HERE shall come in the last days scoffers walking after their o\tfn lusts, and saying, where is the promise of H is coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue 2 Pet. 3:3-4
If that e'Oil servant sKall say in his heart, M y Lord delayeth H is coming, the Lord of that servant shall come in a day) when he looketh not for Him, and in an hour that he is not aware of and shall appoint him his portion with the hypocrites. "* Mt. 24:48-51
SEPTEMBER I919
Bible Institute ofLosAngeles (IMCORPORATED) LO S A N G E L E S , C A L IFO R N IA , U . S. A . Free Training ScKool for Christian Workers
DIRECTORS
R. A. Torrey, vice-president Leon V. Shaw, treasurer
Lyman Stewart, president J. M, Irvine, secretary T. C. Horton, superintendent H. A. Getz
-*
William Evans
Nathan Newby
J. O. Smith
DOCTRINAL STATEMENT We hold to the Historic Faith of the Church as expressed in the Common Creed of Evangelical Christendom and including: The Trinity of the Godhead. The Necessity of the New Birth. The Deity of the Christ. The Maintenance of Good Works. The Personality of the Holy Ghost. The Second Coming of Christ. The Supernatural and Plenary authority of The Everlasting Existence of the Spirit. the Holy Scriptures. The Resurrection of the Body. The Unity in Diversity of theChurch, the The Life Everlasting of Believers. Body and Bride of Christ. The Endless Punishment of the Impenitent. The Substitutionary Atonement. The Reality and Personality of Satan. SCOPE OF THE WORK PURPOSE: The Institute trains, free of cost, accredited men and women, in the knowledge and use of the Bible. DEPARTMENTS: 0$ The Institute Classes held daily except on Saturdays and Sundays. (2) Extension work. Classes and conferences held in neighboring cities and towns. f3) Evangelistic. Meetings conducted by our evangelists.^ (4) - Spanish Work. Personal work among Spanish speaking people. (5) Shop Work. Regular services in shops and factories. (6) Jewish Evangelism. Personal work among the Hebrews and mission for Jews. (7 ) - Bible Women. House-to-house visitation and neighborhood classes. (8) Oil Fields. A mission to men on the oil fields. (9) Books and Tracts. Sale and distribution of selected books and tracts. (10) Harbor Work. For seamen at San Francisco harbor. (11) The Biola Hall. Daily noon meetings for men in the down-town district, with free reading-room privileges. Evangelistic service every evening. (12) Print Shop. For printing Testaments, books, tracts, etc. A complete establish ment, profits going to free distribution of religious literature.
THE K ING ’S BUSINESS MOTTO: "I, the Lord, do keep it, I will water it every moment, lest any hurt It, I will keep It night and day --- Isa. 27:3 ==================== PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY THE BIBLE INSTITUTE OF LOS ANGELES Bev. T . C . H O R T O N , Editor in Chief Rev. KEITH L. BROOKS, Managing Editor 4 Entered as Second-Class Matter November 17, 1910 at the Post Office at Los Angeles, CaUfomia a r / . . under the A ct of March 3, 1879 a Acceptance for mailing at special rate of postage provided for in Section 1103, Act of October 3 1917 ffin authorized October 1, 1918. * Editorials: Its Settled in Heaven (795) The Soul League (796) Enemies Not Friends (797) A Little Scrap (798) Improving On God’s Plans (798) Will Rome Dominate? (799) Can In spiration be Scientifically Proven (800) Pharaoh is But' a Noise (801) Sentence Sermons (803) A New Bible For An Apostate Age, by T. C. Horton (804) What to Do With the Bible, by Dr. R. A. Torrey (807) Bible Institute Notes (812) Evangelistic Stories from Real Experience (816) Thoughts for Unsaved People (824) Sinners in the Hands of An Angry God, by Rev. Jonathan Edwards (827) Notes On the Jews (835) Homiletical Helps (837) International Sunday School Lessons (839) Daily Devotional Home Readings, by Dr. F. W. Farr (864) Good Books (875) Claims of the Critics, by Dr. L. W. Munhall (877) A Word Confidential (880) Our Fund for Sending This Magazine Free to Missionaries and Worthy Christian Workers, is Low. Would You Tike to Invest? PLEASE! W hen sending subscriptions, address correspondence to Office of The King’s Business, Bible In stitu te of Los Angeles, 536-55S South Hope Street. Checks m ay be m ade payable to Bible Institu te of Los Angeles. Do not make checks or money orders to individuals connected w ith the Bible Institute. Y E A R S U B S C R IP T IO N P R IC E -— In tke United States and Its Possessions and Mexico, and points in the Central American Postal Union, $1.00 per year. In all other foreign countries, including Canada, $1.24 (5c. 2 .) Single copies 10 cents. See expiration date on the wrapper. B I B L E I N S T I T U T E O F L O S A N G E L E S 536-558 South Hope Street - - - - - Los Angeles, California O N L Y O N E D O L L A R A Volume X September, iqiq Number 9
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IT ’ S SE T T L ED in Heaven There has never been any let-up in the attacks upon the Bible from the time the devil said to Eve, “ Yea, hath God said?” , and every attack upon its verity has been of the Devil. Satan has had and used all kinds of agents during the centuries, but He has never worked a more dangerous or dastardly scheme than the one he is putting over now. He has entrenched himself inside the professing church, and with subtilty sows the Seed of sedition among the saints. The great majority of the people in the church know but little, if anything, about the text of the Scriptures. Most of the sermons preached are textual, and while the matter of the sermon may be as good as any lecture or literary production, there is nothing of exposition of the Word of God; no arraying of the great