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T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
June, 1936
And the reply was, “ That is exactly what it costs.” When reproaches for Christ’s sake come to the believer, he can rejoice in the fact that “the Spirit of glory and o f God resteth” upon him. However, the sufferings must really be fo r Christ’s sake, not the result o f our own desires or sin fulness; we must be on our guard against evildoing of any kind. When we suffer as Christians, God will be glorified in us (cf. Psa. 50:15, 23; Rom. 8:28, 29). The prospect further includes protection through every judgment (vs. 17-19). While Satan brings tremendous pressure to bear upon the Christian, there will be always God’s protecting care for His own. In the passage that reads, “If the righteous scarce ly be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?” the word “scarcely”' means “with difficulty.” The thought oc curs in Acts 14:18; and 27:7. In other words, the judgment is certain, but so also is the protection. The proper course for the Christians to take who are undergoing the persecution o f the world is to “commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator” (v. 19). Persecution is allowed by God in order that His Word may be preached in all the world. The persecution brings the Lord’s follower into fellowship with Christ, like ness to Christ, and the glory o f Christ. As long as Christians are in the world, they will be subject to hatred and trials, in the measure in which they are faithful in the proclamation of the truth. But they have the privilege of committing their souls unto a faithful Creator, who doeth all things well. Points and Problems 1. “And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit” (Acts 7 :59)\- The reader of the Authorized Version will notice that the word “God” is put in italics, which means that it does not appear in the Greek. But the translators were justified in supplying the Word because the Greek verb which precedes it is a rather technical term used to describe prayer addressed to the Deity. 2. Verses 59 and 60 reveal clearly .how the early Christians thought o f Christ. That Stephen regarded Him as God is in dicated by three items in these verses. First, the dying man thought of Jesus as the One who answers prayer. Hence his petitions are both addressed to Christ. Second, he thought o f Jesus as the One who controls the final destiny o f the human spirit, say ing: “Receive my spirit.” Third, Stephen thought of Jesus as the One who is able to forgive human sin, asking: “ Lord, lay not this sin to their charge.” Certainly, only One who is God can answer prayer, determine human destiny, and forgive human iniquity. 3. The peculiar strength of Stephen’s testimony to the Deity of our Lord lies in the circumstances under which it was given. He was dying, being stoned to death. In such an hour, men do not as a rule invent lies. A man may deceive us during his lifetime, but in death the veneer breaks, as a rule, and his real character and beliefs become manifest. In the mo ment o f his death, Stephen did exactly what he had been accustomed to do in time of need—he turned in prayer to his Lord and Saviour. His dying prayer proves that belief in the deity of Christ was the settled conviction of the early Christians. 4. In his great work on The Divinity of Our Lord, Canon Liddon cites many similar
prayers which fell from the lips o f later dying martyrs (pages 406-411), and com ments upon them as follow s: “Depend upon it, the martyrs prayed to Jesus because they had prayed to Him long before, many of them from infancy; because they knew from experience that such prayers were blessed and answered. They had been taught to pray to Him; they had joined in prayers to Him; they had been taunted and ridiculed for praying to H im ; they had persevered in praying to H im ; and when at last their hour of trial and glory came, they had recourse to the prayers which they knew full well to be the secret of their strength, and those prayers carried them on through their agony, to the crown beyond it . . . Nothing short of a belief in the absolute Godhead o f Jesus could justify such worship.” Golden Text Illustration U. Bor Sing, the heir o f the Rajah of Cherra, India, was converted by a group of Welsh missionaries. He was warned that he probably would forfeit his right to the crown o f Cherra after the death o f Rham Sing, who then ruled. The chiefs of the tribes met and unanimously decided that Bor Sing was entitled to succeed Rham Sing, but his Christian profession stood in the way. Messengers were sent repeatedly urging him to recant. He was invited to the native council and was told that if he would put aside his Christianity, they would crown him king. His answer was: “ Put aside my Christian profession 1 I can put aside my headdress or my cloak, but as for the covenants I have made with my God, I cannot, for any consideration, put that aside.” Another therefore was appointed king instead of Bor Sing, who was subjected to persecution and im poverished, but he remained faithful in it all.— The Bottles of Heaven, by Revilo. A Man Who Was Not Afraid A cts 6:1-10; 7:54 to 8:4 Memory Verse: “ In God have I put my trust: I will not be afraid” (Psa. 56:11). Approach: Things went well with the followers of Jesus for a while. Last week we talked about how they shared with each other the things that they had. But as they
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continued to preach, the same enemies of Jesus, the Jews, be came an g ered and made trouble. L e s s o n S t o r y : There was among the believers a young man wh o s e name was Stephen. It was his work to help divide the posses sions of those who
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gave to the church. But he didn’t stop at doing that. He preached the gospel, too. The Bible says that he was “ full o f faith and power.” A group o f Jewish leaders who were arguing against him “ were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spake.” Then they made up stories about him and stirred up the people until they caught him up and brought him to the council. Even then Stephen was not afraid. His face glowed as an angel’s, and he arose and told them again the story of God’s love and forgiveness. He told them of the many times throughout the years that their fathers had not believed God, until at last, because of their unbelief, they had killed
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