Last Call To the King’s Business Family REMEMBER I TS UP TO YOU To Help Us Reach 100,000 Before Christmas
One lady, sending in her suggestion for increas ing the subscription list, says: “Each subscriber should present the K. B. for a year to AT LEAST ONE friend, as a CHRISTMAS PRESENT. My own income is very small (less than $5.00 last month), but BY TITHING, I am able to LAY ASIDE a SUFFICIENT SUM to enable me to do this.” Surely if this dear woman can do this, EVERY MEMBER of THE KING’S BUSINESS FAMILY can have a share in the King’s business. If you believe that our magazine has a MES SAGE for THESE TIMES, then you CANNOT make a BETTER INVESTMENT of ONE DOL LAR or TEN DOLLARS.
*P «P
%P ^P %P %P
The letters “K. B.” opposite a name on your Christmas list, means TWO CHRISTMAS PRES ENTS—one to the friend who receives it, and one to the editors of the magazine.
All Together Now! Send In Those Subscriptions and DO IT NOW!
T H E K IN G ’S B U S IN E S S MOTTO: "I. the Lord, do keep it, I will water it every moment, lest any hurt It, I will heap Unight and day.“ Isa. 27:3 — . ..................... PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY THE BIBLE INSTITUTE OF LOS ANGELES 536-558 SOUTH HOPE STREET. LOS ANGELES, CAL. Entared as Secondi-CIass M atter November 17, 1910, a t the Post Office a t Los Angeles, California. under the A ct of March 3, 1879 Acceptance for m ailing a t special rate of postage provided for in Section 1103. A ct of O ctober 3, _____ 1917, authorized October 1, 1918 Volume XIII_______ December, 1922 Number 12 Rev. T. C. HORTON, E ditor in Chief Rev. KEITH L. BROOKS, Managing Editor ALAN S. PEARCE, Circulation Representative Contributing Editors DR. F. W. FARR DR. FRENCH E. OLIVER DR. A. C. DIXON CONTENTS Editorials——Im po rtan t Inform ation (1225 ), A Phlegmatic Presbytery (1226), ? “ g *he Chinese (!2 2 7 ), P raise and P rayer (1228 ), A Corner on Brains (1229), Bread Come Down Prom Heaven (1230 ), A Lopsided Teaching o f Grace (1231). G reetings— (1233) . Bible Brief's— (1234) Between th e Appearings— By Rev. Chas. H. Spurgeon (1235) The V irgin B irth of ChrisL—Testimonies (1240) Modern Gospel Songs— By Prof. H erbert G. Tovey, (1241) W hat Is Loyalty to Jesus?— By John Horsch (1244) Does Dr. Torrey o r Does He Not?— By K. L. B. (1245) Spirituality, th e P re sen t Need— By Percy G. Heward (1247) P lain Teachings About th e S p irit—By Rev. L. S. Chafer (1248) Another Gospel-—By Rev. C. P . Sheldon (1250) H as th e P u lp it Lost Its Nerve?—By Rev. Chas. L. Goodell (1252) ’ The New B irth— F undam ental Studies (1253) Bible In stitu te Happenings— (1298) Current Religious Comment— (1300) PLEASE W h en sending: su b sc rip tio n s, a d d re ss co rre sp o n d e n c e to Office of T h e K in g ’s B u sin ess, B ib le » In stitu te of L o s A n g eles, 5*6- 568 S o u th H o p e S tre e t. C h eck s m a y be m ad e p a y a b le tfo B ible I n s titu te o f L o s A n g e le s . Do n o t m a k e c h e c k s or m oney o rd e rs to in d iv id u a ls c o n n ected w ith - th e B ible I n s titu te . Y E A R FOREIGN COUNTRIES, INCLUDING CANADA $1.25—SINGLE COPIES 15 CENTS Spaeial Club Rat« for Ton or More Subscription, 75c Each O N L Y O N E D O L L A R A Bible In stitu te in China— By Dr. F ra n k Keller (1255) Evangelistic Stories by In stitu te W orkers (1257) Hom iletical Helps— (1267) In tern ation al Lessons—-(1272)
WHICH SHALL IT BE Wood? Hay? Stubble? OR Gold? Silver? Precious Stones?
Money is a Sacred Trust, and Christians will Surely be held Accountable for the Use they Make of It and for the Results that Follow
It very often happens that the desires of Christian people as to the use to be made of their funds, after their death, are not carried out, because of legal complications and unforeseen contingencies which arise. For instance: One good woman died recently leaving quite a large sum of money, and although she had expressed the wish that the larger part of it should be used, in the Lord’s work, more than half of it was claimed by the State and National governments, and the balance by members of her family. This could easily have been avoided had she put her funds into an ANNUITY " THE ONLY BOND WORTH HAVING” which would have insured her an income during her life, and after her departure the principal would all have been used in definite soul-saving work.
Let Us Send You Our Annuity Booklet T. C. Horton Superintendent, Bible Institute of Los Angeles
536-558 South Hope Street,
Los Angeles, California
£jlM IM IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIItlllllllIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIÍIIIIIII(IIIIIIIIIlllIIIIIIIIlllálÍtll|[IIHIIIlllllllllIlllllllilIllllllllllllllllllllM IIIItllllIllltllllllllll i 5^3 a s ía E D I T O R I A L . iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii iii! iiiiiiiiiiiii» r iiiiin iíiiiiiiiiiiiiiiu iiiiiiiu iiii iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii! iiiv iiiiiir iiiiiiiiiiv iiiiiiiiiiiiiii? CHRISTMAS NUMBER W h at do th e angels sing? W hat is th e word they b ring? W hat is th e music of Christmas again? -Glad tidings still to thee,
Peace and good will to thee, Glory to God in th e highest! Amen!
