JANUARY, 1912
VOL. III, NO. I THE KING' B U S I'M E S S
Measure the religious doctrine of Jesus by that of the time and place he lived in, or that of any time and place. Consider what a work His words and deeds have wrought in the world. Remember that the greatest minds, the richest hearts have set no loftier aim, no truer method than His of perfect love to God and man. Shall we be told that such a Man never lived—the whole story is a lie? Suppose that Plato and Newton never lived. But who did their wonders, and thought their thought? It takes a Newton to forge a Newton. What man could have fabricated a Jesus? None but a Jesus."
Published Once a Month by THE BIBLE INSTITUTE OF LOS ANGELES LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA. Bible Institute Press.
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FIFTY CENTS A YEAR.
MOTTO: ''I the Lord do keep it: I will water it every moment lest any hurt it, I will keep it night and day."—Is. 27:3 THE KING'S BUSINESS J. H. SÀMMIS, Editor. Entered as Second-Class Matter Nov. 17, 1910, at the postoffice at Los Angeles, Cai., - Under the Act of March 3, 1879. . Organ of THE BIBLE INSTITUTE OF LOS ANGELES [Inc.] 260-264 South Main Street (Second Floor) • L o s A n g e l e s , C a l i f o r n i a Table of Contents. At the Stile.—Editorial.
' Personal Evangelism—T. C. Horton. Experiences—Bradshaw-Lewis. God's Word God's Words.—J.H.S. The Fundamentals—T. C. Horton. Notes By the Way.—J.H.S. Bible Briefs.—J.H.S Interrogation Points.—J.H.S.
The Second Coming—Erdman. Wh at do You Want?—Brooks. Faith and v Saving Faith—Kuyper. Receiving and Walking.—Select. The Book of Life.—Schaefle Facts of Faith—J.H.S.
DIRECTORS: Lyman Stewart. President
Rev. A. B. Prichard, Vice Pre«. J. M. Irvine, Secretaiy-Treas.
T. C. Horton, Superintendent
R. A. Hadden
E. A. K. Hackett
W. E. Blaclutone
S. 1. Merrill
R. A. Torrey
DOCTRINAL STATEMENT We hold to the Historic Faith of the Church as expressed in the Common Croed of Evangelical Christendom and including: The Trinity of the Godhead. The Maintainance of Good Works. The Deity of the Christ. The Second Coming of Christ. The Personality of the Holy Spirit. T . ™ , The Supernatural and Plenary au- T h e M o r t a l i t y of the Soul, thority of the Holy Scriptures. The Resurrection of the Body. The Unity in Diversity of the Church The Life everlasting of Believers, which is the Bride and Body of Christ. The Endless Punishment of the Im- The Substitutionary Atonement. penitent. The N e c e s s i t y^ the .Nejr Birth. *- The Reality and Personality of Satan. Purpose: The Institute trains accred- ited men and women, f r ee of cost, in the knowledge and use of the Bible. Departments: (*) T he institute Classes held daily ex- cept Saturday and Sunday. (4) Spanish Mission. Meetings every night. (5) Shop Work. Regular Services in shops and factories. (6) Jewish Evangelism. Personal work among Hebrew people. (7) Bible Women. House-to-house work and neighborhood classes. (8) Oil Fields. A mission to men on the oil fields. (2) Extension Work. Classes and con- ferences held in neighboring cities and towns. (3) Evangelistic. Meetings conducted by our evangelists. (9) Books and Tracts. Sale and distri- bution of selected books and tracts.
AT THE STILE
set the sun and the moon in the sky not to give light merely, but to mark V?T> times and seasons. (Gen, 1;4) Without these - chronometers, or time meters, neither history nor civilization would be possible. God's wisdom is displayed, not so much in the intricate and accurate movements of those heavenly bodies, as in their adaptation to man's moral and intellectual nature. It is not without reason that we pause at the stile betwen the ways of 1911 and 1912. He who teaches us to so number our days that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom, stays us there, to "Con- sider our ways." Every wiseman is at this season a "Mr. Facing-both-ways." He looks back in grateful adoration on the wisdom and mercy which led him safe through the once untrodden path. He looks forth hopefully, prayerfully, resolutely, on the untried year, trusting the God of yesterday that He will be the God of tomor-
morrow.
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light we are in to- tal darkness. We c a n n o t go, we dare not move. God has given to natural men eyes to see but they have no. li g h t, they "Walk in darkness" there- fore do' 'they stum- ble on the dark mountains." They are f r e q u e n t l y bruised, and be- s m i r c h e d , and make no progress, or see any out- come. They do not know at what mo- ment they may stumble into some "bottomless pit."
Nowh e r e does man's dependence stand confessed as at the parting of the ways." What shall be on the morrow" he does not k n o w , n o not even what in the next moment. Some great catas- trophy may over- whelm him; some trifling inci d e n t may change the course of the whole year, the whole life for time and eternity. Divine w i s d o m , a n d k n ow l e d g e, and guidance, a l o n e suffice him. God has given us phys- ical sight, we have eyes to see. But we must h a v e light or there is no vision. Without they cannot wonder.
LEAD ON. My Lord, my Light, how clear I in Thy light can see! Lead on, I do not fear To trust my way to Thee. Athwart my reckless path Till Thy kind beacon shone, My steps took hold on death, My feet were almost gone. How dim the light I bore, Its faint and fitful flame Could ne'er my'feet restore— Yet to this rest I came! I dread, when I survey The past, no future ill, For Thou Benignant ray, Shalt' guilt my footsteps still. Oh, Holy Light, how clear The crowned heights I see! Lead on, I do not fear To trust my way to Thee.
