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THE KING ’S BUSINESS
—this is the teaching o f the Lord Jesus Christ in the Gospels. Then what have the Gospels to say about 'Himself, His work? Just three things: His life, His death, and His resurrection, crowned by His ascension. For as Dr. Dale once said: “Jesus Christ did not come to preach the Gospel, but that there might be a gospel to preach.” That is Christ in the glory o f His incarnation. V . Christ in the glory of His position in the Church. This is the Christ o f the Acts and the Christ o f the Epistles. The Acts o f the Apostles is a book incorrectly named. It should be called thfe Acts o f the exalted Christ, for all through that great and won derful book we find the Lord Jesus Christ as the living Worker by the Holy Spirit. The Apostles were not agents, only instru ments. It is the Lord who is the Worker. Just as Luke’s Gospel tells us what Christ began to do and to teach until His ascen sion, so the Acts o f the Apostles goes on to tell us what He continued to do and teach after His ascension. And if we run our mind through that book with the thought o f the living Christ, we shall see thesè three things : Christ as Lord, Christ as Life, and Christ as Law. W e find the gospel o f the resurrection, the gospel o f the kingdom, and the gospel o f ’ forgive ness always preached. They proclaimed the resurrection to prove that He was.God. In obedience to their Master they pro claimed the gospel o f the kingdom. But inasmuch as all men are rebels, and were not in the kingdom, they had to proclaim the gospel o f pardon. This is the three fold message o f the Acts o f the Apostles : Christ as the Saviour, Christ asr Lord, Christ as God. So also in regard to the Epistles, we find the same thing: Christ is all. Paul is the Apostle o f faith, John is the Apostle o f love, Peter is the Apostle o f hope. Christ is the Redeemer, the Priest, and the Master. So all through this great section Christ is seen-in the glory o f His position in the Church o f the living God.
attention very carefully on them. W e shall find in these, four pictures o f the one Christ. A very interesting book by an American author describes the Gospels in these terms: Matthew gives the profile picture in the light o f the Jewish past; Mark gives the steel engraving in view o f the needs o f the present; Luke gives the half-tone portrait, a blending of the humanity and, the divinity; and John gives the life-size picture; in the fulness of His person and work. Or to refer to another author: Matthew is the Gospel for the Jews, Mark for the, Romans, Luke for the Greeks, and John for thé whole world. ' Matthew demonstrates, Mark describes, Luke depicts, and JoJm declares. | And when you look at the life of Jesus Christ as a whole, you easily see the four marks or stages which ■ ere pointed out long ""ago by Dr. Stalker. I am not sure that I can remember his words exactly, but his idea is that the first year was the year of preparation, the second^ was the year o f obscurity, .the third was the year o f popu larity, and then there is the closing period o f, opposition, Thus we. get the life of the Lord Jesus Christ. But now in particular let us think of the teaching o f the Lord Jesus Christ. W e notice in the first four chapters o f John, the Judean ministry, when the teaching was of the Messiahship. Then from fhe begin ning o f the Galilean ministry, Matt. 4:17, to the end of the Sermon on the Mount, thé theme was the Kingdom o f God. From Matt. 8 to the time of. Ciesarea Philippi, it was the Person o f the Messiah. ; From Caesarea Philippi to the interview with the Greeks, it was the death of the Messiah. During the last week in Jerusalem, it was the Second Coming or the future. On the last night in the upper room, it was the dispensation o f the Spirit in that day. And after the resurrection, it was the great commission : “Go ye into all the world, found in all four Gospels and at the open ing of Acts. The Messiah* the Kingdom, the Person, the Suffering, the Advent of the Holy Spirit, and the great Commission
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