“B n t thou, B ethlehem E ph ratah , though thon be little among th e thousands of Jud ah , yet o u t of th ee shall h e come fo rth unto me th a t is to be ru le r in Israel; whose goings fo rth have been from of old, from everlasting.” (Micah 5 :2 ) “And it came to pass, as th e angels were gone aw ay.from th em in to heaven, th e shepherds said one to another, B et u s now go even unto Bethlehem , and see th is th ing which is come to pass, which th e Bord h a th m ade known un to us.” (Luke 2 :1 5 ) “1 shall see him , b u t no t now; I shall behold him , b u t n o t n ig h ; th e re sh all come a S tar o u t o f Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise o u t of Israel.” (Num. 24 :17 ) “I am th e ro o t and th e offspring of David, and th e b righ t and morning S tar.” (Bev. 22 :16 ) “And they shall see his face, and his nam e shall be in th e ir foreheads. And th e re shall be no n igh t th ere; and they need no candle, n eith er lig h t of tlm sun ; fo r th e Lord God giveth th em lig h t; and they shall reign m r ever and ever.” (Kev. 2 2 :4 , 5)
IMPORTANT INFORMATION The invitation given to Mr. William Jennings Bryan to become a leader of The Laymen’s Movement in Defence of the Bible, has been met by him with a hearty and favorable response, and we are expecting to line up with him a hundred of the leading laymen of the country whose hearts will be knit with his in loving loyalty to the good old Book. This is an event, we believe, of large moment in the. Fundamentalist movement, for which we should praise God and for which we should daily pray. It is impossible to magnify too greatly its importance for it involves the perpetuity of the real church, the salvation of souls and the glory due our Lord. We are glad, also, to announce that the Committee appointed at the Fourth Annual Convention of the Christian Fundamentals Association to outline a new series of Sunday School lessons, have decided to begin the series with lessons from the Gospel of John. The Church and Sunday School owe" much to the International S. S.
1226 THE K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S Association for its work in former years, bnt those who have been following the lessons have been compelled to witness the triumph of the enemies of >the Bible who, failing in their first attempt to control the Committee, turned their attention to the literature, where they were successful, and now are in the Saddle. The choice of the Committee of the Gospel of John for the new series is peculiarly favorable, as that book affords all necessary material for establishing the scholars in a firm belief in the inspiration of the Word of God and the certainty of all the fundamental doctrines. In justice to our subscribers we shall publish the helps for the Inter national series for 1923, as well as the new series in the Gospel of John, an outline of which will appear in the January number (reaching our readers about December first). The helps for the Gospel of John lesson for the first Sunday in January will be included in the January number instead of the December number, but following that the helps will 'be uniform with the International lesson helps. We covet the earnest prayers of The King’s Business family for this new series of lessons. •' —T. C. H. In an editorial in the October number of this magazine we called atten tion to the false position of Harry Emerson Fosdick, a Baptist minister, occupying the pulpit of the First Presbyterian Church of New York City, and knowingly and with evident delight destroying the faith of the mem bers of that church by openly denying the confession of faith of the Pres byterian Church. We quoted at some length from ^verbatim report of one of his sermons in which, among other things, he imid : “They insist th a t we must all believe in th e historicity of certain special m iracles, pre-em inently in th e virgin b irth of our Lord; th a t we must believe in a special theory of inspiration— th a t th e original documents of Scripture, which of course we no longer possess, were in erran tly dictated to men a good deal as a man m ight dictate to a stenographer; th a t we must believe in a special theory of th e atonem ents—th a t the blood of our Lord, shed in a substitu tionary death, placates an alienated Deity and makes possible welcome for th e retu rn ing sinner; and th a t we must believe in th e second coming of our Lord upon th e clouds of Heaven to set up a m illennium here a,s th e only way in which God can bring history to a worthy denouement. * * * “To believe in virgin b irth as an explanation of g rea t personality is one of th e fam iliar ways in which th e ancient world was accustomed to account for unusual superiority.” - - Subsequently a writer in The Presbyterian, of Philadelphia, in an article scoring with unquestioned severity Mr. Fosdick, laid the blame at the door of the Presbytery of New York—the body to which the church is re sponsible—for not taking action in the matter. We heartily agree with this writer and want to say again, with intensi fied emphasis, that Mr. Fosdick is a guilty party to a gross violation of every known law of propriety. He knows he is violating the confession of faith of the Piesbyterian church. The officers of that particular church are guilty in permitting and abetting this violation of vows which they them selves have taken. The members' are guilty in permitting their officials to A PHLEGMATIC PRESBYTERY
WATCH FOR ANNOUNCEMENT OF PRIZE
T HE K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S 1227 hecome a party to a crime against God and the church, and the Presbytery of New York City is doubly guilty because they sit quietly by and permit the performance. ' Of Mr. Fosdick we would say that should a man in a political party play such a degrading game he would be called a traitor. Were a man in a business organization to lower himself to such a depth he would be branded as a crook and accused of obtaining money under false pretenses. Judas was man enough to hang himself after his betrayal of Christ. The apostles and the early church were true enough to lay down their lives in loyalty to their Lord. But, alas, today the sophistry of the siren is heard m the pulpit and water rather than red blood flows in the veins of pew holders. Satan sits in the steeple and chuckles, and swords are in their scab bards rather than in the hands of the soldiers of the Lord. We write with sorrow as a Presbyterian of fifty years’ service, and beseech every loyal Presbyterian to appeal to the officials of the Presbytery of New York City to fulfill their obligations to God and the church by citing the offending church for trial. Send your letters now, and follow them with your prayers. ■ WM —T. C. H. 1228 THE K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S about Jesus, about God. No more tb e Holy Spirit comes into our h earts. I beg him in these words: “ P reach Jesu s only Saviour, Him who died for sins. L et us pray. Let us fall to our knees for Christ to bless us.” ’ , , “ ‘Do many of the Chinese Christians feel as you do?’ “ ‘Yes, many. B u t many do no t speak much as ju st now it is not popular to so believe. Missionaries, too, believe in th is fashion—’all men, it seems, some tim es,’ a slight b reak in his voice.” Of the 6,000 missionaries in China, '2,000 of them are said to be followers of the latest fad of Satan, which is as old as the devil himself, hut clothed with some up-to-date garments. What kind of robbery is that which steals from men their faith in the Word of God and leaves them nothing better than the teaching of Confucius? What kind of robbery is that which emasculates the Book of books by taking from it its fundamental' truths? What kind of robbery is that which takes the money from Christian people for missionary work in China and then uses that money for the sup port of missionaries and teachers who are denying the Lord Jesus Christ who bought them and making the Christian religion a laughing stock in the eyes of the heathen ? How long will you be a party to such a crime? Let us declare war against this wicked propaganda in our own land, in foreign fields and against this wanton waste of consecrated funds. Cry aloud! spare no t! neither high nor low! and do it now! May God have compassion upon China and rid that land of these rebels against the truth. \ . —T. 0. H. PRAISE AND PRAYER Here are two strings of a harp which are tuned in perfect harmony and upon which you can play and give unceasing pleasure to our Father in Heaven: “ Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me” (Psa. 50:23). “ The prayer of the upright is his delight” (Prov. 15:8). These two strings are logically essential in a well balanced Christian life. We are inclined, perhaps, to lay more stress upon prayer than upon praise because we are inclined to be occupied with what we think aye our needs, forgetting that praise for blessings received is as essential as prayer for our needs. Then, again, praise for the blessings we enjoy leads logically to prayer in behalf of others who peed the very things for which we praise Him. The believer’s life is a supernatural life. It is the life of God, mani fested by the indwelling Holy Spirit, but it must be lived according to God’s natural laws. When properly understood and appreciated this_spiritual or “ Spirit-filled” life is a very simple life, and a. very natural life. “ Things”—no matter what that word may imply, nor how necessary they may seem to be for our comfort—can never bring peace or joy; but if, like Paul, having food and raiment you have learned to be content with such things as you have, then the note of praise will be always ringing out of your harmonious life. THE K I NG ' S B U S I N E S S 1229 One of the most remarkable-illustrations we have ever known of a perfectly harmonious life was that of a colored woman whom God Himself had taught to read. She was a washer woman. She had a place for her Bible over her washtub and read it as she washed. She had a place for it while she ironed. She would not have a book or paper of any kind in her house. She never failed to bring some deeply spiritual lesson when she came to a class. Her life exemplified Paul’s rule—no undue care about any thing, prayerful in everything, and thankful for anything; and there was a garrison about her that gave her perfect peace. Her’s was a simple life ; a deeply spiritual life ; a natural life ; and, best of all, she never once, so far as wé know, boasted of it. She knew nothing of any rules for living a spiritual life. She just read the Word, believed it, appropriated it and lived it. . Get out your harp and touch the strings. “ Let your mouth he filled with His praise all the day” and “ praying always, with all prayer and sup plication in the Spirit and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints” make melody in your heart unto the Lord. —T. C. H. A CORNER ON BRAINS There seems to be no end of the bombastic pronouncements against what is termed “ antiquated theology”. The orthodox faith is coming in for a good pounding at the hands of some who seem to have had the ‘‘advantages of education.” It won’t do to take issue with modernism, unless you do , not mind being cried down as an ignoramus, incapable of understanding “ modern philosophy” , unfamiliar with the “ discoveries of science” . Hon. William J. and many others whom we had all thought had been to school some and had kept abreast of good literature, are all now placed in the ignoramus class. The editor of the Methodist paper, ‘1CHRISTIAN GUARDIAN” , gets so hot that he says, “ MOST of what Dr. Torrey says is better forgotten.” And many other such men who have been preaching the Gospel of the New Testament are placed with the doctor in the Rip Van Winkle class. What puzzles us is how these gentlemen got this corner on brains. Who is the high authority that O. K. ’s them and gives them the password to this great circle of the learned? Or, are they just self ap pointed? Hundreds of laymen are believing that it is the latter and they are becoming nauseated. They are thinking that this idea of laughing out of court all those who will not subscribe to the present theory of evolution with its attendant théology is insufferable impertinence. Even some of our young fellows fresh from seminary are getting infected with this intel lectual superiority bug. We have just read of a young theologian, fresh from a critical school, who found himsélf at loggerheads with his deacons regarding certain views which he was teaching. His deacons reasoned with him all in vain. At length, he turned to one of them and said, “ Now, Mr. A., you are a draper and I am a theologian. If I wanted to learn anything about drapery, I 1230 T HE K I NG ' S B U S I N E S S would come to you. Likewise, I think, if you want to learn some things about theology, you should come to me.” The deacon’s reply was obvious and conclusive