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of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us” (Rom. 5:5), it is He who does the lo v in g - through us. Equally difficult is it for the natural man to obey the injunctions: “Who soever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain,” and “Bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you” (Matt. 5:41, 44). But these com mands are not impossible of fulfillment in the believer who recognizes that he “can do all things through Christ” (Phil. 4:13). In self-effacement and in manifested love for His enemies, the Lord Jesus Christ has set the perfect example. In our treatment of others, may the Holy Spirit, who has come to reveal Christ, make us like our Lord. This willingness on the part of the be liever to “become all things to all men,” that he might “save some” (1 Cor. 9:22, R. V.) is a feature which distinguishes Christianity from all forms of religion. Often it is more eloquent and persuasive than words. Have you found that it is? “Passive resistance” is a term of doubtful worth. The adjective is so prominent that it is likely to mislead us. Jesus Christ was not passive in the presence of wrong, and He explicitly says He does not want us so. Bitterness, hatred, revenge, He does ex clude. But inaction in the face of evil was not His way, and He would not have it ours. If one smite you on the right cheek, do not run, and do not revenge, but find a more constructive way of dealing with the evil. In the days of Rome’s dominion, a Roman soldier could force a member of a subject race to accompany him to assist in forwarding government dispatches. Christ teaches a new way of dealing with this problem. If a man impress you to go one mile, do not let the matter end there. Do not run home in bitterness or try to repay in kind. The case calls for more than pas sivity. It calls for action, but on an ele vated scale. “Overcome evil with good,” wrote Paul. That is not passivity. That is sublime action.— S elected . II. L ove Y our E nemies . Samuel M. Zwemer placed an advertise ment in the Cairo daily newspapers offer ing for five piasters (twenty-five cents) to send to any one who wished to know about the Christian religion two or three vital little books in Arabic. The first to respond to this invitation was Dr. M. F. Sidki, an editor of El Minor, the most determined and bitter opponent of Christianity among all the newspapers of Egypt. As the books were handed to him, Dr. Sidki leaned for ward in his chair to emphasize his next remark; “As for the gospel, we Moslems find its code most unreasonable and utterly impossible. For example, who ever heard of loving one’s . enemies? Forsooth, how could such a thing be done?” “But,” replied Dr. Zwemer, “I am lov ing my enemy at this very moment. . . . Helps fo r th e Leader I. B etter T han P assivity
What if that command is taken literally? Billy Bray, the Cornish miner, had been a champion pugilist before he was con verted. Some of his former companions were very angry when he deserted them to join the church. One day as he was going down into the pit, one of them struck him a hard blow upon his cheek, and said, “Take that for turning Methodist.” Billy Bray did not strike back. He said, “The Lord forgive thee, lad, as I do, and bring thee to a better mind; I ’ll pray for thee.” A few days later, the fellow came to him under deepest conviction and begged Billy Bray to assure him of his forgiveness again, in order that it might help him to find peace with God and man.— S elected . III. T urning the O ther C heek The Chinese have great contempt for the teaching of Jesus concerning turning the other cheek, for they consider such actions as unmanly. A Christian Chinese was once explaining this principle to a group of peo ple gathered in the chapel under the mis sion hospital. He said, “I will tell you how we obey this command. When you are sick or hurt, you come to the hospital and we nurse you, dress your wounds, and care for you, but you go away and revile us and lie about us. Then, when you are sick again, you come back and we nurse and care for you again. That is how we turn the other cheek .”—Five Thousand Best Illustrations, by Hallock. IV. “B e C ourteous ” 1. Courtesy is love in trifles, and where love is not, though its counterfeits may abound, courtesy itself is not. Let us then, think no more of courtesy as a trifle; rather, let us believe that its true place is with the great forces of character that ennoble the world.— G eorge J ackson . 2 . Courtesy is one of the properties of God, who gives His sun and rain to the just and the unjust by courtesy; and courtesy is the sister of charity, by which hatred is extinguished and love is cherished. “Be courteous” (1 Pet. 3:8). —S t . F rancis of A ssisi . MAY 30, 1937 WHAT DID JESUS MEAN BY “GOING THE SECOND MILE” ? M atthew 5:40-48 Meditation on th e Lesson The section of Scripture from which our lesson is taken deals with kingdom truth; here the principles of the kingdom are de clared. But the words have also a beauti ful application to the Christian, and it is this aspect of the teaching which is in view in our study. “The second mile” is the measure of our earnestness and zeal for Christ. It is that distance which we are willing to 'go for the sake of one who perhaps is unlovely, in order that that one may be won for Christ. It is the evidence of the extent of our love, when all compulsion and ne cessity are removed. To lpve one’s enemies is an impossible task, humanly speaking, but when the “love
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