The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1943-12-31

lected.. and copyrighted. BY international
Council q Religious Education: used BY
JESUS BEGINS HIS MINISTRY
LESSON TEXT-Mark 1927.
GOLDEN TExT-Repent We. and believe
The gospel.-Mark l:l5
A new year Of opportunity Is be-
fore US. What will it hold for us and
for the world? We do not know, but
God does, and trusting Him we
move forward. One thing we must
have this next year is more Bible
study. We need to know what God 8
Word has to say to us day by day.
In our Sunday schools we begin
today a three month series on the
Gospel Of Mark, which presents
Christ as the Servant of God. It is
the Gospel of mighty acts.
In our lesson we see Jesus
!. Entering Upon His Ministry
wv. 9-13).
The baptism and temptation Of
Jesus were not just preparation
for His work, but were rather His
actual entry upon His mission.
The baptism Of Jesus was not be-
cause Of any sin in Him, for He was
sinless. It was Of real significance
as His entry upon the work for
which He had come into the world
that Of redemption. He who knew
no sin became sin for us. He here
partook of the sinners baptism, not
because He had sinned, but because
He came to be the sinners substi-
tute (see Heb. 2:17).
What infinite love and condescen-
sion! To it God the Father gave His
approval ". 11), and the Holy Spirit
gave heavenly witness by descend
ing upon Him.
The one who was to be the con-
slant opponent Of Christ and His fol-
lowers was reckoned with at the
very beginning Of His ministry as
He was led by the Holy Spirit into
the wilderness to be tempted Of
Satan. Around Him were the wild
beasts, before Him was Satan, and
in it all "the angels ministered unto
him."
The devil has only three real
temptations to present, "the lust Of
the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and
the pride Of life" Il John 2:16). He
uses the same three types of temp
tation with us, varying the "dress"
in which he presents them. Let us
be on guard.
Victory came through the use Of
Gods Word. We need to learn that
lesson and not attempt to defeat Sa-
tan with any man-made weapons of
will power, logic, or culture.
III. Working As Preacher and
Teacher wv. IA, IS, 81, 22).
The Gospel Of Mark is the book Of
Christ's miraculous works. It is
therefore significant that His first
recorded work was that Of preach
ing, His second that of calling and
preparing fellow workers, and last Of
all the miraculous healing Of the
demoniac wv. 1929.
From a human viewpoint one
would think that the opposite order
would prevail. First let the Master
do some mighty miracle to catch the
attention of the people, then organ
lie a great party" and then
preach. Much effort in our day fol-
lows that human formula and fails
Of lasting results. The man who
magnifies preaching and gives the
Word of God pre-eninence will see
real spiritual accomplishments.
Notice also that when Jesus be-
gan His ministry in Capernaum ".
21), it was by teaching, essentially
the same as preaching. There is no
substitute for the personal pres
entaticn Of the gospel.
Jesus preached faith and repent
ance, or perhaps one should say re-
pentance and faith ". 15). They
went together in our Lords preach
ing. Let US follow His example.
The preacher Of our day, truly
called Of the Lord and faithfully
proclaiming the full counsel Of God,
may well be encouraged by the inn
portance our Lord gave to that min
istry. He too may speak with au-
thority because He speaks for
Christ.
III. Calling His Helpers wv. 1e-
20).
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 human
leader, but He desired and used fell
low workers and He committed to
them the carrying on Of His work
after He departed.
God stiil calls men into His serv-
ice. Would that grace might be
given to each one to whom such a
call may come to respond straight
way" as did the disciples.
The nature of our Lords call to
"a T. 4. n