Covenanter Witness Vol. 54 - Rparchives.org

sting"
conciliation."
me."
man,"
lie. Christ, because there is no darkness
in Him, could not use for Himself, a lost
coin. It belonged to the loser. Do not say,
"But if the owner could not be found."
Christ would know about the owner.
Anyhow, a lost coin still belongs to the
loser,
whether known or not. Christ
created all the silver in the world. He
miraculously
multiplied food.
But He
could not counterfeit a "piece of money"
that He himself had described as
"stater"
which was a coin with a super
scription. Neither could Christ take an
ass without the owner's consent. The
arrangement with the owner may have
been made miraculously. We do not need
to manufacture miracles in order to es
tablish Christ's power.
While the multitude sang "Hosana"
and spread garments and palm branches
on the way, Christ knew that He was on
the road to the cross. Truly, "The way
of the cross leads
on."
The cross seems
to be an old symbol. Christ often spoke
of it. It was the instrument of execution,
yet the one to be executed must bear it.
The sinner builds his own cross with his
own sins. If he will take it up and bear
it to Calvary, joining it with Christ's
cross, and take his place on it with
Christ, then with Christ, he will win the
victory over sin and death, and he then
can exclaim with Paul, "O grave, where
is thy victory O death, where is thy
(See next week's lesson.)
John 12:20.
I know not why the key verse
(v. 13) is omitted. Greeks came
to Philip, who had a Greek name, and
was probably Greek, and asked him to
help them see Jesus. Philip and Andrew
tell Jesus. This was the sign of a World
Harvest. Christ answered them,
a
"The
hour is come that the Son of man should
be
glorified."
For that end He must, like
wheat, die, then the harvest, that is the
way with all life. The seed must die and
decay. We must die unto sin if we
would live unto righteousness. Sooner or
later, this body will become a burden.
That we may have a new body, this one
must die and become dust. Many try
hard to prevent, or rather retard, the
decay of the body after death. Many
preserving devices are offered at great
cost, and promoters take advantage of
those who are in sorrow. We may keep
up with the Joneses, but the Egyptians
are away ahead. I have seen an Egyptian
mummy. I would rather think of my
body going quickly to dust or ashes, ac
cording to God's plan.
Life through death. Christ died for all
of us. We should all live for Him who
not only died for us, but rose again.
Paul (v. 16) warns us against becoming
attached to the flesh. When Mary found
Jesus after He had risen from the dead,
March 16, 1955
she would have held Him by the feet,
lest she lose Him. Jesus said, "Be not
clinging to She should forget His
human form, and learn to know Him as
glorified. Even as Christ's followers
could know Him in the flesh no more,
so Paul says that in our knowledge of
one another, we should go deeper than
what appears in this life, for the old has
passed away, and all things have become
New.
To those who are in Christ, all things
are of God. We are reconciled to God
through Christ. Freed from the bondage
of sin, we should rejoice to enter the
glorious life of bondmen to Jesus Christ,
whose meanest service is better than the
greatest riches that sin can offer. Moses
by faith weighed the throne of Egypt
against the affliction of a race of slaves
in Egypt, and did not falter in his choice.
Paul never gets away from the
thought, that being saved, we have a
duty, or rather a privilege, to carry the
ministry to others. (Vs. 18 19) "And
gave to us the ministry of reconciliation;
To wit, that God was in Christ, recon
ciling the world unto himself, not im
puting their tresspasses unto them; and
hath committed unto us the word of re
The Protestant Churches have been
criticised for allowing the Roman Catho
lics to monopolize the symbol of the
cross. The use of the cross among
Protestant Churches is spreading rapid
ly. This we should keep in mind; Chris
tian faith is revealed, not in signs, but
in life.
Psalms
PRAYER MEETING TOPIC
18:1-4, page 30
April 6, 1955
THE ROYAL LAW
James 2:1-13
M. K. Carson, D.D.
31:18, 22, 23, page 73
26:1, 2, 6, page 61
116:1, 4, 5, 6, page 282
References; Matt. 22:37-40; John 13:34,
35; Gal. 5:14; Lev. 19:18; Deut. 1:17;
Mark 12:29-31; Romans 13:8-10; I Cor.
13; Matt. 5:44.
This law of the Kingdom is well
named. It is truly a Royal law, the law
of the King Himself and the king of all
laws. It is not only the great command
ment but it is the sum of the Ten Com
mandments. It is both a Royal law in its
origin and in its perfection, for it is the
fulfilling
of the law.
This Royal Lavo is the True Bond of
Brotherhood.
"Don't ever attempt, my brothers, to
combine snobbery with faith in our Lord
Jesus Christ." Philipps. How vividly this
point is illustrated, James 2:2, 3. The
one who was both arrayed in spendid
garments and was a "gold-ringed
having "his hands conspicuously loaded
with rings and jewels"
was given a
choice seat. Men who pay two hundred
dollars a day for hotel accomodations
are given more consideration than those
who do not indulge in such sinful ex
travagance. In this world where money
talks this partiality is understood and
expected, even though it is not in har
mony with the law of the Kingdom. The
poor man, being despised, was left for
the most part to shift for himself. And
this took place in the "synagogue"! The
men in the illustration were judged by
outward appearances. The rich man,
greedy of money, power and position,
was given special favors because he
wore the costly
clothes. And the poor
man was rejected because he came in
vile raiment. According to James, such
invidious distinctions are wrong. The
costliness of a man's dress is no criter
ion for true judgment. If this rich man
and poor man could have been judged on
a "heart-basis," would this distinction
have been made Evidently this poor
man was "rich in faith" and an heir
of the Kingdom, but despised by the as
sembly. The gay clothing and the costly
rings would be seen. They were pur
chased and worn with that in mind. But
the riches of the poor man were not so
evident nor were they prized so highly,
although they were infinitely more valu
able. The poor man was rich in faith.
This is essential. Not all those, however,
who are poor in material things are rich
in faith. And not all those who are rich
in material things are lacking in faith.
We thank God for many Christian men
who are rich both in spiritual and ma
terial things and who administer their
wealth for the glory of God and the ad
vancement of the Kingdom. This Royal
law is the one bond that makes true
brotherhood possible. No true brother
hood can exist where men regulate their
respect for each other by the measure of
their outward and worldly standing.
Based on such a criterion there is bound
to be "respect of
sin.
persons"
which is a
This Royal Law is a Unity.
But suppose they were guilty
of this
sin, the respect of persons. It was only
one sin. Is the breaker of one law as
guilty
as the man who breaks two or
more laws Evidently the Apostle an
ticipated such an objection. His answer
is, "For whosoever shall keep the whole
law, and yet offend in one point, he is
guilty of
all"
(2:10). The law then is a
unity.. It is given by one Divine Author,
the exponent of His Divine and Holy
Will. It might be illustrated in this way.
Your watch might have ten or more
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