MARCH 1939
T H E G O S P E L / how that Christ died for our \ sins according to the Scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day ac- \ cording to the Scriptures*’ I (l Cor. 15 : 1 - 4 ). / A
Washington was subject to human failings but his Christian charac ter made America. Lincoln was a poor boy and a plain man but the world acclaims the triumph of his life. Both men drew their strength from the same source— they studied and understood and loved the Bible. You can bring to your children and yourself the same fruitful knowl edge and understanding of G od 's Word. Mail coupon below for at tractive announcement folder describing the plan and beauty o f— A é -VicToRY /T he B ook ofL ife For You and Your Family Reveals the whole Bible with over 800 Christian art reproductions, photographs and maps of Bible lands to add richness and interest. Each volume is complete in itself but a necessary link in the perfect whole. So simple it enables pre-school children to begin to know G od 's Word, yet so profound in scholarship it chal lenges and benefits the best student. The Book of Life" in your home is like living with a wise counsellor and loving re- vealer of Bible truth whose very presence is a benediction. Children are inspired to worthy ideals and the home takes on a higher spiritual tone.
“The Book of Life” Was Worth $500 to this Boy Really worth much more as it can be to you and your children be cause it is impossible to put a money value on the knowledge, culture and Christian ideals ob tained from this great work. Here is a High School boy who won a $500 prize recently in the American Youth Forum Contest in the Ameri can Magazine. His mother writes, "M y son's poemwas on theassigned topic 'M y Hope for America' and was modeled after the Psalms. He used the Bible Poetry volume of 'The Book of Life'. In fact both my boys have read the entire set. It certainly has helped me meet my responsibility to my boys."
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T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
March, 1939
W ha t Every Jew
Should Know • Here is a fresh Gospel approach to the Jew. .It is designed to enable you to reach the Jew personally. There are now twelve separate leaflets in our new series, “What Every Jew Should Know.” They are brief, mostly four pages; they are attract ively printed, with attention-getting titles, and written with a God-given native understanding of the Jewish mind. • The subjects will interest you:—■ 1. What is a Christian? 2. Was Abraham a Jew? 3. Don’t Go to Jerusalem. 4. Son, Remember. 5. How Many Times Have You Been Bom? 6. A Modem Jew Looks at Jesus. 7. Doctoring a Doctor. 8. An Open Letter to a Rabbi. 9. Thirty-three Prophecies Fulfilled in One Day. 10. An Astonishing Yom Kippur Prayer. 11. Do Christians Worship Three Gods? 12. Let’s Hang the Hamans! • Already, reports come of the Lord’s rich blessings upon these tracts. Over 250,000 have so far been printed. • They are yours for the asking, in the Lord. Just say how many of each. You will of course promise the Lord to give them out faithfully. • If you wish to pay cost, or postage, or both, you may figure about #2.00 the hundred, assorted. Or, if you feel led of the Lord to help us in the larger printing and circulation of these eco nomical and effective tracts, your gift will be put to work immediately, and will be received as of His provision. AMERICAN BOARD OF MISSIONS TO THE JEW S,. Inc. 31 Throop Ave., Brooklyn, New York D ear F riends: I want to help in your great Gospel literature program for the Jews. Here is $— ------ May the Lord bless your testimony.
© b e 3 t t > I e T a m i l s 3 t t a g $ 3 i n e Copyright, 1939, by T n K ing ’ s B usiness (a California non-profit corporation) Motto: “Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood ."— R ev . 1 :5.
Volume X X X
March, 1939
Number 3
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Photograph on front cover by Harold M. Lambert
Around the King’s Table —Editorial ............................................................ 90 What Must We Preach ?—Herbert Lockyer ............................................. 91 The Five Mysteries of the Resurrection —Roy L . Laurin ............... ..... 92 Meditations on the Life and Letters of Paul— H . A. Ironside ......................................................................................... 94 Views and Reviews of Current News —Dan Gilbert ............................... 95 Junior King’s Business -—Martha S. Hooker ............................................. 97 Bible Institute Family Circle...................... 102 International Lesson Commentary................... 103 Notes on Christian Endeavor —Mary G. Goodner. ...................................116 Daily Devotional Readings............................................................................. 119 Our Literature Table............... ......................... I......................................§.....126
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March, 1939
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Around the King's Table E D I T O R I A L
bled congregation held in loving memory three of those most used of God in the founding of the Bible Institute of Los An geles, R. A. Torrey, Lyman Stewart, and T . C. Horton. At this session John H. Hunter, who for years was associated with these three men in the work of the Institute, gave a very helpful and inspiring memorial message. It sounded in every heart a great challenge to take the truths of the Word of God for which these men stood, and to give them to the world of our day. W e are all praising God for the marvelous blessing of this great conference, and we look forward to the one which we expect to hold next year, if our Lord shall tarry. Scattered across thousands of square miles of territory in New Mexico and Arizona are nearly fifty thousand members of the spiritually neglected Navajo tribe. A well- informed worker among the Navajos esti mates that in this group even today less than ten per cent are professing Christians. Only a comparatively small company of missionaries is serving in their midst, and many of the Indians are wholly unevangel ized. Other tribes of American Indians like wise stand in need of the gospel message. Closely associated with the early mis sionary effort among the Navajos was Fred G. Mitchell, a man of outstanding faith, patience, and perseverance. When, on January 12 of this year, he went into the presence of the Lord, he must have experi enced “an abundant entrance,” for he had been the means of making