truths by which and through which only can be produced strong, virile Christian life. The text is often but a mild sop to the people, and is used for the propaganda of any fad or fancy desired. What the preacher says is taken to be the teaching o f the Bible. Israel suffered because the shepherds failed to feed the sheep, and false shepherds— wolves in sheep’s clothing—did the devil’s work among the people. We need have no fear concerning the Word of God, for it is written: “ Forever, 0 Lord, thy Word is settled in heaven.” The minds of the people may be unsettled by the wily, wicked agents of Satan, but not a jot or tittle shall pass until all shall be fulfilled. We are not afraid for the Word of God, but we could earnestly desire that God’s people everywhere would give themselves to reading and studying the Bible for themselves. A man or woman with the Bible in hand, with some knowledge of its teaching, is always a terror to these plausible, pitiful pulpitteers who, when confronted with a passage of Scripture hem and haw and stutter and inwardly curse the teachers who are teaching the Word and arming the people with a “ Thus saith the Lord.” An evangelist was recently preaching upon the theme of Christ’s visible and personal return, and quoted the text: “ His feet shall stand upon the Mount of Olives.” On the following Sunday the pastor of one of the local churches made light of the statement as an absurd teaching. A business man, calling on a business matter in one of the homes, was questioned by a good woman of the pastor’s church concerning this statement, whereupon the business man took her Bible and opening to Zech. 14 :4 asked her to read it. The good woman said, “ Is that in the Bible? I didn’t know that was in the Bible.” Of course, how would she know? Is it not the business of the church to teach the Word? And if the people are not instructed, do they not become an easy prey to the Devil’s agents in the pulpit and school? We know that the Word of God cannot
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THE K I N G ’S BUS I NES S be broken, but the hearts of the people can be broken, and axe being broken and their lives despoiled, from lack of knowledge. We appeal to every reader of this magazine: Give yourself to the study of the Word; be ready at all times, and in all places, to give a reason for your hope. Do everything within your power; get a little band of people together for the study of God’s precious Word. We will be glad to help you in any way within our power, and to suggest some simple, practical outlines for you to use.—T. C. H. T h e “ s o u l l e a g u e ” “With the League of Nations in working order and the leavening processes now going on as a result of the war service it is predicted that the next three years will bring a League of Churches—a Federation of Faiths—so near as to pass for an actual accomplishment. Of course, it will take a long time to round up the stragglers, but it is believed there will be at least a Big Five under the tent within that time. Then there won’t be much lost motion in the work of world betterment." The above editorial is taken from the “ Los Angeles Times” of July 17th, and it has a nice smooth sound, and no doubt is in a measure pro phetic. The “ Times” is an ardent Republican paper, but there is no probability or possibility of its ever forming a league with its Democratic friends. In fact, it is quite .pronouncecl in its judgment upon some Repub licans whom it accuses of selling out the Republican party in the last election for President. Now what would the good editor think of an alliance of Christ’s people who believe in the Bible as the inspired Word of God, with those who deny its inspiration? Of an alliance of people who believe in the sacrificial atonement of Jesus Christ by the shedding of His blood for sinners, and those who repudiate this doctrine? Would not this editor despise such ecclesiastical juggling? Well, there is One, sitting upon the circle of the heavens, who would. There may be, and probably will be, a Confederacy of Churches,— but rest assured that there will be men and women of red blood, whose forefathers made possible this nation, who will never confederate with the deniers of God’s Word and God’s Son, and who will, if necessary, pay the price with their own blood in defense of the faith once for all delivered to the saints. That the spirit of confederacy is already in the air is evident, and the lump is being leavened all right. A British Prophetic Association, through its magazine, issues an appeal to the faithful Christians. Read and meditate upon i t : “It would seem that there is a confederacy of evil forces marshaling under the leadership of the wise statesmen of the world, and of rulers of great ecclesias tical bodies, who are unconsciously working to prepare the way for the reception of the Anti-christ. People are easily turned about by leaders and tossed about by every wind of doctrine. The federation of nations, so desirable from the human standpoint,/ is evidently to be the condition of things when the great world-ruler, the Antichrist, comes; and the federation of all the evangelical churches, so apparently approaching the oneness for which our Lord prayed, (and would be blessed indeed if the oneness was ‘IN CHRIST’), is but preparing the Church to be deceived by the Antichrist. The ungodly that are found in our churches
THE K I N G ’S BUS I NES S 797 are always pleased to follow along the popular and. pleasant broadway, and refuse to be warned that it is the way to destruction. The pleasure-loving people are easily drawn into the net cast for their wayward feet. Oh, what an age of pleasure- lovers!” —T. C. H.
