CHRISTMAS NUMBER THE KING’S BUSINESS DECEMBER 1924
NUMBER TWELVE
VOLUME FIFTEEN
m sm m m
uThere came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, saying we have seen His star in the east and are come to worship Him” ■—Matthew 2\i'%
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1925 The Bible Ins t itute o f L o s Angeles is f o u n d e d o n t h e Old Bible and t h e W h o l e B i b l e .
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Our purpose is to train men and women for definite, soul-saving and soul-strengthening work, either in the homeland, or in the regions beyond. While receiving training, our students also do practical Christian work, in connection with the various Evangelistic activities of the Bible Institute: Seamen’ s Work, Work among the Jews, Spanish Work, Work in the Shops, Men’ s Mission, and twenty-five Bible Women, all under experienced and competent leaders. Send for complete statistical report showing results accomplished during the year 1923.
Let Us Seek to Make 1925 the Greatest Year of Our Lives for Him Who Made Christmas Cheer Possible
T he K ing ’ s B usiness Motto: “ I, the Lord, do keep it; I will water it every moment: lest any hurt it, I will keep it night and d a y I s a i a h 27:3. PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY AND REPRESENTING THE BIBLE INSTITUTE OF LOS ANGELES T. C. HORTON, Editor-in-Chief R. H. RICHARDS, Business Manager CONTRIBUTORS DR. R. A. TORREY DR. LEANDER S. KEYSER DR. FRENCH E. OLIVER DR. JOHN M. MacINNIS WM. JENNINGS BRYAN DR. A. C. DIXON____________ DR. J. FRANK NORRIS________ DR. L. W. MUNHALL_________DR. F. W. FARR__________ DR. CHARLES R. ROADS THIS MAGAZINE stands for the Infallible Word of God, and for its great, fundamental doctrines. ITS PURPOSE is to strengthen the faith of all believers, in all the world; to stir their hearts to engage in definite Christian work; to acquaint them with the varied work of the Bible Institute of Los Angeles; and to work in harmony and fellowship with them in magnifying the person and work of our Lord Jesus Christ, and thus hasten His coming. Volume X V December, 1924 Number 12 Table of Contents Editorials Page The Christ of Christmas........ ..... , ............. _......... ..................................... 763
The Surrender of Self................ ................................................................ .763 Plans for a Peace Palace...... ............................................................... ...... ..764 Purloining the Products for Purposes of Pious Pretence.........................765 A Fossil Find Which Elucidates Evolution..............................................765 The Sleeping Sickness.................................... ................. .......................... 766 Pray for Revival.............................................................................................. 766 Contributed Articles Where God and Man Meet— A Christmas Message — Dr. W. B. Hinson........................................................ 767 Does it Make Any Difference? or The Question of the Virgin Birth— Dr. I. M. Haldeman.........768 With Kwang-si Robbers in a Chinese Mountain Fastness Messrs. H. G. Miller and R. A. Jaffray............................................769 Vulnerable Points in the Evolution Theory— Dr. Leander S. Keyser..770 With China’ s Christian Army-— George T, B. Davis................................ 771 Scholarslyp is Agreed?— Rev. Keith L. Brooks.....................................772 Our Continual Need of the Holy Spirit for Service— Dr. F. E. Marsh..773 The Modern Movement in Religion— Dr. Geo. W. McPherson...........774 The Message of the Clock— Homera Hodgson........................................803 About Some Good Indians— A. W. Orwig.............................................. 827 Ivory, Apes and Peacocks— Thomas T. Holloway................................ 844 Current Comment ........................ 776 Our Bible Institute in Hunan Province (China).............................................. 777 Evangelistic Department (Interesting Soul Winning Stories from Real Experience)....................................... 778 Pointers for Preachers and Teachers (Homiletical Helps)........................... 781 The Family Circle (For Fellowship and Intercession) .................................... 782 Practical Methods o f Personal Work (For "Defenders of the Faith” ) ........ 783 Comments on the Christian Endeavor Topics...................................... 784 The Children’ s Garden..................... 785 International S. S. Lesson Helps................. 786 The Whole Bible (Fundamental) S. S. Lesson Helps.................................. 794 Best Books ...........—........... ................................................................................... 804 The Chosen People, the Land and the Book..................................................... 816 Bible Institute Happenings.................................................................................... 832 News Nuggets ............................................................................................ ...835
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(Both International and Fundamental) will be issued in the form of a Quar terly Supplement (but included in the ONE subscription price of $1.25 per year; see facsimile on page 775). This plan will accommodate those who wish to take the lesson helps to the class, without depriving other members of the family of the magazine itself.
