I 7, is time to seek the Lord till He come and rain r i g h t e o u s n e s s upon you.
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ye ha\>e eaten the fruit o f lies; because thou didst trust in thy way, in the multitude o f thy mighty) men. h « . io . u
AUGUST , 1920
ANOTHER GREAT BOOK By the Author of the Great Book “DISPENSATIONAL TRUTH” THE BOOK OF REVELATION
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T H E BOOK IS IL L U S TR A TE D W ITH 30 F U L L PAG ED C H A R TS A N D MAPS A N D N UM ER O U S C U T S OF T H E B E A S T A N D SYM BO LS M EN TIO N ED IN T H E BOOK. T H E S C R IP TU R E TE X T O F T H E O L D V ER SIO N IS EM PH ASIZED IN BLA C K TY P E A N D P R IN TED O VER EAC H SUB* J E C T . T H E D ES C R IP TIV E M A TTE R IS A LS O EM PH ASIZED IN B LA C K TY P E. The Writer’s aim has been to prepare a standard work on the Book of Revelation from the Futurist standpoint, and to show that it is to be taken literally, and that it is written in chronological order. The size of the type and the page ( 6 x 9 inches) makes it equivalent to an ordinary book of 400 pages. Cloth Bound —Price Postpaid $2.50 - Remit by P.O. Order
A GREAT BOOK ON DISPENSATIONAL TRUTH Containing 40 Splendid Prophetical Charts, each 9 x20 inches, and 22 Chapters of Descriptive Matter T h e " C h a r t s a r e U n iq u e . S im pl e . C l e a r . U n ifo r m in S t y l e a n d P r e se n t e v e r y P h a s e o f ••D is p e n s a t io n a l T r u t h ” Price Postpud $2.50 Remit by P. 0 . Order Published by the Author CLARENCE LARKIN Pastor Bethany.Baptist Church FOXCHASE. PH1LA. PA. B Y TH E S A M E A U T H O R THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST This Is an Introductory Booklet on the nbove W ork for circulation am ong those who desire information on the Second Coming. It contains over 30 pages o f Descrip tive Matter, la illustrated with 8 fine new charts 4 b x 8 inches, and Is beautifully printed. SINGLE COPIES. 25 Cents. 5 COPIES FOR *1-00
TITLES OF CHARTS Rightly Dividing the Word. The Creative Ages». Mountain Peaks o f Proph ecy. Perspective o f Prophecy. The Jews. . The Gentile Nations: Prophetical Chronology. The Book, o f Daniel. The Church. The King. The Kingdom. The Book o f Eaeklel. The Millennial Land. The Spirit World. The Threefold Nature of Han. The Resurrection and Judg ments. Satan. Antichrist. The Book o f Revelation. Messages to the Seven ^Churches. Daniel's Seventieth Week. The Covenants. The Book of Genesis. The Book o f Exodus. The Book "of Leviticus. The Tabernacle. The Feasts o f the Lord. The Types and Antitypes. The W eeks o f Scripture. The Prophetic Days o f Scripture.. . The Mysteries.
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 keep it night and day. = " " ............................ --■ ■■-■= - 1 ■'■■ Isa. 27:3 ..........- - - ' " " " ................................... = PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY THE BIBLE INSTITUTE OF LOS ANGELES 536-558 S O U T H H O P E STREET, LO S AN G ELE S, C A L . Entered as Second-Glass Matter November 17, 1910, at tHe Post Office at Los Angeles, California under tke A ct’o f March 3, 1879 Acceptance for mailing at special rate o f postage provided for in Section 1103, A ct o f October 3, 1917 authorized October 1, 1918.
Number 8
August, IQ 20 .
Volume XI
Rev. T . C . H O R T O N , Editor in Chief
Rev. KEITH L. B R O O K S, Managing Editor
Contributing Editors
D R . F. W . F A R R
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D R . FR E N C H E. O LIVER
REV. W M . H. PIKE
CONTENTS Editorials: Wonder Workers (727), Eddyites Accused of Murder (727), A Deserved Death (728), A Protesting Protestant (729), Alleged Pre-millennialists (730), Has Science De stroyed the Bible? (732), No Mutual Admiration Societies in Heaven (733), Jazz Seven Days in the Week (734). Sentence Sermons (735) The Sound of a Going in the Tops of the Trees—By Harriet Thom son (736) . Four Fundamental Errors Refuted—By Wm. M. Smith (741) Might Jesus Come Back Today?—By K. L. B. (743) Scientific Vagaries and Spiritist Vaporings—By A. C. Dixon (745) Bible Institute Happenings (748) Evangelistic Stories From Experience (750) Homiletical Helps (757) Thoughts for the Unsaved (759) Notes on the Jews and Prophecy (760) Hell a Reasonable Belief—By Dr. John R. Stratton (762) There Was a Church in Our Town—By Rev. Will Houghton (764) Sunday School Lessons (766) Daily Devotional Readings—By Dr. F. W. Farr (798) PLEASE When sending subscriptions, address correspondence to Office of The King’s Business, Bible Institute of Los Angeles, 536-558 South Hope Street. Checks may be made payable to Bible Institute of Los Angeles. Do not make checks or money orders to individuals connected with the Bible Institute. Y E A R FOREIGN COUNTRIES, INCLUDING CANADA $1.24 - SINGLE COPIES, 15 CENTS O N L Y O N E D O L L A R A
A PRACTICAL PROPOSITION You are entitled to know WHERE and HOW your money is used in the Lord’ s work. AVOID ALL WILD CAT CALLS A good investment may be a foe o f the best. INSURE YOUR INVESTMENTS The world is the field. The work is definite. What the Lord has laid upon your heart to d o wrath your funds you should have the jo y o f doing, and we will gladly help you to d o this by giving you the benefit o f our years o f experience in studying the world field, the work and the workers. W e are in touch with missionary enterprises in this and other lands, where loyal-hearted men and women are laboring wrath unfeigned faith in the whole W ord o f G od , and wrath unfail ing devotion to the souls o f the lost. Don’t waste a penny! Make it go as far and as fast as you can in the saving o f souls out o f a ruined world. W e wall joyfu lly serve you in the matter wrathout any charge, and put you in touch wrath dependable agents and agencies. Write us for any desired particulars. FOR THE LORD OPPORTUNITY SPELLS OBLIGATION
BIBLE INSTITUTE OF LOS ANGELES. T. C. Horton, Superintendent.