m
EN EM IE S , Not Friends The Holy Ghost, speaking through the prophet Zechariah, refers to the wounds in Christ’s hands that He received in the house of His friends; and we know that when the Word was made flesh and dwelt among men in the person of Jesus, His bitterest enemies were of His own house hold. There are a great many persons whose names are on the church rolls today that are professedly the friends of Christ and His Word, who are really at heart His greatest enemies. Among them are some really good minds and intelligent people, who are carried away with the scientific sound of higher criticism, and to them seemingly more merciful idea of God in the doctrines of restoration, annihilation, etc. But there are a greater number of little 2 by 4 men, who think it sounds well and looks big to ape these men. They are all persons who have never had much conception of the awfulness of sin or Christ’s atonement for it; nor do they give much weight to the literal and plain rendering of God’s Word, when it goes contrary to their views. They are really, trying to make a saviour of their (imaginary) great intellects. With them it is a big MAN and little christ. We are sad but not surprised to see them. Paul in his epistle to Timothy speaks of this very thing, saying, that in the last days perilous times shall come; men shall be lovers of their own selves, boasters,
798 THE K I NG ' S BUS I NES S proud, heady, highminded, will not endure sound doctrine and having itching ears. The man who does not stand squarely upon the verbal inspiration of the Scriptures, substitutional atonement and salvation by faith only, may be classed with these professed friends, but enemies of Christ.—T. C. H. A L ITTLE S C R A P but Nothing to It The Christian Scientists do believe in matter after all,—and behold how great a fire a little financial fire hath kindled! The estate of Mrs. Mary Baker G. Eddy is reported to have been robbed of from $25,000 to $30,000 a year by some of her followers. There has been a scrap among the trustees, so says a Boston dispatch. Thé poor lady, by dint of strict economy, the sale of spoons and books, and the conduct of classes in advanced scientific word-juggling, scraped together about two and one-half millions, and now some of the naughty boys who were appointed to look after her interests after she passed over (or under) are fighting in the courts. Shame on you, naughty boys; didn’t Mother tell you that money was only an error of mortal mind and now you have gone and spoiled it all by scrapping like other people do who have never been taught that ‘ ‘there is no matter and God never created matter ’’. It is enough to cause Mother Eddy to rise up from her so-called grave and come back to spank some of you directors for directing attention to this matter which does not exist. Well, never mind, boys, you know what she said—“ The noth ingness of.nothing is nothing” and maybe there is just nothing the matter with the matter after all !—T. O. H. IM P R O V IN G on God’s Plans We have noticed a recent review of Arthur W. Pink’s late book, “ The Redeemer’s Return” , published in the Record of Christian Work, and we believe the opinion expressed by the .writer concerning the whole teaching of the imminent return of Christ gives us a key to the opposition now so prevalent against this doctrine. The reviewer says: “ The program as unfolded does not have the merit of attractiveness. There is too much of judgment. It has much to ,say of the incurable evil of the human heart which is yet to be finally demonstrated. There are rivers of blood and awful battles coming. The Christ who is to return is not the Christ of the Gospels. He is somebody else who has fallen far below standard. ’’ Similar thoughts were undoubtedly expressed in all the past dispensa tions when God through His prophets gave warning that all man’s programs would be brought low in judgment. It is to be admitted that if the making of the program were left to men,#it would be changed. It is true that it might be made more attractive than it seems to be from a study of the New Testament. Naturally man hates to admit that the human heart apart from God’s plan is incurably evil and that all human schemes for world
THE K I NG ' S BUS I NES S 799 betterment will at last be set aside as worthless. But is God’s program going to be changed? Will anything be gained in the end by trying to make ourselves believe all is well when God’s Word plainly says all is not well? A secular magazine, which during the war had great visions of the new world brotherhood to be born through the associations of men in the many nations fighting shoulder to shoulder for a common cause, has come to the following conclusion: “Things in this world are not perfect and they are not going to be perfect for some time to come, no matter what government or social plan is adopted. ’’ They might have learned that long ago from the Scriptures. When facts are squarely faced and Bible statements con cerning the end of the age are taken at their face value, can there be any better optimism than to believe that in the dark hours of the age, the “ Morning Star” will arise—that an omnipotent hand will take the helm of things and solve all the humanly impossible problems of earth? In spite of the fact that the pre-millennarian is repeatedly charged by writers, like the reviewer mentioned above, with being a pessimist and a slacker, it is a matter of record that there are no more optimistic and enthusiastic workers on earth than those who hold to the “ blessed hope” . In all the history of the church, they are found to have been the people who have devoted them selves to soul winning work in accordance with the divine program for the age as expressed by our Lord before He left the earth and as defined in Acts 15:14—“ the taking out of a people for His name” , the completion of the Body of Christ. We are inclined to believe that in the end it will be shown that those who have devoted themselves to this program were the only ones who did a work that will stand the test.—K. L. B. W IL L Rome Again Dominate the World? Many are asking the question “ Will the Church of Rome again dominate the world?” Some interesting figures are before us. During the past one hundred years, in England, the subjects of Rome have increased about half a million, the protestantS have increased about 20 million. But on the other hand the machinery of Rome has greatly increased. For instance, 75 years ago in Great Britain there were only 500 Roman priests—today there are 4346; seventy-five years ago only 500 chapels—now 2150 churches; seventy- five years ago only 16 convents—now 836 convents and religious houses for women. In our own United States 15% of the population and 75% of the offices are filled by Catholics. In New York State 30% of the population and 90% of the offices are Catholic according to the Bulletin issued by the Sons of Washington. i In the wide world over there are about 250 million disciples of the Church of Rome. It is not the figures that alarm qs so much as the influence and prestige of Rome’s power over governments and institutions that are not Catholic. Especially is this true in the United States and Great Britain. Now that the League of Nations is binding,the Latin countries and non-Latin countries together it gives Rome an authority far beyond any thing she has had since the days of the inquisition. Senator Sherman of
