February 1932
T h e
K i n g ’ s
B u s i n e s s
64
C hrist ’ s D ivine P eace In John 14:27, our Lord said, “ My peace I give unto you.” Men are striving to bring peace to this troubled world, peace through leagues and world courts and man made treaties. Such have always failed in the past, and such are destined to fail today and in the future. World peace will never be attained until there comes upon the scene of human action the world Peacemaker, Jesus Christ. The peace our Lord offers here is not external peace, which men are seeking to manufacture. This peace our Lord offers is internal peace. It is that peace which finds its origin in the heart which is at peace with God, and therefore at peace with man. It is an internal peace which was the parting gift of our Lord to His disciples and to us. It is that peace which the children of God may know in the heat and stress of passion. Here is a strange para dox—peace in the hour of conflict. Two artists painted pictures descriptive of peace. One painted a quiet, calm, placid lake, surrounded by the high and majestic Alps. Upon the bosom of the lake there was not a ripple. Trees and mountains were reflected therein. It was a beautiful concept of peace. Another artist painted the roaring, plunging Niagara. On the American side, just where the turbulent torrent breaks with a mighty plunge into the abyss below, he painted a tree with limbs outstretched above the cataract. There, on a slender branch, he placed a bird’s nest, and in it a mother bird. Beneath this striking scene, the artist wrote one word, “ Peace.” Such is the peace that our Lord offers us. In the midst of the raging, destructive tornado, it is declared that there is a calm spot in the heart of the storm where a little feather may be carried as softly and tenderly as a sleeping babe upon a mother’s breast. It was in the long ago that a great prophet declared, “ Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: be cause he trusteth in thee.” The peace our Lord Jesus Christ offers is eternal peace. It is right relationship with God and man here, and eternal felicity with all the creation of God in the hereafter. With this concept of peace and its full realization within the heart of the believer, well may he sing, There comes to my heart a sweet strain, A glad and a joyous refrain, I sing it again and again, Sweet peace, the gift o f God’s love. So here is the third great contribution Jesus Christ left us. C hrist ’ s D ivine B lood In 1 Corinthians 11:25, we read, “ This cup is the new testament in my blood.” Here our Lord Jesus Christ used the personal pronoun, “ My” in connection with a material substance—His blood. Along the Via Dolorosa, that awful way o f grief, He was led, having been scourged and crowned with thorns, to be nailed to a cross and pierced with a spear. It was a way of blood. Does any one believe that the blood from that precious body, which was drunk by mother earth, ever returned to flow again through the veins and heart of our Lord’s pre cious body? If it did not, then that bipod which He shed is in this world today. When our Lord appeared before His disciples after the resurrection, they declared, when they saw Him, that He was a. spirit. His reply was, “ A spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.” Then He
“ God So Loved . . That He Gave . . ” God gave us His Son, His Beloved, His Son, His perpetual delight, In whom all creation was vested, All wisdom, all power, all might. For man, whom God made in His' image, Rebelled, and so guilt entered in. God saw but one way for redemption, One method of dealing with sin. He .spared not His Son, His Beloved, Delivered Him up for us all, That He, on the cross, should redeem us From death, the result of man’s fall. God gave up His Son to the mocking, . The scourging, the cross with its shame. His life-blood was shed for our cleansing, That we might be called by His Name. God gave up His Son, His Beloved, The heavens were emptied—/o r me! O Love, passing all understanding, My heart bows adoring to Thee. God gave up His Son to redeem me, Can I give Him less than my all ? My life to be used as He willeth, Rejoicing to follow His call.
— I vy M. F ordham .
“ My bank,” “ My farm,” “ My house,” “ My wife,” “ My children.” He that was rich, for our sakes, became poor that we through His poverty might become rich. Our Lord did use the personal pronoun “ My.” It is interesting to note in what connection He used that personal pronoun. C hrist ’ s D ivine O rganism ■ In Matthew 16:18, Jesus said, “ Upon this rock I will build my church.” The church of Christ is more than an organization; it is an organism, His body. The church is built upon a rock basis. The church has a divine origin. It is the offspring of Christ’s love and sacrifice. The church has a divine head, Jesus Christ. The church has a divine mission. The church is to go, disciple, baptize, and teach all nations. The church has a divine hope—the blessed hope of reunion with the risen Head and the consummation of the marriage, which will result in union and life together in that blessed home above. Such is the contribution that Jesus Christ made and left on earth. C hrist ’ s D ivine W ords In John 6:63, our Lord declares that the words which He spake are far more significant than any words of men. “ The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.” Human nature demands a revelation. Here it is. Words such as man never spake, containing, both spirit and life, are essential for the human soul. The words of man are often temporal and inaccurate. But the Word of God is settled forever in heaven. The words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the inspired apostles give to us something more than a religion. Chris tianity is not a mere religion. Christianity is a revelation. The words of Jesus reveal to us the heart of God. His di vine words are a most valuable contribution, left to us.
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