O U R C H R I S T I A N S T E W A R D S H I P S E R I E S 4.1 ITS BY CONTRACT
There are four ways by which friends of The Bible Institute of Los Angeles, Incorporated, may place their money to work for the Lord through this Institute. They are as follows:
( 1 ) By Direct Gifts ( 2 ) By Bequests in Wills ( 3 ) By taking out insurance in favor of the Institute ( 4 ) Through GIFTS BY CONTRACT
From time to time each o f these methods will be discussed in this series of ads. In this issue we would like to tell you something o f GIFTS BY CONTRACT. Gifts by contract are simply worded, easily understood, agreements between the givers and the Institute, covering all the facts o f each case exactly as the donor would have them covered.
The donor gives property to the Institute as an executed gift. The Institute in turn issues a contract, giving the donor all re ceipts from the property during his lifetime. Contracts o f this character work both for the benefit o f the Institute and in the interest o f the individual who desires to have all or a large share o f his estate go to this work after he is gone. Death auto matically relieves the Institute from the contract, and since the deed is an EXECUTED GIFT, property so given belongs to the Institute without further legal process or expense.
Our Business Department will be pleased to answer any questions, and submit a proposed contract for approval upon request, and without obligation on your part. A ll communications are o f course in strict confidence.
Business Department
THE BIBLE INSTITUTE OF LOS ANGELES, INCORPORATED 558 SOUTH HOPE STREET ............................LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA
“ But What Have You Done for His House?” A dear child of God sent us a letter so thought-provoking that we must pass it on to others o f His true children: Herewith is check to be used as the Lord directs among His people “ according to the flesh. I have been greatly concerned about “ my house“ and resting on Acts^ 16:31, I have been praying for the individual members. The other evening your advertisement caught my attention and immediately it came to me— “ But what have you done for His House?” . : I trust it may be my privilege to be greatly concerned about “ His house” from this time forth “ until He come.” Surely the Holy Spirit works today. How else can you explain His leading, one by one, just such saints of God to see the need and place of Israel, “His House” in these last days of grace? And what about His House? It lies desolate, and Israel cannot see Him again until they shall say, “Blessed is He that cometh in the Name of the Lord!” Some day He will lead you, too, to ask yourself, “What have I done for His House?” Then remember that we are here, your servants in behalf of that Jewish remnant, ac cording to the election of grace, that is to be saved into the Church before He comes. Our work merits your every con fidence. Our field is not only the 2,000,000 Jews o f New York but the 4,000,000 Jews in America. And through co-operating missionaries we are represented, and our Yid dish publications are being distri buted, in all the important Jewish centers of the world. In America, Branches are being established in the larger cities as the Lord gives us. the means and the workers. Your help and prayers are always needed. “The Chosen People,” loved by many Bible students for its helpful information on Proph ecy and the Jews, is sent to all con tributors. May we hear from you ? American Board o f Missions to the Jews Inc. 31 Throop Ave., Brooklyn, N. Y. A sk for our free . booklet, “ Jewish Mission Annuity Bonds.“
©heSidle Santil# SRaça^ine Motto: “ Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood."—R ev . 1 :5.
Volume XXVII
March, 1936
Number 3
TABLE OF CONTENTS Around the King’s Table— Paul W . Rood......................................... 82 When Torrey Would Have Felt at Home—Mildred M. Cook............84 Christ’s Resurrection and Qur Resurrection Life ^B -R obert C. McQuilkin................................................................. 86 Looking in the Wrong Place— Vance Havner................................... 88 ^ 1935—A Prophetic Review—-Louis S. Bauman................................. 90 Jinsaburo Speaks His Mind— Opal Leonore Gibbs........................... 93 World’s Christian Fundamentals Association................................... 94 Bible Institute Family Circle.................................... 95 International Lesson Commentary........................................................ 96 Junior King’s Business—Martha S. Hooker......................................103 Our Literature Table....... ........................................................................ 106 Notes on Christian Endeavor—Mary G. Goodner............................. 107 Daily Devotional Readings......................................................................112 Evangelistic Notices ................................................................................ 117
I N F O R M A T I O N
F O R S U B S C R I B E R S
TERMS: Single Copie».............................................. 15c Annual Subscription......................................................$1.50 Two-year subscription or two annual subscriptions. 2.50 Five annual subscriptions................................................ 5.00 Eleven annual subscriptions................................. 10.00 Subscriptions in countries outside of U. S. require 25c extra. REMITTANCE: Should be made by Bank Draft. Ex press or P. O. Money Order, payable to “ The Bible Institute of Los Angeles, Incorporated." Receipts will not be sent for regular subscriptions, but date of expi ration will show plainly each month, on outside wrapper or cover of magazine. CHANGE OF ADDRESS: Please send both old and new address at least one month previous to date of de sired change.
ADVERTISING: For information with reference to advertising in THE KING'S BUSINESS, address the ADVERTISING MANAGER, 558 SOUTH HOPE STREET, LOS ANGELES, CALIF., or our eastern representative. Religious Press Association, S25 North 13th Street, Philadelphia, Pa., or 333 N. Michigan Avenue, Chicago, Illinois. Entered as Second Class Matter November 17, 1910, at the Post Office at Los Angeles, California, under the Act of March 3, 1879. Acceptance for mailing at special rate of postage pro vided for in Section 1103, Act of October 3, 1917, authorized October 1, 1918. MANUSCRIPTS: THE KING'S BUSINESS cannot accept responsibility for loss or damage to manuscripts sent to it for consideration.
