July 1931
291
T h e
K I N g ’ s B u s i n e s s
(Crumbs Jrotn THE KING’S TABLE . . . By THE EDITOR
not be easy for a man who is naturally impatient to subdue himself and to be quiet under misjudgment, misrepresenta tion, and cruel prejudice; but it is always -worth all that it costs. Patience will sweeten the bitterest cup. It will soften the hardest blow. Patience in the soul is like bal last in the ship; it enables one to lie by and ride out the storm. Patience is the golden shield which parries the stroke of every malicious shaft. It is the harp through which shrill winds become music. It is the oil which calms the troubled waters. It is the angel of God that walks with us through all the trials, sorrows, and disappointments that we are called upon to experience. In these strenuous days, when Satan is trying to take advantage of the fact that God’s people get tired and ner vous under their heavy burdens, we need to sit at the feet of Jesus Christ for a long time each day to learn of Him: on the one hand, how not to give offense, and on the other hand, how not to be easily provoked. High Thinking et us not be mistaken as to what high thinking really is. In the last analysis, it is done only by those who, through regeneration, have become the chil dren of God. “This is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.” , In the opinion of some, the great thinkers are com monly supposed to be the men who are conversant with the learning of the schools, while simple-hearted believers in the Lord Jesus Christ are looked down upon with a lofty scorn as if scarcely to be credited with ordinary in telligence. But if it be true that thinking is to be graded accord ing to its subject, then a wholly different viewpoint is nec essary; for the things with which the humblest child of God concerns himself are the good, the true, the beautiful, the infinite, the eternal—the very thoughts of God. When we are brought to realize that as far as the heavens are above the earth, so far are God’s thoughts above our thoughts, then we are prepared to understand that the only high thinking worthy of the name is not that which is done by the so-called philosopher, who is destined by and by to perish amid the ruins of the earthly scaling by which he has been trying to reach the heavens, but by the humble and despised believer, whose eyes have been enlightened by the Spirit, and who has thus come to know God and has learned to think God’s thoughts after Him. Our character takes its hue from the. things on which our thoughts habitually dwell. Hence, the pertinence and the importance of the apostolic injunction: “What soever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, what soever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, what soever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.” Obe dience to this command is the great lack of the church to-
h en daniel W ebster deliver ed the oration at the dedication of Bunker Hill Monument, the people, drawn by the fame of the orator and the mag net of patriotism, came in a vast assembly to the historic spot. In their eagerness to see the illustrious speaker and to hear his words, the crowd surged forward toward the stand, and the strong began to crush the weak underfoot. But what can drive back an excited mob? The chairman of the occasion shouted, and officers displayed their em blems of authority, but the crowd came on. Then Web ster arose and, in dignified tones, requested the people to fall back. The cry came from the struggling mass, “It is impossible!” And then the orator showed his marvel ous power. “Impossible ?” thundered W e b s t e r . “Impossible ? Nothing is impossible on Bunker Hill!” Before the magic of those words, the crowd fell back, as if awed by a supernatural power. But there is a greater power than that shown by Web ster on Bunker Hill. “He who spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?” We need to listen today to those words coming down through the centuries, fraught with memories more tender, sacred, and holy than the memories of Bunker Efill. “Nothing is im possible on Calvary!” Patience and Forbearance I n our L ord and S aviour J esus C hr ist we find a sub lime example of patience and forbearance. With Him there was no thought of evil. There was no flashing stroke of resentment. There was no hasty self-vindication. There was no indignant answer to accusations brought against Him. When He was reviled, He reviled not again; when He suffered, He threatened not. He was brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so He opened not His mouth. In this rushing, blundering, wicked world, there will always be much to vex earnest and righteous souls. Many things will go wrong through the incompetency, the shift lessness, and the perverse dispositions of men. We shall suffer sometimes from the open injustice of our brethren, sometimes from the honest misconceptions of those who are nearest to us, sometimes from the envies and jealous ies of those who do not suspect that their own hearts are capable of entertaining such feelings. But, if we are to walk as our Lord walked, there is just one course for us, and that is to be tenderly forbearing in the face of all wrongs and oppositions, all taunts and provocations, and all misconceptions of our spirit and aim. Defeated utterly in our efforts to help, rudely disappointed in our hopes, and smitten down by the very hands which ought to hold us up, let us still be tenderly forbearing. After all, this is the better way. Only as one is pa tient and forbearing, can he be like Jesus in his daily walk. In like manner, only through patience and forbearance can that life be made to yield the best results. It will
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