January 1932
T h e
K i n g ’ s
B u s i n e s s
32
who had gathered about Him on that day long ago. He was talking about things which we should know, too. When we sin, we are no longer free. But how did Jesus tell the people that they could be free from sin ? He said, “ If you continue in my word, then are you my disciples indeed; and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” And the truth which Jesus was always telling His dis ciples was, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved”—saved from sin. Jesus told the people another story. He said that, if an owner o f a house goes away, he leaves his servant in charge o f the house. God has left us in charge of His house, which is the world. I f we be lieve in Christ, we are no longer servants in this house, but we are sons and daugh ters and are free, and the house is ours. Golden Text Illustration A few years ago, a man was found in Bom bay, India, loaded down with six hundred pounds of iron. He was a Mohammedan who wished to go as a pilgrim to Mecca. In his chains were tied some large iron pegs and a heavy iron mallet, which were used in fixing himself firmly down when he wished to stay in any particular spot. When asked why he was carrying such a crushing load, he replied that, as a young man, he was very wicked, and that he wished to give up his wickedness, and so determined to chain himself down to keep from sin. But still he sinned, and so he put on another chain, then another, until at last there hung from his limbs six hundred pounds of iron, and then he could no longer walk. This is a visible image o f how sin puts men into bondage. feet deep, but when it becomes dirty, due to the extensive laundry work which is car ried on there by the native women, it is drained and cleaned out. On the side o f the pool next to the hill is the entrance to a small tunnel, just barely large enough for a person to crawl through. It is through this tunnel that the pool receives its water. The tunnel is really an aque duct, built by Hezekiah, about seven hun dred years before Christ. An inscription found in 1880 on the walls o f the subter ranean passageway gives the details of the construction o f the aqueduct. It was con structed for the purpose o f bringing the waters from the Pool Gihon, which was outside the city walls, to the Pool o f Si loam, which was within the walls at that time. Thus the city was supplied with fresh, running water in time o f siege. When the prophet Isaiah speaks o f “the waters o f Shiloah, which go softly,” we are quite sure that he referred to the wa ters from Gihon running silently in their underground passageway to the Pool of Siloam. Outline and Exposition I. T he C ure for the M an B orn B lind ( 1 - 11 ). 1. The need was twofold. There was need, first, on the man’s part;
day’s lesson? What did they deny? How are men and women like them today? What does the introduction, “ verily, verily” indicate as to the importance o f the words that follow ? ■When one attempts to deny the sinful nature, what reflection is cast upon the Lord Jesus Christ? How wide spread is the slavery of sin? Vs. 35, 36. What is the only means o f escape from sin’s dominion? Explain the use as synonyms o f the words “truth” and “ Son” in this lesson. Jesus Tells Us How to Be Free J ohn 8:31-36 Memory Verse : “ The truth shall make you free” (John 8:32). Approach : The crowds o f Jews to whom Jesus was talking, as He went about all over the country, were not free people. Years before, Roman soldiers had come
3. The slavery o f nature. This slavery is not confined to the il literate or to pagan peoples, but it includes the whole human race. Our Lord came_ to set us free—but the pride which forbids the acknowledgment of slavery leads to accusing God o f speaking inadvisedly, and this in turn involves continuance in bond age. III. T he D eliverance from S in ' s S lavery (35, 36). In verse 35, the Lord speaks o f a com ing time o f separation, when the slave will be put out o f the house, leaving only the free Son abiding therein. The time approaches when all the slaves of sin will be removed and will go with their master, Satan, to the place where slavery will be felt in a manner in which it is impossible to feel it now. Let the teacher press home this great and solemn truth, exhorting each member o f the class to accept the freedom which is now offered. While the slave is cast forth, the Son abides forever. Because He abides, “he is able to save them to the uttermost who come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them” (Heb. 7:25). Emphasis should be placed on the word “ uttermost.” It means that He saves not merely from the uttermost depths o f sin (which o f course is blessedly true), but that He saves to the uttermost bounds of the coming eternity. The power o f deliverance is not found in some thing, but in a Person. “ If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.” There is no other means o f escape from sin’s thraldom than that which is found in the person of the Son o f God. The ancient philosophers gave rules o f conduct which cannot be im proved. But there is no real deliveance by means o f ethics. There is no golden rule that can bring an end to sin’s bondage. No altruistic interest in the welfare o f others can deliver one from the bondage o f sin. But the Son o f God came, not merely to bring new ethics into the world, but to bring, in His own person, the power to live up to the highest ethical standard. In this passage, the “truth” and the “ Son” appear to be synonymous (vs. 32, 36). The Son is the truth, and the truth is the Son. This means that the truth is not something which the Son brings apart from Himself, but it is Himself. He sets free by what He does, and He delivers by what He is. His work satisfies all the de mands o f the old master, the law, and His person brings the believer into the new life o f freedom and o f grace. There is no other method by which the slavery o f sin may be broken in a human life. But once it is broken by this method, all the slavery of sin—not merely as revealed in intemper ance, but in every other sphere—is broken, and the slave is set free. Then the deliv ered one is at liberty to continue in the W ord o f Christ and enabled to live in the freedom of the sons o f God. Lesson Questions Vs. 31, 32. T o whom were the words of today’s lesson addressed? What is the ground o f true discipleship? From what different kinds of bondage will a knowl edge o f the truth set men free ? What are the steps to be taken in order to secure de liverance from sin’s slavery? Vs. 33, 34. In what kind o f bondage were the people who are mentioned in to-
and fought against them and won the battles, so that now the Jews belonged to the Roman gov- e r n m e n t . T h e y wanted very much to be free. J e s u s knew this, and He told them a way to become free. L e s s o n Story. Jesus said to the
people, “It is sin which keeps you from being free.” The people didn’t like to hear Jesus say this, but He knew that it was so. Jesus knew that, as soon as any one does a wrong thing, he is bound by that thing just as if a cord had been taken and his hands tied with it. He is not free, be cause he is bound by sin. Jesus wasn’t talking to just the people FEBRUARY 14, 1932 JESUS AND THE MAN BORN BLIND J ohn 9:1-41 Lesson Text: John 9:1-11, 30-38. Golden Text: “ I am the light o f the world : he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light o f life” (John 8:12). The Pool of Siloam T he city of Jerusalem is set upon five hilltops. To the east o f the city, separating it from the Mount o f Olives, is the Valley o f Jehosaphat in which, in the rainy season, the Brook Kid- ron flows. To the west of the city is the Valley of Hinnom, in which burns the “fire unquenchable.” Cleaving the city in twain, midway between these two valleys, and run ning the same direc tion as they, yet not nearly such a deep de pression, is the Tyro- pean Valley. The lat- ley enters the Kidron valley just above its junction with the Val ley o f Hinnom. The hill formed between the Tyropean valley and the Valley o f Hinnom is the Hill Ophel, the City of David. A t the base o f this hill, slightly to the west o f the Kidron, is the Pool o f Siloam. The pool is about twenty by forty feet in size, and is walled with rock around the edges. The water is usually about two
Made with FlippingBook - professional solution for displaying marketing and sales documents online