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whom, all things exist’ ); the Prince of Peace (the Official Head of the Universe)!” Where was He born? In Bethlehem, the city of David. From whence came He? From Heaven itself, where He left His robes of royalty. Of Whom was He born? Of a woman. What is His name? Immanuel, ‘ ‘ God with us” , the Son of God, the Holy One. Why was He born? To be the Savior of sinful men—God
THE CHRIST OF CHRISTMAS How meaningless are many of the,’ terms, and how shallow are many of the trite sayings to which oür lips give utterance! How often what seem hearty greetings are without heart—mere empty words! We are thinking now of the words so familiar to us all, and which have so often been spoken by us when
manifest in the flesh; to dwell among men—a foun tain of living waters for thirsty souls. He came for the shep herds, and they rejoiced/ He came for the Wise Men of the East, and they bowed at His feet. He came for the fishermen of Galilee, and joy filled their souls as they, obeyed His call, “ Follow me.’ ’ He came to take our sins, to carry our burdens, to take into His loving arms sinful men and give them the gift of peace. The bells of Heaven are ringing! The angels are sing ing!': Let the celestial music find an echo in our hearts! Tell out the story—so old yet so new; so marvelous, so merciful, so satisfying! Tell it ou t! Tell it ou t! The poor old world, stag gering beneath its awful load of sin and suffering, needs above and beyond all else the Christmas story and the. Christmas Christ. THE SURRENDER OF SELF The problems of the believ er’s life are many and com plex. It must be so, for he has a dual nature and lives
we were not thinking be neath the surface: .“ Merry Christmas !’ ’ Christmas so often brings' thoughts of “ gifts” and not the Gift and the Giver ; of trees and candles, not of the Tree and the C r o w n of Thorns. We would not with hold a jot of the joy that should be; manifested at this season, nor of the happy times of the children, but we would rejoice -if it were pos sible to make the day a glad day for Him whose birthday we celebrate, a n d w h o endured so many sad days for us. We would be happy if we could set the joy bells ring ing in human hearts every where as they rang in the hearts of the shepherds that night of nights, as they lis tened to the proclamation of the angels : “ Unto you is bom this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord!” The promise had been given and must be fulfilled (Isa. 7 :14) : “ Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name, Immanuel.” The shepherds tended the flocks which were meant for sacrifice. He was to be a Lamb and also a Shepherd,
(Ehrtirtmaa (¡Sifts “ Thou hast received gifts for men.” Vsg. 68:18 /stHR ISTMAS gifts for thee, Fair and free! Precious things from the heavenly store, Filling thy casket more and more; Golden love in divinest chain, That never can be untwined again; 51 Silvery carols o f joy that swell Sweetest of all in the heart’s lone cell; Pearls of peace that were sought for thee In the terrible depths of.a fiery sea; Diamond promises sparkling bright, Flashing in farthest reaching light. Christmas gifts for thee, Grand and free! Christmas gifts from the King of love, Brought from His royal home above; Brought to thee in the. far-off land, Brought to thee by His own dear hand. Promises held by Christ for thee, ; Peace as a river flowing free, Joy that in His own joy must live, And that Infinite love can give. Surely thy heart of hearts uplifts Carols of praise for such Christmas gifts! Frances Ridley Havergal.
in a wicked world. All the forces of evil are against him. All of the inclinations of his fleshly nature are in harmony with Satan. The world, the flesh and the devil combine to stifle the new life and to mar and bar its development. How did any one ever conceive the idea that the real Christian life was to be one of easy victory ? It never is suggested in the Word of God, nor in the experience or testimony of God’s tested, tried and victorious servants.
Someone must see the
vision, and someone must hear the story of the angels. What could be more appropriate than that to these humble, unknown shepherds the heavens should be opened, and that to them should be made known the long-promised fulfillment of the prophecy : “For unto us a child is born (human) ; to us a Son is given (Divine) : the government shall be upon his shoulder (world ruler) ; and his name shall be called Wonderful (a Divine revelation) ; Counsellor (the Judge of all the earth) ; the Everlasting Father ( ‘by whom, through whom, and for
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When the Lord Jesus Christ was introduced to this sinful world it was by angelic voices who proclaimed, “ Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace to men of good will.” But when He took up His earthly ministry He said: “ Suppose ye that I am come to give peace bn earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather division.” Nearly two thousand years have passed, and the promoters of this new Peace Palace say: “If another great world war should break out, half the population of the world will be wiped out by gas. We must do something to stop it.” And they are right, for they are verifying the pro phecy of our Lord in Matt. 24:4-8: “ And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. “For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. “And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars; see that ye be not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. “ For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; and there shall be famines, and pest ilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. “All these are the beginning of sorrows.” And the prophetic voice is heard again in a very dis tinct message through the Apostle Paul to the Thessa- lonians (1 Thess. 5 :l - 3 ) : “ But of the times and seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. “ For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord soi cometli as a thief in the night. “ For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.” The desire for peace is universal, even from those who are not willing to accept God’s terms for peace, but "there can be no peace for the wicked excepting through God’s law of peace. He has made peace for us through our Lord Jesus Christ by the blood of the Cross. There is no other way. Palaces are all right in their place; a desire for a peaceful world is all right; but God’s plan for peace must be accepted. Men, by nature, are rebels against and not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be, unless they accept the terms of peace which God has issued—and of this, the Hague Peace Palace is an illustration.- The divorce courts prove the difficulties in the way of peaceful homes. The war in the churches and schools evidences the impossibility of peace in pulpit or parish. Men are wicked sinners, goaded by Satan with the desire for gold and a good time; reckless, ruthless vio- laters of God’s law; and indulging in all manner of gross sin, they must face the inevitable judgment of God. The real Peace Palace is the body of the believer-— the temple of the Holy Ghost. Let us acknowledge His right to rule. Surrender the whole palace to Him. He will illumine it with His presence, and from the win dows will shine forth the glory light. Joy bells will be ringing in the music room. The table will be spread in the banquet room, and the Lord of Glory Himself will be the princely guest. Bread and wine will satisfy the soul’s longing. The mouth will be filled with laughter and the tongue with singing, and the people will say: “ The Lord hath done great things for us, whereof we are glad.”
