February 1927
T h e
K i n g ’ s
B u s i n e s s
117
ì5H5H5ESH5E5S5H5ESHSESESZ5252SZ5E5HSH5H5E5H5H5H5E5H5HSH5H5E5ESH5H5H5H5H5H5H5H5E5HSH5HSZ5H5H5H5iS5H5H5H5E5H5H5H5H5H5SSE5H5H5ESE5S5H5E5HScl5ESH5H5E5H5H5H5H525H5H525?5KKHS 11 Dai l y Med i t a t i ons for the Year B y W il f r e d M . H o p k in s ■
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brave enough to call it by its name. There was a time when it was much more than brass, it was God’s appointed means and symbol of salvation. It might well have remained, a reminder of the mercy of the Highest; bu t.it had been lifted out of its proper place, it had been made a fetish, and men paid to it the honour that was due only to the Divine. The time had there fore arrived for its destruction: it had become a means of stumbling and a cause of offense. When' the life giving power goes out of, a religious formula or ordinance, and it has become a mere idol to which men burn incense; when we put our trust in it, instead of in the truth which it was intended to set forth; when it no longer symbolizes a reality, but a mere specious pre- tenciS'^t- is time that, like the Brazen Serpent, it were broken in pieces and cast upon the dust heap. We cannot do without ordin ances, and symbolism has its place in the education and stimula tion of mankind; but a religion of dead superstitions is one of the most soul-destroying contrivances of the Prince of Hell. As a means to an end, the Serpent was instinctvwith vitality; as an immediate object of worship, it was but “nehushtan,” a piece of brassA';-* F ebruary 9. “I know in Whom I have had confidence.”—2 Tim. 1:12. “IT is of no use what you say, I know Jem,” was the answer of a young woman to one who was trying to traduce her lover. We should have the same answer ready for men or devils when they attempt to impugn the goodness of our Father, or to shake* our faith in His wisdom or His love: “It is of no use what you say, I know God.” Such was the Apostle’s ground of trust: “I know in whom I have had confidence, and am persuaded that he is able,” and not only that He is able, but that He will. It was a knowledge born, not of theory, but of experience. S t Paul was not a young man when he wrote i t ; he had gone through much, and God had never failed him. But it was still more a confidence born of personal communion. He did not merely know about God; he knew God Himself. Mere theology will never beget assurance. Many a man could pass an examination about the Divine Being, who could not trust Him in the hour of dark ness and of trial. Theories, however beautiful and however logically perfect, are apt to break down under the strain of cir cumstances; personal acquaintance with the King of kings will bear the fiercest test. Truly blessed is the man who can say: “I KNOW God; and because I know Him, I can trust Him, come what may.” Happily this knowledge is within the reach of all: “Ye shall know if ye follow on to know the LORD.”
F ebruary 6. "What saith the Scripture?" — Rom. 4:3. (*)
ONE way of learning from Christ is to study the Text Book with which He has provided us. The ignorance of the Bible manifested by even many Christians is' simply appalling. “All Scripture is given by inspiration of G o d i t is the Word of God written, just as Christ was the Word of God incarnate. If we would be true “disciples” of His, if we would become wise in the wisdom of the skies, we must “read, mark, learn, and inward ly digest” His Word. Men sometimes talk of the spoken “words of Christ” as though they were important beyond the remainder of the Book. We know no such distinction': all the words, from cover to cover, are His. He wrote them by the Holy Ghost, the earthly authors being but scribes, setting down faithfully that which was dictated to them from on high. How can we expect to be apt scholars if we neglect our school-book? Why should we expect Him to reveal to us afresh those things which He has already placed within our hands with a cpmmand to study them? Explanations we shall need, and they shall be given to us as we are able to receive them; but the first requisite in the path of divine knowledge is that we should make ourselves acquainted with the written page. The Psalmist said: “Through thy pre cepts I get understanding” ; had he known as little of his limited Bible as many a modern Christian knows of God’s full-orbed lamp, his understanding would have been circumscribed indeed. (*) The portions for Feb. 5, 6, and 7 form one theme. THERE is not only the written Word, there is the living Voice. Christ is not dumb because He has ascended into the heavens; nor is He afar off, that we cannot hear. There are difficulties in the School-book which puzzle u s; there are circum stances in life which no text seems precisely to fit. Well, let us go to the Great Rabbi and ask for explanation or for guidance, as the case may require. Let us say to H im : “Speak, Lord, for thy servant hearkeneth.” Depend upon it, we shall not make the appeal in vain. The earnest soul that yearns to know his Lord’s will that he may do it, will not be left unguided and untaught. All the difficulties may not be cleared up, all the desired knowl edge may not be at once imparted; we may not yet be fit for the revelation (“I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye can not bear them now”) ; but no needful direction shall be refused, no vital lesson shall be untaught. We are slow to realize that Christ both can and will speak to us as really as He did to His disciples of old—it is true none the less. But there are many spiritually deaf amongst us, and we need to pray that the Divine “Ephatha” may be spoken to our souls. Our ears once opened, we shall find both joy and safety, as well as knowledge, in listening to His voice. (*) The portions for Feb. 5, 6, and 7 form one theme. M l F ebruary 8. “And he called it Nehushtan."—2 Kings 18:4. HEZEKIAH was ,a bold man and a lover of realities. The Serpent was “nehushtan”—brass—nothing more, and he was F ebruary 7. “They shall hear my voiceT-^Jno. 10:16. (*)
F ebruary 10. “Take no thought for the morrow.” — Matt. 6:34.
THIS does not mean that we are to make no wise plans for the future, but that we are not to be torn with anxiety about it. There is an infinite wisdom in the injunction. None of us can tell what the morrow has in store for us, even if we live -to see it. More than half the troubles and difficulties about which we worry beforehand do not come to pass. Our heads are turned grey, not by our actual trials, but by expected disasters which we never overtook. Moreover all such rending anxiety is evidence
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