August 1927
T h e
K i n g ’ s
B u s i n e s s
528
are to be “the salt of the earth” ; to save it from utter cor ruption ; to savour it with righteousness; to spread the healing influence of our holy religion oh every hand. To do this we must be in the world, though we are not of it. We must mingle with our fellow men in the common haunts of everyday life, We must take our part in the business, the government, and the so cial affairs of earth. At the same time we must see to it that we keep in ourselves the savour of a holy life. We must leaven the world, not be leavened by it» To do this will need constant communion with the Highest. Our dwelling place and our occu pation -must be below, but our citizenship must be in heaven. Spiritual deterioration is so easy and so subtle, The forces of evil around us are so strong and so ever present that nothing but the abundant grace of God can keep us pure and pungent; and this grace must be constantly sought at His hands. To be the preservers and the purifiers of the world is a high privilege; woe be to us if we allow it to slip through idleness, or apathy, as regards our high calling. ..:H i A ugust ; 15. - “Nailing it to his cross.’’ —Col. 2:14. IT was customary in the East when a bond had been fully satisfied, for the creditor to nail it to the debtor’s door in evidence that it was paid. So Christ has taken the cancelled debt which we owed to' the broken Law'and nailed it to the cross that angels;, devils, and men may see that the obligation has been fully met. That cross has well been called “the door of Grace behind which the bankrupt world lies in hopeless debt.” But it is in debt no longer, for our Surety has paid the price in full. With His own precious biood He has redeemed us, and we are delivered. There, upon that shameful tree, there hangs the certificate of our manumission; we have but to look upon it, to believe its message, and the burden of debt and despair will roll from our weary-hearts. Nor need we doubt for a moment that we are included in the disenthralment. It was-not the indebted ness of a select few that Christ liquidated when He hung upon .Calvary. “Behqld the Lamb ¡of God, which taketh' away , the sin o f the world!" O, glorious and blessed truth! “It was a heavy bond” and;I had nought to pay, but lo, the pierced hand of Jesus hath hailed it to/His cross, and Tam free!.. , “Free from the law I O, happy condition; A / .Jesus hath died and there is remission;” ,. remission for you and for me. How much we love to remember our absent friends, especially those we love the best. How our thoughts dwell upon the recollection of their goodness and of their sweetness, of their kindness to us in the days gone by, of the happy hours we have spent in fellowship with them. There is no friend like Jésus Christ; none so; tender, none so sweet, none so good to us. Shall wé not, then, spend much time in remembrance of Him? Shall wé not let our hearts linger on the memory of all -His kindness' and of all His loVe? Can we do less than think often and' much of Him in return for all that He has done' for us? Is He'not grieved by our oft forgetfulness? . If thé fre quency of our recollection be the measure of Our love for Him, what must He think of those who spend so little time in medita tion upon His sacrifice fori them?-' Whom or1 what have" we upon earth which is worthy to engross our thoughts to the exclusion of the Christ? He has appointed a special 'memorial of Himself to stimulate our memories': He has provided a feast at which, and in which, we are to be reminded of all wè owe to Him. Strange that so many Christians should -neglect to comply A ugust 16. “In remembrance o f me .”—Luke 22:19.
A ugust 12. “Whosoever will.”- —Rev. 22:17.
One of the most glorious words in the Bible is “Whoso ever.” It is the charter of unlimited salvation for a ruined Race'; it is the great call bell of the Universe, summoning fallen Humanity to the feast, of love and peace. “Whosoever will may come/’ and he that cometh shall be “in no wise cast out.” That invitation and that declaration must of necessity include me. It matters not how frail, how sinful, how rebellious, how foolish I may have proved myself; I cannot be outside the circle of the “Whosoever.” My doubts, my fears, my past rejection of God’s mercy, cannot rob me of the right to come, when thus sum moned, to the Saviour’s feet. No mystical doctrine of “election” can override a summons so,wide and all-inclusive in its terms. Nor need I fear that I shall come- in vain: I am “in no wise" to be cast out. The promise falls from the lips of Him Who is “Faithful and True.” Satan may whisper that I am not worthy; my own heart may Condemn me for ■my unfaithfulness; the glpfious invitation remains/ .11have but to will its acceptance-— heaven’s portals of mercy are open wide and my gracious reception is assured. Let every trembling heart believe and act Upon the truth. It is our happy privilege to proclaim this Gospel to mankind. We should hot fail to make its sweetness known. Fling it forth, as the sun flings the morning, with open and unstinting hand. ; “Send the proclamation over vale and hill, ‘Whosoever will’ may come." .' MEN and women sorely need encouragement. They are bearing heavy burdens, struggling with many weaknesses and many difficulties. What wonder that they faint, and stumble, and fall? It is so easy to find fault, and some people seem to imagine that the best way to get men to heaven is,t6;drive them there with perpetual nagging. Never, surely, was there a greater-mis take. We cannot scold men into being saints. W e may dis courage them, and vex them, and add to their sorrows and their burdens—so making them less willing and less able to walk in the paths of righteousness—but we do not help them on the way with bitter words and sharp, unsparing criticism. “Encour age’? them. Be swift to note and praise the things in them which are good (for few men are so abandoned that they have no good points in their, characters). ,. Tell them of a God Who marks the slightest effort aftey improvement, and Who hears the faintes.t sigh of. the heart for that which is holy and right. Remind them of. a. Saviour Who has tasted their sorrows and felt their difficulties, and Whose pitiful eyes of love are watching their struggles and grieving over their falls. Let them feel thaf their failures and their sins are moving us to earnest prayers on their behalf, and that we believe alike, in. the sincerity of their pur poses and in the possibility of their ultimate triumph, over evil. L ift them with tenderest touch out of the. mire into which they have fallen. “Whisper great words of hope” into their ears. These things will .do far .more toward their final redemption than censorious lectures or cold and calculated disapproval. A ugust 13, “Encourage hun.’/r-Deut. 3 :28.
A ugust 14. “Ye are the salt o f the earth." —Matt. 5:13.
SOME men are always pining for a life of seclusion from the world, imagining that it would be conducive to special saint liness. It is a mistaken notion; the Devil ia as able to enter a convent as a counting house. But, apart from that/such a life would hinder us: from fulfilling our destiny as Christians. We
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