J. H. SAMMIS. At their strange laughter "the chil- dren of light'' can- not but deem them mad, but at their frequent outcries and lamentations At this season, stepping into the dark unknown, does any "ask
for the old paths, where is the good way?" (Jer. 6:16); does any like the Philippian "call for alight?" Let him "rise from the dead and Christ shall give him light." "I am the light of the world," said He, "He that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life." In His light we shall see light. "Commit thy ways unto Him and He shall direct thy paths." His "ways are ways of pleasantness, and all His paths are peace." "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil, for thou art with me, thy rod &nd thy staff they comfort me ." With such a guide we need not fear to walk the untried way. Only good can befall us. "We know that all things work together for good to them that love God." May my reader say at the year's end, "There failed not ought of any good thing which the Lord had spoken"—Joshua 21;45.
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S e c o r t ò
( T o m i n g *
An Address By Prof. C. R. Erdman, D. D., at Northfield Conference. >
E. MOODY announced that this was a doctrine upon which many Christians dif- fered, but the Northfield preachers always agreed in regarding the coming of Christ as personal and as Dr. Erdman said: " My in Hebrews ix, 28: 'And
to the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pente cost, nor to the presence of Christ with us through the Spirit. Again, it does not, as some have believed, refer to the de- struction of Jerusalem. It is true that the prophecy of that event is bound up with the foretelling of the second coming, but there are many things about Christ's return which are unfulfilled by the destruc- tion of Jerusalem. Nor is death the thing that is in the mind of the writer of this text, even if death does mean the union of our souls with Christ. Finally, the on- ward progress of civilization cannot fulfill the prophecy of the second coming. The writer has a definite return of Christ to this earth in mind and nothing else will satisfy the statement which he makes. What a sad book the New Testament would be apart from this coming of Christ. The world last saw Christ crucified as an evildoer between two thieves, and if the story is to end there it will be the great- est tragedy of history. His followers said they saw Him risen from the dead, but the world never saw Him, and refuses to believe His return was the hope which in- spired Paul on his travels, Peter in his letters and John on lonely Patmos. It is the great encouragement to the Christian church today. To whom will He appear; the verse an- swers, " t o them that await fer Him." This does not refer to any one sect of be- lievers. It refers to all Christians. I know there are those who believe that there will be special blessing for those who set the time of His reappearance and wait for Him in some special way and place. Nothing is further from the thought of the writer, for this hope of Christ's return is common to all classes of be- lievers. There is nt) creed in all Chris- tendom which does not refer to this com- ing again of Christ. We Presbyterians have it in our Westminster Confession and you will find that John Wesley, hardly a Presbyterian, had the same belief. If this is so, why is it that we hear so few ser- mons on this doctrine, why do we preach- ers remain silent on the truth which is so essential a doctrine in our system of Christian truth? There are many reasons for this, but none of them, it seems to me, are valid. Perhaps we are careless about the doctrine, thinking that there are others
premillennial. text is found
unto them that look for Him shall He appear a second time, without sin unto salvation.'' This, said he, is the blessed hope of the Church, the event toward which history has been moving through all the centuries since the death of Christ. We refer familiarly to three appearances of Christ; first, here on earth to save from sin; second, now in heaven pleading be- fore the Father in our behalf; and thirdly, the return of Christ in glory to this same earth that slew him. If we study the fig- ure we will see that the writer here used language borrowed from the Old Testa- ment law of Atonement. As the priest laid aside his robes of majesty and en- tered the holy of holies to plead for the people in virtue of the sprinkled blood, so Christ who laid aside His glory and came to earth to save people by His own shed blood has gone into the holy place on high to intercede for us. And as. the priest resumed his robes of beauty and glory reappeared before the people, so, says the writer, will Christ come again to the people for whom He has been inter- ceding. He is to eome as the priest who has won pardon for his people. Frances Havergal wrote:
Thou art coming, oh, my Savior, Thou art coming, oh, my King, In thy beauty all resplendent: In thy glory all transcendent; Well may we rejoice and sing. Coming in the opening east, Herald brightness slowly swells; Coming, or, my glorious Priest, Hear we not thy golden bells?
There are certain things which are some- times supposed to be referred to by this prophecy rather than the actual, physical return to this earth of the Christ who left it; a return which the writer considers as sure as the judgment. It does not refer
Finally, what will this coming mean to us? It will, mean, as the text declares, the completion of salvation. There is a sense in which Christ's death accomplished salvation, and in another, we are today working out our own salvation, but in the fullest sense, salvation will not be com- pleted until Christ returns. I t will also mean the resurrection of the dead and the union with our friends. Death has not been swallowed up in victory; there are many of us who know its sting, in spite of all the poets say. But when He appears its victory will be gone, the dead shall be raised in glory and we shall all be changed. Some of us will not die; what a blessed thought that is. For Christ's coming is surer for us even than death. His coming will be the time of reward, and the chief- est will be that we then shall be "like Him.'' His coming will mark the begin- ning of His universal reign, and not until He comes will a world kingdom of peace and love be possible. When will it be? The next chapter says " y e t a little while." It is for God to set that time, not for us. The only thing that prevents His coming today is the delay in the evangelization of the world. The hope of His coming should send us down from Northfield to work harder for the spread of His Kingdom over the earth, so that we may hasten His longed-for return.
more important; perhaps we have neg- lected it and do not study it really to find out what it means. I do not know why it is, but I have noticed that anyone who is on fire over this truth 1 , is generally a strong Bible student; he wants to know all that the Bible can teach him about it. Again, so many religious fads and fal- lacies have been associated with this be- lief that we have felt it the part of ?au-' tion to avoid its consideration, but should we not rather seek to be fully informed about this doctrine that we may be- able to distinguish the true from the false? And because there have been differences within the church on certain points regard the hoped-for return, some of us have been silent from courtesy so that we might not hurt others' feelings; whereas every church, Protestant, Boman Catholic and Greek, all agree on the great fact of the coming return. Finally, the prevailing popular uniformitarian world-view, which allows no place for the supernatural, has caused some to be silent on this great truth. A purely naturalistic philisophy must not only make ridiculous any thought of a return of Christ, it must also'deny his incarnation, and his resurrection a,nd ascension, and present intercession. I do not believe there is any good reason why we who believe in this coming of Christ should not speak of it more than we do.
