May, 1941
T H E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
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Paul’s M end Peter A cts 15
and Barnabas entering into “no small dissension and disputation” with these legalizers from Jerusalem (v. 2). For the great apostle knew that if they succeeded, the world mission of Chris tianity would perish. This battle has to be fought all over again in every generation. 2. “When there had been much dis puting, Peter rose up” (v. 7). On one former occasion, Peter had talked with out thinking (Lk. 9:33). At another time he had served as the mouthpiece of Satan (Matt. 16:23). And still later he had actually yielded to the error of legalism somewhat, being intimidated by certain “pillars” of the church (Gal. 2:11, 12), But at this Jerusalem con ference Peter made no such mistakes. His speech was a magnificent defense of the gospel*of grace. First, he pointed out that God had given him a special call to preach this gospel to the Gen tiles (v. 7). Second, he declared that God had leveled all the barriers betw.een Jew and Gentile as far as the way of salvation was concerned. Every heart, without any d i s t i n c t i o n , must be cleansed “fiy faith” (v. 9), not by works. Third, he warned his hearers against the deadly mistake of trying to put the new converts back under a law of works, reminding them that neither the present generation of Jews nor their fathers had been able to bear such a “yoke” (v. 10), and adding that to do süch a thing would be to “t e m p t , , God” (v. 10). Then, fourth, Peter declared that the right way of salvation for both • Jew and Gentile is “through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ” (v. 11). It is hard to see how the whole issue could have been stated more clearly, and apparently the speech had its effect in putting an end to the .argument, for “all the multitude kept silenoe” (v. 12) while they listened to the miracles of God’s grace among the Gentiles. Luther Burbank is well called the plant wizard, and his fifty years of notable service are worthily celebrated. He has produced the Burbank potato; the high gluten wheat; from the dew berry and raspberry, a new and superior berry; changed the hard-shelled walnut into a soft-shelled variety, and improved the quality of the wood; -improved sev eral varieties of apples and other fruit, and produced new kinds; evolved won derful roses and other flowers; taken the spines from the cactus, and made it food for stock. In a far more wonderful sense, our divine Lord takes the bitter, thorny, unlovely lives of men and trans forms them by His grace into beauty, fruitfulness, and glorious usefulness. In His hands even the most unpromising are made into His own likeness. —Homiletic Review, Golden Text Illustration A cts 15:11
*>■11 ,41.
MEMORY VERSE: “Be ye kind one to another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another” (Eph. 4:32). APPROACH: Do your parents some times call all the family together to “talk things over” ? In a family, people
do not always think alike. It is not nec essary t h a t t h e y should. They may differ in-many small matters. But if the family is to live to gether h a p p i l y , t h e r e are certain important facts up on which they must
links. On the three paper links write “God,” “Fellowship,” and “The Chris tian.” Write 1 John 1:7 on one gummed sticker, 1 John 1:9 on another, and 1 John 2:1 on the third.) . LESSON: Do you think you could break this chain of three links? “No, I am sure we could not.” You are Wondering what this chain represents. The top link is m a r k e d “God,” the -middle one “Relationship,” and the bottom one “The Christian.” This short chain shows us how a Chris tian, because he has accepted Christ as Saviour and is a member of God’s fam ily, is linked to God by the unbreakable link of “Relationship.” The early church recognized that it was possible for the Gentiles as well as the Jews to be so linked to God. In Acts 15:8, 9, we find Peter saying, “And God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did unto us; and put no dif ference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith.” Here is another chain. The top and bottom links are named the same as the other chain, but the center link is called “Fellowship.” The Christian Is linked to God by fellowship as well as relationship. The link of relationship. cannot be broken, but we shall see that the link of fellowship can be broken easily. See how easily it is torn. An evil thought, if unconfessed to God, can break fellowship with Him. When fellowship is broken with God, how can it be restored? In 1 John 1:7 we read, “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth ils from all sin.” [Patch the break with this sticker. Break again and patch with the two other stickers, reading the verses aloud.] Let us remember that “Relationship” is unbreakable, and that “Fellowship” is very fragile. If fellowship is broken, we must remember how it is repaired.
agree. It is just the same in the church family. Sometimes the churches have to get together to see just what it is they do believe. LESSON STORY: In the early church, this became necessary. As the mission ary work grew, all kinds of people be came Christians—both Jews and Gen tiles. The Jews had customs which dif fered from those of other people. They found fault with Barnabas and Paul be cause they did not make the new Chris tians follow these customs. But Paul and Barnabas were doing what God wanted them to do. God didn’t care about the Christians’ following Jewish customs that were a part of the law— He wanted them to accept Christ. The churches finally decided to get together to talk about this. At the meeting, Peter stood up for Paul and Barnabas, although he did not live .exactly their way himself. But he knew that Paul and Barnabas ,were doing God’s will, and Peter was a loyal friend. As a result of this talk, peace was restored in the church. ■ Today we may differ in methods of worship, but there is one thing we must all believe if we are Christians. We must believe that Christ died for our sins, "for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).
* Object Lesson L iving L inks
OBJECTS: A chain of three iron links, a chain of three paper links, and three gummed stickers. (Paint the words, “God,” “Relationship,” and “The Chris tian” respectively on the three iron
JUNE 29, 1941 LESSONS FROM THE EARLY CHURCH 1 C orinthians 3 :1-15
1 Corinthians 8:1 And I, brethren, could not speak nnto you as unto spiritual, hut as unto carnal, even as unto babes In Christ. 2 I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able
to bear it, neither yet now are ye able. 3 For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among* you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk at men!
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