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THE KI NG ' S BUSINESS I never lie, jI never chew or smoke to bacco. I don’t go to the dances or play cards or go to the theatre, etc.,!’ but the atmosphere of their lives may be worldly. The Pharisees could boast about what they didn’t do, but they were true bred worldlings. It is the kind of atmosphere in which we live and move and, have our beings which counts. The world is always the most malicious and malignant enemy that opposes the progress of God’s work in our lives. The world may be in our homes, the world may be In our busi ness; the world may be in our social engagements, and we will find it is a million times harder to meet the enemy there than it is to meet him outside. It is generally in the camp where the danger is. The danger is always in the pastry of life, not in the porridge. The danger of life is not in the battlefield, but in the camp. When we are out against the foe we are in for victory, but whenever we have the Saturday afternoon off; when we have our even-, ings free and the Sunday free; and when there is no body watching us and we are away from the public gaze, and we are alone, there is where the dan ger lies, and that is where the world generally overcomes so many Chris tians. It is in the social relations of our lives, in the luxuries, not in the necessities of life that the danger lies. The Mesh Our second enemy is the flesh. It is the body that we live in, and until the day we die we will always be living in this body, and the body has been so wrecked by sin, that desires have been perverted. The ordinary appe tites and passions have been alto gether abused by sin. We were born altogether wrong and as a result we are always sitting right on top of a safety valve. We are always living on the mouth of a volcano, and if it were not for the grace of God we would go up any moment. The body is a grand
God saying, “ I am the God of Jacob.” God was proud to say,. “ I am the God of Jacob.” But you never read of God saying, “ I am the God of Esau,” and you never read of God saying: “ I am the God .of Lot.” Poor old self-indul gent, sensual Esau. God was ashamed of him. Poor old worldly, compromir- ing Lot, who with his compromising sent his family to hell and turned his daughters into harlots. Do you mean to say God is proud of a man like that? No, indeed. God sees if we are over comers. What is the result? “ I will confess your name.” Just imagine, God— up there— to confess your name and mine before the angels and before the ransomed in glory! And then in chapter 3 and verse 21: ‘‘To him that overcometh will 1 grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in His throne.” We shall be set in heavenly places with Jesus Christ; we will be set where we will be able to say, . , r “ I am monarch over all I survey, My right there is none to dispute.’.’ Oar Foes Now, who are our foes? There is al ways one thing about the Bible and that is, It never under-estimates or over-estimates the power and strength of our enemies. The Bible always shows them in their true light. How many there are. How strong they are. What their size is and what their weapons are. The Bible tells us every thing about them. Why, if you go to the British government and'say to the War Minister, “ I can give you every detail of the German army,” that War Minister would make it worth your while. Well, in this old Book here, we have full information about our ene mies— their size, their power aDd every thing that we need to know about them. Our first enemy is the world. The world,is not so much a sphere as an atmosphere. Some people say, “Well,
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