study to show thyself
approved unto God
'ft I
8I0LA COLLEGE has strong Christian andBiblical em phases and grants the Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Music, and Bachelor of Science degres. It is accredited by the Western Association ofSchools andCollegs, the Collegiate Division of the Accrediting Association f Bible Col leges, andis an associate member of theAmerican Association of Schools of Religious Education. In ad ition to the thorough academic requirements, each stu dent is required to complete at leastthirty unitsof Bible and Doctrine.Realizing that theacquisitiononly of spiritual benefits may lead to staleness, each student is required to takepart weekly in some type of Christian service.
Oneothernew and important major is in PhysicalEducation. Christian leadership in this field wil present untold opportuni ties to winyoung people to Christ. One of thenewareas of training is Biola’s Nursing program. Because we are convinced that there is a need for more qualified Christian nurses, we are preparing this coordinated program in generalcollegeeducation andnursing.
BIOLA COLLEGE
C O U P O N
Registrar Biota College
13800 Biola Avenue La Mirada, California | j Pleasesend me a catalog and any other descriptive information concerning Biola. Name ............................................... Address .................................................................... City ................................................... Zip Code ...... State ............ . ................... . ..................................... . .....................
13800 BIOLA AVENUE LA MIRADA • CALIFORNIA
T i n e K i n g s B u s i n e s s A PUBLICATION OF THE BIBLE INSTITUTE OF LOS ANGELES, INCORPORATED Louis T . Talbot, Chancellor • S. H. Sutherland, President • Ray A. Myers, Board Chairman JUNE, in the year of our Lord Vol. 56, No. 6 Nineteen Hundred and Sixty-five Established 1910 Dedicated to the spiritual development of the Christian home Mu DECISION IS N O T CONVERSION — Alan Redpath ............................ 12 CHRISTIANS BEWARE! — Vanee Havner .......................................... 14 CAN AN INTELLIGENT PERSON BELIEVE TH E BIBLE? Part 3 — Louis T . Talbot ......................................................... 15 MORALITY — OLD AND NEW .............................................................. 18 MUSINGS OF A CHURCH CUSTODIAN ............................................... 19 LINKED LIVES — R. G. Lee ................................................................... 20 TH E HEART OF A CHILD — Sue Palmer ............................................. 31 MISSIONARY PRODUCT — Dorothy C. Haskins ................................ 32 HOW TO STOP SMOKING — Bob Watters .......................................... 44 Feote GUEST EDITORIAL — Roger D. Congdon ........................................... 6 DR. TALBO T'S QUESTION BOX — Louis T . Talbot .......................... 35 TALK ING IT OVER — Clyde M. Narramore ...................................... 36 BOOK REVIEWS — Arnold D. Ehlert ....................................................... 40 SCIENCE AND TH E BIBLE — Bolton Davidheiser ............................... 42 JUNIOR KING'S BUSINESS — Martha S. Hooker ............................ 46 Colotiuu PEOPLE IN TH E NEWS ............................................................................. 8 READER REACTION ...................................................................................... 9 QUESTIONS PEOPLE DARE ASK MERV ROSELL ................................. 11 PERSONAL EVANGELISM — Benjamin Weiss ....................................... 37 PRESENTING TH E MESSAGE ................................................................... 38 UNDER TH E PARSONAGE ROOF — Althea S. Miller ......................... 39 CULTS CRITIQUE — Betty Bruchert ....................................................... 43
REMEMBER NOW THY CREATOR IN THE DAYS OF THY YOUTH —Ecclesiastes 12.1
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There is no book of guidance, no textbook for the young, that can equal the Great Textbook of the Ages — the Book that gives us rules for living that will never be superseded, that will never pass away. There are no Bibles made with more care and skill than the Bibles made in Cambridge, where the printingof Bibles has been a responsibility of fine craftsmen since the sixteenth century.
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JUNE, 1965
WOMB
WIOEPICIOMS
Filmed against the backdrop of the
Los Angeles Crusade
amottún pictute that telís *$he wárid the truth
Watch for announcement in your area
Now Leasing to F U N D A M E N T A L C H U R C H GROUPS By the Day or W eek VERDUGO PINES BIBLE CAMP Near Big Pines in the Angelus National Forest 75 ft. Heated Pool — Everything Provided— Contact R. L. JONES, Resident Mgr. P.O. Box 198, Wrightwood, Calif. Telephone (714) 249-3532
COLLEGE APPLICANTS BEWARE!