BLESSED IS THE MAN. 1. Blessed is the man whose calendar contains prayer meeting nights. 2. Blessed is the man who does not remain away from church because it drizzles. 3. Blessed is the man who can endure an hour in a church service as well as two hours and a half in a theatre. 4. Blessed is the man who loves the Lord’s work with his pocket as well as with his heart. 5. Blessed is the man whose watch keeps church time as well as business time. 6. Blessed is the man who leaves the back pews for the late comers. 7. Blessed is the man who does not have a summer “ lay-off” from his religion. 8. Blessed is the man whose eyesight will stand as much reading of the Bible as reading of the Sunday newspapers. W O N D ER Workers A newspaper clipping describes the visit of a tribe of Indians from the Hudson Bay District to Winnipeg, Canada. They had never before been in touch with civilization. It was all new and wonderful. After a week’s sight-seeing someone asked them what was the most wonderful creation of the white man, and the answer was suggestive. It was not the sky-scrapers, nor the aeroplanes, nor the “ choo-choo” cars, nor the automobiles. It was the bicycle! It appealed to them because they could understand it. They were used to using feet and legs as propellers. This incident set us to meditating. We have been trying to think of the most wonderful thing the Church is doing in this Twentieth Century. It is not “ big business” ; nor the sky-scraping of the pulpit orators; nor the acrobatic performance of the college professors in their handling of the Word of God; nor the mysterious automobilic, gasolinic operations of the Interchurch World performance,—but it is the street meeting where a mes senger of Christ is giving the Gospel! That is so human. We can understand it. Jesus was a street preacher and He loved souls, and in the lanes and on the streets and by the seashore He told out the great story of His Father’s love. He was the Wonder-worker, and His disciples who follow in His footsteps can also work wonders by telling the story—the old, old story—that has never failed to reach the hearts and lives of needy men and women. This is the way to work wonders in human lives. ' —T. C. H. ¿Ms. as as as EDDTITES Accused O f Murder The “ Examiner” of May 5th tells the story of a father and mother of a nine year old child, ill with diphtheria, who refused to call a physician. The
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child died and the parents are on trial for murder. The charge against them reads “ They by force and arms did kill and slay.” We are glad to know that there is a growing tendency to deal with de luded parents who permit their children to suffer and sometimes die for want of the needed treatment. We have societies for the prevention of cruelty to animals. Why not a society to prevent such cruelty to children who when they are sick are told that they are not sick, and when they are in pain are told that there is no pain and to “ forget it?” If some dose could be given to such parents that would produce a real case of colic and their children could gather around them and tell them to “ forget it” and “ hold the thought,” it would help to make nil the nonsense of the Eddyites. Pity the children who are being raised in these homes, and pity these deluded dupes, and pray that the Lord may deliver many from the power of Satan who are now following these cunningly devised fables. If we cannot help the parents, then for the sake of these poor, helpless children who are not responsible for coming into the world and who did not choose brainless parents, let us do something to help the little ones. —T. C. H. A DESERVED Deatk The Interchurch World Movement received a death blow at the meeting of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian church in Philadelphia last June. This movement did not emanate from the churches, but from self- appointed leaders. It was not born of the Holy Spirit of God, nor nurtured in prayer. It was conceived of the devil, and born of the flesh, as was mani fested in its development. It was an effort to put something over on the dear people. It was de vised as a “ drive.” The whip handle was in the hands of the political leaders. The sheep were not led, but driven. Many under-shepherds were warned that they must put it over upon penalty of being put out of their position if they faltered or failed. The movement was a menace. It caused a shadow like a great mountain, portending ruin to any rebel. There was a strangle hold upon the poor under-shepherds. The word “ world” loomed up so large upon the horizon that the people could see thousands of missionaries rushing to the white fields to give the message to the neglected people. They saw churches crowded to the doors to hear the good news of the Gospel. Tens of thous ands of saints who loved the Lord put their names to subscription blanks, innocently ignorant of facts, or they would have withheld their hands from becoming a party to a compact that would hurt the heart of their loving Lord and bring sorrow and suffering to both the church and the world. Where were the men and women for this world-wide work ? From what schools were they to come, or to what schools were they to be sent to be trained that were not tainted with the poisonous doctrines of devil-deluded critics who deny the Word of God, and whose sole aim in life seems to be the spoiling of the souls of men? Where did the slogan of “ The World for Christ” instead of “ Christ for the world” originate?
