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STUDIES IN THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS BY DR. JOHN C. PAGE A new and useful study o f this greatest o f all the epistles adapted for individual or class study. It is the imperative need of every believer to know the Epistle to the Romans.—L. S. Chafer. Three Propositions of Interest to Every Reader Proposition No. 1 TW O TR IA L SUBSCRIPTIONS $ 1.00 STUDIES IN THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS By DR. JOHN C. PAGE Proposition No. 2 FOUR TR IAL SUBSCRIPTIONS $ 2.00 Proposition No. 3 TW O TR IA L SUBSCRIPTIONS $1.00 THE GATES OF HADES By W . E. CLARK Dr. J. C. Page
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An Investment in “ B I C L A * * A N N U I T Y B C N U T w ill help you to avoid this tragedy A godly husband had made careful provision for his wife, who, he felt, was not equal to business responsibilities should he be taken. His will carefully provided for the safety of everything possible, including even the payment of a modest weekly sum as current l i v i n g ex penses ; the estate at the wife’s death to go to several fine religious organizations. After the husband’s death, ill advised or godless friends finally succeeded in getting the wife to go to court and try to break the will; after effort and expense this was accom plished. Now the tragedy—so often repeated—the careful provi sion of that loving husband is all lost and scattered, and that widow is absolutely with out property or income and dependent on others; oh, the pity of such cases. This sad outcome c o u l d have been safely avoided if the Life Annuity plan had been adopted. Information as to rates of in come on our thoroughly protected A n n u i t y Bonds gladly given. Address Bible In s t itu te o f Los Angeles 536-558 S o u th H ope S tr e e t Los Angeles, California
Table of Contents
Crumbs from the King’s Table—The Editor........... 5 ...................... 411 God’s Four Hundred—P. W. Philpott, D.D................... :..........-.....413 The Soul of Evangelism—Albert G. Johnson, D.D........................ 415 The Christian’s Victorious Walk—Rev. Arthur B. Harries, B.D. 419 Spiritual Fragrance from the Flowers—Rev. Fred H. Wight......422 How to Love His Appearing—E. Charles Adams............. .....,..... 424 Those Customary Sins—Christopher G. Hazard, D.D.................. 425 The Christian Way—J. E. Conant, D.D............ :..... .....................426 The Gospel Song Movement—Prof. John Bissell Trowbridge... ..427 Commencement at the Bible Institute.............. .................................430 Seed Thoughts from St. Mark—Rev. Wilfred H. Hopkins........... 431 Heart to Heart with Our Young Readers —Florence Nye Whitwell ............................................................434 The Junior King’s Business—Sophie Shaw Meader.................... 437 Homiletical Helps for Preachers and Teachers... .......... ..............439 “To the Jew First”—David L. Cooper......................... :...................440 International Lesson Commentary—David L. Cooper................. 441 Notes on Christian Endeavor—Alan S. Pearce............................. 447 A Book A Month..... | ......................................................................... 450 Our Literature Table.......................................................................... 451 Daily Devotional Readings...................................... ................’..........452
25 c e n ts re d u c tio n on ea c h su b s c rip tio n s e n t to, one o r to s e p a ra te a d d re ss e s a s p re fe rre d . R em ittan ce: S h o u ld be m ad e b y B a n k D ra ft, E x p re s s o r P. O. M oney O rder, p a y a b le to “B ib le I n s titu te of L os A n g e le s.’* R e c e ip ts w ill n o t be s e n t fo r r e g u la r s u b s c rip tio n s , b u t d a te of e x p i r a tio n w ill sh o w p la in ly , e a c h m o n th , on o u tsid e w ra p p e r o r c o v er o f m ag a z in e . M anuscripts: T H E K IN G ’S BU SIN ESS c a n n o t a c c e p t re sp o n s ib ility fo r lo ss or d a m a g e to m a n u s c rip ts s e n t to it fo r c o n s id e ra tio n . Change o f A dd ress: P le a s e se n d b o th old an d n ew a d d re ss e s a t le a s t one m o n th p re v io u s to d a te of d e sire d ch a n g e .