Guest Editorial by Dr. Roger D. Congdon
imaginable is promulgated some
« » H I » » - and Pakistan Christian Fellowship O u r m inistry includes ORPHANAGES
E v e r y " w i n d
d o c t r i n e ”
o f
where in religious schools today. There are schools o f non-Christian religions; cults; Catholics; Protestant denominations; and there are independent Bible Col leges and Christian Colleges with varied doctrinal emphases: Arminian, Calvinist, etc. The average evangelical student will not unwittingly become enmeshed in a non-Christian religious school. Some, however, will be rudely awakened to the realization that they have matriculated in a cult school. More will find themselves in a denominational college not representing their own belief. A large number o f dis illusioned evangelical students will be found attending liberal schools o f their own denomination. There are many who matri culate without discernment in Bible colleges, only to find the instruction countering their assured beliefs. It is not always the fault o f the youth, his parents, pastor, or advisor. Some schools hide their peculiar tenets. This is unfortunate and unethical but it must be recognized as a fact. There are sev eral reasons why this is done. Sometimes school administrators fear that they would lose contributions from evangelical churches and believers if the truth were known. Sometimes school officials are so intent on favorable figures that they "compass land and sea” to enlarge enrollment, and a natural consequence o f this attitude is the hiding o f elements which might turn potential patrons away. A school which teaches the Christian ethics effectively will practice it, and will make an honest, straightforward, unequivo cal statement o f affiliations and doctrinal emphases. Misfits are often the result o f superficial examination o f the clear expressions o f school publicity, by prospective students, or by failure to obtain the descriptive information which is available. Schools legitimately advertise to attract. There is a colorful brochure, the thrilling fifteen-minute radio musical, the full-page TH E KING'S BUSINESS
Member I.F.M.A. Write for Free literature 107-K N. Hale Street, Wheaton, III. 60187
Ä RUSHING TO RUSSIANS
with the Gospel for 31 years. We need financial help to continue operating our Russian Bible Insti tute in S.A. — only one in the world. Write us for FREE Gospel News magazine. Send donations to: | SLAVIC GO SPEL ASSO CIATIO N Petar D eyneka, G eneral D ire cto r | Dept. K, 2434N. Kedzie Blvd., Chicago, III. 60647^
YOU ARE IN DEBT — to the Jews of New York Did yon know there are more Jews in Greater New York than in all die state of Israel? And that it is easier to win them for Christ here?
For almost % of a century, this Mission has proclaimed the Gospel on Manhattan’s fabled East Side. Ministries: Mission services; open-air meetings; hospital and home visitation; Scripture distribu tion; family counseling and aid.
Have you discharged your obligation to give the Gospel “to the Jew first”? (Read Rom. 1:14-16). FREE COPY. Write for free copy of Ruth Angel’s “How to Point a Jew to Christ.” • Rev. David J. Fant, Litt.D., Pres. Ruth Angel, Gen'l Director • New York Gospel Mission To The Jews, Inc. Dept. K 149 Avenoe B. New York, N. Y. 10009 6
ad on the back cover o f a magazine, the traveling choir or en semble. It is good that schools make themselves known to the whole o f a potential clientele. However, these eye-catchers are not intended to be the total basis o f school choice. The note accompanying these broad appeals— "Send for catalog and de scriptive literature”— is intended to be taken seriously. It is the more detailed literature which should produce the ultimate deci sion to apply or not to apply. Another form o f carelessness is seen in the student who chooses a school because his parents, his pastor, or some great person o f a past generation attended. Like any other human organization, schools change. Some times they slide imperceptively. Sometimes they radically revise. Sometimes they grow gradually. Sometimes they abruptly erupt. Often they change for the better. However, when changes in doctrinal foundations are made, it seems the shift is usually for the worse. The story o f the grieving parents who entrusted their apostatized daughter to their modernized Alma Mater is pro verbial. The story has recurred too often in life to be taken lightly. Any college worthy o f the name will seek to excel scholas tically. Christian colleges should attain highest instructional qual ity. However, an evangelical school which begins to seek erudi tion for erudition’s sake, or which seeks status in the councils o f the ungodly, or compromises or hides its testimony for the sake o f reputation, may be already on the broad road to denial o f the faith. An alert, dedicated student will observe and choose a school which excels in knowing Jesus Christ, and in preparing graduates to make Him known. Bible colleges do not consider their campuses to be mission fields. Certainly indoctrination is in order, and a school which does not stand up for stated beliefs is not worthy o f consideration by dedicated youth. Furthermore, a faculty will normally devote its greatest consideration to persuade the students farthest from its standards o f faith. Spiritual emphasis weeks, chapel services, deans’ counseling sessions, all are means used to lead students to see eye to eye with the position and purpose o f the school. When a student is intractable, and greater pressures prove him unmalleable as well, it is a grief to the faculty and the student. Schools do not like misfits. Each misfit is a potential nucleus o f a pocket o f complainers. Each misfit introduces a foreign ele ment which decreases the ability o f the school to produce a unified impact on student body, and through it, on the world. Each misfit is a potential drop-out. Schools do not like drop-outs. Each drop out is a potential anti-ad. He is a token o f a failure o f the school to accomplish its purpose. Students do not like to be misfits either. They are unhappy and they are not getting the education for which they paid. If they drop out, they will have lost time, credit hours, and money. High school seniors should obtain the latest catalogs o f schools under consideration. (Continued on page 10)
