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T H E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
seemingly physical' symptoms. In' the course of a few minutes, he had dug up, the core of his trouble, much to his own shame. As in most such, cases,' it was sin and guilt in his life which had set off the moral conflict in his “ heart” that had expressed itself in “ heart” symptoms. He had kidded himsélf that, he was no.worse than others, but that atti tude had been only a failure to face the reality of his past. Sin had còme into his life four years before, in fact just before the onset of his symptoms. Not only had he refused to face the reality' of his shame (which he never would have told to his mother),; but he was troubled also about the girls who had been led astray by His activi- ties. In short, George needed to be placed in a better Relationship to his Saviour, because , his own human nature was much too weak to exert the proper amount of self-control. By this time, George was more than w illing to seek this adjustment in Christ, because he had been brought face to face with what he actually was—a wicked sin ner. When asked, he told how he had once received Jesus as his Saviour at the age of nine, but he added, “ I guess I wasn’t really saved, because I was too young to understand^ and I just went right on without being changed like other people are. In fact, I’ve been worse since then than I ever was before.” I asked him two questions about his acceptance of Christ at the age of nine. Did he sincerely mean it then, insofar as he could understand? Did he tell the Lord about it, with his mouth, as indicated in Romans 10:9 and 10? He answered both ques tions in the affirmative. Then his sal vation must have been inevitable from the moment that he committed him self to the Lord in childlike earnest ness. But perhaps he had never been converted (or turned about) as yet, up to the present moment. “Then what do I need right now?” pleaded the soldier. “ I really want to be saved as I’ve never wanted to be before. When a fellow sees all the misery he’s bringing on himself by doing wrong, like I have—well, there’s just no percentage in it.” I showed George the passage in 1 John 1:9. and explained it to him, “You’ll have to ’fess up to Him; all the rotten things you’ve been doing. Tell Him you’re sorry, and that you don’t want to go on sinning any more— and then, He absolutely guar antees to forgive you and clean you up inside.” , The soldier bowed his head and confessed to the Lord right then and there. The tears welled up in his eyes. .Then a smile broke over his face—he knew he was forgiven. It was not long before he was telling
others about what the Lord had done for him. The nervous symptoms, due to anx iety over past sin, never came back into ^George’s body, thus proving their reality and' their relationship to sin and the Saviour from sin. George was now a real Christian “ soldier and genuinely converted. But more than that, he began from that moment to recover from his pneumonia. In a few days, his X-ray was clear, and he had no more symptoms. This revealed how much physical energy he had un knowingly and needlessly been spend ing in moral conflict, which could have been used in resisting disease of the lungs. Perhaps that is partially what is. meant in Romans 8:11. We ourselves cannot change human nature, but Jesus‘ Christ can. That is exactly what He did in the case of this soldier. He gave him a new na ture; so that he. became a new crea ture (2 Cor. 5:17). George became a better soldier.' His morale and general stamina were improved. He had quit being a boy and had become a re sponsible man. It was interesting to see the way George grew out of his old, selfish, spoiled ways as he got up and around the ward in convalescence. Occasion ally, he would act or speak in a smart- aleck or a selfish manner, and thus
get himself into trouble with thè nurses and other ward personnel. He would feel hurt and abused, like a little boy. Then he would get a vision of the grown-up man that Christ wanted him to be. He would have a little talk with his Saviour and ask for strength to overcome the old George, which now was crucified with Christ. Then he would promptly shed all these ..little “ emotional diapers.” One day George asked me, “Captain, was it Freudian psychology you were using on me when we were talking about those ‘heart’ symptoms?” “No, George,” I t o 1d him. “ Freud knew nothing about salvation. And in the second sense, his method takès longer.” Jesus once said, “For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts’, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: These are the things which defile a man” (Matt. 15:19, 20). George had let himself be come defiled in this way, as any man w ill who has no Saviour to en able him to overcome. The moral conflict thus aroused had caused the seeming physical symptoms in his organic heart, but these were cleared away and cured when he was again forgiven. Christ is the Saviour for every human need.
Biola-in-Ch ina New s
f ■ ”^HE ABOVE picture gives a panorama of the b e aut i f u l Hunan Bible Institute campus, one of the loveliest compounds in all China. The Institute was founded in 1916 at Changsha, Hunan, for the training of evangelists, a great ma jority of whom have made up the Biola Evangelistic Bands. During the years, thousands have come to know Christ through this ministry. At Changsha, where the Institute buildings have thus far passed safely through- fire and invasion, thousands of patients have been treated in the temporary hospital now on the Insti tute grounds, The •Biola Evangelists are making good use of the opportuni ties thus offered for giving the mes sage of God’s salvation and His com fort to these suffering ones. Cities like Ghangteh, Lihsien, and Hanshow, all now in the immediate fighting zone, have churches established through the
faithful and diligent work of the Biola Evangelistic Bands. The Board of Trustees of the Bible Institute of Los Angeles, at a recent special meeting, made a careful eval uation of its China Institute in the light of present and post-war needs. Facts presented at this meeting re vealed the great future for the train ing of Chinese Christian youth. The Board took definite steps to meet the enlarging opportunity by appointing four new workers to the staff at Changsha to proceed to China this year, God willing. These four are Mr. and Mrs. Edwin Cory, and Mr. and Mrs. J. Russell Davis. Three of them have been in China before and have a command of the language. , With a consecration and enthusiasm born of a knowledge of the needs of China, these young people come to |Continued on P.age 30}
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