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"UNVEILING TOMORROW' ' 0 This timely series of messages on world conditions in the light of the Word o f God began in the June issue of THE KING’S BUSINESS and will continue until the December issue. ^ DR. BAUMAN is one o f our foremost students of Bible prophecy, and an authority on the close relationship be tween the Scriptures and end time events. Your heart will be enriched and your spirit thrilled with the unfolding of the plan and purpose of God in today’s happenings. Subjects: "Does the Hydrogen Bomb Mean the End?" "The Death Rattle of Our Age" "The Russian Bear Prowls Forth to His Doom" "Israel Lives Again" "The Harlot Mounts the Beast" "The Nations Maneuvering for Armageddon" "The Impending World-State" 7 months— $1.00
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T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
THE H i h g Á BUSINESS Official Publication of The Bible Institute of Los Angeles, Incorporated
The Press and The Christian W o r ld Tracts for Japan This year millions of gospel tracts are to be produced and distributed in Japan at a minimum cost under a project just launched by the Ameri can Tract Society. The plan is to set up the printing equipment on Japa nese soil and turn out tracts under the supervision o f the American Tract Society which are then to be distributed by missionaries and na tive Christians. This Society has pub lished tracts in 188 different lan guages and dialects. Now Shelton College The National Bible Institute of New York City has recently amended its charter and under permission from the Board o f Regents o f the Univer sity o f the State o f New York is now authorized to confer college degrees. Its new name is Shelton College for Dr. and Mrs. Don 0 . Shelton, found ers. However, the fact that the In stitute has become a college will in no wise lessen its Bible emphasis or decrease its Bible-training program. New Press Services The long-awaited press service of the Evangelical Press Association will be available this fall. This will comprise a weekly news service, giv ing full coverage to the evangelical field, including photographs, feature articles, short stories and a cut serv ice. Dr. James DeForest Murch, edi tor and manager o f United. Evangeli cal Action, will launch and supervise this new service. Ten Millions in 1951 General Douglas MacArthur has requested the American Bible Soci ety to supply ten million volumes of the Scriptures in Japanese by the end o f 1951. This large task under taken by the Society is to be aided by the Bible Seal Campaign to be launched about the middle o f Janu ary. By this program the American Bible Society has increased its in dividual contributors from 20,000 to nearly 150,000. Japan is one o f twelve areas in the world in which there is an extraordinary demand for the Bi ble in the native language. Religious T V Station At the annual meeting o f the Board o f Directors o f the North western Schools in Minneapolis, ap- ( Continued on Page 18) A U G U S T , 1 9 5 0
William W . Orr, D.D. Associate Editor
Louis T. Talbot, D.D. Editor in Chief
Betty Bruechert Managing Editor
Copyright, 1950, The King’s Business No part of this magazine may be reproduced without permission. All Rights Reserved. Vol. 41 AUGUST 1950 No. 8 CONTENTS The Press and the Christian World......................................................... 3 Editorially Speaking.................................................................................... 4 From Eye Gate to Heart Gat e, Hazel Thomson .................................. 6 Dr. Talbot’s Question Box.......................................................................... 9 The Russian Bear Prowls Forth to His Doom, Louis S. Bauman. .. 10 Make It Meaningful! E. Margaret Clarkson .......................................... 13 The Time to Pray, Joseph T. Larson .................................................... 14 Biola Family Circle...................................................................................... 15 Young People May Know the Will o f God, William W. Orr ............. 16 Bible Quiz, Vernon HouxPrd. ................................................................... 18 Junior King’s Business: A Day in the Life o f Luisa, Betty C a se.. 19 The Bible in the News, William W. Orr ................................................ 20 Know Yourself, Marshall B. Shallis ......................................................... 21 Young People’s Topics, Walter L. Wilson ............................................ 24 Miscellanea..................................................................................................... 27 Sunday School Lessons, Homer A. Kent, Allison Arrowood ............. 28 Object Lesson, Elmer L. Wilder ............................................................. 33 Picture Credits: Cover, Mirror o f the Sierras, California, Silver Lake, Don Knight, San Francisco; pp. 11, 16, 19, Eva Luoma, Weirton, W. V a .; p. 21, Jenner by the Sea, Sonoma County, Calif., Don Knight, San Francisco. SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION— “The King's Business" is published monthly; $2.00, one year; $1.00, six months; 20 cents, single copy. Clubs of three 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. REMITTANCES—Payable in advance, should be made by bank draft, express, or post office money order payable to “The King’s Business." Date of expiration will show plainly on outside wrapper or cover of magazine. ADVERTISING!— For information, address the Advertising Manager, 558 South Hope Street, Los Angeles 17, California. MANUSCRIPTS— “The King’s Business” cannot aceept responsibility for loss or damage to manuscripts mailed to us for consideration. Entered as second-class matter November 7, 1938, at the Post Office at Los Angeles, Cali fornia, 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 538, P. L. and R., authorized October 1, 1918, and November 13, 1938. ADDRESS: The King’s Business, 558 So. Hope St., Los Angeles 17, California. Page Three
