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January, 1937
T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
Sunday-school and Christian Endeavor, and I assisted in their meetings by preaching at regular appointments. “ M r. A . fell heir to about $2,400.00. He at once resur rected his lifetime dream of being a missionary in Africa, gathered all of his belongings together, took his wife and family with him into the heart of Africa. The ship on which they took passage burned at sea destroying every thing which they had gathered for health and comfort in Africa. They continued the journey, having no medical supplies and no mosquito netting, so much needed in that region. The burning of the ship at sea they regarded as the work of the devil endeavoring to frustrate their purpose. “ The people of my congregation helped him substan tially, at the same time strongly urging him against going, and especially against taking his helpless family (the young est being nearly four years of. age and his wife being almost an invalid). But he said that he would rather rear his children in dark Africa than in heathen America. Our doctors, good Christian men, acquainted him with the dangers of tropical diseases especially to one ignorant of health measures and not well equipped to fight them. W e urged him to go out under some- denominational board, but he persisted that church boards were modernistic and therefore he preferred to work alone. “ What happened in Africa? Mrs. A. died of black water fever. Mr. A. is now sick with dysentery. The four [ Continued on page 14] Secretary Countries F ROM every section of the Union, from Canada, and from several foreign countries, letters come to the Bible Institute of Los Angeles from grateful members of Biola’s World-W ide Prayer Circle. Here is one from Denmark: “ Personally, I feel more than ever the need of con stant intercession, and it is my desire to give more of my time to prayer. Joyfully I pray for the Bible Institute of Los Angeles. Its material need has in this way become a spiritual blessing to me. Let us encourage one another to pray, so that we may build a wall of prayer about the Bible Institute as Nehemiah encouraged the people to build the wall in his day.” As the new year dawns, the Bible Institute of Los An geles counts among its most valued possessions the loyalty of thousands of Christians who have covenanted— as did the friend in Denmark— to pray at least one hour a week for Biola. By their intercession, these friends are building an impregnable “ wall of prayer.” W ill Y O U join the “ builders” ? If you will send a postal card to the Secretary, Miss Christina J. Braskamp, 558 South Hope Street, Los Angeles, Calif., saying sim ply, “ I should like to join the Biola Prayer Circle,” in formation will be sent to you which will lead to rich spiritual blessing in your own life. Miss Braskamp and other Christian friends will be glad also to join you in prayer for any requests which you may care to write. Biola's World-Wide Prayer Circle Building a Wall o f Prayer Biola Prayer Helpers Represent 42 States of the Union, Canada, and Foreign Christina J. Braskamp,
apostles would not be acceptable preachers in a “ stream lined revival.” Jonathan Edwards, Charles Finney, and all others who have been used of the Holy Spirit to bring people under deep, pungent conviction of sin would have been considered “ queer” and persona non grata by the Federal Council of Churches. “ Streamlined revivals” remind one of Proverbs 14:12: “ There is a way which seemeth right unto a man; but the end thereof are the ways of death.” Soft-spoken preachers who say, “ You must, repent as it were, and be converted in a measure, pr you will be damned to some extent,” will never get a sinner under conviction. The only kind of preaching that will bring souls to Christ is a positive, dynamic preaching on the exceeding sinfulness of sin and the lost condition of man apart from Christ, on the absolute necessity of a supernatural experience of the new birth in order to escape hell and get to heaven, and that it is only through the shed blood of Christ that man can be saved. What we need is not a superficial, soulish, man-made “ streamlined revival,” but an old-fashioned, heaven-sent, prayed-down, Holy Ghost revival that will stir Christians to pray, sacrifice, and work for the salvation of the lost. God give us a genuine revival! Jeremiah did not say: “ Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for a ‘streamlined revival,’ ” but Jeremiah did say : “ Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls” (Jer. 6 :16 ). That is what God said, but the modernists said: “ W e will not walk therein.” Let us seek the old paths and walk in the good way! Faith and Faith occupies a prominent place in the Presumption Word of God. Christ emphasized the importance of faith. He prayed that Pe ter’s faith would not fail. That is His prayer for us today as He functions as High Priest at the right hand of the Father. W e break down in the realm of faith before we break down in any other realm. It was the Lord who said: “ Have faith in God” (Mk . 11:22), or, as Hudson Taylor translates it: “ Reckon on God’s faithfulness.” Satan is the author of skepticism and doubt. When he fails in undermining and shaking the faith of a child of God, he seeks to push that individual into presumption. The road that leads to glory is a narrow one and there are ditches on either side into which the adversary seeks to shove us. On the one side is the ditch of modernism, on the other, the ditch of fanaticism. W e have need of being well-balanced, possessing a sense of proportion in these critical days. One of our primary needs is to possess and use some sanctified common sense. The occasion for this homily is found in a letter received from a pastor whose heart is stirred because an earnest, sincere Christian has been misguided. W e insert the letter, eliminating the names of those who are involved: “ Perhaps you will be interested in the case of M r. A. I have such strong feelings concerning the subject that it is difficult to trust myself to write the facts without inject ing my own emotions. These are the' facts as I have them. “ M r. A. and his wife and four children lived in L. City and were true home missionaries. Their work was that of organizing country Sunday-schools and doing mis sionary work in out-of-the-way communities. Their lives were truly blessed. Although they professed to believe that the organized church on earth was ‘rotten’ to the core, and preferred to work independently rather than affiliate with it, our church worked with them and gave them every assistance. I baptized their children, teaching them in
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