Official Organ of THE BIBLE INSTITUTE OF LOS ANGELES. Incorporated
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LOW VOICE S o C ckl HOMER RODEHEAVER'S COLLECTION No. JU ST OUT!
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A compilation of Gospel Solos with piano accom paniment, transposed to meet the requirements of basses, baritones, and con traltos. 48 pages, bound in art paper cover.
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LOW VOICE No. 1, 2 or 3 EACH, Postpaid.........50c ORDER TODAY) The RODEHEAVER HALL-MACK Company 119 Ninth Street : Winona Lake, Indiana
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Pray earnestly that a clear-cut testimony may be given by Christian servicemen eyery- w h e r e , whether in combat areas or in l o c a l training camps.
| ALAMEDA, \ Stanley W.
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Still Another HELPFUL BOOK by STANDARD HOW TO TEACH, 128 pages, paper bound, 50c copy, $5.00 dozen. This helpful book is a new study of mind and method, for parents,* teachers, training classes. A scientific study, presented so clearly as to be prac tical for any training class. Its clear outline and pungent illustrations make all twenty chapters decidedly interesting and helpful to workers in every Bible school. A few other Standard Helpful Books on Sunday School methods now enjoying big sales are: Christian Education and the Local Church $ 2.50 Four-minute Talks for Superintendents... 1 .00 Hew to Lead a Bible School........................ 1.2 5 Sunday School Handbook...................................35
Every penny you ever contributed to support foreign missions . . . every por tion of the New Testament you made it possible to distribute... is coming back to you in American lives and souls saved. Friendly natives are helping so many of our boys, history will have to give Chris tian missions credit for hastening Vic tory in the Pacific! Let us carry on this work of Bible distribution with renewed zeal. Do your part. . . give today! You help greatly when you purchase
an American Bible Society Annuity Agreement, which in turn greatly helps you. Under this Plan, which has never failed in the 100 years of its operation, you share in the great work of distri buting the Bible, at the same time re ceive an assured income as long as you live. Learn more about this unusual Plan, how it can fit your needs, how too it entitles you to certain tax exemptions —and how it enables you both to give and receive generously. Send now for the interesting booklet "A Gift That Lives!’
URGENT! MAIL THIS COUPON TODAY! American Bible Society, Bible House, New York 22, N. Y. □ Please send me, without obligation, your booklet KB-43 entitled “ A Gift That Lives? □ I enclose $............ for the world-wide distribution of the Scriptures.
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The reference was to THE SURE WORD OF PROPHECY, which contains the principal ad dresses given at the now historic and epoch-making F i r s t New York Congress pn Prophecy, 1942. It is the last word on present day events, given by some of the most beloved Bible teachers in Amer ica. Rarely does a book sell into the thousands before publication, and yet this book did that very thing. From a friend who received the book only a feW days ago came this striking testi mony": “ I have enjoyed THE SURE WORD OF PROPHECY very much, and I think that it is by long odds the best book to send to ... those who are not yet convinced that there is anything in the whole subject. I am therefore enclosing my check and I am asking you to send the book to the two friends whose names and addresses I am “ now giving you.” Another brother wrote, “ If I could not get another copy of THE SURE WORD OF PROPHECY, I would not take $1,000.00 for the one I have. It is .one of the most remarkable books I nave ever read.” Here are some of the speakers whose addresses appear in the book: John W. Bradbury, W. H. Rogers, William Ward Ayer, Lewis Sperry Chafer, C. Gordon Brownville, Harry A. Ironside, Albert G. Johnson, Howard W. Ferrin, Louis S. Bauman, John F. Walvoord, Joseph Hoffman .Cohn; Harris H. Gregg» Here are some of the subjects treats ed: How Shall We Interpret the Bible? Christ Above All in Prophecy; What Will Qod Do With This Cos mos? The Future Confederation of the Ten Nation Empire; The Unfinished Program of the Son of Man; A Shout, A Voice; and A Trump; Why The Church Will Not Go Through The Great Tribulation; Is The Church Ever Called Israel? Daniel’s S e v e n t y Weeks; Is God Through With the Jews? The Right of the Jews to Pal estine. A veritable encyclopedia on eschatology, in one volume, by men trusted and loved the world over. Enough said.! The price is $2.00 per copy. Buy for yourself, and then give out to your friends; a marvelous tes timony for these last days. Dear Friends: Here is $2.00: please send me a copy of THE SURE WORD OF PROPH ECY. I also add a gift of $ as my fellowship with you in youi* world-wide ministry of the gospel to Israel. Name ••••••••••••,••••••••••.••••••••• Street .......................................... . City 4 ............................State I ................ .. -v AMERICAN BOARD OF MISSIONS TO THE JEWS 31 Throop Ave. Brooklyn 6, N. Y. 39 King W illiam St. Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
The Official Organ of THE BIBLE INSTITUTE OF LOS ANGELES, Inc. “ Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins tn his own blood” (Rev. 1:5), THE KING'S BUSINESS ?£? Cover Photograph by H . Armstrong Roberts When God Saved a Brewer’s Boy, Part III — Louis T . Talbot as told to Mildred M . Cook.... .............. ........................................ .... 1 ......... 82 Current Business— Editorial. ____ _____________________ ______ ___ ____________ 83 Behind the News — Dan Gilbert ........... .............................................. ....„............... 84 Through Death— T o Glory— Howard W . Ferrin..., ............................ ........... 85 Victory Island —Meredith Carr .................................. ......................................... 86 Out of Borneo, Part II — J. Arthur M ouw as told to Anne Hazelton .......... 88 Dr. Talbot’s Question Box............t......................................... ................................ 90 Junior King’s Business —Martha S. Hooker.......... ......................... ............ ........ 93 Biola Family ...................._______________ ____ __________________ ______ _____ 95 International Lesson Commentary............ ..................... ........................... ............. 96 Christian Endeavor — William W . Orr, Ruth A . Evans, Grace Williams Winston, Zadqi E. Stevens, C. Richard (D ick) Hillis ..............108 Literature Table ............................................-.