. . . a GENEROUS, UNCHANGING INCOME with a Moody Survivorship Annuityl With a Moody Survivorship Annuity you can relax . . . confident that as long as you live there will be regular, generous dividends . . . and that when you go to be with the Lord, your surviving loved one will continue to receive the same unchanging income from this investment. We live in a changing world. Returns from securities and other investments fluc tuate, but not Moody Survivorship Annui ties. Payments are always constant, assured, for you and your survivor. This has been true for more than a half century . . . the Institute has paid all returns, and on time. Annuities are not subject to legal controversies—another guarantee that they will be paid in full—and without the delay so often experienced in the adminis tration o f estates. . . . and you get "Double Dividends" The gift-investment story does not end here! While your dollars are assuring you and yours a generous income, they will also be invested in the gospel ministry of the Moody Bible Institute. They will be used to train missionaries, pastors and other Christian workers tuition free! They will also be used in the Institute’s many soul-winning minis tries, including gospel-science films, radio and worldwide distribution o f gospel litera ture. You will have a share in all o f these— that’s why we say a Moody Annuity pays “Double Dividends.” Write for free booklet giving the complete details. MOODY BIBLE INSTITUTE 820 N. LaSalle Street * Chicago, Illinois 60610 Please send me, without obligation: Q double dividends , story of Moody Annuity Plan; □ folder, w h e r e th ere ' s a w il l , relating to stewardship. Name ___________________________ Age _________ Address _________________________________ City ______________ State _______ Zip Code _____ Moody Annuities are Safe, Sound and Satisfying! C L IP A N D M A IL BELOW T O D A Y ! WRITE: Annuity Department Dept 6K5
JUNE, 1965
7
Fo r Y o u r S in g in g P lea su re YOUTHSINGS SATB A collection of 15 original com positions. arrangements, and edi tions especially designed for high school-aged and youth choirs. Voice parts in these selections have been carefully limited to the compass of the adolescent voice; yet the ranges are also comfort able for many adult groups. Some titles include From Nazareth the Lord Hath Come, Philip Young; O God of Beauty, Claude L. Bass; and Once to Every Man and Na tion, arranged by Walter Ehret. 64 pages. $1.25 THEEVANGELISTIC CHOIR Twenty-three easy selections es pecially suited for use in evange listic church choirs. Easy-to-learn, easy-to-perform, these numbers fit well into worship services. Titles include A ll Hail Immanuel; The Awakening Chorus; Hallelujah for the Cross; and Master, the Tempest Is Raging. 48 pages. 75< SINGING CHURCHMENNo. 2 Just the material your male quar tet has been looking for— 22 songs arranged for four-part men’s voices with the melody in the first tenor line. Selections in clude Go d, Send Us Men; I Have Come From Darkness; I'm on My Journey Home; Let A ll the World m Every Corner Sing; and Prom ised Land. 32 pages. $1.25
Wilson
Allen
Keiper
Cronk
Peop/e in th e filem
observed throughout the world. God’s people everywhere are earnestly re quested to pray especially for Gospel broadcasting on this day. Laurin J. Zorn has been appointed Sales Manager for Scripture Press Publications. In this capacity his re
Dr. Gordon L. Beck, conference direc tor for the Winona Lake Christian Assembly, has announced an out standing program for this summer season. Several of the conferences scheduled are: World Vision, July 11-18, during which the world-wide known Korean Choir will be brought to Winona; Moody Week, July 18-25, featuring Dr. David D. Allen, Dr. Ralph Keiper, Dr. Walter Wilson and others; Family Week, July 25-August 1 fea turing Dr. Gordon Beck, Dr. Malcolm Cronk, and many others. Reservations and further information is available from the Winona Lake Bible Confer ence, Box 367, Winona Lake, Indiana. Rev. Gerald L. Stover, of Souderton, Pennsylvania, has been named asso ciate publications editor of Gospel Light Publications, in which capacity he will guide the development of Bible-centered materials for use in the Sunday evening program of local churches throughout the world. He will also assist in the development of college and adult Sunday school cur riculum. Mr. Stover recently met with Gospel Light and denomina tional editors at the international headquarters of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association in Minne apolis, and has begun work on the development of the Sunday evening materials, slated to be released to churches in the near future. Two other new staff appointments at Gospel Light are: Fritz Ridenour, director of the Publicity Division and managing editor of Teach magazine, who assumes additional responsibili ties as Youth Editor; Ronald Widman, formerly minister of Christian edu cation at Christ Community Church of Canoga Park, California, who joins the staff as assistant editor of Teach magazine. Richard Wolff, executive secretary of the International Christian Broad casters, Downers Grove, Illinois, has announced the annual prayer day for World-Wide Gospel Broadcasting will be June 13. This annual day of prayer is sponsored by the ICB and
sponsibilities w i l l include dealer and d en om in a tion a l sales, c u s t o m e r service, field super vision. Mr. Z orn has w o r k e d for Scripture Press for sixteen years, and has had a wide ex perience in secular publishing as well.
Mr. Zorn
Soon after he joined Scripture Press, Mr. Zorn created, edited and pro moted the now internationally known Sunday school papers, Power and Counselor. These publications have expanded their area of ministry until today they reach well over a million readers. A collection o f
46 true s t o r i e s originally appear ing in Power have been compiled and edited by James R. Adair of Scripture Press, into a new book, God’s Power to Triumph. T h e stories were chosen for publication in
Mr. Adair book form because they demonstrate the diverse areas in which faith can heal and conquer in the twentieth century. Dr. Douglas B. MaeCorkle, president of Philadelphia College of Bible, re cently announced that for the first time in 50 years of Bible training, the school is offering a major course of study in Bible social work. The underlying purpose in presenting the new major is to train young people to know about modern social service methods for the specific purpose of helping people and winning souls to Christ as a consequence.