Wtyxï ~ 3 > o y o u
W a n t ?
Dr. Jas. H. Brooks.
us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for u s ." (Gal. iii:13). 7. Would you know the price of your redemption? "Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition . from your fathrs, but with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb without blemish and without spot." (I Pet. i:18, 19). 8. Do you ask what Christ did with sins? "Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the t r e e ." (I Pet. ii:24). 9. Would you know what God thinks of your heart? " T he heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked." (Jer. xvii:9). 10. Would you know what God thinks of your goodness? "We are all as an un- clean thing, and all our righteousnesses
iigigiSRE you a sinner?
" I am not come to call the right- eous, but sinners to repen- tance," Mat. ix:28.) 2. Are you heavy laden? "Gome unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy
laden, and I will give you rest. (,Mat.xi:28). 3. Are you lost ? ' ' The Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost," (Luke xix:10). 4. Would you know God's feelings to- ward you? "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that who- soever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting l i f e ." (Jno. iii:16). 5. Do you need cleansing? " T he blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin." (1 Jno. i:7). 6. Do you desire deliverance from the curse of the law? "Christ hath redeemed
are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away." (Isa. lxiv:6). 11. Would you know what you are by nature? "Behold, I was shapen in in- iquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me." (Ps. li:l). 12. Would you know the unchangeable character of the nature received by birth? " The carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can b e . " (Rom. viii:l). 13. Would you know what the Savior says must take place before you can see the Kingdom of God? "Yerily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born again he cannot see the Kingdom of God." (Jno. iii:3). 14. Would you know how you are to be born again? "Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the Word of God that liveth and abid- , eth forever." (I Pet. i:23). 15. Would you know what you are to do in order to be born again? "Whoso- ever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God." (I'Jno. v:i). 16. Do you desire to be numbered among the children of God? " Ye are all the children of God by faith in Jesus Christ." (Gal. iii:26). 17. Would you have everlasting life? "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth My word and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto l i f e ." (Jno. v:2'4). 18. Do you ask how you may know you have eternal life ? ' ' These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God, that ye may know that ye have eternal l i f e ." (I Jno. v:13). 19. Do you ask for evidence that hav- ing trusted in Christ, you are safe? " I give unto, them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any one pluck them out of my hand." (Jno. x:28). 20. Do you ask whether the love of Chrisf can change? "Ha v i ng loved His own which were in the world He loved them unto the end." (Jno. xiii:l). 21. Do you ask how you will live when you believe in His love? " The love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: and that He died for all that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto Him which died for them, and rose again." (2 Cor. v:15, 15). 22. Do you ask what provision Christ has made for your safe conduct during
His absence from the earth? " I will pray the Father, and He shall give you f t another Comforter, that He may abide with you forever; even the Spirit of truth: whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him; but ye know Him; for He dwelleth with you, and shall be in you." (Jno. xiv:16, 17). 23. Do you ask what provision He has made for granting your requests? 'What- soever ye shall ask in My name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask anything in My name I will do i t . " (Jno. xiv:13, 14). 24. Do you ask what you are to do with the cares that shall come upon you? "Casting all your care upon Him for He careth for you." (I Pet. v:7). a 25. Do you ask how you may regard all the events of life, however dark and trying? "We know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them that are the called according to His purpose.'' (Bom. viii:28). 26. Do you ask what will become of the soul if separated from the body by what men call death? "We are confident, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord." (2 Cor. v:8). 27. Do you ask what will become- of the body, if ¿aid away in the grave? " I would not have you to be ignorant, breth- ren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them « also which sleep in Jesus shall God bring' with H im ." (1 The. ix: 13, 14). 28. Do you ask what is the hope set before you in the Gospel? "Looking for | that blessed hope, and the glorious appear- ing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ; who gave Himself for us that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works." (Tit. ii:13, 14).
" My God shall supply all your need, according to His riches in glory by Jesus Christ." (Phil. 4:19);. " f o r all things are yours; whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to comej all are yours; and ye are Christ's; and Christ is God's." (I Cor. 3:21-23.)
I n a i t i ) a i t ò S a v i n g
f a i f y .
