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THE K I N G ’S B U S I N E S S
If all our earth ly possessions are to be tu rned over to some person, how im portant it is th a t we know him as fully as possible. W hat do we know of Jesus Christ? We know th a t He is faithful, th a t He has never broken a promise, th a t He never fails; th is is the testim ony of history and of experience. (Heb. 10: 23.) “ J e t n s h o ld f a s t t h e p r o fe s s io n o f o n r f a it h w 't h o u t w a v e r in g ; fo r h e Is fa it h f u l t h a t h a th p ro m is e d .” He has all power. This is demon strated by His miracles, by His resu r rection, by the history of the church, by fulfilled prophecy, by our own per sonal experience. He is th erefo re w orthy of our tru st. Not to tru s t is to doubt, and to doubt God is a dread ful th ing (1 John 6 :1 0 ). (1) THE CAUSE OF SORROW— HIS PARTING, “Ye n o w ,th e re fo re , have sorrow” v. 22. There never has been and th ere never can he any peace where Jesus is not. W hat is the cause of th e univer sal un rest of the world? Adam and Eve, through transgression, broke th e tranqu ility of th e Garden of Eden and the human race has been a restless race ever since. All have sinned. All pos sess th e sinful nature. All are wicked. (Isa. 48:22.) “ A s I liv e , s a it h th e L o r d , th e r e Is n o p e a c e to th e w ic k e d .” ,A11 men seek peace. All men search for peace. All men sorrow for peace, yet bu t few men ever find it. The race is out of harmony w ith God and can know no peace, or rest, un til th ere is a rig h t relation between them and God. This relation can only he brought about by conform ity to God’s law, and in order to conform to God’s law, men must know what th a t law is. (Psa. 19: 7.) “ T h e la w o f th e L o r d Is p e r fe c t, c o n - v e r t in g t h e s o u l.” Converting here means “ resto ring ” or “ refreshing” th e soul. Through the years, sin had swept over th e world un
til it had covered the; earth w ith its foul w aters, as in N oah’s day th e wa ters covered th e land, and th e dove of peace could find no place upon which to re st its feet u n til th a t place was found in the a rk of th e P rince of Peace. (2 ) THE CURE FOR SORROW— HIS PRESENCE, " I will see you again,” v. 22. The sp irit of th e age is increasing restlessness, and th is restlessness is th e logical resu lt of setting God and tru th aside. Confidence (or faith ) is th e basis of all tran saction s in public and p rivate life. Only as we have faith in men and faith in principles can there he any re st for m ind or body. Because of lack of confidence banks break, homes are wrecked, lives are destroyed. “ H e t h a t b e lie v e th n o t G o d h a th m a d e h im a lia r .” L et us have th e fullest possibl knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ th a t we may tru st Him, - and, tru stin g Him, have perfect peace. (3 ) THE CERTAINTY OF PEACE — HIS PROMISE, “ Be of good cheer, I have overcome th e world,” v. 33. There can he no peace in th e world, no peace for th e wicked, un til th e Gov ernm ent of Peace shall un fu rl its white flag of peace (Jas. 4 :1 ). “ F r o m w h e n c e c o m e w a r s a n d fig h t in g s a m o n g y o u ? C o m e t h e y n o t h e n c e , e v e n o f y o u r lu s t s t h a t *w ar a g a in s t y o u r m e m b e r s ? ” The message came fo rth fro Heaven,— “peace on earth to men of good w ill,” i. e., to men who have will ed it. The children of men were rebels against God’s government, bu t Christ came declaring th e term s of peace (Eph. 2 :1 5 ). “ H a v in g a b o lis h e d in h is fle s h t h e e n m it y , e v e n t h e la w o f c o m m a n d m e n ts c o n ta in e d in o r d in a n c e s ; fo r to m a k e in h im s e lf o f t w a in , o n e n e w m a n , s o m a k in g p e a c e .” (Rom. 5 :1 ). “ T h e r e fo r e b e in g ju s tifie d b y f a it h , w e h a v e p e a c e w it h G o d th r o u g h o u r L o r d J e s u s C h r is t .” The only way by which rebelli us men could he justified was by blood.
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