___ __________ _______ __________...113 Daily Devotional Readings .................................... ...............................................H 7 SU B SCR IPTION INFORMATION —“ The King’s Business’’ is published monthly: $1.00, one. yr.; $1.50, two yrs.; 50 cents, six months; 10 cents, single copy. Clubs of three or more at special rates. Write for details. Canadian and for eign subscriptions 25 cents extra. It requires one month for a change of address to become effective. Please send both old and new addresses. R EM IT T A N C E —Payable in advance, should be made, by bank draft, express, or post office money order payable to '“ The King’s Business.” Date of expiration will show plainly on outside wrapper or cover of magazine. A D V ER T IS IN G— -For information, address the Advertising Manager, 558 South Hope Street, Los Angeles 13, Calif., or our eastern representative, Religious Press Assocfation, 51 No. 52nd St., Philadelphia 39, Pa. MANUSCRIPTS —“ The King’s Business” cannot accept responsibility for loss or damage to manuscripts sent in for consideration. Entered as second-class matter November 7, 1938, at the Post Office "at Los Angeles, California, under the Act of March 3, 1879. Acceptance ,Jor mailing at special rate of postage provided for in the Act of February 28, 1925, embodied in paragraph 4, section 538, P. L. and R., authorized October 1, 1918, and November 13, 1938. A D D R ES S : The King’s Business, 558 So. Hope. St., Los Angeles 13, Calif. LOUIS T. TALBOT, Editor-m-Chlef MILDRED M. COOK, Managing Editor RANSOM/ D. MARYIN, Staff Artist.
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March, 1944
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k/ - Current Business LOUIS T. TALBOT, Editor-In-Chief
were like water to a thirsty soul. They drew me. nearer the Lord Jesus, gave ine an even more earnest desire to go into all the world through prayer and gifts, and to be utterly faithful in giving His message to 'the sick and the dying.” A Donor: “The Torrey meetings were a shock to me. I saw how cold and complacent I had been—I who prided myself on my. love and service to Christ. By His grace, I took a new step forward.” Friends of the Bible Institute who were present on the occasion of Archer Anderson’s searching message on “Present Your Bodies,” saw a particu larly deep working of the Spirit of God as student after student (and oth ers also) offered life and body in surrender to Christ. Who can estimate the outreach of such yieldedness, as these young peo ple, being trained in the Word of God, shall go out to witness for Christ to the lost? Verily, Biola has been freed from its debt shackles for just such a world-reaching ministry as this. Does “ Killed In Action“ Mean “ Gone to Heaven” ? This question arises in every war. Speaking on this subject, a prominent minister in Canada recently made these observations: If you admit this principle of salvation by the supreme sacri fice, what do you admit? That we are saved by works, and not by grace. Though we give all honor to those . . . who face death on the field of battle or in other fields of conflict . . . hero ism is not confined to the battle field or the stormy sea. I have seen many a woman who deserved the Victoria Cross, and so have you. I am not sure that the boy’s mother does not suffer more than he. I am not sure that the man’s wife does not endure more than her husband, in mental anguish. If we can admit that a man can be saved by the supreme sacrifice on the battlefield, we must admit also that people can be saved by works of righteousness which they do at home. But the question: Does “killed in action” mean “gone to heaven” ? may be answered in the affirmative. The answer is “yes” for any indi vidual—at home or overseas—who has
Freed— for This When a mighty tide of spiritual blessing swept the Bible Institute of Los Angeles in the week of January 23 to 30, it caused even greater rejoic ing than that which had accompanied the lifting of the burden of debt a few weeks earlier. . . Some had asked, “Will the Insti tute settle down now to a deadening enjoyment of her newf freedom?” ' The question found answer during the week of the Torrey Memorial Bible Conference when not only the whole student body of some five hundred persons, but also faculty members, employees, and many- other friends entered into a new experience of heart searching, of extended vision, and of deepened consecration. The Lord’s messengers on this mem orable occasion were, among others: Archer Anderson, Pastor of First Pres byterian Church, Duluth, Minn.; Her bert Lockyer, Bible teacher and au thor; Jack Mitchell, conference speak er and Bible teacher; Harold Ockenga, Pastor of Park Street Church, Boston, Mass.; and Walter Lewis Wilson, “the beloved physician,” President of the, Kansas City Bible College. But it was the Lord Himself who challenged every life, as the following testimonies indicate: A faculty member: “The Torrey Conference which has just closed was the richest, I believe, of any in the six years I have been at the Institute. One evidence of the Holy Spirit’s fork ing was the fact that the five main speakers, from different sec tions of the country and with no plan ning together, gave messages which complemented each other in a re markable way. Like a thread run ning through the entire week was the theme of the Lordship of Jesus Christ and personal dedication to Him.” A student: “The conference brought me face to face with the fact that I was not a yielded Christian. I had considered myself to be. But thank God, the power of His Word and of the Holy Spirit wrought in me a fuller consecration. I have heard other stu dents testify to a similar working in their hearts during this wonderful week.” An Institute Bible woman: "My hos pital work kept, me from attending much — I was present only once, in fact. I heard Dr. Archer Anderson that day, and I also heard Dr. Wilson over the radio. These two messages
SATISFACTION By Mabel M. Severn Except a corn of wheat Fall to the ground and die It bideth all alone In self-security; But if it die, it lives; It lives a thousandfold— A loaf of bread within Its waving autumn gold. So also Jesus Christ Who swung the evening star Abased in shameful death As erring mortals are; Beneath the clods of hate Forsaken by His own He went the way of death To a resplendent throne. A misty morn, rainbowed Through tears, broke into sun. The Lord is risen indeed. His glory has begun. Looking down the years His soul is satisfied; A golden harvest waves Because Messiah died. placed faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as Saviour. If a man goes into bat tle—or a man or' a woman remains at home—and in each case the rela tionship to Christ is right, then when death comes, heaven beckons. ■ ’v ■ The answer is “ yes” also for any individual, having perhaps no more than a moment to live, who in that instant looks up into the face of Christ and receives Him as his sinV bearer. Take this illustration as a case in point: Shrapnel was falling like hail. It was thought that not one of our men would get back to safety. But one young man did get through, and at the very first opportunity he wrote to his father. He said that in the midst of that stream of steel, when death was facing him, all the teach ing of a lifetime flashed before him; “In that moment,” he said, “I looked to Christ, and I was saved.” Suppose, he had not reached the other side, and safety; hundreds of his comrades did not. No, it is not what we do—even the best of us—that guarantees eternal salvation; it is what Christ has done. It is faith in His finished work of atonement and provision that opens the door to heavenly rest. There is no other way.
