VOL. VIII
MAY, 1917
No. 5
The King’s Business
“Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood.“—Rev. 1:5
Published once a month by the BIBLE INSTITUTE OF LOS ANGELES LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, U. S. A.
ONE D O L L A R A YEAR
ölltr ICttufa l t t a t e 0 js MOTTO : " / the Lord do keep it, I will water it every moment lest any hurt it, I will keep it night and day/*—Isa, 27:3, R. A. TORREY, D. DMEditor T. C. HORTON, J. H. HUNTER, WILLIAM EVANS, D .D ., Associate Editors A. M. ROW, Managing Editor Published by the BIBLE INSTITUTE OF LOS ANGELES, Inc. Los Angeles, California, U. S. A. Entered as Second-Class Matter November 17, 1910, at the postoffice at Los Angeles, Cal., under the Act of March 3, 1879. Copyright by R. A. Torrey, D. D., and Bible Institute of Los Angeles, tor the year 1916.
DIRECTORS
Lyman Stew art, president. William T horn, secretary. T. C. H orton, superintendent.
R. A . Torrey, vice-president Leon V. Shaw, treasurer.
William Evans.
H . A. Getz.
J. M. Irvine.
N athan Newby
J. O. Smith
DOCTRINAL STATEMENT We hold to the H istoric Faith of th e C hurch as expressed in th e Common C reed of Evangelical Christendom and The T rinity of th e Godhead. T h e Deity of th e Christ. icluding: T he Maintenance of Good Works.
The Second Com ing of Christ. T he Immortality of th e Spirit, The R esurrection of the Body. T he Life Everlasting of Believers. T he Endless Punishm ent of th e Im penitent. The Reality and Personality of Satan. THE WORK (7 ) Bible W omen. House-to-house visitation and neighborhood classes. (8 ) Oil Fields. A mission to men on the oil fields. (9 ) Books and T racts. Sale and dis tribution of selected books and tracts. (1 0 ) H arb o r W ork. For seam en a t Los Angeles harbor. (1 1 ) The Biola Club. Daily noon meetings for men in the down-town district, w ith free reading-room privi leges. (1 2 ) P rin t Shop. F o r printing T esta ments, books, tracts, etc. A complete establishment, profits going to free dis tribution of religious literature.
T he Personality of the Holy Ghost. T he S up ern atu ral and P lenary au tho rity of th e Holy Scriptures. T he Unity in D iversity of the C hurch, the Body and Bride of Christ. T he Substitutionary A tonem ent. T he Necessity of th e New Birth. co#tf accredited men and women, in the know ledge and use of the Bible. n y , (1 ) T h e Ingtitut * Departments: classes held daily except on Saturdays and Sundays. (2 ) Extension w ork. Classes and conferences held in neighboring cities and towns. (3 ) Evangelistic. Meetings conducted by o u r evangelists. (4 ) Spanish Mission. Meetings every night, (5 ) Shop W ork. R egular services in shops and factories. (6 ) Jew ish Evangelism. Personal w ork am ong th e Hebrews. SCOPE OF • T he Institute trains, free rXXYpOSQr .
THE KING’S BUSINESS 83 VOL. VIII. MAY, 1917 No. 5 TABLE OF CONTENTS Editorial : Magnifying Inconsistencies of Christians— P rac tical Appreciation— The Christian a Bond-Servant— “Love Suffereth Long, and Is K ind”— Kind W ords from a F a r Country— Real and Fictitious Surrender to God— A W orld League for Peace— The Next S tep— “T ry the Spirits W hether They A re of G o d ”— Our Civilization a D ead Failure— Is Jesus H a ted Today? — “God Is L ight” ..................................................................... 387 The New Birth. By Dr. R. A. To rrey .......................................... 393 The Gospel Lighthouse. By Oscar Z immerm an...................... 398 Equip a Soldier.... ................................................................................ 400 A New Definition of G od ...................................... .......................... 400 Glorification Through Death. By Rev. Francis L. Patton .... 401 The Navaho Indians. By J. W. Baldwin................................... 406 Puzzling Passages and P roblem s....................... ............................. 407 The W inning of Elijah David Samuel. By Miss E. H all........ 409 Hom iletical Helps. By William Evans........................... ............ 41 3 Evangelistic D epartm ent. By Bible Institute W orkers......... 419 Through the Bible with Dr. Evans.................................................. 429 The F ar Horizon..........................................'.............'.......................... 437 International Sunday School Lessons. By R. A. T o rrey and T. C. H o rton .......................... ......... ,.......................................... 441 Daily Devotional Studies in the New Testam ent for Indi vidual Meditation and Fam ily Worship. By R. A. To rrey .............. .................................... . j.................. . 459
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THE KING’S BUSINESS
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E D I T O R I A L Some people are; always talking about the inconsis tencies of Christians. They are always picking flaws in this Christian or that, and they are not content with pointing out the flaws of character that really exist, they magnify them. Why is this? Those who do it
Magnifying Inconsistencies of Christians.
do not know themselves oftentimes, but the real reason is because they hate' Jesus Christ, and therefore they desire to find flaws in those who profess to believe in Him. Show me a man or woman who is all the time finding fault with Christians and I will show you a man or woman who hates Jesus Christ.
