January, 1943
TR E E I N O ' S BU S I NE S S
of number In the personal pronouns— “he” to “we." Barnes thinks that the demon speaks for both himself and other demons'. But there evidently was only oné demon in the man, not many, as in the G.adarene case. Our Lord “rebuked him,” not them, and commanded him to come out of the victim. The “we,” therefore, must re fer to the demon and the demon-pos sessed pian. The demon was a per sonality, bu t,he speaks through the man, using his organs, a Case of what psychologists might call “ double per sonality.” Thus the demon speaks'for himself and his victim, but our Lord speaks, only to the demon. 5. “He healed many that were sick" and “cast out many devils [demons]" (v. 34). It has sometimes been argued by modern interpreters that the cases of New Testament demonism were nothing but' cases of physical, disease. But here our Lord very clear ly distinguishes between the two classes of sufferers. He also treats them differently. The sick are “healed," but the demons are “cast out." The reality of demonism cannot be denied without denying the integ rity of Christ and the New Testament records. Golden Text Illustration R evelation 1:10 President Harrison on one of his western tours stopped in Denver over Sunday because he was unwilling to travel on that day. The citizens wanted him to speak in their opera, house on Sunday, and sent a deputa tion to invite him. They told him that' Denver was accustomed to lib eral views o f Sunday, and that there could be no possible harm in holding the meeting. To their delight Presi dent Harrison accepted their invita tion, and” they declared to each other that they had dissipated his puri tanic ideas to some extent by their superior breadth. When Sunday evening came, every seat in the Tabor Opera House was full. But when the President began to speak, a great awakening awaited the hearers. From beginning to end, his address Was a p l e a for the Christian Sabbath! Its divine institu tion, its benefits, its binding sacred- BLACKBOARD LESSON
ness, were set forth In logical and convincing fashion. And the people of Denver heard the truth about Sab bath-breaking that pight, and no one resented the earnest speech, though its Warnings Were pointed and power ful.—The Classmate, quoted in Cyclo pedia of Religious Anecdotes, by Law- son. A Crowd at the Door M ark . 1:21-34; L uke 4:31-41 - MEMORY VERSE: “Let us do good unto all men” (Gai. 6:10). APPROACH: One day out of every seven belongs to God. We give Him the first day, or Sunday.' The Jews were to give Him the seventh day. It was called the Sabbath. It was supposed to be a day of complete rest. How do you spend Sunday? Do you; rest? Can you think of anything you” might do, besides resting, that would be pleasing to God? LESSON STORY: Whén the L o r d Jesus was upon earth, He sometimes spent some very strenuous Sabbath days. He didn’t have much time to house. But Jesus didn’t stop there. A man with’,an unclean spirit came into the synagogue. Jesus cast out the unclean spirit. The people mar veled, both at Christ’s teaching and at His power. They crowded about the door to see and hear. But this was not all. When the service at the synagogue was over, He went home with Peter. There He found a sick woman and He healed her. By eve ning people -were coming from all sides with their sick. Jésus did some thing for all who came. He will always do something for those who come to Him. Have you come to Him? He wants to do some thing for you. He will touch you and make your heart clean. He wants to send you out from His house, to be a blessing as He was a blessing that Sabbath day. Will you let Him? If we come to the Lord- Jesus, He will do us good, and then we can “do good unto all men” as our memory verse tells us. Object Lesson H earts H ealed OBJECTS: Seven paper hearts, 8 Inches wide, measuring 7 inches from the bottom of the “V” to the upper rest, but what He did always pleased God. Let me, tell you about one of His S a b b a t h s . First, He went into the synagogue and taught. It is al ways a good thing to begin God’s day by going to God’s'
puts to shame much of the so-called divine healing of today. ' III. À t thf D oor (32-34) The casting out of the denjon pro duced such fame for Jesus that great ' crowds -gathered to Him, bringing their sick and those possessed by de mons. Both sickness and demon pos session are realities; it is supreme cruelty to deny the existence of either one. “All the city was gathered” at the door, meaning a very large crowd. He "healed many,” without refer ence to what -might have been the severity of the malady. One disease is no more difficult for Him to heal than any other. Added to the physical healings, there was also the casting out of the demons which vexed many poor sufferers. The Lord JesuS would take no testimony .from; the demons, ■ even though “they knew him to be Christ,” -as some authorities add (v. 34, R. V. margin). No one on.earth ■can praise Him who is not willing to repose personal faith in Him as Sav- ' iour. In studying all the miracles per formed by our Lord when He. was upon the earth, this truth must ever be emphasized: Restoration to physi cal health may. take place without regeneration’s being accomplished in the individual;’ the latter comes by grace through faith and the exercise of the human Will in obedience to God. | Points and Problems : 1. “And straightway" (Mk. 1:21). This adverb occurs forty-one times in the Gospel of Mark/ nine times in this first chapter alone. It is some times translated hy such English Words as “immediately” and“ anon” and “ by and by.” Its frequent use indicates the general viewpoint of the writer. Mark sees in Christ the great Servant of the Lord, doing the divine Will, and getting things done with dispatch. 2. “They were astonished at his doctrine [teaching]:, for he taught them as one that had authority, and not as the scribes" (v. 22). Our Lord ’>went directly to the Word, told the people it meant what it said, and de manded that they obey and believe it. There is still no better way to teach. , 3. “An(unclean spirit" ,.(v. 23). “No . less than twenty-three times in the New Testament demons are c a l l e d L “unclean." Since all the genuine phenomena of modern Spiritualism are Simply a manifestation of de-_ monism, it should not- surprise us tp find in that movement a great deal of moral laxity. 4. “And he cried out, saying . . . what have we to do with thee?" (vs. 23, 24). We should note the change
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