beautifully manifested and his genu ine love for the Catholics themselves was undeniably demonstrated. Perhaps Dr. Lehmann’s greatest ministry has been through the pages o f the magazine o f which he was editor, The Converted Catholic. For this task every month he compiled terse, succinct, timely information rel ative to the true character o f the Church o f Rome and evidence o f its utter unscripturalness. These issues comprise a most usable compendium o f invaluable data on this particular subject. In addition, Dr. Lehmann wrote a number o f outstanding books. It would seem to us that Dr. Leh mann’s work had just begun, but God makes no- mistakes and without a doubt from among Dr. Lehmann’s co workers there will be raised up one to whom God will give the opportunity of carrying on the much-needed ministry which our beloved brother has just laid down. Dr. Lehmann is survived by his wife, Margaret, and two sons, Theo dore and Frederick. An impressive memorial service was held at the Baptist Temple in Brooklyn on June 22, at which a great number o f his friends and admirers gathered in trib ute to his fruitful labors in His Lord’s service. Korean Danger As we write these words, the papers are filled with a description o f the current trouble in Korea and what the United Nations, particularly the United States o f America, are doing to forestall the Communist-inspired raid o f the Korean Reds. While the situation is grave indeed, and there is a strong likelihood that this is the fuse that will set off an other great world conflagration, at present it appears that Russia is merely sitting on the sidelines, watch ing to see how the Western powers react to this trial balloon. Christian people should not be un duly alarmed at these war threaten- ings which evidently will continue to appear with increasing frequency. Our Lord Himself is responsible for the statement found in Matthew 24 that one o f the outstanding characteristics o f this age will be “ wars and rumors o f war” and that “ kingdom shall rise against kingdom and nation against nation.” Thus it has been ever since the Lord’s return to glory and thus it will be until the time o f the Second Coming o f Christ. However, many Bible students are o f the opinion that there will be no T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
Dr. Leo H. Lehmann Another great servant o f God was called home June 19, 1950, in the passing o f Dr. Leo H. Lehmann, Di rector o f Christ’s Mission, 160 Fifth Ave., New York, N.Y., formerly a Catholic priest, and for ten years the editor o f The Converted Catholic. Dr. Lehmann was born in Ireland on December 6, 1895, where he re ceived preliminary training for the priesthood. In 1921, after four years o f study at the international seminary o f Di Propaganda Fide, in Rome, he was ordained in St. John Lateran. His first appointment took him to Cape town, South Africa, and in 1927 he was transferred to the United States. While in Africa, Dr. Lehmann was called to Rome to participate in nego tiations in connection with a case against the Jesuits. Here he acquired an insight into Catholic intrigue • which raised questions and doubts which later experiences were to in crease until he became thoroughly dis illusioned. In 1929 he resigned from the priesthood. Some time subse quently he was genuinely converted, and began to equip himself for the great ministry to which the Lord called him in 1940, when he became identified with Christ’s Mission and The Converted Catholic Magazine. It was a real privilege to have Dr. Lehmann as speaker in two of our Torrey Memorial Bible Conferences which are held in January o f each year in Los Angeles. Many people will never forget the meetings at which Dr. Lehmann spoke. Because o f the special interest in his subject, the great Church o f the Open Door audito rium was filled to capacity. Those who attended were treated to a most log ical, convincing, yet sympathetic ar gument for Protestants remaining Protestant. Dr. Lehmann made very clear the reasons why those in the Catholic Church are in need o f the true gospel. Dr. Lehmann dealt with the entire subject from a strictly Bib lical standpoint without resorting to sensationalism. Throughout his min istry, his kind, gentle spirit was
Meat Offered to Idols One o f the burning questions o f the day in which Paul’s letter to the Corinthians was written concerned the matter o f the Christian’s use of meat which had been offered in sacri fice to idols. Evidently it was a com mon custom, and perhaps a source of revenue for the temple treasury, to promote the sale o f such food to dev otees. More often than not it was superior to food ordinarily obtainable. The question o f the Christian Church was whether, in view o f the fact that the idol was nothing anyway and the meat thus offered was not thereby harmed, it was all right for a Chris tian to buy and eat such meat. The 8th chapter o f First Corinthians gives an account of this difficulty. The Apostle Paul indicated that it was not wrong to exercise the Christian liberty in purchasing and consuming such food. However, at the same time, Paul introduces one o f the greatest principles o f the Christian life. It is simply th is: While we have liberty in Christ, yet we must never use this liberty to mislead those who may be watching our lives. We must not abuse the freedom that we possess as sons of God to cause others to stumble. Paul concludes his treatment o f the matter of meat offered to idols with a most magnificent challenge, declaring that if meat made his brother to offend (even though Paul were a Christian and had all liberty in Christ), he would not eat any while the world stood. Now while today we are not troubled by this problem, the principle is the same. There may be some things we do in our Christian life which we feel are utterly within our liberty as God’s children. Yet if they are a cause of failure on the part o f others whom we influence, then this principle must be practiced in our lives. Because of our love for Christ, and our desire to put Him first in every thing we do,’ we will gladly give up the exercise o f these rights in order that others may not stumble because o f us.