A friend in Ohio shows his appreciation of T h e K ing ’ s B usiness in a very practical way. He writes: “Since I cannot find words' to express to you how much I appreciate T h e K ing ’ s B usiness , I thought I would
Practical Appreciation.
resort to some practical way of expressing myself, by sending a few subscrip tions for the magazine, which were easy to get.” Enclosed in the letter was a check for $5.00, with the addresses of five persons to whom to send the magazine, h Another friend in Michigan, who has written us in times past of his appreciation of the magazine, is sending subscriptions almost every week, sometimes six or seven in a single letter. If our friends find the magazine helpful, and it is not possible for them to secure subscriptions, we would be pleased to have them recommend it. »
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In 2 Timothy 2:24, Paul says : “The servant of the Lord must not strive.” The word here translated “servant” means a “bond-servant/’ or “slave,” i.e., a servant that his master owns and not merely hires.
The Christian a Bond-Servant.
We belong to another, not to ourselves? We are not our own, Christ is our owner. We ought never to lose-sight of this fact. My hands do not belong to me, they belong to Christ, to be used not for my work, but His. My feet are not mine to run where I wish, they are Christ’s feet to run where He wishes. 1My eyes are not mine to look at what I wish them to see,, but Christ’s, to look at what He wishes them to see. This fact settles the question as to whether a Christian ought to go to the movies or the theatre. Our eyes will not see there what Christ wishes us to see. My ears are not my own, to listen to what I wish to hear, they are Christ’s, to listen to what He would have me hear. My whole body is His property. So with our possessions, our money is not our own, a slave cannot own property. Our money is our Master’s, to be kept as a sacred trust for Him and used at His bidding.
THE KING’S BUSINESS These are good days for the Christian to bear in mind Paul’s opening words in his wonderful description of the everyday manifestations of love found in the 13th chapter of First Corinthians, “Love suffereth long,
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“Love Suffereth Long, and Is Kind.”
and is kind.” Love endures injury after injury, insult after insult, wrong after wrong,-slander after slander, and still keeps right on loving and forgiving and forgetting. It wastes itself in vainly trying to help the unworthy and ungrate ful, and still it loves on. And it “is kind,” it knows no harshness. If may be severe, even as Jesus Christ Himself was on occasion severe, but its necessary severity is shot through with gentleness and tenderness and pity. If there was ever a day in which love was needed, real love, divine love, as described in the Word of God, it is the day in which we live.
We are in receipt of the following letter from Hebron, Brynmawr, New South Wales: “I am so pleased with T he K ing ’ s B usiness . I may say it is quite an inspi ration to go- through the Sunday School lessons week
Kind Words from a Far Country. ,
by week, and I praise God for such a clear, simple and Scriptural definition of God’s Word. Also every article helps to establish one in the faith. In this month’s number I had a great blessing through the reading of that won derful New Years letter of William Romaine. I pray every one that reads it may catch the same wonderful glimpse of the wonderful efficacy and power of the Blood and Righteousness of Jesus Christ for them. I enclose the amount of a year’s subscription to have the magazine sent to a dear friend in a neigh boring town.”
There are many who think they wish to know and are willing to do God’s will and that it is God’s will that they are seeking to know, but what they are really seeking is to get God to say yes to their own plans and
Real and Fictitious Surrender to God.
to get God to endorse the plan that they themselves have already subconsciously formed. And they are not waiting, as they suppose they are, until God tells them what His will really is, they are waiting until God tells them to do the thing that they wish to do and in their subconscious self have made up their minds to do. So they think and think and think, and pray and pray and pray, until they think themselves into thinking that God tells them to do the thing that they themselves wished to do from the outset, and this thing that they wished to do from the outset may not be God’s plan at all. This is one of the most frequent causes of thinking we have the mind of God when we are only doing the thing that we wish to do. Men and women who go to God for guid ance in this way, that is without having absolutely put aside their own will and their own opinion, when they do think themselves into a place where they fancy that God has endorsed their plan, are the most positive in saying that “God tells me to do thus and so.” So then, if we would be guided of God, we must, make absolutely sure that we have put away our own will entirely and are utterly willing to, and desirous of; doing God’s will, whatever it may be. We must be sure that we are silent before God and truly listening for His voice, and not still listening to this desire that we have in the depths of our heart, that God shall tell us to do the thing that we wish to do.
