April 1932
T h e
K i n g ’ s
157
B u s i n e s s
blossoming bud, surely He has a plan for the soul created in His image, and a purpose that will carry it to its destiny! The creation o f the material universe was only the foundation upon which God would rear His eternal, moral purpose o f lifting men and women, who believed in God through Jesus Christ, into the image of His Son, the moral likeness of the Lord Jesus Christ. And because Paul believed that the “ Lord God omni potent reigneth” and was working all things according to an eternal purpose, therefore he could say that “ all things work together for good to them that love God.” “ A ll T hings W ork T ogether for G ood ” Here we must
its silver lining, and in quiet assurance, the Christian can wait for the day which is steadily and surely coming, the day of interpretation when all will be made plain. The experience o f Jacob and Joseph illustrates this truth. Recall the inimitable story as it is recorded in Gen esis 39 and 42, especially in 4 2 :36: “ And Jacob their father said unto them, Me have ye bereaved of my children: Joseph is not, and Simeon is not, and ye will take Benjamin away: all these things are against me.” Jacob’s sons had just returned to Canaan from Egypt,
whence t h e y h a d gone to buy corn. They had come home depressed in spirit, filled with fear, to tell their old father Jacob what strange ‘experience had be fallen them while in Egypt. They seemed' to infect their father with their own fear, and caught in its contagion, the old patriarch to whom God had always been so real and wonder ful, and in whose life God’s hand w&s pe culiarly manifest, re fused to see anything but the dark side, and cried out, “ All these t h i n g s are against me.” mention of God. Yet, how human it was! Poor Jacob! In after years, he would smile at his unwarranted anxiety, but at the moment, how real it all was! Listening to his sons’ story, he had forebodings of mischief. Gray hairs, sorrow, and Sheol loomed large before his mind’s eye. He e are surprised that he made no
take the apostle’s statement in its most inclusive sense, which takes into considera tion all that is men tioned in verses 35 to 39. There' in the grasp of that all-em bracing purpose we find: Tribulation Distress Death Life Angels Nakedness Peril
Sword Height Depth Any other
Spring B y R obert C rumly
created thing Persecution Famine Principalities Powers Things present Things to come
Out of the south steals a redolent breeze, (Full-mellow, and wondrously mild!) Spreading fair blossoms on hill side and plain, On meadow, and woodland wild. And as the delicate breath o f the spring Awakens the newly-turned sod, So may my soul, by Thy life-giv ing breath, Be quickened, 0 Spirit o f God!
The text says “all things,” and if we are to have all things we most surely must have those things which are conflicting and confusing, dis turbing and disap pointing. The Chris tians of the first cen
tury were familiar with them, yea, they are known to God’s children in all time. And if we are to see the silver on the Christian’s cloud, we must know with Paul that those who trust God, who are in His great purpose and process of being prepared for the power and glory of an endless life must have the all things in their lives. It is the only explanation of life as it concerns the children of God. Many times bodily pain, mental dis quietude, secret grief, burdens, and bitterness lie heavily upon the heart, often confusing and befuddling the mind. But behind it all is the omnipotent God. Even though a frowning Providence may hide the smile of His face for a time, it is always there. The Christian’s cloud has always
was nursing a deep sorrow. He saturated his mind with self-pity and seemed to find a dreary pleasure in enumer ating his troubles and sorrows. His faith was not yet perfected, and he inferred that “ all these things” were against him. But we who live at this distance from the great drama know that the unfolding o f events revealed that “ all these things,” rather than working against Jacob, were “ work ing together for good,” and that Jacob saw the day when he confessed that God had redeemed him out of all evil. Jacob spoke in ignorance o f the facts ; Joseph was not dead, Simeon was not dead, and Benjamin was safe. All
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