TH E KING'S BUSINESS
HOW CAN THE JEWknowCHRIST STIMULUS
A Jewish man heard the witness from an A. M. F. Missionary in Florida. Patiently, with an open Bible the worker focused upon the need for peace in the human heart. Then pointing out some of the 333 prophecies about the Messiah, which were fulfilled in Jesus, he turned to Isaiah 53. RESPONSE The Jewish man read of the one who was “wounded for our transgressions" . . . and by whose stripes “we are healed.” Amazed that this was not the New Testament, but his own Jewish prophet Isaiah, his preju dice was overcome. He found his own condition portrayed. Best of all he found the One upon whom the iniquity of all was laid. 365 days of the year by personal contact, by tracts, and by radio, A. M. F. missionar ies are reaching Jewish people with the message of salvation. Archie A. MacKinney, Director AMERICANMESSIANICFELLOWSHIP 7448 N. DamenAve., Chicago 45, III.
EXTRA KB'S NEEDED Recently some friends in Texas sent us some copies o f THE K ING ’S BUSI NESS. Would it be possible for us to get a subscription to the magazine through the “ Free Fund?” We work among Negroes in south Louisiana. With the help o f our young people, we distribute literature bundles in towns' within a radius o f fifty miles. We could use 100 pounds o f THE K ING ’S BUSI NESS shipped via railroad freigh t of the MOPAC -RA ILROAD . Trucks are not permitted to unload freight in this town. Aaron A. Boeker, American Sunday School Union, Elton, Louisiana E ditor ’ s N o t e : We would urge our readers who may have back copies of THE KING’S BUSINESS which they are not using, to send them to Mr. Boeker fo r purposes of distribution. It is because of the investments by our readership family that we are able to send gift subscriptions to those who are not able to purchase them or to sub scribe fo r themselves. MORE THANKS FOR FREE FUND For sometime we have been receiving your valuable magazine which we really enjoy reading. We are glad to have it in our library. It is a great help for the work which by the grace o f God is growing. Our organization, the All Kerala Christian Fellowship, stands for the evangelizing o f our mother land, India. A Bible Institute has been proposed, the building for which is now under construction. We have a refer ence and circulating library with some evangelical magazines. I f y o u will please continue to send the magazine as a missionary project to help this in digenous work, it will be great help fo r us and for the work. K. V. Cherian, Kerala, South India EDITORIALS Thank you for your fine editorial in the February K ING ’S BUSINESS. Why cannot the soldiers o f Christ truly declare war on America’s heathenism and idolatry and put the forces of Satan on the run and pray down a Spirit-filled revival in America? Scott Means, Denver, Colorado ADVERTISEMENT BRINGS RESULTS J want to thank you fo r letting a rescue mission put a classified ad in your magazine. I am now working fu ll time in this mission in Seattle. I enjoy your magazine very much. May the Lord continue to bless you in your work. Gordon Preston, Seattle, Washington
Develop your TECHNICAL TALENTS for Christ at MOODY
Are you fascinated with electronics and radio? Perhaps God is calling you to use your talents in the great commission of world-wide soul winning . . . as a Missionary Radio Technician. It is a challenging Chris tian career with a booming demand—both at home and abroad. Every year we receive more requests for men than we can fill! Moody Bible Institute is uniquely quali fied to train young men for full-time service as missionary radio technicians. Not only do you receive instruction in radio com munications and radio broadcasting from a full-time staff o f experienced instructors using modern facilities . . . but you are also guided to solid spiritual maturity through a well rounded study of the Bible and related subjects. Graduates are qualified to serve as radio engineers in missionary broadcast sta tions and as radio technicians in remote or jungle short-wave communication network systems. At the conclusion of the three-year course the student earns a regular Institute diploma (Gen eral Missionary Radio Major). During this time an FCC Commercial (2nd Class radiotelephone) and Amateur licenses are obtained. A one-year post-graduate course is offered in which the student earns an advanced radio cer tificate (Advanced Radio Major). This year is devoted entirely to specialized study of mission field broadcast and communication radio sub jects. During this time an FCC Commercial (1st Class radiotelephone) license is obtained. Will you answer this challenge ? Fill out coupon below for full Information. Do It todayI
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MOODY BIBLE INSTITUTE 8 2 0 N. LaSalle St., Chicago, III. 6 0 6 1 0 Room 6K5 Director of Missionary Technical Department □ I’d like to find out about training as a Missionary Radio Technician at Moody. □ Send me latest Moody school catalog. Paul F. Robinson
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COLLEGE APPLICANTS BEWARE! (Continued from page 7) Note the affiliation. This word should appear in the catalog index. If it does not, read the paragraph on the history of the school. In case the information is not there, write the president of the school for a clear statement concerning the denomina tional affiliation of the s c h o o l’ s founders, and of its present faculty. Then read the doctrinal statement. If it does not appear in the catalog, write for it, and in your letter ask if it is required that the faculty an nually recommit themselves to a wholehearted su bm iss ion to its tenets. Note items of importance which may be omitted as well as what is stated. Comparison of doc trinal statements from several dif ferent schools will reveal these omis sions. Observe some of the school alumni in life activity. Do not be misled by a single black sheep, however. The best schools have rare graduates who have departed from what they were taught. On the other hand, some super-enthusiastic alumni whitewash the reputation of the shabbiest of schools. The living testimony of sev eral graduates does not lie, however. The school will be known by its products. Finally, pray for specific guidance by the Holy Spirit. Pray with your pastor, parents, advisor, or friends— whoever is concerned among your acquaintances for your highest spir itual welfare. The college you attend will probably establish your pattern of thinking, stabilize faith or shake it, provide lifetime friends that will supersede childhood playmates, pre pare you for life work, probably help you find your place of service, and in many cases even lead you to your marriage mate. It behooves you to consider the matter seriously. James 1:5 may be called to serv ice many times as you face a daily study assignment, but how much more should it be considered in view of the total program: “ I f any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth not, and it shall be given him.” Dr. Congdon is president o f Preach ing Print, Inc., 8435 N.E. Glisan St., Portland 20, Oregon, and Professor of Biblical Studies, Multnomah School of the Bible.