THE KING’S BUSINESS 389 One cannot but sympathize with the dream of Presi- dent Wilson, and of other leading statesmen of this and other lands, of a league for peace among the nations of the earth, a peace to be maintained by an
A World League
for Peace.
army gathered from all the nations entering into the league. It is a fair and attractive- dream-, but it is only a dream. If the nations banded together for such a purpose, each nation in the league would be looking out simply for its own interests, and, when it served its purpose, would either use the league for its own selfish purpqses or withdraw from it. The Word of God tells us plainly that “even unto the end” of the present dispensation there “shall be-war” (Dan. 9:26), and no amount of skilful statesmanship, even though it be guided by the highest motives, will be able to change this predicted history of the world. But not only do we know this from Scripture, but everyone who knows the history of the past with its Holy Alliances, and who knows the rulers of the earth as they rule us today, can entertain for a moment the thought that any hope can be founded upon the humanitarian dreams of Mr. Wilson or any other great statesman. For the United States to go into such a league would not protect us from war, but only hasten the day when it would be involved in a world wide war. The vision is, as many have characterized it, “a noble vision,” but it is only a dream. The vision of a “world banded together to prevent war, or a universal and permanent reign of peace,” may make an appeal with great power to all lovers of their fellowmen and to all who have risen above petty international jealousies, but, however fondly one may hope that this vision become a reality, any one who knows men as they really are, and knows the future as it is clearly revealed in the Word of God, must know that these vis ions never will become a reality until the Lord Himself comes, the Prince of Peace, and then these international leagues will be unnecessary. they will take a single step. But God’s method is to show them a step at a time. Look at Peter in Acts 12. God led him a step at a time: First, the angel smote Peter on the side and awoke him, and told him to arise up quickly. This Peter did, and his chains fell off from his hands. Then the angel said unto him, “Gird thyself and bind on thy sandals,” “and he did so.” Then the angel said, “Cast thy garment about thee, and follow me,” and Peter did exactly as he was told. He was not even sure that he was awake, but he followed step by step even when he thought he might be asleep. They passed the first and second guard and Came to the iron gate that led into the city. Peter did not stop and ask as to whether the gate would be opened or not, but just followed up to the gate and when he got to the gate the gate opened of its own accord. Thus God led him step by step, and thus God leads us. The trouble with many of us is that we wish God to show us the whole path and are not willing to go a step at a time. The thing for us to do is to take the next step that God- shows us in answer to our prayer, and not wait until God shows us the whole way. If we will go as far as we see, the rest of the way will be shown us when we get there. All we need is God’s guidance for today, to see the next step. Follow on step by step as He leads you and the way will open as you go. God guides His children a step at a time. It is at this point that many miss their way. They seek to know the whole way that God would have them go before The Next Step.
THE KING’S BUSINESS Let us never forget that not all spiritual impressions are from the Holy Spirit. There are other spirits beside the Holy Spirit and we need to try the spirits whether they be of God (1 John 4:1). Some people are so anxious to be led of the Spirit that they are
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“Try the Spirits Whether They Are
of God.”
willing to be led by any spirit. So long as it is a spirit, that satisfies them. They thus plunge .into the errors of spiritualism, or of the tongues movement, or other forms of fanaticism. We do well to heed the yery solemn warning of God’s word and fry the spirits that speak to us, or seem to speak to us, and see whether jthey be of God, or whether they be of Satan. We should never forget that our most dangerous enemies are not flesh and blood, our fellowmen, but are “the principalities, the powers, the world rulers of this darkness, spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heaven lies” (Eph. 6:12). But while we recognize the existence and the activity in human history, and especially in our present-day history, of evil spirits, unseen forces of evil, we do not need to be in fear, for He that is with us and in us is wiser and mightier than they, and it is our privi lege, by putting on the whole armor of God, to be able to stand against all the wiles of the Devil (Eph. 6:11). And “to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.” of Manhattan and Brooklyn, “Our civilization, broadly considered, is a dead failure.” This statement differs widely from Dr. Parkhurst’s optimism about our civilization in times past. “There is no spot in the page of history, said Dr. Parkhurst, “so black as the blot that has just recently been dropped upon it. Our civilization is brilliant, but it is unholy. The fruits of our civilization, such as intelligence, discoveries, inventions of all kinds, have been the most effi cient contributions'to the brutalities of the last two years.” He went on still fur ther to say : “The current ebullition of the patriotic spirit is wonderful, and from one point of view is most encouraging, bu t, is purely thé outcome of our humanism. The world will continue to be a fighting world until it is a better world, and when it is a matter of fighting, the nation with the weakest mil itary equipment will be the victim of a disastrous liability. We think that Dr. Parkhurst is in the right. Indeed, he is waking up to the real character of our civilization and to the baselessness of the expecta tions of 'those who have been hoping that the Millennium would come by a process of evolution from our present civilization. Many have recognized the baselessness of these hopes for years; indeed, ever since they began to understand their Bibles and to understand unregenerate human nature as it is revealed in the Bible, and as it is revealed in history. It is true that the world will continue to be a fighting world until it is a better world and it will not be an essentially better world until the Lord Jesus comes and takes. the reins of government. . , - kt Someone will ask, has not the Gospel then been a failure. No, the Gospel is accomplishing exactly what it was intended of God to accomplish Rev. Dr. Chas. H. Parkhurst, the well-known preacher and reformer of New York City, js reported by the New York Times as having said at the annual meet ing of the Congregational Church Extension Society Our Civilization a Dead Failure.