It is the duty of the church to faithfully clarify the minds of converts concerning the realities of the Chris tian life and to help some of these who have been on the way for years to know the secret of a happy, heal thy, heavenly life. Why permit them to walk and wander in the way of gloom and uncertainty; to live in doubt and despair when there is a plain path illum ined by the presence of the Sun of Righteousness, and when God’s plan for His children is so simple, sensible and practical? We become children of God by the acceptance of a gift. The “ gift of God is eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord’ ’. God is the giver. He gave His Son as a ransom for us. You couldn’t buy a title to Heaven by the gift of all the gold in the world. He gives eternal life. We shall never perish. He is also the Giver of every good and perfect gift, and— having given us His Son—will He not also freely give us all things? He says He will, and He will. There are many terms and arguments used with ref erence to the ideal life of a believer, but, when an alyzed, all that is involved in them is comprehended in the term “ surrendered life ” or “ yielded life ” . We are not our own. We are bought with a price. Make it real. According to God’s order, there can be but one head to a family, and in His family, He is the Head. Recognize this. Tell Him you do. Tell Him so every morning and every night. Ask His advice daily as to what you shall do for Him. Ask for wisdom. Ask for grace. He wants you. He wants to bless you. He wants to fellowship with you. Don’t grieve the L ord ! D.on’t hurt His heart! Make Him glad with your fellowship! PLANS FOR A PEACE PALACE The “ Los Angeles Times” gives the story of a beau tiful prospect for Riverside, California. Here it is in part: “ The world capitol of peace is to be located in Riverside, and building operations will probably start within the next sixty days, Lionel Sterling, president of the World Peace Society, of San Francisco, told the directors of the Riverside Chamber of Commerce. “ Peace City, as the project is| to be known, will develop rapidly on the 3iu75 acres five miles west of Riverside. The first building to be erected will be the $2,500,000 Peace Temple, which is to be located in the center of the new city and on which a $50,000 radio set for the broadcasting of peace ideas will be set up. “ A motion-picture studio will also be a part of Peace City. Here peace ideas will be dramatized and worked out in film form for distribution to all parts of the world.’’ Mr. Sterling said: “ If we can put out twenty good peace ideas in a year, and if one of these reaches the leaders of the nations of the world, we will have done much to further peace. We hope to finance once a year a trip of the diplomats of the world to Peace City. If we can put our peace ideas into these men’s minds before they come we are sure to make progress here.” This is, of course, a beautiful prospect, for every practical means should be employed to secure peace for the world. However, the world has never known any peace since the “ peace pact” was broken by Adam and Eve. We know history and we know the Bible, and both of them prove that it is impossible to secure world peace through human agencies of any character. There is a beautiful Peace Palace at The Hague. It cost lots of money, and when the late world war broke out, delegates were assembling there to smoke the pipe of peace—but they failed to light the pipe.
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PURLOINING THE PRODUCTS FOR PURPOSES OF PIOUS PRETENCE Dr. Pace has given us a characteristic cartoon, con veying a tremendous truth concerning the Satanic strategy of the enemies of the Bible who seek to poSe as possessors of the fruit of Christian doctrine, but deny the truth of the Bible) out of which the doctrine grows. They cannot deny the righteousness of the teaching of Christ, but they deny the righteous claims of Christ.
