No. 5
MAY, 1914
VOL. V.
I e X i n g ’s BusInters FOUR GREAT ADDRESSES The Historical Ministry of Pre-Millenarianism By DOCTOR W . B. RILEY Our Lord’s Second Coming a Motive for Personal Holiness By DOCTOR R. A. TORREYI The Incarnation—IV. The Second Coming the Consummation of the Incarnation By DOCTOR A. C. DIXON C The Fundamental Principles of Christianity in the Light of Modern Thinking By DOCTOR JOHN M. MACINNIS b
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MOTTO: “I the Lord do keep it. I wilJ water it every moment lest any hurt it, I will keep it night and day.’^ I s a . 27:3. THE KING’S BUSINESS R. A. TORREY, Editor J. H. SAMMIS, T. C. HORTON, J. H. HUNTER, Associate Editors Entered as Second-Class matter November 17, 1910, at the postoffice at Los Angeles, California, under the Act of March 3, 1879. Organ of the Bible Institute of Los Angeles, Inc. Auditorium Building, Cor. Fifth and Olive, Los Angeles, California.
DIRECTORS
Rev. A. B. Prichard, Vice-President. J. M. Irvine, Treasurer. R. A. Torrey, Dean. Giles Kellogg. H. A. Getz.
Lyman Stewart, President. William Thorn, Secretary. T. C. Horton, Superintendent. E. A. K. Haekett. S. I. Merrill.
DOCTRINAL STATEMENT ' We hold to the Historic Faith of the Church as expressed in the Common Creed of Evangelical Christendom and including: The Trinity of the Godhead. The Deity of the Christ.
The Maintenance of Good Works. The Second Coming of Christ. The Immortalify of the Spirit. The Resurrection of the Body. The Life Everlasting of Believers. The Endless Punishment of the Im penitent. The Reality and Personality of Satan. (5) Shop Work. Regular services in shops and factories. (6) Jewish Evangelism. Personal work among the Hebrews. (7) Bible Women. House-to-house visitation and neighborhood classes. (8) Oil Fields. A mission to men on the oil fields. (9) Books and Tracts. Sale and dis tribution of selected books and tracts. (10) Harbor Work. For seamen in Los Angeles harbor.
The Personality of the Holy Ghost. The Supernatural and Plenary au thority of the Holy Scriptures. The Unity in Diversity of the Church, which is the Body and Bride of Christ. The Substitutionary Atonement. The Necessity of the New Birth. P r u n e » Ik® Institute trains, free of r Ui p 0 S6 cost, accredited men and women, in the knowledge and use of the Bible. D (1) The I n s t i t u t e epartmen t C]asges held daily ex cept Saturdays and Sundays. (2) Extension, work. Classes and con ferences held in neighboring cities and towns. (3) Evangelistic. Meetings conducted by our evangelists. (4) Spanish Mission. Meetings every night.
OUR WORK
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Table of Contents Editorials: Prophetic Conferences—Our Sympathizing but Ab solutely Sinless Saviour—The Appalling Waste of Time Occasioned by the Higher Criticism.................................... .. 239 The Historical Ministry of Pre-Millenarianism. By W. B. Riley, D. D.......................... .. 243 “Our Lord’s Second Coming a Motive for Personal Holiness.” By R. A. T o rrey ..................................... 250 “Shall He Come and Find Me Watching?” (poem) . . . . ............ 258 The Incarnation.—IV. The Second Coming the Consummation of the Incarnation. By A. C. Dixon, D. D............. .. ¿59 The Fundamental Principles of Christianity in the Light of Modern Thinking j||-IV. The Great Arrest. By John M. Maclnnis, B. D................... 267 Studies in the Gospel According to John. By R. A. T o rrey ... 271 The International Sunday School Lessons. By J. H. S............. 276 The Heart of the Lesson. By T. C. Horton.................................. 283 Junior Endeavor Topics. By J. K. H. S.......................................... 286 At Home and Abroad............... \ ........................................................ 288 Hints and H e l p s . . . . . . . ......................................................... ............. 293 Questions and Answers. By R. A. Torrey...................................... 297 Bible Institute of Los Angeles.........................' ................................ 298 SUBSCRIPTION RATES . . . FIFTY CENTS A YEAR Published by the Bible Institute of Los Angeles Auditorium Building, Corner Fifth and Olive Streets.
