M cTbf King's liusiiu'ss m -------------------- Il Voi. 9 ITTI JANUARY, 1918 0 No. 1 ------------------- r; i n --------------------------- E D I T O R I A L ------------------- Ü INETEEN-EIGHTEEN. ■O' Though this number of T he K ing ' s B usiness will reach most of our subscribers early in December, it is the January number, the number that ushers in a new year. All thoughtful men enter upon any new year with very serious and solemn thought, but there has never been a year within the memory of any who are now living, presenting such solemn questions and fraught with such tremendous responsibilities as the year 1918. After long years of peace, in which we have dreamed that we would never be in a gréât war again, we are suddenly plunged into the most awful conflict known in human history. The flower of our young manhotìd have been gathered together to be trained for savage and relentless warfare. Some have already fallen. It is almost certain that hundreds of thousands more will die before the year 1918 has passed. Even people who up to the present time have lived in utter carelessness and folly are beginning to think. Into the majority of our homes before this year ends, death, sorrow, and sore bereavement will havé entered. There is scarcely a reader of this magazine who will not have to face severe trial, and probably heavy bereavement before the year is over. But if we really are Christians and our affections are set upon the things upon which they ought to be set, none of these things need move us. God’s Word as found in Col. 3:1-4, “ If then ye were raised together with Christ, seek the things that are abdve, where Christ is, seated on the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things that are above, not upon the things that are Upon the earth. For ye died and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall be-manifested, then shall ye also with Him be manifested in glory,” ought to come to our hearts with special power in these days. Why need we fear ? Why need we even shqd many tears if our minds are really set upon things that are above even if our property is heavily taxed, yeâ, even if it is all swept away, yea, even if our beloved sons and other loved ones are slain in battle, if we believe in the life that is endless, and that “ to depart and be with Christ is very far better” (Phil. 1 :23) ? What difference does it make, provided we really are in Christ, if we are called from this world in 191&;or twenty, thirty^forty, or fifty years later? What difference does it make tyhether we take oüKdèpàJture from this world by a quiet death at home, or are blown to pieces in battle? While 1918 begins as a dark year, it is a year df most glorious opportunity. Never were there such opportunities o f showing one’s self loyal to God and devoted to his fellow men. Never were there such opportunities of presenting the gospel to perishing men in the power of thè Holy Ghost as are before us today. Shall we let these opportunities pass unimproved, or shall we make the most for time and for eternity of these opportunities which God now presents to us? Year 1918, we dp not fear thee; we hail thee, without a fear, with determination, with glad ness and with hope.
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