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T h e K i n g ' s
B u s i n e s s
January 1928
swer is no, but when death comes I will have. I do not need grace to die so much as I need grace to live in this old sin-saturated and sin-cursed world, to face the devil continuously and do the work God has given me to do. Every man needs a refuge from judgment. For every human being who is responsible before God, who does not accept Christ as Savior and Lord and who does not accept Christ’s atonement and take refuge in that and that alone, must come into'judgment; but when your sins are laid on Christ and you accept Him as your Savior, there is therefore no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus. Pleading the merits of Christ’s death as an all-suf ficient sacrifice and sufficient penalty for your Sins, you can say in perfect confidence, “All sins and charges against me are cancelled, washed away in His precious blood, and the case against me is stricken from the docket.” “He that believeth in Me hath everlasting life and shall not come into judgment.”—Jesus. ¥ HE historic facts of thirty-three years have been recorded for us by those who “were eye-wit nesses of His majesty,” and by men who had “perfect understanding” of the momentous events of which they wrote. There is nothing mythical about the story of the life of Jesus. with miraculous powers by a band of devoted followers— nothing that was false could have survived the centuries of destructive criticism to which those records have been subjected. And those records have survived. Of all the literature given to the world in the immortal language of Homer, it is not the Iliad, nor the epic story of the return of Odysseus from Troy; but the non-classical and col loquial Gospels that have been treasured by countless mul titudes of the human race. Translated into practically every language of importance, their story is more widely known today than it has ever been. The little band of followers that Jesus Christ gathered round Himself—those who were to pass His message on to the world—were not men who were likely to be deceived into the acceptance of a false idea of their Leader’s powers. At times they were fearfully slow in imagination, unable to grasp the meaning of what He would have told them. But, as they tramped along the dusty roads with Him, as they stood around Him while He taught the crowds, watched His miracles, as—gathered around a campfire, perhaps—they shared with Him their evening meal—so they began to. realize that about this Man there was some thing like none other. Unknown, unrecognized, unho'n- ored by the crowds that flocked around Him, this Com panion of theirs was yet one with the Creator. “He was. in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not” (John 1:10). S pellbound B y H is W ords So like was Jesus unto His brethren, that the people, thought of Him as the son of the village carpenter. Yet, although they knew not the secret of His personality, the crowds that thronged around Him were amazed at His
Christ is the only refuge from all these inevitable things. Not religion, but Christ. Not church membership, but Christ. Understand me, I dp not believe that an'y man who has Christ in his heart will stay out of the church of Jesus Christ; but many in our churches do not have Christ in their hearts. Christ is the only refuge, and He is the all- sufficient refuge. I have tried Him in sorrow and dis appointment, and found Him to be the true refuge. I have tried Him as a refuge from sin and an accusing conscience, and He has never failed,me. ■ • This refuge is nqt a doctrine, nor a creed, nor. a theory —but a Man. The God-Man from Heaven. He it is that gives you pardon, peace, and power, and gives you victory over sin, temptation, over the devil, over the grave, and over hell. Taking refuge in Him by faith in the merits of His atoning blood, redeemed by it, the guilty sinner is delivered and glorified. speech. Heedless of hunger or personal discomfort, they left their villages and tramped miles across the countryside on the chance of hearing Him.’ Even the soldiers, sent to arrest Him by a government jealous of His temporary popularity, were spellbound, and came away, their errand forgotten. “Never man spake like this man” (John 7 :46), they said. Of course man never had.' Jesus Christ could speak of history with the perfect familiarity of an eye-wit ness. To one who was “ from the beginning,” the very founders of the race were among the moderns. When He talked of a future, it was of a future that He saw as clearly before Him as His hearers remembered yesterday. His experience was not limited to a brief span of years. Past, present, future, were all alike to Him—the great “I AM” of all time and all space., Nature, had no secrets from Him “by whom the worlds were made.” Though He had never studied under the astronomers of. the'day, He knew more of the earth than they did, and could tell His dis ciples that, if in the night when He came again He found men asleep in bed, at the same instant in a far-distant anti podes they would be out in the fields in the height of noon- day. Is it any wonder that His listeners were fascinated at His words ? Even His most intimate companions were constantly being surprised by a fresh display of His resources. Such a surprise they had one night when, half-way over the lake of Galilee in their little boat, they were caught by one of those sudden storms which rush down between the sur rounding mountains and whip the waters of that lake into fury. Today the fall in air-pressure, observed by means of our barometers, will give us some warning of the approach of such a storm. The control of such conditions is entirely beyond us. The human resources of the man who had been asleep in the stern of the boat were useless; but a word, spoken with His divine authority, brought per fect calm. Those fishermen who were with Him knew the miracle of that sudden calm. Accustomed from childhood to every varying mood of the lake, they had never seen anything like this before. “What manner of man is this,”
jjg läi IThe|Resources of Jesus Christ B y W . G. R adley , B. S c . (In “Science and Faith’M-Morgan and Scott, Pub.)
No legends growing around a great, teacher attributed
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