SU B SC R IB ER S ’ IN FO RM A T ION A d v ertisin g : F o r in fo rm a tio n w ith r e fe r- en c e to a d v e r tis in g in THE! K IN G 'S B U S I N E SS a d d re ss th e R e lig io u s P re s s A ssn., 325 N o rth 13th St., P h ila d e lp h ia , P a., or N o rth A m e ric a B ldg., C h icag o , 111. E n te re d a s S econd C lass M a tte r N o v em b e r 17, 1910, a t th e P o s t Office a t L os A n g eles, C a lifo rn ia , u n d e r th e A c t of M a rch 3, 1879. A c c e p ta n c e fo r m a ilin g a t sp e c ia l r a te of p o s ta g e p ro v id ed fo r in S ectio n 1103, A ct of O cto b er 3, 1917, a u th o riz e d O cto b er 1, 1918. T e rm s : $1.25 p e r y e a r. S in g le co p ies 25 c e n ts. F o re ig n C o u n trie s (in c lu d in g C a n a d a ) $1.50 p e r y e a r. C lu b s of 5 o r m o re
PO L ICY AS D E F IN E D BY T H E BOARD O F D IR E C T O R S O F T H E B IB L E IN S T I- T U T E O F LOS A N G E L E S (a ) T o s ta n d fo r th e in fa llib le W o rd o f G od a n d its g r e a t fu n d a m e n ta l tr u th s , (b ) T o s tr e n g th e n th e f a ith o f a ll b e lie v e rs, (c) T o s tir y o u n g m en a n d w om en to fit th e m se lv e s fo r a n d e n g a g e in d efin ite C h ris tia n w o rk , (d ) T o m a k e th e B ib le I n s titu te of L os A n g e le s k n o w n , (e) T o m a g n ify G od o u r F a th e r a n d th e p erso n , w o rk a n d co m in g o f o u r L o rd J e s u s C h rist; a n d to te a c h th e tr a n s f o rm in g p o w e r o f th e H o ly S p irit in o u r p r e s e n t p ra c tic a l life , (f) T o e m p h a siz e in s tro n g , c o n s tru c tiv e m e s sa g e s th e g r e a t fo u n d a tio n s of • C h ris tia n fa ith . 536-558 S. Hope St., BIBLE INSTITUTE OF LOS ANGELES, Los Angeles, California
D r . P. W. P hilpott PASTOR CHURCH OF THE OPEN DOOR, LOS ANGELES COMMENCING OCTOBER FIRST
© r . (¡philpott Qorning to £ o s i Angeles T HE K ing ' s B usiness and the entire Bible Institute staff join with the Church of the Open Door in welcoming Dr. P. W. Philpott to Los Angeles, to the pulpit occupied for so many years by the late Dr. R. A. orrey, who also rendered such conspicuous service as Dean of the Bible Institute of Los Angeles. Dr. Philpott has for the past seven years served the Moody Memorial Church, Chicago, as its pastor. The church which bears the honored name of the late Dwight Lyman Moody has been served by men of outstanding ability in the church of Christ, and its pulpit has been occupied by the intellectual and spiritual giants of the world in past years. Dr. Philpott has been a worthy successor to those who have rendered such signal service in that great center of oldtime evangelism. The prayers of all friends of the truth follow Dr. Philpott as he takes up his new responsibilities on October 1st with the Church of the Open Door, which meets in the Auditorium of the Bible Institute.
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Crumbs from the King’s Table By the Editor
I s a ia h ’s V ision o f God ING UZZIAH was dead and Isaiah, that splen did young statesman in Israel, was worried. Things were going wrong in the nation. The prophet’s heart was stirred for his people. He was a man with a great compassion. With this compassion and a burdened heart he went into the temple of the Lord. That is the only place to go when you have a great compassion and a burdened heart. He went to plead for Israel. “The whole head was sick and the whole heart faint." He was not thinking of him self, but his people. But you must receive a blessing yourself before you can be a channel of blessing to others. And the blessing that Isaiah received that day is what we need for these dark days. Isaiah saw the King. He had thought that the king was dead, but the real King of Israel was not dead. The real King was the One whom Isaiah later on described; the “Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God, Father of Eternity, Prince of Peace.” Uzziah was not of supreme importance in Israel. A mere man is never of supreme importance. You are not absolutely necessary! The world will get along very well without us when we are gone. The King is alive! Isaiah saw an interested King. He was more inter ested in Israel than any of His subjects. It has always seemed difficult for me to remember that it is not my busi ness to carry the ark, or steady it. God has an eternal purpose. He will carry out His own program. We may fail but He will not. Isaiah saw a King of power. When the road is rough and steep an eight-cylinder, 120 horsepower car is most comfortable. Oh, child of God, quit your worrying about present conditions! You are the servant of One who is able. “All power is given to me in heaven and on earth.” You can’t afford to go forth in the energy of the flesh. You can’t afford not to lean hard on the arm of your Lord. Isaiah saw a holy King. How we need that vision of God. “Shall not the judge of all the earth do right?” God’s purposes are holy. Our purposes are mixed. Is it not a wonderful thought that He will keep us from spoil ing His purposes of love and mercy? Great God, our Saviour, give us a new vision of Thyself! I s a ia h ’s Co llapse S ICKNESS and discouragement come to us in our Lord’s work when our eyes are upon ourselves instead of God. We work in the energy of the flesh instead of the energy of the Spirit. When Isaiah received a new vision of his Lord there was a new collapse of Isaiah. There was a confession of sin. He had gone into the Temple to talk about the uncleanness of Israel, and now he is talking about the uncleanness of Isaiah. Many of us are praying for a world-wide revival, but a revival must begin in our own hearts first. When Isaiah confessed his sin, God cleansed him from sin. The cleansing awaits the con
fession. A live coal from off the altar of sacrifice did the work. Then followed the surrender. I am not criticizing the term “the surrendered life,” but I prefer the term, “the yielding life” ; not the “yielded,” but the “yielding.” Isaiah’s response to the goodness of God was, “Here am I, send me.”
