242
T h e K i n g ’ s B u s i n e s s
April 1928
“ When Jesus saw that he answered dis creetly, he said unto him : Thou art not far from the Kingdom o f God” (v. 34). Not far—yet not ini He only wanted re pentance and faith to be within, yet that is no trivial lack. How many there are who can talk intelligently on the subject of religion, who can quote the command ments—yet remain outside of the fold of Christ. It is a great thing to have an intelligent hold of vital spiritual principles, as did this scribe; but how sad, that with all that, a man may still reject his Saviour and remain, outside the kingdom o f God! There is hope for those who make good use of theijight they have; but why will men follow the light to the very threshold, and then refuse to step over? —o— P ith and P oint •The heresy hunters are not'all extinct. They’re still trying to “catch men in their - Wprds” v(V. 13). > To'Caesar you owe your taxes; to God you oyve^oiurself (v. 17), . Those, who wish to get rid o f the ■teaching o f a resurrection and day of reckoning, usually have personal reasons (v. 18). • The highbrows are often surprised to discover how much some supposedly un- educated people know (v. 24). In God’s Sight, there is.not a cemetery in the universe—no interruption o f life (v. 27). . Love to God and man is the great prin ciple upon which all the law rests (vs. 29- 30). To be almost saved is still to be alto<- gether .lost (v. 34). —o— S uggestive •Q uestions What parties*! had failed in their at tempts to trap Jesus, before the Pharisees and Herodians took a hand? (V . 13; cf. 11:27-33.) Who once raised (he tax issue and what happened to him? (V . 14; cf. Acts 5 :37.) What was one of the doctrines o f the Sadducees? (V . 18.) What special point did Jesus make in the comparison o f resurrected saints with angelsf (V . 25; cf. Acts 23:8.) What was the usual character o f the scribes? (Mt. 23:13.) Was the scribe o f v. 28 evidently sin cere ? Are the two most vital commands of God to be found in the decalogue? (Vs. 30- 31; cf. Ex. 20:1-17.) Where did Jesus find the two most vital commandments? (Find them in Deut. and Lev.) —o—- G olden T ext I llustration H e taught them as one having author ity (Matt, 7:29). A passenger on a ship which had been for a number o f days storm-tossed on a dangerous coast, became filled with fear as the boat was about to pass a rocky point. He feared to go to his stateroom lest the sailors, through weariness,'Should fail o f their duty and the ship should be wrecked. He went to the captain and expressed hjs fear. “You need have no fear,” the captain replied, “ I myself shall stand at the helm.” Had we to depend upon the statements of men, we might well approach the fu ture in fear and trembling, but there is
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The rabbis had counted 613 precepts, which they had divided into “weighty” and “light.” They counted 248 affirma tive commands (the number o f members in the human body) and 365 negative (the number o f arteries and veins and the number of days in the year); The total of 613 equalled the number of letters used in the decalogue. They argued that out o f such a number, all could not be o f the same value. W e see, therefore, the dif ficulty o f the question propounded to Jesus. Surely He will have to ask for time to figure this out. To the scribe’s surprise, the Master answered him immediately and in one sentence. It was a different answer from that anyone else had given, and it was an infallible answer. “Love the Lord thy God with all thy soul, mind and strength; this is the first” (v. 30). It was not even
one o f the ten commandments. The whole of man’s complex being-yfsffvcit, soul and body—emotion, intellect, will— should go out in love to God. “ The second is like unto it—Love thy neighbor as thy self” (v. 31). “ The fruit o f the Spirit is love” (Gal. 5:22). “ Bear ye one an other’s burdens and so fulfil the law o f Christ” (Gal. 6:2). “Master, thou hast said the truth" (v. 32). So said this scribe, who had ap parently seen through all that purely ex ternal sanctimoniousness so carefully cul tivated all around him. “ To love God—to love my neighbor,” said he, “is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices" (v. 33). The .ceremonies of the Church have their place and usefulness as aids to devotion, but when our religion is but skin deep, it is worse than none.
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