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T H E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
February 1926
MA C ity C a lle d N a z a re th ” Here in this Its humble Galilean cradle, our Christian civilization m a y he said to have received its to s t .a n im a tin g im nu ise He who was the Christ o f God, and was born a babe in the Bethlehem m an ger, spent tho«s y ea rs o f quiet preparation fo r H is great w ork o f redeem ing men. Here the k in gly'C h rist child sped on errands o f filial love fo r His Swed and w ondering mother. Even the stones o f the pavements have been m ade forever sa cred b y the tread o f His tender feet And the hills around resounded to His ringing laugh and the cheery tones o f His voice. B u t even then u i . lmnr#sied those about Him. F or He sensed the serious mission upon which He had been sent^ And a s H e c e “ t o d e v o t e d H im self to the task to which His Sovereign Father had Ana as xie came 10 m^“ “ 0f nfed ^ im . Nazareth,— sacred city, since our Saviour’s earthly home! Paul Before “ The Culture C lub” and ' “ Th e Rescue M iss ion ” A Contrast in Methods and Results of the Apostle’s work in Athens and in Corinth Joseph A. Richards, New York City ' an inspiring message to the church at large and especially to the laity who are seeking to follow in Paul s footsteps. Mr. Richards is a practical Christian business man— an advertiser—andhere^ presents a ^ 4 ™
same today. It is a strange thing that whereas a man may himself be cultured and remain tractable and humble, if he Joins the .Culture Club, if he gathers with others of his kind, the temptation to exalt culture and' to hunt new things becomes almost irresistible and he, with all the other members, becomes an idolater. What wonder that as a general rule, the most hardened communities, the most impregnable against the simplicities of the Gospel, are the seats of the mighty, the learned, the cultured. Such was Athens, such is New York, Boston, London, Berlin, Paris and the like. New York, for instance, has broken the hearts of more zealous, cultured, Gospel preachers than any other modern city. Why? Because its people spend a large pro portion of their time searching for somej new thing and the Gospel of Jesus Christ is essentially an old thing, super ficially looked over, critically examined, and neglected because it ofTers no new sensation to those who apply their heads, and not their hearts, to it. A Revival at Corinthian Rescue Mission Corinth, to Paul, was as different from Athens as a Cul ture Club is different from a Rescue Mission, and Corinth was a Rescue Mission. In writing to the Corinthians (and by the way, where is the record of any letter written to the Culture Club of Athens, and yet we have two glor ious epistles to the Rescue Mission at Corinth), so in writing to his beloved mission in Corinth Paul reveals who and what
(This article was prepared to be read after a careful reading o f the text o f A cts 17th chapter, 15th verse, to 18th chapter, 17th verse.) m m l L things to all men” said Paul of his work. Yes indeed, but not always with the same relish, nor RP jfwn the same degree of expectation from the Lord of s l a w 's saving grace in the lives of his hearers. Now the Culture Club was composed of those Athenians who were philosophers o f the Stoics and Epicureans and who with others of their far-famed city spent their time "in nothing else but either to tell or to hear some new thing.” The Culture Club is one of the oldest orders of the times and its membership today is even more numerous than ever. "Some new thing” is its motto and no old thing has any Interest for it. Not that its career has been devoid of value. Indeed, the Culture Club has been conspicuous in all our civilization for its investigation and invention. It has put the imprimatur of its approval upon a thousand and one good things which have passed into our theory and practice of living. But the Culture Club has forgotten them as soon as they have ceased to be new and has followed its insatiable hunt for novelty. What wonder that Athens was filled with idols, the wood and stone expressions of ideas that once were new things to the people who made them. An Idol-Worshipping Club The meetings of the Culture Club were breeding places of idolatry in the old Athenian days and they remain the
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