287
T h e K i n g ’ s
B u s i n e s s
May 1928
men o f Nineveh will ; if the story o f the latter is myth, allegory or parable, then that o f the former is the same. If the belly o f the big fish is purely allegorical, then the tour of the famous queen is quite as certainly so. Christ expounded two doctrines in his statements concerning Jonah and Nineveh, viz., resurrection and judgment. His doctrine of resurrection demands a literal Jonah in a lit eral fish and his doctrine o f judgment demands literal repentant Ninevites as a result of Jonah’s preaching. In the final analysis, does not the whole question rest on whether Jesus stated the facts when he said that these Ninevites shall meet the Jews of Jesus’ day in the judg ment? Could He who shall sit upon the throne as Judge of both, by any possibility lend Himself to the propaga tion o f doctrine based on that which was absolutely false? If Jesus stated simple fact, when He said that the men o f Nineveh shall stand in the judgment, then four other facts are corollary: there were men o f Nineveh; Jonah preached to them; they repented; they will meet the hearers o f Jesus in that future day. Then, too, the incident of the big fish can also be readily accepted. Furthermore the critics of Jonah will also stand in the judgment and be faced by the men of Nineveh; Will they also be condemned? ^, 1 ^. Us USr US but the Lord delivereth him out of them all.” Oh, that the Spirit of God would so break us that all our natural effort, our intellect and talents would he sanctified wholly to His sacred u se! The carnal mind and the carnal intel lect are ruining God’s work all over the country.' Alas, .how many are endeavoring to carry on God’s work in the natural! “ He that goeth forth and weepeth . . . . shall doubtless come again rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.” We want sheaves, but we can get them only through tears. Instead o f going with a broken heart, we go full o f self- confidence in our capabilities and talents. We go in our own strength; then God lets us down and we are beaten, defeated. It is he who goes forth weeping who will come again bringing his sheaves with him. “ They that sow in tears shall reap in joy.” Paul says, “ Weep with them that w e e p . M a n y times we see sinners weeping at the altar, but the saints are sitting back with dry eyes. God gives joy only to those who know how to weep— such joy as you have never known. That is the reason Jesus has such jo y ; first He took the sorrow and drank the cup of bitterness; first He went to the cross, and despised the shame for the joy that was set before Him. He wel comed the sorrow and embraced the weeping and the brokenness o f heart, and then, praise God, He was ready for the joy. But God will deny us the joy if we refuse the sorrow.. We must share with Christ in the suffering and then the joy will come. God will never break you up until you admit your cold, wicked, cursed want of love; till you confess a hard and proud heart; till you “ complain” to God and ’get desperate over your awful condition. Tell God o f your dearth of tears, that you are cold and indifferent, and He will surely break you. And then ask Him to keep you running like wax till anyone can talk about you and you will have the holy laughter again. God has lifted it from us because the Holy-Ghost weeping has left us. May God help us to be delivered from the curse o f dry-eyed Christianity!
Chiefly to call attention to two or three points in the record of two of the Gospel writers, is the present object. In Matthew 12:38-42 and Luke 11 :29-32 we have the only references to Jonah in the New Testament. Our Lord’s statements in these passages seem clear enough. The heart o f the whole matter is His clean-cut statement that the very men o f Nineveh to whom Jonah preached shall rise in the judgment, and shall condemn Jesus’ hearers. Lit eralism triumphs here. By no specious argument or ingen ious interpretation can this plain statement be gotten around. Certainly a hearer o f Jesus on that occasion could not fail to go away with the idea that the Saviour meant to say that the men o f Nineveh were real men, that Jonah had preached to them, that they had repented, and that those same men would be witnesses against those who were sinning against greater light. This is a Scriptural doc trine, for Romans 2 :27 plainly teaches that those sinning against greater light will appear unfavorably in the judg ment with those sinning against less light. Evidently the omniscient Son of God made the prophet Jonah, the men o f Nineveh, etc., as real as the Queen of Sheba and Solomon, spoken of in the same connection, If the Queen o f Sheba will rise in the judgment, then the OD has never promised to revive anyone who is hard-hearted. Listen to Isaiah 57:15, “ For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhab ited! eternity, whose name is Holy ; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of. a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit o f the humble, and to revive the heart o f the contrite ones.” So anyone may enjoy a perpetual revival in his soul; the sole condition is a broken and contrite spirit. You need never dry up. Again, do you desire to enjoy the conscious presence o f Almighty God with you all the time, then read Isaiah 66, verses 1, 2, where He promises to dwell with Him that is poor, trembleth at His Word, and is o f a con trite spirit. God does not dwell in these gilded palaces, million-dollar churches, or stately Cathedrals; but I can tell you where He lives—with him who is of a broken and humble heart. Our .great mistake is that we want all the joyful side o f religion—wonderful meetings, glorious singing and shouting, victorious preaching and testimony. / like these, too, but I hate to see the joy “ put on” by a hard heart and an unbroken life, for it sounds so mechanical, so like sounding brass. There’s a different ring to the shout of the saint who weeps with his God in the secret closet. When we are not broken we get important in our own estimation; we think too highly of ourselves when we do not live in the dust where worms ought to live. A worm is not allowed to stand upright. What a strange creature — an upright worm ! You are a worm and the son o f a worm, and a worm is always found as low down as he can get. If we would stay down there we would not have so many falls, but we are worms that want to stand up. Again, do you wish God to save you from every snare and pitfall, to help you out of every trouble and affliction ? Then read Psalm 34:18, 19— “ The Lord is nigh unto them that are o f a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite, spirit. Many are the afflictions o f the righteous;
The Curse of Dry-Eyed Christianity B y W illiam E. B ooth C libborn
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