VOL. VII
FEBRUARY, 1916
No. 2
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 INST ITUTE OF LOS ANGELES LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, U. S. A.
O N E D O L L A R A Y E A R
(TipÎKtwfô lu 0 tejS 0 MOTTO : “I the Lord do keep it, ÏÏ will water it every moment lest any hurt it, l will keep it night and day. —Isa. 27:3.
R. A . TORREY, D .D ., Editor T .C . HORTON, J. H. HUNTER, W ILLIAM EVANS, 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, ■m tor the year 1916.
DIRECTORS
Lyman Stewart, president. William Thorn, secretary. T. C. Horton, superintendent.
William Evans.
Leon V . Shaw, treasurer.
R. A . Torrey
E. A . K. Hackett. J. M. Irvine.
Giles Kellogg. H. A . Getz.
DOCTRINAL STATEMENT W e hold to the Historic Faith of the Church as expressed in the Common Creed of Evangelical Christendom and including: The Trinity of the Godhead. The Deity of the Christ.
The Maintenance of Good Works. The Second Coming of Christ. The Immortality of the Spirit. The Resurrection of ■the Body.' The Life Everlasting of Believers. The Endless Punishment of the Im penitent. The Reality and Personality of Satan. (7 ) Bible Women. House-to-house visitation and neighborhood classes. (8 ) Oil Fields. A mission to men on the oil fields. (9 ) Books and Tracts. Sale and dis tribution of selected books and tracts. ■ ( 10) Harbor Work. For seamen at Los Angeles harbor. (I ! ) Yokefellows’ Hall. Thoroughly manned. Our Mission for men with Street Meetings, and Bootblacks and Newsboys Sunday School. ( 12 ) Print Shop. For printing Testa ments, books, tracts, etc. A complete Establishment, profits going to free dis-
The Personality of the Holy Ghost. The Supernatural and Plenary au thority of the Holy Scriptures. The Unity in Diversity of the Church, the Body and Bride of Christ. The Substitutionary Atonement. The Necessity of the New Birth. P ,,m n e o - The Institute trains, free r a ///u o e . 0f cost, accredited men and women, in the knowledge and use of the Bible. . | , (1 ) The Institute Departments: classes held daily except on Saturdays and Sundays; (2 ) Extension work. Classes and conferences held in neighboring cities and towns. (3 ) Evangelistic. Meetings conducted by our evangelists. (4J Spanish Mission. Meetings every night. (5 ) Shop Work. Regular services in shops and factories. (6 ) Jewish Evangelism. Personal work among the Hebrews.
SCOPE OF THE WORK
THE KING’S BUSINESS Vol. VII. FEBRUARY, 1916 No. 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS Editorial: Worthy of Emulation— The War Sermon— Misinterpreting Prophecy — War Opportunities for Christian Service——From the Trenches— The Japanese Coronation .............................................................................. 99 The Bible as a Message. By W. H. Griffith Thomas, D. D. 105 Great Revivals and Evangelists— IV. Chas. G. Finney (Concluded). By John H. Hunter................................... I l l Light on Puzzling Passages and Problems................................. 116 Divine Inspiration of the Scriptures. By L. Gaussen............. I 19 A t Home and Abroad.................................. ................................. 128 Through the Bible with Dr. Evans............................................... 133 Bible Institute Activities. By the Superintendents.................. 140 Homiletical Helps........................................................................... 14 7 International Sunday School Lessons. By R. A . Torrey and T. C. Horton.................................................... 153 Daily Devotional Studies in the New Testament for Indi vidual Meditation and Family Worship. By R. A. Torrey ....................................... ................. ........— -............. 171
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FEBRUARY, 1916.
E D I T O R I A L A well-known gentleman in the Middle West has just recognized the value of T he K ing ' s B usiness , and. shown his appreciation by sending the names of ten JSpersons to whom the magazine will be sent each month
Worthy of Emulation.
