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THE K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
January, 1940
lour from their sins. That Saviour was His Own Son, the Lord Jesus, who later came to this earth to live and die and rise again, that all who should be lieve in Him might be saved. This was God’s great Gift to the world. You know now why we are precious in God’s sight. God says that we are not our own any longer. We have been bought with a price—the death of the Lord Jesus for our sins. Because of this, then, we must take care of these bodies of ours. They don’t belong to us; they are God’s. Can you tell me some of the ways that we can take good care of them for Him?
FEBRUARY 11, 1940 THE PERILS OF REJECTING CHRIST 1 M atthew 21:17 to 22:14
Matthew 21:28 Bat. what think yei A certain man had two sons; and he came to the first and said. Son, go work to-day In my vineyard. . 9 - ? e answered and said, I will not* he reaen*«d, and went, it, And came to the second, and said nicewise. And he answered and said, I go, sir; and went not. of them twain did the will of his father? They say unto him, The first. Jesus saith unto them, Verily I sav unto you, That the publicans and the har lots go into the kingdom of God before John came unto you in the way /^ te o u s n e s s . and ye believed him not; but the publicans and the harlots believed nimt and ye, when ye had seen it, repented not afterward, that ye might believe him. 33 Hear another parables There was a certain householder which planted a vine yard,. and hedged it round about and digged a winepress in it, and built a tower, and let It out to husbandmen, and went into a far country: 34 And when the time of the fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the husbandmen, that they might receive the fruits of it. 35 And the husbandmen took his ser vants, and beat one, and killed another, and stoned another. 36 Again, he sent other servants more than the first: and they did unto them likewise. 37 But last of all he sent unto them his son, saying, They will reverence my son. 38 But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance. 3» And they caught him, and cast him out of the vineyard, and slew him. 40 When the lord therefore of the vine yard cometh, what will he do unto those husbandmen ? 41 They say unto him, He will miser ably destroy those wicked men, and will let out his vineyard unto other husband men, whieh shall render him the fruits in their seasons. 42 Jesus saith unto them. Did ye never read in the Scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes? 43 Therefore say I unto you. The king dom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof. LESSON TEXT : Matt. 21:28-43. GOLDEN TEXT : «1 am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6). DEVOTIONAL READING: Matt. 22:1-14. Outline and Exposition I. T he H ypocrisy (28-32) B E C A U S E our Lord associated with Him. These fault-finders claimed to be God’s chosen ones-*-leaders of the people. In answer to their criticism, Jesus told the parable of the two sons and the vineyard. B LACKBOARD LESSON
When told by the father to work in his vineyard, one son said he would go. But he did not go. What he said was mere hypocrisy. The other son, who said he would not go, afterward repented and went. To the question, “Which of the two did the will of the father?” (v. 31, R. V.), the chief priests could give only one answer. Then our Lord applied the parable. The chief priests were the ones who pro fessed to obey God, and did not obey Him; the publicans and harlots were the ones who at first refused to obey, but afterwards did so. Even when these hypocritical priests were shown the truth, they persisted in their rebellion. n . T he G reed (33-39) In the parable of the wicked husband men, our Lord gave these chief priests one more picture of themselves. They had been placed in charge of the Lord’s vineyard. It had been provided by Him, equipped by Him, and intrusted to their hands, with the expectation—which was wholly reasonable—that He would re ceive fruit from it (vs. 33, 34). The Lord gives the opportunity, the ability, the power, and then He asks for the returns. The owner of the vineyard was a lov ing and gracious ruler, as is revealed by his great patience with his servants (vs. 35-39). At the time of fruit bear ing, he sent servants to secure the re turns, but the servants were misused. Instead of inflicting immediate judg ment, he sent other servants. But they were treated as the others had been. Again judgment might be expected to be meted out. The parable shows that the Lord is not only gracious and pa tient with the erring, but that He also will manifest His love by sending His Son. “For God so loved . . . that he gave his only begotten Son,” and “In this was manifested the love of God . . . that God sent his . . . Son” (John 3:16; 1 John 4:9). The Son of God; like the son in the parable, found no proper welcome (cf. Acts 7:51, 52; 1 Thess. 2:15; Heb. 11:36-38). The workers in the vineyard said among themselves, “This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance” (v. 38). The Lord would have them ac knowledge His ownership and authority when He sent the first servants. He would have them accede to His demands when He sent the other servants. And He would have them accept the salva tion offered them when He sent His Son. But they rejected all His grace. III. T he J udgment (40-43) Utter destruction would come upon the Jewish priests and elders, and, by their own confession, this punishment
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Object Lesson H elping or H indering
OBJECTS: Three lengths of electric extension cord, a piece of black silk, a piece of purple silk, a piece of green silk, and an electric light globe. (Tie the extension cords together, but do not connect them. Tie the light to one, but do not screw it into the socket.) LESSON: This globe does not work. I paid a good price for it and these cords; they really should work. ' These cords remind me of Christians. The Lord Jesus paid a great price on the cross to purchase our salvation. He now wants us to shine for Him, but very often we fail to do so. In I Corinthians 6:20 we read, “Ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.” I never have seen extension cords with bandages on them before, have you? Let’s untie this black one, which represents sin. There is no connection! It is no wonder that this globe could not give light. If you have sin in your life, you cannot shine for Christ. Perhaps we had better look at the other connections. Green remind^* us of envy. If you are envious, there is no connection and no light. It'will be im possible for you to shine for Christ. Purple suggests pride, and as we take this cloth off, we find that the globe is not screwed into the socket. People whose hearts are filled with pride have difficulty in shining for Christ. Now that all these difficulties are removed, the light bums brightly. In asmuch as we are not our own since we have been purchased by Christ, we should be careful to let oui1 light shine for Him.
with the publicans and other wicked persons, the chief priests and eiders in the temple found fault
't RfTl THE UJR4 THE TBUTH, PH1DTHE LIFL n o mpn c o it ie t h u d to th e RAINER. &UT bm fî)E*joMni4:b
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