POLICY AS DEFINED BY THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE BIBLE INSTITUTE OF LOS ANGELES (a) To stand for the infallible Word of God and its great fundamental truths, (b) To strengthen the faith of all believers, (c) To stir young men and women to fit themselves for and engage in definite Christian work, (d) To make the Bible Institute of Los Angeles known, (e) To magnify God our Father and the person, work and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ; and to teach the transforming power of the Holy Spirit in our present practical life, (f) To emphasize in strong, constructive messages the great foundations of Christian faith. THE BIBLE INSTITUTE OF LOS ANGELES, INCORPORATED 558 South Hope Street Los Angeles, California
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c_ Around the King’sTahiti B y P a u l W. R ood
Every week, the coming of the Lord’s Day speaks to the listening Christian of Christ’s glorious resurrection. And every year, with the return of the season that the world calls Easter, the child of God medi
In the
one that occupied the attention of these Chicago business men. And in the will of God, as a result o f that initial meet ing there came the plan for the holding of noon meetings in the “ loop” of Chicago long before the World’s Fair began. Today the Christian Business Men’s Committee sponsors a continuous campaign, from Monday to Friday each week, held in a theater in the downtown district o f the city. The services are broadcast, and thousands have been converted either through hearing the Word in the theater meeting or through receiving the message sent out over the air. This group of men also directs tent campaigns, street meetings, and other open-air services during the summer. A few weeks ago, the annual rally of this organization brought 11,000 people together in the Coliseum in Chicago. With out question, this continuous campaign in Chicago is one of the most significant and far-reaching evangelistic move ments in America today. The fire o f Christian zeal has spread to other cities also. A Christian Business Men’s Committee has recently been formed in Seattle, functioning in practically the same way as does the Chicago Committee. Noon meetings are held every day from Tuesday to Saturday, in the Metro politan Theater, Seattle, and are broadcast over K IRO (710 kilocycles). Christians are being awakened and sin ners saved. The whole city seems to be on the verge o f a real awakening. Not only in Chicago and in Seattle, but in the Bay Cities as well, new interest is being shown in the work of winning the lost. In meetings held recently by business men of Oakland and San Francisco, there was a marked recognition o f the evangelistic responsibility that must rest upon Christian men and women in these two cities— espe cially in connection with the coming World’s Fair which is planned to be held in that region in 1938, when the two great bridges now being built will be completed. Undoubt edly God is stirring the hearts o f Christian men to function in that locality through a movement similar to those being carried on in Chicago and Seattle. It is to be hoped that laymen in other cities may be brought by the Holy Spirit to consider the spiritual needs o f their respective com munities, and to unite in a zealous effort to meet the need with the gospel o f Jesus Christ.
Power of the Risen
Christ
tates anew upon the meaning of that tremendous event. These exercises are needful and commendable. But in themselves, they are not enough. Action must follow. If there is danger— and there is— that special days and seasons may be used for contemplation only, in a vague, impractical way, the positive message of J. H. Jowett may be set forth profitably once again: “ The Lord is risen . . “ Your labor is not in vain in the Lord.” “ Be ye steadfast, unmovable ....” The two words [“steadfast” and “ unmovable” ] are slightly different colored expressions of the same counsel. The first word, “steadfast,” means not to play with a thing, not to flirt with it, but to settle down to it like men enter ing into serious and deliberate business. And the second word, “unmovable,” means not to be a vagrant, moving about from place to place, but to be tenacious, consistent, holding on to a thing with a bulldog’s grip. I f we put both these contents together, we have this composite counsel— settle down to the holy business of Christian life and Christian service, and stick at it with ceaseless and un failing tenacity. “The Lord is risen. . .” “Your labor is not in vain in the Lord.” Settle down, therefore, tenaciously, to the labor of sweetening and beautifying your own life. Set to work as you would set to work at an unkempt garden. Weed your life; get hold of some weed o f ill prejudice and hang on to it steadfastly and immovably until, by the power of the living Christ, you have it out to the last fiber of the last rootlet, and it is all cast away to the devouring flames. Get hold of some ungainly growth in your life, some mighty unchristian habit, and by the power of the living Christ have it out. March up to some pool of bit terness which is souring your life like a rancid and un clean pool in the garden of the soul, and by the grace of the risen Lord never rest until that pool is as pure as the “ river of the water of life, clear as crystal.” But espe cially, go up to that thing in your life, that ugly thing which has mastered you so often that you have begun to think it can never be dislodged. “The Lord is risen. . .” That ugly thing is not the master; have it out, and by the power o f the living Lord fling it to the flames o f Gehenna where the fire is never quenched. Inspect every corner of the ruined or disordered garden in your soul, and with a tenacity, fiercer even than that of death itself, resolve that by the power of the risen Lord the garden shall be come fair and sweet and beautiful as the paradise o f God. By the grace o f God, let us make this Easter season a time of definite dealing, when the power o f the risen Christ shall be allowed to work in us. Revival, in America, will come when lay- men are aroused. A few years ago, a biirden for the evangelization of Chicago during the World’s Fair brought a group o f business men together at a noonday luncheon. The central thought o f that meeting was the challenge presented by the fact that during the period o f the Fair, thousands o f people would come to Chicago from all parts o f the world—many o f these individuals knowing nothing o f personal salvation in Christ. God had a still greater program in view than the Ministry of Laymen The
