T H E K I N G ’ S
B U S I N E S S
639
October 1924
being pure, the natural heart is “ deceitful above all things and desperately wicked” (or, “ exceedingly corrupt” ). Jer. 17:9. The portion of the Sermon on the Mount which is printed in the lesson helps is that which depJs with what is com monly called (or miscalled) “ The Lord’s Prayer,” Who has a right to pray that prayer? Many think that every one has, having accepted as being true the prevalent teach ing concerning the “Universal Fatherhood of God.” “ Since God is the Father of us all, we may all, of course, pray, ‘Our Father who art in heaven.’ ” But let us remember that Jesus spoke these words to His disciples, and that on an other occasion He said to the Jews who claimed that God was their Father, but who rejected Jesus, “ Ye are of your lather the devil,” and that if God were their Father, they would love Jesus, which they did not (see Jno. 8:41-45). Our relationship to God is determined by our relationship to Jesus Christ. Only they who receive Him as a personal Saviour are children of God (see John 1:12, 13; Gal. 3:26) and only such have a right to offer this prayer. It is sheer hypocrisy and mockery, and therefore an abomination to God, for one whose will is not yielded to God to pray, “ Thy will be done,” or to pray, “ Thy kingdom come,” when the life is being lived at cross purposes with God’s government. Among the many salutary, as well as searching lessons for God’s children, contained in Matt. 6, we may mention two. The first is that He demands that we shall be real. “ Take heed that ye do not your righteousness before men to be seen of them” (v. 1, R. V.). All our “ righteous acts” are to be done as unto Himself, and not that we may be seen of and glorified by man. This is to be true of our giving (vs. 2-4), our praying (vs. 5, 6), and our fasting (vs. 16- 18). With God that which is merely outward is nothing; motives are everything. “ If thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light” (v. 22). The other lesson is that He would have us free from all anxiety (vs. 25-34, R. V.). Being anxious, worrying, has never done one particle of good, but has done immeas urable harm. How is it to he pvercome? By unreservedly committing to, and leaving ourselves and all that concerns us in His hands, trusting Him to work out His gracious and loving purposes. If we are worrying about any thing, then we are not trusting; if we are trusting, we are not worrying. Faith and worry do not go together. Memory Verse.— “ Lord, teach us to pray.” Luke 11:1. Approach.— Good morning, children. How bright and happy you look this morning. You must have had a good breakfast. Who got up and prepared the breakfast and made it taste so good? Mother. Let us bow our heads and thank God for our mothers, and their loving care over us. Lesson Story.—Now this morning we ELEMENTARY are going to sing the new song we Mabel L. Merrill learned last week. “ Jesus had disciples twelve,'and the Bible tells their names; First the fishers four He called, Peter/Andrew, John and James. Philip and Bartholomew, Thomas, Matthew, James the less; Thaddeus and Simon too, Judas then so traitor ous.” That was fine and I am glad you remembered the words so well. Now, Betty; you tell us about these disci ples or special friends of Jesus. Our story today is another one about Jesus and His disciples, and this time, Jesus is teaching them how to The Prayer That Jesus Taught Matt. 6:9-13.
friend, that you may shut yourself in with the Father. Note that this does not forbid prayer meetings, for Christ Himself prayed with His disciples; hut they are fruitless unless based upon private prayer.-SPeloubet. V. 7. “ Babble not” would be a better rendering, both for the form of the word—which in both languages is intended to imitate the sound— and for the sense, which expresses not so much the repetition of the same words as a senseless multiplication of them; as appears from what follows, “ as the heathen do.”—J. JF. & B. V. 9. This is the great missionary prayer of the, ages. Christianity is an imperial religion; it claims empire over all nations. And we pray that God’s kingdom may come to us, may be set up in our hearts, that its laws may he the guide of our lives and of our thoughts. For the true seat of the kingdom is in the soul of man.—Dean J. H. Bernard. The true “ Lord’s Prayer” is found in John 17. The only one who has a right to offer the prayer that Jesus here teaches His disciples is the one who has the right to call God “ Father,” i. e., the one who has received Jesus as his own (John 1:12; Gal. 3:26; Rom. 8 :14 ); the rest of men are children of the devil (1 John 5:19; 3:10; John 8:44; Eph. 2 :3). In our prayer, God is to he addressed as “ Father;” the thought of the fatherhood of God lies at the very foundation of the Christian doctrine of prayer.— Tor- rey. V. 10. This embraces the coming of the kingdom in a twofold sense. In the first place it embraces the coming of the reign of Christ in the lives and hearts of men. In the second place it means the coming of that glorious kingdom of the prophets when David’s son is to rule in sovereign power. Every true son of God continually labors to answer his own prayer by seeking to persuade men to receive Christ in the first sense as a condition of the hastening of the com ing of the kingdom in the second sense.—-Pract. Com. Vs. 13, 14, 15. The fundamental condition upon which God forgives us is that we believe on Jesus Christ (Acts 10:43; 13:39). But the proof that we really have believed on Christ and accepted this forgiveness offered through His shed blood is that we forgive others (Eph. 4:32; Matt. 18:23-25). The forgiveness for which v. 12 teaches us to pray is not the forgiveness of the sin that excludes us from eternal life, but the forgiveness of the sins that exclude us from communion with Him Who is already our Father.— Torrey. V. 13. “ Temptation” in the New Testament may mean either a testing, a trial, or an incitement to sin. The close mention of “ evil” or “ the evil one” in this verse shows that the temptation to sin is meant, rather than the testing of character, though men would naturally shrink from both of them and wish to be delivered from them. Of course, as the Bible tells us (Jas. 1:13), God does not tempt any one in the sense that He tries to make him sinful; but for our good He may bring us into circumstances of temptation, He may permit Satan to tempt us, just as He allowed Him self to he tempted by Satan,.—Peloubet. Many people have said, when pressed to accept Jesus Christ as Saviour, “ The sermon on the mount is a good enough religion for me. If one lives up to its teaching, he will he all right.” But is it possible to live up to its teaching until one has first accepted DEVOTIONAL Jesus Christ as Saviour, and has been COMMENT born again? We do not believe it is. John A. Hubbard 14 is strange that people overlook the fact that the words of this “ sermon” were spoken, not to a mixed multitude, hut to His disciples, though others beside the disciples probably heard the words. Note the opening statement: “ And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his dis ciples came unto him: and he opened his mouth and taught them” (Matt. 5:1, 2). Take for example this statement: “ Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God” (5 :8 ). But what heart is pure except that which has been cleansed by faith in the blood of Jesus? (see Acts 15:9; 1 John 1 :7). So far from
Made with FlippingBook - Online Brochure Maker