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THE KING’S BUSINESS
ise of God has been fulfilled in couptless instances in those who have trusted in Him as the various- emergencies of life have arisen. There is nothing here to encourage one in laziness, in not preparing before hand when we have teaching or preaching to do for Him, but there is everything here to deliver us from anxiety when we are brought into the place of peril or un expected opportunity and have no time for preparation. We do not need to prepare, and we do not need to worry that we have not prepared. There is one right at hand, yea, dwelling in our hearts, who knows just what we ought to say, and who, if we look to Him, will show us just what to say and hoyv to say it. Saturday, December 25. Luke 12:13-21. The rich man of this parable came hon estly by his wealth. He owed his pros perity to God, but he had no sense of the fact. His rapidly-increasing wealth brought him no joy, hut only anxiety and care. It is always so. He was greatly perplexed to know where to put his fruits. There were already many excellent places to bestow them all, for example,,, on the tables of the poor;: and these would have proven eternal storehouses.ABut he was too blind to see them. His intense selfishness ap pears in the frequency of the personal pro noun of the first person, “my fruits,” "my barns,” "my goods,” "my soul.” But, after all, none of these things were really his. God soon brought him to see that those . things were not his own, and he will bring all men to see that some day. The rich man’s way out o f-his difficulty .seemed shrewd and wise, but there was one seri ous defect in his pians, he left God out of his calculations. He could have saved himself all the trouble of building his new barns if he had bestowed his goods in the empty barns of others, but that sort of wisdom is still rare. Having built his barns and bestowed his goods, he would take his ease. He had had no ease in the accumulation of his wealth, and he was not destined to have any in the enjoyment of it. The rich man is the one man who
there their power ends. * There is “no more that they can do,’’ and thé mere death of our body is of no great consequence if we are right with God, for the one who is killed for Christ’s sake, and the Truth’s sake, at once enters, into greater blessed ness than he ever knew here. There is hut one person we should fear, that is God, for His power is not limited to the present life—“after He hath killed He has power to cast into hell.” Furthermore, men can not kill anyone unless God lets them. Not even one of the sparrows is forgotten by Him, and the very hairs of the head of His children are all numbered, and He" will not permit us to suffer the slightest, injury, if we are faithful to Him. If He does permit death to come, that is the best thing for us. Friday, December 24. Luke 12:8-12. . These verses should be studied in con nection with those that immediately pre cede. From their connection we get much of their significance. There is perhaps no ôther sin to which men are so frequently driven by the fear of man as that of the denial of their Lord. But whatever we may suffer because.of our confession of the Lord in a God-hating world, is nothing compared to what we gain by such con fession. Whoever confesses Christ before men will at once be confessed by the Lord before the angels of God. When we con fess Him down here, He confesses us up there, and then God gives us His Holy Spirit and we know what fullness of joy means. But, on the other hand; however many things we may do that we think are good and righteous, if we do not openly confess jj Jesus Christ we are denying Him and He will deny us before the angels of God. Those who do confess Christ before men are sure to suffer for it. They may be brought before magistrates and powers, but they need have no anxiety; indeed, they do not need, under such circum stances, even to make preparation before hand as to what they shall say, for the Holy Spirit Himself shall teach them what to say in this moment of peril. This prom
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