TEN B IBLE COUR SE S
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To what greater profit could you spend your evenings than in systematic Bible study by correspondence? Ten Different Courses Available Right In Your Own Home Introductory Bible Course . . $2.00 Through the Bible In a Year . .
$3.50 A telescopic study of the books of the Bible, giving a bird’s eye view of the contents of each book. The Bible by Books and Chapters . . . x* $3 50 A n analysis of each chapter is made by the student on four given subjects. A n intro duction on each book is also given, upon which the student is examined. Christian Workers’ Efficiency Course $3.50 A study of church work and individual dealings w ith the unsaved. Teacher Training Course . . . $3.50 Unit I ..The Teacher. Unit II...The Pupil. A most practical, pedagogical and evangelical course of study on this important phase of the ministry of the church. Credit ■ given in the Standard Leadership Training Curriculum of the International Council of Religious Education, also in the Day School Department of the Bible Institute. Supplemental Course . . . $1.00 Designed especially for those of the junior and and intermediate age, though the studies will be.found profitable to the adult.
Facts about the Bible as a book are studied, such as, the meaning of the name, history of the manuscripts and our English versions, etc. Bible Beginners’ Course . . $2.00 A series of vital studies especially for young Christians, taking up some of the rudimen tary truths of the Christian faith. Studies In the Gospels . ‘ A verse-by-verse study of the gospels, giv ing one a clear conception of the earthly ministry of our Lord. Studies in Acts . . . . . $2.00 A similar study in the book of Acts to that in the Gospels. Fundamental Doctrines of Christianity $7.00 A thorough course of study on the funda mental doctrines of the Bible, the founda tion of Christianity.
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FREE ENROLLMENT FOR K. B. SUBSCRIPTIONS tfTTBy special arrangement with □1th e Circulation Manager of The King’s Business we are able to offer free enrollment in any course for a certain number of new K. B. subscriptions. Send for further particulars.
Correspondence School, Bible Institute of Los Angeles 536 So. Hope Street, Los Angeles, Calif.
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THE KING’S BUSINESS Motto: "I, the Lord, do keep it; I mill water it every moment: lest any hurt it, I will keep it night and day.’’ Isaiah 27:3. PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY AND REPRESENTING THE BIBLE INSTITUTE OF LOS ANGELES Volume XX February, 1929 Number 2
An interesting book let descriptive of our Annuity Bonds
is awaiting your request for a copy of same. You are now contrib uting from your surplus funds toward the carry- ing on of approved Christian enterprises. The Annuity plan ap plied to your benefac tions makes it possible to increase your gifts for this purpose, since you are thus assured a reg ular income for life. Issued in amounts of $100.00, $500.00, $5,000.00,$50,000.00, or any intermediate amount .
Table of Contents
Editorially Speaking .............. 67 Statement of Doctrine..... .................................................................. 69 Recalling an Auspicious Event..... ............'....I.... .............I.............. 70 A Program of Evangelism—Dr. W. E. Biederwolf....................... 71 Palestine—S. H. Cuff.............................................. 73 The Hunan Bible Institute—Dr. Frank Keller............................... 75 John Keble and His Hymns—Prof, John B. Trowbridge............. 77 A Continent-Wide Crusade—George T. B. Davis............ ............. 79 Passages that Perplex—K. L. B....................................................... 81 The Junior King’s Business......... :..................................................... 83 Striking Stories of God’s Workings................................................ 85 Homiletical Helps for Preachers and Teachers............................... 86 International Lesson Commentary.................................................... 88 Notes on Christian Endeavor—-Alan S. Pearce............. ................. 97 Our Literature Table............................................................................ 102 A Chinese Girl’s Trial and Triumph................................................ 105 Daily Devotional Readings....................... ........................,.................106
— — ADDRESS ■— BilileInstituteofLosAngeles
536-558 So. Hope St. Los Angeles, Calif.
