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give man an ideal. There is a surplus of ideals everywhere. The ideal of th e worst man is better than the practice of the best man. “How to perform that which is good” is the real question. The Gospel offers the only answer. God has provided for every need of man in th e way of sufficiency and efficiency. SATURDAY, June 18. Rom. 3:20-31. Divine Righteousness. There are three kinds of righteousness described in Scripture and set before man. F irst of all there is the righteous ness of God set forth in Christ freely imputed and graciously imparted to all who receive it by faith. It is Divine in its nature and external in its value. Then there is the righteousness of man which is the result of his own effort to save himself and which he believes God should recognize and reward. This is earthly in its nature, the product of selfishness and is characterized as “filthy rags” by the Word of God. Finally then is th e right eousness of Satan and his m inisters. 2 Cor. 11:14-15, which is the counterfeit and substitute for the righteousness of God, It emphasizes high ethical ideals and has much to say about the inherent goodness and divinity of man. It not only denies man’s need of salvation but makes m an 'h is own saviour. SUNDAY, June 19. Rev. 21:1-12. The Holy City. The Divine objective for humanity is a spiritualized community. The human race had its beginning in a garden. Gen. 2:8. The Bible closes with a picture of a city. Here the final and eternal state of the righteous is seen in the fullness and perfection of holy life. The represen tation of heaven as a city suggests in tensity of life, variety of occupation anu closeness of relation to others. There is communion w ith God and with all sanc tified spirits. In the modern city on earth both saintliness and sinfulness find th eir strongest expression. The purity of the heavenly city is described in Rev. 21:27. “There shall in no wise enter into it anything th a t defileth, neither whatso ever worketh abomination or maketh a lie.” Abraham’s ideal is now actualized, “He looked for a city which hath foun dations whose builder and maker is God.” Heb. 11:10. MONDAY, June 20. Rom. 12:1-21. The Christian Standard. When the Christian church educates the conscience, awakens the moral sense
stantly, so consistently and so sympa thetically as the Christian church. The most abounding and iar-reaching chari ties in hehalf of the sick and the poor, th e widow and th e orphan either come directly from the church or indirectly from those under the influence of its teaching. The church can no more he heedless of moral wrong in the com munity than in the individual. Its first duty, however, is to win men to Christ and having done so, .to develop their Christian character. There can not be a good state without good men. Good men will make a better environment but no improvement of the environment by it self can make better men. The wisdom of Christ is seen in his making the tran s formation of character his great and only objective. THURSDAY, June 16. Acts 9:36-43. The Work of Dorcas. There are four classes of people en gaged in social service. There are those who are working against God. They deny his existence and bitterly denounce and oppose everything Christian. There are those who are working without God. They are distinctively humanitarian, having no conception of humanity’s need of a Saviour. There, are those who want to work for God hut they ally themselves w ith every kind of effort and become yoked up with avowed infidels. There are those who work with God in seeking to save the lost and promote social serv ice as the by-products of salvation. A tru e believer cannot afford to become associated w ith un sp iritual people in philanthropic work of any kind. He cannot have fellowship w ith unbeliev ers and w ith th e Holy Spirit. More over his testimony is weakened and his grow th in grace retard ed if he makes prim ary w hat God has pu t secondary. FRIDAY, June 17. Acts 11:27-30. The Possibilities of Social Service. Social service may he the ally of Chris tianity. As a means to an end when subordinated to the preaching of the Gos pel, it may become a fruitful agency in reaching the hearts of men. When it becomes a substitution for the Gospel, it is a deadly enemy to Christianity. There is much of this kind everywhere, in which Christ is recognized as teacher, leader and example but ignored and re jected as Saviour. This is the work of Satan masquerading in the garb of char ity and piety. Christ did not come to
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