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third World War with its possibility o f total destruction. The Scriptures seem to indicate no great holocaust with nations using the terrific weapons developed within the past few years. Rather, the Book o f Revelation seems to indicate that God Himself will pour out destruction upon the sons o f men who have been hateful and disobedient to His offers o f mercy and love. Do not misunderstand. It is not that mankind would not destroy itself, but rather that God will not allow it to be self-annihilated. The punishment which is to come will be from the hand o f God upon a disobedient world. So we may expect incidents like that o f the Korean war and others, perhaps even more dangerous, but in and through it all great world-encircling movements are shaping up, such as the division o f the nations o f the world into two camps, with the Roman Empire as head o f one, and the great Northern Confederacy headed by Rus sia constituting the other. These are aligning themselves for the last great world conflict which will take place on schedule as God has before declared. The message in this for us today is that blessed and bright one o f the Lord’s return for His church. Rapidly- moving events seem to indicate un questionably the nearness o f that great event. The church of Christ ought to be busy about her Master’s business, seeking to utilize every mo ment for the spread o f the gospel and the salvation o f never-dying souls. According to many Bible expositors, this may take place at any moment. Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus! Readers o f this magazine will re member that last fall Dr. Louis T. Talbot, President o f the Bible Insti tute of Los Ángeles, visited various mission fields o f the world where alumni of the Bible Institute and other missionaries are carrying on their work for the Lord. Upon his return, Dr. Talbot brought with him over 15,000 feet o f beautiful Kodachrome, motion pictures. Beginning with .the first o f Septem ber and continuing through October and November, Dr. Talbot will be speaking in the major cities o f Oregon and Washington, and showing these pictures. Everywhere they have been shown, there has been a real quicken ing o f the missionary pulse of the people and an acceptance of the chal lenge for missionary service by the young people present. Friends o f the Bible Institute are A U G U S T , 1 9 5 0 Dr. Louis T. Talbot in Oregon and Washington
asked to pray that the ministry o f Dr. Talbot may be even more widely used to bring about a widespread revival of missionary interest to the people o f the West Coast. Churches desiring bookings with Dr. Talbot or with Rev. George Wheatley, a member o f the Field-Extension Staff o f the Bible In stitute, who is also equipped with copies o f these films, are asked to write to the Extension Department of the Bible Institute, 558 South Hope Street, Los Angeles 17, California. The God of the Volcanoes One o f the most persistently-recur ring questions in the minds of many Christian people has to do with God's dealing with those who have never heard the name o f the Lord Jesus Christ. It seems entirely consistent to many that God should utterly condemn those who have repeatedly rejected the claims o f Christ, but it has oc casioned no end o f questioning that God should inexorably demand the eternal death o f those who have never heard of Christ. A true story here will serve as a good illustration: Two missionaries in Central Amer ica were making a journey to a village into which no gospel witness had ever gone before. The village was very in accessible, taking three weeks by muleback to reach it; it was located, too, on the slopes o f an extinct vol cano. As was the custom o f the mission aries, as soon as they began their meeting in the town square, they at tempted to tie in their message with a point o f local interest. So their first words were, “We come from the God who made the volcano, and we preach the message that the God o f the vol cano would have us preach.” A fter the message was given, there were two men who came up to the missionaries, their faces radiant, and made known to them their joy and delight over the missionaries’ coming. The native men remarked that they had been praying for the coming of the missionaries for two long years, and now their prayers had been an swered. This was puzzling, indeed, and they were asked how they had known about praying fo r the coming o f the true gospel message. The answer was sim ple. These two natives were in the habit o f praying in the local temple and one day, one said to the other, “ These are not our gods here. These are images we have made with our own hands. Let us pray to the true God. Let us pray to the God who
made the volcano, and let us ask Him to send us information about Him self.” This they did, for two years continuing to pray to the God who made the volcano, asking for light and wisdom concerning Himself. The result was that God heard the prayers o f these men who, although they knew not Christ, recognized the fact that there was a God in Heaven so powerful and so compassionate that He would send the truth about Him self to an earnest inquirer. Many feel that this story is re peated times without number the world over. Heathen lift their hearts to the God o f the volcano, or the God who made the sun, or the God who created the earth, and in answer to their sincere cry for more light, God sends the messenger with the gospel o f salvation in Christ. Of this one thing we are absolutely certain. Our God is a righteous God, not desiring that any should perish, and He will most surely deal in absolute justice with the entire world, including the heathen. Not Too Late It is not too late to plan to attend one o f the conferences sponsored by the Bible Institute o f Los Angeles this summer. Here is the pertinent in formation : August 5-9 —Pacific Palisades ( Gen eral— adults and young people). Near Santa Monica in Southern California. Meals and lodgings from $13.25, var ious accommodations available. Dr. Talbot will show his world pictures. August 13-20— Mt. Hermon (General — adults and children). Near Santa Cruz in Central Calif., meals and lodging from $20.00, various accom modations available. Speakers will be Drs. Talbot, McGee, and Feinberg. Dr. Talbot’s world pictures will be shown. August 13-20— Mt. Hermon (Young people). Held concurrently with above general, meals and lodging (dormi tory) $16.00, transportation available from Southern California. Pastors Wendt, Padgett, and McGee will be the speakers. August 20-27 ■— Covenant Beach (General—adults and young people). Midway between Seattle and Tacoma on the Sound, meals and lodging from $20.00, various types o f accommoda tions available. Dr. Talbot’s world pic tures will be shown. Write at once for further informa tion to : Dr. William W. Orr, Exten sion Department, The Bible Institute o f Los Angeles, 558 So. Hope Street, Los Angeles 17, California. (Continued on Page 18J Paae Five
