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THE K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
Bob come to church. I t h a d been an nounced th a t Bob w ould te ll h is ex perien ce of w h a t God h ad done fo r him th a t week. Mr. C hadw ick had been try ing to fill th e chapel b u t w ith o u t m uch success, b u t w hen th a t L azaru s go t up to give his testim o n y to th e grace of God, th e chapel had b een filled an h o u r a n d a h a lf b efo re th e tim e of th e service and m an y could n o t g e t to th e chapel w ith in fifty yards. If you have a n y m isgivings concerning th e m iracle of th e Book of Jo n a h , th e n lock up th is m an Bob a n d have him te ll you his sto ry a n d by th e -tim e he gets th ro u g h , yo u r d o u b ts w ill all be gone. No m an w ho h a s rise n w ith C h rist to w alk in new ness of life w ill have any tro u b le ab o u t m iracles, n o r w ill he in still a n y tro u b le concerning th em in to th e m inds of o th ers. drive from us th e “ poor in s p irit” who seek re a l sp iritu a l com panionship a n d th e sw eets of th e gospel. One of th e p rog ressiv e “ u p -to -d a te ” ' religious lead e rs says th a t th e g re a te st need am ong C h ristia n w o rk ers to d ay is “p e p .” T hey m u st be aro u sed to do. T h is1 is th e p o p u la r idea. M odern ser mons m u st con sist of “ lift,” “ p u sh ,” “ h u rry ,” “ a ll to g e th e r,” a n d “ do som e th in g .” C e rta in ly m ore a c tiv ity is n eeded a- m ong C h ristian s, b u t we fe a r m any have come to depend on h um an “p ep ” ra th e r th a n d iv in e pow er, on n a tu ra l vim ra th e r th a n s p iritu a l vision. Old fashioned relian ce on th e pow er of th e A lm ighty is o u t of th e ir re ck o n in g in these m od ern tim es. T h ere w as a day w hen it w as n o t so. T he ch u rch w as recognized to have m M TH E “P E P ” QUESTION AY it down as a ru le to w hich - th e re is no exception, th a t Whatever a ttra c ts a n d in te re sts th e w orld w ill d isg u st and
pow er. T he o ld er b re th re n can rem em b er w hen ch u rch es w ielded an influence th e y do n o t know today. M any ch u rch es did n o t have good b u ild ing s, b u t th e y had good m eetings. T hey did n o t have a pipe o rg an o r a select choir, b u t th e co n g reg ation h ad voices a n d used th em in sing ing th e sw eet songs of Zion. T hey h av en ’t tim e to ta r r y -for th e L o rd ; th e y m u st h u rry . In ste a d of fa s t a n d p ra y th e y would have us fe a s t a n d pay. T hey in s is t m ore upon p n sh th a n p ray er. C ash h as ta k e n th e place uf conse cratio n . E n d ow m en t o f m on ey is of m ore im p o rta n c e to th em th a n e n d u em e n t of pow er. C h ristian s, don’t you th in k it tim e to go back to God’s W o rd a n d to tr u s t in H im a n d in H is pow er? “E x cep t th e LORD b u ild th e hou se th e y la b o r in v a in w ho b u ild it.” T he sim ple, p u re gospel of C h rist is by fa r th e sw eetest sto ry ever told. W ho can im prove upon it? H as i t lo st any of its pow er a n d sw eetness since th e day hum b le disciples clim bed th e m oun ta in side to sit a t th e fe e t of Je s u s and h e a r it as it fell from H is own lip s? Or since th e days w hen th o u sa n d s fo r th e love of it gave th e ir lives on th e cross, th e ra c k , th e gallow s; in bo iling oil, or in th e flames? O r since tn e days w hen in th e d en s a n d caves of th e m o u n tain s of E u ro p e it w as to ld to th e p ersecu ted a n d h u n te d fa ith fu l in w h isp ering ton es? I f n o t, th e n w hy a ll th is c lam o u r fo r w orldly pom p a n d sh ow ? W hy th is p a ra d in g o f g re a t n am es a n d title s to a ttr a c t m en a n d w om en to th e h o u se o f th e L o rd ? W hy th is in sisten ce th a t we m u s t h av e som eth in g new o r th e ch u rch w ill d ie ? T he system s a n d a ttra c tio n s of th e w orld a n d th e w o rld ly m inded m ay cause m en to fall in love w ith a k in d of fussy, bubb ling , spasm odic relig ion ,
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