Twentieth Anniversary Number Bible Institute of Los Angeles
II
March • 1927
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Volume 18— N um ber 3 20 cen ts a copy
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Priceless Asset! T h e hundreds o f earnest young people—both men and women— who are now out in various kinds o f Christian work in many parts o f the world, constitute one o f the greatest assets o f the B ible I n s t i t u t e o f L os A n g e l e s . To foreign fields alone, three hundred have gone—many o f them, like Tennyson’s immortals, “ into the jaws o f death.” And in the homeland—in fields o f ser- vice that ofttimes try the soul, and bring out all that is best o f Christian character—here is to be found the priceless product of our school. <»»Former students, we greet you! >30»And you who would be numbered among these who are enduring hardness as good soldiers o f Jesus Christ, will you not arrange to spend a season o f preparation with us? W e invite you! Come! Ask thè Exten sion Department Secretary to tell you all about us, addressing your letter to B ible I n s t i t u t e o f L os A n g e l e s , 536 South Hope Street, Los Angeles, California. < 2 *T> * ‘Study to shew thyself approved.”
March 1927
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Parents—I t ’s Up to You! The R eso lu tion s o f 400 New York Preachers
and that the life of the Church is dependent upon the re cruitment of its membership from the ranks of the young. We, therefore, in God’s name, call upon the fathers and mothers of our city to bring their children to the house of God, to the end that children may grow in the knowl edge and love of God and of right, and the church in spir ituality and power. “Invoking God’s blessing upon our efforts, we hereby pledge ourselves to read this preamble and resolution to our respective congregations at the morning church ser vices in our churches on Sabbath, December 5, 1926, and again on Sabbath, December 12, 1926, and thereafter, by solicitation, exhortation and admonition, in She church and out of the church to bring home to the parents of our communion their God-imposed obligation to see to it that children join in the worship of the church.” Thomas C. T. Crain, Supreme Court Justice of New York, in urging its adoption, said, not without warrant: “If I had to choose.between worship and education for the children, I would choose worship. You will never preach a sermon that will be heard with more interest by an adult than by a lad of fourteen.” F -R -E -E The^YlessaSe ° f the Lily
Conditions may indeed be considered serious when 400 ministers representing all the Protestant Churches of New York City get together and adopt unanimously such resolutions as the following: “Whereas, Adult Christians are responsible for, and chargeable with, the right uphringing of their children to the end that they may know what is true and love to do what is right, and “Whereas, Organized Christianity can alone be per petuated by the constant recruitment of the; church from the ranks of the young, and Whereas, There is a tragic absence of the vast majority of the children of our communion from public worship ; “Therefore, We of the clergy representing all the Protestant denominations in Greater New York, in public meeting assembled, conscious of our responsibility, mind ful of our duty, grieved and alarmed by the absence of large numbers of children from public worship, unanim ously affirm that the family should constitute in the church a worshipping unit, that the spiritual welfare of the chil dren of our city requires that when of suitable age they participate with their elders in the public worship of God,
Send u s th e nam es and addresses of five persons whom you conscien tiou sly believe would be interested in tak ing up a Bible Study Course by Correspondence, and we w ill m a il you ab « so lu te ly fre e a copy o f th is new and beau tifu l Easter story w ritten by K eith L. Brooks, Secretary of th e Correspondence School of th e Bible In s titu te of Los Angeles.
A D DR ESS
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Y OUR NAME A D DR ESS Note: Should you also desire information reèardinè the eifdit Bible Courses by correspondence ranèinè from $1.00 to $5.00 place an C-XO after your name. When fille d in , tear o u t and m a il to
Correspondence School, Bible Institute, 536 South Hope St., Los Angeles, California
T h e K i n g ’s B u s i n e s s Motto: “ I, the Lord, do \eep it; I will water it every moment: lest any hurt it, I will \eep it night and day.” Isaiah 27:3 PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY AND REPRESENTING THE BIBLE INSTITUTE OF LOS ANGELES J ohn M urdoch M ac I nnis , Editor-in-Chief C harles . E. H urlburt , Associate Editor K eith L. B rooks , Managing Editor W m . A. F isher , Circulation Manager Volume XVIII March, 1927 Number 3
BOARD OF DIRECTORS BIBLE INSTITUTE OF LOS ANGELES
FACULTY
Table of Contents
D r . J ohn M. M ac I nnis , Dean D r . R alph A tkinson , Associate Dean R ev . J ohn H. H unter , Secretary of Faculty R ev . W illiam H. P ike , Secretary Evening School R ev . K eith L. B rooks , Secretary Cor. School R ev . A lbert E. K elly , Student Secretary D r . J ohn M c N eill D r . C harles E. H urlburt C hristian M. B ooks P rof . A lfred A. B utler M iss M arie C arter M iss F lorence C haffee R ev . J ohn A. H ubbard P rof . H. W. K ellogg M rs . B esse D. M c A nlis P rof . H. G. T ovey P rof . J. B. T rowbridge M iss C harlotte L. W oodbridge H. W. B oyd , M. D. R ev . G eorge E. R aitt
EDITORIALS The Inexhaustible C h rist................................... .133 Exceeding the Speed Limit.......................... .........133 Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death...................134 Tried and Proved....................................................134 I Never Lose Heart.................. 135 Are These False Teeth ?................................. 136 Give Us Expository Sermons........... ,.................. 136 Editorial Arrows ............................................. 137 H« * * The Bible and the Nation —Dr. G. Campbell Morgan............................... 138 Christ Versus Christianity-—Delavan L. Pierson..140 Man—An Accident or Special Creation—Which —W. M. Boling ........ !....................................... 141 The Mystic of Ur—John M. MacInnis............... 142 Scriptural Psychology—John M. MacInnis:;....... 143 Times of the Gentiles—Thomas Fitzgerald....... 144 John Wanamaker—T . C, Horton.... ,.................. .146 Unsung Heroes of the Mission Fields................. 148 Defenders Column ..................................................149 Who Is John McNeill?............................................150 Finest of the Wheat................................................151 Striking Stories of God’s Workings..!...... ............ 154 Passages that Perplex................ :..................... ......156 Walter T. Steven Watches Biola Bands Work....159 International Lessons ............... 161 Biola Table Chat ,...................................................172 Literature Table ......................................................175 Daily Devotional Readings............................. 182 The Story of Elymas—J. Clyde Stillion................191 * * *
J. M. I rvine , President H oward F rost , Vice-President A. A ddison M axwell , Treasurer H. B. E vans C. A. Lux N athan N ewby J. M. R ust M rs . L yman S tewart
