King's Business - 1913-02

THE KING’S BUSINESS

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fo rg o t all h e h a d in te n d e d to say. Jo sh u a Poole, se a te d in th e a u d i­ ence, anxious to h e lp his friend ou t o f his dilemm a, called loud ly : “ Enry, sing a ’im, m o n ; sing a ’im .” O n e n igh t in Dublin, p e rh a p s this v e ry first night, his serm on le ft him, a n d h e cou ld d o little b u t re p e a t J o h n 3 :1 6 o v e r a n d o v e r again. H e w as m uch d iscou rag ed w ith his fail­ u re b u t le ft it w ith th e L o rd . T h e follow ing d a y h e receiv ed a note, o r a visit, from a y o ung lady , asking him to g ra n t a p erso n a l in terv iew to h e r b ro th e r, a T rin ity college stu ­ d en t. T h e y oung fellow cam e an d to ld how h e a n d som e o th e r stu d en ts h a d g on e in to th e h a ll to e n jo y th e fun, b u t th a t th e rep e titio n of J o h n 3 :1 6 h a d laid h o ld on him , conv ict­ ing him of his sins in th e ligh t o f G o d ’s love, a n d now h e w an te d to know how to b e saved . Mr. M oo re­ house joy fu lly led him to th e Lo rd , an d a fte rw a rd s in p riv a te ask ed G o d ’s forgiveness fo r his d iscou r­ ag em en t a n d sa id : “L o rd , m ak e a fool o f m e ev e ry nigh t if it will only b rin g m en to Jesu s.” a im ed to do. T h e y sough t to b ring Jesu s a n d H is G o sp el to th e w o rld , fo r its a c c ep tan c e o r rejection, b u t th e y n e ith e r ex p e c ted th e w o rld to com e to Christ, n o r d id th e y aim to b rin g it ab o u t. In fact, th e y knew it n ev e r w o u ld com e, in th is age, c h a r­ a c te riz ed b y a n e a rth -re je c ted , b u t h e av en -a c c ep ted Christ. T h e A p o s­ tle s d id n o t b u ild churches a n d th en say “ com e” to th e p eo p le — th ey sim ply o b ey ed th e L o rd ’s “go in to all th e w o rld a n d p re a c h .” T h ese a re ou r m arch ing o rd e rs still. TO B E CONTINUED .

go to th e races, w h e re th e y serve th e devil. H ow can you call H im y o u r S av iou r w h en y o u r fruit p ro v e s you a re n o t s a v e d ? ” T h e se men, v a lia n t fo r tru th , a t­ te n d e d n o t o n ly th e ra c e courses b u t o th e r exhib ition s w h ere crow ds w ou ld g ath er, an d unm u rm u ring ly b o re rep ro a ch , sham e a n d physical p a in fo r th e priv ilege o f telling th e sto ry of red e em in g love, a n d G o d h o n o re d th em w h a te v e r m en th o u g h t o f them . In 1864, th re e y e a rs a fte r his co n ­ version, H a rry M’oorehouse, Jo sh u a P o o le an d E dw a rd U sh er first vis­ ited Ireland , w h e re H a rry M oore- house especially b e c am e a g re a t fa ­ vo rite. A large hall, M errion H all, m o d e led a fte r Mr. S pu rg eon ’s M et­ ro p o lita n T ab e rn a cle , h a d ju st be en o p en ed fo r evangelistic services u n ­ d e r th e le ad e rsh ip o f Mr. D enh am Sm ith, a cu ltu red a n d richly gifted co n se c ra ted se rv an t o f G od . H e in ­ v ited H a rry M oorehouse to speak, an d th e sight o f th e larg e an d well d re ssed aud ience gave th e L an c a ­ shire lad a severe a tta c k o f stage fright. H e b eg an to speak, b u t som e lad ies ro se a n d le ft th e hall, which com p le ted his discom fiture, an d he N o th ing reveals th e d e p a rtu re from A p o sto lic g ro u n d m o re fully th a n th e “ca tch p h ra se s” o f o u r day . T h ese “ sayings,” as P au l calls them , a re th e unconscious rev e la tio n o f ou r inw a rd faith an d feeling. It se ldom h a p p e n s th a t a pub lic ad d re ss o r p ra y e r is h e a rd a t th e p re se n t day , w h ere th e re d o e s n o t c ro p ou t th e p u rp o se “ to b rin g th e w o rld to th e foo t o f th e cross,” o r to “b rin g th e w o rld to Jesu s.” But th is is th e d i­ re c t oppo site o f w h a t th e A po stles

“ The World to Christ”

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