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February 1929
tyr in A. D. 140 said : “Sunday is the day on which we all hold our common assem bly.” Bardesanes (A. D..180) said: “On the first day of the week we assemble our selves together.” In 200 A. D. Tertullian said: “We solemnize the day after Sat urday in contradiction to those who call this their Sabbath.” In A. D. 2S0 Cyprian wrote : “The eighth day, or first day after the Sabbath, is the Lord’s Day.” The apostolic constitution dated A. D. 250, says : “On the day of our Lord’s resurrec tion meet diligently.” While we have no Scripture authority for forcing the weekly rest day upon the unregenerate world, the doctrine is com bined with the moral history of thé world, and science has proved that,one of the chief objects of. God’s law is to prolong life and preserve efficient working tone in man. In the economy of existence it an swers the same purpose as, in the economy of income, is answered by a sav ings bank. The savings bank of human existence is the laying aside of labor one day out of seven. To the Christian, however, it means far more than this. It is a day for worship and spiritual refreshment. It is a day for renewing our praise to God for the re demption completed by the open tomb of Christ. It is a day for meditation upon God’s Word and the renewing of the vi sion of service for the Master. What a different world it would be had not the first day of the week dawned for the One whose body was laid in Joseph’s tomb ! — o — T he C hristian ’ s R est D ay Without the Lord’s Day, the Church of Christ could not, as a visible society, exist on earth. The world without its Sabbath would be like a man without a smile, a summer without flowers, a homestead without a garden. A man executed for murder testified that the first step into crime was Sabbath breaking. — o— Longfellow said the Lord’s Day was the golden clasp that binds together the volume of the week. — o — Beecher remarked that some people considered Sunday a sponge with which to wipe out the sins of the week. — o — “There is a Sunday conscience as well as a Sunday coat,” said Charles Dickens, “and those who make religion a secondary concern put the coat and conscience care fully away to put on only once a week.” The Lord’s Day is a continual lesson to us to turn the eye from all created objects and look to that heavenly rest into which God is entered and which is promised to man. — -o— ' G olden T ext I llustration For the Son of man is Lord of the Sab bath (Mt. 12:8). Krummacher tells of an Israelite named Borin, a resident of Mesopotamia, whom
the Lord called to make a pilgrimage to the land of his fathers. Taking his fam ily, he started westward through the wil derness. When he was weary with a journey of six miles, he came upon a tent by the way and a man said to him: “Rest here.” When he had rested, this man guided him forth on his journey in the promised land. At the end of six miles’ more he found another tent with refresh ments and so on to the end of his journey, and each time the man in the tent guided him safely on his journey after his rest. ... The.fife of man is a pilgrimage. Six mjles are"'six days; the'seventh is the Lord’s Day, the tent of refreshment by the way. The fool passes by the tent and sooner or later perishes in the wilderness. The Christian pauses with Him on that day sealed by His resurrection, the day honored by the early church. He goes on his way to the land of promise in the con sciousness of His presence and blessing. Texts: Gen. 12:1-3; Deut. 8:17-18; Jonah 3:1-10; Mai. 3-7-12; Mt. 28:18-20; Acts 1:6-8; 13:1-3; 26:12-20; Rom. 1:14- 16; 1 Cor. 16:2; 2 Cor. 8:1-15; 9:1-15. L esson in O utline - I. The Call to Separation and Consecra tion., Gen. 12:1-3. II. The Basis of Stewardship. Deut. 8: 17, 18; Mai. 3:7-10; Matt. 26:12-20; 1 Cor. 16:1, 2; 2 Cor. 8:1-15. III. The Call to Foreign Fields : 1. Special Calls. Jonah 3:1-10; Acts 1 :6-8; 13 :1-3; 1 Cor. 9:1-15. 2. General Call. Matt 28:18-20; Rom. 1:14-18. — o — STEWARD.is a person entrusted with x the management of an estate or af fairs not his own. A Christian is a steward because he is entrusted with the manage March 24, 1929 Stewardship and Missions (Job 41:11). The earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof (Psa. 24:1). The sil ver and the gold are His (Hag. 2:8). The heaven and the heaven of heavens is the Lord’s (Deut. 10:14). We are proprietors of nothing—only trustees. Thé test of a Christian’s honesty with God is the way he uses the material things entrusted to him. Faithful stewardship was beautifully exemplified by our Lord who said : “Lay not up for yourselves treasures on earth, but lay up for your selves treasures in heaven” (Mt. 6:19-20). His recommendation of a poor widow’s sacrificial act of casting two mites into the Lord’s treasury, which was all she had, stands as a monument of approval of the spirit of self-sacrifice manifested in acts of benevolence (Mk. 12:42). There is the story of the rich husband man who stored away his goods for self gratification. To him the Lord said : “Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee : then whose shall those ment of affairs and d i s b u r s i n g of possessions w h i c h belong to the Lord. Every beast of the forest is His (Psa. 50:10, 12). Whatso ever is under the whole heaven is His
FRED S. SHEPARD ’S BLACKBOARD OUTL INE
S tewardship I nvolves S ELF—2 Cor. 8 :5. UBSTANCE—1 Cor. 16:2. ERVICE—1 Chron. 29:5. If there be first a willing mind. 2 Cor. 8:12.
things be, which thou hast provided'?”' (Lk. 12:20).. Dives, who “fared sumptu ously every day, . . . opened his eyes in hell” because he ignored his obligations as a steward (Lk. 16:19). The great judgment scene described in Mt. 25:31-46 reveals the great contrast be tween faithful and unfaithful stewards. The righteous, commended for their lib erality with the Lord, were unconscious that they had done great work for Him, and asked: “IV.hen saw we thee hungered and fed thee? Or thirsty and gave thee drink? . . . . etc. The King answered that in doing acts of charity in His name to the least of His brethren, they had done it unto the King. Successful business men operate their affairs on the budget or percentage plan. Christian business "should also be con ducted in a systematic why. God’s Word has prescribed businesslike plans of ac counting for stewards. The Old Testa ment taught the Jew to tithe ,all his in come. We read in 2 Chron. 31:10 that “since the people began to bring the of ferings into the house of the Lord. . . . . the Lord hath blessed his people.” Later, when spiritual blessing departed from Is rael, Malachi reminded them that they were “cursed with a curse!’ for they had “robbed God . . . in tithes and offerings" (Mai. 3:8-9). “Bring the tithes into the storehouse," Jehovah challenged, “and prove me now herewith . . . . . if I will not open you the windows of heaven and pour you out a blessing that there shall not be room enough to receive it” (Mai. 3:10). Some push away such statements, saying that they are Jewish in their setting. But can a Christian under grace logically give less than a Jew under law? And can we expect showers of blessing from heaven, upon easier terms than the Jews might have them? To be sure, the Christian is not in bondage to law. He is at liberty to with hold his tithe without losing his salvation. But he who adopts such an attitude, loses much of joy and blessing on earth, if not reward in heaven. One who realizes some thing of what his Saviour has paid for his redemption, is not figuring how little and how seldom he can give. He has a profound sense of God’s ownership. He hears on every hand the tramp, tramp, tramp of souls on their march to perdi tion. He longs to spend and be spent for the One who gave all for him. In a con scientious way, he plans to give system atically, regularly and liberally. His con stant desire is to use his income in a way that will meet the Master’s approval, that he may hear the words: “Well done, thou good and faithful servant!"
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