THE K I N G ’S B U S I N E S S
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horse covered w ith foam, and as he dis mounted, th e fath e r threw his arms around the neck of th e boy, and ex claimed, “My son, I did not send you because I w ant you killed, bu t I had to send a man I could tr u s t! ” Was th is not th e reason God sent His only begotten Son into th e world? Oine Step F u rth e r Gipsy Smith related th e following at one of his recent meetings: “ In an American home a boy came down late to breakfast, and his mother saw w ith surprise th a t he had by his p late a big roll of dollar bills. She knew the lad ought not to have th e money, and she cried, ‘Where did you get all th a t? ’ ‘I won it last n igh t in a gambling den,’ said th e youth. The m other rebuked him strongly, and th e boy got mad. ‘I know you are looked up to in th e church,’ he said. ‘Yes,’ replied the mother, ‘and you must tak e all th a t money back a t once.’ The boy asked, ‘Where did you get th a t vase on the mantlepiece?’ ‘Why, you know I won it a t th e whist-drive,’ was th e reply. ‘Then,’ said th e boy, ‘you take th a t back, and th en I will ta k e 'th is money back. I t was you, mother, who taugh t me to play w hist and bridge. I have only gone one step fu rth e r.’ ” % f t THE FRIENDLY (?) CHURCH There is an English church where a box hangs in th e porch. It is used for communications fo r th e pastor. C ranks put th e ir notes in it, bu t oc- cassionally it does fulfill its purpose. Recently th e m inister preached, by re quest, a sermon on “Recognition of F riends in Heaven,” and during th e week th e following note was found in th e box: “Dear S ir:— I should be much obliged if you could make it conven ient to preach to your congregation on ‘The Recognition of F riends on E arth ,’ as I have been coming to your church for nearly six monhs, and no body has taken any notice of me yet.”
The M irror (Jam es 1: 23, 24).
One muddy day I was badly splashed by a passing vehicle, and received sev eral mud-stains on my face, bu t did not know about them un til I looked into a m irro r in a shop window. Two thoughts came into my m ind immedi ately: How can I remove them , and why didn’t my friend, who talk ed w ith me, tell me about them ? The soul g athers stains from the world’s “ tra f fic;” in the m irro r of God’s Word (and in th a t alone) it catches sight of its defilement. The questions arise: Can i,t be cleansed? why was its condition not pointed out before? No one who gets a real glimpse of his soul as God sees it, can leave it untouched w ithout showing extreme folly and guilt, es pecially if he knows of a fountain open for sin and uncleanness; and he who sees another defiled and ignorant of his stains is guilty of gross neglect if he does not hasten to w arn him of his state. But th e m irro r is th e best and tru e st indicator. God’s Word, pointed home by His Spirit, reveals the soul’s defilement, shows th e scarlet stain of its sin, and points to the way of cleans ing. The T rusted Son During a b attle in the Civil War, General Sumner was in command of a division th a t was hotly engaged w ith the enemy, and he needed someone in whom he could tru s t to carry a very im port a n t order, and he deliberately chose his own son, and sent him where death was fast reaping a rich harvest. W ith th e order concealed under his belt, the son mounted his horse, and rode away. The bullets and shot and shell flew th ick and fast while he made th e dan gerous errand. The fath e r watched, and waited for th e re tu rn of his boy, while his h ea rt was charged w ith vary ing conflicts and emotions. He saw him emerge from the smoke of battle, his
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