A n n u a l B o o k N u m b e r VOL. V. OCTOBER, 1914
No. 10
(Tlji' King'a 1«atoaa MOTTO : “I the Lord do keep it, I will water it every moment lest any hurt it, I will keep it night and day.”—Isa. 27:3. R. A. TORREY, EDITOR J. H. S amm is T. C. H orton J. h . H unter —ASSOCIATE EDITORS— Organ of the Bible Institute of Los Angeles, Inc. Los Angeles, California, U.S.A. Entered as Second-Class Matter November 17, 1910, at thé postofficë at Los Angeles California, under the Act of March 3, 1879.
DIRECTORS
Lyman Stewart, President. William Thorn, Secretary. T, C. Horton, Superintendent. E. A. K. Hackett.
Rev. A. B. Prichard, Vice-President. j. m . Irvine, Treasurer.
R. A. Torrey, Dean. Giles Kelloffff, H. A. Getz.
; S. I. Merrill.
DOCTRINAL STATEMENT We hold to the Historic Faith of the Church as expressed in the Common Creed of Evangelical Christendom and including: The Trinity of the Godhead. The Deity of the Christ.
The Maintenance of Good Works. The Second Coming of Christ. The Immortality of the Spirit. The Resurrection of the Body. The lif e Everlasting of Believers. The Endless Punishment of the Im penitent. The Reality and Personality of Satan. (7) Bible Women. House-to-house visitation and neighborhood classes. (8) Oil Fields, the oil fields. A mission to men on (9) Books and Tracts. Sale and dis tribution of selected books and tracts. (10) Harbor Work. For seamen in Los Angeles harbor. (11) Yoke Fellows Hall. Thoroughly manned. Our Mission for men with Boot Black and Newsboys Class and Street Meetings. (12) Print Shop. For printing Testa ments, books, tracts, etc, A complete establishment, profits going to free dis tribution of tracts.
The Personality of the Holy Ghost. The Supernatural and Plenary au thority of the Holy Scriptures. The Unity in Diversity of the Church, which is the Body and Bride of Christ. The Substitutionary Atonement. The Necessity of the New Birth. P u r p o s e Institute trains, free of cost, accredited men and women, in the knowledge and use of the Bible. Departments: W The institute Classes held daily except Saturdays and Sundays. (2) Extension work. Classes and con ferences held in neighboring cities and towns. (3) Evangelistic. Meetings conducted by our evangelists. (4) Spanish Mission. Meetings everv night. (5) Shop Work. Regular services in shops and factories. (6) Jewish Evangelism. Personal work among the Hebrews.
OUR WORK
THE KING'S BUSINESS Voi. 5 OCTOBER, 1914 No. 10
Table of Contents Editorials: War and the Shattering' of Man’s Empty' Optimism and the Confirmation of the True Biblical Optimism. ’’-“Look Up, and Lift Up Your Heads; Because Your Redemption Uraweth Nigh.”—Rebuilding the Family Altar... ... ..... ... l..v... 493 The Fundamental Principles of Christianity in the Light of Mod ern Thinking. By John M. MacInnis...^A;L-...-....tv^^ “God Is Love” (Poem)____ ________ __________ ......;__ ......___1... 499 Studies in the Gospel According to John. By R. A. T o r r e y 500 The International Sunday School Lessons. By J. H. S..... ....505 The Heart of the Lesson. By T. C. Horton ..._____ 514 Junior Endeavor Topics. By J. K. H. „„ _ „ „ - 4 .___ 516 At Home and Abroad..... _ h _ ...J s .„ m B519 Hints and Helps „ L _ . _ _ ....................... ______ :.... 523 Questions and Answers. By R. A. Torrey........... .............. ....___ _ 528 “Jesus Only” ‘(Hymn). By Henry C .•Buell™_;528 Bible Institute of Los Angeles...u— -A ........ ......... 529
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DR. T O R R E Y ’S B O O K S Dr. Torrey's books are probably more widely read than those of any other w riter on religious subjects of the day. They have been translated into more than twenty different languages. No m inister or Christian worker can afford not to read them. The Book Room of the Bible Institute makes a special effort to carry all these books, and they can be had at list prices. They are as follows: WHAT THE BIBLE TEACHES. A book of 535 pages, taking up all the great truths taught in the Bible and as taught in the Bible. This book is used as a text book in many Bible Institutes and other institutions. It is the most thorough study of Bible doctrine in existence. Price $2.50. HOW TO WORK FOR CHRIST. A book of 518 pages, being a thorough compendium of all aggressive methods of Christian work, and showing how to construct and deliver sermons, how to teach the Bible, etc. This is probably the most practical and comprehensive book in existence on Methods of Christian work. Price $2.50. THE BIBLE AND ITS CHRIST. This is a book on Christian evidences, taking up especially the proof of the Resurrection of Christ and the proof that the Bible is the Word of God. This book has been very helpful to ministers and students in this age of doubt, and has led many out of Skepticism and Agnosticism into faith and out of Unitarianism in all its forms into orthodoxy. Price, cloth 75c. Paper 25e, REVIVAL ADDRESSES. This book gives some of the most effective ad dresses that Dr. Torrey delivered in his evangelistic tour around the world. These addresses have been blessed to the conversion of hundreds of thousands. Price, cloth $1.00. Paper 50e. REAL SALVATION AND WHOLE-HEARTED SERVICE. This is the second volume of the revival addresses given by Dr. Torrey through Great Britain and America. Cloth $1.00. Paper 50c. HOW TO STUDY THE BIBLE FOR THE GREATEST PROFIT. This is perhaps the most comprehensive book in existence on methods of Bible study. Cloth 75e. HOW TO BRING MEN TO CHRIST. A text book on the use of the Bible in personal work. Cloth 75c. Paper 15c. PERSONAL WORK. This is a later and larger and more thorough work on personal work than "How to Bring Men to Christ.” It is the first part of "How to Work for Christ,” printed separately. Cloth $1.00, HOW TO PRAY. This is one of the fullest and most detailed Bible discus sions on the subject of prayer to be found. It has been sold by the hundreds of thousands. Cloth 50e. Paper 15e. HOW TO OBTAIN FULLNESS OF POWER IN CHRISTIAN L IFE AND SERVICE. Cloth 50c. HOW TO SUCCEED IN THE CHRISTIAN L IFE . This book was written originally for the thousands of converts in Dr. Torrey’s mission, and is an invalu able book to put in the hands of any young Christian. Cloth 50e. Paper 25c. THE PERSON AND WORK OF THE HOLY SPIR IT. This is a thorough and scholarly discussion of what the Bible teaches about the Holy Spirit. Though going into a thorough study of the deepest truths, it is written in a form that even the plainest Christian can understand. Cloth $1.00. ANECDOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. Cloth 75c. Paper 35c. D IFFICULT IES AND ALLEGED ERRORS AND CONTRADICTIONS IN THE BIBLE. An invaluable book to put in the hands of any one that is troubled with difficulties that he finds in the Bible. I t has been greatly used in clearing up difficulties for perplexed Christians and for unbelievers. Cloth 50e. Paper 15c. PRACTICAL AND PERPLEX ING QUESTIONS ANSWERED. This book has had a very large circulation and has been helpful to many. Cloth®-. Paper 15c. STUDIES IN THE L IFE AND TEACHINGS OF OUR LORD. This is an invaluable book to use in teaching advanced Bible classes and for private study at home. Cloth $1.50. THE GIST OF THE LESSONS. A commentary on the International Sunday School Lessons published yearly. Leatherette 25c. A VEST POCKET COMPANION. For Christian workers. A book to“ carry with one. An invaluable help in dealing with individuals. ADDRESS ALL ORDERS TO THE BIOLA BOOK ROOM, Bible Institute of Los Angeles