during the year of 1916, as a gift from him. Many letters come to us from min isters and missionaries in all parts of the world, commending this magazine and expressing a strong desire to have it regularly, but regretfully stating inability to pay for it. The example of the brother above mentioned is worthy of emulation, or, if donations are made for that purpose, the magazine will be f sent to worthy ministers and missionaries, and the names of the recipients for warded to the donors of the fund. We have had such a fund, but it is now exhausted. much of the preaching in our own land: “I have just returned home after a month’s absence, the past four weeks with their successive Sundays having been spent in various parts o f England. My journeyings have given me the opportunity o f hearing eight different preachers in as many different pulpits. I have come back assured o f one thing, i. e., that it is high time to call a halt to the ‘war sermon.’ My experience during the past month has been that out o f these eight sermons seven were on ‘The War.’ Because I realize the seriousness o f the times in which we live, I plead all the more for the unfolding o f the Word. It seems almost impossible that the preachers are so blind to their responsible opportunity., ■ “ At the commencement o f the war we heard a great deal o f the sudden swelling o f congregations. These hopes have not in any sense been realized; and I cannot help but feel that the- war sermon is largely responsible. W e get our papers daily, reading there all sides o f the present crisis. More or less, everyone is affected by the news which filters through day by day and hour by hour. I plead that Sunday should be Sunday. I f the preacher wants to boom ‘recruiting,’ let him do it during the week. If the people’s minds are to be drawn to his version o f late events, let him go to suitable platforms. The pulpit on a Sunday is certainly not the place; and there are many o f us going to church Sunday by Sunday hoping, looking for a definite spiritual message. W e go because we are taking our part gladly in the struggle, therefore stand in need o f the further equipment which shall fit us for the coming stress and strain o f the week ahead. What about our soldiers home on leave? Is it just to bid them welcome to the old place and pew, there to serve them with nothing better than ‘war fare’ ? Rather let the minister realize that he is, after all, God’s servant; that he, in God’s hands, may be the means o f bringing encouragement to those that are cast down —yea, even xom fort to them that mourn. Let us with deep humility give back to God His Own Day. Let us acknowledge before Him that it has—at least in some sense—been robbed o f its beauty and use. Above all, let the ttiinister have done with the choosing o f a convenient text, the which to serve as a ‘peg’ for the ‘hanging on’ o f a ‘war sermon.’ ” , In a recent number of The Life of Faith, the following letter appears, the substance of which would-apply to The War Sermon.
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THE KING’S BUSINESS
Pretty much every mail brings us letters irf which mod ern prophets undertake to tell us just what will be the result of the present war, and just when thé times of the Gentiles are going to end, and similar interesting
Misinterpreting Prophecy.
things. We find many articles in religious journals along the same line. Most u ^leSe moctern prophets base their calculations upon their interpretations of the book of Daniel. We have just been reading again an attempt of a similar kind to predict the future from a study of Daniel that was made by an esteemed friend some years ago. We give a few excerpts from this to show how little dependence is to be put upon these conclusions that men think they draw from the book of Daniel : . .To this we may properly add two centuries for the superiority o f the legs (he is referring to the image in Dan. 2 :31-45), making 1895. And. as there has - been nothing in history that can be accepted as a manifestation o f the ten toes, either before or since 1395 A. D., we may be reasonably confirmed in our calcula- VUil **re yet future, but, as we firmly believe, in the very near future. (The italics here are the writer’s). W e do not, however, have to guess at the length o f the legs. This image evidently typifies man’s government o f the world ami especially his domination over the theocratic kingdom o f Israel. It is consonant \yith-the times o f the Gentiles/ which, from Lev. 26, we believe measures *seven times, 2520 years. I f this be the duration o f the image, it will terminate (2520-605) in 1915 A. D.” We do not need, of course, to call any one’s attention to how far wide our brother s assertions were -from the facts as we now know them. Other parts o f the tract are equally interesting in the light of history as it is being made today. The writer says: “Germany and Persia will not be included. They will be the allies of Russia which will constitute the ‘great company* that shall come forth ‘out o f the north parts’ in the latter years. Ezek. 38 and 39.” Further on he says, in the supposed light of events that were then occur- ring: “With this thought before us, how significant is the present internecine strife which is raging in Austria. It is, to the student o f prophecy, like the hand-writing on the wall. It points to exactly such a division o f that empire, as is required for the formation o f the ‘ten toes.’ “ Germany is not slicing into the territory o f defenseless China, without a complete understanding with Russia. Thus we see two great nations o f the north gravitating into the alliance described in Ezek. 38 . France•_will find her super ficial compact with Russia a perfect delusion. Her place is ajnong the ‘ten toes’ and perhaps, as the exponent o f the decimal system, she may be a leader in their formation. This combination of Russia and Germany will force England and Italy to seek an alliance with France, Turkey and Spain, and thus bring about the very combination which some mighty upheaval may develop into the ‘ten toes.’ ” How far wide the actual historic combinations have been of those predicted by the attempts of our uninspired prophet, of course we all know. Many of the present-day prophets are just as confident of the certainty of their predic tions as to what the combinations and issues of the present war will be, as was this brother in 1894, and very likely they will be quite as wide of the mark as he was. The experiences of those who have tried to predict minutely times and events in .the past ought to make these'present-day prophets more cautious. When will we learn that though prophecy will be exactly and literally fulfilled, prophecy, is not history, and one who tries to interpret prophecy as history is bound to get himself into trouble, even if he escapes the greater calamity of bringing reproach upon the Word of God.
