April 1930
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of the Church of God. Truly He was the Author and Finisher of faith._ Ob serve how He cast His care upon His Fa ther . . . He asks the Father to take the Son of man into the position He oc cupied as the Son of God before His in carnation, that there, as the representa tive of His people, and as the head o f His church, and head over all things to His church, He might rule everything in heaven, and earth, and hell, for their ben efit. The prayer means nothing less than that; God only knows how much more it means.— Rev. Marcus Rainsford, B. A. —o— April 17 —“Perfect through sufferings” (Heb. 2:10). There is a divine mystery in suffering, a strange and supernatural power in it, which has never been fathomed by the human reason. There never has been known great saintliness of soul which did not pass through great suffering. When the suffering soul reaches a calm sweet carelessness, when it can inwardly smile at its own suffering, and does not even ask God to deliver it from suffering, then it has wrought its blessed ministry; then patience has its perfect work; then the crucifixion begins to weave itself into a crown. It is in this state of the perfec tion of suffering that the Holy Spirit works many marvelous things in our souls. In such a condition, our whole be ing lies perfectly still under the hand of God: every faculty of the mind and will and heart is at last subdued; a quiet ness of eternity settles down into the whole being; the tongue grows still, and has but few words to say; it stops asking God questions; it stops crying, “Why hast thou forsaken me?” ; the imagination stops building air castles, or running off on foolish lines; the reason is tame and gentle; the choices are annihilated; it has no choice in anything but the purpose of God. The affections are weaned from all creatures and all things; it is so dead that nothing can hurt it, nothing can of fend it, nothing can hinder it, nothing can get in its way; for, let the circum stances be what they may, it seeks only for God and His will, and it feels assured that God is making everything in the uni verse, good or bad, past or present, work together for its good. Oh, the blessedness of being absolutely conquered! Of losing our own strength, and wisdom, and plans, and desires, and being where every atom of our nature is like placid Galilee under the omnipotent feet of our Jesus. —Streams in the Desert. April 18 —“Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you” (Joshua 1:3). Wherever Judah should set his foot, that should be his; wherever Benjamin should set his foot, that should be his. Each should get his inheritance by setting his foot upon it. Now, think you not, when either had set his foot upon a given terri tory, he did not instantly and instinctively feel, “This is mine” ? An old colored man who had a marvelous experience in grace, was asked:. “Daniel, why is it that you have so much peace and joy, in re- ligios?” “Oh, Massa,” he replied, “I just fall flat on the exceeding great and pre cious promises, and I have all that is in
golden gate, but it has remained unmov able, as though it were rusted upon its hinges. Like Jeremiah, they have cried, “Thou hast covered thyself with a cloud, that our prayer should not pass through.” Thus have true saints continued long in patient waiting without reply, not because their prayers were not vehement, nor be cause they were unaccepted, but because it so pleased Him who is a Sovereign, and who gives according to His own pleasure. If it pleases Him to bid our patience ex ercise itself, shall He not do as He will with His own! No prayer is lost. Praying breath was never spent in vain. There is no such thing as prayer unanswered or unnoticed by God, and some things that we count refusals or denials are simply delays. — H. Bonar. When once His Word is passed, When He has said, “I will” (Heb. 13:5), The thing will come at last; God keeps His promise still (2 Cor. 1 : 20 ). ,—o— April 15 —“Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? Hope thou in God; for I shall yet praise him, who is the health o f my countenance, and my God” (Psalm 42: ID- Alpine flowers are warmed by the snow; the summer beauty of . our hills and the autumn fertility of our valleys have been caused by the cold embrace of the glacier; and so, by the chill of trial and sorrow are the outlines of the Chris tian character molded and beautified. And we who recognize the loving-kindness as well as the power of God in what may seem the harsher and more forbidding agencies of nature, ought not to be weary and faint in our minds, if over our own warm human life the same kind, pitying hand should sometimes cause his snow of disappointment to fall like wool, and cast forth his ice of adversity like morsels; knowing that even by these unlikely means shall ultimately be given to us too, as to nature, the beauty of Sharon and the excellency of Carmel. —Hugh MjacMillan. ■ — o — ‘ April 16— “Father, the hour is. come; glorify thy Son” (John 17:1). How long the Lord Jesus Christ waited upon His Father’s will! For thirty years He lived in privacy, and now for some what near three and a half years He had been engaged in public ministry. He had a baptism to be baptized with, and His soul was straitened till it was accom plished. Yet still He waits for His Fa ther’s time to present Himself as a sac rifice for the sins of His people. What a picture of patient waiting upon God! Truly He is an ensample to us in this respect. Observe how Christ trusted His Father. Upon the Lord Jesus Christ were laid all the iniquities of the Church of God, and with all the accumulated load upon His soul He never questioned His Father’s promise to accept His blood as the atonement for all sin. Oh, for more of His faith! We sometimes question whether the grace of God is sufficient to accept the blood of Jesus for our sins; the Lord Jesus never doubted Jehovah’s acceptance of His blood for all the sins
What Is the Alliance Missionary Policy l I TS missionary policy is to avoid duplicating existing Gospel agencies abroad by directing its efforts to pioneer service among peoples, tribes, and nations where Christ is not named. I N KEEPING with this policy, the Christian and Missionary Alliance is almost solely responsible for French Indo-China, the Republic of Ecuador, and French West Africa. Among the areas entered or soon to be entered are Eastern Siam, where over three million souls (say it slowly) live in darkness without the Gospel light; Baluchistan, for pioneer work in three languages; Peru, among the Cashibos,—wild, cannibalistic, jungle Indians; French West Africa, the Taureg tribe numbering over 180,000; and East Indies, unoccupied portions of North Dutch Borneo, West Borneo, the Celebes, and other islands, where many peoples, including various tribes of Dyaks, are without the Gospel. ■©eChristian and Missionary Alliance 260 W est 44th St., N ew York, N . Y. Preaching the Gospel to Indians and Spanish-Speaking Peoples of Central America needs your prayers. 6,00,00SOULS So Near the U. S. A Yet So Far From Christ Write for information and literature CENTRAL AMERICAN MISSION 2712 HOLMES ST., DALLAS, TEXAS (Founded in 1890 by Dr. C. I. Scofield, Editor Scofield Reference Bible.) THE CENTRAL AMERICAN MISION
T h e K in g ' s B u s in e s s , 536 S. Hope St., Los Angeles, Calif. Gentlemen: As I am not at present a subscriber to T h e K in g ' s B u s in e s s I am en closing herewith $1.00 to cover my subscription for one year. (The regu lar rate is $1.25.)
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