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April, 1941
T H E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
The King's Business The True-to-the-Bihle Family Magasine The Official Organ of THE BIBLE INSTITUTE OF LOS ANGELES, Inc. LOUIS T. TALBOT Editor-In-Chief MILDRED M. COOK Managing Editor
"I MUST HELP THE JEWS” “ Everything I have seems go ing or gone — yet I M U S T HELP T H E JEWS .” Thus wrote a child of God whose soul had been stirred to its depths be cause of the tragic condition of the Jews throughout the world. “ I M U S T H E L P TH E JEW S !” Dear child of God, they are still God’s people, beloved for the fathers’ sakes; and because you have been born again, you love what He loves; and you know that He still loves Israel with an everlasting love. “I MUST HELP THE JEWS!” Driven like cattle through the „fields and forests of Europe; tor tured, harassed, brutally beaten, stumbling their way through the bloody attacks of Nazi hate, seek ing in vain a place of shelter— what a Christianity for the Jews to gaze upon! “I MUST HELP THE JEWS!” In the face of such a crisis, may God help His true Church to awake! May we who are tsuly His fill to the full our measure of duty in behalf of a people now- facing the spectacle of a world civiliza tion organizing in solid mass for the greatest outburst of Jew-hate the world has ever known! Dear Reader, will you say “I, TOO, MUST HELP THE JEWS” ? Help us to tell them “These things you have suffered are not things which Christians do!” This is an S. O. S.. It is Israel’s eleventh hour. So swiftly does the world cataclysm move, this may be the last call before the trumpet blows, and you will be face to face with a Christ who may look into your ey^s and ask. “WHAT HAVE YOU DONE FOR THESE, MY BRETHREN?” Matt. 25:40. ' AM ER ICAN BOARD OF MISSIONS T O TH E JEWS, INC. 31 Throop Ave. Brooklyn, N. Y. I do want to help the Jews. Here is $.............................Use it as God directs, to make known t}ie saving power of the Lord Jesus Christ to Israel. Name___________ ._____________ _ Address ________ ____ ______ ...____ City................ ..... State.......... ........
Motto : "Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood ” (Rev. 1:5).
Volume X XX II
April, 1941
Number 4
TABLE OF CONTENTS
C over Photograph by JI. A rm strong Roberts W h en W a s Saul Converted ?— A h a J. McClain _______ ________________ 129 A rou nd the K in g’s T a b le — Editorial ........................................................ 123 Significance o f the N ew s — Dan Gilbert ....................... ...................................... 124 H ave Mussolini and H is “ Resurrected Roman Empire” Both C ollapsed ?— Louis S. Bauman ............................ .................................. 125 V ictory T h rou gh the V ictor— W , B. Riley ...................................................... 126 A ll Th is— Because Christ L ives!— W . H . Rogers .......................................... 128 W h en W a s Saul C on verted ?— A ha J. McClain .............. ........................... 129 T h e D ivorce T h a t Failed...................... ',.+L ........................................................... 130 O u r E ver-L iving Saviour — Ethel S. Low.... ...................................................... 133 Junior K in g’s Business —Martha S. Hooker.'. ...............................1.................... 135 Palestine— W a itin g — James L. Kelso..., ............................................................... 137 Bible Institute Fam ily C ircle................................................................................... 138 International Lesson Comm entary............................................................... .......... . 139 N otes on Christian Endeavor — Idella Sieben, Lyman A. Wendt, Paul Bauman, and Florence Nye Whitwell .................................................. 154 D aily D evotional Readings ...................................................................................... 159 O u r Literature T a b le ............................ ................................................ .-__________ 166 SUBSUMPTION PMUE: "The King's Business” is published monthly. $1.00—one year; $1.50—two years: 50 cents—six months; 10 cents—single copy. Clubs of five or more at special rates; write for details. Canadian and foreign subscriptions 25 cents extra. It requires one month for a change of address to become effective. Please send both old and new addresses. REMITTANCE—Payable In advanee, should be made by bank draft, express or post office money order payable to “The King’s Business.” Date of expiration will show plainly each month on outside wrapper or cover of magazine. ADVERTISING—For information with reference to advertising in “The King’s Business,” address the Advertising Manager, 558 South Hope Street, Los Angeles, Calif., or our eastern representative. Religious Press Association, 1108-10 Colonial Bldg., 13th and Market Streets, Philadelphia, Pa. MANUSCRIPTS—“The King’s Business” cannot accept responsibility for loss or damage to manuscripts sent to it for consideration. Entered as second-class matter November 7, 1938. at the post office at Los Angeles, California, under the Act of March 3, 1879. Acceptance for mailing at special rate of postage provided for in the Act of February 28, 1925, embodied in paragraph 4, section 53X. P. L. and R., authorized October 1, 1918, and November 13, 1938. T H E K I N G ’ S B U S IN E S S S 5 S S o u t h H o p e S t r e e t * L o s A n g e l e s , C a lif o r n i a IN F O R M A T IO N F O R S U B S C R IB E R S
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Do You Wonder'. WHAT DOES MILITARY LIFE DO TO A CHRISTIAN?
