March, 1942
THE K I NG ’ S BUSINESS
102
He knew some people who were al ways washing' their hands but never thought of letting their hearts be washed. ' They were always bringing gifts to church, but they Tiad no lbve in their hearts for God nor. for others. They were called Pharisee's, and Jesus had some hard things to say about them. Jesus .cares more for a heart of love than He does for the things we bring in our’ hands. Today, as we bring our gifts to Jesus, shall we look for a moment at oUr hands, and our hearts?. If our ' hands are dirty we can Cleanse them ourselves, but whoever has- a dirty heart will have to go to Jesus to get it washed. Do you think He can make • your, heart clean? I know He can, for the Bible says: “The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all -sin” (1 John 1:7).
today the “chief seats” which people love are located in the back of the church, not in front. -?! 5. "Ye lade men with burdens . . . ye yourselves touch not the burdens" (v. 46); Last Summer I. was teaching at-a Bible conference held by a young pastor in,New Jersey who has accom plished a quite amazing - piece of work.. His church is a beehive of ac tivity. I asked an officer the Secret ,of the pastor’s success with people. He replied, “Our pastor never asks us to do anything he is unwilling to do himself.” Golden. Text Illustration L u k e 11:23 When, a shepherd, in Scotland Was asked whether his sheep, would follow the/ voice of a stranger, he replied: “Yes, when they are sick, j but never when they are well. A sick sheep will follow anybody.” Just so: long as a Christian keeps himself in a healthy condition by feeding on God’s Word and by exer cising in His fields of activity, there will be little danger of his .going afthr the “faddists” and false teachers of his age. 'It is when his ears become diseased—when he has contracted ear itch — that he becomes restless and dissatisfied with his Master. —The Lookout. When We Bring Gifts L uke 11:14-54 MEMORY VERSE:; “By this shall all men know that ye are my dis ciples, if ye have love one to another” (John 13:35). APPROACH: Billy was very fond of his teacher. He wanted to do some thing nice for her, so he asked his
denly, leading off in various divergent directions, apparently seeking instruc tion from Him, while all the time they were “laying wait for him.” They hoped He would inadvertently say something which they could twist and pervert into Some accusation they could bring against Him before the authorities. Thus they' revealed their wickedness and also their 'Worthiness of all* the woes Jesus pronounced up on them. Points and Problems 1. "A certain Pharisee besought him to dine with him" (Lk. 11:37)— liter*, ally,' “to breakfast" with- Him. The language will be understood better if we remember that the ancient Hebrew custom was to eat two meals a day. (There was a very early meal eaten by workmen, called the “morning mor sel”£ or, “early snack” in the Jewish Talmud, but this was not regarded as a, true or full meal.) The first real, meal was what we are accustomed to call “ lunch,” and might be eaten anywhere from nine to twelve o’clock, generally the Tatter hour among Jews (see Acts 10:9,. 10 where Peter was about to eat at the “sixth hour” ). The second full meal was taken around sundown when the day’s work was finished, and was the important m ea l. of the day .. 2. "And the Lord said unto him . ■* .Woe unto you" ,(vs. 39, 42). It is easy to stand in- a pulpit and. denounce hypocrisy in general among the many in your ^audience. ..It is something else to- do what Christ did—speak thus to one man directly, a man.whose hos pitality you have accepted. It takes a rare sort of courage. Yet there may be times when it needs to be done. .3. "But rather give alms of such things as ye have; and, behold, all things are clean unto you" (v. 41). It is a difficult verse, but the rendering of the American Revision sheds ligh t. on its meaning, “Give for alms those things which are within." This is in harmony with the context. The Phar isees were very meticulous about things on the outside, tithing “mint-; and rue and ali mänher of herbs” (v. 42). But the Lord argues that the “ inside” is the important thing. Once the inside of the man is right, and ■he is able to give out .the inward things such as “judgment” and “ love,” the outside will take care of itself, 4. “Ye love the uppermost seats in ,the synagogues" . (v. 43). The word is singular, not plural, in the original text. This “uppermost” - or "chief” seat in the synagogue was a semicir cular bench in front facing the con gregation. There thePharisees loved to sit in view of the people, a little as some people like to sit .in the choir loft which faces the congregation. Some one has remarked, however, that
Object Lesson N ed a n d T ed N eedle .
OBJECTS: Two needles, a white thread; a black thread, a small red cardboard cross; and an assortment of unstrung beads. (Thread one needle with the white thread artd tie !the red cross to the end of the thread. Thread the other needle with the black thread and leave the end loose. String sev eral beads On each thread.) LESSON: I have named these two needles Ned and Ted. Can you guess how they are like real boys? The thread attached to each needle may give-you an idea. “One has a white thread and the other a black pne. Do the threads suggest .pullrity and sin?” .: Yes, John, you have given the cor rect answer. One needle reminds üs of a Christian, and the other of an unsaVed person. As I lift the needles’ higher,, you will notice that each thread has beads on It. At the end of the white thread there is. a red cross which speaks of ^Christ's death on the cross for sinners. This cross holds the beads from slipping off the thread. As I lift the needle with the black thread which has no cross, the beads go tumbling to the floor and are scat tered. These two needles and strings of beads remind me of the words of Jesus, “He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth” (Lk. 11:23).
mother to give him ap apple to take to school;—a nice big red one..; B u t he played on the way to s c h o o l a n d soiled his hands. When he took the Apple to his teach er, she. looked at those dirty hands,
and her iaqe was hot very happy. She was too polite to hurt the little boy’s feelings, but she knew that she could not enjoy an apple which' came from such dirty hands. 1 LESSON STORY: God does not care for gifts that come from hands that’ ate carelessly dirty, either—nor from; dirty hearts. Some people, are very particular about keeping themselves clean on the outside, but they never think about what they look like on the inside. God looks right through our clean clothes and our clean skin to see Whether our hearts are clean, too. . When the. Lord Jesus; was on earth,
»
Made with FlippingBook Online newsletter