696
T H E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
exerted for a period by th e apostles in th e early church. P aul and Barnabas continued “speaking boldly in th e Lord, which gave testimony unto the word of his grace and granted signs and won ders to be done by th e ir hands.” This was in accordance w ith Jesu s’ own prom ise to them in connection w ith His commission: “Go ye into all th e world and preach th e gospel to every creature. / And they went fo rth and preached everywhere, th e Lord working w ith them and confirming the Word w ith signs following” (Mk. 16:15, 20). The Apostle Paul, whose special mis sion was to tak e the Gospel of grace to the Gentiles, w rought m ighty m iracles in proof of his apostleship (Rom. 15: 18-19; 2 Cor. 12:11-12). These m iracles and signs, which were needed to give the church its send-off in th e world, gradually disappeared afte r the Jews definitely as a people rejected th e Gospel, and as th e Gospel was committed to w riting by th e in spired apostles. Miracles in one sense have never
ceased, for in answer to prayer God is ever interposing in a m iraculous man ner. When Jesus’ disciples were in a storm on th e lake, He w rought a def inite m iracle in quieting th e waters. Years after, when th e church was well established in the world, th e Apostle Paul was on a ship in another fearful storm (Acts 27) and God assured him th a t he and his company would reach shore safely, which they did by cling ing to tim bers from th e broken ship. Who will say th a t th is was not a m iracle? Yet it was not a m iracle of the same order as those performed while the Savior was here upon earth. It was not one of the sign miracles. God often wills to raise up th e sick, and our Lord’s redeem ing work surely includes a body delivered not only from sin, bu t from sickness and death. Yet many make th e m istake of thinking th a t we should fully realize in our bodies now w hat th e Bible teaches we shall possess only in the Immortal state. AWj, keep his penny, or give his penny and keep the dollar. When contributions are called for each man contributes his silver dollar. Were these two gifts, of a dollar each, equal? It has been well said th a t the largeness of a gift is not to be measured by th e am ount of th e gift, bu t by th e am ount the giver retain s for himself. Applying this rule, the first man gave in th e proportion of th e one dollar given to the hundred re tained; th a t is one in one hundred, equal to the one hund red th p a rt of a dollar, or one cent. The second man gave in the proportion of the one dollar given to the one cent retained, or one
ite m m Divine Arithmetic of Giving
By T. T. Holloway, Attorney, Dallas, Tex.
WO men sat side by side in the house of God, and listened to an earnest appeal for men and money to carry th e gospel to
all th e world. Bach man had w ith him all th e money he possessed, one having a silver dollar and a hundred dollar bill, the other a silver dollar and a penny. They were both moved by the preacher’s appeal. The first man questions in his mind whether he shall give th e hundred dol lars and keep th e dollar, or w hether he shall keep the dollar and give th e hun dred. The second man likew ise asks him self if he shall give his dollar and
Made with FlippingBook - Online magazine maker