Christ known to many of the “forgotten men” of the desert. Mr. Mitchell first went to serve among the Navajos of Arizona in 1904. So zealous was he for the salvation of the souls of these Indians that after acquiring a very limited vocabulary of the language he began hogan visitation. With a sheepskin and blanket tied on behind his saddle, he rode the trails to find the people, and finding them, spent days and nights with them. He loved them with a burning passion. He sat where they sat. He suffered with them. He prayed for them. He told them heaven’s Love Story. He lifted them in the arms of loving faith to Christ. He literally poured out his life for them. Some of them found his Christ. Some of them are today rejoicing with him around the Throne. In 1919, the Board of National Missions of the Presbyterian Church invited him to take charge of their Mission to the Navajos at Ganado, Arizona. Here God used him to the salvation of souls, the training of youth, and the upbuilding of a native church. His influence through this service is felt all over the Navajo Reservation. His work in contributing to the translation of the Scrip tures into the Navajo language is of greater value than can be estimated, for he was one [Continued on page 127] Fred G. Mitchell— A Missionary to the Navajos
to magnify misfortune by dependence upon God. This was Paul’s philosophy expressed to the Corinthian church, “Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmi ties . . . I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake” (2 Cor. 12: 9, 10). The object of comparison here is not others' misfortunes but Christ. When we assume our lot with our gaze upon Christ, that attitude glorifies the trivialities and the tragedies. A Notorious Pardon In commenting on the pardon given to Thomas Mooney, it is to be remembered that we hold no brief for either Mooney’s guilt or innocence. This question has been argued before the courts of the State of California as well as of the nation. So ex tensive has been the litigation in this fa mous case that the records of its opinions would make a library of twenty volumes, comprising 13,416 pages. The dramatic and almost blase circumstances under which the pardon was granted have stirred the world. This famous pardon involved the freedom of but one man who had been im prisoned for twenty-two years. But this recent incident has served to re mind us of another pardon, a pardon which God has already given the entire world and which, in this very day, almost goes begging for a hearing. This pardon is not signed in State ink but in the blood of the Son of God. It sets free from eternal bondage the sinning members of the human race. There remains but one requirement to have its marvelous blessings put into ef fect, and that is its acceptance by men and women. W e point out the fact that God does not pardon the sinner when he be lieves. His pardon has already been sealed by Calvary’s blood. The pardon is made effective and productive by the sinner’s faith when he accepts God’s offer of for giveness of sin through the crucified Son of God. The Fourth Annual Torrey Memorial Conference The Fourth Annual Torrey Memorial Bible Conference has gone into history. This conference, held at the Bible Institute of Los Angeles from January 22 to 29, was, without exaggeration, the greatest and best of its kind. The corps of preachers and teachers assembled for the conference were leaders of great ability and power. Time would fail to speak individually of the blessing brought by each speaker. The most eloquent testimony that could be given to these is to be found in the remarkable attendance at every session. This attend ance had an accumulative effect, coming to a peak on the closing Sunday. One of the most important meetings of the conference was the Memorial Service on Friday after noon, January 27, at which time the assem
W a r By Spring? The question is not ours. We would not venture the thought nor hazard the guess. But this question is in the minds of all in formed people. Of course the war that all expect ultimately may not begin in the spring. The fact is it has'begun already. It has begun in the preparations now being made for it. The greatest war preparations in history are now under way. Let no one naively suppose that these are purely de fensive preparations. The present interna tional frame of mind and temperament as sure us that this defensive preparation means offensive objectives. No other con struction can be put on this present arma ment race now. And even if charity of thought should grant the belief that these armament pro grams are purely defensive, we must then face the fact that when nations are pre pared for war, the slightest provocation readily leads to actual conflict. Had Eng land and .France been adequately prepared, war probably would have occurred last fall. Munich was a capitulation to preparedness, the preparedness of Germany. W e are now in the process of transform ing earth into Mars. In 1937, $14,000,000,- 000.00 was spent for armaments. In 1938, $17,500,000,000.00 was spent for the same purpose. This year, authentic sources re port an expenditure of $15,000,000,000.00 by just six of the sixty nations who are currently engaged in rearmament. And be sides munitions, the world has in readiness for mobilization some fifty million men. This total is more than the combined armies of Caesar, Charlemagne, Hannibal, Na poleon, Wellington, Lee, and Foch. There is but one thing to expect—war. It is not pessimism that leads us to say that war is inevitable; the very construction of our competitive civilization leads us to believe it. The only hope that lies in the present world situation is the hope of the fulfillment of God’s program on the earth. This program is centered in the return of Christ. It was prophesied of Him that "of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end.” W e expect this peace because we expect His government on earth following His return to the earth, and then "nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.” “No Shoes—No Feet” "I had no shoes, and complained until I met a man who had no feet,” runs the old proverb. How often this is true in our own expe rience! W e complain of our lot or our so- called misfortunes and we think our way the hardest until we see some one whose lot is far worse than ours. In the light of others’ misfortunes, ours seem nothing. The Christian is taught not to minimize misfor tune by comparison with others hut rather
March, 1939
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What Must We Preach?