— o — A C a ll To Service
AFTER the vision of God and the collapse of Isaiah came the new commission. That is always God’s order,—a vision of God, a collapse of the perpendicular pronoun, then service. Do not reverse the divine order. I never read the book of Job without a smile. He said to his three friends, “I wish I could get an audience with the Almighty. I would tell Him what a good man I am.” He had his speech all carefully written out. He knew just what he would say if he could get the ear of God. And then God appeared to Job, and Job forgot his speech! He could not remember a sentence of that wonderful speech, and he went on his face in the dust. It was when Job was on his face that God said to Job’s friends, “Go and have Job offer sacrifice for you.” One day after Israel had crossed the Jordan and they were camped over against Jericho, Joshua saw a man whom he perhaps thought was a stranger inside the lines. Now Joshua had taken Moses’ place. If I had taken Moses’ place I would have been a nuisance to all my friends for many months. As I would meet them I would say, “Did you know I took Moses’ place?” Joshua was human and was perhaps affected in the same way. He said to the stranger, “Are you for us or against us?” And the stranger said, “A s the captain of the Lord’s host am I come out to you.” Joshua had thought he was captain, but when he got a vision of God he fell on his face. It was while Joshua was on his face that the Angel of the Covenant told him how to take Jericho. Do you remember that afternoon when Peter sang that abominable hymn, “Surely the Captain May Depend on Me” ? He had said, “Though all men deny thee, I will ,not deny thee, Lord.” It was only a short time after that when standing among the enemies of his Lord he denied Him with curses on his lips. Then he started out of the judgment hall as his eyes caught a sight of his Lord. He received a new vision of God. How the Holy Spirit did use Peter on the day of Pentecost! There was a vision of God, a collapse of Peter, then- service. Do not sing, “Surely the Captain may depend on me.” Better sing, “Oh to be nothing, only to lie at His feet.” A G od -G iven M essage G O tell this people . . . ” The message God gave to Isaiah was not a debate. It was not an oration. It was not an essay. It was not Isaiah’s message. It was God’s message. It was from above. Sometimes we preach ers “get up” a sermon. The sermons we get-up do not
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amount to anything. It is the message we get from above, all prepared, that God honors. Isaiah’s message was a message of coming judgment, a message of love and a message of hope. Lord, renew my commission today! T h e Two A dam s A CLEAR understanding of the Bible involves a knowledge of its teaching concerning the two Adams. Around the two Adams gathers the whole system of di vine truth. The first Adam, who fell in the Garden of Eden, was head and representative of the race, and in his fall'in volved the race in the sentence pronounced upon him. The last Adam, Jesus Christ, is the Head and Representative of a saved race, which is involved in His obedience, His death, and His life. In order to get out of the first Adam into the last Adam, “ye must be born again.” You are born again when you believe on the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. T h e F irst A dam I. Six things are clearly taught in the Scriptures con cerning the fall of Adam : 1. He involved the race in the sentence of death. Gen. 2:17. Rom. 5:12-14. 2. He involved the race in the loss of the divine nature. Rom. 2:5; 3:10-18. 3. He involved the race in the loss of fellowship with God. Gen. 3 :8-9. (The Bible pictures the lost in every century as being out of fellowship with God.) , 4. He involved the race in the loss of fellowship with each other. Gen. 3:12; 4:8. (There were no family troubles before the fall.)
