King's Business - 1940-12

45S

TH E K I N G ’ S BU S I N E S S

December, 1940

association between Christ’s birth and His death. Let us now think of the union existing between His birth and His resurrection. In the virgin womb of Mary, the human body of Jesus was fashioned. In the virgin tomb of Joseph, the glorified body of Jesus was pre­ pared. And the Holy Spirit was respon­ sible for both miracles. By His broken bodyf Christ madte possible our salva­ tion. But had His body remained within the grave, we would have been of all men most miserable. The truth of the gospel, however, is that although de­ livered for our offenses, He was raised again for our justification. As some of the Early Fathers were wont to explain it: “The resurrection was God’s receipt for Calvary.” And how true this is! Hallelujah, the debt has been paid! Further—Christ’s own resurrection was not only the evidence that the de­ mands of God’s holy law had been fully met, and that, if he be in Christ, the sinner is justified; but that resurrection is also a pledge that one day believers shall be raised from the dead or changed “in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye,” their bodies macfe like unto His glorious body, their natures capable of fellowship with God throughout eter­ nity. My friend, have you this hope? Do you believe that the Christ whose com­ ing to earth we recognize at Christmas, and who died and rose again, is to re­ turn before long? Some of us believe that His coming is at hand. This may be pur last Christmas. Who knows ? Are you ready? If 'not, then why not fill the heart of Jesus with joy this Christmastide by surrendering yourself unreservedly to Him ? Give Him a happy Christmas. Receive Him as your Sav­ iour, and then at His coming He will receive you unto Himself. —Louis T. Talbot. Emmanuel in a Manger “Let us now go . . . and see this thing which is come to pass’’ (Lk. 2:15). , These were the words of shepherds who had learned that lying in a feed trough at a Bethlehem road camp was a babe whose name was “Emmanuel”— God with us! It might seem that God could have done "this thing’’, in a style more befit­ ting Himself. Why should He not mani­ fest Himself in the purple robes of royalty ? Why should He not appear among men with jeweled scepter in hand and in kingly surroundings? What would have happened in such a case? He would have been surrounded by the “upper crust” who love pageants

The Saviour Is Come I cannot tell why He whom angels worship Should set His love upon the sons of men, Or why as Shepherd He should seek the wanderers And bring them back, I know not how or when. But this I know, that He was born of JVIary, When Bethlehem’s stable was His only home, And that at Nazareth He lived and labored, And so the Saviour, Saviour of the world is come. I cannot tell how patiently He suffered When with His peace He graced this place of tears, Or how upon the cross His heart was broken, The crown of pain to three and thirty years. But this I know, He heals the broken-hearted, And stays their sin and calms their lurking fear, And lifts the burden from the heavy laden, And so the Saviour, Saviour of the world is here. I cannot tell how He will win the nations, How He will claim His earthly heritage, And satisfy the needs and aspirations Of East and West, of sinner and of sage. But this I know, all flesh shall see His glory, And He will reap the harvest He has sown. And some glad day, His name will shine with splendor, When He, the Saviour, Saviour of the world is known.

and processions. T h e r e w o u l d have been shout- in g s of “G o d save the King,” and many look­ ing for honors in His k i n g d o m . Those attracted would have come to see His robes rather t h a n to l e a r n of H i s righteousness. Who are these m en of history who have worn

IQuoted in The Glory of the Manger, by Samnel M. Zwemer, American Tract Society .]

the planets along. They seem to think He should approach us with displays of omnipotence and expressions of His omniscience’. But could He ever have won us thus—frail children of the dust that most of us are? Rejoice, Christian reader, that the God of your Christmas carols meets us at the cradle, the shop, the garden, the cross, the tomb. No monarch ever ruled over such a host as has the meek and lowly Jesus. There is but one explana­ tion. He was "God manifest in the flesh” : Emmanuel.—Keith L. Brooks. W . P . White— with Christ Called from a ministry of spiritual fruitfulness, W. P. Wh i t e , who was President of the Bible Institute of Los Angeles in the years 1929 to 1932, en­ tered into the joy of Christ’s presence on November 3 from his home in Los Ailgeles. In recent years, and indeed al­ most until the time of his death, he was engaged in extensive itinerant evangel­ ism, especially in Idaho, Montana, Wyo- \Continued on Page 458]

the paraphernalia of regal power? Very ordinary fellows indeed—most of them! Without stage setting, gay robes, and flashing jewelry, they would not have looked like much. The infinite God requires none of these things. He can afford to come in humility, even as a peasant babe in the borrowed manger of a bare bam. And of those who were invited to meet Him there, no one doubted that He was the King eternal. The little fellows are the ones who have to have something to raise them up. Diogenes could live in a tub. The Lord of Glory could be laid in a feed trough and could work in a carpenter shop. The Creator was too poor to get into a crowded inn, as a rich person could have done by the giving of a tip. Did you ever stop to rejoice about all this? Deity meets us right where we are—looks us straight in the eyes in all our ignorance and underprivileged exist­ ence and says: “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” Some people may be perplexed by a humble God. They seem to want a proud God, using the tone of voice that rolled

A CHR ISTMAS SUGGEST ION: Get for yourself or for a friend the recent publication by Louis T. Talbot, which Herbert Lockyer aptly styles “a start­ ling book for the last days." See page 473 for more detailed information.

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