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T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
April-May, 1933
the Lord gave to them. We, too, have much unnecessary grief because we do not believe the word spoken to us. Third, the mistake concerning the identity of the Lord. As He came forth from heaven, so He came forth from the grave, the Lord of Glory. Fourth, the mistake in their devo tion. Let us have their devotion, but let it be the devotion of faith as well as of love. G olden T ex t Illu stratio n Deism had its great triumph a few years ago in England. Gilbert West and Lord Littleton were put forward to crush the defenders of the Word of God. They held a conference together, and one of them said to the other that they would be unable to maintain their position unless they disposed of two of the alleged bul warks of Christianity—the alleged resur rection of Jesus from the dead and the al leged conversion of Saul of Tarsus. Lord Littleton undertook to write a book showing that Saul’s alleged conversion was a myth. Gilbert West was to write another book to show that the alleged resurrection of Christ from the dead was a myth. They had numerous conferences, and finally West said to Littleton: “Have you written your book?” Littleton replied that he had. “But,” said he, “West, as I have been studying the evidence and weighing it according to the recognized laws of legal evidence, I have become satisfied ,that Saul of Tarsus was converted, and that Chris tianity is true.” “Have you written your book?” said Lit tleton. “Yes,” said West, “but as I studied the evidence for the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and have weighed it according to the laws of evidence, I have become satisfied that Jesus really rose from the dead, and I have written my book on that side.” —T he B ottles of H eaven . Jesu s L iving A gain M ark 16:1-20 Memory Verse: “I am he thatjiveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore” (Rev. 1:18). Approach: Today we are going to tell the story of how Jesus died and rose again from the dead. This happened just as He had explained to His disciples that it should happen. Lesson Story: Jesus’ enemies took Him
ers have gone about preaching this Word. All over the world, His followers are to be found, for Jesus meant this message not only for His disciples living that day, but for all who should come after them.
Today He asks us to be His followers just as He asked Peter and James and John and the other disciples, and He asked us, just as He asked them, to believe that He is the Son of God.
JUNE 25, 1933 REVIEW: JESUS OUR LORD AND SAVIOUR A cts 13:23-33
Golden Text: “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost” (M att 28:18, 19). ■ T h e W itness of th e L and . ' hen J esus was making His tri umphal entry into Jerusalem, He was asked by certain of His fol lowers to make the people who were shout ing His praises keep quiet. His reply was : “If these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out.” His re
when it speaks of those things of eternal spiritual significance. Looking back over the quarter’s lessons, certain graces and traits of our Lord stand out. Lesson 1, Mark 7:24-37, Jesus Minister ing to Jews and Gentiles, reveals His won drous grace in dealing with all peoples. As long as the Syrophenician Greek-pre sented a claim upon the Lord, her request was denied, but the instant she came with out any claim, the. Lord’s grace flowed out to meet all her need. When He came to the Jew who was in need, He acted as with one who already had been made nigh by His grace. It was grace in both instances, and it is still grace by which He gives what is needed today. Lesson 2, Mark 8:27-38, Jesus Requires Confession and Loyalty, reveals His person and His program. His person is not to be confused with any, however great, who ap peared upon earth before His coming. He is the Christ, the Son of the living God. But while He is all He claimed to be, He must suffer and die, if men are to be saved. Hence His program included His rejection, His deliverance to the Gentiles, and His crucifixion, followed by His resurrection from among the dead. So overcome-were the disciples with the idea that He must die, that they were blinded to the last part of the program, the resurrection, and hence were open to the suggestion of Satan that the cross could be avoided. Lesson 3, Mark 9:2-8, 17, 18, 25-29, Jesus Transfigured, reveals His perfect human ity shining through the clothing of flesh and letting us know that, as far as He Him self was concerned, He was ready to step from earth into heaven on the ground of His own personal fitness as a man. But had He done so, He would have had to go without those for whom He came. To obtain them, He must plunge into the gloom and agony of the cross. As He does so, His grace shines forth. Lesson 4, Mark 9:33-43, Jesus Rebukes Self-seeking, reveals the marvelous under standing of our Lord. He used a little child as an object sermon for His disciples, and in doing so, He uncovered the inmost thoughts of their hearts. He showed them that those thoughts were evil. Referring to the little child, He told them that such are the ones who will be occupying the highest places in His kingdom. He rebuked denominational envy by saying that who ever does a good work in His name is not to be hindered, even though he does not follow with any particular grouo. Lesson 5, Mark 10:13-27, Jesus Sets a New Standard o f Living, reveals the in struction from the Lord concerning the value of one’s life and the use one has for life. Whatever of outward goodness one may have, there is the inner need which can be met only by surrendering all to the Lord and thus laying up treasure in heaven. In order to do this, our Lord said there must be separation unto Him from all else, ser vice for Him and not for self, and sur render to Him as the supreme governor of one’s life.
ply is at least figur atively true today, for the very stones of Palestine give tes timony to His life and work. As we stand in the village of Bethlehem, we wonder about the shepherds who were watching their flocks
in the field the night the Christ-child was born.. We do not need to wonder long, for there, just below us on the east, is a broad, level field, the only one of its kind any where near the City of David. Jesus spoke of the man who went down from Jerusalem to Jericho. One glance at that precipitous descent between Bethany and Jericho is proof of the accuracy of that statement. We travel north to the vicinity of She- chem. It was here that Jesus talked with the woman of Samaria. There is a well in the little plain just east of the twin moun tains of Ebal and Gerazim. As we look to ward the northwest, we see, nestling on the foot of Mount Ebal, a little village, just a mile or two from us. We pass Nazareth, whose every rock, stone, and bush is vocal with incidents in the life of our Lord, and we go to the Sea ,of Galilee. There .should be a steep place on the eastern shore, down which the swine ran when Jesus permitted the unclean spir its to enter them. Across from Tiberias, there is a place which answers this descrip tion exactly. Now we would expect to find also a level, grassy place on which five .thousand-people could sit. On the eastern shore, near the northern end of the lake, we find just what we are looking for. Time forbids our speaking of other well iden tified sites. This is enough to convince us that the Word of God, which speaks so ac curately upon geography, is also accurate BLACKBOARD LESSON
and crucified Him, and His body was laid in a tomb. How sad H is disciples were I They seemed to have forgotten what Jesus had said, that after three days, He s h o u l d l i v e again, and that be- c a u s e He l i ved, every one who be lieved in Him as the
Son of God should live again, too. So on the third day, Christ rose from the grave, even as He had told His disciples. The first person to see Him was Mary Magdalene. And when she told the dis ciples that she had seen Jesus, they did not believe it. Then Jesus appeared to the dif ferent disciples, so at last they must be lieve. He had one last message to give them before He went back to heaven. He said to them, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that be- lieveth and is baptized shall be saved.” From that time until now, Jesus’ follow
GUILELESS T E M PTED DESPISED DEFRAYED
OPPRESSED R E J E C T E D CONOEMMED R E V I L, E D
SCOURGED W O UN D ED S R U I S E D CRUCIFIED FORSAKEN R. I S E N GLORIFIED
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