VOL. Vili
FEBRUARY, 1917
No. 2
The King’s Business
“Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood.**—Rev. 1:5
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Published once a month by the BIBLE INSTITUTE OF LOS ANGELES LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, U. S. A.
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ONE D O L L A R A Y E A R
( l it? K in g a I m m u r a MOTTO : “I the Lord do keep it, I will water it every moment lest any hurt it, I will keep it night and day.**—Isa. 27:3 . R. A. TORREY, D. D., Editor T. C. HORTON, J .H . HUNTER, WILLIAM EVANS, D. D., Associate Editors A. M. ROW, Managing Editor P ublished by th e BIBLE INSTITUTE OF LOS ANGELES, Inc. Los Angeles, California, U. S. A. Entered as Second*Class Matter November 17, 1910, at the postoffice at Los Angeles, Cal., under the Act of March 3, 1879. Copyright by R. A. Torrey, D. D., and Bible Institute of Los Angeles, tor the year 1916.
D IRECTORS
L ym an S tew art, presid en t. W illiam T h o rn , se c re tary . T . C . H o rto n , su p e rin te n d en t.
R. A . T o rre y , v ice-president L eon V . Shaw , tre a su re r.
W illiam E vans.
H . A . Getz.
J. M. Irvine.
N a th an Newby
DO CTR INAL STATEM ENT W e hold to th e H isto ric F a ith of th e C h u rc h a s expressed in th e C om m on C reed of E vangelical C hristen d om a n d inclu d in g : T h e T rin ity of th e G odhead. T h e D eity of th e C hrist.
T h e M ain ten an ce of G ood W orks. T h e Second C om ing of C hrist. T h e Im m o rtality of th e S p irit. T h e R e su rrec tio n of th e Body. T h e Life E v erlastin g of B elievers. T h e E ndless P u n ishm e n t of th e Im p en iten t. T h e R eality a n d P e rso n a lity of S atan. ( 7 ) Bible W om en. H ouse-to-house visitatio n a n d n eig h b o rh o o d classes. ( 8 ) O il Fields. A m ission to fnen on th e oil fields. ( 9 ) Books a n d T ra c ts. Sale a n d dis trib u tio n of selected boo k s a n d trac ts. (1 0 ) H a rb o r W o rk . F o r seam en a t Los A ngeles h a rb o r. ( 1 1 ) Y okefellow s’ H a ll., T h o ro u g h ly m anned. I O u r M ission fo r m en w ith S tre et M eetings, a n d B ootblacks a n d N ew sboys S u n d ay School. (1 2 ) P rin t Shop. F o r p rin tin g T e sta m ents, books, trac ts, etc* A com plete establishm ent, p rofits going to fre e dis trib u tio n of religious lite ra tu re .
T h e P e rso n a lity of th e H oly G host. T h e S u p e rn a tu ra l a n d P le n ary a u th o rity of th e H oly S crip tu res. T h e U n ity in D iversity of th e C h u rch , th e Body a n d B ride of C hrist. T h e S u b stitu tio n a ry A to n em en t. T h e N ecessity of th e New B irth. • T h e In stitu te train s, fre* * of cost, acc red ited m en a n d w om en, in th e know ledge a n d use of th e Bible. *-v , , ( I ) T h e In stitu t a Departments: c la sses held daily e x cep t o n S a tu rd ay s a n d Sundays. ( 2 ) E xtension w o rk . C lasses a n d co n feren ces held in njeighboring cities a n d towns. ( 3 ) E vangelistic. M eetings co nducted b y o u r evangelists. ( 4 ) S p an ish M ission. M eetings every night. ( 5 ) S hop W o rk . R e g u la r services in shops a n d factories. ( 6 ) Jew ish E vangelism . P e rso n a l- w o rk am o n g th e H ebrew s. P
SC O P E O F T H E W ORK
THE KING’S BUSINESS
TABLE OF CONTENTS Editorial: A Professor’s Responsibility—^Wicked Follies of the Rich—The Historical and the Spiritual Christ— Beware of Rome—A Foolish General............................. 99 Evangelism in the Sunday School. By H. J. Baldwin........... 105 The Institute Family............................. ..................................... ] ]2 Obedience vs. Understanding. By William Evans, Ph. D., D. D.............................................. ............................. ......... 1J3 Temptation. By Prof. James Stalker*....................................... 115 Puzzling Passages and Problems............................................. 1 12 1 The Far Horizon.................... 126 Through the Bible with Dr. Evans............................................. 129 Evangelistic Department. By Bible Institute Workers........ 133 Homiletical Helps. By William Evans....... j ................ .......... 141 International Sunday School Lessons. By R. A. Torrey and T. C. H o rton ................................................................ 149 Daily Devotional Studies in the New Testament for Indi vidual Meditation and Family Worship. By R. A. Torrey ........................................... ................................. . 175 SUBSCRIPTION PR ICE :he U n ited S tates a n d its Possessions, Mexico, C an ad a a n d p o in ts in C e n tra l A m e ric an P o stal U nion, $1 p e r y e a r. In all o th e r foreign countries, $1.24 (5 s. 2 d .). Single copies, 10 cents. R eceip ts sent on req u est. See d a te on address tag. “S ept. 16** m eans E xpires Sept. 1916, etc. PUBLISHED BY THE BIBLE INSTITUTE OF LOS ANGELES 536-558 SOUTH HO PE STR E ET LOS ANGELES, CAL.
