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T h e K i n g ’ s B u s i n e s s
October 1932
HE ^Jave ç^jijis
By ROY TALMAGE BRUMBAUGH Tacoma, Wash".’
F irst P resbyterian C hurch , D r . B rumbaugh , P astor .
V?# od so loved the world, that he gave his only begot ten Son.” The “ only begotten Son” is the Unspeakable Gift. Shall not the Father, with Christ, freely give us all things ? The Unspeakable Gift gave gifts to the church. He gave gifts after He had risen, the Victor over death and the grave. “ When he ascended up on high, he led captivity [a host of captives] captive, and gave gifts unto men.” He gave gifts in order that the church might carry out its twofold program. T he W orld The church was not sent into the world to make the world better. The church was sent into the world to preach the gospel and to declare to the world that it would grow worse as the age continued. The church is not to help the world build a unique civilization. Neither is the church to make this world a paradise for unredeemed man to live in. Materially, this world is better than it ever has been. There are more comforts for the body now than ever be fore. Increase in rapid transit is prophecy fulfilled. Knowl edge is prevalent. There are nearly six million living col lege graduates in America. Education is within the reach of all in our country. Comforts multiply. Luxuries are even commonplace among the poor. The unfortunate are ministered unto by countless philanthropies. When did charity ever alleviate so much suffering ? However, speaking from the spiritual viewpoint, the world is not growing better, but worse. Men are not seek ing after God- The world does not love Jesus Christ. Man
alight from stem to stern. The passengers are eating, drinking, and making merry. A lifeboat puts put. The crew does not try to save the ship. The ship is lost. The crew does not try to paint the ship. The life-savers do not throw bouquets at passengers and crew. Neither do they say, “All is well.” The lifeboat goes out to save as many as possible out of the ship, knowing that it will soon be too late. The ship is the world. The world is going down to certain doom and destruction. The world cannot possibly be saved. .It is the duty of the church to save some of the lost out of the world, to “ rescue the perishing.” After the church has saved men out of the world, it is to. take them to shore, clothe them, feed them, and build them up so that the saved ones may themselves become: life- savers and personal evangelists. A postles In order that the program of the church might be car ried out according to divine predetermination, the trium phant, ascended Christ gave “ some, apostles ” The apostles were men chosen by our Lord. They lived with Christ. They beheld His miracles. They heard Deity speak in public address and in private conversation. Some of them saw Him die. All saw Him after His resurrection from the grave. Paul was an apostle. He saw the risen Lord on the way to Damascus, not with the eye of faith, but with the physical eye. Christ showed Himself unto, the apostles alive after His death, “ by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days.” They testified concerning things which they had heard, seen with their eyes, looked upon, and which their hands had handled of the Word of life. The church was to be built upon the foundation of the apostles, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief Corner Stone. The apostles had no successors. When they died, their work was done. Those who claim to be successors to the apostles to day are pious frauds. False apostles appeared before Tohn died (Rev. 2 :3 ). P rophets He gave “ some, prophets.” Prophets are the mouth pieces of God. These spiritual giants are God’s spokesmen. They declare the counsel of God. God speaks to them, and they speak to the world. The predictive element was prominent in the declarations of the ancient prophets. Things which must surely come to pass were foreseen and recorded by these men as they were borne along by the Holy Spirit. However, all foretelling of the future was completed when John finished the Revelation. The canon is closed. God does not now foretell future events to any one. All that the church needs to know is found in the Word of God. Prophets are still with us in the limited sense o f telling forth the truth. Those who tell forth the truth have never
kind is not concerned primarily with spiritual things. Society does not worship God, who is Spirit, in spirit and in truth. Americans spend less on Ch ristian ity than on lesser , things. The American Educa tion Digest says that we spend yearly for autos $3,500,000,000; for to
bacco, $2,000,000,000; for candy, $1,000,000,000; for soft drinks, $750,000,000; for church, $469,000,000. Our dol lars are spent as follows: living, 24 cents; luxuries, 22 cents; waste, 14 cents; miscellaneous, cents; invest ments, 11 cents; crime, 8yZ cents; government, 4 cents; schools, 1 Yz cents; church % cent. T he C hurch ’ s M ission The mission of the church in the world is twofold. First of all, it is to call Jew and Gentile out of the world. This has been frequently illustrated in this way. We see a ship near the shore on the rocks. Each wave drives the weakened ship with greater force upon the rocks. The peo ple on board are unaware of their danger. This ship is
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