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T H E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
October, 1941
robe,” "a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet,” and “the fatted calf.” Search the record as you will, you will find no trace of any rebuke, any re crimination. This does not mean that a child of God can wander and waste his days without the loss of reward, but it does mean that the Father’s heart and grace are greater than all the puny imaginations of men. The Evidence of the godly repentance that accompanies saving faith in the heart of any man is a willingness to right his former wrongs in so far as possible. J. D. Jones tells the following story of the monk of Florence: “Thou didst send for me,” said Sav onarola to Lorenzo the Magnificent, the tyrant of the 'city of Florence, as the ruler lay on his dying bed. “Yes,” said Lorenzo, “for three.sins lie heavy on my soul,” and then he told the monk how he was tortured by the 'remembrance of the sack of Vol- terra, and his robbery of a bank where by many poor girls had lost their all and had been driven to lives of shame, and the bloody reprisals he took after a political conspiracy against him. "God is good,” replied Savonarola, “ God is merciful. But,” he at once added, “three things are needful.” “What things?” asked Lorenzo anx iously. “First, a great and living faith in God’s mercy.” “I have the fullest faitlj in it,” re plied the dying man. “ Secondly, you must restore all your ill-gotten wealth.” At this Lorenzo writhed, but at last he gave a nod of assent. “Lastly,” said Savonarola to the cow-1 ering prince, “you must restore to Flor ence her liberty.” And Lorenzo angrily turned his back upon the preacher and said never a word. The gate was too “narrow.” S elected . When a Boy Was Sorry L uke 15:11-24 MEMORY VERSE: “Thou, Lord, art good, aiyi ready to forgive” (Psa. 86:5). APPROACH: One time a Sunday- school class was asked what the word “repentance” meant. It is a long word. I wonder whether you know what it Golden Text Illustration M ark 1 :15
ways that we make up our minds to change. It will not do very much good just to talk about being sorry. LESSON STORY: Do you remember the story we had some time ago about a boy who went away from home and wasted his money by living in sin? Do you remember how he felt when his money was all gone? He was hungry and tired, and he began to be sorry for his sins. He was sorry enough to quit. He said, “I will arise and go to my father” (Lk. 15:18). You remember how glad his father was to see him. He didn’t punish him; he didn’t even scold him. He forgav.e him all his sin. God is just like this boy’s father. If we will just go back to Him in real repentance—really being sorry for our sins and wanting to quit—we will find that our memory verse is true, “Thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive.” b o you know why it, is that God can forgive us our sins ? It is because Jesus Christ has paid for them with His blood. Because the Lord Jesus Christ died for our sins, we do not need to die for them. We just need to forsake them, and say like this boy,' “I will arise and go to my Father.” OBJECTS: Two quart bottles, one filled with water; a small bottle of red ink; a small bottle of ammonia; a small bottle of muriatic acid, and a medicine dropper. (Discolor the bottle of water with red ink. Place a teaspoonful of ammonia in the other bottle, and close with a cork. Put a gray collar around the neck of this bottle, in case some of the water spills in transferring and not all the smoke is forced out. The am monia and muriatic acid can be secured at a drug store.) LESSON: This bottle looks empty. It reminds us of the prodigal son, whose life was empty. There was something Object Lesson C hoosing and L osing
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lacking in his life, and he, thinking that money and the things it could buy would satisfy his heart, asked his father to give him his inheritance. To the son, the request and the things which followed may have seemed quite harmless at first. This little bottle has something in it marked “POISON.” '[Show the bottle of muriatic acid.] It looks clear and harmless. The drug- 'gist said it was poison, and the label on the bottle says so, too. We vrill drop some of the poison into the bottle. Smoke fills the bottle, just as sin soon filled the life of the prod igal son. Shaking the bottle' will not remove the smoke. Thfis red bottle filled with red fluid reminds us of Jesus Christ and His blood which cleanses ‘ from all sin. I will place the mouth of the bottle filled with smoke over the mouth of the bottle filled with red fluid. Watch what hap pens when I put the red bottle on top. The red goes to the first bottle, and the smoke goes to the one representing Christ. The Lord'Jesus Christ gave His blood to cleanse from sin, and took all our sins on the cross. This gives an illustration of repent ance. To repent means to turn from sin and to turn to Christ for cleansing. It means to get rid of sin and to re ceive Christ. Some think they have repented when they have become sorry for sin, but true repentance leads the sinner to forsake his sin and to accept the Lord Jesus Christ as his personal Saviour.
NOVEMBER 16, 1941
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UNION WITH CHRIST J ohn 14:20; 15:1-10; 17:21-23; R omans 8:9, 10; 1 C orinthians 6:15-20; 2 C orinthians : 5 :1 7 ; G alatians 2 :20 ; E phesians 2:20-22; 3 :17 -19 ;4 :15 ,16 ; 5:29, 30; P hilippians 3 :9 ; 4 :13 ; C olossians 2:6, 7.
Joh n 15:1 I am the tru e vin e, and m y F a th e r i.s the husbandm an. 2 E very branch in m e that b earetb not fru it he ta k eth a w a y ) and every branch th a t beareth fru it, he p u rg eth It, that it m ay b rin g fo rth m ore fru it. 3 N ow ye are clean th rou gh the w ord w h ich I h ave spok en u n to you. 4 A bide in m e, and 1 in you . As the bra n ch cann ot bear fru it o f itse lf, excep t it a bid e in tbfe vin e; n o m ore can ye, e x cept ye ¿hide in m e. 5 I am *the vin e, y e a re the branch es. H e that abideth in m e, and 1 in him , the sam e b rin g eth fo rth m uch fr u it; fo r w ith ou t m e ye can do noth in g. 0 I f a m an abide not in m e, lie I* ca st fo rth as a branch , and is w ith e re d : and m en g a th e r them , and ca st them into th e fire , and th ey are burned. 7 If ye a bid e in m e, and m y w ord s a b id e in you , ye shall ask w h at ye w ill, and it sh a ll be don e u n to you.
8 H erein is m y F a th er g lo r ifie d , that ye bear m uch fr u it; ao sh a ll ye be m y d iscip les. BLACKBOARD LESSON
means. A boy in the class said, Vlt means being sorry for your sins.” A little girl said, "I think it means being sorry enough to quit.” The little girl was right. Real repent ance makes us so sorry for our sinful
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