5. He involved the race in the lost rulership of the earth. Gen. 1 :28; Psa. 8 :6. 6. Through his fall all creation lost its harmony. Gen. 3:18-19; Rom. 8:19-22. T h e L ast A dam II. Six things are clearly taught in the Scriptures con cerning “the last Adam ” 1. In Jesus Christ the believer is delivered from the sentence of death. 1 Cor. 15:22; John 3:16; Col. 3:13; Rom. 5:15-21. 2. In Jesus Christ the divine nature is restored. 2 Pet. 1 :3-4. 3. In Jesus Christ the believer is brought into fel lowship with God. Rom. 5:1-2; 1 John 1:3; Eph. 2:18; 3:12; Gen. 4:1-4. 4. In Jesus Christ there is a way to perfect fellow ship of man with his fellows. Isa. 2:1-4; Micah 4:1-4; 1 John 1:7. 5. In Jesus Christ provision has been made for the righteous rulership of the earth. Isa. 9:6-7; 1 Cor. 15:25 ; Rev. 5:10; 11:15; Dan. 2:44-45; 7 :27. He is coming back! 6. Through Jesus Christ provision is made for cre ation’s lost harmony. Rom. 8:18-23; Isa. 11: 6-9; 55:12-13. “Jesus Christ was manifested that He might destroy the works o f the devil” (1 John 3 :8). If Jesus Christ was “the last Adam,” logic would com pel us to expect Him to take away the sentence, restore the divine nature, restore fellowship with God and our fellow men, restore lost order, and creation to its harmony. He shall not fail!
A Taught Tongue B y W illiam L u f f , London, England
“And Moses said unto the Lord, O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant: but I am slow o f speech, and o f a slow tongue. And the Lord said unto him, Who hath made man’s mouth? or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? have not I the Lord? Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say” (Exod. 4:10-12).
And we so often need our Teacher’s skill, Not only when we make our public speech; But in the daily talking, when the will Lets loose the bridle, then, good Master, teach. There are great seasons in our little lives, When what we say determines what we do ; Then be Thou near, when madly, evil strives To burst its bonds, and mar our quiet, too. There are important times when we advise Our fellow men.- Lord, give us Thine advice, For Thou canst make the foolish strangely wise, And send Thy wisdom down in mortal guise. We are not taught of God when we emit The sparks of peevish fretfulness and fire; Words, little words, that have big mischiefs lit, And kindled conflagrations of hot ire.
God does not teach us when our selfish lips Demand that all within the homestead door Attend our whims; when from our tongues there slips The word that wounds where we gave love before. God does not teach us when our tongues run wild And talk of folly, or when we repeat Unkind remarks, or are by stealth beguiled, To slander friends whom we have chanced to meet. Lord, I would claim the promise of Thy grace, And at all times, all hours of every day, In company, alone, in every place, Teach me what Thou wouldst have my lips to say.
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God’s Four Hundred B y P . W. P h ilpott , D.D. (For several years pastor Moody Memorial Church, Chicago, III.; commencing October 1, pastor Church of the Open Door, Los Angeles, Calif.)
“David therefore departed thence, and escaped to the cave Adullam; and when his brethren and all his father’s house heard it, they went down thither to him. And every one that was in distress and every one that was in debt, and every one that was discontented gathered themselves unto him; and he became a captain over them; and there were with him about four hundred men." “And David went out to meet them, and answered and said unto them: I f ye be come peaceably unto me to help me, mine heart shall be knit unto you; but if ye come to betray me to mine enemies, seeing there is no wrong in mine hands, the God of our fathers look thereon, and rebuke it. Then the spirit came upon Amasai, who was chief of the captains, and he said: Thine we are, David, and on thy side, thou son of Jesse; peace, peace be unto thee, and peace be to thine helpers; for thy God helpeth thee. Then David received them, and made them captains of the band. “All these men of war, that could keep rank,' came with a perfect heart to Hebron, to make David king over all Israel; and all the rest also of Israel were of one heart to make David king.”—! Sam. 22:1, 2; 1 Chron. 12:17, 18, 38. OU will know that when David was anointed king over all Israel he did not at once possess the throne. While Saul continued to reign, David spent the first nine years after his anoint ing with his court at the cave Adullam, during which time he was despised, rejected, and de nied that which God had given him. There was a second stage to his kingdom. At the end of those nine years he was crowned at Hebron and he reigned there, over the tribe of Judah alone, while the Jebusites held Jebus (now known as Jerusalem) for seven and a half years. Finally, however, the city was stormed and captured, and David began to reign at Jerusalem, the acknowledged king of all the tribes of Israel. It was during the period of his rejection—those first nine years—-that the four hundred men mentioned in our text gathered about him; men who were in “distress,” in “debt,” and “discontented.” He received them and became captain over them. In time they shared the great glory of David and ruled with him during all his years of triumph. Throughout the story of their achievements they are on various occasions referred to as “valiant men,” “mighty men,” and “men o f valor.” But it is well for us to note that these -distinctions did not come to them because of their own prowess. It was their association with David, their relation to him, that inspired them to do the noble and the honorable thing. It was their fidelity to David that exalted them and eventually brought them the reward that was theirs. Christ on one occasion, looking at a little company of men who were almost as destitute and discontented as those that came to David, called, saying, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers o f men.” That is, I will MAKE you; I will make the most possible of you. As you read the life stories of those men you see how literally the promise was fulfilled. They were known .by the scholars of their day as unlearned and ignorant men. Yet they came into the very front rank of greatness and have been classed among the world’s mightiest from that day to this.
