August 1925
340
TH E K I N G ’S B U S I N E S S
by that much the power of Satan. The fulfilling of the last command of our Lord gives joy to the hosts of heaven (Luke 15:10); it reacts upon our own lives and helps to stem the tide of evil in the,world. It is impossible to eradicate war from the world. It is in the being of man. Even the Christian expe riences it, for “ the fiesh lusteth against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh, and these two are con trary.” Having bowed to the will of God, accepted His Son as Saviour, we.are transferred to a new king dom, and have the peace of God which passeth all understanding. Gur duty now is to take the poor peo ple who have been blinded by Satan up the mountain side to the peak, and with the sharp instrument of the Word of God remove the cataract of unbelief from their eyes, revealing to them the Prince of peace who alone can enable them to live a life of joy and peace. THE MOUSE IN THE MEAL The cartoon this month was sent to us by one of “ Our Family” in England, who writes as follows: ■ “I have ju s t been read ing The K ing’s Business an d find it very helpful and shall certainly recommend it to o ther B ritish Gospel w orkers and S. .S. teachers. I am a B ritish cartoonist, an d have illu strate d your article T h e Mouse in th e Meal’ (copy enclosed) fo r your use. I expect The K ing’s Business to be very helpful in my Sunday School work. Yours in H is service, W. D. F o rd .” The picture carries its own •message, but we are . bound to analyze it and ask some serious questions. Where do6s the mouse come from ? Where does all evil come from? What school produced this creature? What is its purpose? The principle represented by the mouse is not new; it is as old as the Garden of Eden where it first revealed itself. Down through the centuries it has wormed its way in and found a nesting place even in the “ Sacred Sack,”—the Word of God. No night or day has found the emissaries of Satan sleeping at their post. God’s representatives sleep, sometimes so soundly the enemy carries away the priceless possession of God’s Word. No student of the Bible but is conscious that it is faith in the Word of God which the enemy seeks to destroy in order to spoil the lives of men. “ Yea, hath God said?” The Virgin Birth of our Lord is the foun dation of our faith, and when belief in that well authen ticated fact is destroyed, hell and its emissaries rejoice. God has sown good seed through the Word (Matt. 13:25, 26): “While men slept, his enemy came and sowed ta re s among th e wheat, and w ent h is way. “B u t when th e blade was sprung up, and b rough t fo rth fru it, th en appeared th e tares also.” Is there anything more touchingly humiliating than the rebuke of our Lord to the three disciples (Mark 14:33, 37): “And he ta k eth w ith him P e te r and Jam es and John, and began to be sore amazed, and to be very heavy; “And he cometh and findeth them sleeping, and saith unto P eter, Simon, sleepest th o u ? couldest th o u n o t watch one h o u r?” How often has the church been found sleeping instead of watching. Hear the call of the Holy Spirit: “W herefore h e saith, Awake thou th a t sleepest, and arise from th e dead, and Christ shall give th ee lig h t” (Eph. 5 :1 4 ). Shall we not, by God’s grace and power, decide to follow the injunction of 1 Thess. 5 :6: “Therefore le t u s n o t sleep as do o thers; b u t le t us watch and be sober.”
Our salvation is assured, but our rewards for service await the opening of the books, and the greatest • rewards will be given for soul-saving, for that is the business for which Christ came into the world. The cross has but one message (John 3:16): “F o r God so loved th e world th a t He gave His only begotten Son th a t whosoever believeth on H im should no t perish, b u t have everlasting life.” The resurrection of Christ has but one message to believers (John 14:19): “Yet a little while, and th e world seeth me no more; b u t ye see me; because I live, ye shall live also.” All other matters are of minor importance. Reader! Are you doing business for God? Do not evade the question. Are you? If not, why not? SATAN’S STRONGHOLD The world is full of unrest and has been for six thousand years. The hearts of men have been occupied always with this problem,—the “ why” of this condi tion, and the “ how” of its solution,—and they are so occupied today. Statesmen, scientists, scholars and thinking men and women everywhere are making plans and schemes of all kinds to bring about the long- desired but never yet devised remedy. Nations have risen, developed and fallen. Others have followed them. All have been reaching for the highest rounds of the ladder, but eventually have lost their hold. We are passing through the same expe rience. Some good people have sincere desires to promote peace. They talk of peace pacts and adopt slogans Such as “ No more war!” All of this is highly commendable no matter if the effort is based upon a selfish desire to be rich and com fortable,—but—there is less peace today in the home, less in business,, less in society, less in politics, less in the churches, than ever before in the history of the world. There is none at all in the unregenerate heart and never can be (Isa. 48:22). Is there any peace today in the churches? Nay,— there is confusion and uncertainty. Listen to the mes sage of our Lord: “I am come to send fire upon th e earth . * * * * Suppose ye th a t I am come to give peace on e a rth ? I tell you, Nay; b u t ra th e r division” (Luke 12:40, 51 ). There is peace for the Lord’s own people, if they will have it,' but there is no peace for this poor, old, sin- stricken world, staggering like a drunken man to its doom. ' This is Satan’s world. God created it and consigned it to Adam and Eve, but Satan captured it through subtilty. He is the ruler of this world. He showed the kingdoms of the world to Jesus and offered them to Him for His worship. He is the prince of the power of the air. For six thousand years it has been demon strated that the master mind of the devil has been- exercised in controlling the minds and hearts of men. There is but one way of escape—through yielding to God’s spiritual law of a new life (Rom. 8:2). These facts should constrain us to devote our lives to the great business committed to us,—not vain attempts to make a devil-possessed'world better but to save what we can out of the wreck. Our commission is concrete. It is definite. It comes from Heaven’s court. We must save others. Every soul that is snatched as a brand from the burning injects a factor of salt into the world and decreases
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