September, 1933
306
T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
F R OM THE B O O K OF L I FE AND EVERYDAY LI FE
B y R oy T almage B rumbaugh the author to adprn pages with the glowing weirds of light, life, and truth, and the preacher to sound the depths o f eternal verities in striking metaphor and strong simile. The theologian, author, poet, phil osopher, preacher serve God best by spend ing much time in quiet contemplation away from the crowd. All such, o f course, will ever be numbered among the few, but will ever perform the work of the many. Some rush from house to house wearing out much shoe leather and working up con siderable physical perspiration. These are always numbered among the workers, but does it require less effort to work up a mental lather? Let us have our Peters and Marthas and as many as possible, but have not John and Mary a place in God’s economy likewise? “ They also serve who only stand and wait.” IND IVIDUALITY—In the harbor of New York, I saw all kinds of ships; motor boats, row boats, sail boats, ocean-going the Christian. All are different and each individuality is to be developed in the glory of God. The sailing boat was not designed for and could not do the work of the motor boat. Neither could the ocean-going ship do the work o f the barge. So it is that each Christian can do the work to which God has' called him. He cannot do another man’s work; another man cannot do his work. Every man to his work I THE SUN AND THE SON—I sailed the Atlantic Ocean one summer. They that go down to the sea in ships may see the wonders o f divine truth. As I looked at the waters all round about us, I saw not merely vast areas o f hydrated salt, but that “there’s a wideness in God’s mercy, like the wideness of the sea.” At night I sat on the deck. As I looked up at the heavens I exclaimed with David, “When I consider . . . the moon and stars, which thou hast ordained; what is man that thou art mindful o f him?” Then I thought o f the church waiting for the appearing of the bright and morning Star. Even so come, Lord Jesus! The air was pungent with the aroma of salt. Do we not often forget that “ye are the salt of the earth” ? Each day I took a sun bath. His majesty, the chief orb of the day, covered my face with a coat I had not before. So it is that the Son of righteousness garments His children with His own righteousness. Are we basking in the sunlight o f His love? The sun bleaches things, but tans per s h i p s , tenders, dredges, barges, and what not. Each ship was entirely differ ent. This illustrates the individuality of
sons. The gospel is a savor o f life unto life, or a savor of death unto death. There is medicinal value in the . sun’s rays. Some day, the Son of righteousness shall rise with healing in His beams. Then the entire earth shall be in spiritual, intel lectual, moral, social, and physical health. FLOWERS— I was passing by a city park one day. I noticed that workmen were digging out the tulip plants which had come to flower in the previous weeks: Other plants were being used. Why? The flower beds are kept in perpetual blossom by planting, and then by digging out and planting again. How beautiful is the park which is ever filled with flowers in bloom ! Here we have a picture of what the Christian life ought to be. The tulips of holiness,' the roses o f righteousness im parted, the flowers o f faith, hope, and love are to be seen in our lives moment by mo ment, day and night, spring or, fall. The Spirit is the One who plants and trans plants. May we yield to Himl Full sur render results not only in the beauty o f holiness, but in the fruitfulness that glori fies God. THE TIDE—There is nothing invigor ating in low tide. I have often looked upon the low tide at Quartermaster Harbor. What a sight! Barnacles, shells, sand, stones, slime, boats lying on their sides in the mud, automobile tires, rusty cans, broken bottles, and what not I The water seems dead. The air is asleep. But there cometh a change. The water rushes in. How thrilling to see the trium phant march o f the moving waters! How our blood is stirred when we hear the shout of the irresistible sea I How we are moved when we feel the atmosphere astir with new life and the earth atremble with the might o f the onrushing waves I “There is a tide in the affairs o f men which taken at its flood leads on to for tune.” So a great poet noted years ago. In the church, in the nation, and in the world, the tide has been at ebb for these many months, yea, for at least three years. The worst in mankind has been uncovered. Human and institutional wrecks dot the beach o f human events. The nations have been walking in mud. The slime o f law lessness has offended the nostrils of good citizenship. The debris of apostasy has littered the sands of ecclesiastical life. Is there a change in sight? Are there evidences of spiritual and economic re vival? Will the ship of state again ride proudly at anchor? Will society be shaken by the power of a moral awakening? Will the church again breathe the invigorating air o f spiritual arousement? If so, the in dividual and the church, anticipating the tide coming to its flood and planning there for, will be riding on the crest of the wave by and by.
PEOPLE AT WORK—On the Mount of Transfiguration, Peter blurted out, “Let us build three tabernacles.” In the garden,
P e t e r d r e w h i s sword and cut off the ear of the high p r ie s t’s s e r v a n t . Through the women, Jesus had sent a
message to the disciples commanding them to await His appearing in Galilee. To fill in the time, Peter said, “I go a fishing.” Peter was ever the first to speak, the first to act. Whatever his hand did was done with the vim of true fervency. He rushes through the Acts of the Apostles like a flaming flambeau, healing the sick, preach ing the gospel, confronting the Sanhedrin, driving out demons, defying powers and principalities. The thoughts and desires o f Peter’s heart were expressed through his tongue, hands, and feet—straightway I He was preeminently a man of action. Hustle, bustle, animation were meat and drink to his hungering and thirsting soul. But like others of his disposition, he wanted all to conform to his mould. He was impatient with the thinker. He could not grasp John’s method o f service. Pro found contemplation was foreign to his makeup. Yet, was John inferior to Peter in service rendered to God and man? John mused upon the words and works of the Lord Jesus until they wrapped his soul in strong conflagration. The Gospel according to him has been translated into more languages than any other portion of the Book; This same Gospel has relieved more sorrow, brought more comfort, saved more souls, strengthened more Christians than any other portion of the sacred pages. Think you that John would have seen the heavens open had he spent most of his time amid the din of business and the hum of the secular? It was the exile of Patmos, dwelling alone with God, who gave to thousands of generations the Reve lation. Paul was an ardent missionary. He sped from city to city and from nation to nation founding churches in Asia Minor, Mace donia, Greece, Rome. He kicked up the dust of innumerable roads in his zeal. The chariot wheels o f his fervor were ever hot with hurry. But where are the churches that he founded? Paul spent a few years in the wilds of Arabia, studying. A short while he was in prison, thinking. From these haunts of retirement there came forth those mighty Epistles that established the church upon the Rock and thrilled all Christendom, even unto this present hour. We need the street speaker, the tract dis tributor, the prison worker, the evangelist, the pastor, the Sunday-school teacher; but we also need the theologian to contend for the faith, the poet to chime spiritual canto,
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