“I am what I am by the grace o f God.” Paul, who made the statement, was a scholar, a keen thinker, an outr standing leader, before he ever met Christ. But I honestly believe that we would never have heard of Paul if he had not had a vision one day on the way to Damascus, and there declared his allegiance to Jesus Christ. Paul’s great ness was his God. Studying the characteristics of these Four Hundred, we find a story of grace, full of hopefulness for every one of us, and especially for those who feel beaten and de feated in the struggle. This is a story of courage! This is a story of hope! S orrow M akes U s K in First of all they were driven to David by the instinct o f common sorrow. It was their suffering, and failure, and sin that brought them to him. And it was David’s sorrow and the persecution through which he was passing that made it possible for him to appreciate their need and give them practical solace. “A fellow feeling makes one wonderfully kind.” One of the most profound explanations of the incar nation is found in the book of Hebrews. The writer tells us that Jesus was made a partaker of flesh and blood, not simply that He might die and make atonement, but also that He might be able to sympathize with the children of men. He was “made perfect through suffering.” “For verily He took not on Him the nature of angels; but He took on Him the seed o f Abraham. Wherefore in all things it behooved Him to be made like unto His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. For in that He Himself hath suffered being tempted, He is able to succour them that are tempted.” While He is Very God of Very God, we must remember that He is also the Son of man. In this title He delighted. Eighty times it is applied to Him in the Gos pels. If He were but God (and I speak reverently), then any suffering that He might pass through would mean nothing to me. But He was tempted in all points as we are, sin apart, that He might be touched with the feelings of our infirmities. He suffered, being,tempted, that He might be able to succor them that are tempted. In Jesus, our precious Lord, we have—as these poor dejected men had in David—one who understands us, who is acquainted with our heartaches, who appreciates our weariness, who knows all about sorrow, suffering, loneliness and disap pointment. He passed through these experiences that He might sympathize, not sentimentally but experimentally. Is it a struggle to obtain bread and butter, money to pay the rent, to clothe the children, to exist ? I know it isn’t so with many of us. But there are others who do not have enough to live on. Are you poor? For your sake Christ became poor! He was rich. Yonder in the eternity of God He laid aside the crown of glory, and down to our level He came, with no. place on earth to lay His head. He did it that we, through His poverty, might be made rich. The thought is not that we might gain honor and material wealth, but that He might enrich us with His presence and practical sympathy. Oh, how rich you are
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“Nobody’s.” “Oh.” There was a pause. “Have you anybody to recommend you ? When boys come here we sometimes have preachers or friends recommend them. Have you anybody to speak for you?” “No, there isn’t anybody that will say anything for me.” After waiting a moment, he stepped forward quickly, waved his arm and said, as if by sudden inspiration : “If these here rags won’t recommend me to your home, nothing will!” If you come in rags, with your shame and sin, God’s great pent-up love will flow out to you like an ocean. And He will receive you. A n H onest H eart The men who came to David were sincere. He said to them: “I f ye come to me peaceably to help me, then my heart will be knit to you. But if ye come to betray me to mine enemies, then the God o f our fathers will avenge me.” It matters not how low a man or woman may be, if underneath the degradation and the sin there is an honest heart and a sincere desire to trust and follow Jesus Christ, He will lift that one and make a king or a priest of him as David did his poor men. Jesus tells us in one of His parables that the seed of the Word must have an honest heart. You may have no reputation, like these people and others we might mention from the gospels: Mary Magda lene, out of whom He cast seven demons; the thief on the cross, whose feet were in the very flames of hell. But they were sincere. They looked to Jesus and the transforma tion took place. “But if ye come to betray me, then will God avenge me,” David said. There was no spike driven into Christ’s flesh by a Roman soldier, no thorn among those that pressed His brow, that hurt Him so much as the betrayal of one of His own. I think David was speaking of that in prophecy when he said, “Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat o f my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me.” There are some who come to us professing to be friends while they are in reality angling for bait, some thing they can use against us. May the God of our fa thers avenge His children who suffer at the hands of such. There was a Judas among the Twelve. There was an Ananias in the