King's Business - 1927-12

December 1927

814

T h e

K i n g ' s

B u s i n e s s

FRED S. SHEPARD ’S BLACKBOARD OUTLINE R u in e d EDEEMED ESTORED Thy sins are forgiven.—Mark 2 :5.

and drinketh with publicans and sinners ?” These Scribes and Pharisees were the most religious people of that day and they were animated by the following spirit,. "Stand by thyself, come not near to me for I am holier than thou.” There was something about the spirit of Jesus and His attitude toward the downcast that attracted them into His presence. He came "to seek and to save that which was lost." V. 17. Upon hearing their carping criticism Jesus replied, “They that are whole have no need of a physician, but they that are sick : I came not to call the righteous, but sinners." This reply as­ sumed the truthfulness of their attitude, but in reality they were about as far from God, if not farther, than those whom they criticized. These publicans and sinners were gathered together around Jesus be­ cause of their thirst for God and spirit­ ual things whereas the critics of Jesus were there to find fault. The estimate which one places upon himself is not the estimate which God places upon him. The church at Ephesus about the year A. D.- 96 doubtless had a most excellent opinion of itself (Rev, 2:1-8), for they were busily engaged in the Master’s service; but Christ’s estimation of that church was entirely different, for He said that they lacked the essential thing, namely, love; hence one’s estimate of his condi­ tion and standing very frequently differs radically from the estimation and opinion of the Lord. Jesus and Sinners. Mark 2 :1-17. Memory Verse : “I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.” , Mark 2.17. Approach : How many of you boys and girls like t'o do the hard things? If you start to do some work and it seems pretty hard, do you get tired and give up, or do for sending the Lord Jesus down to earth to suffer and die that we might have ever­ lasting life. Lesson Story: In our story last week we saw Jesus going about using His power to heal the sick. When He entered a home, He was not there very long with­ out seeing the need in that home. If some one was sick He stepped to the bed­ side and laid his healing hand on the fevered head and lifted him up to health and strength. Today He is seen in a home in Caper­ naum, and so many people came to the home there was not room even about the door. The houses in that day were most­ ly square, and but one story high. The roofs were flat, with a railing or wall around them. In the center of the house was a large square room called the court. Over this the roof was left open, but in time, of rain or much heat, an awning or cover of some kind, was stretched across the opening. It was into such an house as this that Jesus had now come. Some men brought a man who was sick of the palsy and unable to walk, for Jesus you keep on trying and working until you get it done? If our Lord .had given up when He came to the hard things, we would have all had to ' die in our sins, for He had to die to save us. Let us bow our heads and thank God

Christ only can forgive sins upon the basis of His shed blood. The forgiving of this young man, of course, was contin­ gent upon the sacrifice of Himself at Cal­ vary, but, being confident of His sacrifice, He forgave his sins. Vs. 10, 11. In order to prove to His critics that He had the power to forgive sins and also had power over disease, Jesus spoke to the palsied man, saying, “Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thy house.” This miracle, to the candid open minds, carried conviction that Jesus was the Son of God, for the belief current in that day and time was that only God could forgive sins, which belief is not backed up by practice* V. 13. From the house Jesus went forth beside the sea. The enthusiasm in the crowd was at its height and multi* tudes thronged Him. Seeing the great opportunity of giving the Gospel to the hungry multitude, He began to teach them. Christ’s ministry was that of teaching and had no resemblance doubt­ less to the formal preaching services we find in our day and time. V. 14. After the teaching service Jesus passed along the way and saw Matthew, who by Mark is called Levi, sitting at the custom house. Upon ap­ proaching him Jesus commanded him, “Follow Me.” Since Capernaum was Jesus’ headquarters and as soon as the report of Him had spread throughout the community, there is no surprise to one when he sees Matthew turning from his business to follow Jesus. Whenever the Lord lays it upon the heart of any of His servants to step out. into any definite Christian work, there is but one thing for him to do, namely, to follow the call of God, but let one be certain that it is the call of God to which he is responding. It is unwise for a man, humanly speaking, to respond to a call of God in the Gospel ministry without preparation. Matthew simply gave up his position as Roman tax gatherer and entered the college of Jesus and took a three years’ course under the greatest teacher in the world. Let no one conclude that it is the will of God for one to step out of secular work and enter the Gospel ministry without making suf­ ficient preparation in order to preach the Gospel in an intelligent manner. On the other hand let not one be deceived and think that he must spend an undue amount of time in preparation. V. 15. Mark tells of Jesus eating a meal in “his house.” From the context in Matthew where this same account is found, it is very evident that the house was that of Matthew, whom He had just called. There is some discussion as to whether the feast which Matthew pre­ pared for Jesus was at this time or after His trip across the Sea of Galilee and re­ turn. From one of the parallel accounts it is very evident that Jesus feasted with him after His return from His voyage across the Sea. It appears that He dined with Matthew at this time. It is most probable that Matthew prepared a feast for Jesus on both occasions. At this feast publicans and sinners sat down with Jesus and His disciples. In. Palestine there is more freedom in the social life than with us. People did not hesitate to visit others even at meal time, even though they were not invited to eat. V. 16. When the Scribes and Pharisees saw that Jesus was dining with “sinners and publicans” they spoke to His dis­ ciples saying, “How is it that He eateth

to heal him. When they could not get in at the door for the crowd, they went up on the roof (perhaps the n e x t house), and taking off the covering, let the man down on his bed or mattress, into the room below, where Jesus was. These friends of the sick man did not give up when the crowd was so great but found a way to get their friend to Jesus. Sometimes we ask a boy or girl to come to Sunday school, and when they do not come the first time, we give up. These men had faith as our story tells us. When Jesus saw how much faith they had, He spoke to the sick man saying: “Thy sins are forgiven thee." But some of the people who were sit­ ting there said to themselves, “Who is this, that pretends He is able to forgive sins, as if He were God?” Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them: “Why do you think these things in your hearts? Is it not as easy for me to forgive this man his sins, as it is to cure him of his palsy? But to show you that I have power to forgive sins, I will make him well.” Then He said to the sick man: “Stand upon thy feet, take up thy bed and go to thy house.” Immediately the man rose, stood on his feet, took up his bed and went out before them all. The people who saw it were greatly sur­ prised, and said: “We never saw such things done before.” Jesus was trying to teach the people that all power was His to forgive sin and heal the body be­ cause He was the Son of God. Our memory verse tells us that Jesus came to save sinners. This lesson teaches us that difficulties and hard things some­ times come our way, but we must not give up but try again. If these men had given up because of the great crowd, the sick man would have been carried home to die. Because his friends had faith, he was able to walk home, because he had been healed. Prayer.

N ew K . B . F e a t u r e s B e g in n in g J a n . I ssu e

A story and text for each day of the year. C. E. Topics Discussed by Alan S. Pearce. ; Heart to Heart "talks with young people. Nature Study and the Bible by Roland Case Ross, Hymn Studies and New Gos­ pel Solos. Searchlights—by Dr. Morgan.

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