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K I N © ‘5 « U S I N E S S
December, 1936
The Roman Decree (Lk. 2:1-5). What did Caesar know about a Jewish Messiah? Furthermore, what did he care? The Jews were his vassals. One day, Caesar issued a decree to enroll all the subjects of his em pire. This was not a mere taxing for money. It was a registration of names. Little did Caesar know that by that decree he was assisting in the fulfillment of a prophecy, yet the prophet Micah had fore told that the Messiah’s birthplace would be at Bethlehem in Judea (cf. Micah 5:2). The home of Mary and Joseph was in Nazareth in Galilee. When Caesar issued the decree for registration, it was necessary that Joseph and Mary proceed to Bethle hem, the ancestral home of David, for they both were of the house and lineage of David. Apart from Caesar’s decree, in the course of natural events, the birth of Christ would have occurred at Nazareth; but God through a king’s decree set a whole world in motion to assure a baby’s proper birth place. Did it make any difference where this Babe would be born? One of us today would find no great issues depending on our place of birth, but it was different in this case. The prophet had said that the Coming One should be born in Judah. Judah was one of the sons of Jacob, and one of the twelve tribes bore his name. O f Judah it was said by his father Jacob: “The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gath ering of the people be” (Gen. 49:10). The birth of Christ at Bethlehem was an indis pensable event in the outworking of that prophecy. God produced the setting for the great est event in human history, the coming of Christ. W e often bemoan our laws and decrees, but should we not realize that the next law or the next decree may set in motion the national and international con ditions which will usher in the coming of Christ? W e lament our national plight. W e are filled with fear because of the world’s distress, yet who knows but that these conditions may be the very ones which will result in the coming of the One whom we await? The Virgin (Lk. 2:6 ). Foretold centuries earlier (Isa. 7:14), the Virgin Mary was essential in G od’s fulfillment of His re demption. The world says, “ Oh, but she is just an incident. She is just a human link in the chain. She is merely an accident.” Mary was neither an incident nor an acci dent. She was the culmination of the most remarkable lineage in all history. The Place (Lk. 2:7 ). The Lord Jesus was a King, yet He was not born in a pal ace. He was God, yet He was not born in heavenly surroundings. He was born in a stable because He was the atoning, sacri ficial Lamb. Lambs are born in stables. Thus you see that the place was emblematic of the purpose of His coming. They called His Jesus because He would save His peo ple from their sins, and for four thousand years the symbol of salvation had been a lamb. These four thousand years of prom ise began to see fulfillment when Mary laid her Babe in the hay of a stable. Oh, I am glad Jesus was bom in a stable I If He had
not been the Lamb of God, I would still be in my sins. T he C hurch and the C oming S aviour W e are approaching another Christmas, The crowded inn of Bethlehem is behind us. W e had nothing to do with it. W e cannot change it. Our responsibility is in connection with the closed church. Are you helping to close the church in the face of its Master? What constitutes a closed church? A church is closed if the Lord is on the out side. John’s picture of Christ in Revelation is of a Lamp-Trimmer whose ministry is intimately connected with the shining of the seven golden candlesticks which represent the churches (Rev. 1:13 to 3:19). But in the Laodicean church, the church of the apostasy, Christ is no longer the supreme object of worship, nor the supreme author ity of faith, nor the supreme incentive of service, nor the supreme object of love. The Laodicean church is closed to Him. This church is no longer the salt of the earth nor the light of the world. It is no longer a saving institution, but is degenerated into a lukewarm religious society made tepid by its compromise and worldly entangle ments. And as was true of the crowded inn, the closed church entertains no con scious, vibrant expectation of the coming of her Lord. You who name the name of Jesus would regard it as unthinkable that you would have joined the innkeeper in turning away the soon-to-be-born Messiah. But what if at this Christmas season you should be found closing the door against the soon returning Christ? Your money may be doing it. Your spiritual indifference may be doing it. Your lack of love to Christ may be doing it. Let us this Christmas sea-J son put the possibility of such a thing far from us by throwing open our hearts for the saving, sanctifying, and satisfying presence of the blessed Son of God. BIOLA’ S PRAYER CIRCLE [Continued from page 461] together, they allow no hour to pass—day or night—in which the needs of Biola are not voiced before the Throne. W ill YOU join their number? Please use the accompany ing coupon. Explanation! Friends who desire mem- bership in Biola's W orld-W ide Prayer Circle are invited to select one hour in the week (day or evening) when they will pray for the Bible Institute of Los Angeles. W hen the hour has been chosen, and the Institute has been informed of this fact, a gold star will be placed on the official prayer chart, and a number will be assigned to the new member. All names will be kept in abso lute confidence. Remember, enlistment is “for the war” ; that is, prayer is to con tinue until the members are notified that a sum sufficient has been received to pay all operating expenses of the school year. Application: I hereby volunteer to pray one hour each week until the sum needed is received to carry on the work of Biola for the present school year. Nam e..................................................................................... Address............................................................................... A.M . Hour selected.....................................o'clock P-M. (Cross out one) E a ch ..................................................................................... (D ay of the week) BIOLA’S WORLD-WIDE PRAYER CIRCLE
Tell Me About Moody An International Centenary Tribute to the Foremost Evangelist of Modem Times D. L. MOODY BY W I L L H . H O U G H T O N President o f The Moody Bible Institute of Chicago AND 128 pages in easy reading type, pictorial covers, full-page illustrations, sewed binding, net 40c. BIBLE INSTITUTE COLPORTAGE ASS’N. 810 N . Wells St. Chicago, HI. sage and the program had an immediate effect in all the Euodia clubs. Many new girls were brought in to the next meetings, for Euodia girls, inspired by the rally, went out to seek them and bring them to the clubs. Several new groups have been formed since the rally, and there are now over sixty clubs with a weekly attendance of many hundreds of girls. Many girls thus are won to the Lord Jesus Christ each week through the study of the Word. Alumni News L. Martha Holloway, ’31, who has been serving at Biola as secretary in the office of the Superintendent of Women for two and a half years, left Los Angeles on Oc tober 12 to begin her new duties at the Presbyterian Hospital, 19th and Gilpin, Denver, Colo., where she will be engaged in a Christian ministry among the patients and nurses. Raymond (’33) and Mrs. Rogers (Del- mar Howard, ’33) sailed September 10 for Africa, where they w ill serve under the Unevangelized Tribes Mission, at Kikwit, sur Kwilu, Congo Beige, Africa. Elmer L. ( ’26) and Mrs. W ilder and their children left Los Angeles in October for Imperial, Calif., where Mr. W ilder has accepted the pastorate of the Community Church. In Los Angeles he was the pastor of the Trinity Congregational Church. Born T o E. Harlan ( ’26) and Mrs. Fischer, a son, Robert Hale, Sept. 10, Mineola, L. I., N. Y. T o Fred T . and Mrs. King (Gwendolyn Miller, ’28), a daughter, Florence Estelle, Aug. 22, Westminster, Calif. Married Ferd L. Johansen, ’35, and Helen Deeds, July 26, Los Angeles, Calif. Neil Chrisman, ’32, and Helen Dornhoe- fer, Sept. 4, Yuma, Ariz. THE CROWDED INN AND THE CLOSED CHURCH [Continued from page 467] should reassure our hearts in these uncer tain days, showing us that God’s plans can never be frustrated. What are some of these divine providences? CHARLES T . C O O K Editor of The Christian» London
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