The King’s Business
Voi. 5
OCTOBER, 1914
No. 10
War and the Shattering of Man’s Empty Optimism and the Confirmation of the True Biblical Optimism F OR SOME years preachers and reformers have been fondly dreaming and even openly declaring that war among the more advanced and highly civilized nations was at an end, and that all international difficulties, would in the future be settled by arbitration. But the events of the past few weeks have rudely awakened them from this pleasant but entirely baseless and un- scriptural dream. Those who have known their Bibles have clearly understood from the beginning that war was not at an end. A year or so ago the editor of one of the most widely circulated religious journalsMn the world wrote to many persons asking them if they thought that through the Peace Conferences at The Hague and similar movements there would be no’more war. The writer of this editorial replied that he was in favor of anything that made for peace, even temporarily, that he detested war, but that at the same time he knew his Bible too well not to know that there was ahead of us. the most appalling war the world had ever witnessed. He went on to say that universal and permanent peace could not be secured by any schemes and devices and conferences of men, that universal and permanent peace would only come when the Prince of Peace came. The only permanent ,solution of our international problems as well as of our commercial and social problems is the Second Coming of Christ. Man in every dispensation has proved a failure and he will so prove in this. When man has discovered what a complete and utter failure he is, then God’s Man will come, the Son of Man, the God-incarnate man, and He will prove a complete success and all that we have dreamed of, but utterly failed to accomplish, will be more than realized. “Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.” “Look up, and Lift up Your Heads; Because Your Redemption Draweth N igh” T HESE are among the darkest days this old world ever saw, but to the discerning mind there were never d^iys more full of promise and hope. It is appalling to think that the two most highly educated and cultured and civilized nations of earth, two professedly Christian nations at that, are putting forth every effort that cunning and strategy and science can devise to destroy as many as possible of the flower of the manhood of the sister nation. Trying to see how many homes they can make desolate, how many women they can make broken-hearted widows, and how many children orphans, doomed to want and illiteracy and wretchedness of every kind, how many once bright and promising girls they can send into the prostitution that always follows in the wake of war. It is enough to fill thoughtful hearts with agony and horror. B ut when men are “fainting for fear, and for expectation of the things
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THE KING’S BUSINESS which are coming on the world,” then is the time when “the Son of Man is coming in a cloud with power and great glory,” when the kinglets of earth who sow this earth with agony and blood that they may obtain glory and power, will suddenly call upon the mountains and rocks to fall upon them and hide them from the face of Him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb. And such are the days when our Lord Himself bids us, “Look up, and lift up your heads; because your redemption draweth nigh” (Luke 21:26-28; Rev. 6:15-17). Many of the homes of my dearest friends across the water are desolate today. I have friends on both sides in this most awful of all wars. The bodies of those I know and love and some of whom I led to Christ lie stark and staring on the cursed battle field. But God still reigns and the Lord Jesus is soon coming, and I rejoice. B ut , once more, this will not remove one jot from the swift and sure and awful curse that those whose Satanic ambition is responsible for this war bring on their own heads. It is easy in these days to believe in hell and to understand the Imprecatory Psalms, but the prayer for the Christian to breathe is found in Luke 23:24. Rebuilding the Family Altar D URING the last few years of his life, as some of our readers who heard him then will doubtless recall, Mr. Moody'kept pressing upon the Chris tian people in his audiences the necessity of rebuilding the family altar; in other words, of reviving the custom of the family gathering- for the reading of the Word and prayer. 6 We all realize how important this custom is and how much is missing in the family where it is not observed, and yet it is a good deal easier to urge people to observe family worship than it is for the average Christian layman to set about doing it in his own home. What is needed is some simple system of Bible reading which will be interesting, instructive, definite, and yet not too long. We believe from years of experience that we have found the thing that will meet the need. We have followed it in our own home for more than ten years. It is the daily Bible readings, with comments, issued by the International Bible Reading Association. This association was founded in London in 1882 by the late Charles Waters, and has now something, over one million members enrolled. The daily readings bear on the International Sunday School lesson for the following Sunday, the lesson portion itself being read on Monday morning. The Scripture portion is followed by a comment of five or six lines in length, e. g .: The lesson for Sunday, September 27th, is the review of the quarter’s lessons. The reading and comment for the day on which this note is being written was as follows: Mark 10:46-52. Blind Bartimaeus. He sat (dejected) heard (interest); cried out the more (persistency) ; rose (alertness) ; came (obedience) ; said (faith) ; received (joy) ; followed gratitude). Concluded on page 537
The Fundamental Principles of Christianity in the Light of Modern Thinking i By JOHN M. MACINNIS, B. D. VIII. THE POWER TO LIVE THE CHRISTIAN LIFE Acts 1:8
