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T h e K i n g ’ s B u s i n e s s
January 1931
missionaries for whose financial needs the church assumed responsibility, and to rejoice in the fellowship of a total of nearly a hundred members who were standing for God in the dark places of the earth. Friends who say that the hope of Christ’s return will paralyze Christian effort should do two things: First, they should study the plain statements of the Word of God on this subject; and second, they should learn something of the history of the churches that believe and teach this truth. It frequently happens that those who are the most bitterly opposed to this doctrine have not given any hon est consideration to the Bible teaching concerning it or to its practical application. There is something uncanny and unreasonable in the rejection of a truth that inspires and blesses all who receive it. How can the objectors explain the fact that those of us who know Christ as. our personal Saviour, and in whose hearts He has put a love for His ap pearing, are willing to sacrifice and toil and pray that oth ers may know Him and be made ready for His coming? If we were following a delusion or clinging to a bit of re ligious sentiment, such a revolution in our attitude and ministry, could not occur. No, we realize that His com ing will mean glory and honor for the church in His pres ence, and that it will bring millennial peace to this poor sin-sick world. In this knowledge we find inspiration and courage to work and watch and pray till Jesus comes. loss, of death. Everywhere men seek insurance from pos sible damage to health and property and put away that thought of their end which they cannot bear. The fact is that our enemies are so many and so strong and in the outcome so sure to be successful that we dare not think of them. We rush blindly on, determined to do the best we can in any hard experience that may come and feeling that this is the best that we can do. But it is not the best that we can do. There is one who has said to man: “Fear not.” It is a direction with out exceptions. It means that we need fear nothing and no one. It assures us that even the shadow of death can be passed through and that no earthly loss can equal the heavenly gain of those who trust in Christ. In lowest and loneliest hours there is a voice that whispers: “Fear not, for I am with thee; be not dismayed, for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee, yea, I will help thee, yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteous ness.” Even when the mind is unbalanced from its seat and we are no longer ourselves, even when we sink into unknown abysses of overwhelming waves and billows of deep and dark experience, even when God seems to have forsaken us, the Saviour preserves us from all evil be cause He preserves the soul; that shall never perish. Yes, the earth may be removed and the mountains may be cast into the midst of the sea; all the fountains of the great deep of God’s judgments may be broken u p ; earthly history may close in general ruin because of sin; but God is a refuge and a strength for us, and there is a river that makes glaci, by the side of which we may yet sit down in happy and secure peace. There is no fear in Christ. Flee for a refuge to the hope that is set before us in H im ! Say with the psalmist: “He hath delivered me from all my fears.”
ow of death” in lands beyond the seas. I entered upon a new pastorate, and I began at the same time to teach the people that the Christ who came to suffer was also coming again to reign. I stressed the fact that we should “abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his com ing.” I pointed out that, in the light of this glorious hope, we should ever live and give and sacrifice—and suffer if need be—for His name’s sake. What was the result ? I saw that little group of less than fifty believers grow to a company of nearly two thousand. Of that number, sixteen young people were converted, trained, and sent out to foreign fields where God has used and is still using them. Through them the ministry has been multiplied an hundredfold. That church, organized thirty-five years ago, is still function ing splendidly. It is constantly witnessing to lost souls in thé city in which it is located and, at the same time, is adding new workers to its staff of representatives in foreign fields. Later it was my privilege to become the pastor of the Moody Church in Chicago, founded by D. L. Moody, that great lover of souls and believer in the Lord’s second advent. In that church the “blessed hope” has, through out the years, inspired sacrificial service. It was my joy, while there, to help in the support of more than sixty EAR is a terrible thing. Horror that overwhelms jlp fjr* mind and soul follows close upon it. Like a J g g l child, afraid in the dark, we cry out in the midst of it. When we feel ourselves endangered, j j j p p caught in the grasp of mighty and deaf forces that sweep us away like drowning men, _no philosophy can help us with its anesthetic, no optimism can assure us. Our animal spirits flee before physical weakness and pain. As the heart beats low,^ shadows invade the breast, clouds overcast the intellect, sins of the past and the bitter memories of experience gather about to accuse us. More than any bodily misery is the reeling of the mind, the taking away of the seat of courage and fortitude. We are enough ourselves to suffer without hope but not enough ourselves to summon the forces of the soul. Fear cometh as a desolation, calamity as a whirlwind; distress and anguish come upon us while we call and hear no answer. It is the loneliness of it that is terrible. We are sep arated in our trouble and weakness and sickness and danger from the brightness and companionship of life; we are set aside in dismaying contrasts from the bright ness, the confident prosperity, the strength, the happy health, the security of life; we are among the unemployed, the unneeded, the dependent; our history tends towards the grave, and that threatens to swallow up into earthly nothingness and unto future judgment. Then it is that our fear cometh to shake all our foundations and treat us like a leaf in a blast. We may rightly use the term our fear. Fear dwells in every breast. There never has been a fearless person and there never can be. Fear is a part of the constitution of sinful and threatened humanity. It sleeps in the time of our day but awakes in our night time. All its life long our human nature is in bondage to the fear of pain, of
jSug m MSr Deliverance From Fears B y C hristopher G. H azard
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