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No. 1—HOW TO BRING MEN TO CHRSIT (121 pages), by Dr. R. A. Torrey. A book regarded for years as a standard work on dealing with individuals of all classes. No. 2—THE DIVINE UNITY OF THE SCRIPTURES (304 pages), by Dr. Adolph Saphir. It is a great religious classic. No. 3—CHRIST AND THE SCRIPTURES (142 pages), by Dr. Adolph Saphir. A companion work to Dr. Saphir’s ‘JThe Divine Unity of the Scriptures." No. 4— THE HIDDEN LIFE (291 pages), by Dr. Adolph Saphir. One of the most helpful books in English lit erature. No. 5—THE WONDERS OF PROPHECY (231 pages), by John Urquhart. A val uable introduction to the study of pro phecy. No. 6—THE LORD FROM HEAVEN (134 pages), by Sir Robert Anderson, K. C. B., LL. D. A great contribution to current discussions on the Diety of Jesus Christ; THESE ARE THE VERY CHOICEST
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Vo1- 5
MAY, 1914
No. 5
Prophetic Conferences T>ERHa PS the most significant and prominent feature of the religious X me of the present season is the series of Prophetic Conferences that i iu - X t . . 11 he:Id from Chicago to Cahfornia. The first of the series was held in Chicago from February 24th to 27th. The Call for the Conference was signed by the Moderator of thé Presbyterian Church, U. 'S. A. • the Mod erator of the United Presbyterian Church, the President of the leading United i resbyterian Theological Seminary, and the President of the Southern Baptist neological Seminary, said to be the largest theological seminary in the world; the Principal and one of the Professors of Wycliffe College (Church ofiEng- Toronto; the Deans of Two Bible Institutes and the President of another Bible Institute and by several editors. It was held in the Moody Church with three sessions a day, morning, afternoon and evening. This great church was filled even at the nine o’clock sessions in the morning, and at the evening ses sions the crowds were so great it was necessary to have two overflow meetings. It would be impossible to give even an outline of the addresses that were made and that is furthermore unnecessary because they are to be published in full. From Chicago several of the leading speakers went to Minneapolis and St. Paul and held conferences simultaneously in the two cities, the speakers going back and forth from the one city to the other. From Minneapolis and St. Paul the writer went to St. Louis, where an eight day conference was held in the Washington and Compton Avenue Church, so long presided over by the Rev. Dr. James H. Brooks. The conference in St. Louis was not confined to prophetic lines of teaching. Indeed, at one of the Sunday afternoons two evangelistic meetings were held, one in the auditorium of the church for men and one in the lecture room of the church for women ; both of these meetings were crowded and a very large number of men and women professed to accept the Lord Jesus Christ and made public confession of their acceptance of Him. Rev. H. H. Gregg, D. D., said he had never seen the church so packed as it was on the closing day of the conference. The final conference was held in the Immanuel Presbyterian Church, Los Angeles, from March 22 to 25. Most of the leading speakers at the Chicago Conference came on to the Los Angeles Conference. Large crowds were in attendance from the very first gathering on Sunday afternoon. Every one was surprised at the large numbers that gathered, especially in view of the fact that the conference was so hastily arranged for and so little time left for proper advertising of it. The addresses'were largely the same that were given at Chicago. It was intended that this number of the KING’S BUSINESS should be a Conference Number but instead of attempting to give an outline of the various addresses, we give the closing address made at the Chicago Conference, an address made by Dr. Riley at each conference aqd an address by Dr. Dixon given last summer at the Montrose Conference which is along the same line
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THE KING’S BUSINESS arid covers much the same ground as was covered by some of the addresses at Eos Angeles and at the other conferences. Many prominent Christians testify to the fact that they received a greater definite, personal blessing at these various conferences than they have ever received before at any other conference. We expect to give through the year a full report of some of the addresses delivered at the Los Angelés Conference. The Conference in Chicago was under the auspices of the Moody Bible Institute; the Conference in Minneapolis was under the auspices of the North western Bible School; the Conference in Los Angeles was under the auspices of the Los Angeles Bible Institute. On the last day of the Chicago Conference the Resolutions Committee brought in the following Statement of Faith, which was unanimously adopted by a rising vote, 2000 people rising to their feet and joining in singing, in this connection, “Praise God from WhomAll Blessings Flow.” THE STATE MENT OF FAITH is as follows: , 1. We believe that the Bible is the Word and revelation of God and therefore our only authority. 2. We believe in the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ, that He is very God “by Whom and for Whom all thinngs were created.” 3. We believe in His virgin birth, that He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and is therefore God manifested in the flesh. 4. We believe in salvation by divine sacrifice, that the Son of God gave His life a ransom for many and bore our sins in His own body on the tree. 5. We believe in His physical resurrection from the dead and in His bodily presence at the right hand of God as our Priest and Advocate. 6. We believe in the universality and heinousness of sin, and in salvation by Grace, not by works lest any man should boast; that Sonship with God is attained only by regeneration by the Holy Spirit and faith in Jesus Christ. 7. We believe in the personality and deity of 'the Holy Spirit, Who came down Upon, earth on the day of Pentecost to indwell believers and to be the administrator in the church of the Lord Jesus Christ, also being here to reprove the -world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment. 8. We believe in the great commission which our Lord has given to His church to evangelize the world, and that this evangelization is the great mission of the church. 9. We believe in the second, visible and imminent coming of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ to establish His world-wide kingdom on the earth. 10. We believe in a heaven of eternal bliss for the righteous, and in the con scious and eternal punishment of the Wicked. Furthermore, we exhort the people of God in all denominations throughout this land to stand by these great truths, so much rejected in our days, and to contend earn estly for the faith which our God has, in His Holy Word, delivered unto the saints. The Committee consisted o f: Robert M. Russell, D. D .; Canon F. E. Howitt, M. A .; R. A. Torrey, D. D .; A. C. Gaebelein and L. W. Munhall, D. D.
