the amount of aid to be given to our erstwhile enemies has been a subject of much debate, this does not take away the fact that America, as a whole, has opened her heart in great generosity, and out of our abundance we have shipped food and clothing in tremendous amounts to those in need. While no doubt there has been a sub stratum of selfishness inherent in this whole plan, this does not minimize the fact that the hearts as well as the purses of the American people have been ex tended in a magnificent gesture of friend liness and good will. Do not think for a moment that God is unacquainted with this! On one occa sion, as recorded in the 10th chapter of Acts, God sent a special angelic mes senger to a pious military man who was a generous almsgiver, reminding him that notice had been taken by God him self of his benevolence. In a sense, America has already been bountifully repaid for her charity by the overwhelming harvest of her acres dur ing the past eight or ten years. Each subsequent harvest seems to top all pre vious records, and even though we have given away uncounted tons of foodstuffs, today our granaries are filled to over flowing. Nor is this all, for God will most surely continue to bless and add new grace to this already favored land be cause of our magnanimity. It may even be that God, by His Holy Spirit, will cause a great wave of revival to sweep over America which will bring multi tudes into a knowledge of salvation. Sweet From Sorrow Into our hands has come the latest volume of poems from the gifted pen of Martha Snell Ncholson entitled The Glory Forever, a collection of Bible-inspired poems. One would not dream when read ing these lovely verses that the author for a number of years has been a patient sufferer from arthritis and other serious ailmdnts. For years hardly a day has gone by in her life when she has been free from pain. As is often the case, Mrs. Nicholson is one of God’s choicest saints. For when one must absolutely lean upon God, then the wonder of- His sufficiency is most surely demonstrated. While Christian people generally shrink from such ex periences of pain, the fact remains that sorrow is one of God’s greatest teachers and becomes the harp upon which God brings out some of His sweetest melodies in our lives. T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
establishing the communion memorial table right in the center of our Christian life. Prone as we are to forget the real heart of Christianity, God has given us in graphic tangible form the essential truths of our dependence upon, and rela tionship ' to, the crucified and risen Christ. So, as the saints gather around the table, we are reminded that in us there dwelleth no good thing and that by grace through faith we are saved, not of ourselves, but through the unique sac rifice of. another, even the Lamb of God. The memorial feast, however, has an other function as well. Four distinct “ looks” are emphasized. First of all, the feast looks back to Calvary’s cross where your salvation and mine was ob tained at such tremendous cost. The feast then looks forward to the time when the absent Christ shall return and we shall be forever with Him. The feast also looks upward to the position of Christ today at the right hand of the Father where He ever liveth to make intercession for those who are His. And the feast looks inwa/rd to the hearts of God’s children with the exhortation that a man examine him self before he eats of the bread and partakes of the cup. Thus it is that every time God’s child presents himself at the communion table, the great underlying principles of Chris tianity are reviewed in his mind: re demption through the blood alone; the careful walk of the believer in depend- . ence upon the risen Christ, and then, to cap it all, the truth—which is the blessed
One o f the Fingers The preacher was speaking on the marvels of the truth found in the tenth chapter of John’s Gospel, verses 28 and 29. He was re-emphasizing the precious fact that eternal life is a gift and that the one who is genuinely saved by the Lord Jesus Christ is held in the strong hand of the Son of God! He stated, moreover, that there is the additional safeguard that the Heavenly Father, be ing greater than all, adds the strength of His hand to the safety of the believer’s position. He assured his listeners that the believer’s relationship to God was one of the utmost security. Then someone asked the question: “ I know that the Christian is in the hand of Christ, and that the hand of Christ is in the hand of God, and this seems to be a very safe place, but suppose that through force of dire circumstances the Christian were to slip through these fin gers and thus be lost?” To this inquiry the preacher made answer: “How can any child of God lose his place of security and blessing in the hand of Christ when he himself is one of the fingers?” For here is a glorious truth: the Christian is not only safely residing in a position of security but is eternally, vitally joined to the risen Christ. Just as the various members of your body, being many comprise one body and 'are endued with one life, so also are the Christians of all times one body, made alive and kept alive by the resurrection life of the indwelling Christ. How such precious truth should thrill our hearts, and how we should rejoice in so great a salvation as that which God Himself provides for us! Four “ Looks” One of the marks of God’s wisdom and His understanding of the character and weaknesses of the sons of men is His
truth of the Lord’s sure return. Marshall Plan May Mean New Blessings
Never before in the ?history of the nations of the world has there been such a gigantic benevolent gesture on the part of a victorious nation to those that were defeated as the Marshall Plan. While
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