September 1924
T H E
K I N G ’ S
B U S I N E S S
572
they do not see the regalia or retinue of royalty, they recog nize their King and at His simple word of command, they leave father, friends, home, nets, boats, and business and follow Him. “God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise, and the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty..........that no flesh should glory in His presence.” The devotional phase of the lessons for this quartèr may be made to profitably center around a word found in the first lesson, the word “Joy.” There is the joy of salvation: “ Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all DEVOTIONAL people” (Luke 2: 10,11). Does every COMMENT teacher reading these lines know the joy J. A, Hubbard of salvation? And are you seeking to lead the unsaved ones in your class to know this joy? In lessons 2 and 6 there is the joy of obedience. It was Jesus’ joy to be about His Father’s business; His delight to do God’s will (Ps. 4 0 :8 ). At the wedding in Cana the obedience of the servants resulted in joy to everybody pres ent. “ Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it,”, and you surely will have joy. Lesson 4 speaks to us of the joy of victory in the time of temptation. The conflict through which Jesus went was terrific; but who can doubt that after it was all over His soul was filled with joy? He became Victor that we might share in His victory and joy. , Are we? In Lesson 5 there is the joy of service, especially that of personal work. In lessons 8 and 9 we have the example of our Lord in doing this kind of work. Two wonderful “ discourses,” but spoken to individuals! Soul winning brings joy to the one who is led to Christ, to the one who leads, and there is joy in heaven (Luke. 15:7, 10). Are you having and causing this joy? Lesson 12 reminds us of the joy of prayer. Those early morning hours of fellowship with God must have brought great joy to the Lord Jesus. What is prayer to you— a dead, formal thing, an irksome duty, or a real joy? “ Truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full” (1 Jno. 1:3, 4). Lesson 8 reve’als the gateway through which we must pass in order to have this life of joy— the new birth. We must be born again, be born from above, be born of the Spirit, or we will never know the joy of salvation, of obe dience, of victory, of service, of prayer. So far as our part is concerned, the new birth is brought about by accepting, believing in, Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord (Jno. 1:12, 13). Lesson 11 reminds us of the pos sibility of missing all by rejecting Jesus. OCTOBER 5, 1924 THE CHOICE OF THE TWELVE Golden Text: “ Freely ye have received, freely give.” Matt. 10:8. Lesson Text: Matthew 10:1-8 (Read Matt. 10:1-42;
for the leper, and put out Hla hand and touched him, say ing, “ I will: be thou clean.” And immediately the leprosy was all gone, and he was made clean. Now we know what a happy man the leper was, for he went about among his friends and told them what had happened, and how Jesus had just spoken the word and he was healed. The Bible tells us leprosy is like sin, no one can cure it but Jesus, and leprosy, like sin, causes death. We have all sinned and come short of the glory of God. (Rom. 3 :2 3 ). We can not go to Heaven with any sin in our hearts, for sin makes us unclean, and nthe Bible says no unclean thing can ever enter heaven. So, like the leper, we must come to Jesus and be made clean. Have you been made clean? Golden Text: “ For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16. Lesson Text: Matt. 4:17-25. Devotional Reading: Isaiah 55:1-13. „The question is often raised whether our Lord’s ministry began in Judea or Galilee. We learn from the fourth Gos pel that He set the example of beginning in Jerusalem and only after He was rejected in Judea did He change the scene of His labors to the North. The LESSON first three evangelists do not mention His EXPOSITION ministry in the. South, perhaps because F. W . Farr they regarded His Judean ministry as be longing to the closing months of John’s career. They all emphasize the fact of John’s imprison ment and give it as the date when Christ began His min istry in the North. (Matt. 4:12.) John’s ministry had been chiefly in the South and only after it had closed could the special work of Christ be con sidered as beginning. John came to prepare the way of the Lord as His herald. At first he met with great success but the results were short-lived. The impression made by his preaching and baptism gradually wore away. The early Judean ministry of Christ has therefore been regarded as the opportunity which Christ gave the nation through its religious leaders at Jerusalem, to follow out the spiritual work of John to its intended result. They refused to avail themselves of this opportunity and so after John’s imprison ment the distinctive work of Christ may be said to com mence in Galilee. The old story is repeated many times. “No room in the inn,” so He is born in the manger. No safety in Judea, so He must be carried down to Egypt. No reception in the capital of His nation and His Father’s house, so He has to go North to Galilee of the Gentiles which men held in low esteem, but from which the Gospel light would shine forth. Moreover, He has the same experience in Galilee, for He is cast out of Nazareth and can make no beginning there. He gave Nazareth the first opportunity in the North, as He had Jerusalem in the South, but since His message was rejected there, He went down to Capernaum and made His home by the lakeside in the midst of the busy life that thronged its shores. The Galilean fishermen gave heed to the message which the proud Pharisees and the intellectual Sadducees had scorned and rejected. When He comes to them, although SEPTEMBER 28, 1924 OPENING PERIOD OF CHRIST’S MINISTRY. (Review)
Mark 3:13-19; Luke 6:12-19). Devotional Reading: Isaiah 40,
This is the first mention of the Twelve in Matthew’s Gos pel. It would seem from the account of Mark and Luke that just before the Sermon on the Mount the Twelve were
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