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October, 1933
T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
tell you. This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as you have seen Him go into heaven.” It was not a rebuke, but an explanation. It implied not censure, but commendation. The disciples were doing the right thing, looking in the right direction. There is only one safe look, and that is the upward look. What the disciples did as the Lord was taken up from them in His ascension is what the Lord wants us to keep doing until He comes again— for this same Jesus is com ing again. G r e a t e s t o f A l l
has been manifested in the lives of a great many of my dear personal friends, as they have been passing through the clouds—a testimony for which I shall always thank God. But I do want to pass on to you the secret of their joy, the secret of “ joy unspeakable and full of glory,” so that we may rejoice alway and again rejoice, no matter what is happening to us. And the secret is this— that we look away from these things, these clouds, these circum stances, these testings, look away “ unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith.”
I came across a statement recently that called attention to the fact that the Greek word translated in the King James Version “ care,” or “ careful,” in such verses as, “ Be careful for nothing” ( “ In nothing be anxious” ) , or, “ Casting all your care upon him”— that word for “ care,” or “ worry,” means in the Greek “ division.” This means that a worrying heart is a divided heart—divided be tween trusting God and looking at cir cumstances. God wants us not to have a divided eye or heart, but an eye and heart looking to Him only. As I took my Greek Testament and looked up the various passages translated “ care,” I made a discovery that made my heart re joice. In 1 Peter 5:7, “ Casting all your
I had a bit of a surprise a while ago in connection with a question that was put to me. I want to ask you the same question, and see what answer you will give in your own mind. “ Who is the greatest man living today?” If you were asked that, what would you say ? Who is the greatest man living today ? Is it Mus solini, that miracle man o f Italy who has brought to pass marvelous transforma tions in that country ? Is it Hitler, who has taken control o f Germany? Is it our own President Roosevelt, who is doing such remarkable things? Is Stalin of Russia the greatest man living today ? The surprise I had was this— though
it should not have sur prised me at all. The title of the tract that raised the question was, “ The G r e a t e s t Man Living Today: Who is H e? Where is H e?” It began this way: “ If some one in whom you had confidence should tell you that a man, a very remarkable man, was living today in a material body o f flesh and bones, and is now over 1,900 years o f age, would you believe it? The greatest Man living today is the Lord Jesus C h r i s t . ” My d e a r friends, is it not true
care upon him; for he careth for you,” the Greek words translated “ care” in the English are different w o r d s . “ Casting all your divi sions upon him’'— the d i v i d e d heart that would make you worry, just cast it upon Him, “ for he careth for you,” — and now the Greek word for “ careth” is not “ division” at all, but an other word entirely!. Let us cast our worries upon Him, let us sur render our anxieties to Him. The thing that is causing us to have a di vided heart— cast it up
qi/OQBg B y R obert C rumly “ Caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air” (1 T hess . 4 :17). Caught up in the clouds to meet Jesus! ’ Tis written, And thus it shall b e when H e comes fo r His own; And though, o’ er a world grief-stricken, war-smitten, The clouds may hang low, yet the Spirit hath shown —• That t h e s e shall not hide Him from you, the true-hearted, Who wait fo r the sight o f that glorious throng — That cloud o f bright angels and loved ones departed! 0 vision o f rapture! How long, Lord— how long? -
on Him, and He will care for us in the midst of the clouds today, whatever they may be; but His care for us is not with a divided heart; He cares for us with His whole heart. That rainbow in the cloud means He will utterly deliver us. The way to fix our gaze upon the Lord Jesus Christ is to look up. “ Keep looking up”— that is our theme this afternoon. T h e R e a s o n f o r t h e U p w a r d L o o k Do you remember a comment that Dr. A. J. Gordon made upon Acts 1:11? The Lord Jesus Christ had just been taken up from the disciples. While they stood there, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. Then two men in white apparel said,,“ Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.” It has often been said that the angels rebuked the disciples for gazing into heaven, but Dr. Gordon says it was not a rebuke at all; it was an explanation. It was as though the angels said to the disciples: “ Do you know why you are gazing up into heaven? You do not know, but we will
that we often forget that our Lord is a Man? We know that He is the Son o f God, God the Son, as no other man has ever been; but I am afraid there is a tendency to re member His deity and forget His humanity— that sinless humanity that He took by the Virgin birth—that He is today literally a Man as well as God, the only God-Man in the universe, and that He is living in that human body in which He lived for thirty-three years and was crucified. That body in His resurrection was changed; it is the same, yet different; but it is the body in which He walked and talked with His disciples here on earth and then ascended— His crucified, raised, glorified body. The . greatest Man living today is sitting on the right hand o f God in heaven and is coining back again. That was the gracious and blessed message the rainbow gave Mrs. Trumbull and me last Wednesday as we looked up and saw the storm, the clouds, and the rainbow. N e a r e r t h a n E v e r B e f o r e Is the Lord’s return near? Yes! Let us not be in any doubt about that. It is not only nearer than it ever has been before— that has been true through each passing
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