Arkansas State press. [volume] (Little Rock, Ark.) 1941-1959, 1943-12-31


GOLDEN TExf~Repent We. and be-
feve the gospel,-Mark Ills.
A new year Of opportunity Is be-
fore us. What will 1t 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 Gods
Word has to say to us day by day.
In our Sunday schools we begin
today 4 three month series on the
Gospel of Mark. which presents
Christ as the Servant of God. II Is
the Gospel Of mighty acts.
In our lesson we see Jesus
!. Entering Upon His Ministry
wv. e-lO.
The baptism and temptation OF
Jesus were not Just q 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. II was Of real significance
% 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 10 be the sinners subsu-
tute tsee Heb. IT'D.
what infinite love and condescen-
sionl TO II God the Father gave His
approval ". ~. 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 ~
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 al THE angels mipistered unto
him."
The devil has only three real
temptations to present. ''the lust Of
the desh. the lust Of Tia eyes. and
the pride Of life" Il John 2:le). He
uses the same three types Of temp
tation with US. varying the dress
IN which he presents them. Let VI
DO on guard.
Victory came through the use ol
Gods Word. We need 10 learn tina,
lessen and not attempt 10 defeat So
tan with any man-mads weapons d
WIN power. logic, Or culture.
II. working A. Preacher and
Teacher w. II. Is. n. ~.
he Gospel Of Mark II The book Of
chSises miraculous works. II ID
therefore significant that His Arst
RECORDED work was that Of preach
tnG HIS second Mat Of calling and
brsparins fellow workers. and last Of
IN the miraculous healing Of the
Aemoniae tvv. $3.50.
From Z 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
ize . great party" and then
preach. Much effort In our day fol-
lows that human formula and fails
of lasting results. The man who
magnifes preaching and gives the
Word Of God prominence will see
real spiritual accomplishments.
Notice also that when Jesus be-
gan His ministry in Capernaum ".
III, 1t was by teaching. essentially
the same as preaching. There Is nc
substitute for the personal pres
entation OF the gospel
Jesus preached faith and repent
ance. or perhaps one should say re.
pentance and faith ". 49,. They
went together in our Lords preach
Ing. Let US follow His example.
The preacher Of our day, truly
called Of the Lord and faithful,
proclaiming the full counsel Of God
may well be encouraged by the i'm
portance our Lord gave to that min
istry. He too may speak with au
thority because He speaks FOL
Christ.
III. Calling His Helpers wv. ls
20.
The orderly development OF an,
work calls for the choosing ant
training Of associates. Moody Il
said to have observed that lit is ,
greater thing to put ten men Il
work than 1t is to do ten men,
work"
Our Lord was no mere human
leader, but He desired and used Eel
low workers and He committed /,
them the carrying on of His worl
after He departed.
God still calls men into His serv
Ice. Would that grace might b,
given to each one 10 whom such
call may come to respond Straight
way" as did the disciples.
The nature OF our Lords cali {,
these men Is worthy of our atten
ton. He wanted them not as execu
tives, or leaders Of an organization
or as His personal attendants. The,
probably served In all these capaci
ties and others. But their mali
business was TO be personal soul