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Dail$ Devotional Home Readings Connected with International Sunday) School Lessons
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Bj) FREDERIC W. FARR, D. D.
Friday, March 3. John 3:1-10. God’s Mercy To Nineveh The prophecy of Jonah records what is perhaps the greatest miracle in the history of man. Noah preached 120 years without a convert. Jonah preach ed only one day, a sermon which was but a single sentence, and a great and populous city of half a million people was brought to immediate repentance. This is a moral miracle before which all material signs and wonders sink into insignificance. The repentance was genuine and general. It included the king upon his throne and his lowliest subject. They brought forth fruits meet for repentance and turned from their evil ways. God changed His pur pose in keeping with their changed at titude toward Him. Jonah’s missionary journey was successful. A change of heart in man in his attitude toward sin brings a change of mind in God toward man. If God was enough interested in a heathen people 800 years before the Gospel Age, to send a missionary 600 miles to preach to them, how much in terest should the Church of Christ have for the heathen in this present Gospel Age. Saturday, March 4. Matt. 12:38-45. A Greater Than Jonah The story of Jonah is a literal his toric fact. Christ’s treatment of it proves it to be so. He used it as if it were true. If it were not true, and He did not know it, He lacked the per fect knowledge necessary to be our Sav iour. If it were not true and He knew it, using it as He did, He lacked the integrity essential to Saviourhood. In either case, we lose our Divine Saviour, either on the ground of ignorance or dishonesty. It is not true, therefore, that one can be as good a Christian who rejects the story of Jonah as another one who accepts it. From this view point it would seem that one cannot be a Christian at all who does not ac cept the story of Jonah because he does not have a.perfect, Divine and sufficient Saviour. We take not only the Book of Jonah but the entire Old Testament upon the endorsement of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Wednesday, March 1. Jonah 1:1-10. Resisting God’s Gall Jonah resigned his prophetic office rather than preach repentance to Nine veh. He was out of sympathy with foreign missions. He might have re garded the impending destruction oi Nineveh as a safeguard to Israel. At any rate he had no purpose of obeying God and he foolishly imagined that by changing his location, he might shift his responsibility. He took ship for far distant Tarshish. Many another has fallen into the same mistake of sup posing that it was possible to escape from the voice of conscience and the presence of God. There are many whom God has called to preach His gospel who have refused obedience. No one can prosper in any other calling who has said “ No” to God. Such are sure to make shipwreck of their lives. Even though it were possible to amass wealth in some other calling, material pros perity is no compensation for spiritual dearth. “ Obedience is better than sac rifice.” Thursday, March 2. Jonah 2:1-9. Facing the Issue God in mercy gave Jonah a second call to carry His message. Jonah had learned his lesson and this time he did not refuse nor delay. It is encouraging to know that there is pardon and res toration for the backslider. At the first call, instead of going the 600 miles northeast to Nineveh, he started west ward toward Tarshish in Spain, a dis tance of 2000 miles. God always has His way. One may turn a deaf ear to a Divine command and start in the op posite direction, but since the earth is round, he only needs to keep on trav elling and in due time he will reach his destination. Jonah’s message was neither optional nor original. “ Preach the preaching that I bid thee.” This reminds us of Paul’s testimony con cerning his message, “ I delivered unto you first of all that which I also re ceived.” 1 Cor. 15:3. The ideal Gospel message is a transmitted one. The preacher does not get it up. He prays it down. The message is not his but God’s.
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