I N OUR last study we saw that God is able to save us. He breaks the power of cancelled sin and sets the spirit free. Free to do what? Free to live along the old lines of failure, or free to live a new and victorious life? There can be no question about the fact that the New Testament most clearly teaches that men are saved from sin in order that they may live the kind of life God intended them to live. What kind of life does God want us to live? We can hardly question the fact that Paul got the mind of God on this question when he said, “Have this mind in you which was also in Christ Jesus.” God wants men to live the kind of a life that Christ lived. In facing this fact we must not forget that so far as the human life of Christ was concerned He lived a perfectly normal human life in a perfectly nor mal human way. That is the way that every man must live his life in order to realize himself and please God. This does not mean that if a man lives a normal life he must do the exact things that Jesus did in the exact way in which Jesus did them. If we have rightly interpreted the meaning of life to do this would mean not to be normal but to be abnormal. Accord ing to our interpretation every man has a place and a definite mission and work in God’s place. To be normal is to be willing to be what God wants us to be and to do the work God wants
us to do. God does not want you or me to do Christ’s work. Christ fin ished the work that was given Him to do while He was here. We deceive ourselves if we think we could do Christ’s work. The essence of His life was not in the details of what He did but in the great attitude that made it possible for Him to do the work that God gave Him to do. We have the mind of Christ when we are hon estly seeking to be what God wants us to be and to do what God wants us to do. We are like Christ only in the measure in which we have a passion to do this thing. Paul was one of the most Christlike men‘that ever lived because the great passion of his life was to lay hold on that for which he was laid hold on by Christ Jesus. As soon as we face the practical is sue of living this kind of a life two questions arise at once. First, how can I know what God wants me to be and to do ? Second, When I do know His will how can I get the strength to carry it into effect? I. How Can I Know What God Wants Me to Be and to Do? The one is a question of knowledge and the other is a question of power. Both are real and represent needs in the life. Men need guidance. “Lead, kindly light, amid the encircling gloom” is not an empty, meaningless bit of poetry, but the sincere cry of a soul in quest of God and God’s will. There are some phases of this ques-
1 An address delivered at the Montrose Bible Con ference. Copyright, by John M. Maclnnis, 1913.
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in the acquirement of knowledge we have a recognition by science of the thing in human life which corresponds with this great truth of the New Test ament. Here we have recognized in the nature of man the very thing that makes possible this importation oi knowledge spoken of by Christ. So we find that what we would naturally expect in a normal universe in regard to this matter of guidance is true. God has actually provided a means by which we may know all that it is neces sary for us to know in order to live our lives at their best. Jesus could, therefore, say to the men of His day, “If any man willeth to do His will he shall know.” If we are willing to obey God He will give His Holy Spirit in order that we may be guided into what is His will concerning us. The most of us know a good deal more than we are willing to do. We have a great deal more truth than we are willing to live. It is at this point that the revelation of truth is arrested. A great deal of the doubt and ignorance of the world has its roots in the disobedience and rebellion of the heart. It would be a very easy matter to illustrate this fact from experience. Paul speaking of it, says, “Knowing God they glori fied Him not as God,” therefore they “became vain in their reasonings and their senseless heart was darkened.” That is the realm in which much of our strange reasoning and doubt have their origin. We are in ignorance and darkness not because God wants us to wander in the shades of intellectual and spiritual night but because we are are not willing to obey truth as it is revealed to us, II. How to Get Strength to Carry God’s Will Into Effect? This brings us to the second ques tion suggested. Men may feel that their disobedience is not a question of
tion which are easy enough to answer. Men often ask questions about a lot of things that they know perfectly well. They ask them only because they want to ease their consciences in their disobedience of the truth they know. Every man knows that he ought to be clean, and honest, and true, and useful. He knows God. wants every man to be that. What ever the particular work God has for him he knows that that is the kind of a man God wants to do it. But be-)| yond these things that are clear and obvious there are things that are not always easy to know. There are cer tain questions of interpretation of truth and conduct in which we are sorely in need of guidance. If there is a need you may depend upon it that there is a provision made to meet that need. If we are respon sible before God for what we do or for what we fail to do, there must be a way by which we can find out what we ought to do and what we ought not to do. How did Christ who lived a normal life, come to know these things? In speaking to the disciples (Luke 12:12) He told them that in certain circumstances they were not to be anxious because the Holy Spirit would teach them. Here we have a key to Christ’s own life. He was led and taught by the Holy Spirit. He told the disciples towards the close of His life that the Holy Spirit would lead them into all truth. That prom ise was fulfilled in the life and expe rience of' the disciples. When the Spirit was given the right of way in their lives they came to understand things in a way that they could not understand them under the teaching of Christ Himself. God has given the Holy Spirit to guide men into truth—all the truth that is necessary to the fulfillment of their life. In Prof. Bergson’s conten tion regarding the place of intuition
