134
T H E K I N G ’S B U S I N E S S
Man has a constitution th a t is partly m aterial, and p artly spiritual. The m a terial and the sp iritual are intim ately associated, and m utually dependent. There is increasing perception of this, and it hears fru it for good and for evil. One Babylon caters to th e sp iritual side i of man, and the o ther to his m aterial side. • Avoiding fu rth e r direction to details, I desire to come to a practical teaching of g reat importance, embodied in the words, “Come out of h er, My peoplp” (Revelation 1 8 :4 ). Of which Babylon is this w ritten? Is it not usual to apply th is to th e corrupt religious system? But I w ant th e read er to note very particu larly th a t th e call is to those in th e commercial or business Babylon. The statem ent th a t it is possible for evangelical people of God to be in Baby lon, in any sense, may be sta rtlin g to many, but it has long ago arrested my atten tion th a t a g reat number of God’s people are engrossed in th a t difficult to define th ing called “ business.” Al though they have no Rom ish tendencies, they are linked up w ith the g reat world organization of “ business.” Am I suggesting th a t it is unscrip- tu ra l for a man to support his family, by agriculture, m anufacture, or tra d ing? F a r from it. (I. Timothy 5:8.) It is not supporting th e fam ily th a t n n LINCOLN AND TRUTH February, being th e month of L in coln s birthday, we give the following story as told by Rev. Dr. F aris: Lincoln would have agreed most pos itively w ith Carlyle’s dictum, “ Can there be a more horrible object in existence th an an eloquent man not speaking the tr u th ? ” Those words of the g reat English es sayist were spoken by Alonzo Roths child of Abraham Lincoln, who once said to his p artn er in a crim inal tria l: “ If you can say anything fo r the man,
God objects to, but supporting th e world system, which would no t exist if God were obeyed. Its combines, and its unions, g reat and small, are only needed because God is n eith er tru sted nor obeyed. It is to be feared th a t comparatively few of God’s people have honestly weighed the term s of real discipleship, contained in th a t positive statem en t of the Lord Jesus. “Whosoever he be of you th a t forsaketh (o r renounceth) not all th a t he h ath, he cannot be My disciple” (Luke 1 4 :33 ). They would renounce and forsake a worldly Church, bu t they would compromise w ith a worldly business. I t costs less to give up a church (as a ru le) th a n to give up a business. However, I shall not labour fu rth e r to apply th e message: God will see to it th a t His warning is understood by all who are w illing to obey. So I close by again rem inding the reader, th a t “Come out of her, My people” (Revela tion 18:4) is addressed, not primarily to those who are in fatu ated by a cor rup t religion, b u t to those engrossed w ith th e godless business, commerce, or politics of this evil age, which when fully consolidated, will need no faith, or sp iritu al perception, to recognize as Babylon. do it; I can’t. If I attem p t it, the jury will see th a t I th ink he is guilty, and convict him, of course.” Because of actions like this, one of Lincoln’s biographers says of him : “ It was morally impossible for Lin coln to argue dishonestly. He could no more do it th an he could steal. It was the same th ing in essence to despoil a man of his property by larceny and by illogical and flagitious reasoning.” To Lincoln a constructive lie was ju st as black as a pointblank lie. And why not? GET BUSY TODAY! A $350.00
Made with FlippingBook - Online magazine maker