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Our Sympathizing but Absolutely Sinless Saviour O NE of the most precious, but at the same time, one of the most abused verses in Scripture, is Hebrews 4:15, “For we have not an high priest that cannot be touched with a feeling of our infirmities; but one that hath been in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.” There are those who tell us that if the temptation of our Lord Jesus was real, that it must have been possible for Him to sin, but this very passage to which they appeal de clares that it was not possible for Him to sin. The Greek word which is trans lated “without” is a very strong word; it means “having no association with” “apart from” “aloof from.” It is the same word that is used, for example, in Romans 3 :21 where Paul writes of a righteousness of God absolutely apart from the law, and in Ephesians 2:12, where Paul writes of the Gentiles in their unregenerate state as being entirely “eparate from Christ” (see R. V.). It is used a number of times in the Epistle to the Hebrews, a striking instance in this connection being Hebrews 9 :28 where we are told that Christ is to be seen a second time absolutely “apart from sin” unto salvation. Our Lord Jesus could not sin just as God cannot lie (Titus 1 :2). The heart that has any real appreciation of our Lord and of His absolute holiness shudders at the very thought of any one imputing even the possibility of. sinning to Him. The. most fundamental moral characteristic of the Lord Jesus was holiness. He was the Holy One (Acts 3 :14; 1 John 2 :20; cf. Acts 4:27, 30; Mark 1 :24; Luke 4:34). His whole delight was in His Father’s will (Ps. 40:8). His very food was doing the Father’s will (John 4:34). Sin in any form made no appeal whatever to Him. Some will say, “If this is true then his temptation was a farce.” Not in the least. When He had fasted for forty days in the wilder ness, He was hungry; there was no sin in His being hungry, He longed for bread and the longing for bread was perfectly innocent and proper and so the temptation was intensely real, gut, not for a moment, even in thought, did He yield to the Devil’s suggestion to obtain bread in a way that would nave taken Him out of God’s plan. Just so with the other temptations; they were real, but not for a moment, even in thought, was there any wavering on His part in His perfect holiness. He could not waver. He could not yield even in thought. The impossibility of sinning lay not in any constraint that was put upon Him from without, but in His own holy character. He could not sin because He would not sin. His whole Being abhorred sin, shrank from it. He could suffer anything and would suffer anything rather than sin. He could no more sin than white could be black. Sin was as impossible to Him as lying is impossible to God. But some one will aslc, “Did not our Lord Jesus, as a man, meet temptations with the same weapons with which we must meet them, namely, the Word of God and prayer?” Yes, He did. “Well, then,” they may ask further, “suppose He had neglected the Word of God and prayer, would He not have yielded to temptation?” The answer is simple, He did not neglect prayer and the Word of God. He would not and could not neglect the Word of God and prayer. To have neglected the Word of God and prayer would have been to have sinned. The wljole difficulty arises from trying to imagine what would have happened if something had happened which did not happen and could not happen. Qne can prove anything by that style of argument. But whatever difficulties to the doctrine may arise in one’s own imagination,
242 THE KING’S BUSINESS whether we can answer the difficulties or not, we must stand by the fundamental truth so often asserted in so many different ways in the Word of God, namely,, the absolute sinlessness of our Lord. He was as holy as God Himself is holy. Sin was something absolutely apart from Him. It did not appeal to Him. He could not sin. The Appalling Waste of Time Occasioned by the Higher Criticism T HE undermining of the faith of superficial Bible readers who are willing to swallow anything that they are assured is the result of the latest scholarship is not the only mischief wrought by the so-called “Higher Criticism.” It has wasted the precious time of thousands of ministers and theological students who have not been at all affected by its vagaries. Thou sands upon thousands of earnest-minded men have been made to feel that, if they did not go thoroughly into the study of the methods and theories of the Higher Critics, they were not abreast of the times. So many precious hours and days and weeks and months, that might have been put into the study of the Bible itself, have been put into the study of what various critics have had to say about the source of the Pentateuch, Isaiah, etc. As the prevailing methods of the modern Higher Criticism are thoroughly unscientific and fan ciful they have, of course, led to no solid and satisfactory results. And the time put into the study of various German, Scotch and English authors along these lines has been simply wasted, and when the student gets through he finds himself just where he started and all his precious time gone. Some years ago a recent graduate of one of otir Eastern universities came to Mr. Moody and asked his advice as to what he should make his life work. Mr. Moody said, “Why do you not give your life to the teaching of the English Bible?” “Mr. Moody,” he replied, “I know nothing about the English Bible.” “Why,” said Mr, Moody, “I thought you had just graduated from -------- University, where they have a professor paid to teach the Eng lish Bible.” “I have,” he said, “and what is more I have taken his classes. Would you like to know how they teach the English Bible? We have been studying for six months to find out who wrote the Pentateuch, and we know less about it now than when we started.” Those six months might have been put into the study of the Bible itself and that man in a measure equipped for a life of usefulness. In many of our seminaries that are perfectly sound in their own teaching regarding the Bible, the students are kept for months or years on the study of these critical questions, giving precious time and study to a science that has no sure foundation and that leads nowhere, that might haVe been devoted to digging into the precious treasures of God’s Word;.and thus oftentimes men come out of our seminaries knowing a great deal about critical questions, and very likely quite sound on these critical questions, but knowing nothing about the Bible truth which they are expected to proclaim to their congregations. When one stops to consider it, it is simply appalling to think of the days and weeks and months and years of precious time spent upon this tv-e'c/ literary criticism of the Bible that oftentimes is fantastic in its methods
The Historical Ministry of Pre-Millenarianism* By REV. W. B. RILEY, D, D.