Paul was a Christian statesman. He had a vision and a program. His strategy was to establish gospel work in such great centers as Corinth, Ephesus, and Rome. From these cities the gospel would be brought to the sur
The
Challenge
of the
City
rounding areas. Our Lord was interested in the city prob lem. He wept over Jerusalem. “ And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it” (Lk. 19:41). The problem o f evangelizing America is, to a large extent, a city problem, for as fare the cities, so fares the nation. A few years ago, an outstanding Christian layman in Seattle called attention to the fact that in that city alone, 212,000 out o f a population of 315,000 were untouched by any sort of religious influence. In other words, at least two-thirds o f the population was nonreligious as far as
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Surely this type of ministry is worthy of support and emulation. There are vast unrealized needs in the home mission fields of our own country. May we who love the Lord Jesus Christ intelligently pray and effectively plan to evangelize the villages. The church in a certain community was The Church on fire. Among those who were following on Fire that peculiar instinct that makes most folks run to a fire was an infidel. A church member called to him, “ This is the first time I ever saw you run to church.” “ Well,” said the infidel, “ this is the first time the church has been on fire.” This reply, taken in another sense, gives food for thought. Why are there so many empty pews in the aver age church ? There are many reasons, but one cause lies in the fact that many churches are cold. The little girl who was trying to quote “ Many are called, but few are chosen,” and who misquoted as follows: “ Many are cold, and a few are frozen,” unconsciously described many church members. Coldness in the pulpit begets coldness in the pew. Why should there be the very apparent lack of enthusiasm and warmth in the average church service? W e are dealing with the greatest of all themes, the gospel o f Jesus Christ, and we are teaching the greatest of all books, the Bible, and we have the greatest of all objectives, the salvation of eternity-bound men and women. How can we be cold and indifferent in the light o f our responsibility as Christ’s representatives and witnesses ? Our God is “ the God that answereth by fire.” When Elijah prayed, “ then the fire o f the Lord fell.” When God can find in a church a group o f people that will pay the price of earnest, importunate prayer, the fire will fall upon that church. In a revived church there will be people o f burning hearts that have been set on fire by fellowship with the Lord and by prayerful study of God’s Word. They will say with the Emmaus disciples: “ Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the Scriptures ?”
organized religion was concerned. A closer analysis o f this situation revealed that the condition was even more serious than it appeared to be. Among the 103,000 members of organized religious groups, there were the followers of many cults. The number of even nominal Christians was o f course considerably less than 103,000, and only God knows how many from among that company were truly born again. This tragic condition is not peculiar to Seattle. Every city in America could make a somewhat similar re port. Los Angeles, for instance, has approximately one million people who are untouched by any sort of religious work—although in the city there are operative three hun dred sects o f various kinds. Facing the facts, we ask our selves candidly: Are we adequately coping with the situa tion? Are we not playing at the task o f evangelizing the city? Is it not time for every child o f God to echo the heart cry of D. L. Moody, uttered not long before his death : “ O Lord, stir the cities of America once again” ? The Lord Jesus was interested in villages as well as cities, for He was concerned that men and women, no matter where they lived, should hear the good news of salvation. This fact is indi cated in the utterance o f our Lord, recorded in Mark 1 :38: “ Let us go into the next towns.” There are at least 10,000 villages in America in which there is no church, and 30,000 others that have a building but no resident pastor. What is being done to bring Christ to these villages ? Thank God, some of His people have responded to the call to preach Christ in the rural regions. For example, a graduate o f the Bible Institute of Los Angeles has caught the vision of these unevangelized communities and is giving his life to the giving o f the gospel in these needy places. His evangelistic party, traveling and living in auto mobiles with trailers, goes into a community and uses a vacant church or rents a hall— conducting an evangelistic meeting for about two weeks in each center. In the sum mer, Daily Vacation Bible Schools are also held. Many children have been saved, and in some instances parents have accepted Christ. The Next Towns
t(/~) C 0 3 i b l e d J n s i i i u i e with COLLEG IATE STAND ING ★ By virtue of the authority of the State of California, THE BIBLE INSTITUTE OF LOS _ ANGELES, INCORPORATED, became eligi
ble, on February 11, 1936, to confer"academic degrees upon those who satisfactorily complete the courses prescribed for the obtaining of these degrees. This action has therefore made the Institute a school of collegiate standing. Although the curriculum has been strengthened and enlarged, in its doctrinal posi tion and in the subjects taught, the Institute remains unchanged. Details concerning the courses offered will be published in an early issue of the KING’S BUSINESS. THE BIBLE INSTITUTE of LOS ANGELES, INCORPORATED 558 SOUTH HOPE STREET LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA
March, 1936
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On the afternoon of January 28, 1936, President Paul W. Rood (standing) was in charge of the dedicatory serv ices at which a bronze tablet in honor of Reuben Archer Torrey was unveiled, and when the south wing of the Insti tute building was named Lyman Stewart Hall, in memory of the Los Angeles business man whose liberality in giving was a fundamental factor in the founding of Biola. Partici pating in the ceremony were (left to right): Louis T. Talbot, Vice-President of the Institute and Pastor of the Church of the Open Door; Mrs. Ralph C. Norton, close friend of the Torrey family; Mrs. Stewart, widow of Lyman Stewart; Dr. Rood, and A. B. Prichard, one of the early leaders of Institute activities in the city of Los Angeles.
p f t j
y
When Torrey...