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It will take the Church a long time to rally from this worldly movement. Many of the people will seek to withdraw their subscriptions or to change the conditions of payment, or they will pay under protest. The Church must pay the bills which run into the millions. The “ friendly citizens who live in “ No Man’s Land” could not be hoodwinked. Those men who never take the church seriously in these days have the laugh on these lead ers who thought they knew enough about big business to fool the people. Let us bury the Interchurch World Movement in No Man’s Land and erect a little slab over the grave on which shall be inscribed “ The Inter church World Movement died a deserved death in seeking to do the dear people.” ' Then let us get back to the Bible, the dear old Book! Let us get back to our knees in prayer and thanksgiving. Let us put on the whole armor of God. Let us fight the good fight. Let us humbly, prayerfully, diligently, unceasingly seek to save the lost. Let us train men and women m the Word of God and let us send them forth to all lands with the Word of Life. —T. C. H. ܧ Êà M A PROTESTING P r o t e c t Dr. Walter B. Hinson is pastor of the Bast Side Baptist Church of Portland, Oregon. He is a real preacher of the whole Gospel. He is a man with a heart. He has convictions that are founded upon God’s inerrant Word. He has the courage of a man of God to match his convictions. He has a seer’s vision and a prophet’s voice. When you read one of his sermons you feel like putting on your sword and going forth to war. Read this extract from one of his recent sermons “ I cannot but state that I think the time has come when there must be lines of discrimination between- those who love the truth and those who are hostile to it. If the Godhead of Jesus Christ is a myth, the man who holds this view must stand on one side and I on this. For I have no communion with him, and he can have none with me. If the Scriptural assertion ‘Without shedding of blood there is no remission’ is futile and foolish, then they must go north and I will go south. And I think God is sounding today, clear as a bugle call, ‘Come out from among them and be ye separate, saith the Lord.’ * * * I have a feeling during these last days something as Elijah felt, I suppose, when he said, If God be God, serve Him; if Baal, serve him.’ There never was a time in the history of the Church when the call was more definitely distinct than now for preachers and leaders of red blood to lift up their voices and sound the alarm. And should we not all pray earnestly to God that men likeminded with Dr. Hinson will be raised up all over our beloved country, in every denomination, to stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made them free. (Gal. 5 :1); to stand fast in the faith (1 Cor. 16:13); to stand with loins girt about with truth (Eph. 6:14); to put on the whole armor of God that they may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil (Eph. 6 :11); to stand against the devilish wiles of the Modernists ,the Higher Critics, the pussyfooting teachers in the schools and colleges and seminaries who are seeking to rob men and women of their faith. “ Pray, brethren, pray, for the night is coming; praise, brethren, praise, for the morning light is breaking and the King cometh!’ ’ —T. C. H.
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ALLEGED Pre-Millennialists An amusing book review is printed in the June 3 number of the New York Christian Advocate (Methodist) in which Dr. George P. Eckman calls attention to our little pamphlet, “ These Premillennialists; Who Are They?” We give it to you with a few elucidatory remarks: “ An imposing list of alleged pre-millennialists is given by T. C. Horton, in a short booklet sent out from the Bible Institute of Los Angeles, of which the author is superintendent. Concerning this array of impressive names it may be said: first, that many of them designate men who are pre-millennialists only in the sense that they believe Christ will return before and not after a supposititious millennium, but who have no sympathy with the freakish and unscriptural teach ings which in recent times have clustered about the pre-millennial theory and given it the characteristics it now bears; second, that the support of a doctrine by men whose Christian activities are far better than their supposed theories would justify is no proof of the value of that doctrine. Some of the purest characters in our day are Christian Scientists, though Christian Science is the denial of almost every thing fundamental to Christian theology. Furthermore, no teaching has ever been absurd enough, if it were pushed with sufficient patience, to lack adherents among the wise and the prudent. He calls them “ alleged premillennialists” who talk about a “ suppositi tious millennium.” (This big, long word means fraudulent.) He speaks about “ supposed theories” and winds up with a delightful compliment to Christian Science. Now our good brother has written a book on the Lord’s Return, and we give him credit for being a better student of the Scriptures than many of the opponents of this doctrine, whose prejudices have blinded them to the truth and made them wilful deniers of the plain teaching of the Scriptures. We are not proposing a review of his book at this time, but affirm that his denial of the literal fulfillment of prophecy, and his efforts to rid himself of the Revelation of Jesus Christ as recorded in the last book of the New Testament, and his desire to show that the world is growing better and better in spite of prophecy and facts gives us a clue to the purpose of his book. Now what are the reasons for the attitude of so many good Christian ministers toward this doctrine of our Lord’s premillennial return? Doctrines ought to be known by their fruits. Does the preaching and teaching of this doctrine make people fanatical ? Does it make them selfish ? Does it make them worldly and indifferent to world conditions? Does it cut the cord of evangelistic endeavor? Does it blind their eyes to the un occupied mission fields? Does it produce Higher Critics and deniers of the verity and authority of the Word of God? Do these premillenialists deny the Virgin Birth of Christ, the Blood Atonement, the Physical Resurrection of Jesus Christ and His intercessory work in the glory ? There must be a reason for this assault upon the doctrine which, in spite of all that is said, has the largest place in the New Testament of any doctrine there declared,—one out of every twenty-five verses. The writer has been a premillennialist for forty-five years. We know something of its history during that period. We hold the same views today exactly that we did then. And the men who preached it and taught it then held the same views in the main as do the splendid men who preach and teach it today. We have their books and their addresses and know what we are writing about. In November, 1886, thirty-four years ago, a Prophetic Conference was
THE K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S 731 held in Chicago, composed of “ freakish theologians. ” Here are some of the names of those who were present, or who sent their papers: W. R. Nicholson, D. D., Bishop R. E. C., Philadelphia. Maurice Baldwin, D. D., Bishop of Huron, Ont.