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THE KING'S BUSINESS
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THE KING’S BUSINESS
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No. 2
FEBRUARY, 1917
Vol. 8
e d i t o r i a l A well-known preacher said from the pulpit quite recently that he knew of two college professors w o had undermined the faith of hundreds of young me who entered the class room with faith m God and
A Professor’s Responsibility.
religion but who had left it minus faith and trust. This was an exceedmg y grave charge to make, and we fear, alas, it is too true for we have met many such young people—young men and women1who left their homes with a co fideJe in fp frito l thLgs which was bom of faith g .Godajjd M B f e g B but who have returned to their parents shipwrecked in faith O h > w mu h such professors will have to answer for in the final reckoning. guilt must rest on their consciences as they recall the havoc of faith - wrought in human lives! No wonder the average Christian parent trembles as he thinks of putting his son or daughter in the hands of just such teac •• There is such a thing as soul-murder. No murderer shall enter the g , of heaven. May God-have mercy on those who destroy the faith of our yout .
The Associated Press is just sending out an item which brings forcibly to mind the inspired words of Jesus, “Go to now, ye rich, weep and howl for your miseries that are coming upon you. Your riches are corrupted,
Wicked Follies of the Rich.
and your garments are motheaten. Your gold and their rust shall be for a testimony against you and fire Ye have laid up your treasures m the last days. Behold, the the laborers who mowed your fields, which is of you kept back by out - and the cries of them that reaped have entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth Ye have lived delicately on the earth, and taken your pleasure, ye S v e nourished your hearts in a day of slaughter. . have killed the righteous one; he doth not resist you. Be patient theretore, S h r e n until the coming of the-Lord . . . . . . stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord is at hand.” This item,reads, ‘‘A catwith a ^m ond -set p-old tooth and other Persians valued at as much as $2,000.00 will be a ieature of 'the Sevetoh Annual Show of the Pacific Cat Club to be held here (San Fran cisco') February 16, 17:” Think of squandering diamonds and gold on the tooth o f a c a i w h e n children are perishing for lack of food in Germany, Belgium Poland and in other lands, to say nothing of the_wants of widows M ^orphans and toe sick in our own land. When the rich put on public exhibition cats with diamond set, gold filled teeth, and bury their pet dogs at an expense-of hundreds of dollars, and give dog parties and cat parties at toe cost of thousands of dollars, and deck out their babies in silks and jewels *{
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THE KING’S 'BUSINESS at an expenditure that would feed several other babies for a year, is it any wonder that the poorer laboring classes are increasing in discontent and that many are planning for a social war which no civil war of the past will match in horror? Is it any wonder that a socialist writes in bitterness of soul: “A thousand babes go supperless to bed in order that one monster brat may puke on silk.” The rich with their idleness and display and mad waste of wealth and stuffing of their overfed and diseased bodies, are the real authors of the most desperate and dangerous forms of anarchy. churches to go into Christian Science told him that he thought thè reason why many people were leaving the orthodox churches was bécause they made every thing of the “historical” Christ and practically nothing of the “spiritual” Christ ; because they were laying emphasis on the Christ of Bethlehem, Nazareth, and Calvary and neglecting the Christ of the present, who is not only near but dwelling within His people. Is this remark worthy of the attention of the Church ? Is it possible that we have been dealing far too little with the spiritual Christ and His imminence with the sons of men ? Would it be advisable for us to leave the foundation truths, not forsaking them, but leaving them, as the builder leaves the foundation, to erect the spiritual superstructure, all the time realizing that the foundation is the principal thing, but not the whole thing? Is it possible that we have dwelt too long on what the writer to the Hebrews calls “the first principles of the doctrine of Christ,” and which he advises “leaving” in order that we may “go on unto perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance . . . of faith . . . of baptisms . . . of the resurrection of the dead, of eternal judgment?” Has the time come "for a reaction from “scholasticism” to “mysticism,” the real Christian mysticism which makes not less of the “historical,” but more of the “spiritual” Christ, always recognizing the absolute necessity of the historical facts of the Christian religion, in.order to the reception of its deeper spiritual truths? .Ought we not to lay mo|e emphasis in our preaching and téaching on the indwelling of Christ in the believer by His Holy Spirit, an indwelling which issues in a victorious life as the result of historical “Christ in you, the hope of glory?” Is it possible to make too much of the “historical” at the expense of the “spiritual” Christ ? A scholar and thinker remarked the other day that a very intelligent and religious man who had left one of the orthodox The Historical and the Spiritual Christ.