FROM EYE CATE TO HEART CATE
The Amazing Story of Best Seller Publicity
accepted Christ as his Saviour and is now an ardent advocate of poster dis tribution. A Jewish woman’s attention was drawn to the picturesque signs on
By Hazel Thomson
T happened iti California. A young mother employed at a Hollywood race track was attracted to some small posters on the street cars and buses she rode back and forth to work. Each one she read dis turbed her. They seemed to say, “ Be not deceived.” She was earning three hundred dol lars a month at the race track, but the silent sermons o f those convicting posters kept telling her she should not be engaged in that type o f work. “ Those signs,” she later testified, “ were preparing me for the great Los Angeles revival. There I gave my heart to the Lord. Yet, strange to say, I did not find peace. I went back to the tent again and told the workers. “ Billy Graham pointed his finger at me, saying, ‘Girl, are you holding anything back from the Lord? Go home and fix it up.’ “ I did. That night I got peace.” The next day she told her boss that she was quitting. Later, without a job, but with a heart overflowing with heavenly joy, she exclaimed, “ It is wonderful! The Lord is taking care o f me, and now my twelve-year-old daughter has been converted too.” A girl from Shreveport, Louisiana, was also struck by those same com pelling signs on the Los Angeles streetcars. She mentioned it to a girl at work. Noticing her interest, her fellow-worker invited her to a church where she accepted the Lord. “ It was the posters that led me.” she claims, “ and now I’m preparing myself for missionary work in India.” Then there was Tony. The posters not only had eye appeal for this Los Angeles gangster and racketeer, but stimulated his curiosity as well. Noticing an address attached to the posters, he sent for a representative. “ What’s your racket?” he inquired bluntly. It took the Best Seller representa tive a year and a half to prove to Tony that his job was not a racket, but an honest-to-goodness desire to see Tony become a Christian. Tony Page Six
financial failures and the accompany ing anxiety had wrecked his health. One day while riding on a bus, his eyes focused on a winning Best Seller poster on which these startling words were printed: “ Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” The words plagued him. “ That’s what I’m doing now-—reap ing the years o f greed and miserli ness,” he mused. He sought spiritual help and soon accepted Jesus Christ as his Saviour. A Reader Writes An interesting letter from Comp ton, California, received by a repre sentative o f Best Seller, reveals that the posters have a twofold influence: first, eye appeal; second, heart con viction. Assuming that the address attached to the poster was the name of an ad vertiser, a reader addressed the fol lowing letter to Mr. Bert Seller, Pub licity, Los Angeles: Dear Sirs: In riding the No. 7 car on my way to work, I noticed your ad vertisement with these words: “ Jesus said, ‘But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his right eousness’ — Matt. 6:33.” As I am interested in God I wish to understand those words. How shall I seek the kingdom of God, and how will I find it? I have read these words in the Bible and now when I saw them with your name I feel that you must know how this can be done. Your reply will be greatly ap preciated for which I am enclos ing a self-addressed stamped en velope. Needless to state, this seeking heart was instructed in the way o f life! T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
Miss Josephine Peterson, Director of Best Seller Publicity. It was to her that God first gave the vision of the possibilities in publiciz ing the Word o f God. the streetcar. On one she read: “ For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.” That revealed an aspect o f Chris tianity quite different from hers. “ If that is true,” she reasoned, “ then Jesus Christ is someone to turn to rather than to spurn.” The next day she bought a Bible in a dime store and began to read it. An alert neighbor, learning of her interest, invited her to her church where a Hebrew Christian was speak ing. At that service the Jewess ac cepted God’s Son to whom the poster had pointed. A wealthy, but worried, business man in British Columbia had not slept without drugs for three months. He had lived all his life for making money and tenaciously clinging to all that he could accumulate. But a few
The Billboard Ministry Best Seller billboards are also now in existence everywhere, preaching their silent twenty-four hour sermons along the busy highways. The results are heartening. There’s the case o f the pastor in Iowa. While he was dealing with a young man who accepted Jesus Christ in his automobile, he discovered that the young convert had first been con victed o f his need o f salvation through a Best Seller billboard on the highway. Nor has Best Seller Publicity been limited to streetcar posters and high way billboards. Over a Chicago tavern and cigar store on Madison and San gamon streets, in the heart o f Skid Row, stands a Best Seller Neon sign with the words: “ The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.” The Posterettes One o f Best Seller’s most fruitful enterprises has been the posterettes, tiny replicas o f the streetcar posters. One business man made unusual use o f them. A telephone inquiry one morning sent him for information which he kept under the glass top o f his desk. Suddenly the idea flashed into his mind: “Why not keep Best