King's Business - 1919-10

935

T HE K I N G ’S B U S I N E S S

a preacher like th a t of John, is to lead his disciples away from him self and direct them to the Saviour, then his aim is righ t.—-Saphir. They followed Jesus. W ithou t a word to th e ir teacher they eagerly followed Jesus. So does inquiry begin w ith many a soul. The soul for th e first tim e feels as if some action were demanded of it. It can no longer ju s t sit and listen to descriptions of Christ. I t must for itself seek fu r­ th e r knowledge of th is unique person. — Dods. Our Lord loves to fill the com­ mon w ater pots w ith H is mysterious wine. He calls obscure fishermen to be th e ambassadors of His grace. He fills un cultured mouths w ith m ighty arg u ­ ments.— Jowett. v. 38. Then Jesu s tu rn ed . The Lord Jesus is easy of access.— Echoes. W h at seek ye? He suffers none to follow Him in vain. He desires to be followed in­ telligently or not a t all. He will tu rn from none who in response to His ques­ tion can tru ly say, “We seek God, we seek holiness, we seek service w ith Thee, we seek Thyself.”——Expos. Bible. v. 39. Come and see. Jesu s never had a previous engagem ent when a sinner would come to Him.—McNeill. They abode w ith Him. Abiding w ith Christ is the resu lt of following Him. I t means to live in th e consciousness of His presence and to have fellowship w ith Him.— Marsh. The unmentioned place where they dwelt w ith H im is typical of the heavenly place where He now is. In faith we see where He abides and by faith we know we are th e re w ith Him.^—Anno. Bible. v. 41. F irs t findeth h is own bro th er. R elationship adds obligation to oppor­ tun ity . He who like Andrew can do lit­ tle himself, may by his simple te sti­ mony and honest life, bring to Christ a Simon who may become a conspicuous power for good.— Henry. If you w ant to know th e full sweetness of associa­ tion w ith friends and of hum an love, get some h ea rt k n it to you rself'b y this

w ithou t learning, w ithou t friends, bu t he can never go th e re w ithout Christ as th e bearer of his sins.— Dryer. He who th ink s he has no need of Christ th e Lamb of God, has too high though ts of him self.— Mason. Our sins are debts th a t none can pay b u t Christ. It is no t our tears bu t H is blood, not our sighs b u t H is sufferings, th a t can tes­ tify for our sins. Christ m ust pay all or we are prisoners forever.— Thos. Brooks. You have only to cast your lifelong guilt, your evil though ts and wicked words, your sinful soul itself, into th is soul-cleansing fountain in or­ der to ob literate from God’s creation your foul transgressions and yet leave th e Divine perfection as fair as ever.— H am ilton. Of th e world. Is. 53:8 seems to see no fu rth e r th a n th e redemption of th e Jews. John knows th a t th e Mes siah comes to save th e whole hum an race, even those hostile to Him.— Plummer. v. 30. This is He. The incarna­ tion was a t first more of an obscuration th a n a revelation. Christ needed some one to indicate and identify Him.rr^- F a rr. v. 31. Knew H im not. He did not know Him as the coming Messiah.— Torrey. v. 33. Knew H im not. John de­ scribes Jesus as now known by revela­ tion, yet Jesus was his cousin. F lesh a n d ’ blood relationship did no t bring Divine recognition, (cf Matt. 3:16, 17; 16:13-17; 1 Cor. 12 :3 ; 2 Cor. 5 :6 ).— Evans. Spirit descending on Him . The visible descent of the Spirit upon Christ made no change in the n atu re of Christ. It served two purposes: first, to make th e Messiah known to John and th rough him to th e world, second, to m ark the official commencement of His m inistry. —4Camb. Bible. \ v. 37. . H eard him speak. They heard John and followed Jesus. | This is th e te st of preaching. If th e aim of

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