Prof. D. C. Marquis, D. D., McCormick Theo. Seminary. Prof. W. G. Moorehead, U. P., Theo. Sem. Xenia, O. Prof. E. F. Stroeter, Wesleyan College, Mo. Rev. Nathaniel West, D. D., Presbyterian, St. Paul, Minn. Rey. Geo. Bishop, D. D., Dutch Reformed, Orange, N. J. Rev. E. P. Goodwin, D. D., Cong’l, Chicago. Rev. A. J. Gordon, D. D., Baptist, Boston. Rev. A. T. Pierson, D. D., Presbyterian. Rev. P. S. Henson, D. D., Baptist, Chicago. Rev. Henry M. Parsons, Presbyterian, Toronto. Prof. E. Godet, D. D., Neufchatel, Switzerland. Prof. Yolch, D. D., Univ. of Dorpat, Russia. Prof. Franz Delitzch, D. D., Univ. of Leipzig. Prof. A. Koch, D. D., Oldenburg, Saxony. Prof. A. R. Faussett, D. D., Canon of York, Eng. Rev. Andrew A. Bonar, D. D., Glasgow, Scotland. Rev. Archibald G. Brown, London, England. The themes considered were under the following heads:
The Near Coming of the Lord. Its Literal and Personal Character. The Development of the Anti-Christ. The First Resurrection. The Jews and Their Future. Predicted Judgments. The Millennium. The resolutions adopted were as follows: 1. We affirm our belief in the supreme and absolute authority of the writ ten Word of God on all questions of doctrine and duty. •2. The prophetic words of the Old Testament Scriptures, concerning the first coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, were literally fulfilled in His birth, life, death, resurrection and ascension; and so the prophetic words of both the Old and the New Testaments concerning His second coming will be literally fulfilled in His visible bodily return to this earth in like manner as He went up into Heaven; and this glorious epiphany of the great God, our Saviour Jesus Christ, is the blessed hope of the believer and of the Church during this entire dispensation, 3. This second coming of the Lord Jesus is everywhere in the Scriptures represented as imminent, and may occur at any moment; yet the precise day and hour thereof is unknown to man, and only known to God. 4. The Scriptures nowhere teach that the whole world will be converted to God, and that there will be a reign of universal righteousness and peace before the return of the blessed Lord; but that only at and by His coming in power and glory will the prophecies concerning the progress of evil and the development of Antichrist, the times of the Gentiles, and the ingathering of Israel, the resurrection of the dead in Christ, the transfiguration of His living saints, receive their ful fillment, and the period of millennial blessedness its inauguration. 5. The duty of the church during the absence of the Bridegroom is to watch and pray, to work and wait, to go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature, and thus hasten the coming of the day of God; and to His last promise, “ surely I come quickly” to respond in joyous hope, “ even so; come Lord Jesus.” 6. That the doctrine of our Lord’s premillennial advent, instead of paralyzing evangelistic and missionary effort, is one of the mightiest incentives to earnestness in preaching the Gospel to every creature, until He comes.” The Bible Conferences being held all over this country today, attended by thousands of Christian people, have programs of the same character. Men were stirred in those days as they are stirred in these days. Now, friend Eckman, go over these names carefully. They are but a few of the men like-minded in that day and their kind still exists, hundreds of them, just “ freakish, alleged premillenialists” !
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Now what is the animus of the attacks upon premillennialists on the part of the Chicago University and the Methodist Church? Don’t these men like the doctrine of the inerrant Word of God? Are they grieved that God’s hungry children floek where the Word is given? Are they jealous of the success that attends Bible Conferences? Do they hate Bible Institutes be cause God is blessing them so wonderfully? Don’t they love the Lord Jesus Christ enough to want to see Him? Don’t they feel in touch with old John the Apostle and want to say “ Come Lord Jesus, come quickly?’ ’ Don’t they care for the epistles that describe the last days and perilous times? Will His coming unmask the machines and spoil their plans? Come now, brethren, tell us honestly why do you oppose? Why do you fight? Why do you malign these good men' of God and call them freakish? You owe much to them. Where would you have found evangelists to help swell your church rolls had it not been for Moody, Whittle, Torrey, Sunday, Chapman, Biederwolf, Oliver, Dixon, Nicholson, Brown, and all of the others who have commanded large blessings from God in soul saving work? Come out and tell us what is the reason for your hating the good doc trine? —T. C. H. I - gfe afc The Bible has outlived its bitterest enemies. The greatest lawyers, doctors, artists, scientists, poets, literati and statesmen have stood firmly by the Bible as the basis of their ideals and their inspiration to great tasks. To try to place the Bible on a par with other boobs in point of inspira tion is superb folly. Some of the superficial professors who were mentioned by the Federal detectives during the war in the list of suspicious characters in our country have been teaching the young people that the Bible is inspired the same as Shakespeare, Buskin, Byron, Longfellow, Tennyson, John L. Sullivan, Jack Johnson and other poets were inspired. This senseless chatter has produced disastrous results in the character of young people throughout the nation. When men losé regard for the Bible they no longer care for the law of God, and when they pour contempt upon the law of God the law of man goes down, in their estimation. Look the world over, and you will find that the enemies of sound stable government in Russia, England, France, these United States of America—the scatter-brained Socialists, the Blood-thirsty Bolsheviki, the illsmelling I. W. W., the Nihilists, Anarchists and Communists and the criminal agitators are anti-Chrstian and anti-Bible to a man. There are no exceptions! The Higher Critics and Modern Theology exponents are lining up with the worst traitors on earth when they seek to destroy faith in the Divine origin and inspiration of the Bible. They have no more right to tell men that the Bible is not to be taken literally than lawyers have to tell men that the laws of this nation are not to be taken literally. This contempt for God’s law and for man’s law has brought about a reign of terror in many parts of the world while destructive critics have been telling the people that everything is lovely and the Bible is “ romance, folklore, fiction, poetry, history.” I have quoted literally from one of the leading Higher Critics. ‘H A S SCIENCE DESTROYED The Divine Origin O f TKe Bible?” 2 Tim . 3:16-17