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cast out devils out of men and He cast them out by the power of the Holy Spirit. He was asked to give His life a ransom for the sin of the world and He offered Himself up through the power of the eternal spirit. By the power of the Holy Spirit He spoke as no man ever spoke and commanded demons, and they obeyed Him, and made atonement for the sin of the world. But do not forget that He did His work as a carpenter and lived His life as a humble citizen in the village of Nazareth by the power of this same Holy Spirit. The point of what we are saying is this: . God makes pro vision through the power of the Holy Spirit whereby a man can do any thing God asks him to do in the way in which he ought to do it. If God is asking you to do a thing, you can do it, and do it right. I know people are not in the habit of thinking of the power of the Holy Spirit in this way. When they think of the Holy Spirit they think of power to talk and preach. That is not the New Testament conception and it is not the conception that meets the needs of humanity. It is true that a man needs the power of the Holy Spi rit in preaching and testimony. There can be no real preaching apart from His power. But it is just as easy for me to do honest preaching without the power of the Holy Spirit as it is for you to do honest, clean and effective business without that power. Paul in speaking of this spirit-filled life in his letter to the Ephesians hardly men tions preaching and what we often speak of as “Christian work.” What does he write about? About telling the truth in every day relations of life. About getting angry without sinning. It is our duty to get angry, but we must get angry in the power of the Holy Spirit if we are going to do it without sinning against God. He writes about a man making an honest
willingness but of ability, or power to obey. Many men say, “I would like to do good and be what I ought to be but someway when I would do good evil is present with me and the good I would do I do not, and the evil I hate that I do. I simply' have not got the power to do these things.” That raises a very serious question. Does God ask men to do things that it is impossible for -them to do? If a man who is honestly seeking to do the will of God feels that he ought to do a certain thing he may depend upon it that somewhere God has put at his dis posal the' means by which to do that thing. When Jesus asked the disci ples to undertake the task of the evan gelization of the world He imme diately said, “I send forth the promise of the Father upon—you—ye shall re ceive power when the Holy Ghost is come upon you.” Without this power they were asked to do the impossible. They simply could not do the work in their own strength. But when they were told to do the work God told them where they could get power to do it. In studying the life of Christ we find that this same Holy Spirit was the source of His power also. He was baptized by the Spirit. He was led by the Spirit. He was anointed for ser vice by the Spirit, and by His power He cleansed and transformed the lives of men. In this spirit energized life He lived a normal human life. God meant that men should live their life by the power of the Holy Spirit. A life filled by the Holy Spirit is a life of power effective in its witness and service., And may I repeat, that is the normal life. The powerless life that is a failure in service is unnatu ral, and was never intended for men by God. God wanted Jesus to be a carpenter in Nazareth and He did that work perfectly by the power of the Holy Spirit. He wanted Him to
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Church, and it is reported that from beginning to end of the conference there was not a single petition offered for the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Is it any wonder that we are in a pa thetic muddle regarding many of these Biblical and theological ques tions ? We are making the same unspeak ably sad blunder in the work of the Church. We are calling our great conventions and mapping out our great programs and having our great banquets, but the job that God has given us is still undone. We have talked a great deal about it-, but the work is not yet done. Our experts tell us that only certain things are necessary—so much money and so many men—in order to cover the ground and do the work. Why does not the great Church of God give this money and these men? It has both the money and the men at its com mand but still they are not at God’s disposal for His great work, and why ? The Moravians for years have been giving men and money in a greater proportion than the Church is asked to give them at this crisis. How did it come to pass? They got right with God and recognized the place of the Holy Spirit in this work and the story of that work reads like a chapter from the Acts of the Apostles. The story from Count Zinzendorf down has been the story of a spirit-filled life. This again you see brings us to the very heart of the practical questions with which men are face to face to day. And everywhere men are begin ning to realize that man of himself cannot meet the needs of the hour. With Prof. Eucken they are saying we must have a new infusion of life from above if society is going to be saved. God has pointed out the way in which we can have this new infu sion of life. “Ye shall receive power •when the Holy Spirit is come upon
living—giving value received for what he gets. About clean and edifying conversation. About being kind one to another, tenderhearted and forgiv ing. About living a clean life, that can stand the light of God's righteous ness. He writes about wives being in subjection to their own husbands and husbands loving their wives as Christ loved the Church and gave Himself for it, and about children obeying their parents and fathers fulfilling their du ties to their children. He writes about the relation between employers and employees and their duties one to an other. The labor question and the di- -vorce question and thousands of other social and individual questions that are threatening the very foundations of society today can never be settled apart from the power of the Holy Spirit. The tragedy of the Christian life is that we have been trying to do in our own power what can only be done in the power of the Holy Spirit. The Church that ought to have been the leader and teacher of the people has been the great sinner in this mat ter. We have been trying to do the work that has been given to us in our own wisdom and in our own feeble strength. That is the great reason of the embarrassment of the Church at this very moment. In the great intellectual controversies that are threatening the very life of the Church men are seeking to solve great ques tions in the light of the candle of hu man reason. We have practically for gotten that Christ said that when the Spirit was come He would guide us into the truth. He has come but men in the name of Christianity have for gotten His presence and have been burning incense at the altars of Ger man rationalism. A company of Bible scholars met in conference in the city of Washington not long since for the purpose of discussing Bible questions that have to do with the life of the
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Take myself, and I will be, Ever, only, all for Thee.”