From Dr. Kuyper's "Work of the Holy Spirit." SHIP is ready to sail, but lacks a captain. Two men present themselves to the ship owner; both are pro- vided with excellent testi- monials signed by credita- ble and trustworthy per-
That vessel is our soul. It is tossing on the waters and needs a pilot. The voyage is long, and we ask, "Who will safely pilot i t ? " Then a testimony is laid be- fore us concerning One wonderfully skilled in the art of safely guiding souls into the desired haven. That testimony is Sacred Scripture, which throughout all its pages offers but one, ever continued, divine testi- mony concerning the unique excellence of the Christ as leading souls to the safe haven. With this testimony before us it is for us to decide whether we will ac- cept it or not. Its rejection ends the matter and Jesus will never be the Guide of our soul. But, accepting it, saying, " We believe all that is written," we can proceed. This confession implies: (1) faith in the genuineness of the testimony; (2) faith in God who gave it; (3) faith in the truth of its contents. But this is not saving faith, only faith in the testimony. To believe that it will prove true in our case, in our own persons, is quite different. This depends not upon the testimony, but upon whether we will submit ourselves to Him of whom it speaks. Although this Captain pilots souls safely across very deep waters, He does not pilot all souls. They must be able and willing to submit themselves to Him according to His demands. The unwilling are left be- hind and, trying to pilot themselves, they miserably perish. Hence we must submit. And this requires the laying aside of all our self-conceit, the utter casting out of self. So long as self stands in the way we refuse Him as our spiritual guide; nor do we believe in His power. ' But as soon as self is cast out, the ego silenced, and the soul abandons itself to Him, the sec- ond faith awakens and, upon bended knee, we cry: " My Lord and my God!" " F o r by grace are ye saved, through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God" (Eph. 2:8); " f o r what saith the Scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him for righteous- ness. Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace but of debt; but to him that worketh not, but believeth on Him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness." (Rom. 4:3-5).
sons. Of the absolute truth of these testi- monials the ship owner is thoroughly con- vinced. And yet in spite of this testimony one is engaged and the other dismissed. Conversing with both, the owner has found the first a very reasonable fellow, readily allowing him, as the owner of the ship, to issue orders; in fact as captain he would have nothing to say. But the other, a real sailor, demanded absolute control of the ship, otherwise he would not take the responsibility. And, since the ship owner enjoyed issuing orders, he pre- ferred the meek and tractable captain and dismissed the rough sailor. Consequently the tame commander, obeying orders, lost the ship the first voyage, while the rival ship, commanded by that Jack-tar, re- turned home laden with a rich cargo. We distinguish here two kinds of faith. First, faith or no faith in testimony pre- santed; second, faith or no faith in the persons to whom this testimony refers. In the illustration faith of the first kind was perfect. Those testimonies were ac- cepted as genuine; the ship owner had per- fect faith in the signatures. And yet it did not follow that he was immediately ready to entrust his property to either one of those eaptains. This required another faith; not only faith in the contents of those papers, but faith also that those contents would prove true regarding the command of his ship. Hence he carefully considered both men, and discovering that the one left no room for his self-assertion, it was natural that he engaged the other, who flattered his egotism. And influenced by this egotism he did not place that sec- ond faith in the right person. His neigh- bor, not .so egotistically inclined, kept the end in view, had faith in the good sea- many arid his profits were almost fabulous. Hence-»both meri had unconditional faith in the' 'testiftionies; but the one, denying hiiriself, had also faith in the excellent captain, and the other, refusing to deny himself, had not. Apply this to our relation to Christ.
/ a c t s
o f
j F a i t l ) .
By J. H. S.
S I B E p B S B a O i ^ ^ i S i l flSdHflg
s t a te His statements and Matthew 5:18; Acts 2:30; 2 Peter 3:15 16;
we have our creed. If He has has not spoken there
Luke 4:21; Acts 2:16; with all mutual en-
dorsements of apostles, prophets and Prov- is no authoritative faith or hope. All is idence, and fulfillment of prophecy, sp^- left to our simple, blinded minds; all is cially Luke 24:44. J - i Fi . conjecture There is no confidence, no 3. What the Bible was to Christ and His h pe. Have we a Word of God ? apostles it must be to us. As they used it 1. The Word is the Bible. The Bible is s 0 we must use it, or we reject their au- an intelligible, infallible and authoritative thority and set our judgment above theirs, record of God's communications to and Fifty times they refer to the Old Testa- with chosen instruments, and a true ac- m e n t as " The Scriptures," referring to it count of words and events, natural and a s a body of authority. With them its supernatural, so that a given and original w o r d was the last word, and ended con- statement is the exact truth God designed troversy. Christ Himself and every New and designs to be conveyed to men. Testament writer so used it (see Mat. 2 That this definition is sound appears 21:42; 22:29; 26:54; Mrk. 14:49; Luk. 4:21; from (a) the Appellations: the Word is 24:44, 45; Jno. 5:39; 7:38; 10:35; Act 2: called " Go d ' s ," " J e h o v a h ' s ," " My i 6 , 25, 30, 31; 17:2; 18:28; Bom. 10:11; word," " t h y word," " H i s word," etc.; U:2y Gal. 3:8, 22; Jas. 2:23; 4:5; 1 Pet. (b) the Affirmations: over and over it 2:6; I I Pet. 1:2; etc., etc. And in a mul- reads " Go d ," or " J e h o v a h ," or " t h e titude of places where other terms than Holy Spirit," " s p a k e ," " s a i d ," " s a i t h ," "Scripture" are used of the