Owatonna. Minnesota
*A College of Distinction*
★ Spacious Campus ★ Sports ★ Consecrated Faculty ★ Clubs ★ Choir Write Dr. Monroe Parker, President, for Catalog
prepare for R.N. nursing
BIOLA . . • the W est’s leading Christian college
now offers Department of Nursing ADVANTAGES
1. Diploma from lot Angel« Coonty General Hospital School of Nonhif, qualifying you for an opportunity to be I ¡coined as a registered nurse. 2. Bachelor of Science degree with a major in BMogkal Science 3. Bible-centered training through- the entire period of training.
4. Training in one of the West’s largest and most outstanding hospitals. F or deecriptive brochure or application* write BIOLA COLLEGE
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TH E KING'S BUSINESS
CHRISTIAN COUNSELING CENTER
QUESTIONS PEOPLE DARE TO ASK MERV ROSELL
A staf of eight dedicated Christian psycholo gists and professional counselors. Evaluation and therapy for personality, emotional, behavioral, spiritual, pre-marriage, marriage, parent-child, vocational, and educational problems. Feesare minimum. DR. CLYDE M. NARRAMORE, Director PHONE MU 1-5669 THE CHRISTIAN COUNSELING CENTER 35 So. Raymond Pasadena, Calif.
i
Readers are invited to send in their inquiries and personal questions for consideration on this page.
Lord Jesus Christ?” It will always disarm the person to whom you are speaking. A man answered me one day, “Well, that isn’t the question, Mr. Rosell. It’s ‘What does the Lord think about me?’ ” The response to that little key sentence is amazing. Don’t ever argue with anybody. Don’t discuss complicated issues. Be familiar with the use of this little protective th ou gh t, “ Friend, I don’t know about that, I merely want to talk about the Lord Jesus Christ.” Then, it would be well to have ready a closing statement to sum it all up. “My friend, why don’t you pray about it? God will give you the right answer.” You will be amazed at the way the Holy Spirit will bless your prayerful efforts for the glory of God. Q. “ Witnessing is for preachers. I just can’t do it. Does the Bible say anywhere that I should?” A . Yes, indeed it does. Acts 22:14, 15, “ God . . . hath chosen thee that thou shouldest know His will, and see that Just One, and shouldest hear the voice of his mouth. For thou shalt be his witness unto all men of what thou hast seen and heard.” You don’t have to preach. All you have to do is tell what has happened in your heart and life. My, if the Chris tian only feared God as much as he fears what man might think of him, great things would be accomplished for Christ. Q. “ Being reared in a Christian home, I can’t remember when I came to know Christ as my Saviour. 1 seem to have a weak spot in my testi mony since I can’t give any actual dates." A . The proof of salvation comes not from a page off the calendar, but a page out of God’s eternal Word, the Bible. Regeneration is from the heart. The fruit of the Spirit must be evident along with a life that is fully trusting in the power of Christ unto salvation. If you are truly born again, it will be shown by your every action and habit of life.
Q. “ Is it wrong to marry against parental disapproval if the prospec tive mate is a born-again Christian? My parents are both Christians, too." A . A lot of youngsters have said to me, “ Merv, what difference does it make? I’m not going to marry his parents.” Actually after 25 years of counselling, I am quite convinced that you do marry the parents. Of course, you primarily marry the one you love, but the parents will be in volved as long as you live. It will be so much better if you have married according to the convinced approval of those you love. In your heart you will want to love the parents of your intended mate. Much unhappiness and grief can come when families gather, if you have gone against parental wishes. Pray about it. Nothing is impossible with God. The Lord can change the minds of your parents and convince them that this is the right one, if he is. Q. “Do you think that there is any appropriate set age for getting mar ried?" A . No. Actually people are so dif ferent, I am quite convinced that age makes a difference only in some cases. Emotional stability, heredity, education, maturity — all of these things enter the picture. There would be less divorce in our nation if these very basic facts were taken into con sideration. Certainly the most impor tant “ cement” for any marriage is true love, based wholly upon a foun dational belief in our Lord. Q. “How does one overcome a fear of people so that he may witness to them about the Lord Jesus Christ?” A . The difficulty is that most people are so frightened that they might open their mouths and say the wrong thing. That’s why I always try to use an opening line, no matter whom I meet, regardless of that person’s walk of life. I don’t talk about the weather, hoping eventually to get around to spiritual things. Here’s the key sentence I have used through the years: “What do you think of the
*-
THE KING’S BUSINESS a perfect gift for friends
<
26 Y E A R S
O N T H E L O S l 2 éL méefostmstm CONRAD JENSEN
N G S I D E
by Deputy Inspector C. S. Jensen, N. Y. C. Police Department, Retired
M r * *
A REVEALING LOOK at the rapidly decaying morals of our society as seen firsthand by a veteran police officer. In this fascinating book the chilling re alities of life are clearly etched and the Scriptural solutions are pentratingly ap plied. PAPERBACK ED ITION 85c A COPY
To: AMERICAN TR A C T SOCIETY Oradell, New Jersey 07649
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AMERICAN TR A C T SOCIETY Oradell, New Jersey 07649
11
JUNE, 1965
