THE K I N G ’ S BUS I NESS
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AUGUST 25, 1918 SPEAKING FOR CHRIST Golden Text.-i—“Whosoever shall confess me before men, him shall the Son of man also confess before the angels of God.” ’ Lu. 12:8. LESSON TEXT Lu. 12:8-12; Ac. 1:1-8. (Additional material, Ps. 145:1-21; .Proy..'25:11; Mk. 5:19, 20; Jno. 1:4-46; Ac. 4:18-20; Phil. 2:11; Col. 4:6; 1 Pet. 3:15.)
(8) Also I say .unto you, W hoso ever shall confess me before men,, him shall the Son of man also con fess before the angels of God. (9) But he that denieth me before men shall be denied before the angels of God, (10) and whosoever shall speak a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but, unto him that blasphemeth against 'the Holy Ghost it shall not be "forgiven. (11), And when they bring you into the synagogues, and magistrates and powers; take ye no thought how or, what thing ye shall answer, or what ye shall say, (12) For the H oly Ghost shall teach y o u -in the. .sarp.e hour; what ye ought to say (Acts. 1:1). The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and to teach. (2) Until the day in which he was taken up, after that he through the Holy Grost had given eommajidments unto the apostles, whom he had chosen. (3) To whom he also shewed himself I. The Necessity of Confessing Christ. Can there be any real question about what is here meant? Is it true that we must confess Christ in a consistent Christian life; but it is LESSON just as true that we EXPOSITION must “ confess w i t h (our) mouth Jesus as Lord” (Rom. 10:9). Giving assent to the questions asked by the minister when we join the church is confessing Christ with the mouth; but that is not all thè confession that He means here. Do you hear any one saying nowadays, “ Well! I am an American, and I am proud of it” ? That is confession, and when it is accompanied by generous gifts to .Red Cross and Young Men’s Christian Association, and by invest ment in Liberty Bonds and War Sav ings Stamps, we are proud of the con fessor. But what of any man who claimed United States citizenship and was ashamed or afraid to confess it to our enemies?
alive after his passion, by many in fallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking o f the things pertaining to the kingdom o f G od! (4) and being assembled to gether with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise' of the Father, which, saith. he, ye have heard of me. (5) For John truly baptized with water, but ye shall be baptized with the H oly Ghost, not many days hence. (6) When they therefore were come together, they asked o f him, saying, Lord, w ilt thou at, this time restore again the king dom to Israel? (7) And he said unto them: It js not for you to know the times or the., seasons, which the Father hath put in his. own power (8), but" ye, shall receive power after that the H oly Ghost is come upon you, and ye shall be witnesses' unto me, both in Jerusalem, and in; all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part, of the earth. This world is the enemy’s country to the Christian. He must not be ashamed nor afraid to confess Christ as his Sav iour and Lord, in the office, the store, the shop, on the car, at home, as well as in the prayer meeting. The “ holy com pany of the apostles,” and “ the noble company of the martyrs” confessed Him though it cost them their lives. “ Revile Christ,” said the pro-consul to Poly carp. “ Four-score and six years have I served Him and He hath never done me wrong, how then can I revile my King and Saviour?” Christ’s word is very plain. If we confess Him down here as our Saviour, He will confess us up yonder as one of His redeemed ones; if we deny Him down here, He will deny us up yonder. A friend dropped in to see Henry Drummond on one of his last days on earth, and he asked him if he would play something on the piano for him. At Mr. Drummond’s request he played the old tune dear to the Scotch heart, and
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