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T H E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
October, 1934
. NOVEMBER 6 T he M agnificence of Trust “Let him trust in the name of the Lord" (Isa. 50:10). Is there nothing in dark providences, for the sake of the sight and observation of which such a day may be rendered lovely, when it is upon us? Is there nothing of God, of His wisdom and power and good ness, to be seen in thunder and lightning, in hailstones, in storms, and darkness, and tempests? Why then is it said, He hath His way in the whirlwind and storm ? And why have God’s servants of old made such notes, and observed from them such excel lent and wonderful things? There is that of God to be seen in such a day, which can not be seen in another. —J ohn B unyan . NOVEMBER 7 W atching for the Lord’s Return “Behold, the bridegroom cometh” (Matt. 25:16). The church is supposed to be watching, to be lovingly wakeful, to be looking out, to be putting forth that inquiry of the in tensely longing heart, “Why tarry the wheels of his chariots?” Alas! the church has failed in this. But that is no reason why the individual believer should not be in the full present power of the blessed hope. “Let him that heareth say, Come.” This is deeply personal. Oh! that the writer and the reader of these lines may realize habitually the purifying, sanctify ing, elevating power of this heavenly hope 1 May we understand and exhibit the prac tical power of these words of the Apostle John: “Every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.” : —Things New and Old. NOVEMBER 8 A Father’s Honor “I f then I be a father, where is mine honor?” (Mai. 1:6). Obedience is just the sort of honor which the child gives to his father and motherland so our Lord says, “If then I be a father, where is mine honor?” Where is it in your lives, where is it in your homes, where is it in your hearts, where is it when you rise morning by morning? “If then I be a father, where is mine honor?” That is what He calls fo r; holiness lies in that—a real, loving child with a glorious loving Father; a servant who fears and also reverences his Master. You cannot come into the Father’s family, without a t once coming into the Father’s purposes; . . . every . . . member of His mystical body, every servant in His household has something to do, is elected to this wonder ful purpose of serving and glorifying God. —H ubert B rooke . NOVEMBER 9 V ictorious “Fight the good fight of faith" (1 Tim. 6 : 12 ). “Take unto you the whole armor of God.” Do not imagine that you are on parade; you are going to fight. How will the fight issue? “That ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.” The fight is begin ning; what am I to do? Stand, panoplied in the armor of God. The fight thickens; what am I to do? “Withstand.” The fight is ceasing; what my position? Standing, not beaten down, but victorious. The Apos tle Paul did not come to the end saying, “Well, I have done my best.; but. it has been a great failure.” No, he said, “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my
DAILY D evo tiona l R ead ings A M ESSAGE FOR EV ERY DAY OF T H E MONTH
NOVEMBER 1 T h e Triune God
tion there in eternal praise of the Cruci fied, but .which only the eyes of faith can see. Millions wear the cross as an orna ment upon their dress, and yet do not see it. But, to the eye of faith, it stands out as clear as the rainbow did against the cloud of judgment. And that divine in scription is the one foundation of all our peace. It is this: “God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not im puting their trespasses unto them,” “for he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” —G. H. K night . NOVEMBER 4 Follow ing Our Guide “He knoweih the way that I take". (Job 23:10). My reader, let me speak to your very in most heart. It is by no means enough to set out cheerfully with your God on any venture of faith. Tear into smallest pieces any itinerary for the journey, that your imagination may have drawn up. Nothing will fall out as you expect. Your Guide will keep to no beaten road. He will lead you by yawning gulfs and under beetling cliffs, such as you never dreamed your eyes would look upon. He knows no fear, and He expects you to fear nothing while He is with you. The Clinging hand of His child makes a desperate situation a delight to Him. A true walk with God will do more to awaken awe, wonder, and amaze ment in your soul than would a century of travel through the sights of earth. It is your business to learn to be peaceful and safe in God, in every situation. —C. G. M oore . The great philosophy of the Christian life is that we are to become what we are. This means that what we are judicially, if I may use that word, we are to become experimentally. Our state is to corres pond with our standing. Whether we be lieve it or not, we give expression to this truth, even in our hymns: “So near, so very near to God, Nearer I cannot be, For in the person of His Son, I am as near as He.” We can sing that, and yet in the same ser vice we can sing: “Nearer, my God, to Thee, Nearer to Thee! E’en though it be a cross That raiseth me.” These hymns are not contradictory. To gether they take us a long way into an un derstanding of the deepest significance of the Christian life. We are to become what we are. The possible is to become the actual.—W. G raham S croggie . NOVEMBER 5 T o Becom e What We A re “That I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus” (Phil. 3:12).
“Baptising them in the name o f the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghosf’ (Matt. 28:19). It is well we should remember that the doctrine of the Holy Trinity has a deep devotional aspect. As we think of God, we remember the inconceivable distance that separates Him in His holiness from sinful men, and we bow in deep contrition and holy fear. As we think of Christ the Son, we remember the inconceivable near ness in which He came to be born of a woman, a daughter of Adam, and to die the accursed death, and so to be insepar ably joined to us to all eternity. And as we think of the Holy Spirit, we remember the inconceivable blessedness of God hav ing His abode in us, and making us His home and His temple through eternity. —A ndrew M urray . To the great One in Three, The highest praises be, Hence evermore 1 “When thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall re ward thee openly” (Maft. 6:6). No lesson is more important for us to learn—yet how slow we are to learn it— that for the lack of habitual seasons set apart for devout meditation upon the Word of God and for prayer, nothing else will compensate. We hurry to a public service with but a few minutes of private prayer, allowing precious time to be absorbed with social pleasures, restrained from with drawing from others by a false delicacy, when to excuse ourselves for needful com munion with God and His Word would have been perhaps the best witness possible to those whose company was holding us unduly. If we are to feed others, we must be fed; and even public and united exer cises of praise and prayer can never supply that food which is dealt out only to the believer in the closet—the shut-in place with its closed doors and open window where we meet God alone.—A. T. P ierson . “God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them" (2 Cor. 5:19). We need to be continually going back to that cross to read the fourth inscription written on it—for there were four, though Pilate intended there should be only three. He wrote, in contempt for the Crucified, a threefold inscription which was visible to every passer-by; but all the time God’s unseen hand was writing a fourth inscrip His sov’reign majesty May we in glory see, And to eternity Love and adore. —C harles W esley . NOVEMBER 2 The Still Hour with God NOVEMBER 3 T h e Fourth Inscription
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