THE KING’S BUSINESS
473
Sunday, September 13.—2 Corinthians 6:10 Our Brothers and Sisters in the Islands FOREIGN MISSIONARY MEETING As the Islands are broad-sown on the seas, so is this topic a very scattering one. The leader would do well t o ' select some one island, say, Ceylon, Madagascar, Java; or group of islands, say, the Philippines, Sandwich Islands, South Sea Islands, or West Indies. The stories of missions among the islands are of intense interest, the tri umphs of the Gospel are nowhere more glorious and encouraging to the cause, Read at least some one of the little volumes, the, romances of the islands. Send at once to your church board and secure some recent literature, which they will send you free. Of this subject the prophets had much to say: The Word is to be proclaimed to the is lands,—Jer. 31:10; In the most distant islands,—Isa. 66:18, 19; Even the veriest heathen islands,—Zeph. 2 : 11 . They are waiting for it,—Isa. 42:4 ; We can make them glad with it,;—Ps. 97:1; . Go, that God may be glorified among them, —Isa. 24:15. Sunday, September 20.—Matthew 10:28-31 What to Fear and What Not to Fear Notice. —The text says not "what,” but “ whom” to fear. Be Afraid Yet Not Afraid. W e are told to fear God (v. 28) ; we are told not to fear Him (Isa. 43:1) ; that God is a consuming fire (Heb. 12:29), and that He is love (1 John 4:8 ). How can these things be? A loving and wise father punishes disobedience and his child is afraid of him if it is disobedient. At the same time such a father loves his children and as obedient children they are not afraid of him nor is there any one .they will trust more gladly.
What Jesus Said About This. He was speaking of them who because they were afraid of what men might do or say would be afraid to do what God wished them to do or say. He said that though men might kill our bodies for obeying God; God could punish by casting us soul and body into hell for not obeying Him. We ought never to forget that Jesus, the gentle Jesus, said that God could cast into hell, for if He said it it must be true, and the wicked and unbelieving may well be afraid of Him. But Jesus Taught Us Not to Fear. After Jesus taught not to be afraid of men for God can punish us, He went on to teach us not to be afraid for God can and will take care of us. Who would miss one tiny sparrow out of the summer? Who? Jesus taught that God would! How won derful, that He should notice a sparrow’s fall, who has to keep all the stars in their places. Who would miss one hair from his child’s head? But God would. So then it seems God cares for every sparrow above our heads and every hair upon our heads. But Jesus did not say all this to tell how God cares for sparrows, but how he cares for u s! Not that He loves the sparrow less but us more. So whenever we see a bird of the air, let us say to ourselves, “ God cares for the sparrow that dies and that is the end of it, surely He will take care of me, that lives forever and is of more value than all the spar rows.” Somebody said that “ the way to flee from God is to flee to Him,” and He always receives them that come to Him; for “As I live, saith the Lord, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his evil way and live. ” A sparrow, chased by a hawk, in its terror flew right into a gentleman’s bosom as he walked in the garden, and it is said that this is the way “Jesus, lover of my soul, Let me to Thy bosom fly,” came to be written. Afraid—yet not afraid.
Made with FlippingBook - Online catalogs