545
November 1929
T h e
K i n g ' s
B u s i n e s s
to their masters, urging them to do every thing as if they Were doing it from the heart to Christ. Likewise he condemned “eye service, as men-plcasers.” Regard less of what a Christian is doing, he should render that service as if he were doing it as personal work for the Lord Jesus Christ. The same spirit in which he would perform any task for Jesus should animate him in all the service which he renders to his employer. In verse 9 Paul turns to the masters and urges them to have the proper atti tude and consideration for their employ ees. In order to insure their heeding this injunction he called their attention to the fact that they themselves had a mas ter, even Christ, who is in heaven and who will not respect persons. Whenever a person recognizes his vital relationship to Christ and is animated with such a spirit as is inculcated here, he will be found do ing the proper thing on all occasions. In his letter to Timothy, who was in charge of the work at Ephesus, Paul laid a solemn charge on Timothy that he should give special instruction to those who were rich in this world’s goods. His first exhortation was that they should be humble, taking their minds off of this world and worldly possessions and cen tering their hearts upon God, who is the One in whom all men live and who grants unto all the things which they possess. He exhorted them to lay up their trea sures in the heavens instead of upon earth (cf. Matt. 6:19, 20). — o-— P ith and P oint All industrial problems will be solved when the righteous King reigns. “Shoddy work is not only a wrong to a man’s own personal integrity, hurting his character, but it is also a wrong to so ciety,” “False and sham work of every kind is a sin against brotherly love, for some body suffers for it somehow.” “We never can tell who must suffer, as when a ship springs a leak through badly driven rivets, or when cheapness is got by adulterated food.” Men often steal their master’s time who would never steal his money. “We must have just and noble men, and God-fearing men, for employers and for employed. Then the industrial prob lem is solved and not before.”— Lyman Abbot. December 22, 1929 The Child In a Christian World (Christmas Lesson) Scripture References: Matt. 18:1-6; Mk. 9:36, 37, 42; 10:13-16; Luke 2:1-20. Devotional Reading: Isa. 11:1-9. Golden Text: “But Jesus said, Suffer the little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for to such belongeth the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 19:14). L esson in O utline Introduction: Historical Setting. Beginning the Lesson. I. The Child, Jesus, in the Home. Lk. 2 : 1 - 20 . 1. The Birth of Jesus. Vs. 1-7.
FRED S. SHEPARD ’S BLACKBOARD OU TL INE T ABOR T OVE when 8 JL j o y a l J .—/EADS As ye would . . . do ye also.— Luke 6 :31 wrong impression and to instil into the minds and hearts of the apostles the proper spirit, Jesus spoke the parable con tained in Matt. 20:1-16, the gist of which is as follows : A certain man owned a vineyard. At the beginning of the day he went into the marketplace, where men were congregated seeking employment, to hire men. Those whom he saw he hired, agreeing on a shilling a day. He went out at other times to the market and hired other men. Finally, at the eleventh hour he went and found a man waiting to be employed. Immediately he em ployed him to work in his vineyard, mak ing no contract whatever. This man ac cepted the first opportunity of service and was willing to trust his employer to do that which was reasonable and right. At the close of the day the householder paid the laborers for their, services, beginning with the eleventh-hour man and paying him a shilling. Proceeding, he paid all the same amount. Immediately those who had the bargaining spirit began to mur mur because the eleventh-hour man re ceived as much as they who had labored through the day. The great lesson to be taught by this parable is that God recognizes the spirit in which service is rendered. When He gives rewards to His servants, not only will the quantity and quality of the Service be considered, but the spirit in which the service is rendered will be one of the dominating factors. Christians can not afford, under grace, to have that low, fleshly, bickering spirit. In Mark 12 :l-9 Jesus, using the illus tration given by Isaiah (Isa. 5:1-8), com pared Israel to a vineyard to which every attention had been given and from which the owner rightly might expect good fruit in its season. At the time of fruit he sent a servant whom they beat; later he sent another servant whom they wounded; then he sent another whom they killed ; next he sent many whom they mistreated, killing some ; finally he sent his son, thinking they would honor him ; but they, recognizing him as the heir, killed him. The vineyard was Israel ; the husband men, the leaders of the nation ; the ser vants, the prophets ; the son, the heir, Christ the Son of God. Passing by the thought of this passage being a parable and considering it as a literal, historical fact, one would say that these servants had no proper conception of their responsibility to the employer. When John the Baptist was approached by soldiers concerning what they had to do to be right with God, he commanded them : “Extort from no man by violence, neither accuse any one wrongfully ; and be content with your wages” (Luke 3 :14) —most excellent advice for men in the commercial world today. IV. According to Paul. Eph. 6:5-9; 1 Tim. 6:17-19. In Eph. 6 :5-9 Paul gives instructions to servants concerning their relationship
Semitism” and who bitterly oppressed the Israelites. Various rulers of Egypt have been identified as this king by dif ferent scholars. Notwithstanding the un certainty concerning the king or kings, the monumental evidence corroborates the Biblical record that Israel was persecuted in Egypt. ’ The ancient monarchs, like some mod ern political statesmen, were very incon siderate and inhumane, not recognizing the equality of man and never thinking of the fundamental basic principle of all hu man relations—" All things whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, even so do ye also unto them.” Trouble will always arise when men fail to recognize and practice this principle. When God thundered from Sinai’s rug ged heights the Ten Commandments (Ex. 20:17), He positively prohibited covetous ness in every form and in all human rela tionships. Covetousness, after all, is the prolific cause of all of the undesirable conditions in the industrial world. Un fortunately this same fleshly, human feel ing manifests itself among the redeemed people of God although it is positively condemned. When Moses reiterated the Law just before his death, he emphasized God’s de mand that no Israelite should oppress an other nor any sojourner within his gates, but that the employer should pay his em ployee daily since the latter depended up on his daily labors for the bare necessities of life. II. According to the Prophets. Amos 5: 6-15; Zech. 8 :16, 17. In the days of Amos gross injustices were in evidence on every hand and the common principles of righteousness and justice were flagrantly violated; yet the nation was very religious, going to the idol worship at Bethel and Gilgal. The prophet pleaded with them to forsake their idolatry and to seek (5:6) “the Lord Jehovah” who is the Creator and Sus- tainer of the universe. In making his ap peal he pointed definitely to those whom he had in mind: “Ye who turn justice to wormwood, and cast down righteousness to the earth.” In verse 10, in speaking of his audience, he declared that they hated the one who reproved them of their sins. Turning to them he addressed them directly a n d pointed out their sins. Then, in verses 14, 15, he exhorted them to hate the evil but to love the good and pursue the principles of righteousness and justice. The same message, delivered by Amos, could well and appropriately be delivered to the mas ters of industry, in many instances, today. Zechariah (8:16, 17) likewise pleaded with the restored exiles: “Speak ye every man the truth with his neighbor; execute the judgment of truth and peace in your gates; and let none of you devise evil in your hearts against his neighbor; and love no false oath: for all these are things that I hate, saith Jehovah.” III. According to Jesus. Matt. 20:1-16; Mark 12:1-9; Luke 3:14. When Jesus said that it was most dif ficult for- a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven (Matt. 19:23f), Peter, informing the Lord what he had given up to follow Him, was animated by the wrong spirit—that low, bickering, bar gaining spirit, which is abominable in God’s sight. In order to correct the
Made with FlippingBook HTML5