early church. Paul suffered much at the hands of one Alexander, a coppersmith, and Demas, who forsook him for the love of the world. In his day every flock of sheep had some goats in it. But in the churches today we have not only goats, but sometimes wolves. We are told that as we near the end of the age, wolves in sheep’s clothing will infest the flock. These sincere men said, “David, we have come to thee peaceably. Thine we are, and thine we will be.” Read their history and you will see that there was no sacrifice too great to make for the king whom they so loved. T he C ourage , of F a ith They were brave men. They could handle both the shield and the buckler. There is a thrilling story of how they reached David. When they came to the Jordan it was flood-tide. They found an army of foes on the east bank and another on the west. But, nothing daunted, they brushed their enemies aside, forded the river, and went to David through foe and flood. My friend, let me say this: To follow Jesus Christ requires more than abstract faith. It calls for courage. The trouble with most Christians today is that they have no backbone. They are negatives. The world makes an
All Mine! All His! B y G eorge H all
All mine: what wondrous truth is this That God could give Himself to me; Not what He hath, alone, but what He IS, For He and I are one eternally. All mine: the mysteries of God, And in this trysting place so sweet . He woos my heart, and captivates my soul, And heaven and earth kiss at His nail-scarred feet. All His: how bless’d it is to know That in reciprocation sweet, All that I have and am, I humbly pour With sweet abandon at His blessed feet. All His: there are no limits to His love; The length, the breadth, the depth, the height: And He — ah! He will lead me safely there Till, robed in depths of everlasting light, I cry—A L L H IS ! when you have a friend who understands, who feels, who makes your sorrow His sorrow. And Jesus does! O utside T he C amp In the cave Adullam, David, during the time of his rejection, received the weary, the sad, and the sinful. Even so Christ, that He might save the people, suffered outside the city, and He calls: " Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn o f Me; for I am meek and lozvly in heart; and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For My yoke is easy, and M y burden is light.” Let us, there fore, go unto Him, without the camp, bearing His re proach. God’s provisions for humanity are always for the needy. The Bible has nothing to offer to the self-satisfied, to the self-righteous, to the self-sufficient. If you are good enough, you are outside the pale of God’s provision and promise. He has sight for the blind. He has bread for the hungry. He has life for the dead. “ I have not come,” He declares, “to call the righteous, but sinners to repen tance.” Furthermore, “the whole need not a physician, but they that are sick. The Son of man is come to seek and save that which is lost.” I was reading a story some time ago in connection with the work of Dr. Barnardo, that truly great man who took the place of a father to so many stray boys in London. During fifty years of ministry he gathered together eighty thousand neglected children and made it possible for them to become Christian men and women, if they so desired. On one occasion the doctor and a friend stood in front of one of the great Barnardo homes. Up came a little boy, just a few rags hanging on him. Timidly he looked into the great man’s face and asked, “Are you Dr. Barnardo?” “Yes,” came the reply. “Well, could you take a fellow in, give him a home and something to eat and wear?” “Whose boy are you ?”
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front of a store. He was a perfect beauty. Dr. Beecher could not resist the desire to stroke his nose and run his hands over his back and legs. As he was walking about him, the owner, filled with pride, stepped out and said: “What do you think of that horse, Dr. Beecher ?” “I don’t think I ever saw a more perfect animal,” replied the preacher. “Well,” the owner went on, “the best of it is, that horse will do anything in the world that you could expect a horse to do. You can ride him. He will go double or single. In fact, there is nothing a horse can do that he is not willing to do.” “Oh,” said Dr. Beecher with a sigh, “I wonder if there is any chance of having him join my church?” The doctor could appreciate men and women who are willing to do anything, however small, for the cause of Jesus Christ. O ne S upreme O bjective These Four Hundred men were dominated by an all- absorbing purpose. They were of one heart to make David king. This was their passion and to reach their goal they were ready to do or to die. David must be king! Long before he was recognized as ruler of all the land, these men had given him the throne room of their hearts. You and I are not going to get very far in crowning Christ King in the world until He is Sovereign in our own lives. This is our privilege, and this is His right. We sing of a time beyond the grave when with a sacred throng we shall crown Him Lord of all. But it is now that we should own Him, not only as Saviour but as Lord.