WOULD HAVE FELT AT HOME B y MILDRED M. COOK
I f , on th at sunny morning of January 26, 1936, Reuben Archer Torrey, Biola’s beloved first Dean, could have strode, with accustomed poise, into the auditorium at Sixth and Hope Streets in America’s fifth city, without doubt he would have felt completely at home. Men of the old faith were on the platform. It was the Lord’s Day, and perhaps 3,000 worshipers were rising to sing, with fervor and un derstanding, that grand old hymn o f adoration: T o Thee, O God above, W e cry with glowing love, May Jesus Christ be praised. Who that knew R. A. Torrey could doubt that his heart would have echoed “ amen” ! The occasion was the opening of the Institute’s first annual Bible Conference, known this year as a Conference on Evangelism. With sessions morning, afternoon, and evening, the meetings continued, with ascending power and blessing, for eight wonderful days. Actually, Torrey was with the Lord, having entered into His presence on October 26, 1928; but during the period of the conference, he moved again, in influence and in memory, among men and women who praised God at the very utterance of his name. For twelve blessedly
eventful years, from 1912 to 1924, Torrey, as Dean, re garded the Bible Institute o f Los Angeles as “ home.” Dur ing all o f this time— and indeed throughout the whole of his Christian life— four dominant principles characterized the man: active acceptance of the whole Word o f God, con sistent emphasis on the value o f prayer, deep-seated yearn ing for the souls o f lost men, and balance in the teaching of the Word. And these were the very matters that occupied attention at Biola’s Conference on Evangelism. “ T orrey D a y ” Even on “ Torrey Day,” January 28, the eightieth anni versary o f Torrey’s birth, when the afternoon hours were spent in the recollection o f the grace of God as it was mani fest through Torrey and through his devoted colaborer, Lyman Stewart, there was not the slightest trace o f empty eulogy. Rather, awe and exultation were awakened, for the God who hath wrought wonders was the only One who was praised. And if Torrey, whose loathing for adulation is well known, could have heard the words uttered by his friends, the speakers of the afternoon, could have seen the simple dignity o f the platform decoration which included two large framed sepia portraits of the men whom Biola desired to honor, and could have felt that vast auditorium
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vibrate with the singing of the old battle hymn, “ Faith of Our Fathers, Living Still,” he undoubtedly would have experienced no sense of embarrassment, for it was his Sovereign, and not himself, to whom glory was being given. Likewise, when other Biola leaders are specially recognized in the future, it will be the Lord and not the individuals who shall be extolled. Torrey Day was a wonderful day at Biola. In the will of God, the plan to honor Torrey was conceived in the heart of the President o f the Institute, Paul W . Rood; and in the development of its details, Dr. Rood’s prayerful, gracious, and aggressive spirit led forward to success. He brought to the platform men and women who had known R. A . Torrey and Lyman Stewart intimately: A . B. Prichard, one of the earliest leaders in the Institute; Mrs. Stewart, widow of Lyman Stewart; Mrs. Ralph C. Norton, Director of the Belgian Gospel Mission; W . E. Edmonds, pastor o f the Glendale Presbyterian Church, Glendale, Calif.; Louis T. Talbot, Vice-President of the Bible Insti tute and pastor o f the Church o f the Open Door, Los An geles; John H. Hunter, pastor of the Mayflower Congre gational Church, Pacific Grove, Calif. ; Duncan A . Mor ton; Nathan Newby and Hugh B. Evans, Christian busi ness men; and Elbert L. McCreery, John A . Hubbard, and Herbert G. Tovey, Institute faculty members. Dr. Rood presided at the memorial service in the auditorium and also at the dedication ceremony outside, when a bronze plaque honoring Torrey was unveiled, and when the south wing o f the Institute building was named Lyman Stewart Hall. With between 700 and 1,000 people gathered about him— filling the sidewalk and part of the street—-Dr. Rood said: “ W e are here in response to the commandment of G od : ‘Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of G od : whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation.’ Today we honor, first of all, the memory of Lyman Stewart, who had the vision o f this great institution, and who put his heart and his time and his energy and his money into it. W e dedi cate this building as the Lyman Stewart Hall, in the name o f the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.