THE KING’S BUSINESS 391 in this present dispensation, i.e., it has been gathering out of the world “ a people for HisL name” (Acts 15:14). If God had intended the Gospel to save thg world in the present dispensation, then the Gospel would have been a failure, but anyone who carefully studies his Bible will see that this was not God’s intention regarding the Gospel at all. When God, by tiie power of the Gospel of His grace, has completed His church by gathering out of the Gem tiles a people for His name, then God will go oil to the next step in His plan— that of dealing with the Jews again and saving the Jews as a nation, and then through the saved Jews, He will go on to completing the rest of His plan. Things do look dark and we do not wonder that Dr. Parkhurst is depressed, but there is no reason for depression. The darkest hour precedes the day and “black as the blot” is “that has just recently been dropped upon” our civiliza tion, it is but the harbinger of the coming dawn. It is when far-seeing men feel as Dr. Parkhurst feels at present, when men are “fainting for fear, and for expectation of'the things which are coming on the inhabited earth,!’ that we should lift up our heads, knowing that our redemption draweth nigh (Luke 21:26-28). We are glad that some of the shallow optimists are waking up to the fact as to how shallow and baseless their optimism is, but we do not like to see them becoming pessimists. Better far to become a true optimist, one who is an optimist because he knows human civilization will fail, but that, when it has failed, God will come in with His civilization, by sending His Son to take the reins of government and to rule in righteousness. that, incredible as it is, the Lord JeSus is hated as bitterly today as He was w-hen He was here upon earth. It is true that the hatred of Jesus Christ today is not generally as outspoken as when He was here on earth, but it is not less real. There are many ways in which men show their hatred of Jesus Christ. One of the commonest ways in which men show their hatred of Jesus Christ is by the delight they take iri the fall of any man who bears the name of Christ, or professes to be His disciple. How the newspapers delight in the story of the fall of a Christian man. When such a man falls the papers never forget to put into the account that he was a Sunday School superintendent, or an elder or a deacon. Indeed, they put it in sometimes when it is not true. And how the people delight to read it. Above all, if a minister of Christ goes astray, or is reported to have gone astray, how much the papers make of it. Why is this ? Because men hate Jesus Christ and the man who has fallen bears the name of Christ, and so they delight to see him go down and to see the name of Christ thus dragged in the mud. If an infidel goes wrong, there is very little made of the fact that he was an infidel. Indeed, little is said about his going wrong. But if a Christian minister goes wrong, column after column, day after day, appears in the paper about it. Strange, is it not? No, not strange at all, but simply a proof that this old world hates Jesus- Christ today as bitterly as it hated Him when it nailed Him to a cross. As*we read the history of the past it seems incredible that the men of Christ’s day should have hated Him so unanimously and1 so bitterly as they did, but when we consider certain facts of present-day life, we soon see Is Jesus Hated Today?
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THE KING’S BUSINESS
. ' R , . l C„ Clod Is Light.
These three words, found in 1 John 1:5, “God is . light,” contain one of the most marvelous revelations . regarding God’s character to be found in the. whole
Bible or any other literature. But the words, besides being such a marvelous revelation of tne holiness and love and wisdom of God, have a practical appli- cation to our everyday life. They throw a great light on the question of God’s guidance. It is because they forget that God is light many go astray when they are seeking to learn and do God’s will. They have impulses, they know not from what source; they have what appear like leadings, for example, to go to the foreign field, or to do some other thing, but they are not at all sure it is God s leading. Very likely it is not God’s leading; and yet they follow it for fear they may be disobeying God if they do not, or, perhaps, they do not follow it, and then get into condemnation through fearing that they have dis obeyed God. Many fall into the deepest gloom from this cause. They had an impression that they outfit to do a certain thing, they were not' at all clear the impression was from God, they did not do the thing, and then the devil has made them think that they had disobeyed God, and some even think they have committed the unpardonable sin because they did not obey this prompting (the origin of which they were not at all sure). If we would only bear in mind that , God is light and that therefore God’s guidance is clear guidance, we would be delivered from this snare of Satan. Provided our wills;are entirely sur- rendered to God, any leadings that are not absolutely clear are not from Him, as yet. We have a right in every case where we have any impression that we ought to do a certain thing, but where we are not absolutely sure it is the will of God, to go to God and say to Him, “Heavenly Father, I desire to do thy will; my will is absolutely surrendered to Thine, now if this is of Thee, make it clear as day, and I will do it,” and if our wills are absolutely surrendered to God, and we really realize our inability to decide for ourselves, and are ready to be led of Him, God will make it as clear as day if it is His will, and we have a right not to do it until He does make it clear, and we have a right to have an absolutely clear conscience in not doing it, until He. does make it clear. God is a Father and is more willing to make His will known to us than we are to make our will known to our children. Provided we really desire to know His will and desire to do His will at any cost, we have no right to be in mortal fear before God and to be in constant apprehension that we have not done His will. When we accepted Christ as our Saviour and surrendered our will's to God we did “not receive the spirit of bondage again unto fear” but the Spirit Who gives us a place as sons, whereby we cry, “Abba, Father,” in perfect childlike trust in Him (Rom. 18:15). We would not mislead our children in such a case. We would not leave our children in any doubt or uncertainty. We would make our will as clear as day, and so will God make His. And the wav that is not made clear as day is not God’s way.