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dom to worship” and “freedom to propagate the Faith.” The Soviet Con stitution containsva provision guaran teeing “freedom of religious belief.” But there is no guarantee of freedom to propágate religious belief. Under the Soviet system, n e a r l y everything is a state monopoly. The government has a monopoly of fac tories, tools — and printing presses. Only the government may manufac ture motor cars—or books. Neither in dividuals nor private corporations majr operate commercial businesses. Since' the government owns and operates all printing presses, a Soviet citizen has no opportunity to print trácts or to otherwise propagate his religious be-# lief. A man mighff be “free to eat,” but if he had no access fo food he would still starve to death. A man may be “free to believe,” but if he has no ac cess to the Bread of Life he will still be lost. The formal statement of a fifth free dom would clarify the subject by de claring, “Evangelists and missionaries of all faiths shall be safeguarded in full freedom of movement and activity throughout the post-war world.” It may be that Messrs. Roosevelt and Churchill had this principle in mind in formulating the “four freedoms,” but around a conference table and afterwards there are those who may seek to distort and limit the meaning of general terms. Theodore Roosevelt used to speak of “weasel words”— words used by politicians as empty terms, after the essential meaning had been taken from them, as a weasel takes the contents of an egg, leaving the shell intact. Modernists are masters at the use of “weasel words.” They speak of thé “ deity of Jesus,” even after deny ing that He was God incarnate. Those who champion the idea of “religious monopolies” speak of their system as one based on “religious liberty.” The Christian is concerned, not so much about generalized reli gious liberty, as he is about the spe cial liberty to make the gospel known. The Bible directs that there shall be liberty to make Christ known to all men everywhere. It says n o t h i n g about a “liberty” to keep men in su perstition and ignorance. CHRISTIANS AND THE COMING PEACE: • There is little point in Christians’ entering into the involved disputes as to how boundary lines shall be read justed after the war, or how' the world shall be policed, or what shall be done with conquered countries. But every believer who wishes to see the w o r l d speedily evangelized s h o u l d be interested -in mobilizing public opinion in support of such a fifth freedom as is outlined above.
Behind the News By DAN GILBERT
Christ has nothing further to say to unregenerate men. He Has given them His Word. He has shed for them His blood. When He returns, He will not come to give good advice, He will not come to offer new ideas on the con duct of human governments. He will come to establish His righteous rule. THE BIBLE AND THE COMING PEACE CONFERENCE: • There is a strong suspicion of in sincerity in many of these' imagina tive dramatic sketches of how Christ should have a place at the peace con ference and What He would say, were He there. If men and nations reallyi want to know what Divine Wisdom dictates on the subject of war and peace, they need only consult God’s own inspired Book.' It is strange that those who propose to tell us what Christ would say if He were back on earth, seldom consult, let alone follow, what He- said when He • The “four freedoms,” promulgated by Messrs. Roosevelt and Churchill, h ive not been ratified formally by Joseph Stalin. But even if they were, they would not adequately meet the condition of an actual guarantee of liberty to carry out the Great Com mission. “Freedom of worship” is' one thing; freedom to carry on evangelistic enter prises. is something additional. The heathen has freedom to worship ac cording, to /his own conscience, but he does not have access to the Word of God. His need is not a guarantee of mere religious liberty, but a guarantee that those who wish to bring him the Bible may have an opportunity to do so. Generally speaking, there is con siderable confusion of the terms “free was here the first time. THE FOUR FREEDOMS:
CHRIST AND THE COMING PEACE CONFERENCE: • • Radio commentators, together with newspaper cartoonists, have given con siderable attention to the theme: "Christ should have a place at the coming peace conference, following the war.” Whffe the wide publicizing of such a slogan may evidence an incipient Christ-consciousness on the part of certain secular writers, the whole idea appears to be the product of modern istic and humanistic attitudes, toward the Lord Jesus Christ. The slogan it self signifies a s t a t e of mind and heart which refuses to accept Christ as Lord, which regards the Son pf God as a Counselor rather than as Saviour. Christ is to have “ a place” at the peace conference, but politicians and diplo mats will have other places! Instead of being an exaltation of the Lord, the slogan has the spirit of condescension toward Him. The more imaginative of the com mentators have been offering “opin ions” as to what Jesus would have to say, were He afforded a seat at the table around which the peace is to be formulated. Shortly before the war, an eminent modernistic minister wrote a magazine article on the subject^ “What Jesus Would Do if He Were Now on Earth.” The writer suggested that Jesus Christ would ask the ruleri of the nations to give Him a world-wide radio hook-up, in order that He might plead with all peoples to abstain from further bloodshed. Christ is coming back—but not to occupy a seat at a peace conference arranged by politicians and diplomats. He is not coming back to collaborate with worldly governments and .their officials. He is coming back to estab lish the government of His righteous ness.
