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THE K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S Spirit as his guide he entered th e temple a t th e Portico of Genesis and passed through th e A rt Gallery of th e Old Testam ent historical books, where he saw the po rtraits of Abraham and Moses and David hanging on the walls. Then he w ent in to th e Music Room of th e Psalms where th e sp irit swept all th e chords of hum an natu re, from th e low wailing note of th e 51st Psalm to the high exultant note of th e 24th Psalm. He then passed into th e Business Office of the P roverbs where sharp quick busi ness like orders were being dispatched. Next he entered th e Chapel of Eccle siastes where th e sound of th e preach er’s voice was heard. From’ th e re he w ent into th e Conservatory of th e Song of Solomon which was fra g ra n t w ith th e “Rose of Sharon” and th e “Lily of th e Valley” and ali th e sweet scents of Lebanon. Then he w ent into th e Ob servatory of th e Prophets where he saw telescopes of different sizes (th e m ajor and th e m inor prophetical books) all pointing to different sta rs (events in th e fu tu re ) and yet they were all brought to bear upon one sta r th a t was soon to appear, namely th e B right and Morning S tar. Next he entered the Audience Chamber of th e King Himself where he heard and saw th e King from four different standpoints, th e four Gos pels. Then he w ent into th e Executive Chamber of th e Book of Acts where th e Holy S pirit was doing His office work. Next he entered th e Correspondence Room where he saw P aul and P ete r and Jam es and John and Jud e all sitting a t different desks w riting le tte rs (th e Epistles). A t length he came to th e Throne Room itself which was all resplendent w ith th e glories of Revelation. A fter th is h asty to u r he used to linger in and ou t of each room un til he had made him self thoroughly acquainted w ith th e con ten ts, always seeing some new beauty and comprehending more and more of the character of th e Builder, God.
“YE HAVE SEEN THE END OF THE LORD” (Jas. v. 11). HAVE been m editating much of late, while passing
through a season of tria l and affliction, upon the fact th a t the Lord always has an “ end" or 'object in view in
all th a t befalls His people; and p ar ticularly is th is the case when sicknesses, and like troubles, come upon them . It is exceedingly im po rtan t th a t we have th a t fact firmly established in our h ea rts; for if we know “ th e end of the Lord” it will enable us to pass even joyfully th rough th e period of tria l; and the more firm ly we are con vinced of th e fact the ligh ter j the tria l will seem, and th e sh o rter its duration. Thus the Apostle P au l knew th a t “ the end of th e Lord” in his un paralleled afflictions was “a far more ex ceeding and etern al w eight of glory” ; and w ith th a t prospect in view his pres en t affliction seemed to him to be “ ligh t” as to its character, and “but for a moment” as to its duration (II. Cor. iv. 17, 18). There is a g reat difference between looking for th e end of the tria l and looking for “ the end of th e Lord.” It is n atu ra l to look for th e form er; and if the tria l be a sickness, then th e usual thing is to send for a doctor and take remedies in order to escape it. B u t it takes real faith to look for “ the end of the Lord” ; f o r 't h a t is one of the things th a t are “no t seen” (see also Heb. xi. 1 ). And in th is connection 'it has occurred to me th a t th e people of God rarely seek for, or even th in k of, th e Lord’s purpose in perm itting af fliction to fall upon them . If th is be
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