you.” He has also shown us the only way in which this power can come into life. He comes only through lives that are ready to obey. This is not an arbitrary condition but the revelation of a fundamental law. If we obey Him He shall come—there can be no question about that fact. It has been proven again and again in the history of the Church. Are we, the men of the 20 th century, willing to pay the price of power ? If we can honestly say:
the power can be ours. No man since the day of Pentecost has ever honest ly taken that attitude towards God that was not filled with the Holy Spirit. God is anxious to pour out His Spi rit upon us, but we lock the door against Him. There is only one way in which the door can be opened—we must open it through surrender to God. Are we willing to give God a chance to show His power ?
“Take my life—my Lord I pour At Thy feet its treasure store.
God is Love “All I feel, and hear, and see, God of love, is full ofThee.’* E ARTH, with her ten thousand flowers; Ocean’s infinite expanse; Air, with all its beams and showers; Heaven’s resplendent countenance— All around, and all above, Hath this record: God is love. Sounds among the vales and hills, In the woods, and by the rills, Of the breeze, and of the bird, By the gentle murmur stirred— All these songs, beneath, above, Have this burden: God is love. All the hopes and fears that start From the fountain of the heart;
All the quiet bliss that lies, All our human sympathies— These are voices from above, Sweetly whispering: God is love.
—A nonymous .
Studies in the Gospel According to John1 By R. A. TORREY (These studies are for careful study, not rapid and heedless reading) II. The Public Ministry of Jesus Leading Those Who Were of the Truth to Believe in Him as the Christ, the Son of God. Ch. 1:19—12:50 (continued).
graphic picture that bears the marks of truthfulness and of the eyewitness in every line. It is not romance but reality and life that we are reading here. A change in the tense of the second verb from the tense of the first verb (in the Greek) indicates that the dis ciples came up and paused and won dered, not for an instant but as a con tinuous state of mind, i. e., that their wonder was not merely for one pass ing instant. What they wondered at was not what He had said to the woman (they had not heard that) but that He was talking to “a woman” at all. They regarded Him as a great rabbi, &nd a woman as beneath His notice. They had not as yet shaken themselves loose from the ideas and prejudices of their time. The rabbis of that day taught “a man should not salute a woman in a public place, not even his own wife,” and again that it was “better that the words of the law should be burnt than delivered to women.” Another rabbi (Eleazar) taught that a woman ought not to be wise above her distaff. No wonder that the disciples in this early and im mature day in their training should wonder that their Master, the greatest of all rabbis, should be talking with a woman. How different is the concep tion of woman that our Lord brought in (Gal. 3:28). Woman owes every thing that is best in her present posi tion to our Lord Jesus. Surprised as the disciples were they kept their wonder to themselves and asked no explanations. They were
9. The Lord Jesus’ testimony to the Woman of Samaria that He was the Christ, and the Woman’s testi mony, He “told me all things that ever I did,” (ch. 4:1-39, continued.) V. 27. “And upon this came his disciples, and (add, they) marvelled (rather, mere marvelling) that he talked (rather, was talking) with the {rather, a) woman; yet no mcm (rath er, one) said, What seekest thou? or, Why talkest thou with her?” The dis ciples arrived back from the city at just the right moment. The conver sation of Jesus with the woman had reached its climax and its proper end ing just at the moment they arrived. There was nothing to be added, Jesus had just proven Himself to be the Christ by reading the woman’s heart and all the hidden secrets of her life, then had declared Himself clearly and plainly to be the Christ: there was nothing more for Him to say or do. Now it was for the woman to believe and act, and she did. John, having recorded the wonderful close of the conversation proceeds to describe its wonderful effects. His disciples not having heard the conversation are filled with deep but reverent (not crit ical) wonder; the woman is taken possession of by a great and trans forming hope, which she hastens to share with others; her fellow towns men are filled with an enthusiastic longing to see and hear the wonderful person of whom she spoke, a longing that speedily led them on to an ex uberant faith. It is a marvelously 1 Copyright, by R. A. Torrey, 1914
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would think of putting a detail of this kind in, especially without any hint of its significance. Why did she leave her waterpot? It may be that she in tended to come right back and the message she had to bring was so vital and important that she must not be encumbered or delayed in the least even by the fulfilment of the mission that originally brought her to the well. It may be she was so excited by what had been told her that she forgot her waterpot altogether in her eagerness to tell at once to others the great, good news, that she had found the Christ. In either case it shows how much more important in her eyes find ing the Christ and telling others about the Christ were than all ordinary, earthly, interests. Matthew left the receipt of custom (Matt. 9:9), Peter, James and John forsook their nets (Mark 1 :18, 19), this woman forsook her waterpot and Paul gave up every thing (Phil. 3:7, 8 ) to tell others of their great find, Jesus the Christ. What cared she for the waterpot any how? She now had a whole well of water ever springing up in her heart (v. 14). She bore the good news not to her “husband” only but to all, to the inhab itants generally. The word translated “men” is not the word that contrasts “men” with “women” but the generic word that describes human beings in general so that the American Revised Version is almost warranted in trans lating it as it does “people.” That word gives the thought. Luther has an equivalent rendering. She says what she has to Say to everybody she meets sitting at their doors or chatting on the streets at even time. Everybody must hear about Him. The woman’s testimony to Jesus, that he had “told her all things that she (I) did,” seems exaggerated but it was essentially true. He laid bare the deepest secret of her heart and life
