May, 1934
T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
175
F alse B elief and “T he W ays of D eath ” “There is a way which seemeth right unto a man; but the end thereof are the ways of death.” I remember read ing years ago of a ship that was leaving Liverpool, England, for New Zealand. The captain of that vessel made a wager that on a certain day before midnight, he would be within the harbor at Port Jackson. On the day that he was to win or lose, he arrived at eventide just outside the entrance of that harbor. In those days, the entrance to Port Jackson was so difficult that if boats arrived at night fall, the custom was to weigh anchor and wait for day. But the captain, anxious to win the bet, and feeling sure that he could make the entrance—positive that he knew the way —ventured the channel. The next morning, one lone sailor climbed up over the rocks known as “Jacob’s Ladder” and
turn around and go back this other way, Washington is only twenty-seven miles!” You see, friends, it was a case of direction. T he P erson and the W ay You will never get to the right place if you are headed the wrong way. First, we must start right. There is an entrance to this way. Jesus said: “Strait is the gate.” And again, He said: “I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved,” and again: “I am the way . . . no man cometh unto the Father but by me”’ jThe first step in the Christian life is the reception of Jesus Christ as per sonal Saviour and Lord. We all must begin with Him if we begin at afiJ'WTien our Master used those contrasts that I have referred to—the two ways, two trees, two founda- / m / tions—-He answered the questions that you may be asking: a , 7S- “Who is in the way of life? Who is building upon the rock?” “Whosoever heareth these say
came into Port Jackson to tell that the “Duncan Dunbar” had gone down with more than six hundred souls aboard! The captain thought he was right, but he was wrong.! Some few years ago, I read a story of a physician in one of our Southern states. A nurse, who was caring for a patient of his, tele phoned him in the night that the patient seemed to be sinking. The doctor hurried to the bedside and wrote a prescription which he told the nurse to have filled immedi ately and given to the patient as instructed. When the medicine came back from the druggist, there was a note with it to this effect: “I have followed the doctor’s instruc tions and have filled the prescrip tion as he ordered it, but whoever takes this medicine will die.” The nurse telephoned the doctor; he hurried back again, very indignant. After reading the note, he picked up the bottle, poured out a dose of the medicine, and swallowed it. In a few minutes he was a dead man. He thought that he was right, but he was - wrongs fatally wrong. “There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end there of are the ways of death.” “How C an W e K now the W ay ?” I can well imagine some one’s asking the same question that Thomas expressed on the night be fore our Lord’s crucifixion: “How can we know the way?” Yet we must know the way, and we must take it, if we are to reach the de sired destination.
ings of mine, and doeth them” (Matt. 7:24), said Jesus, is the man that is building on the rock. His house shall stand the test. He is in “the way.” Today, even in religious mat ters, the air is filled with numerous voices, all Calling in different direc tions, but you can be sure of the word of the Lord Jesus. Begin by receiving Him, and you have taken a very definite step in the solving of all your religious problems. On one occasion, when Jesus Christ spoke some of the most pro found truths that ever fell from the lips of man, not only were the hos tile Jews startled by those sayings, but some that professed to believe in Him were staggered. They said: “This is an hard saying; who can hear it?” (John 6:60). And, “From that time many of his dis ciples went back, and walked no more with him.” Jesus, turning to the twelve, asked: “Will ye also go away?” And Peter replied: “Lord, to whom shall we go ? thou hast the words of eternal life. And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the liv ing God” (John 6:67-69). Peter could not fully comprehend the teaching; he could not explain all that he had heard the Master say, but he was sure of Jesus; he knew Him. The Teacher was true; there fore to Peter the teaching was truth. In the eleventh chapter of John is the account of Jesus’ coming to
Courtesy New York Bible Society.
"W e . . . shall be caught up together with them . . . to meet the Lord in the air." Not only with Him, our blessed Lord, but with them-—our loved ones "in Christ" who have passed through the vale of death! This is the joyous prospect of the Christian. And shall we know each other on that great reunion day? Yes, beloved friends, I believe we shall. Mary knew the Lord, when she met Him in the garden. Although she did not recognize Him at first, as soon as He spoke her name, she cried, "Master!" Death had not changed the Saviour's voice, and surely the grave will not destroy the sweet tone of our loved ones' voices. I believe I shall hear again, one day, the voice of my little Scotch mother, calling, "Peter." No one could say "Peter" just as my mother could. What a blessed hope! When the Lord Jesus comes, we shall be together— with Him and with them— forever. — P. W. Philpott.
A boy was standing by the roadside on a great highway near Baltimore. A high-powered car driven by a young man came dashing by, almost like a streak of lightning. The driver observed the boy, jammed his foot on the brake, and came to a stop about three hundred yards beyond the boy. He beckoned to the lad and asked, “How far is it to Washington ?” “Well,” said the youngster, “if you keep on going that way, I think it is just about 25,000 miles.” “What do you mean?” queried the driver. “Well, I mean just that,” said the boy. “But if you
the sorrowing sisters at Bethany. When Martha met Him, she said: “Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.” “Thy brother shall rise again.” Martha assented: “I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day.” And Jesus said to her: “I am the resurrection, and the life . . .. believest thou this?” Martha could not comprehend the depth of that pro found statement, but looking at Jesus, she said: “Yea, [Continued on page 1771/
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