August 1928
500
T h e
K i n g ’ s
B u s i n e s s
] Faithful ministers are a blessing to any 1people. Much mischief is wrought, how ever, where the people set them at the head o f factions, glory in their leaders, get their eyes off o f Christ, and are then carried by human leaders they know not whither. We must have a sense o f the common weakness o f human understand- . ing and an entire deference to the wisdom of God speaking in His Word. Min isters are not to be set in competition with one another. They were appointed by Christ for the common benefit of the church. All are to be valued and used for our spiritual benefit in so far as the Holy Spirit controls them and they faith fully expound God’s Word. W e àre not to fix our eyes upon the undershepherds, but to “look away unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of faith” (Heb. 12:2). —o— G olden T ext I llustration Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! (Psalm 133:1). Charles V, Emperor of Germany, at the d ose o f his stirring life retired to a mon astery where he amused himself by con structing clocks. He is said to have ex pressed no less regret than astonishment at his own folly in having used such vio lent measures to force about 20 , 000,000 people to agree in their religious senti ments, when he found, ;after repeated ex periments, with all his skill, he couldn’t make two clocks run exactly, alike for any ifength o f time. It is not likely that Chris tians will see eye to eye in all things, but it is possible through the regulating power 3.0 f the Holy Spirit that their hearts should beat in -sympathy and that their hands , shofifficooperate in loving service.. —o— Paul Writes a Letter to His Friends 1 Cor. 1:1-13; 3:5-11, 21-23. Memory Verse. —“ Be: at peace among yourselves.” 1 Thess. 5:13. Approach. —How many o f you boys and girls ; have received a letter through the mail addressed to you? How did you feel when you saw your name on the enve
jgt-in true fellowship with Him, all Chris tians will find their fellowship with each other. Differences o f opinion oil non! essential details may exist, but love will abound. It can be laid down as a law that the nearer Christians get to Christ, the nearer they will be to each other. Paul answers this party spirit in chap. 3, verses 5-11. " Who is Paul? Who is Apollos? . . . . ministers by whom ye believed” (v. 5). God works by instru ments. Instruments are connecting links only. The apostle was not jealous of Apollos and did not suspect him of fos tering the spirit of faction. This appears in his expressed desire for his “ brother Apollos” to return to that city (16:12). But he presses on these Christians the thought that both Apollos and he were not masters, but servants. They were not to build upon leaders, but upon Christ, re joicing in whatever good they could get from any servant of His. Paul planted; Apollos watered; God gave the increase (v. 6 ). He who does the planting and he who does the water ing is nothing apart from God who gives the increase. Attend conferences and de vour the marrow o f the best authors, and after all, your sdMlwill remain as lean as Pharaoh’s lean kine 4 were after they had eaten the fat ones—unless God had given the blessing. Our*>eyes must look to Him for the blessing, not toward any human teacher. The planters and the waterers are e si sential. Each should feel that he has a God-given work to do, a portion df the whole, but hot interfering with the rest. “Each man shall receive his, own reward according to his own labor” (v. 8 ). Not one o f us is responsible for the harvest reaped, but only for the labor God has called us. to do. The results are His, not ours. Our reward will be based upon our faithfulness to our trust. As servants we are hot to claim results for ourselves, and as Christians we are not to assign the glory to any one man. All o f this, will be attended to at the Judgment Seat of Christ. Paul uses an agricultural metaphor. We) are " God’s . fellow-workers’’—God’s hus bandry” (v. 9). Paul has planted the; precious trees, and Apollos follows after to water them. They arfiSworking to gether, whether or not they have been conscious o f it. Then the "image changes to an architectural one. “ Ye are God’s; building.” A great building is rising. Paul has laid the foundation; Apollos and* others are laying the stones. The work will go oh indefinitely, until Jesus comes, and then it will be tested. All true preach ing o f the Word, all sincere diffusion of the truth among the saints, are means in God’s hands for carrying up His struc