even thus early learning to trust Him and abide His own time for explan ations. They couldn’t understand His action, they were more than puzzled by it, they “marveled," at it, but they knew it must be right whatever the explanation might be. It might be their Master was seeking some help from her that He needed, but they reverently forbore from asking what it was. It might be that He had some reason for talking with her of which they could not conceive, but they did not ask, “Why talkest thou with her ?” If they had asked He might have opened their eyes to see how infinitely important it was to reveal Himself to a sinning woman, just as important as to reveal Himself to the man Nico- demus, “the teacher of the Jews.” Vv. 28, ,29. “The woman then left her waterpot (rather, so the woman left her waterpot ) , and went her way (rather, away) into the city, and saith to the men, Come, see a man, which (rather, who) told me all things that ever (omit ever) I did; is not (omit not) this the Christ (or, can this be the Christ?”) The woman did not tarry to talk any longer with Jesus or to ask Him any more questions. She could not talk with Him freely any longer for the disciples were present and moreover there was nothing more to ask, He had declared the all im portant fact “I am the Christ.” She had made the great discovery, she must hurry away and tell it to others. When any one really finds Jesus as the Christ the first irresistible impulse is to go and tell others. (See ch. 1 :40-42, 43-45). This woman also has exactly the same appeal as the first disciples, “Come, see.” (cf. ch. 1 :46 and 1 :41, 42). It is a significant little detail (and one that clearly shows the eyewitness) that John adds jn the words “left her waterpot.” No one making up a story
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and it was clear that He knew all the rest. Such a man was worth seeing, indeed it was imperative that they see Him. Her words, ‘‘Come, see” were very urgent and very insistent. They just must come. Oh! that more of us today had this holy insistency in urg ing men to come and see Jesus for themselves. Her description of Jesus, “a man, who told me all things that I did” is most natural and true to life and marks the verbal accuracy of the account. John did not hear this, but the Holy Spirit did and He is the real author of the account. The form of the woman’s question in the Greek suggests the probability of a negative answer and is Detter ren dered “Is this the Christ?” or “Can this be the Christ?” She really hoped that He was but there was still a rem nant of fear that He might not be. The form of question is the same as that used in Matthew 12:23; 26:22,25; John 8 :22; 18:35; James 3 :11. It may be that the woman was quite certain in her own heart that He was the Christ, but uses the form of expression that merely suggests the possibility of such a thing, rather than directly and dogmatically asserting it out of shrewd consideration for the state of mind of her hearers who had not seen and heard Him for themselves, that they might come and judge for themselves. This is implied in the “Come, see.” One often gains a point better by not asserting it too directly, and thus arousing antagonism. A question that arouses attention is often more ef fective than direct assertion. There can be little doubt from the rest that the woman said, and from her actions, that in her inmost heart she was satis fied from what Jesus said and did that He really was the Christ (note verses 39, 41, 42). It was an exhibi tion of persuasive prudence on her part to put it this way and also to withhold at first Jesus’ own statement
“I am the Christ” (cf. v. 26). She would have them come right to Him and judge for themselves'. That is always the better way. Personal ex perience is more satisfactory than ar gument (cf. ch. 1:46). Get men right to Jesus Himself if you would have them get the most solid and satis factory faith in Him (see vs. 41, 42). V. 30: “Then (omit, then) they went out of the city, and came (rather, were coming) unto him.” The deep earnestness of the woman carried im mediate conviction to the minds and hearts of her hearers. They hastened at once to see and hear this wonderful man of whom she spoke. They could easily have raised many objections to what she said, and suggested, it would seem in the highest degree im probable that the Messiah would ap pear to such a person as she was known to be, and at such a place, and at such a time, and in such a manner. But they do not stop to ask foolish questions, or to raise apparently wise but really foolish objections, they eagerly hasten at once to Jesus Him self to see Him and hear Him and judge for themselves. Such souls though humble and uneducated are the ones who get the light, far sooner than those who are so full of confi dence in their own wisdom that they wish to have all their shrewd questions answered and all their specious objec tions removed before they will stir one step toward Jesus Himself. In this verse we have an illustration of the mighty power of testimony (cf. ch. 1:41, 42, 45-47). A whole city came to Christ as the result of one woman’s hearty testimony, and she a poor, ignorant, depraved creature at that. Jesus’ conversation with Nico- demus, a man, a leader, ruler and teacher of the Jews, would seem vastly more important at the first glance than His conversation with a woman.
