THE K I N G ’ S BUS I NES S
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For Those Who Hove Topics
III. EXPLAIN THE BIBLE (Acts 1:8; 5:42). There is no better way to fix God’s Word in our hearts than to' give out that which we know already. . The gospel is one thing we may give1 away and have more left than when we started. We should explain to others: 1. The universal need of salvation (Rom. 3:10-23). 2. How Christ saves sinners (2 Cor. 5:21; Eph. 2:8, 9). 3. How Christ satisfies the needs of our hearts for time and eternity (Phil. 4:4-7). As we grow in our k n o w l e d g e of the Bible, we will discover how we can use God’s Word to comfort others, it is best to carry a New Testament in the pocket or purse every day. Mastering scores of Scripture passages and knowing where they may be found, will make us able, not merely to tell our friends what is in the Bible, but also to show them so that they can see it with their own eyes. How wonderful it is to be able to use the Bible effectively! It is said that a visitor was admiring Rembrandt’s p i c t u r e of “An Old Woman” in the Metropolitan Museum. After gazing for some time, the visitor remarked, “This is not a picture; it is the old woman herself.” It is so with us as we read the Word of God. We are led to say, “This is not a Book; it is God Himself speak ing to us.” JUNE 17, 1945 FREEDOM— BOUGHT WITH A PRICE! 1 C orinthians 6:19, 20 G alatians 5:1 By John W. Kopp A most accurate definition of the term “freedom” is revealed by a con trast between the Old and New Testa ments. In the former God demanded a slain sacrifice (Ex. 12:3, 6), but in the latter He requests a living sacri fice (Rom. 12:1)! What God demanded He has Himself provided (Gen. 22:8; John 1:29), and thus secured for every believer complete and absolute freedom from the bondage of the law with all of its demands and binding stipulations which, as Peter well said, “neither our fathers nor we were able to bear” (Acts. 15:10). That is real freedom I In'recent years we have heard much of the “Four Freedoms” which the nations are making a desperate and most costly attempt to purchase. A careful reading of God’s Word reveals the fact that centuries ago at the cross of Christ, God forever secured these same “four freedoms” and in corporated them in that marvelous re demption bought for us with the blood of Christ.
JUNE 10, 1945 WAYS OF USING THE BIBLE EFFECTIVELY 2 T imothy 3:14-17 By Charles W. Mayes The Bible is God’s final message to us. It is the textbook for believers in this day. We will be thrilled when we learn that every problem which may ever arise in a Christian’s life is ex plained somewhere within the covers of this Book. Therefore it will be to our advantage to know how to use the Bible effectively. For Those Who Hove Topics I. KNOW THE BIBLE (2 Tim. 2:15). It is not enough to have a beautiful Bible, the gift of a kind friend, lying on the table covered over with news papers, magazines, and b o o k s of fiction. We must know the Book. In order to be “at home” with the Bible we should know: 1. The names of the books of the Bible and how to find them quickly. 2. Christ as personal Saviour and Lord. We should know Him as the One who died, arose, and appears for us before God as the hope of. our eternal salvation (Acts 4:12; Rom. 10:9, 10, 13; Heb. 7:25). 3. The plan of God. We need to see the time element in the Word of God, just as we would in a study of United States history. God has a plan from the beginning of t i m e throughout eternity. We are now living in the period of grace or the church age. In this particular period of history, God is calling out of the nations of the earth a people for His name. In per sonal salvation Christ saves, delivers, and prepares us for the great event when He will come back again (Acts 1:8; 15: 14; 1 Thess. 1:9, 10). 4. The many Bible promises. Each believer should learn hundreds of pas sages of Scripture—promises for salva tion, promises for victory, and pas sages to teach God’s will (Psa. 119:11). II. LIVE THE BIBLE (2 Pet. 1:8, 9). Living the Bible is living according to God’s Word. It might seem to be hard to live the Christian life, but remember it is much harder not to live it! We live the Bible by doing the following things: 1. Present our lives to Christ after salvation (Rom. 12:1, 2). 2. Depend upon Christ, our Saviour, daily. As He dwells in our lives, He will fashion us into His purpose (Eph. 3:17). 3. Do what He has already revealed to us, so that He can reveal more to us (Col. 3:17; 1 John 1:7). Many young people wonder why it is hard to de termine the will of God. Often the reason is that we have not followed the light we already possess.
I. FREEDOM FROM WANT. The natural man, though religious, is desperately in want before the eyes of a holy and righteous God. He con fidently boasts of his riches, saying he is, increased with goods having “need of nothing” but God declares him to be “wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked” (Rev. 3:17). Since the fall of Adam, the entire human race may Well be summed up in the’ plight of the so- called “prodigal son” of whom it is written “and he began to be in want.” As the father of the prodigal pitied his son “so the Lord pitieth them that fear him” (Psa. 103:13), and has made ample provision to supply all our needs and wants (Psa. 34:9, Phil. 4:19). Thus every person who has believed what God has spoken, and has received His Son as his own per sonal Saviour can say with the Psalm ist: “I shall not want” II. FREEDOM FROM FEAR. 1. From the haunting fear of death. To the Christian, death is but a “ sleep” —not soûl. sleep, but body sleep! The body is “sown” in the grave awaiting resurrection while the spirit is ushered immediately into the presence of the Saviour “which is far better.” There is the blessed hope that "we shall not all sleep” (1 Cor. 15:51). But should we be called upon to pass through the “valley of the shadow,” we shall “ fear no evil; for thou art with me” (Psa. 23:4) and can depend upon our Lord’s promise, “yet shall he live” (John 6:40; 11:25, 26). 2. From the fear of judgment. Our Lord promised that we “shall not come into c o n d e m n a t i o n ” (John 5:24), “should not'perish” (John 3:16), and even now are “not condemned” (John 3:18). 3. From all fear and anxiety (Psa. 27:1; 56:3). Compare carefully the combined testimony of our Lord Jesus, the Psalmist, and the Apostles Paul and Peter (Psa. 37:1, 8; Matt. 6:34; Phil. 4:6; 1 Pet. 5:7). III. FREEDOM OF WORSHIP. True worship is the natural out growth of a heart delivered from all want and fear. Note how this freedom differs from the previous two. It is not freedom from worship, but free dom to worship! Though thousands are fighting and dying for the latter, millions are practicing the former! Are you? A few hints as to what constitutes real worship are suggested in the following passages of Scripture: Psalm 95:1-3; 103:1; 136:1; 147:1; 149:1.
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