King's Business - 1921-06

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T H E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S

justly or unjustly, history will .determine, lie did one thing, however, th a t should make every right thinking man take off his h at to the Princeton, schoolmaster. Moreover it was a new thing. H e acted without precedent. He introduced an ethical ideal into th e arena of world politics. How can th ere be one law for the Individual and another law for the nation? Is there not a permanent and infrangible moral order? The sneer of Cain in reply to God’s challenge, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” seems out of place on th e lips of the demagogues and poli­ ticians of the day. The name of every­ one who has set himself against the Divine standard will be buried in obloquy and oblivion, while the names' of those who take sides w ith God on moral ques­ tions will shine with a brighter lustre as th e ages roll. MONDAY, June 6. Isaiah 11:1-10. A Millennial Picture. Scripture is to be interpreted literally wherever possible and these statements are not only possible but credible. Take ' the closing sentence of verse 7 as an il­ lustration of the others. “The lion shall .eat straw like the ox.” This is a con­ crete statem ent apparently impossible to spiritualize or explain in a figurative way. Expressing th e thought in a general way as a scientific formula, we m ight say, “The carnivora shall become gramini- vora,” i.e., flesh-eating animals shall be­ come herbivorous.” Mr. Darwin- under­ took to prove th a t th e grinders of car­ nivorous animals were evolved by a flesh diet. If this be true, it is easy to reverse the process and devolve them by a diet of herbs. No flesh was eaten in the Gar­ den of Eden. Neither will there be in Paradise restored. Properly understood and correctly interpreted, th ere is noth­ ing absurd or impossible in the Bible. TUESDAY, June 7. Isaiah 11:12-16. The Character of the King. In the opening verses of this chapter th ere are seven characteristics of Christ mentioned. The marginal translation of verse 3 is significant. “Shall make him of quick scent or smell.” The acuteness, of the Sense of smell in some animals is marvelous. When the wind is in the right direction, they are able to scent the hunter a t a distance or several miles. Formerly all the senses were called into play in worship, frankincense appealing to the sense of smell. There are moral and spiritual analogies. We speak of th e odor of sanctity. On the other hand sin is

malodorous. It smells to Heaven. Some­ times, however, it is disguised and de­ odorized. The spiritual senses by reason of constant and proper use, are able to discern between good and evil. Heb. 5:14. WEDNESDAY, June 8. Isaiah 55:1-13. A Call to the Nations. There is not the slightest Scriptural ground for believing th at the world is to be made Christian in the present age. On the contrary we are told th a t “evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.” 2 Tim. 3:13. The home mission survey of the interchurch world movement showed the decline of church membership and Sunday school attendance. One of its leaders said, “The city of New York is more rapidly becoming pagan than any city of the Roman Empire, became Chris­ tian in her worst days.” A returned mis­ sionary said, “There a je more heathen today in the best of world mission fields, Korea, than there were when* the first Christian missionary set foot upon Kor­ ean soil.” These statem ents are the more significant emanating from post- millennial sources. In view of these con­ ditions, how fatuous it is to insist that the world is -growing better! THURSDAY, June 9. I Pet. 2:1-10. The Only Christian Nation. The word Christian has considerable latitude of meaning. A nation may be characterized as Christian because its prevailing religious idea is such. In the narrow and Scriptural meaning of the word it is impossible to apply it to any existing nation on earth. A nation is composed of individual units and the greater p art of these in any nation is not even professedly Christian. The world has made such encroachments upon the church that it is a question if the lives of many church members could be tru th ­ fully described as Christian. The line of cleavage between the church and the world has become very indistinct. A man might even call himself a Christian, meaning -that he was not a Mohammedan, a Buddhist or a Jew. The only Christian nation in the sight of God is th a t holy nation which is an elect race, a royal priesthood and a people for God’s own possession. FRIDAY, June 10. Daniel 2:40-45. A Reconstructed World. There is no doubt whatever th a t the world will be made Christian. The only

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