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September 1929
T h e
K i n g ’ s
B u s i n e s s
Isn’t He big enough to take care of you and me ? Does He care? Is He at all interested? He tells me the very hairs of my head are numbered. He does care. He wants the heart that loves and trusts Him, and the Lord Jesus is our covering and protection. He can supply my every ne,ed. T he P urpose Then, you have another idea, the great purpose of it all. First of all, look as I touch briefly on two pdints. Rom. 13:14: “Put ye on the Lord Jesus . Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof Oh, that awful flesh! What William Law calls “the work shop of the devil.” How Satan can play upon the flesh! Make no provision for the flesh. The Holy Spirit, in our spirits, as we recognize and rely upon Him, will make us very sensitive ito every appearance and urge of the flesh. There is nothing more damaging to the believer than self-pity. Watch that self-life. How it will come. If you are going to preach, teach or sing, you want everyone to thank you. The Lord says , “Make no provision for the flesh.” It is only as the life is yielded to Him, and as we draw from Him, that on our side there will be no provision made for the flesh. As the life is yielded to Him, we shall know what is the good and perfect will of God. Read Ephesians 6:10-11. The Lord Jesus says, in John 14:6, “I am the way,” etc. Beloved, there are not twelve ways of getting to the Father. There is only one way to the Lord for the sinner, and that is through the Crucified One. “I am the way.” Christian Science is nei ther Christian, nor science. Spiritualism is demonology. I hate the devil and stand in my spirit against all the work of hell, whatever it is, wherever it is done. ATURE is a wonderful source of inspiration to God’s children. The blue sky above, the beauti ful trees, the high mountains, the vast ocean, the singing birds, all contribute worthwhile les sons to the child of God, But the flowers breathe forth to him a spiritual fragrance which is ever a delight to his heart and of lasting benefit to his life. Let us thank God for the flowers, which are God’s gift to men, and let us seek to breathe into our lives some of their spiritual fragrance. F lowers A re B eautiful The first thought that comes to us as we think about what the flowers mean to us, is their beauty. Flowers are beautiful. God made them so. We like to have flowers in our yards to beautify them. We decorate our homes, our schools, our churches with them. When Solomon built the Temple, he sought to make it as beautiful as possible, for it was to symbolize God’s dwelling place. Therefore we read that carved flowers formed a part of the. decora tions on the walls of the building. 1 Kings 6 :29: “And he carved all the zvalls of the house round about with carved figures o f cherubims and palm trees and open flowers, within and without.” But the apostle John tells us there will be no temple in the New Jerusalem. Revelation 21: 22: “And 1 saw no temple therein : for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple o f it.” It was
We are to “put on the whole armour of God.” “Hav ing your loins girt about with truth,” etc., (verse 14). Where are we going to get truth? In God’s precious Word. “Establish them through thy truth.” The Lord tells us He is the Light. “I give unto thee eternal life.” Here you have in the epistles that God give to us, some of the truths for the believer. A very dear friend of mine, now in heaven, had a son, L- Josiah. One day, the boy said to his father, “Father, I would like to have you take me for a walk.” They lived in a place called Swansea, the promenade looking out on the bay. Tt was rather rough and the boy fell down and cut his knee, as he did not want his father to hold his hand. His father tied his handkerchief around the cut, and said, “It is all right, you cannot see the blood.” Then, the boy turned to his father and said, “I think you had better take my hand now.” He put his hand in his father’s and they both went on together. Again he tripped his foot against a stone, but did not fall, because his father held his hand. ITe said to his father, “Wasn’t it good you had a hold of me?” If my salvation depended on my hold on Him, I would have failed long, long ago. “I, the Lord thy God, will hold thee with my right hand.” And therefore, beloved, if we are clothed with the pro vision He has made for us, we shall not only know the life of joy, peace, and gladness, but God, our God, will lead us out into triumph and victory. Yield yourselves to Him, rely upon Him, and ask Him, by the Holy Spirit, to have His way with you, that you may be what He wants you to be, do what He wants you to do, and go where He wants you to go. necessary for Solomon to beautify his temple with flowers, but in the New Jerusalem, the center of attraction shall be God and Christ. Down here we admire the beauty of the flowers, but up there we shall be enraptured with the beauty pf the Lord. But I am thankful that in a very real sense the latter is my privilege even now. Psalm 27 :4 : “One thing have I desired o f the Lord, that will I seek after.; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days o f my life, to behold the beauty o f the Lord, and to inquire in his temple.” If we are faithful in carrying out God’s instructions for our lives, then God will indeed be to us a “crown o f glory” and a “diadem o f beauty” (see Isaiah 28:5). And then we learn the lesson that God’s people should be as beautiful in their lives, as the flowers are- in their appearance before men. And God alone can help us to live beautiful lives. Hosea 14:5 : “I will be as the dew unto Israel : he shall grow as the lily.” What a fine picture of what God expects from u s ! It is our custom to asso ciate the beautiful flower with the innocent child who has not yet learned the wicked ways of the world. As Bryant expresses it:
ate Spiritual Fragrance From The Flowers B y R ev . F red H. W ight
Innocent child and snow-white flower! Well are ye paired in'your opening hour. Thus should the pure and the lovely meet, Stainless with stainless, and sweet with sweet.
But should we stop with that thought, beautiful as it is? No, if we put our complete trust in Christ, then God
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