T H E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
470
December, 1941
ten revelation, uttered personally by our Lord from heaven, is a reminder of this same thing: “I am the root and the offspring of David,” He says (Rev. 22:16). Certainly this must be an- im portant matter, since so much space is given to its declaration. What does it mean? Well, for one thing, it means that our Lord Jesus Christ is a king, and that all the prophecies Of the re vival of the Davidic throne and its extension over all nations are to be fulfilled in Him. If we neglect to preach this, we are not declaring the whole counsel of God, 3. "The gospel of the kingdom of God” (Mk. 1:14). One of the rather strange aspects of the Gospel records, and Of the preaching of the Lord while on earth, is that He' seems to say very little about the exact nature of the, “kingdom” that He preached. In fact, the material is no scarce that there has been endless' controversy about the nature of this “kingdom.” But our Lord announced the kingdom predicted by the Old Testament prophets, and every Jew who read the Old Testament knew what that kingdom was. The “gospel” (good news) of the kingdom did not necessarily require a complete descrip tion of its character, for that had al ready been given in great detail in the Old Testament prophets. The very heart of this gospel was the announcement that the long expected kingdom was at last "at hand.’’ Mark not only says that Christ preached “the gospel of the kingdom,” but also tells us exactly what He said: “ Saying, The-time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand” (v. 15). It was no particular good news that there was such a king dom. Every intelligent Jew knew that. But it was glorious good news to know that this predicted and long-expected kingdom no\v was ready to be set up. Golden Text Illustration « , 1 T imothy 1:15"" There is a celebrated painting that carries the title “Nothing to be Done.” It is one of Antonio Rotta’s scenes of Venetian peasant life. A young girl, has brought a pair of shoes to the village cobbler to be repaired. . . . The shoes brought in by the peasant girl have certainly done full duty. She looks as if she rather expected an unfavorable verdict. The old cobbler holds one of the shoes in his left hand, gives it a close examination with his experienced eye,- and sees that any attempt at mend ing 4s entirely out of the question. Wi}h a deprecating gesture of bici up turned right hand, he shakes his head and says, “Nothing to be done.” Here is ohe case that was hopeless indeed. But, thank God, in the case of thè human soul there is always something to bè done. No. man has ever gone so far down in sin but that Jesus Christ can reach that far down and lift him up.—Illustrations from Art, by W. E. Biederwolf.
Three Books About Jesus L uke 1:1-4; A cts 1:1-5
84 YEARS' ON SIXTH STREET S P I E R ' S JEWELERS - OPTOMETRISTS •34 West Sixth Street VAndike 7276 at Hope Street LOS ANGELES LET US GIVE THANKS that we have an abundance of food and the Bread of Life and religious liberty. LET US PRAY for the peoples of the war-ridden lands, the homeless, the sick, the suffering, the wounded . . . "We are debtors” to them, for Christ’s sake, therefore LET US REMEMBER them with a special gift at this ; /.season and send them the comfort of the Gospel and something for their daily bread. Send all your love-gifts cheerfully to the RUSSIAN MISSIONARY SOCIETY, Inc. Miss M. N. Feller, Secretary 1844 W. Monroe St., Room 2, Chicago, III. is here, ready to fill and use each yielded life. Points and Problems 1. "The son of David, the son of Abraham” (Matt. 1:1). Thus the very first verse of Matthew’s Gospel reveals the main purpose of this important document; namely, to show that Jesus was the “King of the Jews.” The an cestry traced to Abraham proved that the blood of the chosen race ran in the veins of our Lord, and the ancestry of David proved His right to the throne of Israel, Both facts were essential to His throne rights. 2. "The son of David" (v. 1). This - relationship to the great Jewish king in the period of Israel’s glory is something that the New Testament writers like to dwell upon. It is the very first af firmation of the New Testament about •Christ (Matt. 1:1). Over and over dur ing the days of His flesh He was ad dressed as “Son of David” (M:att. 9:27). The Apostle in his greatest doctrinal reatise speaks of Christ as having been "made of the seed of David according to the flesh” (Horn. 1:3); And again in one of his last writings he calls upon Timothy to “remember . . . Jesus Christ of the seed of David” (2 Tini. •2:8). And almost the last word of writ Ask for our free magazine “ The Friends of Russians,** B e s t W i s h e s from W. A. BROWN
MEMORY VERSE: “I w a s glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord” (Psa. 122:1). APPROACH: A 'little boy went to visit his grandmother. One day Grand mother brought out the photograph al bum and showed him pictures of his
father when he was a child. When the little boy returned home, he said, “Oh, Mother, I am so glad I w e n t to G r a n d m o t h e r ’s house. I found out what Daddy w a s like before we knew him!” LESSON STORY:
The Bible is just like a big album with a picture of the Lord Jesus on every page. As w« read we cannot fail to see His dear face. Some of the books in the Bible tell about Jesus when He was In the glory with His Father be fore He came 'to earth; others tell about where Jesus is now, and what He is doing. Still others tell about Jesus when He lived here upon this earth. The books of this last kind are called the Gospels. As we read the Gospels, we will find out what Jesus was like before we knew Him, and it will make us happy as the little boy was happy to see the pictures of his father. During the next few weeks we will be looking together at the Lord Jesus in the Gospels. Your teacher will ex plain the pictures to you, just as Grandmother - explained her album to her grandson. The little boy could have looked at it himself, but it was more fun to have Grandmother tell him about it. I think we shall have fun looking into God’s Book, too, Perhaps we shall like it so much that every Sunday morning we shall find ourselves saying our Golden Text, “I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord.” Do you think so? OBJECTS: A paper cross colored red and a capital “I.” (Make the cross by using a piece of paper 8% x ll inches, or larger if necessary. Fold in the mid dle, making the size 8%x5*4 inches. Fold each end to within % of an inch of the center foljj, making the size about -8%x2% inches. With the center fold and the single edges to your left, cut up 4% inches at a distance of fjp inches from the fold. From this point, cut straight to the right edge o f the paper. Two inches above this point cut in to the left approximately 1% inches. From here cut straight to the top of the paper. When the paper is opened, you will have a cross 8% inches high Object Lesson T he S inner ' s S aviour
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