March 1927
T h e
K i n g ’ s
B u s i n e s s
182
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yet He could not! Let us learn that, in the present dispensation at least, there are limits to the power of Omnipotence. Have we never asked why God does not do this or that?; If He be all holy, all loving, all wise, and all powerful, why does He not abolish the reign of sin and sorrow and establish perfect happi ness upon earth ? The answer appears to be that He is hindered by the.existence of human unbelief. He needs the co-operation of our faith; that being absent, as it was in the case before us, His absolute triumph over the Powers of Evil is for the present unattainable. “All things are possible to him that believeth”, but he that will not believe ties the very hands of God. Not His unwillingness to bless, but our unreadiness to accept the blessing, is the secret of the failure of His purposes. This may seem a mystery, and is, but that it is true is the teaching of our tepct. Let us then beware how we give place to unbelief. We rob, not ourselves alone, but others, when we limit in our minds the power of the Son of God. ; ate M arch 9. “The valley of the shadow of death.” — Psa. 23:4. IGNORANCE, or forgetfulness, of Hebrew idiom has caused this passage to lose much of its comfort for us. The words dp not necessarily refer to death at all, though no doubt they may be said to include it. It is the valley of darkness; of a shadow so dense as to be compared to that of death itself. Through many such valleys the Christian may be called to pass during the pilgrimage of life. Deep, dreadful gorges, where sun, moon and stars are hidden from his gaze; through which he wanders as through the blackness of an unilluminated night; in which there is no sound save the roaring of the beasts of prey. Who recalls not some such passage in his life as this? Who does not, at the recollection, almost experience afresh the tremb ling terror, the sense of utter helplessness, the feeling of loneli ness, the oppression of despair? “Yet,” says the Psalmist, “even in' such a place, I will fear no ill.” And why? Because the Shepherd will be with him. The poet has written: “In darkest shades, if Thou appear, My dawning has begun,” but whether He appear or not, depend upon .it He is there. And because He is there, we are safe. We love the green pas tures, of course, but we need fear the descent into ho dark valley with the Good Shepherd as our Guide, ¿U/s. ate M arch 10. “Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.” — Psa. 23:4. TO walk in the midst of dangers and to be unable to see either the pathway, the pitfalls, or the foes—what can be more appalling to the heart of -man? Yet such is his position who passes through the “valley of the shadow.” How shall he avoid falling into the snare or the quagmire, how is he to escape from the wild beasts or the robber? Both dangers,are provided for by the Shepherd’s rod and staff. The latter is the crook; with it He will guide the sheep amid the impenetrable gloom, along “the straight and narrow way.” With the former He will smite
M arch 6. “She hath done what she could.”—Mark 14:8
NOT what the world demanded of her, perhaps, nor what her friends expected, nor even what she would have liked to do—but what she could! How comforting the thought that God knows what we can do and expects, and asks, no more. No marble monument in earth’s proudest fane bears a nobler epitaph, or a more desirable one, than this: “She hath done what she could.” Is . any higher commendation possible from the Divine lips than that? Who would not barter all earth’s wealth and all the world’s glory that the words might be spoken by the Master of themselves? The woman in-the case before us earned the eulogy by doing “what she could.". Too many of us are so busy “Seeking for some great thing to do, Or secret thing to know” ; wasting our time and our opportunities wishing that we could accomplish something which is beyond our reach; that we neglect the common possibilities that lie ready to our hands. Let us remember that it is fidelity, not distinction, in, work which wins the Divine approval. “She hath done what she could” : nothing more could be said of an Archangel; as much may be said, if we will it, of any one of us. -s'-e. ' M arch 7. “Take up the cross and follow me.”—Mark 10:21. . WHITHER are we to follow Him? Clearly the cross bearer is bound for Calvary. To be “crucified with Christ” is the lot of every true disciple. It is from this that humanity shrinks. Many people are willing to wear a cross, but they do not wish to be crucified on it. Yet crucifixion is one of the fundamentals of our Holy Religion. In this. case, as in all others, death is the portal of life; to refuse the one is to debar ourselves from the other. Let us never forget that since Christ hung upon the cross it has been encircled with a halo of glory. To be crucified is a sharp and painful experience at the time, but all that is radiant and joyful lies on the other side of the cross. The resurrection, the many mansions, the crown of glory, the seat beside our Lord on the sapphire throne—these things are re served for those who take up the cross and are crucified with Christ. Truly They who follow Him to Calvary shall follow Him also to “the city that hath foundations,” and shall “walk with Him in white,” beside the living waters, evermore. Satan would dissuade us from the cross, but he has nothing to offer us in comparison to this. .iy? M arch 8. “He could do there no mighty work.”^—Mark .6:5. OF what impotent man, of what incarnation of incompe tence, are the. words recorded? Of none, but of the Almighty Son of God. Upon the face of it, this appears to be a contra diction in terms, but it is true none the less—He was Almighty, “The bud may have a bitter taste, But sweet will be the flower.’’ ;;:;
Tune I n ..
The unseen hand that reaches hundreds of thousands of peo ple through the agency of our radiophone, KTBI, is to be strengthened. The Bible Institute recognizes this arm of service as vital in its ministry to the world, and in its endeavor to support the min isters of the Gospel everywhere. As this goes to press plans are being formulated which we trust will make KTBI a real servant of the Christian public, giving real spiritual food and the best kind of Christian music. It is quite possible that more time will be taken up through out the day for broadcasting, and that the character of the pro grams in general will be changed.
On K .T . B. I.
Morning Devotional Hour at 8:00 o ’clock
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