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T h e K ì n g ' s B u s i n e s s FRED S. SHEPARD ’S BLACKBOARD OUTLINE A ArvPsa. 51:4 ADDENS HEART OF lj||l|E z k . 33:11 EPARATES FROM ' ,U *'Isa. 59 ¡2 I f we confess—He will f®rgive. jjjjEjgT John 1:9 May God bring us back to Bible views of S I N! There is one Saviour. Jesus is His name. He can set the sinner free. “Call ye upon Him while He is near.” G olden T ext I llustration I f we say we Have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. I f we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 Jn. 1:8-9). It is recorded of Alexander the Great that a soldier was reported to him as having betrayed great cowardice on a particular occasion. Alexander called him to account and asked his name. On hearing that the name was Alexander, he upbraided him with the dishonor he had brought on such a name and entreated him either to change his manners or his name, asking him how he could dare, while known as Alexander, to act un worthily. Shall not the Christian remember the high and holy name by which he is called, and dread encountering the meanness of dishonoring Christ ? —o— F acing S in S incerely 1 John 1:5-2 :6 There is no need to question the reality of sin, for all we have to do to settle that is to look all around us, or be honest with ourselves as we look ourselves in S IN IS against
December 1928
nature, however, undergoes a material change through the operation of grace upon it. The believer is empowered to overcome temptation by the indwelling Holy Spirit, yet warned to continual watchfulness. To say that we as Christians, have ho sin, is to ‘‘deceive ourselves" (1 Jn. 1: 8 ) and prove that we have not understood Scripture teaching (1 Jn. 1:10). We can not safely assert that the old nature has been eradicated. " Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall” (1 Cor. 10:12). We must ever acknowledge the frailty of the flesh and our entire depend ence upon the Holy Spirit for a victorious walk (Gal. 5:16-17; Rom. 8:2, 37). When a Christian sins, he is imme diately to confess his sins to God, who is “faithful and fust to forgive . . . and cleanse from all unrighteousness" (1 Jn. 1:9). If we sin, “we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the right eous” (1 Jn. 2:1). “He ever liveth to make intercession for us” and, therefore, can save us to the uttermost limit of time (Heb. 7:25). Seeing we are continually beset by sinful influences, we are ex horted to continually be “looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith” (Heb. 12:2), and to “set our af fections on the things above” (Col. 3: 1:3). —o— T h e P ower of S in A French writer tells how the captain of a vessel was one day walking care lessly along by the side of a river, not far from its mouth, at low water. As he looked about him, not minding his steps, he did not see extended before him a great chain, one end of which was fast ened to a ring fixed in a stone on the bank, the other to an anchor sunk in thè river: Not seeing it, he stumbled against it and, his foot having passed through one of the links, he could not extricate it. He struggled in vain for release, and men who heard his call for help strained every nerve to get his foot out before it be gan to swell. No time was: to be lost for the tide was coming in. A blacksmith was called from the nearest village. He came but found he’ had not brought tools suf ficiently heavy and was obliged to return for others. Before his return the tide had risen and great waves were rolling in. The water came up to his waist. The. smith saw he could do nothing. There was one last resource.: He must sacrifice his leg. A surgeon was sought and. came in haste. The doctor was taken in a boat, the water having reached the man’s neck, but the oarsmen could not hold the boat. “It is too late,” said the doctor, and in a few moments the waves rolled over the un happy man’s head. He was lost. Reader, have you made the application ? Men go forth in the morning of life, light-hearted and happy. The chain of temptation, which through carelessness they do not see, is Satan’s snare. The ring in which the foot is caught is SIN. They believe they can easily free them selves but they deceive themselves. The rising tide is DEATH. It is fast ap proaching. Not a moment is to be lost. Every passing hour renders the situation less hopeful. No boat in the world can save them. No human hand can cut that chain. No skillful surgeon can sever men from their sins. What shall the end be?
eral instead of personal. It is true that there are such general expressions as “any man,” “he that saith,” “whoso” ; but thirty-one times do we find the more per sonal “we,” “us,” “our,” “you.” It might make for interest to have the class count these. The lesson is cast in a rather positive as well as personal mold, too ; for while John does write that we “sin not,” the burden of the message is that we “ought to walk” in decided Christlike fashion. In last week’s lesson Jesus told us that we “cannot serve God and mammon”:*; and this week John tells us the same thing, though using a different figure, when in effect he says that we cannot walk in darkness and the light at the same time. We know that the person who tries that is simply walking in twi light ; and, to change the figure, is what is at times called a “muddy” Christian. An important word in this lesson is “fellowship.” Fellowship is properly de fined in terms of follow-ship; for unless there is the follow-ship of Jesus in the “light,” there surely can be no Christian fellowship. We cannot walk in the paths of sin and know fellowship with Him. “IF” is also a prominent word, used seven times, and may possibly be used with good effect as we shall indicate be low. It may be found of worth to touch upon the different meanings of the word “sin” ; such as missing the mark when aiming at a target, or transgressing across a line. To remind us that next week’s lesson topic is “Christ the Saviour” and that there will then be special opportunity to press His claims, is not to say that this week is not also the proper time for that ; yet if this week we make sure to create the sense of need, how much more fruit ful should next week’s experiences with our class surely be? By suggestion and such explanation as may be necessary, help the class put the following in logical rather than chrono logical order : We are told in this lesson that WE ARE TO— “have fellowship with Him” (1 : 6 ) ; “walk in the light as He is in the light” (1:7); “confess our sins” (1 :9) ; “keep His commandments” (2 :3) ; “walk even as He walked” (2:6). TELL ME, TEACHER: What should some of these words mean to a boy or girl my age?—Sin, light, darkness, fellowship, walk, truth, blood, cleanseth, deceive, confess, faith ful, just, forgive, unrighteousness, word, advocate, propitiation, world, command ments, perfected, abideth. TELL ME, CLASS : This lesson raises the question “IF” about several things ; so suppose you tell me about them, putting at the end of each the words “WHAT THEN” : 1: 6 —“IF we say that we have fellow ship with Him.” 1:7—“IF we walk in the light.” 1: 8 —“IF we say that we have no sin.” 1:9—“IF we confess our sins.” 1:10—“IF we say that we have not sinned.” 2:1—“IF any man sin.” 2 :3—“IF we keep his commandments.” IF we “hay, walk, confess, keep,”— WHAT THEN?
the eye with the aid of a mirror and ponder the condi tion of our own h e a r t s . Nor in teaching boys a n d girls need we won der w h a t m i g h t have been had man not ■sinned, s i n c e t h i s hypothetical question h a s not been settled even by
the theologians of the centuries. For the purpose of this lesson, let us as teachers . sincerely face the fact of sin in our own experience, and as it is related to younger lives, calling upon the class to do the same. We speak of facing the fact of sin “sincerely.” You will remember that Paul was very sincere. There are false teachers who seem to be sincere, and we cannot be less sincere; for let us remem»: ber that the more sincere we may be, the worse off we are if we are wrong. The teaching period might be spent in drawing attention to the sin of the world at large; but we find a decidedly personal note in the lesson material assigned to be printed and we shall miss much if we allow the treatment of it to become gen
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