THEKlin BUSINESS Official Organ ol THE BIBLE INSTITUTE OF LOS ANGELES. Incorporated 1942
JUNE
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Summer Bible School Invites You to Attend The Bible Institute of Los Angeles JUNE 22 TO JU LY 31 (Six Weeks’ Course)
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— COURSES OFFERED—
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MUSIC:
BIBLE:
Analysis of Acts Biblical Archaeology Prophecy CHRISTIAN EDUCATION: Bible Geography, Customs, and Manners Christian Psychology HISTORY: Landmarks of Church History
Conducting I and IV Hymnology I
YOICE:
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Private Instruction PIANO or PIPE ORGAN: Private Instruction (Cost of private music lessons is extra.)
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off'ct COST— N o tuition charge. Registration Fee: for credit $10.00, for auditors $2.00 per week. (Maximum auditor’s fee $ 6 . 00 .) Rooms per week— Single $3.00, Double $4.00, or $5.50 with bath. Regular Fall Semester Opens Sept. 8
CLASSES each morning Monday through Friday. Five hours per subject each week. Full Day School Credit. Regular Faculty. O ffice of the Registrar THE BIBLE INSTITUTE OF LOS ANGELES, INC. 558 So. Hope Street Los Angeles, Calif.
iLook for this Sign o f Progress Everywhere
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GENERAL CONTRACTORS Since 1900 3407 San Fernando Road Los Angeles, California Phone CL. 63181
We are in our 42nd year of successful building construction. Now working principally on major defense projects.
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Thirty-Second Annual Commencement at the
“Next Fall May Be Too Late” • In the welter of a world gone mad, of nation rising against na tion, of the terror that stalks in the night, of the arrow that flieth by day, of pestilence, of destruc tion, of the elements in commotion, is there not a warning in the stark realism of these few sentences taken from a letter recently sent us: “ I was going to send the money this fall; but the Lord said, Send it now; next fall may be too late. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if He came this Feast of . the Trumpets, the ingathering of the Harvest! God does all things in order.” • And here is something for the earnest child of God to t h i n k about. What and if He should come at the time of the blowing of the trumpets on the first day of the Month Tishri? What and if you were then suddenly caught up to be with Him? Do you not think it would please Him wonderfully that you should now have your part in a testimony that warns Israel of the wrath to come ? And do you know a better way to please Him than to snatch a few brands from the burning, a few Jewish souls that will be your trophies when at last you lay your burden down and meet Him face to face? • The time is short. That is why we keep reminding you of the privilege of sharing- with Him in His yearning over the lost sheep of the House of Israel; and that is why so many of the. Lord’s choicest saints are counting it a joy to fellowship with us in our God-given task of these last days. Perhaps if you will make it a mat ter of earnest prayer, He will lead you also to become a burden bear er with us; and from experience we can assure you it will be a happy day for you. AM E R IC AN B O A RD OF M ISSIONS TO T H E J E W S , INC. 31 T h roop A venu e, B ro o k ly n , N. V. D ear F rien d s: G la d ly d o I e n close $ .......................... nny g ift fo r I s r a e l s salvation , “ b e fo re it is to o la te.” N am e ................................................. A ddress .......................... ......................... .. C it y .................................... S t a t e . . . . . . . .
Bible Institute of Los 558 South Hope Street Los Angeles, Calif.
Angeles
BACCALAUREATE ADDRESS— June 7, 1942, 7:30 P. M.
Rev. 6. B. Huebert, Pastor of Mennonite Brethren Church, Reedley, Calif.
CLASS DAY EXERCISES— June 10, 1942, 8 P .M . COMMENCEMENT ADDRESS— June II, 1942, 8 P, M.
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Rev. Robert P. Shuler, D. D., LL. D., Pastor of Trinity Methodist Church, Los Angeles, Calif.
Large Graduating Class
Public Cordially Invited
Volume XXXIII _
June, 1942
Number 6
The True-to-the-Bible Family Magazine
Motto': “ Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood!' (Rev. 1 :5 ). TABLE OF CONTENTS . o Cover Photograph by E. H. Boldrick, San Diego, Calif. Ransom D. Marvin, Staff Artist
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Around the King’s Table — Louis T. Talbot ................................202 Significance of the News— Dan Gilbert ........,.................... .............. 203 How God Is Using Hitler — Hyman Appelman ....................... ...... 204 Victpry— How ?— Arthur Hedley .......;;r. ............................... 206 Living Witnesses for Christ on a Great University Campus —Margaret Horton Morgan ..................... 207 The Prayer-Lit Flame of Revival —Basil Miller...... ..................... 208 How to Entertain Missionaries — By One of Them ....................... 211 Junior Ring’s Business —Martha S. Hooker ............... ........ ........... 213 Bible Institute Family Circle......................................... ...................... 215 International Lesson Commentary........................................................ 216 Notes on Christian Endeavor — Ralph J. Colburn, Geraldine ,-H in ote, Norman G. Robbins, Neil B. Nellis ..............................228 Daily Devotional Readings.......-................................... s....... 232 Our Literature Table....................................... 239
The Official Organ of THE BIBLE INSTITUTE OF LOS ANGELES, Inc. E d ito r-in -c h ie f0 1 ® Information for Subscribers on Page 237 • m i s d e e d m . c o o k * >1alumine Editor THE KING’S BUSINESS, 558 South Hope Street, Los Angeles, Calif.
