THE K I N G ’S BUS I NES S it is not to sleep, but to supplicate for others. He was a worker, not a shirker. He labored with His hands, with His head and with His heart. We know th a t there was blue blood in His veins, for He was of the royal line of David, but there was also enough of red blood to atone for the sins of the world. He was a worker. He said, “My Father worketh hitherto and I work.” Wher ever He w en ^H is hands were out stretched in ministry. He laid His hands upon the dead daughter of Jairus and brought her back from the cavern of death. He was always on the go. He rose early in the morning, a great while before day, and went to a solitary place. The disciples followed Him with a call to a community work, but He said, “Let us go into the next towns that I may preach there also, for there>- fore came I forth.” (Mark 1:29-45). He was not one of those who sit in a chair and say “Here is your ticket for Africa” and send them away without prayer, but “Let us go,” and “Go ye into all the world, and, lo, I am with you.” He was a worker. He worked His way from the boyhood days to Jordan as a carpenter, and from Jordan to Cal vary as a Captain of a motley crowd, and on the cross He preached a sermon of seven sentences unparalleled. He worked His way from the tomb to the Mount of Olivet, spread His nail-pierced hands in benediction and then sped to the right hand of His Father where He is doing the work of an intercessor for His saints. He will work His way back some day, sceptre in hand, to take the throne of righteous rule. If you are looking to Christ as an example you will find it in Himself at work. (2) WORK COMMANDED, 1 Thess. 4:11. Not only does the Father work, the Son work and the Holy Spirit work.
367 but every disciple is constituted a worker. The acceptance of Jesus Christ as Saviour and the confession of’ Him as Lord, sets us free from Satan’s kingdom and power,’ and in stalls us in a new realm. We are bought with a price and have become bond slaves of Jesus Christ and are under orders from Him. We have no right to choose as to the character or condition of our work. Our salvation is a gift—- free—but we are commanded to work it out. (Phil. 2:12, 13). God works in us by the Holy Spirit and we work it out by the same Spirit. We are commanded to go to work (Mark 16:15). We are to work as wit nesses (Acts 1 :8 ). We are to work as ambassadors (2 Cor. 5:20). We are to work as fishermen (Matt. 4:19). He did not call us to be coddled, but to endure hardness as soldiers. He did not call us to be feasted and petted, but to fast and pray. He did not call us to be favored and .privileged in the church, but to fight and prevail. He has called us out, commissioned us and commanded us to the most blessed and beneficial work ever given to men. He did His part. He paid the price. He has committed to us, His followers, the work of reconciliation (2 Cor. 5 :1 8 ): “And a ll th in g s a re of God, w ho h a th reconciled us to h im self by J e su s C hrist, an d h a th given to u s th e m in istry of reco n ciliatio n .” Paul is an example for us all. See how he wrought and labored (v. 8, 9) and commanded that if a man would not work neither should he eat (v. 10). In a mission for men which was under the supervision of the writer, we had on one wall “Give to him that asketh” and when men saw that their mouths watered; but on the opposite wall were the words “If a man will not work neither shall he eat,” and when they saw th a t their knees weakened. If we could in some way get these two Scriptures applied to church mem-
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