91
February 1931
T h e
K i n g ’ s
B u s i n e s s
February 25— “Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth” (Gal. 4:16)? With most of us it is entirely-out of the question that we should be willing to be taught by our enemy. The excuses tendered for resenting c ritic ism are amusingly ingenious. By a thousand transparent demurs- we rob ourselves of the benefit of current personal admoni tion. Are we not extremely inconsistent and foolish in this touchiness and resent ment? The discipline of the disagreeable is far too precious to be rejected. The ministry of the disagreeable is a much undervalued means of grace, yet it would often profit more than the golden mouth and silver tongue of famous pulpits. Let us be willing to know the truth, to ad mit the light whatever it reveals, to fol low the light wherever it leads. No mat ter how untuned the trumpet, let us obey its warning; no matter how uncouth the music, let us listen to its message ; no mat ter how humbling and painful the witness of mirror or barometer, let us cleanse ourselves from the blemish revealed by the one, and prepare ourselves for the storm foreshadowed by the other. “Dear is my friend, but my foe, too, Is friendly to my good; My friend the thing shows I can do, My foe the thing I should.” — W. L. Watkinson. February 26— “I will therefore that men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting" (1 Tim. 2: 8 ) . It is not the arithmetic of our prayers, how many they a re ;' nor the rhetoric of our prayers, how eloquent they be; nor the geometry of our .prayers, how long they be; nor the music of our prayers, how sweet our voice may be; nor the logic of our prayers, how argumentative they may be; nor the method of our prayers, how orderly they may, be; ilor even the divinity of our prayers, how good the. doctrine may be—which God cares for. Fervency of spirit is that which availeth much ¿r^Bishop Hall. February 2 7-rf‘He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bring- eth forth his fruit in his season” (Psa. 1:3). The tree is the strongest member of the plant kingdom. In our Bible, therefore, it is a familiar symbol of strength. Here the Psalmist describes the "man who is right in his heart toward God as a palm tree, flourishing with fruit and shade, and as a cedar, ready for building and strong against the mountain side. Trees do not grow so strong if the soil is poor, if un favorable winds tear them apart and rend them by the roots, and if frost nips the growing branches. Just as certain factors may weaken and inj ure the tree, so cer tain situations and events may weaken the life of man. There is this difference, however. A tree has no control, but men have control. They have conscience, rea son, available guidance. When they choose to plant themselves in a desert of materialism and permit the frosts of sin to nip their branches, they are forfeiting of their own free will the strength which might have been like that of the palm tree and the cedar!—- John C. Yates.
that all consciousness of it was gone. This teaches us what humility really is : “It is so frail, so delicate a thing; ’Tis gone, if it but look upon itself.” — E. W. Moore. — o — February 22— “Behold” (2 Ki. 6:17). Depth of spiritual life, on man’s side, depends on the growth of faith. Faith is a root-grace, and love is a fruit-grace. If the root is in vigor, the fruit will be in abundance. And so the apostle adds: “And the charity of every one of you all toward each other aboundeth.” By what means does faith increase? By God’s requirements. . , . “Behold.” This is really God’s first requirement. Do not try to improve, or make yourselves strong, or worthy, or sufficient. But “behold.” It is as though the Lord said, “Behold what I have provided for you; what I have bestowed upon you; what i am to you. All your need finds its supply in Me.” How many of God’s children have a vivid sense of the might of the enemy and of the power of evil —but they fail to recognize the all- sufficiency and nearness of the Lord of Hosts. “Fear not,” said Elisha to his ser vant, “for they that be with us are more than they that be with them.” That was the witness of the man of faith. So it is now. It is by responding to this com mand, “Behold,” that we get what we call the apprehension, or knowledge, of faith. ;— Anon. — o — February 23— “For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself" (Rom. 14:7). No one liveth unto himself. You can not get away from your entanglements with people. You cannot live and not in fluence others . . . People throng all about you. You are always touching other lives, either helpfully or hurtfully. Be sure you never give forth any influence that will harm any other, or start the least trace of evil in the world. A great author said, at the close of his life, that so far as he knew, he had never written in any of his books one sentence that he would wish to recall. That is a fine test of a life. There can be no higher ideal in living than that we may never do anything which, when we come to the end, we shall wish we had not done . . . Let us aim at the sincerest, deepest, purest personal life, and we shall bless the world more than we think; we shall, unpreceived by ourselves, be en riching it all day long with the ethers of heaven.—/. R. Miller. — o — February 24^-“Surely I come quickly; Amen; Even so, come, Lord Jesus” (Rev. 22:20). Jesus, the Man of Flame, the Man of Glory, the Man of the Throne, gives now the thrice-certified word of a witness, one who knows by personal touch. And His word is this, “Surely I come. With the swift movement of the unexpected, I come.” And with awed and thrilled spir it, and burning heart, John starts a cho rus that finds quick rhythmic ringing re sponse in true hearts everywhere. And so the book ends in rarest vocal symphony. —Y. D. Gordon.. A little while—come, Saviour, come! For Thee Thy church has tarried long; Take Thy poor wearied pilgrims home, To sing the new eternal song. — J. G. Deck.
YES, I CAN HEAR E V E R Y T H I N G YOU SAY! The Fortiphone is so sensitive that even the extremely deafare brought back to the world of sound. “ "^7"ES, I can hear everything you say!” Day _L after day we hear deaf people make th a t remark in our demonstration rooms. Their faces light up w ith pleased surprise. They have tried other devices but never one so sensitive as the Fortiphone. So visit our demonstration rooms and hear for yourself. Or, if you cannot do that, drop us a line and we w ill send you complete details, in cluding description of our home trial plan. F ortiphone C orporation , Dept. k . b .-2 >35 Fifth Avenue (Corner East 44th Street) New York, N. Y. C ommunion W are of Q uality V In Aluminum or Silver Plate RFSTMATFRI BE E ALS‘LOWESTPRICES , FINESTWORKMANSHIP Sen d fo r Illu stra ted Catalog INDIVIDUAL COMMUNION SERVICEaCO. ROOM 350 1701-03 CHESTNUT STREET. PHILADELPHIA.PA. Africa Inland Mission Headquarters 373 Carlton Ave., Brooklyn, N. Y. M issionaries 200, A fric a n L ab o re rs 600, p re a c h in g a n d tea ch in g th e g re a t essen tials of th e S c rip tu re s in 25 dialects in E a s t a n d C e n t r a l A f r i c a . Bible Schools, H ospitals, a n d m an y D isp e n sa r ies o p e ra te d . T h e h o p e of A frica lies in th e know ledge of a n alm ig h ty R e d eem er, of a w hole Bible a n d a sp irit filled n a tiv e m in istry . INLAND AFRICA and other literature mailed free on request. A Work of Faith in Dark Africa
Made with FlippingBook flipbook maker