St. Paul recorder. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1934-2000, 1938-01-14

lis.
PRIMARY ToPIc-Jesus' First Help.
ers.
JUNIOR ToPIc-Why the Fishermen
INTERMEDIATE AND SENIOR TOP.
Deserving Now.
YOUNG PEOPLE AND ADULT TOP
IC-Adjusting Life to Service.
The public ministry Of our Lord
was not begun with any great fam
fare Of publicity. Leaving Judea
where the. entrenched forces Of
formal religion had joined the
forces of sin and degradation in OPP
position to him, and which had
brought about the Imprisonment Of
John, our Lord appears in his home
country, Galilee.
!. Preaching the Gospel wv. IA,
Is, 81. 90.
His first activity is worthy Of
careful note, for it is not exactly
what one might expect in this Cos
pei Of Mark, which we have already
characterized as the Gospel Of
mighty deeds rather than Of words.
Jesus came to work miracles, and
he did work them, and continues to
do the miraculous even in our day.
1t is therefore significant that his
first recorded work was that of
preaching, his second that Of calling
and preparing fellow workers, and
last of all the miraculous healing
of the demoniac.
From a human viewpoint one
would think that the opposite order
would prevail. First let the Mas
ter do some mighty miracle to catch
the attention of the people, then or
ganize a great party" and then
preach. Much of the so-called evan
gelistic effort in our day follows that
human formula and fails Of lasting
results. Observe the man who mag
nifies preaching and gives the Word
of God pre-eminence, and you will
see real spiritual accomplishments.
Notice also that when Jesus began
his ministry in Capernaum ". 2D,
it was by teaching, essentially the
same as preaching. There is no
substitute for the personal presenta-
ton Of the gospel. ?
Jesus preached faith and repent
ance, or perhaps one should say
repentance and faith ". 49,. They
go together in our Lords preaching.
Let us follow his example.
We read in verse 2 that the hear
ers were astonished because he
spoke with authority. They had been
accustomed to hearing the law
yers dispute on the basis Of the
authority of the law, now the law
giver himself stood in their midst.
He did not set aside the law, but he
gave it an Interpretation and direc-
ton which surprised them.
The preacher Of our day, truly
called Of the Lord and faithfully
proclaiming the full counsel of God,
may well be encouraged by the
importance our Lord gave to that
ministry. He too may speak with
authority because he speaks for
Christ.
II. Calling Disciples wv. 1920.
The orderly development Of any
work calls for the choosing and
training Of associates. Moody is
said to have observed that cit is a
greater thing to put ten men to
work than it is to do ten mems
work" Our Lord was no mere hui
man leader, but he desired and
used fellow-workers and he commit
ted to them the carrying on Of his
work after he departed.
God still calls men into his serv-
ice. Would that grace might be
given to each one to whom such
cali may come to respond Straight
way" as did the disciples. The
writer has just read the letter of a
heart-broken man who has refused
to answer Gods call for four long
years, and now comes with broken
body which may hinder his useful
ness for life. Such tragedies may
be averted by prompt and willing
obedience.
III. Healing the DemOniac wv.
1929.
Three things stand out in this
story. The first is that the Son of
God has power over the demons of
Satan. Any effort to fight the Dew
H. in our own power is foredoomed
to failure. But in the name Of Jesus
Christ we may bid him depart from
US. Thank God, it works!
The other thought is also of vital
import. The demons recognized
Jesus, they knew that he was ''the
Holy One Of God" ". 24), and they
bore public testimony of that fact.
And yet they were demons, the enc
mics Of God. Saving faith in the
Lord Jesus Christ is more than a
knowledge Of his claims, pious
repetition of his name even though
it be done in public. Let us make
sure that we have living faith in
the Son Of God.
Our final observation is that our
Lord did not permit the demons to
testify concerning him. Christ and
his church do not need the fattering
words or the financial support Of
unbelievers. Every time we accept
them we weaken our testimony and
ole o,,rcnl,ron .id;n,.ln..n 49,