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| HE subject of our study is The New Birth. The Doc trine of the New Birth is one of the most fundamen-
except they be born from above. In verse 7 our Lord says, “Marvel not that I said unto thee, ye must be born again (or, from above).” The emphasis is upon the “thee” and the “ye.” Nicodemus would not have been at all amazed or surprised if the Lord Jesus had taught that a Gentile needed to be born again; what surprised him was that the Lord should have said it to him, and that he, and other men of his class, must be born again. Our Lord’s words, when taken in their connection, set forth in the most' forcible manner possible that there is not one single man on earth who can see the kingdom of God except .he have a personal experience of the new birth. If any man could get to heaven without being born again Nicodemus was the man. He seemed to have pretty much everything that would entitle one to an entrance into the kingdom of God. He was a man of most scrupulous morality, he was a man of lofty aspirations, he was a man who longed to know the truth and was willing to make sacrifices in order to know it, he was a man who was endeavoring to live up to the truth as far as he did know it, he was a generous man, giving a tithe of all that he got as a starting point in his giving, and added to that generous free will offerings;
3~S^===g^ i] tal and vital doctrines of Christianity. If men are wrong here they are likely to be wrong everywhere, and if they are right and clear in regard to this doctrine, they are pretty sure to be right on every doctrine. We shall study the doc trine of the new birth as it is set forth in the third chapter of John, the 1st to 21st verses. In this chapter our Lord Jesus tells us first of the necessity of the new birth; second, the nature of the new birth; and third, the method of the new birth. I. T he Necessity of the New Birth. 1. The first thing that our Lord Jesus teaches us in the third chapter of John in regard to the Necessity of the New Birth iS that that necessity is UNIVER SAL. In the third verse He says, “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Literally translated, these words would read, “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except any one be born» again (or* from above), he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Not one single man or woman or child will be able to see the kingdom of God
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THE KING’S BUSINESS
he was an intensely religious man, a man who studied his Bible, and a man who' prayed, he was a man who carefully observed the ceremonials of the Jéwish religion (which was a divinely revealed religion. Ch. 4:22), he was an active worker, he was a teacher of the truth as far as he knew it, indeed he was “the teacher of Israel,” what more could a man need in order to fit him to see and enter the kingdom of God? And yet the Lord Jesus said to him, “You need to be born again.” If Nicodemus could not see nor enter the kingdom without the. experience of the new birth, certainly none of us can. The necessity of the new birth is absolutely universal, there are no exceptions. The teaching is very common today, that while certain classes of men and women, those that have gone into sin and whose charac ters have’ become corrupted, may need to be born again, people who are well born the first time, of pious parents, and who have a naturally amiable disposition, and who have been reared morally and relig iously from early childhood, do not need to be born again'. No man, woman or child shall see or enter the Kingdom of God without being born again. 2. The seventh verse teaches us that the Necessity .of the New Birth is not only universal, but that it is also IMPERA TIVE. Our Lord Jesus says to .Nicode mus, “You must be born again,” not merely you may be, but “you must be.” The new birth is not merely a matter of privilege, it is a matter of solemn and imperative neqessity, and I say to every one of you, who has not already been born again, “You must be born again.” 3. The third thing that Jesus teaches regarding the Necessity of the New Birth is that it is also ABSOLUTE. Nothing else will take the place of the new birth. (1) Reform will not take the place of the new birth. Many of the preachers of our day are preaching reform, they are telling men, and telling men very forcefully, that they must give up this sin and that sin in their lives. Well, reform is well enough
in its way, but mere reform will not save, no matter how thorough-going the reform may be. Men need something deeper and more radical than reform, they must be “born again.” The central teaching of one great preacher in this land was “Quit your meanness,” and he led thousands of peo ple in this country to quit their meanness in many forms, but qutting one’s mean ness is not enough, however, desirable it may be, asi far as it goes. 'W h at men need to be. told is “You must be born again." There must bq not mere reformation but regeneration. (2) Morality is not enough. Morality is an attractive thing, but it is an external thing. (Nicodemus had moral ity, but he needed something more, some thing deeper, something that underlies a true and abiding, morality. Our Lord said (Matt. 5:20), “I say unto you, that except your righteousness shall exceed the righ teousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no wise enter into the kingdom of heaven.” The Pharisees were moral, scrupulously moral, but their morality was superficial, it was not a morality of the heart.1 The only man who will enter into the, kingdom of heaven is the man whose morality is of that deep kind, affecting the will and the affections and the whole inner life, that results from the new birth. (3) Baptism will not take the place of the new birth. In the fifth verse we are told, “Except a man be born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” Even if we take the water in this passage to refer to the water of baptism still we find our Lord Saying that it is not enough to be born of water, but that we must be born “of water and the Spirit.” The birth from above, the birth by the power of the Holy Ghost, is necessary, even though one has been baptized by water in any form of baptism. In the eighth chapter of the Acts of the Apostles we read of Simon Magus who was baptized, and whatever the proper form of baptism mky be, he was certainly baptized by the proper form (for the work was done by a divinely appointed man) and yet further on
