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T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
Christ’s words are received is there any ap proach to the Father. Points and Problems 1. “And from thence he arose, and went into the borders of Tyre and Sidon” (Mk. 7:24). Why did He withdraw to this heathen territory, abhorred by the Jews who regarded it as an unclean land? There are many opinions, but the majority suppose that He was weary of the constant crowds of the afflicted who sought healing at His hands, and wished to be alone with His disciples. Verse 24 does declare that “he . . . entered into a house, and would have no man know it.” Doubtless He did want to get away from the crowds. But let us be sure that we know which crowd it was that bothered Him. I do not think it was the crowd o f sick and afflicted who thronged about Him for a touch. W e find them in the latter part of chapter 6. But there is another and a different crowd which appears in the first part of chapter 7 (vs. 1-23). They were the Pharisees and the scribes who, blind to the great Mes sianic signs which He did, could see noth ing but fault in Him because He failed to teach His disciples to wash their hands at the right times in accordance with the “ tradition of the elders” (7:5 ). Here we find the real background of His departure into the borders of Tyre. And the tradi tionalists are still with us today, more concerned about what the “fathers” said than about the utterances of the Word of God. 2. "But he could not be hid” (v. 24). Here again it is easy to miss the point. The ordinary interpretation sees here only the difficulty of our Lord to escape the people. But this view regards too nar rowly His mighty power. If we have read the Gospels carefully, we1will know that when He really wanted to hide Him self from the crowds, He did so sue-, cessfully (cf. John 8:59; 12:36). There are no “ impossibilities” with God (and Jesus is G od), except those which are imposed upon Him by His own un changeable divine- nature. And it is the very nature of God to respond to the be lieving cry of human agony. This is the glory of our God—He cannot be hid from the need of our poor souls. IVe may indeed close our eyes to human need and in our prosperity forget that such a thing exists. But God cannot forget. He cannot shut His eyes. That is the reason that Isaiah wrote of H im : “ In all their afflic tion he was afflicted” (63:9). The poor Syrophenician woman knew more about the grace of God than did all the scribes and Pharisees. “ If I,” declared Martin Luther, “ in my preaching, should have regard to Philip Melanchthon and other learned doctors, then should I do but little good. I preach in the simplest manner to the unskillful, and that giveth content to all. Hebrew, Greek, and Latin I spare until we learned ones come together.” —lflOO Acts and Facts, by Pickering. Golden Text Illustration A cts 10:34
The Lord o f All M ark 7:24-37 Memory Verse: “ The Lord is good to all” (Psa. 145:9). Approach: Our story last week told of how Jesus dared to tell the scribes and Pharisees that obeying laws would not make them pure and good. No one but the
Lord Jesus wo u l d have dared tell these leaders of the people such a thing. Most people were afraid of them, but Jesus was not afraid. And yet, even though He was not afraid of them, He didn’t want them to take Him and harm Him yet,
and white. They can be made from mold ing wax.) Lesson: Before Christ went back to heaven, He said to His disciples: “ Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: And, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world” (Matt. 28:19, 20). Christ’s gospel— the good news of His salvation—is for the whole world. I have here four wax hearts, all different colors. They represent different races of people. Christ ministered to the needs of other nationalities besides the Jews, as is seen in Mark 7 which tells of when He healed the Syrophenician woman’s daughter. Here is a cameo with the image of a per son on it. W e will let this cameo remind us of Christ. As I press it against the wax heart, it leaves its image on the heart. God wants our hearts and our lives to be so changed that they will remind people of Christ. The Christian should be kind, lov ing, and patient like Christ. Notice that each heart, no matter what its color, is capable of receiving the like ness of the cameo. The likeness is as clear in the black heart as it is in the white one. The black people of Africa can receive Christ as their Saviour and can reveal His likeness to their companions just as well as can the people whose skin is white. Likewise the yellow reproduces the imagé perfectly. When the missionaries go to China and Japan, they find people who accept Christ and reveal Him to their friends in a way which often puts Amer ican Christians to shame. The red-skinned Indians, too, often show Christ to the un saved better than do many white people who are half-hearted about their love and service for Christ. No matter what the color of the skin or the kind of clothes worn, whenever a per son is saved and yields to the Lord, Christ is so impressed on, the life that He is re vealed to others.
because His work was not done. So He went with His disciples, away off to an other country near the sea. But Jesus “could not be hid” away from people. Lesson Story: Immediately one of the women of that country who was in great trouble found Him and begged for His help. Her daughter was under the power of a demon, an evil spirit, and the mother begged Jesus to cast out the evil spirit. Now the Jews and the people of this country were not friendly, and Jesus knew that His disciples would not want Him to be bothered by listening to the cries of this poor woman. Do you think this made any difference to Jesus? No, when He hears a cry bf real distress, He anwers it. He tested the woman to find how much faith she had; He said: “Let the children first be filled: for it is not meet to take the children’s bread, and to cast it unto the dogs.” But the woman understood, and was willing to be treated like a little pet dog under the master’s table, for she said: “ Yes, Lord: yet the dogs under the table eat of the children’s crumbs.” And her daughter was cured. Then Jesus traveled once more. When He came back to Galilee, He was asked to heal a deaf and dumb man, and He did. Disease came into the world when the first man and woman sinned. The Lord Jesus came to conquer sin and death. In the heavenly city there will be no more disease or sin or death.
Object Lesson C hrist in A ll L ands
Objects: Four wax hearts, and a cameo. (The hearts should be red, yellow, black,
APRIL 10, 1938 FINDING OURSELVES IN SERVICE M ark 8:27-38
Mark 8:27 And Jesus went out, and his dis ciples, into the towns of Caesarea Philippi: and by the way he asked his disciples, saying unto them, Whom do men say that I am? 28 And they answered, John the Baptist: but some say, Elias; and others, One of the prophets. 29 And he saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am ? And Peter answereth and saith unto him, Thou art the Christ. 30 And he charged them that they should tell no man o f him. 31 And he began to teach them, that the Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected
of the elders, and o f the chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. 32 And he spake that saying openly. And Peter took him, and began to rebuke him. 33 But when he had turned about and looked on his disciples, he rebuked Peter, saying, Get thee behind me, Satan: for thou savorest not the things that be o f God, but the things that be of men. 34 And when he had called the. people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them,
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