December, 1939
THE K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
458
of life, and for many of us life would not be worth living. Heaven met our deep necessity in the birth of Jesus. In that birth we have our only hope, for that birth foreshad owed His atoning death. Tennyson says, “When Jesus was bom hope was bom” —and he ^as right. What hope in Him we have of pardon, of conquered death, and of being, as one has put it, “openly acquitted at the judgment seat” ! What hope we have of a life that will go on through all the glories of eternity! Yes, He was “born to give us second birth.” He was “born that man no more may die.” He was bom that we might carry the brightness of that hope everywhere. Blessed birth! Thanks be unto God for evermore. Universal Bible Sunday Universal Bible Sunday, sponsored annually by the American Bible Society, will be observed this year on December 10. The theme which has been chosen is the timely topic, “The Truth That Makes Men Free.” It is hoped that individual believers, as well as pastors addressing their con gregations, will use this occasion for meditation upon the relation of the Bible to human 4freedom—first the part played by the Bible in securing the principal liberties which have been en joyed preceding the present crisis of freedom, and, secondly, the particular quality of freedom with which the Bible is supremely concerned.
to gladden us in these days. Life is try ing for us all, and I venture to say that the most glorious fountain of glad ness that ever gushed forth was opened when Christ was bom. You remember that the angel said to the shepherds, “Fear not.” You need not fear any thing that comes to you if you have this Saviour. He is Christ the Lord; He is Jehovah. Is there anything too hard for Him? Is the Lord’s arm short ened ? Never. And there is great joy in the good news. Said the angel, “I bring you glad tidings of great joy.” Matthew Henry translates it, “I evangelize you with great joy.” You are an heir of great joy; and how great it is! It is a joy that comes to all people; it is a uni versal joy. The One who was born this day brings joy wherever He comes. I love to think of the multitudes all'over the world who find great joy in Him, people of different temperaments, and living in all kinds of environments. No wonder that with such a Saviour, we should feel like singing all the time, yes, and singing even when there are tears in our eyes because of trouble! How this miraculous birth glorified God! “Glory to God in the highest,” said the angels. Oh, how the Father must have rejoiced in that wonderful birth! And it, rejoiced all heaven. What a solid joy it gave to men! This birth of Christ imparts salvation to all who will accept it; and there we find the origin of true joy. Take that joy out When a bell is cracked, there are only two ways of repairing the damage. One is to fill In the crack and bind it to gether with a steel band, and the other is to recast it. If the easier method of merely patching the bell is chosen, it is impossible to restore the bell’s orig inal tone. A salvation sought by “good works” Is in reality only an attempt to patch up the old marred instrument. There is never heard the original tone nor any clear and true testimony. John 3 is based on the principle that all life comes from antecedent life of the same classification, and thus the message of the passage Is that divine life in men must begin from above. Therefore, in the figure of the bell, YE MUST BE RECAST FROM ABOVE. Through the Fall, man has lost true knowledge, true righteousness, and the sanctity of truth. He needs to “put on the new man, which after God is cre ated in righteousness and true holiness” (Eph. 4:24). This “new man” is “re- *i lean of the Faculty, The Bible Institute of Los Angeles, M e l o d y f r o m B r o k e n B e l l s By KENNETH M. MONROE*
barriers of heaven and came forth to declare it. “And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heav enly host praising God.” What a sen tence that is! My dear old friend, Peter Mackenzie, used to say, “The Lord never had such a work to keep the angels in heaven as He had when Jesus was born.” I can well believe that if ever the angels got beyond control it was then. _ One would have thought that when heaven itself displayed such an interest in His birth, He would have been born amid corresponding earthly splendors. Yet we read, “There was no room for them in the inn”! What a sentence! He who was born this day was bom in great humility. He was laid in a man ger. Think of it. The Lord of glory had His lowly cradle among the beasts! Oh, the wonder of His birth! But it was m o r e wonderful still that God should be bom at all. There must have been some reason for it. What was the reason? He was bom that He might be our Saviour. The Needed Saviour Who was it who was bom this day? A Saviour! Mark the word. Oh, how greatly the Saviour was n e e d e d ! You say, How can I know that He was so greatly needed? Here is the an swer: Look into your own heart, and I will look into mine. We' are sinners; and there is death and the judgment seat to be faced. Oh, how greatly we need a Saviour! And if He was so greatly needed, was He not also greatly qualified to be our Saviour? Indeed He was. John Bunyan says, “He is such a Suitable Saviour.” I am sure we can all say “Amen” to What, pardon, what peace, what renewal He brings to the soul! And what power from on high He brings! Read on, and you will see that He is described as “a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.” It is a magnificent descrip tion. He is the Anointed One, anointed to be a Saviour by God, and by the Holy Ghost. He is “Christ the Lord.” And that word ' “Lord” m e a l s what the word means in the Old Testament—Je hovah. It was the most wonderful mir acle of history that Jehovah should be bom into this world as a little Babe. “Unto you is born this day . . . a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.” That phrase "unto you” is very sweet. It was said first of all to the shepherds, and then to the Jews, and then “to all people.” Mark that word “all.” There is nothing narrow about the Christian religion. Let that thought ring like a merry bell in your soul. He is a Sav iour for all. Oh, it is sweet reading! It was, indeed, a beneficent birth. Never did anything so wonderful happen to the human race before. “Glad Tidings of Great Joy” Thirdly, I go on to say that it, waj^a gladdening birth. We need something
newed in knowledge after the image of him that created him” (Col. 3:10). Man is restored to the original image of God in the new creation. Sin caused the bell to crack, but, re made by the Lord Jesus Christ, the life gives forth a tone of even greater sweet ness than before.
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