Step by step, through the centuries, the battle has been waged. It is all recorded for us in the Book, and no other explanation than that which the Bible gives us will ever account for the struggles, the failures, the successes of mankind. The ethics, or basic principles, of right and wrong are all stored away in the Book of books—^but ethics alone will not suffice to cure the world’s diseases.-They will fail just as the old philosophies failed. One thing, and only one, will suffice—simple faith in the crucified, risen, ascended, and glorified Son of God, through
They laud the “ Ser mon on the Mount” but deny that He who uttered it spoke the truth also when —in response to the statement of t h e woman of Samaria at the well : “ I know that Messiah cometh which is' c a l l e d Christ; when He is come He will tell, us all things ’ ’—He said, “ I that speak unto thee am He. ” Christian e t h i c s grow only from Bible doctrine, and Bible doctrine ; is founded upon the Christ of the Bible. The root of the tree is found in Genesis 3 :15 : “ And I will put en mity between thee and the woman,’ and be tween thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, , and thou shalt bruise his heel.” This w a s God’s message to the first Modernistic “ Higher Critic ’ !—II i s Royal H i g h n e s s , t h e “ Prince o f T h i s World ’ ’jr-t h e devil. Struggle and strive
whom we have eter nal l i f e ; a f a i t h whose r o o t s a r e firmly fixed in the Word of G o d and lived out in the daily life of the believer. These are the eter nal ethics of God. To tear the tree from its roots is t r e a s o n a g a i n s t God and merits the sentence which will be pro nounced by H i m : “ Depart from me ye c u r s e d ; I never knew you. ” A FOSSIL FIND WHICH ELUCI DATES EVOLU TION In a recent issue of “ The North Amer ican U;(Philadelphia) ¿ remarkable story is told of a miner who, while working in a coal mine in Utah, found a horse’s hoof, w h i c h provokes a “ horse-laugh” upon one of the pet theo ries of the evolution ists. The incident is so well-authenticated
CUTTING DOWN THE TRJEE TO GATHER THE FRUIT
as we may, there is no-other solution of the world’s problems. The root is: there.,, The cause of the curse which rests upon the sons of men is, found there.; Though we have to war against the enemies of the teaching of the Bible, we do not have to-defend the teaching itself, which is simple and plain, and in ac cordance with the history: of man and of a ruined world. There is God, the Creator o f thè earth. There is Satan, the seducer of Adam’ and Eve. There is God’s prophetic Word concerning the conflict between Satan and the Seed o f the woman. Christ is involved in the curse and in the cure. The story is age-long, but is drawing to its close. The Satanici powers are still arrayed against the “ ‘Seed of the woman ’ ’—JeSus Christ. Satan bruised His’ heel. He died the death which was appointed for Him, but the end is not yet. Satan’s head must yet be bruised, and it will be.
that it will be difficult for them to account for it, but, of course, they will. They have millions of years behind those they have already Used in making their calculations, and they will no doubt avail themselves of them. The excerpt follows : “ John T. Reid, a noted geologist and owner of the larg est private collection of fossils in America, has the hoof of a horse'found in a coal deposit. This hoof is as it is on the horse today, and yet it is found in a strata in the earth’s formation antedating by possibly hundreds of thousands of years the period when scientists say the horse had toes. “ One of the stock-in-trade arguments for the evolution ary theory has been the development of the hoof of a horse. Scientists have declared they have traced this from the time when the hoof consisted of four .toes. As each epoch in its evolutionary history passed, the horse lost, toes until in the present age the hoof became solid.
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“ This theory has been printed in some of the text-books, but if Mr. Reid’s fossil of a solid hoof stands the test of the scientific world as to the date of its origin, the textbooks will have to he revised. So far it has stood all the tests of science. “ Mr. Reid is now in this city securing the opinions of the scientific world of the east, as he has done in the west, and while his find in most instances at first was received with scepticism by scientists, most of them now admit it looks as if they will have to revise their theories, at least so far as the evolutionary development of the horse’s hoof. “There does not seem to be any question but that the horse the hoof of which Mr. Reid has lived ages before the horse which scientists said had toes. Mr. Reid is a mining engineer, and years ago began making a study of prehistoric life as represented by fossils in the deposits of coal. “When one of his workmen handed him the fossilized remains of a horse’s right forefoot he learned where it had been found, and, as has been his custom, he called on sci entific men to compare the coal in which the fossil was encased with the strata in which it had been found. “ Every precaution was taken by him and his associate sci entists to verify the particular geological period. Scientists said the horses’ hoof developed iu the eocene and pleistocene periods. The strata in which the hoof was found is classed as cretaceous, antedating the others, :“ “ In other words, any animals caught in the cretaceous strata of thé earth must have been walking about earlier than those described above, and, scientists have averred, a horse dating from that period should