Seller posterettes under my glass?” So there they went! Shortly after this, his secretary came to him with a troubled heart. The posterette on her employer’s desk caught her eye and she turned to Christ who invites the sorrowing. Three others were touched by this same display. During the Christmas holidays, gaily-dressed “Merry Christmas girls” stand at one o f the world’s busiest street corners (State and Madison, Chicago) and hand out, with happy smiles, these life-giving posterettes. Hospital trays also carry their cheery and comforting messages. In Hotel Rooms Two Christian hotel proprietors discovered the value o f this type of witnessing when they placed a Best Seller poster under their glass dresser tops. They report that since this was done there has been less drinking in the rooms. A Hebrew Christian in New York kept a.car poster displayed on a table in his room. Every month when his landlady came to collect his rent, she demanded that he take it down. “ I pay rent for this room,” he promptly informed her, “ and I can keep what I choose in it.” Then he A U G U S T , 1 9 5 0
A Best Seller billboard at a busy intersection in Los Angeles, California
topped it off by witnessing to her. Scoffing, she left. But one day, in spite o f herself, a certain poster at tracted her, and she asked her roomer for further details. As a result, she and her entire family were saved. Origin and Organization Just what is Best Seller Publicity? How did it begin? Who is behind it? How does it function? It all began twelve years ago when Jo Peterson, a business girl, riding a Chicago “ L,” aimlessly read the car “ ads.” It seemed to her that every thing was clamoring for attention from chewing gum to cures for ar thritis. Suddenly she thought: “Why not advertise God’s Word, the World’s Best Seller?” “ The modern man is eye-minded,” states an advertising magazine. Miss Peterson was experienced in the ad vertising field and realized its mam moth possibilities. “Why not capitalize on it for God ?” she asked herself. The idea stuck with her day and night. She couldn’t shrug it off. Some thing had to be done about it. The more she prayed about it, the more it tantalized her. She must find someone to meet this need. But who? No one seemed to feel the burden o f it like herself. The struggle was terrific, but finally realizing that it was God’s personal call to her, Miss Peterson left a lucrative position and stepped out in faith in God.
With Mrs. Philip D. Armour, Chris tian wife o f the famous meat packer, and a few others, a meeting was ar ranged. On that day in December, 1937, Best Seller Publicity was born, in faith and prayer. Today thousands o f colorful post ers, designed by well-known Christian artists, and imprinted with Scripture texts, are distributed each month from New York to California, in 37 coun tries, in 10 languages. Who carries on this mammoth task? Is there a corps o f well-paid workers at the home base, assisting Miss Pe terson? Alas, no. With only one full time assistant in the office receiving a missionary’s salary, Miss Peterson herself directs this impressive organi zation, together with 450 volunteer and two part-time workers. Alfred Dickson, a Los Angeles laun dry owner, is one o f these zealous volunteers. Chairman o f the Los An geles committee, he has had numerous thrilling experiences in leading people to Christ through the distribution of posters. Because 75% o f southern Califor nia’s population never enter a church, it is a most effective way to get the Word o f God to thousands o f lost souls as they ride on buses and cars. Interested friends in various capaci ties joyfully do their part. Every month a doctor’s wife in a small Il linois town places posters in the fol lowing places: two city buses, a Page Seven
has two posters on its door. Attached to a gate in a Japanese home are two posters. Japanese women stop daily to read them. “ Send us more posters!” they all cry. Another missionary pleads: “We want all the posters you can spare. They are a great help in my work among University students in Tokyo.” Students have placed the posters in the colleges, railroad stations and store windows. Best Seller posters quadruple the work o f the missionary. Miss Eleanor Fairchild, graduate of the Bible Institute of Los Angeles, and missionary in Italy, wrote shortly before her recent death: “ There are 292 streetcars, 55 buses, and 32 elec tric buses in Naples where it is pos sible to place cards.” Miss Fairchild had caught the vi sion o f the tremendous help Best Sell er posters can be to the missionary, but Miss Fairchild, in God’s great wis dom, has been released from her earth ly task. Who has caught her vision? Who follows in her train? Ways and Means Best Seller depends entirely upon God and His people for its support. There are donors such as the 83-year- old Denver resident with only an old- age pension; the Iowa newspaper boy who wrote, “ I filled my bank with pennies I got on my route. Here’s a dollar” ; the Kentucky pastor whose salary is less than $40 per month who sent $5.00. One lady gave a diabetic neighbor insulin shots, saved the money she was paid, and sent it to Best Seller. Another sent a thanks giving offering for a successful oper ation. With such sacrificial gifts the Lord is well pleased and through them the work continues to bless needy hearts. Even more valuable are the constant prayers o f the faithful prayer partners o f the work. It is a great consolation to realize that on that streetcar involved in such a tragic accident recently there was a Best Seller poster! Thirty-two per sons were killed, and who knows how many in the last terrifying moments o f their lives lifted their eyes to the Word o f God, believed it, and found the Saviour of sinners. Years ago Martin Luther said, “ The Word o f God is like a tiger; turn it loose!” That, by the grace o f God, is just what Best Seller Publicity is doing. T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
Thanks to Best Seller Publicity, John 3:16 is prominently displayed to multi tudes on a transportation bus. Thousands o f similar colorful car posters, designed by well-knoum Christian artists, and imprinted with Scripture texts, are distributed each month from New York to California, in 37 countries, in 10 languages.
