Dailj) Devotional Home Readings
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Connected with International Sunday) School Lessons
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B? FREDERIC W. FARR
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SUNDAY, Ju n e 1. Acts 15:1-11, Purified by F aith . The first church council a t Jeru salem settled the conditions under which the Gentiles could be saved. The yoke of th e Jewish law was not to be imposed upon them . A little la ter P aul showed th a t it was not to be borne by th e Jews themselves. The Gospel did away w ith all ceremonial destinctions and estab lished a universal religious level. P eter argued in th e council th a t God bore w itness to the acceptance of th e Gen tiles in th a t- h e gave them th e Holy Spirit. The outpouring of th e Spirit in th e house of Cornelius blotted out all ceremonial distinctions between Jew and Gentile. The requirem ents of th e law were shown to be inadequate as a condition of etern al life. Barnabas and P aul followed P ete r and declared w hat m iracles and wonders God had w rought among th e Gentiles by them . God set the seal of his Divine approval upon th eir work by these sup ern atu ral m anifesta tions. Then James' the presiding officer closed w ith his wonderful setting forth Of th e fiivine programme for the pres ent age and th e age to come. God is now visiting th e Gentiles to take out of them a people for His name. These called out Gentiles are th e fellow heirs and of the same body and p arta k ers of th e prom ise in ,C h r is t by th e Gospel. Eph. 3:5, 6. The h earts of Jew and Gentile are now purified by faith . While we are justified before men by the works th a t spring from pre-existing faith it is faith alone which gives us standing in th e sight of God and ju sti fication before Him. The obedience th a t Christ seeks, is not th e blind enforced subm ission of a bond-slave b u t th e volun tary joyful devotion of a friend. Compulsory labor is always given grudgingly. I t never does more th a n it has to. I t works to o rder and w ith an eye upon the clock. Christ wanted men to serve him not as an imposed task bu t out of love. F riendship is always reciprocal. If it takes two to make a quarrel, it MONDAY, Ju n e 2. Matt. 7:16-29. Obedience.
also takes two to make a friendship. There was a tim e when all th e love was on God’s side. While we were yet sin ners Christ died for us. So long as we continued sinners, His love pursued us and pleaded w ith us. There was no friendship un til we loved Him because He first loved us. Love is dem onstra tive. Christ evidences His love to us by His confidence. ‘‘All things th a t I have heard of my F a th e r I have made known unto you.” We evidence our love to Him by our obedience. “Ye are my friends if ye do th e things th a t I command you.” Christ reyeals God’s g reat plan and purpose of redemption and perm its us to co-operate w ith Him in bringing it to pass. It was afte r P eter had replied to his Lord’s thrice- repeated question “Lovest thou m e?” by saying “ Yea, Lord, thou knowest th a t I love Thee,” th a t his fu tu re work was appointed and described. “ Feed My sheep.” ■This would be hard, h ea rt breaking work. No mere servan t could und ertak e it. Christ could only en tru st it to a friend. Love makes labor light and counts no burden too heavy, no work too arduous, no sacrifice too great. TUESDAY, Ju n e 3. Deut. 4:1-10. E xho rtation To Obedience. Deuteronomy is one of the most val uable and also one of th e most neglected books of th e Bible. It consists of the final and farewell addresses of Moses at th e close of his life, to th e new gener ation that, had arisen during the forty years of w ilderness life. The book is a summ ary of w hat concerned th e peo ple to keep in m ind both of the Lord’s doings on th e ir behalf and of what they should do when settled in Canaan. The key word is obedience and th e key verse 4:1. The book is quoted or referred to ninety tim es by th e Saviour and the Apostles. Jesus drew th e th ree texts from th is book w ith which He repelled th e assau lts of Satan in th e w ilderness. This may explain th e hos tility and h ate th a t Satan bears it which is evidenced by the p ersisten t efforts of destructive criticism to dis credit its genuineness and impugn its au tho rity . It is in g reat p a rt prophetic having Canaan in imm ediate prospect.
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