April 1925
T H E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
161
SEAMEN’S DEPARTMENT C laude H. P earson, Supt.— O ur w orkers b oard all vessels in th e port, of San Pedro, holding Gospel Services an d D istrib u tin g L iteratu re.
It is th e same resu lt th a t the govern m ent sought, when through the Y. M. C. A. meetings and services they endeavored to engender a sp irit th a t would spell victory. “A closer sp irit of loyalty and co-op- • erafion has been brought about, sim ply' th rough a practical application of the Gospel message. Men have been transform ed, who heretofore were elim inating themselves from the ser vices, “To illu strate, let us tell you of one fellow. Endeavoring to influence him to come into the meetings, one day we were politely told th a t he had no use for preachers, religion or govern ment. Being used t o . such ta lk in many quarters, we w ent on to th e ser vice leaving him to ra il against what he would. “A few weeks later, he was reported sick. A visit was made to his home, and th ere, we found he did enjoy preachers, a t least when he was sick. O ther visits were made, and then he retu rn ed to th e shops. Into th e ser vices he came, and today he is one of our most loyal supporters. His whole a ttitu d e has changed, simply enough, for he has found th a t religion afte r all is practical, for it solves personal problem s.” Bear in mind if you will th a t th is is only one phase of th e work for which we can praise God and go for ward. as» WORK AMONG THE JEWS Jam es A. V aus, Supt.— Bible classes an d P e r sonal W ork, S treet M eetings an d Sem i m onthly M ass M eetings fo r Jew s of Los Angeles. H JEW ISH RABBI recently accepted th e invitation of a certain m inister to address his congregation on th e sub ject of “A L iberal Jew ’s A tti tude Toward Jesu s.” This address, which was heard by a Hebrew -Christian worker, consisted for the most p a rt of a glowing eulogy of the hum anity of Jesus Christ. The Rabbi paid marked trib u te to Jesus Christ as P rophet and Teacher, and acknowledged th a t a t times he almost felt like worshipping the “ nam e” of Jesus. He expressed him self as having the highest regard for th e m an who tau g h t such tolerance as did Jesus. May I stop long enough a t th is point •to p ro test against a practice, seem ingly growing more common among the churches, of inviting Jewish Rab bis to speak from Christian pulpits? M inisters and congregations 1 should not let th e novelty of a Jew ish Rabbi preaching from a Christian pulpit, and his flattering trib u tes to th e “ hum an ness” of Jesus, blind th e ir eyes to the fact th a t in such an address the Lord Jesu s Christ is not exalted, but debased to the level of merely “ a good m an.’’ To th e Hebrew -Christian worker, who heard th e Rabbi’s address, th ere seemed to be an underlying note of yearning in th e Rabbi’s voice as he spoke of his a ttitu d e toward Christ, and so arrangem ents were made to
have the w riter visit and if possible interview the Rabbi on his personal relationship to God. When the worker and the w riter presented themselves a t the door of th e Rabbi’s home one evening and asked for a few m inutes of his tim e in which to discuss w ith him the above- mentioned address, the coveted in te r view was readily granted. We were informed th a t he had fre quently given sim ilar addresses in other Churches, one of which had charged adm ission to hear his mes sage. A series of questions was asked and frank ly answered concerning the Rabbi’s opinion of Jesus Christ. When it was pointed out to him th a t it was not consistent to hold th a t Jesus Christ was “a good m an ” and y et to deny His claims of Messiahship and Deity, he ra th e r abruptly began to speak of other things. So frequently did he m eet our proofs of the Deity of Christ w ith the oft-repeated assertion th a t the “SCHOLARS and SCIEN TISTS are all practically agreed th a t Jesus Christ was not Divine” th a t we felt obliged to rem ind him th a t the scholars and scientists of the world were n o t all linèd up on one side of this issue. When we fortified our statem ents w ith the names of some of the leading scientists of the world who have believed in th e Deity of Christ he again changed the immediate topic of discussion. We were not a little amused as