Confess your sins “If we confess our sins, he is faith ful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unright eousness” (1 John 1:9). “If thou s h a l t confess with thy mouth the Lord JesUs, and shalt be lieve in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved” (Rom. 10:9). Confess the Lord
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Jesus said: "I am the resurrection, . and the life" (John 11:25).
By HOWARD W . FERRIN*
You say: “How can I be g l a d again? The r e* is nothing to swallow up weakness and failure and suffering and loss” . . . But there is! . . . With your hand in Christ’s, you can pass joyfully. . . .
Through Death —To Glory
B ENEATH Westminster Abbey is an old crypt which, for centur ies, was used as the burial place of the early kings. It is related that one day a visitor who had wan dered into this vault was locked in. The caretakers were busy, and no one heard the muffled voice which began to cry from the crypt, or the muffled blows which began to beat upon its oaken doors. The afternoon passed away. What that imprisoned man suf fered as the realization grew upon him that he was buried alive, who can know?
Before turning the key, the janitor paused and listened. He thought he heard dull blows, faint and f£tr away —a sound as of stifled, agonizing cries. He listened more intently, and was seized with the horrible thought: “Someone is locked inside!” Hasten ing to the crypt, he threw open the heavy door, and held his lantern up so he could see. The buried man had fallen senseless upon the stone floor. He was rescued just in time to save his reason. Were it not for the resurrection of Jesus Christ, we all would have been like that •imprisoned man, helplessly [ Continued on Page 91]
At the usual hour, the janitor made his evening round before closing the building for the night. The entombed man heard him as he came near, then retreated, came near again, then, fi nally receded, the footsteps growing fainter and fainter, and at length dying away in the distance. What imagination can conceive his agony? The prisoner cried louder. He1 dashed his body wildly against the solid door, but in vain. Then he thought he heard the dis tant entrance doors creak on their hinges, and the key pushed into the great iron lock. In a moment more the vast tomb would be closed for the night.
*President of the Providence Bible Institute, Providence, R. I,
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TH E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
Victory Island
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By MEREDITH CARR
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S UDDENLY the plane shuddered, turping crazily, as a shell burst under one wing, and the explo e m e r g e n c y alarm bell sounded. George, the navigator, l o o k e d at Chris sharply; they both began to climb into their chutes. Minutes of waiting for the order to abandon ship seemed like hours. Chris finally broke the silence to speak in'the interphone to the pilot. Mildly alarmed when there was no reply, he opened the cockpit hatch door and stuck his head through. He was sick with anger, when he saw the pilot and the co-pilot slumped over the c o n t r o l s , while orahge flames licked through the shattered glass of the cockpit. Even before he touched them, he knew they were dead. George needed only a nod from Chris to send him slipping through the escape hatch. Then Chris spoke into the interphone to the gunners. There was no reply from any of them. Either they had seen the dan ger and had jumped—or else they were dead. It was not until he had hit the water and was free from his chute that Chris began to wonder how fdr he could swim. There oughf to be an island somewhere around here. They looked thick enough from the air when you were trying to find your target. The sun had gone, and the world of white-tipped w a v e s was dropping into darkness. He became conscious of burns on his body, as quick pain followed every time his arms cut the water. Slowly he swam, guarding against any feeling of hurry, to conserve his strength. To his fogged mind, it did not matter greatly whether the island, if he ever reached it, was held by friend or foe. He must be delirious, he thought; for he saw, or imagined that he saw, Marion’s face hovering on top of each wave, smiling encouragement:— her face as he had seen it in his dreams many times. But no, Marion had broken their engagement. It would mean l i t t l e to her if he reached safety, or if he slipped be neath the waves. Once he started to pray, but stop ped quickly.
were several persons around him. Their silence was ominous. “Well, they "know hy now where i am,” Chris thought wearily. “Who are you?” he called. “Who you?” came back, and Chris could not tell whether it came from Japanese lips or island natives. They would know, who he was when they saw his uniform, so there was no point in evasion. “American,” he .answered. There was a n ' excited murmur of voices. He felt a log pushed toward him, and with his last conscious thought he knew he had grasped it. Chris awoke to the gray-green fo liage of latticed leaves of palms above him and the sound of the sea, like a dull memory in his mind. A gentle swaying motion vaguely troubled him as he tried to realize where he was. Then he saw that he was being car ried by his stalwart captors, on what w a s evidently a n a t i v e - m a d e -stretcher. Where were they taking him—to* a Japanese garrison, or to their own haunts? They were entering a village. The murmur of sound rose to an excited clamor of voices as copper-colored men pressed close to the stretcher. Chris struggled to get up, and had just achieved a sitting position whin one of the men approached him, smiling broadly. “They can’t be too hostile,” Chris -thought with quick relief. Then his breath caught in his throat as he saw that the tall young native held in his hand the little prown Testament with his oWn' name stamped on it in gold. Marion had sent it to him, and he had carried it partly 'because it was her gift to him. The young native halted in front of Chris, held up the Testament, and smiling h a p p i l y , said: “You Jesus follower. I also Jesus follower. I,” he added proudly, “I P r e s b y t e r i a n - elder.” Chris repressed a laugh and start ed to -shake- his head in denial of his own faith. But he stopped even be fore he had time for c o n s c i o u s thought. How could he explain to this man of such limited English, that he was not a follower of Christ? He smiled back an acknowledgment, feeling himself a hypocrite as lie did so.
