THE K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S fu tu re experience as to become fan ati cism. Love can no t go too far or be found in excess. It is the bond of per fection, lim iting, un iting and harm on izing all th e o th er graces. The faith th a t works by love is safe and sane. Hope which is regu lated and restrain ed by love is a m ighty inspiration and in centive. Love is th e balance wheel of character, th e atmosphere in which all th e functions of th e Christian life m ust be perform ed. F o r example, we are commanded no t only to speak th e tru th b u t to speak it in love, Eph. 4:15, because even tru th when devoid of love may work disaster. Love utilizes knowledge and drops th a t kind of knowledge which is fruitless. Love is th e g reatest of all th e graces because it can utilize them all unto edification. In the exercise of love we become like God for God is love. Everything th a t God does begins and ends in love. We can never become like God in respect to gifts b u t we may reflect His image in love. There are several figures of speech in th e New Testam ent to set fo rth the character and composition of the church. There is th e physiological, 1 Cor. 12:27, th e m atrim onial, 2 Cor. 11:2, th e ag ricu ltu ral, John 15:5, and the arch itectu ral, Eph. 2:20-22. Under th e la tte r Christ is conceived as th e arch itect and builder as well as the foundation stone. 1 Cor. 3:11. Christ uses th e fu tu re tense of th e verb to build in Matt. 16:18, because He does no t begin th e erection nor does He become the foundation un til He passes th rough death and resu rrection . Al though th e word P ete r means a rock, he can not be th e foundation, because two different words are used, which may be paraphrased as follows. “Thou a r t a piece of rock (petros) and on th is kind of stuff (p etra) I will build my church.” The context offers th re e pos sible explanations of w h at th is rock may be. I t may be th e Deity of Christ, vs. 16, w ithout which Christianity would no t be a Divine religion. I t may be th e confession of Christ. If the chain of testim ony had been broken in any age, th e church would have ceased to be, Acts 1:8. It may be th e super n a tu ra l revelation of God to th e hum an soul which distinguishes Christianity from all o ther religions upon earth . It (Continued bottom Page 573) MONDAY, Ju n e 30. M att. 16:13-18. The Churches’ One F oundation
572 SATURDAY, Ju n e 28. Gen. 12:1-9. Obeying God. There are seven characters In Gene sis th a t stand for th e life of faith. Each one represents a different aspect. Abel is th e type of justify ing faith , Enoch of sanctifying faith, Noah of separating faith , Abraham stands for th e obedi ence of faith , Isaac, th e patience of faith , Jacob, th e discipline of faith and Joseph, th e victory of faith oyer suffer ing and wrong. Abraham is th e g reat example of obedience. Heb. 11:8. At first his obedience was p artial. He took T erah w ith him . They h alted a t H aran and stayed th e re till T erah died. Acts 7:4. During these fifteen years th ere were no more commands or prom ises and doubtless no communion between Abraham and his God. Death h ad to come in and set him free. Gen. 12:5. Then his obedience became complete and perfect. W h ither he w ent he knew not. I t was enough to know th.at he w ent on w ith God. He rested n o t so m u ch .on th e prom ise as on th e Prom iser. Anything sh o rt of complete obedi ence invalidates all th a t has gone before. God will have all or nothing. H ad Abraham refused obedience to th e voice th a t called him to set fo rth upon th a t long and lonely pilgrim age, he would have dropped into oblivion and his name would be unknown today. Only One ever walked th is ea rth whose obedience was flaw less and complete. Although? He is said to have learned obedience by th e things which He suf fered, He was not and could no t be dis obedient. He became obedient unto death even th e death of th e cross and by th a t obedience, many are made righteous. Heb. 5 :8 ; Phil. 2 :8 ; Rom. 6:19. ■ The tw elfth chapter of first Corinth ians catalogues th e gifts of th e Spirit, th e th irte e n th chap ter expounds th e graces of th e Spirit and th e fou rteen th chapter combines th e two, to th e edify ing of th e church. Grace is superior tQ gifts and th e crowning grace is love. Gifts are varied and unequal. Love is for all and alike. Gifts are in stru m ental and tran sito ry . Love is u lti m ate and perm anent. F a ith links us to th e p ast and hope to th e fu tu re bu t love, like God, lives in an ever present tense. F a ith may be carried to such an extreme as to pass into presumption. Hope may dwell so long upon some SUNDAY, Ju n e 29. 1 Cor. 13:1-13. Love to God an d Man.
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