To his moral standards To his devotional life To his zeal for soul-winning
Photo courtesy of U. S. Navy Recruiting Station
Do You Believe This? THE LAMPS ARE GOING OUT!
The Lamp of Jewish Freedom The Lamp of Christian Witness The Lamp of Missionary Activity
These are but two of the subjects to be discussed in tbe MAY issue of THE KING’S -BUSINESS. Others will deal with Mother’s Day, youth evangelism, personal Bible study. The study material in the Sunday School Lesson Commentary and Christian Endeavor Notes will be unusually rich and usable. Why not subscribe now to this Bible Family Magazine which you have been wanting (for yourself or for some friend) and let your subscription begin with the May number?
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Around the King's LOUIS T. TALBOT, Editor-In-Chief
Table
their times! How perplexing to them must have been some ofNthe events through which they, as followers of Christ, were called to pass! For example, in the period which fol lowed some time a fter,the tremendous experience of Pentecost, when the dis ciple« were scattered abroad, they must have wondered ^at the necessity for their being so suddenly uprooted. There had 'been great joy over the conversion of thousands of souls. And then, without warning, there had come fierce persecu tion, the breaking of precious ties. On the Easter morning of that year, what Solace was there for the Lord’s tested children? They derived their joy, when joy they had, from the consciousness of the presence and leadership of the One whom their risen Saviour had sent to be their Paraclete, “One called along side to help.” Had they been able to see also the steady working toward the fulfillment of God’s plan for the nations, when these shall acclaim Christ “King of kings and Lord of lords,” their joy would have abounded more and more. The situation is duplicated, in a sense, in our day. Men are keenly aware of the darkness, of the distress, of the im pending catastrophe. Too often they are, alas, unaware of the comforting pres ence of the Holy Spirit, and almost wholly oblivious to the plan of God for the ages. But as Easter dawns this year, that holy purpose of the Lord Jesus Christ, which began to be made known at Cal vary, is‘ nearer complete fulfillment than ever before. And the experiences of the early disciples are, in some aspects, be coming the experiences of believers to day. Illustrations might be drawn from almost any country of the world. Take West China, for instance, where today there are many “scattered dis ciples.” Christian men and women, often well educated and talented, have fled from invaded coastal areas and have journeyed westward. They have not en joyed pulling up like that, leaving their homes, journeying far with just what they could carry, and settling anew in another province. But from here and there missionaries write of the stirring of new life in small, struggling churches, because one or two, who have talents of leadership, have come into their midst and have borne earnest witness. There also have been those who have testified as they traveled, in small ^vil lages, in refugee camps, and to soldier?
What Easter Means to Me The tragedy of memorial days, some of which commemorate holy events, is their degeneration into mere holidays. Those seasons which ought to produce spiritual joy are looked upon too often as occasions for jollification. Thus it is with Easter. As we meet it again, thousands of cars will block highways. Sports of all kinds will do a roaring trade. Motion picture shows will be crowded. Abandonment to pleasure of one sort and another will characterize the multitudes, to whom Calvary means nothing as they pass "by. Therefore as Easter approaches, it is necessary for each of us to pause and ask his own heart the question, What does Easter mean to me? Robert Brown ing gives us his conception of Easter in these powerful words: “EASTER DAY breaks! Christ rises! Mercy every way is infinite— Earth breaks up; time drops away; In flows heaven with its new day Of endless life— What is left for us save in growth Of soul to rise up, . . . From the gift looking to the Giver. And from the cistern to the river, And from the finite to infinity, And from man’s dust to God’s Divinity.” , , Have you a personal Easter creed ? Try to set down, as a friend of the Editor has done in the accompanying paragraphs, what this sacred season means to you! To me, Easter means the accomplish ment of the redemptive plan of God for all mankind. To me, Easter means the manifesta tion of the heart of God in saving grace. To me, Easter means the overthrow of dark Satanic forces. Easter repre sents Satan’s grim Waterloo. To me, Easter means the complete triumph of Jesus Christ over sin, death, and hell. . To me, Easter means deliverance from the guilt, penalty, and tyranny of sin. To me, -Easter means identification with Christ in death, burial, and resur rection. To me, Easter means the promise and pledge of my physical resurrection. To me, Easter means that death has found a mighty Victor. To me, Easter means that a pierced brow will yet wear the crown of uni- —’sal sovereignty.
