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THE KING’S BUSINESS
provided they would repent o f their sins and believe the Gospel. The offer was bona fide, but they rejected the King and with Him the kingdom. It is not always the preacher’s fault if the message fails. Had the Jews accepted our Lord’s offer, how different would their history for the past 1900 years have been. But through their rejection salvation has come to us Gentiles and changed our history (See Rom. 11:11). One day Israel is to come into her own again (See Rom. 11:25-32). III. Jesus Selecting His Apostles, vv. 1 6- 20 . He was going to inaugurate a society that should represent Him on earth and carry on His work, yet the first and most important members, o f it were— 1. Common men—fisher folks. Was it not Lincoln who said that God must love the common people or He would not have made'so. many o f them? The work must be from the bottom up, not from the top down. 2. Busy men—they were casting their nets into the sea. The Bible does not record that God ever called a lazy man into His service. Because a man fails at everything else, it does not prove'that he ought to be a preacher. Moses was busy; David was • Have you noticed that God’s promise o f the coming o f the Conqueror o f Satan, was made to Satan himself? In Gen. 3:15 God speaks to Satan and tells him that the seed o f the woman shall bruise his head. How appropriate, then, is the introduction o f the Son to Satan! The story o f the Bible is a story o f the conflict between Satan and God; a testing o f man under every possible condition; so ,far Satan has been able to prevail over humanity. Man has Satan’s nature, inherited from the fall. The devil is the father o f mankind. Here is a new man, born o f a virgin. If He is to be the Deliverer o f His fellowmen He must be able to conquer man’s great enemy. He must be tried out; He must be tempted
busy; these fishers were busy; Paul was busy. 3. Devoted men—they left all and fol lowed Him. Perhaps they did not leave much as we look at it; but like the widow, it was all they had and they could do no more. And they left it all for an uncer tainty. But it was at His command and to be with Him; and they followed the tug ging o f their hearts. What a blessed ven ture -it proved to b e ! What a leap in the dark that turned out to be a leap into the light forever! How famous they became without a thought o f 'doing so! See what He promised He would make o f them. If we are followers o f Jesus, we must be fishers o f men, for He said ’that was what He would do. If you are not a fisher, can you be a follower ? How many men did you catch in 1917? Did He fail or did you? Why not organize a Fisherman’s Club in your church now and see how many men you can catch for the Lord Jesus during 1918? I f y ou . would like to know about such a club that is catching scores o f men every year, drop a line to the president o f the Fishermen’s Club, Bible Institute o f Los Angeles. Enclose a stamped envelope for reply and a copy o f its Constitution. in all points as His fellows; if He is to be the Captain o f our salvation, He must be perfected through suffering; if He is to be the trusted leader o f the hosts o f God, He must win a victor’s crown Anointed with the Holy Spirit, Jesus is now led by the Spirit to His Jesting. He is man’s representative; He must meet man’s threefold temptation—the lust o f the flesh, -the lust o f the eye and the pride o f life. He did meet this temptation, and He did over come. He was victorious. We can always rely upon Him, therefore, to succor those who are tempted. There can be no failure in our conflict with the devil if we have our eyes upon our victorious Leader. So Paul could say, “I can do all things through
HEART OF THE LESSON
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