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place of the new birth. (7) Culture will not take the place of the new birth; even though it is ethical culture or religious cul ture. Everywhere through Christendom the churches are substituting culture, ethical culture, or religious culture, or intellectual culture, for the New Birth, but culture will not do, “you must be born again." Nico demus was one of the most cultured men among his people, he was “the teacher of Israel,” but he was lost, and the most cul tured people of America today, the most cultured men and women in any city or country, are lost men and women, unless they have been born again. (8) Prayer will not take the place of, the new birth. A man may spend hours a day in prayer and yet be a lost man. Cornelius was a man of prayer and a generous giver, so notable was he for prayer and almsgiving that his .prayers and alms went up for remembrance before God (Acts 10:4), but-he needed to be saved by being born again through faith in Jesus Christ, and the angel said to him to send to Joppa for a»man called Peter, who would speak unto him words whereby he should be saved. (Acts 11:13,14). Evi dently he was not saved as yet. The Neces sity of the New Birth is absolute, there is nothing else that will take its place. 4. Why is the new birth absolutely nec essary? Verse 6 tells us why the new birth is absolutely necessary, why nothing else will take its place. The reason is because “that which is born of the flesh, is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” In other words, all that we can get by our human parentage, no matter how godly or pious or moral or cultured our parentage may be, is that which is natural and not that which is spiritual, and the' kingdom of God is spiritual and in order to enter that kingdom we must be born of the Spirit. Human nature is rotten to the core. I I .. The N ature of the New Birth. In this chapter we have a very clear explanation of just what the nature of the new birth is. 1. First of all it is A RADICAL
in the record we hear Peter saying unto this same properly baptized Simon Magus, “Thou has neither part nor lot in this mat ter : for thy heart is not right before God . . . . For I see that thou art in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of ini quity .’1 The baptism of Siipon Magus was not enough, it was not the new birth, and he needed to be T o rn . again. (4) Reli gion will not take the place of the new birth. Religion is all right in its way, if it is true religion, but religion will not save. No amount of observation of the external ities of true religion, Bible reading, prayer, church going, observation of the ordi nances, will save. No man can see or enter the kingdom of heaven, no matter how re ligious he may be, except he be born again. Nicodemus was religious, extremely reli gious, but he was unsaved■' until he "was born again. (5) Generosity in giving will not take the place of the new birth. How many there are today who are really depending for their hope of heaven upon their generous giving, and how many there are who think of others who are generous givers that these men cannot be lost because they give so much for the poor and for God’s work, but even though one should give all his goods to feed the poor, and have not that love which comes from being born again, it would profit him nothing (1 Cor. 13:3). The Pharisees were gen erous givers, they Were careful to tithe absolutely everything they received, down to the mint and anise in their gardens, but they were unsaved and needed to be born again. (6) Conviction of sin will not take the place of the new birth. M.any think that they are saved because by the power of the Holy Spirit they have been brought under deep conviction of sin, but after they have spent days or weeks in agony over their sins they find that conviction is not conversion, much less is it the new birth, and though one should sob and wail over his sins for years or his whole life, he could not by that means enter the king dom of heaven. No amount of-sobbing and wailing and doing penance will take the
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TRANSFORMATION OF OUR IN MOST NATURE. This comes out in the very wording of what our Lord said, “Ye must be born again (or, anew, or, from above). It is not a mere outward change, but a birth, a new birth, elsewhere we are told it is “a new creation.” Paul says in 2 Cor. 5:17, “If any man is in Christ, he is a Nnew creature (or, there is a new crea tion)': The old things are passed away; behold they are become new.” Evidently the new birth is a radical transformation in the deepest depths of our being, the impartation of a new nature, a new intel lectual nature, a new emotional nature, a new volitional nature. That is to say, new thoughts, new ideas, new ambitions, new desires, new feelings, new emotions, a new will. It is an impartation of God’s own nature to us. As the Apostle Peter puts it in 2 Peter 1:4, “By these (that is by- the Word of God, by God’s exceeding great and precious promises)” we "become par takers of the Divine nature.’’ Wé are born into this world with a corrupt nature in every part of our mental and moral being. Our minds are blind to the truth of God (as Paul puts it, “The natural man receiv- eth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him; and he cannot know them, because they are spir itually discerned”—1 Cor. 2:14): our feel ings aré corrupt, ■we love the things that God hates ánd hate the things God loves; our will is perverse, our wills are set upon pleasing ourselves instead of upon pleasing God. Ih the new birth we get a hew mind, a mind that is open to the truth of God, that thinks the thoughts of God after Him ; we get new affections; we now love the things that God loves and hate the things that God hates; we get a new will, a will that is in harmony with the will of God, a will that is set upon pleasing God and not set upon pleasing self. 2. The new birth is also a birth from above . We learn this from verses 3 and 7, Jesus said, “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born from above he can not see the kingdom of God.” And again,