By HERBERT LO C K Y E R Chicago, Illinois
Illustration by Ransom D. Marvin
W HEN Jesus Christ came out of His grave, all the tremblings and doubts of the d iscip les were changed into assurances. Uncertainties were transformed into an invincible faith. With the cruel death of Christ their hopes had gone out like candle flames. "W e trusted that it had been he which should have re deemed Israel,” was their wistful lament. Disconsolate, they felt that their Master had been mastered, and that death had done it. Their Master had found His master. Their Lord had become a slave, seeing that death had exercised dominion over Him, who had professed to be the Lord of life. Those distressed disciples, however, came to witness His triumph. They had seen their Lord marching through the hosts of sin; now they beheld Him marching through the corridors of death, proving Himself to be its Conqueror. And this is one reason that the apostles echoed forth the angelic message, “He is not here, but is risen” (Lk. 24:6). They went everywhere preaching Jesus and the resurrection (Acts 17:18). If Roman guards could have kept His body in a grave, then prophecy would have failed: Christianity, which the Lord had set out to found, would have been blasted in the bud; and they, His disciples, would have been cruelly deceived. But on the third day the seal of the Roman Empire snapped, the rocks moved, the armed guards were stricken with awe, and a unique message was created, which humble lips proclaimed with mighty power. They "preached . . . Jesus, and the resurrection”! Let us likewise center our attention on this glorious and fundamental theme as at this Easter season the resurrection is em phasized anew.
Christ's Resurrection— An Imperative Necessity
"Truth, crushed to earth, shall rise again: The eternal years of God are hers." Christ's Resurrection— An Incentive to Worship Dead! Jesus Christ might continue to be revered, but in order to be loved, wor shiped, and obeyed, He must rise again. Had Christ remained dead, power would never have been His to apply His cleasing blood to the smitten conscience of the sinner. If He would fully save, He must rise again. A stiff arm in Joseph’s new tomb cannot snap the fetters of sin. The Pauline asser tion is that if Christ did not rise again, we are yet in our sins. Cold lips silent in death could never plead a guilty sinner’s need. Feet bound with graveclothes could never run errands of peace and mercy. Some there are who mourn a dead Jesus. A crucifix is ever before their eyes. The cross and tomb of Christianity, however, are empty! Praise be to God! Christ is alive forevermore. The Christian does not kneel over a gravestone, but worships a living, loving, lasting Lord. He lives! Lives to pardon sin, to carry heavy burdens, to wipe away earth's tears, to raise our happy dead! Let the certainty of the apostolic message come to us with a strange, unique fascination. Our Redeemer liveth! Let us in faith hear His voice from the throne saying, “I am He that liveth; therefore bring all your cares, sorrows, trials and sins, and bury them in My bosom.”
What positiveness there is in the decla ration, “He must needs have...risen again” (Acts 17:3)! He must! Of course, He must. If He expected to die, He also expected to rise again, "a Victor from the dark domain." And in that masterly exposition of the resur rection in 1 Corinthians 15, Paul unfolds the necessity and blessed results of the empty tomb. Christ must rise again because truth and righteousness cannot be buried. Since both met in Christ, He could not be holden of death. Truth and righteousness are eternal in nature and therefore can never be buried successfully. True, these twin qualities were stabbed by Satan in the Garden of Eden, and the world has tried to bury them, but they ever rise again to confound their foes. Jo seph, cast into the pit, rises from his prison house to rule a nation; Daniel comes from a lion’s den to become prime minister of Babylon. Apostles were laughed at in Jeru salem as men full of new wine and were persecuted even to martyrdom. Millions, however, have rejoiced in the risen Christ they preached. The blood of martyrs be came the seed of the church. Thus was it with Christ! A bleeding corpse, sweetly perfumed, was laid away in a sealed tomb; but as a Conqueror He rose again, and making His shattered grave a pulpit, He bids His followers proclaim the resurrection. Proud men may bolt Truth and Righteousness in the prison house ot earth, and may roll the stoutest stones against strong doors in order to prevent such fair sisters from rising again. But some bright morn deaf ears are made to hear the music of the cymbals of triumph, for
Christ's Resurrection— A Proof of Immortality
By His resurrection, Jesus became "the firstfruits of them that slept." This is one [Continued on page 96]
THE
March, 1939
K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
The Five Mysteries of the Resurrection
By R O Y L LAUR IN * Los Angeles, California
the hundredweight of the embalming myrrh and aloes were left in the shape of a phys ical form, but they were empty. They were not crushed or unwrapped by angels. But the body of the Lord Jesus Christ had been changed by. the resurrection, and the undis turbed graveclothes were an evidence that the body Christ possessed was not the same body but a changed body. In fact, it was changed from a terrestrial body to a celes tial body, having certain properties differ ent from those of an ordinary human body. There are three proofs of this change: 1. The vanishing Person (Lk. 24:31). 2. The invisible entrance (John 20:19). 3. The visible ascension (Acts 1:9). They crucified Jesus as "The King of the Jews,” but we must not lose sight of the fact that He was our High Priest. Nor must we lose sight of the further fact that the redemption which was “finished” on the cross must be presented in the presence of God by the credentials of the atoning blood. On the Day of Atonement, which had been solemnized for centuries and which Christ in His crucifixion was finally fulfill ing, the Hebrew high priest went behind the veil of the tabernacle three times. First, he entered with coals and incense that the sacred precinct might be filled with the cloud of incense that he might not see God and die. Second, he went in with the blood of his own sin offering. Third, he entered with the blood of a sin offering for the people. Now bear in mind that when Christ died on the cross, the veil in the temple was “rent in twain”—there was thereafter no holy place on earth. Any entering beyond the veil and presentation of blood which Christ would make must be in heaven. Re member also that He needed only to make one appearance. Not the first with coals and incense. He was God and could see God. Not with blood for His own sins. He was sinless and needed no cleansing. But He did need to enter the heavenly sanctu ary with the blood of the sin offering for all the world. But when? It occurred some time after His resurrection and before His Olivet ascension. How do we know? There are three apparently contradictory or confusing statements in Scripture that III. The Mystery of the High-Priestly Ascension of our Lord.
