November 1932
T h e
K i n g ’ s
B u s i n e s s
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stance were telling them about the Thin Red Line and what it meant and how, like the power of the blood of the Lord and Saviour whom they loved, it reached clear around the world. _ ‘ Yes. The telephone had rung a little while ago, and all that remained of the slender Serpentina had been found like a fallen star in a ravine in the hills. _ _ , „ “ Absent from the body, . . . present with the Lord. Who could say which it was for Serpentina? “ But for you, Mona Lisa, there is time. Will you listen ?” Yes, she would listen—gladly! Clasping the tender hand that had served her so often, Mona Lisa listened. Not all at once was the truth received, but the seed planted found good soil in which to lodge, seed which one day was to spring up for Mona Lisa into everlasting life. The word translated “ intreated” in verse 19 is in verse 25 translated “ refuse” and “ refused.” At Sinai, the people refused to hear the voice of God. They “ intreated that the word should not be spoken to them any more” (v. 19). “ They said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die” (Ex. 20:19). Through fear and the consciousness of unfitness, they turned away. The voice that now speaks is from heaven. It is the voice of Him that liveth and was dead and is now alive forevermore. It speaks of an accomplished re demption whereby those who were once far off are made nigh; it tells of the forgiveness of sins, of peace with God, of a new position by virtue of which the sense of unfitness is displaced by the fact of our acceptance in the beloved. Then it speaks of a heavenly ministry by our great High Priest and bids us “ come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” “ See that ye refuse not him that speaketh.” Not only do the past and present appeal to us, but the future also, for He hath promised one day to shake not only the earth but also heaven. The writer quotes from the proph ecy to Haggai (Hag. 2 :6, 7) referring to the great change to be wrought when Messiah shall come “ the second time, apart from sin, . . . unto salvation” (Heb. 9:28, R. V .). The shaking of earth and heaven at that time will lead to the new heavens and the new earth wherein dwelleth right eousness. Then will be fulfilled the prophetic and apos tolic predictions as found in Isaiah 65:17 and 2 Peter 3 :10 to 14. “ Wherefore,” says the writer, “we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved [in faith now, in person later], let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear.” Mount Sion has no dark ness as Mount Sinai, nevertheless privilege carries with it responsibility. God is unchangeable in His nature, He is “ a consuming fire” and will burn up the dross in His purifying power. He is also the God of grace. “Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound,” and that grace now reigns in “ righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom. 5 :20, 21). “ He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ” (Phil. 1 :6). There is grace enough for all. “ He giveth more grace” (Jas. 4 :6 ). “ Let us have grace” then, so that we may serve our gracious God “ acceptably . . . and with godly fear.” Ours is not the fear of dread, but a filial fear. W e would not flee from God, for we have learned that the only way to flee from Him is to flee to Him. STUDIES IN HEBREWS [Continued from page 477]
“ Not much thanksgiving in me, dear Father in heaven, ’ she was sending this confession aloft as she laid the ex quisite Italian lace over the dark table and placed the crys tal goblets and the glittering tableware. Sonia was to leave Dream House. She disturbed the at mosphere with her harshness, said Mona Lisa. The idea of Sonia contending that reincarnation was not scriptural, just because Paul had said, “ Absent from the body, . . . present with the Lord” ! ' . “ Christ saves us. W e do not need reincarnation,” Sonia had said. “ When we leave this earth, wé go straight to Him. It would be terrible to keep coming back over and over, like a squirrel in a cage, going round and round a wheel.” Mona Lisa had decided to throw off parental restraint and her monthly allowance, and try her fate on the silver screen. Serpentina advised a movie career. “ And a serpent she is,” declared disconsolate Grandma, “ coming in here and telling you she used to be Cleopatra, Serpent of the Nile, and remembered Mark Antony! She’s wrought ruination.” Surely tragedy was in the air, thought Sonia as she en tered the drawing room with a tray of spicy fruit juices served in tiny glasses. Serpentina had not arrived. With downcast eyes, Sonia passed the beverages to the ex-royal ladies, to Grandmother, to Professor Bland, who^was re counting his experiences this morning with some “ elemen táis” who were disturbing his rest— “ elementáis” being mischievous personalities not yet embodied, from whose number Mona Lisa suspected Grandma’s entity to have been very recently drawn. “ And they are wasting time on these vapors and this dreamy, imaginative egoism, while the Four A ’s and the Reds are undermining our youth,” thought Sonia, as she passed the tray to a fair, curly-haired young man. with a beam of a smile, whom they called “ the Princeling.” By his side stood a girl of loveliness, Sonia thought, a girl whose sweet, heart-shaped face somehow reminded one o f a pansy—a white pansy, with fair, velvety skin, un touched with cosmetic, fitly framed in a cloud of misty black curls. As her great gray eyes fell on Sonia, Con stance— for it was she— seized the girl by the shoulders. “ You are Eleanor Gorham’s Sonia!” she exclaimed. “ Forgive me! I meant to whisper it.” “ This is my cousin’s college friend,” Constance ex plained to those about her. “ She told me I should find her here and asked me to try to get hold of her. We need her! Our Thin Red Line, you know— ” She was interrupted. The butler entered hastily. He delivered a crumpled paper to Mona lisa. The gardener saw a strange girl stuff it hastily into the iron grille beside the door, sometime that day, he said! It was signed Ser pentina.” It read: “ Dear! Forgive me for spoiling your party, but I could not stand life,any longer. The shift and glitter of it weary me. I am going out. Your free soul will understand. I have no hope, somehow—and I do not like it here. Success, fame, money— they do not satisfy. Serpentina.” * * * * * “ Absent from the body,. . . present with the Lord,” was on Mona Lisa’s lips and in her mind when she came out o f the long faint into which she had fallen. Sonia was sit ting quietly beside the quaint Italian bed on which she was lying. The maid’s dress and .apron were doffed, and in the severe simplicity o f her dark crepe, Mona Lisa recognized anew Sonia’s fine aloofness from all that was common or vulgar. . Yes, the guests were still downstairs, Sonia said, and Grandmother was with them. The Princeling and Con-
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