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TH E K I N G ’ S B U S IN E S S
Y EARS AGO, when I was on holi day in Cornwall, an old fisher man entered into conversation with me. Pointing to two great rocks, hie said he could remember when it was barely possible to get a row boat between them, but the erosion of thé years now made it possible for a fair sized steamer to pass through. The fisherman’s talk brought home to me the fact that even the things which seem most stable are subject to the law of change and decay. Sun, moon, stars, mountains, rocks, trees, áre no more exempt from this law than is man. With the passing years, man be comes conscious that things are not the same with him as they once were. He cannot do that Which was once no trouble to him. It is with labored breath that he now mounts the hill, which once he climbed with ease. In the course of a lifetime we wit ness momentous changes in the politi cal, social, economic, moral, and spirit ual life of any nation. The tragic days in which we live have completely changed the circumstances of young and old. The young find themselves in entirely new surroundings and faced with new trials and temptations. At the same time, here in Britain tens of
thousands of aged people have lost their homes and live with strangers far from their native towns. Where shall we find comfort, hope; and strength in these days when the present Is full of ehange, and the future is fraught with uncertainty and forebodings? We must turn from the things Which are subject to the law of change, and center our affections on the things which are enduring. The Apostle Paul, who suffered much in body, constantly turned his thoughts to' things eternal. “We look not,” he says, “at the things which are seen . . . for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal” (2 Cor. 4:18). The Bible' speaks of many things in which we may trust in a time of change; because they change not, we can be sure of them in time and in eternity. God’s Changeless Son First, the Son of God is eternally the same-; “Jesus Christ the same yester day, and to-day, and for ever” (Heb. 13:8). The writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews sought to strengthen those who were in danger of drifting back to Judaism, by showing that the old
Jewish order was subject to revision, by reason of man’s mortality. Every priest was subject to the law of change and decay,-and thus other priests were appointed to replace those who died. . But Christ, after having tasted death for “every man” (Heb. 2:9) rose from the dead and is alive for evermore. He is now a Priest forever and “ever liv- eth to make intercession” for us (Heb. 7:25). Because He is beyond the law of change and is the same for ever more, we can trust in Him and hold fast to Him, knowing He waits to bless us in every hour of need. When npthing about us seems stable and sure, we can turn to our Lord and say: “Thou art the same” (Heb. 1:12). Our hope in Him is “sure and stead fast” (Heb. 6:19) and is unaffected by the vicissitudes of life. And yet Christ’s changelessness is not the sameness of monotony, for He is ever revealing to us new aspects of His c h a r a c t e r , His attributes, His Word. Whatever our circumstances, whatever the alteration that time may work in and around,-us, we find Christ meets us a c c o r d i n g to our need. Throu'gh the ever-living and all-power ful Christ we are equal to every emer gency: “ I can do all things through C h r i s t w h i c h strengthened me” (Phil. 4:13).
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