March, 1938
121
T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
III. C hrist ’ s R esurrection 1.
everlasting covenant” , (Heb. 13:20). It is as we accept His atonement personally that we have “the peace of 'God, which passeth all understanding” (Phil. 4:7). W e then, as ambassadors for Christ, are to beseech men in His stead to be likewise reconciled to God, and as we bring men to Christ we become peacemakers in the highest sense of the term. There is only one ground of true peace— the ground of His blood— and when we stand with other redeemed oties on that sacred territory, we bear a divine likeness as the children o f God. As one has aptly phrased it, “ the peace- receivers become transformed into peace- diffusers.” E. Schuyler English has re minded us that “The Sermon on the Mount is the manifesto of the constitution of the Kingdom of the heavens, which is to come upon the earth in the millennial reign of the Lord Jesus, and which shall be de livered up by the Son ‘to God, even the Father’ (1 Cor. 15:24). Yet it behooves us who are Christians, who are to reign with our Lord upon the earth, to meditate upon the picture of the character which is the perfect result of the work of the Lord Jesus Christ for us.” A summary of Christ’s ethical teaching is found in His commandments to love God and one another, for love is the ful filling of the law. In giving the Golden Rule, Jesus said: “ This is the law and the prophets” (Matt. 7:12). Luther com ments thus : “With these words He now closes His instructions given in these three chapters, and ties it all up in a little bundle.” The question of our lesson is: “W ill this teaching of Jesus work today? Is it prac tical? Is it possible Some one once said, “ Christianity has been tried and found a failure,” “ No,” another man said, “you are wrong; Christianity has been tried and found hard.” A third person standing by said, “ Chris tianity hasn’t really been tried yet.” Those who have put the Lord Jesus Christ to a fair test in their lives know that He does through them what is not possible on the human plane. Frances Ridley Havergal epitomizes the situation in this manner: “W e may be quite sure of three things: first, that whatever our Lord commands us, He really means us to do; secondly, whatever He commands is for our good always; and thirdly, whatever He commands He is able and willing to enable us to do, ‘for all God’s biddings are enablings.’ ” Is it possible to obey the Golden Rule and the other commandments of Jesus Christ? Were it not possible, we are convinced that He would not have so commanded. Shall we not rely on Him for the grace to per form that which He has required of us?
While the literal bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ is the corner stone of Christian doctrine, it is also the Gibraltar of Chris tian evidence, and the Waterloo of in fidelity and rationalism.— R . A . T orrey . 2 . The resurrection is God’s evidence to heaven, earth, and hell, to angels, men and demons, that He is fully and eternally satisfied, not with what we have done or could do, but with what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. — J am es M c K endrick . 3. “ Now is Christ risen”— these are words of deepest import to every child of Adam’s race; words on which hang the salvation, the peace, the assurance, and the hope of untold myriads of the human family; words which convey the statement of the grandest fact of the a gesBH . P ickering . 4. From among the many Scripture pas sages on the resurrection of Christ,, the leader may wish to use such verses as these: John 11:25, 26; Acts 2:24; 3:15; 5:30, 31; Romans 4:25; 6:4; 1 Corinthians 15:20, 22, 54, 55; 1 Thessalonians 4:14; 2 Timothy 2:8. APRIL 24, 1938 WILL THE TEACHINGS OF JESUS WORK TODAY? Before determining the practicability of Jesus Christ’s teachings, we must clarify in our thinking the elements of His teach ing. There is a notion abroad today that the precepts of Jesus which He uttered while here on earth are the most important principles of the New Testament. Our last lesson, which stressed the purpose of His death and resurrection, should correct that erroneous impression. The teachings of Jesus are the most vital that ever have been given to man, but many individuals heed only those commands which are agree able to their taste, and reject or underesti mate the importance of the others. The most urgent message which Christ gave was that of believing on His name for salva tion— trusting in Him through His death and resurrection (cf. John 6:28, 29, 53-58; 11:25, 26). This is basic to all other teach ings. Because the thought of the blood atonement is odious to some, they concen trate upon the Golden Rule and other parts of the Sermon on the Mount— important though these are— and disregard Jesus’ pri mary commandment. “ Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.” In the Old Testament the Lord Jesus Christ was called the Prince of Peace (Isa. 9:6). That prophecy began to be fulfilled when He “made peace through the blood of his cross” (Col. 1:20) and reconciled sinners to God. God was then manifested as “the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the M atth ew 5:9, 38-48; 7:12 Meditation on the Lesson
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