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THE KING’S BUSINESS
Then that Scripture in John 12:24, “Except a grain of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone; but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.” Those cultured Greeks came wanting to see Jesus. Philip told Andrew about it, and then they took them to Jesus for an introduction. What did our Lord say ? “I am glad to see you, I am glad to have you see Me?” Not a word of it. He said, “Except a grain of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone. Philip, An drew, if your Greek friends see Me now, they will not see Jesus at all. They will see the perfect man, the Incarnate. God, but they will not see Jesus. The only way to behold Jesus is to see Me in the process of dying. Except a grain of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone. I have come to this world to save the lost, and it is by the power of death that I can multiply Myself.” You can keep the wheat in the barn, protected from weather and' weevil, but you will have no crop. You can sow it out in the field, and harrow it in, and go ten days from now, and it is not worth a sixpence. It seems to have been lost.. Its value is lost, but it has died with a view to the harvest. “Except a grain of wheat . . . die, it abideth alone.” You are not having any con verts. Are you dying? Is the sacri ficial heart of Christ beating in your heart? The Church of Jesus Christ is not being multiplied as it should; the harvest is not great. What is the matter? Have we reached the prin ciple and incarnated it into our lives, of the Cross of Tesus? That Scrip ture, then, has deeper meaning, “If any man will come after Me, let him denv himself ,and take up His cross, and follow Me.” Live the sacrificial life, be upon your Calvary, crucified with your Lord, and the grains of wheat will be multiplied. But if we spend our time protecting ourselves,
and strengthening the remains, and looking after the ninety and nine, while the one wanders off into the mountains and desert of death,, we will wither, we will cease almost to exist, the candle stick will be removed. If we would multiply let the glory of the Cross fill our hearts and master our lives. Just one more. “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches, and wisdom and strength, and honour and glory and blessing” (Rev. 5:12). Let Us step inside the gates ajar, and look and listen. As we look, we see a throne, and in the midst of the throne “the Lamb, as it had been slain.” The throne of heaven is occupied by the slain Lamb, risen from the dead. Heaven is ruled by the sacrificial principle of the Cross of Christ. If John should meet James on the streets of glory and ask, “How much do you think Paul is worth?” James would not think of gold, for they pave the streets with it up there! He would not think of banknotes and wealth of earth. He would just think, “How much is Paul like Jesus Christ on the Cross?” His worth is in pro portion to the similarity between him and Jesus Christ on the Cross. “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain.” When we adopt heaven’s standard of worth and live up to it, you need not go to heaven; it has come to you. You need not have golden streets to Walk on; you can tramp the cobble stones of London in a London fog with heaven in your soul. “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain.” The coronation of Tesus Christ as Lamb of God makes heaven here and hereafter. I heard in my boyhood the story of the noble Queen Victoria. It is famil iar, doubtless, to every Englishman, but it stirred my childish heart. She sat in her coronation week, in.the royal box, while Handel’s “Messiah” was being played. The lady-in-waiting went to her and said, “Everyone in the
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