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THE KINGcSS B U S I N E S S .
July 1925
looks for the lost coin until she finds it. The father is our Father, whose heart is full of love for the wandering. The father is on the lookout for the boy, and the boy is the backslider whose own wickedness has convicted him, and who has found backsliding an evil and b itter, thing, and who, knowing the good things in the Fath er’s house) goes back and receives a wonderfully g r a c i o u s reception. Father, Son and Holy Spirit, all work ing together for the one purpose? Sounds of rejoicing when the sheep is brought back, and when the coin is found, and when the prodigal returns. Nothing shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord (Rom. 8:38, 89). (T h e s e b r ie f s u g g e s tio n s f o r d e a lin g w ith 5»th e u n s a v e d a r e ta k e n fro m th e ’ C o rre s p o n d e n c e C o u rse , “P e r s o n a l a n d P r a c tic a l C h r is tia n W o rk ,” b y T . O. H o r to n . T h o s e w h o w o u ld lik e to m a k e a f u lle r s tu d y o f th e s u b je c t w ill b e g iv e n in f o r m a tio n b y th e S e c r e ta r y o f th e C o rre s p o n d e n c e S ch o o l, B ib le I n s titu te o f L o s A n g è le s . ) faith is the “faith once delivered” (v. 4). It is the faith which has saved us (1 Pet. 1 :9 ). It is the faith through which we are to work out the salva tion which has been given us (Phil. 2 : 12 ): “W h e re fo re , m y b e l o v e d , as alwa ys o b e y e d , no t as in m y o n l y , but n o w m u c h m o r e in m y wo rk ou t yo ur o w n salv ation w an d trem bli ng. ” God works it in; we are to work it out by His power. 2 Peter 1:5-7 sug gests how we may build up by adding to our faith: “ A n d b e s i d e this , giv ing all d a d d to your f ai th , v ir tu e ; an d t know ledg e; “ A n d to k n o w le d g e , temp era n to t em pe ra n ce , pat ien ce; an d to go dliness; “ A n d to g o d l i n e s s , b rot her ly k and to b rot her ly k in dn es s, cha r We are to keep ourselves “in the love of God.” Not in the love of self. That is natural. Keep out of self; keep in God’s love," There is a concrete test that can be applied to a man’s faith of what sort it is: What does it do for a man? Does it make him a new man? A true man? A holy man? A righteous man? A kindly man? An unselfish man? A humble man? Does it give him a love for the souls of his fellow men? You can apply this test to any scheme of any of the cults. Second,— “Praying in the Holy Ghost.” This expression is not found elsewhere. In Romans 8:26, 27, the Holy Spirit is represented as praying in us. He helps our infirmities, and they ,need help! He i n d i t e s our prayers. He helps us to pray, In order to “pray in the Spirit” we must abide in Him. He lives in us and imparts life to us, but we can hinder the full expression of that life through us. A worldly atmosphere is (Continued on page 322)
th e stra n g ers under every g reen tree, and ye have not obeyed my voice, saith the Lord.“ Then show God’s love, for them, using such passages as Hosea 11:8; Isa. 43:25. God has promised to heal them (Hos. 14:4; Jer. 3 :22 ), to cleanse them (1 John 1 :9 ), and Jesus is Himself interceding for them (1 John 2:1, 2). Bible Illustrations The Bible is the backslider’s book. From Genesis 3:15, to the end, it con cerns backsliders. It contains many cases of backsliding, including Abra ham, Lot, Saul, David, Manasseh, Jonah, Peter, etc. All of these cases illustrate the fall, recovery and res toration of backsliders. Israel itself is and continues .to be a backsliding people. The Whole 15th chapter of Luke is a message to the backslider: The Lord Jesus is the Shepherd who goes out after the . wayward sheep, and never comes back until He finds him. The Holy Spirit is the woman who We have here a four-fold exhorta tion to believers,— “building,” “pray ing,” “keeping,” “looking.” First,— “Building up yourselves on your most holy faith.