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T H E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
November 1925
orders; it is responsible for its place and privilege in the world. The fact that in the church there are diversities of opinions about certain phases of church government, does not matter. In these things—if we are in His will—there may be perfect harmony. But there is a matter of vital moment to every Christian and to every pastor. The church is the Body of Christ—bone of His bone and flesh of His flesh—and every true believer is there fore constituted a part of Christ. No power can ever separate us from this bond which is inwrought and sealed by the Holy Spirit. The church was never left here to save the world. That is impossible. The doom of the world is sealed. Our Lord said, concerning the Holy Sp irit: ‘‘When He is come He will reprove the world of sin, of righteous ness and of judgment. Of sin, because they believe not on'me. Of righteousness, because I go to the Father. And of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.” We were left here to save something out of this world as we have been saved. The charge of Paul to Timothy was ' ‘Preach the Word, in season, out of sea son. Reprove, rebuke, exhort, with all long-suffering and doctrine.” The Holy Spirit is here. He lives in us who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. His mission is defined. He will do the promised work. He will give the promised message. But He must have mouth pieces. Where will He get them? Believers are the mouthpieces of the Holy Spirit. A mouth is a sacred instrument, set apart for God’s own service. Every Christian should have this truth emphasized. If our mouths could be cleansed from the guilt of gossip, and clothed with the glorious Gospel, what a change could be wrought. We are sometimes possessed with great fear lest we should hurt the feelings of people in our teaching and preaching and so we use the soft pedal. Men and women want the Gospel. Don’t forget that. We have had many definite expressions from busi ness and professional men to the effect that the church has no appeal to them because it makes no appeal to either conscience or heart. The Holy Spirit is given no opportunity to convict of sin, and, logically, there can be no spiritual results. Why not make Sunday a campaign day for souls? Feed the saints in the morning in Sunday School and church, and then all unite in a “ drive for sinners” in the evening. Never let a service close without an opportunity for sinners to confess Christ. . In many long years of observation and practice we have never known this method to be tried without producing satisfying results. WEALTH—WORDS—WORK True riches are embraced in these three words. Paul commands Timothy to “ charge the saints who are rich in worldly wealth not to trust in uncertain riches, but in God who giveth us richly all things to enjoy.” Whatever we have we have in trust. We are not our own. We are the purchased possession of Jesus Christ. We belong to Him, and all that we are and have is His. We are stewards of silver and gold, and also stewards of the Word of God.
He paid a great price for us. He paid it gladly and appointed us as His stewards. We represent Him, He never asks us to be or do anything which He Himself did not do or be. He was rich, but for our sakes He became poor. He withheld nothing. He- bestowed bountifully of all that He had. We must never forget that we are His ambassadors. The Christ whom the world sees and knows, it sees and knows through the lives of His followers, and that is one of the sorrows of Christ,—that we are such poor representatives. It is a busy world and we are occupied with many things. Sometimes, we are so absorbed with things that we have no ear for His voice. He rings the bell, but we do not'hear. He calls with a clear voice, but we do not heed. The message and the mission are given to some one else, and the opportunity is gone forever. It is a great mistake to live out of touch and fellow ship with Him. Many dollars have dwindled to dimes which might have increased to ducats had we heard His call. Money is about the most worthless thing in the world when not in circulation. God’s people have the privilege of giving feet to money and sending it on a missionary journey around the world, and as it goes—it grows. The “ widow’s mite” was a “ mighty g ift” and has borne interest now for twenty centuries. What won ders might have been wrought had more of God’s peo ple worked along the “ -widow’s mite method” ! Words “ fitly spoken are like apples of gold in pic tures of silver.” They hang upon the walls of endur ing memory, always blessed. Words are either worthy or worthless, and we are told that “ by our words we shall be justified, and by our words we shall be con demned. ” The tongue and lips play a great part in human life. As witnesses for our Lord we are to use these lips of ours to proclaim the wonderful story of God’s love and of His voluntary sacrifice for sinful man. Heaven’s radio carries the message. What joy in Heaven when we are justified by our words! When we exalt the cross of Christ! When our lips are pleading with sin ners to forsake the “ Broadway” road for the narrow pathway which leads to glory! If we keep our tongue from evil, and our lips from speaking guile, we can use them in telling the sweet story of salvation with the assurance of God’s blessing upon His Word. Works. Jesus said, “My meat (food) is to do the will of Him that sent me and to finish His work.” What is our meat, and should it not be the same as His? Why does our Lord leave us here ? Have you ever asked yourself that question ? Why not take us home to glory? Because He has committed unto us a service like unto His own—a world-wide commission. But so many Christians have never accepted it. From our lives goes a message; from our lips are uttered words; and from our efforts in praying and planning, the wonderful work and Word of God is accomplished. We are His. His wealth is our gift. Our lips are His, formed for the purpose of expressing His truth. Our bodies are His to be used in carrying out His great purpose and preparing for His coming. Why not be about our Master’s business?
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