was with equal certainty designated to be the Son of God as regards the Spirit of God who dwelt in Him. The resurrection was clear and unquestionable proof of His divinity. When He was here upon earth, He pro claimed Himself to be divine, one with the Father (John 10:30), One,whom all men should honor even as they honor the Father (John 5:22,23), One so truly the incarna tion of God that He could say “He that hath seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9). Men crucified Him as a blasphemer for making this stupendous claim. If the claim were not true they were justified by their own law in putting Him to death, only they should have put Him to death by stoning rather than by crucifixion; but be fore His death Jesus had declared that God Himself would set His seal to His claim to Deity by raising Him from the dead. And this God did. The evidence for the resur rection of Christ is absolutely conclusive. No one can study the proof of the resur rection of Jesus Christ with a candid mind and a desire to know and a willingness Jo obey the truth and come to any other con clusion than that Jesus was raised from the dead as recorded in the four Gospels. By thus raising Jesus from the dead God pro claimed to all ages, and all worlds, that Jesus’ claims to Deity were true and that therefore Jesus is “the Son of God” in
prisoner, no man attempted to hinder his testimony. These two years were among the most fruitful of his life. The Acts of the Apostles closes with Paul in prison, clearly indicating that the'book itself was written by Luke and certainly some time before Paul’s death, and probably about the time, or at the time, of the imprison ment. The last glimpse we get of Paul in the Acts of the Apostles is delightful: we see him “preaching the Kingdom of God and teaching the things concerning the Lord Jesus Qhrist with all boldness, none forbidding him.” Saturday, May 27- Romans "We begin today the study of Paul s let ter to God’s loved ones in Rome. Cole ridge said of this book, “I think the Epistle to, the Romans the most profound work in existence.” It certainly contains a most remarkable setting forth of fundamental Christian truths and a wonderful elucida tion of the lofty present privileges of the believer in Christ and an amazing and overwhelming statement of the glory that awaits us in the future. I beseech of every reader that he will not rest satisfied with what is said in these notes, but read the passage alotted for each day again and again, and reflect deeply and prayerfully upon each and every word, not of the notes so much as of the Scripture portion itself. ' Paul opens by speaking of himself as “a servant (R. V., bond servant, literal trans lation of the Greek, slave) of Jesus Christ.” Paul glorified in this title. We find it again and again in his letters. He calls him self “bond servant” for three reasons: ( 1 ) because he was purchased by Christ and was therefore Christ’s property, (2) be cause he was utterly surrendered to Jesus Christ, (3) because he had nothing else to do but to listen to. the Master’s voice and do his Master’s will. However, he was not only the “bond servant”, but “called to be an apostle”, that is, one sent forth directly by the Lord to witness for Him arid reveal His mind. He was “separated” unto the Gospel, separated from other men
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