DEVOTIONAL COLUMN

Manawatu Times, Volume LV, Issue 7009, 19 November 1932, Page 9

DEVOTIONAL COLUMN

Precept, If thino enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink. Rom. 12. 20. Promise. Blessed are the merciful; for they shall obtain mercy. Matt. 5. 7. Praise, Righteousness shall go before Him; and shall set us in the way of His steps. Psa. 85. 13.

FAITH, HOPE, LOVE. (1 Cor. xiii. 13.) Faith is the eye by which I see The wealth of Him I love; It is the hand by which I grasp God's treasure from above. Hope travels far away, beyond This troubled vale of tears, Tako wings, and soars and mounts on high, Away from doubts and fears. Love selfless is, seeks not her own, But thinks of others' needs, It lifts the fallen, cheers the faint, And lives in kindly deeds. So most I covet love—fox, list, It "suffers long is kind”; It envies not ... is not puffed up, But bears the humble mind. PAUL’S TESTIMONY. (Acts 26. 13-22.) 1. "I saw in the way a light,” ILLUMINATION. v. 13. 2. "I hoard a voice speaking unto me,” REVELATION., v. 14. 3. I was not disobedient,” CONVERSION. v. 19. 4. "I continue unto this day,” PRESERVATION. v. 22. Note. —"Having obtained help from God.”

A MODEL PREACHER. Philip "preached Christ” (Acts 8. 5), "the things concerning the Kingdom of God” (12), and "the Word of the Lord” (2x5). From the Old Testament (Isa. 53), he preached "Jesus,” as a sheep shorn and slaughtered. The results: — 1. BELIEF. "I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God,” .... v. 37 2. BAPTISM. ‘ ‘ They went down both into the water,” v. 38. 3. BLESSEDNESS. "He went on his way rejoicing,” v. 39. A hint to modern preachers—Preach "Him,” not "It.” W. Luff.

SOMETHING MORE NEEDED. The story of Christ’s moral teaching, and self-sacrifice, and example; and the need of being earnest, and sincere, and like Him; will never smooth a dying pillow. Christ the Teacher, Christ the great Pattern, Christ the Phrophet, will not suffice. We want something more than thisl We want the Old Old Story of Christ dying for our sins and rising again for our justification. Wo want Christ the Mediator, Christ the Substitute, Christ the Intercessor, Christ tho Redeemer, in o.Tder to meet with confidence the King of terrors, and to say, "0 death, where is thy sting? 0 grave, where is thy victory ? ’ ’ —Bishop Ryle. He is a buckler to them that walk uprightly. He ~ . preservoth. the way of His Saints. Proverbs ii. 7, S. Jesus, my Lord, is my shield and buckler, Unto all evil tho way is baircd; Nothing can harm me, for naught can touch mo Save what He willcth Shall cross his guard.

ST. MATTHEW 22. 34-46. WHAT THINK YE OF CHRIST? The attempt to entangle tho Lord continues. This time the Pharisees put forward a lawyer to tempt him. To understand the point of the discussion we must remember that tho Pharisees considered the question as unanswerable, and whatever reply Christ gave they wero prepared to wrangle about. As an example of their folly, take this: “If Moses has enjoined upon us three hundred and sixty-fivo prohibitions and two hundred and fortyeight commands (in all six hundred and thirteen), surely all these cannot be equally important!’’ What a fruitful field for “vain jangling” (1 Tim, 1.6) and “vain babbling” (6.20). But the Lord was not to be drawn into their profitless discussions. To Him the Law was one; no commandment stood alone; the least had its part in tho whole (Matt. 5. 19); to break one was to break all (Jos. 2. 10). Tho two tablets of stone contained, the one, our duty to God; the other, our duty to man; together they were one Divine Law, each “like unto the other in its responsibility and obligation.” Love is the fulfilling of the Law (Gal, 5. 14). After having thus silenced His opponents in defence, He proceeds to do so in attack. The Christ, Whose Son is He? Easily they answer, The Son of David. True, but why, then, if that were all, does David call Him Adonai (the mighty God) in Psa. 110. 1, “The Lord (Jehovah) said unto My Lord (Adonai) Sit Thou at My Tight hand, ’ ’ etc. Christ must be more than Son of David to be thus addressed. There was no escaping tho conclusion. Christ is not only Son of David, but David's Lord. The Lord Jesus, they knew, claimed to bo Messiah (John 4. 26; 9. 35-38), and in so doing made Himself God (John 10. 33), the One Whom David by the Spirit calls Adonai. Stupendous truth! “I am the Root (as David’s Lord) and the Offspring (as his Son) of David, and the bright and morning Star” (Rev. 22. 16).

To-day’s Thought: Our answer to the question “What think ye of Christ?” will determine our answer to another, “What then shall I do with Jesus?”