THE KING’S BUSINESS
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mine. You have a religion of two letters, whilst I have a religion of four letters.” “How do you make that out?” said the engineer. ‘“Your religion,” replied the dea con, “is Do. You are always talking about what you d o ! My religion is done—and 1 am always talking about what Jesus Christ has done when He bore my sins on the Cross.” A young divine asked a venerable minis ter in whose presence he had delivered a discourse: “What did you think of my sermon?” “A very poor sermon,” said he; “there was no Christ in it.” “Well,” said the young man, “Christ was not in the text. We are not to be preaching Christ always; we must preach what is in the text.” “Don’t you know, young man,” said the minister, “that from every town and every little hamlet in England, wherever it may be, there is a road to London?” “Yes,” said the young man. “A h !” said the old Christian, “and so from every text in the Scripture there is a road to the metropolis of the Scripture—that is Christ. And my dear brother, your business is, when you get a text, to say, ‘Now, what is the road to Christ?’ and then preach a sermon run ning along the road toward the great me tropolis—Christ.” Some years ago a lady went to consult a famous New York physician about her health. She was a woman of nervous tem perament. She gave the doctor a list of her symptoms and answered his questions only to be astonished at his brief prescrip tion at the end: “Go home and read your Bible an hour a day, then come back to me a month from today.” And he bowed her out before she could protest. At first she was inclined to be angry; then she reflected that at least the prescription was not an expensive one. She went home determined to read conscientiously her neglected Bible. In a month she went back to the doctor’s office a different person, and asked him how he knew that was just what she needed. For answer the phy sician turned to his desk. There, worn
and marked, lay an open Bible. “Madam,” he said, “if I were to omit my daily read ing of this Book, I would lose my greatest source of strength and skill.” There are five different words in the New Testament Greek referring to our Lord that are translated Master. One of these represent Him as the Overseer, an other the File Leader, another the Teacher, another the Despot, and a fifth the Su preme Owner. These words imply that He is something different to us under each relation as represented by his Name, and we are something different to Him. Each name implies that He supplies something to us, and expects something from us. The names imply that (1) He is responsible for all needed provision; (2) it is our right and duty to look to Him for absolute guid ance ; (3) He is ready to fulfill His prom ises of instruction; (4) there must be com plete submission to His will and command; and (5) His rights as owner can only be acknowledged by consecration to His serv ice. He watches over us, He leads us, He instructs us, He is our supreme Lord, and He owns us, for He purchased us with His blood. Dr. Duff once said: Some time ago, happening to be in South Wales, I made the acquaintance of a Welsh gentleman. He was then a landed proprietor, living in his own mansion, and in very comfortable circumstances. He had been before carry ing on an extensive business in a large town. By the death of a relative he had unexpectedly come into possession of this property. After considering whether he should retire from business, he made up his mind that he would still continue to carry it on, though no longer for himself but for Christ. I could not help being struck with the gleesomeness of a holy mind which lighted up his countenance when he said: “I never knew before what real happiness Was. Formerly I wrought as a master to earn a livelihood for myself; but now I am carrying on the same work as diligently as if for myself, and even more so, but it
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