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THE K I N G ’S B U S I N E S S
I know a man whose income is $6,000 a year. He lives on twenty-five hun dred dollars and gives thirty-five hun dred dollars to foreign m issionary work. He told me th a t he has ju st tak en in ano ther half block more for h i s . busi ness, and he says his business is in creasing so fast th a t he can’t keep up w ith it. He supports some tw enty native m issionaries ou t in th e foreign field. He is overflowing in liberality. You show me a person th a t is mean tow ards th e Lord, and I ’ll show you a person lean in his own soul. The Lord doesn’t tru s t you w ith very much if you are mean w ith it. W hatever you give to th e Lord you get back multiplied and sanctified. Romans 15:13. “Now th e God of hope fill you w ith all joy and peace in believing th a t ye may abound in hope, th rough th e power of th e Holy Ghost.” Overflowing in hopefulness, no t pes sim ism and not morbidness; no t fu ll of despair, th ink ing th a t th e world is go ing td th e devil. Some people imagine th a t everything is going wrong and are ju s t as m iserable as can be. We are to be overflowing in hopefulness, in the brightness and joy of our life. Then, in F irs t Corinthians, chapter 15, verse 58, we read : “Therefore, my beloved b reth ren , be ye steadfast, un movable, always abounding in th e work of th e Lord, forasmuch as ye know th a t your labor is no t in vain in th e Lord.” “Overflowing in th e work of the Lord.” How few th e re are like this in th e Church today. They are over flowing in th e work of m aking money and in making a successful business. They will spend all th e ir streng th and tim e to succeed. They cannot afford tim e for recreation or fellowship w ith th e ir family. Morning, noon and n igh t they are a t it. Undoubtedly, they are C hristian men, b u t they give you th e impression th a t th e th ing s th a t are real and worth having are th e things of th is life. They are overflowing w ith worldly work. They are sadly lacking
only su rrend er your h ea rt to th e Lord you would be overflowing in u tterance; “ Out of th e abundance of th e h e a rt the mouth speaketh.” Then again, we are to abound in knowledge. Knowledge concerning our Lord and th e things /of th e Lord, and we are to abound in all diligence, not laziness, no t lethargy, no t in apathy. My, w hat a crowd of tired folks th ere are in the Church today. On Sunday morning, if it is rain ing or snowing, they can’t go to church, b u t they will go out in any kind of w eather for any th ing else, and when it comes to doing anything or giving any tim e for th e Lord, how very tired they become, how soon they fag, and how soon they are clear down and out, b u t if it is any th ing for society, they are full of energy and life and diligence. “Out of you shall flow rivers of liv ing w ater.” He doesn’t say, “ Out of your h e a rt,” or “Out of your m outh,” or “Out of your in tellect,” b u t out from th e seat of compassion. You know how sorrow and distress or joy affect the stomach and make it sick. The Lord said out from th e seat of your com passion shall flow rivers of living w ater. In stead of being a narrow thing, a life circumscribed by our own denom ination or by th e walls of our church, it is to be an overflowing riv er of life— first toward th e Lord and th en out and to th e whole wide world. And we are to be overflowing in “ this grace” also. We read in verse 2 of th a t chapter “How th a t in a g reat tria l of affliction th e abundance of th e ir joy and th e ir deep poverty abounded unto the riches of th e ir liberality.” I t is fine to meet a Christian overflow ing in liberality. There is nothing mean about him . If he has two cents you are always su re he will share them w ith you. He’s overflowing in liber ality. My dear friends, if your religion hasn ’t gotten down to your pocket-book it has not got deep enough.
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