Word in like etc. e. g., in Amos' 146 vv. we find " J e - manner). As to this testimony of the hovah spoke," "Thus saith the Lord Je- Book to itself no doubt can be entertained hovah," "Oracle of the Lord Jehovah, by the unprejudiced. God of Hosts," "Oracle of Jehovah, God 4. The method of communication was too of Hosts," "Oracle of Jehovah, doer of manifold to cover by the term "inspira- all these things," " The word of Je- tion." God "spoke in divers manners/ hovah " " Sa i th Jehovah, thy God," " J e- Heb. 1:1; (a) By word of mouth, Genesis hovah commandeth," " Sa i th Jehovah, 18, throughout; Acts 7:2; Exodus 33:9. So God of Hosts, is His name," each once; to Joshua, Paul, John, etc. Those post- "Saith the Lord Jehovah," "Thus saith resurrection appearances were paralleled the Lord Jehovah," each twice; " t h e by pre-iricarnation ones, (b) By audible Lord Jehovah-showed me ," three times; voices, Exodus 3:4; 1 Kings 19:13; Mat- "Oracle of the Lord Jehovah," four thew 3:17, etc.; (c) By angels, Daniel 9: times; "Jehovah saith," eleven times; 21; Luke 2:10; Rev. 22:8; (d) By writing; "Thus saith Jehovah," "Oracle of Je- E x o d u s ' 3 2 : 1 6; 34:1; Deut. 10:1; Daniel 5: hovah " thirteen times; three times Amos 5; ( e ) By TJrim and Thummim, Numbers affirms God's oath, " The Lord Jehovah 2:21; Ezra 2:6; (f) By dreams and visions, hath sworn by Himself, oracle oi Jehovah, Exodus 41; Daniel 2:7; 2 Cor. 12:1; (g) God of Hosts," " t h e Lord Jehovah hath By inspiration, Mark 12:36; 2 Peter 1:20; sworn by the Excellency of Jacob,'.' " t h e 2 Tim. 3:16. These "divers manners'' Lord Jehovah hath sworn by His holi- forbid ascribing the Word to the ."inspi- ness." Seventy-one times " I " is uttered ration of genius," "political forecast," by Jehovah himself; (c) the Illustrations: " P a u l 's conception," etc. Theophanies, in Exodus iv, the relation of a prohpet to voices, angel visits, flinty inscriptions, can God is that of Aaron to Moses. Moses never be confounded with " i n s i g h t ." puts words in Aaron's mouth. Aaron is 5. We take the Bible literally. It to Moses) a prophet, Moses to Aaron is as means what it says and says what it means God- (d) the Negations: those who j n the same sense in which we mean what prophecy " o ut of their own h e a r t s" are w e say and say what we mean. " I f the repudiated—see e. g., Jer. xxiii; (e) the plain, obvious sense is good sense, why, in
literal as any other. God's oracles are not like the pagan's ambiguous riddles. A fixed conviction that a statement of the Word is as valid as a fact of the world is of the first importance.
the name of common sense, seek any other sense?" said a great lawyer. Figures of speech, poetical, even hyperbolical, ex- pressions are, by usage and mutual under- standing, as definite and, in that sense,
" p e r s o n a l
^ E v a n g e l i s m *
T. C. Horton.
We have voluntarily accepted a new Master and have become subject to new laws. Jno. 1:12.; 1 Jno. 5:12; Rom. 8:2. Our bodies have become temples for the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. 1 Cor. 6:19; 2 Cor. 6:16; Col. 2:20. Henceforth we are to be to the praise of His glory (Eph. 1:12) by bearing much fruit. Jno. 15:8. We were saved to serve, so that we might say as did our Lord, " I have fin- ished the work that Thou gavest me to do ." Jno. 17:4. While it is true that there are mani- fold gifts of the Holy Spirit for ministry and worship (1 Cor. 12:1-11), and to all is given some special definite ministry (1 Cor. 12:12, 31), yet it remains absolutely true that every believer must be a soul winner to fulfill the functions of the new life. The Normal Christian l i f e. The life of the believer is evangelistic, for his life is the life of God. The first picture we have of the ruined world is that of God seeking the sinful pair. The purpose of Christ's coming was to seek and save the lost, Luke 19:10; 1 Tim. 1:15. The Christ life within us must go out to the unsaved; a proof of this is that in- variably the impulse of a new born soul is to find some one else to whom the won- derful story can be told. Jno. 1:45. Were we living the normal Christian life we would be everywhere, in the most natural way, telling the wonders of Christ's love. Acts 8:4. What Believers Are. We have selected seven significant terms which are applied to believers which clear- ly set forth their responsibility in the matter of soul winning. (1) Servants. Let a man so account of us as the ministers (servants) of Christ. 1 Cor. 4:1. In the original this word min- ister means an officer, one on duty and sub- ject to orders. (2) Stewards. Stewards of the myste-
PERSONAL Working class is conducted in the Insti- tute on Friday nights. They are doing personal work day by day.
The name given to the class is " The All Class." 'Its -tqxt is: 1 Cor. 9:22. " I a m made all things to all men that I might'by all means save some." Its daily prayer is, "Lord make me a soul winner today." It meets for lunch at 6:00 p. m. All profits from the luncb buys tracts for the use of the class. A prayer service is held at 6:30 for those on the prayer lists; at 7:00, Devotional Bible Study; at 7:30, Song Service; 7:45, Class Work; 8:30 to 9:00, a half hour is devoted to personal ex- perience with souls, led by workers who have been used of the Lord. This pro- gram has worked well and the class is most satisfactory. A Divine Art. Soul saving is a divine art. Men are not born soul savers, but are made. There is a widespread misapprehension in the minds of most Christians concerning re- sponsibility for this work. Christians seejn to think that some people are called to this work, but that the obligation is not universal; that it is work which one may do or not as they choose. This is false, unscriptural and illogical. Soul sav- ing is the greatest work in the world and is committed to every believer. All may have the joy of doing it who give them- selves to it, and all who fail to do it are recreant to a holy trust and poorer throughout eternity. The Purpose of Our Salvation. The acceptance of Christ as Savior and Lord results in a new relationship. We are delivered from the dominion of dark- ness into the kingdom of God's dear Son. Col. 1:13.