have had five toes and been much smaller. “ ‘This fossil must have: dated from the cretaceous age,’ Mr. Reid said, ‘because it was found among the coal deposits which are called laramine in my part of the country, and which geologists ascribe variously to the upper or lower horizon of the' cretaceous period. There is other cor roboratory evidence. “ ‘My theory, greatly strengthened by this fossilized horse foot, is that the good Lord originally made these things as we see them today. Although I was an evolutionist in the beginning, I have changed my view’.” THE SLEEPING SICKNESS A Tokio cable brings the following message: “ The epidemic of sleeping sickness here continues to spread. The Health Department reports 1100 cases now on the Island of Shikoku, with several hundred more on the main island. Heavy mortality is reported at the city of Tottori on the main island, with 102 deaths from 231 cases.” An epidemic of sleeping sickness! Poor Tokio U hav ing its trials and troubles, and should have our sympa thy. The disease itself is not new, for it is reported to be prevalent in England, Africa, and other countries, but an epidemic of it is new, and so far the cause and cure have not been definitely determined. The church has been subject to this disease for years, and we know the cause and cure for it, but an age-long epidemic is difficult to cure because people are opposed to the remedy. Israel had a bad case of sleeping sickness, and Isaiah records it in 1 :4-6 : “ Ah sinful nation, a nation laden with iniquity, a seed of evil-doers, children that are corrupters; they have forsaken the Lord, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward. “Why should ye be stricken any more? ye will revolt more and more; the whole heart is sick, and the whole heart faint. (‘From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores; they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment.” How it must have hurt the heart of Jehovah to have to say this regarding the people He loved so well; but it was the truth, and the truth must always be spoken. Now listen to His prescription for a remedy : “ Wash ye, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes: cease to do evil;
“ Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow. “ Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord; though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” Poor Israel! She sleeps still with the curse upon her. And how about‘the Bride of Christ— the Church? How about her garments dragging in the dust and mire of the world ? (James 5:2) “ Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth- eaten,” How about her companions, cheek by jowl with the world?: (Eph. 5 : l l j “ Have no fellowships with thje unfruitful works of dark ness, but rather reprove them.’] j How about her amusements ? How about the earnest desire of her coming Bridegroom? Listen to His voice (Eph, 5 :14-16) “ Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that steepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light. “ See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise. “ Redeeming the time, because- the days are evil.” The church must create a new spiritual atmosphere. She must be alive to her call and her calling. She must cease listening to the sooth-sayers, and their sayings, and listen to the vbice of the Holy Spirit. She must be revived by the bending of the knee and by donning the whole armor of God. She must joy and rejoice in the Lord and go forth to tell the story of His love and re deeming grace. She must be the conscious, Holy-Spirit- indwelt medium for testimony to a lost world, and when she takes the prescribed remedy she will be. PRAY FOR REVIVAL! The Great Commission Prayer League is making a world-wide appeal for a New Year’s Eve Watch Night United Prayer Service. Last year, in response to the League’s appeal, .prayer ascended from thousands of places and 70,000 souls have been reported to the League as having accepted Christ as a result of these Watch Night Services. What could be more pleasing to our Father in Heaven—what could give Him greater joySthan to listen to the united prayers of tens of thousands of His dear children—for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit .upon the church—the body of Christ? Surely, there is not an evangelical church in this land or in other lands that does not need—for their own welfare and for the welfare of multitudes of un saved—such a Watch Night Prayer Meeting. We com mend the plan heartily, and suggest the following plan : First, —That notice of the meeting be given at least a month beforehand, so that those who participate may prepare themselves by prayer and the purging of their hearts from every known sin, for real fellowship in prayer. Long years of experience in many all-night prayer meetings with young men has demonstrated that many hours had to be spent in the “ cleaning-up process” before there could be united prayer. Let the “ cleaning-up process” precede, that the time set apart for prayer may be used entirely for that purpose. Second, —Let the plan be for a united, all-night ser vice for such as can so arrange. Others, who cannot leave the home, can plan for a Watch Night Service in their own homes, by relay hours. (Continued on page 825)
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Where God and Man Meet— A Christmas Message By Dr. W. B. Hinson, Pastor East Side Baptist Church, Portland, Oregon “Bet us go now even to Bethlehem” Duke 2:15 the first place let us go to Bethlehem— that we lay find— God! such value to God that He did not deem it unwise to give His own Son to die for man.
