June 1927
358
T h e
K i n g ’ s
B u s i n e s s
The peace o f God is known, as grace reigns in the heart. As when the disciples were gathered in the upper room, with shut doors, Jesus appeared in their midst and said, “Peace be unto you:” so when the world with its pleasures, and self with its ambitions, are shut out of our hearts, Christ enters and takes full possession of our being: then He says in the restfulness of His word, in the stillness of His Spirit, arid in the calmness of His pres ence, “Peace be unto you,” “My peace I give unto you” (John 14:27). And as long as our Lord has possession of us, by our continued trust in Him, we shall enjoy the secret and sanctifying blessing of “perfect peace” (Isaiah 26:3). Peace is the result of communion with grace. As David Brainerd has said, “Filling up our time with, and for God, is the way to rise up and lie down in peace . . . . I longed that my life might be filled with fervency and activity in the things of God. Oh the peace, the com posure, and God-like serenity of such a frame!:. Heaven must differ from this only in degree, not in kind.” Mark those words, “Filling up our time with God is the way to . . . . peace.” Surely this is possible? It is. We may have fellowship with God in all our life, whether it be our business life, home life, church life, social life, or private life, for it is as we have communion with God in all things, by doing all according to His Word, and for H-is glory, that the calm of God fills our spirit, like the storm-tossed lake that heard the stilling voice of Christ, as He said, “Peace, be still,” and at once was at rest. gfe §& A Livingstone Episode Recalled B Y the accidental overturning of a lamp, the little chapel at Stanford Rivers, near Ongar, Essex, England, in which David Livingstone attempted to preach his maiden sermon, has been completely destroyed by fire, happily without loss of life. The chapel was built just one hun dred years ago. It was in 1838 that Livingstone, after having studied medicine in Glasgow, was sent to Ongar by the London Missionary Society for some instruction in pastoral work, under the minister of the Congregational Church there, Rev.. S. Dyall. Mr. Dyall fell ill one Sunday after the morning service, and a substitute was sought in Ongar for the afternoon service. Livingstone consented on this short notice to go, but with much trepidation. The first part of the service passed without any unusual occurrence, but when he came to the sermon his message vanished. He repeated his text slowly in the hope of recovering himself, but in vain. After a very embarrassing pause he said simply, “Well, friends, I have forgotten all I had pre pared to say to you,” and without another word he left the pulpit. The secretary of the London Missionary Society later received an account of the incident, which account stated that a man who could not preach the simple Gospel to a few country folk was not likely to be a con spicuous success in the foreign fields! But all the world now knows how he made good later. The Bible used on that occasion, reported in many newspapers as having been destroyed in the recent fire, was removed about three years ago by Rev. R. W. New- lands, of Ongar, to the room Livingstone occupied during his stay there.
You’ll Have to Answer On the same page of the Bible we read the record of two remarkable conversions (Acts 16). Lydia, through the gentle opening of her heart by the Spirit of God in the quiet of the open country by the river side, was born from above. The Philippian jailer, in the midst of the rumblings of an awful earthquake, hears the voice of the Spirit and is born again. Whether cultured business woman or uncouth turnkey of a jail, the need of Christ is the same. The question, “What must I do to be saved?” is one everybody will be asking soon or late. “What must I do?” (v. 30). You can’t do anything. “This is the work of God, that ye believe on Him whom He hath sent” (Jn. 6:29). Paul showed the jailer the necessity of faith in the Person of Christ and His redeem-, ing work. The jailer could have sung the hymn: “I do believe; I now believe, that Jesus died for me.” An old cause produced the old effect. The grace of God did its work in his heart immediately upon his surrender to Christ. In an hour’s time this man was a brutal heathen, an anxious inquirer, a rejoicing believer and then a Christian worker. That’s how quickly God can do things when a man will let Jesus come in. He is doing the same thing today. Why do you keep Him out ?
We Shall Go Home a t Evening M rs . M. L. R ayne
A little child was reading, The text was wondrous fair; “We shall go home at evening, And find it morning there.”
“It means, mamma,” she prattled, With shining eyes and fond, “When all the stars are lighted, That Heaven is just beyond.”
Closed, closed that book forever! To prove that promise fair, My child went home at evening And found the morning there.
And often when I’m weary, And often when I’m sad, Comes back that precious reading, To make my spirit glad.
And what are years of waiting? And what are years of pain? If, when the Heavens are opened.
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