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same everywhere: “ Give us more posters!” Don Hillis, Best Seller extension worker in India, writes: “ People have eagerly accepted the posters sent to India, even putting them outside the walls o f their homes so that passersby might see them.” Right now 100,000 posters are ur gently needed in India and Japan. A barber shop in Tokyo keeps Best Seller posters on display. The Chris tian owner opens his shop for two Gospel meetings a week. A leper church in Central Japan
church, two hospitals, a doctor’s o f fice, two schools, a bus depot, two railroad statiohs, a round house, a beauty shop, and a grocery store. A fruit owner in Indiana arranges posters in a variety o f places, among which are two factories. Two posters hang above the time clock and on the wall o f the personnel office! To the “ Uttermost Parts” In their headquarters composed o f two small rooms at 189 W. Madison Street, Chicago, Best Seller receives calls from all over the world.- It is the Page Eight
Were the six clays o f creation solar days of twenty-four hours each, or were they longer periods o f time? I believe they were solar days of twenty-four hours each. However, there are those who think that Second Peter 3:8 implies that they may have been longer periods o f time: “ One day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.” The insurmountable difficulty in believing that the Genesis days were ages is that the Word says that each day of the “ days” o f creation was di vided into two parts: The light was called “ day,” and the darkness was called “ night.” If the night had con sisted o f thousands of years, all vege tation would have died. All vegetable life must have light in order to sur vive. The motive of certain critics in es timating these six days of creation as longer periods of time is to seek to apply the theory of evolution to the creation story. Certainly the God o f all creation is able to do all things; and He could assuredly create all things in six solar days, or less time than that if He so chose to do it. And our God did not bring human life into the world by such a process as organic evolution. To accept such a theory, is to deny the infallible Word o f God. Please explain these words in Matthew tU'-SU: “ This generation shall not pass, till all these things he fulfilled.” The Greek word used for “ gen eration” means “ race, kind, family, stock, breed.” Matthew 24 and 25 refer to the end o f the age, and this verse must not be taken out of its context. I am a member of a Protestant church, but my intellect will not permit me to accept the miracles recorded in the Bible. Why do you insist upon a belief in such doctrines as the Virgin Birth of Christ and His bodily resurrection as essential to salvation? 1 think I am about as good as most Christians who profess to be lieve these things. Let me seek to answer your question by two passages of Scripture; there are many other passages which might be used. In the first place, “ the natural man [the unsaved man] receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned [that is, by the power of the Holy Spirit].” (See 1 Cor. 2:14; com pare 1 Cor. 1:17-2:16. In this entire passage we find a contrast between man’s wisdom and the wisdom which cometh from above.) My friend, the Christian faith is based upon the super- AUSUST , 1950
Dr. L. T. Talbot <
shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days.” Here we find thirty days added to the 1260 of the tribulation peri od. During those extra 30 days, certain events will take place after the return of Christ to the earth, such as the judg ment of the living nations, and the bind ing of Satan. The third period is in verse 12: “ Blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days” (1335). Here*is a still longer period, concerning which God says, “ Blessed is he that . . . cometh” thereunto. Why? Because he will then be in the millennium, with all tribulation past. How did we get our Old Testament? Who compiled it? The Bible does not tell us, but tradi tion says that Ezra and a company of men known as The Great Synagogue, devout Jews, compiled the Old Testa ment. Moses, we know, wrote the first five books of the Bible, as the Holy Spirit inspired him. These books are often called “ The Law.” At the close of his life, Moses wrote, saying that God told him to place the book of the law “ by the side of the ark of the covenant” (not “ in the side of the ark of the covenant,” as we read in the Authorized Version). (Read Deut. 31:24-26, R. V.) The ten commandments were kept in the ark; but the scrolls of parchment, or vellum, upon which the books of the Bible were written, were kept in the Holy of Holies “by the side of the ark of the covenant.” Later on, during the apostasy of Israel, the long-hidden Scriptures were discover ed in God’s House, opened, and read to the people. As, one by one, the inspired books were written, they were put with the books of Moses. Then it was that Ezra and his company of devout Jews compiled the whole Old Testament. Assuredly God overruled the work, and guided as to arrangement in the divine order. And certainly Christ ac knowledged it to be the inspired Word of God. Page Nine
natural, from beginning to end, and makes no attempt to satisfy man’s in tellect; rather it satisfies the heart. There is no place for rationalism. “ The preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.” In the second place, let me exhort you, in the words of the Lord Jesus, “Ye must be born again . . . Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3, 7). Read all of the third chapter of John, in which Christ told Nicodemus that the sinner must let the Holy Spirit of God regenerate the heart, giving him new life in Christ, be fore he can be saved—much less grasp spiritual truth! Do not make a god of your intellect, my unsaved friend. Go to Calvary’s cross, and “behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). One other word; we are not saved by our own goodness. “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renew ing of the Holy Ghost” (Titus 3:5). Good works should follow salvation; but they can never be the means of salva tion. “All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Rom. 2:23). Let no man trust in his own self-righteous ness to make him fit for the presence of a holy God; for all our righteous nesses are as filthy rags in His sight. (See Isa. 64:6.) What is meant by the “thousand three hundred and five and thirty days ” of Daniel 12:12? There are three time periods in Daniel 12: The first is in verse 7, where the length of the tribulation period is given: “ a time [one year], times [two years], and a half [one-half year].” this repre sents three and one-half years, and is the length of the tribulation period, equivalent to 1260 days. The second period is in verse 11 : “And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomina tion that maketh desolate set up, there
THIRD IN A SERIES OF PROPHETIC MESSAGES
By Louis S. Bauman, D.D.