There is a necessary distinction that must be observed at this point Those who teach annihilation claim that the only im mortal person was Jesus Christ, and they quote 1 Timothy 6:16: “Who only hath immortality." You will find that every men tion of immortality associated with Jesus means deathlessness and incorruption. He accomplished His own death by voluntarily surrendering life. Disease could not kill Him; accident could not kill Him. In this sense, He “only hath immortality." And in that sense every believer will also have the same immortality when "this mortal shall have put on immortality” (1 Cor. 15:54). But it is an indisputable fact from nature and from Scripture that there is im mortality in all men which is the quality of an endless existence. There is in the world that “die-as-a-dog philosophy” which is bom of materialism. But there is instinctive in the human race the idea that death is only a change in life and not the end o f life. The scientist, who of all men should most believe in God, is too often a materialist and a disbeliever in the resurrection of Jesus. But notwithstand ing that fact, reputable science, while it cannot put forth its magic hands into the invisible future and draw forth certain demonstrable exhibits of the other life, pre sents us with almost innumerable examples and analogies which make necessary a be lief in the fact that death is only a change in life and not the end of life. In the Bible, death is certainly not an event that ends life. It has associated with it a resurrection which is twofold: “Some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt” (Dan. 12:2). Death is an endless existence, and the quality of that endless existence is determined by the kind of resurrection we pass through. &?> II. The Mystery of the Changed Body of our Lord. From the record of John 20:2-8 we dis cover two things: First, we learn that the body of Jesus was not found in His tomb: “They have taken away the Lord out of the sepulchre, and we know not where they have laid him” (v. 2 ). Second, we find that the body of Jesus was profoundly changed (vs. 5-7). The evidence of the change is found in the graveclothes. The linen clothes in which were innerwrapped
I F YOU set out to collect all the the ological writings, dogmas, creeds, and explanations, you would have almost enough to rival Pike’s Peak! As necessary and as proper- as dogmas and doctrines are to the Christian faith, we are brought once more at Easter to remember that the Chris tian faith is not founded upon a dogma, that is, a doctrine or a teaching or an idea, but a fact—and that fact is the resurrection of Jesus Christ. He Himself is the Christian faith, and when an individual becomes a Christian, that one is required to believe the fact of the resurrection—‘‘If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved” (Rom. 10:9). W e have before us in the resurrection not only the world’s most remarkable fact but the world’s most certain fact as well. But there is a strange thing about this fact —it is surrounded with mystery. You do not usually associate mystery with facts, but this fact is all the more enhanced be cause it is surrounded with the halo of mystery. It is thus seen to be divine, super natural, and miraculous. And it has to be, for a supernatural faith, such as the Chris tian faith is, could not be founded upon or started from a natural fact. It was born in the atmosphere it still possesses, that of the divine. There are at least five mysteries associ ated with the resurrection: &T> I. The Mystery of Immortality. Immortality is the quality of endless ex istence, not endless physical life as we know it. * Vice-President o f the Bible Institute o f Los Angeles and Associate Pastor o f the
Church o f the Open Door. Photographs by H. Armstrong Boberts.
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¿XT' V. The Mystery of the Believer's j Resurrection. What does the resurrection mean to you? Is it a [act or a hope? It should be both. The fact is that which happened nineteen centuries ago. The hope is in the fact. For if Christ is risen, then remember that being risen, He is become “the firstfruits of them that slept” (1 Cor. 15:20). And that means that He, the risen One, is the Guarantee of our own coming resurrection. Now, if this is not true, then the conclu sion of the whole Easter pageantry is this: "If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable” (1 Cor. 15:19). W e would then be no better than the Brahman. When a Brahman is dying, though he may have prayed ten hours daily, yet all that his friends can do is to clasp his hands about the tail of a cow. The man cries in hopelessness, "Where am I going?” But contrast the Christian, one “having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ” (Phil. 1:23). He recognizes that at death he will be "absent from the body, . . . present with the Lord” (2 Cor. 5:8 ). This hope is a mystery: “W e shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed" (1 Cor. 15:51). It is the change of the resur rection when the dead shall be raised in corruptible, when this corruptible body shall put on incorruption and this mortal body shall put on immortality. This change is a mystery. I do not profess to under stand its biochemistry or its biophysics. I cannot fathom it, but I can believe it be cause it has been demonstrated in an event nineteen centuries old which bears that many centuries of proof and certainty in evidences of the power of the risen Christ. The event of that fact is the proof of my hope, mysterious as it is, but it is the pat tern as well as the proof, for Christ “shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body” (Phil, 3:21 ). As He is, so shall I be, and I shall become what He now is. Ignoring or rejecting this view, men and women are willing to spend fabulous sums in eccentric enterprises. They are willing to subscribe themselves to all sorts of schemes and ideas. They are willing to throw their lives away in chasing bubbles and playing with the toys of time that break and vanish beneath their hands. They worship their own bodies and saturate them with delights and then, as in the paganism of Egypt, associate an immortality with this corruptible flesh. There are two societies in this country, the American Rocket Society, a national organization, and the Cleveland Rocket So ciety, sponsored by Edward L, Hanna, the grandson of Mark Hanna. It is reported that Hanna has set aside a trust fund of $20,000 to provide for the ultimate burial of himself and his wife on the moon, pro vided they are unable to make the trip while they are alive. The trust fund, so the story goes, is to operate when and if the journey ever becomes possible in the future. O fools! of what moment is it whether the body lies on the moon or Saturn or this earth? What about the soul? The destiny of every soul is wrapped up in its relation ship to Jesus Christ. "He that hath the Son hath life."