THE KING’S BUSINESS 101 A recent letter from the captain of a vessel engaged in carrying troops from New Zealand to the scene of war, and bringing back the wounded, gives a striking lllus- tration of how the war has opened opportunities for Christian service. The writer is a very earpest Chris
War Opportunities for Christian
Service.
tian man. We became acquainted with him when travelling as passengers in 1902 on a steamer in the South Seas, of which he was then captain. We had scarcely left port when we made his acquaintance and found that he was not merely a professed Christian, but an out-and-out Christian man and witness for Christ. The very night we left port he had been holding an open air meeting not far away from the dock shortly, before the vessel pulled out. He writes. “Just a line or two to accompany a Postal Note which I am sending as my subscription for T he K ing ' s B usiness for the present year. I duly received the first three numbers during my last visit to New Zealand^ and I am very pleased to get them and to know that the (‘Fundamentals’ are being in a measure^ at least carried on. “ You will see from the heading that I am being employed carrying troops for the New Zealand Government.' It is a sad business and I long and pray the Lord to use-some means to bring about a lasting, honourable^ peace. Truly all creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now* and it does not know that the only thing that will^ give it lasting peace ^md rest is the very One whom it despises and rejects. If the Lord only uses this terrible scourge to chasten and humble the natipns most concerned so that they may turn their eyes to Him in their extremity, it might yet be a blessing, but I fear from what I read and hear there is very little humbling yet, and there seems very little desire on either side for a peace, except at the expense o l total destruction of the other power. It is well we can stay our own hearts upon our God and know, that the Lord God Omnipotent still reigneth, and that He is still *'working all things according to the counsel o f His own will/ that will which according to the old Hymn ‘Only willeth good for me/ What is going to be the outcome of it all ? May we not according to His prophetic W ord after all this upheaval in which almost all Europe is involved, look for the rise o f the ‘United States o f Europe out o f which the little horn* will rise and dominate things according to the Book and bring about that state o f things which He will destroy by the brightness o f His coming? If so, it ‘ cannot be very long ere He comes for His church. ‘Yet a very little while and He that shall come will come and do not our hearts respond ‘Even so, come Lord Jesus.’ I have carried some thou sands o f men now since I started this and now have nearly 600 wounded and' invalids returning to New Zealand where we expect to arrive in a few days. I have had splendid opportunities* o f service among all these men, and a good response from them ; for a long time now they have realized that it is no pleasure trip they are going on, as great numbers o f them are being killed, so they are response from them; for a long time now they have realized that it is no pleasure little response in thé general population, large numbers o f the soldiers are getting saved, at least they are making the profession o f doing so. Love in the Lord and best wishes to self and all your workers.”
Most people have very vague ideas of just what is going on in the trenches, and those who have more definite ideas build them upon what the newspaper correspondents say, which is generally fictitious, so we
From the Trenches.
give an extract from a letter recently written in the trenches. The letter was written by a very dear Christian friend, not only a brave soldier for his country, but a brave soldier of Jesus Christ. Will those who read pray for him that his testimony for Christ among his fellow-officers and among the soldiers may be greatly blessed, and also pray for his two brothers who are also in the trenches,
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THE KING’ S BUSINESS both ° f them being Christian men, young men who accepted Christ during one - ot the writer s missions in England. Among other things, he says : ^ere ,to jgfS the trenches in a lively, state, parapets collapsed, - abnormal fpkmfS’liandnmUd’rniud’ mud everywhere—all this the result o f ten days’ vonr fa ' S ne Uf thre great Problems is if you slope back the sides o f thel M ,„h T k ° Pei c the" THE KING ’S BUSINESS 103 on his way to Kyoto from the East to the West Capitol, where he goes for a service o f an ancient form o f coronation .according to Shristo rites. His departure from Tokyo on the 6th and the return on the 16th on fete days, as well as at the 10th Coronation Day, and the 14th, next Sabbath,' a special religious worship o f his ancestors, which is at evening and especially sacred, no music or singing anywhere. I am interested in its not being a crying sin in thé eyes o f the Almighty. Prayer, as you know was long made for H. M. Meiji Tenns and Emperor Horako, and not wholly in vain. | The Emperor’s attitude^ toward the benevolent and educational work o f the Y. M. C. A. showed appreciation. But the shrine o f Monoyana, his tomb at Kyoto, and another to be built in Tokyo for his especial worship is far from comforting. The present Emperor,'from his democratic character and association as a lad with Christian youth, and especially the Empress Sadako being reported as very sorry to renounce her Bible and Christian knowledge if not worship, is encouraging werë it not for the influences woven about them. Yesterday, leaving his palace at 5 A. M., and between lines o f 40,000 soldiers and thousands of school children and people, he entrained at 7 A. M., passing slowly at Yokohama forty minutes later, and stopping at Nagoya last night, a Military