T HE K I N G ’S B U S I N E S S MONDAY, SEPT. 12 . 1 Cor. 10:23-33. The Daw of Liberty. The questions of conscience which troubled th e converts a t Corinth have a modern application in individual ex perience. There are many things th a t are technically rig h t and morally legiti mate th a t may be inexpedient and un profitable. A believer has a perfect rig h t to exercise his Christian liberty and choose not to do them . One al ways has th e rig h t to yield his righ ts and sacrifice th e incidental to th e es sential. No man liveth unto himself. A Christian will be concerned not to h u rt his neighbor. He will not be con te n t w ith negative and passive harm lessness. He will be concerned to pro mote his neighbor’s welfare. He will not consult his own pleasure or con venience b u t will seek to please his neighbor for his good to edification. Rom. 16:2. TUESDAY, SEPT. 18 . 1 Cor. 8 :1- 13 . The Law of Love. The Gospel has no code of ru les and regulations as to what* we should eat, d rink or wear. Details of daily life are left to individual ad ju stm en t in view of g reat abiding principles. The g reatest of these is the law of love. P au l would never adm it th a t th e eating of m eat was intrinsically a sin. Never theless he would abstain from it alto g ether if his indulgence would in ju re th e weak conscience of some b ro ther in Christ. F o r the eating of m eat any other custom, hab it or indulgence may be substituted. The law of love, cuts it off w ith a blade keen as Damascus steel. The question to ask is not so much th e n atu re or tendency of a cer tain act bu t does it give offense to a child of God. 2 Cor. 6:3 is as appli cable to th e laity as th e m inistry. WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 14. Luke 7:86- 43. Social Witness-Bearing. Our Saviour accepted dinner invita tions from any and every source. He utilized every opportunity for bearing w itness to th e tru th . He even sacri ficed th e requirem ents of etiqu ette to th e demands of fidelity. A Christian need not live a lonely unsocial life. 1 Cor. 10:27. A dinner table may give an opportunity th a t is no t provided by the pulpit. The Saviour was criticised for eating w ith sinners. He sought th eir company not because it was congenial
926 a number of ordinary people besides. Could such a discourse be called a fail ure and considered fru itless? Such was the resu lt of P au l’s sermon on Mars Hill. Acts 1-7:34.' If the Gospel is th e savor of life unto life, why should not certain resu lts be expected from every sermon where th e Word of God has been faithfully proclaimed? Diony sius the A reopagite m ust have been a man of g reat influence, since members of th is Court were a t least 60 years of age and had filled many im po rtan t pub lic offices. T radition says th a t he was th e first bishop of Athens. SATURDAY, SEPT, 10. Matt. 13 :1-9 . Sowing the Seed. Sowing and reaping may be coinci dent in th e world’s harv est field. The w orker may carry a basket of seed in one hand and a sickle in th e other. One man may sow and ano ther may reap and again one man may do both tor gether. I t is Scriptural and reasonable to expect immediate resu lts in Chris tian work. An expected confidence goes a long way in producing them . The sower must have implicit faith in the v itality of th e seed and th e fertility of th e soil. Nevertheless it m ust be moistened by the dews of heaven and th e showers of the Spirit of God. There are suggestive analogies in n atu re and grace. The laws of th e one realm are as fixed and invariable as th e laws in th e other. One may have a spiritual harvest as surely as a n atu ra l one by fulfilling prelim inary conditions. SUNDAY, SEPT. 1 1 . 2 Cor. 13 :1-8 . Paul in Athens. The law o f economy in sp iritu al work is illu strated an the life and labors of Paul. He pu t his work in where it would accomplish the most for God. He sought the g reat centers of popula tion. He wasted no tim e in th e coun try. Of course th e value of a human soul is the same everywhere and desti tu te country districts ought by all means to be evangelized. Nevertheless a man should not preach to ten when he could preach to a hundred nor to a hundred when he m ight reach a thou sand. We a re bound to make the most of ourselves for God and use our time and streng th to th e best possible ad vantage. These are m atters th a t must claim the though tfu l and prayerful con sideration of every Christian worker.
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