December, 1939
T H E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
453
Around the King's Table By ROY L. LAURINI
field the message was to be carried to the “uttermost part of the earth.” We dare not neglect the need of the near- at-hand for the uttermost, nor should, we be taken in by the glamor of the uttermost at the expense of the near- at-hand. How Much Prophecy? One of the great temptations with which the alert preacher finds himself confronted in these-stirring days is the temptation to deal disproportionately with the prophetic aspect of the Scrip tures. We say disproportionate because the predictive element in Scripture is proportionate to the proclamation ele ment. We do not suggest the ratio, but if the preacher is under divine guidance, he will be able to determine easily the extent of his treatment of the timely themes of the Bible as over against the timeless ones. If Europe is in the grip of a great war, let us remember that there has been war there before. If Hitler con stitutes an international menace, let us
Saving Christmas It becomes increasingly necessary to save Christmas from its enthusiasts. We find it necessary to save Christ mas from Xmas. Many Christians un thinkingly use this pagan expression. Christ is displaced by an “X” which is the algebraic symbol for an unknown quantity. We dare not rob Christmas of its Christ or else we have voided its observance. We find it necessary to save the Christmas Gift of Christ from Christ mas gifts. There is no wrong in ex changing gifts, but even this practice may degenerate into a selfish custom with profit to no one but the commer cial interests. Christmas should remind us supremely of God’s “unspeakable gift.” We find it necessary to save the uniqueness of Christ’s birth into history and the human race from the notion which says that every time a person becomes a Christian, Christ is born in that soul. Christ was bom but once, and He is not reborn in the regenera tion of any soul. It is man who has a birth. It is the new birth in which men become “partakers of the divine na ture.” We are aptly reminded that the birth of Christ is unique in history. Christ was the only babe who could do three things: He was the only babe who could choose His own parents, who could choose His own birthplace, and who could choose the time of His birth. Distance Lends Enchantment The proverbial enchantment which distance gives to our affections is one of the constant menaces to Christian consistency. A current writer suggests this: “To love the Negro in Africa and exploit him in our own town, or to sympathize with the Jew in Germany and despise him on our own street is worse than meaningless.” How great this danger is can be veri fied in our own personal attitudes. We may be more guilty than we are willing to admit. We should remember that in the New Testament program of Chris tian missions there is no intermediate “no man’s land.” The concentric circle of responsibility begins at home. The Lord Jesus Christ said: “Ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost parts of the earth” (Acts 1:8). To His hearers the streets and homes of Jerusalem were the first- line trenches, and from that mission
remember that Hitler-like men have been before him. If the fate of the world may seem to hang in the bal ance, let us think somewhat of the fate of individuals who face eternity. More men are dying normal deaths outside of the battle zones of Europe and Asia than are dying violent deaths in our current wars. Every preacher has a commission to preach to the individual needs of man before he has an obligation to preach about the international plight of the na tions. He must keep his garments clean of the blood of souls, and to do this he must preach the gospel message. If Daniel is in the canon of Scripture —so is John. If Antichrist is a menace —-Christ is the panacea. If totalitarian ism threatens—regeneration is still our greatest hope. Some time since, one of our Ameri can magazines printed the account of a cultist who was arrested for violation of an ordinance for solicitation of funds. He informed a newspaperman that the kingdom of God had been here on earth since 1914. The newsman was a Chris tian and said: “I’d have a lot more sympathy for your group if you tried to get people to believe in John 3:16 instead of all the stuff that is printed in your pamphlets.” The greatest need of the world is the need expressed in the desire of the an cient Greeks, “Sir, we would see Jesus.” The Bible Up-to-Date In the Science Section of Time, dated September 4, 1939, is this paragraph: “Snobs who brag of their ances try betray their ignorance of ge netics. Each person receives 24 chromosomes from each parent, an average of twelve chromosome] from his grandparents, six from his great-grandparents, only one or two from his great-great-great-grand parents. ‘If you claimed descent from Miles Standish, the odds may be 20 to one that you are no more related to him than is any one else in town.’’’ This appears to be an up-to-date con firmation of the Biblical law of hered ity found in Numbers 14:18: “The Lord is long-suffering, (and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression, and by no means clearing the guilty, visit ing the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation.”
, • D ing . . .
Dong . . . Every bell, properly constructed and played, produces two principal sounds: the strike note that is positive and true, and the hum note, sustained and melodious. In an acceptable bell, these two tones are in perfect harmony. Like a bell, the child of God must give forth the strike note of convincing testimony and the hum note of consistent living. There must be no discord, no unequal emphasis. When these two forms of witnessing are in proper rela tion to each other, there is a deli cate blending which issues in the music of a life.
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