THE K I N G ’S BUS I NES S ness. But the smallest spark of Chris tian life is far above the noblest genius of a heathen philosopher.”’ J. S. Bird. Acknowledge Heavenly Citizenship..— Hans Von Zieten was a brave general under Frederick, the Great, and a Chris tian. On one occasion, when dining at the palace, the infidel king made some, profane expression about the Lord’s Supper, and the other guests laughed at his remarks. The general arose and said with a firm voice: “Your Majesty knows that in war I have never feared any danger, and have been willing to give my life for you and my country;- but there is One above us who is great er than you; He is the Saviour and Redeemer of men. In Him is my hope in life and death. In the power of this faith your brave army has fought and conquered. If your Majesty under mines this faith, you undermine the welfare of the state.” His bold con fession made such a powerful impres sion on the kihg that he dismissed his guests, invited the general into his cab inet and declared that he wished such a faith as his also.—Cook.' Golden Text Illustration.—Demos thenes, when asked what is the first thing in oratory? replied, “Action.” “What is the second?” replied, “Ac tion.” “The third?” “Action.” In like manner, if we were asked what is the first element in a Christian life? we would answer; “Obedience,” etc. “What is the whole duty of man?” “To fear God and keep His commandments.” Our blessed Lord made Obedience the test of love. "If ye love me, keep my commandments.” He made it the test of friendship. “Ye are my friends if ye do whatsoever I command you.” When a trust magnate gave his church two tablets of stone with the Ten Commandments engraved on them, a woman in the church remarked that his reason for giving away the Com mandments, was that he could not keep them.
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v. 15. Pharisees took counsel. There is a particular woe to them that de vise iniquity (Micah 2:1). The more there is of wicked w;it in the con trivance of a sin, COMMENTS FROM the more there is MANY SOURCES. of the wicked will Keith L. Brooks in the commis sion o f it . — Henry. Entangle Him. It is best not to ..have any controversy with the Lord. He always comes out ahead. The wise thing to do with Him and His words is sim ply to believe and obey.-—Torrey. v, 16. With the Herodians. Pharisees and Herodians were bitter enemies but they had one thing in common—their hatred of Christ. It was not the first time in which these two opposing parties conspired together against the object of their common hate. (Mk. 3:6.)—Tor rey. We know thou art true. What ever the theoretical beliefs or moral characters of men may be, they are bound to say, “We know thou art true.”—Homilist. Nothing could ex ceed the insidious hypocrisy of this at tack on Jesus. His enemies approach Him as a teacher whom they trust.— Carr. v. 18. Jesus perceived. No one can impose upon Him. They expected a yes or no. A yes would have set the peo ple against Him, A no would have put Him at the mercy of Hie government.- He not only avoided the net they had spread but gave the very best answer to their question by doing so.—Gibson. Ye hypocrites. You are not ashing for information. No answer at all is a suf ficient answer .to so dishonest an in quiry. Why should I part with any thing whatever in exchange for such counterfeit coin?—Booth. v. 21. Render to Caesar. If we ac cept the Roman coin we must he sub missive to Roman government.—Sel. Christ did not interpose as a judge in matters of this nature, His kingdom is not of this world. He has given an example to His ministers. Ministers that would mind their business and please their Master, must not entangle themselves in the affairs of this life or meddle with disputes about- things secular.—Matthews. Here we learn a lesson in politics. Here is a rule in which all Christian folks may -safely agree. (Rom. 13:1, 6, 7.)—Lewis. Every citizen is bound to perform -his part in the support and direction of the government under which he- lives, to cultivate friendly feelings toward all his fellow citizens and to render a peace-
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