April 1925
T H E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
149
E D I T O R I A L
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WORDS FROM THE WOUNDS OF JESUS Those of us who know Him and love Him never tire of meditating upon Him. His words are precious. They are the breath of life to us and He said they would be : “ The words that I speak unto you, they are Spirit and they are life.” In these days when our hearts are heavy over world and church conditions; when the downward drift is so apparent; when the battle rages with increasing fierce ness concerning the Godhead of Jesus Christ; when the forces of the enemy are massed for mortal combat under the banner of the brutal bandit leader who, through all the centuries has centered his attacks upon the person of Christ—the Seed of the woman—the God-predicted Potentate who is to bruise: Satan’s head; we are comforted by the God of all comfort with words which fell from His own lips. The tragedy of the cross was over. The gloom of the nights of unbelief had followed. Gathered in the upper room were the grief-stricken disciples. How they loved Him! How they missed Him! How. precious were the incidents which they recalled concerning Him! How they meditated upon His life of love and sacrifice. Their hearts burned with devotion for Him, bu t—He was gone! He was dead. He was buried in the tomb. There was no star of hope, no gleam of the dawning of a morning for them. They had witnessed the won ders of His power when He called Lazarus from his sleep of death, but now, He Himself was dead. The Light of the world had gone out and darkness covered the face of the deep. Silence reigned,—when, suddenly, He was in their midst! “ Peace be unto you” were His words. They' were terrified. How hard it was for His own to believe His words. Had He not said, “ I will not leave you comfortless; I will come to y o u /’—and here He is! But unbelief controls them and, because of this, one of the saddest, yet sweetest, manifestations in all the history of our Lord occurs. To quiet their fears, to awaken them from their unbelief, to arouse them to the consciousness of the new life, He says: “ Behold my hands and my feet that it is I myself; handle me, and see.” This is God speaking! This is the resurrected Son of God! This is the Man Christ Jesus! This is the One whose heel was bruised by Satan as He hung upon the cross! This is the One who is King of kings and Lord of lords! “ Handle me and see.” What love unbounded for these poor disciples! What longing unthinkable for their love and fellowship! What a picture for our Easter meditation! ' He is the same today. His love, unchanging and unchangeable, flows out to us. Never doubt it. He is reaching out those pierced hands to every hesitating,
halting believer, and saying, “ Behold my hands and my feet!” those blood-stained, scarred hands and feet, undying testimony to His love. Do not hurt His heart by unbelief. Cheer and com fort Him by loving loyalty to His unfailing Word and wonderful works. He lives! He loves! He holds the sceptre! He will come some good, glad day,—how soon we know not—and We will see His hands and feet and rule and reign with Him. Hallelujah! HOW TO LIVE A HAPPY LIFE Is there any such thing as “ a happy life” in a world of sin and suffering and sorrow? If so, what is the recipe? Surely any one would be willing to pay a big price for such a recipe. Well, we have it and are giving it to “ Our Family,” with the understanding that they will pass it. on to the tens of thousands of people who are just longing to know the “ h o w .” There can be no real happiness where there is uncon fessed, and unforgiven sin. Now, sin is the violation of law, and violated law always creates unrest in the violator. ‘‘There is no rest for the wicked.” Sin is always—first of all—against God Himself. So a sinner Can never be happy, but “ Blessed is the man whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered” (Psa. 32:1). A really happy man, then, must necessarily be a Christian. But how do you account for the fact that many Christians are not happy? That is an easy ques tion to answer. They are out of the will of God. Sins of commission and omission fill them with unrest. An unhappy Christian is a reproach to Christ. Christians are witnesses and must be good witnesses,S-lip and life testifying “ I am a Christian. See how happy I am!” EIGHT RULES FOR A HAPPY, HOLY, HEALTHY, CHRISTIAN LIFE. (1) . Consecrate (set apart) your life for your Lord. Do this definitely. Tell Him you lay yourself, your all, at His feet. You have been bought with a great price and belong to Him. Make it real. (2) Criticize yourself every night before retiring. After you have done this, sincerely and honestly, you will not have much time or heart for criticizing others. (3) Confess your sins daily. Start the day with a clean record.. “ If we confess* * * He is faithful to forgive.” Don’t flatter yourself that you have not sinned, for .the sins of omission are just as great, and often greater, than the sins of commission. (4) Commit your ways unto the Lord. Practice the habit of following His leading every day. He knows the way. You do not. He cannot fail. (5) Be content with your lot. “ Godliness, with con tentment, is grea’t gain.” It is not what you have, outside of Christ, but what you are that counts.
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