63
February, 1933
T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
F R O M THE B O O K OF L I FE A N D E V E R Y D A Y LIFE B y R oy T almage B rumbaugh
be tempted of the devil.” Heavenly ex periences are ever followed by earthly trials. “ FOLLOW ME”—Thousands have left all and followed Christ. Brave souls have crossed oceans, cut their way through wild jungles, climbed snow-capped mountains, lived with savages,; endured every variety of hardship for Christ’s sake; yet there are more people in sin today than when Christ was born. The fields are white un to harvest. Laborers are few. What are we doing about it? MOUNTAIN AND FIELD—Antitheses and identities greet us everywhere. “All concord’s born' of contraries.” Nature is spiritual truths. Above me rose majestic Mount Tacoma with its mantle of ermine too rich for an earl. At the base o f the picture there nestled a field of tulips, blood-red. What vivid suggestiveness I God is holy. He cannot look upon in iquity, yet He looks at the believer. How ? The believer has been covered by the white robe of Christ’s righteousness. An aviator flying over Mount Tacoma does not see the dirt underneath; he merely sees the mantle o f snow. So God, looking at us, sees not our sins, but the snow-white righteousness o f our Lord reckoned to our account because of faith in Christ. What is the basis o f this imputation ? The blood, for. it is written, “ Being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him” (Rom. 5:9). COUNTERCURRENTS — The waters rush in from the Pacific Ocean to the southern part of the Puget Sound, through a place that is called “ The Narrows.” It is said that the stronger the tide, the stronger and more numerous the eddies. These countercurrents are used by fisher men and others who would go in a direction contrary to the tide. What is true of the tide is also true of Christian experience. Strong personalities surely set up countercurrents and strong opposition. The stronger the personality, the stronger the opposition. The stronger the flow of personality Godward, the more numerous and the stronger the currents in the other direction. Christ, that perfect Perspnality, stirred up much opposition. By means o f counter- currents, the Pharisees, the Sadducees, and the scribes kept many away from the stream that would carry them to the throne of grace. No man can follow Christ and not expect opposition. happy in m u t u a l help. I saw a sight in the Puyallup val ley which was a study in contrasts, yet a blending of
mentary on the book of Jonah, believing in its historicity. Calvin was a great scholar of Scripture and one of the great reform ers. Both Calvin and Augustine believed in the historicity o f Jonah. Luther believed that Jonah was a real person, and that the events recorded in this book were historic facts. Fourth: I believe in the historicity of Jonah because there is no weighty evidence against it. To show the foolishness of su perficial theorists, I would bring this to’ your attention: A professor in California explained the book of Jonah something like this : “ There was once a Jonah tribe and a Whale tribe. These two tribes were con stantly at warfare with each other, Fin ally, the Whale tribe exterminated the Jo nah tribe, and out o f this incident, there arose the story of Jonah and the whale.” What fo lly ! Yet people swallow similar reasoning, but will not believe the simple narrative as recorded by the Spirit through the prophet Jonah. I sat in the classroom under the scholar ship of Dr. Robert Dick Wilson, one o f the greatest philologists of this generation. He knew forty different languages. He ex amined every Hebrew word in the Old Testament and traced its source through every cognate language. He said, “No one knows enough to refute any historic fact in the Old Testament.” IN OR OUT, FULL OR EM PTY ?— As it was in the days of Noah, so shall it 'be in the days of the Son of Man—some spiritually dead and therefore lost. All Christians .possess the Spirit, but all Christians are not filled with the Spirit. Repentance and faith result in possession of the Spirit, while unreserved yieldedness results in being filled with the Spirit. Spir it-filled Christians watch and pray. DENIAL—The twenty-sixth chapter of Matthew ends with the denial of Peter. Notice that in it Peter did not even mention the name of Christ. He denied Him and called curses upon himself if what he said were not true. How vehement sinners get! The cock crew. Peter remembered. Simon went out. The impetuous disciple wept bit terly. Bitter tears ever follow base denials. How easy it is to deny our Lord and Christ! Are not all of us guilty? HEAVEN AND EARTH—These two touch each other (Matt. 3:13 to 4:11). When Jesus was baptized, the heavens were opened, the Holy Spirit descended, and the Father spoke. “Then was Jesus led up of the spirit into the wilderness to shut out, some shut in. P r o f e s s i o n amounts to nothing. Possession is every thing. A p e r s o n without the Spirit is
H ISTORY OR ALLEGORY—A' phil osopher said, “ There is a principle which is a bar to all information, which is proof
a g a i n s t all argu ments, and w h i c h cannot fail to keep a man in everlasting i g n o r a n c e : This principle is contempt
prior to investigation." Destructive criti cism approaches the book of Jonah with contempt. Its mind is filled with ridicule before it examines the book and the ac cumulated evidence in proof o f its his toricity. Rationalism assumes that Jonah is a fanciful legend. Anti-supernaturalism places Jonah with sacred allegory. Unbe lief blatantly bellows that Jonah is a leg endary hero of Jewish folklore.. I believe in the historicity of Jonah for the following reasons : First : This narrative bears on its face the stamp o f historicity. Even destructive critics would receive this narrative a's his torical fact, if the supernatural element, contained in 1 :17 and 2:10, were left out* Two verses stand in the way of the critics’ acceptance of the historicity of the book. They assume that God cannot do the mir aculous ; therefore, the miraculous must be deleted wherever found in 'supernatural revelation. Second: I believe in the historicity of Jonah because the Jews believed that Jonah was a real person, and that he wrote this book. The Septuagint is a translation of the Hebrew Old Testament into the Greek by seventy Hebrew scholars. This transla tion was completed long before Christ was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. These Hebrew scholars placed Jonah where he is foimd in the canon of the Hebrèw Old Testament. Jo sephus was one of the greatest o f Jewish secular historians, and he believed that Jonah was a real person, and that the facts recorded in the book of Jonah were his toric facts. Philo was a great Jewish phil osopher o f Alexandria. He lived two thou sand years ago. He was nearer to the original sources than we are. He also be lieved that Jonah was a real person, and that he wrote the book that bears his name. Third:' I believe in the historicity o f Jonah because the church believed in it from the very beginning* During the early persecutions, Christians fled to the cata combs o f Rome. Biblical scenes were de picted on the walls of these underground homes. The portions of the thrilling nar rative that stand out are the incidents found in the book of Jonah. The greatest preacher in the Greek church was Chrysos tom. He was the “golden-mouthed orator.” He wrote and preached the historicity of Jonah. Jerome was one o f the greatest of the Latin church fathers. He wrote a com
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