r “ I would readily con sult you,” said he, ‘‘in regard to merely technical matters, but on funda mental doctrines I claim the right to read the Bible for myself under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. The Bible is the heritage of the people and not merely the appanage of scholars.” The déacon was absolutely right. The great fundamental truths of the Bible that are being so fiercely combatted today, are still open to the test of vital personal experience. A"man does not have to attend a theolog ical seminary in order to learn whether or not the Word of God is quick and powerful. It is a living Book. It works miracles of transformation in the hearts of those who receive it—just as surely today as it did in past ages. A man today who goes humbly, reverently, prayerfully, to the Bible, will come to the conviction that it is the Word of God. So long as its great plan of salvation may be verified in vital experience óf the Holy Ghost, men have a perfect right to reject modernism, root and branch. —K. L. B. At this season of the year we are'given to thinking of Christ as heaven’s gift to the world. It is especially fitting that we should think of Him at the , Christmas season as Bread sent down from above to a famishing humanity. Let it be impressed upon our minds that He did not have His origin here below. He was conceived of the Holy Ghost—God manifest in the flesh. Zoroaster, who lived 700 years before Christ, while contemplating God, declared that God could never be really known unless He would re veal Himself in human flesh. Such a declaration from the lips of the founder of a heathen religion amounts almost to a prophecy. Jesus was God’s co-equal, the Son of God, Father of eternity, the Ancient of Days, the incarnate Word. He cannot be explained without a miraculous birth. His Deity is unquestionable. We ought not to contemplate such a birth without going on to con sider what it means that such a One died upon Calvary’s Cross. It is not the Christ of the Cradle who saves us, but the Christ of the Cross. It was in the work of the cross that He became the Bread of life to man, for “ the Bread is my fleshywhich I will give for the life of the world” (Jn. 6:51). It was His sacrificial death that constituted Him the satisfaction of our souls, while thè life-giving power of His sacrifice lay in the fact that He “ came down from heaven.” If words mean anything, Christ is not the Bread of life to one who rejects His vicarious sacrifice. Such a person has no real cause to celebrate at the Ghristmas time, for the babe of the manger leaves him in his sins. Those who have found Christ as the Bread of life can fully appreciate the glad Christmas season. They have food for their souls that will sustain them forever. The bread of the bakeshop cannot prevent age stealing upon HAVE YOU DONE YOUR PART TOWARDS BREAD COME DOWN FROM HEAVEN “ The bread of God is He which eometh down from heaven and giveth life unto the world” (John 6:33). T HE K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S 1231 us with a stealthy step, but the Bread from heaven with our increasing age gives increasing spiritual strength and sustains even when we go down into the valley of the shadow ¡of death. Let us, in the light of the-cross, rejoice in the incarnation—the con junction of the divine and the human, which, as Walter Scott says, “ is the mystery of mysteries, the wonder of heaven and earth, each alike aston ished at the union of both, the one everlasting miracle of divine power and love.” - —K. L. B. A LOP-SIDED TEACHING OF GRACE “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He th a t believeth on me, the works th a t I do shall he do also; and g rea ter works shall he do; because I go to tny F ather. . “AND whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, th a t will I do.” (John 14:12-13.) We wonder if many of our readers may have failed to notice that these two promises are inseparably linked. Dr. Andrew Murray was thinking of that connecting word, “ And” when he wrote—“ He that would do' the works of Jesus must pray in His name, and he that would pray in His name must also work in His name.” The devil is ever delighted to push good Christians to extremes. A complaint that we frequently hear concerning certain very spiritual churches is that many good people in them come to a point where they believe there is nothing to be done but to pray. God knows most of us do not pray as much as we should, and it may be a surprise to many to know that there are in these days some who do little else but pray—nevertheless, we know it to be a fact that there is a teaching creeping into some churches today that amounts almost to a heresy. It is a teaching of Grace that has become lop-sided. Some are so taken up with the thought that “ it is all of God and none of self” that they seem to forget that “ God worketh in you to will and to DO of His good pleasure. ’’ The result is that we have some pastors complaining that while some of, their people are wonderfully spir itual, they can never be persuaded to act. They will pray for souls but will not undertake aggressive work to win souls. They will pray about con ditions in the church that call for strong disciplinary action, but they cannot be counted upon to move forward, for they believe that God Himself will, in some miraculous way, attend to the whole matter. As long as Jesus was on earth He engaged in very aggressive works. When He returned to heaven, His followers became His Body. All His work on earth must .be done through that Body, and because He has sent the Holy Spirit to make believers so divinely one with Him, He assures us that He expects even greater works than He did, to be accomplished. We cannot do His work until we have prayed. The purpose of prayer is to fit us for work, and to say that we have prayed and are leaving the work to Him, is an error that "will surely lead to fanaticism. Prayer in the name of Jesus is to be the source of power for service in the name of Jesus. Let us not rend apart the 12th and 13th verses of GETTING THAT 100,000? (See Inside Front Cover) 1232 T HE K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S John 14. The free use of Jesus’ name was given in connection with the doing of His work. “ Do all in the name of the Lord Jesus,” and “ Ask all in His name, ” are twin commands (Col. 3:17; Jn , 14:13)., Prayer can be carried to vain repetition. Prayer/is to put us at God’s disposal. It