July, 1937
T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
242
Around the King's Table
By PAUL W. ROOD
a righteous man availeth much” (Jas. 5:16). If our prayers are not answered, there is something wrong either with the praying or with the one who prays. Are we righteous? Have we been made right eous through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ? Are we walking in righteousness? Is pray er a reality? Do we pray fervently? Are we in earnest? The Christian who really prays will grow in grace and in spiritual insight and usefulness. His ministry will be fruitful. We can never exhaust the. resources of God. God is looking for praying men and women. “And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none” (Ezek. 22:30). Will you be that man? Will you make up the hedge, and stand in the gap for the land, and thereby save it from destruction? Will you put God to a test and allow Him to reveal what He can do for one who really prays? Hudson Taylor prayed, and the China In land Mission was born. David Brainerd prayed, and the Indians were evangelized. Abel Clary prayed, and souls came to Christ. “Praying Hyde” prayed, and re vivals came to India. Let us give our selves to the ministry of intercession and allow the Holy Spirit to anoint us to pray the prayer of faith that brings the blessing down. Give God a chance in the realm of finance. Are we bringing all the tithes to the storehouse, and putting God to the test? If we are, the windows are opened and blessing is being poured down upon us. Colgate honored the Lord with his sub stance, and God blessed him in return. A. A. Hyde accepted his stewardship, and the blessing of God was upon his business. We have nothing except that which we have received. Every blessing, temporal and spiritual, is a gift of God: “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning” (Jas. 1:17). We are stewards of that which God has com mitted into our hands, and in a coming day we are to render an account of our stewardship. At the judgment seat of Christ, there will be an abundant reward for the Christian who has recognized his stewardship and h a s.given systematically, consistently, and prayerfully to Christian enterprises which have had as their main objective the evangelization of the world and the winning of souls for Christ. Such a one will find that godliness is profitable in the truest sense both for this life and [Continued on page 248]
“This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith” (1 John 5:4). If we desire to have victory over the world, the flesh, and' the devil, we must be men and women of faith. “Have faith in God,” said our Lord.' Hudson Taylor applied the command thus: “Reckon on God’s faith fulness.” Let us believe God. Give God a chance in the realm of prayer. It has been said truly that the resources in prayer have never been tried to their full capacity by any church. Why is it that the average church is so impotent? The answer is at hand: “Ye have not, be cause ye ask not” (Jas. 4:2). Do we really pray? Are we receiving answers to our prayers? “The effectual fervent prayer of
Give God a Chance H ours spent in contact with a Chris tian brother and with the enter prise in which he was engaged have suggested the theme of this editorial. It is indeed a sad fact that the average Christian is not giving God a chance but is seeking to live and work in his own strength. Consequently, his life as well as his ministry is weak when it could be strong. Why should the Christian not give God a chance to reveal His power by surrendering the human instrument into His hands? This is essentially the chal lenge of Malachi 3:10: “Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.” Give God a chance in the realm of faith. God is looking for faith. God blesses and uses men of faith. Faith is of su preme importance. The description of the warrior’s armor in Ephesians 6 reaches its climax in the words found in verse 16: “Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.” All of the different parts of the armor are important, but the shield of faith is of. utmost sig nificance. In Hebrews 11:6 we read: “But viithout faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” Thus we see that we must have faith if we are to please God. Unbelief on the part of His children dis pleases God and results in spiritual weak ness and an ineffectual prayer life: “But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering: for he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. ,For let not that man think that he shall re ceive any thing of the Lord” (Jas. 1:6, 7). The burden of Christ’s ministry of inter cession is that we shall not break down in the realm of faith. In Luke 22:31, 32 we read: “And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.” Christ not only prayed for Peter, but He prays also for those of us who are His today—that our faith shall not fail. If we break down in the realm of faith, we will break down in every other sphere. If we are victorious in the matter of faith, we will be victorious in every respect.
"T h e Royal Law "
The Coronation Bible Millions of listeners around the world heard the Archbishop of Canterbury present this Bible to His Majesty, King George VI, in the Coronation Service in West minster Abbey on May 12, 1937. The formal presentation was made in the majestic and reverent lan guage of the Coronation Service: “Our gracious King; we present you with this Book, the most valuable thing that this world affords. Here is wisdom; this is the royal Law; these are the living oracles of God.” In the exaltation of the Word of God in the supreme state cere mony of the British Empire there is set a standard not only for the rulers and subjects of that realm, but also for citizens and subjects in all other lands where men and women have access to the re vealed Word of God. Hand-tooled and bound in crim son levant, the volume given to His Majesty was published by the Oxford University Press. It is known as the Oxford Lectern Bible and was designed by Bruce Rogers.
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