“Marvel not that'I said unto thee, Ye' must be born from above.” In our Authorized Version we find the Words “born again,” and in the Revised Version, “born anew," but a more exact translation is “born from above.” The new birth is a birth from above, it is a .Jieavenly birth, it is a birth from God, a direct work of God in the individual heart. III. T he Method of th e New Birth, or How Men A re Born Again. We now come to the directly practical question, how are men born again, and what must anyone do in order to be born again. This question is answered plainly in the chapter we are studying. 1. First of all we are born again by the H oly S pirit ’ s power . We read in verses 5 to 8, “Jesus answered. Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God, etc.” The new birth is the Holy Spirit’s work. The Holy Spirit is a living person today, who operates directly upon the spirits of men, quickening them; and by His transforming power working directly in our spirits we are regenerated. The Holy Spirit imparts a new nature to us. 2. T he new birth , while wrought by the power of the Holy Spirit is wrought through the instrumentality of the word of G od . This comes out in the fifth verse, “Except a man be born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the king dom of God.” There is reason to believe that the, water here means the water of the Word, but we will not go into that at this time. Whether that is taught here or not, it certainly is taught elsewhere in the Bible. For example, we read in 1 Peter 1:23, "Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, through the Word of God, which liveth and abideth.” And we read in Jas. 1:18, “By His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first fruits of His creatures.” The Spirit of God is the One who works the new 'birth, the Word of God is the instrument through which He
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does it. We preach the Word of God to men, God quickens it by the power of His Holy Spirit as we preach it, it takes root in the human heart, and the result is the new nature. If we wish to see others born again we should give them the Word of God in the power of the Holy Ghost, and the result will be that they will be born again. If we have not been born again ourselves, we should read and ponder the Word of God, and while we do so, look to the Holy Spirit to quicken it in our hearts, and the new birth will be the result. ■3. T he new birth is wrought by the H oly S pirit through H is word in us WHEN WE LOOK TO, OR BELIEVE IN , JESUS C hrist . This comes out in verses 14 and IS. Nicodemus had asked the Lord how these things could be and how one could be born when he is old, that is, how one could be born again. Verses 14 and IS contain the Lord’s answer to the question. He said, “And as Moses lifted up the ser pent in the wilderness, even so must -the Son of Man be lifted up; that whosoever betieveth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.” The Lord was refer ring to an incident in the wilderness when the murmuring Israelites were bitten by fiery serpents and were dying from the bite, and Moses cried to God for deliverance, and God commanded Moses to make a ser- ■ pent of brass (in appearance like the fiery serpent that had bitten them) and to put it on a pole and that it would come to pass that everyone that was bitten when he looked at the serpent on the pole would live (Num. 21:5-9). We all have been bit ten by the serpent of sin. His bite is death, eternal death, but the Lord Jesus Christ. has been “made in the likeness of sinful flesh” and “lifted up” on the cross of Calvary where He made a perfect atone
ment for sin, antf as soon as we look at Him on the cross and put our trust in Him as our sin-bearer, that moment we are born again. The same thought is found in the 16th verse, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotteh Son, that whosoever believeth on Him should not perish but have eternal life.” All any one has to do to be born again is, to look and live, to look at Jesus Christ, putting his confidence in Him, to look at Chirst cruci fied and put faith in Him as his atoning Saviour, and the moment we do thus put our faith in Him, that moment the Spirit of God, through His word, which presents Him to us as our atoning Saviour, imparts to us%God’s own nature and we are born again. The same thought is presented very clearly and very simply in the first chapter and the 12th and 13th verses, “As many as received Him (i. e., the Lord Jesus), to them gave He the right to become children of God, even to them that believe on His name: which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” All any one has Jo do then to be born again is to receive Jesus Christ, to receive Him as that which He offers Himself to be to u s : as our atoning Saviour, who bore all our sins in His own body on the cross; as our risen Saviour and deliverer from the power of sin; as our Teacher sent from God, who spoke the very words of. God; as our Lord and Mas ter, who has a right to, and to whom we surrender, the absolute control of our lives; and as our Divine Lord. If there is anyone who reads this article, who has never been born again, all you have to do to be born again is to thus receive Jesus this moment, and the moment you do so receive Him you will be born from above, born of God.