The Christian and Missionary Alliance T HE Christian and Missionary Alliance is doing active, aggres sive missionary work in 19 mis sion fields in Africa, Asia, South America and the Islands. Over 400 missionaries and 1,000 native preach ers, evangelists and Bible women are preaching the Gospel in 34 languages. In 17 of these language groups the Alliance is the sole witness for Christ. We invite you to become a prayer partner in this world-wide ministry. Prayer requests for 1929 include: I That workers and members in mis sion fields shall be kept in spiritual and physical health and vigor. That genuine heaven-sent revival may be realized in every field, and multitudes won to Christ. That new work may be successfully begun among Dyaks of Borneo, Cashibo Indians in Peru, Taureg tribe in French Sudan, Aboriginal tribes of Laos and Eastern Siam, and a pagan tribe in Mindanao, Philip pine Islands. The Christian and Missionary Alliance 260 West 44th Street, New York, N. Y. E CHURCH FURNITURE Everything fo r Church and Sunday School ] use. From Factory to You. Finecatalogfree. [ DeMouHn Bros» 8C Co. 9 1151 South 4th S t., Greenville,Illinois
SUBSCRIBERS’ INFORMATION Advertising: F o r in fo rm atio n w ith r e fe r ence to a d v ertisin g in TH E KING’S BUSI NESS ad d ress th e R eligious P re ss Assn., 325 N o rth 13th St., P h ilad elp h ia, Pa., or N o rth Am erican Bldg., Chicago, 111. E n te re d a s Second C lass M atter Novem b er 17, 1910, a t th e P o st Office a t Bos Angeles, C alifornia, un d er th e A ct of M arch 3, 1879. A cceptance fo r m ailin g a t special ra te of p o stag e provided fo r in Section 1103, A ct of O ctober 3, 1917, au th o rized October 1, 1918. Terms: $1.25 p er year. Single copies 25 cents. F o re ig n C ou n tries (inclu d in g C an ad a) $1.50 p er year. Clubs of 5 or m ore
25 cen ts red u ctio n on each su b scrip tio n se n t to one or to se p a ra te ad d resses as p referred . Rem ittance: Should be m ade by B ank D raft, E x p ress or P. O. Money O rder, pay ab le to “B ible In s titu te of Los A n geles.” R eceip ts w ill n o t be se n t fo r re g u la r su b scrip tio n s, b u t d ate of expi ra tio n w ill show plainly, each m onth, on o u tside w ra p p er or cover of m agazine. Manuscripts: TH E KING’S BUSINESS c an n o t accep t resp o n sib ility fo r loss or dam age to m an u scrip ts se n t to it for consideration. Change of Address: P lease send bo th old an d new ad d resses a t le a st one m onth prev io u s to d ate of desired change.
POLICY AS D EFIN ED BY THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF TH E BIBLE IN ST I TUTE OF LOS ANGELES (a) To sta n d fo r th e in fallib le W ord of God and its g re a t fu n d am en tal tru th s , (b) To stre n g th e n th e fa ith of a ll believers, (c) To s tir young m en an d w om en to fit th em selv es fo r and en g ag e in definite C h ristian work, (d) To m ak e th e B ible In s titu te of Los A ngeles know n, (e) To m ag n ify God our F a th e r and th e person, w o rk and com ing of our L ord Je su s C h rist; and to tea ch th e tra n sfo rm in g pow er of th e H oly S p irit in ou r p re sen t p ra ctic a l life, (f) To emphasize in stro n g , co n stru ctiv e m essag es th e g re a t fo u n d atio n s of C h ristian faith . 536-558 S. Hope St., BIBLE INSTITUTE OF LOS ANGELES, Los Angeles, California
d t t i r g e p f o s f j m g t m t 1732 - 1799
“Walk in the way oj &ood men, and keep the paths o f the right eous. “For the upright shall dwell in th e land, and the perfect shall remain in it.“ —‘Proverbs 2:20, 21.
The Growing Christ
The Twofold Touch
"The angel of the Lord smote Peter on the side and raised him up . . . and his chains fell off” (Acts 12:7). “The angel of the Lord smote Herod because he gave not God the glory, and he was eaten of worms and gave up the ghost” (Acts 12:23). T HE effect of this twofold touch of the same hand can be seen everywhere about us. To one, God’s touch brings freedom, to another, agony and death. One or the other of opposite results must come to every man, and what the effect of His presence shall be depends entirely upon yourself. You settle it yourself what God shall be to you. Your attitude to .His divine revelation and to His work deter mines it. Herod was the enemy of the Gospel. He had no room for any God but himself. The chapter opens with his boasting and ends with the people proclaiming him a god. But the story doesn’t end there. This mighty man whose soldiers had roughly thrown Peter into jail, is devoured by mere worms. Get the irony of i t ! And it is well to look at the end of any man who opposes God’s truth, rather than his beginning. Judge not the infidel and the rationalist in the days when he is in the popular swim. Read his story through to the last chapter and you may draw a different conclusion. You say, How shall I know what his end will be? Use the Word of the living God, verified through all human history, as your telescope. The Gospel has always been either the savor of life unto life or of death unto death. To this day, it either strikes off a man’s shackles and turns him out into the sunshine of God’s love, or it becomes eventually the fatal occasion of his utter spiritual darkness, torment of conscience and final separation from God. Herod was eaten of worms—“BUT the word of God grew and multiplied.” Note the eloquence of that little word “but.” In spite of mighty antagonists, the progress of the Gospel stays not. Let us learn that God directs all events in the best interests of the spread of His Gospel. , —K. L. B. A Forgotten Historic Fact I N this day when we are leaving God out of many events in our country’s life, and refusing to recognize His Son, it is well to go back to the early days and recall those times when our founders turned imploringly to heaven for divine interposition and aid. Do you recall to mind that sublime picture, when in 1774 the Congress, assembled in Carpenters’ Hall, Philadelphia, prayed as perhaps men can only pray when all human help has failed and God alone remains as the Deliverer? George Washington, Patrick Henry, Randolph, Rut ledge, Lee and all the rest of the men who composed that first Continental Congress assembled on the morning of September 7, 1774. The Rev. Mr. Duche Was asked to come and read prayers to the company. He came and after reading Psa. 35 (it was the morning after the cannonade of Boston; how appropriate that Psalm) he read several prayers in the established Episcopal ritual,
“Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man" (Luke 2:52). HE Son of God had emptied.1Jims'el f of His out ward glory to come afmong then.,¡¡Conceived of the Holy Ghost, He entered this world through the same gateway by which all other human beings enter. There is no more difficult subject in theology than that of the development of the human soul of Jesus, though some feel themselves competent to speak very positively about it. In one short verse of Scripture we are permitted to learn that in His youth, at least, Jesus grew in wisdom. This can only mean that His attainment of knowledge at that period of His life, was progressive. He came to know certain things, as we come to know, otherwise how could it be said that He “increased in wis dom” ? In His early years there were mysterious limita tions which were gradually pushed ou t; thus, in His human nature, He became fully acquainted with our experience. We are quite apt to forget that it was during this time of His life that much"of the great work of the Second Adam was done. The growing up through infancy, child hood, youth, manhood, from grace to grace, from holiness to holiness, from knowledge to knowledge, was the foun dation of three active years of ministry consummated by His sacrificial death upon the cross. This constituted “the obedience of one man” by which He could become a perfect Saviour. Let us understand, however, that He came through this period of His earthly life zvithout one polluting touch o f sin. He was the perfect child, the perfect boy, the perfect youth, the perfect flower of manhood. He grew naturally, unfolding all His powers in a completely healthy progress. No stage was abnormally developed. He did not think the thought of a youth when a baby. He did not think as an adult when a youth. “He increased in zvisdom and stature.” He was like the plant which is perfect as a green shoot above the earth : it is all it can be then. Later it is more perfect as adorned with leaves and branches: it is all it can be then. Still later it reaches a fujl perfection when the blossom breaks into flower. He was as perfect as He could be at every stage of His existence. There was no retrogression. The difference between His growth and ours may be illustrated in the work of an inferior artist who arrives at a certain amount of perfection through a series of failures which teach him where he is wrong. By repeated errors qnd corrections, he is able finally to produce a tolerable picture. The work of a man of genius, however, is very different. He has visualized the perfect picture at every stage before he touches a crayon to the canvas. There are his first sketches, but they are perfect and contain the germ of all. The filling in continues, but his work is perfect in its several stages. Such was the development of Christ. It was orderly, faultless, unbroken. Humanity, free from all taint of sin, went forward according to human nature as intended in the purpose of God.—K. L. B.
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then struck out into the following extemporary prayer: “O Lord, our heavenly Father, high and mighty, King of kings and Lord of lords, who dost from Thy throne be hold all the dwellers on earth and reignest with power supreme and uncontrolled over all the kingdoms, empires and governments, look down in mercy, we beseech Thee, on these American States, who have fled to Thee from the rod of the oppressor, and throw themselves on Thy gracious protection, desiring henceforth to be dependent only on Thee; to Thee they have appealed for the righteousness of tl;ieir cause; to Thee do they now look for that countenance and support which Thou alone canst gi?e; take, them there fore, heavenly Father, under Thy nurturing care; give them wisdom in council and valor in the field; defeat the malicious designs of our cruel adversaries; convince them of the unrighteousness of their cause; and if they persist in their sanguinary purpose, oh, let the voice of Thine own unerring justice, sounding in their hearts, constrain them to drop the weapons of war from their unnerved hand in the day of battle! Be Thou present, O God of wisdom, and direct the councils of this honorable assembly; enable them to settle things-on the best and surest foundation that the scene of blood may be speedily closed; that order, harmony and peace may be effectually restored, and truth and justice, religion and piety, prevail and flourish among Thy people. Preserve the health of their bodies and vigor of their minds; shower down on them, and the millions they here represent; such temporal blessings as Thou seest expedient for them in this world, and crown them with everlasting glory in the world to come. All this we ask in the name and through the merits of Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Saviour. Amen.” How different this prayer from the ones offered at many of our political conventions. They are almost meaningless. The Everlasting Racket W E do not wonder that in England a campaign is being started against the plague of noise. Sci entists are awakening to the fact that the racket of our modern world is a problem that must soon be dealt with if the public health is to be safeguarded. The effect of street noises, especially in the large cities, has undoubtedly been to shatter the nerves of strong men and women. Physicians are finding pathetic cases of breakdowns un doubtedly due to industrial noise. Prof. Henry J. Spooner has expressed the situation well. He says we are living in an “age of folly vul garized by an absence of quietude and repose, and noto rious for uncontrolled devastating din that tortured the thinkers, deprived countless invalids and workers of re cuperative sleep, impoverished owners of traffic route properties, increased the overhead costs in modern busi ness, and shortened the lives of countless sufferers.” Undoubtedly this problem is more serious in America than anywhere else on earth. Day and night our city dwellers must hear that roar of racing motors, the honk ing of horns, screeching of brakes, screaming sirens of ambulance and police cars, blowing of whistles, thundering of airplanes overhead, clanging of traffic signals, to say nothing of loud jazz music, from which, if one flees, he is sure to hear from the radios of his jazz-crazy neighbors. These conditions must have an unhealthy spiritual effect. How' can one chime in with the music of heaven when his ears are constantly filled with jarring, discordant sounds ? To be sure, we may have Christian peace in the
