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T H E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
August, 1939
SEPTEMBER 10, 1939 WHAT JESUS SAID ABOUT
NOTES on Christian Endeavor By M A R Y G. GOODNER
RIGHT LIVING M atthew 5:13-26 Meditation on the Lesson
When we remember that it was said of Jesus Christ our Lord, “Never man spake like this man,” we are challenged by the question, “What did Jesus say about right living?” If we can gauge our lives by His standards, we are well pleasing to Him. Happily, we are not left in darkness, because both in the Gospels and in the Epistles we read His divine instructions. In the great Ser mon on the Mount, Christ gives the most detailed laws which should govern His. kingdom. In verses 13 to 16, Christians are com pared with two very ordinary, everyday, but useful things: salt and light. Both are indispensable. As salt and light meet human needs, so likewise do Chris tians fulfill a vital function if they are obedient to, the heavenly vision, r or example, “salt” Christians have power to create thirst for spiritual things. As “the light of the world,” they have the power to reveal the way the wandering and lost must follow. “Christ alone can save the world, but He cannot save the world alone.” He has ordained that by the “foolishness of preaching” men must be saved; hence we are en joined to let our light “so shine.” Christ in the Sermon on the Mount shows the contrast between the outward observance of the Mosaic law and the deeper righteousness which goes ar down into the heart. He raises the standard from mere observance oi out ward forms and ceremonies to the ex amination of the inner life and con sciousness of man. For after all, “our actions are governed by standards and ideals that are inwardly cherished but which can never be outwardly enforced..” Men make laws against murder and can enforce them to a degre \ but a Jaw against anger cannot be enforced. Yet Jesus declares that anger and murder are caused by the same evil heart. An ger is the attitude; murder, the out ward act. These standards which Jesus gives are impossible of attainment in our own strength. He said, “Be ye therefore perfect; even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.’ Peter further said, “Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow in his steps” (1 Pet. 2:21). But we would not be able- to obey, if He had not re deemed us with His own precious blood and given us a new .nature like His. In fact, He Himself dwells within us, and we can say with Paul, "The life which I now live in# the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me” (Gal. 2:20). Jesus Christ longs to have you so much
As Christians, our sympathies should be with the oppressed and underpaid laborers, but, at the same time, we should not indorse un-Christlike actions to secure justice for them. Greed or hatred are equally sinful whether found in employer or employee.
SEPTEMBER 3, 1939 OUR ATTITUDE TOWARD WORK AND WORKERS E cclesiastes 5:18-20; J ames 5:1-4; C olossians 4:1 Meditation on the Lesson No subject has created more discus sion in our nation in recent years than has the problem of the'rights of labor. Strife between capital and labor has been almost unceasing, and every Chris- tion Endeavorer should be able to give a Scriptural reason for the attitude he takes on this subject. Laborers surely ha,ve rights. And Christians, above all others, should want to see justice and fair wages assured to those who faithfuly produce wealth. The Bible is the one and only authority on the subject, and only when men are willing to abide by its teachings will the labor question be settled.. Work has been ordained of God: “Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work” (Ex. 20:9). In the description of man’s Fall, we learn that the necessity to work for a livelihood was planned by a merciful and wise God. To Adam, a sinner, it was announced: “Cursed is the ground for thy sake; in toil shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life” (Gen. 3:17, R. V.). "For thy sake” ! Yes, nothing is more dangerous than continu ous idleness for human beings, inher ently sinful as they are. In Exodus we read of how the cries of the oppressed children of Israel as cended to God and He heard and sent Moses to deliver His people from the cruel injustice of these taskmasters. Al though the story has other spiritual im plications, it is interesting to note this as one of the first recorded conflicts between capital and labor, a form of strife which has been continued through the years. While the Lord Jesus Christ was Mere on earth, He Himself set an ex ample concerning labor. In parable and discourse He emphasized fair treatment. We read in Paul’s Epistle to the Colos sians, “Masters, give unto your servants that which is just and equal; knowing that ye also have a Master in heaven” (4:1). This is the solution—'to remem ber we “have a Master in heaven.” And He has said, “All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.”
Helps for the Leader I. K ingly E xample
To show their sense of the dignity of work, the Chinese Emperor on one day of the year was accustomed to hold the, plow, and the Empress to work the loom; but we ¡need no royalty to toy with the instruments of toil to per suade us of the glory of humble ser vice. Jesus has consecrated the work shop by His presence, and glorified work by His example.—W. L. Watkin- son. II. P art of the W hole Standing in front of the noble cathe dral of Cologne, a woman overheard some one behind her say, “Didn’t we do a fine piece of work here?” Turning quickly, she saw that the speaker was a man in the plainest of working clothes, and on a sudden im pulse she said to him, “Pray, what did you do about it? ” “Oh, I mijfed the mortar for two years across the street,” was his reply. If those of us who seem to have only very humble work to do could realize that we are sharers in the whole great plan, should we not be both more faith ful and more happy?—The Well Spring. III. W age L evels Statistics are always more or less var iable according to the previous opinions of those who present them. But even the more conservative compilations show how America’s concentration of wealth has forced a great percentage of wage earners into the lower income brackets. It may prove helpful to secure from your public library some facts about the proportion of American heads of fami lies whose wages place them at the “subsistence level,” the “poverty level,” or the “health, decency, comfort level.” Be careful to show in detail what stan dard of living these terms describe and to allow for seasonal unemployment,— I. M. S.
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