281 have blinded th e ir eyes as E lisha blinded the eyes of th e Syrian soldiers. (2 Ki. 6 :20.) He could have called down fire from heaven to consume them (2 Ki. 1:10 ) or have commanded th e earth to swallow them (Num. 16:30-33) b u t He su rrend ers Himself. He seeks no pro tection fo r Himself. “ If ye seek me, let these go their, way” (John 1 8 :8 ). He knows how weak th e disciples are and throw s around them His loving pro tection. If, in th e m idst of such a tria l, He could th ink of and provide for them , need we ever doubt His knowl edge of our need and of His power to help us? Impulsive P eter takes to the sword and makes a sorry mess of it. H is blow is so poorly directed th a t only the ear of a servan t is cut off. Jesus re bukes him and works a m iracle in heal ing the wounded man, displaying both his deep sympathy and matchless power. We get a beautiful picture of our Lord in th e act of healing th e wounded man. How though tfu l He is, even in the moments of severest tria l, of H is en emies! (Luke 23:34.) A fterwards, P e te r learns to use an o ther sword and to b etter purpose. W ith th e Sword of th e Spirit th ree thousand ears are pierced and t th ree thousand souls converted. (Acts 2:37-41.) May we not learn a lesson concerning God’s plan for spreading the Gospel? (2 Cor. 10:4.) “ F o r t h e w e a p o n s o f o n r w a r f a r e a r e n o t c a r n a l, b u t m i g h ty th r o u g h G o d t o th e p u llin g d o w n o f s tr o n g h o ld s .” QUESTIONS (1 ) Why did Jesus reso rt to the Mount of Olives? (John 18:1, 2.) (2 ) W hat was the tem ptation con fronting the disciples? (Matt. 26:50.) (3) When does, tem ptation come to us? (Jam es 1:13, 14.). (4 ) Why did Jesu s tak e th e th ree favored disciples w ith Him? (Matt. 26: 36, 38.) (5 ) W hat was the b itter cup which Jesus dreaded to drink? (Matt. 27:46.)
T H E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
th e apostate apostle, a t th e ir head, fol lowed by a multitude! How comes it th a t th is form er fol- lowèr has now become an inform er and betrayer? By what process of m ind and h ea rt has he become a tra ito r to b arte r away his Lord,— coming now to make delivery of the goods, soiling th e cheek of th e Son of God w ith his traito rou s kiss? Daily he has been under th e benign influence of th is loving Teacher, has seen Him tested and trie d in fiery or deals has marked H is tender compas sion; H is sweet sympathy, H is wonder ful power; has listened to H is prayers, heard His words of warning and encour agement,— and yet, in th e m idst of it all, his h e a rt has beên hardened as was th e h ea rt of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. Is th ere not a solemn lesson here? Can men and women and children grow indifferent to th e Love of Christ while th e Holy Spirit seeks to woo them to H imself? Is it possible in th e m idst of churches, Bibles, Sunday Schools and all the holy influences throw n around them th a t some, although identified w ith the church, holding sacred office, sitting at th e Lord’s table, may be found betray ing th e ir Lord? To what depths,can the h ea rt of man descend! Surely, “th e h ea rt is deceit ful above all things and desperately wicked. Who can know it? ” (Jer. 17; 9.) In Jud as we have suggested the aw ful possibilities of apostasy. (4 ) THE PLACE OF POWER, vs. 49-53, “He touched his ear and healed him * * * This is your hour and the power of darkness.” John tells us th a t as soon as Jesus said, “ I am H e” Judas and th e officers fell backward before Him. (John 18:6.) Jesus made no effort to escape though He had done so many times before when they would have taken Him. H is hour has come and He will not evade its re sponsibilities. He could have command ed twelve legions of angels. He could
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