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THE K I N G ’S B U S I N E S S
unfolds into prism atic rainbow hues, so th e grace of love rad iates and expli cates un til all Christian experience is covered and suffused. Joy is love exult ing.' Peace is love in repose. Long- suffering is love enduring. Gentleness is love in society. •" Goodness is love in action. F aith is love on th e battle- , field. Meekness is love a t school. Temperance is love in training. How- over m ultiple and m ighty th e works of th e flesh may be, the love of the Spirit is more th a n a match for them . When we walk in th e Spirit we shall not fulfill the lu sts of th e flesh. FRIDAY, May 9. Gal. 6:1-18. Sowing and Reaping. The law of th e h arv est is invariable in the world of m a tte r and th e world of spirit. Evqlution implies involu tion. Nothing comes ou t of the ground th a t is not first p u t into th e ground. The farm er »reaps the same kind of g rain th a t he sows. It is so in the sp iritu al world. If a man sows covet ousness, he will reap th eft. If he sows dissipation, he will reap disease and death. If he sows fault-finding w ith th e Bible, he will reap infidelity. He also reaps more th an he sows. He p lants grains and reaps bushels. He sows a crop of wild oats in his youth and it becomes acres in m iddle life and continents in age. A m an’s conduct always eom/es home to him . Jacob deceives his fath e r Isaac and is himself deceived by Laban. David sins w ith Bathsheba and from th a t hour his pal ace becomes a moral cess pool. “ He th a t soweth to th e Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.’’ E arth is sowing time. E te rn ity is th e harvest tim e. Blessed is he th a t soweth beside all w aters, th e still w aters of green pastures and th e sw iftly flowing rivers th a t fertilize th e plains. “ Sow to your selves in righteousness and reap in mercy.” Hos. 10:12. “ In due season we shall reap if we fain t no t.” Psa. 131:5-6. SATURDAY, May 10. Matt. 25:31-46. An E te rn a l Separation. The mystery of sin is not in its du ra tion bu t in its beginning. Wicked men grow worse not only in spite of th e ir advantages bu t because of them . All the benefits of grace are removed after death and th e judgm ent for Christ gives up his m ediatorial th ron e a fte r the final judgm ent and th e Spirit ceases to exercise his office work. I t is evident
th a t men must be punished as long as they sin. If they sin forever they will be punished forever. Mk. 3:29, R. V. It is as consistent for God to leave men to sin forever as it is to leave them to sin for seven or seventy years. Punishm ent is n atu ra l and unescapable under the law of cause and effect. Sal vation is mysterious and inexplicable. It is h ard er to believe th a t men will be saved th a n to believe th a t they will be lost. They are lost already. Sin tends to disarrange the sensibilities of the soul. These sensibilities are as immor ta l as the soul itself. Therefore th eir pains m ust be eternal. SUNDAY, May 11. P salm 32:1-11. Contrition fo r Sin. The first work of th e Holy S pirit in th e h ea rt of fallen man is th a t of con viction. He comes first not to calm b u t to condemn,' n o t to bring peace but a sword This conviction covers man’s insufficiency and ru in and God’s all- sufficiency and remedy. Man m ust know his need and see his sin before he can see his Saviour. Conversion is th a t vo luntary change in the m ind of the sinner in which he tu rn s from sin on th e one hand and to Christ on the other. T urning from sin is repentance. T urning to Christ is faith. -Conviction may be gradual and prolonged. Con version is instantaneous. Repentance while essentially an act of the will, in volves th ree elem ents; th ere is an intel lectual recognition of sin as involving personal guilt, th e re is th e emotional sorrow for sin as comm itted against God, th ere is th e voluntary renunciation of all sinful practices and habits. F aith also includes th ree elements. There is the intellectual recognition of the tru th of God’s revelation, th e emotional assent to th is revelation as applicable to the present needs of the soul and a vo luntary tru st in Christ as both Sav iour and Lord. T rue repentance never exists except in conjunction w ith faith and also where th e re is tru e faith, th ere is real repentance. MONDAY, May 12. T itus 2:1-15. The G race of God. T itus 2:11-13 forms one of the g reat mountain peaks of th e New Testament. The passage begins w ith “ the grace of God hath appeared” and ends w ith “ the appearing of the glory.” Around these two appearances as foci, th e ellipse of salvation may be thrown. The appear ance of grace is when Christ came. The
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