Station and its famous castle built by Kato Kojomara, the great warrior under Laiko Sama, in the invasion o f Korea two or three centuries ago. Thence today, the progress was to be Kyoto with great procession to the Palace. It began to rain at noon and southward earlier, so has greatly frustrated display. Queen’s weather is not at the command o f H. •M., albeit the reputed son o f the Sun Goddess. This is the background o f my picture. Now for,its foreground or Christian setting. I was'thankful it did not rain before noon is I heard baptisms as well as the Lord’s Supper were to be administered at the Kaigan, or the first church organized in Japan forty-three years ago the 10th o f March last, consisting of eleven members. I baptized that day members o f a day school, all young Samurai, or retainers of different Daimyos. The number I heard were a score or twenty-three, an event at any time. I set out to redeem a backslider, once a servant, and who through vicissitudes grew lukewarm and could not be induced to attend church, though I often visitpd his family in the sickness and death o f wife, son, and daughter. Another wife taken and several children living. Making an effort last Sabbath evening to get him out to hear our missionary, son o f Dr. Jacob Chamberlain, a noted missionary. I did not succeed so I determined to try again, and went in time to bring him with me to church some two miles distant but accessible by trolley. Changing cars at a place I unexpectedly met another wanderer, once a worker whom I had longed for, and had good news to tell him o f his grandson in the country having been recently baptized by me. The mother, a widow not much older looking than her son. I at onpe urged the man to hasten to the Kaijan church while I went on to seek my former servant. The man had a parcel in hand and had to deliver that at some place and would then come. Whether ‘ he did or not I could not afterward tell. I found my servant all alone, save a little son he could leave in charge o f the house, and he accompanied me to church. Arriving there we found the service begun and the church full o f people. He was recognized-by the elders and kindly greeted. He took a rear seat, and as I have to get near to hear, went up front and occupied a seat with school girls just in rear o f seats cjf the candidates for baptism. That this was the first business o f the day was soon apparent. The communion table was spread, with its linen cloth cover. The introductory services over, the names o f the candidates were read by the pastor and each one placed in line by the elders as ushers. The numbers increased till all the space which had purposely been increased was filled and the baptismal formulae were read and explained by the pastor plainly amid the greatest solemnity, and though the form was the briefest possible it took many minutes before the last was baptized into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and o f the Holy Ghost. I and eight elders, and one or two deacons, stood in our places while all this was taking place and praying for each one it might be as the Lord’s baptism on the banks o f the Jordan, and the Holy Spirit descend into their hearts. One o f the elders slipped a paper into my hand with the number written thereon “about 6 o." Surely a goodly record, and the largest number I had ever seen baptized anywhere or at any time. Heard o f thirty recently at Kambara, and ninety said to be candidates for next Sunday at Shiloh Church, the church you spoke at on the ‘Omnipotence o f Prayer,’ and I interpreted for you and had to jump down and get Japanese 104 THE KING’S BUSINESS word for ‘grasshopper.’ goth good pastors, two or three years each in America, Princeton and Richmond Presbyterian Seminaries. An impressive communion. A mother's sacrifice o f some o f her own flesh for a son under a. surgical oper ation. How much greater Christ’s sacrifice o f Himself, body and blood. Good union church commenced. Stormy day. ‘Ye are saved by grace through faith. Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift.’ ” KING’S BUSINESS EDITORS Top, R. A. Torrey, editor-in-chief; below, ihe three associate editors, William Evans (left), J. H. Hunter (right), T. C. Horton (bottom) as a Message By Rev. W. H. Griffith Thomas, D. D. An address delivered at Montrose Bible Conference, August 4, 1915 has a red- thread running through it, so that whenever it is cut at any part, or if any one should happen to help himself to it, it can be proved to belong to the British Navy. Now there is a thread run ning through the Bible from Genesis "to Revelation, and that thread is Christ; and if we look at the Bible at almost any part, we find traces .of that thread, and aspects o f that message. But some one may say: Does not this mean twisting the Bible to see Christ in every part? No, it does not. As some one has said, the real danger is the twisting away from Christ in the Bible. W e must1, o f course, be careful about that, for. we know it is possible to go to extremes. There was a time when some devout men saw Joseph o f Arima- thea in the first psalm, that he was the man o f God depicted there, but we have' now gone to the other extreme, and do riot see anybody in it. W e believe in nei ther o f these extremes, but we nevertheless believe that Christ is the substance o f all Scripture. How, then, are we to look at it? My subject is large and comprehensive. 