December, 1933
T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
418
Five Wise Men and Their Gift [Continued from page 413] supplanted plasticity. What tragedy! Here had been found no Christmas gift for Christ! * * * Christmas day was Sunday, and the group of Institute students was scheduled to speak in a little town perhaps forty miles away, where courageous farmer folk, like their distant bachelor neighbor, had grown used to nature’s stern rebuffs. The church, to which the five proceeded, had no right to stand aside, in proud aloofness, from the few scattered houses and the village store that made up the town; but it did, despite the fact that its paint had long ago peeled off. Yet somehow, on this bright Christmas morning, the village people— especially the younger genera tion— found their way to its sagging front door, some motivated by a sense o f duty and some by curiosity. Sunday-school was at 9 :30; the Institute students ar rived at 8:30— to pray. Slipping into unseen corners of the little church— one in the basement, another in a class room in the tower, and others elsewhere— every man prayed earnestly and alone. The morning worship hour, at the insistence of the pastor who was himself a former student o f the Institute, was given into the charge o f the quintet. The boys spoke, they sang, they radiated Christ. He Himself was in con trol. Heart-hushed, the young men felt it ; wondering, the congregation sensed it. It was a holy hour. Before the vision of the five young men who spoke there loomed up constantly the form o f an old settler, clothed in the tatters o f defeat, his face and heart and manner as cheerless and unresponsive as his garden plot. The sight o f him, in memory, put fire in the students’ words and passion in their plea. In their ears there echoed ever the steady beating o f the rain’s tattoo upon a battered r o o f : “ Some soul to be a Christmas gift for Christ!” it seemed to say; and the recollection, now, begat tenderness, sympathy, love. It was youth that listened t6 the simple unfolding o f the Word, interest written large on many faces in the tracery o f tears. A challenge had been flung out—a mighty, heart-moving challenge that called for all the strength of life’s morning. It stirred hearts, as nothing had ever before been able to do. In the solemnity o f this crisis hour, when the invitations were extended to accept Christ as Saviour, or to surrender to the Lordship o f His control, six young people— almost one-fourth o f the entire congregation— rose with military precision to follow Him. L ife was before them— life and hope and opportunity, with the L o rd ! Joyful gratitude swept through the group, filling to overflowing the hearts o f those whom God had used as His messengers that day. What did it matter that, hungry and tiredSno time for a Christmas dinner— they must press on to the next appointment, more than a hundred miles away ? To youth and age alike they would continue to tell the glad story o f redeeming grace with new-born earnestness and zeal. Nothing mattered now! ;The object o f their search was theirs—a Christmas gift for Christ! In hands of faith they proffered it— six yielded young lives for His use. And looking down upon such gold and frankincense and myrrh that love presented, the King saw that other hands, invisible to many, helped to hold the gift—trembling old hands; strong mature hands; soft childish hands-—hands that bore the marks o f sacrifice that the Bible Institute o f Los Angeles might live and continue to send forth her sons and daughters to tell o f Him. In every such extended hand, He saw a costly gift— the kind His heart delights in—a Christmas gift for Him, their King.
Intercession^ As the risen Christ, our Lord is carrying on a special service now on behalf of all believers here on earth as the minister of the heavenly sanctuary. Therefore we are told “ he is able also to save them to the uttermost [that is, forevermore], that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.” He ministers in the holiest o f all as our great High Priest with God, giving every believer a perfect representation before the eternal throne. He is there also as our advocate with the Father, keeping the feet of His saints, and insuring the restoration o f every failing Christian. W e often speak, and rightly, o f the finished work of Christ. This refers, o f course, to the work o f propitiation, as we have already seen. T o this nothing can be added, nor can anything be taken from it. It is complete. To attempt to add to it would be only to try to spoil His finished work. But on the other hand, it is just as correct to speak of the unfinished work of Christ, for He began a service in behalf of His people when He ascended to heaven, which has been going on ever since and will not be finished so long as there is one saint left on earth in the place of testing and pos sible failure. W e have a sample o f His intercession in John 17,where we find His great high priestly prayer. In thatwon- derful chapter, He anticipates the cross, and we are per mitted to listen reverently to the tender words He speaks on behalf o f His own to the end of time. In John 13, we see Him acting as Advocate, washing the defiled feet of His dis ciples, thus picturing the work He has been carrying on ever since He returned to the glory. He is the girded Ser vant still, and will be so long as we need Him. “ If any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous,” and “ he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins o f the whole world.” His advocacy is based upon His propitiation. Were it not for this present service o f our Lord Jesus Christ, the first sin committed by a believer after his con version would destroy communion with God, and there would be no way to restore that communion again. It needs to be remembered that there are two links that bind every saint to the Saviour, and these are union and com munion. The link o f union is indissoluble. Once formed, it can never be broken. The link o f communion is delicate indeed. The least sin will break it and it would never be formed anew, were it not for the intercession o f our Lord Jesus. He meets every accusation o f the enemy. He pre sents our case before the Father. He, through the Holy Spirit, brings the Word to bear upon our consciences, and thus He brings us to contrition, confession, and restoration. How full is our salvation! How wonderfully has God provided! The incarnate Son became Himself our propitia tion. Resurrection attests our justification, and His inter cession carries us on to the end o f the journey. If it be asked, “ Why do we need an advocate?” the an swer is, “ Because we have an accuser, Satan, ‘the accuser of our brethren .. . which accused them before our God day and night.’ ” But “ who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that con- demneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand o f God, who also mak- eth intercession for us” (Rom. 8:33, 34). Jesus Christ meets every charge o f the adversary. His propitiatory work is the answer to every accusation. And He will min ister all needed grace to meet present need and restore the souls o f His failing saints, until the glad hour when He will call us all to meet Him above and to share the joys of the Father’s house.
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