“No, God,” he said aloud. "I had no use for You when I could take care of myself, and I won’t call on You now,” Marion had broken with him be cause he was not à Christian. He would not come wh i . n i n g to God now, when he was in trouble. Per haps he had brought it on himself.
sion drummed upon the hull. The
AN EASTER STORY
He remembered vaguely that he had been irritated at the change in Marion’s letters after her “conver sion” that she had written him about. She seemed to have a certain sad ness and concern over his faith— and that had angered him. And of all things, Marion said she wanted to be a missionary, when she had prepared and it was possible to go. Because he couldn’t see it, she had broken the engagement. “ Can two walk together except they be agreed?” she had written af ter receiving the letter in which he had vented some of his resentment. He had felt a little guilty over the pathos he could discern as he ftad read that last letter of hers, when he was miles away at a bomber base. “It was her doing,” he thought now, his irritation giving him a brief renewed energy to fight the greedy waves that threatened to engulf him. But the strength was short-lived. He was. on the point of slipping away when something brought him back, quickly alert. The waves were not high as they had been, and there Was somebody near him. He felt an other presence. “George!” he called. Perhaps the impossible had happened, and he and the navigator had fallen close to gether. There was no answer, but there was some one there—in fact, there
March, 1944
• Forced down on foreign soil, the wounded flier longed for sunrise • Excited voices greeted him, and the young leader grasped his hand in the handshake of fellowship. Coconut milk a n d b a k e d land crab were pressed Upon him from a score of eager hands—food that was consid ered best for illness or exhaustion. Before he had time to wonder more at the 'place to which he had been brought, he was carried inside one of the small huts and laid carefully on a cot that was spread with a dean blue blanket. A cot and a blanket in the jungles, he mused, and looked in quiringly at the one who spoke some English. some English was something he could be grateful- for. Silently, he thanked the man he would never know, who had been hfere before. Strength returned after a few days of rest and good food. Attention was showered upon him; His burns were healing, and he felt real pleasure whenever Sam’s smiling f a c e ap peared in his doorway. He called him Sam, the nearest sound to his native name he could manage, and the big native s e e m e d delighted with the name. In the darkness, the urgent ringing of the native gong brought him up sharply, and he listened for the drone of enemy bombers for a full minute before he realized that the sound of voices outside was happy and not fearful. He remembered Sam’s an nouncement of a service at dawn. “They sure get excited aboht these services,” Chris thought sleepily. “It can’t be anywhere near dawn yet.” , But he got up and dressed. It would be unpardonably rude not to attend their service.
“Tomorrow, at rise •of 'sun,” Sam said carefully, feeling out the Unfa miliar words as he went along, “we have service here on beach. White man come, too?” Chris nodded his agreement and Sam left, as quietly as he had come. It was far into the night before Chris rose from the cool sands, where he had been resting, stretched his cramped muscles and started back to his cot. For the first time since -his, escape from the sea, he felt a sense of frustration. How long f must he stay here on this small island, sitting out the war? Had any of the fellows at the base tried to find him? What had happened to George? Had the dreaded word, “Missing in action,” been sent to his mother, and had Marion h e a r d ? Questions tumbled through his mind, and the future looked bleak. He was tired of idle ness. For a while it had been good just to be alive, and he had concen trated on getting back his strength again. So many days had passed that he had lost track of them. Now he felt fit aftd here he Was, useless. Pondering all this, he dropped o ff to sleep.
It was not until he was seated on the beach, looking at Sam on the crude platform that had been erected for the occasion, and hearing the surprisingly familiar melody rising from these dark singers, that he was brought to the-sudden realization that this was E a s t e r Sunday morning. This crowd was singing words he did not know, but the tnelody was the one he had «ung back home every Easter—“ Christ Arose.” “Low in the grave He lay—Jesus, my Saviour! Waiting the coming day—Jesus, my •Lord! “Up from the grave He arose With a mighty triumph o’er His foes; He arose a Victor from the dark domain, And He lives for ever with His saints to reign: He arose! He arose! Hallelujah! Christ arose!” A wave of longing swept over him. What would not he give to be there in that small white church, standing [Continued on Page 115]
“White t e a c h e r live here,” the young man explained. “He die, ten moons back. We keep things. Some time other teacher come.” Chris needed no other word to tell him who the teacher had been. His glance had already taken in the worn books on a crude packing box table— a Bible and a few devotional studies. Some lonely missionary had lived and worked and died in this place, and in his going, had left onlysa few books as mute evidence of a life’s work. To what purpose was such waste? “But is it all waste?” an inner voice prodded uncomfortably. “If that missionary had not lived and died here, where would you be, young man?” Chris looked at the faces pressing in from the background and tried to imagine what his feelings would be if the expressions had been hostile rather than friendly. T h e y might even have been head hunters, he thought, or friends of the enemy. Even the fact that one of them spoke
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SYNOPSIS OF PART I When the theater of tear opened in the South Pacific after Pearl Harbor, Mr. and Mrs. Mouw were working as missionaries among the Dyaks of Dutch West Borneo. North Borneo fell to the Japanese before the close of December, 1941, but it was some weeks be fore West Borneo was invaded. Reluctant tar leave their spiritual responsibility among the Dyaks, they remained at their mission sta tion as long as possible. Finally, they made their way down the river to Pontianak, the coast city, to take passage for Java. While, waiting in Pontianak, the city was attacked from the air and set in flames. The missionaries returned to their boat as the only means of escape.
