December ■ 1927
T h e K i n g ’ s
B u s i n es s
809
temptation but that they may be delivered from the evil one. V. 13. “And He was in the wilderness forty days tempted of Satan; and He was with thè wild beasts; and the angels ministered unto Him." Mark simply mentions the tèmptations during the forty days of fasting. One can be cer tain that Satan was busy during that timè. lie was successful in deceiving our fore- parents in thé Garden but was unsuccess ful with the Second Adam. •The three temptations mentioned by Matthew and Luke came at the expiration of the forty days’ fast. Christ was indeed “tempted ih-all points like as we, yet without sin." During the temptations and after the same, angels came : and ministered untò Jesus. They are: also ministering spirits to do service for the sake of those who shall inherit salvation.
kttow'tci -whom the Spirit of God referred âs He spoke through him. It seems that he did not know that Jesus of Nazareth was this “Mightier One” until at the time of the baptism of Jesus (Jno. 1:31-34). Y. 8.. baptized you in water ; but He shall baptize you in the Holy Spirit." John was baptizing in the, Jordan at the begin ning of his....ministry, (Jn. 10:40); but later baptized in Aenon near Salim, which was in Samaria (Jno. 3:23). Christ is the One Who baptizes in thé Holy Spirit. The parallel passage in Matt, 3:3-11 adds “and in fire.” To understand this pass age it is necessary to recognize the fact that John was talking to two classes of people; namely, those who were thirst ing after God and those who were not, and to see the Old Testament preview of the Messiah and His work. To those who take refuge in Him, He shows grace and will appear as their Savior, pouring out His Spirit upon the dry, thirsty land—. souls that Johg for God (iSa. 33:1-5) J | but to those who are rebellious and un regenerated, He will come “with fire” (Isa. 66:15, 16; 2 Thess. 2:7-9), Hence . the baptism of the Holy Spirit is a réfer ence to the giving of God’s Spirit to those: urho live in the millennial age, and the baptism of fire is a figurative.expres sion signifying' the* destruction of the wicked from among the righteous in the time of the Great Tribulation period which immediately, precedes the millen nium. V. 9. And it came to pass in those days, that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized of John in the Jordan.” From the parallel passage in Matthew one notes the fact that John shrank from baptizing Jesus and asked baptism at His hand ; but Jesus insisted that John baptize Him, which thing he did. Jesus, though pure and holy, sub mitted to the ordinance of God as a prec edent for the people; thus He also linked up His work with that of His forerunner. Another reason for His being baptized probably is seen in Jno.. 1:31-34, for he was to know the Messiah by the descent of the Holy Spirit upon Him, which thing occurred at His baptism. Vs. 10-11. ‘‘And straightway coming up out of the water, hè saw the heavens rent asunder, and the Spirit as a dove descending upon him : and a voice came out of the heavens, Thou art my beloved Son, in Thee I am well pleased." Mark mentions that Jesus came “up out , of the water” after His baptism, whereas Matthew says that He "went up straightway from the water." There is no contradiction in these statements. (Cf. Acts 8 :36-39.) The Holy Spirit, as He came out of the water, descended in the form of a dove, which was the sign to John whereby he was to recognize the Messiah. , Coincident with the descent of the Holy Spirit was a voice out of heaven saying, “Thou art My beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased.” Compare this voice with that at the Transfigura tion scene (Matt. 17:5). At the bap tismal scene appears the Holy Trinity, into the name of which believers of all nations are to be baptized (cf. Matt. 28: 19-20). V. 12. After the baptism the Spirit drove Jesus into-the wilderness. Jesus never thrust Himself into temptation, but when the path of duty led through the -region of temptation He set His face like a flint toward the goal. Christians ought to pray not that they be hot led into
FRED S. SHEPARD ’S BLACKBOARD OUTLINE O BSERVE—Jno. 1:29. BEY —Rom. 6:16. BTAIN - -Jno. 3 :16, Behold my mTsTenger.—Mark 1:2.
the Baptist. Since our Christmas story, Jesus, has also grown to be a man. The people did riot know that he was the Son of God, so God is sending John the Bap tist to go ori before ahd tell the people about Jesus. John was-still living in the wilderness, and his clothes were made of the coarse hair that grows on the back of the camel. God told John to tell the _people to get ready for Jesus their Savior by turning away from their sins. John the Baptist went into the lonely country near , the river .Jordan, and4a, g reat,crowd came there to hear him. ¥ ile preached to them and told them that the Savior who had been promised was soon coming among them. He told them their sins would not be forgiven just because they had a good father or good mother: they must take Jesus as their, Savior and obey Him. Many of the people who heard John preach, - were sorry for their sins, and were baptized by him in the1 river Jordan. Now, boys and girls, baptism does not mean that our sins are washed away by the wafer on our bodies, but by God’s Holy Spirit in our hearts. John the Bap tist could not: wash away their sins, but Jesus had power to wash away their sins when they believed in Hilfi. -One day Jesus came to the river and asked John to baptize Him. John did not want to. baptize Jesus, for He had no sins to wash away; but He had come on earth to obey all of God’s commands, for us, and in our place, so that we would have a perfect,,Savior. John the Baptist*’went before Jesus to prepare the way that the people would know who Jesus was. Then John went down into the river Jordan with Jesus and baptized Him. While Jesus was coming up out of the water, the sky above him Opened, and there came down from heaven what;seemed to be a dove and lighted on him. It was God’s Holy Spirit that came down in the form of a dove. Then a voice spoke out of the sky, these words: “Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am weft pleased." I t was the heavenly: Father's1.’,voice. If we trust and obey Jesus our Savior, He will be pleased with us. Prayer.
John The Baptist and Jesus. Mark 1:1-11. /.
Memory Verse;. “Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” Mark 1:11. Approach: Write on a card or board th e,name of one of thè children present. Read his name and ask if any of the children know this man. When the
child confesses that this is his or her father, explain that we confess Christ by acknowledging that we belong to Him. As the child obeys father and tries to be like him. so yye obey Jesus and act like Him,
Wc confess Him by our words, by our deeds,-and by showing a Christ-like spirit. If we belong to Jesus we not.only trust Him and obey Him ourselves, but we tell others of His great love and try to get them to become His children too. Lesson Story : Did you have a nice time Christmas? Who can tell me why we give presents at this time of the year and decorate our homes and the stores ? Because it is Jesus’ birthday, and do you know, boys and girls, so many of the people who celebrate Christmas do not love the Lord Jésus at all. Do you love Jesus so much that you tell others of Him whenever you can? How many of you boys and girls have a cousin? You know ‘Jesus had a cousin also, and His name was John. John was just a little older than Jesus and when he grew to be a man he was called John
Please Observe""" T h a t we are starting in this issue Comments on the C. E. Topics by Alan S. Pearce. The topic for January 1 will be found on page 822. Each issue will carry a full month’s lessons with one or more lessons in advance to insure all our subscribers receiving lessons in time.
Made with FlippingBook Annual report