Easter Comfort— 1941 If there js any message of pomfort for this war-burdened world—and there is—it is that which tells of Christ’s victory over the rulers of the darkness of this age. When He climbed the bitter way to the cross, He went not only to provide deliverance for sinners from the penalty and tyranny of sin, but also to assure the subjugation of the world and- all evil forces unto Himself. Calvary placed in the pierced hand of Jesus Christ the scepter of universal dominion. What a comforting, encourag ing message this is for Easter in 1941! At present, the picture seems dark. The nations are an armed host. If dictators have their way, the world quickly will become a vast concentration camp. Europe and China are filled with refugees who have seen their homes destroyed by bombs, their loved ones killed or taken prisoners; who have been separated from their little children and have endured intense suffering. Mission doors are in danger of closing in lands occupied by invading troops and be cause of the hazardous traveling con ditions and governmental restrictions. In all, there would seem to be little comfort to be found for Easter, 1941. But let it be remembered that there was no joy, either, on the first Easter morning, before Christ had manifested Himself to Mary. “For as yet they knew not the Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead.” Even at the end of that day of triumph, the sorely troubled disciples assembled behind closed doors “for fear of the Jews.” How often the early followers of fhe Lord must have bemoaned the darkness of
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Significance of the News By DAN GILBERT Washington, D. C., and San Diego, California
going into battle. Thus the scattering of Chinese disciples has carried the Word to “China’s back door” more quickly and effectively than mission aries could have done for a long time. God is working toward the fulfillment of His own gloVious purpose, and “He . . . will perform it.” In every age, the scattering of the disciples at the command of the Lord has had as one result the wider dis semination of the Word of God. The phenomenal sale of the Scriptures in the last year is like a bright shaft of light, this Easter season, in the midst of the prevailing darkness. Bombs have not stopped the printing of the Bible in England. It has become the Book of the day in Norway, where manf who had evinced no interest in the Bible before suddenly have discovered that it contains what they need. From Bel gium and France come reports of the overwhelming demand for the Scrip tures. In Shanghai where, it is said, more Bibles are printed than in any other city in the world, the presses are working to capacity. With one copy or portion of the Scriptures coming from the press every two seconds, night and day, after some months there were still unfilled orders for thousands of books! And even in Germany, where the iron fist of the dictator is felt, the sale of the Bible is greater than that of any other book. It is the will of God that the precious Word—written and incarnate—shall be offered to men everywhere, that they might be saved. And the very hardness of these confused times.of ours is bring ing forth an interest in and reception of the gospel that must hearten every believer. What comfort this is! Easter—1941! Shall it find us dis tressed over darkness and trial, or re joicing in the clear shining of the Blessed Hope? Mien o f the Mountains “ Come up to me into the mount” (Ex. 24:12). There is a man who stands forth in the Bible as one of the master spirits of humanity. It is Moses, the man whom God could bid to come up into the heights. with Him where the higher [ Continued on Page 166]
The essential choice is simply this: America can choose the way of in ternationalism or of isolationism. But she must take one or the other. I real ize that, like so many other terms, these words are subject to misuse and abuse. But, nevertheless, our people generally recognize what they stand for. Accord ing to the first course of action, Amer ica would seek to strengthen her own democracy by strengthening democracy around the world. America would take the position that we cannot be safe here in America so long as war-minded dic tators roam over other . parts of the eafth. Under this policy, America would be committed to endeavoring to establish a new vforld order, according to the theory that this would best con tribute to preserving our present Amer ican order. Under the so-called isolationist policy, America would seek to live in indepen dence of the rest of the world, in effect, endeavor to live in her own back yard (with South America, and other nations of the New World). We would build up national defense to protect our privacy from foreign invaders, and would read just our national economy so that for eign trade would not be indispensable to American prosperity. There is, of course, no surety that either plan would work. But in that case, America would be doomed. When a patient is desperately ill, there is never any certainty that a critical operation will be successful. But surgery is un dertaken, in the hope of success. It can freely be admitted that there is no ad vance proof that either plan to safe guard America f will be wholly success ful. But one dr the other must be tried. SMOKE SCREEN: • As we have pointed out, this basic issue lies embedded beneath the heat and' cloud of the present debate in Con gress. The question there now is over a matter of means, not of ends. There is [ Continued on Page 165]