C harles E. H urlburt , Superintendent
J. P. W elles , W. R. H ale , W m . A. F isher , Assts. to Supt.
M rs . A. L. D ennis M rs . A lma K. M oss P rof . R aymond C onner D. W. M ac M illan , M.D. B. G. P inkerton , M.D. F. J ean H olt , M.D. Ross A. H arris , M.D. J oseph J acobs , M.D.
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POLICY AS D E F IN E D IN S T IT U T E O F LOS ANG E LE S (a ) T o s ta n d fo r th e in fa llib le W o rd of God a n d its g r e a t fu n d a m e n ta l tr u th s , (b ) T o s tr e n g th e n th e f a ith of a ll b e lie v e rs, (c) T o s tir y o u n g m en a n d w om en to fit th e m se lv e s fo r a n d e n g a g e in d efin ite C h ris tia n w o rk , (d ) T o m a k e th e B ib le I n s titu te of L os A n g eles k n o w n , (e) T o m a g n ify God o u r F a th e r a n d th e p erso n , w o rk a n d co m in g of o u r L o rd J e s u s C h rist; a n d to te a c h th e tr a n s f o rm in g p o w e r of th e H o ly S p irit in o u r p re s e n t p r a c tic a l life, (f) T o em p h asize in s tro n g , c o n s tru c tiv e m e ssa g e s th e g r e a t BY T H E BOARD O P D IR EC TO R S O F T H E B IB L E
fo u n d a tio n s o f C h ris tia n fa ith . 536-558 S. Hope Street
BIBLE INSTITUTE OF LOS ANGELES
Los Angeles, California
President of Christian Fundamentals Association Strongly Endorses Bible Institute of Los Angeles
connection with this trip, certain things have impressed us. First of all, the Los i | Angeles Bible Institute seemed to us to have gained in strength since thè time of our ( y * visit a year since. We had a long conference with both the present efficient superinten dent, Dr. Charles E. Hurlburt, and the Dean of the faculty, Dr. John- M. Maclnnis. In our last issue of this paper we referred to our fears that the cry for “Peace !” in the battle
with modernism was a victory for modernism itself, and recited among other instances a recent article from the pen of Dean Mac lnnis on that subject. We failed to say, as we should have said, that that article contained nothing to justify our co'mment but that an article appearing from the pen of Keith L. Brooks in a smaller and independent publication, quoting from Dean Maclnnis a sen tence that inveighed against debates on evolution and other forms of defense that some of us have deliberately and conscientiously adopted, was the basis of what we had to say, and we suppose that this had been taken from the address in his verbal delivery, but defeated before it went to print. (See note below.) Dr. Maclnnis assured us that we can depend upon him and upon that great and blessed school to stand foursquare for the “faith once delivered” ; that there was no weakening in its position and that there would certainly be none while he remained its Dean, all of which was ardently backed by Superintendent Hurlburt. T. C. Hor ton, who founded the school through the magnificent financial aid of Lyman Stewart, and whose fundamentalism could never be ques tioned by any living man, is more and more retiring from active association with the Institute. He surrenders now the editorship of the King’s Business and it goes into the hands of Dean Maclnnis, Superintendent Hurlburt and Keith L. Brooks. In the editor’s state ment, which is to appear in the next Magazine, Dr. Maclnnis says, “We are convinced that bur times demand outspoken frankness. The effort to be neither hot nor cold must prove disastrous. A colorless
Dr. W . B. Riley In the last number of h is. magazine “Fundamentals of Church and School,” writes of his recent visit to Los Angeles. Dr. Riley herein en deavors to erase a ques tion mark which a pre vious article of his had put in the minds of mahy p e o p l e respecting the Bible Institute of Los Angeles. Dr. Riley’s true manliness comes out in this frank acknowledg ment of his error.
periodical is worse than.useless and we have no sympathy with mere shallow sentences that have no burning convictions back of them. Therefore, by the grace of God, we shall endeavor to give a clean, ringing testimony concerning the great evangelical doctrines and principles for which the Bible Institute of Los Angeles has always stood—and still stands.” This is a good deliver ance, and we are thoroughly convinced, after this extended counsel with these brethren, that they can be looked to by the Pacific Coast for leadership in the fight against modernism and for the “faith once delivered,” and that no man will be permitted as a teacher in the Los Angeles Bible Institute who is not known to hold absolutely to every cardinal tenet of the faith. Our hearts are happy in the confidence that this Institute will not only continue with equal loyalty to God and His Word, but will grow in numbers and power as the days go bv.