T HE event predicted by Old Tes tament prophecies, anticipated by New Testament apostles, and denominated by the peerless Paul as “that blessed hope,” has played so con-
nated no faith; they accepted, con firmed, elaborated and propagated Old Testament revelations. Paul’s state ment in 1 Cor. 15 :3, “I delivered unto you first of all, that which I also re ceived” might justly be accepted as the law of New Testament revelation. The shadows, types, suggestions and prophecies of the Old flower into New Testament Scriptures, Premillennar- ianism was not even born with Jesus of Nazareth, much less with Paul or Peter or John. As Haldeman justly says of the Old Testament, “The mo ment we open these Scriptures we find an anticipated picture of the Second Coming in Adam, exalted to headship, dominion, glory and power, as the ‘figure of Him who was to come.’ Enoch, the seventh from Adam, pro phesies that the Lord is coming in glory. Abraham catches glimpses of Him as the coming man and rejoices in view of His day. Jacob had a vis ion of the Epiphany and splendor, when, surrounded by the angelic host, the Lord God looked down from the height of the golden ladder. Moses saw that revelation of Him in the burning bush, not as the weak and crucified, but as Yaveh, the Coming One, coming in triumph. The Psalms are full of the one utterance, His coming, and they portray the move ment in heaven when the whole uni verse shall be attuned in rhythm to the music of His kingly descent. Isaiah spells it out in the notes of se raphic splendor and in the announce ment of earth’s response from exalted mountain, shivering earth and tossing seas. Jeremiah depicts the moment when, at His Coming, Jerusalem shall no longer be as the forsaken who binds her hair with the braid of widowhood; but as Jerusalem the holy, Jerusalem
W . B . R I L E Y , D . D . spicuous a part in the roll of human history that thoughtful men ought to be able to trace its course and deter mine with fair accuracy whether it has wrought benediction or bane for the Church of God. Along several lines we propose to push that inquiry! Let us inquire first, after The Apostolic Faith. Concerning this point let us not be misunderstood. When we employ the phrase “apostolic faith” we do not in tend to trace the history of Premillen- narianism from the days of New Tes tament apostles only. The truth is that the New Testament apostles origi- ♦An ad d ress delivered a t th e L os A ngeles P ro p h etic C onference, A pril, 1914.
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whose name shall be the Lord our Righteousness, and unto whom shall be gathered the nations, as unto the throne of the Lord. Ezekiel beheld His coming in the chariots of cherubic glory. Daniel set Him, forth in the center of ten thousand times ten thou sand of shining angels, coming to take unto Himself the crowns of all the kings of the earth, as King of kinds and Lord of lords. The minor proph ets, on every page, proclaimed His Coming. Hosea declared it in lan guage of rebuke to the people that have denied Him; Joel in speech that makes the tongue to burn and the ears to tingle, while Habakkuk rises to the heights of sublimity in a diction un equalled, as he testifies of the God who shall come from Teman and the Holy One who shall cover the heavens with His glory, who shall fill the earth with His praise, before whose feet shall go the pestilence and burning coals, who shall stand and measure the earth, drive asunder the nations, scatter the everlasting mountains, receive the homage of the perpetual hills as they bow before Him and acknowledge that His ways are everlasting, and who shall fill the earth, the whole earth, with the glory of His presence. The list utterance of the Old Testament, as it is of the New, is that He is Com ing.” This Old Testament teaching had a three-fold confirmation in the New Testament Scriptures, and was, there fore, made to be “the apostolic faith.” 1. It was affirmed by the Master, Jesus Christ. He addressed himself to this theme more often than He laid His tongue to any other. We shall not repeat the many detached texts that dropped from His lips, but call attention to the fact-that certain whole chapters, recording His words, relate themselves to this subject; as, for in stance, the eight kingdom parables that make up the whole of Matthew 13, and the multitude of references that
well nigh cover the entire 23rd, 24th and 25th chapters of the same Gos pel. In the first of these (23d) He pro phesies His return; in the second (24th) He declares the conditions that will suggest its imminence; and in the third (or 25th) He illustrates the results upon believers and unbelievers alike. Truly Jesus Himself best un derstood the time, circumstances, and effects of the day when “the Son of man shall come in His glory and all the holy angels with him,” and His declarations determine “the apostolic faith.” 2. The writings of the apostolic col lege confirmed it. There can be no dispute as to the Millennarianism of Paul and Peter and John. Phillips Brooks was not clearly a premillen- nialist, and yet; as an honest man speaking of the text, “The Lord is at hand” (Philippians 4:4), he declared “There were times when, as it seemed, the apostles looked to see the opening skies and the descending chariot. . . . They found abundant clearness and abundant inspiration in their expect ancy when they described the thing they expected as ‘the coming of the Lord.’ Every step they took ir\ life brought them a little nearer to that great end and purpose. They set out on a voyage, and as they turned their eyes away from the fading shore and looked across the broad waters, they seemed to be sailing out to meet the coming Lord.” 3. John hoped for perfect victory against sin only when Christ should appear (1 John 3:2-3). Peter sighed in spirit when he saw the day in which certain scoffers should arise, saying, “Where is the promise of His com ing,” as if God were slack concerning His promise, and remarked, as with heaviness of heart, “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief” and in view of it, it is our business to be “looking for and hastening” the same,
