THE K I NG ' S BUS I NES S
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WEDNESDAY, Aug. 13. Acts 9:31-43. And in All Judea. Ju d ea is th e first concentric circle whose rad iu s s ta rts from Jerusalem . Our Lord was born in Judea although he was b rough t u p ' in Galilee. The only Judean among th e apostles was th e man of K erioth who betrayed Him. The Galilean m inistry was fa r more successful th a n th e m inistry in Judea. The Saviour m et for th e most p a rt op position a n d unbelief in Judea. There th e conspiracy was hatched th a t brought Him to His death. The Gal ilean pilgrim s shouted “Blessed is he th a t cometh in th e nam e of th e L o rd ” a t His trium p h an t entrance into Je ru salem. The Judean rabble shouted “ Crucify h im ,” in P ilate’s judgm ent hall. Most of H is life and public m in istry were spent in Galilee, b u t He shed H is blood and made His grave in Judea. He had no sooner risen from the dead th a n H is h e a rt tu rn ed toward His beloved in Galilee. The angel said to those who came to th e sepulchre, “He is not here, for He is risen as He said; and behold He goeth before you into Galilee; th e re shall ye see Him.*' It was in Galilee th a t most of th e post resu rrection appearances were made and th e g reat commission given. It is called “ Galilee of the Gentiles” be cause it was inhabited by a v ariety of nations. I t th u s becomes a type of the g reat Gentile world out of wh:cn tne church is called and chosen. The fact th a t th e g reat commission was spoken in Galilee may signify th e world-wide ch aracter and sphere of th e present Gospel election. THURSDAY, Aug. 14. Acts 8:14-25. And in Samaria. The work of grace th a t Philip carried on in Sam aria m ust have Ijegun w ith th e conversion of th e woman a t Jacob’s well who b rough t h er fellow townsmen of Sychar ou t to h ear th e M aster’s word. John 4:5-42. The change th a t came to Sychar and Samaria came first to a single person. ■The revival began as every revival must, by th ree alstinct and different looks on th e p a rt of the first convert. F irs t th e re was th e in w ard look. The woman of Sychar saw h er own h e a rt under th e search-light of th e M aster’s revelation. John 4:17- 18. We need to see our sin first of all to make us conscious of our need. Then th ere was the upward look into the face of Jesus. When we realize tne aw ful need w ithin, we instinctively tu rn
are no t only bound to propagate our faith b u t to prevent as far as in us lies its deterioration. “ If th e sa lt have lost its savor wherew ith shall it be sea soned?” If we are indeed th e salt of th e earth , we had b etter get ou t of th e salt cellar and into th e soup. A lthough th e church may become apostate and disciples prove un faith fu l, we m ust never fo rget th a t th e Gospel is th e only way of salvation and th a t th e etern al destiny of men hangs upon its accept ance or rejection. How shall they hear w ithou t a preacher? How shall they preach except they be sent? How shall they be sent unless th e people of Goa pray and give and go in accordance w ith th e Divine command? TUESDAY, Aug. 12. Acts 2:36-47. Beginning a t Jerusalem . The program of Christ reveals His sanity and courage. Our Jeru salem is where we live and labor. Christ always had th e far world vision in H is eye, b u t He bids His disciples begin, by doing th e work which lay a t th e ir door. Be ginning a t Jerusalem means for us to begin in our own home, to begin in our place of toil, to begin in our own town and country. We need not go far afield to find ignorance, and w retched ness and sin. “All nation s’ is th e goal a t which th e Lord would have us arrive, b u t Jerusalem is th e point of departure. A tim id man would no t begin his mis sion a t Jerusalem . I t was th e strong hold of opposition. It had voiced its enm ity a t th e cross. Its J 18,11?® we™ red w ith the blood of its Messiah. Of all places on earth , it seemed th e most difficult and hopeless. There is splen did audacity in th is command. It was as if the Lord had said Begin by preaching th e Gospel to my enemies and m u rd erers.” No place is too h ard to capture. There are no impregnable positions in th e Gospel campaign When P eter and John preached Christ in th e streets of Jerusalem and m th e very precincts of th e Temple, th e ir boldness impressed all b®hol<*er®; “When they perceived th e boldness of P e te r and John, they took knowledge of them th a t they had been with_ Je- sus *1 I t was th e courage of Christ they recognized as reflected and rep ro duced in th e courage of th e disciples. When Napoleon first suggested tak ing his arm y across th e Alps, his engineers declared it was impossible. The Empe ro r replied, “The word is no t m my dictionary.” The word impossible is no t in Christ’s dictionary.
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