N ote : Dr. Riley is in error at this point, as Mr. Brooks did riot at any time quote Dr. Mac lnnis on the question o f debates. Dr. Riley pos sibly acted upon second-hand information, with out stopping to investigate.
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The Inexhaustib le Christ “In Him all the fullness of the Godhead dwells” (Col.l:19). S t e r e o *:-Æ jHE central idea of Christianity is a Person. That Person is Christ, in whose nature humanity and deity are united, whose life was the crowning glory of humanity,, whose death provides redemption for all, whose resurrection is the seal of His atoning jwork. Every doctrine of the Christian faith comes out of 1 Him. Without believing in Him no man can be born of God. Our very spiritual life is hid with Christ in God. He is the personal object of our faith and love, the fountain of all Christian blessings, the foundation of all answers, to prayer. The ordinances of the church testify of Him until He comes. No one can feel and know what Christianity is until he sees that it is not an abstract doctrine but the living divine Christ Himself. What men need is a personal knowledge of the grand reality of our faith, the Lord Jesus Christ. It is only this that can save men from the tendencies of our days and raise them above the contro versies which are dividing hearts. To be vitally united to the risen Christ by the Holy Spirit means a real inward experience, and against this the forces of hell cannot pre vail. Never does Christian doctrine become so full of life and blessing as when Christ is known as the living center of all faith. For 1900 years millions of living, believing hearts have found in Him the springs of heart peace and have testified that all their needs have been supplied according to His riches in glory. “In Him are hid all the treasures of wis dom and knowledge.” The cry of the human heart has always been “Where shall true wisdom be found?” Great men have toiled painfully in search of the coveted treasure and failed to discover it. True wisdom is a divine revela tion. “The world by wisdom knew not God.” That wis dom of which all hearts are in quest is found only in Christ. He is the unfathomable depository of the highest wisdom, and time will prove that the wisest men are those who open their hearts’ doors to Him. The infinite Christ is a fountain as deep as eternity. Well might the devout Dr. Bengal exclaim: “Who can fathom the depth? In the marvelous person of Jesus is combined all the beauty, dignity and excellency that replenish heaven and earth and adorn the nature of God and men.” Dr. Barlow further says: “In Him there is fullness of wisdom to keep us from error, fullness of grace to preserve us from apostasy, fullness of joy to keep us from despair, and fullness of power to protect us from all evil. It penetrates and fills the vast universe of intelligent beings and girds.it with a radiant circle of glory and felicity.” T H E EDITORS a re responsible fo r th e soundness and general c h a ra c te r of every co n trib u ted article— b u t n o t fo r every d etail of in terp retatio n . W riters m u st be allow ed la titu d e to express w h at TO THEM is th e teaching of G od’s W ord.
Exceeding th e Speed L im it “In quietness and in confidence shall be your strength" (Isa.30:15). T HE story is going the rounds, of a man who equipped his automobile with all the gas-saving devices he could find. Each one was guaranteed to save him about twenty per cent, in gas. The result was, so we are told, that he had to stop every few miles and draw off the sur plus gas. The story is not more absurd than is the rush and tur moil of our modern life, in view of all the time and labor- saving devices with which we have furnished ourselves. But where is the surplus ? We have our electric washing and ironing machines, vacuum sleepers and various kitchen devices. We press a button and get heat or light in the room, and another button produces cold in the refrigerator. We sit before the electric fan when we are warm. We jump into the auto to go to the corner grocery, and ride to work in an electric car. Our women cut off their flowing hair to save time, and curl the balance by electricity. We use the tele phone rather than walk to a neighbor’s house, and tele graph instead of writing a letter. We go to church by radio. Think of the hours and strength we save every day, yet nine out of ten people are driven to distraction and burdened to the breaking point by the bewildering com plexity Of modern life. When called upon to do some service for the Lord, the almost invariable reply is: “I would like to, but I am too tired.” The extraordinary fact is that with all these marvelous devices of science at their service, men are not the hap pier. The faster they go, the faster they want to go, until at last the nerves give way and the thread of life snaps. It was but a few years ago that men were content to live the simple life. They could keep within their income ; they could find enrichment in the simple joys of life. They had time for the house of the Lord where they learned restfulness of spirit and discovered opportunities of serv ing their fellow men. Is that day gone forever? Whither are we rushing? All the time, our Lord is trying to catch our eyes and bid us follow in His steps. When we think of Him, we think of strength and simplicity combined. Not one of us has as much to do as He had within the short time allotted to Him. We see His disciples urging Him hither and thither, wanting Him to go sooner, or to manifest Hi$ powers. He bides His time. “Are there not twelve hours in the day ?” “My hour is not yet come.” In quiet ness and in confidence was His strength. He saved time by retiring to pray and meditate. He covered the ground well because He kept in step with His Father in heaven. From first to last there is not a single step of His that gives the impression of haste. He said : “Night cometh when no man can work,” yet He was as free from hurry as from sin. There is but one cure for our muddled and rushed and nervous world, and that is to fall in step with Jesus.
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W h ere P a tr ic k H e n ry Made A Fam ous Speech St. John’s Church, Rich mond, Va., one of the most famous meeting places dur ing the Revolution. It was here that Patrick Henry, that fiery tongued orator, in his speech denounced the ar ticles of the English King to enslave the Colonists {Mar. 20, 1775; 150 years ago ) in his famous speech which ended—“Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, • as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God. I know not what course others may take, but as for me, GIVE ME LIBERTY, OR GIVE ME DEATH."
