THE K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
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16, and Acts 28:23, 31. Israel is th e best illu stration of a nation controlled by God, and yet when we read th e long list of wicked kings, we wonder if ever Israel was a worshipper of th e tru e God. The Gospel Influence.— Dr. P ierson said, “Ninety-six years have swept by since mission history began in the South Seas. At least fourteen years of labor passed before th ere was the first con v ert in Tahiti. Then, and while th e m issionaries were absent from the is land, Tuahine and another of th e na tives, who had been impressed w ith the tru th , while sewing in a m issionary’s family, were found praying to God for a new heart. .Then Pomare II gave up his idol-gods, and before th e mission aries had again set foot on Tahiti, a wonderful upheaval of society had begun. Since th a t day in 1811, the con verts, living and dead, in w estern Poly nesia, have numbered over a m illion.” It was ten years before Adoniram Judson was able to gather one little flock of eighteen converts into a church in Burmah. We now look back over four-score years, and w hat a glorious harvest. Taking the whole eighty years into our reckoning, one new B aptist church has been organized on heathen soil for every th ree weeks of th e entire time. One new convert has been bap tized for every th ree hours, counting day and night. In China, the era of missions p ro p erly began in 1842. F ifty years later, th ere were fifty thousand converts, and th e ratio of increase during the qu arter century, between 1863 and 1888 was eighteen fold! Where will you find a b etter investment? Dr. John Geddie was a t Aneityum only twenty-four years, from 1848 to 1872. On th e tab let reared to his mem ory we read : “When he landed in 1848, th ere were no Christians; when he left in 1872, th ere were no heathen s.” Golden Text Illu stration .—When Mr.
same happy expenditure.—Moule. He th a t loveth. Love will no t perm it us to in ju re, oppress or offend our brother. It will not give us leave to neglect our b etters or despise our inferiors. It will restra in from inordinate passion and no t suffer us to g ratify our envy a t th e expense of our neighbor’s cred it and repu tation , bu t it will preserve us harm less and innocent.—-Sherlock. H ath fu l filled th e law. The love th a t fulfills is t,;e love th a t fills full. Man has no more power to generate and exercise th is love th an he has to perform its outw ard requirem ents. I t is th e love of Christ th a t constrains us.— F arr. Subject Illu stration . —- Jam es An thony F roude, th e historian, wrote, ‘‘In Cicero, N ature half-made a great man, and left him uncompleted.” When we th ink of th e intel- LESSON lectual energy of ILLUSTRATION th e Roman states- W . H. P ik e man and philoso pher, of his rh e torical power and literary genius, and also of his vanity, cunning, passion, weakness of will, absence of manliness and veracity, we can see how tru e was tl.e verdict of the historian. Here is a g reat man bu t he lacks th e .qualities of th e Christ. So it is w ith nations; some of them are great, b u t how much g rea ter would they be if they w e re 'd is playing in every avenue of th e ir n a tional activity, th e principles and sp irit of Jesus. To see a nation bound by- greed, g raft, bossism and bribery; yet professing to be a Christian nation, affects one the same as seeing a beggar w earing a P rince A lbert coat over his rags, or a garbage gath erer adorned with a silk hat. Bible H lustration.— There are no il lu stratio n s of Christian nations in the B.ble. There never has been one,, and never will be one, till Jesus comes and sets up His Kingdom. B u t th e preach ing of th e gospel has caused many na- t ions like Rome in Constantine s day to ta k e over many Christian principles and' customs. This was tru e in Phil. 1:13-
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