utes of consciousness before he passes out. Let me hear what you would say in that two minutes.” When the moments we have to wit ness to others are so brief and fleet ing and may never be renewed, a word of testimony is perhaps all we can give. But when people open their hearts to us and really invite our help, it is important that we pierce to the very center of their need. However, this may not be easy as they may deliberately seek to con ceal it, or they may be honestly un- aware of it. It is very common in human na ture to complain about circumstances and frustration and avoid talking about personal sin. The fact is we must learn to strip away every dis guise of the real trouble. There is usually little doubt when it is found in the white light of God’s holiness, and sin becomes something of which we are conscious. It was not Jesus who talked about sin at the table of Zacchaeus, it was Zacchaeus him self—uninvited he babbled about his sin. Things hid from the world for half a lifetime poured out from his mouth. He knew that he was really wrong when he faced Christ, and men do still. Our work is almost fin ished when they have come face to face with Him. They only need our help to get their real problem ex posed. TH E KING'S BUSINESS
loves even where it cannot like. This is a gift, of course, and a gift from God. It is His indwelling Spirit given in answer to constant prayer.
1. Lire at the center yourself. Fail here, and you have nothing to give. Fail here, and if you go on talking about Jesus you will give the sweetest thing on earth and in heaven a bad name. To talk about Christ when He is plainly contra dicted by your life is a wound to His body. But live at the center, guard your periods of quiet with God and all your work is made easy; you will not constantly have to try to make contact with others, people will often make contact with you. One of the finest fruits of living near the center yourself is the uncommon discern ment you will have of other people’s need. He who tries to do people good stands knocking at the door, but he who loves finds the door open. You know yourselves how much you re sent being stalked by someone intent to do you good. Who is he anyway, you think, to imagine that he can do me any good? Perhaps I could do him some good! Ah, but you know very few people can resist genuine Chris tian love. Love people with supernat ural love, and love which does not run along lines of mere affinity, but 12 2. Don't try to do people good; love them.
3. Develop skill in making contact.
There are many ways of making contact, and doing a kindness is one of them. But as a Christian you cannot serve simply to get people to think as Christians think, and if you cannot do a kindness, you can ask one. That is how the Lord began dealing with the woman of Samaria. He did not give her a lecture on morality. He established contact by saying, “Would you mind giving me a drink?” When he met Zacchaeus He did not address him on the sin of covetousness, He invited himself to lunch. There are many ways of making contacts and skill grows with practice.
’
4. Discover the person's real need.
One of our senior chaplains in the last war submitted all those under his command to a number of gruel ing tests. One of them was that he would take his watch out of his pocket and say, “ Imagine you have a dying man here who has two min
she believed in the direct approach. I remembered that advice through the years both in my dealings with God and with others. When foolish hesitations and fears hampered my speaking to the Lord and to others, I’ve remembered that word, “ Ask Him.” So I would seek to ask God for men, and men for God. Times without number fearful souls have often admitted that they were just waiting to be asked. I dread to think how many people I have failed in that way. 9. Teach people how to be quiet with God. Listening to the Lord is still a mystery to many who claim to be in the Christian life. They think it is all a metaphor. But we need to learn how to get beyond knowing about God to knowing God personally. The secret of discipline of prayer and Bible study, which is so rich that after half a lifetime there is still much to know, is at the same time so simple that it has been given away in half an hour. Without this disci pline they will miss their way. No spiritual life worth mentioning can be maintained without much secret intercourse. The saints of every communion are one in this, for love and prayer are the keynote. The peo ple who are looking for some “new” secret of spiritual growth are quite foolish, for if it is a new secret, how can we explain the old saints? Love and prayer are the way. What words these are! Love: that means more will than feeling. Prayer: more adoration than ask ing. We can but whet the appetite of a new disciple to put him on the right road. If we do that we have done our work as a personal evange list. Few tasks to which a pastor gives himself are more rewarding than the hours spent in his study when he makes it a clinic for souls. How they come: the sinstained, the inferior, the proud, the resentful, the per verted, the obsessed, the prayerless, the selfish, the divorcee, the lonely, the unbelieving, the hypocrite. The Lord Jesus is the answer to them all. But this is no pastoral monopoly. God will aid and equip any man for this service even though the range of his usefulness will vary with the natural gift he possesses, and on which the Holy Spirit chooses to work. The privilege and challenge of personal evangelism are open to everybody, and the resources are the same for all. from M oody Church News 13
I first looked at that I read it two or three times and said, “What on earth is this all about? Who is it about?” Then I got it: it is all about William Benson. He placed the me morial as a device to get his own un important name noticed. Milton is merely the excuse—the stress falls on Benson. He had discovered a new way of blowing his own miserable trumpet. He was using the name of a Puritan poet to parade himself be fore the public eye. He got into Westminster Abbey, but not by his own distinction, for he had none, but by using the name of a very great man. 7. Avoid controversy. The devices men use to escape the challenge of Christ are legion, and argument is a common one. If they can get the conversation away from the sensitive area of their per sonal failings into theological issues, they are only too keen to do it. The profound doctrine of the Holy Trin ity is much more attractive to them than the Ten Commandments. The deity of our Lord is exhilarating to think about as far as they are con cerned, but you must keep away from controversy on occasions like this. A plain statement of your con victions on the disputed point is usually enough. The conversation can be brought again with gentle firm ness to the area where it is likely to be most effective. You must show people that Christ can deal with the particular problem of their own life. Theological controversy will be ster ile; an honest facing of personal need will lead to victory. 