midst of the noisiest occupations of life. It is possible to work in a boiler factory and be in harmony with God, yet there must be some relief from the hubbub or the nervous tension becomes such that one cannot be at his best for God. Amid the continual din of our modern life; amid the ever-rushing of throngs with their ambitions and hot con tentions, .it becomes increasingly difficult to realize inner calm of soul and to concentrate our wearied minds upon the things of God and eternity. If you would have a delightful emblem of a heart filled with the peace of, God, go to the margin of some trans parent lake, wlfifee placid bosom reflects the beauty ana loveliness of surrounding nature. Pause there and take in the sweet quietness of God’s out-of-doors. He begins to speak to the soul. Peace has been likened to the still music of the soul, the calm sunset of a summer’s Sabbath. “Study to be quiet,” urged Paul (1 Thess. 4:11). He writes to Timothy of living “a quiet and peaceable life” (1 Tim. 2 :2). We MUST be led in “green pastures” and beside "still waters” before we can be in tune with the minstrelsy of the spheres. It is becoming more and more a problem where to go to find quietness. God grant, not only for the sake of the tingling nerves of tired men and women, but for the sake of mental and spiritual repose, that some way may be found to eliminate much of the noise of our machine age. The problem in volves interrelated factors of a wide range and great importance. —K. L. B. ON’T quote Gamaliel too, much. Some well-meaning Christians are always doing it when some false cult comes along and entraps a lot of underfed Christians. “Leave, them alone,” they say. “If it is of men it will come to naught. If it is of God you can’t overthrow it” .(Acts 5:38-39); Of course we should be very cautious about moving against any religious activity. We should be tolerant to ward those who have been misled, sure of our Scriptural ground and Christlike in refuting false teachers. But—don’t quote Gamaliel. His argument is not altogether true. The fact that a movement languishes does not prove it not to be of God. Beneficent Christian insti tutions, born in prayer, have had to go out of business for lack of support. For the truth’s sake there have been many sacrifices of lives and property. That does not show that they were not of God. Nor is seeming success and continuance a sure sign of God’s approval. Satan’s institutions run at full blast century after century. They are well supported in their faith-wrecking work. Most of the modern cults are pa ganism in a fresh coat of paint. Gamaliel’s argument is a ready handle for those who have no spiritual backbone. Gamaliel’s thought was to shift responsibility. It was his business to find out if the teachings of the apostles were true or false, according to Scripture. If they were in the right, it was up to him to take his stand with them. If tliey were fakers, it was his duty to warn against them. He saw an easy way out by which he would not get in bad with either side. Yet there are preachers and earnest Christians who quote Gamaliel. —K. L. B. Doubtful Doctrine
‘For ever, 0 Lordf Thy Word is settled in heaven?’—Psalm 119 r89.
Statement of Doctrine Bible Institute of Los Angeles T £i
I. ’HE Bible, consisting of all the books of the Old and New Testaments, is the Word of God, a supernaturally given revelation from God Him self, concerning Himself, His being, nature, character, will and purposes and concerning man, his nature, need, duty and destiny. The Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are without error or misstatement in their moral and spiritual teachings and record of historical facts. They are without error or defect of any kind. II. There is one God, eternally existing and manifesting Himself to us in three Persons—Father, Son and Holy Spirit. III. Our Lord Jesus was supernaturally conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of a virgin—Mary, a lineal descendant of David- He lived and taught and wrought mighty works and wohders and signs exactly as is recorded in the four Gospels. He was put to death by crucifixion under Pontius Pilate. God raised from the dead the body that had been nailed to the cross. The Lord Jesus after His crucifixion showed Himself alive to His disciples, appearing unto them by the space of forty days. After this the Lord Jesus' ascended into heaven, and the Father caused Him to sit at His right hand in the heav enly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to Come, and put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him to be Head over all things to the Church. IV. The Lord Jesus, before His incarnation, existed in the form of God, and of His own choice laid aside His divine glory and took upon Himself the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of men. In His pre-existent state, He was with God and was God. He is a divine per son possessed of all the attributes of Deity, and should be worshiped as God by angels and men. “In Him dwelleth all the fulness of the godhead bodily.” All the words that He spoke during His earthly life were the words of God. There is absolutely no error of any kind in them, and by the words of Jesus Christ the words of all other teachers must be tested. V. The Lord Jesus became in every respect a real man, possessed of all the essential characteristics of human nature. VI. By His death upon the cross, the Lord Jesus made a perfect atonement for sin, by which the wrath of God against sinners is appeased and a ground furnished upon which God can de'al in mercy with sinners. He redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse in our
place. He who Himself was absolutely without sin was made to be sin on- our behalf that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. The Lord Jesus is coming again to this earth, personally, bodily, and visibly, The return of our Lord is the blessed hope of the believer, and in it God’s purposes of grace toward mankind will find their consummation, VII, The Holy Spirit is a person, and is ppssessed of all the distinctively divine attributes. He is God. 'VIII. Man was created in the image of God, after His like ness, but the whole human race fell in the fall of the first Adam. All then, until they accept the Lord Jesus as their personal Saviour, are lost, darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, hardened ill heart, morally and spiritually dead through their trespasses and sins. They caqpot see, nor enter the kingdom of God until they are born again of the Holy Spirit. IX. Men are justified on the simple and single ground of the shed blood of Christ and upon the simple and single condition of faith in Him who shed the blood, and are born again by the quickening, renewing, cleansing work of the Holy Spirit, through the instrumentality of the Word of God. X. All those who receive Jesus Christ as their Saviour and their Lord, and who confess Him as such before their fellow men, become children of God and receive eternal life. They become heirs of God and joint-heirs with Jesus Christ. At death their spirits depart to be with Christ in conscious blessedness, -and at the second coming of Christ their bodies shall be raised, and transformed into the like ness of the body of His glory. XI. All those who persistently reject Jesus Christ in the present life shall be raised from the dead and throughout eternity exist in a state of conscious, unutterable, endless torment and anguish. XII. The Church consists o f all those who, in this present dispensation, truly believe on Jesus Christ. It is the body and bride of Christ, which Christ loves and for which He has given Himself up. XIII. There is a personal devil, a being of great cunning and power. “The prince of the power of the air.” “The prince of this world.” “The god of this age.” He can exert vast power only so far as God suffers him to do so. He shall ultimately be cast into the lake of fire and brimstone and shall be tormented day and night forqver.