800 THE K I NG ' S BUS I NES S Illinois said of this ecclesiastical power in the League of Nations: “ Catholic nations outnumber those of the Protestant faith, the influence of the Vatican will dominate and control the league. He said that of the original 32 members of the League, 28 are Christian nations and four are of other faith, and of the 28 Christian nations, 17 are Catholic and 11 are Protes tant.” Including the other nations which aré invited to join the League, Senator Sherman said, “ Twenty-four of the 40 votes of the Christians are spiritually dominated by the Vatican.” “ Although there has been separation of Church and State,” he said, “ the divorce of spiritual affairs of mankind from the temporal has never met with the approbation of the papal authority.” The visit of President Wilson to the Pope, and the statement issued from the Vatican praising the League of Nations, after the President’s visit, was referred to by the Senator as having a “ preconceived purpose.” The Trium controversy, in the Senator’s opinion, showed that the Vatican was not in sympathy with the civil government of Italy, and “ tended to connect President Wilson with influence unfriendly to the temporal power of Italy and inimical to the future welfare of the United States.” In the light of these facts and figures it is well to remind ourselves of the c o n d i t i o n of the people in any country, past or present, where Rome holds sway; from the priest-ridden mining town to the South American countries and Europe. The following figures ought always to be kept before statesmen lest they put the authority again injto papal hands. “ Between the years 1481 and 1808 A. D. over 341,000 persons were con demned by the Inquisition, of whom 31,912 were burned alive, and nearly 300,000 were tortured and condemned to severe penances. Gigantic enter prises for the extermination of Christian confessors were from time to time undertaken by the Pope of Rome. Witness the bloody ‘crusade’ against the Albigenses, described by Sismondi, and the religious wárs against the Waldenses, narrated by Monastier and others. . . . The fierce and blood thirsty cruelty with which these were carried on has added to history one of its very darkest chapters.” The motto written over Rome down through the centuries has always been “ Rome never changes” . “ And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus” is the testimony of Scripture.—W. H. P. C A N Inspiration be Proven Scientifically? Growing out of the article by Rev. Ivan Panin published several months ago in this magazine, a number of inquiries have been received. Prominent ministers were interested in the study and wrote to ask if the system of numerics as set forth in the article was authentic and if other Bible scholars had»made the same discovery regarding the mysterious construction of the Bible. ' ' # The discovery seems to have been made by several thorough Bible students at about the same time a comparatively few years ago. Mr. Panin seems to have made the most exhaustive study of the subject, counting back wards and forwards many times, every Hebrew and Greek character in the
T H E . K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S m whole Bible. Having discovered the strange construction on the plan of sevens, he set to work to produce a translation in the English which would accurately follow this plan. The New Testament edition of “ The Numerical Bible” can be procured of the Bible Numerics Company, New Haven, Conn.> and also a 200 page book by the same writer, entitled, “ The Structure of the Bible” . Not only is the verbal inspiration of the Bible demonstrated, but it is shown that many passages which critics had sought to eliminate from the Bible as having been an after-thought, and not in the original, are essential to the numerical plan which would be completely upset without them. Other books in which the same plan is set forth are “ The Numerical Structure of the Scriptures” by F. W. Grant and “ Bible Numerics” by Bullinger. Many short articles along this line have appeared in recent years in magazines and in tract form. One inquirer asks, “ Has the numerical plan ever been disproven?” A Bible scholar who is thoroughly familiar with the subject tells us that it has not been disproven and cannot be disproven. The matter has been called to the attention of many scholars and those who have taken the trouble to investigate know that the Bible has this strange construction from cover to cover. However, it is not an easy matter to get Greek and Hebrew scholars of the higher critic school to take up the subject as it involves a tremendous task. Mr. Panin himself is a scholar when it comes to Bible languages. He is a Harvard man and an intimate friend of Dr. Chas. W. Eliot, former president of that college. Dr. Eliot and other prominent rationalists were challenged to refute Mr. Panin, but merely made reply that they were not interested in these arithmetical doings. While life is too short for the ordinary Bible student to attempt to go into, details in following up this system, he can at least take a great deal of comfort in the discovery and can safely rest assured that it cannot be disproven^j—K. L. B. It seems a pity that a Gospel minister or evangelist with an opportunity of addressing an audience of hundreds of people, should utterly throw it away by getting off a noisy play to the galleries and an appeal to the popular applause. There are at the present time certain tendencies that are carrying away ministers (and some evangelists) all over the country. There is a great play on such expressions as “ the new church” , “ the new age”, “ the social gospel” , etc. We are being told that now that the world has been made safe for democracy, and John Barleycorn is dead and buried, it only remains for the church to smash the tobacco business, reform the movies and theatres, clean out the pool rooms (and possibly do away with the chewing gum habit) and Christ will be made King of Kings and Lord of Lords (prolonged applause). The Kaiser will soon be in the pit, tyranny will be a thing of the past, war is now impossible, and the desert will, soon be made to blossom as the rose (wild cheering).. The church of the new age is to devote itself to the cleaning up of society, the. educating of the ; j j i l ^k. os’ Wt P H A R A O H Is but a Noise, Jer. 46:17
802 THE K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S heathen, and it is to be a church one hundred percent American (more applause.) Every preacher is sooner or later tempted to forget the element of durableness in his preaching. There is a kind, of sermon that sounds “ immense” today, but tomorrow God sends something along that knocks it all into a cocked hat. It is “ cut down and cast into the oven” . It can be said of some sermons, “ all these things shall shortly be dissolved” . Human nature is once more shown to be the same old kaiser and Pharaoh’s big words are shown to have been nothing but noise, lamere spasm of momentary excitement, , There is but one way for the preacher to do business for eternity and that is to preach the Enduring Word. He is the only preacher who will not be obliged to eat his words tomorrow. There are times when we want the trumpet and thunder—-when truth needs to be crowned with adequate pomp, but let’s be sure it is the Truth according to the Word of God, for the promise “ it shall not return unto me void” applies only to that kind of preaching.—K. L. B.