is in tended to be a promoter of activity. An old man was in great need. A group of very good folks in the church was called together to pray for the man. They had knelt but a moment when Deacon Jones arose from his knees and left the room. A little later the deacon’s son, with a load of provisions, drove up to the home of the needy man, and as the door opened to the lad, he said, “ Dad sent his prayers up in the lumber wagon.” There is no real genuineness to prayers for the help of those in need when one has abundant means to do something, yet will not do it. Many a man has gone on to wreck and ruin because someone who was praying for him did not obey the promptings of prayer and go to him personally «with the word of warning or helpfulness. Yes, good folks, pray on—but don’t forget that the seed contains the plant. Out of prayer, work must grow, and in our work, we must pray without ceasing. ^ —K. L. B. DO YOU MEASURE U P? A Giver A Goer A ^ __ ä .L/utJr A Booster A Supporter A Soldier JLiUL d not a Knocker not a Sponger not a Slacker He wants us th ere “w ith th e goods,” and not “ off w ith an excuse.” — F riendly Courier. not a Getter not a Gadder „ g g g g g The Lord w ants each Church Mem- her to be— An A ttender A P illar A Wing A Power A P rom oter no t an Absenter not a Sleeper no t a Weight not a Problem no t a Provoker 1233 THE K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S QUjriatma 0 Gtywr jrVhether the Son of Man, our blessed Lord, was born in December or in April is not of g reat consequence to us. We wave no tim e or care for th e controversy. We know He was born of a Virgin. We know He was “ God mani fest in the flesh’’. We know th a t by faith in H im we are born again. And all of th e petty quibblers, or professed scholars, or so-called “ scientists” the world has ever produced could not shake our faith in these facts. Some things we know and th is we know— th a t we have passed out of death into life eternal. We have only pity for these “ raging waves of the. sea, foaming ou t th e ir own shame,—m urm urers, com'plainers, walking after th eir own lusts and speaking g reat swelling words, having men’s persons in adm iration because of advantage,” who deny all th e .fundamentals of our faith. We are glad for th e Christmas tim e in which we can, w ith joyful h earts, commemorate His lowly birth' and th a n k God for th e manger- cradle in which He slept; for the open Heavens and th e angelic proclamation, “Unto you is born th is day in th e city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.” F aith in th is fact has made th e dividing line among th e nations and has given us th e stalw arts for the propagation and preservation of th e Scriptures. To th e Modernists Jesus was only a good man— th e best th a t ever lived; bu t HE claimed to be “Christ * * over all, God blessed forever.” God appointed feast days for Israel, bu t hone for the church, for every day is a feast day w ith a tru e believer, and even a fa st day for the body is a wonderful fea st day for th e soul. But many a soul has been won among th e children and th e older ones a t th e Christmas time. So let us gath er w ith our loved ones and friends and children and voice w ith glad h earts our joy and rejoicing, and in th e giving, of our gifts let us be guided by th e Holy Spirit, no t forgetting Him and His interests, giving Him th e best who deserves th e best, an a glad in knowing th a t we shall find such gifts among th e treasu res laid up for us in Heaven. §§! ÿ rrirrïrriiiïrrttiiiiirrlriifiirfiiiifilfiiiiifiitririiirtifliriiifittfiifriritrtiiifn iiiirrtfrittU fu lfiiifffffïrrrrftfrrrrrrffffrfirfirrrrfrrm ifrrm riTrfn rm rrrrn irH Ê I BIBLE <*##> BRIEFS J I MARGINAL NOTÉS FOR YOUR STUDY BIBLE I iriiiiiiaiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiM iiiiiiiiiiiiaiiaiiiiiiiim iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii The book of Acts— a handbook on soul-winning. iitiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiijim iiiiiimm iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiim liimm iiiiiiiiis brotherhood of man” but th e b ro th er hood of believers.1 The first church burial, 1^at of a hy pocrite—Acts 5:6. The Holy Spirit is mentioned over fifty tim es in th e booft of Acts. It should be called “The Acts of th e Holy Spirit.”* The church is mentioned nineteen times in Acts, th ree times in th e Gos pels (where it was only in prospect), sixty-two times in P au l’s Epistles. / In th e Old Testament—God a t work for man. In th e Gospels— Christ at work w ith men. In the Acts— th e Holy Spirit a t work in men. ' The baptism of th e Holy Ghost is re ferred to before Pentecost in Matt. 3: 11, 13 and Acts 1:5. It is not mention ed a fte r Pentecost except in referring to th e baptism on the day of Pentecost (1 Cor. 12.: 13). The word “filled” is used eleven times in th e first nine chapters of Acts. The baptism of th e Spirit m arks th e beginning of th e Body of Christ. Being born of th e Spirit, we participate in th a t baptism. The word for Christians now is, “Be filled w ith th e Spirit.” Acts 1:8. The prom ise of power— “Ye shall.” The Person of power— “the Holy Ghost.” The purpose of power— “Ye shall be w itnesses.” The first church prayer meeting— Acts 1:14. No jargon of incoherent speech when ■ the g ift of tongues was bestowed on the day of Pentecost—-Acts 2:8. A model sermon— P e te r’s first ser mon on th e day of Pentecost—-A cts 2. There are seven references in the New Testam ent to Ps. 110:1. See Acts 2:34. The first inquiry meeting in the church—Acts 2:37. Note th a t Acts 4:32-34 is not “the The first note of discord in th e c h u rc h SA cts 5.: 3. The second— 6:1. The first contention in the church was over a money m atter—Acts 5:3. The first to get th e crown of m arty r dom in th e church—-Acts 6:8-9. How to carry your point—-Acts 6:10. F irs t m anifestation of th e glorified Christ afte r Pentecost— Acts 7:55. Heaven opened: 1. F o r Jesus (Mt. 3 :1 6 ).“ 2r F o r Stephen (Acts 7 :5 5 ). 3. Fo r P eter (Acts 1 0 :11 ). 4. Fo r Paul (Acts 9 :3 ; 2 Cor. 1 2 :2 ). 5. F o r Christ (Rev. 4 :1 ; 19 :11 ). Sins against th e Spirit: Christians grieve the Spirit (Eph. 4 :3 0 ); quench th e Spirit (1 Thess. 5 :1 9 ). Unbelievers blaspheme th e Spirit (Mt. 1 2 :3 1 ); re sist the Spirit (Acts 7 :5 1 ); in su lt the Spirit (Heb. 10 :29 ). The Holy Spirit as, 1. Thé Spirit of Life (Rom. 8 :2 ). 2. The Spirit of Light (2 Cor. 4 :6 ). 