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TH E K I N G ’S B U S I N E S S
September 1925
salvation by doing good works, and it is necessary to show them th a t they are sinners; th a t there is no good in them , and th a t Jesus: Christ ;: has all the m erit and has paid th e price for our sins. “To illu strate: The first Roman Catholic young man I won for Christ was tru stin g in his good works, but in dealing w ith him X found th a t he was w illing to accept Christ, bu t before he surrendered by a definite act of his will, he said: ‘If I accept Christ I can’t smoke, nor drink, nor steal, nor lie,’ etc. I simply told him th a t if he ac cepted Christ, th a t Christ in him would not smoke, drink, steal or lie, and he then believed. When I met him th e next day he told me w ith re joicing how it was all true, and the Lord had done exceeding abundantly above , all th a t he asked or thought.
Shortly after, he lost his job because he would not lie to the customers in the store where he worked, bu t after prayer he answered an advertisem ent regarding a job a hundred miles away and was chosen from many appli cants, securing employment w ith a Christian physician.” • A splendid Bible reading which will be helpful in this connection, entitled “ Some E rro rs of Romanism ,” will be found on page 398. (These suggestions for dealing w ith the unsaved are abridged from a Cor respondence Course on "P ersonal and P ractical Christian W ork” by the editor. F u rth e r inform ation about th is and other helpful Bible Study Courses may be obtained from Mr. K eith L. Brooks, Secretary Corres pondence School, 536 S. Hope Street, Los Angeles, California).
The early church read the Bible;, why should not we? (Acts 1 7 :1 1 ): “T h e se w e r e .m o re n o b le th a n th o se in T h e ss a lo n ic a , in th a t th e y r e c e iv e d th e w o r d w ith a ll r e a d in e ss o f m in d , a n d se a r c h e d th e S c r ip tu re s d a ily , w h e th e r th o s e th in g s w e r e so .” The Holy Spirit has been promised to us to teach and help (1 John 2 :2 7 ): “B u t th e a n o in tin g w h ic h y e h a v e r e c e iv e d o f h im a b id eth in y o u , a n d y e n e e d n o t th a t a n y m a n te a c h y o u : b u t a s th e sa m e a n o in tin g te a c h e th y o u o.f a ll th in g s , a n d is tr u th , a n d is n o lie , a n d e v e n a s it h a th ta u g h t y o u , y e s h a ll a b id e in h im ,” Illu stration s (The following is by a very success ful Christian worker among the Mexi cans and Spanish-speaking people, who are largely Catholic.) -“ The though t uppermost in the mind of a Roman Catholic is to obtain
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O u t l in e S tud ies in th e Ep istles o f j o h n T. C. H orton I t has been though t wise to follow th e “Studies in Ju d e ” w ith a series of studies in th e Epistles of John as being especially appropriate fo r th e times F IRST EPISTLE OF JOHN AUTHOR: John, th e Beloved,
Johii,-43‘L ife; ” Jam e s,-^ “W o rk s;” Peter,— “Hope; ” Paul,— “F a ith .”»’i Three g reat words found in the Epistles of John are,— L ight— Life— Love. Outline of Chapter I: (1) The Meaning of Life, vs. 1-4. (2) The Manifestation of Life, v. 5. (3) The Method of Manifestation-— Fellowship, vs. 6-10. We will consider in th is lesson vs. 1-4 only: (1) THE MEANING OF L ÏFE , vs. 1-4. The Gospel of John tells us how the Word became flesh;' th e Epistle tells us when the Word became flesh. The Gospel sets fo rth the Word of God; th e Epistle sets fo rth th e Word w ith th e F ath e r; It has been suggested th a t' th ere are two ways of learning Christ,—^(1 ) By knowing what He was by w hat He did. (2 ) To experience w hat He did by w hat He is. , John tells tis here his personal ex perience,— he knew th e Word of Life; he heard His call; he followed; he walked, talked and ate w ith Him; leaned on His bosom; saw His m ir acles; heard