for civic righteousness and social re form. A federated church that expects to es tablish righteousness and peace on earth with Satan enthroned and the Prince of Peace absent from it, is simply tangled up in mental hallucination and lost in the fog of that kind of ‘worldly wis dom’ which is declared in I Cor. 3:19 to he ‘foolishness with God.’ The church’s relation to the consummation of peace and righteousness on earth is not a mat ter for speculative theorizing, but of clearly defined instruction.” All Christians like all Scripture should he God-breathed. Don’t wait ’till a man puts on his wooden overcoat before you give him a kind word.
THE FEDERATION MOVEMENT E. A. Corey, writing in the Alliance Weekly, says some pointed things con cerning the church federation move ment: “The root of this proposed federation is the post-millennarian doctrine that the church is to convert the world and bring it into a state of righteousness and peace before Christ comes hack to reign over it, and in the minds of many of its projectors there seems to he very little faith that He is coming hack at all except in some dim spiritual sense. From such a viewpoint and upon such promises it would seem to be quite rea sonable for the church to consolidate all of its resources of men and property for a great campaign of reformation, a drive
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There is no difference in quality be tween sins of omission and sins of com mission; either is fatal. The prayer closets of God’s people are where the roots of the church grow. The silence of the tongue is often times the eloquence of the heart. Knock down a hypocrite in the church and you’ll upset a dozen outsid ers who are leaning against him. Few people have a lower opinion of themselves than they deserve. The humblest individual exerts some influence, either for good or evil, upon others. God’s sword has been sharpening upon the revolving stone of our daily wickedness, and if we will not repent, it will speedily cut us in pieces. Lies are the covert of the coward and weakling. To have suffered much is like know ing many languages—-it gives the suf ferer access to so many more people. A perverse tongue is never allied with a sanctified heart. Live the life instead of merely talking the talk. He who learns from God and so gets the seed, will soon find wisdom within himself, growing in the garden of his soul. A week filled up with selfishness, and a Sabbath full of religious exercises, will make a good Pharisee, but a poor Christian. The boundaries of life are not the cradle and the grave. Purposes that take into consideration only that brief span are never worth while. \ Don’t offer people sentimental con fections or intellectual shavings. Some men are only brothers-in-law to the church.
The great benefactors are the great lovers and their coin is not that of material money hut the wealth of the heart. Only the lips that have been purified with the flame from the holy altar of God can offer words that are pleasing unto Him. There is one way of keeping heresy out; that is by being filled with the Holy Ghost. Jesus came into the world through a barn door and went out on a rugged cross for YOU.. The wise physician always looks at his patient’s tongue. The great Search er of hearts has told us that by our words we shall be justified or con demned. Many crowd to get into the church, but make no room for the sermon to get into them.' Some people can talk Christianity by the yard, hut they cannot walk it by the inch. Refuse the burden and thou declin- A N ew Bible For A n Apostate Age A n Examination of “ The Shorter Bible” gotten out by Prof. Kent and endorsed by Y . M . C . A . and Y . W . C . A . BY REV. T. C. HORTON Genesis alone contains between thirty and forty such repetitions. Seven- eighths of Mark is quoted in Matthew and three-fourths in Luke. The reader is often confused by these different ver sions of the same incidents and-teach ings. It is quite natural that Paul, even with his astounding versatility, should repeat certain teachings in his letters. About one-third of the Old Testament and about two-thirds of the New, represent what is most frequently read or used by the average Bible stu dent. These passages contain the true heart of the Bible that has proved the inspiration of past generations and will prove in increasing measure the guide of those to come.” They do not like the chapter and verse divisions, but the dear people do. No revised version has ever taken the, place of the King James’ version (al though it was prophesied that it would do so), and we do not think that any version-ever will take its place. We felt sure that there must he some special reason for this, and at once looked for the evidence, which we easily found. Turning to the Epistles we discovered that the second and third Epistles of John were missing, And were sure we were on the right track. Then we found that the first three verses of Revelation were omitted: “The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which m ust shortly come to pass; an d ’he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John. ^ * Who bare the record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things th at he saw. Blessed is he th at readeth and they th at hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are w ritten therein; for the time is at hand.” E have it. It is called “Thd Shorter Bible”. It is real short; man-made; made to order by the compilers; made, also, to fit into their opinions of what they think their readers ought to have. They have evi dently had their instructions from some source other than the Holy Spirit who Himself is the author of the Word of God. The name of the translator is Charles Foster Kent. He is from Yale, as is also one of his aides, Charles Cut ler Torrey, besides whom he was as sisted by Henry A. Sherman, of the Scribner Publishing Co., Frederick Har ris, of the Publication Department of the Y. M. C. A., and Ethel Cutler, a Religious Work Director of the Y. W. C. A. The editors in the preface modestly state that “if they have in any measure succeeded in doing for the present gener- tion what the earlier translators did so admirably for their own, it will be due to the generous and enthusiastic coop eration of hundreds of scholars and lay men who have joined in this labor of love.” They also state in the preface: “The Shorter Bible does not aim to take the place of the complete text or of the time-honored versions, but simply to single