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publicized day of prayer (Jan. ,1) , backed by the personal example . of our President and responsible leaders. It was late—so late, but we are glad it came. However, our country—though solemnized— did not turn out in any large . numbers to our churches, and the f burden Of the prayers •were for victory—noi a cry for God’s for- , giveness! America needs more than a formal c a l l , We must have a great awakening.” Some of the specific, evils for which the nation needs to seek forgiveness are cited: “We never adequately evangel izad Japan! Thank God for some faithful witnesses to the Cross; but for the most part, since Japan was thirsting for out ' Western 1 knowledge, our missionary/effort took the form of institutionalism. . .- ! It is obvious that to educate . a pagan, and to send him out with unchanged,heart is tq have him ‘twofold moré the child of , hell’ (Matt. 23:15). . : “It was all right for greedy Americans to sell huge supplies to the Japanese to use on the poor Chinese, blit when these supplies are used on us, it becomes sinful and wicked! When did one law of morality apply to our. nation and another to the Chinese?” Offering unmistakable proof that Pearl Harbor need riot have been caught by surprise, Dr. Mason points out: “There is only one satisfactory ■ explanation: God permitted our usual efficiency to Slip that in thè , very first moment of this great war we might see that apart from Him there is no real safety. By : this tragedy God tried to shock America into a recognition of her sinful complacency and unrepent ant pride. . ! .. If America does not see God’s hand in Pearl Harbor, ! I tremble for us. Oh, Christians, pray that God will bring America to her knees!” ' • ’ > '• Imitation Not Enough Scattered among the none - too- friendly nations, there are thousands of Jews who fain would lose their uniqueness if they could, To do so would doubtless minimize persecution and advance individual progress. According* to a récent article -in Time magazine, the 500,000 refofm Jews in America have adapted them selves to the customs of this country, paying little or no attention to “Or thodox dietary laws!’ and often hold ing their sèrviees on Sunday instead of on the traditional Jewish sabbâth. But a few weeks ago Rabbi Stephen Samuel Wise, called “thè-most famous Reform rabbi,” took what was char-
Around the King s Table LOUIS T; TALBOT, Editor-In-Chief
ings and adult Bible classes were held in addition to the meetings on the sand for the boys and girls, . This work is carried" on, for the most part, by Bible Institute students under faculty direction, and the aim is to win the children on the beaches- and their families for Christ. - Due to war conditions and beach regulations, plans for the coming summer season cannot be definitely set forth at the present time. However, the workers are ready to go .as the Lord opens the way. The prayerful interest of readers of THE KING’S BUSINESS on behalf of the summer’s work is greatly needed. “Call unto me, and I . will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things, which thou knoWest not” (Jer. 33:3). America-—to Her Knees! Startling and timely is the booklet by Clarence E. Mason, Jr., dealing with the Pearl Harbor Disaster!“ Every Christian ought to read it, and set about to do something concerning the truths that it proclaims. Believing that what America needs mpst is repentance, Dr. Mason de clares: ■' f . ; :“r cannot but feel that God al- ’ lowed the" crash of 1929 and the depression of the early 1930’s as a gracious danger signal to warn us of greater peril ahead if we did not repent. But did we repent? No, we complained and grumbled f about How a God that was good could stand by and watch us suf fer—as though He were the au thor of the sins which caused that time of depression. . . Instead of repenting, our country went on to, greater sin, . . We repealed pro hibition and tried to drink our selves sober! . .. We tried to spend ourselves rich, and fan up the greatest national debt in our his tory, while playing, politics with human suffering. We preached and practiced the gospel of plenty through scarcity, defying all the laws of God in nature, by slaugh- ,tering our pigs and i cattle and plowing under our wheat and cot ton when'millions were hungry. “It remained for the terrible shock of Pearl Harbor disaster fi nally to bring forth an adequately *Obtainable from the author, 211 No. Rosboro five , Atlantic d ip . N. at 15 cents a copy.
Antidote for Fear . Sometimes it takes life’s bitterest experiences to show up most sharply the rightness of the Word of God. The Bible is always to be trusted—always true-vbut sometirries these facts are •Seen most clearly through tears. ■ A young Canadian, Hugh. Percy Mc Kee, ; just twenty-one years of age this year, found Christ as his personal Saviour as a lad in the Sunday-school; thereafter his .life became one which was .“hid with Christ, in, God,” . In .course of time, he became a pilot- officer in the service of his country and was recently assigned to the task of flying a bomber carrying torpedoes. On EaSter Sunday, whilé “on an op erational flight” in the Mediterran ean,^ he went to be with Christ. The church paper, “The Gospel Wit ness,” speaking for thé bereaved but trusting .Christian family and others, /conies to this eloquent conclusion of the matter: “ In it all, he [McKee] trusted _himself to the Lord. In a letter 'home [w r i t t e n shortly before, ; his death] he harked back to the "Twenty-Third Psalm and said: - 0 ‘Notice e s p e c i a l l y the fourth verse: “Yea, t h o u g h I w a l k 1 through the valley of the shadow . of death, I will fear no evil: for . thou art with me.” ‘If,’ he wrote", . ‘that shadow should extend from here to 26 Delaware Avenue [his home], it is all .right.’ “It did. Kg “ It. is.” Children’s Seaside Mission The Children’s ’Seaside Mission, a summertime ministry of evangelism and Bible teaching sponsored by the Bible-Institute of Los Angeles, is again considering work among the children of Southern California beaches — as the Lord directs and as war conditions may permit, , - * .For, the past eleven years, the Lord has wonderfully blessed this work, es pecially the efforts of last summer in which many KING’S BUSINESS readers had a part by means of their prayers and .gifts. ' About a hundred children, young people, and adults gathered daily on the sand "during the two weeks pf last summer’s meetings. As a result, many decisions for Christ were made—chil dren and -adults accepting the Lord Jesus as Saviour or consecrating their lives t o , Him. Young, people’s meet
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acterized as a significant step back toward “Orthodoxy.” He gave up his custom of thirty-two years—that of holding services on Sunday—and went back to an observance of the eve of the Jewish sabbath, Friday evening. The rabbi is quoted as saying: “This is a return to the older
tradition which has been main tained through the centuries. The Free Synagogue is aligning itself with that centuried t r a d i t i o n . Such a return is bound up with the understanding that assimila tion (or imitation) does not solve any problems.”
