King's Business - 1945-08

T H E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S

294

No one ever could have dreamed how far-reaching the influence of the hospital ministry would be. Certainly Ephesians 3:20 was fulfilled. God wrought abundantly above all that we had asked or thought. When the king of that great African heathen territory was saved, he made a law that all babies in his realm must be born in that hospital! The story of the training of native nurses, the care of the multitude of babies, the hundreds of heathen men and women won to Christ through ministry to their physi­ cal needs is one of the most thrilling missionary romances of this century. Even suffering lepers in the far interior of Africa, hearing of the magic healing medicine administered at the hospital, made their way there and were treated in a nearby lepro­ sarium. The missionaries led many of them to Christ, and their glowing tes“I should not like you, if meant

to accept them. I advised instead, "Please put them on sale in New York, and God w ill help you to dis­ pose of them and show you where to invest the money.’’ “I cannot do that,” she replied, "these jewels are well known to my friends.” However, I was not led at that time to receive this unusual gift. After returning home, I was alone one afternoon in the Missionary Cot­ tage at Wayne, Nebraska, when the express company delivered a package. It contained these same resplendent diamonds! I was baffled; I did not know how to dispose of such precious jewels. I took .them to Omaha, Ne­ braska, but the diamond dealer there said he could not handle such cpst- ly gems. My heart was heavy over the matter. The Abundant Answer One morning, some days later, I was asking the Lord never to let the fire of His love for souls in heathen lands burn low in my heart. ‘‘Send me some missionaries today, Lord,” I pleaded, “to inspire new faith.” While I was yet speaking, the telephone rang. “We are a missionary party from Africa. We will call at your home about noon and will be leaving on the two o’clock train.” Glancing at the clock, I saw that in two hours my prayer would be answered! Dinner was prepared, a parlor meeting was arranged, and the car arrived on schedule. Among the missionaries were Rev. William J. Maynard and his gifted wife, Dr. Nina H. Maynard, from the Africa Inland Mission. Dr. Maynard opened her heart to us touching their pioneer field in Tanganyika Territory. The little mud hut hospital where this able and consecrated doctor was sav­ ing the lives of the stricken natives was pictured to us graphically. At once I thought of those diamonds still unsold. A new faith welled up in my soul as I asked per, “Would you like to have a new hospital?” "If it is God’s will,” she said thoughtfully, "If He would continue the .mighty miracles He has wrought in the little mud hut, then I would welcome a hos­ pital with all my heart.” You may be sure the missionaries did not leave on the two o’clock train! We enjoyed a week of blessed fellowship with them, during which time miraculously the diamonds were sold! God had reserved them for the special purpose of helping to build the first unit of a well equipped mod­ ern hospital which has been operat­ ing with most gratifying results for many years. "Shall we name the hospital after you?” I asked the dear one who made this priceless gift of diamonds. “Oh, no!” she responded, “Let us call it ‘Jewel Hospital’ and pray that through it the Lord Jesus may gain rare jewels for His crown.”

Greek Word Treasures For the student untaught in Greek. By Bernard Ramm, A.B., B.D. A question often asked by those un- acquainted with Greek is: "How may I approximate the meaning of the Greek expression without master­ ing the Greek language?” Here are some practical suggestions: An interlinear Greek New Testament may be purchased. A new large edi­ tion, edited by George Berry, may be secured in Bible bookstores. A ll the rules and explanations included in the preface must be mastered if the book is to be of practical help. In exhaustive concordances, such as the Englishman’s Greek, Hudson’s Critical Greek, Young’s Analytical, or Strong’s, one may find the basic Greek for words used in the Author­ ized, or King James, Version. One may resort to translations oth­ er than the Authorized. The most ac­ curate and reliable is the American Revised Version. It is closest to the Greek or Hebrew of any English trans­ lation. There is not a general ap­ preciation of its worth among Christ­ ians because of a few unfortunate translations. Weymouth, Goodspeed, Moffat and others must be used with caution. Their free translations fur­ nish freshness and originality, but for accurateness, the Revised Version is preferable. A comparative study of four or five translations will enable the student to grasp the basic Greek ideas fairly well. Critical commentaries that explain the meaning of the Greek expressions may be used to advantage. With such a commentary, and the American Revised Version, one may come very close to the original. However, the method of investi­ gation above outlined w ill never be anything but a poor substitute for first hand knowledge of the Greek text. Nothing is more distasteful than the dogmatic utterances concerning some New Testament problem on the part of one who has obtained his knowl­ edge of Greek in this “roundabout” way. Decisive interpretations must come from those who are versed in New Testament Greek and are able to make their own literal translations.

by God to be a missionary, to die a millionaire. I should not like, were you fitted to be a missionary, that you should shrivel down and be a king. What are all kings, all your nobles, all your diadems, when you put them together, com­ pared with the dignity of win­ ning souls for Christ?” — Charles H. Spurgeon. timony to God’s saving grace has made a deep impression upon thou­ sands of Christians. Some of the sick ones thank God daily that they be­ came lepers because otherwise they might never have learned of Jesus! “Naaman the leper,” the beloved care­ taker, led such a life of intercession and soul-winning that his death was a great loss to the Church of Christ; fortunately, his mantle has fallen up­ on a consecrated son-in-law. Thus the radiance of those dia­ monds, sacrificed so freely by godly women who had come to see that life is not in the abundance of things one possesses, and that the outward adorning is not significant, shines on. The glow touches life after life, heart after heart, and so shall move on in ever-widening circles until the day when the Lord Jesus makes up His jewels.

Delays and Shortages Wartime delays and shortages have affected THE KING’S BUSI­ NESS. Be patient if your copy is late, and pass it on to another, when you have finished reading it.

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