THE K I N G ’ S BU S I NE S S
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However, we have in this parable an example of how a father identi fied himself as a delinquent parent by supplying .the silly wants of a spoiled child. By his seemingly gen erous act of obedience to outlandish demands, he was guilty of contrib uting to the delinquency of a' minor. A similar condition is rampant throughout our nation, and is the greatest single contributing factor to our deplorable youth situation in America today. III. THE RESULT OF THE FALL , (vs. 13-16). God’s Word tells us that this young delinquent spent his father’s gift of hard-earned money in riotous living. Pretending to be a “big shot” in a “far country,” the young man soon became destitute of the entire amount. A famine in the land found him pen niless and in desperate need. IV. THE DAWN OF A RECKONING (v. 17). “And when he came to himself”— would to God more of us would dp this —come to ourselves. We look in the juvenile courts, the detention homes, • the divorce courts, criminal courts, penitentiaries, and the hospitals, and find that they are full of people who have deliberately refused to “come to themselves.” Living in an imaginary world of their own,.they have fallen into destruction. This younger son came to the place where he was in want, and “ no man gave unto him.” It was then that he did his first serious thinking. V. THE DETERMINATION TO CHANGE HIS WAYS (vs. 18* 19). “ I will arise and go to my father, and will sa y . . . ” Many of us who know of the doctrine within God’s Word of living a separated life have made de termined resolutions to obey ourL&rd. But please note: Determined resolu tions are worthless gestures if we do not maintain that same determina tion in the act of carrying them out un til we see the evidence of the actual fact. VI. THE DETERMINATION. MATERIALIZED (v. 20). “And he arose and came.” Here is this same boy who was going down the pathway of unrighteousness rap idly, now coming to himself and do ing something about it. It has been my privilege to see quite a few make the same step when they arose from their seats in church and came down the aisle to publicly con fess and accept Jesus Christ as their personal Saviour. Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, stands at our hearts’ doors waiting for us to arise and come to
III. THE DESTROYER AND HIS DEVICES (vs. 15, 17, 19). Satan is the great enemy of all har vest .fields. .He has many devices which he uses in preventing the Word of God from being received into the heart in a saving way. His devices are listed here. They are “ offense,” “affliction,” “persecution,” “cares, of this world,” “ deceitfulness of riches,” and “ lusts.” • Satan can be resisted only through complete yieldedness to the will of God (cf. Rom. 12:1, 2). Nothing was able to prevent the growth and harvest in the good, ground. The seed was hidden ,in the soil (cf. Psa. 119:11). Conclusion The young person in Christian En deavor should always be in the class of the good ground. He has believed the saving message of the Word of God. He is therefore ready to be the “sower” that “went out . . . to sow.” Each one should be able to put his own name in the place of the word “sower.” The world is the field, the seed is perfect, the challenge great, and the harvest is certain; for while there are many who will not heed, there is always the “ good ground.” AUGUST 13, 1944 “A CERTAIN MAN HAD TWO SONS” L uke 15:11-32 By Elmer Sachs “Lack of discipline in the home” is the charge hurled against delinquent parents by juvenile authorities. In our lesson for today, we learn of a delinquent parent who had two sons. One of these young men became a juvenile problem. Let us see what happened. For Those Who Have Topics I. THE BEGINNING OF THE FALL (v. 12a). The younger brother was a wise, know-it-all delinquent who thought he had a perfect right to demand of his father “that portion of goods” which would become his inheritance. He did not have the respect to wait until his father died, nor the cour tesy to ask, “Please may I haye?” Rather, he chose to say, “ Give me,” like the pampered, belligerent delin quents of our day. II. THE FALL (V. 12b). The fall of this boy could have been averted if the father had been man enough to say NO, and to sound ly rebuke his son for his impudent audacity.
IT'S AN IDEA In A u g u s t we should be challenged to “hold that line” and not to let “Old Mr. Slump” get a toe hold. We can have splendid meetings in the sum mer and here are some ideas that will help (cf, 2 Tim. 4:2): • Idea 1. Make an attend ance chart captioned w i t h large letters, “HOLD THAT LINE.” Set a summer attend ance goal, and appoint each member as a guard to keep “ Old Mr. Slump” from break ing through that line of at tendance. • Idea 2. Have a few out door meetings on the church lawn or another appropriate place. This would work espe cially well with the topic for August 6. Idea 3. Some, phases of the parables u s e d in our topics this month can be ef fectively dramatized. Mem bers of the church could be invited to witness the meet ing or a program could be given before the, entire con gregation on a Sunday eve ning. • Idea 4. The last meeting of the month can be a “Check up Meeting.” Make it an at tendance rally in order to raise the average for the month a n d thereby insure your victory over “Old Man Slump.”—Carlton C. Buck.
withers. Many hear the Word of God l>ut give it no real place. They could be said to believe only with the head and not with the heart. No harvest is reaped. 3, The thornÿ place (vs. 18, 19). Thé seed here is choked out because the ground is preoccupied by weeds. All good fields are weeded thorough ly. This is the halfhearted hearer, whose heart is choked by other in terests (v. 19). He does not give him self. fully to the Word of God. No harvest is reaped. • 4. The good ground (v. 20). Here the good ^seed meets with ready ground. This represents the true be liever’s relation to the Word of God. His whole heart is given as the seed bed deeply prepared. He is infinitely superior to those whose hearts are hard, shallow, and preoccupied. A bountiful harvest is reaped.
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