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T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
November, 1934
Sharing Our Stories of Jesus 1 T h essalon ian s 1 :1-10
Furthermore, with an improper commence ment, the service would become social, and the question, “ How may I serve my fellow man?” would be heard. But turning “to God from idols” leads to a service which is neither selfish nor social. It is Christian —like the service rendered by our Lord Himself. He had a deep consideration for man’s need, a deep interest in man’s wel fare. - And to meet the need and to pro vide for the welfare o f man, He came, in self-sacrifice, to perform the labor of love (cf. John 3:16; Phil. 2:5-9; Heb. 12:3). The present life o f the church upon the earth will be completed when God’s “ Son from heaven, . . . even Jesus” comes back. This appearance o f “the great God and our Saviour” is the hope of the Chris tian witness. To him, the coming of Christ does not mean the conversion o f the world, or the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, or anything less than the personal, visible return o f the Lord from heaven. Thus the Christian witness bears; testi mony: By the character of the life he lives; by the proclamation of the W ord of G od; and by the attitude of waiting for the fulfillment of “that blessed hope,” the com ing o f our Lord Jesus Christ. Points and Problems 1. The expression in verse 3, “work o f faith,” does not mean that faith itself is a work, as some have taken it. Faith is not a work, but true faith will produce work. As some one has happily put the matter: Faith works, but is not a work. 2. In verse 3 there are three interesting pairs o f terms: First, “work o f faith” ; second, “ labor of love” ; third, “patience of hope.” The second term in each couplet describes an invisible thing, while the first term describes the visible evidence of the invisible grace. Faith, love, and hope are things which cannot be seen in themselves. But we can see the “ work” that faith pro duces, the “labor” that flows from love, and the “patience” which grows out of Christian hope. (Patience should be “ steadfastness,” as in the American Re vised Version footnote.) 3. Verses 9 and 10 seem to develop still further the ideas o f verse 3. The turning “to God from idols” was the first “ work of faith.” The service to the true God was the “ labor of love.” The waiting for God’s Son from heaven was the “patience of hope.” 4. The doctrine o f “election” in verse 4 is not introduced as the spearhead of a theological system, as men often use it. Although election must be logically first in the mind of God as the foundation of all our salvation, yet this is not the Biblical order of revelation. The Bible begins with concrete things, such as work, labor, and steadfastness; finds in these things an evi dence of faith, love, and hope; and then traces backward to find in God’s hidden purpose the source and cause o f all. If we would keep to the Biblical order of revelation in our teaching o f election, we would avoid a great deal of trouble. Golden Text Illustration Frances Ridley Havergal tells of going away to a boarding school shortly after she joined the church. When she entered the school, she found that she was the only Christian among one hundred girls. Her first feeling was that she could not confess Christ before gay and worldly companions. Then the thought came, “ I am tiie only one He has here.” The thought strengthened, and she was rewarded for her courage.— Sunday School Chronicle.
Memory Verse: “ I bring you good tid ings of great joy, which shall be to all people” (Lk. 2:10). Approach: Last week we talked about the good things which God has given to us, and what we should do with them.
Today we are going to talk about the best Gift that He has given us, and how we can share thatGift with others. Lesson Story: O f course we all know that the best Gift we have from God is J e s u s Christ, His Son. He came to earth to live and to
when people accept Him as Saviour, there should flow from them rivers of blessing to others. It is sad to realize that Chris tians do not always do this. Some are like this coconut. It has water on the inside, but it has to be broken with the hammer before the water can be used. Many people are “coconut-Christians.” The world does not know that they have the Water of Life until the hammer of death—or some other sorrow—has smit ten them. People are often surprised when the minister at a funeral tells that the dead person had accepted Christ ten or twenty years ago. This kind of Christian is not used o f God to bless others very much. Have you ever heard o f the “sponge- Christian” ? Here he is. There is water on the inside o f this dry-looking sponge, but it has to be squeezed out. This kind o f Christian has to be pressed before he will reveal that he has the Living Water. Jonah had to be questioned by the men in the ship in the storm before he confessed that he was a servant of God. Many boys and girls do not confess Christ on the school grounds until they are asked. The “sponge-Christian” is a poor kind of witness for Christ. This clean glass o f pure water is ready to give some thirsty person a refreshing drink. Some Christians are just like this glass o f water. They are always ready to give the Water o f Life to the thirsty. People who are thirsty for the Water of Life do not wait for a “coconut-Chris- tian” to be smitten, or for a “sponge- Christian” to be pressed. They go to the Christian in whom they can see the Water o f Life. Let us ask God to make us as glasses filled with the Living Water, in order that the thirsty may be satisfied as they come to us. truth. In the instance before us, He used the common figure o f the building of a house, and all who heard could readily understand His meaning. But the Saviour taught that hearing alone, even though there was an under standing o f the words, was not sufficient. To hear only, without following the in struction with obedient action, would prove the hearer a fool. Alas, there are many who are content with hearing onlyl BLACKBOARD LESSON ITS THE FOUNDATION THAT DETERMINES THE STRENGTH OF THE SUPER. STRUCTURE
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die for our sins, so that if we believe on Him, we too shall be God’s children, and shall go to be with Him forever. W e know, too, that it is in the Bible that this story o f God’s wonderful love is told. Sometimes these stories about Jesus are called “the good news.” “ News” is some thing to tell people. When you hear some good news, the first thing you do is to run and tell it to some one else. And then you tell it again until every one around knows it. Can you imagine not telling good news? No, neither can I. So that is the first thing which we can do with the Good News—the stories about Jesus. People who tell this Good News are called preachers and teachers. I f they go away from home to tell this news to people o f other nations, they are called missionaries. But it doesn’t matter where we tell these stories o f Jesus, or to whom we tell them, for everybody needs to hear them. But it is important to remember that the best way to thank God for send ing us His Son is to tell others about Him —to share the Good News. Object Lesson T hree K inds of W itnesses Objects: A coconut, a sponge, a glass of water, and a hammer. (I f a coconut is unseasonal, a watermelon may be used. In this case, substitute a knife for the hammer.) Lesson: Christ is the Living Water, and Golden Text: “ Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that need- eth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word o f truth” (2 Tim. 2:15). Outline and Exposition I. T h e L ord J esus as a T eacher (Matt. 7:24-29). F or th e sake o f clearness and the bet ter understanding o f the truth which our Lord desired to leave in the minds o f His hearers, He made much use of word pictures in His teaching. There is little opportunity for misunderstanding when a picture is presented. The Lord also made wide use o f familiar objects and scenes in His teaching. He offered no deep reasoning, although the most profound truths were presented; He expressed no misty philosophy, although the deepest philosophy was in His words; but He illustrated His addresses with such homely things as sheep, or birds, or grow ing grain, and by analogy taught spiritual
DECEMBER 9, 1934 THE CHRISTIAN AS TEACHER M atth ew 7 :24-29; A cts 18:24-28
THE SCENEQ.Y M ER ELY BEAUTIFIES THE BACKGROUND
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