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ceptable year of our Lord, and there is a day of vengeance of our God. PRACTICAL POINTS (1) Whenever you find a “ Come, ye blessed of my F a th e r” you also find a “Depart from me, ye cursed.” (2) Never confuse the judgm ent of liv ing nations w ith the judgm ent of resu rrection saints, or th e judg m ent of all the dead a t th e Great W hite Throne. (3 ) Teachers can, if they will, and should be filled w ith th e Spirit for teaching and testimony. (4) Home is sometimes a h ard place, b u t it should be a happy place in which to w itness for Christ. (5) The tru th h as never been popular, b u t it pays to te ll it. (6) The g reatest need of preacher and people is th e anointing of th e Holy Spirit. (7 ) How soon are th e hosannas of the populace tu rn ed to h atred and per secution. (8) The m inistry of Jesus was modeled on th e words of the prophet. (9) The n atu ra l h ea rt receiveth not the things of God; n eith er can it .know them , for they are spiritually dis cerned. (1 Cor. 2:14 ) One of these passages is tak en from th e beginning of Jesu s’ public m inistry, th e other from th e close of it. N either has anything whatever to do w ith “mak ing th e social or- COMMENTS FROM der C h ristian .” MANY SOURCES The present so- K eith L. B rooks cial order is not to be made Chris tian. It cannot be. “The whole world lieth in th e evil one” (1 Jn. 5 :1 9 ). The Greek word tran slate d “world” in th is passage means “ social o rd er.’’-^T o rrey . v. 16.' As H is custom was. There are many evidences th a t Jesus had fixed religious habits. He went to th e syna gogue to worship God, not to find in tellectual entertainm ent. The incon sistencies of His fellow worshippers did not keep Him from th e services. If He as the Son of God needed th e means of grace, surely we need them far more.
(2) HIMSELF AND THE WORD; The Adaptability of th e Gospel, vs. 17-22. Note now th e adap tab ility of th e Gos pel. I t is simple in language in contrast w ith th e teaching of th e philosophers; sympathetic in its appeal to the h ea rt, searching, in its directness and in its revealing of sin; satisfying in meeting every need of man’s natu re. And it is given w ithout charge. (Matt. 1 1 :5 ). (3 ) H A T R E D RENDERED HIM: Arousing Antagonism, vs. 23-32. The gracious words of our Lord filled th e people w ith wonder, b u t also filled them w ith w rath. This was tru e also of the preaching of the early apostles, whose gracious, loving words were met w ith murderous h earts (Acts 21:30, 31). The people were no t w illing to receive th e message; were no t w illing th a t others m ight have th a t privilege. Though they all gave w itness to His gracious words, they did not open th eir h earts to receive Him. He read th e ir hearts. They were saying: “Let us have m iracles also.” They believed n eith er His words, nor th e teaching of His life. The w rath of th e people was aroused, and .they sought to kill Him, — th e Messiah, th e wonderful Physician, th e promised Prophet. W hat are th e lessons for us? The depth of iniquity in th e hum an heart. .The antagonism of th e n a tu ra l man to God’s Word. The selfishness o f . those who seemingly enjoy th e message them selves, b u t who feel no responsibility for sending it to th e regions beyond. God calls to service. He anoints for service. The Word of God is th e in strum en t th rough which He speaks. The Gospel is for th e destitute. The work of the Gospel is definite. The tim e for the giv ing of th e Gospel is now. All Scripture is fulfilled in Jesus. God’s gracious Word is not always graciously received. Religion is not sanctity. There is an ac
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