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THE K I N G ’S BUS I NE S S
(3 ) F eet become a fe tte r if you cannot use them . Can you “walk in the lig h t?” (4 ) The lame man a type of th e sin n er; born lame, helpless, un ab le to walk, hopeless because incurable. (5 ) Through faith many w onderful works are w rought. (6 ) F o r th e C hristian w orker th e re may be p raise one day and persecu tio n the next. ( 7 ) A tru e messenger of th e Master gives th e glory to God. ( 8 ) T rials and trib u latio n s are step ping stones to higher service. Wm. M. Taylor said, “ P alestine was th e West P o in t and Annapolis fo r the world. In th a t little country God is train ing up a people ou t of whom, when th e fulness of tim e LESSON should come, His ILLUSTRATIONS G o s p e l c a d e t s W. H. P ik e should emerge, fit ted by all th e tra in ing of all th e ir national h istory for going out among th e heathen and proclaim ing the unsearchable riches of Christ.” Missions God’s P rogram . The program of God is unquestionably th e bringing of th e Gospel to every per son in all th e world, and th e resources of God are prom ised only to those who und ertake th is program . It is estim ated th a t 3000 are born into th e Kingdom of God, every week, in foreign lands, bu t th is is only a drop compared to th e ocean of heathen who have n o t heard. Over one thousand m illions have never yet heard th e story of God’s love in Christ. It is the first work of th e church to give the Gospel to the world. Expense of Missions. The cost of adm in istration in m ission ary work is lower th a n any o th er busi ness. About 10 per cen t of w h at is given is used fdr adm inistration. A business man said 15 per cent was w hat he esti-
were today prepared to fell him w ith stones and p u t him to death. L ike the followers of Christ who changed th e ir hosannas (Matt. 21 :9 ) to “ crucify H im” (Mark 15:14 -15 ). “They th a t will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer perse cution” (II Tim. 3 :1 2 ). He had been shown w hat g reat things he should suf fer (Acts 9 :1 6 ) and now he is entering into th e rich experience of his heritage. His enemies suppose him to he dead and he probably was. In II Cor. 12:2 P aul says, “ I knew a m an in Christ about fourteen years ago, w hether in th e body I cannot tell or w hether out of th e body I cannot tell, God knoweth. Such an one caught up to th e th ird heaven.” Reckoning back fou rteen years from th is tim e would bring us to abou t the tim e of P au l’s visit to Lystra. The in ference is th a t P au l’s sp irit left th e body and he was given glimpses, of glory un law ful to reveal. When Stephen was stoned P au l was a w itness and no doubt th rough S tephen’s death was prepared to accept Christ. P au l was stoned and T imothy became a w itness an d when P au l re tu rn s to L y stra becomes a dis ciple. Acts 16:1-2; II Tim. 3:11. P aul could say when they sought to worship him , “These things do no t move me,” and when they stoned him he could say, “None of these things move me.” He arose from his deathbed outside of Lys tra to tak e up th e work of preaching the Gospel. Continuing in th e faith himself, he could urge the disciples to like faith fu l ness. T rials and tribu lation s beset his pathway, b u t they were stepping stones to higher service. There is need of' th is heroic faith which can say, “Though th ey slay me, yet will I tru s t H im .”
PRACTICAL POINTS (1 ) The fa ith of th e heathen is founded upon superstition. (2) The heels of th e man testified to his healing.
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