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T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S for half the price, but God will not en dorse the terms, and like Ananias and Sapphira, we will lose not only what we thought we had purchased so cheap ly, but also the price we paid for it.— Moore. Proportion your charity to the strength of your estate lest God pro portion your estate.to the weakness of your charity.— Quarles. v. 14. What profit is it? He notes the complaint of the Jews that it is of no profit to serve Jehovah for the ungodly are just as happy. He declares He will soon bring the day when it shall be known that He puts an everlasting dis tinction between the godly and the un godly (v. 18).— Fausett. v. 16. Spake often one to another. Here we have holy converse. Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. All sanctified speech is born of holy thoughts. They thought upon His name. Reverential and filial fear of God specially prompts hallowed con verse. Such talk attracts the ear and heart of God— “ The Lord hearkened.” It has a special promise of reward—- “ They shall be mine.” It tends to em phasize moral distinctions (v. 18).— Pierson. v. 17. When I make up my jewels. The preceding verse shows the charac teristics of His jewels. They praise Him among themselves; they reverence Him; they think upon His name.— Bennett. v. 18. Then shall ye discern. Then they will see the falseness of their com plaint against God’s government (v. 15). It is in part to test our disposition to trust God in spite of perplexing appear ances, and in order to make our service less mercenary, that the present blinded state is allowed; but at last both the godly and the ungodly shall see the eternal difference (Ps. 58:11).— Brown. God’s Promise of a Saviour’s Coming. Mai. 3:1, 16, 17; 4:2. Luke 2:25-39. Memory Verse.— “ He loved us, and sent his Son.” I John 4:10. Approach.— I wonder if any of you boys and girls can remember of any one who promised to do something for you or to give you something, and then forgot the promise BEGINNERS and never did as AND PRIMARY he said? Does it Mabel L. Merrill make us feel real happy when people
Aldrich. Some would like to read the passage thus, “ Pour out your blessings and after we have satisfied all our needs, real and fancied, and have pro vided for the future, we will contribute an occasional nickel if we happen to be present when the offering is taken.”— Sel. May be meat in mine house. We are ever praying God to give us the means to send forth laborers. Has He not given us the means? Have we not the means to support His work, to send forth missionaries? Have not our friends the means? When we pray God to give the means may we not rather pray Him to consume the selfishness which ex pends the means upon ourselves? Our style of living is always rising. We fill our houses with pleasant things. Our expenditures on ourselves become enor mous. May we not hear the Lord’s voice saying, “ Lovest thou me more than these?” -—Bishop. If the truth takes possession of man’s heart, it will make his hand find its way into his pocket for the support of God’s work.— Gadsby. Prove me now. God is saying, “ My child, I still have windows in heaven. They are yet in service. The bolts slide as easily as of old. The hinges have not grown rusty. I would rather fling them open and pour forth than keep them shut and hold back. The treasure rooms are still bursting. The lack is not on my side. It is on yours. Fulfill the conditions on your part. Bring in the tithes and give me a chance.”— McConkey. I will pour you out a blessing. A man’s wealth in heaven is estimated by what he has sacrificed on earth. The millionaires of eternity are the givers of time. He who has the right grasp of the Gospel will never grieve over what he has to give up, for what he thus parts with he really in vests to receive it again with larger in crease.— Richey. v. 11. I will rebuke the devourer. There is too often a burden of care in getting riches, a burden of anxiety in keeping them, a burden of temptation in using them, a burden of guilt in abus ing them, a burden of sorrow in losing them, a burden of account at last to be given up for possessing and either im proving or misimproving them.— Sel. A Glasgow merchant quaintly remarked in allusion to Proverbs 23:5, that “ clip ping the wings” was the only way to prevent riches flying away as the eagle. —Moncrief. No man ever yet lost by serving God with a whole heart, nor gained by serving Him with a half one. We may compromise with conscience
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