The Coolidge examiner., 1938-03-03

GOLDEN TEXT-Such as l have give
/ thee.--Acts SO.
PRIMARY TOPIC-When Jesus went
home TO Nazareth.
Jesus.
INTERMEDIATE AND SENIOR
| TOPIC-Serving With What We Have.
YOUNG PEOPLE AND ADULT
TOPIC-Serving With What We Have.
One of the difficulties we mortals
face in dealing with spiritual things
is that we interpret things in the
realm of the spirit according to the
principles and measurements of the
physical world. We are quick to
say I'VE cannot on the basis of
logical human reasoning, when an
appreciation of the power of God
operative on our behalf would en-
able US to say I'VE can," and hav-
ing left God out of our thinking we
find that indeed we cannot.
The lesson before US presents two
pictures from our Lords second Wis
it to his home country, Nazareth.
On His first visit they had tried to
thrust Him over the precipice, and
He in all the glory and poise Of the
Son of God had walked through their
midst and gone His way. Now He
comes again with His disciples. We
then see how His home folk virtual
ly made the power of the omnipo-
tent God impotent because of their
unbelief. On the other hand we see
the weakness of men made mighty
because of obedience to the COM
mand of God.
l. The Paralysis of Unbelief (vv.
l-6).
The world, the flesh, and the devil
have brought forth a dark list of
wicked things, but perhaps the most
destructive and distressing of all is
the foundation sin of unbelief. When
we think back to the underlying
reason for any sin or weakness in
man it will be found that there is
a failure to believe God. Men do
not believe what He says about sin
and its penalty, nor do they believe
Him when He offers them grace and
strength for victory.
At Nazareth the unbelief which
limited the Son of God revealed it.
self in two questions
/. Whence hath this man these
things?" ". p.
They could not deny His mighty
works so they turn their attack on
His person. rs not this the car
penter?" ". -. Essentially this
was envy, 1.-The difficulty of ac-
knowledging the superiority over
themselves Of one Of their own num-
Der" :. (Morgan).
We are ashamed of the attitude
Of the men of Nazareth, but we
follow in their footsteps. Heavy
among the burdens a Christian
worker must bear is the unbelief
and ridicule Of his own people. Be-
cause a man has sold us groceries.
or painted our house or driven
taxi in our town we cannot see
how he could ever be a preacher
or a missionary. Well, he can, and
it is such folk that God often calls.
q What is this wisdom?" ". p.
The wisdom of Jesus was the wis
dom of God John 7:16). But how
could they know that? How can we
know? In John 7:17 Jesus gave the
answer: If any man will do his
will, he shall know of the doctrine,
whether it be of God, or whether I
speak of myself" We see then
that the reason for their unbelief
was really an unWillingnesS 10 do
the will of God. The controlling
motive of their life was wrong. Had
they been moved by a desire to do
Gods will, and a purpose to live in
accordance herewith (even though
there might have been failure in
that earnest effort. they would
have known that Jesus had His wis
dom from God.
The principle is just as true to-
day; no man will long be in doubt
who really wants to do Gods will
in his life.
III The Power of Divine Commits
sion (vv. 7-13).
Just as unbelief hinders even the
Son of God, SO faith in God and
obedience to His command makes
of weak and poorly equipped men
the mighty servants of God. In fact,
their very dependence on Him for
all things sets them free to devote
themselves fully to the ministry of
preaching and healing.
Note that they went 1.-TWO by
two" We have forgotten that di-
vine plan, and often send men into
remote and dangerous pioneer work
alone. Man needs fellowship; he
needs counsel and control.
Consider also how they were to
learn to trust God for their daily
sustenance (vv. 800. They suffered
no lack (see Luke %: 35). These
rules for the life of religious work
ers were modified later duke %:
36), but the principle remains the
same-the man or woman who is
not ready to depend on God for
everything had better not set out
to follow Him. 1t is blessed and
delightful life!