We are exceeding the speed limit. The arm of the law will have us. We must have time for God or all our time is lost. We must slow down or break down. “Give Me Liberty or Give Me D ea th” I T was in March, 1775, that Patrick Henry uttered those immortal words: ‘‘Give me liberty or give me death.” We are hearing much in these days about “liberty.” There is an organized fight on to procure what is termed “personal liberty”. Those who clamor for this kind of liberty are in reality after license. They want, not liberty to do what they ought, but liberty to do what is pleasing to the flesh and hence is harmful. As a newspaper said recently: “The youth of today want bigger and better sins.” It is the spirit of the age to throw off all restraint and find freedom to indulge to the limit the lusts of the flesh. Many of our young people today consider parental res traint an irksome thing. Some educators give them en couragement by teaching that liberty of youth is essential to development. How little they must have learned from past history ! As with a horse, so with immature youth, the ever-slack rein is dangerous. All about us we see a generation moving to mature years on a slack rein. Many thoughtless parents look on while the hope of the land gamble away their priceless years, talking the while of “liberty” as they forge the chains which will in due time render them hopeless captives of the devil. On the other hand, there are preachers who in solemn ordination vows proclaimed themselves “set for the defense of the Gospel,” but who are crying out for lib erty to think independently of the Word of God. They do not wish to be hampered by time-worn creeds. They too, are deceived as to the meaning of “liberty.” Within the circle of created things, freedom must always be limited. There cannot be, in this life, any absolute liberty. The kind of liberty socialists and anarch ists claim is not freedom, and there is no worse bondage than that to which so-called “free thinking” leads. There is but Pne who is absolutely free—that is God. He is so because He is perfect and eternal. For all cre
ated beings liberty consists, therefore, in living in har mony with His laws. Within these limitations, there is a human freedom that is glorious and inspiring. We assert that no one has ever found such freedom apart from obedience to the Word of God. Whether in the sphere of political, religious or social, true liberty can come, according to Scripture, in but one wawS“Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (Jn. 8:32). The 36th verse adds: “I f the Son shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.” Christ is Himself the complete embodiment and expression of truth absolute (Jno. 14:6). The Holy Spirit is “the Spirit of truth,” and hence the Agent of Christ in bringing the believer into this liberty (2 Cor. 3:17). Through Christ, our souls are set free from the bon-, dage of fear. By the Spirit’s working within, there un folds a divine life that ultimately will issue, at the resur rection day, into the “glorious liberty of the children o f God” (Rom. 8:21). We are free indeed to work out what God works in (Phil. 2:12, 13), but let us remember that liberty, in the absolute sense of freedom from the trammels of the old and groaning creation, must await a future day. In the meantime, it will be found that those peoples are most free and stable who are founded on that righteousness which is the foundation of Christ’s spiritual kingdom. True liberty will be reached only when the kingdoms of this world become the kingdom of our God and His Christ. MS' afe Tried and Proved A MISSIONARY tells the story of his efforts to raise a bell which had slid from the deck of a boat on which it was being transported and became imbedded in the river’s mud. Many schemes were tried, but the bell could not be raised. At last a native offered to raise it. Thousands of bamboo rods were gathered. One rod at a time was fastened by divers to the bell. As the rods accumulated around the bell, it began to move upward, and at last came to the surface. What the rods were to the sunken bell, the precious promises of the Word of God are to a despairing soul.
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Grasped one at a time by the faith of God’s child, they lift him out of deepest doubt into heart rest. The writer, some time since, was passing through a period of complete physical exhaustion, with all the men tal depression that attends such an experience when it seems there is much work to be done. A precious, book of Psalms, a heritage from a Godly father who had thumbed its pages and long since gone to be with his Lord, lay on the table at the bed side. Evening and morning God spoke to the inner man out of this Book, and day by day we were able to testify: “Thy grace is sufficient; thy strength is made perfect in weakness.” Lord, Lam too weak to lift my head, the soul had sighed, but the answer came: “The Lord is the lifter up of thy head.” ( Psa. 3:3).- I dread the nights—but He enabled the soul to say: “I will lay me down in peace and sleep! for Thou, Lord, makest me dwell in safety.” (Psa. 4:8). My heart is weak—-“Be of good courage and He shall strengthen thy. heart.” (Psa 27 :14). But, Lord, the way seems dark—“The Lord, thy God, will enlighten thy darkness” (,(18:28)>? I cannot do what I want to do —“ 1 will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go” (32 : 8 ). I am insufficient for the demands upon me—“Trust in Him and He will bring it to pass” (37:5). Lord, I am depressed by trials—“God is a very pre sent help in trouble” (46;1). “The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear Him” (34:7). My burden seems too heavy— “Cast thy burden upon the Lord and He shall sustain thee” ' (55 :22). Oh Lord, I lack courage to face men —“The Lord zvill give grace and glory” (84:11). I am not in condition to stand the rebuffs of inconsiderate people-— “The Lord is thy defense; God is the rock of thy refuge” (94:22). I fear to go out, lest I should faint by the way-—-“The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore” ( 1 2 1 : 8 ). And so it seemed that there was no thought born in weakness that was not matched by some word of comfort from the Book, and moreover, in takingGod at His Word, we were able to go forward and accomplish all that was given us to do. We might place opposite each of His promises, as did a trusting Christian woman, the letters “T ” and “P ,” meaning “Tried and Proved.” “If God gives but a word, That word a work will prove, He will not change, nor be deterred, Nor from His purpose move. I “How many words of grace His promises contain! Each word must stand, nope can efface, ’! Nor bind with human chain. “Unbound!—in Christ made sure, 1 Each promise must come true! Then let each saint with praise endure, Refuse an earth-bound view.” “ I Never Lose Heart” N OT many can truthfully say that. Paul could say it because he lived a consciously victorious life in the most trying and discouraging ’circumstances. He was pressed by foes from inside as well as from out side, but he never lost heart. Sometimes he was -bewild ered and could not understand the actions of some of his converts, but never showed any signs of being conquered. Things were anything but encouraging in the church at Corinth. It was divided into factions and full of all
