T HE K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
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Subject Illu stration .—-A statesm an In th e Southern S tates said to an escaped slave, “ It seems to me you are a fool. You were b etter oft in slavery th an you are in free- LESSON dom.” “Well, sir,” ILLUSTRATION said the s l a v e W. H. P ike quickly, “ the situa tion is o p e n to you.” Which would you ra th e r be— a hunted runaw ay slave, or a free bond slave? The freedom of th e Son of God sent Onesimus back to Philemon. The people of a city were commanded by the oracle to assemble on a plain outside th e city, so the story goes, and he who first saw th e sunrise should be made king. A slave tu rn ed his back to th e sun and looked up the sh aft of a high temple where the sun’s earliest rays fla,med, and he cried, “ I see it.” He had been told to do so by a wise citizen, who stayed a t home. T h at citi zen, revealed by th e slave, they made king, and he was the w isest th a t ever feigned there. Paul looked up th e sh aft of th e grace of God and saw th e sunrise of forgiveness shine into his soul and he passed it on to th is ru n a way slave, Onesimus. Bible Illustrations.^-r-The Bible speaks of male servants Gen. 2 4 :3 4 ;. female servants Gen. 16 :6 ; bond servants Gen. 43:18; hired servants Mk. 1:20; h ire lings Jno. 10 :12 ,^13 . The bond-ser vant was a slave bought and sold Gen. 17:13, 27; 37:28, 36. Captives of war were made slaves II K ings 5:2. So jou rn ers were sometimes slaves. Eph. 6:5-9 sets fo rth the relationship of a slave to his master. This is th e Chris tian position and Onesimus desires to go back and serve his m aster, Philemon, as a Christian slave. Also T itus 2:9, 10 and Col. 4:1 show th e a ttitu d e a Christian m aster ought to hold toward his servants. As Paul interceded for Onesimus to Philemon, offering to have all Onesi
mus’ debt pu t to his charge, so Jesus intercedes to God for us runaw ay slaves in sin and asks God to p u t to His ac count all our sins. Slavery and Freedom .— “ Is a man fre e” says Melvill, “ ju st because th ere are no fetters on his limbs, and he is not the inm ate of a prison? Call you a despot necessarily free, because his will is law, and th ere is none to control him in a single purpose or a single desire? You know b etter th an this. You know th a t th ere is often imm easurably more of freedom w ith the slave th a n w ith the ty ran t, w ith th e captive th an w ith the jailor. There are fetters of the spirit, th ere are m ental chains, forged of such m aterial, and fastened w ith such streng th , th a t he who wears them may sit upon a throne, and be unspeakably more a bond-servant th an many a w retched thing th a t is bound in a dun geon.” An exiled king had learned this tru th , for Jam es II on his death-bed thu s addressed his son— “There is no slavery like sin, and no liberty like God’s service.” “ In th e beauty of th e lilies Christ was born across th e sea, W ith a glory in His bosom th a t trans- fiures you and me; , As He died to make men holy, le t us die to make men free, While God is marching on.” Freedom .— If P au l’s gospel made ru n away slaves good servants, and wealthy, arrog an t m asters fath erly and kind, then let th a t gospel out to all the world. Or, as Dr. P ark er once said in preaching: “And they say in Germany, this (Saul’s conversion) is th e resu lt of an epileptic fit, snorting blasphemy and persecution. Together we will look a t him when he has come out of the fit. Saint! Hero! Missionary! M arty r!” Then throw ing up his hands, Dr. P ark er shouted, “F ly on, thou m ighty epilepsy.” Golden Text H lustrations.— In the heart
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