out and set in logical and as far as possible in chronological order those parts of the Bible which are of ' vital interest and practical value to the present age. * * * In the Bible, ac counts of the same events or teachings are frequently repeated. The Book of THE K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S Verses 7 and 8 are also omitted: “Behold, lie cometh with clouds and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him; and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.” Only 127 of the 414 verses of this book are given. They print only three verses in Chap ter 4 of 1 Timothy, and only nineteen verses of Chapter 6, containing instruc tions from Paul regarding church life and guidance for the officials of the church, and warning against false and new-fangled teachers. Read this epistle and ask yourself WHY these verses were omitted. In 2 Timothy they give us 25 verses leaving out all of the second and third chapters, and the first three verses of Chapter 4, thus getting rid of all the warnings against false teachers and the picture of the last days. WHY? They do not think it necessary to print 1 Timothy 1:12, 13, 12 And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for th at he counted me faith ful, putting me into the m inistry; 13 Who was ÿbefore a blasphemer, and a per secutor, and injurious; but I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. üor 1 Timothy 3:16, 17, and have omit ted Titus altogether. WHY? And es pecially why did they omit Titus 2:11- 15: “ For the grace of God th at bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men. y Teaching us th at denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, rig h t eously and godly in this present world; Looking for th at blessed hope, and the glo rious appearing of the great God and our Sav iour Jesus Christ; Who gave himself for us th at he m ight -redeem us from all iniquity and purify unto himself a peculiar, people, zealous of good works.' These things .speak, and exhort and rebuke with all authority. Let no man despise thee/' (Not even a Yale professor!) In Romans, they have omitted the 11th to 18th verses of the third chap ter : 11 There is none th at understandeth, there is none th at seeketh after God. 12 They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none th at doèth good, no, not one. 13 Their throat .i s an open sepulchre ; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: 14 Whose mouth is full of cursing and b itter ness: 15 Their feet are swift to shed blood: 16 Destruction and m isery are in their ways: 805 17 And the way of peace have they not known: 18 There is no fear of God before their eyes. WHY? Also, they have omitted the entire fourth chapter with the exception of the 13th verse, all of the ninth chapter, all of the eleventh chapter excepting the last five verses, and 16:24-27, an allu sion to the mystery of the church (which they also omit from Ephesians). Space will not permit of our specify ing all the omissions which include 4023 VERSES and portions of many others. In the Gospels they omit mention of Jesus as the Lamb of God, and in the Gospel of John, twelve miracles, Lot’s wife, Jonah and the whale, and the warning to “beware of false proph ets”. WHY? They omit the verse “The Scripture cannot he broken”. WHY? The incident of the cursing of the fig tree is omitted, as is also the whole 24th chapter of Matthew, which con cerns the apostacy and the tribulation. In Acts, ten miracles are omitted; also the calling of the church and the coming of Christ, (Acts 15:13-18): 13 And after they had held their peace, Jambs answered, saying, Men and brethren, hearken unto me: 14 Simeon hath declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name. 15 And to this agree the words of the proph ets; as it is w ritten, 16 A fter this I will return, and will build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down; and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up: 17 T hat the residue of men m ight seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles, upon whom my name is called, saith the Lord, who doeth all these things. 18. Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world. The doctrines which these eminent scholars have eliminated are, chiefly,— The Inspiration and Authority of the Word of God: The Atonement: False Teachers: Miracles: The Depravity of Human Nature: The Apostacy of the Church: The Second Coming of Our Lord. The word "grace” is used hut once. It is significant that the word “Lord” is seldom applied to Jesus. Now, these gentlemen tell us that they are giving the dear people the pas sages which contain the true heart of THE K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S for your testimony; we take issue with you as to the value of the Book of Rev elation; go on, and take away our part out of the Book of Life, and out of the Holy City!” Do these men remember that not one word of our Lord has ever been broken, and that not one jot or tit tle shall pass until all shall he fulfilled? Are we to understand that this is a challenge from these editors and these Christian Associations to the church of God, and a notice of their affiliation with those who tell us that the sayings of Jesus and of the apostles are no long er of vital import to the church? If so we accept the challenge and We call upon the Most High to vindicate His own word and put these sacriligious audacious, presumptious critics to shame. This “Shorter Bible”,——this emascu lated Bible, this Higher Critic Bible, this aspostate Bible,—should be relegat ed to the ash heap, wherë we trust it will die as speedy a death as it de serves. We lift our voice in warning and urge our readers to use all possible means to meet this new Satanic effort of the enemy, more subtle than any other yet propagated, by which they hope to lead astray from the truth of God our young people. The Pocket Testament League We have had the pleasure of putting into circulation during the last few weeks, in Los Angeles, 25,000 real New Testaments, and we plead with our readers to see that every boy and girl and young man and woman has a New Testament to carry with them, and read a chapter every day. We shall be glad to send to any address a leaflet showing how this can be done, and how it will bring to pass a real revival in any church in which it is properly handled. M & Will you help the Bible Institute of Los Angeles to take the Gospel to the people? 