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The worst enemies this government has are the educated skeptics who scoff at the faith of the brave men and true who braved the dangers of terrific storms and the inhospitality of savage red men to escape the blight of opposition to faith in God. There is a higher court than skeptical col lege professors, or destructive critics in pulpits or universities. The day of Judgment is just ahead and men will have to give an account to God for the deeds done in the body. —French E. Oliver. ¿Wc. ate ate ate 1 ^ 0 MUTUAL Admiration Societies In Heaven The natural religion of fallen man is salvation by personal merit. This is the heresy of heresies that underlies all false systems. Man, in his pride, declines to plead guilty before God. Any wise lawyer when he sees his client cannot prove his innocence, advises him to plead guilty and throw himself upon the mercy of the court. That mercy cannot be exercised until the prisoner has plead guilty. “ Who can say I am pure from my sin?” (Prov. 20:9). Who measures up to the glory of God? (Rom. -3:23). Either salvation must come to us wholly because we deserve it or wholly because God graciously bestows it. The Word of God condemns every one of us. “ There are none righteous, no not one’ ’—and there isn’t the slightest hope that any man can deserve eternal life. Boasting is excluded.. Salvation is ‘ 1not of works, lest any man should boast. ’ ’ If salvation could be attained through one’s own merits, and entirely apart from the atoning work of our Lord, Jesus Christ—what kind of a place would heaven be? Instead of saying “ Unto Him that loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood***#*unto Him be glory and
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THE K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S dominion forever and forever” —everyone would be eternally bragging of their own virtues and victories, and indeed they would have a perfect right to. Heaven would be an eternal ‘ ‘ stove pipe committee.” But the Bible tells us there will be no ‘ ‘ wind-jammers” in heaven. There will be no mutual admiration societies. There will be no comparisons. No one will be able to say, “ I am here because I did so-and-so or because I did not do so-and-so.” There will be no rivalries. All who go there, what ever church they may have belonged to on earth, will have to give all praise and glory to Jesus Christ, and join in that great chorus of the redeemed “ Unto Him that loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood.” Those who cannot do that here and now, so surely as the Bible is true, will never reach heaven. —K. L. B. JAZZ SEVEN DATS In The Week Ragtime religion is the big thing now. A New York paper a short time ago told of a pastor who had introduced a jazz band into his services. The minister was quoted as follows: “ I tried something new in our services Sunday. We had a vaudeville service. Mr. Reef, the banjo king of the jazz band players attended our services and played his regular program accompanied by our organ. The success was greater than you can imagine. Our program was arranged like that of a high class theatre and the people enjoyed the treat along with hearing a Gospel sermon. I have some thing further along this line for coming Sunday evenings. If the people want life I am going to mix it with the Gospel and then I am sure they will come to church every Sunday.” Lord, help the man! What will the next stage of that church be? What if the jazz band gets to be a “ chestnut?” What will the brother do to draw the multitude? A clog dance, a tight rope stunt across the galleries, dancing girls, balloon ascension, fireworks—or what? Are we not going to have our hands full if we are to cater to the thoughtless crowd? Why is it necessary ? Has the simple Gospel story lost its power ? God forbid! Wherever it is proclaimed and religion is experienced in the heart, men and women are still turning away in disgust from these very things that are now being brought into the church to draw the crowd. Whence come these things? The pastor of Calvary Baptist Church, New York, had the courage in a Sunday sermon to come out and say: “ The tap root, the greatest, longest, and most powerful of all feeders of rag time religion is the presence of the question mark in the pulpit of today. Doubt among the ministers has caused these unfortunate results. Some are not just certain where they stand. They no longer have a positive, definite message. Their faith in the authority and sufficiency of Holy Writ has been so shaken by super ficial study of the higher criticism, that they really have little left that they can proclaim with fervor, earnestness and convicting force. When the blind lead the blind, shall not both fall into the ditch? No wonder Jesus warns the church that if it becomes thus lukewarm, neither cold nor hot, He will spew it out of His mouth.” He who attempts to fight the devil with his own weapons will certainly find him an overmatch. Oh believing Christians, spend time in prayer for the ministers of today that they may cease to lean upon the arm of the world. —K. L. B.
We are rich only through what we give, and poor only through what we refuse. The preacher who is always talking about the money he could make out of the ministry is probably in the ministry for the money. The great preachers of the world are not the men who master their messages but the men who are mastered by their messages. If you would lift, you must be on higher ground. The essence of all the New Testament is the Lord’s Prayer, which has neither “ me” nor “ I” in it. It is important for us to speak to men about God; but it is vastly more important that we speak to God about men. Your arrows must be winged with faith, else orthodoxy, and wise arrange ments, and force, and zeal, will avail nothing. Trust that man little who praises all, less the man who censures all, and least of all the man who is indifferent about all. Without actual work to do, the head is just a loafing place for thoughts and ideas. We must be safe at the center before we can be free at the circumference. When in affliction, remember it light ens the stroke to draw near the One who handles the rod. Sanctified afflictions are spiritual pro motions. A half hour of communion in the morning will save an hour of confession at night. Trust God without terms. Adversity, like winter weather, is of use to kill those vermin which the sum
mer prosperity is apt to produce and nourish. The wise Lord loves to feed us with hunger and make us fat with wants and desertions. Going back begins generally by look ing back. Freedom is not the right to do as you please but the liberty to do as you ought. It is the burdens we drag, and not those we bear that are too heavy. We go from strength to strength be cause we go from struggle to struggle. There is a difference between using the Bible as a text book of life and a book of texts. You could fill a church with your ac quaintances and seat your real friends in the pulpit seats. He who can take take advice is some times superior to him who can give it. Merely to share another’s heavy bur den is noble; to do it cheerfully is sub lime. Read of the sufferings of the great and you will discover the springs of their greatness. Perhaps some of our most costly mo ments are spent in mourning over those sins which God has forgiven. There can be no greater missionary incentive than the hope of completing the Body of Christ. The man who has never offended any one by his religion has no religion worth having. To be swift to discern the faults and follies of others does not argue for the possession of superiority. The man who recognizes the fittest moment to crush his enemy and neglects it, deserves to be a conqueror.
