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THE K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
King of kinds, and Lord of lords, and sin and its consequences will be put away forever, and from a redeemed race, dwelling in a redeemed earth, will ascend through a redeemed universe the song of praise “to Him who loved us and loosed us from our sins by His blood” through all the ages of eternity. In our lesson today there are two out standing facts. First, the introduction of Jesus Christ to the world by John the Baptist and the purpose for which He came, and second, HEART OE Jesus’ plan for making THE LESSON known the purpose of T. C. Horton His coming to the world. When the President of the United States visited Europe he was rightly received as the representative of a great nation. He was honored by kings and introduced by state dignitaries. But when God arranged for His intro duction by calling from the wilderness an unknown prophet, clad in camel’s hair, John simply pointed his finger, calling attention to Him as “The Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world.” It is very essential to see the significance of this as the forecast of the work of God’s Son. He is not introduced as a King, but as a sacri ficial offering for sin. He comes as the Son of God, the representative of Heav en’s Court. He comes as a man, from a virgin, comes from the home of a carpenter, where He has labored with His tools as other men. He comes not to incite a, rebellion against the Roman government, nor to change the Temple worship. He comes as the Word made flesh, the promised Messiah, to dwell among men for a season, to reveal God to them as His Father, to enlighten their darkened understandings concern ing sin and salvation. He comes to tell them that they must be born again, born from above, must have a new
nature; to tell them that sin was an inherited disease and could never be atoned for but through the sacrifice of Himself as Son of God—Lamb of God; that prophecy must be fulfilled which designated Him as the ode who must be wounded, bruised, chastised and striped that they might be healed. He came to unmask the hypocrisy of the religious rulers and to break the chains of religious rulers and to break the chains of religious systems built up by the political Pharisees, which bound the people hand and foot. He came as a Lamb without blemish to give His life as a ransom, but He came as the Lion of the tribe of Judah, with the courage of conviction to unlock and open the doors of the whited sepulchers. He came also to choose followers and send them forth to tell the story of redeem ing love. First they were to “come and see” and then to “go and tell,” and this is the whole work left for disciples of Christ, for teachers and preachers of the Gospel. Come and see. Come and know. Come and believe. Then go out and live to make the glad tid ings known. Go as a representative of the Lamb. Go in the simplicity of faith. Go in the fearlessness of faith. Go everywhere. Go at any time. Go gladly. Go joyfully. Go to suffer and die if need be, but go. PRACTICAL POINTS (1) The Light and Life and Love from heaven is the Lamb of God. (2) He became sin for us that He might bear sin for us. (3) Men may seek satisfaction in their own righteousness, but a just God demands a sacrificial offering. (4) You must come and see, before you can go and tell. (5) If we follow Jesus we will find pur brother. (6) Andrew was a good angler. He caught Peter.
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