806 the Bible, and which are of Vital inter est and practical value to the present age. We are not questioning the right of any set of men to print portions of Scripture, but the title of this volume is deceiving. It is not the “Shorter Bible’’, hut extracts from the Bible; and it does not give in logical order those parts which are of the most practical value to the present age. The Bible was designed for all ages, and the omit ted parts of the New Testament are those which are most vital for this age. The solemn warnings were designed of God for this age, and the passages con cerning the Lord’s return are the words of hope and comfort for the church. Why leave out 1 Thess. 4:13-18. ‘‘But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep th at ye sorrow not as others which have no hope. For if' we believe th at Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the Word of the Lord th at we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the arch angel and. with the trump of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together, with them to meet the Lord in their air,, and so shall we ever be w ith the Lord. 1 Wherefore comfort one another with these words.” Is not this passage one of the sweet est and most comforting in the New Testament for those whose loved ones in Christ have departed to be with Him? The writer has used these verses hun dreds of times to bring solace and com fort to mourning souls. The most blasphemous omission is the 18th and 19th verses of the 22nd chap ter of Revelation: “For I testify unto every man th at heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add 1unto him the plagues th at are w ritten in this book; And if any man shall, take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are w ritten in this book.” This omission is so presumptuous that we marvel that even in this apos tate age men would dare to say to the Lord Jesus Christ: “We do not care W ka t T o Do W ith T h e Bible Baccalaureate Sermon Delivered to Bible Institute Class of igig, in -which They were Told to Believe, Studj), Preach, Teach and Live the Word of God. BY DR. R. A. TORREY, Dean Text: 2 Tim. 3:1, and 12-17: “But know this, th at in the last days griev ous times shall come . . . . Yea, and all that would live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. But evil men and imposters shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being de ceived. But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them ; and th at from a babe thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. Every scripture is inspired Of God and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correc tion, for instruction which is in righteousness: th at the man of God may be complete, furnished completely unto every good work.” are profitable for every needed use, for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, and through the,study of these, no matter how the night darkens and the perils increase, the man of God will be com plete, provided completely unto every good worjt.” We are living in the days that Paul so accurately pictured beforehand. The evil men, the spiritual jugglers and im postors are increasing at an appalling rate, and they are becoming more and more cunningly and more and more shamelessly worse and worse. You will find them wherever you go, in the coun try as well as the city, and on the for eign field as well as at home. How shall one who sincerely desires to serve God, and to accomplish the very best results for Him, find safety? What shall he do? Our text answers the ques tion. You will find safety in The Book; -the book of God, “the Sacred Writings,“ the writings “inspired of God”, the Bible. Paul of course had the Old Tes tament books in view When he wrote these words. It was these Timothy had “known from a babe.” But if what Paul says in these words is true of the thirty- nine books of the Old Testament, and1 it is, it is certainly true of the twenty- . seven books of the New Testament. The Bible, if a man use it right, will make a man perfectly safe no matter how error abounds, and will make him thor oughly equipped for God’s service. But how must we use this book to be safe ‘ in these times of increasing darkness and peril, and to be completely equipped AUL tells Timothy of the difficult times that are coming, times of great peril and testing. He tells him of the certainty of per secution for those who are faithful to Jesus Christ, then he tells of the great increase of evil men and of subtle error- ists, both deceived themselves and de ceiving others. It is an exceedingly dark picture, and one to fill one with apprehension and dismay were Paul to stop here. But Paul does not stop here. He goes on to say in substance, “But, Timothy, even with these exceedingly dark days ahead, there is nothing to be afraid of, there is a path of perfect safe ty though perils lie on every side. That path of safety is found in the Holy Scriptures inspired of God (God breathed), and in th§ right use of them. However many and however subtle false teachers may be, the Holy Scriptures are able to make thee wise unto salva tion through faith which is in Christ Jesus. Furthermore, Timothy, you can put perfect confidence in these Scrip tures, for they are God-breathed, and 808 in a time when so many workers, even ministers and theological professors, are making an utter shipwreck of their use fulness? This exceedingly important question is answered in the book itself, indeed it is very largely answered in my text. I. Believe the Bible. First of all, if we are to find safety in the Bible from the multiplying errors and moral perils and other perils of the day, and if we are to have complete furnishment through the Bible for every good work, we must believe the Bible. The Bible exercises its unique and won drous power in those who put unhesitat ing and unwavering confidence in it, and in them alone. The Gospel is “The power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth” (Rom. 1:16), that is, every one who believes the Gospel, and the book in which\that Gospel is set forth, the Bible, displays power unto salvation, salvation not only from the guilt and power of sin, but salvation from soul-destroying error, and salvation from uselessness or comparative uselessness, only in those who believe it, believe it absolutely. When you allow ypurself to entertain doubt as to the absolute reliability of any statement in the Bible,* the Bible loses its power to save you from that error which it exposes. The Unitarian understands