THE K I N G ’ S BUS I NE S S memorial arch was built, but an earth quake shook it to pieces. The founda tion had been laid in broken fragments. The builders had not anticipated the earthquake, but it came and revealed their treachery. We are all building, and every build ing must be tested, but only that which is built upon the Rock will abide. God has laid a sure foundation in Jesus Christ. (Eph. 2:20; 1 Cor. 3:11; Isa. 26:4; 28:16). Put your faith in Him as your personal Saviour and Lord. Let the Holy Spirit erect the superstruc- ture in harmony with the Word of God, and you can abide all .storms. 'Nothing can move your dwelling. All else is sand and awaits the. final destruction and dissolution. (4) WORD OP AUTHORITY, vs. 28, 29. “ As one having authority." The authority of the King’s message astonished the people, for it was very different from the' message of the scribes. He appealed to the conscience. The ideals which He had set forth in His discourse were so j incomparably above the ideas of any and all other teachers that it was, and has been, adjudged an impossibility to obey them. Truth has a ring to it that can not be mistaken. The quibbling, specu lating superstitions of the scribes brought no conviction, but this mes sage has reached, convicted and con verted whole generations of people. PRACTICAL POINTS. (1) “ To the law and to the testimony; if they speak not according to this Word, it is because there is no truth in them.” (Isa. 8:20). (2) “ A wonderful and horrible thing is committed in the land; the prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means, and my people love to have it so.” (Isa. 5:30, 31). (3) “ Woe to the wicked, for his wick ed ways lead to wrath.” (4) “ Lord, Lord,” are worthless words
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from lying lips. (5) Safety lieth not in the strength of the house, but in the stability of the foundation. (6) Acceptable words must be accord ing to the will of the Father. (7) He who was the author of life spake with authority. (8) There are many false prophets1 among preachers and professors. (9) It-is the business of the teacher to warn the -scholar to beware of wolves. (10) “ Depart from me” will be fearful words to Christless church mem bers. (11) He never knew them, because they .■ never knew Him. & Subject Illustration. In my boyhood days we used to test the apples in the orchards of a farmer, near our town. Together with his chil dren a few of us would wander through and taste the ap- LESSON pies on almost ev- ILLUSTRATIONS ery tree. There W. H. Pike were some trees in that orchard that retained almost every apple until late in the fall because they were not pala table. Other trees were favorites and their fruit was soon gone. By their fruits they were known. How much like those trees are the Christians. No One Liveth to Himself Alone. A vessel sailing from Joppa carried a passenger who beneath his berth cut a hole through the ship’s side. When the men of the watch expostulated with him, lie replied, “What matters it to you? The hole I have cut lies under my own berth.” The fruit of your life either blesses or damns someone. But as Joseph Parker says, “ When I see a sinner run- into sin I feel 'as if he might have been made by the devil, but when he stands still and bethinks himself—when the hot tears fill his eyes—-when he sighs
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