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that we may be prepared for the “new heaven and new earth wherein dwell- eth righteousness” (2 Pet. 3 :4, 9, 11). Paul never penned an epistle without introducing the appeal of “that great day,” as the sufficient incentive to the holiest walk and the highest accomp lishment. It was the faith of the earlv church Fathers. Guinness remarks “It cannot be denied that for three centuries the Church held the doctrine of the pre- millennial coming of Christ,” and add ed, “I think I have gone through all the writings of the Fathers for three centuries pretty carefully, and I do not know an exception, unless it be Origen,” the one early writer who was often heterodox. It "was the faith of Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Tertullian, Methodius and Victorinus. Dorner adds to these Barnabas, Clement, Her nias, Ignatius, Polycarp, Papias, Ne- pos, Lactantius and others, and adds, “All were at one.” Dr. James H. Brookes reminds us that “the premil- lennial advent was the common herit age of both Jewish and Gentile Chris tians, and passed from the Jewish Christian to the Gentile Christian Church precisely in the way the Gos pel passed. It was as fragrant at An tioch as at Jerusalem, at Rome as at Ephesus. History has no concensus more unanimous for any doctrine than is the consensus of the apostolic Fath ers for the premillennial advent of Christ.” If men will take history rather than undertake to make history, premillen- narianism will be conceded to have been the apostolic faith. Certainly Mpsheim is a historian not to be de spised, and in Volume I, page 89, he says, “The prevailing opinion that Christ was to come and reign a thou sand years among men before the final dissolution of the world, had met with no opposition previous to the time of Origen,” while such writers as Giese- ier, Stackhouse, Bishops Newton and
Russell, and even Gibbon, render an approving testimony. But we have already called attention to the fact that the second test to which men have a right to subject this faith, is important, namely the test of The Spiritual Effect. This test may find adequate expres sion in three lines of study. 1. Its effect upon the study of the Sacred Scriptures. That the advo cates of the imminent coming of Christ have been the great students of God’s Word, few men would dispute. What is the explanation ? Has not Dr. A. B. Simpson given it in an illustration? He tells his readers of having visited a cathedral in Europe, upon the ceiling of which the most famous painter of past centuries had patiently employed his brush. Upon entering the building his eyes sought the ceiling and he saw what seemed a bewildering color of in coherent daubing. He looked long and earnestly; not a figure appeared; not a design was evident. The old sexton was passing about and the vis itor expressed to him his disappoint ment, whereupon he smiled and said: “No wonder, sir. You have no fit po sition from which to see this work of art. Come with me!” And he led him to a place in the cathedral where the artise of all centuries had evidently' stood, and bethought his designs, and to which he had again and again re turned as he wrought them into being. And lo, the visitor saw such a master piece as to bedim his eyes with tears, and bow his head in gratitude to the God who had granted to one of His fellow-servants such genius. And Simpson reasons, What that position was to the study of the fresco paint ing, the premillennial position is to the understanding of the Word of God. Ft was the position of Ellicott, Tre- gelles, Godet, Stier, Delitzch, Lange, Olshausen, DeWette, Meyer, Jamie-
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sen, Faucett, Schall, Bengel, Candn Ryle; it was the position of Calvin, Zwingle, Melancthon, Luther, Knox, and the Wesleys. It was the position of John Bunyan, Cranmer, Latimer, and Ridley. It was the position of Candlish and Guthrie, of Robert Hall and Thomas Chalmers, Andrew and Horatius Bonar, Nathaniel West, Murray McCheyne and Adolph Sa- phir; of Gaussen, Van Oosterzee’, Auberlen, Baumgarten; of Hoffman, Stockmeyer, Lange and Shenkel. It was the position of Spurgeon, and Moody, and Brooks, and Moorehead, and Gordon, and Blaekstone; of Pier son and Penn; and is that of Morgan; of Munhall and Chapman; of Halde- man and Dixon; of Torrey and Sco field. In the language of Paul to the Hebrews, “What shall I say more; the time would fail me to tell of” Craven, Patterson, Erdman and Dun- widdy; of Maitland, Birkes, Bicker- steth and Brock; of McNeile and the McNeals; of Mclllvaine and Hen- shaw, and Nicholson and Hastings; of the Robertsons—Frederick W. and John; of Herr Saunders and Harris and Evans and Stifler, and Lorimer and Peters, and Durbin and Parker and Gilbert and Foster and Lummis, and others too numerous to mention, all of whom have obtained a good tes timony in their proclamation of “the faith once for all delivered to the saints.” Massillon is quoted as having said “that in the days of primitive Chris tianity it would have been deemed a kind of apostacy not to sigh for the return of the Lord.” “Strange it is,” remarks A. J. Gordon, “that we have reached an age where it is counted an eccentricity to love His appearance and a theological error to cry with the best-loved apostles, “Even so, come Lord Jesus.” And yet those men be fore whose eyes the Scriptures have unfolded with the greatest beauty, and whose hearts have drunk most deeply