can be related to this High-Priestly act of Christ: 1. ‘‘Touch me not; for I am not yet as cended to my Father” (John 20:17). 2. "And they came and held him by the feet” (Matt. 28:9). 3. “Handle me, and see” (Lk. 24:39). There is no discrepancy here if we ac cept the interpretation that Christ’s High-
Priestly ascension to the heavenly sanctu ary occurred between the above command in John 20:17 and the statement in Mat thew 28:9. IV. The Mystery of the Disciples' Un belief and Questions. Though the resurrection is the event up on which the Christian faith is founded as the most essential reason for faith, and though this event was justly calculated to produce faith, at least in the disciples, it brought out flagrant unbelief instead. If you will search the resurrection ac counts in the Gospels, you will see the dis ciples’ unbelief in great prominence: Mark 16:10: "As they mourned and wept.” There was no happy expectation but a mournful admission of disaster. Mark 16:11: “And they, when they had heard that he was alive, and had been seen of her, believed not." They showed no disposition to accept the testimony of one of the women of their own company. Mark 16:13: ‘‘And they [two disciples] went and told it unto the residue: neither believed they them.” Here was evidence from another source, but it met the same unbelieving reception. Luke 24:11: “And their [the women's] words seemed to them as idle tales, and they believed them not.” This was not mere casual disbelief but deep unbelief. The women’s testimony was received as nothing more than town gossip. In the face of what the disciples had heard and seen, their attitude is one of the deepest mysteries of the resurrection. The world was not expected to believe it, but surely the disciples ought to have accepted it, especially in the face of the fact that be fore His death Jesus had told them of His resurrection and had arranged a meeting place. He had stated it specifically: “But after I am risen again, I will go before you into Galilee” (Matt. 26:32). If there is any explanation of their unbelief, it will be found in Jesus’ words to the two disciples on the Emmaus road: “O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken” (Lk. 24:25). Modern unbelief still treats the resurrec tion as “idle tales,” as the gossip of super stition. It loves to observe Easter as a drama of mythology or the type of a beau tiful idea. In this day of scientific skepti cism, we must acquaint ourselves with the simple elements of the resurrection as the basis of our personal Christianity and of the Christian faith at large, and we must remember that the Lord Jesus’ explanation of unbelief still holds good—“O fools, and slow of heart.” Just how and when did the disciples come to believe in the resurrection? Certain events of the resurrection day epitomize the resur rection revelation: 1. When He “took bread, and blessed it, and brake, and gave to them” (Lk. 24:30), they recognized the Person. 2. When He said: “Behold my hands and my feet" (cf. Lk. 24:36-40), they recog nized the cross. 3. When He “opened . . . their under standing, that they might understand the Scriptures" (Lk. 24:45), they accepted the Word.
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T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
P a u l’s Passion "W E PREACH CHRIST CRUC IF IED" Is I t Yours?
Meditations on the Life and Letters of Paul
By H. A. IRON S IDE * Chicago, Illinois
T HERE is a marvelous symmetry and orderliness evidenced in the manner of the divine revelation to mankind. God has spoken in His Word—the Word personal and the Word written. The law and the prophets were until John. Grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. Following Christ’s crucifixion, resurrection, and ascen sion, the Holy Spirit came to form the church of the new dispensation and to be the Guide, Comforter, and Teacher of the saints until all should come to the unity of the faith and should be presented fault less in the presence of Christ’s glory. The Holy Spirit selected different serv ants to emphasize various phases of truth.