“If you will try, I’ll go with you to Katapang.” “Do you know the way?” I asked. “Better than any living man,” he said simply, and he was not boast ing, as I was to find out. This was another indication of God’s leading, and it comforted our hearts. The Lord’s Protection Our trip up the river toward Kata pang was not without its excitement and even danger,,but with each dan ger a cle^r indication of the Lord’s protection was given us. One night we smelled gasoline, but could find no leak. Then I discovered the gasoline was on thé water. Round ing a bend in the river, later, wë came upon Dutch soldiers dumping hundreds of sixty-gallon drums of aviation gasoline from a large barge, into the river. After we had passed this, we breathed a sigh of relief and thanked God for protecting us. Had thère been a spark from the engine or a match struck, the river would have flamed and we would have been tra veling through a river of fire. Isaiah 43:2 came to me with peculiar force: “When t h o u passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.” God had protected us when water almost filled the boat,
We continued up stream bouncing over the waves. It was just getting darl^ when my little daughter, who was standing up in the back of the boat, Called, “Daddy, a white man is coming, and he is waving at us.” I looked back and recognized an old friend, a Hollander, whom I had known for six or seven years. His bo t overtook us, and we tied his boat to ours. “Where are you going?” he asked. “ Back to our home station where we’ll at least be among friends,” I answered. “Oh, no, don’t do that,” he protested. “The Japanese know all about you and they will be up there to get you sooner or later." “What are you going to do?” I asked. “I’m going up river about ninety miles. I have enough rice to last a month and I’ll hide out there.” “But some native might give you away,” I objected. There we stood, neither idea any good in the other’s estimation. “What do you think about going to Katapang?” I asked, after a time. “If we send a telegram from there, do you think the American Consul would send an airplane?” he asked. “I’ve tried wiring the 'Consul,” I answered, -“and have had no results, but we can try again.”
Part II T HE RIVER was teeming with nak and the approaching Japanese troops. The glare from the burning city threw an eerie light over the scene, accentuating the. desperate fear on the faces of the people as they sought an escape. Even in the midst of our own danger, my heart went out to them—a people truly without a Shepherd, for ver$ few of them had ever heard of the Lord Jesus Christ and knew no hope beyond this precarious life. ■My thoughts were jerked back to our danger when a large motor boat suddenly sped toward us, causing waves three feet high to splash into our boat. Ohly by throwing a trunk and other heavy articles into the river, not stopping to think of their value, did we avert the danger of sinking. We could have reached shore if the boat had gone down, but there would have been no means for us to travel farther. It was impossible to rent a boat. Money meant nothing to any one. The Japanese were com ing; Dutch guilders wouldn’t be worth anything then.
laden boats of all descriptions. Everywhere people were flee ing from the burning city of Pontia
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and He had not allowed the fire to kindle. It -was necessary to retrace our journey up the river a distance, to the mouth of another river, and down that to reach the other coastal town. Two nights later, sometime after mid night while on watch, I saw thé Hol lander suddenly sit upright in his boat and look hurriedly to the left and right. “We are in the wrong, river,” he announced. ‘‘How do you know?” “The other river is much wider.” ■He called to a Dyak who was fish ing nearby and began to question him.- The answer confirmed his féar. The Hollander had been a merchant in that section for twenty-two years, and he knew that territory perfectly. When God sends a guide, I thought, He doesn't send a novice. And when we had needed another guide, He had had the native Dyak there to direct us. We turned back and finally reached the right river. Further Testings Then there was the morning when two of the three faithful Dyak boys who were with us were dying. They had slept inside the smaller boat with the doors closed, and had been overcome by the fumes from the en- girie. We tried every remedy we knew, but soon realized they were beyond human help. Then we fell on our faces before God, praying for them. They had risked their lives to come this far with us; we could not fail, them now. We lost track of the time as we prayed, but before long one of the boys started to move. In a few hours they were able to sit up, weak but alive. The Hollander had looked on as we pirayed. Later he said,- “I never. ex pected to see those boys get up. I
already had chosen the place along the river to bury them.” This gave me a.n opportunity to witness to him of Christ’s saving power. One morning we Stopped along the river as we were nearing the coast and dangerous waters. The Hollander and I went ashore to send a message which would be phoned to Katapang, and from there go by radiogram to the American Consul in'"Batavia. We rejoined the family and my wife told of the prayer meeting they had had with the children while we were gone, and of our little girl’s praying, “Dear Jesus, here we are. We don’t know what to do. If You want us to .go back, if You want us to get out, it is all right. If You want us to stop here, it is all right, tpo.” We waited a few days, but no plane came. Then we tried to make arrange ments with a Chinese to rent a motor launch to take us to Soekadana, a place along the coast. We couldn’t use our river boat, as we had to cross twenty miles of open ocean and the waves were high. The Chinese was reluctant to let us have the boat, but finally agreed to our using it if we could get the engine together and running. I had never worked on an engine like it before, but I asked God to help us, and three and one-half hours later, I had it running. That evening with deep emotion we said good-by to our three Dyak boys who the next morning were to Start up river in our boat, homeward bound. Then we moved off, down river, in the Chinese launch. That night we were startled to see two skyrockets shoot up over the jungle and knew it to be some kind of signal to the Japanese, that it was the time to come in. At five o’clock in the morning we reached Soekadana. The jungle was behind us, the Java Sea before, and