When by His grace I shall look on His face,
That will be glory for me. E mphasis on Y outh E vangelism
Torrey Day was followed by one of equal significance and far-reaching value, though the subject of this day’s ‘discussion was totally different. From morning till night, experts in the field o f child evangelism laid before their hearers the tragic necessity for winning boys and girls for Jesus Christ. With the burden o f these speakers, doubt less Dr. Torrey would have been in full sympathy; for while his own ministry centered largely in adult teaching and evangelism, he was ever thorough and tender in the presentation of Christ to the little ones of his own house hold, and to others with whom he dealt. The spiritual situa tion in America, so far as the nation’s childhood is con cerned, is far more acute than it was in Torrey’s day. With 27,000,000 children in our land with no personal knowledge whatever o f the Word of God and o f the.Saviour of the world, wherein is there hope that America, in the next gen eration, shall return to Pilgrim faith in Jehovah? The awful reality o f a virtually Christless America gripped the hearts o f speakers and hearers alike. J. Irvin Overholtzer, whose carefully tested method of reaching and teaching boys and girls is being used in scores of churches, spoke with authority on the subject: “ Child Evangelism-Sis It Scriptural ?” He was followed by Rich ard W . Lewis, who has given a lifetime to work among children, a pioneer in the field of teaching with objects. Later, with the aid o f stereopticon slides, Frank W . Dell, General Superintendent of the Friends Church, discussed “ The Psychology o f Child Evangelism.” The atmosphere was electric with interest when Mrs. W . A . Low, of Modesto, Calif., Mrs. C. A . Brainerd, o f Sail Jose, Calif., and Miss Claire Weirmuller, o f Huntington Park, Calif., attacked— each from a different angle— the stupendous problem of the Sunday-school: how to win and hold the boys and girls. In the evening, Frank A . Miller, a veteran in the field of child evangelism, added to the spoken word
Today we are also remembering the contribution to this\ work made by Reuben Archer Torrey, who said to his wife one day, ‘I put in twelve of the best years o f my life in that institution.’. We recognize him as the succes sor of D. L. Moody, as the man in whom Moody saw qualities that led to the choice of Torrey as the superintendent o f the Moody Bible Institute and the pastor o f the Moody Church. And we are announcing to the world that the Bible Institute of Los Angeles stands, doctri- nally and spiritually, for the things for which Lyman Stewart and R. A . Torrey stood. W e are praying that the same spirit of evangelism, the same missionary enthusiasm, and the same loyal ty to the faith of our fathers that were in Torrey and Stewart shall characterize us also.” The response of the great crowd of listeners was wafted heavenward in the hearty sing ing of Gabriel’s “ Glory Song” :
the visual presentation of truth by means of blackboard and chalk. Th e C h ristian youth o f America — and indeed o f the world — were represented by two ,young men, J. Edwin Orr, from the north o f Ireland, and Clifford W . Lewis, who is Presi dent of the Young People’s Fellowship Club o f America, with headquarters in Cleveland, Tenn. Alert, consecrated, and m a n ife s tly S p ir it -le d , these young men spread the conta gion o f their own enthusiasm. In age, both are in their early twenties. His needs miracu lously met in answer to prayer and faith, Mr. Orr has traveled around the world, winning souls and helping Christians to desire and to enter into the joy of heaven-sent revival. Through out the conference, he spoke daily, and the influence of his life and messages will long be felt at Biola. [Continued on page 119]
H ave Y ou R eceived Y ou r TORREY MEDAL? The Torrey Memorial Association, represented by those who have received a beautiful Torrey Memorial Medal struck by the Bible Institute of Los Angeles, now reaches from coast to coast and num bers more than a thousand members. The number is increasing every day. Membership in the associa tion involves neither the payment of dues nor the at tendance at meetings, but the possession of the medal shows that the owner is in sympathy with the evangelistic spirit of Dr. Torrey and is a supporter of the Bible Institute programs in which he was so deeply interested. Contributions to the Torrey Me morial Fund are used exclusively for student training at the Bible Institute. If you have not received your Torrey Medal, a donation of $1.00 or more sent to the Bible Institute with the request that the medal be sent to you, will secure for you not only the medal but also a beautiful portrait of Dr. Torrey, suitable for framing.
THE BIBLE INSTITUTE OF LOS ANGELES. INCORPORATED 558 South Hope Street :: :: Los Angeles, California
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Christ’s RESURRECTION.
B y ROBERT C. MtQUILKIN* Columbia, South Carolina
O ur Ch ristian fa ith stands on the solid rock of g r ea t h is to r ic a l facts. And t h e s e facts form the basis for a present per sonal experience of a l i v i n g Christ. T h i s faith is in sharp con tr a s t to all so-called “ reli gions,” and also in “ way to God” that calls
Lord was the Head o f a new Body. The disciples were now competent witnesses of the resurrection, because they themselves were sharing resurrection life. Now was ful filled the glorious but mysterious promise the Lord had made just befbre His death: “ Because I live, ye shall live also” (John 14:19). The disciples now had resurrection life, and they themselves were samples o f what the Saviour could do. There are in the New Testament Epistles at least thirty- one direct references to the bodily resurrection of our Lord, expressed in such words as “ resurrection” or “ raised from the dead.” In practically every case, the resurrection o f the body o f Christ is linked directly or indirectly with the present daily living of Christians. Believers who take Christ as their Saviour become united with Him in the likeness of His death, and also in the likeness o f His resur rection. What is the meaning of this truth for present living? The significance is this: “ That like as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we also might walk in newness of life” (Rom . 6 :4 ). This newness o f life is resurrection life, and it is lived by the power o f the risen Lord ministred to us by the Holy Spirit. When something to express the measure of the power o f God is sought in the Old Testament, it is His power in creation that is set forth. The measure o f the greatness of God’s power in the New Testament is the resurrection of Christ. This is the greater pqwer o f the new creation. Thus Paul speaks of “ the exceeding greatness o f his power to us-ward who believe, according to that working o f the strength o f his might which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead” (Eph. 1 :19,20). This startling statement means that the same power that was used in raising Christ from the dead is the power He used in making us alive who were dead in trespasses and sins, and also the same exceeding great power given to us that we might walk in newness o f life. The greatest miracle recorded in the Bible is the resur rection o f the Lord Jesus. What is the greatest miracle happening today? It must be the miracle which requires the same exceeding great power that was needed to raise Christ. The greatest miracle that is happening today is the living of the human life in the way that God designed that it should be lived. P ictures of R esurrection L ife The record of the life and service o f the disciples in the Acts of the Apostles gives a picture o f resurrection life. An outstanding note of that record is the exceeding great joy. In the midst o f persecution, or distress, or pov erty, the disciples were filled with overflowing joy. The fruit o f the Spirit is joy. An expression of the resurrec tion life is joy. These disciples also had the peace that passeth all understanding, another mark o f resurrection life. Their words o f witnessing were with mighty power, even the power of the Holy Spirit. They were guided by the Spirit. They were strengthened in body, ministering as of the strength which God supplies. The center o f all this record is the risen Lord Himself. The outstanding fact
Courtesy, Sunset
every false
sharp contrast to itself Christian.