Him crucified. Hidden for a time in Arabia Petra, he was instructed by the Lord Him self as to the message he was to carry to the world. His was to be a double ministry: that of the gospel and of the church. From the first, Paul went beyond the twelve in his proclamation of the gospel, for he preached justification from all things, in addition to remission of sins. And he de clared even in Damascus that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God. Peter had declared Him to be Christ the servant of God; for if the Revised Version be referred to, it will be seen that this is the term used in Acts 3:13, 26; 4:30. Peter did not deny His Sonship. In the sermon at Pentecost, he calls Him Lord and Christ, which im plies full deity (Acts 2:36). And when questioned by the Lord at Caesarea Philippi as recorded in Matthew 16:16, he had already confessed Him as Son of the living
Had it been the mind of God that Paul’s ministry should have set all the rest to one side, Paul would have been the last to write. But the fact is that all of his epistles were written, and he himself was probably in heaven, when Peter wrote his second epistle, and all of John’s writings were penned many years after Paul’s personal ministry on earth had ceased. These con siderations alone should impress upon us the value of every portion of the Word of God. Unfolding Two Great Mysteries • How like God it was to choose for the special mission to the Gentiles a stem, bigoted Jewish zealot, who could not brook the thought of any further revelation than that given by Moses and the prophets, and who was so blinded by prejudice that he failed to see in Christ Jesus the One of whom all
To Peter, James, and Jude it was given to open up sanctifying truth as to the believer’s relation to the kingdom of God, while that kingdom is still rejected by the world. T o the A p o stle John was given particularly to make known precious and intimate things having to do with our place as children in the family of God. And to Paul, fore ordained to be an apostle to the nations, was revealed in all its fullness the great m y stery o f the Body of Christ. These va riou s lines of truth are not antagonistic one to the other; neither does one supersede and thus make needless any other line of truth. All are re
God. But in presenting Him to Israel in the beginning, it was as the Servant of Jeh o v ah he proclaimed Him. But from the very first Paul was led to insist upon His’Sonship. Side by side with this mystery of the gospel went the mys tery of the body. The oth er apostles saw, in meas ure at least, that Jew and Gentile were to be blessed on the common ground of grace. To Paul was vouch safed the great truth that the middle wall was done away completely and that all who believed were bap
P au l——A n d The International Sunday-School Lessons
Dr. Ironside
For three months, beginning with April, all Sunday-schools that follow the subject outlines of the International Sunday-school Lessons will center their interest on the life and message of Paul, the great "apostle to the Gentiles.’’ The editors of THE ICING’S BUSINESS are glad to present Dr. Ironside’s article as added inspiration for teachers who will be using the lessons on Paul that appear in this month’s issue.
these prophets spake! Paul’s remarkable experience on the way to Dam ascus opened his eyes to heavenly realities and blinded them to all human religiousness and worldly glory. It was the revelation of God’s Son in him that revolutionized him completely. Henceforth he would know nothing among men but Jesus Christ and
quired in order that the believer may be per fect or mature, wanting nothing. For the Christian is, at one and the same time, a child in the family, a subject of the king dom, and a member of the body.
tized by one Spirit into one body and thus were as intimately related each to the other as the members of a human body are to its head and to one another (1 Cor. 12:12, 13). To Paul it was given to complete the Word of God by unfolding all His counsels and purpose. For though others wrote later.
*Pastor, Moody Memorial Church.
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as we have seen, yet no new doctrinal un- foldings were added to this revelation of the mystery. A Comprehensive Message A thoughtful consideration of Paul’s let ters will reveal the wonderful scope of his ministry, linking itself intimately with that of all his fellow servants and yet tran scending them all. In the epistles to the Thessalonians, which are the earliest of his letters to be preserved for the edification of the church, Paul un folds precious truth as to the consummation of the Christian’s path—the coming of our Lord Jesus and our gathering together unto Him. In the first epistle the emphasis is laid upon our Lord’s coming for His saints, to take them to be with Himself. In the second letter he dwells largely on Christ’s revelation from heaven with all His saints when He descends to take the kingdom and reign in righteousness over a redeemed universe. Next in order of time we have the epistles to the Corinthians. In these we have, in the first, the order and discipline of the church of God viewed in responsi bility, in the place of testimony on the earth, and in the second, that edifying ministry which the risen Christ has given to His church for its instruction and growth. Note that in Scripture the church is never, as in Romish conceptions, the teacher, but Christ has given gifts to His church that it may be taught of Him through His servants. Were the churches today more subject to what the Lord has given us in these Co rinthian letters, godly order would displace fleshly confusion. It is not possible to pronounce with abso lute certainty as to the order in which all Paul's epistles were written, but it is evi dent that Galatians and Romans are most definitely related. In the former, law and grace are fully discussed and the relative place of each, in the divine scheme, made clear, while in the latter we have the fullest unfolding of the gospel of God that has ever been made known. That gospel reveals the righteousness of God, showing how God can be just and the justifier of all who believe in Jesus. It harmonizes God’s present work of grace among all men with the promises made of old to Israel and shows the practical results that flow therefrom. Colossians and Philemon belong together. Whether written, as some suppose, in prison in Caesarea, or with others in Rome, both were carried by Onesimus, the con verted runaway slave, to Colosse. The great theme of the longer letter is the Headship of Christ, a truth that was in danger of being subordinated or ignored because of false teachers and therefore needed full re iteration and explanation. The smaller letter, the one to Philemon, has been well described as "the finest specimen of early Christian personal correspondence extant." It illus trates beautifully the great truths of substi tution and acceptance. Ephesians is the capstone of the Pauline revelation. Here we have restated that “whole counsel of God” which Paul told the Ephesian elders he had already declared unto them (Acts 20:27, R .V .). It opens up the truth as to the church as the Body of Christ with its glorious privileges, as well
