T HE K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
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all continents, I have sailed all seas, I have crossed all countries, bu t I come back to th is sublime them e as above all th a t I have seen and heard: “ In th e cross of Christ I glory, Towering o’er th e wrecks of tim e; All th e ligh t of sacred story, Gathers round its head sublim e.” W ondrous Cross. John Robertson, th e g reat Scotch m inister, tells of- an eloquent professor in college, so learned in Hebrew and philosophy th a t he was called Rabbi Duncan. A stu d e n t was reading the fifty-third of Isaiah, one day, and stum b ling along th ro ’ th e Hebrew, he read: “He was wounded for our tran sg res sions. He was bruised for our iniqui ties; th e chastisem ent of our peace was upon Him, and w ith His stripes we are healed.” The stud en t ends, bu t some th ing noticeable has come over Rabbi Duncan. The studen ts see him try ing to speak, h u t he cannot; a t last he puts his head on th e Hebrew Bible and a sob escapes him. Looking up a t length, w ith a broken voice, 'h e said, “Gentle men, do you know w hat th is is? Do you know w hat Jesu s is doing here? This is damnation, and dam nation ta k en by love,” ' At th e annual meeting of th e Sun day School Union a t Sheffield, in Jun e 1842, a speaker told of a young girl dying. “ P u t no roses around my head when I am gone, m other dear,” she said. “Why not, d ea r?” “Because they crowned our Saviour’s head w ith tho rn s and I w ant no roses on m ine.” Depth of Mercy. A young clergyman visiting John Newton, th e converted slave dealer, and C hristian poet, on his deathbed express ed much reg ret a t th e prospect of los ing so em inent a laborer in th e Lord’s vineyard. The veqerahle serv an t of God replied, “ I am going before you; you w ill come a fte r me by and by. When you arrive old acquaintance will
lead you to enquire for me, and I will tell you where you will be most likely to find me— a t th e feet of th e th ief of the cross.” T h at th ief afte r 1900 years w ith Jesus in th e glory will be able to teach us some deep tru th s about the cross. V ictory of The Cross. The g reat Napoleon, a fte r conquer ing almost the whole of Europe, put his finger on the red spo t' on th e map, indicating the B ritish Isles and rem ark ed, “Were i t : not for, t h a t .red s p o t,I would have conquered’ th e world.” So Satan and wicked men could say, “ If it were no t fo r th a t ■ red spot called Calvary, we would have conquered: the world.” ■? •' : The Moravians sent m issionaries _to Greenland. F inding the natives to tal ly igno ran t of th e meaning of sin, guilt, righteousness, justification, etc., they though t it would be well to begin by educating them . The resu lt was so u t terly negative th a t th ey determ ined to leave. W hilst w aiting for a vessel one of th e m issionaries though t he would te st the tru th fu ln ess of his tran slation of a portion of th e gospels by reading it to the natives. A fter he had read of th e sufferings and death of Jesus th ere was a silence. A t length th e chief arose, and said, “ Read it again.” When th e read er had finished th e second read ing, the chief said, “W hat you read, is it tru e ? ” “ Yes.” “ You say, ‘it is tr u e ! ’ Then why did you no t tell us th a t first? Now we know, you must not go, we will listen to th e words of the Man who suffered so for us.” Need less to say they rem ained and saw “much fru it.” The cross conquered.
v. 15. P e te r followed Jesus. It was a m istake for P eter to throw him self into such a vortex of trial. H is fool-
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