*’ We. are to have in mind the necessity of self- preservation, seeing and sensing the evil conditions, the influence of an apostate age, an atmosphere antagon istic to a spiritual life, in the midst of false teachers. This is to be accom plished by daily self-examination. What is our relation to thé Holy One and to the world? (Rev. 22:11). Separation (being “set apart, for God” ) is a daily task, a duty to God and tó ourselves. For the strength-, ening of our bodies we require food. In these days, greater attention than ever before is being given to the value of food and the adaptation of food to the health of the user. So in spiritual things, we must provide' proper food for the soul, which is of far more importance than food for the body. There are laws for the body. There are laws for the soul. “Stop— l o o k - listen!” is the sign at railroad cross ings. Signs are painted on our streets demanding that autos stop. We must keep ourselves within the lines. What is necessary for the preservation of physical life? Keep up the gates! Keep up the signs! Keep up the warn ings! What is needed to préserve a healthy spiritual life? “Build up your selves on your most holy faith.” Bar ricade yourselves against the attacks of Satan. Christ is the foundation of the believer, but He is revealed to us by faith, and He grows upon us with the increase of our faith. What is the weakness of the church today? A lack of faith! Faith* is “seeing the unseen” (Heb. 11 :1 ). Our
“ T h u s s a i th the L o r d , What iniq uity h a ve your f a t h e r s fo u n d in m e , t h a t they h a v e g o n e f a r fro m m e , a n d h a ve w a lk ed a f t e r vanity, an d a re b e c o m e v a in ? * * * “ F o r m y p e o p l e h a ve c o m m it t e d tw o evil s; th ey h a v e forsa ken m e , the fo un ta i n o f l i v i n g - w aters, an d h e w e d t h e m ou t ciste rns, br ok en cisterns, t h a t c a n h o l d n o w at er. * * * “ Has t th ou n ot pr oc ur ed th is unto th y s e lf , in t h a t thou h a s t forsa ken th e L o r d th y G o d , w h e n h e l e d thee b y the w a y ? ” Compel a Confession ■Now seek t o . have the backslider make a full confession of Jiis back sliding, and surrender his will to the will of the Lord, showing him that he will thus enter into fellowship with the Lord, and will have the joy of wit nessing for Christ and leading others to a knowledge of Him. No backslider can be a soul-winner, and a Christian who is not a soul-winner is losing for both time and eternity. Use Jer. 3:13 to show that God demands this 'con fession : ‘‘O n l y ac k n o w le d g e thine ini quity, t h a t thou h a s t tra ns g re s s ed a g a in s t the L o r d th y G o d , a n d h a s t sca tte red th y wa ys t o
fal fa! Ou tline Studies in the Book o f Jude T. C. Horton ft§
OUTLINE OF THE BOOK (1) The Called and Sanctified are Saluted, vs. 1, 2. (2) The Called are Charged to Con tend for the Faith, v. 3. (3) The Called are C a u t i o n e d Against the Creeping Critics, v. 4. (4) The Certain Judgment of the Apostates, vs. 5-7. (5) The Corrupting Influence of the Filthy Dreamers, vs. 8-10. (6) The Commitment of the Cor rupters to Eternal Doom, vs. 12, 13. (7) The Coming of the Lord to Exe cute Judgment, vs. 14-16. (8) The Caution Against Mockers,' vs. 17-19. (9) The Counsel to the Saints to Build Up in Faith, vs. 20, 21. (10) The Classification of Those De serving Rebuke, vs. 22, 23. (11) The Commitment of the Saints to an All-Wise God, vs. 24, 25. The outline of the entire book is given each month, so that students may have the synopsis of the develop ment of the theme before them while meditating on the particular division under immediate consideration. LESSON SEVEN We now'come to the close of the epistle. We have seen the anxiety of the apostle for the Gospei,— that it be preserved; he has described the snare of apostasy, the history of sin, the coming judgment; he now mani fests the other side of the true Chris tian spirit,—-desire for the upbuilding of the saints and the salvation of the lost. (9) The Counsel to the Saints to Build Up in Faith, vs. 20, 21.
“ K e e p yo ur se lv e s in th e l o v e of G o d , l o o k i n g : for th e m e rc y o f o u r L o r d Jesus C hr is t un to e te r n a l l i fe .”
“ B u t y e , b e l o v e d , b u i l d i n g : u p you r se lv e s o n your m o s t h o l y f ai th , p r a y i n g : i n th e H o l y G h o s t ,
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