3. The Spirit of Love (Rom. 5 :5 ). Note th a t P aul suffered what Saul inflicted. 1. Stoned (Acts 7:58; 2 Cor. 11 :25 ). 2. Beaten (Acts 22:19; 2 Cor. 1 1 :25 ). 3. Persecuted (2 Cor. 11:32- 33). 4. Bound (Acts 9 :21 ; 24,:27). 5. Imprisoned (Acts 8 :3 ; 2 Cor. l l ^ 'S ) . 6. Delivered to death (Acts 22:4, 20; 14 :19 ). The first case of personal work re corded afte r Pentecost—Acts 8:26-27. The kernel of th e Gospel—Acts 8:32. The only kind of preaching th a t does any good—Acts 8:35. The value of home visitation work— Acts 9^:17. Between the Appearings The Two Advents of Our Lord and Our Work and Hope in the Interim. Reality of Both Comings By thé late CHARLES H. SPURGEON Metropolitan Tabernacle, London dwell between these two boundaries: these are our Dan and Beersheba, and all between is holy ground. As for our Lord’s first coming, there lies our rest: the once-offered Sacrifice hath put away our sins, and made our peace w ith God. As for his second coming, there lies our hope, our joy, for we''know th a t when he shall appear, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. I want a t this time, to bring before you those two appearings of our Lord. The tex t says, “He h ath appeared,” and again, “He shall appear.” The twenty- sixth verse speaks of his unique mani festation already accomplished, and the twenty-eighth verse promises the glori ous second outshining, as it promises, “He shall appear.” Between these two lights— “He h ath appeared,”, and “He shall appear’W-we shall sail safely, if the Holy Spirit will direct our way. 1. Our first theme is Once, and No Second “Now once in the end of, the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacri fice of himself.” This he has done once, and he will never repeat it. Let us dwell on th e subject in detail. Our Lord Jesus Christ has once appeared, and though he will appear again, it will not be for the same purpose. On his first appear ing fix your thoughts; for the like of it will never be seen again. I know of no appearance th a t could have been more •complete, more unreserved. He moved in the m idst of crowds, he spake to men and women one by one. He was on the mountain, and by the sea; he was in the desert, and by the river; he was both in house*and in temple; he was everywhere “Now once in th e end of th e world h a th he appeared to p u t away sin by th e sacrifice of him self, . . . . a n d u n to th em th a t look fo r him shall h e ap pear th e second tim e w ithou t sin unto salvation.” Hebrews 9:26-28. two great links between th and heaven are the two ents of our Lord: or, rather, ‘is the great bond of union, by these two appearings. When the world had revolted, and God had been defied by his own creatures, a great gulf was opened between God and man. The first coming of Christ was like a bridge which crossed the chasm and made a way of access from God to man, and then from man to God. Our Lord’s second advent will make th at bridge far broader until heaven shall cojne down to earth, and ultimately earth shall go up to heaven. - Jesus is seen as opening the door which none can shut, by means of which the Lord is beheld as truly Emman uel, God w ith us. Here, too, is the place for us to build a grand suspension bridge, by which,, through faith, we ourselves may cross from this side to the other of the stormy riv er of time. The cross a t whose feet we stand is the massive column which supports the structure on this side; and as we look forward to the glory, The Second Advent of our Lord is the solid support on the other side of the deep gulf of time. By faith we first look to Jesus, and then look for Jesus; and herein is the life of our spirits. Christ on th e cross of shame and Christ on th e th rone of glory, we THE K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S Christ as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.” We know no past appearing of God in human flesh except th a t which ended with a sacrifice to put away sin. Let us go a step further with our text: once only does the Lord appear for the purpose of putting away sin. He came once to do it, and he has done it so well th a t there is no need for him to offer any further sacrifice. “This man, after th a t he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down.” He will never ap pear a second tim e for th e pu tting away of sin. It was his purpose once; bu t he has so fulfilled it th a t it will never be his purpose again. He has so pu t away sin by the sacrifice of himself th a t be will never need to offer a second sacri fice. No L arg er Hope If any of you here are entertaining some “larger hope,” I would say to you— Hope what you please; but remember, th a t hope without tru th at the bottom of it, is an anchor w ithou t a holdfast. A groundless hope is a mere delusion. Wish what you will; but wishes without prom ises from God to back them are vain Imaginings. Why should you imagine or w ish fo r ano th er method of salva tion? Rest you assured th a t th e Lord God th ink s so highly of th e one sacrifice for sin, th a t for you to desire ano ther is evil in his sight. If you reje ct th e one sacrifice of th e Son of God, th e re re mains no hope for you; nor ough t th e re to be. Jesus did it alone; he did no t only seem to do it, b u t he actually achieved th e pu tting away of sin. He blotted out the handw riting th a t was against us. He finished transgression and made an end of sin; and brought in everlasting righteousness when he died upon th e cross. 