October 1931
T h e
K i n g ’ s
B u s i n e s s
452
walk back that way. I will look straight at her and say, in a friendly sort of way, ‘Hello, Lilli.’ You can remove your hat, make your courtliest bow, and say, ‘Good day, Miss Linton.’ We will know which is which. If it is Lilli, she will look confused and say, ‘Uh-huh.’ ” “We will not do anything of the kind. I will not walk up to Miss Linton with a boob like you. If you want to make a goose of yourself, go ahead.” They continued their discussion as they retraced their steps. But Marian had seen them and was walking rapidly the other way. They were gaining on her. She darted into a small store that had a back entrance, straight through, and down a narrow alley in the opposite direc tion, hailed a taxi, stepped into it, and leaned back with a sigh of relief. Dick and Rex waited outside the store for perhaps fif teen minutes, and then Rex ventured inside. One glance around the small place, and he knew his quarry had es caped him. He came out with a blank look. “I don’t see why you should look so crestfallen,” ral lied Dick, laughing. “She isn’t the girl you thought she was anyway. If she did this on purpose, she isn t dumb. “I ’ll say she isn’t dumb,” grinned Rex. “ But if she was your Marian Linton, why should she do it ?” “And if she was your Lilli Bell, how could she do it? “But she did.” And they went off into peals of laughter. [To be continued ] Great indeed were the privileges of this man of God, this leader of God’s people, who had communion with the Most High without any intermediary. Yet he was but a servant and, as such, altogether inferior to Christ, who is a Soil to whom the household belongs. Step by step, the apostle seeks, to detach his hearers from the great ones of earth,, so that they may become at tached to the great High Priest in heaven. This process is as necessary and vital now as then. We can never be right at circumference until we are right at center ; and we can never be right at center until Christ is all and in all. A W ord of W arning * It was a time of spiritual crisis for those to whom this epistle was addressed. Their Hebrew ancestors had failed, and thfeir descendants might also fail and turn back. To prevent this possible disaster, a word of warning is in jected. It is built around Israel’s experience in the wilder ness, culminating in the deliberate and willful refusal to go forward into the promised land, God’s place of rest for Israel. The faith of the people that turned back was merely an outward belief, a belief that found expression only in religious formalities. It was not a faith of the heart, leading to obedience to the known will of God, a faith such as Joshua and Caleb manifested. And when the crisis hour arrived, the people said “no” to God instead of “yes.” The answer of God was: “They shall not enter into my rest.” They said, “We will not” ; and God said, “You shall not.”
A few weeks later, Rexford Avery and Dick Burling were walking leisurely down the street. Suddenly Dick stopped and looked at a girl they were passing. “There goes Miss Linton,” he said excitedly. Rex looked. “Miss Linton, nothing. That’s Lilli Bell, my sister’s maid.” ■ 'Y •.-v “Your sister’s maid, you stupid! That is Marian Lin ton, a friend of Joyce Goodwin’s over in Glenwold. You would know she is nobody’s maid!” “I tell you she is, though. She is as pretty as a picture, but dumb! Dumb as an oyster.” “See here, Rex,” Dick looked ready to fight, “if you go on saying a thing like that about Marian Linton, I ’ll knock you down.” “Hang it, Dick,” Rex exclaimed irritably, “I ’m not talking about Marian Linton, I ’m talking about Lilli Bell, my sister’s maid, and I swear that’s who that girl was.” “She was not. And it makes me mad to have you say she even resembles anybody’s maid- She is one of the cleverest and most interesting girls I ever met.” “I thought so, too, until I tried to talk to her. You can’t get a word out of that girl except ‘uh-huh.’ “Rex, I ’ve a good notion to knock you down just to take some of the conceit out of you. You can at least stop talking about some other girl while we are dis cussing Marian Linton!” “Honest, Dick, this is a case of mistaken identity. The two girls may not be alike at all. Let us do this. We will ^ he opening words of chapter 3 call us to “consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus.” He is first mentioned in His priestly capacity in 2 :17; here we are directed to consider Him. The word “consider” is an emphatic word. It means “to fix attention upon.” It occurs again with equal force in 10:24, where we are bidden to “consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works.” As our Apostle, Christ Jesus is the perfect revelation STUDIES I tL EPISTLE / „ HEBREWS . . . By JOHN C. PAGE, Los Angeles, Calif.
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