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seems to so greatly need. He- was so taken up with the work just done and so joyful over the soul won and so eager for the work still before Him, seen in the multitude hurrying toward Him from the city, that He has no desire for food for His body. Spiritual and eternal interests, the interests of others, were filling His thought and heart, the disciples were altogether oc cupied with thought of physical needs. V. 32. “But he said unto (rather, to) them, I haive meat (rather, food) to eat that ye know not of (omit, of).” The “I ” and the “ye” in this-verse are emphatic in the Greek and draw a strong contrast between Himself and them. He had a “food” far above that which they had bought and prepared, a “food” that satisfied deeper and far more important cravings than those of the body, but they on their part did not know this meat, it belonged in a world that they had not yet entered (but would soon). They did not merely not “know of” it, they did not “know” it. It was outside their pres ent sphere of thought and feeling. There seem to be many professed Christians today who know little or nothing of this “food” and its satis faction. They are taken up (as were the disciples then) with the needs of the body and other low forms of sat isfaction. Many a professed Chris tian today would find more satisfac tion in going to a dance or card party than in saving a soul. How is it with you, reader, do you know Jesus’ food? (cf. v. 34). V. 33. “Therefore said the dis ciples (rather, So the disciples said) one to another, Hath any man brought him ought (omit, ought) to eat?” The disciples seem to us rather dull and stupid, and they were doubtless dull and stupid, but would we have been any brighter without the explanation
a Samaritan and a vile sinner. But as far as the record goes immeasurable more was wrought by the conversa tion with her than by the conversation with him. “A poor, ignorant, woman of Samaria goes forth, and by grace leaves a record that has cheered thou sands of humble laborers in all lands for 18 centuries.” We have here too an illustration of the importance and power of woman’s ministry. A woman was the human founder of the church in Samaria, a woman was the first Divinely appointed preacher of the risen Christ (ch. 20:16, 17), a woman was the first person baptized by Paul in Europe (Acts 16:14, 15). The change from “came” in the Authorized Version to “were coming” in the Revised, a change demanded by the Greek text, is very suggestive. John pictures them just as they ap peared to him that day as he looked up the road toward the city. He saw them eagerly coming in troops. It was “to Him,” to Jesus Himself they were coming. The woman’s testi mony was valuable to point to Jesus but there its value ended, they must get to Jesus Himself. Many today never get beyond -the witness to the One of whom the witness testifies. They were richly rewarded and the witness was soon no longer needed (v. 42). V. 31. “In the meanwhile His (rather, the) disciples prayed (or, besought) Him, saying, Master (rather Rabbi), eat.” The word translated “prayed” means, “asked,” “besought,” “prayed.” It is the same word translated “besought” in verses 40 and 47. It sets forth an urgent ask ing. The disciples having returned from the city whither they had gone to buy food (v. 8 ) had prepared their simple meal, but Jesus does not touch it. Lovingly solicitous of His welfare, they beseech Him to eat the food He
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His will? Is “to do His will,” not merely to know it, the great joy of our heart in which we even forget the most urgent and insistent needs of our bodies ? When one has learned that joy he has learned the supreme joy, the joy that no one can ever take from him. The will of God in this particular instance was the salvation of this degraded Samaritan woman and the other Samaritans who were now hurrying toward Him. But doing “the will of Him that sent Him” involved the accomplish ment of the work entrusted to Him. The word translated “finish” in the A. V. means more than to “bring to an end.” It means “bring to a perfect end,” to “accomplish.” It is the same word used in chapter 17:4, where the R. V. (as here) properly renders it “accomplish.” The work that He that sent Him had given Him to do was the redemption of man, and that could only be “accomplished” on the cross, So it was our Lord’s food, His sustenance and joy, to die a sub stitute for us. At last on the cross He cried,“/f is finished” (ch. 19:30) where a closely related word is used in the Greek. The word here translated “fin ish” (A. V.) or “accomplish” (R. V.) is characteristic of John (ch. 5 :36; 17: 4, 23; 19:28; 1 Jno. 2 :5; 4:12, 17), Our Lord delighted to think and speak of Himself as “sent” by the Father (ch. 6:29; 8:29, 42 ; 12:49; 14:24; 17:23, etc.).
which Jesus gave later (v. 34), and which we have but which they did not have yet. The only explanation of the words (v. 32) so enigmatical to them, that they could think of was that in their absence some one had brought him food, but the form of their question in the Greek shows that they considered that im probable and so they were utterly puz zled as to what he meant. He and they evidently lived in two different worlds. Which do we live. in, that which Jesus lived in or that which the disciples lived in? They did not ven ture to put their question to him, but to one another (cf. ch. 16:17). They evidently felt somewhat ashamed of their dullness and had a glimmering of thought that there was some deeper meaning in his words. V. 34. '‘Jesus saith unto (rather, to) them, My meat (rather, food) is to do (rather, that I do) the will of him that sent me, and to finish (rather, that I accomplish) his work.” Wonderful words! Words that need to be meditated upon and made part of our lives rather than to be com mented upon. Our Lord’s sustenance and satisfaction was in doing the will of God and in bringing to its ^perfect accomplishment the work the Father had entrusted to Him. Is this true of us? It ought to be (1 Jno. 2:6). Do we find our deepest joy in simply doing God’s will, simply because it is
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The International Sunday School Lessons By J. H. S. LESSON II I .— October 18. — I n th e G arden oe G ethsemane .—Mark 14:32-42. G olden T ext . — Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation. —Matt. 26:41.
It was His wont there to “shut to the door” to the outer world and pray to His Father in secret when in no immediate stress or peril, and He did not omit His custom when His enemies plotted to trap Him in that hallowed privacy (Dan. 6:10). The silent streets, the deserted temple area, the echoing steep and the gloom as they descended the canyon of the Kidron, turned their thought to dark Judas and his errand (John 13:27), and forebodings of evil swept over their souls. Jesus (to put them on their guard?) now repeats His warning that all would forsake Him. Peter with a double denial (Greek) vowed he would not; the rest all agreed that they would die first; but Jesus affirmed that they would utterly (Greek) deny Him, as if He already heard Peter “with an oath” : “I tell you I. do not know the man” (Matt. 26:62). Do not miss the lesson, “Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall” (1 Cor. 10:12), and “have no con fidence in the flesh” (Phil. 3:3). What is written shall come to pass—“Let God be true but every man a liar” (Rom. 3:4). But the smitten Shepherd regathered the flock (1 Cor. 15:6). Do not miss, again, the lesson: That “having loved His own, He loved them unto the end.” Broken vows; neglected warnings; desertion; de nials with “cursing and swearing” all fore known were fore-forgiven. Surely “The love of God is broader T han the m easure of m an’s m ind; They had physical courage to use the sword (Matt. 26:51), and they showed Him two (Luke 22:38). But He tendered them two spiritual swords named, “Watch!” ,and “Pray!” which they had neither faith'nor courage to rely on. And the h e art of the E ternal Is m ost wonderfully kind.”