as the walk that should characterize those so richly blessed. Philippians is the epistle of Christian ex perience, and consequently it is radiant with the joy of the Lord. For real Christian ex perience consists of the knowledge of, the enjoyment of, and the manifestation of, Christ Himself, and of this the letter treats. The pastoral epistles to Timothy and Titus stress the importance of sound teach ing coupled with sound living in order to combat the growing evil of the age. Hebrews, I know, is not ascribed to Paul by many. I have given my own reasons elsewhere* for holding to the Pauline authorship. The Epistle to the Hebrews is the call to converted Hebrews to come outside the camp of Judaism, giving Christ the pre-eminent place, as He has fulfilled all the types and shadows of the Mosaic dispensation. As such, it is a fitting close to this wonderful scope of ministry given through Paul. *T he Epistle to the Hebrews and Lectures on Titus, by H. A. Ironside. Cloth, $1.00; paper, 50 cents. RUSSIAN REVELATION: Paul Mallon, noted Washington columnist, recently has completed one of the fairest and most far- reaching investigations ever made into ac tual conditions in the Soviet Union. So well documented are his conclusions and the facts upon which they are based, that he has defied any Soviet spokesman to deny them. No denial has been made, and none will be attempted, according to present indications. Mr. Mallon’s investigation shows clearly his conclusion: “The standard of living in Red Heaven’ is today—believe it—actually lower than it was under the czar.” After twenty years of the Soviet experi ment, the plain record shows that, "the new communist despotism in Russia has suc ceeded only in making the people worse off than before. You can prove it,” de clares Mr. Mallon, and he offers irrefutable evidence to back up his statement. The Mallon report comes as a revelation to vast elements of the "liberal” school of thought. Many, who by no means could be said to favor communism, have, neverthe less, been rather free and even reckless in their concession to the effect that "after all. Sovietism has made remarkable progress, at least along some lines.” The Mallon survey shows conclusively the complete and thorough bankruptcy of the whole Soviet scheme. “NAZIFICATION” IRKS ITALY : When “the Rome-Berlin axis” was first set in mo tion, I believe it was Keith Brooks who said that there was not enough grease in Europe to keep it spinning. Evidence on all sides indicates that, despite frantic ef forts to “jazz" up its retarding action, the
The Apostle Paul’s life was one of in tense devotion to the Christ who had won his heart and had separated him to be His ambassador to the Gentiles. In this calling he gloried. He magnified his office. But, on the other hand, he never ceased to have a passionate, yearning love for Israel; and wherever he went, his message, to the very end, was “to the Jew first.” No one saw with clearer vision the sins and failures of his people, but no one was prepared to endure more on their behalf if he might but win them for Christ. Passionate Devotion to Christ The record of Paul’s sufferings is simply staggering. One wonders how any man was able to go through all that he was called upon to endure for the gospel’s sake. But he bore it all gladly, desiring only that Christ might be magnified in him, whether in life or in death. As we today look back over nineteen hundred years of human history, he towers high above all the men of his time, and we hear him challenging us still to follow him as he followed Christ. A Chicago Tribune correspondent re cently reported "smoldering Italian reac tion” against the Nazi "Germanization of Italy.” Nazis “are overrunning the coun try,” according to that observer. "In all large Italian towns the Germans have es tablished party organizations . . . Three Germans actually sit on Premier Musso lini’s commission for ‘defense of the race.’ German technicians are in the war muni tions factories. Furthermore, German spe cialists in Italy are working out various re forms, and Fascist party purges actually have been made at the insistence of Nazis.” Mussolini’s secret police are ruthlessly suppressing any overt expression of the rising tide of “anti-Germanism” produced among the Italian populace by the intensi fying Nazification of the country. But even the sternest measures are failing to stamp out the smoldering resentment of the masses of the people. Fascist leaders view the sit uation with unconcealed alarm. Apparently they recognize that, while the growing re action against Hitlerism may be controlled for the present, it might become explosive in case of war. With the Fascist army en gaged at the front, revolution might easily break but behind the lines, if public opinion continues to rise in revolt against the Hit lerite penetration of Italy. “AMERICANIZATION” OF SCOTCH: The United States has practically taken over the Scotch liquor business, according to recently released trade statistics. Nearly seventy-five per cent of the entire output of all Scotch distilleries is sold and consumed [Continued on page 127} faltering mechanism is, like the proverbial merry-go-round, breaking down.
Views and Reviews of Current News By D A N G ILBERT Washington, D. C., and San Diego, California
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word. It is a most destructive explosive, the minister of desolation. This is the word that Paul uses for “power” in speaking of the gospel as the power of God (Rom. 1:16). In the narrow channel of New York harbor there used to be an obstructing rock beneath the waters that was called “Hell Gate” because it was a menace to peaceful commerce and the passage of the sea. How was it removed? Why, huge quantities of dynamite were buried in the heart of the rock, and blew it up as dust. Thus is it with the dynamite of the resurrection. It can destroy carnality, worldliness, and sin. All that is alien to our risen life in Christ has to yield. Identification with the risen, throne life of Jesus means the destruction of all evil forces, and the liberation of power for service. "Dynamo," on the other hand, is the posi tive word. Here is something constructive, for a dynamo is the agent of progress. It imparts power of action, driving force, basal strength. Passing through a factory we are impressed with the huge dynamos which by the turn of a switch whirl hun dreds of machines into unceasing activity. Thus it is with the power of our crucified, risen Lord. It is constructive as well as destructive—a dynamo as well as dynamite. The dynamo the resurrection supplies is a new heart—not new ideas or new ideals. W e may possess these and yet have no motive power. The resurrection did not usher in a new movement but created a new body. It did not create a new organi zation but a vital organism. The practical import of our meditation is not far to seek. If our feet are entangled in the meshes of sin and if life is fettered with perplexities, fear, despair, and remorse, what else can we do but cry: "Give Thy power, O Lord! Plant Thy dynamo within my heart, and in the power of a blessed, resurrected life, cause me to run in the way of Thy commandments and with a joyful alacrity to obey Thy will.” The call comes, “Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light,” and as we willingly respond, we live again. Rising from our grave of sin, we become partakers of the life of Him who died and rose again that He might become Lord both of the dead and of the living. [Readers whose hearts have been stirred to new love [or the living Lord through the reading o[ the [oregoing article by Dr. Lock- yer, a member o f the Extension Department o f the Moody Bible Institute, will wish to read his book, When God Died, mentioned on page 126 o f this issue .—E ditor .] CH INA D EPA R TM EN T O F TH E B IBLE IN S T IT U T E OF LOS ANGELES Its buildings untouched by the fire that destroyed seventy-five per cent of Chang sha, capital of Hunan Province, the Hunan Bible Institute, the China Department of the Bible Institute of Los Angeles, is serv ing as a haven for missionaries and Chinese Christians who have lost their homes. Charles A. Roberts wrote from the Insti tute in December: "W e are a bit of a motley crowd at the Institute these days, with a number of [Continued on page 126]
Three Articles On DANIEL’S PROPHECY OF THE SEVENTY WEEKS B y A L VA J . M c C L A I N This series will begin in the April KING’S BUSINESS with a message on “The First Sixty-Nine Weeks and the Coming of the Messianic Prince.”