capacity for sacrifice than our gen eration has' shown? How can we re gain this lost capacity for sacrifice? Our fathers interpreted life in terms of giving, rather than of getting. It has been said that we live in the “gimme age.” They lived in the giv ing age. A capacity for sacrifice in their hearts and lives was the result of the influence of Christian truth upon their thinking and conduct. Our fathers looked upon the cross of Calvary as the central reality of life and of history. There, they saw the life of God interpreted to man in terms of sacrifice. The Lamb of God, who was without sin, gave His life for lost sinners. The just died for the unjust. He who was God Himself— God manifest in the flesh—poured out His blood for the salvation of the un godly. When our fathers surveyed the won drous cross, they Were uplifted and inspired to make sacrifice the central reality in their own hearts and lives. Hence, they went forth, laboring and striving, contending and dying, for the creation of the heritage of Con stitutional liberty which we now en joy. What can give us back the capacity for sacrifice, without which our na tion cannot endure? Nothing, but a mighty revival which will carry our people back to Calvary! Nothing but a return to the “Faith of the Fathers” ! THE "GIMME" GENERATION: • We are all aware that we have been living in the “gimme” age. Eco nomic. life has been made a mad scramble for success and survival. One witnesses in Washington, D. C„ the wild struggle of lobbyists to loot the .federal treasury. The pressure groups, representing labor, capital, and agriculture, all are out to get “theirs.” Many explanations have been made of this spirit of self-seeking which has taken hold of our people. But there is only one way to understand any de velopment: and this is to apply the Scriptural standard. We have a “ gimme” spirit in eco nomic life because we have a reli-/ gious philosophy based upon that pre mise,. In great ndmbers, our people have turned away from the teachings of the Bible. They depend upon works, rather than faith, for their salvation. They take the position that men can get to heaven by their own strivings, by their own accomplishments, by their own merits. In the religious realm, first of all, this spirit of self- seeking, of self-glorification, of self- aggrandizement, became dominant. It was later carried over into every as pect of American life. [ Continued on Page 238]
Significance of the News By DAN GILBERT Washington, D. C., and San Diego, California
CRIME WAVE RISES: • America’s crime wave reached an all-time high during the year 1941, according to figures recently released by the Department of Justice, Wash ington, D. C. A total of 1,531,272 major crimes were committed in the United States during'1941, an increase of 0.9 per cent over, the previous year. The statistics compiled by the FBI reveal that a major crime was com mitted every 20.6 seconds during the year. A murder occurred, every 43 min utes, while a burglary was committed every 1% minutes. An automobile was stolen every 2Yz minutes during 1941, a citizen was robbed every 10% min utes, and a larceny was committed every 34 seconds. Most startling of all is the fact that 46 per cent of all major crimes com mitted in America last year were per petrated by young people nineteen • Nearly all the experts are now agreed that the great need of America today is a spirit of sacrifice on the part of all elements of our population. Class, greed and class hatred have been among the most stubborn ob structions to national unity. Whenever the matter of,sacrifice is brought up, this writer’s m e m o r y turns to a spectacular debate which he heard in the United States Senate a little over five years ago. The sub ject of the controversy was the issue of a “balanced budget.” One Senator got to his feet and declared: “There is just one way to bal ance the budget: by calling upon the people to undergo sacrifices. We must reduce expenditures and we must raise taxes. That means that millions who have been re ceiving hand-outs from the gov ernment will have to get along on less. When we raise taxes, it means the same thing. Millions of families will have to give up a larger share of their income thsw» years of age or younger! HOW TO WIN THE WAR:
ever before, thus leaving them less to live upon.” Another Senator rose and said: “I am surprised that the "Sena tor from.......... .{name of the state] would advocate a policy so, revo lutionary. People today simply will not put up with sacrifices -and deprivations. To endeavor to carry out such a policy would produce revolution. The American people are used to luxuries. They are accustomed to a reasonable amount of self-indulgence. They can be depended upon to revolt against any such program for enforced sacrifices.” The first Senator made this re joinder: “It may be true that the Ameri can people have lost their ca pacity for self-sacrifice. But one thing is certain: We must regain that lost capacity, or our nation is/doomed. We must again have the spirit of sacrifice which caused our forefathers to g i v e - their all for liberty . . .” The other Senator interrupted: “Those days are gone forever. 'We live in a new age. People to day do not, and will not, think in terms of self-denial and self-pri vation. This is an age of self-ex pression, of self-seeking, of self- satisfaction. For good or for evil, we live in a new area: in which people are concerned with the here and now, not the hereafter; in which the average citizen is determined to get what he can for himself and his family.” Perhaps the Senator has changed his mind since Pearl Harbor. But, in any event, it must be conceded that he accurately described the American mood as it was in 1937. It is that mood which must be changed before victory will be ours. THE SOURCE OF THE SPIRIT OF SACRIFICE: • The question will inevitably arise: Why did our fathers have a greater
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Illustrated by Hobert G. Doares
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"Come, and let us return unto the Lord: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath Smitten, and he will bind us up" (Hos. 6:1).
