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T h e K i n g ’ s B u s i n e s s
May 1932
deep conviction by which he himself abides unswervingly —but he should be very careful to give to his equally de vout and spiritual fellow Christian the same right to follow his conviction. E strangement to be O vercome ZJjf t present you are estranged from Brother So-and-So because he disagrees with your interpretation of the ten toes of the image of the prophecy of Daniel; but by and by, when you and he together feel the full weight of the foot of the oppressor, you will love him even if he holds an opinion different from yours as to which modern nation is represented by the fifth toe of the right foot, or the great toe of the left. Today you are not on speaking terms with Brother Smith because he considers that the Sermon on the Mount belongs wholly to the church or to the kingdom; tomorrow you may share the same prison cell with him, suffering for righteousness’ sake, when you will comfort each other with the beatitude of Matthew 5 :10. Now you are at war with your brethren, because they do not see eye to eye with you in identifying the beast and the false prophet; but since in at least one European nation the principle of Revelation 13:16 and 17 is already working, and since neither you nor your loved brethren will submit to the acceptance of the mark of the beast, you may presently be thankful to have the cheer of their com panionship as together you travel to the stake. Brethren, it was not for differences of opinion such as these that our forefathers gave their lives on the hills of Scotland and in the valleys of Italy, and such things should not divide us today. When the tide is out, the fishes in the various little rock-pools may consider their special pool to be the ocean; but when the tide comes in, all the rock divisions are ob literated, and they find that the brotherhood of fishes is a much larger one than they thought. Heaven send us such a tidal wave today, for it is my solemn conviction that at no distant date we shall need each other very much indeed. G reat M en D isagree esley and W hitfield were two of the most won derfully used servants of God that ever lived, and yet on some points of doctrine they found themselves in'oppo site camps. Grieving over this fact and earnestly desiring to end all controversy, Whitfield wrote to his contempor ary as follows: “ My honored friend and brother, for once hearken to a child, who is willing to wash your feet. I beseech you by the mercies of God in Christ Jesus our Lord, if you would have my love confirmed toward you, write no more to me about the misrepresentations wherein we differ. Why should we dispute when there is no pos sibility o f convincing? Will it not in the end destroy broth erly love, and insensibly take from us that cordial union and sweetness of soul which I pray God may always sub sist between us ? How glad would the enemies of our Lord be to see us divided! How would the cause of our common Master in every way suffer by our raising disputes about particular points of doctrine! Honored sir, let us offer sal vation freely to all by the blood of Jesus, and whatever light God has communicated to us, let us freely communi cate to others.” Friends o f Jesus, break the barriers Men have reared on every side, Make a living Christ the Center, Gather round the Crucified.
Christian’s plight in Doubting Castle with Giant Despair, with Mr. By-Ends, Mr. Pickthank, and the experiences in Vanity Fair. But oh, that fight with Apollyon! If ever a real artist had more fun picturing a combat, it would be hard to imagine. For about sixteen years, the Little Jetts have been en joying the privileges of their ministry. Quite a number of propositions have come to them to go into commercial busi ness, as into the advertising field, or into cartoon syndica tions for the secular press. A bank in Pennsylvania offered to give them their own price for a weekly strip, advertising the savings department to the coal miners; a flattering offer came to take the Chautauqua platform; but they have turned away from these, because they came into their be ing as little preachers of the gospel, and nothing else has ever appealed as so high a privilege as that. [Mr. Smith expects to be on the Pacific Coast during June, July, and August. His is a unique ministry, and one' that God greatly honors. Churches on the Pacific Coast, that are interested in securing the services o f a sane, gifted and magnetic Bible teacher, are invited to communicate with Mr. Smith at 303 Hendrix Street, Greenboro, N. C .— E ditor .] ^j ust prior to the outbreak of the EuropeanWar of 1914, the internal condition of England was one of strife and dis cord, of dissension and unrest. The Irish question had brought the country to the verge of .civil war; political animosities were extremely bitter; and on many controver sial matters, the people were sharply divided. Immediately war was declared, however, a truce on all these matters was called, petty quarrels ceased, and the nation rallied as one man to the defense of its threatened liberties. A nother S trategic H our y dear brothers , we are entering the final stage of the greatest conflict of the ages; serious things lie ahead for the church and the world; for there are forces at work all around us which in aim and ultimate development may necessitate our having to seal our testimony with our blood. Although these things are so, however, it is a sad but indisputable fact that the people of God are seriously divided. I earnestly desire to plead for the closing up of our ranks, and to urge that we should allow nothing to come between us and our fellow Christians but disloyalty to fundamental truth. Do not misunderstand me. I am not suggesting that you should relinquish one single conviction that has come to you from your study of God’s Word. But, as a writer of rare and penetrating insight has said, “While on all ex plicit declarations of Holy Writ there can be no yielding, and God asks for no surrender of principle or sacrifice of truth, a vast sphere remains where loving concession and mutual tolerance not only make a church more powerful, but also create one of life’s sweetest joys.” It should be very easy for each one of us to put these wise counsels into practice when we remember that “ there are some things which, by the precepts of Scripture, God shows to be wholly outside His will for the new man in Christ; but that in other things He guides by principles. Within this latter realm, there will inevitably be a wide difference in interpretation and in understanding. The conduct of every Christian should be undergirded with Close Up the Ranks B y G eorge H enderson
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