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T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
March, 1933
Meditation on the Lesson “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” Our denial of self measures our like ness to Christ. He never chose His own will nor worked in His own way, nor lived for His own comfort, nor sought His own glory—His was a life of self-denial. “ Christ pleased not himself” (Rom. 15:3). “ I came . . . not to do mine own will.” There is no other way of Teaching heaven than through the dethronement o f our wills and the acceptance of Christ’s will for our lives. “ Our wills are ours, we know not how, Our wills are ours to make them Thine.” To decide for Christ means to put your hand in His and say,||Lord, I am Thine, entirely Thine; take me and make me just what Thou wouldst have me to be.” It will mean renouncing your own right eousness, for when you behold the spotless Lamb of God, you will understand and realize that your own righteousness is as filthy rags, and you will gladly claim Paul’s statement in 1 Corinthians 1 :30: “ But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who o f God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.” De ciding for Christ will also mean refusal to gratify appetites, doing “all to the glory of God” (1 Cor. 10:31). Finally, deciding for Christ will mean eventually to be able to say with Paul, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith o f the Son o f God, who loved me, and gave himself for me” (Gal. 2:20). Discussion Material I. C hrist ' s . S elf -D enial 1. He offered up Himself (Heb. 7:27). 2. He made Himself of no reputation (Phil. 2:7 ). 3. He gave Himself a ransom for all (1 Tim. 2:6).- 4. He Himself suffered (Heb. 2:14, 18). 5. He put away sin by the sacrifice o f Himself (Heb. 9:26). II. W hat it is to F ollow F—forsaking the old life (2 Cor. 5:17). O—obeying the Lord’sWord (John 21:22). L—looking not behind (Lk. 9:62). L—looking unto Jesus (Heb. 12:2). O—onward to thè end (Phil. 3:13, 14). W—watching unto prayer (Mk. 13:33). —S ayles . III. L osing L ife to S ave I t Queen Esther, losing her life by seeking unbidden the king’s presence, saved it (Esth. 4:16; 5:2). The prophet Elijah, losing his life in the presence of the false prophets, saved it (1 Ki. 18:19, 40; 19:1-3). The prophet Daniel, losing his life in the den of lions, saved it (Dan. 6 :16-23). The three Hebrew children, losing their lives- in the fiery furnace, preserved them (Dan. 3:19-25). Christ, losing His life on the cross, saved Himself and the world (Matt. 27:42; John 3:16). • IV. C onditions of D iscipleship There are three: (a) Denying of self. This is far deeper, broader, more absolute and emphatic than mere self-denial. The latter is the inevitable outgrowth, but does not o f necessity imply the former. There may be much self-denial while the true spirit of the condition is after all ignored.
that the soul lives beyond the grave. Death does not end all. Christ conquered death for the believer. Because He lives, we too shall live. The resurrection of Jesus is the assurance that our own bodies will be raised, not in corruption, but in incorrup- tion. Our present bodies will be changed. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 15 i “ How are the dead raised up? and with what body do they come? Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die: And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body which shall be, but bare grain, it may chance o f wheat, or o f some other grain: But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased Him, and to every seed his own body.” In the words of Spurgeon, “We put into the ground a bulb, and it rises a golden lily. We drop into the mold a seed, and it comes forth an exquisite flower, resplendent with brilliant colors; these are the same that we put into the earth, the same identically, but, oh, how different!” Our resurrection bodies will be like Jesus’ glorious body as shown on the mount of transfiguration—all sickness, weakness, and pain gone—with new life, new powers, new joys beyond our highest con ception, as much beyond those we now have as the flower in the sunshine, beauti ful and fragrant, is beyond the seed under ground. Discussion Material I. A S pecimen of the R esurrection Suppose H?me inhabitant of a distant star, reaching here in winter, should be our guest. We would picture to him the beau ties of spring and the glories of summer. We would tell him that the ice and snow would pass away, the cold north wind be a balmy breeze, the hard brown earth become mellow, and all nature be clad in living green, and every bare tree be lovely with leaves and flowers. We would show him the seeds and roots and bulbs which were to bloom the next spring; but it would be hard for him, with no experience, to believe that such beautiful flowers could come from such unsightly obj ects. Then we could take him to a greenhouse and show him specimens, facts, which prove what would come from seeds and bulbs; So the resurrection of Jesus was a specimen of the resurrection, an incontrovertible proof of what is possible to us all.—S elected . II. J esus the P roof of I mmortality One evening you find among the reeds of your lake an unknown bird, whose broad breast and powerful pinions are not meant for this inland ocean. It is resting mid way between two oceans and by tomorrow will have gone. Does not that bird prove the ocean it left, does it not prove the ocean whither it has flown? “Jesus know ing . . . that he was come from God, and went to God” is the reflection and confir mation o f ageless life.—J ohn W atson . III. H idden P owers The wonder of the grub is that some where within it lurks the splendor and col oring and life o f the golden butterfly; the wonder o f the seed is that within it lies buried the bud and blossom; the wonder connected with me is that wrapped up in me, under many a covering, are the ever lasting powers of a son of God. —D avid G regg . IV. “A bide in M e ” Beside the dead I knelt for prayer, And felt a presence as I prayed. L o! it was Jesus standing there. He smiled: “ Be not afraid I”
Worth Reading Again I am glad to again avail myself of your generous offer, and I thank you for it: I used to take the mag azine, and I saved every copy. I have not been able to subscribe to the magazine for several years, so have reread my old ones several times. :;:|3S -S an J ose ,' C alif . I like the magazine so much, and I had thought that if I could not afford to renew, I would just read the old ones over again. I have gone over some of them several times. —F alls C reek , P a . The Bible declares broad principles of truth which, embrace, without enunciating, par ticulars. The self may live and find sus tenance in the very restraints imposed; but to deny self immolates the carnal instincts on the altar of a supreme devotion. (b ) Cross bearing. Christ and His cross are never separated in Christian experience. The “offense o f the cross” has not ceased. It was not Christ, but “ Christ crucified” which proved “unto the Jews a stumbling- block, and unto the Greeks foolishness.” Cross bearing is a daily experience. It comes when the revealed will of God crosses the sensibilities, not the w ill; Christ shrank in His sensibilities, but His will was loyal: “ If it be possible . . . nevertheless . . . as thou wilt.” A hostile will is re bellion. Shrinking sensibilities with a sub missive, or better, a joyous will are the cli max of loyalty. This is the glory of the : Christian life. “God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (c ) Imitation. Following Christ is the profound obligation and the supreme glory of the Christian life. “He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk even as he walked.” First in disposi tion, then in deed, we are to seek conform ity to the divinely human pattern. ■B-W . H. C lark . APR IL 16, 1933 IF A M AN DIE, SHALL HE LIVE A G A IN ? • J ob 14:1-14 Suggestions for the Meeting Hymn—“ Christ the Lord is Risen To day.” Hymn—-“ Crown H im w i t h M a n y Crowns.” Hymn—“He Lives on High.” Prayer. Scripture Lesson. Quartet—“Low in the Grave He Lay.” Testimonies—“What Christ’s Resurrec tion Means to Me.” Leader’s Message. Quiet Hour. Benediction—Hebrews 13:20, 21. Meditation on the Lesson Job’s age-old question in the fourteenth verse of our lesson, “If a man die, shall he live again?” can never be answered by reason or philosophy. Only revelation can answer it satisfactorily. Later, Job himself cries out with tri umphant faith, “ For I know that my re deemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth : And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God : Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another” (Job 19:25-27). The resurrection of Jesus is the proof
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