T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
23
January, 1934
COMMENTARY Golden Text Illustration Object Lesson B y A lan S. P earce B y E lmer L. W ilder
LESSON Children’s Division B y H elen G aïley
Blackboard Lesson B y B essie B. B urch
Outline and Exposition B y B. B. S utcliffe
Points and Problems B y A lva J. M c C lain , Ashland Theological Seminary, Ashland, Ohio
be put away and the heart allowed to rest in the Father’s good offices for His own. It is the unsaved ones who worry about material things. These form the obj ect of desire for many (in this lesson called “Gentiles”), but the Christian has some thing higher and better to possess. The kingdom of God and His righteousness are his object (v. 33). And as the Christian thus seeks that kingdom, all needful ma terial things will be added unto him from the bountiful hand of his heavenly Father. This does not mean that the ma terial things will be added as a reward for centering the heart upon the kingdom of God, but they will be added in the natural course of events just as they are to the ■birds and the flowers. As the birds are fed and the flowers decorated, so will the Christian be fed and clothed. The Lord would teach that everything connected with the earth is transitory and therefore secondary. The world’s wealth is a snare, its pomp is fading, its glories are to be dimmed; hence why strive for these comparatively unimportant things? The eternal things, which are really important, should have preeminence in one’s thoughts and endeavor. The question should not be, “How much of material things can I accumulate?” but, “How much treasure can I lay up in heaven?”
FEBRUARY 4, 1934 PUTTING GOD’S KINGDOM FIRST M atthew 6:1-34
Lesson T e x t : Matt. 6:19-33. Golden Text: “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you” (Matt. 6:33). Outline and Exposition I. L aying U p T reasure (19-21). he portion of the so-called Sermon on the Mount with which we are dealing has to do with the citizens of the kingdom. It reveals the true object which should govern the conduct of the individual rather than the conduct of the
yourselves treasure in heaven.” This does not mean, of course, that Christians should always be poor, but it does mean that a Christian’s treasure should not be in ma terial things that may be lost, but in spirit ual things that are indestructible. Having one’s treasure in heaven would deliver from anxiety of heart. Whatever happened on earth to one’s wealth would not affect the heart of the one whose treasure was in heaven. People commit suicide when their wealth disappears, be cause they have nothing in heaven; every thing they possessed was on earth. II. A cceptable S ervice (22-24). The Lord taught that singleness of aim was the great requirement for acceptable service (vs. 22, 23). The proper ambi tion for the servant is stated in 2 Corin thians 5 :9, 10. Paul said in these verses we should make it our ambition, whether at home or abroad, to be well pleasing unto the Lord. To have divided aims or divided attention brings certain dark ness. To be wholly out-and-out for the Lord would bring light into all the life, and control over all thoughts and desires and actions. Ever since the Lord uttered the words of verse 24, they have been an axiom among men. No man can serve two mas ters. The attempt to do so means poor service to each. To serve God means turning the back upon mammon, and to serve mammon means turning the back upon God. No one can serve both. To lay up treasure in heaven necessitates the re jection of the service of mammon. But so doing will bring eternal and worth while results. III. L iving C onfident L ives (25-33). In the light of what we face today, it is startling to hear the Lord say, “Do not worry” (v. 25). The Revised Version has ifi “Be not anxious for your life.” Our Lord would have us live lives without care. He points to nature for an illustra tion of living without anxiety (vs. 26-30). The birds do not worry about what* they shall eat and drink, nor do the flowers fret about what they shall wear. The food for the birds and the clothing for the flowers are all supplied by “your heavenly Father.” And if He is thus in terested in all of His creatures, will He not be mindful of His children? Solomon’s glory was put on by himself, but the glory of the flower was put on by the Lord. The same Lord will also clothe His children. They are more precious to Him than the flower that perishes.1 The Lord used a word of rebuke when He said, “O ye of little faith” (v- 30). These same words were used in rebuking doubt (14:31), reason (16:8), and fear (8:26). Anxious care, doubt, reasoning about what He does, and fear, are all to
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“ In Christ . . . at Colosso” (Col. 1:2). Let us live this year in our God-given place of resi dence, “in Christ,” and at our God-given place of ex perience, “at Colosso.” In Christ is comfort for all sorrows, strength for all burdens, and peace for all the days. Then let the at mosphere of our residence Influence all our experience.
Points and Problems
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For i l l us t r a t i ve material, in this les son, our Lord draws f r eel y f r om t he world of nature — the moth (v. 19), the eye (v. 22), the birds (v. 26), the flowers (v. 28), and the grass (v. 30). In the social conditions of His day, He finds three illustrations— thrift (v. 19), inse curity of property (v. 20), and slavery (v- 24). From all this, you may learn two things: First, Christ was an inter ested observer of the world in which He lived; and second, if you wish to teach successf ul l y, use plenty of concrete il lustrations, the kind that your hea r e r s
B. B. S utcliffe
citizens collectively. The first portion of this chapter deals with duties toward God in the matter of almsgiving, prayer, and fasting. The latter portion, from which this lesson is taken, deals with duties to ward one’s own self in the matter of treasure, service, and anxiety concerning daily needs. The riches of those days consisted of material things, such as goodly garments, or the material from which such garments were made, and specie or metal. These things were accumulated and hoarded, and one was rich or poor according to the amount of treasure thus owned. Hence moths and rust and thieves were constant perils to be guarded against. It was diffi cult to guard these treasures because of the continued presence of enemies. The Lord drew the lesson that there was no abso lutely safe place of storage on earth. The past few years have revealed the fact that in whatever form treasure is held, there is no safe place on earth to keep it. Money, in whatever form, takes wings and flies away, and the rich man of yester day is the poor man of today, through no fault of his own. How to preserve wealth is a pressing question. In this lesson the Lord tells us how. The investments of earth carry no sure guarantee that safety will follow. But to invest in heavenly securities means ab solute safety. In heaven, no moth can enter, no rust can corrupt, and no thief can break through \ and steal. Therefore, the exhortation is important, “Lay up for
A lva J. M c C lain
“ For the life was man ifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and show unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was mani fested unto us” (1 John 1 : 2 ). “ And this life is in his Son. Hethat hath the Son hathlife; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life” (1 •John 5:11, 12).
will readily understand and appreciate. Our Lord did not make a physiological blunder in verse 22. He dijl not say, “The light of the body is the eye.” The Greek word is not phos, but luchnos, which should be translated “lamp” as in the American Revised Version. Nothing could be more accurate: The eye is the lamp of the body. It is not the light, but only the instrument through which the light becomes visible. Certainly the God who made the human
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