118
March, 1942
THE K I NG ’ S BUSINESS
We, Too, Should Say '"Yes!' in
Responding * . .
Requests are coming from military service centers and c h a p l a i n s for copies of THE KING'S BUSINESS to be sent regularly to camp reading rooms. These are wanted copies. The men are eager for them. $3.00 WILL PROVIDE FOUR COPIES FOR A YEAR for use in camps or reading rooms. These requests are being filled gladly to the full extent of funds available for the pur* pose, but additional amounts are greatly needed. Please mark ytour gift "For Military Men." Address: | THE KING’S BUSINESS 558 So. Hope St. Los Angeles, Calif.
to a Great Need
who confess His name. But suddenly the heavens are opened, and a light brighter than the sun shines upon the wayward persecutor. A voice from heaven cries, “Saul, Saul, why perse- cutest thou me?” And in answer to the hitherto rabid Pharisee’s amazed inquiry, “Who are thou, Lord?” the reply comes, “I am Jesus whom thou persecutest.” At once the tremendous change that Jesus called being “born again” *takes place. Saul of Tarsus becomes a new creation and soon goes forth as Paul the Apostle to preach the faith that once he destroyed. It was his contact with the risen Christ that wrought the miracle, as it has wrought similar miracles in the hearts and lives of untold thousands since. This message was what -the early messengers of the cross proclaimed everywhere they went. They preached “Jesus and the resurrection.” Notice, it was not enough to preach Jesus. It was not enough to enlarge upon His excellencies. It was not enough to dwell upon the perfection of His life. It was not enough to occupy people with His sacrifical death. There was something more than this. “This Jesus hath God raised up . . . God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have cruci fied, both Lord and Christ” (Acts 2:32, 36). This was the message of Pentecost. This was the message which has been blessed and used of God throughout the centuries in the salvation of millions of souls, and this is the message for the preacher today, the only message that will in; sure the eternal salvation of all who believe it.
the millions of saintly souls who have testified to their faith in C h r i s t throughout what we call the Christian centuries were utterly mistaken, if Christ did not rise from the dead. But then the amazing thing to be ac counted for is this: What was it that wrought such changes in their lives, that turned them from sin to right eousness, that delivered them from woridliness and selfishness and con formed them to the image of Christ? According to the Word of God, it is as believers are occupied with the risen One that they become like Him. Let those then who deny His resurrection try to explain the transforming power of this faith in Him, who, according to the unbelievers, has ho longer any existence. The apostle’s conclusion is that if Christ is no more than a master teacher, if He is only a guide, if His instruction is only meant to serve as a light for our pathway through this world, if the Christ who died has not been raised, we who profess faith in His name, who gladly give up the things of the world for love of Him, are of all men most to be pitied^ In that case we are but following a will- o’-the-wisp, a delusion, for the sake of which we are surrendering much that men of the world value. But the experiences of untold m i l l i o n s of Christians prove that the risen Christ is the joy and satisfaction of the hearts of all who thus yield them selves, to Him. Consider the case of Saul of Tarsus. We see him hastening along the Da mascus road, bitter hatred filling his heart for Jesus of Nazareth and for all
him. Its claims have all been met, and he,, the guilty one against whom the original judgment was rendered, is now once more a free man. Because Christ’s payment of t h e judgment of sin can be evidenced only by His bodily resurrection, t h e n if Christ be not raised from the dead, there is no possible way of knowing that His redemptive work is an accom plished fact. He said He was to be delivered into the hands of sinful men, that they would crucify Him, and that on the third day He would rise again. The first two declarations were ful filled. If the last has not been ful filled, He stands convicted of false testimony. He was either Himself de luded‘ in thinking that He was the Saviour and could triumph over death, or else He was a deliberate deceiver. It is His resurrection, the fulfillment of His own prediction, which proves that His death was the all-sufficient sacri fice for sin which He proclaimed it to be. And thus the believing sinner can say, “My sins nailed Him to the cross. He, the sinless One, took my place and there died under the judgment of God, enduring that divine w r a t h which should righteously have been poured out on me.” But having settled the sin question, God has declared His acceptance of the work of His Son by raising Him from the dead and receiving Him into heaven at His own right hand as the risen, glorified Man. The Essential for Victorious Living “If Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.” All
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