If the Lord Jesus Christ has not risen from the dead, our faith is vain. Our faith is not vain, but stands un shaken, because the Lord Jesus did die for our sins and rose again. The early disciples were never to preach their own experience. They were to be witnesses o f the resur rection o f the Lord Jesus Christ. They proclaimed historical facts that were to be believed— that Christ died for sins and rose again. They did indeed reveal the inner meaning o f those facts, and faith laid hold of God’s salvation pro vided through Christ’s death and resurrection. C hrist ’ s R esurrection and O ur E xperience What bearing do those objective historical facts have upon our own Christian experience ? The answer is a most startling one, and sets forth the glorious Bible view of vic tory over sin, o f spiritual power. Why did the early disciples have to wait for ten days after the ascension o f Christ before they went forth to preach? They were to be witnesses o f His resurrection. They knew that He had died and had risen again. For forty days He had been speaking to them the things con cerning the kingdom o f God. They had many infallible proofs that He was alive. Why did they not immediately preach Jesus as the Messiah, the Son o f God, the risen and glorified Lord, as Saul o f Tarsus did when he had proof that Jesus was alive? The answer is, that witnessing to the resurrection of Christ is more than reporting the fact that Christ arose. God the Holy Spirit had to come into those disciples before they could be witnesses o f the resur rection. But the disciples had been born o f the Spirit. What was the new thing that happened when the Holy Spirit came at Pentecost ? He could not come in this way until the Lord Jesus was glorified (John 7:37-39). But now that Christ was glorified, through His death and res urrection, the ascended Lord, at the right hand of power, sent forth the Holy Spirit for a new ministry. The work o f the Holy Spirit may be summed up in two words: to “ minister Christ.” The Holy Spirit came to bear witness to the Lord Jesus Christ. When the Spirit baptized those disciples, they were united with Christ, and united with one another, so that now the risen, glorified *President, Columbia Bible College.
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andour RESURRECTION LIFE
in the life and thought o f those disciples was that their beloved Lord was alive, glorified, at the right hand of God. The more they were filled with the Holy Spirit, the more the personal presence of Christ was vividly real to them. T h e M essage of R o m a n s 8:11 One of the clearest and greatest statements o f the present resurrection life and the way it is accomplished is found in Romans 8:11: “ But if the Spirit o f him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwelleth in you, he that raised up Christ Jesus from the dead shall give life also to your mortal bodies through his Spirit that dwelleth in you.” Many earnest Christians have been deceived, and many
sin, and we are in capab le o f righ t eousness, y e t the spirit is life because of the righteousness Christ has brought. Because “ the body is dead,” we are in capable o f v ic to r y over s in . T h e n comes the glorious “ But” of Romans 8:11. G od g iv e s spiritual life to these “ dead bodies,” here called “ mortal Courtesy, Sunset
others deeply troubled, by interpret ing this verse as referring to “ divine healing,” the “ quickening” of the body. A most consecrated Christian worker who took this view was af flicted with an advanced case o f ar thritis. She came to a place o f de spair because her body was not quickened, and because, to her, the natural inference was that the Holy Spirit did not live in her. It is cer tainly true that when the Holy Spirit is controlling a life, the physical health is affected, for spirit, soul, and body are vitally joined. But Paul is not speaking here, or in any place in Romans, about physical healing. A large number o f gifted and honored interpreters apply this verse to the future bodily resurrec tion. Future resurrection is the completion of our redemption, and the climax o f it. Thus the truth o f this resurrection cannot be ex cluded altogether from the verse. But Paul is not speaking o f future
bodies,” through His Holy Spirit’s dwelling within us. If this verse re ferred to the future resurrection o f the body, it would be difficult to un derstand the reference to the Holy Spirit’s dwelling in us. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, and all the other qualities that are in the Lord Jesus. The Holy Spirit takes o f the things of Christ and makes them real in and through us. The law could not make alive. Therefore we have no power to keep the law just by being told what it is our duty to do. But the Holy Spirit does make alive. This is present res urrection life. *It is a foretaste of the glorious life o f liberty when, in our resurrection bodies, we shall be completely controlled by the Holy Spirit. It was sin that led to the physical corruption and death o f the body, as well as to the inability to do righteousness. Since our redemp tion is not complete, we are not yet sinless. But we have been delivered forever from the guilt and penalty
Paster Triumph By J. Harold Casto, Yunnan, West China—a graduate of the Bible Institute of the class of 1912. Beholdl o'er dark Judean hills there beams The brilliant herald of a new-born day, The morning star of life and hope and joy. And in the dimness of that Eastern morn There draws in view a stricken company, A group of faithful broken-hearted friends. But through their tear-dimmed eyes they see it not, The herald of the triumph of their Lord. But brighter, clearer, swiftly draws the day Till lo! the veil of gloom and darkness rends; And there before their awe-struck wond'ring gaze There gapes a riven tomb; aside, the stone, The broken seal, the watch so impotent; Within, the folded vestures of the dead. Then hark! an angel voice speaks clear and true, "Not here is He, but risen is your Lord." The dismal grave can boast no victory, And dreaded death no more can thrust its sting, For Christ is ris'n triumphant from the grave;
He conquered death and hell eternally. "The firstfruits of the holy harvest-field" Is Christ our Resurrection and our Life. Then lift your voice in happy Easter song, The Hallelujah hymn of victory!