Many of the most thoughtful students of the present war fe$l that one of the disastrous results of the war will be the increase of the political power of the Roman Catholic Church. The war had its origin largely
Beware of Rome.
through Roman Catholic intrigues regarding Servia. At the opening of the war the British Government was induced to send an ambassador to the Vatican, contrary to the policy of that Government established by centuries of usage. One Vatican ambassador has recently resigned and the British Government has- sent another. While some of the English non-conformists have openly condemned this policy, the Church of England authorities seem to favor this step. It is said furthermore, that both Germany and Austria are putting forward proposals to revive the Papacy as a temporal power. All through
THE KING’S BUSINESS 101 the war Rome, while preaching peace, has been scheming for the favor of Germany, even to the extent of sacrificing the interests of the Roman Catholic people of Belgium. The brave and patriotic Cardinal Mercier has not at all represented the attitude of Rome. Germany and her allies have reciprocated for the political favoritism shown by Rome, and there is reason to think that there is a move on hand by Austria-Hungary, backed by Ger many, to have the Trentino for which Italy is fighting, ceded to the Church of Rome and made a Papal state. The Roman Catholic Professor Hoeber has published a lecture in which he declares that the time is at hand for reaching a more definite decision regarding the political position of the Pope. This lecture has been received favorably' at the Vatican, and a letter has been sent from Rome endorsing this lecture.' This letter reads: “I am pleased to notify you that the address delivered by Professor Hoeber has been found very fine and has given much satisfaction here. You are hereby authorized to print and distribute the address. . . . Only real territorial possession can assure to the Pope the liberty which he absolutely needs for the performance of his high functions. The Pope must be a true sovereign and not merely an honorary sovereign in virtue of rights conceded by a particular State, or even by all the States. This would be unworthy the supreme head of the church. The internationalization of the Law of the Guarantees would merely make of the Pope a plaything in the hands of the powers.” But alas! Rome does not confine its political machinations to the European continent, they are doing everything in their power to Romanize the'Government of the United States. Many have watched with dismay President Wilson’s penchant for Roman 'Catholics in his appointments. Mr. Charles Hughes, either in his desire to gain political power, or for some other reason, though himself a Baptist, sent his daughter to a Roman Catholic school. Another man who was prominently mentioned as a nominee for the Presidency, though himself sup posedly a decided Protestant, is credibly reported to have said in conversation with a political friend when they were off together, “Let me say to you in confidence that any one who wishes political power in this country must bow to the hierarchy,” and it is certain that when he was in power he did make dangerous concessions to Rome, and in return secured for himself a strong backing by the Roman Catholic Church. Any one who dares to be very outspoken in exposing the errors of Rome and the outrages wrought in some of their secret institutions, makes himself liable to, violence, even sometimes to the extent of being murdered, and when any attempt is made to bring those Roman Catholics who are guilty of the violence to justice, in many parts of the country it is well-nigh impossible to secure a conviction, even though the evidence is clear. Our newspapers as a rule maintain an ominous silence about any event that reflects upon the Roman Catholic Church, and the Roman Catholic .Church largely controls our newspapers and our organiza tions for the dissemination of news. People are wakening up to the Roman Catholic menace to our liberties, but they are not by any means as alert even yet as they should be. We have little doubt of the ultimate temporary triumph of the Roman Catholic Church; that seems to be indicated in Bible prophecy, but that is no reason why we should not do whatever may lie in our power to stem the tide of the corrupt and corrupting influence of the Roman Catholic Church as a political power. The things of which we have spoken do n*ot in the least dishearten us, they are but another indication that we are hastening
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THE KING’S BUSINESS on toward that time when our Lord Jesus Himself shall come and set straight the things which man has made wrong. Even so come Lord Jesus, come quickly.
United States army officers of the higher rank have as a rule shown themselves to be men of well balanced judgment. They have understood their sphere of authority; they have carefully kept themselves within
A Foolish General.
that sphere. General Funston seems to be a striking exception to this general rule, at least, in one of his recent actions, if we are to believe what a prominent Baptist preacher, Dr. J. B. Gambrell, writes of him in the Watchman-Examiner. Dr, Gambrell writes: “The Baptists belong to the group of evangelical and evangelistic denominations. When, a little while ago, acting for Texas Baptists and all Southern Baptists, some million strong, I sought an interview with General Funston with a view of arranging for preach ing to the soldiers under the General’s command, I was told by General Funston, through his Chief of Staff, that it would be unobjectionable for the Baptists to preach in the camps of the soldiers, provided they would not tell the soldiers that they were lost. General Funston, also through his Chief of Staff, explained that he did not wish the emotions of the soldiers stirred and that he did not wish revivals. These statements have been repeated by General Funston in interviews printed in the press.” If these statements regarding General Funston are correct, and they seem to be admitted by him and by his friends, it is very clear that the General far exceeded his authority. Never before in the history of this Country, as far as we 'know, has a military commander assumed to , exercise his authority in questions of theology, or to determine what chaplains 'should teach dr preach. Roman Catholics have been allowed to present the 'doctrines they believe and to carry on services according to the methods of that church, and evangelical preachers have also been allowed to preach what they believed to be the truth, without dictation from military officers. The Constitution of the United States safeguards the freedom of religion and makes no exceptions in the case of enlisted soldiers. In point of fact, there have been revivals among American soldiers time and time again in the past; and the truth of God’s Word, the truth that the Lord Jesus Christ Himself taught, that men out of Him are lost, has been taught, and very properly taught. The results of these revivals have been good for the discipline of the army. The men con verted have been better soldiers because they were converted. General Funston far exceeded his legitimate authority, and unless he is brought to a better mind he has proven himself to be utterly unfit for a commander, however wise he may be in military matters. Dr. Gambrell in his article kindly says of the General: “I hold General Funston in high regard as, a military man.” In regard to General Funston’s military ability, we hold no opinion; we do not know of anything that he has ever done that has displayed any high order of military genius, and we do recall thát he got his promotion in á very irregular way, because of a certain achievement of his in Gapturing Aguinaldo in the Philippine Islands, an achievement that would entitle a detective or police officer to promotion, but certainly was not of a character that displayed any great military genius or entitled one to such promotion as he received. Never theless, he may be an able military man, we do not know, though we entertain doubts until he proves it by something that he accomplishes, which, as far as we know, he has never done. But we do know that this present action, if correctly reported, was an unwarranted display of bumptiousness that bught to