well as pleased when w ith g reat emphasis he laid down to “my dear Mr. Vaus” a hard and fast proposition, which was to th e effect th a t— “we should not read into the Scriptures oiir own ideas, but should ra th e r read ou t of the Scripture its own ideas.” To th is we readily agreed, and afterw ard when in the m idst of a ra th e r intense debate on Isa. 53, in which th e Rabbi claimed th a t th e “Sufferer th ere was the Jew ish N ation” we rem inded him (and this tim e we used th e emphasis) th a t we were “ not to read in to the Scrip tu res our ideas bu t ra th e r to read ou t of the Scripture its ideas.” During all th e discussion th a t fol lowed, which occupied about two hours, the Rabbi had neglected a number of guests who, dressed in Chinese costumes, were (upon our entrance) about to begin to play “Mah Jongh.” In spite of the unavoidable clash of conflicting opinions th e impression persisted th a t down underneath the surface in th e h ea rt of th is Jewish Rabbi— perhaps unrecognized by him self— th ere was a yearning to know the T ruth. The whole discussion, though of a very intense natu re, was carried on in the most kindly manner, and upon our leaving, th e Rabbi shook hands very warm ly, and seemed sincerely desirous of having ano th er interview in which to finish our conversation. Much prayer has been going up to God on behalf of th is man, and we urgently request our read ers to join w ith us in prayer for his salvation.
UR Lord Jesus, while present here in th e flesh,- would quite often teach lessons by contrasts, i.e., b e t w e e n righteousness and u n rig h t
eousness, between love and hate, between rig h t and wrongs profession and possession, blasphemy and praise. We as His followers do not need to ^search for such illu stration s today, for they are quite marked among us. Visiting an oil ta n k er recently, we were hardly on board when invited by the steward into one of th e mess rooms w ith ano th er lad. Ju st outside th e room on the deck some men were chipping paint, and above th e noise from th e ir hamm ers we could hear an officer of th e vessel blasphem ing God as a means of hurry ing the workers. In the room, two men were listening atten tiv ely to God’s P lan of Salvation for men from the Book of Life. A fter the plan was clearly seen, they recog nized th e ir need and gladly accepted God’s provision for th a t need. Leav ing th e room we offered th a t very officer a Gospel, calendar, K ing’s Business, and a few tracts, b u t he indignantly refused them . Why? Many excuses m ight be advanced, b u t th ere is only one reason (2 Cor. 4: 3-4): “If ou r G ospel be hid, it is hid to them th a t are lo st; in whom th e god of th is age h a th blinded th e m inds of them w hich believe not, lest th e lig h t of the glorious gospel of C hrist, who is th e im age of God, should shine u n to them .” (John 3 :1 9 ): “L ig h t is com e into th e w orld, an d men loved d arkness ra th e r th a n light, because th e ir deeds w ere evil.’* A large passenger boat from Europe stopped a few hours. Men in some of the rooms were talking, reading, gambling, and occupying the tim e in o ther ways. Entering we sit down and explain our business, offer our •literature and request perm ission to speak. Though sometimes we And men blasphem ing God, some gambling, others occupied w ith things which dis please us and wound the h ea rt of our Master, we always try to remember it is th e ir home. We are th e ir guests, and though we know we have the greatest message men ever heard, we respect th e ir position, and unless they give us opportunity to speak, we quietly leave our lite ra tu re and go on. These men were very polite and said, “ Go ahead. We would like to h ear it, as we have so much of the opposite.” / P raising God in our h eart for th e opportunity we give an expo sition of John 3, making application to the sailors’ life and pressing home the need of personal decision. Then we request questions, assuring the men we are no t present for argum ent but to help any one seeking light. Their questions answered, we make another appeal for immediate deci sion, say good-bye and leave th e rest w ith Him. We know it is “ not by m ight nor by power, bu t by His S pirit.” (Continued on page 171)
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