from their fountains of truth, not only join in that cry, but unite their voices, in proclaiming His coming as the con summation of the age, the goal of the Church—the crowning of Christ Him self—the only hope of the world’s re demption. 2. Its effect in the deepening of the spiritual life. These are days when this is a theme much discussed. Many of the speakers of recent great Chris tian assemblies have been sounding the “deepening of the spiritual life,” as the all essential note. But not all of them have been sounding the “deepening of the spiritual life,” as the all essential note. But not all of them have seen the Scriptural connec tion, or even the historical evidences, that the doctrine of “the Second Com ing of Christ” relates itself to the deep ening of the spiritual life as cause to effect! “Sobriety” of thought is nat ural to those that know perfectly that “the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.” “The preservation of one’s whole spirit, soul, and body” in “blamelessness,” is attempted by those that look for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. “Every man that hath this hope set on him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.” Holy conversation and godliness must characterize those that are truly “looking for and hastening the com ing of our Lord.” The denial “of ungodliness and worldly lusts” belongs also to those that understand “that blessed hope of the glorious appearing of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” As to “watchfulness and prayer,” it is natural to those that know not what hour their Lord doth come, but under stand that it will be in a moment when they think not! Utter faithfulness is the natural result from the gospel no tion, “the Lord is at hand.” The one reason why the Church is flirting with the world, and even play ing the harlot, is because she has put out of her mind the expectation of
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abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, that we may be unblameable at the coming of our Lord Jésus Christ.” Certainly “watch fulness” is a practical duty, and we a1e to watch, not knowing at what hour the Lord doth come. Certainly ener getic service’ is a practical duty and we are to render that lest He Add us idle at his coming, and utter our con demnation. There is one thing that will not be denied, even our opponents themselves being the witnesses, namely, that the men that held this hope, have so far discharged their, obligation to God as to hâve promoted the interests of His church by personal service, by money sacrifice, by missionary zeal, by intelli gent counsel, by tireless work, so as not to have been surpassed by any people that have ever named His name or joined their fortunes to His cause. 4. This leads us to our last sug gestion. It is the Supreme Appeal to Holy Living! Bishop Brooks declares that ever since the time of the apostles, the coming of the Lord has been the inspiration of the Christian world, , and truly re marks, “The power of any life lies in its expentancy.” Paul could “fight a good fight, finish his course; keep the faith” at any cost, because he knew there was laid up for him “a crown of rejoicing which the Lord, the righteous Judge, should give to him at that day; and not to him only, but also unto all them that love His ap pearing.” To high endeavor! It is not an accident that Carey who undertook winning India; that Taylor, the an swer to whose faith is light for Asia and Africa alike ; that Grattan Guin ness, father of Congo missions; that A. J. Gordon, the wisest counselor and the greatest president the Baptist Mis sionary Union of the United States ever knew; that Arthur Pierson, the best informed man on world-wide mis-
her husband’s speedy return. Gordon says, ‘‘There is a tradition that Mi chael Angelo, by his prolonged and unremitting toil upon the frescoed domes which he wrought, acquired such a habitual upturn of the counte nance, 1 that, as he walked the streets, strangers would observe his bearing, and set him down as some visionary or eccentric;” :And Gordon says, “It is well if we who profess to be Chris tians of the apostolic school, had our conversation. so truly in heaven and our faces so steadfastly set thither ward, that sometimes the ‘man with the muck-rake’ should be led to won der at qs, and to look up with ques tioning surprise from his delving for earthly gold and glory.” The men of Galilee that saw Jesus ascend had this upward look, and it saved them from “the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life” ; it changed the law of gravi tation, which is commonly of the earth, and pulls earthward, and set its tend ency upward, illustrating a principle in physics, drawing their affections out toward the greater Star—the Star of Bethlehem, and converting them into men that were “in the world yet not of it” ; that could walk its dusty paths and speak with its stained people and yet keep themselves unspotted. 3. Its effect upon the discharge of practical duties. One of the strange arguments brought against premillen- arianism is that it renders its advo cates unfit for practical duties. This argument is neither sustained by the Bible nor by human history, Certain ly “sobriety” is a practical duty, and we are enjoined to that, knowing that ‘‘the day of the Lord cometh as a thief,” Certainly “patience” is a prac tical duty, and we are commanded to exercise it “for a little while,” know ing that, “He that shall come will come and will not tarry.” Certainly “brotherly love” is a practical duty. Our Lord asks that we “increase and
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sions the twentieth century has seen, and that W. E. Blackstone, the mis sionary enthusiast of all Methodism; for that matter the overwhelming ma jority of the men and women that now face heathen peoples and call them to Christ, are premillenialists. These are not men easily discouraged. To them the gathering darkness suggests only the hour before the dawn; for them no problem is impossible of solu tion, because in “the coming Christ” they have One who is sufficient. They can lie down every night with the sweet sense that the work in which they have been engaged, incomplete as it is, if He come “at midnight, or at the cock crowing,” will, under the touch of His hand, take final and fit ting shape. We remember the story of one of the old artists whose stu dents wrought in a great studio that he visited occasionally to suggest and instruct; and of the one young man that had formed the conception of a noble picture, but had been unable to produce it. Many a time he had flung away his endeavor and started over. One evening, discouraged by his fail ure, and wearied by his efforts, he went to his lodging, leaving the at tempt. That night the old master came in, and his eyes fell on the in complete work. He saw at once the whole conception and realized also the T HE Christian’s, calling is calling. The Church’s mission is mis- ! sions. The Laodicean state of the Church —Apostate. Only a living Church can save a dying world. Only abundant life bears abundant fruit. Where no root is no fruit is (Matt. 13:21). Civilization is not evangelization.