THE KING’S BUSINESS 103 be rebuked by those in authority, and that he ought at least to be instructed to keep within his proper sphere and not enter a sphere for which he is entirely incapacitated by his evident ignorance along those lines. His action in this matter is in striking contrast with that of Major General Brooke, who was over the 60,000 soldiers gathered at Ghicamauga Park during the Spanish-American war. Major General Brooke was i man of real military ability. He had attained to his position in the regular way, by promotion in the regular order. He had been thoroughly trained fo f military life, and not in the irregular way in which General Funston got into the regular army. The writer of the present editorial was preaching at Chicamauga during the Spanish-American war, and had occasion to call on Major General Brooke, and was most courteously received. General Brooke (fid everything properly in his power to further tlje work done by ministers of the different denominations, Roman Catholics as well as Protestants. Neither chaplains nor the workers sent out by the Young Men’s Christian Association were instructed as to what they should preach. Of course they were required to observe the laws and general regulations of the army, as they should be, but they were given every opportunity consistent with military discipline. Men were told that they were lost, and were told how to he saved by accepting the Lord Jesus Christ, and hundreds of the men, yes thousands of them, did accept Christ at Chicamauga and went back to their homes better men than they came. Through their conversion the army was greatly improved and the difficulties that arose in connection with intemperance and impurity were very much lessened because 6f the revivals that occurred in camp. General Funston’s peculiar action in this matter was in striking con trast with that of one of the bravest and ablest generals in our Civil war, Major General O. O. Howard, at the breaking out of the Spanish-American war. General O. O. Howard was one of the two great heroes of the battle of Gettysburg. Congress passed a unanimous vote of thanks to him for his stand at the battle of Gettysburg. He was a military commander of the very highest order. >This he proved over and over again during the Civil war, and after wards in the'Indian wars. At the outbreak of the Spanish-American war he had already been retired because of age. Except for this retirement he would have been Lieutenant General. At the outbreak of the war he offered his services to the government, though retired by age. It was felt that there was no position high enough for a man of his abilities to which he should be appointed. As he could not be accepted, his two sons went to the war. One of them, Col. Guy Howard, was killed in the Philippines. As Major General Howard could not be accepted for a regular command, he went to the camps to preach. He did not hesitate to tell soldiers that they were lost. He knew that men who were brought to realize that, they were lost and then brought to accept Jesus Christ made the best soldiers.' He himself had been converted before the' Civil war through being brought to know that he was a lost sinner, converted indirectly through another great General. General Funston’s conduct is also in striking contrast with that of some of the greatest generals and one of the bravest admirals in the present war across the seas. General Sir William Robertson has recently said: “I feel that even yet too many of us are putting an undue amount of trust in ‘chariots and horses.’ We may confidently rely upon our soldiers and sailors fighting bravely, and count upon having abundant ammunition, but we must not stop at that. . . . A serious determination on the part of the Nation to seek and deserve' Divine help would, we may hope, enable
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THE KING’S BUSINESS USi t0Jiak,e f trUe PersPective of the War, and it would undoubtedly furnish valuable help to our gallant sailors and soldiers at the front, as well as lighten the heavy burden of responsibility now carried by the various authorities at home and abroad. Admiral Sir David Beatty, the man to whose bravery and strategy the victory of the English fleet in the North Sea battle,- the only great naval battle of the present war, is due, recently said: “England still remains to be taken out of the stupor of self-satisfaction and complacency into which her great and flourishing condition has steeped her, and until she can be stirred m i m an<3 until religious revival takes place at home, just so long will the War continue. When she can look out on the future with humble eyes and a prayer on her lips, then we can begin to count the days toward the end.” It is evident that this truly great Admiral entertains a different view about religious revivals ’ from that entertained by our own untried and unproven General. ' . | ff f° f*e hoped that the Baptists will press this matter to a conclusive issue. The probability is they will, as Dr. Gambrell says: “The men in the Army of Baptist connection and of the evangelical connection generally have just as much right to hear the gospel preached as they believe it as the Jews and the Catholics have to exercise their religion. There are a good many millions of Baptists in the United States, and they will be a unit on this question. They are on their old battle ground, and they will be joined by evangelicals who believe in freedom in religion for everybody alike. Congress will be asked, to make a thorough examination of religious affairs in the army, including chaplaincies everywhere in the pay of the government. Those in charge of this matter understand the serious nature of the undertaking. They also under stand the vital importance of it, and will not rest until religion is free in the army to all alike.” But the Baptists are not standing alone in this matter. Bishop Candler, one of the most influential Bishops of the Methodist Episcopal Church South is quoted as saying: “Could anything be more ridiculous and reprehensible than this performance of the little General from Kansas? By military orders he proposes to determine that preaching to the soldiers concerning their lost condition is not proper.’r In one of the leading papers of the Protestant Episcopal Church, The Churchman, issue is also taken with General Funston’s reported action. It says: “It is perfectly certain that the position of protest taken by The Watchman-Examiner against attempts of military authority to determine the religious practices of the men under their charge will meet with the sympathy of all American communions. Freedom of religion is equally dear to all, and sooner or later General Funstort’s attitude in this case must be brought up for official review.”
