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T H E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
December, 1941
For the International :;—^ ^ B^^ Sunday School Lessons MANUAL OF
already come, while we claim that he is yet to come.” “Yes,” assented the rabbi. “Well,” asked the young soldier, “when our Christ comes, what will he have on Jesus Christ?” What the rabbi said We do not know. What could he say? —Five Thousand Best Modern Illustra tions, by G. B. F. Hallock. The Preacher Who Baptized Jesus M atthew 3:13-17; M ark 1:1-11; L uke 3 :1-~22 MEMORY VERSE: *1 will teach you the good and the right way” (1 Sam. 12:23). APPROACH: Little Mary was going to be baptized. The preacher was talk ing to her about the service and its meaning. Mary interrupted: “Oh, I
of John the Baptist. And it may be of some interest to some readers, who have wondered how Sir Robert Ander son was able to set the date of the crucifixion in his book, The Coming Prince, to know that he began his com putation on the basis of Luke’s record of these officials and then counted the passovers from that date. Certainly the Holy Spirit must have had some definite purpose in leading Luke to place all these officials in the inspired record, 2. “Lysanias the tetrarch of Abilene” (1:1). For some time the hostile critics of the Bible argued that Luke was cer tainly mistaken about this man Lysan ias, because Josephus the Jewish his torian mentioned a Lysanias who wah king of Abila prior to B. C. 36. But Luke recently has been vindicated com pletely by an archaeological inscription found on the site o f' Abilene which mentions "Lysanias the tetrarch” at the time referred to by Luke’s Gospel. How strange it is that men perversely prefer the testimony of a mere secular writer'to the tested and tried Word of God! 3. "The word of God came unto John” (3:2). It is practically impossible for the modem Gentile reader to appreciate this simple statement. We must recall that there had been no true Hebrew prophet for several centuries. Now for a brief and glorious season, the He brew prophetic function of transmitting the divine revelation was to be re vived in the greatest and the last of the Old Testament line: "Among them that are bom of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist” (Matt. 11:11). "For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John” ' (Matt. 11:13). 4. “He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire” (3:16). Re garding the baptism “with the Holy Ghost,” tljere need be no difficulty. On the day "of Pentecost this baptism be came a historic reality; it was expe rienced by all true believers then; and since that day all true, Christians are baptized by the Spirit into the body of Christ when they believe. I believe that Luke’s next verse (3:17) suggests the true meaning of the baptism “with fire.” The ministry- of Messiah will he twofold: He will baptize with the Spirit all who accept Him; but He will bap tize with the fire of judgment all who reject Him. Israel’s rejection of Mes siah postponed the judgment, but the baptism of fire will be seen when He comes again (cf. Mai. 3:1-5). Golden Text Illustration L uke 3:22 A Jewish soldier had been attending services where he heard much of the character and teaching of Christ. He went to his rabbi and said: “Rabbi, the Christians say that the Christ has
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know,” she s a i d ; “ the old Mary goes down into the wa ter - and the n ew M a r y comes up.” After all, her reply was a pretty good one, ■for the Bible says we are to be “buried” with Christ by baptism, that we may be raised in
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5 -DIVISION
"newness of life” with Him. LESSON STORY: When people are baptized today, it is usually done in a church building, but long ago it was done outdoors in a stream. One day a preacher, whose name was John the Baptist, was baptizing in the river Jor dan. Many people flocked to him. Who do you think one of them was? The Lord Jesus Himself. I wonder why He came. Surely He didn’t need to be bap tized. That is what John thought, too, and said so. But Jesus said to John, “ Suffer it to be so now:”'fo r thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness” (Matt. 3:15). When Jesus came up out of the wa ter, a wonderful thing happened. The heavens were opened and the Spirit of God descended like a dove upon Him; and a voice came out of the heaven saying, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matt. 3:17). Jesus was just ready to start on His three years of ministry, and it was as though God chose this way in which to introduce Him to the people. It was as though God was telling the people, too, that Jesus really didn’t need to be bap tized to have His sins washed away, for He didn’t have any—God was al ready well pleased with Him. If God thought the first thing people ought to know about Jesus was that He was His Son, don’t you think that it is important to know that today? Every person, even among children, should know that Jesus is the Son of God, and that He came into the world to die for our-sins. Do you know it?
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