131
April. 1936
T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S versus the SUNRISE grave in Joseph’s garden. Christ, the Lord of glory, the incarnate Son of God, He who made the worlds, the Messiah, the Son of God, had been crucified. We turn from the darkness to the sun rise. In Matthew 28:1, we find the weep ing women on their way to Joseph’s gar den with spices to anoint the dead—“as it began to dawn.” The four evangelists all insist upon the hour. Mark says it was “Very early” ; Luke, “at early dawn” (R. V .) ; John, “when it was yet dark.” The women were questioning a m o n g themselves as to who would roll away the stone. On reaching the sepulcher, they found the stone rolled away and the tomb empty. Back to the city they ran with those mighty words spoken to them at the tomb: “ He is risen.” Oh, glorious sun 1 There is no more shadow o f sin. Because Christ has risen, we are not in our sins. To the believer, sin has no more dominion. Sinners we are, but sinners saved by grace. “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus.” “He ever liveth.” “If ye then be risen with Christ, . . . set your affection on things above.”
The SHADOWS
To the Christian, there is no more shadow of death. Life and immortality are brought to light. Our everlasting hope is in Christ’s eternal word: “ Because I live, ye shall live also.” On a shelf in the Roman catacombs where bodies of Chris tians had been laid away, this inscription appears: “ There is light in this darkness; there is music in these tombs.” Where believers are concerned, there is no more shadow o f loneliness. “ Except a corn o f wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.” “I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, . . . For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.” It is the “with him” that brings us out from the shadow o f loneliness into the glorious sunlight o f the sons of God. And what happens to the shadow of unbelief ? In the full blaze o f this noon tide splendor, we must remind ourselves that the only shadow that can linger is our own shadow, when we turn our backs upon the sun—the Sun of Righteousness. “ If therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light . . . If . . . the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness 1” For every soul it must be midday or midnight. Take your choice. Sunshine or shadow, you must decide.
B y W. E. EDMONDS*
“M y soul waiteth fo r the Lord more than they that watch fo r the morning: I say, more than they that watch fo r the morning” (Psa. 130:6). "In the end of. the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day o f the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre” (Matt. 28:1). I n this first text, the picture is that o f a lone watcher in the night, of a sentinel pacing his watch upon the walls of a be leaguered city, of a mariner steering his shattered bark by dead reckoning through a murky storm, of a weary sufferer tossing on a restless bed and crying ever and anon, “Would God it were morning.” For what was the psalmist waiting ? He tells u s: “ My soul waiteth for the Lord,” that is, the promised Messiah, the unveiling of God. And he waited not without hope, for so ran the promise: “The Lord . . cometh to judge the earth” (Psa. 98:9). But why this long, long tarrying? Why the cry that is heard even today: “Watchman, what of the night?” (Isa. 21:11). Faint not; in the fullness of time, the Sun of righteousness shall arise with healing in His wings. And then shall “the day break, and the shadows flee away”-—these chilling overhanging shadows of sin and death and loneliness that gather about us. What are the shadows that have op pressed the world? There is the shadow o f sin. Christ stood in that shadow. He bore our sins in His own body on the tree. The psalmist cried: “Have mercy upon me, O God, . . . my sin is ever before me.” Is. there any escape from the record of a mislived past? To the Old Testament prophet came the com fort : Be of good courage; there cometh One who shall be wounded for thy trans gressions and bruised for thine iniquities, and by His stripes thou shalt be healed. “ O Lord, . . . I hope in thy word.” There is the shadow of death. Our Lord stood in that shadow also. He tasted death for every man. He died that we might live; but we are to live not unto ourselves, but unto him who loved us and gave him self for us. The patriarch inquired: “ If a man die, shall he live again?” (Job 14:14). Christ has answered that question. Let us not be dismayed, but wait patiently for Him who “hath brought life and immor tality to light.” “ O Liard, . . . I hope in thy word.” There is the shadow -of loneliness. The Son of God knew this experience in infinite measure when, being ‘‘made . . . sin for us,” He cried: “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (Mk. 15:34). There is the shadow o f unbelief. This is the eclipse that blots out the light of the resurrection. The whole world stands in that shadow. It is still true that Christ can do no mighty works because of unbelief. This is the world’s greatest sin. Christ came to dispel the darkness. But Christ “came unto his own, and his own received him not” (John 1:11). The darkest night the world ever saw was the time when the Lord o f life lay wrapped in a shroud with a napkin about His head, in a new-made * Pastor, First Presbyterian Church, Glendale, Calif., and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Bible Institute of Los Angeles.
A Letter Received by Dr, Edmonds, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Bible Institute of Los Angeles.
CH R IST IAN BUSINESS M E N ’S COMM ITTEE SPONSORING DOWNTOWN NOONDAY GOSPEL SERVICES 4443 STUART BUILDING — MAin 3590 SEATTLE, WASH. March 4, 1936 Board of Directors Los Angeles Bible Institute
558 South Hope Street Los Angeles, California Dear Brethren:
W e want to thank you for loaning your President, Dr. Paul Rood, to us. God gready used him. The people in this territory are much in love with him, having known him for so many years, having implicit confidence in him, and a profound appreciation of his ministry here and elsewhere. H e spoke to the ministers of the city, among whom he is a brother beloved. H e spoke to the business executives at a morning breakfast at the Olympic Hotel with much effectiveness and was greatly appreciated. H e addressed student bodies in various sections of the city. H e spoke several mornings at the Morning Reverie on the most powerful radio station in this section; addressed groups everywhere, and at the theater, daily, from 12 to 1, God used him in a mighty way. The evening services were well attended and productive of considerable result. Thousands throughout this territory were not only stirred spiritually and many people brought to Christ, but also a host of people all through this Northwest territory were made friends of the Biola Institute in Los Angeles. W e thank God for him, and congratulate the Bible Institute of Los Angeles upon having him as its President. Yours sincerely,
A V :H W
■ A . Vereide, Executive Secretary
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