Now usé your logic a moment. If man could only be saved by the coming, and the dying, and the rising again of the Son of God, how greatly must that man have sinned! And of what turpitude must his wrong-doing consist! So let us go to Bethlehem that we may find man! * * * * Let Us Go to Bethlehem that We May Find God and Man! For you, know the story of which that Bethlehem scene is on ly, the commencing chapter—you know how Jesus grew up; how He played the games with other lads; how He thought the long, long thoughts of childhood; how he toiled at the carpenter’s bench among the fragrant shav ings; how He went out into public life, three years of which men put up with and then murdered Him—you know the story. Well, the story that began down there when God and man came together in that incarnation is the story that had its last chapter, so far as that earthly ministry was con cerned, when on the Cross Jesus took hold of man and God and brought the two together. Do you know the story of the lad who had angered his father? The father said: “ You ge^ out of this house and nevermore darken its door.” And the son said: “ I will do it,” and he went out. He wrote to his mother. The mother grew strangely ill, and the man of medicine said that he could not understand what was the matter with her. She had what I fear a good many mothers in this land have, an aching and breaking heart. And one day the doctor said he was not coming back, because he could do her no good. She heard it, and calling to her husband said: “ Will you do one thing for me?” And he said: “ I will.” She said: “Write and tell the boy to come home.” He re plied: “ I cannot.” Then she said: “ Bring me a pencil and a piece of paper,” which he did. And she asked to be propped up that she might write; and she wrote: “ My boy, comp home; I am dying.— Your mother.” In a far-off city he received that note with its scrawling writing, and hurried home. He arrived after dark; but how familiar was the creak of the old garden gate, and what emotions were his as he walked the path between the flower beds, where he had often seen his mother? He opened the door and went in, and on up the stairs, and entered his mother’s room. There stood the father by the side of the dying woman, and with the old animosity still in his heart, the boy deliberately walked round to the other side of the bed and kept the mother between himself and his father. I have often thought of the mystery that enables people to live until they attain something they desire. That woman had kept on living, in spite of the fact that she was dying, until she saw the boy; but she had very little strength and could say but little. She looked her greeting. And then (Continued on page 806)
Now the world by wisdom has never found out lod. The wisest of all the nations of antiquity put up in the city of Athens an altar which the Apostle' Paul stopped to look at one* day. And in a speech he made in that same place a few hours afterward he said: “ As I passed by, I beheld an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD.” The wisest people of antiquity could not find out God, and they erected the altar to the unknown one who might, for aught they knew, be the God of all the gods. It was no new thought that came to me today, yet it was a thought I prized very much and have been helped by it, that a God who could come down and become a baby in a stable, and sleep in a manger— disturbed for aught I know by the lowing of the oxen and the noises incident to so public a place— a God who could do that is after all the kind of God who makes a very tender and very urgent appeal to my squl. I know that “ great is the mystery of godliness 11 — God manifest in the flesh” in a Bethlehem stable; but I also know that great is the mercy of that manifestation of God. I once had the privilege of talking to a man who knew so much that it seemed to me he could never possibly know any more; but when I told him this story, of which he was ignorant-^—the story of Christ the God-man, the Wonderful, the Counsellor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace— the man’s imagination was seized and his heart was touched, and he who had been known for forty years as a skeptic shed tears and thanked me for telling him the story and praying that it might do him good. I have wished a thousand times in my life that when I was only a boy some one had told me of this Bethlehem God—,-this God in Christtc^but no one ever did; and there fore I grew up ignorant of the sublime music, the wonderful imagery, and the marvelous Christ of the Gospel. And you know, I go halting all my days'because I lacked that sort of instruction, which I hope you are giving to your children, else you are among their worst enemies. Let us go to Bethlehem to find God! * * * * But Also Let Us Go to Bethlehem to Find Man Oh, how my soul revolts when I hear the disparagers of man making their fling at men and women! I suddenly recall a man whom I had in my first church, and his fav orite introduction when he got up to speak was, “ Man is half beast and half devil.” And I hushed him one night by telling him to speak for himself; that I did not thank him for saying I was half beast and half devil, for it was a lie! Oh no! If you go to Bethlehem and see God incar nated in a human form, you will know there is something in man that is neither beast nor devil; there is something of
768
T H E K I N G ’ S
B U S I N E S S
December 1924
Does it Make Airy Dijference?
or The Question of the Virgin Birth By I. M. Haldeman, D. D. Pastor First Baptist Church, New York City .