8. Bring people to a decision. Decision is not conversion. It is an act of the human will and not an act of God. It is not, however, to be de spised. It is a great thing to get peo ple to lay themselves open to Christ, to invite Him to come in, to ask His help and to dedicate all they have and are. An act of decision for Christ is not of itself an inflooding of God’s Spirit that may tarry awhile, but it is a great event, nevertheless, on one’s spiritual pilgrimage. Most Chris tians date their real growth in Christ from that hour. As a small boy, perhaps a little afraid of my own father, "I some-* times hesitated to ask him the things I dearly wished, and confided my hopes to my mother instead. Practi cally always she used to say, “ Ask him.” She knew the character of my father’s heart better than I did, and
5. Speak naturally. Too much conversation about reli gion is conducted in the language of Canaan. Theology, like other techni cal studies, has its own technical terms and they cannot always be avoided. Exactness demands them, as they are demanded on occasion in medicine or engineering. But when the personal worker is saying a good word for Christ he would do well to avoid technical terms. I remember my friend Dr. Sang- ster who lived in air raid shelters during the war telling of hearing a conversation between one of his own personal workers and a tramp blown into a shelter by the blast of an explosion. She said to him, “You know it must be ‘yea’ or ‘nay’ to all the promises of God. I suspect that you are still living under the old dis pensation. I am not sure that you even understand the difference be tween natural and effective faith. I wish you could experience the mighty outpourings of the Spirit. You do realize, don’t you, that all your righteousness is as filthy rags, etc., etc. . . .” The tramp said very little. When she was finally talked out; she left him, saying something about interceding for him at the Throne of Grace. He found him self again and just said, as he picked up his poverty-stricken be longings and walked out into the darkness of a London air raid, “ O-key-doke.” Two worlds had met for a few moments but they had never really touched each other. 6. Speak about the Lord Jesus and not about yourself. It would startle some of us if we knew how much of our testimony was about ourselves. Sometimes there is a touch of spiritual pride in it. “ I was this, I am now that;” “ I did this, I now do that.” It is done, of course, in an attempt to illustrate the difference which Christ has made, but talk of self should be the undertone and all the stress should be about the Lord. If you were to go to Westminster Abbey and see the Poets’ Corner, you would note an interesting memo rial to John Milton, the author of Paradise Lost. It runs like this: “ In the year of our Lord Jesus Christ, 1737, this bust of the author of Para dise Lost was placed there by Wil liam Benson, etc., one of the two authors of the imprest to His Maj esty King George II, formerly Sur veyor General of the Works to His Majesty, King George I. Rysbrack was the statuary who cut it.” When JUNE, 1965
by Dr. Vance H avner
A s recorded in the first four chapters of the Book of Acts, the early church rolled along triumphantly for a time, but it soon encountered trouble within as well as without. The fifth chapter begins significantly with the word, “ But . . .” Let those who sigh for the “ good old days” remember that even the first church was not an untroubled brotherhood. What with the murmuring of the Grecians, the break between Paul and Barnabas, Paul’s “ run-in” with 'Peter, the fuss between Euodias and Syntyche and the Corinthian schisms, to say nothing of the failings of the churches in Asia as described in Revelation, the New Testament is no rec ord of unbroken harmony. There were liars aplenty in Jerusalem but Ananias and Sapphira had this distinction that they were liars in the church. What made this sin so grievous that two lives were snuffed out as an eternal warning to all saints of all time? It did not lie in their giving part of the price or in keeping part of it: that they had a perfect right to do. It did consist in feigning that the part was the whole; it was a pretense of full surrender which in reality had not been made. If God struck dead all who so lie to the Holy Ghost today, many a sanctuary would be filled with corpses! Think of the multitudes who sing, “My Jesus, I love Thee, I know Thou art mine, For Thee all the follies o f sin I resign;” who never dream of actually making such a surrender to God! Consider how we invite God to “have Thine own way,” to “hold o’er our beings absolute sway,” when there is not the faintest intention o f thus submitting to His.will. We have had courses in stewardship galore and have been told countless times that we are “ not our own” but that we are “bought with a price,” yet for all that, we withhold from God our time, talent, money and, above all, ourselves. Observe how the matter of lying to the Holy Spirit was dealt with. By the grace of God, the church rose to the situation and cleaned house, exhibiting a holy and healthy intolerance of sin. Here was such a fever of con secration that men with falsehoods on their lips could not stand it. The temperature was high enough to kill the germs! If the church of today would take such a stand against the sins within it and would thunder like Peter against lying to the Holy Ghost, the world would retreat respectfully to a safe distance, and the fear of God would fall on a generation that now laughs at holy things. But sin has been excused and pampered until liars, divorcees and hypocrites fill church offices and seem never to have heard that those who bear the ves sels of the Lord must be clean. We read that, following the death of Ananias and Sapphira, great fear came upon the church and all that heard; many signs and wonders were wrought; some dared not join the church; but the people magnified them