Every member of the Board of Directors, and every teacher and mission ary, is required to sign this Statement o f Doctrine the first o f every year.
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Recalling an Ausp icious E v en t
nor to compare its prospective buildings with those of like institutions elsewhere. For, however commodious, buildings can not make a Bible Institute, nor even constitute its chief asset. The great, and commercially unappraisable, assets of our Institute are its organization, its teachers, its students, its evangelists, its Bible women, its Fishermen boys, its Lyceum girls, its missions, its. Bible classes, and its faithful praying constituency. These constitute the nuclei from which the Institute, under the continued blessing of our loving Lord, is to
LYMAN STEWART DELIVERING PRESIDENT’S ADDRESS AT LAYING CORNER STONE IN 1913. E HE Bible Institute of Los Angeles is celebrating in this month of February, 1929, the twenty-second anniversary of its founding. The years following its inauspicious beginnings have witnessed the growth of a work world wide in scope. It has ever been devoted to the task of getting the Word of Life to lost humanity. No more significant event in the history of the Insti tute has occurred than the ceremony attending the laying of the corner stone of the present buildings immediately adjoining the Public Library. This occurred on May 31, 1913, with fitting exercises. Mr. Lyman Stewart, who with Rev. T. C. Horton col laborated in bringing the Institute into being, delivered the President’s address at the comer stone laying. In this notable utterance Mr. Stewart outlined with unmistakable clearness the doctrinal basis upon which the Institute would operate. It has seemed appropriate to reproduce the address in this number of T he K ing ’ s B usiness , together with a picture taken at the time of its delivery. These are copied from the issue of July, 1913. T he P resident ’ s A ddress Our Bible Institute, conceived in prayer, founded by faith, and established through sacrifice, has, through the good provi dence of God, come to the third red-letter day in the history of its efforts to provide a permanent home for its several depart ments of service. The first was when it succeeded in securing this ideal location, and the second when formal possession was taken for the Lord by the breaking of ground. We have sought to have buildings planned on a scale some what commensurate with the commercial value of this site, the magnitude of the field, and the probable'future needs of the Institute’s many-sided work. These dormitories, while a neces sary adjunct to the Institute, will also partake of the character of an endowment. The work of construction, however, can pro ceed only as the means for this purpose can be secured; but the phenomenal increase of our population, and the new problems to be solved when the Panama Canal is opened, impose increased responsibilities, and render haste imperative. Our friends, there fore, need to earnestly pray the Lord to send the means to con tinue this work of construction unto completion. While thus seeking to provide for the future needs of the Institute, we trust that none of its friends will yield to the temptation to exploit the possible commercial value of its property,
of bible institute
grow; and these buildings will simply so house these agencies for service as to promote their growth and development, and thereby increase their efficiency. We trust to see the workers in them so greatly multiplied that this entire coast shall feel their beneficent and uplifting influence. It should also be understood that these buildings are not to be a monument to any man, nor to any set of men, but are to forever stand solely for the promulgation of the eternal truths of God’s holy Word. Over its portals, and running across the front of this central building, will stand the inspired declaration, “For ever, O Lord, Thy Word is settled in heaven.” This divinely inspired Word will ever be the source of truth which will inspire all of the Institute’s activities, furnishing from its ex haustless resources, the instruction which is to enable the Institute to send forth Bible workers “furnished completely unto every good work.” Should the Institute ever depart from these truths, or allow any teaching within these buildings contrary to them, then this property is to revert to the donors or to their heirs. As to the donors, allow me to say that it is greatly to be regretted that one of our daily papers yesterday morning, in its notice of this service, through a misapprehension of the facts, referred to Lyman Stewart as “the donor of the building.” This statement does great inj ustice to all the donors, and is also an injury to the Institute, as such statements necessarily tend to prevent the successful financing of this great enterprise. I desire to state most emphatically that I am only one of a number of donors, and that I am not the donor of this or of any of these buildings. For the teaching of the truths for which the Institute stands, its doors are to be open every day in the year, and all people, without reference to race, color, class, creed, or previous con dition, will ever be welcome to its privileges. Like the great apostle to the Gentiles, the Institute in its propaganda will have but one theme,—“Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.” Its teaching, therefore, from the standpoint of this world’s wisdom, will be narrow. It will also be intolerant of error, but will have a love for the souls of men as wide as the world. It will fellowship with, and bid God-speed to, all who love the truth as revealed in the Holy Scriptures. It is inter denominational in its organization and character, and seeks to cooperate with and to assist all churches, Bible training schools, and other organizations which are endeavoring, in obedience to the command of our blessed Lord, to give His “Gospel to every creature.” It will ever be its purpose in such cooperation to have the Gospel, as far as possible, brought to every home in our State. With the Gospel given to all the people, there will be laid