OES it make any difference who was the father of Jesus?; There are those who say it does:' not. There are even preachers in the pulpit who say I affirm it does. I affirm it makes a difference as wide as eternity. If our Lord Jesus Christ were begotten by a human father,— as Joseph protested he was not that father, then Jesus was born of a mother stained with the sin of unchas tity. If our lo rd Jesus Christ were begotten by a natural father, and that father was not Joseph,— as Mary was betrothed to him, and in the eye of the law as solemnly bound as a married woman, in giving birth to Jesus she became as guilty as a wife who breaks her marriage vow. If Jesus were begotten by a natural father; as that father was not Joseph; as that natural father has never been known,-—then Jesus was begotten by an unknown father of an unmarried woman; as the child of an unmar ried woman and unknown father is both illegitimate and bastard, He whom we call the Son of God entered the world with the bar sinister of His mother’s unchastity and faith lessness, stamped with the seal of an unknown father’s cowardice, and stands before men as an illegitimate and bastard son, having no legal or decent right to live. • If our Lord Jesus Christ were begotten by a natural father; as personality comes hot from the mother, but from the father (Heb. 7:9, 10)—-He was the seed of the man and not the seed of the woman. If He were not the seed of the woman, the promise made at Eden’S gate that such ~a seed should bruise' the serpent’s head has never been ful filled; and whatever else Jesus of Nazareth may be, He is not that seed. If our Lord' Jesus Christ were begotten by a natural father; if, as is true, personality comes from the father, the personality of Jesus was natural. If He were a natural per son, He was not God. If He wefe not God (and since for giveness of sin belongs only to God) He had no right to forgive sin. He had no right to make Himself the object of faith and the,issue of salvation. As He claimed the right to forgive sin and to consign to eternal wrath all who did not believe in Him, He was either a wanton deceiver or a blindly deceived man. In either case, as mental weakling or moral degenerate, He would stand outside the category of a Redeemer and Savior of men. * * * * If our Lord Jesus Christ were not begotten by God the Father of the very seed of the woman; if the act of God were not an absolute generative act; if the generative act were that of a natural man and the conception wholly natural, our Lord Jesus Christ is reduced to, the level of a merely natural man. If He were a natural .man; if He were not true and real God; if He were not God of God, very God of very God, God the Son as well as Son of God, He was not the second person of the Trinity. If He were not the second person of the Trinity the question may be asked: Who is the.second person, of the Trinity? To this, under the circumstancesj there can be only one answer: it does not.
No one is. There is no second person of the Trinity. If there be no second person of the Trinity— there is no Trinity. Thus, if Jesus of Nazareth had only a natural father, the doctrine of a triune God, thé doctrine that God subsists as three distinct persons in one undivided substance or being, falls to the ground, and the Church is landed into the front yard of open Unitarianism. * * * * If our Lord Jesus Christ were begotten py a natural father; if as the son of' such a father His personality was only natural; as a natural person is*not infinite; as only an infinite person can atone to an infinite person; as only God can satisfy the law, the government and being of God; and since our Lord (as begotten by a natural father) could not be God, and was no more at any time than a finite pèrson, He could not offer atonement to God. If, therefore, the father of Jesus were a natural man, the death of our Lord on the cross was not an atoning sacrifice. This is true upon the side of His personality. It is true upon the side of His humanity. It is true in this wise; To be an acceptable victim for sacrifice, to fill the function of a substitute, our Lord Jesus Christ must be free from the penalty of sin. To be free from the penalty of sin He must be sinless, not only in deed, but in essence and nature. A sinless humanity can be produced only from a sinless father; but, if our Lord Jesus Christ were begotten by a natural man, He was begotten by a sinful father. If He were begotten by a sinful father, He inherited His sinful nature. He would have sin in Him. He would be under the penalty of sin. Under the penalty of sin, He could neither be a substitute for sinners, nor yet a sacrifice for sin. * * # * If it could be proven that Jesus had a natural father (and as the 1 Son of such à father could die neither as a sub stitute nor sacrifice:) it would be plainly proven that the cross was a bloody, brutal, barbarous, useless and excuse less murder, without the basis of a single principle, without profit to man, and without glory to God. If our Lord Jesus Christ were begotten by a human father; if as a natural son, with a natural personality and a nature of sin,-He could not offer an atoning sacrifice, nor act as a substitute, it would be evident, since God alone can raise the dead, in falling to be true and actual God, He could not fulfil His own promise that after laying down His life He would take it up again; it would be evident He could not of Himself raise Himself from the dead. And, further, as God the Father is said to have raised Him, and the Holy Spirit is said to have raised Him, and it is said He should raise Himself; and the Father and the Spirit are repre sented as co-operating with the personal power of the Son to raise Himself, since He was a natural man and not God, He could not co-operate with the'Father, and the Spirit in a supernatural 'act; and as His failure to so co-operate would break down the Scripture doctrine of the invariable co-ordi nation o f the Trinity—^-resurrection could not take place— He never was raised from the dead. (Continued on page 819)
December 1924
T H E
K I N G ’ S
B U S I N E S S
769
W ith Kwang-si Robbers in a Chinese Mountain Fastness That “ prayer changes things” was never more strikingly manifested than in the experience of Messrs. H. G. Miller and R. A. Jaffray (Christian and Missionary Alliance missionaries in China), when they were captured by brigands, and their lives thereby put in jeopardy. Our readers will recall a similar experience related by Mrs. How ard Taylor in the May King’s Business, entitled “ Six Weeks with Chinese Brigands.” The heart of every child of God will glow with renewed faith and devotion as they read this fresh illustration of the marvelous sustaining grace of our God in the midst of great peril.