“ Tke Sound of a Going
In tke Tops of tke Trees” A Plain Statement of the Facts Concerning Modernists and Evangelicals B? HARRIET THOMSON St. Louis, Mo.
classes, into all places of power in Chris tian organizations. These are uninten tional, but most efficient and powerful, assistants of Modernists. Modernists as their name indicates, are seekers after the “ new” in religion. “ Modern thinking,” “ modern scholar ship,” “ the modern woman,” “ the modern mind,” “ new theology”— such terms abound in their utterances. They delight in religious progression, though it he not toward the Bible or the God of the Bible; as one of them said lately in the hearing of the writer, “ I don’t promise that I shall hold tomorrow the view I express this evening. I may change it overnight.” Modernists are to he classed with the Athenians of Acts 17,— the Areopagites— of whom it is written that they spent their time in nothing else, hut either to tell, or to hear, some new thing. They are describ ed in 2 Tim. 3:7, as “ ever-learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.” Some Characteristics of Modernists A prominent distinguishing feature of Modernists is that they are ever blasting at “ the impregnable Rock of the Word.” While in this folly they are, of course, but trying to demolish Gibraltar by throwing wisps of straw against it, they nevertheless do by this means accomplish another of their aims — that of destroying faith in the great fundamental truths o f orthodox Chris tianity, thus preparing the minds and hearts of the unsuspecting in this gen-
HERE is War in the church of Christ. It is a Civil War— the contending forces are within the borders of the church. It is a spiritual World War. Its devastations extend through
out Christendom in all lands. Modernists on the one hand and Evangelicals or Conservatives on the other, are Belligerents. Clear-cut statements of fact—which facts, (not the statements of them), are harsh— are demanded by the artifices employed by modernists in the waging of this war. By means of camouflage, ambush, Saviorless Social Service under the guise of Christian Activity, and the philosophies of men under that of the Word of God, evangelicals are driven to the one only method of warfare that can possibly avail— that of demolition of the subterfuges. Camouflage and am bush must be destroyed, masks must be torn away, until it is seen that the New Theologies and Christless Social Service of our day proceed, as to human agency, from the “ carnal mind” of man, of which it is written that it is “ enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can he.” Then there are those who seem to he Modernists but they are really only helpers of them. They are evangelical in heart experience and in purpose, but they are non-evangelical in their relig ious activities. They promote Modern ism by putting its advocates into pul pits, in charge of Sunday School or Bible
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eration for the acceptance of the philosophies and traditions of men which go to make up their false creeds. They cease to be soul winners having dropped out of their teachings and their lives salvation through the atonement of Christ, they cease to give thought to pointing men to Him as the Savior, and devote themselves to the promotion of humanitarian Social Service based on the ethics of the Bible but excluding all doctrinal truths that lead to the re generation of the soul. They oppose revivals. The writer has known preparations for very great re vivals to be suddenly discontinued through the machination of modernists. It is difficult to understand how those who have been consciously born from above and consciously anointed to preach salvation through regeneration by the Spirit can be guilty of so great a crime against the souls of men as that of pre- v e n t i n g revivals, t h u s thwarting Evangelists, God’s specialists in soul winning, who are as truly His “ gifts” to the church as are “ pastors and teach ers.” The explanation is to be found in the fact that Modernists are not only “ deceiving,” they are “ being deceived.” They cannot consistently promote re vivals. They are at times placed un der what must be to them the embarass- ing and painful necessity of “ keeping up with the (evangelical) procession,” by making themselves seem to be further ing revivals, even sitting on the speak ers’ platform and preaching from it: When, according to their teaching in their own churches they do not believe in anything that is prayed, or sung or said by the evangelist in charge or by his colaborers. They substitute for the gospel of grace “ another gospel” which is not another, viz, the gospel of works. Eph. 2, 8: “ For by grace are ye saved through faith—-not of works, lest any man should boast. Theirs is the offering of Cain. “Now
Cain was a tiller of the ground— Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord.” It was a blood less offering of the fruit of his own la- bors. It did not symbolize the atone ment as did Abel’s. God regarded as so important the truth, “Without the shedding of blood there is no remission,” that He taught it daily for hundreds of years in a na tional object-lesson to Israel and to all the world through that nation. They are blinded by vainglory. They labor under the strange delusion, de spite the ten thousands of evidences to the contrary all about them, that only the mentally weak, the unscholarly, the uninformed believe, in these days of en lightenment, in the God of the Bible and in its plenary inspiration. The spirit of vain-glory is upon them, and since the spirit of vain-glory is the spirit of fanaticism, they are in fanaticism. They have not so much that form of it which cries, “ I am holier than thou,” as that equally virulent type that insists “ I am wiser than thou.” The Sunday School Times has lately published an article written by a Univer sity Graduate and entitled “Was My Uni versity Pagan?” In this article the following passages occur: “ For that night we were to have a special treat in the form of an informal heart to heart conference with one of the popular professors in the English de partment of the college. One of his first remarks was, ‘A man with a first- rate mind, when he enters college will be ready to say, “There is no God.’ And he added, ‘The idea of the Bible as an inspired book was definitely abandoned by all intelligent men fifty years ago.’ ” We see that in his estimation he was a man “ of a first-rate mind.” The following is a well authenticated quotation from a minister who rated himself as “ a worth-while preacher” :— “ I no longer preach acceptance of the Bible. I do not preach the heaven or
738 hell of the Bible, and I do not know any worth while preachers who do.” Wm. E. Gladstone said that he had known sixty great intellects during his lifetime, and that all but six of the men who possessed them were firm believers in, the Bible. The author of the para graph above evidently classified him self as “ worth-while,” but Gladstone was not! Neither were the fifty-four men of great intellects he had known! And Paul was not worth while, nor Luther, nor Knox, nor Wesley, nor Adoniram Judson, nor Charles Finney, nor H. Clay Trumbull, nor A. T. Pier son, nor Andrew Murray, nor Dwight Moody, nor Wilbur Chapman! And there are intellectual and spiri tual giants in Evangelical ranks in these days of 1920— hundreds of them— in our pulpits that have not been invaded by modernism, in our great Bible schools and on our Bible-conference platforms. We refrain from naming them only be cause merely an approach to an adequate list would of itself fill a volume. The Evangelical Creed The Evangelical Church Basis or Creed is held in common by all Evangel ical Denominations, Baptist, Methodist, Episcopalian, Presbyterian, Orthodox Congregational, Disciples and others. It consists of six great fundamental Bible truths, as follows: (1) the deity of Jesus, (2) the deity of the Holy Spirit, (3) the efficacy of the death of Christ as an atonement for sin, (4) the necessity for the regeneration of the sinner, (5) the actual resurrection of the body of Jesus, (6) the verbal inspiration of (the original manuscripts of) the scriptures,, generally expressed in the formula, “ we maintain the Holy Scriptures to be the only infallible rule of faith and prac tice.” Evangelicals or Conservatives are Christians who avow their faith in the Evangelical Church Basis, and who in accordance with Scriptural require ments commit themselves to the defense
