T H E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
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Jesus came Into th e world to save sin ners.” (I Tim. 1 :1 5 ). A poor negro in th e congregation who had but re cently been saved was so affected by th e reading of th e text, th a t he request ed th e preacher to read it again. The preacher did so. “Be so good, massa, read it once more, it makes my soul feel so good.” Bible Illu stration Matt. 4:4 Man lives not alone by food, but by th e Word of God. In Jno. 6:63 Jesu s said th e words th a t He spake were sp irit and life. Jer. 15:16 Jerem iah ate th e Words of God, and they were unto him th e joy and rejoic ing of his heart. In Psa. 19:7-14 the Word of God is more to be desired than gold and sweeter th a n th e honey in th e honey-comh. The 119th Psalm mentions and exalts th e Word of God. II Tim. 2:15 P au l exhorts to study this Word to show thyself approved unto God. “H ast thou been down into the depths of thought? Until the things of tim e and sense are naugh t? Then toil and pain blend sweet as evening psalm ; Then doubt is whelmed in hope, and care in calm .” L ittle Words w ith Big Meaning “ I t is one featu re of God’s Holy Book th a t small words become invested w ith a deep meaning, in consequence of be ing connected w ith other words. This is tru e of sho rt prepositions and pro nouns. Take for instance, th e little words, ‘in,’ ‘my,’ ‘w ith.’ When these are associated w ith the Saviour, how deep is th eir significance. ‘In Christ,’ ‘my beloved,’ ‘w ith th e Lord.’ Here we have safety, riches, and fruition. Many o ther instances m ight be given.” How tru e th is is of this epistle to the Corinthian church. In sp iration Speaks fo r Itself “ I happened once to be in P aris on business and met a young Oxford man
in th e hotel in th e evening. We talked on theological m atters and I tried to edge the conversation as n ear to per sonal religion as I could. He argued as an Oxford man can, and I was no match for him. I happened, however, to know the Scriptures, which I th ink he did not know, and I gave him Scrip tu re for every difficulty he brought for ward. “Oh!” said he, eventually, “the ground you tak e up is impregnable.” Divine A uthority on Church Discipline This epistle to th e Corinthians is an inspired au tho rity on church discipline. If you wish to know how God disci plines His own, you will find His methods here. The p aren t eagle train s the young to fly— th e tho rn , planted, in th e side of th e nest, makes th e fledgling uncom fortable, if it nestles down too long in th e eyrie; and, if need be, the mother pushes th e young bird off the edge of the cliff, and lets it fall over into th e abyss— sees it tumble, scream ing and screeching, apparently doomed to be dashed in pieces; b u t th e mother bird watching, drops like a plummet, w ith incredible rapidity, beneath the young bird and receives it on the broad m aternal wings and bears it up to the heights, only to let it drop again. Thus it teaches its fledgling to fly. It is in these epistles th a t P aul records his thorn in the flesh. No doubt it was given for discipline. Golden Text H lustration Baron Munchausen says th a t it was so cold one day in Russia when he be gan to play a tun e on his trum pet, th a t half of it froze in th e in strum en t before it could get out. A few months afte r ward he was startled in Italy, to hear the re st of the tun e come pealing forth! This is a good fairy tale, b u t w hat a blessing m ight come to th e world, if those who have had benevolent pur poses in the past m ight get thawed out and let us have th e re st of th e tune. Dr. Duff tells th a t, when a lad, he . saw his school-master a t th e P erth
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