The world is a foreign field and heaven is our home. Phil. 3:20. (6) Business Men and Women. "Occu- py till I come." Luke 19:13. - The word occupy means do business. We are called to a business life for our Lord. (7) Fishers of men. Follow me and I will make you fishers of men. Mat. 4:19. From the sea of the world we are to take men. Commit these six passages of Scripture and say them over and over. Say to your- self,—I am a servant, a steward, an am- bassador, a witness, a missionary, a busi- ness agent, a fisher of men, and you will soon come to recognize the solemn fact of your relationship. This is the foundation lesson on soul winning. These great facts of your call- ing must grip you and hold you. Pray daily that the Lord will burn these texts into your heart life.
ries of God. 1 Cor. 4:1. A steward is a house manager. One to whom is commit- ted certain responsibilities relating to the house. See Titus 1:7; 1 Pet. 4:10; 1 Cor. 11:2. (3) Ambassadors. Now then we are am- bassadors for Christ. 2 Cor. 5:20 We are messengers or representatives of Christ. (4) Witnesses. And ye shall be wit- nesses of me. Acts 1:8. This word means martyr, so that those who witness at the expense of their lives are martyrs. A wit-' ness tells what he knows. He milst wit- ness with lip and life. (5) Missionaries. As Thou hast sent me into the world even so have I also sent them into the world. Jno. 17:18. The Word sent is apostolic. Paul was an apos- tle, a sent one—Jesus Christ was the great Missionary and He has commissioned ev- ery believer to be a missionary—to do the same work which He did. Every believer is a foreign missionary.
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W. R. Bradshaw.
S I was about to leave the office of a big Los Angeles concern after my business was done, a member of the firm came into the office and asked for my card. Before I recovered from my sur-
" Y e s , " he said, " b u t it is no use; to tell the truth, I am not interested at all in the question, and it is useless to discuss i t . " I told him that he would be inter- ested if he understood; and then gave him my personal testimony of how,.and when, twenty years ago, D. L. Moody came to my town and I got a vision of the love of the Savior in dying for me before I was born. I explained how the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, but that they are foolishness unto Him. He said, " I do not want to have to go to church. I dislike joining the church, to go before the minister and to take a stand like t h a t ." I explained that all this was not becoming a Christian and read to him Jno. 1:12, " A s many as re- ceived Him to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to such as believe on His name." He absolutely re- fused to meet the conditions. He looked as if he could not live long. We were the more anxious. We made a last appeal, telling of the Friend who stood at his heart's door waiting an entrance, but who would not force an entrance. We plead with him to open that door. He looked
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prise he said, "One of our men is deeply concerned in the spiritual welfare of an- other, who is not in good health, and we would appreciate your having a few words with him." I said, "Please close the door." He replied, " H e is inj the other room; we want you to meet him there." I said, " I understand, but let us first ask God to open the man's heart to receive the t r u t h ." We three then bowed and asked God to direct our dealing with him. I knew nothing of the circumstances of the case when ushered into .the adjoining room to meet a man I had never seen, and but five or ten minutes before another appoint- ment. The young man who solicited an in- terest in his friend introduced me to him in whom he was so deeply concerned. I immediately approached him on the ques- tion of questions, saying, ' ' My friend, Mr. : , is deeply interested in you."
sad and unhappy. We said, "Do n 't you expect to allow Christ at sometime to enter your heart and save your soul 1 " " Yes ' ' he owned. Then, said I,' "Why not now?" " I will," he replied, and broke down completely, and yielded himself to the Savior. About a month or so ago he died in Arizona. His wife, who is not yet a Christian, s a y s , ' "I hope when I come to
die 1 can have the peace he h a d ." He went to bed at night, and when she came to see him in the morning he had passed away to be with Him Whom to know aright is life eternal. I saw the widow last week and as I left her, with tears in her eyes, she said, " I will try to serve Him. " I think she has made her decision since. "
R. C. Lewis
One evening in July while conducting p r a y for me that God might make some- a meeting in the Mission where there were thing of me ." It is needless to say that few present, I was led to request all to w i t h rejoicing we pointed him to Jesus join in a season of prayer. On our knees t h e M i g h t y t o s a v e - we prayed that God would in His own G o d £ r a c i o u s V saved him, then he gave way bring in the unsaved, then closed ¡ f e ^ S t o His saving Grace and added i . I t h e se words: "Ten days ago I was walk- the prayer by reminding the Lord of the i n g d o w n a s t r e e t i n / o r t l f w e s t P a s a d e n a faithful workers coming down night after and picked up a Red Letter tract. After night for over three years witnessing for reading it I was so impressed that I took Him in the hearing of the great numbers U t o m y w i f e f o r h e r t o r e a d - s h e said it of men who stand in front of the Pool f ° d & n d S p ° k e t 0 m e ^ ^ g i n g l y , Room and Restaurant, some of whom have + * " T * t 0 W n t 0 m y r °° m - left the ranks of their pals and joined i f t 0 ^ b u t C0Uld not > a n d h a v e n o t the band of God's children in witnessing i F f J p t s l n e e ' b u t t o d r o w n m y '«,1- for Him, and again how the ranks have ^ b e e n d r i n k i n « heavily "until I been thinned out by sudden deaths. Many / ^ ^ ? I ** H ° W G ° d have scoffed and jeered, but are now spend- ) & ^ ^ P r a i s e H i s N a m e ! " A f t e r ing an endless eternity without hope and T ^ T " * * . W ® f ° U n d t h a t h e h a d without God, having rejected His love P Up t h e V M y S a m e t r a c t t h e l e a d e r mercy and grace. But we beseeched Him . M f a " f r 0 m t h e n u m b e r h e ear- to draw the ones who were taking the T * t * W ° r k 6 r t 0 d i s t r i b u t e ' a n d I j places of others. We arose from onr knees . UP * p r a y 6 r t h a t G o d W o u l d U8e J t Standing before the leader was a man 688 S ° m e d e a r s i n " b I a o k soul, who had heard the closing prayer from the N o t o f t e n h a s the tract distributer the outside and had walked up the aisle and •' oy o f l e a d i n g t o Christ the one whom God was standing before the altar. With tears i n H i s P r o v i d e n e e h a s led to pick up the streaming down his face he said, "Sa y, t r a e t - " He that winneth souls is wise " the Pool Room making light of religion, "They that be wise shall shine as the but I knew better all the time, and now brightness of the firmament; and they that do you think God can do anything for me? turn many to righteousness, as the stars I have been separated from my wife., She for ever and ever.?' " H e that converteth could not live with me because of my a sinner from his way, shall save a soul drinking. She is a good Christian wo- from death and shall hide a multitude of man, but I made our house a hell. So sins." that prayer hit me. I am one of those fel- lows who has been standing in front of
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of (bob• TESTIMONY INSPIRED AND UNINSPIRED.
