T H E K I N G ’S B U S I N E S S
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“Another chairm an read of th e defeat of th e Israelites before Ai and the cause thereof— th e secret sin of Achan. The lesson was applied home. The reason of th e defeat of th e Christian Church, in India was th e sin of th e indi vidual members and office-bearers—not only th e open sins, b u t those which none knew of except th e p erp etrato r and God. None of the children of Israel knew of Achan’s sin. Then we fell to confession again, and shortly afte r a miss ionary— one of th e United F ree Church.—-rose and said th ere were some things he felt he m ust do. F o r instance, th ere was tobacco in his bag in his room: th a t had to go. There was still pride in his h ea rt: th a t had to go. And so on th e proceedings went. No one seemed to feel the meet ing drag, and by 3 o’clock we felt th a t it had come to a n a tu ra l conclusion. “ It is difficult to convey an idea of th e reality of the ex perience, bu t it was the most real thing I ever passed through. Now I know God: and it makes all th e difference to one’s message. He has met me, laid His hand upon me, and things can never be the same again. Now I know w hat I had form erly only hoped or believed. The Bible is a new book. Now I don’t need so much w hat people have w ritten about it; it is w hat He says to me through His Word I ’m concerned about. Form erly I could no t honestly say th a t if I had the Bible w ith me on a trip I had every th ing I wanted in the way of literatu re , b u t now I can. And evil habits which for years I had been fighting against w ith varying success are now conquered w ith hardly a strugg le; I leave the fight to Him, and He wins every tim e.’’ Is not th is the kind of revival th a t thousands of pastors and churches and m ultitudes of Christians need? BRYAN VERSUS ATHEISTS “We give th e ath eist too much la titu d e” says W. ' j . Bryan. “We allow him to ask all th e questions and we try to answer them . I know of no reason why the Christian should ta k e upon him self the difficult task of answering all questions and give to the ath eist th e easy task of ask ing them . Anyone can ask questions, bu t not every ques tion can be answered. If I am to discuss creation w ith an ath eist it will be on condition th a t we ask question about: He may ask the first one if he wishes, b u t he shall nbt ask a second one un til he answers my first. W hat is the first question the ath eist asks th e Christian? There is bu t one first question: Where do you begin? I answer: “I begin where th e Bible begins.” And where does the Bible begin? “ In the beginning God created the heavens and the ea rth .” I begin w ith God, all-powerful, all wise, all-loving. I begin w ith a Creative Cause th a t is sufficient for anything th a t can come th ereafter. Having answered th e ath eist’s first question, it is now my tu rn , and I ask my first question of th e a th e ist:— “Where do you begin?” And then his trouble begins. Did you ever h ear an ath eist explain creation? He cannot begin w ith God because he denies th e existence of a God. But he must begin somewhere. It is ju st as necessary th a t the atheist shall have a beginning point for his philosophy as th a t the Christian shall. Where does th e ath eist begin? I have never known any of them to begin fa rth er back th a n th e nebular hypothesis. And where does th a t begin? In the beginning? No. It begins by assum ing th a t two things existed, which the th e ory does not try to explain. It assumes th a t m a tte r and ■ -
force existed, bu t it does not tell us how m atter and force came into existence, where they came from , or why they 00 me. The theory begins by saying: Let us suppose th a t m a tte r and force are here, and th en the theory begins to work, and, according to tire theory, force, working on m at te r created a world, i have ju s t as much rig h t to begin w ith an assumption as th e ath eist has, and I would ra th e r begin w ith God and reason down, than: begin w ith a piece of d irt and reason up. The difference between th e Christ ian theory and th e m aterialistic theory is th a t th e Christ ian begins w ith God, while the m aterialist begins with dull, inanim ate m atter. I know of no theory th a t has ever been suggested as a sub stitu te fo r th e B ible theory th a t was as ratio n al and as easy to believe. If the ath eist asks me if I can understand God I answer th a t it is not necessary th a t my finite m ind shall compre hend the infinite m ind before I adm it th a t th ere is an in finite mind, any more than it is necessary th a t I should un derstand th e sun before I can adm it th a t there is a sun. We must deal w ith the facts about us whether we can un derstand them or not. If the ath eist tells me th a t I have no rig h t to believe in God un til I can understand Him, I will tak e his own logic and drive him to suicide; for, by th a t logic, what rig h t has an ath eist to live unless he can understand the mystery of his own life? Does the ath eist understand the mystery of th e life he lives? B ring me th e most learned ath eist and when he has gathered all th e inform ation th a t th is earth can give, I will have a little child lead him out and show him the grass upon th e ground, the leaves upon the trees, th e birds th a t fly in th e air, and th e fishes in the deep, and the little child will mock him and tell him, and te ll him truly, th a t he, th e little child knows ju st as much about the mystery of life as does the most learned ath eist.” Five tru ck loads of Gospels printed in Japanese are be ing shipped by the American Bible Society to its rep resen ta tives in Japan. More than 500,000 volumes of the Gospels have been printed in New York by photographic process to supply th e unusual needs caused by th e recent earthquake in Tokyo and Yokohama. P ractically all of the Bible plates for 25 or more languages and dialects of th e F a r E ast were to tally destroyed, togeth er w ith th e p rin ting plant, a t which Bibles for Japan, China, Siam and the Philippine Islands were printed. The shipm ent made today is th e first of a series of books to be printed in th is country un til the So ciety has secured funds for th e replacement of its plates and the establishm ent of prin ting processes in Japan. Mr. G ilbert Darlington, treasu rer,- declared it is the largest single shipm ent of scripture portions ever made by the Society. Increased Opportunity fo r Soul-W inning The P residen t of th e Tokyo Bible School, Miss Susan Bauernfeind, w rites us, sending in the names of four of her native Bible teachers to whom she wishes the K ing’s Business sent and says: “We have passed through a time of g reat horror, and sorrow and desolation is still around and about us, bu t w ithin th ere is wonderful peace, and God is giving us splendid opportunities to win souls for Him. Oiir buildings were not destroyed though badly dam aged; yet we are able to use them , and many more are attending our Bible classes th a n heretofore." Mi THE GOSPEL IN JAPAN
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