over all a bright moon shone, painting the picture of that lonely river town indelibly upon our ipemories. After much bargaining with two taxi driv ers, we were driven the seventy-six kilqmeters to Katapang, though we had to abandon some of our luggage. A Boat Provided Three or four hours later, we arrived at the end of the line, at the town of Katapang, little knowing how \ve were to get on from there. To our surprise we saw a Chinese junk at anchor in the middle Of the river. It was incredible ;— C h i n é s e junks never camé down to this sec tion. But there it was. We found that the owner, a Chinese,, had escaped and started south from French Indo china. He had been waiting in Kata pang three months; Two weeks before, the Government officials • hád ' re quested him to take a load of rubber to Java. The junk had been loaded with rubber and he could have left; but he had waited. There wasn’t enough wind, he said. We praised the Lord and knew it was not the wind the Chinese' Captain had waited for, but for passengers, though he knew nothing, about them. Surely God had kept him there until we got on hoard. 'There was no more wind then than there had been, but as soon as we were all on board, he began to get the sails ready. The next morning about nine o’clock, we started off across the Java Sea in our slow, stately junk, her sails filled with wind. As we moved off, we looked away to the1right and saw what we knew were Japanese boats coming in. We found, after we reached Java, that Katapang was taken at 11:30 that morning, just two and one-half hours after we left! The final, chilling words had come from the radio station i at Katapang, “The Japanese are here. This will be the last message you will hear from us. We are destroying this station immediately. Orange Boven! (The House of Orange must remain, above.)” Crossing the Java Sea will long be a memory of misery to us. The sea there was full of coral reefs and the Chinese Captain had "never sailed it before. He was a brave old fellow, utterly fatalistic. We had told him, through an interpreter, to go due south, but according to our compasses he was headed southwest. Mr. Wil liams had a Kress compass that had cost 25 cents, I had one that had cost $3.50 and an Eurasian (half Javanese and half Dutch) had a compass that had cost $50. Because he had the better compass he decided to bè the Navigator! The Chinese Captain had his compass, too, a very crude thing, but he'had confidence in it. All our compasses agreed, as a matter of fact. [ Continued on Page 114]
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Dr. Talbot'sQuestion Box Questions for answer in this depart ment should be sent to the Editorial Department, THE KING'S BUSINESS, 558 So. Hope St., Los Angeles 13, Calif. QUE.: How can our Lord’s words recorded in John 3 :1 3 : / ‘And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven” be recon ciled with the fact that “Elijah w e nt up by a whirlwind into heaven” (2 Ki. 2 : 11 ) ? QUE. t Do the words, the “ crown of ljfe” in Reyelation 2 :10 refer to salvation? From a careful study of God’s Word we learn that crowns are to be given as rewards, and have nothing to do with salvation. Salvation comes by faith (cf. Eph. 2:8, 9), and rewards are granted for service performed unto the Lord by the Christian (cf. Matt. 6:20; 1 Cor. 3:11-15). There are five crowns named in the Scriptures, one of which is the “crown of life.’! This particular reward was promised to the church of Smyrna (Rev. 2:8-11) whose members were being persecuted and otherwise sifted by Satan. They were to receive this precious crown for remaining faithful
to their Lord even to the point of death. To know that this reward is being reserved not only for this specific group, but also for others, is an en couragement to all believers. In James 1:12. we read that it will be giyeri to any Christian “that endur- eth temptation.” Briefly, the other four crowns are mentioned as follows: (1) Crown of Righteousness (2 Tim. 4:8)—the re ward for the Christian’s eager antici pation of the Lord’s c o m i n g ; (2) Crown of G l o r y (1 Pet. 5:1-4)—the fadeless reward to be given to min isters, “undershepherds,” who dis charge their God-given, sacred re sponsibility as examples to the flock; (3) C r o w n of Rejoicing (1 Thess. 2:19,20)—the reward for faithfulness in service; ,14) Incorruptible Crown (1 Cor. 9:24-27)—the reward for the Christian’s faithful exercise of self- control and self-discipline.
From the context of the Scripture from which our Lord’s above-men tioned words are taken, we note that Christ was endeavoring to tell Nico- demus of “heavenly things” (John 3:12). The Lord could well claim the knowledge of these things, for He was God; He had the fullness of knowl edge inherently. Though He was liv ing on earth, He had the immediate vision of heaven, for He was in the “ bosom of the Father” (John 1:18). He could rightly say that no man had ascended up to heaven; for truly no human being ever had entered into the experience of l o o k i n g into the face of God, and being able to declare Him unto man. Our Lord was the only One who had come down from heaven, His home, and who while on the earth was in heaven, and could therefore assert the heavenly truths. In this sense of the word, the ascen sions of Elijah and Christ were not parallel cases. QUE.: In 2 Corinthians 12:1-4 P a u l mentions one who was “ caught up to the third heaven.” Why did he say that to relate what was heard would be unlawful? The thought of unlawfulness here pertains neither to the breaking of the Mosaic law, nor to the disobedi ence of the laws of Paul’s day. It concerns the respect for God’s wishes relative to His sacred words—the con versation in heaven—and the scenes of heaven. The marginal rendering of the word “lawful” is “allowed to man.” Evidently, God does not wish the words spoken in heaven to be known to man now, except as He reveals them. What a joyous revelation and ex perience will be the Christian’s when he enters the presence of the Lord, hears the words spoken by the One whom he loves, and becomes a par ticipant in the activities of the heav- enlv life end home!
