TH E K I NG ' S BUS I NESS
March, 1933
116
commandment. Himself He would not saye. Thus poor beyond all poverty did He become, who was the most rich God and Lord o f earth and heaven. —J. O swald D ykes . MARCH 28 “Fight the good fight o f faith” (1 Tim. 6:l2).|g The position of perpetual victory is that of perpetual trust in Jesus. Satan under stands this, and therefore bends his prin ciple effort to undermine our faith. . . . Having gained the victory by surrender to the Lord, and having cast all your cares on Him, knowing that He careth for you, now be sure that you do not allow the ad versary to get you back into your old struggling way; but be vigilant to remain steadfast in your trust in Jesus. Then the apostle adds the confident prayer of his own heart in our behalf. “The God of all grace, who hath called us unto1his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered awhile, make you perfect, stab- lish, strengthen, settle you [in the faith]. To him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.”—W. E. B oardman . MARCH 29 "Our God is a consuming fire” (Heb. 12:29). This is not wholly an angry threat. Ra ther, it is a revelation of God in His sanc tifying grace and power. It is our God who is “a consuming fire.” There are things in all o f us that we are not able to eliminate ourselves, and we would give any price to have consumed. . . . Beloved, have you experienced the blessedness of having God’s fire burn out your inmost be ing ? Do you know what it is to lay every thing of the flesh and self and sin on the Lamb o f God as your sin-offering, while your soul is cleansed and emancipated and you joyfully sing, “ Oh, fire of God, burn on, burn on, Till all my dross is burned, away ; Oh, fire o f God, burn on, burn on, Prepare me for the testing day” ? Above all things, fire is the mightiest of forces. It drives our engines and propels our commerce. It is the only thing that can move the heart of man and the church of God. Oh, for the dynamite of the Holy Ghost 1 —A. B. S impson . MARCH 30 “ They might be . . . but they would not hear" (Jer. 13:11). God would, and Israel would not; that accounts for every sad failure in Israel’s history. The eighteen months o f wilder ness journey lengthened out to forty years; the remnants of the Canaanites left in the inheritance of every tribe to be a thorn in their side; the miserable times of oppres sion suffered in the history o f the Judges; the appalling downward course o f Israel and Judah from the glory of Solomon’s reign to the transportation; yea, and the scattered condition o f Israel’s tribes to this day: all are due to this one root error, all described by one sentence: God would, and Israel would not. “How often would I . . . and ye would not! Behold, your house is left unto you desolate” (Matt. 23 : 37, 38). S.uch was the last summary o f the rejected Saviour, o f which the bitter truth is still a realized fact today. The glorious purposes of God were frustrated for Israel and Judah; His rich provision of grace despised and left unused; and the royal in heritance o f blessing forfeited and lost, because “they would not hear.” Now then,
ours as to the garments, or habits, or ways in which we are to walk; His distinctions between clean and unclean must be accept ed; His limitations and definitions wel comed on all points. “Whether therefore ye eat or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.”—H ubert B rooke ; MARCH 23 “ The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us" (John 1:14). The incarnation is only the beginning of mystery. Another, which touches every one of us, is the fact that Christ must be “ born in us.” i t will help us not at all that Christ was born in Bethlehem and took upon Himself the form of frail humanity, unless He is born in our heart. The Word must be made soul—our soul. That is to say, He must become one with us at the very center of our being, and control us completely, as a captain directs the course o f his vessel through storm and night. When Christ is made soul of our soul within us, we shall have what Masefield calls “tlie lighted mind,” and shall see all1, things new and wonderfiiS-Not only shall we cry, “I live,, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me” ; but His glory will shine through our words and deeds. ,—R obert 5 P. A nderson . y MARCH 24 "Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing o f faith f"- (Gai. 3:2 ). Son- of man, Thou hast robbed me of my glory. Before I saw Thee, I was proud of my past works; my ideal was low, and I was easily satisfied. . . . Yesterday I strut ted through the temple and cried, “Lord, I thank thee that I am not as other men” ; today I