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THE K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
exercise in th e faith of religion (Rom. 10:9, 10).— Garry. Marvelous indeed th e faith in our Lord’s divinity which sprung up so suddenly in such an un likely place, which shone out so b right ly in th e very m idnight of th e world’s unbelief. There were many to call Him Lord when He arose trium p h an t from th e tomb. There is bu t one to call Him Lord as He hangs dying on th e cross.— Hanna. C ontrast w ith th is b righ t act of faith th e darkness of even the apos tles’ minds, who could h ardly believe th a t th e ir Master would die a t all, who now were almost despairing of Him, and who, when He was dead, had almost buried th e ir hopes in His grave. Con sider, too, th e m an’s previous disad vantages and bad life. Then m ark how his faith comes out, as having no shadow of doubt. Was ever faith like th is exhibited on earth ? I t looks as if th e b righ test crown had been reserved for th e Savior’s head a t His darkest moment.— Brown. Contest in to th y kingdom . To believe th a t He whose only token of royalty was th e crown of tho rn s th a t still clung to His bleeding head, was a K ing and had a kingdom ; to believe th a t He on whose own eyes th e m ists of death were already hanging, was indeed the P rince of Life and th a t it would profit something in th a t mys terious world w hither they were both hastening to be remembered by this crucified Man— th a t was faith indeed.— Trench. W here will we find th e g reat est faith in Christ? Hung up by the side of His cross.— Sel. v. 43. Today shalt thou be w ith me. Jesus entered paradise w ith an executed crim inal as th e trophy of His redeem ing love, th e first evidence of th e power of His cross.— Haldeman. These term s tell us th a t th e re is no purgatory. If ever a man who walked th is earth needed a purgatory, it was th is thief. If ever th e re was a man to whom Christ m ight have said, “A fter awhile you will get out of pu rgatory and th en be w ith me in paradise,” it was th a t thief. The sto ry also teaches th a t th ere is no such thing a s a sleep of th e soul. To depart is to be w ith Christ, which is far better. To be absent from the body is to be present w ith th e Lord. T h at is th e Christian message.— Erdm an. W hat saved this pen iten t thief? No w ater of baptism— a t no communion table did he ever sit. It was .th e simple believing look of a dying sinner upon a dying Savior th a t did it. T h at sight has lost nothing of its power.— Hall. One th ie f
was sav ed ' th a t none need despair, but only one th a t none should presume. — Scofield. The malefactor asked fo r a fu tu re blessing. He received an assu r ance of immediate felicity. Our Lord did not go immediately to heaven when He died. A fter His resu rrection He said to Mary, “Touch me not for I have not yet ascended to my F a th e r” (Jn. 2 0 :1 7 ). A t th a t early sta g e of His resurrection life He had not presented H imself inside th e veil. Where had His sp irit been during those th ree days His body lay in Joseph’s tomb? He had been in paradise and in th e other de partm ents of hades (place of departed spirits) (see Mt. 12:40; 1 P et. 3 :1 9 ). Hades was in th e regions beneath' (Mt. 1 2 :40 ). Jesus was th ere to make a proclamation to th e imprisoned an te diluvian souls, and He liberated those spirits of the righteous (1 Pet. 3:18-19; Heb. 2:14 -15 ). We no longer h ear of th e abode of saved sp irits as “ down” , b u t “ up” (Acts 7:55; 2 Cor. 12:40; 1 Thess. 3 :13 ; Jude 14). The old p ara dise (section of the sp irit world where th e spirits of th e saved aw aited) was .emptied. When He ascended up on high, He lead a band of captives (Eph. 4:8, i9). . Until th e atoning death was accomplished th is new and living way ' into the heavenly places had not been opened up (Heb. 12:18-24).—Needham. In paradise. Of P ersian origin, signi fying a park or garden. It is used by th e Septuagint w riters for th e garden of Eden or delight, and thence used figuratively by the Jewish w riters to designate th e place of rest and peace to which the souls of th e faith fu l are con veyed immediately on th e ir deliverance from the flesh.—Wordsworth. Jesu s on th e Cross Forgiving Sins, Luke 23:33-43. (Read Chapter.) Memory Verse.— “Christ Died For Us.” Rom. 5:8. Approach.— You know, boys and girls, we love to be nice to the people who are nice to us, b u t when people are not nice to Us, o r try to h u rt us, or make fun of us, then we BEGINNERS do not enjoy being AND PRIMARY kind to them. Here Mabel L. Merrill is a tru e story of a little boy nine years old. He was not very strong, and did not sta rt in school as soon as other
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