America is my beloved mother. Every crimson drop of blood in #y l|od y (gai-f ries affection for this land.» It gavA me ah education that would have been de nied me, a RussiaAJew.^in? any o't he r country jii thé world. It gave ma Christ pná ■ His salvation. It pro -1 vieles for me, for ;liiÿ wlfeii for my babies, the privilege "of l i v i ng \ unashamed,wn** afraid. My grateful heart cries out cofiitinuallÿ^-^dd ! .bless America! God give■ î Mÿ 'hoj^e^t^e';'bo^e':of; ; my poor pe p> j>| e Israël— . lies, under God. in the vic- .Aprÿÿlp'IÎK;t|ie:^Alliesl ^fvt$r^ victory, *Vfith all the ferVof*: of my beipg i would yearn, f -1 would work, t; would pray ■ i soon, if Jt jpieáse Him $dtor
S HE VERY righteousness of God required that the scourge of red war should be visited upon the earth. T h i s e v i l , God-forgetting, world-conforming, si'n-i n v é n t i h g , Bible-disregarding generation was to face its sins, to acknowledge its utter insufficiency, ¿to realize the lordship of Jehovah. Science was. to learn thè bitter lesson that the classroom could hot mold character, that the labora tory could not bring in the golden age, that -invention and discovery would but lend tools of destruction to bes tiality and inhumanity. You do not agree with me? You say I have no authority for my conten tions? How read you the Word? How understand you God’s dealings with the children of Israel? Have you for gotten thè message of the Book of Judges? Again and again the Lord permitted, even raised up, thè enemies of Judah and Israel. to overwhelm those lands with théir fierce depreda tions when the people sinned against Him. Why the :Babylonian captivity? Why the terrible, bloody destruction of Jerusalem, if they were not to teach the Jews the lesson of humility, of penitence, of obedience? History’s Lesson Leave the Bible. Leaf the pages of history, which some one has well called “His story.” Do not its war- indicted, blood-written records ' of inan’s inhumanity to man teach the same message, that God will not hold scatheless that nation, those nations, who persist in turning their unbeliev ing backs upon Him? Do not the blood-soaked fields of the European Continent, fertilized through these [ The message appearing on these pages was one given by Dr. Appelman, a former attor ney, in a series of evangelistic meetings he recently conducted in the Church of the Open Door, Los Angeles, Calif.-— E dito *.]
centuries with the spoiling bodies of the choicest and best of every one of its nations’ finest manhood, reveal plainly the displeasure o f' God? No, beloved, my prayer is that God may open America’s eyes, unlock America’s minds to the howling chorus of war- made warning, that although Jeho vah’s patience is lasting, it is not everlasting. You demand proof? Follow me then as I press upon your hearts and minds God’s declaration: “Hear the word of the Lord, ye children of Israel: for the Lord hath a controversy with the in habitants of the land, because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land. By shearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery, they break out, and blood toucheth blood. Therefore shall the land mourn, and every one that dwelleth therein shall languish. . . . As they were in creased, so they sinned against ’ me: therefore will I change their glory into shame. . . . -Give ye. ear, . . . for judgment is toward you. . . . I will go and return to my place, till they acknowledge their offense, and seek my face: . in their affliction they will seek me early” (Hos. 4:1 to 5:i5). The Spirit spoke by the prophet over twenty-five hundred years ago, yet his message is frighteningly timely. So think with me along these three im portant lines: The Punishment Vis ited; The Penitence Required; The Prosperity Promised. The Punishment Yisited Why this world-wide terror? Why Hitler? Why Japan? Why the bombs
HYMAN APpá .MAN f '
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was igriorant, iniquitous, ineffective. Instead of standing for and with the people, it j o i n e d hands with the tyrants to oppress, depress, and repress all of the com monalty who , dissatis fied with, their terrible, poverty a n d illiteracy, were seeking a way out. 'The Bolsheviki c a m e along, essentially atheis tic. They were of the people and, in t h e o r j ^ at l e a s t , for the peo
Is Using H itler . . . t (And How the Democracies Must Win) By HYMAN APPELMAN, Fort Worth, Texas
over London? Why gutted Warsaw? Why ravaged Rotterdam? Why Pearl Harbor? Why tens of millions under arms? Why the shadow of death cov ering an entire earth? Why hunger, nakedness, pestilence, concentration camps, confiscation of honestly accu mulated property, why Chekas, Ges- tapos? History firmly, inexorably, un- k equivocally, definitely, inescapably, answers these questions. At the end of our own Revolutionary War, or a little time after, about 1790, France was in the throes of its Revo lution. The leaders there, not content' with guillotining the king and over throwing the government, defied God by outlawing religion. For the first time in modern history, a nation, went on record against God. Going to the streets of Paris, they borrowed a gild ed courtezan, enthroned her in Notre Dame, and adored her as the Goddess of Beauty. Infidelity swept the luckless nation. Immorality followed in its train. > France became the nauseous cesspool from which vomited forth all that was evil, all that was degrading, all that was defiling in styles, in amusements, in stage, in literature. In the wake of this immorality, growing out of this godlessness, Gaul succumbed to the ravages of the most unmentionable social diseases. The penalty continued even to recent years. France lost the present war in the dens of Mont martre. God is using1Hitler to bring France to its knees in bitter penitence over its infidelity and immorality. What happened in Germany? His tory will tell you that Lutheran Ger many was ‘ a thrifty, clekn-living, moral, sober, homp-loving nation. A change came with the introduction of rationalism, the school of thought which we here call modernism. About 150 years ago, there arose in German