beat upon my breast and say, “Lord, be merciful to me a sinner.”',;And yet I am nearer to Thee now than I was then. I would not go back to yesterday. It is light and not darkness that reveals my distance from Thee. . . . It is the height of my,new ideal which prevents me from being satisfied; it is the jealousy of my enlarging love that will not let me say, “Well done. O Sun o f Righteousness, whose healing wings begin by overshadow ing me; O spotless Lamb, whose glory cru cifies my pride, O Pearl of great price, be fore whose flashing radiance my gold in deed is dim, the shadow and the cross and the dimness are all from Thee. It is Thy Spirit within me that has taught me Thy height above me; my despair of myself is born o f faith in Thee.” —G eorge M atheson . MARCH 25 “ The Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him” (Lk. 3:22). This was a very special and an altogether extraordinary descent of the Holy Ghost at the Jordan. But why was it as a dove? . . . If there is one winged creature bet ter fitted than another to symbolize how God is affected toward us, and what effects God would fain work in us, it is surely just a dove. “ For a dove, you know,” says the sorrfe time President of Magdalen Col lege, Oxford, “is the most meek, and the most innocent of all birds; without gall, without talons, having no fierceness in it, expressing nothing but love and friendship to its mate in all its carriages, and mourn ing over its mate in all its distresses. And, accordingly, a dove was a most fit emblem of the Spirit that was poured out upon our Saviour when He was just about to enter upon His work o f our salvation. For as sweetly as doves do converse with doves, so may every sinner and Christ converse together.” —A lexander W hyte .
The Bible There is no book like the Bible for excellent wisdom and use.—H ale . The Bible is a window in this prison of hope, through which we look into eternity.—D wight . The man of one book is always formidable; but when that book is the Bible, he is irresistible.—T aylor . The Scriptures teach us the best way of living, the noblest way of suffering, and the most comfortable way of dying.—F lavel . There never was found, in any age of the world, either religion or law that did so highly exalt the public good as the Bible.—B acon . To-sayy nothing of its holiness or authority, the Bible contains more specimens of genius and taste than any other volume in existence. —L andor . In what light soever we regard the Bible, whether with reference to revelation, to history, or to morality, it is an invaluable and inexhaustible mine of knowledge and virtue. —J ohn Q uincy A dams . Spirit of God, descend upon my heart; Wean it from earth; through all its pulses move; Stoop to my weakness, mighty as Thou art, And make me love Thee as I ought to love. —G eorge C roly . MARCH 26 “ What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee” (Psa. 56:3). Even the children of God have times of fear—times when anticipations o f future events and experiences make them afraid. The Lord is aware of this, and has pro vided for it. There are eighty-four “ fear nots” in the Bible. The need is real; the provision to meet it is abundant. “ Fear not,” says He. . . . True, there no doubt is the arranged program; and the dreaded events may be there, and, if so, will come to pass. But, by the side o f the dreaded items, is a marginal reading. ' This tells of a sure purpose o f blessing; how the event shall unfailingly be controlled, directed, overruled, so as to bring to pass that which is settled and fixed in God’s mind and heart . . . God’s people o f old tell us of having had a splendid “through ticket” given them for the “wealthy place” (Psa. 66:12). He has provided “through tickets” for all. There is one for each o f you. The booking office for the “wealthy place” is Isaiah 43:2. There is no charge. Apply for it; and as you lay it safely up in your heart, say, “ I will trust, and not be afraid.” —J. T. W . MARCH 27 “ Though he was rich" (2 Cor. 8 :9). Jesus walked on earth with a forfeited life; His own, indeed, to lay down or to take again (as He well knew), had He but chosen to assert His rightful claim, or to use what He possessed; yet no longer His own, in fact, because He had devoted it to the law, given it away for a ransom, consecrated it for a sacrifice. Here was the acme of self-impoverishment. He held not even Himself to be properly His own. On the contrary, He held Himself to be a ran som for our transgression, a price due, a Person doomed; and so gave Himself to justice, to be handled at pleasure by the righteous Father who had given Him this
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