appeal to them and it makes an impression upon them, but they never make an imprint on the world/ “Add to your faith courage. Be strong and of good courage.” There is a warfare to accomplish. No man ever attempted to stand for God that did not meet with opposition. In deed, in Christian service I have come to look upon opposition as the badge of God’s approval. A ll T h ings T o A ll M en They were “all around” men. They could use both their right hands and their left. (Some folk can’t use either! It is a great thing when one can use both.) In a recent stereopticon lecture a missionary showed a picture of a school in Africa that he had built with his own hands. We saw him making the bricks and teaching those black men to build. “I know of no other place in the world,” he said, “that calls out all the talents a man has as does the mission field.” There, it is more than preaching and singing that is required. One must stand upon the common level with the people and work with them. It seems to me that conditions in Chicago are loudly calling for the same adaptability. Do you know what is the matter with many of us? Why, we are too dignified! We have too much prestige to take care of. We are too concerned about our own glory and not enough about God’s. An amusing story, but not without point, is told of Dr. Henry Ward Beecher. He was a great lover of horses. One morning while walking down the street in Brooklyn, his attention, was attracted to a horse tied in f EW Testament evangelism is the life principle of the Church. Its presence is the springtime of life. Its absence means spiritual death. Nothing can take the place of evangelism in the Church. It is its supreme business. Chris tian education is the complement of New Testament evangelism. Both are inseparably connected. Their relative value from the standpoint of importance in the Christian ministry is somewhat difficult to determine. They mutually excel each other. It is positively criminal to bring a human life into existence, and fail to nourish and cultivate that life. Chris tian education is the nourishing and building process of the new-born soul. The New Testament usage of certain words is suggestive in this relation: “milk o f the word,” “strong meat,” “grow in grace,” and “the nurture and admonition o f the Lord.” Christian education is a process operating on the whole personality and touching every department of life. Evangelism is the life principle. With out it there is nothing to build up or nourish. Christian education is a pruning of the branches, a tending of the fruit. Evangelism is the life-producing agency. There can be no flowers nor fruit without life. It is obviously the height of folly to prune the branches, and tend the fruits at the expense of the life principle. Yet is there
ate ate ate
The Soul of Evange lism B y A lbert G. J ohnson , D.D. (In the “Watchman Examiner”)
not a danger of this very thing? Logically therefore we conclude -that evangelism must take precedence. Evan gelism in its initial place calls us to the root of the matter in the Christian system. Amid the silent mystery of human life, in the presence of the mystery of the life of God in the soul, standing with Nicodemus, Israel’s master of old, we say, “How can these things be?” To hear anew the words of Jesus, “Marvel not”; “The wind blow- eth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh or whither it goeth; so is every one that is born o f the S p i r i t It is not my pur pose in this message to discuss types or methods of evan gelism. Rather I purpose to set forth briefly what I might call “the soul of evangelism,” a consideration of certain essential principles that in themselves constitute an environment or spiritual atmosphere fundamental to New Testament evangelism. The first of these is confi dence in a Book. A n U n shak en B ible The history of evangelism is the history of the study of the Bible. One of the surest ways of producing a wholesome evangelism in our churches is to make much of the Bible in the home, the pulpit and Bible school. The Bible is the message of the evangel. Mr. Wells, in his
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“Outlines of History,” has missed the mark. He frankly admits that we owe to the Bible practically everything worth while in our modern civilization, but continues: “The Bible has lost its grip on us.” Then he suggests a rather ludicrous thing in the compilation of a new Bible. On Mr. Wells’s own argument I would suggest the strong possibility that we have lost our grip on the Bible, rather than that the Bible has lost its grip upon us. I repeat, we must have an unshaken confidence in the authority and message of the Bible. I have yet to hear of a spiritual life-producing ministry that is not based on the Bible. It is a significant fact that whenever our churches are seeking the services of an evangelist they select men who strongly believe in the authority and message of the Bible. This type of man is the only successful evangelist. If the authority of the Bible is discredited, what shall we do? What authority will you adduce t o 'vindicate a supreme authority ? Who will deny the strong tendency today towards a lost consciousness of the God of the Bible and the uni verse, in His retributive justice punishing the wicked, in His remunerative justice rewarding the righteous? As a consequence there is a declining sense of sin and a loss of moral fiber. The message of the Bible fits right into the needs of our age, if we have but wisdom to apply it. Let us preach the holiness of God, His righteousness and justice, as well as His love and mercy. One of our suc cessful business men, who travels this country up and down, who has attended hundreds of churches and listened to many hundreds of sermons, a man of balanced and fair judgments, in a recent Bible class discussion said: “I very rarely hear a sermon that would disturb a man living in sin.” The too common assertion that the tender, faith ful, and solemn presentation of the divinely revealed retri butions of sin is an attempt to “scare people into religion” is utterly preposterous. As ambassadors of the Lord Christ, it is our bounden duty to “declare the whole coun sel of God,” and we have no right to conceal or belittle any great revealed truth. We must have an unshaken con fidence in a book—the Bible, the central message of which is evangelism. A C onscious D ependence on a S upernatural P ower The work of evangelism is a supernatural task. The psychology of religious education cannot adequately ex plain the operations of the Holy Spirit of God on the hearts and minds of mankind. "He that is spiritual dis- cerneth all things, but he himself is discerned -of no man.” There is ap evangelistic activity which, I fear, is but human activity, and cannot possibly rise higher than the efficiency of natural causes—an over emphasis of organ ization. Do not misunderstand me. Organization is both necessary and essential, but organization is not power. The Holy Spirit of God is the generator of the divine life of the soul. When I was an apprentice to engineering { made a small steam engine. It took me months to con struct it. I also secured an electric dynamo, and fitted up a small workshop fully equipped with electric light fix tures and model machinery. I recall so well the day when, with the steam pressure on the boiler, I opened the throttle that allows the steam to flow from the boiler to the engine. To my disappointment the engine would not run. All I could hear was the hissing of the escaping steam. The slide valve on the engine was not set right. That polished and beautiful engine was organization, though faulty at heart and consequently powerless. I had the faulty valve set right and again opened the steam