universities a group of rationalizing, so-called Christian philosophers, who denied the divine inspiration of the Bible, the virgin birth of the Lord Jesus Christ, the efficacy of the atone ment, the resurrection from the dead, the judgment, hell, and heaven. The foundations of faith and the fear of God were banished from the hearts of too many Germans. French indecency, hitherto stemmed by re ligious barriers, swept into this land also. Family and community religion began to die out. Cruelty, greed, bes tiality, dreams of world conquest pos sessed the minds of the rulers. The swaggering, arrogant, sword-rattling Junker became the symbol of Ger mania. The loss of the last war rankled in the hearts of the military. Depression and the undoubted tyr anny of some of the Versailles provi sions added fuel. Hitler came along to become the match to set flame to this tinder-dry brushwood. , Rationalism’s Result Hitler and Nazism are products of all the above contributing factors, per mitted and used by God to bring to heel a God-dethroning, Christ-denying world. Hitler is the noxious fruit of rationalism, irreligion, selfishness, immorality. Given the fervent, force ful, faithful Lutheranism o f ' Gus- tavus Adolphus and the other Protes tant worthies, Germany could have stemmed and stifled the plague Naz ism at the source. God is using Hitler to teach the rational outcome of’ rationalism, to bring the drifting Ger man Christians, preachers, professors, lay folk, to a realization of their need of the Christ and the •unadulterated, unexpurgated Bible. What happened in Russia? The rec ord is self-instructive. Under the czars, the Greek Orthodox Church priesthood
ple. Overthrowing the government, they strove and are striving to banish, all religion. Because of their unquali fied atheism, Stalin arid the present leaders hold life cheaply. P u r g e s mean to them no more than the de struction of so many robots, so many machines, that have gotten out of order. It is my fervent hope and prayer that before this terror comes to its end, the Bolsheviki may have a change of heart. England’s Recent History What happened in England? There is the direst tragedy of them alj. Eng land, great England, mighty England, conquering Eriglarid, England; on~ whose possessions the sun never^ sets, the England of Francis Drake, of Wil liam of Orange/ of Nelson, of Welling ton, of Chinese Gordon, of Balkalava, pussyfooting, kowtowing before an Austrian paper hanger! Why?. The rationalism of Germany, the iri- fidelity and immorality of France, crossed the English Channel, inun dating the land of Latimer and Rid- ,ley,.of Cromwell and Bunyan, of Spur geon and Parker. A great-grandson of good Queen Victoria sold his mighty birthright for the blandishments of a twice-divorced woman. England had forgotten the God of Kipling’s Reces sional. Many of England’s preachers* being more interested in the latest pronouncements from Rome (shades of the Puritans!) or from Russia, were in . pinkish politics, and communistic conclusions. Formality supplanted fervor, while polite platitudes replaced passionate pleadings. So-called Christian Eng land, the defender of Democracy, saw Japdn rape China, Italy d es p o i 1 Ethiopia, Germany ravage Czechoslo- [ Continued on Page 212]
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Victory —How?
By ARTHUR HEDLEY Dunstable, Bedfordshire, England
Young converts who could not quite understand wTiy David, Paul, and the saints say such humiliating things about themselves do understand, in time. They soon begin to turn to the penitential Psalms of David for com- .fort and hope, and they learn to take upon their hearts and lips the con- • fessions and prayers of the psalmist. Evidence of Mew Life It is in this fact that we recognize our sin and weakness that we can find comfort in our distress. It is the surest guarantee that a c h a n g e of heart has taken place, that we have experienced the new birth. Before. your conversion you did not grieve ' over your sin, because you were really ignorant of the true state of your heart and of the power of sin over you. In our unregerierate state we are v e r y self-righteous,' Regarding our selves quite as good as most Chris tians. From this standpoint, sin to us seems* merely a bad habit which, in our self-deceit, we think we can easily throw off when we want to. Before being saved by Christ, we do not see sin in its relation to God as an act of transgression and rebellion But now, “in Christ” as born-again children of God, we see sin as a wrong committed against a holy and a lov ing God; we see it as something which grieves God, and it is to God we lift up our prayer of penitence: “Against thee, thee only, have I sinned” (Psa. 51:4). Before your heart was changed, you
the sin of impurity, among o t h e r sins; therefore says Paul, “Let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holi ness in the fear of God” (2 Cor., 7:1). Made Sensitive to Sin Th? whole Christian life is a pro gressive dying unto sin and living unto righteousness. God makes no man perfectly holy by a miracle of grace. It is not until we begin to live unto God and unto righteousness that we begin to realize how d e e p l y rooted sin is in our life. Even as the saint draws near to the end of life’s journey, he is conscious there is still much within that needs to be de stroyed; still much land remains to be conquered. An old saint who lived until his ninety-third birthday said that he-must often have been swal lowed up by despair because of his sinfulness had it not been for the seventh chapter of Paul’s Epistle to the Romans. Thank God, the story need never stop at this passage, for chapter 8 follows immediately after ward. The believer is often discouraged and sad when he discovers that sin is still present with him. When he seems to have conquered One sin, he finds himself overcome by another sin. In the hour of defeat and hu miliation, the Christian is sometimes led to question whether there is such a thing as the new birth; he is in clined to doubt w h e t h e r any real change has taken place in his heart.