THE K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
and proclamation of these fundamentals, and therefore of all the Bible, since the “ inspiration of the Scriptures” includes its every book and chapter. It is true, therefore, that if any mem ber of an evangelical church preaches or teaches anything contrary to the Evan gelical church basis, he classifies him self in the judgment of the spiritually discerning in his community as a man who professes one thing and lives an other. The Battle Field Scriptural Truth, being of heavenly origin and authorship, is on a plane so far above that of secular truth that it is on a mountain range lifted above the low level of all attainable earthly knowl edge; but the necessity for the New Birth a3 the condition of entrance into the safety and happiness of eternal life with God is as a peak rising from the crest of the range to the very heavens; for of all truths in all the universe this is, to man, the most important. The other five fundamentals of the Evangelical Church Basis are as it were, five pillars on which this, to man, su preme truth, rests. Without any one of the five, it were an impossibility. To render this peak truth ineffectual, by pulling away the pillars it rests upon, is the final aim of the great enemy of human souls. It is around this truth, therefore, that the war is raging; here is our battle field, though attacks may seem to be made only on the authorship of the Penateuch or of Isaiah or John, or on certain Chapters of Genesis or Luke. Evangelicals have many difficulties to overcome. Modernists have gained both numbers and ground. But our sky is not wholly overcast. We see blue enough for more than one sailor’s coat. Up to this time and especially in the half century just past, Modernists have been bold, aggressive, successful. They have captured many of our pulpits, our
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739
schools, colleges and universities for both young men and young women, our church papers and magazines, much of our Sunday School literature; and in part some of our great organizations that are the children of the evangelical Church of Christ; and above all many — perhaps the majority— of our theo logical seminaries. But as to our depleted numbers, God is on the side of those who honor His word. And He works, not only “ by many” but also “ by few,” by a nation or a remnant of a nation. And all through the ages his blessing has been poured in mighty power upon remnants of churches that dared to stand for the whole truth. Moreover, there are seven times seven thousand in his Israel of today who have not bowed the knee to the Baal Modern ism. Thousands of Evangelicals are Paci fists when they should be warriors; they are forgetting God’s order, “ First pure, then peaceable” ; forgetting that “ there is a time to every purpose” ; that while there is a time for peace in the service of Christ, there is also a time for war; that the sword must often make the pruning hook possible. Was not this what Jesus the Prince of Peace meant when he said to his disciples, “ I came not to bring peace on earth, but a sword?” There are many hundreds of pacifists in evangelical ranks. So there were in America, but when actual conditions were made known, thousands of them became warriors in a day. Our enemies are within our lines. “ Even modern warfare, with all its de vices for the destruction of an army has been able to hit upon nothing more eftectlve than to get an army within the camp. No men were able in our late war to do England injury as those men who dwelt within her borders, even join ing her army, wearing her uniform, but
secretly communicating with, and aiding her enemies.” More Blue in Our Sky We’ve had a Belgian band in the trenches all these years of the encroach ments of Modernism. They with others already constitute a little army in which any Evangelical can enlist. Our South-land has not been swept by the tornado ‘winds of false doctrine’ as have the North and East, and the far West. There are intellectual and doc trinal giants in this section also. And we’ve been mobilizing. Bible Schools and Bible Conferences, evange lical to the heart, have been dotting our country for thirty years. And now “ there is the sound of a go ing in the tops of the mulberry trees.” (2 Sam. 5, 24). The Evangelicals of . the Young Wo men’s Christian Association of England have separated from the Modernists of their organization. Here was but a slender mulberry tree, one bough, let us say, but there’s “ the sound of a going” in it. A World Conference on Fundamentals was held in Philadelphia in the May of 1919. And since then under the auspices of the World Conference Committee 100 conferences on Fundamentals have been held in larger or smaller cities. Surely there's “ The sound of a going” here! In the song of Deborah and Barak there were mentioned, along with tribes and governors and princes, "they that handle the pen of the writer.” In Phila delphia was formed a Committee on the Correlation of Religious Magazines and Periodicals, whose purpose is to resist the tides of Modernism that are flowing through the columns of our avowedly Evangelical Church organs. And to many who are eagerly asking for further information about our doc trinal conditions, we can now reply, “ You can find what you want in “Meth odism Adrift,” by Dr. L. W. Munhall,
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their work and to translate these works into the vernacular. I had no knowl edge of “ Pastor” Russell. I read Mr. Pike’s article in The King’s Business. It gave me a good view of the author and saved me from falling into this man’s trap. So you may see that this maga zine is surely a great book, especially for me. I hope you can keep sending it to me.” And yet some people say— “ Let the isms alone.” This is only one of many instances we might relate to show that it pays to warn men against that which is false. . m THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH CHART Letters continue to pour in telling of the good being accomplished through the comparative chart, “ The Spirit of Truth,” showing the teachings of the modern isms as compared with God’s Word. The chart was originally pub lished by the Bible Institute and is now being propagated by the Christian Fun damentals League. The League has recently issued 100,000 more copies, and through its branches in foreign countries is circulating many thousands more. Their Australia branch write that they are just issuing 50,000 and the Canada branch is issuing a like amount. Both of these branches have already used up several editions. If you are honeycombed in your town with the propaganda of false cults, you can make no better investment than to pur chase a supply of these charts and give them house to house circulation to warn the people. H M LEMON AID Someone has given us a new definition of Optimism. “ A man who can sit in the quiet of his room at evening and make a nice cool beverage from all the lemons that have been handed him dur ing the day— he is an optimist.”