I T is more than ten years since I wrote an article for The Sunday School Times (Dec. 30, 1939), on Ezekiel’s prophecy concerning “ Gog” (Ezek. 38 and 39), in which I made the statement: “ The Russian Empire is the subject of this prophecy.” An assistant professor o f Old Testament at Westminster Theological Seminary was given the entire front page and three additional pages o f The Presby terian Guardian (Feb. 25, 1940) to show that I was in error. I here wish to quote only three lines from this article: “ If, when Rosh [R. V.] is taken as* a proper name, with what country is it to be identified? We con fess that we do not know.” Enough said! Now it is written: “ All scripture is given by inspiration o f God, and is profitable” {2 Tim. 3 :16 ). But of what possible profit can a Scripture be, if the subject with which it deals cannot be identified? If “ Gog” cannot be identified, o f what profit is Eze kiel’s prophecy? Verily, “ If the trum pet give an uncertain sound who shall prepare himself to the battle ? So likewise ye, except ye utter by the tongue words easy to be understood, how shall it be known what is spoken ? for ye shall speak into the air” (1 Cor. 1 4 :8 ,9 ). I cannot agree that the eternal God would “ speak into the air” ! I still affirm that “ the Russian Empire is the subject o f this prophecy” ; and, I am surer o f it today than I was ten years ago. A great, dense, inky-black thundercloud, streaked with forked lightning, ill-omened, lowering, threat ening a deluge o f blood, moving over the whole world with startling sud denness— that is Russia! Only a few years ago, Russia was regarded as an ignorant half-civil ized horde o f Asiatic barbarians— bellicose, but uncultivated in the art of war; an overgrown giant whose vast girth was his principal weak ness ; a great ice-bound, isolated coun try that nobody seemed to fear. It was the tread o f French legions marching to the Marseillaise; it was the growl o f the British lion; it was Pag« Ten
. . . The reference to Meshech and Tubal (Moscow and Tobolsk) is a clear mark of identification.” Rus sia’s old capital, Muskava, (that is, Moscow), gave Russia the name Mus- kovy, which it bore until recent cen turies,- and by which it is still known throughout the East. The people known to the Greeks and Romans as Moschians or Moschi, dwelt in the Moschi mountains in the Caucasus, and practically all authorities identify Moschi with Meshech; and, that Me shech is none other than Moscow. “ Tubal” seems less sure, but the best authorities believe it to be none other than Tobolsk, the stategic cen ter o f Asiatic Russia. But, there are other marks o f iden tification. “ Gog” is revealed as a bitter enemy of God, whose war is against all that is called “ God.” Jehovah cries: “ I am against thee, 0 Gog, prince o f Rosh, Meshech and Tubal.” And the Rus sian chief princes do not hesitate to tell the world that they are dead set against all that is called God. “ Re ligion”— all religion— “ is the opiate o f the people.” Such was the slogan of Karl Marx. Such was the slogan of Lenin. Such is the slogan o f Joseph Stalin. Other nations have all had their gods. Russia is the only great nation in history that officially sets herself against all gods. Recently, Prof. Vladimir Isovski, an expert on Soviet law, who is asso ciated with the Library o f Congress and Georgetown University, at a trial in the Federal Court o f Justice Dick inson Letts, quoted numerous statutes and decrees showing that in Russia anyone who teaches religion to per sons less than 18 years o f age, may be banished, or sentenced to imprison ment in labor concentration camps, for five years. He showed how all churches have been deprived o f the material means o f existence. He con cluded his testimony by expressing as his conviction that “ the whole Soviet legal system has been devised with the aim o f eradicating the idea of God from the human mind.” This T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
the goose-stepping o f the steel-pano plied German hordes, that struck ter ror into the hearts o f men—pot Rus sia! However, it was back there in 1909 that a group o f Bible-believing schol ars dared to go along with old Eze kiel, and put on permanent record in their notes in the Scofield Bible their belief that the mighty “ Gog” of the end-time, who would some day emerge from the “ north parts” and, would “ ascend and come like a storm . . . like a cloud to cover the land”— that this mighty “ chief prince of Meshech and Tubal” would be none other than Russia. (See Scofield Bible, Page 883). How recent years have proven them to be absolutely right! But let us now bring forth our reasons for believing that Ezekiel’s “ Gog” is none other than Russia. (Our Bible quotations will be from the American Revised Version, and from Ezekiel, chapters 38 and 39). Note that the prophecy has to do with “ Gog, o f the land o f Magog, the prince (marg., chief prince ) of Rosh, Mesheck, and Tubal” (3 8 :2 ). Up to the end o f the 15th Century, the Russian rulers called themselves veliki kniaz — that is, grand prince. Then came the title, Tsar. Now, that title has been permanently discarded. In these two chapters, three times “ Gog” is called “ prince,” but never a “ king.” The word used means one raised up, i.e., one exalted by the people, and not necessarily a hereditary chief. The name “ Russia” dates back to the 17th Century. It was formed from the ancient name “ Rus.” The Bible used by our Lord, the Septuagint, like our own Revised Version, uses the name “ Rosh.” Nearly ' all lexicographers, with most expositors, affirm that the “ Rosh” o f our Lord’s Bible is none other than modern Russia. The learned German Protestant Hebraist, Gesenius, whose Hebrew Lexicon has never been equaled, says that “ Rosh” was “ undoubtedly the Russians.” The Scofield Bible, in a footnote on “ Gog” says: “ That the primary refer ence is to the northern (European) powers, headed up by Russia, all agree
explains the present persecutions of churchmen in Soviet-controlled states in central Europe. In a decree issued by the Soviet Government on May 1, 1932, it was declared that “ the very conception o f God will be banished from the boundaries o f the Soviet Union.” Not one official word has been spoken since by the Soviet Union that would lead us to believe that the Soviets have altered that determina tion. Thus the war between God and Gog foretold by Ezekiel, is on! It was not on before the Russian Revo lution o f 1917.' “ Gog” officially stands to profane all that is called God. The profanities o f the Soviet government, have been too horrible to put into print. We shall not attempt to describe them here. But it is to be noted that the Jehovah o f Israel says in connection with the judgment to fall upon “ Gog” : “ Neither will I suffer my holy name to be profaned any more” (39: 7 ). Where dwells that great atheistic “ prince o f Rosh” ? It is written: “ Thou shalt come from thy place out o f the uttermost parts of the north” (38 :15 ). See also, 39:2. Now, go study your map, and see the location o f Russia. There she lies, sprawling around the North Pole, all the way' irom the Baltic Sea to the Bering Strait, her flag floating over one- sixth o f the land surface o f the earth. No nation is farther north. Russia and only Russia dwells in the “place” o f “ Gog.” When “ Gog” begins his fatal march “ out o f the uttermost parts o f the north,” there will be “ many peoples” (38:15) with him. And, more than twenty-five centuries ago, the prophet o f God did not hesitate to name the allied hosts o f “ the prince” -—-even “ Persia, Cush, Put, Gomer, Togar- mah” (3 8 :5 ,6 )—every last one of them allied with Communistic Russia today. All o f them are located in west- central Asia, except Gomer. Now, the German people are the descendants of Gomer. More than ten years ago, when I wrote my book, Russian Events in the Light o f Bible Prophecy, and went into detail to show that Stalin, and not Hitler, would be the winner o f the war, and that the “ Gomer” of Ezekiel was none other than Ger many, my critics were legion. Re member I wrote when Hitler seemed to be headed toward world dominion. Well, who is in Berlin today? A clear interpretation o f Daniel’s great proph ecy o f the willful king, the Antichrist, in Daniel 11, would indicate that the A U G U S T , 1 9 5 0
Against the dark, threatening war clouds of the present day, “ We have . . . a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unzo a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts” (2 Pet. 1:19).
earth for all horses fit for battle, bought them, and sent them to Rus sia. Other nations may put their trust in gasoline for mobile purposes if they wish to do so. But the wily old northern bear scents the possibility o f bombs breaking up the oil fields of the earth to such an extent that the great gas-propelled war machines will be stalled in their tracks— “ out o f gas!” If that day comes, the na tion that has the horses will rule the earth — so reasons the Communist chieftains. Once again, when “ Gog” goes forth to war, what country will he invade? It will not be America. Practical men o f war know that an invasion o f America by the hosts described by Page Eleven
great foes o f the Antichrist, to be overthrown by him, will come “ out o f the east and out o f the north” ' (Dan. 11:44). Would the fulfillment of this prophecy involve the great masses of China and some other Asi atic states? I do not doubt it..Recent events in China have not been sur prising to me. Again, when “ the prince of Rosh” comes forth from his northern den with “ all his hordes,” they will come “ all o f them riding upon horses, a great company and a mighty army (38:15, Cf. 38 :4 ; Dan. 11:40). Who is it that owns a full one-half o f all the horseflesh on the face o f the earth today? Russia! The agents o f Stalin, before World War II, scoured the
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