THE K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
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Christ; He only shares His sorrow w ith th e choice ones. The crowd- - W e r e ou t side Gethsemane; th e eigh t were a t the gate, b u t it was only Jam es and John- and P eter who were w ith Him in His agony. Can He bring us into th a t close fellowship? If He can, we will know w hat it is to overflow or abound in the sufferings of Christ. The “How” Of I t How is th e overflowing life to be b rough t about in our lives? T u rn to John, chapter 7, verse 37: “ In the la st day, th a t g reat day of th e feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, if any man th irst, let him come unto me, and d rin k .” F irs t of all, “ If any man th irs t.” If you have lived a mean, sneaking, com prom ising so rt of Christian life, a life of failu re and fluctuation and b arren ness, unsatisfying and unsatisfactory, are you dissatisfied w ith it? If you are, th a t is th irsting . Listen! Jesu s says, “ If any man th irs t.” I t is as simple as th a t. T h at’s th e first condition. He cannot coerce you. He seeks to a ttra c t. He will never give th is bless ing to any who are self-satisfied. Don’t let th e weakness of th e past keep you away from Jesus. You are th irsting . Then th e next step is, “Let him come unto me.” Get away from th ink ing th a t men or meetings can give it to you. Get away from worldliness; get away from everything; get rig h t to Christ. He is th e fountain of all life and invites you, “Come unto me.” Say, “Lord, I am so dissatisfied w ith th e old past even teno r of life, nothing exuberant or over flowing; here, I come to th ee.” Listen! “ Him th a t cometh to me I will in no wise cast ou t.” In spite of your past faithlessness, in spite of your past worldliness, in spite of your p ast fail ure; in spite of your p resen t weakness, He will in no wise cast you out. Believe. I t is no t feelings a t first. Feelings are th e fru it. F a ith is the
in the, sp iritual overflow. The Church is neglected. They give a little money or sympathy, bu t they w ithhold th eir services and themselves. They have no time, they say. But they have tim e for everything else. How con trary th is is to th e m ind of the Lord. We are to overflow in th e work of th e Lord, not try ing to do as little as we c a n ,-b u t try ing to do as much as we can. W hat a blessing we all m ight be to others if we were overflowing in th e work of th e Lord. How prosperous and suc cessful the Church would be. The most of th e work in th e Church is done by th e few who are overflowing. Thanksgiving 3| Colossians 2:7. “Rooted and bu ilt up in him , and stablished in th e faith, as ye have been taugh t, abounding th erein w ith thanksgiving.” Abounding— overflowing— t h e r e i n w ith thanksgiving. It is a grand thing to live w ith a person overflowing w ith g ratitude, b u t th ere are some of us ju st grumbling and growling and whining all th e time. You meet them and say, “Well, how are you getting along?” and th ey ’ll say, “ Oh, I have no reason to complain.” As if they were looking for something to complain about. Why, th e Lord says we are to abound— over flow— in thanksgiving. I don’t care however poor you may be, th e re is always a g reat deal to be th a n k fu l for. 2 Cor. 1:5. “F o r as th e sufferings of Christ abount in us, so our consola tion also aboundeth by Christ.” “ F o r as th e sufferings of Christ over flow in us.” Yes, you will find th a t th e n earer you get to the Lord, th e more deeply you come into th e realiza tion of th e C hristian life, th e more you will know of th e overflowing fellowship and suffering of Jesus Christ. When you are happy you can sh are your joy w ith anyone, b u t when some g reat sor row comes into your life, you are very careful whom you share it w ith. You cannot share it w ith everyone. So w ith
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