kinds of jealousies. Men were unclean and drunkenness had invaded the very courts of the house of God and cast its shadows on the Holy Supper. There were a thousand things to smother and kill the hosts of high resolves, inspiriting ideals and holy aspirations in his life, but he fainted not. And why? First , because he had the sense of a great life and res ponsibility. He was entrusted with a high and holy min istry—a ministry of revelation. The Spirit was Lord in his life and, therefore, with unveiled face, he was reflect ing the glory of the Lord and in this process was being transformed into His image. With an experience and a ministry like that he could not afford to lose heart. It is this- experience ‘and sense of mission and responsibility that is going to keep men from losing heart in this day of testing. Men are fainting and failing. The church is divided and shadows of an unclean and unholy life fall upon its very altars. Shall we lose heart because of these things? Christ has not failed and it is our responsibility to make this clear to a scoffing world. In the light of this responsibility we can not afford to lose heart. The more people fail and the darker the shadow of failure falls upon the altar of the .church, the greater becomes the responsibility resting upon those who know the reality of the transforming grace and power of Jesus Christ Second, because the Spirit was Lord in his life leading him into the life and experience which triumphs. This meant a separation and a cleansing. He put away and removed, the hidden things of shame, for a man cannot keep heart when he is fostering wrong things in his life or compromising in the things of holiness. It further meant a simple and straightforward manner of life and honest dealing with the Word of God. Men often lose heart because they compromise their walk and are not on the square with the Word of God. They handle it deceit fully. They speak of it as the very Word of God and loudly proclaim their faith in it, but there is no manifesta tion of the truth in their lives to commend it to men’s conscience in the sight of God. This always creates an atmosphere that chills the life and men lose heart. If things are right inside, the heart-fires burn however damp and cold things may be on the outside. Only immediate and intimate communion and fellowship with Jesus Christ can keep these fires aglow. The writer of the letter to the Hebrews commends us to “consider Him that ye faint not.” That considering S inn ing in Defending th e Truth \ \ 7 E have entered a zone of great spiritual danger. It vv is impossible to be too true to the truth; but it is possible so to defend the truth as to sin deeply. Extreme lucidity in the statement of facts and truths is no ,enemy of love, so long as mercy rejoices against judgment. When a Roundhead levelled a musket at the breast of Bishop Hacket, and bade him cease preaching, the Bishop simply said—“Soldier, do your duty; I shall continue to do mine.” God calls us.to be adamant (Ezek. 3:9), He never calls us to be gall. An old Scotch Methodist, who in life had clung passionately to a small sect, when he came within sight of the Gates of Pearl, exclaimed: “The street I am now traveling in has no sides ; and if power were -now ‘given me, I would preach purity of life more and purity of doc trine less. Since I was laid by here, I have had whisper ings telling me that the old wranglings will ne’er be heard in the Kingdom which I am nearing; and, as love cements all differences, I’ll perhaps find the place roomier than I thought of old.” Watchfulness without love is merely the stropping of a razor: love without watchfulness ends in the betrayal of the Lord.— D. M. Panton.
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Give Us Expository Sermons A MAN was one day trying to hang a picture for his . wife, and, not having a step ladder, was trying to balance himself on a pile of books stacked upon a rather weak chair. He had hammered the plaster all about the nail but could not get the nail driven in. Said the wife: “John, hit it one brave blow and be done with it.” “How can I,” he asked, “standing on a foundation like this?” That is just the trouble with much of the modern preaching. It has lost its divine foundation and is trying to stand on mere human speculation.. It is the man who stands firmly upon the Word of God, and has a “Thus saith the’Lord,” for all he says, who can say something with force, and get conviction and conversion as a result. If you -want a life-sized photograph of the Apostle Peter, a man who had- a foundation, take a look at him on the day of Pentecost; Note the change that had taken place in this impetuous, unbalanced and even cowardly fel low, and you will have some idea of what the fullness of the Holy Spirit does for a man. He has become a burning speaker. There’s something in his voice we never heard •before. We had never taken him for an expositor, yet he displays a remarkable grasp of the Scriptures, expands Old Testament prophecies and sets forth the doctrine of Christ in all its fullness. This sermon at Pentecost is full of the Bible and Christ. It begins with the Christ of Nazareth and ends with the Christ of glory. It brings out the humanity of Christ (Acts 2:22), the miracles of Christ (v .22), the crucifixion of Christ - (vs. 23, 38), the resurrection of Christ (v. 24), the ascension of Christ (vs. 33-34), the Deity of Christ (v. 36), the Gift of Christ—-the Holy Spirit (vs. 33, 38). Let our sermons be impregnated with the inspired Word itself and filled with the doctrine of Christ. Expository sermons are the model sermons of the Bible and we need more of that kind of preaching today. Note Peter’s positiveness: “He lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judea, and all ye that dwell in Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words . . . . Ye men of Israel, hear these words. . . . . Let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God hath made that same Jesus, w hom jiek»« crucified, both Lord and Christ.” What was the result? “They were pricked in their hearts and cried out.” He had hit the right spot. The Word of God had not returned void. “With the heart man believeth unto righteousness.” We need to pray for a ministry that will prick hearts. We’re having too much soothing syrup. Consciences are not being disturbed. We need preachers who will expound the whole truth as it is in the Word, and let the Holy Spirit take care of it. What Peter preached is what every minister true to his vows is supposed to preach. Change that message and give the people little sermonettes and chats on current events, and there will be no answer in the human heart, no con viction of sin and repentance. We are “more than conquerors” Through the Written Word, Holding fast its doctrines, With allegiance stirred. Steadfast, stalwart soldiers, Seek not earth’s reward, Win immortal laurels, Wield the Spirit’s Sword. „