BEHIND THE SENATE DEBATE: g As I write, the Great Debate is still raging in the United S t a t e s Senate. While the outcome of the immediate is sue is generally conceded, there lurks in the background a l a r g e r issue of transcendent importance. Eventually it must be brought to the forefront and dealt with by the American people. The destiny of our nation hangs in the bal ance. This writer has no desire to take sides. His one purpose is to try to present the issue with simplicity and clarity. This issue is America’s future. Our people must make up their minds. The coun try is at the crossroads. There will be no chance for a turning back, once one or the other of the two roads is em barked upon. Yet we cannot stand still. To do so w o u l d be national.suicide. Whichever road is taken, the way ahead is somewhat hidden and dbscured. No one can be certain as to the final out come of either action. It may not be entirely a step in the dark, but it must be a movement in a new and uncharted direction. Yet the choice must be made—and soon. In decision, delay, compromise—these have been the destruction of many of the na tions of Europe. America’s hour of de cision cannot be long postponed. THE'ESSENTIAL CHOICE: • America must decide what role she is to play in world affairs. The na tional foreign policy has been vague, confused,, and somewhat muddled dur ing much of our history. It now seems fairly clear thaj any policy, if carried out concretely and conclusively, might be preferable to one of continued hesi tation and indecision. The price of our very national exist ence must be reckoned in terms of a far-reaching and permanent plan of ac tion. The price will be high in any case. Drastic readjustments in our way of life will also have to be made, and these cannot be paid for in dollars alone.-
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April, 1841
Have Mussolini and His "Resurrected Roman Empire" Both Collapsed? By LOUIS S. BAUMAN*, Long Beach, California
A Widely Taught Interpretation First, there is the fact that, ever since the days of the apostles, many out standing interpreters of the prophetic Scriptures have believed that the Roman Empire must be existent in some form —the supreme political power when our Lord Jesus Christ returns to earth to establish His reign from the throne of David. A few quotations must suffice, though we could present many pages of them from the pens of great teachers and preachers: Walter Scott, the well-known exposi tor of Nottingham (England), years ago wrote: “When the Empire reappears in its last and Satanic form, it will be an object of universal wonder, save to the redeemed........... “After the dissolution of the Em pire in 476, it,will next come up in a form hitherto unknown in history. The revived Empire shall consist of ten kingdoms with their respective chiefs. . . . “ Prophecy demands the existence of the beast and the ten kingdoms— the latter subservient to the for mer.” The late I. M. Haldeman, famous Baptist preacher and prophetic teacher of New York, in a sermon on “The Fall ing Stone,” said: “On account of the troubled and reactionary times, the ten kings will invite him to become dictator, world ruler. He will accept. He will take the title of the Prince of Rome. . . . Thus will Rome be revived under its tenfold form. Elected as the head of the ten kings, he will be a king of kings and lord of lords." George N. H. Peters, in that match less and exhaustive work on the sub ject, The Theocratic Kingdom, asserted: “The Roman Empire will be headless, i.e., cease to exist, but will be revived, and out of this revival springs the Anti christ.” Arno C. Gaebelein, commenting on Revelation 17:7-15, declared: “The Roman Empire . . . is to be again, a revival of which is here described.” Even the great Matthew Henry con fessed: “The ‘stone’ cut out without hands represented the kingdom of Jesus Christ, which should be set up in the world in the time of the Roman Empire.” (Bold face type mine.) [ Continued on Page 163]
/" T ^ H E WRITER is one of those who long have believed that the Roman 1 Empire will be revived, and that it will be the dominant political power when the Lord Jesus Christ returns to earth. He has believed that Mussolini may prove to be the man to be used in the restoration of that empire, and that he is a possibility for the throne of that empire in its final form. These views were voiced in a series of articles in the Sunday School Times last year, which series of articles was revised last December and published in book form under the title Light from Bible Proph ecy, by the Revell Company in New York City. No one was more aware than was the writer himself, of the danger in at tempting to interpret present-day events in the light of the prophetic Word, in a day when the nations are as shifting sand. When urged by Editor Charles G. Trumbull (who has recently been called to be with Christ) and by many other friends to place the Sunday School Times articles in a more permanent form, I expressed the fear that in an hour when nations are disappearing al most over night, in our human frailty some bad blunders in attempting to apply the Scriptures to certain men or events now on the world’n stage of action might show up on the pages of the proposed book, before the ink was dry. However, possible bunders in spe cific cases notwithstanding, believing that current events áre fitting into the prophecies as a hand fits into a glove, I consented and went to the task. Perils o f the Writer on Prophecy Just now I am paying a bit of penalty for my daring, especially since 1 pointed to Mussolini and his “resurrect ed Roman Empire” as possible fulfill ment of certain prophecies in Daniel and in Revelation. Even as I sat down to write this present article, a few letters came in the morning mail asking whether I still held to the views published last year; and if so, to “please explain” ! These two letters were only samples of many similar letters that have come to me recently—some of them kind, and some not so kind. In one of the letters re ceived this morning, a friend living in Minneapolis requests me to write an article on the subject: “Where Is the * Potior , First Brethren Church,