that, and so he seeks to undermine our faith in the Gospel of John. The Universalist understands that, and so he seeks to undermine our faith in those passages which clearly set forth the doom of the impenitent. The Christian Scientist understands it, and so he seeks to undermine our faith in those parts of the Bible which lay bare the folly of the many glaring false hoods of Christian Science. The Spir itualist and the Theosophist understand it, and so they seek to undermine ouf faith in those passages that lay bare the Satanic origin of those thoroughly dev ilish creeds. Prof. Kent and his col leagues who hate the precious doctrine THE K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S of the substitutionary character of the death, of Christ, and the atoning value of His shed blood, and the allied doc trines, understand it also, and so they bring out their “Shorter Bible” that calmly eliminates the passages that con tain these doctrines, eliminates them without one particle of manuscript evi dence, without one particle of textual or any other sanely critical reason for such elimination. Believe the Bible, that is the first, thing to do with the Bible. Believe the whole Bible. Believe not a man-made “Shorter Bible” but a God-made full Bible. Listen to the text again, “Every Scripture is inspired of God, and is prof itable for teaching, for reproof, for cor rection, for instruction in righteous ness.” The Revisers tried to tinker up that verse and make it read differently, but without a particle of reason, indeed against all reason, by changing the posi tion of the word “is” in the verse. But even admitting the correctness of their change, even they have failed to accom plish their object, for there can be no doubt that by “every Scripture inspired of God”, if Paul had used that phrase, he would have meant every scripture of the Old Testament. Believe the whole Bible. The proof that the whole Bible is the Word of God is unanswerable, and therefore the wholeNBible is worthy of your absolute confidence. When you be gin to doubt any part of it, look out. Doubt of that kind is a “leaven” that grows with surprising rapidity, until it has “leavened the whole lump.” When the destructive critics began their work, they began with portions of the Bible that did not seem so vital, but they went on and on until now they do not hesitate to discredit everything that is most fundamental, yes, to discredit the teachings of Jesus Christ Himself, and not only to discredit the teaching, but the conduct of our glorious Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ Himself. And they do not hesitate to demand that we ac cept their authority and inerrancy in- THE K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S 809 stead of the authority and inerrancy of Jesus Christ. Twenty-five years or so ago I was talking with a good man and a sound man, but not a very clear and far-seeing thinker, about the destructive criticism as it stood then. He said, in talking of some of the more mildly destructive theories, “They tell me it does not touch any vital point any way, and what dif ference does it make whether Isaiah wrote the later chapters of the book, or whether some one else wrote them?” I told him that this was only the enter ing wedge. I urged him to look to where it would lead and where it would end. It has led to, and ended where, I then pre dicted it would. Any smallest insect of destructive criticism is like the little borer ant which gets into the underpin ning of Hawaiian houses, and bbrfeS and bores away unseen, until suddenly the whole house collapses. Believe the Bible, believe the whole Bible. It will prove in the ultimate outcome every time, that it is either the whole Bible or else no Bible at all. Today it is Prof. Kent as he was fifteen years or so ago, tomor row it is Prof. Kent as he is today, next day it is a critic who puts Bob Ingersoll all in the shade, and the next day it will be the Devil himself, laughing and jab bering and mocking, saying, “Yea, hath God said?” II . Study the Bible. In the second place, Study the Bible. There is in the Bible the truth that will safeguard you against every error of these times or apy times, but this truth, though it is there, will not safe guard you unless you see it and know it, and you will not see it and know it unless you study long and earnestly the book in which it is found. The Bible has no hocus-pocus power. It has power only by the truth it con tains. And to see that truth and feel its power, you must study, study, study the Bible. You have been studying it very hard for two long years, and many of you had studied it very hard for years before you came here. Do you think you know all there is in it? Ah me, Sir Isaac Newton, the greatest thinker of his time along the lines of natural science, was once congratulated by a friend on the wide extent of his knowl edge. But Sir Isaac Newton humbly and wisely replied, “I am only a child walk ing on the sea shore, picking up a peb ble here and a shell there, and the great ocean of truth liesw unexplored before me.” Every wise student of the Bible would say the same thing, “I am only a child, walking on the sea shore, pick ing up a pebble here and a shell there, but the great ocean of God’s infinite truth lies before me in this book.” I have studied that book every day for fifty years, 18,263 days. There has. not been a single day in fifty years, 18,263 days in all, that I have not read several chapters in that book. For forty-four years I have studied it in English, Hebrew and Greek. Do I know it all? No, no, no, I am still digging, digging, digging. A few suggestions as to how to study it. 1. First of all, Study it daily. There is a deeper significance than most of us see in the words in Acts 17:11, “Now these were more honorable than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the Word with all readiness of mind, examining the scriptures daily, whether these things were so.” Never let a day pass without digging into that book. I have read the whole book through I do not know how many times. I have read the New Testament through in Greek many, many times. I have committed whole chapters; and whole books !to memory, have hid it in my heart; never theless, not a day would I dare let pass that I did not dig into- it again, not one single day. If you could arrange, and you can arrange if you determine to, to give a solid hour every day to Bible study, it would be well.
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