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THE KING’ S BUSINESS
fact did not necessarily make them dis ciples. To be truly His disciples they must abide (or continue) in His Word. The true disciple lives in the atmosphere of Christ’s Word, the Word is the soil in which his life roots itself. He meditates therein day and night (Ps. 1:2.) T o abide in Christ’s W ord is to continue in medita tion upon it,- and obedience to it. Are you truly a disciple o f Jesus? Are you abiding in His W ord? Our Lord makes two fur ther promises to those who abide in His W ord: (1) “ Ye shall know the truth;” (2) “The truth shall make you free.” Knowledge and liberty come from contin uance in Jesus’ Wo?d, by faith in it, and obedience to it. They will receive “the Spirit o f truth” (John 14:15-17), and “the Spirit o f truth” will guide them into all thë truth (John 14:26; 16:12, 13), But that is not all : The truth (thus known) shall make them free. Ah ! there is the secret that men have sought for so earnestly, the Secret o f liberty, and the secret is the knowledge a i truth received by continuance in Jesus’ Word. Many today reject Jesus because as they say, they wish liberty. They will never find it by rejecting Jesus. That is the way to lose liberty, not to find it. Continuance in Jesus’ Word is the way to find it. From what does the truth make free? From the power o f sin, from the fear o f man, from the fear o f death, from all anxiety, from the dread o f God, from all that man needs freedom from. Thursday, June 8 . John 8 : 33 - 36 . “W e were never in bondage to any man,” cried the Jews. Poor, deluded people; they were very much in bondage, but they recognized no bondage except the bondage o f a human slave-master. They resented the implication that they were slaves, but they were. W e speak o f ours as a nation o f free men, but are we free? I f we are, what mean these slaves o f drink we see upon the streets? What mean these slaves' o f pleasure that-throng our theatres and ball rooms and card parties? What mean these slaves o f fashion who bedeck them-
beyond the grave. Whether a man dies in his sin, or has his sins blotted out by the blood o f Christ before he dies, determines where he shall spend eternity. Tuesday, June 6 . John 8 : 25 - 29 . No wonder that when Jesus made the astounding statement, “ Except ye believe that I am Him, ye shall die in your sins,” the Jews asked, “Who art thou?” Who could the one be who had a right to make such a statement as this? He must be, He could only be, the Son o f God, God manifest in the flesh. This Jesus had told them “ from the beginning” and, therefore, it is not asserted again. He had made sufficient declaration o f who He was and it had fallen on deaf ears, why should He repeat it? _God the Father had sent Him and He only spake to the world the things which He had heard from the Father (v. 26). His every utterance was the Word o f God, but so blind were the Jews that they did not perceive that He spake to them o f the Father. Not one thing did He do o f' Himself, but only those things that the Father taught Him did He do or speak. And the One Who had sent Him and Whom He so absolutely obeyed, was with Him. Those were wonderful words our Lord spoke, “I do always the things that are pleasing to Him.” There is the great- secret o f knowing the truth (John 7:17). There too is the great secret o f prevailing prayer (cf. 1 John 3:22). Because Jesus could say and say truly, “ I do always the things that are pleasing to Him,” He could also say, “ I knew that thou hearest me always” (John 11:42). Wednesday, June 7 . John 8 : 30 - 32 . These words were spoken to “those Jews which had believed Him” (v. 31, R. V .), not to those Jews which had “believed on Him” (A . V .). If they had “believed on Him” they would abide in His Word (Heb. 10:39). Many people believe Jesus, i. e., believe some things He says, who do not Teach the point o f “believing on Him.” To those who believed Him Jesus said this
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