376
August 1930
T h e
K i n g ’ s
B u s i n e s s
removed from his feet and his face covered, he drew near to God and heard His voice saying unto him: “ I am the God o f thy father . . . I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason o f their taskmasters; fo r I know their sorrows; and I am come down to deliver them . . . Come now, therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people, the children o f Israel, out o f Egypt. And Moses said unto God, Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children o f Israel out o f Egypt” (Ex. 3 :6 -ll) ? The Lord said practically this: “ I have waited all these years for you to get this opinion of yourself. Now you are usable. Certainly I will be with thee.” Is some one now asking, How may I know the plan of God for my life? There is just one way to find it out, the way that Saul took—by an absolute surrender to Christ— to go AS He leads, to go WHERE He leads, and to go WHEN He leads. It might be summed up in the words of this great apostle: “ I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies o f God, that ye present your bodies; a liv ing sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service . . . That ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will o f God” (Rom. 12 : 1 , 2 ) . How G od U sed O ne Y ielded L ife A few years ago, a man whom God blessed as few men have been blessed since the days of the apostles, went Home to his reward. When D. L. Moody died, one of the leading daily papers of the city in which he lived came out in glaring headlines with the statement: “ Chicago’s Most Notable Citizen Has Passed Away.” Professor Hehry Drummond said of him, in McClure’s Magazine: “ America possesses no greater personality. No American has rendered greater service to his country than has this man.” Dr. John R. Mott, in an article in the American Magazine on “ The Seven Greatest Men that I Have Known,” gave D. L. Moody first place. Dr. Robert E. Speer spoke of him as a combination o f General Grant, John 6 . Gough, Abraham Lincoln, Charles H. Spurgeon, and a few others; but he says that he was none of them— “ He was just his great self, a torrent of love and power set to sweep men unto God.” When yoti seek for the secret o f Moody’s marvelous life and ministry, you find it is the same as that of Saul of Tarsus—he was absolutely surrendered to the will of his God. On one occasion a great evangelist said, “ The world has yet to see what God can do through a man wholly yielded to His will.” And Moody said in his heart, “ Lord, I would be that man!” Mr. Moody was a great evangelist, leading many thou sands to Jesus Christ, and one might say, moving whole continents toward the Cross of Christ. He was also a great educator, the founder of the first Bible Institute through which have passed many thousands .of students. Approximately fourteen hundred o f them have gone to the regions beyond, ministering to the heathen; and over fifteen hundred others have become pastors of churches in America and Canada. Besides, he founded schools for young men and women at Northfield, Massachusetts, His ministry is today being multiplied through the multi tudes that he inspired by his consecration and his example. Surrender your life to the Lord Jesus Christ. I do not say that He will make of you a Paul or a Spurgeon or a Moody, but when your all is yielded to Him, He will surely use you up to the limit of His grace and power.
found it out had he not yielded himself to the control of the Spirit o f the living God. “ Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?” was his cry. “ And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.” Cecil Rhodes, of South African fame, once said: “ I f there is a God and He cares for men, then the most important thing for me is to find out what He wants me to do, and go and do it.” Surely there can be no more important thing for any one of us to do than to find out what the plan of God is for our lives. Some of us have lived long enough to know that His will is not only the holiest and safest thing for us, but it is the happiest. A R evised O pinion . As we study the story of the conversion of Saul we learn another very important lesson. He was not chosen because of his talents or brilliant gifts. W e are very apt to magnify the man rather than the grace of God. Paul never thought o f glorying in his native or acquired ability. He said, “By the grace o f God I am what I am.” But before he had a soul vision of Jesus Christ, he thought very highly of himself— “a Hebrew o f the Hebrews,” “a Pharisee o f the Pharisees,” and as touching the law, “ blameless.” He revised his opinion of himself when he saw his Lord. “But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea, doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord : for whom I have suffered the loss o f all things . . . that I may . . . be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is o f the law, but that which is through the faith o f C h r i s t (Phil. 3:7-9). He now feels it an honor to be able to say, “ I am the chief of sinners” and “ less than the least o f all saints.” When we come face to face with our precious Lord, we are cured of self-righteousness.. A vision of Him kills human pride and conceit. Since my eyes have looked on Jesus, In Paul’s letter to the Corinthians he makes known the secret of God’s choice o f His servants. “ For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty ', not many noble, are called: but God hath chosen the foolish things o f the world, to con found- the wise; and Cod hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; and base things o f the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to naught things that are; that no flesh should glory in his presence” (1 Cor. 1 :27-29). When God would do a great work, He looks for a ser vant who is small enough in his own estimation to allow God to use him. Moses, the great lawgiver and leader of fsrafel, was the logical man to lead the people from the land of bondage to Canaan. W e are told that he was trained in all the wisdom and ways of the Egyptians. He was probably the commander-in-chief of all Pharaoh’s armies, and next to the king himself, the greatest man in the land. But how dismally he failed in his first attempt to free his people! The-fact is that Moses was then too strong for God. He had too much faith in his own right arm. The arm o f flesh will fail us,- . We dare not trust our own. During forty years of exile, Moses became as meek as the sheep that he shepherded. Then one day, with shoes I’ve lost sight o f all beside, So enchained my spirit’s vision Looking at the Crucified. Q ualifications F or L eadership
Made with FlippingBook - Online magazine maker