Roman Empire NOW?” (For some time, I have been contemplating doing that very thing, and since the Editor of THE KING’S BUSINESS also desires that I write along this line, once again I “rush in where angels fear to tread,” inasmuch as courageous little Greece seems to have a sharp bayonet pressing against nothing more than a colossal gas bag.) This Minneapolis brother is not un kind at all, but is in a quandry. He says: "Last spring and summer, you set forth very ably from a Scriptural standpoint, convincing evidence of the approaching end of this age. We saw in the trend of war events across the big water, and as you clearly pointed out, the revival, rise and re-forming of the fourth king dom—the Roman Empire. Now all is seemingly in reverse. The Roman bubble is ‘bust.’ The Greeks sent the proud boaster home with his head in a sack. That one sign has gone blank! Where are the ten little kingdoms that were stirring?” For the sake of many who are re vealing their perplexities even as does this brother, I face the problem: Is the revival of the Roman Empire a fanci ful theory found only in the minds of a certain school of interpreters, which, in the light of present events in southern Europe, has collapsed and must be dis carded ? Now there are a few facts that it will be well for us to recall at this junc ture in this history-making hour.
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Victory through the Victor By W. B. RILEY Minneapolis, Minnesota I T WOULD seem a providential thing that Christ was raised from the tomb at that season of the year minds of men a certain presage, as it were, of a future existence, and this takes the deepest root and is most discoverable in the greatest geniuses and most exalted souls. It is an inherent hope!”
“We preach Jesus and His resur rection. Christianity lives, moves, and has its being in eternity. The God in whom we believe is from everlasting to everlasting. The Saviour in whom we trust has con quered death, bringing life and im mortality to light, showing us that corruption must put on incorrup tion, and the grave become the cra dle of endless life. Everything in the Christian confession is keyed to immortality and eternal blessed ness.” t. The Temporality o f Death But the text has also another sug gestion: “I am he that liveth, and was dead.” Death, then, is an episode, not an end. The Bible is perfectly clear upon that subject. When Jesus gives us the par able of Dives and Lazarus, He clearly affirms the fact that death does not end life. It simply effects a change in the manner and condition of life. Life, then, is as independent as it is ageless. It is not shut up to the narrow limits of threescore years and ten. It is •not confined forever to the homely scenes of the farm or the vision of the streets. The man who feels that death ends everything is necessarily dependent, and by the same necessity, a cringing, cowardly man. His happiness depends upon what treasures he can lay up here, upon what friends he can make here, upon what works he can accomplish here, upon what pleasures he can enjoy here. Whatever he undertakes is cursed with a fear that he may not live to finish it. That is just the reason that so many men are what we call time servers. They conduct their business in keeping with the spirit of the times. But the man who believes in the life Jesus Christ leads at the right hand of God—the life that is for evermore—is
when nature Itself expresses, in every springing blade and every unfolding bud and every bursting song, the resurrec tion thought. May the Spirit lead us all to the right understanding of these words of the risen Christ: “Fear not; I am the first and the last: I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the. keys of hell and of death” {Rev. 1:17, 18). The Immortality o f Life Immortality has been one of the great themes of all the ages. There have been ho prophets, philosophers, or poets that have not discussed it. Christ, in our text, touches upon an inherent hope. One of our clearest thinkers has written: “The hope of the future life has i always nestled in the heart of the race, and found wings upon occa sion. When savages bury the weap ons and utensils with a . dead man in order that he may start with a full equipment, they believe that he is somewhere.” It is both significant and suggestive that this hope of the future life has been entertained alike by the ignorant and the enlightened, by the highly civi lized and the grossly heathenized. In all the great nations, and upon all the islands of the seas, wherever creeds have been formulated, and even where the cannibal never so much as dreamed he had a creed, this expectation of a fu ture existence has beep found playing a-certain part in restraining men from sin and inciting them to virtue; and yet, as one rises in the scale of civiliza tion, he does not lose this hope. Cicero wrote that to which we are even now compelled to assent: “There is, I know not how, in the
