THE K I N G ’S BUS I NE S S
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justice: Nations die of legalized injus tice. God has sworn by His own name that He will not forget nor pass by the oppressions of the rich and cruel. The fifth chapter of James should be read with the message of Amos. One of the brightest promises for the future is found in Is. 42:4, “He shall not fail nor be discouraged till he have set justice in the earth.” P o v e r t y a n d R i c h e s . Better be one of God’s rich poor men than one of Satan’s poor rich men. To have money is no crime but to have money and do no good, with it, is a crime. Do not envy the sinner though he have the means to enjoy every lux ury and gratify every desire. This is all the Heaven he will ever know. Do not pity the saint though he live in abject poverty and suffers the loss of all that men count dear. This is all the hell th a t he will ever know. The con dition of the good man under the most wretched earthly circumstances is in finitely better than the state of sinful man under the most favorable earthly conditions. The Indian who sells the territory of a continent for a string of beads is wise compared to the man who barters Heaven for the trinkets and gewgaws of earth. T h e L a w o f S t e w a r d s h i p . God is the sovereign owner of all things. Man is a steward and must give account of all th a t is entrusted to him. A steward is one to whom some thing of value has been committed to be used in a certain prescribed way. God’s ownership and man’s steward ship should be recognized by the setting apart as an act of worship of ,a separ ated portion of income. Scriptural pre cept and precedent demands the paying of at least a tenth of the income as that acknowledgment. This separated portion should be systematically and faithfully administered for the kingdom of God and the balance treated also as a sacred tru st to be administered under the law and obligation of trusteeship. Stewardship will transform a nominal worldly Christian into an active conse crated worker and a cold lifeless church into a Spirit-filled dynamic. T U E S D A Y , A p r i l 2 6 . L u k e 1 6 : 1 9 - 2 5 . W E D N E S D A Y , A p r i l 2 7 . 2 C o r . 9 : 6 - 1 5 .
Christ. That system of education is the more commendable which teaches us to face and conquer the disagreeable things of life. Browning voices it in the words “Rejoice X can Be crossed and thwarted as a mdn, Not left in God’s contempt apart, To live a ghastly smooth life dead at heart.” To impose struggle for its own sake is absurd and futile. To banish struggle . altogether as essentially evil is unpeda- gogical and un-Scriptural. T h e E a r t h . I s t h e l o r d ’ s . No man can live as he ought without free access to and use of earth, air, light and water. Any" one who prevents these four things from being used for the service of humanity, offends against God and man. The land question is as old as the race, Land laws occupied a large place in the Mosaic legislation. They tended to prevent monopoly. In the time of Isaiah the nation had grown rich and the ruling classes sought to get possession of the earth. There are always those who would fence in the air and bottle up the sunshine if they could. The spirit th a t would monopol ize land would also monopolize light. Against this wrong the voice of God rings out its condemnation. IsaiaTi de clares th a t the land belongs to God and if to God, then to humanity. F irst of all we must find out how the Creator of all th e earth would have men use th a t which must be the home of his creatures. We cannot use the land as if it were ours to do with as we please. God never intended that a few should control the earth and compel the rest of humanity to live in attics, cellars or holes in the ground. Social problems are the same the world over and in every age; the op pression of the poor by the rich, greed for gain,' indifference to suffering, the poor growing poorer, the rich growing richer, these have always existed. Profiteering prevailed in Israel in the time of Amos. Justice is the founda tion of the social order. If one class exploits another, there is no fraternity or good-will. All social and industrial discontent* and upheaval are produced by. a sense of injustice and a desire for S U N D A Y , A p r i l 2 4 . I s a i a h 5 : 8 - 1 2 . M O N D A Y , A p r i l 2 5 . A m o s 8 : 4 - 1 0 . A W a r n i n g A g a i n s t P r o f i t e e r i n g .
T H U R S D A Y , A p r i l 2 8 .
1 T i m . 0 : 9 - 1 9 .
T h e U s e o f M o n e y . Money is_. that with which we buy
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