T H E K I N G ’S B U S I N E S S
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H,ere is a g reat command which affects all of our busi ness and professional life. We should pu t a high value upon hum an life, and— as Christians— pu t a higher value upon etern al life. Here are some Scriptures for m edita tion along th is line (Matt. 5:21, 22; Rom. 13 :9 ; 1 Tim. 1 :9 ; 1 John 3:12-15). T he Seventh Command, “Thou sh alt not commit adul tery ” puts a safeguard around th e home and has respect to th e holiest of hum an relations. The teacher m ust be wise in teaching, but it is well to have in m ind th a t thou sands of High School pupils are now guilty of th e viola tion of th is command. Social corruption in our age is the saddest comment on our civilization. (Read carefully Matt. 5:27, 28; Mark 10:11, 12; Matt. 19:7, 8 ; Rom. 7:2, 3). The E igh th Command, “ Thou sh a lt not ste al” has re spect to the property of others. We m ust reg ard th e righ ts of others. Stealing is a prom inent tra it in the n atu re of man, and an outstanding evidence of th e fact th a t th e Bible is true. There are many forms of theft. There are high-toned and low-lived thieves. Every form of in trigue by which men obtain values w ithou t giving a proper equivalent is robbery. False weights, cotton for wool, sho rt measure, impure food, evading taxes, keeping back wages, false ad vertisem ents, a re all th efts. Christians rob God by failing to give Him His due of worship and service, and by w ithholding the offerings which are due Him. (1 Cor. 6 :10 ; Eph. 4 :2 8 ). Every man born into the world was born w ith a stealing natu re. We are therefo re bound to help all people to have a new natu re, and in whatever m easure we fail in th is we are Christian thieves— robbing God of His glory. The N inth Command, “Thou sh alt not bear false w itness” strikes a t th e universal sin of .m isrepresentation. In anc ient A thens a false w itness was heavily fined, and upon the th ird offense was pu t to death. In ancient Rome a false w itness was p u t to death. In Egypt, he had to subm it to the am putation of nose or ears. Bearing false w itness is lying, and lying has blighted lives, broken homes, ruined business, divided churches and crushed hearts. False w itnesses sent Jesus to the cross. (Prov. 10:18; Eph. 4:2, 3). ( 6 ) PROPENSITIES TO BE REPRESSED. The T en th Command “Thou sh alt no t covet” sums up all th e commandments in the second table of th e law. Ob servance of th e o ther four would not avail if there lurked in th e h ea rt an evil desire. If any one thinks they can get to heaven by keeping th e commandments, let him m editate on this. The ten commandments rep resen t God’s charac te r and show the impossibility of ever living in God’s pres ence w ithout a new n atu re— a n atu re like God’s, which can only be obtained by accepting Christ as Saviour. (1 9 :8 ) God would know whether these people were w illing to assume th e responsibility involved in this coven a n t of obedience, and it is probably fo r th is reason th a t th e obedience of th e people is challenged ere th e n atu re of th e covenant is made known. The people COMMENTS readily assent to th e requirem ents of PROM THE God. How little they knew of th e ir COMMENTARIES own h ea rts!—-Evans. V. V. Morgan (1 9 :9 ) W hat a con trast between th is mount, representing th e old dis pensation, and the m ount from which Christ delivered the Beatitudes. Hebrews 12:18-24 is in teresting and worthy of study in th is connection.— Evans. (2 0 :1 ) We are not to look upon th e Moral Law as a plan of salvation, for it is clear from the teaching of th e
