April, 1934
157
T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
Swerving, though straight into port I might sa.il; Wrecking, when heaven lies just within hail. Help me, O God, in the plan to believe; Help me my fragment each day to receive, Oh, that my will may with Thine have no strife 1 God-yielded wills find the God-planned life. —S elected . VII. T he C hallenge of a Y ielded L ife Hundreds o f young people have felt the challenge o f the life o f William Borden, the young millionaire who sought God’s •plan for his life and started to a pioneer field in northwest China, after a brilliant record and an outstanding testimony for Christ during his student days at Yale University and Princeton Theological Seminary. Though William Borden’s fearly death cut short his earthly service for Christ, the plan o f God for that life is being increasingly fulfilled. As one editor wrote at the time o f Borden’s home going: “ It was not the million dollars that came to this young American which made his life a victory and his death a world-wide call to young men and women to learn the secret o f that victory. It was in things that every man can share that William Borden found- the way to the life which is Christ and the death which is gain. And China and the Moslem world shall yet - share that gain, as his burning torch is used to kindle in other lives the fires o f a like passion for Jesus Christ.”—S elected . MAY 13, 1934 Qualities That Make Good Mothers M atthew IS :21-28 Suggestions for the Meeting Hymn—“He Is So Precious to Me.” Hymn-V’Tell Mother I’ll Be There.’’ Prayer. Scripture—Matthew 15:21-28. Hymn—“When We All Get to Heaven.” Quartet—“Memories of Mother.” Leader’s Message. _ Whin Jesus Christ left Jewry and went into the coasts o f Sidon and Tyre, He ministered to the Gentiles for the first time. In Matthew 12:18 and 21, we are reminded o f Isaiah’s prophecy that the Messiah should “show judgment to the Gentiles,” and that they should trust in His name. The incident in Matthew 15:21-28 is a precursive fulfillment of that promise. It is a gripping story of a devoted mother, and shows the Lord’s approval of a mother who prays for her child. The Syro-Phoenician woman had a real need, and she knew to whom to turn in such an hour. The fame of Jesus traveled fast. As He went from place to place, the stories of His miraculous power had preceded Him. Mothers are always among the first to hear o f good things for their children, and this one, in her deep anxiety, came .interceding for her daughter, who was grievously tormented by a demon. Jesus put the woman’s faith to a severe test by seeming not to hear. “He answered her not a word.” This silence is most surprising, for, as Farrar has said, “Our Lord was generally so quickly responsive to T estimonies. Quiet Hour. Hymn— “He Lives On High.” Benediction—Numbers 6:24-26. Meditation on the Lesson
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every appeal made to His compassion, that His answer usually came promptly as an echo.” She met all conditions usually re quired for an answer, and yet He appar ently had nothing to say to this distressed, humble, persistent pleader. But Christ’s silence, though seemingly harsh, revealed to the disciples how great faith a Gentile could have. Looking down into her heart, Jesus saw that the woman’s capacity for faith was great. The first cry—“Have mercy on me” —showed that there was already a spark of the fire o f faith, and the Lord fanned this faith into a flame by testing it. This woman was deeply in earnest, and she cried after the disciples till they begged the Master to send her away. His reply, “ I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house o f Israel,” was addressed to the disciples. But it was also a reminder to the woman that in crying,. “O Lord, thou Son of David," she had based her plea upon im proper grounds. As a Gentile, she had no claim upon Him as the Messiah. Then it was that she fell at His feet wor shiping Him, and cried: “Lord, help me.” Again He tested her by a seeming denial : “ It is not meet to take the children’s bread, and to cast it to thè dogs [puppies—pets in the household].” But how triumphant is her faith! She does not argue or com plain ; she accepts this comparison, and, quick as a flash, replies, “Truth, Lord : yet the dogs eat o f the crumbs which fall from the master’s table.” She may be a “dog” and not entitled to much, but even dogs get crumbs. Oh, how Jesus was pleased with her reply! He made no secret o f His sat isfaction. “ O woman, great is thy faith.” It is impossible for us to realize the tone in which Jesus uttered these words. Su preme faith always drew from Him the highest commendation. “ He that cometh to God must believe that he is and that he
is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” Leader’s Helps i: O utline of M atthew 15:21-28 1. The mother’s distress (v 22). 2. The mother tested (vs. 23-27). 3. The mother’s faith rewarded (v. 28). —A mos R. W ells . II. A G ood M other . A good mother has a long memory and a forgiving heart. No matter what he may have done, to her a son is but her little boy. She knows his weakness, and forgives. —W ingate . III. A C hristian M other My mother’s habit was, every day im mediately after breakfast, to withdraw for an hour to her own room, and to spend that hour in reading the Bible, in medita tion, and in prayer. From that hour, as from a pure fountain, she drew the strength and the sweetness which enabled her to fulfill all her duties, and to remain unruffled by all the worries and pettinesses which are so often the intolerable trial of narrow neighborhoods. As I think of her life, and o f all she had to bear, I see the absolute triumph o f Christian grace in the lovely ideal o f a Christian woman. I never saw her temper disturbed. I never heard her speak one word o f anger, or one of calumny or o f idle gossip. I never ob served in her any sign of a single senti ment unbecoming to a soul which had drunk of the river o f the water of life, and which had fed upon manna in the barren wilderness.—C anon F arrar . IV. To M y S on [This poerrl appeared in T he K ing ’ s B usiness fo r April, 1932, and so many sub-
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