1236 accessible; in th e fullest sense “once in the end of the world hath he appeared.” Oh, the glory of this gracious epiphany! This is the g reatest event in history: th e invisible God has appeared in hu man form. The text tells us very precisely th a t in th is first coming of our Lord he ap peared to put away sin. Notice th a t fact. By his coming and sacrifice he accom plished many things; but his first end and object was “to put away sin.” You know what th e modern blabbers say: they declare th a t he appeared to reveal to us the goodness and love of God. This is true; but it is only the fringe of the whole truth. The fact is, th at he revealed God’s love in the provision of a sacrifice to put away sin. Then, they say th a t he appeared to exhibit perfect manhood, and to let us see what our nature ought to be. Here also is a tru th ; bu t it is only p art of the sacred design. He ap peared, say they, to manifest self-sacrifice, and to set us an example of love to others. By his self-denial he trampled on the selfish passions of man. We deny none of these things: and yet we are indig n an t a t th e way in which th e less is made to hide the greater. The g reat Object of Our Lord’s Coming was not to live, but to die. He hath •appeared not so much to subdue sin by his teaching, as to put it away by the sacrifice of himself. The master purpose which dominated all th a t our Lord did, was not to manifest goodness, nor to perfect an example, but to put away sin by sacrifice. Do not let us think of Jesus without remembering the design of his coming. I pray you, brethren, know not Christ without his cross, as some pretend to know him. We preach Christ; so do a great many more: but, “we preach Christ crucified;” so do not so many more. We preach concerning our Lord, his cross, his blood, .his death, and upon the blood of his cross we lay g reat stress, extolling much “the precious blood of I do not need, I hope, to linger here to warn you th a t it is of no use to expect th a t God will put away sin in any other way than th a t which at so great a cost he has provided. If sin could have been INSURE YOUR INVESTMENTS FOR THE LORD 1237 T HE K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S it should be so? We have seen th a t he once offered himself without spot to God, and therefore, When He Gomes a Second Time his present relation to human guilt will finally cease. He will come, moreover, without those sicknesses and infirmities which arise out of sin. At his first ad vent he came in suffering flesh, 'and then he came to hunger and to thirst, to be without a place whereon to lay his head; he came to have his heart broken with reproach, and his soul grieved with the hardness of men’s hearts. He was compassed with infirmity; he came unto his God with strong crying and tears; he agonized even unto blqody sweat; and so he journeyed on w ith all the insignia of sin hanging about him. But when he comes a second time it will be without the weakness, pain, poverty, and shame which accompany sin. There will then be no marred visage nor bleeding brow. He will have re-assumed his ancient glory. It will be his glorious appearing. Then the text adds: “He shall appear without sin unto salvation.” What does th a t mean? It means th a t he will then display the perfect salvation of all those who put th eir tru st in him. He will come to celebrate the great victory of mercy over sin. At his coming he will set his foot upon the dragon’s head, and bruise Satan under our feet. He will come to have all his enemies put under his feet. To-day we fight, and he fights in us. Iiife from th e Dead But th e resurrection is th e salvation principally intended here, j Alas, what evil sin hath done! How'-many of our best beloved lie rotting beneath the clay! The worms are feeding on those whose voices were the music of our lives. The scythe of death has cut them down like grass; they lie together in rows in yon der cemetery. Who slew all these? The sting of death is sin. But when our Lord cometh, who is the resurrection and the life, from beds of dust and silent clay our dead men shall rise; they shall leap removed in any other way than by the d eath of his dear Son, Jesus would not have died. If there had been within the range of supposition any method of p ar don except by the sacrifice of himself, depend upon it Jesus would never have bowed his head to death. The great F ath e r would never have inflicted death upon the perfect One if it had been possible th a t the cup should pass from him. He could never have inflict ed upon his Beloved a superfluous pain. His death was needful; but blessed be God, having been once endured, it has once for all put away sin, and hence it will never be endured again. II. We come now to look a t the rest of the text. Once, and no second; And Y et a Second “He shall appear a second time.” Yes, Christ Jesus shall appear a second time; but not a second time for the same pur pose as before. He will appear. The appearing will be of th e most open, char acter. He will not be visible in some quiet place where two or three are met, but he will appear as the lightning is seen in the heavens. At his first appear ing he was truly seen : wherever he went he could be looked a t and gazed upon, and touched and handled. He will appear quite as plainly by-and-by, among the sons of men. The observation of him will be far more general than at his first ad vent; for “every eye shall see him.” Every eye did not see him h ere when he came the first time, for he did not travel out of Palestine, save only when, as an infant all unknown, he was carried down into Egypt. But when he comes a sec ond tim e all the nations of the world shall behold him. They th a t are dead shall rise to see him, both saints and sinners; and they th a t are alive and remain when he shall come shall be absorbed in this greatest of spectacles. His second appearing will be without sin. T h at is to say, he will bring no sin- offering with him, and will not himself be a sacrifice for sin. What need th at (See Outside Back Cover) 1238 THE K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S up into immortality. “Thy brother shall rise again.” Thy children shall come again from the land of th eir captivity. No aching Jjands and weary brows then; but we shall be raised in power. Our vile body shall be changed, and made like unto his glorious body. Though sown in corruption, our body shall be raised in incorruption, and this mortal shall put on imm ortality. W hat a glorious pros pect lies before us in connection with the day of his appearing a second time unto salvation! Now notice th a t this appearing and this salvation will chiefly belong to those who look for him. Will you bear with me patiently a minute or two here? I wonder how many there are in the Taber nacle who are looking for him. The text says, “Unto them th a t look for him shall he appear a second time without sin unto salvation.” Beloved, I will put the ques tion again: How many here are looking for our Lord’s second coming? I am afraid if conscience hath her perfect work many will have to say, “I am afraid I am not among the number.” I will tell you what it is to look for th a t second appear ing. It is to love the Lord Jesus, to love him so th a t you long for him as a bride longeth for her husband. Why are his chariots so long in coming? Come quickly, Lord Jesus. Strong love hates separation, it pines