EVANGELISMIN THE SUNDAY SCHOOL
An Address Before Sunday School Workers
By H. J. Baldwin Supt. of Men, Bible Institute of Los Angeles
sitting on this bench, I have had 2,700 boys before me for sentence, and not one of them was a Sunday School attendant. Had you been a Sunday School scholar, I am sure you would not be before me today.” In my own work in the Juvenile Depart ment of the Cook county jail, Chicago, a penal institution into which are gathered criminals and crooks from all corners of the world, I met several thousand young men. I remember but one who claimed to have been a Sunday School scholar, and he had been irregular in attendance from three to four months before his arrest. W. A. Hillis, district superintendent of the American Sunday School Union, in the Central Western States, says: “In my work of sixteen years in twenty-two dif ferent States, I have found but twenty per sons who were Christians who had not attended Sunday School before they were twelve years of age. In these same con gregations with which I was acquainted, I found, I believe, more than 30,000 Chris tians who said, W e attended Sunday School before we were twelve years of age.’ ” THE PLACE TO BEGIN Statistics show us that about one boy in six is in Sunday School. With girls the
1 ACTS and Figures are stub' born things: They won’t lie. You can’t make them lie. There are some things about them you can neither an
swer nor evade. Nine .thousand children were taken from the slums; heredity was all against them; they were given Christian training, and only one out of the 9,000 was ever arrested—and the charge against him was. proven false. The Chief of Police of New York City said: “Among 1,200 prisoners in the peni tentiary who have passed through my hands, not one had been in Sunday School up to the age of seven years.” The State Secretary of Michigan, in a recent report, states: “Out of 904 boys and men in one of our state penal institu tions, ten of them, at the time they were received, said, ‘We attended Sunday School regularly;’ eighty-five said, ‘We went to Sunday School irregularly;’ 809 said, W e never went to Sunday School.’ ” Judge Fawcett of Brooklyn, in sentenc ing a 19-year-old boy to prison, said: “I have seen all your friends who wished to speak to me about you, and I find that all attempts to have you go to Sunday School failed. In the five years that I have been
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percentage is not quite so bad. These facts and figures must speak to you them selves of the value and vital importance of the Sunday School. It seems strange that those who are continually talking prison reform do not begin with the Sunday School, and teach boys and girls the Way of Life, instead of spending so much money taking care of them after they have slipped aside from the Way, and sold their souls for less than a farthing. We laugh at the old colored parson who said,,“The ammonia of that rose certainly has a lugubrious effect on my old factory nerves, but it is too serious a matter to laugh about when we hear people use the word “evangelism,” and not be any nearer correct than the old parson was when he intended*to speak of the aroma of the rose. The word “evangelism” has been used so commonly by Christian workers of this generation, that it has come to mean almost everything or nothing. It has become the verbal football of the nation for the last decade. We have talked evangelism in the church, evangelism in the Christian Endeavor Society, evangelism in the Epworth League, evangelism in the Baptist Young People’s Union, evangelism in the Sunday School, evangelism in the foreign field. When the Church or Sunday School has wanted to start something new, they have labeled it “evangelism,” and gone ahead, and there has been no more evangel ism about a good many of the things so called than there is science in “Christian Science,” which takes your money for cur ing you of a disease; you haven’t got. Isn’t it scientific? You recover from a disease which you didn’t have, and they have your money, which you did have, and the chances are ninety-nine out of 100, that if you had regulated your diet or paid attention to the ordinary conditions of health, and had given nature a chance, you would have recovered your health, kept your money, and honored Jesus Christ, instead of drag ging His name in the dust and exalting Mary Baker Glover Patterson Eddy.