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sure foundation which can never be shaken nor removed. Upon this foundation it has been building and will continue to build, with the inspired assurance that its word shall “abide.” The inscription upon this corner stone, “Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood,” will ever tell to the casual passer-by the sweet, life-giving message of the blood, and remind the believer in Christ of God’s great salvation which His infinite wisdom and love devised and pro vided, as set forth in the wonderful doctrine of the blood,— that “the life * * * is in the blood,” and that “it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul,” “the. precious blood” of our Divinely appointed Substitute, upon Whom “the Lord hath laid * * * the iniquity of us all” ; that “without the shedding of blood there is n6 remission” of sins, and that “God commendeth ' His love toward us, in that, while1we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” This is the foundation' on which we are building, for “other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” Therefore our watchword is and ever will be, “Unto Him that loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, * * * to Him be glory and dominion for ever and ever.” The Institute is still standing firmly on the foundation upon which it was originally established. It will continue to carry on its work of training young men and women in the knowledge of God’s 'Word, for definite soul-saving service, and in fullest cooperation with evangelical churches and other agencies that exalt the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. These institutions are full of textbqoks that ridicule the Christian belief. Think of a book like Parmelee’s “Criminology” urged by a college professor upon the immature minds of our student youth ! On page 109 he says, “It would be difficult to find a more anti-social and immoral religious doctrine than the Christian doctrine of the forgiveness of sins.” Do you remember what Clarence Darrow said when he was defending young Leopold, the brilliant student and dastardly murderer of the Franks boy? He said, “If this boy is to blame, where did he get it? Your Honor, it is hardly fair to hang a nineteen-year-old boy for the philos ophy that was taught him at the university. It does not meet my ideas of justice and fairness to visit upon his head the philosophy that has been taught by university men for twenty-five years.” Is it any wonder in the face of all this that we find ourselves thinking that the church will need a special baptism of wisdom, and a devotion, deeper, it may be, than we have ever known before, if she is to meet the crisis now before her and turn it to account for the glory of God? II. Purpose. I am not an adept with the French lan guage. I have quite enough difficulties with my own. I can perhaps make out as well as the American who had a smashing wreck with his automobile in Paris, and when the French policeman asked him, “Parlez vous Fran çais?” he said, “No, Chevrolet Coupe!” But anyway, the French have an expression that is spelled this way: “Raison d’etre.” It means the reason of a thing, why it exists. Evangelism is the “raison d’etre” of the church. It is just as much the business of the church to win men and women to Christ as it is the business of an auto mobile factory to turn out automobiles. Some one has said, “Evangelize or fossilize.” The church must increase numerically or cease to exist.
the only foundation which can possibly make the prospective great empire of the Pacific Coast permanent. For where the Gospel of the grace of God in Christ is faithfully preached, there the propaganda of hate, selfishness, . and lawlessness cannot dominate the community. Through the transforming power of the Gospel of Christ men are being constantly transferred from that class which is a menace to society, to that which upbuilds and supports it. Permanent g o o d government and civic righteousness are only possible through the faithful preaching and teaching of the Word of God. Enduring work must ever be built “upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner-stone.” The Institute’s missionary work will not be confined to our own coast, but a steady stream of Bible-trained men and women will, with increasing volume, be steadily flowing into the dark places of the earth, carrying the glad tidings of salvation. About seventy-five of its young people have already volunteered for this glorious work, and the vanguard of these invading hosts is even now in South America, Africa and China. It is hoped that in due time our Institute will have branch Bible training schools in all of these countries. For many months we have watched with great interest from day to day the preparations for, and the laying of, these physical foundations. They are laid deep and strong in imperishable cement, strongly reinforced with bars of steel. Humanly speak ing, they should endure as long as the granite mountains which look down upon our city. But the work of our Institute stands upon an infinitely more enduring foundation than that of these buildings, even upon the eternal truth of God’s holy Word,—a HE winning of men and women to Jesus Christ is quite the biggest business in the world. We will have no dispute about this. If it were given heaven to do angels would vie with archangels in hurrying earthward to undertake it. But this is not an angel’s job. It has been given to you and to me, this high privilege, this great honor, this great responsibility. If we should fail, so far as we know God has no other plan. He is depending upon us. As I think of this subject I find three words slipping into my mind with a minimum of mental effort. The words are (1) Problem, (2) Purpose, and (3) Program. I. Problem. The Church is face to face with a new and a trying situation. Of this every thoughtful preacher and honestly observant individual is profoundly convinced. Crime of every sort stalks among us with impudent, defying air. We have about one murder for every hour of the day and night. Social immorality flourishes like a green bay tree and marriage to an alarming extent has become a mere passing indulgence. Freudianism, Psychoanalysis, Free-love and sexual looseness in general have found place in the Uni versity curriculum until the stench of it smells to heaven. Worldliness has bored its way like a putrefying abscess into the very vitals of the Church. The University has become a slaughterhouse of faith. There is no use to wink at the results of Professor James H. Leuba’s Questionnaire. He took 1,000 names out of a book of 5,500 scientists, most of them teachers in our schools, and addressed them personally, and over half of them doubted or denied the existence of a personal God. He wrote to 1,000 students in nine different colleges and his answers prove that an alarming proportion of them after entering college “gradually abandon the cardinal Christian beliefs.”