1. Christ in the glory of the eternal post. This is where His "life commenced. John i, 1: “ In the beginning was the Word, and the W ord was with God, and the Word F GOD has spoken to us in //% the Bible, and if this Divine revelation _ authority, IJmiCfo • < Iessential is our supreme it is o f course that we should know its contents, what it says, what it means to us—in a word, its message. That is our present subject—the message o f the Bible. And the answer to the question, “What is the message o f the Bible?” is found in one word: CHRIST. During the last fifty years quite a num ber o f “ Lives” o f Christ have been writ ten, representing all sorts o f standpoints. I mention only a few o f them: Neander, Lange, de Pressense, Geikie, Edersheim, and Farrar, not to go further afield or to deal with more recent works. For the most part these “Lives” are characterized by one feature: they com mence at Bethlehem and end at Olivet; but our Lord’s life did not begin at Beth lehem, nor did it close with the Ascension. The Life o f Christ should cover the whole o f the Bible, and this is why I say that the message o f the Bible is Christ. “Christ is the message o f Scripture from beginning to end. - Or to use the title of. a well-known book by an honored friend (and Friend), Miss Hodgkin: “ Christ in all the Scriptures.” I have been told that in the British Navy every piece o f rope 106 ?H E KING’ S BUSINESS was God.” This is the commencement of all we know o f the Lord Jesus Christ: when He was at home in heaven, when He was with the Father. The Eternal Father had an Eternal Son, and the .Lord Jesus Christ is revealed to us in Scripture as the Unique Son o f God, in a sense in which no other person can possibly be a son. The passage in Proverbs viii, which records the personification o f Wisdom and other similar passages, should be associated with Johnl :1 in the study p f Christ in the glory o f the eternal past. II. Christ in the glory of the act of Creation. John 1 :^5: “All things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made.” Col. 1:15-16: “ He is the first-born o f every creature, for by Him were all things created.” Heb. 1 :2 : “ By whom also God made - the- worlds.” This is what Lightfoot long ago called the cosmic relation Of Christ, and jj adds immensely to the glory o f our Lord when we think o f Him, not only as our Redeemer but as the One through whom God made the world. As we Took up into the sky, we'can say, Christ made those stars; when we look over the landscape, we can say, Christ was responsible for that. And so, when we look upon creation in the light o f that great Colossian passage, we think o f Christ as God’s instrument in the mak ing o f all things. Many passages - can be associated with this period o f our Lord’s life. III. Christ in the glory of the revelation of the Old Testament. Ft would seem as though the primal Divine purpose had been fellowship between God and man; but that purpose failed three times; It failed first in Adam, it failed next in Seth and his line, it failed in Noah and his family; and then God ~ had to make a fresh start with Abraham. God introduced'a new method, a covenant not o f works but o f grace; and from the time o f Abraham onwards the Old Testa ment is essentially a revelation of grace, though also for the .purpose o f grace a record so f works in the Mosaic law. All through the Old Testament there are these two lines o f teaching: God was preparing the Messiah for the people, and preparing the-people for the Messiah. All along . from ' Genesis to Malachi these two pro cesses are at work. And as we look at the Old Testament from the standpoint o f the Jews we see this first o f all: in the Pentateuch there is a Divine religion o f redemption and deliverance. Then, in the history o f the Jews, the Divine religion o f redemption is developed, while in the prophetical and poetical books it is deepened. That is the Old Testament view o f religion. From the standpoint o f the Messiah we ; see something similar. In the Pentateuch it is sthe Messiah pre-eminently as Priest; in the historical books it is the. Messiah pre-eminently as King; in the poetical and prophetical books it is the Messiah pre eminently as Prophet: Prophet to reveal, Priest to redeem, King to rule. “Jesus, my Prophet, Priest, and King.” And let me say here that we clergy do ourselves and pur people immense injury if we avoid preaching sermons from the Old Testa ment. As some one has said: “We must not rob the children-of at lehst h a lf'o f their bread.” I have heard o f a man who used to preach for the most part from the New Testament, and in particular from John and Romans. Occasionally he would wan der into Isaiah 53, but it is certain that if all his sermons fo r one year were counted and classified, his use o f the Old Testa- merit would be seen to be very small. Mr. Dale used to keep two slips o f paper in his study, and put on them the subject and text o f his sermons; then he would look at them from time to time, in order that he might preserve due proportion in his preaching. And it would be well for us to remember that the Old Testament,' on any showing whatever, is full o f the Lord Jesus Christ. IV. Christ in the glory of His Incarna- tion. Here we are concerned with the Gos pels, and o f course we must, concentrate 107 THE KING ’S BUSINESS —this is the teaching o f the Lord Jesus Christ in the Gospels. Then what have the Gospels to say about 'Himself, His work? Just three things: His life, His death, and His resurrection, crowned by His ascension. For as Dr. Dale once said: “Jesus Christ did not come to preach the Gospel, but that there might be a gospel to preach.” That is Christ in the glory o f His incarnation. V . Christ in the glory of His position in the Church. This is the Christ o f the Acts and the Christ o f the Epistles. The Acts o f the Apostles is a book incorrectly named. It should be called thfe Acts o f the exalted Christ, for all through that great and won derful book we find the Lord Jesus Christ as the living Worker by the Holy Spirit. The Apostles were not agents, only instru ments. It is the Lord who is the Worker. Just as Luke’s Gospel tells us what Christ began to do and to teach until His ascen sion, so the Acts o f the Apostles goes on to tell us what He continued to do and teach after His ascension. And if we run our mind