T HE K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S MONDAY, Jan. 12. I Kings 8:22-30. At the Beautiful Gate. There is something pathetic if not incongruous in the lame man lying at the temple gate. When we think of its solemn dedication and the purpose it was supposed to serve, we wonder that there should be any lame or halt around it. Many a country church yard is filled with graves. We bring our be loved dead and lay them away under the shadow of the walls of that insti tution whose message brings the anti dote and abolition of death. Life is full of incongruity. We are often shocked by the juxtaposition of things that are antipodal in their character. The happiest promise of the life to come is the entire and everlasting ab sence of all this. Happy are we if the inward and outward are in complete correspondence. 3 John 2. TUESDAY, Jan. 13. Acts 3:3-7. Peter’s Three-fold Gift. Peter did not give the suppliant the money that was asked for and expected. He gave him three things instead any one of which was better than any amount of money. He gave him his eyes, his mouth and his hand. He looked at him, he spoke to him, he took him by the hand. Many go through life with closed eyes. They dare not contemplate a spectacle of suffering lest they lose their careless ease by its harrowing details. Many have been drawn from the depths of despair and some even from suicide by a kindly word and a warm grasp of the hand. One may be poor in this world’s goods but rich in sympathetic helpfulness and possibilities of blessing. The poorest person has these resources at his dis posal and they'are always available. WEDNESDAY, Jan. 14. Isaiah 35:1- 10 . 7 : The Kingdom Sign. The trouble with the man who was
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healed by Peter and John was in his feet. This is the trouble with human ity. As Mephibosheth was crippled in his infancy, so man has been crippled by sin. God says, "Walk before me and be thou perfect,” and locomotion is impossible. The image of Nebuchad nezzar was all right except the feet. The head was gold, the shoulders were silver, the torso was brass, the legs were iron, but the feet were clay. Upon the feet fell the mighty stone that pul verized the entire image. This miracle carries a suggestion of the coming time when the lame man shall leap as an hart, and when the inhabitant shall no more say, “ I am sick.” The many ex periences of Divine healing in these days may be considered as a sign and' earnest of the coming kingdom. Com ing events cast their shadows before. THURSDAY, Jan. 15. Acts 3:12-18. Peter’s Explanation of the Miracle. Peter takes a supernatural sign as a test and preaches a sermon whose tem per is entirely different from that of Pentecost. It is characterized by sharp antitheses concerning their conduct. Ye rejected Jesus, ye delivered Him up and denied Him. Ye refused a holy • man and chose a murderer instead Ye killed the Prince of Life but God raised Him up and it is through Him that this miracle was wrought. Peter does not excuse their action but extenuates it as having been caused by ignorance in People and rulers alike. In spite of their rejection Jesus lives at God’s right hand, clothed with supreme au thority. A saved and healed man pos sesses an evidential value surpassing all apologetic arguments. Acts 4 : 14 . A commercial traveler carries his sam ples with him. The world rightly de mands a demonstration of the power and truth of Christianity.
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