in ‘The Menace of Modernism,’ by Dr. W. B. Riley, and in ‘Modern Conflict Over the Bible,’ and ‘Thé Crisis in the Church and College,’ by G. W. McPher son.” Surely there’s “ the sound of a going in the tops of the Mulberry trees!” BE UP AND DOING The habit of procrastination has a hardening effect on the will. Conse quently very, very few octogenarians get the consent of their will to be saved. The following table by J. R. Mott is a reliable estimate of the ages at which souls accept Christ as their Saviour: Out of one thousand persons, 548 are saved before twenty years of age. 337 are saved between twenty and thirty years. 96 are saved between thirty and forty. 15 are saved between forty and fifty. 3 are saved between fifty and sixty. 1 is saved between sixty and ninety. It may mean a small matter to you to speak one word for Christ that wins a needy soul, but it means everything to Jesus.—Alliance Weekly. Mj» Mp t e l l t a l e f ig u r e s The smallest annual increase in Pro testant church membership in the United States is recorded for 1919 in statistics compiled by Dr. H. K. Carroll and made public by the Christian Herald. The in crease for 1919 was only 56,000, as compared with the average increase for the ten years previous of 771,947. WAS IT A GOOD INVESTMENT? Someone sent us money to send The King’s Business to some missionary. We sent the magazine to a man in India. He received one copy and here is the result. He says: “ Two months ago an unknown friend sent me Russell’s books on the Divine Plan of the Ages, asking me to join in
Four Fundamental Errors
Refuted by Genesis
A Selection From ‘ ‘The Bible and World Government,” a Recent Book o f Great Worth
By WILLIAM M. SMITH first three He sent sinners there. You will see that
NOTICE that the chapters of Genesis refute four popular modern errors. First, TJnitarianism. It has already been shown that the very name of God in the
the pantheist is necessarily a no-hellite. Another modern error exploded by the statements of these first chapters is Christian Science. The first chapter of Genesis refutes one of the fundamental teachings of that misnamed error. I had my first battle with Christian Science almost without knowing it and won by being fortified with the first chapter of Genesis. A woman ap proached me and, after talking religious ly, asked, “ Did you ever study Christian Science?” I told her I never had. She • said, “ Christian Science teaches thai, matter is evil and mind, is good, and that mind triumphs over matter.” I responded, “ Does the Bible mean mind or matter when it says in Genesis, ‘And God saw all that He had made, and, be hold, it was very good!’ ” There was no further argument. I then learned one great lesson, not to study systems of error to meet them-, but to be familiar with the Bible, and the Holy Ghost will bring to remembrance what, you need to meet the error. But. there is . another popular error that is exploded by the Bible. We have heard much about evolution: that life has moved upward from lower vegetable forms to higher ones, until it became semi-animal, and finally animal; then from lower animal forms it evolved the higher animal forms, and, eventually, man. In this first chapter of Genesis it is stated ten times, of the different kinds of plants and animals, that they brought forth after their kind. That is, if you plant wheat you get wheat, and you will keep on getting wheat as long as you plant wheat; it brings forth after '
original, Elohim, used thirty-five times in the first thirty-four verses, is plural; and the pronoun “ us” shows that the God of the Bible is not arter the Uni tarian conception. The object of the Unitarian error is to rob Jesus Christ, the Son of God, of His Deity. The Holy Ghost foresaw this attempt and inspired Moses to write these chapters in such a way that the erroif woulcj be refuted in advance. The next popular teaching we will mention as being refuted by these chap ters is Pantheism. That, as the deriva tion of the word plainly shows, is sim ply the belief that God is everywhere, God is in. everything, and everything is God. It confuses God and nature. There are beople who say they see God in the stars, in the grass, in the flowers, and claim to have something of God in them selves, but they are strangers to the true God. The God of the Bible is prior to the stars and flowers, prior to the zephyrs and summer breezes. He has something to do with them all, but He existed before any of these things did; so He cannot be them, and they cannot be Him. The way this error is now generally propagated is under the term, “ the divine immanence.” . Now, there is a truth about God being everywhere that is Scriptural, but it is not true to the extent that God is in everybody, con verted. or unconverted. If He were He would send part of Himself to hell when
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