This thought was prominent also in Christ’s teaching. One needs only to run over a few of the most familiar passages of Scripture to realize the occasion for this claim. It was Jesus Christ who said: “What shall it profit a man, if he gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” (Mk^ 8:36). “If thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell” (Matt. 5:30). “Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?” (Matt. 6:25). “I aim come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly”, (John 10:10). It was the same Lord who said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” Of Him, John wrote, “In him was life; and the life was the light o f men.” One of the proofs that John was not mistaken' in his vision when he spoke of it as the “ revelation of Jesus Christ” is in the fact that the One who appeared unto him “like unto the Son of man” and laid His hand upon him began im mediately to speak of this great theme of which He had so often spoken in the days of His earthly life. The resurrection of Christ best re veals His doctrine. While he was on earth He had said, “I am the resurrec tion, and the life.” When He cried from heaven, “I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for ever more,” He was making good His mighty claims. Hie late Dr. Behrends said;
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the independent man. Paul was like that. He wrought, believing that, what he undertook time would carry on to its completion. When mem misunderstood him, mis represented him, and persecuted him, he did not turn aside to the business of correcting public opinion. In stead, he kept on with his work, knowing full well that the time to come would both justify his conduct and approve his gospel. When threatened with death, he answered, “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” He knew that, though his Master might permit him to change places, He would never permit the work which he had done in His name to fail or stand incomplete because the apostle’s life was cut short. Many of the fears that cripple us here and render us cowards would take their flight on Easter morning if only we laid hold on Christ’s doctrine of immortality. Why should the man who is going to live forever be-, mean himself for no other reward than a passing popu larity! when the everlasting ages stretch out before him? Why should he be anxious to publish his virtues and secure the praise of men, when those ages will un cover everything and bring to light every truth and make him to stand or fall according as he is really worthy or unworthy? Phillips BrookS once said: “What is there in scorn or criticism that dies the day it is bom, that can terrify, however it may pain, the man who is to live for evermore? He is free. He has entered into the glorious liberty of the Children of God.” Again, duty is never a question of a day. If we are going to live forever, it is always a question of eternity. I am not to ask, “What is the thing to be done under present circumstances?” I am to ask, “What is the thing to be done in the light of an un ending life?” Do you remember the story of Philip de Neri, a saint of the sixteenth century? A young Italian stu dent told him what progress he was making in the law school and how he expected to complete his course with honors. “And when you have finished the course, what shall you do?” questioned Philip. “Take my doctor’s degree,” answered the young man. “And then?” asked Philip. "And then I shall have a number of difficult cases; and by learning ,'1 eloquence, and acuteness, get a great reputation.” “And then ?” “Why, I shall be promoted to some high office and shall make money and grow rich.” “And then?” reiterated Philip. “Then I shall retire to comfortable wealth and dignity.” “And then?” persisted Philip. “And then? Then? Then, I shall die.” Here Philip raised his voice, “And what then?” The young man’s face flushed, his eyes dropped, and he went away. He had been planning only upon time. Gustavus Adolphus had a very different view of duty when he faced the foe on the sixth day of Novem ber, 1632. He was fighting not for personal glory nor yet for the privilege of sitting on a throne; he was
fighting for what he believed to be right, fighting for principles he reckoned worthy to live, and fighting with the.conviction that, whether he stood or fell, he.would see, either from the standpoint of the earth or else from his position at the right hand of God, that right had triumphed. When at last he did fall, and the murder ous soldiers swarming around him demanded his name and quality, he answered, “I am the King of Sweden, and I seal this day with my blood the liber ties and religion of the German nation.” . Did Gustavus. die? No! No! Did he fail in the discharge of duty? No! He is alive for evermore, and that great Protestant power, located to the north of Germany, holding in check the Catholicism that rolls up from the south, and also resisting the encroachments of Russia, is as much thp work of Gustavus today as it was his work to unsheathe the sword in the Thirty Years’ War. Our Victory Is by this Victorious One Christ has conquered death: “Behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of [ Continued on Page 132] Easter Hymn In the bonds of death He lay, Who for our offense, was slain; But the Lord is risen today, Christ has brought us life again. Wherefore let us all rejoice, Singing loud with cheerful voice: Hallelujah! Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, Came at last our foe to smite; All our sins away hath done, Done away Death’s power and right; Only the form of Death is left, Of his sting he is bereft: Hallelujah!
That was a wondrous war, I trow, When Life and Death together fought; But Life hath triumphed o’er his foe, Death is mocked and set at nought; ’Tis even as the Scripture saith, Christ through death hath conquered Death: Hallelujah! The rightful Paschal Lamb is He, On whom alone we all must live, Who to death upon the tree Himself in wondrohs love did give; Faith strikes His blood upon the door: Death sees, and dares not harm us more: Hallelujah!