through that book with the thought o f the living Christ, we shall see thesè three things : Christ as Lord, Christ as Life, and Christ as Law. W e find the gospel o f the resurrection, the gospel o f the kingdom, and the gospel o f ’ forgive ness always preached. They proclaimed the resurrection to prove that He was.God. In obedience to their Master they pro claimed the gospel o f the kingdom. But inasmuch as all men are rebels, and were not in the kingdom, they had to proclaim the gospel o f pardon. This is the three fold message o f the Acts o f the Apostles : Christ as the Saviour, Christ asr Lord, Christ as God. So also in regard to the Epistles, we find the same thing: Christ is all. Paul is the Apostle o f faith, John is the Apostle o f love, Peter is the Apostle o f hope. Christ is the Redeemer, the Priest, and the Master. So all through this great section Christ is seen-in the glory o f His position in the Church o f the living God. attention very carefully on them. W e shall find in these, four pictures o f the one Christ. A very interesting book by an American author describes the Gospels in these terms: Matthew gives the profile picture in the light o f the Jewish past; Mark gives the steel engraving in view o f the needs o f the present; Luke gives the half-tone portrait, a blending of the humanity and, the divinity; and John gives the life-size picture; in the fulness of His person and work. Or to refer to another author: Matthew is the Gospel for the Jews, Mark for the, Romans, Luke for the Greeks, and John for thé whole world. ' Matthew demonstrates, Mark describes, Luke depicts, and JoJm declares. | And when you look at the life of Jesus Christ as a whole, you easily see the four marks or stages which ■ ere pointed out long ""ago by Dr. Stalker. I am not sure that I can remember his words exactly, but his idea is that the first year was the year of preparation, the second^ was the year o f obscurity, .the third was the year o f popu larity, and then there is the closing period o f, opposition, Thus we. get the life of the Lord Jesus Christ. But now in particular let us think of the teaching o f the Lord Jesus Christ. W e notice in the first four chapters o f John, the Judean ministry, when the teaching was of the Messiahship. Then from fhe begin ning o f the Galilean ministry, Matt. 4:17, to the end of the Sermon on the Mount, thé theme was the Kingdom o f God. From Matt. 8 to the time of. Ciesarea Philippi, it was the Person o f the Messiah. ; From Caesarea Philippi to the interview with the Greeks, it was the death of the Messiah. During the last week in Jerusalem, it was the Second Coming or the future. On the last night in the upper room, it was the dispensation o f the Spirit in that day. And after the resurrection, it was the great commission : “Go ye into all the world, found in all four Gospels and at the open ing of Acts. The Messiah* the Kingdom, the Person, the Suffering, the Advent of the Holy Spirit, and the great Commission 108 THE KING’S BUSINESS VI. Christ in the glory of His Second Coming. W e sometimes sing'; “Jesus, my Prophet, Priest, and King.” W.e do well to remem ber, however, that the Lord Jesus Christ is not yet"King. He is on the right hand o f His Father’s throne. He has not yet taken His seat on His own throne. I f we look in the Gospels, Christ is the King of the Jews, but if we look in the Acts and the Epistles, especially the latter, practically nothing is Said of Christ Jesus as the King. Never once is He called the King o f the Church, only the Lord. But when we go to the Apocalypse and look to the future, He is seen to be King o f the Jews and King o f kings. So that-theologically and strictly it is notr right to call Christ King now. He is Prophet in the past, Priest and Lord ip. the present, He is to be King in the future. W e may notice the three appearances of Christ in Heb. 9 :24, 26, 28. I know, of course, that they represent different Greek words, but the thought is certainly there. In verse 26, “ He appeared to put away sin.” Christ in the past. In verse 24, “ Now to appear in the presence o f God for us.” Christ in the present. In verse 28, “ Unto them that look for Him shall He appear the second time.” Christ in the future. And the glory o f that future is very prominent in the New Testament and in the Old. The first part is that He is coming for His people (1 Thess. 4). He is coming, as we Often say and sing, when every member o f His body has been,saved, and when that body has been completed. Heiis coming, not to the earth, but into the air for" His people. And then He will come with His people. I am not concerned with details, but I ask you to notice the glory o f this future when He will come with His saints, and will reign over the earth, ushering in ’ what we believe to be the Millennium—that wonderful time o f which the Old Testament is so full. If we want to know about the Millennium, it is unnecessary to concentrate upon Rev. 20. W e can look at Isa. 4, 9, 11, 25, 35, 65, 66. If we are not convinced about the Millen nium from these passages, then nothing will convince us. W e must be particularly careful in read ing Isa. xl. to lxvi. Our older Bibles have headings descriptive o f the Church. “ The Church afflicted.” ", But when we look -in the chapter there is nothing about the Church at all. It is Israel. The Church is probably not referred to in that section at all from xl. to lxvi. As some one has said, we have taken to ourselves all the blessings, and left to the Jews all the curses. The Lord Jesus Christ is coming to introduce a reign o f peace, quiet and rest, such as we find in these passages, and we cannot spiritualise them without mak ing them absolutely meaningless. They mean what they say, and refer to some future time, and not one that has ever yet been realized through the Gospel. The Lord Jesus Christ has. been given the throne: “ The Lord