RESCUE party for Kwai-lin composed of Messrs. Ray (Baptist), Miller, Carme and Jaffray (Alli ance), left Wuchow on the hospital motor launch, the “ Roanoke” , about 2:00 A. M. Thursday, May 22nd. In three days we reached Chao-ping (Chin-ping). Directly opposite the town of Tsai-kwong, above Chao-ping, we were attacked by a band of robbers who opened fire on our boat at four o’clock Sunday afternoon, May 25th. We had an escort of eighty soldiers from Chiu-Ping who walked ashore, keeping even with thes'?“ Roanoke” 'all the way. Ten “ li” below Tsai-Kwong the troops who had been marching on the west side of the river crossed to the-opposite hank, and, on reaching the town of Tsai-Kwong, the robbers opened fire upon us. Our launch anchored, and many of the troops gathered behind the launch and shot across the river at the -enemy. Probably only twenty shots were fired from our escort of eighty men. The robbers at Tsai-Kwong were about thirty in number, as far as we could tell, and they poured into us a volley of over a hundred shots. Im mediately the fire opened, about two-thirds of our escort ran for their lives, without offering any resistance.' Our "escort” did not return to offer any protection. “Perfect Love Casteth Out Fear” I feel I ought to give praise to God for His wondrous keeping power in body, mind and spirit during those most trying circumstances. Naturally speaking, I am not a man of courage, but rather disposed to be fearful and timid, and I had often wondered how I would act if placed in a posi tion of danger. During the nearly thirty years of traveling in China I have never before met robbers but once,; and that was last year. I have always felt, however, that there would be grace given in every hour of need, and so it was at this time. Throughout all my dealings with the robbers, I had not the first sensation of fear. Some of their eyes glared like animals. Their voices were rough and coarse, almost like the growl of wild beasts. They were armed to the teeth. Most of their rifles, if not all, were exactly the same as those used by the inilitary troops of the Chinese Govern ment. They all carried knives. This no doubt shows that nearly all the bandits were ex-soldiers: in fact, a number of them told me that they had served under well known military generals of the province. “My Word Shall Not Return unto Me Void” But to return to the Lord’s keeping power and the total absence of fear. I found that I could look these fierce, wicked men straight in the face, put my hands upon their shoulders, and talk to them about the Lord Jesus, heart to heart, without a tremor in my voice, and without the slight est consciousness or appearance of fear. This seemed to be as great a surprise to them as it was to myself, and it seemed to trouble them. On several occasions during my five days with this ter ribly wicked robber band, I talked about Jesus to the chief in charge of the gang, and to individual robbers, until their hearts were moved and the tears began to come to their eyes. I found that they felt very uncomfortable under this
Sensation and, in fact, the head vobber chief, on a number of occasions distinctly avoided me because his emotions had been moved with the story of the love of Jesus, and lie would give' me no further opportunity to talk with him about his soul.. I found that the love of Jesus, His vicarious death on the cross, bearing our sins in His own body on the Tree, was "the subject that touched the tender spot in their hearts. I have never seen such wicked men in my life, and never want to see such again. I never could have believed that men and women (for there were women there too) could have sunk to such utter depths of depravity. In some cases the women seemed as depraved as the men. How I praise Him for the privilege of going to these men and giving them the message of the Gospel. If I had not gone they surely never would have heard the Gospel story. Over and over again we said to one another, “ I would not have missed this for all the world” , and yet it was as far removed from a pleasure excursion as one could possibly imagine. After our capture, which took place on Sunday afternoon at about four o’clock, we walked until about three o'clock in the morning. Then on Monday night again, not having suc ceeded in getting much rest during the day, we marched from five in the evening until five o’clock, just before day break— an almost continuous twelve hour march with hardly a break. This included the ascent in the pitch dark — lighted only by kerosene torches— of a rugged mountain, the upper part covered with grassy moss, exceedingly slip pery, probably 3,000 feet high. A few days later we descended this same mountain in the daylight, but in the drenching rain. The descent was even more hazardous than the ascent. The chief himself admitted that it was as much as one’s life was worth to try to descend that moun tain in the wet weather. “ As Thy Days So Shall Thy Strength Be” I knew, of course, that I was so{t, and I always expect on itinerating trips, under the best of conditions, to return with blistered feet and crippled joints; but what was my amazement to find that after these nights and days of marching over the worst kind of roads, I had not a swelling or a blister on my feet (Deut. 8 :4), nor a crippled joint or aching muscle! I could only say it was due to the grace and strength of my God. “ He shall give: His angels charge over thee to keep thee in all thy ways. They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone” (Psa. 91:11, 12). “ Christ liveth in me!” (Gal. 2:20). For many years, in fact all my life, I have suffered from a weakness of heart, and have had to studiously avoid climbing hills. Though conscious of His strength as I ascended that steep precipice, scrambling over rocks, fight ing our way through brush wood, crossing rushing torrents, yet I rather expected to have a time with my heart: in fact, I felt my pulse several times in ascending the mountain, and found there was hardly a trace of palpitation. The robbers were very considerate, and while they were in a (Continued on page 809)
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