599 look the brighter it shines. “Have the faith of God.” Mark 11:22, margin. Hath he spoken and shall he not bring it to pass? The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this. Is. 9:7. MONDAY, June 13. Luke 4:16-21. Jesus’ Ordination Sermon. Our Saviour had to preach his own or dination sermon. There was no one to p re a c h 'it for him. The-sermon so an gered the hearers th at they sought to take the preacher’s life. Whether his es cape was natural or supernatural, we are not told, verses 29, 30. He pro claimed his Messianic mission, asserted its Divine character with his special en dowments for its accomplishment. With authority he announced the Scripture to be fulfilled. The quotation from Isaiah might serve as a table of contents for the record of his earthly life. Every thing th at he said or did would fall un der one or the other of these statements. Only the text of the sermon has been preserved. No,t a word of the sermon itself is recorded. It is not for us to question the wisdom of the Holy Spirit in selecting the subject m atter of revela tion but who of us has not a t some time expressed the wish th at some account of this wonderful sermon had been pre served! TUESDAY, June 14. Rom. 14:16-23. The Church and the Social Order. The church of Christ cannot stand en tirely aloof from social problems for the simple reason th a t every problem is eth ical at its heart and if it is ever solved, must have an ethical solution. Economics is inadequate and has no authority. When for example, the question is raised, why land should not be monopolized by the few, no sufficient reason can be given out side the domain of ethics. Many flagrant social wrongs can he defended on purely economic grounds, Christianity develops the sense of justice, and the virtues of pity and sympathy. It teaches the worth of th e soul, the equality of all men be fore the law, and the altruistic obliga tions of station and privilege. It recog nizes the claim th a t the unfortunate have upon the fortunate and seeks to level up rath e r than level down. The Christian ideal commands respect in the court of reason and of conscience. WEDNESDAY, June 15. Luke 10:25-37. The Good Samaritan. There is no society on earth th a t plays the p art of the Good Samaritan so con-
' THE K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S questions to be raised are “when” and ■“how.” Both questions are answered in Dan 2:44. The first question “when” is answered by the opening phrase, “In the days of the kings,” i.e., th e ten kings represented by the toes of the image, The second question “how” finds its an swer in the impact of the stone from Heaven which after its fall became a g reat mountain and filled the whole earth. It should he especially noted th a t the stone and the image are not contempor aneous. The stone does not increase while the image decreases. The stone begins to grow after the image is pul verized. The end of the times of the Gentiles is catastrophic. The wine-press of the w rath of God is yet to be trodden. Then Dan. 7:14 will be literally fulfilled. SATURDAY, June 11. Acts 1:1-10. The Church and the Kingdom. The church is in the kingdom as one of its mysteries. In verse 7 the Master gave a church answer to a kingdom ques tion. There was no doubt in the minds of the disciples as to th e restoration of th e kingdom. They were only uncertain as to the time. Their curiosity could not be gratified. Immediate duty demanded th e ir attention and energy. John 21:22. Times and seasons are prophetic. Proph ecy relates to Israel and the' nations. The church being a heavenly mystery is not found in the prophecies of the Old Tes tam ent save by implication and occa sional symbol. Nevertheless there is a close relationship. The setting up of the kingdom and the translation of the church can not be far removed in point ' of time. God always has a witnessing people upon earth but not more than one a t the same time. If God is about to resume his dealing with Israel, it is rea sonable to suppose th a t th e period of the church’s testimony on earth is near its end. SUNDAY, June 12. Num. 14:17-24. A Glorified Earth. Three times in Scripture is the assur ance given by God th a t the earth shall be filled w ith his glory. Num. 14:21; Is. 11:9; Hab. 2:14. It is re-enforced by an oath. Because God could swear by no greater, he swore by himself. The sig nificant thing however is th a t these state ments are made either in time of apos tasy or directly upon some great lapse on the part of God’s people. Circum stances were discouraging and fulfilment appeared impossible. God’s faith never falters or weakens. The darker the out-
Made with FlippingBook HTML5