His messages. Unless Jo h n ’s Epistle is a fraudu len t composition, we have here definite d ata concerning our Lord. We have (1) the object of Jo h n ’s message, and (2) his own relation to it (John 4: 2 2 ). The Word was in existence before th e world was created. He m u st have existed then, for He was the Creator. (Col. 1 :15 -17 ): “W h o is th e im a g e o f th e in v isib le G od, th e firstb o rn o f e v e r y c r e a tu re : “F o r b y h im w e r e a ll th in g s c re a te d , th a t a r e in h e a v e n , a n d th a t a r e in e a rth , v is ib le a n d in v isib le , w h e th e r th e y b e th r o n e s, or d o m in io n s, or p r in c ip a li tie s , or p o w e r s: a ll th in g s w e r e c r e a te d b y h im , a n d fo r h im : “A n d h e is b e fo r e a ll th in g s , a n d b y h im a ll th in g s c o n s ist.” (Continued on page 411)
There is a six-fold reason for w rit ing the Epistle. F irst, That th e ir joy m ight be full, 1:4. Second,— T hat they should no t sin, 2:1. Third,H rThat they m ight know their sins were forgiven, for Christ’s sake, 2 : 12 . F ou rth ,—^That they m ight know the F ath e r, 2:13. F ifth ,— That they m ight know the tru th , 2:21. Sixth,— T hat they m ight know the certainty of th eir salvation, 5:13. Note some con trasts between the Gospel and th e Epistles: In th e Gospel,— the Word made flesh; in th e Epistle— th e Word of Life. Gospel,—Christ, the Son of God; Epistle^if-Believers, th e sons of God. Gospel,— Christ existed before the World was; Epistle,—He was Christ before He was manifested. G o sp el,^C h rist is the L ight; Epis tle,— th e source of L ight is God. Gospel,— Christ manifested by the love of God; Epistle,— God is love. Gospel/— Christ the One in whom we should believe; Epistle— Christ the One we should love. Gospel, — Christ accomplished His work on ea rth ; Epistle,— Christ carry ing on His Work in Heaven. Gospel— Christ, an Apostle; Epis tle— Christ, an Advocate. Gospel,-^Christ on the Cross; Epis tle,— Christ, w ith the crook. ' Gospel,—W ritten th a t we m ight be lieve; Epistle,—w ritten th a t we m ight know. Gospel,— The foundation of faith ; E'pistle,— the foundation of life. Gospel,— the human side of Christ; Epistle,— the Divine side of Christ. The w riters of thq Epistles are dis tinguished by keywords:
DATE: Between A. D. 85 and 90. PLACE: W ritten probably at Ephe sus. PURPOSE’: Addressed to the church a t large, (1) To w arn them against false doctrines, false principles,, and settle them in the principles of the tru th ; (2) To furnish a criterion by which they were to determ ine th e , genuine ness of th eir faith , th a t they m ight have fellowship w ith God,— founded upon righteousness—-rooted in faith— manifested by love. (3 ) To assure them th a t they ought not only to live such, a life,— bu t to live it because they were born of God. John w arned them against all moral darkness; warned them of th e enm ity between ligh t and darkness,—-truth and falsehood,-—love of God and love of th e world, w arned them against anti-Christ, i.e., those who deny the reality of th e incarnation (th e union of Deity and hum anity in C h rist); warned them against trying to follow Christ w ithout know ing Him. Outline of th e Epistle: (1) Introduction (1 :1 -4 ). (2) God is L ight. Fellowship with God, in ligh t (1:5 to 2 :2 8 ). (3) God is Love. The sonship of the believer (2:29 to 3 :2 4 ). (4) Source of sonship. Possessed by the Spirit (4 :1 to 5 :1 2 ). (5 ) Conclusion. The law of love (5 :13 -21 ). The Gospel of Johff and the Epistles of John were ordained to accompany each other. .The Epistles are the prac tical application of the, tru th s set forth in th e Gospel. The style is simple, clear, definite, — uncomprom ising to the tru th , un swerving in fidelity to Jesus Christ. The key word is love (noun and verb used 45 tim es).
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