A Program of Evangelism B y D r . W. E. B iederwolf
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It is all right to point to our magnificent temples of worship that lift their spires above the city’s noise and strife; it is all right to point to the cross-crowned spires of village and country road; it is all right to point with pride to our renowned preachers and confess to an intel ligence and equipment such as the church of no other age has ever known; it is all right to meet in our mammoth conventions and assemblies and congratulate ourselves on our increasing influence in other respects; but we must not forget, the plain, blunt truth that all this may be true and yet I f ’the 'ehurch does not increase numerically she will dwindle and die. I know that the needs of the church are almost myriad, and I know that so multifarious are the demands made upon her that if she were that dragon fly with 1,000 eyes she could not see them all, and if she were Briareus with his hundred arms she could not reach them all. But at the same time there is serious danger lest in trying to grapple with these the church forget the one supreme thing she has been called to do, and in the successful doing of which the ultimate solution of all these other things must come if it ever comes at all. I do not wish nor have I any desire to underestimate the duty of the church to social conditions and civic prob lems, nor do I forget her tremendous task in the edifying of the saints, but we must first have the saints to be edified, and after all is said, the first and fundamental duty of the church is evangelistic!—the winning of the individual to Christ. III. Program!.. The program is to be found, of course, in evangelism—in! an evangelistic ministry. But let us not think that such a ministry is to be expected only from the pulpit. There are three kinds of evangelism about which we are hearing much in these days, and their importance can not be overemphasized. 1. Personal, or Individual Evangelism. This is really the normal sort. Not every Christian can become a great preacher and preach to a great congregation, but every Christian can become a personal worker, an individual evangelist, and perform a mighty ministry for Christ if his heart is set on doing it. Henry Ward Beecher once said, “The longer I live the more confidence I have in those sermons where one man is the minister and one man is the congregation.” .I f every Protestant preacher in our land would win just one soul a month to Christ there would be brought into the church in one year 1,792,644 souls. Instead of this all the ministers and all the 27,000,000 church-mem bers are doing this blessed service for but a little more than 500,000 souls each year. Oh, if only the Spirit of God could stir us , to a sense of our responsibility, and touch us anew with .the enduement of His’mighty power, and send us out to the task which the church must either accomplish or leave to God’s unfailing sufficiency to ac complish in some other way ! And yet we find ourselves wondering if. God has any other plan for the doing of this work. 2. Parental, or Domestic Evangelism. What this na tion needs to learn is that the battle for its redemption, if it is ever redeemed, must be pushed across the threshold of the American home. You might as Well expect flowers to grow under the snows "of the Klondike as to expect a holy character to grow in ‘the midst of the ' environment found in the
average American home today. And this is true to a large extent, of many of our so-called Christian homes. An earnest-fa.ced young man in Paris, Illinois, said to a friend of mine, “Neither my father nor my mother nor my sister have ever said one word to me about God, or about Christ, or about my soul’s need of a Saviour.” And the father was an elder in the church, the mother a teacher, and the sister the superintendent of the primary department in the Sunday school! 3. Parish, or Visitation Evangelism. This is personal evangelism organized, a jgoing in groups of two through out the community with the express purpose of leading others to Christ and into church-membership. It has been much praised and as much criticized. Its chief dan ger lies in bringing people into church-membership who have never really been converted. Sad examples of this are not wanting. We would not disparage an effort of this kind, but it is exceedingly difficult to avoid the danger just mentioned. Say what you will, the average church-member is not fitted to lead others to Jesus Christ. But if people who themselves really know Christ, who are properly trained to do. this work, and who have a passion for the unsaved, can be found to undertake it, how truly wonderful the results of such a campaign would b e ! It is timely just here to call attention to the main pur pose of this article. That purpose is to stress the im portance of two other forms of evangelism because it is in the successful operation of these that all other forms of evangelistic endeavor, such as have been mentioned, find their real inspiration and their real promise of any large degree of success. There can be little hope for much worthwhile effort along evangelistic lines apart from the preached Word of the living God. Nothing can ever take the place of this, and any attempt at substitution here will prove a danger ous experiment. This is the method ordained of God, and God pity the church in so far as she belittles or neglects it, for here is the main source of all inspiration and spiritual passion for the holy task that is hers by divine commission. 1. The first of these is Pastoral Evangelism. This I consider the most important of all, and this too is the greatest need of the times. Paul told Timothy to “stir up the gift” that was within him. And there is more latent evangelistic ability in most ministers than doubt less they have even thought. When Paul said, “Do the work ,of an evangelist,” he was writing to a pastor. And he was not recommending to him that he leave his pulpit for the more public sort of evangelism it has been the writer’s glorious privilege for so many years to enjoy. What Paul meant was that Timothy should stand at the head of his church and see t°. it that every phase of its varied activity was made a ministry of evangelism for the winning of men to Christ-. And what the church needs today, needs sadly, needs more than anything else, is, as the now glorified Dr. A. C. Dixon once put it, “pastors who have an evangelistic con science, pfeach evangelistic sermons, .pursue eyangelistic methods, and magnify evangelistic experiences.” 2. The second and other form is Professional, or Vo cational Evangelism. What mighty spiritual awakenings have been witnessed in other days through this kind of evangelism! Recent years have witnessed a sag in this particular form of evangelistic work. It is of easy explanation.