means a contemplation and communion that makes Him a reality in the life. Dr. D eW itt;speaks of Jonathan Edwards’ “immediate perception of the spiritual universe as the reality of realities.” This, made Je.sus Christ very real to him and he conversed very familiarly with Him. If we could but practise the Presence with such sureness and immediacy our hands would not hang down and our knees woud not be weak. We lose heart when we lose the sense of His presence. When He rules supreme in the life and His glory is manifested through us we can not lose heart for He is more than all who can be against us. Oh, fill me with Thy fullness1, Tord Until my very heart vo’erflow In'kindling thought and glowing word, Thy love, to tell, Thy praise to show. Are These False Teeth? T EETH, teeth —human teeth! The scientists are all a-flutter! A nrofessor in Montana has dug up a tooth which he declares to be the most important fossil ever found. Its value lies in its being the ripe old age of perxactly 75,000,000 years. (He adds— “certainly over- 30,000,000.” What does a little 45,000,000 one way or the other mean to us in these days?|j(l Another brother has extracted a tooth from a lime stone cave in China. This one, we are told, carries the human race back only 2,400,000 years (possibly we should allow a month or two over). This exact scientific infor mation has been widely broadcast by newspapers and periodicals, and many unthinking folks are ready to swal low these teeth as concrete evidence against the Bible light on man’s antiquity. It has been well said: “Sufficient unto the day'is the drivel thereof.’’ ' In the first place, there is a little question as to whether or not these are human teeth. They may even be false teeth, like some other famous “evidence” produced by evolutionists. Furthermore, the method of calculating their antiquity by .allowing, so many years for the form ation of earth strata lying above them has more than once been exposed as a fallacy. Here is a paragraph to reflect uponptaken from a recent scientific treatise:
“If ages of time elapsed between the formation of the successive beds of coal, we would not find fossils of a similar character scattered through them. Nor would we find fossil Itrees extending through several over-lying strata. In a colliery near New castle, England, a fossil tree was found reaching up through ten distinct over-lying strata. How could this tree have been preserved through hundreds of thou sands of years, while the land was slowly subsiding into or rising above the sea ?”
The pity is that some of this cock-sure knowledge that can fix the age of a tooth found in the ground can not be put to work diagnosing and relieving some of the human ills of today.
“At the present time,”' says Dr. Ales Hrdlicka, curator of physical anthropology at the Smithsonian Institution, “there is an epidemic of ‘ancient man’ discoveries in North America. Most of them, ac cording to this authority, are based upon the most absurd grounds. Sometimes the ‘discoverers’ of these ‘finds’ are fakers, pure and simple, who crave publicity; sometimes they are sincere persons who are unable to examine the object critically and draw a proper inference.” “The trouble with these affairs,” says Dr. Hrdlicka, “is that they tend to make the whole science of physical anthropology ridiculous because of the publicity they obtain.”
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K ick N o . 1 “Your paper has just two bad faults, I will be frank to say. I cannot do my household work On K. B. arrival day. Besides, it should be twice as thick; It whets my taste for more— And when I have to wait four weeks It surely makes me sore.” * * * *
“We cannot believe in the supernatural power of a thing of our own creation. As well ask us to carve an image, call it God and worship it. A reasonable man can no more worship the product of his brain than his hands ." * * * * Every now and then a Liberalist Comes forth with the remark: “The Modernist is much more concerned about Chris tian life than about doctrine ." It would be well if some professed Fundamentalists were more concerned about Christian life, but after all, what is doctrine but a statement of what one considers the foundation principles of Christian living ? How can there be a tree without a root? You cannot draw a straight line with a crooked rule. * * * * Hereg’bomeK a choice morsel from a Modernist paper—a characterization of Fundamentalists: “This is the sort of sublime idiocy issuing out of the most eminent nyiuths and minds impreg nated with the individualistic theory of life and society.” It may be that equally beautiful invectives have been hurled at Liberal- .ists, but it is our conviction that whenever either side indulges in mud-slinging, nothing is accomplished other than the dirtying of hands. We wish the Modernists had the monopoly on this kind of thing. * ♦ * * Dr. R. C. Hutchinson, writing concerning the Moslems, says in Atlantic Monthly: “If any religion is to commend itself to any people of another faith, it must present some element which the other religion does not possess:' The distinctive element of Christianity is.jove—love such as no Buddha or Mohammed ever revealed. ' Right here has Christianity failed. It has not suc ceeded in revealing to the Moslem world that it has this sub lime and unique element of value—namely, the love of Christ.' Every other argument and inducement has been brought, but without the fulness of this love the case has been incomplete and no victory has been won. Until Christians believe and dare to practice the teachings of Christ, it will not win Islam.” This is a serious indictment and may well set us all to examining our selves. How can we expect to win for Christ if we are-no better fundamentally than the unsaved? If some of us should give the Holy Spirit His way in our lives, a lot of people would rub their eyes in amazement: * * * * The Los Angeles Times makes a good comment on the recent formation of another free-thinkers’ society among students of Yale. “As they' grow older,” says the editor, “they will learn. The number is legion of those who were sincere unbelievers at 20 and sincere believers at 50. A notable instance is that of Earl Balfour,- who wrote at 25 a book entitled ‘In Defense of Philo sophic Doubt,’ and. at 60 ‘Foundations of Faith.’ Some one has said, ‘Doubt is the beginning of wisdom;’ it often, also, is the beginning of faith. These youths who go to the Bible to con tradict it, if they are sincere, are likely to find their doubts van ish and, like Balfour, to discover there the foundations of faith.” One is reminded of the lines :.