God shall give unto Him the throne o f His father David, and He shall reign over the house o f Jacob for ever; and o f His kingdom there shall be no end” (Luke i. 32-33). In Psalm ii. is another picture, and in Ps. lxxii. there is yet another. The Old Testament is full o f the glory to be seen when the Lord Jesus Christ shall be on His throne. Christ in the glory pf His Advent, first coming for His people, and then coming with His people. And we can put into this section the three hundred or more passages about the coming o f the Lord which we find in the Bible. ■ VII. Christ in the glory of the Future Eternity. At the end o f our Lord’s reign on earth the great white throne will be" set up, and judgment will be executed; then there will be the delivery o f the kingdom to the Father, when God shall be all in all; and we find last o f all, the eternal home. Almost the closing picture is that o f the throne o f God and o f the Lamb. And so we notice that Christ has an essential glory, as the effulgence o f the Father, and an acquired glory by reason o f His redemptive work. God raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory; God highly exalted Him,_and 109 THE KING’S BUSINESS “ No,” said he, “ I cannot, and I should be ashamed to do so, because if I could, I should know that He is no greater than myself.” This is the truth o f the Bible, “God manifest in the flesh,” “ God in Christ reconciling the world unto H i m s e l f “ God over all, blessed for ever.” And the second part o f the application is: W e must proclaim this truth with all our hearts. The message o f the Bible calls for proclamation.- There must be the testi mony o f our lips, and the testimony o f our lives. There must be what is called per sonal. work, work done for souls as we bring to bear upon them the Lord Jesus Christ. One o f the dangers o f the Christian life; a possihlst danger to all, an actual danger in some cases, is the peril o f Appreciation without application, o f reception without reproduction, o f complacency without com passion. Some years ago I had the great joy o f a sail over the Lake o f Galilee. - In the course o f nine weeks I had only thrice had the opportunity o f drinking water. I was warned to avoid it, but had been told that ofl Galilee I might drink o f the water o f the lake, and I did. I let down my cup again and again, and enjoyed the freshness o f that water. Why? In the north it enters, and in the south it goes ou t; and because the lake is always taking in and always pouring out, it is fresh. A- little while afterwards I went to the Dead Sea. But there was no possibility o f drinking that water. It is charged with salt. What is the ca,use o f the difference? The Dead Sea receives and never gives ou t; it is dead because it does not pass on what it receives. The .message o f the Lord Jesus Christ is for reception, and then for reproduction. Christ for us, our atoning sacrifice; Christ in us, our living power; Christ under us, our sure foundation; Christ around us, our wall o f fire; Christ beside us, our perfect example; Christ above us, our blessed Master; Christ before us, our eternal in heritance. gave Him a name which is above every name. And thus we have Christ pre existent, Christ predicted, Christ pro claimed, Christ possessed, and Christ pre eminent. From »the beginning to the end, the Bible is full o f the Lord Jesus Christ.' There are just two points o f application. I would beg o f you to remember again and again that the Lord Jesus Christ lived before Bethlehem, and did not finish His life on Olivet. And we must study the Bible with’ this key. This is the first thing. W e must look at the Bible from God’s point o f view, When I went to the Dore Gallery to see the pictures, I remem ber they told me. to stand before “ Christ leaving the Pretorium” at a particular place, so that I might view the picture from the Standpoint o f the artist. That is what we need in reading the Bible—to look at it from the standpoint o f the Author, God Himself, from the standpoint o f His pur pose, and o f His; plan. His purpose is redemption, and His plan is accomplished through the Lord Jesus Christ. There is a familiar illustration, which I will not even apologize for mentioning, although so frequently used. Dr. Pierson was fond o f it, and others have used it many times. Dr. A. J. Gordon, of Boston, was one day at home with his children, and to keep them quiet he gave them a puzzle consisting o f different shaped pieces of wood to put together in a picture. He went out, and had to come back very soon,- and to his surprise he found they had com pleted the puzzle. He asked them how it was they had done it so soon. One replied: “ Oh, there was the picture o f a man on the back, and so we knew how to do it.” Just s.O with the Bible, the picture is the Lord Jesus Christ, and if we take that key we shall find we can fit it into every part o f the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. An American statesman was once asked by a friend: “ Can you comprehend how Jesus Christ can be both God and man?” UNIVERSAL RECONCILIATION By ALFRED SHELL T HE following brief and important article the Lord would include all He adds two on Universal Reconciliation has been more classes as in No. 3. So that counts sent us by Alfred Shell o f Colton. While No. 1 out. it is thoroughly satisfactory, we think it No. 2 has more classes than No. 1, but might have been made even stronger by not the four classes o f No. 3. This then calling attention to the fact that in ColOs- sians 1 :20 it was not persons, but things, that are reconciled to God. O f course, this point is not necessary for the force o f argu ment as given by Mr. Shell, but it makes, the point even stronger. He writes: Those who believe in the final salvation _of every lost being in the Universe, who call themselves ReconciliationistsT" usually fall back 'on three