504
THE KING’S BUSINESS
o f Je su s C h rist w ill ev er p reach it except from ste rn c o n stra in t o f duty. B u t th e re a re som e th in g s in respect, to w hich c o n sid eratio n s o f d u ty sh o u ld n ev er be n eed ed to fu rn ish a sp u r. A n d p ray er h as been b elittled a n d d eg rad ed by dw ell in g u p o n it a s a d u ty to be done, in stead o f a p riv ileg e to be enjoyed. I p ity th e m an w ho sim ply p ray s because he m u st, sco u rg ed to h is d u ty like a galley- slave, in stead o f flying jo y fu lly to a th ro n e o f g ra ce , as a w eary w a n d e re r to love’s em brace. O h, b re th re n , if o u r G od be th e K in g o f K in g s a n d L o rd o f L o rd s, th en ac cess to H is p resen ce a n d a ssu ra n c e o f g ra cious au d ien ce is a p riv ileg e o f su p r^m est h o n o r. I f H e be a n infinitely ten d e r-h ea rted F a th e r th en p ra y er is a p riv ileg e o f sw eet est joy. I f H e be an om n ip o ten t ru le r w ho can g u id e us in p erp lex ity , w ho can give u s lig h t in d ark n ess, com fo rt in trib u latio n , b read fo r o u r h u n g er, h ealin g fo r o u r d is eases, salv atio n fo r o u r so u ls,vsalv atio n fo r o u r frien d s, w h o can stn o o th all e a rth ’s ru g g ed p ath w ay fo r us, a n d p re p are us fo r H im a n d give us an a b u n d an t en tran ce— th en p ra y e r is a p riv ileg e o f g ra n d e st op p o rtu n ity . “ G ive m e a place w h ere to sta n d a n d a lev er lo n g eno u g h an d I w ill m ove th e w o rld ,” cried th e g re a t p h ilo so p h er o f S y ra cuse. W e h av e th e place w h ere to stan d—f;- in th e p rom ises o f G od— an d w e h av e th a t m ig h ty -lev e r in th e p ow er o f p ray er. L et u s in sim ple fa ith lay h o ld o f th e pow er, an d w e sh all m ove th e w o rld w ith th e m ig h t o f God. ------------ 0- ------—- S ev eral C h ristia n s o f T a ih o in F u k ien p ro v in ce, C hina, re ce n tly gave all th ey had tp th e ch u rch b u ild in g fu n d . T h e co n g re g atio n , w o rsh ip in g in th e hom e o f tw o y oung m en, h a d g ro w n u n til it overflow ed o n to th e a d ja ce n t th re sh in g floor. W h en th e n eed fo r a n ew ch u rch b ecam e p lain to all, an old m an, lam e an d p o v erty -strick en , rose
in th e co n g reg atio n on e S u n d ay m orning. “B re th re n ,” he an n o u n ced , “all I h av e is my house, an d y o u all k n ow th a t la s t sum m er’s ty p h o o n d estro y ed it. T h e tim b e rs are good y e t; I w ill give th em to h elp p u t up a ch u rch .” A b lin d m an w as n e x t to give. “A ll my savings I have in v ested in a g o o d coffin, b re th re n ,” h e to ld th em , .“in w h ich I have been h o p in g to be d ecen tly b u ried w hen m y tim e com es. I give it to th e b uilding com m ittee.” T h e a sto n ishm en t o f th e h e a re rs w as u n b o u n d e d ; a m an to give aw ay h is coffin— an d an old m an, a t th a t! T h e ex am p le w as to o m uch fo r one y o u n g m an. F o rm erly w ealthy, h e h ad w asted h is su b stan ce in rio to u s living, says T h e C h in ese R eco rd er, la te r becom ing a n e arn e st C h ristian . A ll he ow ned w as o n e-h alf th e h o u se in w hich he lived an d w hich fo rm ed th e co n g reg a tio n ’s m eetin g place. “I ’ll give m y h a lf of th is h o u se an d th e th re sh in g floor,” he de clared. T h en a ro se th e o ld er b ro th er. “M y h alf is fo r th e new c h u rch , to o ,” he said. T he v alu e o f th ese g ifts w as $325. W ith in a few m in u tes th e aw ak en ed co n g reg atio n p led g ed $400 m ore, a n d a com fo rtab le ch u rch w as m ad e certain . A ll th is h ap p ened w ith o u t su g g estio n o r k n ow led g e of any fo reig n er. ----------------------- . O n th e g ro u n d th a t it is in co n siste n t to a d v ertise w h isk y alo n g sid e p o ste rs d ep ict in g th e b irth o f Jesu s, th e P o s te r A d v e r tisin g A s so c ia tio n ,' a t a m ee tin g a t P alm B each, F la., M a rch 9-10, p assed reso lu tio n s d eclarin g th a t n o fu rth e r c o n tra cts fo r ad v e rtisin g o f sp iritu o u s liq u o rs w ill be ac cepted an d th a t u n d e r n o circum stan ces w ill e x istin g co n tra cts be co n tin u ed beyond D e cem ber 31, 1915. T h is is th e asso ciatio n th a t recen tly in stitu ted th e cu stom o f d is p lay in g a t its ow n ex p en se e lab o rate C h rist m as scenes on b illb o ard s o f th e co u n try .
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