W H A T M U ST W E PREACH? [Continued from page 91 ] reason that Easter should be full of joy for the believer. "By dying, death He slew.” Easter declares the glorious aboli tion of death. Dr. Talmage graphically puts it thus: “Death is a conqueror. His palace is the sepulcher, his flowers the faded garlands on the grave, his music the cry of desolated homes, his chalice the human skull; his pleasure and springing fountains are the falling tears of a broken-hearted world. But Easter bids us remember that the hateful conqueror has been conquered, that the old mon ster fell into an eternal hell on the res urrection mom. For with trumpet sound we declare, ‘O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?’ ” Beloved, what a life is ours! In virtue of our Lord’s victory a resurrection unto life eternal will be ours. Bodies, now chained within the narrow limits of the coffin, are to sweep through the boundless spaces of the universe. Some glad day we are to get all back. Sown in dishonor, we shall yet be raised in glory. If we know Jesus as Saviour and Lord, then death is but the opening of a door into the palace of the King. Our grave, when we reach it, will be but the dressing room where we clothe ourselves in our immortal attire for glory. Yes, it is only through Christ that we have the promise and pledge of resurrection. Resurrection is the blessed hope of the church, the consummation of the gospel age, the climax of God’s great purposes of glorification, the long-awaited movement of all when death will be swallowed up in a victory supreme and eternal. May the Lord of Peace, who brought again our Lord Jesus from the dead, inspire our hearts anew with the assurance of personal resurrection! In his Colossian letter Paul reveals the mystery concerning the indwelling of the risen Lord, “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (1:27). At regeneration He enters as the Promise and Power of sanctification, and as the Guarantee of our resurrection and glorification. It is not said that He will bring us resurrection, but that He is the resurrection and the life. And it is this same indwelling life that will swallow up death. As in our bodies we bear even now the hidden seeds of death, in like manner there also dwells within each born-again soul the hidden life of the risen Christ. The pledge, therefore, of our coming resurrection is the life of God’s risen Son within (Rom. 8:11). Christ's Resurrection— The Source of Joy The secret of abounding joy, so charac teristic of'the disciples in the early church,
was the fact that Christ was alive forever more. “Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord” (John 20:20). When weeping Mary realized that her Master was alive, and that He was at hand, love re vealed itself in a single word. Inexplicable joy sometimes baptizes us into silence. The deepest joy of the heart finds utterance in words that are few. “Jesus saith . . . Mary. She . . . saith i . . Master” (John 20:16). And what a thrill of resurrection joy and glory is at the back of the expression, Master”! What a feeling of holy rapture Mary must have experienced as she heard her name pronounced by the lips of her risen Lord! Thus it will be with us some glad, golden day when suddenly the radiant faces of those we have loved long since and lost awhile are seen again, and sweet, familiar voices speak welcome in our ears. Christ's Resurrection— The Promise of Blissful Reunion After the resurrection, Christ proved Himself to be the very same Jesus. Little acts like the breaking of bread revealed Him as the same dear Friend. And what ecstasy must have been the portion of the disciples as for forty days they fellowshiped with the risen Lord! Resurrection, o f course, gave them a more wonderful, glorious Christ. Now, He was theirs forever. And Christ’s empty grave tells us that we, too, will get our dead back again. Bodies laid away in the darkness and night of the grave will one day swarm up the steps of light! Bodies crumbling to dust will one day be changed and made to share the Throne! Bodies at present the prey of corruption will be transformed and made to live through the ages of deathlessness! Think of it! W e are to be caught up from the graveyards of earth. And who can picture such a stupendous and super natural experience as is wrapped up in the raising of the dead and the changing of the living? As the resurrection brought Christ and His own together in an indissoluble union, so at His coming we are to be caught up together that we might remain together forever. Christ's Resurrection— The Secret of Perpetual Power The Acts of the Apostles is a perfect commentary on the power of Christ’s resur rection, for in the power of their risen Lord the apostles and other early Christians went forth to conquer. If they could turn the world upside down, it was because of the supplied energy of One who had turned the grave inside out. J. H. Jowett tells that there are two energetic words that can be fitted into the word “power,’' namely, “dynamite" and dynamo.” "Dynamite" is the negative
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