March, 1934
T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
87
A P l a c e o f j S e c l u s io n “ The doors being shut”— this seclusion was for self- defense, “ for fear o f the Jews.” W e should o f course commend them for gathering at all, but they ran the, danger o f missing their Master. They never for one moment
that He could go from place to place unobserved and un announced,, and no barriers blocked His way. His coming was unavoidable. There is no stopping Him who is now the Lord o f glory. This is the secret o f the resurrection. The Christ may be inexplainable, but He is unavoidable and irresistible. He can penetrate all the walls
dreamed that He could come in through locked doors. It is evident they were not expect ing Him. What if the shut door could have kept Him away? Barriers are often raised unwittingly against His com ing to us. Across many o f the paths we pursue, there are bars that hinder His coming. We shut the doors o f our minds and hearts so often by the com pany we keep, the books we read, the places we go, the plans we make. There may be many things, harmless in them selves, that become barriers to • the best because we permit them to have the mastery o f us. We are afraid of disfavor, and in shutting out “ the Jews,” we shut out the Lord Jesus Christ. There may be something very small-in your life and mine, but which, if persisted in, will lock the door against the entrance o f the Lord. How many there are who rebelliously bar the door against the Son o f God! The Tenons “ Then came Jesus . . . and stood in the midst.” There are three important points to note in connection with this com ing: the vision, the voice, and the value o f the vision and the voice. T h e V is io n , He came. And in His reve lation of Himself to His anx ious disciples there was not only the element of surprise, but also a great purpose—a de sign to bring rich blessing. His coming was unexpect ed, unannounced, but unavoid able. It is clear the disciples were not expecting Him. They had made no preparations for His coming. They gazed in be wilderment and fear at Him. The room was secure, yet there He stood. There had been no opening o f window or door, yet He had come in, and very quietly and suddenly He had appeared before them. He had a visible, tangible body as they looked upon Him. One re markable feature o f the resur rection body o f our Lord, was
of prejudice and fear, which we build. It is utterly impossible to avoid seeing Christ,, unless we have definitely determined to have nothing whatever to do with Him, and even then He stands before us at every turn of the road and we must give an answer to Him. You can pull down the blinds of your home to the sunlight, but you cannot completely close your life to the Bright and Morn ing Star. There was a great purpose in this vision o f the risen Christ. His revelation was to give to His followers their message. His identity was proved by the marks o f sacri fice. This was to be their evan gel. “ He showed unto them his hands and his side.” This fact became the bur den o f their testimony. They went out preaching “ that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.” “ Be it known unto you therefore, that through this man is preached unto you the forgive ness o f sins.” Seeing the nail marks be came the great reality of all their preaching. Rather than deny that vision, they would die. With that vision, they shook the pagan world to pieces, turning city after city upside down. They had seen Him in many forms before: asleep in the ship, walking the waves, transfigured with glory, cleans ing the temple, blessing the children, delivering the demon- possessed, enduring the mock ery o f a trial, nailed to a tree, laid in a grave. But they had never seen Him like this—alive from the dead and carrying the marks o f crucifixion. He stretched forth His hands and revealed the nail marks'. He drew aside His robe and showed them His spear-thrust side. It was the same Jesus they had seen cruelly mur dered, and now He was alive from the dead. This great fact became the burden o f their message, the glory of their lives. More than that, it became
The Kiss That Was Told in a Cross By F. HOWARD OAKLEY, Madras, South India
C i TN this was manifested the JL love of God toward us, be cause that God sent his only be gotten Son into the world . . . Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins" (I John 4:9, 10). "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:1 6 ). The lines which follow were suggested by the story of an aged African woman who, on heating the pas sages quoted above, protested: “ That’s not love! That’s not love!” and who, when pressed for her meaning, ex plained that the word ’’love” was not strong enough to express what was involved in the gift of an only Son.
A father one day to his own little son A letter of love had penned, H e could scarcely read, so young he was, So just at the very end, "T o show'him my love," the father said, "I will close iti with a kiss, That simple sign he will surely know” And he made a sign like this—X Yes, right at the end where he signed his name, H e added a simple cross, And the letter was sent, And he knew what it meant, The kiss that was told in a cross. And God wrote a letter, a wonderful book, H e wrote it o’er earth and sky; A book that the humble in heart could read When lifting their ' heads on high, And looking at stars so far-away, And looking at flowers so near, They noted the care-free birds’ sweet song, In them God’s care did hear. Yes, over it all H e signed His name, On sea, on earth, and on sky, And the letter was sent, And they knew what it meant, Who lifted their eyes on high. And then when the course o f time had run, A letter o f love God sent; It was writ so plain that all might read And know what the Sender meant.- For there at the end, where all might see, A sign that they could not miss; H e placed in the language o f childhood’s day The sign o f a child’s pure kiss , But why if it told us o f God’s great love, Oh, why was there only one? M y eyes fill with tears—I sob as I see ’ Twos the cross o f His only Son, And the letter was sent, Do you know what it meant,' God’s love in the cross of His Son? Copyright, 1934, Bible Institute of Los Angeles.
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