O UR hearts are silent before God. The smoke of battle again has cleared from the “Rice Bowl” teh and not Changsha has paid an awful price for victory. One reporter, cabling an account which described the destruction of the once second larg’est city in Hunan Province, titled it “The Cremation of a City.” Two years ago, an attack was made on Changsha, the home of Biola in China. At that time, the large Yale- in-China campus was destroyed by a deliberate act of firing on the main buildings. The Hunan Bible Institute compound- still remains intact, and at this hour is proving a haven of relief for thousands wljo .need immediate hospitalization and refuge. And among them, evangelistic work is constantly going on. Yes, our hearts are silent before, God, for what is His purpose in per mitting this beautiful compound to escape the full fury of war, unless it* is that missionaries must return and complete His testimony in that vast locality? Pray for the Hunan Bible Institute—-its present and its future ministry in Christ’s name. What of the Christians in the “Rice Bawl” area? Their cry is like that of the Psalmist: “Evening, and morning,
and at noonday, will I complain, and moan; And he will hear my voice” (Psa. 55:17, R. V.). Their suffering is great. Can we live on serenely iri America, not sharing in some way the difficulties of our brethren in Hunan? Many of these sufferers have been led to Christ by members of the Biola Evangelistic Bands. Now they stand in need of food, medicine, the rebuild ing of churches and of homes. Gifts for this purpose may be sent through the Hunan Bible Institute (558 So. Hope St., Los Angeles 13, Calif.) to the International Relief Committee in Changsha. The cost ,of living in Free China for both missionaries and their Chinese colleagues has risen 300 to 400 per cent. In the old days, before the war, the exchange was three Chinese dol lars to one American dollar, and thus the missionary lived fairly well on his meager salary. The present of ficial rate ,is forty to one. A recent issue of Time magazine stated: “This autumn [1943] the cost of living is 164 times what it was w’hen China’s war began in 1937. A year ago, it was eighty times the prewar level.” Facing this startling reality, can the church of Jesus Christ do less for its brethren overseas than every loyal American is glad to do for the soldiers v*T*o In Ms st??d?
in China. This time, the city of Chang-
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THROUGH. DEATH TO GLORY [Continued from Page 85] and hopelessly beating our wounded fists and raising our hopeless cries against the bolted door of the living tomb. Intuitively, vie feel that the word “resurrection,” which occurs in thp Bible forty-one times, is not only one of the great words, but also one of the strongest. It is a word of victory; it is a word which swallows up weak ness, failure, suffering, loss, and death. It stands for a power that transcends the power of all known laws of na ture. It centers our thought in God who alone has power to raise the dead. It inspires hope and banishes fear. ■ Enemies Encountered When Christ came to earth, He did not come, primarily, to make u's mor ally good, but to deal_ with our basic heeds. Sin and death are man’s great est enemies. Broadly speaking, all our problems grow out of a relation to these two foes. Death is capital punishment for sin. It is also sin’s wages. “For the wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23). As suredly death is not desirable. If death were a thing to be wanted, would not the good people who are named in the Scriptures have longed for it? But what are the facts? Patriarchs, proph ets, and all o t h e r classes of men have borne witness to the undesirable ness of death. Jacob spoke mournfully of his go ing down into the grave: “And all his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted; and he said, For I will go. dowy into the grave unto my son mourning” (Gen. 37:35). Moses would fain haye tarried long er among tne living: “I pray, thee, let me go over, and see the good land that is beyond Jordan, tl>at goodly mountain, and Lebanon” (Deut. 3:25). Job used powerful language respect ing death: “Before I go whence I shall riot return, even to the land of dark ness and the shadow of death; A land of darkness, as darkness itself; and of the shadow of death, without any order, and where the light is as dark- riess” (Job 10:21, 22). Hezekiah wept, and pleaded for his life: “Then Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall, and prayed unto the Lord, And said, Remember now, O Lord, I beseech t he e , h o w I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight. And Heze kiah wept sore” (Isa. 38:2, 3). Indeed, Bildad uttered the general sentiment of the people of old when he termed death “the king of terrors” (Job 18:14). There is not a single eulogy of death to be iound in the holy Scriptures.
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•Yes, indeed, death has reigned over even the godly from Adam to Moses, from Moses to Christ, and from Christ to this present day. However, the mes sage of Christianity is still true that Christ has abolished death. Perhaps we can' explain this fact best by telling a story from the history of the West Indies. On August 1, 183?, the English Par liament decreed to abolish slavery in the West Indies, but the decree did not go into force until one year from that date.1During that year, the slave was still under the whip of his rnaster, and all went on as in the old slavery days, except that in the heart of every slave, there was* the forward look of expec tation and hope. At last the day drew near on which the Emancipation Act was to go into effect. It. was July 31, 1838. Twenty thousand Slaves met together in their little churches. As the evening ap proached, they put on white robes, and at eleven o’clock they went upon their knees and waited for one hour, with faces upturned. When the clock struck
Death was hated by good men as well as by those who were bad. Even our Lord Himself did not long to die. In fact, with “strong cryings and tears” He prayed that He might be saved out of death: “Who in the days Of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared” (Heb. 5:7). Thus our Lord Jesus Christ, the pa triarchs, the prophets, and all other men utter but one voice about death. They tell us death is an enemy, and that they abhor it! Bacon, in his essay on “Death” wrote: “Men fear death as children fear the dark.” / Liberty Provided What a glorious message, then, is the message of Christianity! Our Sav iour, Jesus C h r i s t , has “ abolished death, and hath brought life and im mortality to light through the gospel” (2 Tim. 1:10). But we can hear some one ask: “How can this be true? Do not Chris tians die, even as others do?”
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