struggles that had gone into the en deavor, and felt something of the sickened sense of the student before evident failure. Picking up the brush that had fallen from the nerveless grasp, he worked awhile, and lo, the work was done, and in the morning when the young painter came, he looked at it in wonder; he stood in a trance—amazed. But only a moment he questioned, and then he cried, “Oh, the master has come! The master has come! and the work is complete.” That is the confidence of premillen- narianism. That is the explanation of its historical ministry. “The Blessed Hope” is a suggestive appeal to the holiest living and to the highest en- 'deavor, and to the utmost steadfast ness. On the cross Christ cried, concern ing the work of His first appearance, “It is finished.” On the throne He will one day be able to say the same concerning the plan and purpose of His second appearance. It is the “Blessed Hone,” and when the work of the church is complete, then, and not until then, will all saints know the part this expectation has played in the inspiration and employment and per fecting of the saints, to the praise of that God, who has promised the king doms of this world to His Son, and who will keep His word. Power, Progress. “What shall I render unto the Lord ? Surrender. Four essential “C”s’: Contrition; Confession; Conversion; Consecration. The problem: Not how to work the Church, but how to wake it. . The promise “to the end of the age” is conditioned on evangelizing “to the ends of the earth” (Matt. 28: 20; Acts 13:47). Advanced theology: Prayer,
Briefs
Our Lord’s Second Coming a Motive for Personal Holiness* By REV. R. A. TORREY, D. D. I DID NOT have the-choice of my subject tonight, but if I had I surely would have chosen the sub
of God, absolutely without error, ab solutely trustworthy, a complete and perfect revelation from God Himself, concerning His own character, nature, will and His purposes and plans, and regarding man, his nature, his char acter, his need, his ruin, the way of his salvation, his duty and his destiny, and when I was led, through finding out that the Bible was from begin ning to end the Word of God, to say in my own heart: “I will take my stand upon it as the Word of God; I will obey every commandment I find in it; I will believe and claim every promise in it, and step out on every promise that I find in it that belongs to me as a believer in Jesus Christ.” The third great epoch in my life was when I discovered that there was beyond question £ definite, experi mental baptism with the Holy Spirit for every believer in this present day; and when I sought, claimed, and beyond question obtained that definite baptism with the Holy Spirit for my self. The fourth great epoch in my life was when I got hold of the truth, and the truth got hold of me, of a personal, visible, glorious, imminent' return of our Lord. It lifted me above this world and its ambitions. What did I care whether I was rich or poor; what did I care whether I had honor or contempt; what did I care whether I was well fed or hun gry? The Lord Jesus was coming back again! I had been very ambi tious, but when this truth got hold of me I had but one ambition and that was to please my Lord, Who might come at any time, and to please Him at any cost.
ject that has been assigned to me, “The Lord’s Second Coming a Mo tive for Personal Holiness.” It is from that standpoint that the pre cious truths that we have been study ing have appealed most to me, and have meant most to me. There have been four marked epochs in my Chris tian experience. The first was when I was led to surrender to the will of God, and to accept Christ as my per sonal Saviour. For a number of years I had been consciously fighting against the will of God. In my inner most heart I knew before I was con verted that I was called to preach the Gospel. That is the reason I was not converted sooner, because I was bound that I would not preach the gospel. I was bound that I would practice law.' The first marked epoch came in the middle of the night, when, all alone in my room, I jumped out of bed in an agony of heart to take my life, but instead, dropping on my knees before God, instead of sending myself into eternity, lost, as I had intended to do when I jumped out of bed, I said, “Oh, God, I will preach the gospel” ; and in connection with my surrender to the will of God I accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as my personal Saviour. The second marked epoch in my life was when I was brought to see that the entire Bible, from the first chapter of Genesis to the last chapter of the Revelation, was the very Word ♦The , closing ad d ress a t th e Chicago P ro p h etic C onference, F rid ay , F e b ru a ry 27th, 8 p. m.
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SEVEN ASPECTS OF HOLINESS In the Bible the return of our Lord is presented as a motive to , holiness in seven different aspects. You will find four of them in the 21st chapter of Luke, .beginning with the 34th verse. “But take heed to yourselves, lest haply your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and the cares of this life, and so that day come on you suddenly, as a snare, For it shall so come upon all those that dwell on the face of all the earth. But watch ye at every season, making supplication that ye may pre vail to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand be fore the' Son of Man.” Four of the aspects in which the Return of our Lord is made a Motive for “Personal Holiness” are found in these four verses. 1. The first one is simplicity in living, holiness in the matter o f the gratification of appetite. “Take heed to yourselves, lest haply your hearts be overcharged with sur feiting.” The whole passage has to do with the return of our Lord, and the events connected with it ; and our Lord says : “Be ready for that day, and be ready in this way: First of all, see that your hearts are not bur dened down with a self-indulgent life, too much gratification of the appetite. We hear a great deal in these days, —we have lectures without number and books without number—about thé dangers of eating too much, and eat ing too rich food. Did you ever hear a sermon on this' subject from the standpoint of this passage, “Do not let your mind be dimmed by an over- indulgence of your stomach, because the Lord Jesus is coming, and you want a clear head when He comes;
lead a simple life, simple in what you eat, simple in what you wear, simple in every respect, because Jesus is coming again ?” 2. The second aspect is temper ance in the matter of drinking, in the matter of the use of alcoholic stimu lants. We all of us have hearer a great many temperance sermons, and I presume that many of us have preached a good many temperance sermons. Did you ever hear a tem perance sermon preached from this standpoint : “Do not indulge in alco holic stimulants to any greater ex tent than Will prepare you for the coming of the Lord ?” How much indulgence will that be? How much alcohol does it take to befog a mind ever so little? One drop will befog it a little. 3. The third aspect is that of freedom from the bondage of the cares of this life, holiness in not be ing submerged in worldly cares, re sponsibilities, and duties. There is many a man and many a woman who would not overeat, who would not overdress, who would not think of touching a drop of alcoholic stimu lants, but who is tremendously pre occupied with the cares of this world. If it is a man, he is taken up with his business duties and his responsi bilities; arid if it is a woman, she is taken up with her domestic and household cafes, or with her special duties. You are letting worldly cares choke out the study of the Word and choke out prayer. You remember, in our Lord’s parable in thé 8th chapter of Luke, 14th versé, thé Lord tells us that the thorns that choke the Word are “ Cares'’ and “riches” arid the “pleasures óf this' life.”' My brethren, if a man is in business he should be diligent in business, if a woman is a housekeeper she—should keep house well; but is your business or your housekeeping choking out