o f sin, and the power of sin has been broken. W e are born o f the Spirit, and the Holy Spirit living in us is the power for spiritual living. W h y a r e C h r is t ia n s D e f e a t e d ? If this power is a reality, the question arises as to why Christians are in defeat. Why do Christians worry? Why do they not have the peace that passes understanding? The answer is that we have a responsibility toward these glorious objective truths. It is possible for a Christian to walk after the flesh. But Paul’s letters are full o f exhor tations as to our responsibility to walk after the Spirit. What does this obligation mean practically ? The message on resurrection life in Romans 6, 7, and 8 makes clear that there are two things for us to do. First, we are to reckon on the fact that we have been separated [Continued on page 118]
bodily resurrection. He is speaking o f present living, and o f God’s plan for having the life lived in the power o f the Holy Spirit. The words that follow the verse indicate this fact: “ So then, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh” (Rom. 8 :12). The primary message in Romans 8:11, therefore, is the message of present resurrection life. When Paul says that “ the body is dead” (Rom . 8 :10 ), he means not only that the physical body is subject to future death, but that the body is incapable of righteousness. This expression is parallel with the word in Romans 7 :24, R .V .: “ Who shall deliver me out of the body o f this death,” or “ this body of death.” Another parallel expression is “ the body of sin” in Romans 6 :6, referring not to sin as a totality, but referring to this human body as the seat of sin, or controlled by sin. The sense o f Romans 8:10 would then be that since Christ is living in us, although the body is dead because of
WRONG PLACE
B y VANCE g ^ V N E R * Charleston, South Carolina
and pursuits and possessions, are out on a fruitless search. One thinks o f the dapper Beau Brummel who, in the midst of popularity and gayety, passed a dead dog and remarked, “ I wish I were that dog.” Men have forsaken the fountain o f living waters and have hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns that can hold no water (Jer. 2 :13 ), and all the while, the living Christ says, “ I f thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water . . . Whosoever drinketh o f the water that I shall give him shall nev.er thirst” (John 4:10, 1.4). Men seek the water of satisfaction at the Jacob’s wells of earth while only Jesus Christ can give that Living Water which becomes in the believer a well of water springing up into everlasting life and issuing in rivers o f blessing. Think of how poor souls today seek the living, in this sense, among the dead philosophies and moralities, the vain isms and ologies of this world. What a pitiful sight is that poor religionist who carefully follows a round o f observ ances, punctiliously keeps days and seasons of fasting, and faithfully trails some blind guide into the ditch, vainly seeking the living among the dead! One thinks o f the hollow forms of Judaism in which thousands seek peace and comfort today, some o f them even recognizing Christ as a teacher, but going no further than scant respect to a Galilean still in His sepulcher so far as they care. C hurchgoers T hat F a il to F ind L ife But we come within the ranks o f Protestantism to ob serve that those modernists who do not believe Christ really arose in body are still seeking the living among the dead.
* i “Why seek ye the living among the dead?”? (Lk .2$ *5 ). I t is quite characteristic of w eak , doubting human nature that the women who had heard the Lord Jesus declare that He would rise on the third day should come to the sepulcher bringing spices for the dead instead of approaching the grave in high expectation to see the living. On the very day He had promised to return from the dead, they came to honor a corpse instead o f to greet a Conqueror! So forgetful o f His promise were they that the angels must call it to their attention (Lk. 24 :5 -8 ), The angels must have been astonished at such weak faith. Certainly they never expected the Christ, the Living One, to stay in a grave. They had known Him in heaven, and although they knew He had submitted to death and had become obedient to the death o f the cross, they knew also that “ it was not possible that he should be holden of it.” Thus they speak to the perplexed women as if to say, “ Why are you coming to a grave this morning? You might know that the Living One would not stay in a sepulcher!” M istaken Q uests in O uk D ay But the centuries have passed, and we today have no right to cast stones at the weak faith o f these faint-hearted women, for we also seek the living among the dead. T o begin with, it is quite true that, as Matthew Henry puts it : “ All they that expect happiness and satisfaction in the creature, or perfection in this imperfect state, may be said to seek the living among the dead.” Men who seek living and enduring things in the graves o f this earth, its pleasures *Pastor, First Baptist Church.
