THE K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
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w ith all th a t wealth and refining in fluences could purchase, he had become a slave to th e cursed drink habit, a reg u lar periodical d runkard , and when •these attack s came on, he was shipped to Los Angeles to escape th e disgrace. Money was rem itted monthly, bu t all financial responsibility was k ep t in the hands of his parents. This last spiee was heavier th an usual. He found him self stripped of absolutely all ais belongings through th e degenerate men and women who had plied him with drink, then left him to be carted aw y in th e patrol. It was “ fifteen days or fifteen dollars,” bu t he couldn’t lay his hands on fifteen cents, and w ith the prospect of th a t tim e in th e filthy over crowded jail, he began to sober up and think. God spoke to him clearly, di rectly, starting ly in th a t cell, and a de term ination to yield himself into God’s hands was +he result. Before morning of the following day he was born again. There was no Bible, no preacher, no one to pray w ith him ; bu t the Word of God sown in early life, brought back after all those dorm ant years by the Spirit of God, did th e work. A fter ne had made up his m ind to yield to the Inevitable and finish out his sentence, he was surprised to see an old frienc of nis fath e r’s, who came to th e jail, paid his fine, gave him twenty-five dollars, took him back to the hotel, settled his bill, and telegraphed home for his fare back, which arrived th e next day. “How in th e world did you know I was h ere ?’ asked the young man. “I read your name in th e paper, and, of course, could no t leave the son of my old friend h ere.” L ater the young man was on his way to the station to tak e the train East, and as he passed Biola Hall, we had the joy of establishing him in th e faith. Some P ecu liar Circumstances A few nights before th a t, crowded out of a chance to speak from Biola entrance, one of our boys was con strained to stand in fro n t of th e Elec tric Station on Sixth Street. He was so filled w ith his message th a t, alone and yet not alone, he rang ou t the wonderful story. The crowd gathered, bu t evidently having no room for Jesus, melted away, and he stood facing one solitary man. The message whs a di rect personal appeal and m et w ith prompt acceptance. The man was ju st about his own age, and la ter on sign ing him up for a New Testam ent, imag ine the w orker’s surprise to discover his
“ catch” bore exactly h is own name, first and last and middle! Another of our boys had fished all day and caught nothing, bu t he made up his mind th a t he would not go to bed un til God gave him a soul. A pleading cry w ent up to God an'd late th a t n igh t as we were tu rn in g th e lights off in Biola, we discovered him down in a corner w ith a man old enough to be- his great-grandfather. The joy in both faces was beautiful, and he didn’t need to tell us w hat had happened. God had sent th e answer to th a t im portunate cry. E igh t years before, kneeling be side a new-made grave, th is new convert had sworn th a t his dead w ife’s God should be his God, bu t it took eignt long years to bring him into th e place where he was w illing to give up the. be setting sin which k ep t him outside God’s a rk of safety. “Fo r themselves sn.ew of us w hat manner of entering in we had unto you and how ye tu rned to God from idols to serve th e living and tru e God and to w ait for His Son from heav en whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the w rath to come.” : Ji? ii? The following incident is an illu stra tion of the wisdom of th e old saying: “Despise no t th e day of small things.” Two of our workers were out calling one day in one of the Jewish districts of the city when down th e street w ith his horse and wagon came a Jewish ped dler, selling oranges. One of th e workers walked out into the stre e t and handed him a card of invitation to 'one of our Jewish meetings a t the Bible In stitu te. One glance a t th e card and the man bu rst out into a tirad e a- gainst Christianity. Years before, he saw his own b ro th er killed in a Jew ish massacre in Russia, and his h ea rt was filled w ith b ittern ess against the Greek Catholic Church which had been responsible_Aor th a t massacre. He as sumed t h i ^ a l l Christians were like those so-called Christians in Russia, and hence he had a burning hatred for all who went by th a t name. The worker smiled a t his tirade, and refusing a t th a t tim e to discuss the point raised, insisted th a t he come to the meeting and judge for himself w hether or not tru e Christians hated th e Jews. He came and listened very atten tiv ely to JEW ISH WORK Jam es A. Vans, Supt.
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