August 1927
T h e
K i n g ’ s
B u s i n e s s
526
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A ugust S. “In the garden a new sepulchre.”—John 19:41.
A ugust 3. .. . “Follow me.’TP-John 21:19.
IN every one of the world’s gardens there is a sepulchre. However fair the prospect, however fragrant the flowers, how ever luscious and abundant the fruit> we may be sure that, sooner or later, we shall have to mourn over the havoc wrought by death. The brightest hopes will fade, the sweetest joys will decay,, the dearest friends will be snatched away from us, the most brilliant summer day will be overcast with clouds. Or, if we be spared these things, at least there yawns for us the sep ulchre into which we ourselves must ultimately descend. How our hearts 1sometimes quail and our spirits shiver as we con template these empty tombs, and dread the day when they shall be filled. But let us never forget that in the Sepulchre there Was an angel. There was death in the place of life, but there was also life in the place of death. Every believing heart, may be comforted with this thought. Through every sepulchre- that lies in our pathway, Christ Himself has passed. He Who has “the key of death and of the grave [Hades]'’ ’ has unlocked the doors of the tomb and has turned it from the place, of death into the place of life; made it but the portal, radiant with angel presences, through which we pass to a higher and more blissful existence. Death had transformed the world into a wilderness, but the resurrection has caused the flowers once more to grow about thè tomb; and life, in spite of the sepulchre, is once more a garden, second in beauty only to “the garden of the LORD.” SUCH was the glorious position of the children of Israel; they were under the direct rule of JEHOVAH Himself. Yet they preferred to trust to an arm of flesh. They forsook the heavenly for the earthly, the unseen for the visible, the Omnipotent for the weak, the All-Wise for human folly. How often are we tempted to do the same. How we clutch at passing straws instead of resting upon the arm of the Almighty. How we seek counsel, help, protection, from our neighbors rather than from our God. Such an attitude is not only appalling in its sinfulness, it is fatal in its effects, alike upon our characters and upon our well being. Saul’s reign was an utter failure as regards the pur poses for which his elevation was desired. He did not deliver them from the hands of their foes; nay, he himself fell miser ably upon the battlefield and perished as the foolish perish. Meanwhile the Israelites had embarked upon that long history of human royalty which brought them so much sin and shame, and ultimately landed them in hopeless captivity. The LORD our God is our King if we are numbered among His people ; let us see to it that we put our trust in Him ; let us take care that we bring ourselves into bondage to no other lord. The Israelites sold their inheritance for a mess of pottage when they changed the LORD for an earthly monarch, and truly they did not profit by their barter. A u g u st 6. “The LORD your God was your king.”—1 Sam. 12:12.
WHAT is it to follow Christ? Let us answer in the words of another. “Wherever I have seen the print of His shoe in the earth, there I have coveted to set my foot too.” To follow Him is literally to tread in His steps; to walk as He walked, to speak as He spake, to do as He did, to imitate His example in things both great and small. This will call for constant watchfulness—: not of ourselves, but of Him—that we lose not sight of His footprints, nor. wander from .the. path which He has marked out for us. To follow Christ is an absolute necessity if we would be His disciples, for a disciple is a learner, and the thing we have to learn above all others is to become like our Master in thought and word and deed. We shall need, if we are thus to follow, a perfect submission to His will; .for the track does not always promise to be pleasant. He trod no rose- strewn path; rough and thorny was the way along which He journeyed while He was upon this earth. Moreover it led to Calvary and to crucifixion; the cross-—not as an emblem, but as a burden—is ever the true sign of real Christianity. Blessed it is, therefore, to know that we do not tread that path alone. If we follow Him, He is never far ahead of u s; never out of reach. We shall not faint by the wayside for, as the Father strengthened Jesus of Nazareth for the pilgrimage, so He will enable us. Nor is the cross our ultimate destination; the path way led Him to the throne— THEY were doing what we are all so apt to do, they were going out to meet trouble before trouble met them. There was a difficulty ahead; how was it to be overcome? They felt that they were unable to roll away the stone; they knew of no one who could be asked to remove i t ; whatever were they to do ? And so they went on worrying as they walked; and all the time the stone was already rolled away. God had sent his angel and the obstacle was gone ere they arrived. How often we fall into the same error. Our brows are wrinkled and our hair grows grey, not with the troubles we endure, but with those which we are going to endure, and do not. It is not the things which really happen, but the things which do not happen (though we have expected them to do so) that form the chief burden of our lives. If.w e could only learn, as we ought, to live a moment at a time; to deal with the present and to leave the future; to rely upon the love and faithfulness of our Father; how much hap pier we should be. “Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof,” is the divine declaration; “Surely I will be with thee,” is the divine promise. We should never forget that the eye of infinite love is looking forward, and that the hand of infinite power is able to deal with the difficulties, to roll away the stone, to “make the crooked straight and the rough places plain.” Let us be like little children, placing our hand in that of our Father and walk ing with Him in perfect confidence, and in perfect fearlessness as to all that is to come. “O glorious seat! Thou-God, our King, Shalt thither bring our willing feet.” I I * A ugust 4. “Who shall roll away the stone?’’-—Mark 16:3.
A ugust 7. “L ook unto me and he ye saved." — Isa. 45:22.
SALVATION comes of looking, not at self, but at Christ. One glimpse of the Redeemer in all His power and in all His
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