logical as it is worthless, and cannot be too sternly put down."—Dean Burgon. 5. " The advocates of the strictest theory of inspiration, in insisting that it is verbal, do not mean in any way that the thoughts, were inspired by means of the words, but simply that the Divine su- perintendence, which we call inspiration, extended to the verbal expression of the thoughts of the sacred writers, as well as to the thoughts themselves, and that hence the Bible considered as a record, an utter- ance in words of a Divine revelation, is the Word of God to us. Hence, in all the affirmations of Scripture of every kind, there is no more error in the words of the original autographs than in the thoughts they were chosen to express.''—Dr. A. A. Hodge. We have wireless messages but no word- less messages. Men can neither speak nor think except in words. When men tell you that the theory of verbal inspiration is exploded they mean to tell you that you can not depend on what the Bible says, that is on its words, that it is convicted of contradictions and errors, in other words lies. There is no lie like that since Satan said it in Eden (Gen. 3:4). Thoughts without "words is a contradiction, and the lie is therefore in them who deny it, de- ceiving themselves. If they would practice their theory of thoughts without words they would do no harm. If the words are God's the thoughts are God's; if the thoughts are God's the words are God's, for thoughts and words are, and must be, one indivisible and inseparable. God has spoken in words in the Scriptures or He has not spoken at all. Let no man deceive you, keep your com- mon sense and the common faith.—J. H. S. "Christ the Blessed One gives to all, Wonderful words of life; Sinner, list to the loving call, , . Wonderful words of life; All so freely given, Wooing us to heaven. Wonderful words, beautiful words, Wonderful words of life."
, ESTIMONY of the SON OF GOD, the Word of God to the Word of God, " I have given them the words that Thou gavest Me ." "The words that I have spoken unto you they are spirit and
they are life.'' Testimony of the great Apostle Paul, " We speak not in the words which uian's wisdom teacheth, but whieli, the Holy Ghost teacheth," " Not the words of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God." Testimony of a great church. The Gen- eral Assembly of the Presbyterian church, constituted of hundreds of. learned, edu- cated, intelligent and godly men, has re- peatedly passed in substance this resolu- tion: "Resolved, that the English Bible as we now have it, when freed from the errors of translators, transcribers, and printers, is the Word of God." Testimony of great theologians and scholars: 1. " T h e line can never ration- ally be drawn between the thoughts and words of Scripture, jj . That we have an inspired Bible, and a verbally inspired one, we have the witness of God Himself.'' —A. A. Hodge. 2. " The theory of a Divine revelation, in which you would have the inspiration of the thoughts, without the inspiration of the language, is so inevitably irrational that it cannot be sincere, and proves false even to those who propose it."—Prof. Gaussen. 3. " The slightest consideration will show that the words are as essential to in- tellectual processes as they are to mutual intercourse. . . . Thoughts are wedded to words as necessarily as soul to body. Without it the mysteries unveiled before the eyes of the seer would be confused shadows; with it they are made clear les- sons for human life."—Canon Wescott. 4. "You cannot dissect inspiration into substance and form. As for the thoughts being inspired apart from the words, you might as well talk of a tune without notes, or a sum without figures. No such theory of inspiration is intelligible. I t is as il-