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Every indication points to a revival of interest in it. The church simply cannot thrive without it. The office of the evangelist is by divine appointment and the church will neglect it at her peril. This kind of evangelism has always been more or less crude, although not a little of it has been remarkably sane and thorough and efficient, and with all that might be said adversely it is still true that it has brought to the church, as any candid investigator will cheerfully admit, a goodly proportion of her numerical increase across the years that have gone. There is absolutely no excuse for the unreasonable prejudice of some pastors who will work to death a hun dred good women at all sorts of questionable entertain ments to raise enough money to buy a pipe-organ to the accompaniment of which a godless choir will sing heathen music in an unknown tongue and call that worship, but will not allow a man to stand in their pulpit who is notedly successful for winning men and women to Christ, because, forsooth, he is an evangelist. The value of this work cannot be overestimated. It is simply tremendous. If I had a child of my own I would want that it should always love its Father in heaven more than its earthlv parent; I would want that no sin should ever stain its life, but could I, in view of what human nature has become, reasonably hope for such a thing? And when by the grace of God the regenerating and trans forming work of the Holy Spirit was to take place in that child’s life I would earnestly pray that he, or any other one dear to me, might experience that change in the midst of a mighty spiritual revival when the church and the whole IER E is probably no name more familiar to us than this name, Palestine. Wherever we live, whether in palace or hut, in city or country, this name is known. Small villages within it of less than one hundred souls are the bywords of every Christian home. Vast audiences, throughout the centuries, have stood spellbound as the words which were first uttered here fell from the lips of evangelists and preachers. Teachings which had their origin here, have rocked, have destroyed, and have rebuilt nations. Yes, and the very world itself has been revolutionized by them. Wrecked lives, floundering about like some rudder less ship, have found harbor and salvation; and others, self-cast upon the refuse heaps of mankind, have shaken off their filth and stench and have lived anew, by the call of One whose feet knew no other land. With these great facts before us, we naturally, in think ing of Palestine, picture to ourselves our own mental inter pretation of that statement, “the land flowing with milk and honey.” We see a land rich and beautiful; we think of the Sea of Galilee as a vast expanse of water, and of the Jordan as a great and beautiful river; we think of Mag- dala as a city of riotous living. But in reality this is by no means the case. Palestine, the land of promise, as it was populated by the twelve ite
community was at an intense spiritual heat, and when out of a broken and a contrite heart, with deep and conscious guilt oppressed, he would come crying, “Just as I am without one plea, But that Thy blood was shed for me; O Lamb of God, I come, I come.” For then I know that God could stamp the image of Christ upon his soul in such a way that it never could be effaced. Brethren, pastors and evangelists, the hour is struck. Let us give ourselves together to the mighty task before us. Let us covet, each one for himself, any gift that will make us wise in winning souls, and let us thank God for that gift in every other man’s experience, and thus as we go out into the field the harvest shall come when he that soweth and he that reapeth shall rejoice together and the Lord will come and rain righteousness upon us. Above all let us not forget that methods are secondary; results are primary. A youhg minister said to an evangelist one night at the close of a successful meeting: “I was glad to see souls saved tonight, but I don’t just like the way you ask them to rise and come forward.” “I don’t either,” replied the evangelist, “how do you do it?” ■ “Well,” said the young minister, “I—I—don’t do it at all.” “Well, then,” said the evangelist, “I like the way I do it better than the way you do it.” tribes after the conquest under Joshua, is in reality, scarcely one hundred and fifty miles long by sixty miles wide; its total area is but nine thousand square miles. Economically, it barely supports itself. Imports, in the past seven years, have exceeded exports, by many million dollars. Palestine today is supported for the most part by pilgrims, tourists, and philanthropists. A great many writers of late, basing their text on that simple statement, “a land flowing with milk and honey,” have taken upon themselves the task of apologizing for Palestine’s present economic poverty. They have fran tically attempted to show that in Biblical times Palestine was a country of great wealth. They have pointed out that Palestine was between the two great nations Egypt and Babylon, and that vast armies and great caravans mov ing between these two nations, must go through Pales tine. In short* that Palestine was selected because of the great natural wealth it at one time had, and because it was a sort of “Panama Canal” between Egypt and Babylon. In searching the Scriptures for statements about Pales tine we find this one simple statement, “the land flowing with milk and honey.” In analyzing the background of this statement, we find that it came out of the wilderness, and that it was the utterance of a people who had in all
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