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"V.- W w P ' « W-tGVER iiOO.OO is needed evefy monthtj& V, the Ships touching at the hafborsociUM by the SEAMEN'S DEPARTMENT Of the BibleInstitute of LosAngeles 1 gfctes,Testaments,Moody books and tracts19p p p | ^vtoaguages arc distributed free among searnen p p -^nd passengers on vessels,carrying i 0 : • Gospel-to far distant !?-ads /■¡'l ' ilFTY CENTS SET. ASIDE IN THIS 8 AM ' M* MONTHLY will enable us tomeet thatneed. Be prayerful and proippt Jj | DO A L L \pVntoflite who l&ved us and,washed its from His own bUod’y -
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399
THE GOSPEL LIGHTHOUSE
By OSCAR ZIMMERMAN
T HE Bible Institute of Los Angeles desires to put a miniature Lighthouse, in the form of a savings bank, in homes, churches, Sunday Schools and in the hands of generous people, where deposits may be made to the credit of the Sailors’ Fund. The bank is here shown full size. It is neat, ornamental and novel, and will at once attract attention and invite contribu tions wherever placed. The appeal is made for a regular monthly contribution of 50 cents or more. Fifty cents will supply one or two Bibles, or five Moody Books (30 sermons by D. L- Moody, R. A. Torrey, and others) ; or 10 Chinese New Testaments; or 12 Eng lish New Testaments; or 12 Japanese New Testaments; or 25 English Gospels of John; or 200 or more clear Gospel tracts. One dollar will supply two lumber ves sels with three books each (15 to 18 ser mons), 12 Gospels and one tract for each of fifty men; or two large Japanese freight ers (90 men) with 90 Gospels and a few tracts; or twenty Chinese, or twenty-five Japanese New Testaments, fp$j passengers on their way to South America. As a lover of men, concerned for their spiritual welfare, you would be interested and gratified to hear the story of the light house work in Los Angeles and San Fran cisco Harbors, for which the Seamen’s Department of the Bible Institute of Los Angeles is responsible. With the blessing of God, we hope to extend it until every important port on the Coast is a center whence “The Light of the World” shall warn the sailor, and invite him from the perilous sea of sin to which he is aban doned, into the harbor and refuge of God’s peace. In our cosmopolitan ports every day is a Pentecost. “Men out of every nation
under heaven” (Acts 2:5) are Providen tially present to challenge obedience. The world to' which we are told to “go” is brought to our doors. Men from all parts of'the United States, from Alaska to the gulf; from Canada, Central and South America; from Sweden, Germany, Norway, Denmark, England, France," Spain, Portugal, Holland, Greece, Russia and Italy, are at our door and can be reached with the Gospel. A lighthouse and pamphlet will be sent postpaid to all persons who write the Bible Institute for them. Secure one for your self and interest others in your church or community in doing likewise. Speak to your Sunday sphool superintendent with a view of having the bank used for birth day gifts to the Seamen’s Fund; lay the plan before your Young People’s society, Missionary society, Bible class, men’s brotherhood, and other organizations. --------0-------- Mission W ork iq Seattle A N interesting note from H. J. Ranton ^^•reports the establishment of a success ful Rescue Mission and Sunday school in Seattle. He is full of thanksgiving to God and of joy in the work. Meetings are held on Wednesday and Sunday evenings. Eight apparently genuine conversions occurred during the first month. Street, meetings are held; the tough element has shown approving interest and been led' to listen to the good news. Brother Ranton has shown tactful discretion, and , several instances of successful interviews with souls, which were backed up by practical Christian philanthropy, testify to his devo tion and self-sacrificing spirit. Remember him and his work. His address is No. 2400 First Ave., Seattle, Wash.
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EQUIP A SOLDIER
A LMOST daily inquiries reach us from possible students, as to the “bread and butter problem” during a training course for service. We are compelled to reply that *the Institute has no fund for Cadets of the Kingdom. We need a fund for loans without inter est, to students who have no other means of support. Students cannot justly be held responsi ble for diligence in study and. training and, at the same time, for earning their expenses. They are liable to break down during the course, or so to prolong it as to be delayed in equipment for the field. Consider the following important finan cial facts: $6.00 will support a student for
a week; $25.00 will support a student for a month; $250.00 will support a student for a year; $500.00 will support a student through the entire course. If you will lend us the money, in the name of the Lord, for all or part of the course, we will lend it to promising candi dates who will return it, in due time, to perpetuate its beneficence in helping a suc cessor. And you may have the satisfaction of knowing that your money will get busy immediately, since every student, from the beginning is in active seryice in one or more departments of evangelism, as a part of his or her training. Pray about it and for it, and for the Institute. Make your check payable to the “Bible Institute of Los Angeles.”
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A NEW DEFINITION OF GOD
ten rules emanate from the Christian Sci ence headquarters. We have no doubt that these “Ten Rules” slipped into “The Young People” without careful scrutiny on the part of the editor of that department, for we are confident there would be no endorse ment of such a statement concerning Jeho vah. Our hearts are full of sorrow in view of the insidious false teaching that creeps into so many places through magazines and newspapers; and through teachers in our Sunday Schools and day schools and col leges, the effect of which is to undermine the faith of young people in the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ and the great doc trines of the Scriptures.
Cp HE “Young People,” published by the ■*- American Baptist Publication Society, in its issue of January 27, has a list of ten “Rules of Living for Girls.” Nine'of them are splendid rules of life for young people, or old people, but not one of them could be kept without the power of the new life which comes from the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, which is given to every one that believes in Jesus Christ as Saviour ahd Lord. The tenth rule, however, seems remarkable, coming from this source. It reads: “I will speak and act truthfully, and live with sincerity towards God and man, remembering always that there is but one -God, viz.: Truth, Love, Life, Good." This last statement suggests that these
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