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your spiritual life, crowding out the daily and earnest study of the Word of God, so that you say, “I have not time for ah hour each day to study the Word of God, and I have not time for prayer?” To you Jesus says, “I am coming again. Take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be bur dened down with surfeiting,' drunk enness, and the cares of this life ” I am not dwelling on this, because I am hurrying on to something else that may come closer to most of us nere tonight. 4. The Return of our Lord is used as a Motive to Holiness in a fourth respect. “But watch ye a t . every season, making supplication, that ye may pre vail to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand be fore the Son of man.” Here the return of our Lord is used as an incentive to prayer. In true Bible holiness,. prayerfulness, is a very large element. | A man or woman who is not a man or woman of much prayer is not a holy man or holy woman, according to, the Bible example and type of holiness. We have seen that our Lord Jesus was pre-eminently a Man of. Prayer; that in the very short account of His life which we have in the four Gps- pels, covering so very few pages, there were no less than twenty-five instances in which the words “pray” and “prayer” were used in connection with Him ; and that there were nu merous instances, mentioned of our Lord’s praying, where those words were not used. We saw that He would arise a great while before day, while His fellow workers were yet sleeping,. and go out into the moun tains to pray. We saw how on one oc casion after a hard day, when He had gone aside for rest, being very weary, instead of finding rest He found a great company of people;
how He went out and welcomed them and spent a whole day in most exhaust ing ministry; and how, when He was left alone at night, with an oppor tunity to sleep, He did not sleep, but spent the whole night in prayer to God. A man or woman who does not know what it means to spend hours alone with God in prayer is not a holy man or woman, after the Bible model. Prayerfulness is one of the most important elements of a really holy life. I think that more of us who are in the ministry fail to accom plish what God has in mind for us in our ministry through neglect of prayer than through any other one cause. One of the most effective pastors that America ever knew was the elder Stephen H. Tyng, who was one of the callers of the first pre- millennial Conference. It is reported that when he lay dying, with his friends gathered around his bed, he said to them, “I do not wish that I had preached more ; I do not wish that I had done better pastoral work ; but I do wish I had prayed more.” I believe when every one of us stands on yonder shore, and looks back on the life that we led here on earth, we will each of us, without exception, wish that we had prayed more. The motive to prayer, to that very essential element of holiriess, held out in the passage that I have read, is that the Lord is coming, and the only way to escape the things which are coming upon the world, is by watch ful, intense, constant prayer. “Watch ye at every season, making supplication, that ye may prevail to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before thè Son of man” : You and I will never escape them; you and I will never stand before the Son of man in that great and glorious day, unless we have watched unto prayer, and that not merely at
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ago had such a tremendous sale,— “In His Steps, or What Would Jesus Do?” The idea was to study and find out what Jesus would do in busi ness, what would Jesus do if He ran a newspaper; imitate Christ, in other words. That, we are told, is the very substance of Christianity. It is not Christianity at all. You cannot do it. The most discouraging thing that any man can undertake is to attempt to live like Christ. The most utterly futile thing that anybody can undertake to do is to attempt to live like Christ. It is not the Bible method. God does not expect it of anybody, for God knows it is absolutely impossible. ,If you start out in all earnestness to imitate Christ in everything, you will be the most discouraged and utterly hopeless man on earth ; for though you go at it earnestly and honestly, you can not do it ; and God does not ask you to do it. That is not the Bible way. The Bible way is to look to the Holy Spirit to form a living Christ within us; and instead of our imitating Him, just let Him live out His life through us in our daily life. That is the easi est thing in the world. As you do that, you will be like Christ, as you let Christ do the living, abiding in Him, just as the branch abides in the vine. The branch does not bear grapes of itself. It just lets the sap and life of the vine flow in, and the grapes come, and cannot help coming, from the life that comes from the vine. When you and I get to the end of our self-efforts after likeness to Christ, and let Christ come in to dwell down in- the very depths of our souls, we will be like Christ without trying. There is a woman in the State of Iowa, who, 1 am'told, is a very holy woman. I do not know her intimately, but those who do have told me that she is a very holy wom an. A friend of mine who had been
special seasons of fellowship like these, but “at every season.” 5. If you will turn to the First Epistle of John, the second chapter, 28th verse, you will find the fifth Biblical aspect in which the Return of our Lord is held out as a Motive for Holiness of life: “And now, my little children, abide in him; that, if he shall, be manifest ed, we may have boldness and not be ashamed before him at his coming" Here the Return of our Lord is held out as a reason why we should ‘‘abide” constantly in Him. Abiding in Christ is not merely an essential to holiness, but it is the very heart of holiness. It is the whole secret of real holiness,—abiding in Jesus, and He abiding in us, an utter giving up of any self life, an utter giving up of any attempt to become what we ought to be in our own strength, simply the surrender of our lives to Jesus Christ, to come in and indwell, and live His life out through us. We can never be holy in any other way. Struggle as much as you please, pray as much as you please, study the Bible as many hours a day as you please, attend as many Conferences as you can, but you will never attain unto holiness that way. We hear a great deal in these days about the imitation of Christ, about taking Christ as our example and imitating His life. We are told nowadays by a certain school of teachers that this is the very essence of Christianity, walking in His steps, imitating Him, following Him, being what Jesus was. In that great classic of “the dark ages,” which has come down to what we may be disposed to call the bright ages,—but which are very dark still— “The Imitation of Christ,” by Thomas aKempis, the whole thought was that we are to study Christ and imitate Him. That was the whole thought of the book that a few years
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