« f u n d a m e n t a l *
T. C. Horton.
(1) " The Testimony of Foreign Mis- sions to the Superintending Providence of God." By the late Arthur T. Pierson. The opening sentence reads, "God is in creation; cosmos would still be chaos with God left out. He is also in events; the whole of mission history is a mystery un- til read as His story.". (2) " I s there a God?" By Bev. Thom- as Whitelaw, M. A. D. D., Kilmarnoek, Scotland. The gist of the article is in the following. " The Atheist, for example, as- serts that there is no God. The Agnostie professes that he cannot tell whether there is a God or not. The Materialist boasts that he does not need a God, that he can run the universe without one. The (Bi- ble) Fool wishes there was no God. The Christian answers that he cannot do with- out a God." (3) " S in and Judgment to Come." By Sir Robert Anderson, K. C. B., LL. D., Lon- don, England. This paper, by one of the greatest of modern writers, is a tre- mendous argument for the failure of man. (4) " T he Atonement." By Professor Franklin Johnson, D. D., LL. D., Chicago, 111. He prefaces his article with these words: " The Christian world as a whole believes in a substitutionary atonement. This has been its belief ever since it be- gan to think. The doctrine was stated by Athanasius as clearly and fully as by any later writer. All the great historic creeds which set forth the atonement at any length set forth a substitutionary atone- ment. All the great historic systems of theology enshrine it as the very Ark of the Covenant, the central 'object of the Holy of Holies." (5) ' ' The God Man. ' ' By the late John Stock. A strong, forceful paper upon the deity o± our Lord, closing with these words: " The Christ of the New Testa- ment, of the early Church, or universal Christendom; the Christ, the power of whose name has revolutionized the world and raised it to its present level, and un- der whose guidance the sacramental host of God's redeemed are advancing and shall advance to yet greater victories over su- perstition and sin, is Immanuel, God with us, in our nature, whose blood "cleanseth us from all Isin," and who is " a b le to
5i _j T has been given to few S men to eatch a vision of ' doing world-wide things and to fewer still the privi- lege of making such a vision a reality. The two laymen who conceived the thought
of giving a message in this series, "The Fundamentals," in defense and confirma- tion of the Faith, to the Christian leaders of the English speaking people of the world could not have imagined the tre- mendous reach of the movement nor the widespread results which have followed. They did not anticipate that thousands of letters of approval and testimonies of ap- preciation would come to the publishers. They had no thought that thousands of • praying people would be lifting up their hearts and asking for God's richest bless- ing upon themselves, and the good work they had undertaken; nor that hundreds o± ministers would be moved to preach on the great fundamentals of the Bible. Neither could they have known that many Christian leaders become weak in the faith and having questioned concerning the veri- ties of the Scripture would be won back to the truth. It has been our pleasure through the courtesy of the Chicago office to see hundreds of these letters from all parts of the world, and perusal of them set the heart thrilling with joy that God had permitted these, His trusted servants, to perform in His name snch a great and lov- ing work for the church universal. All praise to the Lord Christ who by His Spirit energized them to such à lofty serv- ice and filled their hearts with such a holy desire. We unite our prayers with the thousands who remember them before the throne. May the Lord grant unto them the fulness of His grace and blessing and give them to see on the other side what they cannot see here, the full fruit of their unselfish ministry. Volume VI of the series is now being distributed free to every pastor, evange- list, missionary, theological professor, the- ological student, Y. M. C. A. and V. W. C. A. Secretary, Sunday School Superin- tendent and editor of a religious paper throughout the English speaking world. The last volume has eight papers, every- one of the highest order.
save, even to the uttermost, all that eome unto God through Him." (6) " The Early Narratives of Genesis." By Professor James Orr, D. D., United Free Church College, Glasgow, Scotland. An elucidation of the first eleven chapters of Genesis. (7) " The Person and Work of Jesus Christ." By Bishop John L. Nuelsen, D. D., Omaha, Neb. "Ev e ry Old Testament problem becomes in course of time a New Testament question. Every Biblical ques- tion places us after a while face to face with Him who is the center of the whole Bible, with Jesus Christ. In the present discussion over the person and Gospel of Jesus Christ, I shall confine myself to pointing out briefly some of the most in- We see many women on Sunday carry- ing two books strapped or cased together, Mrs. Eddy's "Science and Health," etc., and the Holy Bible. Two Unequally more incongruous companions Yoked Up. could hardly be imagined. It is expressly forbidden to yoke an ass and an ox together. These books are the antipodes of each other. One de- nies material reality, sin, sickness, pain, death; the other affirms them. One claims divinity for man, the other declares that God created man, and is Himself the sole, unique; independent One. The Bible is the fountain of all wisdom; the Eddyite bible is the dregs of all folly philosoph- ically and scientifically. To see those books bound up in one bundle is at once the astonishment and indignation of all right minded and revereni people. Viewing the Lord Jesus as the muckraker of His day,' and alluding to His scourging the merchants from the temple, a maga- zine writer in a current is- Blind Man's sue writes: "Jesus lost His Blasphemy, temper. He forgot His the- ory. Brought face to face with business men and righteous people, He threw charity to the winds, and picked up the big stick. He used force . . . . In brief, Jesus sinned (!). He sinned against His own teachings. They were amiable sins, but sins. . . . Jesus had no use for Ceasar, for ' government.' ' ' The man who could write such words is blind, mentally blind, spiritually blind, M o t e s b y
teresting and important features of the subject." Such is the opening paragraph. (8) " T he Hope of the Church." By Eev. John McNicol, B. A., B. D., Bible Training School of Toronto, Canada. An exposition of the doctrine of the Chris- tian's hope as related to the Second Com- ing of our Lord. What a feast of fat things for the laver of Truth. What will it mean when more than a million people read this little vol- ume? The remaining numbers of the series will consist of four, or six, volumes and will probably be issued during 1912. All of the volumes can be obtained from our Book Department.
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biblically blind.
He totally misappre hends the nature of Jesus, His mission to Israel, His purpose, teachings or meth- ods. Our Lord was no muck-
Biblically Blind.
raker, no reformer. He was the King of Israel, the Lord of the house they defiled, the Law giver, and Vindicator, whose whole life was a continued calm restraint of the "remainder of wrath," but in two instances, at he beginning and at the end, He gave a warning in a foretaste of the "Wr a th of the Lamb," the Judge of all the earth. Mr. Steffans' blasphemous utterances are the logical outcome of modern errors as to the Person and purpose of Christ. And Christians undertaking Whitewash- to whitewash the world get ing the into mighty bad company. World. Neither law nor love can make this black world white. Some would use one, some the other, some both. Christ had " u se for government." He taught loyalty to Ceasar, and obedience to authority (Mat. 22:21; 23:23). Gov- ernment, law is to rule the world; Gospel, grace is to save it. Law is to be made for society and executed and these are func- tions of government. The gospel is for penitent sinners to regenerate, not to re- form them. Christ has ordained both, each in its proper sphere, and enduring through the age. Then He "will speak" unto these blasphemers " i n his wrath, and vex them in His sore displeasure" (Psa. 2:5), and drive them from His presence. He
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