I. B etween th e L essons . 1. Reverence Demanded. Too much stress cannot be laid on the need of hu mility in approaching this lesson. “Put off thy shoes from off thy feet” (Exod. 3:5). Before this “burning bush” we may turn aside to see, but may not gaze intru sively into its mystery. The Lord is in the fire—but not consumed. Turn to John 13, get on your knees; pray; read on through chapter 17; pause occasionally and think. These chapters are incomparable among utterances human or Divine, and bear the unforgeable signature of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Read from where the Son of Man kneels at His disciples’ way-soiled feet in the lowliest service, on to where the Son of God stands at His Father’s throne and demands for them the highest glory (17:24), and you are pre pared to lose yourself where you see Him on His face, with an angel wiping off His bloody sweat, and crucifying His will to the will of the Father. 2. By the Way. The words of comfort, warning, instruction and intercession ended, “when they had sung an hymn, they went out into the mount of Olives." Luke (22: 39) says, that Jesus led and the disciples followed. He led the song on the night of sorrow, the “ Hallel" (“Hallelujah,” Pss. 115, 116, 117) ; He led the way to Gethse mane, to every man’s Gethsemane ; the dis ciples “followed,” not into the deepest shadows of the olives, not so willingly as He, but they followed, and we. It was His “wont,” says Luke, His custom to seek the shade and solitude of those gnarled yet sympathetic olives for “the olives they were not blind to Him, The little gray leaves were kind to H im : The thorn tree had a mind to Him When into the woods He came.”
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and such prayer could be also a man of sorrow? This “contradiction,” too, we ac cept since Jesus did. “Abba, Father (what pathos! what appeal!), all things are pos sible unto thee (“Father” is not Fate. We may lay the apparently impossible at His feet) take away this cup from me, never theless not what I will, but what thou wilt.” This condition must qualify all true prayer. Too many assume to know God’s will, and determine before what must be done, and assume that their will is His will.'" There is no prayer promise without that condi tion. This was consecration; submission; surrender absolute to God, and victory over the World, the Flesh, and the Devil. Luke, the physician, says that, "being in an agony (in anguish) his sweat was as great drops of blood falling down to the ground" (Luke 22:44), as if the tempter had grappled with and wrung sweat and blood from His Straining soul. What was the “hour,” or “cup”? We are not definitely told. We must press our in quiry diffidently; and curbing our curiosity, in no prying spirit, seek only what it to edi fication and the Divine praise. Believing students are agreed that the “cup” was not physical suffering incident to the Cross. Men, women and tender youth have en dured fearful tortures, crucifixion itself without flinching, for His sake. Some think, quite opposite, that He feared that His frail humanity would succomb to the strain and He miss the Cross, where He longed to hang for us. But this is doubtful. There was bitterness enough in the cup we know to make it dreadful to the Holy One. Sa tanic triumphs, were there and spiritual persecutions of which we can have no con ception ; there was the actual bearing of the whole world’s guilt and shame, in sight of principalities and powers innumer able and unseen; there was the aversion of His Father’s face,, which had always smiled on Him (Matt. 27:46) ; there was the descent into Hades; and the horror of death viewed as “the wages of sin,” the very essence of the abhorrent and unnat ural and unfit to the normal, the ideal man.
II. A t the G arden . 1. Gethsemane. The Garden lay a short distance beyond the temple mountain on the Mount of Olives, east. A deep gorge, the brook Kidron divided them. It was a little off from the main road, and almost certainly then as now was shut in by a low wall. It was not a flower garden, rather an olive orchard, with some shrubery. It had in it an oil press which gave the name Gethsemane, “Oil Press,” to the spot. From the pressure on the soul (Mark 14:33, 34) of Jesus that night has flowed the oil of grace through the ages. 2. Setting the Watch. Our Lord said, "Sit ye here while I go and pray yonder” (Matt. 26:36). Perhaps He placed them there to guard against the approach of in terruption. No doubt He meant that they should watch and pray with Him. Taking Peter, James and John (Matt. 17:1), men whose personal qualities and training when refined by grace made them afterward "pil lars’’ in the Church (Gal. 2:9) He led them into “the School of Prayer.” 3. The Holy Agony. "He began to be sore amazed, very heavy, exceeding sor rowful unto death.” •As if something had suddenly been imposed and assumed for the occasion. The statement is as mysteri ous as it is intense. There was “laid »on him the iniquity of us all.” • “Himself took our infirmities, and carried our sorrows.” “Tarry ye here” He said, “and watch.” Be hold the example of our Master in the hour of His temptation! “Cast thy burden on the Lord.” None ever bore so weighty a burden, or had such reason to despair. “And he went a little forward” { farther-?-' Matt. 26:39) ; farther than the eight, than the three, than alL Go as far as you may or can in sacrifice, suffering, prayer or ser vice, or submission to the Father’s will— He went a little farther. “And fell on the ground (on His “face”—Matt. 26:39), and prayed thdt if it were possible the hour might pass from him.” This was the “hour” off supreme sorrow to the Man of Sor row.' If “prayer moves the arm that moves the world,” how is it that a man of prayer,
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