T N THE EARLY DAYS of our con- _ version, when the heart is glad 1 and light because its burden of guilt is gone; we are almost led to believe that we have conquered Sin, once and for all. But alas, we soon get a, rude awakening, for, in an un guarded moment, we may fall into sin, and we are forcibly reminded of Paul’s warning words, “Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall” (1 Cor. 10:12.). We all have tP learn by experience that the power of sin is not completely broken in a moment; the “old tnan” with his evil nature is not destroyed in a day; the territory occupied by self and sin is not secured for Christ, for righteous ness, truth, and love at one stroke. We are justified in a moment of time—that moment when by faith we embrace Christ as our Saviour. We are also “sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints” (1 Cor. 1:2); we are set apart to live unto God and unto holiness. But the work of sancti fication is a lifelong process, for the old nature in us dies hard. Paul knew this only too well in his own experi ence. There was often Within his heart a conflict between good and evil, the new nature and the old. He could not cast off his old nature as easily as he could discard his outer garments. In all of Paul’s epistles there is the recognition of this fact, that al though his 'converts are new creatures in Christ Jesus, they are still liable to sin, as one may clearly see in read ing Paul’s epistles to the church in Corinth. This church had condoned
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quickly dismissed your sin by plung ing into some other form of sinful excitement and pleasure. But now, after- you have done wrong, perhaps said thè bitter, Unkind" word, you cannot forget it when the Holy Spirit brings it home to yoùr heart. Even when your sin is confessed and for given, you cannot f o r g e t it easily. Again with David you say, “My sin is ever before me" (Psa. 51:3). Before conversion, you felt very S t r o n g , self-reliant, self-righteous; now you feel your weakness, your sin, y o u r dependence on an arm stronger than your own. In this fact lies the proof that a real work of grace has taken place; in your sense òf weakness and dependence lies your security, your hope of deliverance by the power of the Lord Himself. Whén the believer gets a knowl edge óf his own heart, of its sin, its weakness, its self-love, its self-seek ing, .seif-sérving nature, its deceit- fulness, envy, jealousy,, malice, thén he sees how utterly impossible it is for him to rid his heart of its evil. It is then that he sees his need of ’ utter dependence on Christ, and from his heart goes up the cry: “Thou must save and Thou alone." Then he is well on the way to victory and prog ress. God is not able to help us until we get rid of our self-confidence and put our confidence in Him. When the believer l o o k s away from self and looks to God, completely and con tinually, for deliverance—t h e n He gives the grace and strength to break $in;s galling chains and to walk be fore ,Him in holiness and love. As we maintain the upward look, the look which speaks so eloquently of our need and dependence on God our Saviour, so Shall we gain the victory. When we cry, “Hold thou me up, and I shall be safe” (Psa. 119:117), then will come the assuring response, ,‘‘l the Lord . . . will hoA thine, hand, and will keep thee” (Isa. 42:6). “Without me,” says the Lord Jesus Christ, “ye can do nothing” (John 15:5), and this is a truth we are very slow to learn. The sooner we learn to look away from self to Christ, the sooner shall we overcome the evil in our hearts. My cousin, Herbert Lockyer, who is now in America, uses the illustra tion of a ejergy voucher which en ables him to travel for half fare over most American railways. On every coupon are the words, “Not good- if detached.” And, as Dr. Lockyer ex presses it, “We are no good if de tached from Christ, for without Him we are and can do nothing.” A Ufa of Abiding We must first depend on Christ, and then we must abide in Christ. It is not in a life of wrestling, strug
gling, f a s t i n g that the victory is gained,, but in a life of abiding. It is as we abide in Christ, in His love, in His Word, that we gain a real mas tery over sin. As we abide in Christ, so He will, abide in us; His life, His power, His love and glory will flow into our lives, enabling us to be “more than conquerors.” In so far as we abide in Christ, His life .will flow unhindered into our life,, bringing forth those :fruits of holiness and love which were perfectly manifested in His life. We are not only to read the Word but to appro priate it as well, to take it into our hearts and there let it abide to work good within. As we abide in Christ and His Word abides in us, we shall be prepared and strong to meet the enemy of our souls. “ I have written unto you, young men,” says John, “ because -ye are, strong, and the word
of God abidetH in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one” (1 John 2:14). In depending on Christ and abiding in Him we shall find we have discovered the secret of the victorious life. The story is told of an aviator who was troubled by a somewhat strange sound in his plane. Search revealed that a large rat, which had found its way on to the machine at the airport, was eating at a very vital part of the plane’s structure. In his position up in the air, the airman could not stop to try to kill the rat. Upward he soared, up and up, ''until in rarer air the rodent could not breathe and rolled over , and died. Thus is it with our sins. Up in the rarer, air of our unbroken fellowship with our glorious Victor, evil desires quickly die. Beloved, if we would not sin, we must live near to God! California my faith in Christ nor cause me to doubt my salvation. This past semes ter has shown me that that statement bears, little "validity. It seemed that every class in which I e n r o l l e d brought up the subject of Christianity, its teachings and doctrines, and the matter of course was approached from a very skeptical angle by the use of the scientific method of reasoning. “After several class periods, I began to feel as if my once firm foundation was made only of snow and was fast melting away under the heat; of the discussions. During this period I had .been unable to atténd Bible League regularly because of my outside work ing schedule, but finding myself in such a state of mental confusion, I decided it was time I arranged to get to Bible League again. T h r o u g h prayer, through Christian friendships, through a fundamental church, and through Bible' League, I am able to quote even more emphatically than ever, 2 Timothy 1:12: T know whom I have believed.’ We Christian stu dents recognize what a power Bible League is and the potential influence it may have for the Lord in the future.” On the Edge of the Campus Just what program and fellowship are provided by the Bible, League that this university student mentioned? Not mere “ atmosphere” and so- [ Continued on Page 237]
Living Witnesses for Christ On a Great University Campus By MARGARET HORTON MORGAN Berkeley,
