T HE K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
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FRIDAY, Sept. 26. Acts 16:9-15. Winning Others to Christ. A certain river that drains a vast area in Europe takes its rise in a tiny rivulet from an Alpine glacier. The Gospel had a very humble beginning on the conti nent of Europe. There was a little wom an’s prayer meeting Saturday morning in the open air on the banks of the river Ganges near Philippi. Here the Gospel was preached and the Lord opened Lydia’s heart that she might attend to and believe the things that were spoken by Paul. Without this action of Divine grace it would have been a fruitless wayside effort. No one ever became a believer in the Gospel without this same direct and gracious assistance of the Holy Spirit. Moreover it was not an abandoned social outcast like the woman of Sychar whose heart must be opened. It was a sincere and reverent woman who was engaged in the solemn devotion of a prayer meeting. Grace must operate alike in the hearts of all. Nicodemus, the high-caste, well-born, religious Pharisee, must be born again as Zaccheus the thieving publican. Flesh and blood can not inherit the kingdom of God. Here is also encouragement for open air evangelism, a most economical and efficient way of preaching the Gos pel without expense of light, heat or janitor. Jesus and the Apostles were open-air preachers. So were the Wes leys and Whitefield in the great refor mation. Many wide-awake evangelistic churches are sending out bands of con secrated young people to the parks and streets where people congregate to preach and sing the Gospel and distrib ute literature. The blessing of God rests upon these efforts. SATURDAY, Sept. 27. Luke 10:25-37. Social Responsibility. Good unwilled is the moral equivalent of evil willed. We are so environed and involved in obligation that the mandates of law cover our action and inac tion. When we do that which we ought not, we are guilty. When we do not that which we ought, we are guilty. Sin is the transgression of or the want of conformity to the moral law. Sins of commission are over-stepping the straight line. Sins of omission are not coming up to it. The law is conceived of as a straight line demanding exact and perpetual coincidence. Sin is com monly conceived of as an overt act. Murder is the sin of taking a human
life. Suppose one has the chance of saving a life and does not do so! ' Will his conscience be at ease? The priest and Levite who passed by on the other side of the: wounded traveler might plead in defense that they were not responsible for his condition. This is fhe old excuse of Cain essentially, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” Love is the fulfilling of law. There are three great sins of omission that all Christians are guilty of today. Failure to love the Lord our God with all the heart, soul, strength and mind, ^failure to love one another even as Christ has loved us, and failure to believe on Christ so that the works that He did and greater works than these should be wrought in and through us. These sins must be repented of, confessed and cleansed by the blood of Jesus before the fulness of His Spirit can be enjoyed. SUNDAY, Sept. 28. Rev. 22:1-17. The Consummation of the Kingdom. The crown rights of Immanuel are guaranteed by God in the Davidic cov enant through Nathan the prophet. 2 Sam. 7. 1 Chron. 17. The prediction was partially fulfilled in Solomon but a greater than Solomon must come to complete it. In Psalm 89:3, 4, God swears that the seed of David and his throne shall be established and built up forever. Isaiah and Jeremiah both speak of a king who shall reign in righteousness. Is. 32:1. Jer. 23:5-8. The first verse of the New Testament identifies Jesus of Nazareth as this long promised king of the Jews who must be “a son of David.” John the Baptist, Jesus Himself, the twelve and seventy proclaimed the kingdom as at hand, preaching only to the Jews. Matt. 3:2, 4:17, 10:7, Luke 10:9. Then the king was rejected the kingdom was with drawn and postponed until the second coming. The character and consumma tion of the kingdom when Christ returns to establish it, will be inflexible right eousness. Justice and equity shall be meted out at last. Is. 11:3-4. Accord ing to announcement of the Angel Ga briel to Mary, Luke 1:30-33, seven “shalls” must be fulfilled. “Thou shalt conceive”, “and shalt call his name Jesus”, “He shall be great and shall be called the Son of the Highest”, “God shall give unto him the throne of his father David”, “He shall reign over the house of Jacob” and “of his kingdom there shall be no end”. As the first four of these have been literal the last
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