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TH E K I N G ’ S BUS I NE S S
He wrote of the ages, conscious that salvation through Ohrist had been planned from the beginning. “ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning] with God.” As he looked back over his long life, during, which he had known the Saviour intimately, John em phasized the importance of eternity in contrast with time, the difference between sojourning here and abiding thgre eternally with Christ. The particular meaning of “ abide” to John is sug gested in John 15:7, the passage which I mentioned as having meant so much to me 'in a time of need. What,. according to John, does it mean to “abide in Him” and what does it mean for His words to abide in us? This: must be determined by referring to other Scriptures in which the word “abide” appears. Unfortunately, the English translations do not always make the original meaning clear. It is' true in the cqse of “abide” as used in this Scripture. In John 6:56 (A.V.) It is stated,. “He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me and I in hjm.” This indicates that the word “dwelleth” is meno, translated elsewhere “ abide.” The English Revised Version corrects this and substitutes “ abideth” for “dwelleth.” Then, according to this verse, he who has partaken of the Lord Jesus, the Living Bread sent down from Heaven, “abides” in Him. A reading of earlier verses in John, chapter 6, clears up this mystery. Verse 27 in the English Revised Version is translated, “Work not for the meat which perisheth, but for the meat which abideth unto eternal life, which the Son of man shall give unto you.” In verse 35, Jesus answers the questions of the multitude by explaining,! “I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me j shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never' thirst.” Verses 50 and 51 further clarify the meaning: “This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die. I ami the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.” The full meaning of verse 56 can be understood only by reading the entire chapter. Is it not clear, then, that he who can say with Paul, “ Christ liveth in me” (Gal. 2:20), abides in Christ? What significance there is to the Lord’s Supper when we partake of it in the light of the things Jesus said on the subject of eating His flesh and drinking His blood! He said, “This do In remembrance o f me!” “ If ye abide in me,” or in other words, “If ye are born again and Christ liveth in you,” you fulfill the first half of the promise of John 15:7. What about the second half? This is more difficult to explain. Once I heard of one who said that she was not going to read her Bible any more but was going to devote all of her time to prayer. She did not know her Bible, or she would not have made such a statement. The' Scrip tures are the basis of all true prayer. Mighty men of prayer are ever great students of the Word of God. The greatest prayers are those couched in the language of the Bible. The word meno, so often translated "abide,” has three separate meanings: place, to continue, to remain; time, to continue to be, to endure, to last; condition, to remain as one is, not to change. If the last two of these are applied to the expression, “If my words abide in you,” it will be seen that the Word of God must become’ an abiding part of our thinking if we are to be able to pray according to the promise of John 15:7. The author of the First Psalm was a man of prayer. He asserted in reference to the man of God, “His delight is ia the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he med*
itate day and night.” Who but A praying man could say, “I rejoice at thy word, as one that findeth great spoil” ? Prayer and Bible study go together. Sometimes they are so united that it. is difficult to differentiate between them. One cannot read his Bible properly without being led into a prayer life. The Word becomes a veritable part of the thinking of the man of prayer. He prays as he reads. In John 5:38 we have the statement: “And ye have not his word abiding in you: for whom he hath sent, him ye believe not.”' This sheds light upon the meaning of the Word’s abiding in the heart of a Christian. How can I pray unless I know Christ and believe and am acquainted with His Word? How often one discovers the sentences of his prayers being woven together with phrases and sentences from the Scriptures! One breathes the Word in his praying if the Word abides in him. *How different all my prayers become when I am conscious that my “life is hid with Christ in God,” and that “in him dwelleth all the fulness of the God head bodily” ! How altered is my purpose in prayer when I ask.in faith “that in all things he might have the preeminence” ! Recently I was reading in the Epistle to the Colos sians and there came across a verse I had never noticed before: “Always labouring fervently for you in prayers, that ye may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God” (Col. 4:12). How many of us labor fervently in our prayers for others, pleading with God that they may stand faithfully in all the will of God? Since then, I have prayed more earnestly and definitely. What about the final statement of John 15:7: “Ye Shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you**? The born-again believer, now a new creature in Christ, for “old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new,” finds prayer a very real expe rience. Before he was saved, the only prayer his lips could utter was, “God be merciful to me a sinner” ! Now prayer is a joy as well as a duty. Study of the Word of God reveals the limitations of the subjects of prayer as well as its wide range. What believer has not been thrilled as he has sensed the meaning of the-truth of the promise: “Delight thy self also in the Lord; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart” (Psa. 37:4). When the Christian delights in the Lord, the greatest desire of his heart is to expe rience an ever-increasing fellowship with God. It natur ally follows that God is pleased to answer his prayers. In Proverbs 3:5, 6, too, is a heart-warming assurance: “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowl edge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” What a changed attitude toward prayer this has produced in many a life! The prayer given by the Lord to His disciples as the model petition, often referred to as the Lord’s Prayer, when rightly interpreted, can make a great deal of difference to the believer in his prayer life. In Matthew’s account, Jesus is quoted as saying, “After this manner therefore pray ye.” After what manner? Why, God comes first and then our needs! In an extremity, really spiritual believers frequently forget to ask God for help. They begin to praise Him for all His marvelous doings and for the wonders of His love. Then they intercede for His work, the completion and perfecting of the Church, the Body of Christ. Last of. all, they seek the supply of their own needs. Would you have' power in prayer, and be really successful in your Christian life? Then begin today your development into a Bible-believing, abiding-in-Him Christian!
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