■ S SHE FACED the microphone in an Oakland radio station, a L. Senior at the University of California frankly told her listeners these facts: “Four years ago when I started my college days at Berkeley and first at- ' tended Bible League in its. infancy, I was one of those who carne with the firm belief that nothing could disturb [Alumni of the Bible Institute of Los Angeles in the years that T . C. Horton and Mrs. Horton were asso ciated with the school remember grate fully their remarkable soul-winning ministry among young people. In their capacity as counselors to students en rolled at Biolaj these leaders were affec tionately known as " Daddy and Mother Horton.” A similar, relationship to youth has been the privilege of V. V. and Mrs. Morgan (Margaret Horton), son-in-law and daughter of M r . . and Mrs. Horton, but in this instance'in the setting of a state university campus, where M r. Morgan is Director of the University o f California Bible League. As one young woman from this group expressed it, " They're just Papa and Mama Morgan to the whole bunch. They are definitely the leaders, yet not dictatorial, and we value every bit of advice they give us as individuals or a group.” — E ditor ,1
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climax on Sunday evening, October 7, 1821, when Charles was' twenty- nine. ,. Charles says about that evening, “I made up my mind that I would settle the question of my squl’s salvation at once, that if it were possible I would make peace with God. As provi dence would have it, I was not much occupied either on Monday or Tues day, and had opportunity to read my Bible and engage in prayer most of the 'time.” , , He must pray in order to relieve the burden that Was burning its way through thé surface of his spiritual indifference. So he plugged the key hole of his office door, that his whis- pered prayers could not be heard outside. \ , Came the dawn of Wednesday after a wakeful night of conviction, and on the prodigal’s way to his office for a session with Blackstone, an inner voice confronted him, saying, “What are you waiting for? . . . Are you en deavoring to work out a righteousness of your own?” His spiritual eyes were opened and h J beheld the reality and fullness at Christ’s atonement. “I saw that His work was a finished work; and that instead of having or needing any right eousness of my own to recommend me to God, I had to submit myself to . . , Christ. Gospel salvation seemed to me to be an offer of something to be ac cepted . . . and that all was necessary on my part was to get my own con-
did little to turn his attention to re ligion, for the church's praying was not followed by receiving. “I heard them pray continually for the out pouring of the Holy Spirit, and as often confess that they did not receive what they asked for,” he says. Once in a prayer meeting, when asked whether h e wanted to be prayed for, the choir-leading lawyer stood up and said, “I suppóse that I need to be prayed for . . . but I do not see that it would do any good for you to pray for me; for you are contin ually asking, hut you'do not receive. You have been praying for a revival of religion ever since I have been in Adams, and yet you have it not.” He could out-argue their prayers but could not refute the call the Bible made to his soul while he read it in the privacy of his office. “On further reading of my Bible,” he writes, “ it struck me . . . they did not pray in faith ...,. And after struggling in that way my mind became settled that . . . the Bible was, nevertheless, the Word of God.” A Challenge Accepted— And the Result In spite of the minister’s implied doubts as to whether or not his choir leader would be saved, a band of the young people of the chui^h decided to pray for Charles’ conversion. Among the group was the young lady who was later to become his wife. These prayer meetings went on seriously for some time until they reached their
f T ^ H E STORY of Charles G. Fin ney can be told in one word . . . I revivals. This is the key that unlocks the treasures of his marvel ous life. So intense and distinctive was the soul-saving movement he brought into existence that some regarded him an innovator. But to Charles, the revivalist, slander, the impinge ment of his motives and all* else con cerned him little, if only he might win precious souls to his Master. For this he lived. Other items in his ca reer were stacked on s e c o n d a r y shelves in his thinking with reference to this one thing. The man whose ministrations from 1821 to 1875 broke down whole Com munities in Spirit-given revivals re sulting in the salvation of many tens of thousands of souls had a most unpromising background for spiritual leadership. Following a boyhood and youth in a home which was indifferent to any real religious convictions, Charles Finney at the age -of twenty-six went to Adams, New York, where he studied law and became partner of a law yer in the community. As leader of the church choir, he attended prayer meeting regularly, but the praying *The article appearing on these pages is con densed from Basil Miller’s Charles G. Finney, the official biography for the Finney Sesqui- centennial Conference to be held in Chicago, III., June 21-28, 19t2. The book is published by Zondervan Publishing House, Grand 'Rap ids, Mich. Copyright 1841. Price 81.00. Used by special permission.
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Flame of
By BASIL MILLER
sent to give up my sins and accept Christ.”, . Came the Voice, "Will ,you accept it now, today?” v 1 . ; : . Answered Charles; “Yés, I will ac- cept it today òr w ill.die in the at tempt.” , : North of the Village lay a woods where he accustomedly walked dur- ing pleasant weather. And as, he neared the office, his storm-torn/soul drove him to the timbers. Finding his “ prayer closet” in ah opening be neath some fallen trees, he recalled the promise he had made as he *climbed, the hill into the woods, “I will give my heart to God or I never will come down from there,” ! ■Flashes out of his memory threw reassuring passages from the Bible at him. “I knew that it was God’s Word and God’s voice .,.. that spoke to me,” he says :in- describing those scenes. “The Spirit seemed to lay stress upon the idea in the text, ‘When ye shall search for me with all your heart.’ I .told th,e Lord that I would take Him at'His word; that He could not lie; and that therefore I was sure that He heard my prayer. . . All sense of sin, , all consciousness of present sin or guilt had departed from me, . . The repose of my mind was unspeakably, great” Of his experiences of the Holy Spir its special working in the hours that •followed that day, Finney writes con cerning a mighty soul-shaking and its resultant joy: “No words can ex press the wonderful love that was shed abroad in. my heart. I wept .aloud: with joy and love.” On that day the life career of Charles Finney w a s launched. He closed his law books f o r e v e r and opened his Bible. : Early Soul-Winning •Charles’ salvation work began at once on that Wednesday, and contin ued with, groVing power on- Thursday
forenoon. “ I soon sallied ,forth from the office,” he says, “to converse with those whom I should meet about their souls. I had the impression . . . that God Wanted me to preach the gospel, and that I must begin immediately. I somehow seemed to know it-.. . with a certainty that was. past all possi bility of doubt. ., . Nothing, it seemed, could be jmt in competition with the worth of souls;"and no labor . . . could be so sweet . . . as that of hold- Jng up Christ to a dying World.” The pastor of ^Finney’s church had been right in declaring, “Some of the young people will never be converted before Finney is;” And he had ex pressed doubts shortly before these events that Charles could be won by the church’s praying folk. On Thursday of that momentous week, Finney testified in the church to what he had received, and his ex perience brought a confession from the minister, saying, “I believe I have been in the way of the church and I have discouraged the church when they proposed to pray for Mr. Finney;