TALKING TO YOU But, you say,, he isn’t talking to me. The Sunday School to which I belong is of an evangelical denomination. Bless your soul, I presume; every one here is associated with an evangelical church, but “evangeli cal” is far from evangelistic. It may be true—it probably is true—that your church is thoroughly evangelical. Many of the ■evangelical churches are failing today m the very purpose for which God created them. To be sure they may have the truth, but their mission is not alone to have and to know the truth, so much as to preach it. It isn’t enough to be evangelical; we must be evangelistic. Evangelical is passive; evangelism is active. Praise God for our evangelical churches; yes, but take off your hat and shout for joy with all gladness, and make heaven and earth ring for our evangelistic churches. Evangelism in the Sunday School means not only that the preacher, superintendent, officers and teachers know Jesus Christ, but that they present Him to the boys and girls who come there on Sunday. Show me an evangelistic church, and I will know you have an evangelistic preacher. Let me hear your minister, and I will tell you what kind of church you have. If I can follow a shepherd for a day, and see what kind of pasture he selects for his sheep, I will tell you in what kind of condition his flock will be found. The preacher who believes in the Sunday School will have a Bible school; and the preacher who believes in and wants an evangelistic Sunday School will so lead and feed his people that he will soon have one. The average life of man is thirty-five years. Substract five years from that as the aver age age at which children first go to Sunday School, and it leaves us thirty years as the average church life of the church going man. Suppose our Sunday Schools should all be cut off tomorrow? Ten years from now, one-third of the congrega tion would be dead. Another third would have dropped out or moved away, and there would be but a handful of people left, if
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man who executes what has been planned. He must be a man bf action. “Must” is a strong word. We should rarely ever use it. But its use is justifiable here. The superin tendent must be a man of action. Passive evangelism is a flat contradiction, there can be no such thing. Evangelism is always active. When it ceases to be active, it is dead, and you had better bury it, or the board of health may come around. I do not know of any carcass that is quite so sweet to Satan’s vultures as a dead Sun day School superintendent. It is cause for great rejoicing in Hell when an evan gelistic superintendent begins to lose his hold, and allows opportunity after oppor tunity to speak for Jesus Christ to pass by unaccepted. Mr. Superintendent, you are the man under God who is responsible for the souls of the boys and girls, and men and women in your Sunday School, and if you áre not presenting Christ to them every 'Sunday—yes, I sáid every Sunday;, for there has been no Sunday School unless He has been lifted up—I say if you are not exalting Him on every Sunday, it is time for you to get out and give somebody else the opportunity. God has a better man for your place. CHRIST EVERYWHERE You say, I can’t present Jesus Christ every Sunday, because the lessons are not applicable. Man, there hasn’t been a Sun day School lesson since,the year 4000 B. C., frorn which you could not exalt Christ in your part of the service. You say, how about the first chapter of Genesis? Noth ing there about Christ. There isn’t ? Read Genesis 1 :26: “God said, Let us make man.” Who was “us?” I don’t know of anybody who was living at that time for God to talk to but His own Son. Do you? Wouldn’t right there be a good opportunity to show scholars that Jesus had always lived and that He was eternal, and that was one reason why He could give us eter nal life, because He had it Himself? Isn’t that presenting Christ to them from the first chapter of Genesis? You say, we don’t have time to' go into
anyi Oh, blit you say, if it were not for the Sunday School, we would find some other way to reach souls, and'build up our churches, and may be a better way at that. Well then, you had better be discovering it, for just as sure as thè sun sets in the west, the sun bf your Sunday School has passed its zenith, and will begin to go down, if you do not get behind it and stay behind it. It is the best source ybu have for building up your church. Ninety per cent, of all church members have come directly through the Sunday1School. Your Sunday School isn’t a Sunday School unless it is evangelistic. It is only a gathering—and a gathering must sooner or later break or be scattered. THE PREACHER WOKE UP Dr.' Davies, of the Bethlehem Presby terian church .of Philadelphia, of which church I was a member, realized where the church must go unless the pastor awoke to the importance of the Spnddy School in his work. He sounded the keynote of evangelism to his superintendent, officers and teachers. * The work of the' Sunday School was reorganized along evangelistic lines, and Dir. Davies spoke a few closing words, setting forth the fundamentals of salvation, and gave the invitation to accept Christ every Sunday at the d o s e of the school. An entirely new note of interest was soon discernible, and in a few weeks’ time there was hardly ,a Sunday passed that there was not some decision for Jesus Christ in that school. Not a communion passed after that without large accessions to the church from the Sunday School. What happened in that school, I believe is possible in every school when a pastor awakes to the need of active evangelism among the young people of his church. So much for the pastor of the evan gelistic school. If he is the power behind the throne in Sunday School work, the superintendent is the power on the throne. He is the commanding officer. He confers with his superior officer, of course, but it’s the superintendent who is responsible for setting the army in battle array. He is the
