109
February 1929
T h e
K i n g - á
B u s i n e s s
Recent Biola Visitors Dr. W. P. White, of the Extension.De partment of Moody Bible Institute, paid us a visit recently, and participated in the closing exercises of the last morning lec ture hour. Dr. John C. Page, formerly for many years on the faculty at Moody Bible Insti tute, and who has been on (he Coast for several weeks conducting Bible con ferences; addressed the students and re newed acquaintance with old friends. Rev'. Paul Rood, from.;Jwh8se('(live church at Turlock, Calif., ■'many students have come to the Institute, stirred our hearts to renewed zeal in service on the occasion of a recent visit. When his father was a young man, writes Gipsy Smith, a band of their people, the gipsies, fifty or more of them, had been picking a field of hops on a farm near Tenbridge. These gipsies had finished one field, and were crossing to another field on the other side of the Medway. They mounted the wagon—men, women and children—and away the horses started, and with songs and laugh ter the gipsy folk made music for other toilers in the fields they passed. As they turned a fiend in the lane they saw the unsafe wooden bridge, over which they hoped to pass safely. But the river was in flood, and flowing freely over the road way, and when the women saw it they were frightened and some of them screamed, for gipsy women are much like other women; and before the drivers could silence them, the horses, startled by the screams, ran away, crashing into the side of the old bridge, and instantly all were thrown into the flooded river. A brave gipsy boy, seizing one of the horses drifting down, watched eagerly for one who was dearer to him than any other in the world—his mother, for the natural boy loves his mother. Presently he saw her, and after many struggles he reached her. But she clutched him in such a way that he could not manage to save her, and at last she sank. When the day of the funeral came, there were over thirty gipsies buried, and people gathered from all the countryside to .show their sympathy with these poor people. For getting the crowd and clergyman that day, this poor boy crept down into the trench which contained the coffins, and kneeling beside his mother’s, he cried : ■“Mother! Mother! I tried to save you. I did all a man could do to save you, but you would not let me. YOU WOULD NOT LET ME.” Keep Good Company Sydney Smith said: “We should accus tom the mind to keep the best company by introducing it only to the best books.” We heard of a city pastor who said: “I have read so much from the destruc tive critics that I am no longer sure that any text I can take is really an inspired statement from God.” We will never develop a strong faith by reading the writings of those whose mission it is to create doubt. “You Would Not Let Me” John 5 :40
says some one, “that was the age of mir acles, but we cannot expect God to pro vide for us in these days as He did for Israel.” The answer is,' that God’s love is just as* watchful and'as faithful now as it was in the days of miracles. We may always with perfect confidence depend on our Father to provide for us when we are following His guidance.—7. R. Mill'er. — o — ' Feb. 28— “Their eyes were holden” (Luke 24 :16),,.,1‘Their eyes were opened” (Luke 2&31). 'VS\J There is much precious significance in this. The Lord is often present in our lives in things that we do not dream pos sess any significance. We are asking God about something which needs His mighty working, and the very instrument by which He is to work is by our side, per haps for weeks and months and years all unrecognized, until suddenly, Some day it grows luminous and glorious with the' very presence of the Lord, and becomes the-mighty instrument of His victorious working. He loves to show His hand through the unexpected'. Often he keeps us from seeing His way until just before He opens it, and then immediately that it is unfolded, we find that He was walking by our side in the very thing, long before w e' even suspected its meaning.— A. B. Simpson. A C hinese G irl ’ s T rial and T riumph (Continued from page 105) asked the blessing before eating, he sat quietly with bowed head, not eating till she had finished her prayer. I heard father say that there were two hundred prisoners in the jail near our ya-men, mostly bandits. I requested per mission for the Bible-woman and myself to go and present the Gospel message. He replied: “Child, it’s impossible, the odor of the place would kill you.” However, my entreaties prevailed. He gave orders to prepare for services in the prison, not telling who were going. The handcuffed men, with feet dragging their chains, most of them knowing execution was awaiting them, drank in the message, and many were responsive. Who can say what eternity will reval as results? I finally persuaded my father to read a little in the Bible. I selected Romans, and asked him for my sake if for no other, to read it. He remarked after reading several chapters; “Truly I see how different this book is from all others.” My father being an official makes it very difficult for him to become a Chris tian. He has not yet reached the state of consecration sufficient to give up his office. Miss Wang described in detail her ef forts to save her own people, which ef forts are unprecedented in China. Many Chinese Christians seem almost callous as to the salvation of their fam ilies. She has agonized in prayer and effort for her peoplej and God has given her six of them. Her mother resisted all her efforts, so she prayed God to arouse her through a vision. Later on, her mother did see a vision of Christ upon the cross. She said to her daughter, “Last night I saw your Jesus upon the cross.” A step-grandmother, having lost an only
son, discarded all belief in any God, and spent her time in amusements. Even she was reached. She tells how an aunt walks to church to save money for the collection. She helps clean up her own rooms, telling the servant, “We are one in Christ Jesus, I will help you.” Miss Wang’s simple story affects an audience both by riveting attention and by producing such weeping as we have never’before seen. .Truly the Spirit is with her. The Buddhist nun . who accompanied Miss Wang, also had a remarkable^expe rience. At the age of twenty-two she was left a widow. She desired to remain true to her husband, which is most praiseworthy in China. Her brothers, however, were bent upon selling her to another husband. She was a woman of' courage and also had money, so she took the matter to the official. He decided in her favor. The attitude of the brothers, however, remained inimical, so in fear and despera tion she fled to the temple and became a nun. For seventeen years she remained there, through her ability rising step by step till she became head of the nuns.. At this time she had a vision. She saw an angel all in white who said, “I have come to save you.” This so terrified her that she fled to the temple to burn incense. While in. the tem ple a colporteur came by selling Bibles. He told her if she was seeking light and truth this was the book from which to ob tain them. At this time she knew nothing of Christianity, but her heart was opened, and she bought the four Gospels. This led her to leave the temple, enter a Chris tian school, and eventually to become a bulwark for Christianity. Success Through Earnestness There is much in a recent comment of The Biblical Review. Some public speakers have achieved influence and reputation, not by any par ticular originality in thought, but by the singular force with which they put things. They take mere familiar truths, even platitudes, and clothe them with such power that people seem to hear them for the first time. Ideas are somewhat, like fine tools; they are useful in proportion to the strength and skill of the workman who handles them. Many preachers succeed more by dint of something like divine earnestness than by the things they say. There have been sermons that have lifted audiences to the celestial heights, but, when seen in print, they have roused no particular emotion. Some preachers fail at just this point. Their thought is much the average, and they have a real grasp of truth, but there is no warmth, no unction, no conviction in their presentation of it. The Westbourne Baptist Church of Cal gary, Canada, is seeking ,a pastor. They require that he be thoroughly fundamen tal and well grounded in the Word of God, Communications relative to the mat ter should be addressed to 516 8th Avenue West, Calgary, Alta., Canada.
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