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October, 1936
T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
Lesson Story: Paul hoped very much to visit the Christians at Rome. Rome, as you know, was the big capital city of the great Roman Empire. Many of the coun tries through which Paul traveled belonged to Rome. Paul himself, although he had been born far away from Rome, was a Roman citizen. He had to obey the Roman law. Now sometimes the Roman rulers seemed to be very hard and cruel. It was the Roman soldiers who put Paul into prison that time at Philippi, and the Roman jailer who beat him until the blood came. You might think from this that Paul would hate the Roman law and tell the people who suffered under it to hate it, too. But this is not what Paul said. He wrote to the Christians who lived at Rome to be subject to the higher powers. He said that they must obey their rulers as they would obey God. He said that it was only when the people did evil that they needed to be afraid. Then he reminded them of God’s law which is higher than any human law. “Love,” he said, “work- eth no ill to his neighbor: therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.” .
2. Christian Duty toward the Citizens o f the State (vs. 8-10). This duty also is expressed in one word, found in verse 8— Love. In this section o f the chapter the apostle quotes a number of command ments from the Mosaic law, and all are taken from the second table, having to do with man’s relation to man. Not a single quotation is from the first table, which is as it should be, for the state has no juris diction over man’s relation to God. If Paul had expected the state to enforce the law of the Sabbath, here would have been the place to say so. 3. Christian Duty in the Light o f the Coming Day o f the Lord (vs. 11-14). The duty here is likewise epitomized in one word— Wakefulness (v. 11). In this sec tion I believe that the apostle is still think ing primarily of our duties and attitude within the state. We are to be “awake” in the discharge of these duties. Further more, in the grip o f government which is often imperfect and unjust, it will help us to be .patient when we remember that the “night is far spent, the day is at hand” (v. 12). Certainly this “ day" is the day of our Lord’s coming when He will estab lish a kingdom of righteousness and will rule with justice over all the earth. Above all, we are to “put . . . on the Lord Jesus Christ” (v. 14), which in this connection certainly means that we should walk as He walked in relation to human govern ment, rendering unto Caesar the things that belong to Caesar, and to God the things that are God’s. Golden Text Illustration A little clock in a jeweler’s window in a certain western town stopped one ■day for half an hour, at fifteen minutes of nine. School children, noticing the time, stopped to play; people hurrying to the train, looking at the clock, began to walk in a leisurely manner; professional men, after a look at the clock, stopped to chat a minute with one another; working men and women noted the time, and lingered a little longer in the sunshine, and all were half an hour late because one small clock stopped. Never had these people known how much they had depended upon the clock till it had led them astray. Many are. thus unconsciously depending upon the influence of Christians; you may think you have no influence, but you can not go wrong in one little act without leading others astray.— 1,000 Evangelistic Illustrations, by Aquilla Webb. Why We Keep Rules R omans 13:1-14 Memory Verse: “He that keepeth the law, happy is he” (Prov. 29:18). Approach: You remember that in our story last Sunday, Paul had been staying for a while in the city o f Corinth in
J. O. Y . GIRLS What is it? Something for girls—yes, a club for girls. It may be your Sunday School class needs something vital to hold it, or give it outlet during the week. It may be you have a number of girls in your com munity you would like to contact for the Lord, or help them to understand their Bible. Get a J. O. T. Girls' Handbook and read about the Seven Crafts—how girls may win honors under them, earn Palestinian beads, (made the same as at the time of Christ) and how they may take the three ranks and win their J. O. Y. Girls Pins. These may be purchased at the following book stores in Los Angeles: Biola Book Room Baptist Book Store Berean Book Rooms 558 S. Hope St. 313 W . Third St. 405 S. Hill St. For further details write: Ruth Umstead Ohly 3909 Swiss Ave.t Dallas, Texas OTHER FAMOUS HYMNS” Bound in Mosinee Cellusuede with gold stamped Cross, this makes a valuable addition to one's li brary, or is suitable as a gift. Contains the author's story of the writing of “ The Old Bugged Cross” and the story of "Nearer My God to Thee,” “ Lead, Kindly Light,” “ Rock of Ages,” “ O Love That Will Not Let Me Go” and “Jesus Lover of My Soul*' by Beatrice Plumb, frequent contributor to the “ Christian Herald.” Also, fifteen brief ser mons on the subject of the Cross by fifteen noted preachers; radio stories, and beautiful poems. Sixty cents per copy. THE BENNARD MUSIC CO. ALBION MICHIGAN “ THE OLD RUGGED CROSS AND
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As you fa c e life ’s sunset • . •
Objects: A pint jar, a candle, baking soda, a glass o f clear water, a glass of vinegar discolored with ink, and a medi cine dropper. (Stick the candle on a small piece of cardboard and place it within the jar. Pour the Soda around the candle.) Lesson: While Christ was on earth He told His followers that they should let their lights shine and glorify God (Matt. 5:16). This lighted candle reminds me of a Christian who is letting his light shine in obedience to Christ’s command. The Christian should guard his light in order that it might be kept burning brightly. If certain things are allowed to enter the life, the light will be dimmed. Here are two glasses. One contains pure wafer; the other is filled with a black fluid which reminds me of sin. I will take this medicine dropper and with it put some water from the glass into the jar which has the candle within. The light burns as brightly as before. There are many clean things which God has intended that we should enjoy. These will not cause our light to shine less brightly. How different the light becomes when a few drops of this black fluid are put into the jar I The light grows dim. (E x periment as to the amount of vinegar needed to release enough fumes to dim the light.). If I continue to drop this black fluid into the jar, the light will soon be put out. This candle within the jar reminds me of Paul’s words in Romans 14:21: “ It is good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor any thing whereby thy brother stum- bleth, or is offended, or is made weak.” Paul was very careful not to let any thing come into his life which would dim
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Greece. For a year and a half he stayed there preaching and teaching and helping p e o p l e to know Christ. Twice again h e v i s i t e d h i s friends in this city of Corinth, and it was six years later, while he was visit ing in this same city, that he wrote a let
ter to some friends in another city. It is what he said in this letter that we want to tell about today.
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