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the lesson that way from the platform. We have to hurry with our singing and read ing and turn the classes over to the teacher, before the scholars get restless and run all over us. You will not have any trouble and your scholars won’t run over you if you are a live wire. It is only a dead wire that gets trampled on. People respect a live wire. A live wire will attract a crowd at any time and in any place. Shaw that you have life in you, and you won’t have so much trouble holding the attention of those restless youngsters. , You say, we hurry through with the opening and closing exercises so that the teacher may have as much time as possible. We consider that this time can be most profitably spent in class session. Quite right. I agree with you, but have you ever stopped to think how much more authority the name of. Christ on the lips of the teacher would carry if His name is also heard frequently from the platform ? No one else can add color and weight to your teachers’ teachings as much as you can. Your endorsement of their instruc tion means volumes to your scholars and added power to your teachers. KNOW YOUR TEACHERS How I wish there were none but superin tendents here tonight! How I would just like to have a confidential chat with you about your teachers. Tell me, what do you know about them and their teaching? What kind of men and women are they? Would you like to have your son and daughter grow up to be'just like them in manners and temperament? Are they good examples for the children that call you father? Are they spiritually-minded?. Do they love Jesus Christ? Are they com petent to present Him as Saviour to boys and girls whose minds and hearts are open to receive any teaching? And have they teaching ability? We used to say, “Will you teach a class?” Now the question is, “Can you teach a class?” “Will you teach ?” has given way to, “Can you teach ?” Willingness and ability are both essential, but I would rather have one teacher who
can teach than half a dozen who are willing but who come unprepared, or who wait until Sunday morning to prepare the lesson. You are thinking about some of your teachers now. Ability is not so rare if we are willing to prepare. Oh, teacher, would that you might recog nize your opportunity! The pastor and superintendent must for the most part resort to long-range artillery, but you can charge in hand-to-hand encounter. The enemy will stay in their trenches until the last man is killed or starved under artillery fire, but let a row of bayonets appear over the top of his entrenchments; and every mothers’ son of them is struck dumb with fear, and flees for his life. TeacheV, it’s yours to use the bayonet, the Sword of the Spirit, in a hand-to-hand encounter in the class. You are at close quarters. It is yours to rout the enemy and rejoice in vic tory as he flees. It is yours in a very peculiar way to win the boys and girls for Christ. They say the hand that rocks the cradle rules the world, but I wonder if it is sacriligious to say that the teacher who leads the child to Christ rules, not the world, but the Kingdom of Heaven? CLASS POSSIBILITIES Who knows but you may have a Wesley, a Knox, a Calvin, a Pinney, a Whitiield, a Moody in your class? Do you realize that that boy in your class may be presi dent of the United States forty years from now? President Wilson was some Sun day School teacher’s scholar. There isn’t a doubt in my mind but his early Christian training has played its part in keeping this country out of war. Wouldn’t it be great to have President Scoville, say, invite you to be his guest in the White Hbuse during his inaugural exercises in 19S0 because you had been his Sunday School teacher back in Los Angeles from 1915 to 1925? But whether he invited you or not, wouldn’t your reward be suf ficient just to know that you had been used of God to lead him to Christ, and that because of your faithfulness, Sunday by Sunday, in presenting Christ to Sammy
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lesson had Christ in it, or contained some significant words that would allow you to tie it on to Him. Teacher, I wouldn’t teach a Sunday School lesson that I couldn’t bring around to Christ. And I wouldn’t go before my class until I had found Him in that particular lesson. God forgive you if you do. You say, but we are teach ing the Graded Lessons in our Sunday School, and just now we are studying the lives of missionary heroes. Now I knbw there are some people who are criticising the Graded Lessons because they do not take the scholar into the Bible for study, but God pity the man who condemns them because he cannot preach Christ to his or her scholars. Poor fools. If you cannot teach Christ from the lives of our mission ary heroes, I guess the fault is your own. Because it was Jesus Christ who led them all to the foreign field, and surely you wouldn’t talk about a man laying down his life in a heathen land without looking for his motive, would you? Bless your soul! I could teach Christ from the life of Bob Ingersoll or Judas Iscariot, by showing how they were denying the only Saviour that could save them; the manner of death of each, compared to the death of Moody or Wesley, would be sufficient proof that they had missed something. In class-room then is one ws^y for you to take up definite work of evangelism with those whom God has entrusted to your care. I said there were two ways. The second is by personal work. Talking with your scholars one by one. Nineteen times Jesus stopped to speak to individuals. Philip was halted by God in the midst of a big revival in Samaria and sent away down across the, desert to speak to one man, and he was a foreigner. I would sooner undertake to win a class of ten boys to God in ten weeks, by talking with them one by one, than I would in a year by teaching them col lectively. Mr. Moody said if his soul’s salvation depended on his winning 1000 souls in a year’s time, and he was given his choice of doing it one by one or by preach ing to crowds, he would take the one-by-
Scoville, the United States had a Christian President? But coming nearer home—and facing a practical and perplexing problem in our , present-day Sunday School—yes, a problem that is most alarming—I want to ask what is the matter with our Sunday School today!1 I know it is true that ninety per cent, of all church members come from Sunday School. But in the face of that, I want to say to you that less than twenty- five per cent, of Sunday School scholars ever are saved and unité with the church. . What’s the matter? Where is- the leak? Can it be stopped ? HOW TO STOP THE LEAK . I have talked to the pastor, I have talked to the superintendent and officers, and now I want to say something to teachers. First, the leak is a natural one; second, it can be stopped ; third, you are the logical per son to stop it. I said the leak is a natural one, and it is. It is just as natural for that boy and girl to drift away from the Sun day School as it is for a log to drift down stream. In their natural condition, they have no more life or power of resistance to the things that are constantly and insistently calling them from the church than the log in mid-stream has to the cur rent that carries it along so rapidly. So, unless the supernatural comes into their lives, something outside of and above them selves; unless Christ comes into their lives, we needn’t expect the church to retain its hold on them after they reach a certain age. They leave the Sunday School just as naturally as the young birds grow rest less and leave their nest when the outside world begins to call. Unless the members of your class believe in Christ and accept Him as their personal Saviour, you needn’t expect them to do anything else than drift away, and shun and abhor those things which we want them to love. Now the teacher has two ways in which to present Christ. Either is good. Both are better, as one is supplement to the other: First. In the class-study. I said a while ago that every Sunday School
