T H E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
601
and strengthens the will for righteous ness, she. is doing more to reconstruct the social order than can be done in any o th er way. Whenever in her history there has been a revival of pure and un defiled religion, a new and strong moral passion has followed which has aggres sively attacked the wrongs and abuses of the industrial and political worlds. Af te r th e Reformation the social well-being of the nations progressed by leaps and bounds. ■ After Wesley and Whitefield had aroused England from her moral lethargy, the condition of the masses was greatly improved. When the great spir itu al and eternal certainties of the fu tu re life, are brought home to the hearts of men, there is an inevitable reaction and readjustment of tèmporal and earthly conditions. TUESDAY, June 21. I 2 Tim . 3:12-17. The Home and the Church. There are two impassable barriers in th e way of socialism against which its waves beat like breakers on a rock- bound shore. These are found in the family life and religious faith. A true mother will never yield her child to the S tate. Maternal instinct is stronger than political philosophy. • Religion in its last analysis rests upon an appeal to the in dividual. Moreover it .deals with the problems of discontent under moral ra th e r than material sanctions. It teaches th a t poverty may be more consistent with a spiritual life than wealth and th at a moral objective is the only worthy goal of a rational being. These facts make socialism and Christianity forever incom patible and foredoom any form of so cialism to failure. Christianity puts no premium on poverty, but it insists th a t a man’s life does not consist in the abun dance of things which he possésseth. WEDNESDAY, June 22. Lev. 25:18-24. The Hebrew Commonwealth. The basis of the covenant with Israel was an inviolable individualism. This is seen in the fact th a t the land was not th e property of the state but was vested in thé individual as an inalienablè pos session. It was a pleasant propriëtor- ship. - A man could not sen his land to a stranger. Naboth could not sell his vineyard even to the king. This law recognized th a t wealth depends upon the forces of nature and th a t the land with its renewed resources is the ultimate basis of real wealth. Every family had its provision from the land. This ideal
became impossible in the time of Christ because of Roman sovereignty. Never theless every Israelite cherished the ideal suggested by the prophet’s alluring pic ture of a social state where every man sat under his own vine and fig tree, w ith none to make him afraid. Micah 4:4. THURSDAY, June 23. 1 Peter 2:9-18. The Hebrew Social Ideal Persists in Christianity. The Old Testament does not confound justice with equality. The Hebrew ideal gave perfect equality of opportunity and before the law but had no idea of equal ity in gift or rank or recompense. In equalities in wealth, endowment and of fice were accepted as natural and inevit able. The sun must strike the mountain tops before it falls upon the plain. Af ter P eter had parted company w ith Juda ism, he exhorts Christians to hold their religious leaders in reverence and submit themselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake. Paul enjoins obedi ence to the civil magistrate even though he was a Pagan enforcing unjust laws. The modern conception of a common level of work and wages supposed to be fundamental to democracy, is not found either in the Old or the New Testament. FRIDAY, June 24. Micah 6:6-15. The Religious Sanctions of the Hebrew Social Ideal. “God first” was the formula of the He brew social ideal. All forms of govern ment and conditions of life were consid ered good under which men m ight serve God and keep his commandments. No m atter how much m aterial prosperity might be enjoyed, it was of no avail if the people were not true to God. Pov erty existed, th e wrongs of society and the oppressions of government were rec ognized and denounced by the prophets, yet the chief alarm th at was felt and expressed was th at Israel m ight become like the nations th a t surrounded her. Yet these nations were rich and prosperous. •Micah 6:8 is the epitome of the Jewish ideal. It is high as Heaven above the gross and m aterial conceptions of secur ity, luxury and prosperity th a t are cher ished and striven for by other nations of the earth. Jesus inherited this ideal and enlarged and spiritualized it in th e king dom of God. SATURDAY, June 25. Matt. 6:5-15. j The Kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is th e realm and rule of God in the hearts and lives of
Made with FlippingBook HTML5