October, 1935
T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
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B y N a d i n e K. W a r n e r
experienced this salvation in my own life? In the Wonderful Word there appeared an example of this extremely personal as pect o f redemption: Four years after the “Titanic” went down, a young Scotchman rose in a meet ing in Hamilton, Can., and said, “ I am a survivor of the ‘Titanic.’ When I was drifting alone on a spar on that awful night, the tide brought Mr. John Harper, o f Glasgow, also on a piece of wreck, near me. ‘Man,’ he said, ‘are you saved?’ ‘No,’ I said, ‘I am not’ He replied, ‘Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.’ The waves bore him away; but, strange to say, they brought him back a little nearer, and he said, ‘Are you saved now?’ ‘No,’ I said, ‘I cannot honestly say that I am.’ He said again, ‘Believe on the the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.’ Shortly afterwards, he went down, and there, alone in the night, and with two miles of water under me, I believed. I am John Harper’s last convert.” NOVEMBER 10, 1935 WH AT WARS DO TO THE WORLD Though we recognize all too readily the depredations war brings to the world, and though we would give ourselves in full cooperation to any justifiable movement seeking to preserve or promote peace in this world in which we live, yet we know on the authority of God’s own Word that that peace for which human hearts yearn cannot come as the result of World Courts, or Leagues of Nations, or even educational and religious propaganda. Not until He who is the Prince of Peace returns to set up His kingdom o f righteousness shall spears be beaten into pruning-hooks and that peace which the angels proclaimed be a realized and established fact on this earth. The psalmist knew this truth, and he plainly states concerning the L ord : “H e maketh wars to cease” ( Psa. 4 6 :9 ). The Lord Himself tells us that so long as this present dispensation lasts, and until He returns in person, we “shall hear of wars and rumors o f wars . . . for nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom” (Matt. 24:6-8; Mk. 13:7-10; Lk. 21:9, 10). God’s sure prediction for the world is one of universal peace, but peace will not be enjoyed apart from the personal reign of the King o f Kings. When He is in full control, all carnage will be at an end, and even the little babe will be safe anywhere. “ In that day,” the Lord Jesus, the “Root o f Jesse,” the prom ised “Messiah,” shall attract all peoples unto Himself, and “his resting-place shall be glorious.” In the daily Scripture readings prepared by the Interdenominational Young People’s Commission, and the comments by the committee, we recognize the facts drawn (Armistice Day) I saiah 13:6, 7, 17-22 Meditation on the Lesson
It knows the one who owns and leads and cares for it! Centuries ago, David said: “ The Lord — is — my — shepherd.” Can I, do I, also say that? II. G od ’ s R epresentative (John 14:9) God has decreed that He be unknowable except through Jesus Christ (cf. John 1 :18). Do I want to know what God is like? Then let me look to Jesus Christ, who alone reveals and manifests Him. In Colossians 1:15 we read that Christ is the “image o f the invisible God.” This means more than to say He is “like” God. The Greek word translated “ image” carries with it the further connotation o f “ deri vation.” For example, one does not say, “ This cup is the image o f that cup,” but one does say, “The son is the image of the father” (cf. Heb. 1 :3). III. T he F inal J udge (2 Cor. 5 :10) “As you live, you’ll die; as you die, you’ll live forever,” D. L. Moody declared. Every one must be judged some day—but the judgment of the unbeliever and that of the believer are entirely different. The believer is to be judged—not for sins, for that judgment has been borne by Jesus Christ—but for works—for the way in which he has lived and the use he has made o f the blessings of the Lord. “The judgment seat of Christ” is for believers, and is concerned, not with the issue of eternal life or eternal death, but with re wards (cf. 1 Cor. 3:13-15). As a Christian, let me remember that I must so live as to be not ashamed at His coming (1 John 2:28). Illustrations for the Leader 1. F lashes of T ruth 1 . All for Jesus I All for Jesus I All my being’s ransomed powers, All my thoughts and words and doings, All my days and all my hours. H E -S elected . 2 . All that is in you, all that you are, is only lent to you. Make use of it according to the will of Him who lends it, but never regard it for a moment as your own. ^?f|f-FENELON. I have thrown myself blindfold into the Almighty’s hands.—W hitefield . If we consecrate ourselves to God, all our possessions go with us.— Illustrator. II. C hrist , the S aviour of the W orld Christianity is not a “mass religion” nor an “inherited religion” ; it is the personal acceptance of Christ as Saviour, as the result of a personal belief in and settled conviction about Him. As Saviour, He saves from sin—its penalty and power— and some day He will deliver believers from its presence. To what extent have I
NOVEMBER 3, 1935 W H AT CHRIST MEANS TO ME P hilippians 3 :7-ll Meditation on the Lesson T o be in earnest about wealth, or power, or social prestige, or pleasure is legitimate according to the standards of the world. To throw one’s whole being into the ful fillment o f a desire for wealth or power or prestige is to expected. But to be in earnest about one’s relationship to Jesus Christ—to have a consuming desire to know Him and to be pleasing to Him— is foolishness, the world says. But Paul was certainly in earnest 1 In the preceding verses (vs. 4-6), Paul has listed his “inherited privileges” as a Pharisaic Jew of the tribe of Benjamin. According to the standards o f the Jewish world in which he lived, he had much in which he could trust and boast: his ancestry and position and zeal. Butwhen, on theroad to Damascus, he came face to face with Jesus Christ, his standards of life changed; his ambitions and goals changed; yea, he himself was changed into “a new creature” in Christ Jesus. He was no longer “ Saul, of Tarsus,” but Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ. He tells us o f his lesson in loss—and gain. And to him the “loss” was as nothing in contrast to the glory of the “gain.” Those things which were the very blossom o f his life, the treasures of his pride, be came less than nothing as he set his heart on Jesus Christ and became supremely oc cupied with Him. Following Paul’s con viction and conversion, came his consecra tion, concentration, communion. The great passion of Paul’s life, as summed up in verse 10 , was for knowledge —that he might enjoy a personal acquaint ance with his Saviour; power —that he might walk in victory, in newness of life; and fellowship —that as a servant he might not be above his Master. Many people today know much about Jesus Christ, but comparatively few know Him in that personal, vital, intimate friendship o f which Paul speaks. Paul,; to use the words of Miss Ruth Paxson, “ accepted Christ as Saviour, yielded to Christ as Lord, appropriated Christ as Life.” Have you? Have I? Does He fill the horizon o f my life?
Suggestions on Daily Readings I. T he G ood S hepherd (John 10:14)
Jesus Christ did not say, “ I am a good shepherd” ; He said: “ I am the good shep herd.” There is no other! (cf. v. 11). I “know my sheep.” He is the omniscient Shepherd, knowing each sheep in partic ular, each by name, each one’s peculiarities and needs. “And am known of mine.” The sheep never halts between two shepherds and says to itself, “Which one is my shepherd?”
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