THE K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
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come censorious judges of others, and in blinding pride fo rg et our own e sta te ana fancy ourselv es “rich and increased in rich es,” th e while, if we b u t knew it, we a re “m iserab le anil poor and blind and naked.” L ike th e P h arisees in th e ir pride of legality, so m ay some today in th eir pride of d o ctrin e “tru s t to them selves th a t th ey are righteous, and se t all oth ers a t n augh t.” Nothing so d ries up th e sp irit, nothing so quickly sours th e m ilk ' of h um a n k indn ess, n o th in g so h a rd e n s th e h e a rt and d estroys love and m ercy as ju st th is sp iritu al pride and p reten se of know ledge and correctness. God forsakes people lik e th a t. As H e passed by th e P h a rise e and took up th e publican and th e h a rlo t; as H e se t th e S am a rita n in b e tte r lig h t th a n th e J ew ; as H e re jected Israel and took up th e G entiles— th e p ro u d re lig io n ist to d ay w ill open his eyes in am az em en t w h en h e beholds th e tr u e election of God, a n d w h a t stra n g e rs H e chose to n um b e r am ong H is own. B e assu re d th e re w ill n o t be a b o a ste r in a ll th a t flock!— R. H . Boll. ! § ite W E DON’T PRAY Every time- Jesus heard directly from heaven it was during, or ju st following, a season of prayer. Every im portant step in the life of the M aster was preceded by earnest, im portunate prayer. Before preaching the Sermon on the Mount, He prayed all night. W hat a contrast we present today! Many of us think th a t, if we say our little prayer a t night before retiring, when we are h alf asleep and tired, th en we have prayed. ’I tell you, much of our praying in th is busy age is mockery in God’s sight. The way to reach heaven, and get hold of the Omnipotent, is to fol low our L o rd ’s example and pray. There is no telling w hat the Church m ight ac complish if, like the disciples, she would learn how to pray. Indeed, I believe the world has yet to see w hat power is in store for the Church or individual who knows the secret ■of prayer.—Len G. Broughton.
th e Temple rebuilt, or afte r those events have tak en place? The passage describes the rapture of the saints to meet, the Lord in the air, which is not dependent upon the fulfillment of any prophecy whatever, either the revival of the Roman Empire, the rise and reign of the “ Man of S in ,’’ or the “ great trib u lation ,’’ or th e retu rn of the Jew s to th eir land, or on any other event foretold in the “ sure word of prophecy.’’ The period of our rapture depends only on one thing, viz., the completion of the “ Church which is H is body,’’ the finishing of the “ spiritual house’’ now in process of build ing, grow ing into a “ holy temple in the L o rd ’’ (Eph. 2:21). When this present purpose of God is accomplished the Lord shall descend “ from Heaven w ith a shout,’’ the sleepers shall be raised, the living “ changed,” and we shall all be “ caught up together to m eet the Lord in the a ir.” P E R IL S OF TH E R IGHT WAY If it is a g re a t p rivilege to be simply New T estam en t C hristians, it is also a respon sib ility and c arries its peculiar peril. The peril of th e possession of the. tru th lies in th e tem p tation to sp iritu al pride and preten se. B ut pride is alw ays fatal. God re siste th th e proud—and if th e re is any form of p rid e uglier th an an o th er it is sp iritu al pride. It seem s th a t th e m ore of tru th a m an h as, and th e fu rth e r he advances in sp iritu al know ledge, th e m ore he needs th e grace of God to keep him . If we claim to be sim ple New T estam en t C hristians, we m ust hold such high position very humbly. “Be n o t high-m inded, b u t fear.’’ F o r haply w e w ill be caught saying, “I th an k thee Lord th a t I am no t as o th er m en— or as th is poor se c ta ria n .” Or perh ap s we shall be exalted overm uch over our know ledge (for “know ledge puffeth up” ), and look w ith contem pt upon th e ignor a n t ; and who knows b u t we may- even w ith unconcealed joy, poin t ou t th e blund ers of th e erring. Yea, we m ay be
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