“The only thing that many a mother and daughter have in common today,” says a Los Angeles paper, “is bobbed hair.” * * * * Says one: “Our churches are made up of people who would be equally shocked to see Christianity doubted or put in practice.” It is sad that so many are inoculated with such a mild form of Christianity. * * * * It was Mr. Spurgeon who said: “The true safety of the Church is not creed, not an enactment for expelling those who violate the creed; the presence of God alone can protect His: people against the cunning assaults of their foes.” * * * * During the year 1925 there were 175,495 divorces granted in the United States, as compared with 170,952 in 1924, representing an increase of 4543, or 2.7 per cent. sfc * * * A survey of Philadelphia churches revealed an average increase of only seven members a congregation made during a decade by twelve leading Protestant denominations. Similar conditions could doubtless be shown in many cities. The loss of an authoritative message, with the consequent decline of the.soul- winning spirit, is doubtless largely responsible. * * * * “The miracle of human life cannot be explained on material istic grounds, and the person who cannot visualize anything in life except what he sees in a test tube or under a microscope is to be pitied,” Dr. Allan Craig, of Chicago said in an address before the American College of Surgeons recently. “It is the spirit within that makes the man supreme in the world and allows him to control materialistic things.” * * * * John Hancock, the first signer of the Declaration of Inde pendence, and eight others who signed that historic document, were preachers’ sons. Numbers would grant preachers’ sons entrance into the presidency of the United States once in 220 times, but one in every nine of the presidents has been a preach er’s'son, while one in every four administrations has had a min ister’s daughter as mistress of the White House. One out of every five in the Hall of Fame in New York City is a minister’s son or daughter. ♦ S|c $ He Few could have given a better answer to a certain modernist writer who recently took the position that the race needed “a new God, made after our own image and likeness ," than has Grant Morgan in the “Catholic World.” So much do we need this new God, the critic has stated, that we should create him to fit our own ideas of what he ought to be. Mr. Morgan says:
“You can lead a horse to water, But' you cannot make him drink; You can send a boy to college, But you cannot make him think.”
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The Bible and the Nation N otes of an A ddress by R ev . G. C ampbell M organ , D.D.
T ext : “The grass withereth , the flower fadeth ;. but the word of our God shall stand for ever !’ —Isa. 40:8. I HAVE no understanding of any Christianity that is not interested in the national life. I am not saying— indeed, I repudiate the suggestion—that it is the duty of the Church of God to take part in what may be called party politics. Whenever the Church of God, in any branch, has been dragged at the wheels of any political party, she has become paralyzed. Her duty is not to.be led, but to lead. I am sometimes told that the duty of the Christian minister is to catch the spirit of the age. I pro test. The duty of the Christian minister is to correct the spirit of the age. And from that standpoint I declare that the Church of God must be interested in national affairs. “The grass withereth, the flower fadeth; but the word of our God shall stand for ever.” So said the Prophet Isaiah to the nation of his day. Is that true nationally? Have we, as a nation, outgrown the Bible? Increasingly, during the last thirty or forty years, our national attitude towards the Bible has been very largely that of treating it as something that we have outgrown. In my boyhood days there was being conducted a definite propaganda of hostil ity towards Christianity and towards the Bible. Every Sunday speakers were sent out to address men and women, and the halls used to be crowded. That day has gone, but I feel that for a generation or more, the national attitude has been that of looking on the Bible as something we have outgrown. Someone will say, “You make that dec
teachers say, and applying their teaching a little farther than it should be applied, is saying, “If we have outgrown the Bible scientifically and philosophically, and if we have also outgrown the Bible theologically, really we must have outgrown it altogether” ; and he dismisses it. He respects it because it was his father’s, his mother’s book; but for practical purposes he puts it on one side as something that the nation has outgrown. This has gone on for a genera tion now. I want to discuss these three points as to whether we really have outgrown the Bible scientifically, philosophically, or theologically. Let me, first of all, say to you young people that when these things are ■ affirmed, by whomsoever they may be affirmed, do not believe them simply because someone says these things are so. It is up to you to investigate these things for yourselves before you accept any dogmatic assertion, however unanimous the assertion may seem to be. Unanimity has never been proof of a truth. And if there appears to be a unanimous opinion abroad in the scientific and philosophic world just now—I will not say a unanimous opinion in the theological world—I beg you young folk not to accept it simply because someone, it may be your professor in the science class, tells you to believe it. The most pernicious thing I know in the intel lectual world is a second-hand agnosticism. If you have a first-hand agnosticism, if- you are really facing intellec tual problems, I would stand by you. I would be patient with you as you face those problems, and as you attempt to find a solution for them according to truth. More than forty years ago a man went into the vestry
laration, but how do you account for it?” It is not my business to account for it. It has been, and still is being, dogmatically asserted in certain academic quar ters that we have out grown the Bible in cer tain ways. It is being said, without the slight est apology, that we h a v e outgrown the Bible scientifically, and that we have outgrown it philosophically. And it is also being said, not outside the Church only, but inside, that we have outgrown it theo logically. N ot O utgrown These things are be ing affirmed, and that ubiquitous person, “the man in the street,” as we call him, with his wonderful faculty of thinking over what his
of t h e Metropolitan Tabernacle, after C. H. Spurgeon h a d b e e n preaching, and, shak ing hands with the great preacher, he said, “I have greatly enjoyed your eloquence, but you know, Mr. Spurgeon, I am an agnostic.” And the record has it, and I think the tradition is a true one, that Mr. Spurgeon looked at the man and said, “What did you say? Well—let me see—my Greek may be a little rusty. What is . that ? Let me think —oh, yes, I know. I believe the Latin equiv alent is ignoramus!” Agnosticism can never be the final resting- place of a strong intel lectuality. No man can sit down and say, “I do not know,” and be in tellectually satisfied.