texts to try to prove their position. These texts are Colossians 1 :20, Philippians 2:10, Revelation 5:13. Do t these texts teach that all the lost are finally saved? Let us diagram and number them thus: No. 1 Colossians 1 :20. Heaven. Earth. , No. 2 Philippians 2 :10. Heaven. Earth. Under the Earth., No. 3 Revelation 5:13. Heaven. Earth. ' Under the Earth. Sea. No. 1 says Heaven and Earth reconciled. TWO classes RECONCILED. No. 2 says Heaven, Earth, and Under the Earth bow and confess. THREE classes BOW and CONFESS. No. 3 says Heaven, Earth, Under the Earth, and Sea say blessing, honor, glory, and power to the Lamb. FOUR classes PRAISE. Now No. 1 may teach salvation, but the two classes do not include all, for, when is not broad enough to include all. But even if it did it does not say what they claim. It does not say they are saved. It says they bow and confess Him Lord. This does not mean salvation for them, for we read in Matthew 7:21-23 that many shall say Lord, Lord,” and tell Him how they did wonderful works in His name, and He will -say, “ Depart, I never knew you.” John 18 :6 tells us that those who came to arrest Jesus went backward and fell to the ground"when He told them who He was. Now the Lord who made that company fall before Him can just as easily make others bow before Him. Certainly th^ saved will do this willingly,, but the ALL o f our text will do it willingly or un willingly. So bowing or confessing Him Lord does not, o f itself, imply salvation. No; 2 does not teach Universal Reconcilia tion. No. 3 is broad enough to include all, per haps, but it again does; not say about them the thing, claimed. It says they ascribe" blessing, honor, glory and power to the Lamb. One who does this is not neces sarily saved; for demons praised Him say ing He was the Holy One o f God, and sub mitted to Him, and, in the person, o f the one possessed, even bowed ;toNHim, and acknowledged Him also as their Judge; and, at that time at least, they were not saved. So we may state it thus: No. 1 may speak o f Salvation, but it is not broad enough to include ALL. No. 2 and No. 3 may include ALL but they do not speak o f Salvation. But the texts are juggled with, and mixed up, and read into one another until, from a combination o f them, they think they find their doctrine. Great Rev i va l s and Evang e l i s t s By JOHN H. HUNTER IV. CHARLES G. FINNEY (Concluded) Copyright, 1915, by John H. Hunter quently, I had prepared a discourse, which I intended should bring them to the point, and if it appeared to take effect, I intendèd to call on them to commit themselves. Judge G. at the time I was there before; when his wife was converted, had opposed the anxious seat. I expected he would do so again, as I knew he had strongly com mitted himself, in what he had said, against the use of the anxious seat. When I came to preach the sermon o f which I have spoken, I observed that Judge G. was not in the seat he had usually occupied ; and on looking around, I could not see hirn anywhere among the members of thè bar or.the judges,. I felt concerned about this, for I had prepared myself with ref erence to his case. I knew his influence was great, and that if he would take a decided stand, it would have a very great influence upon all the legal profession in the. city. However, I soon observed that he had come into the gallery, and had found a sea,t just at the head o f the gallery stairs, where he sat wrapped in.his cloak. I went on with my discourse; but near the close o f what I designed to say, I observed Judge G. had gone from his seat. I felt distressed, for I concluded that, as it was cold where he sat, and perhaps there was some confusion, it being near the head o f the stairs, -he had gone home; and hence the sermon which I had prepared with my eye upon him, had failed of its effect. "“ From the basement room o f the church, there, was a narrow stairway into the audi ence-room above, coming up just by the side of, and partly behind, the pulpit. Just as I was drawing my sermon to a close,' and with my heart almost sinking with the fear that I was to fail, in what I had hoped to secure that night, I felt someone pulling ^§§1 GAIN we take up Mr. Fin- ney’s narrative at the point w^ere he was speaking o f v°M@n vu ^ P ) the conversion o f Judge G., o f the Court o f Appeals, Rochester, N. Y .: “As-Judge G.’s w ife was a particular friend o f mine, I had occasion to see him not infrequently, and was very sure that the word was getting a strong hold o f him. He remarked to me after I had delivered several lectures, ‘Mr. Finney, you have cleared the ground to my satisfaction, thus fa r ; but when' you come to the question o f the endless punishment o f the wicked, you will slip up ; you fill fail to convince us on that, question.’ I replied, ‘Wait and see, Judge.’ This hint made me the more care; ful, when I came to that poifit, to discuss it with all thoroughness. The next day I met him, and he volunteered the remark at once, ‘Mr. Finney, I am convinced. Your dealing with that subject was a success ;s nothing can be said against it.’ The man ner in which he said this indicated that the subject had not merely convinced his intel lect, but had deeply impressed him. “ I was going on from night to night, hut had not thought my somewhat new and select audience yet prepared for me to call for any decision, on the part o f the inquir ers; But I had arrived at a point where I thought it was time to draw the net ashore. I had been carefully laying it around the whole mass o f lawyers and hedging them in, as I supposed, by a train of reasoning that they could not resist., I was aware that lawyers are accustomed to listen to -arguments, to feel the weight o f a logically presented truth; and had no doubt that the great majority o f them were thoroughly convinced, as far as I had gone, conse
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