and believers were the more added to the Lord, multi tudes both of men and women. Such consequences would again follow such procedure but of course nobody wants to risk it these days. Discipline has disappeared from the church. There is a lot of sickly sentiment about the sinning individual. The other side of the truth, that the body of the church must be protected from the indi vidual when that person becomes a source of infection, is forgotten. Paul, in his drastic action- in Corinth, had in mind the welfare of the whole church. Of course, the sinner must be restored when duly repentant and all action against him must be taken in love. But a weak tolerance of sin has filled our churches with liars against the Holy Ghost. The world has lost its awe of the church; it now slaps the church on the back in rude familiarity and all too often “church” has become merely another club to join along with civic societies and fra ternal orders. The best way to deal with Ananias and Sapphira is to start with ourselves. “ Let a man examine himself.” Each one of us should ask, “ Is there any of this sin in me?” Believers may grieve the Spirit, may quench the Spirit, may lie to the Spirit. We are not our own, we are bought with a price. All things ace ours but us, and we are His. Yet how many Christians do you know who think of themselves merely as stewards of God? Some give Him a tip, and call it a tithe, as though the nine- tenths were their own. Of course Ananias and Sap phira were not obliged to give all their possessions and to place the price in the common fund, and neither are we. It was and is a voluntary matter. But to pretend to do it and not do it is the sin that God marked with sudden death. Is it not equally sinful to profess a full surrender which we have not made? I do not hear much today about this startling inci dent in the early church. I suppose the liberalists have some way of accounting for it other than by the fearful facts of the case. But I do not hear much about it from the orthodox. Of course the Book of Acts gets a lot of letting alone from the saints. Much about it is most disturbing; our pale copy today is so weak that much of the original is not discernible at all. The modernists stay in the gospels and the fundamentalists sometimes do not get started well until they reach Romans. But Acts gives us the norm. There is where the movement started and, no matter how embarrassing some of it may be when compared with our modern version, we had better face up to it. We need some preaching about Ananias and Sapphira and lying to the Holy Ghost. Any lesson that God illustrates as fearfully as He did this deserves our earnest consideration. If we had the holy intolerance of sin here manifest, we might also share in the aftermath of blessing, of multitudes added to the Lord.
TH E KING'S BUSINESS
14
THE INDESTRUCTIBILITY OF TH E BIBLE
In Part I of this Series it was shown that the Bible is not on ly completely up-to- date, but also that it is the only book which lifts the veil of the future, revealing how this age will end government- ally, p o lit ic a lly , religiously and m ora lly. M o r e o v e r , through the ages, the Scrip tures have proven to be the only reliable source of spir- | itual light and moral strength for mankind. One of the strongest rea sons for believing the Bible to be in fact the very Word of God is its endorsement by the Lord Jesus Christ H im s e lf ■ (Luke 2U:27; John 16:12,13). A second undeniable reason is the te s t im o n y of fulfilled prophecy. Some of the three hundred prophecies of the de tails of the incarnation, death and resurrection of C h r is t were quoted, as evidence. Part II then covered the Bible prophecies with regard to “God’s time clock,” the na tion of Israel; the predictions concerning the G en tile na tions, and many other “ signs of the times” which have been fulfilled to the letter exactly as God by His Spirit pre wrote history. Other proofs that the Bible is the Word of God were add ed, such as its m a rv e lou s unity, although written over a period of 1500 years, com posed of 66 books, written by 40 different authors in at least three different languages; its matchless perfection and its scientific accuracy. In th is final section further evidence that the Scriptures are God’s own message for man will be furnished.
Another irrefutable mark of di vine inspiration is the Bible’s inde structibility. No literature, no book, has ever been attacked as the Bible has. From the beginning to its exist ence, until the dawn of the present century; yea, until this very time, this wonderful Book, the Bible, has been fought by skeptics, atheists, and agnostics of all kinds. Many of these men have had keen intellects and silver tongues. And yet—with all that — this Book has stood all the storms; and still it stands. Its pages are brighter than gold; its sway is stronger than all of Satan’s hosts. Ridicule and blasphemous unbelief; water, fire and sword—none of these things has been able to get rid of the Bible. And none ever will! Some time ago a party of tourists went to see the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor. It stands 325 feet high. We are told that twelve people can stand inside the hand. One of the tourists went into that hand, and then into the head. As he looked at its great light, he saw about one hundred dead sparrows lying on the ledge of that light. Turning to the guide, he asked, “Have you a sparrow trap up here?” “No,” the guide answered. “ Is there any poison up here to kill these birds?” the visitor asked again. “No.” “ Then what killed the sparrows?” The guide explained that, on the preceding night, a storm had driven the birds toward the light. Their tiny wings, caught in the hurricane, flew on and on toward the only light shin ing in that dark storm. The sparrows had beaten their helpless wings against that great light until they were dead. But the light shone on! The dying wings of the Voltaires, the
15
JUNE, 1965
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