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400,000 slaves sweating, toiling, bleeding, rotting, dying, to make possible the life of the 20,000 citizens! In this our day, civilization has come to mean that order of life in which the highest good of the highest number may be realized. We are all seeing that, and moving towards it. Well, that is the direct outcome of all that you find in this Book. Let me mentally push you back through the years to July, 1914. You see where I want to put you for a moment—behind the war. I would ask you to get back to the mentality of that period; and I would ask you to point to three countries where this ideal of civilization had reached its highest levels. No one could deny that civ ilization had reached its highest level in Great Britain, the United States, and Germany. And that civilization re sulted from the reception of this Book by the people, and from the fact that this literature had been given to the people in their own tongue. When I went to school, we were taught history, and it consisted chiefly in learning the dates on which battles were fought and lost, or won, dates on which kings sat on the throne, and dates when, by the goodness of God, they died. The history of a coun try is the history of its people, and the history of a peo ple is the history of the thinking of a people. M orality is R ooted in R eligion When John Wycliffe gave the Bible to England, he translated it, not from the original, but from the Vulgate. How many of you know John Wycliffe’s introduction to his Bible ? It is in the British Museum. Sixty years ago, or thereabouts, Abraham Lincoln told the American people that the true ideal of life was government of the people, by the people, for the people—under God. The inter esting thing is that Abraham Lincoln was not the com poser of that revealing phrase. You will find it in the introduction of John Wycliffe’s Bible, and Lincoln knew Wycliffe’s introduction. On you go again until you come to Tyndale. When his work was completed, the printing press came, and England began to read. A new conception of life dawned for her. What about Germany ? And when you talk and think about Germany, do not always think about her war lords—think of Martin Luther. Her greatness came when she got the Bible in her own tongue. “But what about her failure?” someone says. It is time we stopped fling ing stones. We are all going that way. Germany deliber ately, by her philosophy, turned her back upon this Book. The Bible stands from beginning to end for this as an ethical conception—that morality is rooted in religion; that there are no sanctions sufficiently powerful to compel, or impel, right behaviour between man and man, except
W here to M ake D istinctions Let me touch upon the first, because it is the one that receives most dogmatic assertion, and apparently, most unanimous agreement-—that we have outgrown the Bible scientifically. There are two principles I would like to lay down. The first i s :■ Draw a clear distinction between the ascertained facts of science dnd the unproved hypothe ses of investigators. Hypotheses are perfectly permis sible on their way to the discovery of facts, but, while per missible, they are not to be accepted as final facts until they are proven. The other thing I would ask you to do is to draw a clear distinction between what your Bible says and what some people say it says. It is not always the same thing. If you start your investigations on those lines, I shall have no anxiety as to the issue. I say this after forty-one years’ study of the Bible. There are no discrepancies whatever between the ascertained facts of science and those things that the Bible really says. In the Bible we have a moral conception which has created the great civilizations of the past two thousand years. In the Bible we have a conception of God which has created all the philanthropies that are at work in the world today. In the Bible we have a conception of man which has created in the human mind a discontent with, false conditions of life, which discontent has been the in spiration of all reforms. In the Bible we have the declara tion that the God of the universe has made a way by which derelict humanity may be re-born. In Short, in the Bible we have the Biblical conception of morality, the Biblical interpretation of God, the Biblical interpretation of man, and the Gospel. These are things of national value, and if -we lose any of them, we lose the real secret of our strength. T he O nly R eal C ivilization First, in the Bible we have the conception of morality which has issued in the great civilizations of the past two thousand years. The world has never yet seen a real civilization. That will only come when the kingdom of God cpmes in all its perfection. I speak of civilization as that order of life in which the highest good of the high est number is realized. Let me refer you to the ancient Athenian civilization. I would like to give you the figures of Athenaeus. At the census of Demetrius, he said that in Athens there were about 21,000 citizens, free citizens, living on the sunlit slopes of the city, basking amid its flowers, discussing its philosophies, entering into its high revelry by day and by night, and having no need to toil— free and emancipated. He says that at the same time there were in residence, sharing in the life and glory of Athens, 10,000 students. And, listen! there were also
“Light” , Thou Sun of Righteousness Divine Thy radiant glory through me shine; I would light up the Calvary way That turns all darkness into day.
love
Thy light within brings warmth and To my whole being—from above; O use me, Lord, a light to be, That others might my Saviour see.
Just as Thou wilt; Thy choice is mine; I’m not my own, for I am Thine; At Thy disposal, loos’d by Thee, Thy will be done, dear Lord, in me.
—N ellie A. M oyes .
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