THE K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
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appealed to by: demagogues and politi cians to promote th e ir selfish ends. The white, black, brown and yellow races have, always been antagonistic. The color of the skin is a superficial differ ence. “He fashioneth th e ir h earts alik e.” God is no respecter of persons. He loves all and Christ died for all. There are no herm it nations now. Mod ern civilization has annihilated tim e and space and made th e world a neigh borhood. T h at Christian most reflects th e sp irit of his Master who rad iates good will to every o th er hum an being irrespective of national, racial or tem peram ental differences. SUNDAY, May 29. Acts 2:44-47. C hristian Communism. The early Christian community in Jeru salem was characterized by free dom of use ra th e r th an by jo in t owner ship. It was not a social experiment bu t a sp iritual condition. It did no t abol ish poverty. I t was an expression of spiritu ality . The early Christian said “W hat is m ine is thine. Take w hat I have.” The anti-Christian communist says, “W hat is th in e is mine. Give me w hat thou h ast or I will tak e it by force.” T h at first community of goods rested on love and sympathy for the poor. Modern communism rests on a sp irit of envy and hatred to th e rich. C h ristian ity makes no attem p t to r e construct society save through the tran s formation of individual character. To form ulate program s of community wel fare and give no place to th e regenera tion of the individual is worse th a n a t tem pting to make bricks w ithout straw . I t can’t be done. MONDAY, May 30. P salm 67:1-7. A Christian Nation. It is not necessary for a nation to form ally reject Christ by ballot to be unchristian or anti-christian. F o r a n a tion to enact legislation, eith er directly oi through its representatives, th a t is foreign to th e sp irit of Christ and in consistent w ith His standards, is ta n t am ount to a d eliberate {rejection of jjim . It would be mockery and hypo crisy to in sert th e name of Deity in the constitution of a nation unless God was enth ron ed in th e h earts and homes of its people. God desires n eith er lip service or paper homage. Matt. 15:8. The more Christians th e re are in a nation, th e higher will be its civilization and th e more ju st and effective its govern ment. A Christian nation would be one
in which all the citizens were C hristians bu t in th e p resen t age' a Christian nation can only be characterized as one in which some Christians live. TUESDAY, May 81. Rom . 18:1-10. The C hristian and th e Nation. Rome was the m istress of th e world. It was the seat of jurisprudence and government. I t was socially and mor ally co rrup t however, its iron ru le des potic and its emperors for th e most p art impious and wicked men. W hat should be the a ttitu d e of a Christian in the Roman Empire? Christ was his Master and Lord. Should th e Christian give obedience and allegiance to a civil ru ler? Paul sets up th e 's ta n d a rd for Christians in every age. Human gov ernm ent is ordained of God. It does not re st upon th e consent of th e gov erned or upon any mythical social com pact. It is a Divine re stra in t upon th e development of sin. The w o rst'govern ment is b etter th an none a t all. The duty .of the Christian is therefo re neith er revolution nor rebellion b u t p atien t and expectant submission. Jam es 5:1-8. ¿tils. Al/i. v I B ^ HOW DO YOU BEAD IT? 1. The Christian should approach th e Bible as a Unique Book'. It is common to h ear in some quar te rs th a t “we should read th e Bible ju st as we read other books.” This, obviously, is an impossibility. Can any man read a let’te r w ritten by his m other who has gone to th e Glory, ju st as he would read a p aten t medicine ad v e r tisem ent? W hat o ther book has done for th e individual, the nation, the race, the world w hat th e Bible has done? Can a man read his Bible and no t ta k e cognizance of th is fact? W hat o ther book makes the claims th e Bible makes to be th e voice of God, and to declare autho ritatively and unerringly th e m!nd and will of God? If any o th er book or books make such claims, then, when they are produced, it will be tim e to read them as we do the Bible, and test th e respective m erit of the rival claim ants.—Dr. Wm. Evans.
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