New Testam ent th a t no man is saved by legal obedience (Gal. 2:16-21; Rom. 3 :19-20). I t is im po rtan t to note th a t Exodus 20 (th e giving of th e Law) follows Exodus 12 (th e redemption of God’s people 2 0 :2 ). The Law was given to show th e exceeding sinfulness of sin (Rom. 7 :7-25). The Law is still in effect so far as th e unregenerate are con cerned as a means of revealing to them the measure of th e ir responsibility and th e exceeding sinfulness of sin, (cf. Rom. 7:7-25; Gal. 3:10; Jam es 2 :10 ; Matt. 23:37, 38). The C hristian’s relation to the Law is clearly set fo rth in Rom. 7:7-25; Col. 2:14, 15; Rom. 10:4. T h at the Law -is in no sense a means of salvation is clearly apparen t by th e en tire argum ent of the le tte r to the Galatians.— Evans. F irs t and Second Commandments. The first command m ent has been broken by us all. A m an’s god is w hat he loves most. If at any tim e we have had th a t wliich we put before or alongside of God we have- broken th is command m ent (cf. Matt. 1 0 :3 7 ). The violation of th is command m ent is more serious th an the violation of the sixth, sev enth, or eighth, for God’s rig h ts are the supreme righ ts (Matt. 22:37, 38). The second commandment does not forbid making “ any graven image,” etc., bu t not to make AND bow down to them and serve them . God H imself sanc tions elsewhere th e making of figures and likenesses (Exod. 37:7, 17-20; Num. 21 :8 ; 1 K ings 7 :2 5 ). It forbids the worshipping of Jehovah H imself under the form of an image (Ex. 32 :4 ; 1 K ings 12:28; Judges 17:3, 13). God is “ a jealous God.” i. e., He will to lerate no rival in the supreme place in man’s affections (Isa. 42 :8 ; cf. Luke 14: 26). God is supreme and infinite and He should hold a place in every m an’s h ea rt th a t no one else approaches, and He demands th a t place.— Torrey. T h ird Commandment, Thou sh alt not ta k e the name of th e Lord th y God in vain, i. e. lightly, carelessly, though t lessly, insincerely. This forbids professing to be God’s people, in covenant relations w ith Him and th en acting in a m anner th a t dishonors God and m isrepresents Him before th e world. It disgraces religion, and drives men from God. It forbids all profanity, th e careless, irrev eren t use of God’s name and of holy things, because "it tends to destroy the power of these things over men. All thoughtless worship comes under th e ban of th is commandment.—Peloubet. F o u rth Commandment, commands six days’ work and one day’s rest. The seventh day afte r six day’s work (it no where says th e seventh day OF THE WEEK , though th a t was w hat th e Israelites observed, bu t no one knows th a t it was the seventh day of th e original week as it began in Eden) was “ th e Sabbath of Jehovah th y God.” All work was forbidden. There was no exception fo r “works of necessity and mercy,” b u t it' was in te rp re ted by Christ in the light of God’s known character (Matt. 12:5-8, 12; Mark 2:24-27; Luke 13:15, 16). The Sabbath was a gift of grace to m eet a need no t only of th e Jew bu t of man (Mark 2 :2 7 ).—Torrey. F ifth Commandment. Our paren ts are next to God in place of importance. Hence crimes against paren ts are to be considered capital crimes. We are to note also th a t this commandment has attached to it th e promise of long life. —Evans. Sixth Commandment. Deals w ith crimes against the life of mankind, and commands a sacredness for hum an life (cf. Gen. 9:5, 6 ; Matt, 5:21-24; 1 John. 3 :11-18).— Evans. Seventh Commandment. (See Matt. 5:27-32). We may therefo re include not only lu stfu l looks, motions and verbal insinuations, b u t modes of dress, pictures, statu tes, books, th eatrical displays, etc., which provoke th e passions and in cite to the unlaw ful act.—Gray. E igh th Commandment. The principle underlying this commandment is th e sacredness of property. Love regards the property of ano th er as sacred as its own. All tak ing anything from ano th er w ithout rendering to him a ju st equivalent is stealing.—Torrey. N inth Commandment. Forbids perjury, false oaths, tale bearing, slander, backbiting and evil speaking, or anything th a t would in any way in ju re ano ther in his goods, person or character. (See Lev. 19:16; Deut. 19:16-19; Prov. 12:22; Eph. 3 :31 ; T itus 3 :2 ; Jam es 4 :1 1 ).—Arnold. This has prim ary reference to testimony in courts of law, and differs from th e th ree preceding in th a t it deals w ith words ra th e r th a n deeds. But, as in those cases, is has a la rg e r import and prohibits everything in our dealings w ith one ano ther no t according to tru th .— Gray.
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