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THE LILY'S SECRET By WILLIAM M. RUNYAN
If Christ who walked the seasons four Should walk the changeful world once more, Should walk with me on summer days Among the fields, on winding ways. What would the Master say to me? What kindly thoughts convey to me? "Behold the lilies,’' once He said— Like gleaming stars, their radiant red! And from those gleaming, cheering flowers Would He instruct these lives of ours. "Behold the liljes, how they grow!” Their secret He would have us know. They grow in quietness and peace, As day by day their stems increase. As night by night, kissed by the dew. They wait for daydawn and its blue. At last their blossoms burst and glow— "Behold the lilies, how they grow!” The lesson it is mine to learn: My heart toward Him in prayer to turn. My faith like roots to cleave the sod. My confidence to rest in God, In quietness and peace of mind— The lily’s secret thus to find.
This —Because Christ Lives!
By W . H. ROGERS* New York, N. Y.
T h e r e s u r r e c t io n of christ is the miracle of immortality by which He was raised from the .dead by the eternal Spirit, for the justification of the believer. It is the pivotal truth and foundation fact of Christianity. Upon this basic principle rest all the essential doctrines of the faith. *In the days of His flesh, the living Word, Christ, declared Himself to be the Master of life and death, the Lord of all creation, the sovereign Ruler of all worlds, the Revealer and Source of all life. In words of consolation and authority He said: “I am the resur rection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he Were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and be lieveth in me shall never die.” In that magnificent classic on the resurrection, the fifteenth chapter of 1 Corinthians, the Apostle Paul gives us a comprehensive definition of the •gospel which he had supernaturally re ceived by revelation, and declares .that it rests upon the three fundamental propositions: That “Christ died for our sins” ; 'Pastor, First Baptist Church,
assurance of the future life depends upon .God, and- the resurrection of Christ’ gives undeniable demonstration of His reality. 2. The resurrection gives positive ev idence of the deity of Christ. It is God’s ratification of Christ’s amazing claims, and provides the most com prehensive and convincing demonstra tion of His Godhead. It was the out standing sign on which the Son of God based His claims to deity. When the scribes and Pharisees, impressed by His authority in utterance and teach ing, demanded of Him a sign that He was what He claimed to be, the Sop of God, the Saviour answered, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up,” thus declaring that His bodily resurrection was to be sufficient proof of His deity. 3. The resurrection gives confirma tory proof of the person, presence, and power of the Holy Spirit. The fact of a risen Lord made possible the hap penings of Pentecost and secured for all believers the gift of the Spirit in His regenerating, saving, and sanctify ing ministry. Jesus Christ said: “It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will
That “he was buried” ; and That “he rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.” • The rest of the chapter is devoted to infallible proofs and unquestionable evidences of Christ’s resurrection and the glorious implications involved for the household of the faith. What the Resurrection Involves What does the resurrection of the living Word involve ? What are its deep and eternal implications ? It proves everything that needs to be proved. It implicates everything that is essential to Christianity. It forti fiés every fundamental doctrine of the Christian faith. It is the cornerstone and capstone of divine revelation. 1. The resurrection of the Son of God gives indisputable proof of God’s existence. God, and God only, can ac count for the raising of the body of Christ from the# tomb. No human or natural power could have lifted His body from the grave while the mouth of the sepulcher was sealed by a heavy stone and watched by a Roman guard. “God raised him from the dead,” is the explanation of the Scrip tures; and it is the only satisfactory explanation for thoughtful people. Our
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and find grace to help in time of need.” 1. The resurrection also gives posi tive assurance of Christ’s return in pow er and great glory to reign in triumph over the whole earth. Since He has risen and ascended in fulfillment of prophecy, He will descend in glory and return to restore- the paradise that was lost through the disobedience of man. The. empty tomb is the guarantee of the Golden Age, when the kingdoms of this world shall “become the kingdoms of our'Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever” (Rev. 11:15). The one is as certain as the other. 8 . The resurrection of Christ con firms, justifies, and warrants the uni versal belief of mankind in everlasting life. Just as men everywhere and always have believed in a supernatural source [ Continued on Page 165] “Jesus” whom he hated? What utter folly! Fourth, in giving directions to Ana nias, the Lord called Saul “a chosen ves sel” (v. 15). Would God speak of an unsaved man like this ? The context adds force to this point. Ananias, know ing well the reputation and character of Saul, could hardly believe anything good about him, and it was necessary for God to reassure Ananias by telling him that the once “evil” persecutor is now “a chosen vessel” to bear the Lord’s name before men. There is some ex cuse for Ananias’ skepticism about Saul’s conversion, but none for us to day with the New Testament in our hands. Fifth, in Paul’s story recorded in Acts 26:16, the. Lord Himself says to him, “Rise, and stand upon thy feet, for I have appeared unto thee . , . to make thee a minister and a witness.” If the Lord appeared on the way to Damascus to make Saul a minister, then he muqj have been converted at that time. God does not make ministers of unregenerated men. Sixth, the address of Ananias to Saul is proof that Ananias was convinced of his genuine conversion, for he said, “Brother Saul” (9:17). And we'may be sure that the testimony of this devout man is worth more than that of any modem theologian who has doubts about salvation through grace. Seventh, one hgs only to read the three inspired accounts of Saul’s con version in Acts 9, 22, and 26, with an unprejudiced mind to see that the mo ment that the great change came into his life was on the Damascus way rather than in the house of Judas.
