444 BLACKBOARD OUTL INE FRED S. SHEPARD ’S 0 BLIGATION TO BJECTIVES IN PPORTUNITIES FOR 3ix days shalt thou labor.—Ex. 20:9. cellent material for emphasizing intelli gent, sympathetic, cooperative effort. I. Work ordained of God. Gen. 2:15. God placed man in the Garden east ward in Eden and charged him to dress it and keep it. Labor under such favorable conditions as existed in Eden was not ex hausting and disagreeable as is much la bor today, but evidently it was a pleasure and a delight. One would naturally judge that labor is profitable for man’s happiness and well being. This inference is drawn from the fact that God has created the world and made it in such a way that there arises the necessity for labor and toil. This con clusion is further confirmed by the fact that throughout eternity the saved will serve God day and night. Experience teaches that at present those who have no pressing duties, demanding their attention are the least happy; it likewise teaches that those who have occupations in- which their hearts lie, are the happiest and most contented people. II. Six Days of Work Enjoined in the Law. Ex. 20:9. When God gave the law at Sinai to Is rael He delivered the Ten Command ments (Ex. 20; Deut. 5). The command concerning labor is found in the Fourth Commandment in connection with the pre cept concerning keeping the Sabbath Day holy. God knew man’s needs. It is to his best interests, physically and spirit ually, to have a day of rest, recreation, and worship. The seventh day was set aside for this purpose. The rest of the Fourth Commandment, which enjoins six days of labor upon each member of every household, is bind ing in the same degree-as the first part. It is as much a person’s duty to work six days out of each week as it is for him to rest and worship on a seventh day. ‘ While this law was given to Israel specifically, the principle is true today with reference to all nations. All per sons who are physically able should work six days and should reserve one—the first day of the week, the Lord’s Day—for rest, meditation, and worship. III. Priority of Work. Neh. 6:3. Nehemiah, with a consuming love for God and a burning passion to assist his fellow man, at personal sacrifices labored under the most adverse circumstances to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem. After the failure of many adroit efforts on the part of the enemies of the Jews, Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem endeavored to decoy Nehemiah into a trap by inviting him to a conference in the plains of Ono. Ne- hemiah’s great sense of the urgency of the task at which he was laboring pre vented his even considering an invitation to the conference. It is doubtless also true that the invitation aroused suspicions in his mind concerning the motives prompt
September 1929
T h e
K i n g ’ s
B u s i n e s s
ing those inviting him to a parley. Dili gence in business would keep many people out of trouble if they would realize the importance of work. IV. God’s Continued Activity. Jno. 5 : 17. In the Genesis account the statement is made that God worked six days and ceased from His labors on the sevénth day and rested therein. It is not to be understood that God ceased all activity and has since then indulged in idleness. It is true that He finished the specific work of reconstructing the world preparatory to man’s creation. Though through with that particular work He, according to the statement of the Saviour in Jno. 5 :17, continued to work until that time, and of course will always work. It is His na ture to be engaged in that which will be to His glory and to the blessing of His creatures. V. The Limited Time for Man’s Work. Jno. 9:4. In the ninth chapter of John appears the record of Christ’s healing a blind man at the Feast of Tabernacles, about six months before His crucifixion. Upon see ing this man who had been blind from birth, the disciples asked the Lord who had sinned, the man or his parents. To this question Jesus replied that neither had sinned but that this blindness was for the glory of God. Immediately He added: “I must work the works of Him that sent Me, while it is day : the night cometh when no man can work.” This occasion gave the Lord an opportunity to work and thus manifest His glory by so doing. There seems to be in the thought of the Saviour a Very close connection be tween glorifying the Father and working. In this passage one’s lifetime is spoken of as a day during which he has an op portunity to work ; the period after one’s departure is, in this figure, the night dur ing which he cannot work any more ; i.e., he can no longer do work in this life so as to forward God’s plan and purposes. These statements, however, are not to be taken as an indication of cessation of consciousness after thé spirit departs from the body, because other passages teach very clearly the opposite. VI. Paul’s Example of Working. Acts 20 l 33-35. In the 20th chapter of Acts appears Paul’s speech to the elders of the church of God at Ephesus when he met them at Miletus, the seaport of Ephesiis. He be gan this speech by calling their attention to his manner of life when he came to them at first, and how in lowliness of mind amid trials and difficulties he la bored among them, teaching them and shrinking not from declaring unto them the whole counsel of God. He concludes his speech by stating that he was not covetous of any man’s posi tion. On the other hand, he labored with his own hands in order to have the neces sities of life for his fellow workers and for himself. He justified his course by calling attention to a statement made by the Lord that “if is more blessed to give than to receive." One does receive more genuine joy by serving others than by be ing selfish and inconsiderate of others. . VII. Idleness Condemned. 2 Thess. 3 : 6 - 12 . The idea prevailed among the Greeks that no real gentleman would work but
A K en tu ck y Pastor Writes “Please find $1.25 for one y e a r ’ s subscription to T he K ing ’ s B u sin ess . I can not do longer without it in my study. I have all my old copies and re read them often in my study. May God bless you in your great work.” — J. M. J.
that all service should be performed by slaves—captives of war, most frequently. The same idea is said to obtain among the Chinese nobility today. On the contrary, labor was held in very high esteem among the Jews in the first century. From Paul’s second letter to the Thes- salonians it is clear that there were cer tain members of the church at Thessalo- nica who took the general Greek attitude towards work and refused to do anything, notwithstanding the fact that they did not have the necessities of life. Paul con demned this false conception of life when he was present, and taught them that each one should have a legitimate occupation and should work for a liveli hood. His teachings were not obeyed, at least fully; therefore it became necessary for Paul, upon learning of the refusal to work on the part of some Christians, to command the brethren not to assist those idlers.- “I f any man will not work, nei ther let him eat.” VIII. Work in Order to Have Suffi ciency for Others. Eph. 4:28. If a person has a sufficient amount of means so that he does not have to work, he is likely to expose himself, to the at tacks of the devil. There are, unfor tunately, those who will work only enough to have a bare subsistence. God is not satisfied with such conduct on the part of people. Calls for assistance from those who have been unfortunate in life, are constantly coming in ; therefore God enjoins in Eph. 4 :28 that Christians should not stop work because they have sufficient for themselves, but that they should continue to work that they might have funds for the assistance of the un fortunate, and also, -according to other Scriptures, funds for the spreading of the truth of the Gospel. P ith and P oint “The man who teaches his son no trade teaches him 1highway rohbery.”— Jewish Proverb. “I know what pleasure is, for I have done good work.”— Robert Louis Steven son. “God intends no man to live in this world without working; but He -intends every man to be happy in his work.”— Ruskin. “This feeling that work is ignoble does not come from God.” “You get far more tired of what you have than of what you do.” “I find that all effiinent men work hard.’’— Livingstone. “Feat God and work hard.” “Thou, O God, dost sell us all good things at the price of labor.”— Leo Nardo. — o —
Made with FlippingBook Annual report