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one process. It is the hand-picked fruit that has greatest value. Oh, teachers, the work of the pastor is important. The work of the superintendent and officers is important, but to you is it given to sow the seed on the good soil. The pastor may sow on stony ground, and amid thorns, but the child heart is good soil; that is, where the seed will bring forth a harvest of one hundred fold. Yours is a great opportunity, teacher; the opportunity of taking young lives and making out of them almost what you will—criminals, or hon orable men; infidels or Christians. Many of your scholars are just waiting for a word of invitation from you. You have spent time teaching them. Don’t let some one else reap your harvest. Speak to them individually about accepting Jesus Christ. “Perchance in heaven some day, to me Some blessed saint will come, and say, ‘All hail, hel°ve
of the Bible, forward and backward. They can repeat the. list of Hebrew kings. They know in order the seventy events of your life on earth. They can recite the Sermon on the Mount from beginning to end. Really, they are excellent scholars.” Jesus took their brains, and lo ! they dis solved to vapor, and a puff of wind blew them away. “Where are the souls of my children?” urged our Lord with sorrowful longing. Then the teacher was filled with an agony of shame that broke the bonds of sleep. “Alas!” cried the teacher. “I have done much for my children, but it is all nothing because I have not also done the One thing.” According to an old fable, Jupiter once offered a crown of honor to him who was most useful to mankind, and the court of Olympus was crowded with competitors. The warrior boasted of his patriotism, but Jupiter thundered; the rich man boasted of his munificence, and Jupiter showed him a poor man’s charity to one poorer still; the orator boasted of his power to sway a nation with his voice, and Jupiter mar shalled the hosts of heaven with a nod; the poet spoke of his power to move even the gods- by praise, Jupiter blushed; the musician claimed to practice the only human science that had been transported to heaven, Jupiter hesitated; when, seeing a venerable man looking with intense inter est upon the group of competitors but presenting no claim, he exclaimed: “Who art thou?” “Only a spectator,’’' said the gray-headed sage; “all these were once my Sunday School scholars.” “Crown him, crown him,” cried Jupiter. “Crown the "'faithful teacher and make room for him at my right hand.” Pastor, superintendent, officers, teachers, pod is counting on you. He says, “Tell the boys and girls that ‘This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.’ ” Pastors,, superintendents, officers, teachers, Jesus Christ is counting on you. He says, “Suffer the little children to come unto me.” " Pastors, superintendents, officers, teachers,
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With His life’s Mood, and sought Through" this sorrow and pain, to win home again. He is counting on you. If you fail Him, what then? “He had counted on you,- and you failed not; Oh, the joy and grace, just to, look Christ in. the faGe, and not be ashamed. You presented your scholars all (with His call; He had Counted on you, and you failed not, what then?” the great disappointment of my youth, and I wondered afterward how I could speak of anything so sacred to a stranger, until the thought came to me that you were His friend and helper in this sinful world. Shall I repeat the story ?v The experience was so wonderful that I’ye wondered if God ever honored a deserted woman with a similar one, I turned on my pillow too hopeless for words, My hand touched my Bible and somehow it opened at the fifty- fourth chapter of Isaiah. I read it, got up, dressed, went downstairs and took up my life where I had left it. I believe He sent you to me when I was sick and alone there in Los Angeles, because He knew; I needed one of His friends. “And the splendid auditorium and the fine speakers I heard there, and the good those sermons did me, never shall I forget it a ll! I got to thinking about it today, and somehow my heart just overflowed trying to express its gratitude in this letter to you. If all the hundreds of people who stop at that Institute are blessed as I am, what a blessed place it must be I”1
the Holy Spirit is counting on you. He says, “Remember Jesus Christ.” “There is none' other name under Heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. “He is counting on you,' He has need of your life in the thick of the strife, For that weak one will fall if you fail His call. He is counting on you. >If you fail Him, what then? , ■. fjj• “He is counting on you’, “on a love that will share In the burden of prayer, for those He has bought T HE following extracts from a letter written to Dr. Mary Armstrong, resi dent physician at the Bible Institute, by a lady who fell ill while here from another part of the State, bear such excellent testimony to the atmosphere of the Insti tute that they are reproduced for those of our readers who have had no personal experience in the same direction: “What a haven of rest that wonderful Institute is, and how much good my soul received while there! Hymns of praise was my alarm clock, and as I awoke and listened, His sweet Presence seemed very near. I talked so much about the place after my return, that a young man who had heard me made it his home during the week he was in Los Angeles, and when he got back he told me I hadn’t over-praised it. It seems to me if I could live there I’d grow saintly. And here I’ve written all.this and haven’t told you who Tam. I had a room on ~ the sixth floor from the nineteenth of August until the fifth of Sep tember—and how much you did for me! Oh, I can’t forget it! I spoke to you about
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