June 1925
THE K I N G ’S B U S I N E S S
268
P ra c t ic a l M e th o d s of Pe rsona 1 W ork F o r “Defenders of th e F a ith ” T. C., H orton
holy.” Now ask them to read Matt. 22:35-40 and then ask, “Have you ever loved God w ith all your heart, and your neighbor as yourself?” (2) No Person Can Meet This Demand of God (Rom. 8 :3 ): “ Fo r wha t th e l a w (th e T e n m a nd me nt s) co u ld no t d o , in t h a w e ak throu gh the f le s h , G o d sendi o w n S o n in the li k e n e s s o f s in f a n d for sin , c o n d e m n e d sin in th The Ten Commandments are the expression of God’s absolute rig h t eousness, and His righteous demand of men. No m a tte r how much they desire to keep God’s law, they are unable to do so, because th e flesh is weak. If one commandment is broken— if a man tells one lie— he has broken all the commandments (Jas. 2 :1 0 ): (‘For whosoe ver sh a ll k eep the la w , a n d y e t o f f e n d , in o n e p o in g u i l t y o f all.” (3) God’s view of th e N atu ral H eart (Jer. 1 7 :9 ): “ T h e he art i s d ec ei tf ul a b o . t h in g s, a n d despe ra te ly wieked; kp o w it? ” (Matt.. 1 5 :1 9 ): “ For out o f the he art p r o c e e t hou ght s, m u r d e r s , ad ul teries, tions , t h e f t s , f a l s e w it n e ss , b lasp (4) The Necessity of a New N ature (John 3:6, 7 ): , ((‘T ha t which is b o r n o f the fl es h ; a n d t h a t w j u ic h i s b o r n S p i r i t, i s spirit. •‘M a r v e l not t h a t I said u n to t must b e b o r n ag ain .” Because men were born w ith a sin fu l natu re, and w ithout power to keep the law, the Son of God came into the world and kept the whole law, in order th a t He m ight be a perfect sacrifice fpr men (Rom. 10:4) : “ For C h r i s t is th e e n d o f th e ri g ht eo us ne ss, t o ev ery o n e t h a t be lieveth.” ' Use, also, John 1:12 and other pass ages given in previous lessons, to show th e simplicity of salvation. B ible Illu stration s of “ self-righteous sinners” ,are found in Cain in the fou rth chapter of Genesis; in Nico-- demus (th e moral Pharisee) in the fou rth chapter of John ; th e Pharisee spoken of in Luke 18:9-14; th e rich young mad, in Matt. 19:16-22. Another illu stration , of universal application, is found in th e fact th a t you can never get the relatives and friends of a self-righteous person to vouch fo r th« ir righteousness. (Thesefc- b r ie f s u g g e s tio n s f o r d e a lin g w ith th e u n s a v e d a r e ta k e n fr o m th e C o rre s p o n d e n c e C o u rs e , “P e r s o n a l [a n d P r a c tic a l C h r is tia n "W ork,” b y T .’C. H o r- tibh. T h o s e w h o w o u ld lik e to m a k e a f u lle r , s tu d y o f th e s u b je c t w ill b e g iv e n in f o r m a tio n b y th e S e c r e ta r y o f th e C o r re s p o n d e n c e < S c h o o l, B ib le I n s t i t u t e o f L o s A n g e le s .)
are self-righteous, we must use the justice-side. Prove to them th a t while God is loving, He is also holy and righteous. God’s S tandard. (1) God Demands Absolute Holi ness from Men (Heb. 1 2 :1 4 ): “ F o ll o w peace w it h a ll. m e n , a n d h ol i ne ss, wi th o ut which n o m a n sh a ll see the L o r d .” Ask, “Are you holy?” If the
Especially gratifying has been the h earty response which has come from th e “ Defenders of the F a ith ” (over two thousand of whom are now en rolled and are using th e ir “ ammuni tio n ” in the good fight of fa ith ), in response to our special appeal to them to aid in our effort to double the cir culation of The K ing’s Business. Read th e letters quoted in th e center of this page, and then, “ Go thou and do like w ise.” BESSON TWELVE Before tak ing up th is lesson, let every “ Defender” pause a moment and ask himself or herself a few pertin en t questions.' (1) “Do I recognize my calling?” (See Lesson 2, Ju ly ). (2) “Am I praying every day, ‘Lord, make me a soul-w inner’?” (3 ) “Have X a prayer list and am I praying daily for those who are on th a t list? ” Then dedicate yourself afresh to th e su preme thing in the Christian life—- soul-winning-. The Self-Righteous The “ self-righteous” represent a very large and growing class of peo ple. In these days the “ sense of sin ” is largely lost, and in its place has come a self-satisfaction which is fos tered by much of th e literatu re, preaching and teaching of th e present day. People are self-righteous because (1 ) They have false ideas of God. They do not und erstand or realize His holiness. (2 ) They have false ideas of themselves. They do not know th e ir own weakness or the sub tlety of Satan. (3 ) They have false ideas of the .Word of' God. They do not know or understand its teaching concerning the exceeding sinfulness of sin. Many of these people are living, outwardly, “m oral”'; lives. Many are philanthropic and engaged in many form s of “ good works.” Most of them are found among the wealthy and cul tured, and in positions of prominence, b u t some are found among the poor and uncultured. They may be recognized by th eir use of certain phrases, such as “ I pay my debts,” “ I live an hon est life,” “ I never wronged any one,” “ If I do my best, surely th e Lord will not be hard on me,” “ I am a better person than many church members,” “ I have my own ideas of religion.” They must be shown th a t they are measuring themselves w ith men and no t w ith God. God has bu t one stan dard of m easurem ent and th a t is— Himself. Never allow one of these people to leave you w ithout having given them a passage of Scripture, which th e Holy Sp irit may fasten upon th e h ea rt and use to bring conviction. The Sword of th e Spirit is two-edged. W ith those who feel th a t they are g reat sinners, we use the love-side. W ith those who
answer is, “No one is holy,” reply igiThat is so. In himself, no man is
A 91 YEAR OLD “DEFENDER” “P le a se . find enclosed another list of names of tria l subscrip tions which my mother is send ing you. She got them all by herself and she is past ninety- one years of age. Don’t you th ink she did w ell?” (Mrs. E. V. S., Wash.) (We surely do. W hat do the other “Defenders” th in k about it? ) A BRITISH GUIANA “DEFENDER” “ The ‘ammunition,’ including copies of The K ing’s Business and S. S. Quarterlies, received, for which I th ank you in His name. I am endeavoring my best, by God’s help, to secure additional subscribers for the K. B., and have some prospects. Two Sundays ago B rother S., pastor of a Baptist mission, and myself had th e joy of w itnessing th e • conversion of a colored woman, after an open air meet ing; and last Sunday an old man confessed Christ and was bap tized by B rother S. My Chris- ■tian love and fellowship to all ‘Defenders of the. F aith .’ ” (M. C., B ritish Guiana, S. A.) A “DEFENDER” AND “COMMENpER” “A friend gave me one of your 25c Three Months’ T rial Sub scription envelopes and asked me to try your magazine once.. “ I am u tterly disgusted w ith th e stuff th a t is dished up in many of our ‘Modernist Modern Church P apers’ today, b u t my friend tells me th a t you ‘hew to th e line,’ stick to the tru th , and uphold th e Bible,— a ra th e r square stand for any magazine to tak e in this ‘enlightened age.’ “Let me urge you to stick to your opinions, uphold Christ, preach the V irgin B irth, adhere to sound doctrine, and may God give you th e courage of your convictions.” (J. S. M., Chicago).
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