Saving or evangelical faith . * . is a trusting in Christ, a committing of the soul and the whole being to Him. • Faith . i , is a receiving of Christ for just what He is represented to be in His gospel. • The sovereignty of God is ah in finitely amiable, meek, sweet, holy, and desirable sovereignty. S o m e seem to conceive of it as something revolting and tyrannical. But it is thé infinite opposite of this an d . is the perfection of all that is reason able, kind, and good. • WË A promise in the present tense is on demand. In other words, it is always due, and its fulfillment, may be p lead ed and claimed by the promisee at any time. — CHARLES G, FINNEY -
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before his words. There were scarcely any dry eyes in the congregation, and the key - keeper finally a r o s e and promised in the afternoon to open the meeting house. Everybody, Finney affirms, was at that afternoon service. “The Lord let me loose' upon them in a wonderful manner. My preaching seemed to them to be something new. Indeed it seemed . . . that I could rain upon them hail, in love.” Great conviction fell tipon the place, and before the revival ended, the spiritual success of Evans Mills attended it. In community after community was repeated the same sequence of spir itual opposition, of the evangelist’s prevailing in prayer alone with God or in fellowship with his prayer help ers, fbllowed by mighty public mani festations of revival blessing in the conversion of souls ,and rekindling of f o r ma l , cold Christians. His own words, written in 1825, can best tell' of this burden of prayer: “Unless I had the experience, of prayer I could do nothing. If even for a day or an hour I lost the spirit of grace and supplication, I found myself unable to preach with power and efficiency, or to win souls by per sonal conversation. “I found myself so much exercised and so borne down with the weight of immortal souls, that I was constrained to pray without ceasing. I felt so cer tain that God would hear me that fre-* quently I found myself saying to Him; “ T hope Thou dost not think that I can be denied. I come with Thy faith ful promises in my hand, and I can not be denied.’ ” Meeting Opposition— Prayer the Resource The victories of Finney’s evangel istic ministry were not without cost to him and his coworkers. Father Nash in a letter dated May 11, 1826, said, “The work of God moVed for ward in power in some places against dreadful opposition. Mr. Finney and I have been burned in effigy. We have frequently been disturbed in our religious meetings. Sometimes the opposers make a noise in thé house of God. . . There is almost as muph writing, intrigue, lying, and reporting of lies as there would be if we were on the eve of a presidential election. . . . But I think the work will go on.” While these clouds were blackening his sky, Finney felt a divine urge to pray them away. He said nothing publicly or privately about the ac cusations, merely looked to God for direction and guidance. “I looked to God with great earnest ness day after day to be directed . . ,” says the revivalist. “After a season .of great humiliation before Him there [ Continued, on Pofie 2711
he gave himself wholly to prayer. “He had a terrible overhauling,” as the revivalist says it, “in his whole Chris tian experience.” When Father Nash came to Evans Mills, he was full of the power of prayer, and an altogether different man from what he had been when Finney first met him. Father Nash kept a “praying list,” as he termed it, of the names of persons whom •he made subjects of prayer each day. “And praying with himv” affirms Mr. Finney, “ and hearing him p r a y in meeting, I found that his gift of prayer was wonderful and his faith almost miraculous.” Through t h e i r years of laboring t o g e t h e r , often Father Nash would not even attend meetings, and while ' F i n n e y was preaching, Nash was praying for the Spirit’s outpouring upon him. When Mr. Finney went over to the village of Antwerp, New York, after the startlingly fruitful Evans Mills re vival had run its course, he,found the church key in the custodianship of a tavern keeper, who refused to open the building. So the meeting Was transferred to the schoolhoüse. But God’s man gave himself to prayer,' and though “the atmosphere seemed to be poison,” God’s answer came in the words, “Be not afraid . . . for I am with thee . . . for I have much people in this city.” That Sunday morning Mr. Finney arose early and went into the woods, for he realized he must pray this re vival down. He went back to those woods for prayer three distinct times that morning before he felt ready for the opening service. He found the schoolhouse packed to the doors. Speaking from John 3:16, he said, “You seem to howl blasphemy about the streets like hell - hounds.” The people, knowing this was true, quailed The Refiner By ETHEL M. CLARKSON O Thou, the Refiner of. silver, I offer myself to Thee, To take me, and b r e a k me, and make me What Thou wouldst have me to be. As grace for each trial is offered. So grace I rejoicingly take— No wish but to mirror my Saviour, To live (or to die) for His sake. O blessed Refiner of silver, Work on till the Father can see The thorn-scarred brow and pierced hand Of His Well-Beloved in me.
and when' I heard that he -was con verted, I had no faith; I did not be lieve it;” Then Charles appointed a meeting for the youth of the church, whom one by one he was shortly to see converted, “ and the work continued among them until but one of their number was left unconverted.” Mr. Finney soon felt led to visit his family at Henderson, where his father met him at the gate of his home. “How do you do, Charles?” asked his father. : “I am well, Father,, body and soul,” he replied. “But, Father, you are an old man; all your children are grown up and have left your home, and I never heard a prayer in my father’s house.” - “I know it, Charles; come in and pray yourself.” In the son went for prayer, shortly to see both father and mother gen uinely brought to the Lord. The key to Finney’s early ministry as well as to his evangelistic suc cess is to be found in “the baptism of the Holy Ghost, which is indispens able to ministerial success.” A. M. Hills, who studied under Fin ney at Oberlin many years later, says of his matchless ministry, “Our mind goes hack tp the college days when we heard Finney, and felt again the thrill of his overpowering eloquence. We thought him then to be the prince of preachers and evangelists, a judg ment we have never reversed. He was . . . a man of nature and of the desert, unspoiled by society, and untram meled by the . . . regulations of the schools, but taught of God and filled with the Holy Ghost. God had His giant at last:" After abput two years of special Bible study following his conversion, Mr. Finney was licensed to preach, and was prepared to take up God’s cause in earnest. The Bible was his chief textbook, the Holy Spirit his Teacher, prayer his strength, and he was prepared to go forth declaring that others might receive the marvel ous experience which he possessed. Grounded in a know-so redemption, he proclaimed to o t h e r s they too might have the divine witness that they had been born .anew. Prayer That Prevailed Finney firmly believed that nothing could be effected in a revival except through prayer and by the Spirit’s special aid. At Evans Mills, New York, his first pastorate after receiv ing his license to preach, F i n n e y formed a lasting friendship with a minister named Father Nash, whom he had met first at the Presbytery where he had been licensed. Since then Nash had suffered a breakdown due to inflamed eyes; consequently
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