T HE K I N G ’S B U S I N E S S me shall be loved of my F ath er, and I will love him and w ill m anifest myself un to him . Jud as (no t Iscariot) saith un to him, Lord, w hat is come to pass th a t thou w ilt manifest thyself unto us, and no t unto th e world? Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my word: and my F ath e r will love him, and we will come unto him , and m ake ou r abode w ith him .” Yes, He is really w ith us, no t visibly as in th a t glad coming day He will he, bu t none-the-less, really and consciously w ith us. - Young men and women, as you leave these halls and these friend ships w ith th e Faculty and your fellow stud en ts th a t have become so precious to you, you will have many lonely hours and lonely days and lonely weeks. I th ink the loneliest day I ever saw up to th a t tim e was th e day I g raduated a t Yale and le ft th e city on a la te boat for New York. Most of my class took earl ier trains. I t seemed as if I would almost die of loneliness. Forty-six years have passed,' bu t th e memory of the m isery of th a t n igh t lingers w ith me yet. And you will have lonely days. And when you get into th e h e a rt of China and into th e h ea rt of Africa and into Indian jungles, you will see lonely days. But you need not see lonely days, you need no t see a lonely hour, or a lonely m inute. By day and by night, you may have th e dearest and best and most satisfying of all companions, our glorious Lord Jesus Himself. Listen again to th is crowning prom ise of all, “ Go ye therefo re and m ake dis ciples of all nations, baptizing them into th e name of th e F a th e r and of th e Son and of th e Holy Spirit: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I com manded you: and lo, I am w ith yon always, even u n to th e consummation of th e age.” Ah, th is coming summer when some night I am up alone on the Yangtse or elsewhere, out in some lonely mountain or desert plain, I m ight be lonely, bu t I won’t, Jesus will be th e re too, and He will be w ith you too if you m eet th e conditions. Note these conditions well, “Go ye th erefo re, and m ake disciples of all na tions, baptizing them into th e name of th e F a th e r and of th e Son and of the Holy S pirit: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I commanded you: an d lo, I am w ith you always, even unto th e consummation of the age.” I f you go ou t into all th e world making dis ciples, going as far as your line may
869 extend, be it eighteen miles or eighteen thousand miles, He will go w ith you. B u t if you do not listen sharply for His call, and go as far as He bids you go, He will no t go w ith £ 0 u. If we go His way, He will go ours; bu t if we do not go His way, He will not go ours. If God says Africa, and your foolish h ea rt says, Southern California, He will not go w ith you: and am id th e dearest friends on earth , you will be supremely lonely. B u t if you say w ith Isaiah of old when the Lord Jesus calls, and He is calling, “H ere am I; send me” (Isa. 6 : 8 ), He will send and -He will go along. You may be alone beneath th e silent stars on some African table-land, b u t you will not be alone. He, our glorious Lord, will walk by your side. And He is enough. And you will walk w ith Him forever; for He h ath said, “ If any man serve me, let him follow me; and w here I am , th e re shall also my serv an t be: if any man serve me, him will the F ath e r honor.” (John 12 : 26 .) WICKED WASTE The am ount of tim e wasted in some . men’s lives is fearfully large. Not to men tion the tim e which is wasted in sleep, dress, and gossip; look a t th e tim e wasted in reveries, ab sence of mind, air-balloon imagina tions and wild-goose chases, search ing for new inventions w ithou t find ing them ; w riting manuscripts w ith a view to publication and never pub lishing them ; brooding over imaginary fears, and never realizing them ; in dulging in sanguine hopes which never ripen into fru it; battling w ith expected spectral appearances which never were seen; crossing bridges and stream s and forests which never came in th e way; meeting objections of opponents which were never raised; preparing defences of character upon points which were never assailed; quaking, shaking, moan ing, groaning, grumbling, over aches, pains, losses, woes, and death, which only existed in th e dreams of a diseased brain.— Bate.
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