January 1928
T HE
21
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B u s i n e s s
The Hand of Jesus Christ B y H enry O akley
"The pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His Hand.” —Isa. 53:10. f T is a cheering thing to be assured that God has pleasure concerning our world. I cling to the word “pleasure” as “The Revisers” did, and I am disin clined to let it go for the colder word “purpose” which some teachers have adopted in its place. So far as I can discover, the lexicographers leave no doubt that the tendency in the word is much more towards “bent” of mind than towards “set purpose,” towards “de light” rather than towards volition. Yes, broken and un comely, wrong and evil as the world is, our God takes pleasure in it still. His delights are with the sons of men. It is a blessed fact and is a store of consolation and hope. Much of this pleasure is wrapt, up in Jesus. He looks upon Him and is well pleased. He is His “Beloved Son.” Through Him God’s pleasure in our world continues. I. There are three phases of the Divine pleasure which the Scripture enables us easily to detect. The first is that of government. Among ourselves we say, “OrderJus heaven’s first law,” and the truth in that proverb is not without divine authority. Confusion, disorder, incomplete ness, injustice, can bring nothing but displeasure to the mind of God. Law, righteousness, harmony, and sympathy are His delight. To these ends He has always been work ing through natural law, through prophet and through conscience. Tangled and embarrassed as the world is today, no man, with the Word of God in his hand and with his eyes upon history, can doubt that over all there is a wise, beneficent rule making for good. In that vast and sure control God has pleasure. The second phase of the divine pleasure is in mercy and, forgiveness. “Who is a God like unto Thee, who pardoneth iniquity and passeth by transgression because Thou delightest in mercy ?” Were this not so, these would be very dark days, and in the dark ness there would shine no star at all. The delight that God takes in mercy is the hope that lingers in the world and forbids the mind to close back upon itself in utter and blank despair. The third phase is the pleasure our Heavenly Father takes in giving. “It is your Father’s good pleasure to give.” I attempt no epitome of His be- stowments. Their number and variety are the sure evi dence that they come from one whose joy is to impart. In Jesus He gave us the “unspeakable gift,” and with Him shall He not also freely give us all things? “God is light,” and it is of the very nature of light to impart itself; and, therefore, it is that, fiver all the guilt and shame of the world, God is shedding forth the priceless gifts of Himself in power and purity and love. T h e H and of P ur ity , P ower and L ove II. These blessed ministries'of God’s pleasure are all cfimmitted to the hand of Jesus. “The government is upon His shoulders.” All authority is given unto Him. What better hand could be upon the helm ! What administrator can compare with Him? The pierced hand of Jesus reminds us of His deep interest in our world, of the love He felt towards it, and of the price He was willing to pay in order to serve it. No hand could govern our world with deeper sympathy or with greater devotion to its well-being, or with greater fidelity to its highest interests.
His is a,lso the hand of power. “By Him were all things created that are in heaven and that are in earth, vis ible and invisible . . . all things were created by Him . . . and by Him all things consist:” In the days of His flesh storms quailed before Him, spring grew to harvest at His touch, and leprosy passed away before His outstretched finger. Power belongeth unto Him, and by His hand of power all that pleases the Father shall be brought to pass. . As I think of the hand of Jesus, I remember it was particularly the hand of merciful renewals. By its touch the dumb regained their speech, the blind their sight, the afflicted brain its balance and the fevered limbs their cool ness. In thè ministry of His speech the renewals of mercy
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