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Although they speak of the survival of personality or the continued influence of Jesus, He is really a dead Christ to them. Paul told us long ago the fearful consequences o f such a position: If Christ be not raised, our preaching is vain, our faith is vain, we are false witnesses, we are still in our sins, the dead in Christ are perished, and we are of all men most miserable (1 Cor. 15:12-19). If death conquered Him, then He is defeated; He said He would rise and is therefore mistaken; then everything He said would be undependable, our faith is vain, and there is no hope beyond for us or others. If the gospel ends in a grave, it is a dead gospel. How can any one claim to be a Christian and then deny the very foundation stone of the resurrection ? When we come to those whose doctrine may be sound enough, so often do we find them seeking the living Christ at the sepulcher of formalism. I think of those earnest souls who go regularly to church, sit reverently through the order of service, but come away none the better. They merely have carried spices to the grave o f a dead Christ so far as actual experience of Him is concerned. They have no sense o f His living, animating Presence. They sing about Him, pay preachers to preach about Him, but so far as experimental knowledge o f Him is concerned, He is still in the tomb, and they carry to Him the spices of conventional respect. These worshipers believe, theoretically, that He is alive, and they may desire to know Him per sonally, but they go to the wrong place to find Him. These women were at the grave while Christ was out on the highways. We look for Him in a round of church duties while He is out among the high ways and hedges, and we ought to be there, too, witnessing for Him. This coming to the grave did no good, either to the women or to others. “ Go tell my brethren”— there was their duty. He is not a corpse to decorate with the mere tribute of our lips or to honor with ethical observances. He is out where cross the crowded ways of life, and He would have us out there testifying o f Him. L iving in the R eality op C hrist ’ s P resence We are so slow to believe that He really is living among us today. These women had heard Him say definitely that He would rise on the third day. How clearly He had declared i t ! “ As Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son o f man be three days and three nights in the heart o f the earth” (Matt. 12:40). “ And he began to teach them, that the Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected o f the elders, and o f the chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again” (Mk. 8 :31 ). “ The Son of man is de livered into the hands o f men, and they shall kill him ; and after that he is killed, he shall rise the third day” (Mk. 9 :31). “ Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up . . . But he spake of the temple o f his body” (John 2:19, 21). When these promises were called to the attention of the women at the grave, they remembered them. But why did they not start to the grave that morning saying, “ This is the day He will rise” ? They should have gone in antici pation, but instead they went solemnly to a cemetery! So do believers claim a theoretical faith in the promises, but we do not live as though we actually believed He is a living Person among us. He promised to be with us all the days, even unto the end of the age, but instead o f joy fully walking the highways in glad testimony to Him who died but liveth evermore, we congregate on Sundays in for mal tribute and bring Him our spices, then get up on Monday and live as though He were still in the grave!
W itnessing on the H ighways w ith C hrist Christ did not manifest Himself to these women at the sepulcher. The grave symbolized unbelief ; they should have been Out looking for Him on the highway. “ He is not here, but is risen.” Christ does not manifest Himself at the grave o f unbelief. We think of Him as One who lived in the past; we leave Him in Galilee or in theology, but He is more real and alive than anything else in all the world. When we leave the sepulcher and go out on the highways of obedience, He will make Himself known: “ He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth m e : and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest, myself to Him” (John 14:21). W e who believe are identified with Christ in His death and resurrection (Rom. 6 :4 ). Let us in this connection not seek the living among the dead. We are not merely buried with Christ, but risen. We are not only to count ourselves dead unto sin, but also alive unto God. Some believers spend all their time being corpses, mortifying the doings of the body in a negative experience. That is the error of asceticism, seeking life through death. Rather, we are to live unto God and find death to sin realized by constant living unto God. We are to know “ the- expulsive power of a new affection.” Believers are not to stay in the grave any more than Christ did. We shall find life in daily experience as we abide in -Him, not merely in the grave o f death unto, sin, but also in His resurrection life out on-the highway o f obedience and testimony.' T he V anquished G rave . A closing kindred thought in another connec tion presents itself. We seek the living among the dead with regard to our loved ones who have gone to be with the Lord. Do we not often magnify the grave, leaving our flowers there as though every thing had ended with the burial ? But faith should look beyond the sepulcher to where these dear ones are with Christ waiting for us to meet them again. It was not their bodies that meant most, and there fore our real treasure is not in the grave. And even their bodies are to be reclaimed, so nothing is lost! While flowers at the grave have their place, let us not sorrow as they who have no hope. Let us not seek the living among the dead. He has promised, “ Because I live, ye shall live also.” Swinburne may sing that “ no life lives forever; dead men rise up never,” but we know better. Where He is, we shall be also. Beware of seeking the living among the dead. Christ is not dead, but risen. Let us walk the highways in. the power o f His resurrection, testifying that He ever liveth! The Power of the Resurrection In the resurrection of Christ, the power o f God finds its highest and most triumphant expression— the undoing o f sin’s bondage in death, the pledge o f ultimate and com plete victory in unending life. . . . The New Testament standard of power is resurrection power. It is the pure power o f omnipotence, unaided and unlimited. “ God . . . raised him up.” It is that power that makes all Christian experience possible . . . Resurrection power has three phases, corresponding to the three tenses o f time: (1 ) already applied to the body of Jesus, lifting it from the tomb; (2 ) now being applied to His spiritual body, believers united to Him through His death and resur rection; (3 ) awaiting its application to the bodies, first of believers, then of all men. Everything depends upon it. Well may we regard the resurrection as the Gibraltar of the Christian faith. — N orman B. H arrison .
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