for union. It cries, “Come, Lord! Come,. Lord!” Longing follows on the heels of loving. P rep aring fo r Him To look for his coming is to prepare for him. If I were asked to visit you to-morrow evening, I am sure you would make' some -preparation for my call— even for one so common-place as myself. You would prepare, because you would welcome me. If you expected the Queen to call how excited you would be! What preparation good housewives would make for a royal visitor! _ When we expect our Lord to come, we shall be concerned to have everything ready for him. I sometimes see the great gates open in front of the larger houses in the suburbs: and it means th a t they are expecting com pany. Keep the great gates of your souls always open, expecting your Lord to come. It is idle to talk about looking for his com ing'if we never set our house in order, and never put ourselves in readi ness for his reception. Looking for him means th a t you stand in a waiting atti- tud, as a servant who expects his master to be a t the door presently. If you look for his appearing you will be found in an attitude of one who waits and watches, th a t when his Lord cometh he may meet him with joy. Christ is coming, I must not sin: Christ is coming, I must not be rooted to the world. The T ired Ones My friend Mr. Govett, in his Commen tary on my text, reminds us of the story of Moses, when God told him to take seventy men up the hill with him. We read of these honored men, th a t “they saw God, and did eat and drink.” What a privilege! They were all the Lord’s guests. As Moses w ent up to God into thick darkness, he said to them, “Tarry ye here until we come again unto you.” Moses was 'gone for forty days, and how many waited for him? I do not know when they began to slip down from the hill, or whether they went one by one, or in groups; but when Moses returned not a soul of them was left, save Joshua, whom Moses had taken up with him to still higher ground. The seventy had gone down among the people, and prob ably spread th a t unbelief among them which led to the making of the golden calf. None can do so much mischief as those who have been w ith God, but can not wait for the glorious appearing. You tell me Moses was gone a long time—well-nigh six weeks. Yes, and th a t is why many cannot wait for the Lord now, because the delay is so long: it is nearly nineteen hundred years since he went away. True, four thousand years rolled away before he came the first time, but two thousand quite wear out the watchers for his second coming. Men cannot wait, and therefore go down to KEEP THE KING’S BUSINESS DOLLAR SMILING—HOW? THE K I NG ' S B U S I N E S S the world and help to fashion its idols. Only here and there do we see a Joshua who will abide in his place till his leader appears. As to watching, this is rarer, than wait ing. The fact is, even the better sort of believers who wait for his coming, as all the ten virgins did, nevertheless do not watch. Even the best sort of the waiters slumbered and slept. You are waiting, but you are sleeping! This is a mournful business. A man who is asleep cannot be said to look; and yet it is “unto them th a t look for him” that the Lord comes with salvation. We must be wide-awake to look. We ought to go up to the watch-tower every morning, and look toward the sun-rising, to see whether he is coming. Surely our last act at night should be to look out for his star, and say, “Is he coming?” It ought to be a daily disappointment when our Lord does not come; instead of being, as I fear it is, a kind of foregone conclusion th at he will not come ju st yet. . The Two Clouds Many professing Christians forget Christ’s second coming altogether; others drop a smile when we speak about it, as though it belonged only to fanatics and dreamers. But ye, beloved, I tru st are not Of th at kind. As ye believe really in the first coming and the one great sacrifice, so believe really in the second coming without a sin-offering unto the climax of your salvation. Standing be tween the cross and the crown, between the cloud th at received him out of our sight, and the clouds with which he will come with ten thousands of his saints to judge the quick and the dead, let us live as men who are not of this world, strangers in this age which darkly lies between two bright appearings, happy beings saved by a mystery accomplished, and soon to be glorified by another mys tery which is hasting on. Now all this must be strange talk to some of you. I wish it would alarm those of you who once made a profession of 1239 true religion, and have gone back to the world’s falsehood. How will you face him, you backsliders, in th a t day when he shall appear' and all else shall vanish in the blaze of his light, as stars when the sun shines out? What will you do when your treachery shall be made clear to your consciences by his appearing? What will you do, who have sold your Master, and given up your Lord, who was and is your only hope for the putting away of your sins? Oh! I pray you, as you love yourselves, go to him as he appears in his first coming; and then, washed in his blood, go forward to meet him in his second coming for salvation. .God bless you, and by his Son and Spirit make you ready for th a t g reat day which cometh on apace! To ask in th e name of anyone is to use his name as a plea. It is to sink personal claims and to advance the claims and m erits of another. Christ lends us His name, all His personal in fluence w ith the F ather. But in order to use this name, we must be idehtified ourselves w ith th e sp irit and interests of Christ. We must depart from all th a t grieves His h ea rt or hinders His purpose, and must be as sensitive as Christ Himself to all th a t affects the honor of H is name. W e may ask all th a t is in Him. We may w ith full as surance ask God to give us Christ’s purity, meekness, sympathy, faith, vic tory over th e world. B u t God has not promised everything th a t we choose to ask. If Christ be the measure of prayer, can we pray to be relieved from what He had to bear, or to be endowed w ith possessions and com forts which were never His portion? If only Christ H im self were to become th e burden of our prayers, then we should have all that we can receive or God can bestow. — J, Sloan. ASKING IN HIS NAME “W h a ts o e v e r y e s h a ll a s k in My n am e, t h a t w ill I do” (J o h n 14:13). . (See Inside Back Cover)
Made with FlippingBook - Online Brochure Maker