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THE K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
SEPTEMBER 15, 1918.
W INN ING THE WORLD TO CHRIST . Golden Text.—“Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” Mk. 16:15. Lesson TextA-^Mat. 5:13-16; 28:18- N m i . 10:29; Ps. 96:3; Isa. 6:3; Dan. 12 Jas. 5:19, 20). 20; Ac. 16:9-15. (Additional material, :3; Lu. 22:32; Rom. 1:14; Phil. 2:4-16;'
(13) Ye are the sa lt of th e e arth : but if th e sa lt have lost his [its] savour, w h erew ith shall it be salted? I t is th en c efo rth good fo r nothing, ' bu t to be c ast out, and to be trodden under foot of men. (14) Ye a re the lig h t of th e world. A city th a t is set on an h ill c an n o t be hid. (15) N either do m en lig h t a candle [lam p], and p u t it un d er a bushel: bu t on a candlestick, and it giveth lig h t unto -all th a t are in the house. (16) L et y our lig h t so shine before \ men, th a t they m ay see your good w orks, and g lo rify y our F a th e r w hich is in heaven.- (28:18) And Je su s came, and sp ak e unto them , saying, A ll pow er is given unto-m e in heaven and in earth . (19) Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, bap tiz in g them in th e nam e of the F a th e r, and of th e Son, and of the H oly G host: (20) T eaching them to observe all things, w h atso ev er I have comm anded you: and lo, I am w ith you alw ays, even unto the end of the w orld, Amen. (Ac. 16:9). And a v is ion appeared to P au l in th e n ig h t: T here stood a m an of Macedonia, and prayed him, saying, Come over I. The Departing Saviour’s Last Com mand. Matt. 28:18-20. 1. The Messengers. Those who were His own. Not men of the world are to be LESSON His messengers; but EXPOSITION those who know Him as personal .Saviour and Lord. And these men not only know Him as the One who had died on Calvary, thus making atonement for the guilt of their sins, but they also knew Him as the One who had been raised from the grave by the power of God to deliver .them daily from sin’s power. None other can be a Christ commis sioned messenger, for how can any man or woman testify to the saving power of the Lord Jesus who has never exper ienced it? How can the blind lead the
into M acedonia, and help us. (10) And a fte r he had seen th e vision, imm ediately we endeavoured to go into M acedonia, a ssu red ly g a th e rin g th a t the Lord had called us for to preach th e gospel unto them . (11) T herefore loosing from Troas, we cam e w ith a s tra ig h t course to Samo- th racia, and the nex t day to Neapolis: (12) And from thence to Philippi, w hich is th e chief city of th a t p a rt of Macedonia, and we w ere in th a t city ab id in g c ertain days. (13) And on the S abbath we w en t fo rth out of th e city by a riv e r side, w here p ra y er w as Wont to be made, and we sa t down, and spake un to the wom en w hich re so rted th ith e r. (14) And a c ertain w om an nam ed Lydia,, a se lle r of purple, of th e city of T h y atira, w hich w orshipped God, heard us: w hose h e a rt th e Lord opened, th a t she a tte n d ed unto the th in g s w hich w ere spoken of Paul. (15) And w hen she w as baptized, and h er household, she besought us, saying, If we have ju dged me to be fa ith fu l to th e Lord, come into my house, and abide there. And she con stra in e d us. blind? True, the signpost at the cross roads may direct the traveller on his way without ever moving in that direc tion itself; but our Lord was commis sioning messengers, not painting sign posts. See Acts 1:8. 2. His Command. The messengers are to be teachers. That involves patient instruction, not mere passing proclamation. The mat ter to be taught is very plainly described by the Saviour: O ’All things whatsoever I have commanded you.” This would include His teaching con cerning the paternal and holy character of God, two things on which all His teaching is based. Judaism and Mohammedanism may witness to One God; but only the teaching of Jesus Christ reveals that One God as our loving heavenly Father.
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