not come unto you; but if 1 depart, I will send Kim unto you.” The resur rection of Christ 'constitutes the dy namic of the Spirit’s work in and for the believer. 4. The resurrection gives infallible proof of the authenticity, integrity, authority, and inspiration of the Scrip tures. It is the culminating act and crowning fulfillment of every predic tion made relative to the birth, career, character, and mission of the Son of God. As He walked along the Emmaus road, He chided two of His disciples who were slow to believe in His resur rection, by saying: “O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the proph ets have spoken: Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory ? . And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he ex pounded unto them in all the Scrip tures the things concerning himself” (Lk. 24:25-27). And during His visit to the affrighted disciples in Jerusalem He showed them His hands and His feet and reminded them that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Him. My faith ac cepts every miracle recorded in the written revelation of God, because I Joyfully accept the supreme miracle, the fulfillment of the many prophecies foretelling the rdising of the Son of God from death to immortal life. 5. The resurrection gives absolute assurance of God’s final approval of the cross and the atoning values of the Sav iour’s death. It is God’s “Amen” to Christ’s expiring cry: “It is finished." It is God’s seal upon the accomplished redemption of mankind. If Christ had not risen from the grave, His cross would have been a place of ignominious martyr dom, and He who died, a mere man. If He had not risen from the dead, He would not have atoned for sin, and the whole world would have been under con demnation to this hour. The resurrec tion is Christ’s victory over all His foes, and God’s vindication of His only begot ten Son. It throws the radiant flood lights of life and love over Calvary, and turns the gloom of the crucifixion into the beauty and joy of the Easter morn ing. The church was purchased by the blopd of the cross, but it was nurtured to maturity by the fact of the empty tomb. To deny the resurrection of Christ is to invalidate the ransoming power of the shed blood, and to deny the super natural existence of the church as a people called out for Himself. “He was delivered for our offenses, and was raised again for our justification” (Rom. 4:25). 6 . The resurrection gives profound significance and certainty to the priestly ministry of the glorified Son of God. If He still slept beneath the Syrian stars, we would be without a High Priest inter ceding for us. That would put us back
into OKI Testament conditions and would rob us of the substance of our faith and .give us only the shadow. When the aged Apostle John was on the Isle of Patmos, he saw the heavens opened and “one like unto the Son of man” in all the glpry and' majesty of His heavenly state. The apostle’s marvelous description of the risen and ascended Lord enhances the importance and values of the priestly work of Christ for us. It is the best commentary on the word of the Lord’s apostle: “ Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not a high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our' in firmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, When was Saul converted, on the Damascus way, at the coming of Ana nias, or at some time between these two events during his three days without sight? To some it may seem strange that a question of this kind should be raised. But it has been raised, par ticularly by those who preach legalistic schemes of salvation. They base their view on the text in Acts 22:16 where Ananias says, “Arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord.” Here, they argue, was the moment of Saul’s conversion, and water baptism w a s. one of the means of his regeneration. But 1st us go back to the original account of his experience, and examine the facts. There are several things which prove conclusively that Saul’s conversion took place at the moment he found that Jesus was the Lord, in Acts. 9:15. First, he .“trembling and astonished said, LORD” (v. 6 ). This is precisely the confession of a newborn soul (Rom. 10:9, 10). Second, he said, “What wilt thou have me to do ?” This is exactly the spirit of obedience found in every newborn soul, and utterly absent from the un converted. (Evpn though the question is omitted here in the best manuscripts and in the American Revision, It does occur in Paul’s own story recorded in Acts 22:10, which doubtless led some copyists to introduce it into the original account. Third, Saul did what the Lord told him to do (v. 8 ). This is the action of a' newborn soul. Can you imagine Saul the unregenerated Pharisee going meekly into Damascus at the command of the
When Was Saul Converted? By ÀLVA J. McCLAIN
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