ture. “Let every man take heed how he buildeth thereon” (v. 10 ). He immediately alludes to Christ as the true foundation of the Christian life (v. 11). Any religious structure', however costly and beautiful, built upon any other foundation than the Person and redemp tive work o f Christ, is certain to fall in ruins in the day o f His coming X-Mt. 7 :24- 27). There may be moral, amiable, be nevolent men who do not have Christ as their foundation, but you cannot call them Christians. The Christian cornerstone is wanting, and when the test hour comes, they will admit their complete failure. We have nothing to do with laying the foundation except to accept it. There are many-misguided believers who have spent
miserable years trying to lay a founda tion, as though Christ alone were insufS ficient. They must mix up a little con crete o f their own works, self-mortifica tion and feelings in order to patch up the foundation. These have nothing to do with the foundation. It is laid already in pure grace through the redemptive work of Calvary’s cross. ' The One who laid it cried, “It is finished.” Accept it ; rest upon it immediately without thought o f perc, sonal merit, and then begin building (v. 12). Don’t work to, be saved, but work because you are saved. While verses 12-15 are not printed in the lesson text, they are of such vital im portance to every Christian that they should not be passed over. Believers may build o f two classes of materialjS-imper- ishable or perishable. There is much that is called service that will not stand the test o f eternity, and will, therefore, have no bearing upon our reward. A bunch of grass tied with ribbon may look pretty; stalks may be made into at tractive things; wood may be carved and polished—yet none o f these can endure fire. The immensity of what we do is not so important. The) question is—What did we put into it? Does it have the quality o f enduring for time and eternity? Our works as believers are .to be tried. That which stands the test will furnish the basis of our reward, for there are to be degrees of, glory for the saved as well as degrees of punishment for the lost—a “according to our works.” Salvation is free (Eph. 2:8-9; Rom. 6 : 23). For rewards we work (1 Cor. 9: 24; Lk. 19:17; 14:14; Mt. 10:42; Rev.22: 12). Salvation may be our present pos session (Jn. 5 :24), but rewards await the summing up of our work at Christ’s sec ond coming (2 Cor. 5i:10; 2 Tim. 4:8; Mt. 16:27;, 25:19). ' —^o— W hat K ind of W ork S tands ? 1 . Service done in the name of the Lord Jesus (Mk. 9:41), not that done in one’s own name. 2. Service willingly rendered unto God, not merely from a sense of duty (1 Cor. 9:17; 1 Pet. 5:2-4). 3. Service done in humility, not great ostentation (Mk. 6:1-5). 4. Service that springs from faithful ness to Christ (1 Cor. 4:1-5; Rev. 2:10). 5. Service that is spiritual and therefore eternal (1 Cor. 3:14). This will embrace the following five linës of work : Soul winning (Phil. 4:1; 2 Thess. 2:19) ; shep- herdizing (1 Pet. 5 :lr 6 ); ^serving the saints (Gal. 6 :9-10)'; suffering for Christ (2 Tim. 2:12; 2 Cor. 4:17; 1 Pet, ,4:13); shining for Him in a dark world (Dan. 12:3; 1 Cor. 15:41-43). Remember that these works must be built upon the foundation—Christ. Work done apart from life in Christ is- “dead work” (Heb. 9:14) and has no reward beyond : this life (1 Cor. 13:3). Vital works are built upon Christ and flow from the indwelling life o f the Holy Spirit (Gal. 5:22). What are you building ON? What are you building OF ? T houghts on L esson C onclusion . " Therefore, let no man glory in men” (3:21). The ministry is a gracious institution.
lope? O f course you felt ' p r e t t y big, didn’t you? ( A s k the children whom their letters were from, and get them enthused.) N o w when we write a letter we write to some one who is some distance from
us, and.we want to tell them something. Sometimes' letters have good news that makes us very happy, and then again they have sad news. Today we are to hear about a letter 'Paul wrote to the people in the church at Corinth. (Prayer.) Lesson Story. —Last week we heard about Paul working So faithfully at Cor inth to tell the people about the Lord Jesus, and how He died to save them from their sins. While a number o f the people did not believe on Jesus, and per secuted Paul, (here was a goodly number who did believe, Just as the Lord in a vision told Paul they would believe. In our story today Paul has been away from Corinth for quite a,long time, but he has
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