throttle. That engine became the vehicle through which the power- was transmitted, converting it into mechanical use. We are but vehicles of God’s power. Our Lord be queathed to us the gentle, awful, Holy Ghost—“ Fg shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you, and ye shall be witnesses of me.” The need of the Church today is not more machinery, nor better; not new organization; surely, not any more novel methods. What the Church needs is men whom the Holy Spirit can use. He does not come upon machinery and methods, but men. We need a conscious dependence on the power of God’s Holy Spirit as ministers, and Sunday-school teachers, and Christian workers. A nother B aptism — S oul P assion One may practice law with a measure of success, and not necessarily have a passion for it. The same might be true of medicine or other professions. But real evan gelism is born of soul passion. I recall the incident of our Lord when He looked upon the multitude. He had com passion, as the Word indicates. He suffered with them, had a fellow feeling with the multitude. In these days when much of our preaching and religious writing is a magnifying of subordinate truths, when the primary message of God is in danger of not having its rightful place, remember that He was a compassionate Lord. “Thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins.” “I came,” said He, "to seek and to save that which was lost.” In these days when we are constantly reminded to follow the example of Jesus, re member that He wept over the spiritual and moral desti tution of mankind. He who would be most like Jesus must be like Him in spiritual passion for the lost. I am tempted to call the roll of those who through the centuries have been mighty and controlling forces in the world of religion and morals. I know this—they were men and women of soul passion. Moses cried: "Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their sin; and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written.” Hear once more the weeping prophet Jeremiah: "Oh, that my head were waters and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain o f the daughter of my people!” Do we know of a travail for the lost equal to that of Paul, who could affirm: "I say the truth in Christ, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit, that I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart; for I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ, for my■brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh”f See again the Saviour weeping over Jerusalem. I recently read with much profit the life of David Brainerd, whose work and name have gone into history. He was no ordinary man. He was the peer of the wise and gifted, eminently fitted to fill the most attractive pul pits. The refined and cultured of his day were anxious to secure him for their minister. President Jonathan Ed wards bears testimony that Brainerd was a young man of distinguished talents, had extraordinary knowledge of men and things, had rare conversational powers, excelled in his knowledge of theology, and was truly, for one so young, an extraordinary preacher, and especially gifted in all matters relating to experimental religion. His man ner in prayer was almost inimitable. His learning was very considerable, and he had extraordinary gifts for the pulpit. Alone in the savage wilds of America, an insidious disease in his bones, his only access to the Indians a bungling pagan interpreter—you know the story. The
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Indians were changed from their besotments into devout, intelligent Christians. Brainerd was animated with love to Christ, and passion for the souls of men. Who knows an engrossment in the Master’s service like that of Brainerd, who could say of himself: “I cared not where, or how I lived, or what hardships I went through, so I could but gain souls to Christ. While I was asleep, I dreamed of these things; and when I awakened, the first thing I thought of was this great work” ? There is a holy contagion in a life controlled by such a passion. Of the Sainted Fenelon, it was said: “No man could be in his presence two hours without desiring to be a Chris tian.” Of Arnot it is recorded that “his preaching was good, his writing better, but his life best of all.” Few men won more souls to Jesus Christ in his day than did Richard Baxter. Of him, his biographer says: “Baxter would set the world on fire while another was lighting a match.” “He preached as though he would never preach again, as a dying man to dying men.” These men believed that society was lost and needed to be saved —not merely sunken to be merely raised. I have known Christian ministers and workers who have had this soul passion, and lost it—a sight, methinks, that makes angels weep. It was at the close of an address before a ministers’ meeting. One of the ministers came'forward and asked the chairman if he had time to listen to a story. “Cer tainly,” he replied, “tell it.” I can give only in brief what he told. “Many years ago,” he said, “there came into our home a bundle of heaven in the form of a big, wholesome, healthy baby boy-; there was no evidence that he was not in perfect health; but when he was about three years old a subtle disease fastened itself upon him ; all that the family doctor cotild do availed nothing. Then he suggested a consultation with a specialist; we followed instructions faithfully; the specialist was baffled; he could do nothing more than the family physician. We brought our baby home and watched him grow thinner and paler every day. One day when the physician was present, he reached for the baby’s pulse and it was gone, he listened for the heart beat and it was not there; then the baby’s eyelids fluttered,' his eyes grew glassy, and the little chin dropped. ‘The baby is dead,’ said the doctor as kindly as he could. Any parent can imagine the stab of that hour. But,” said the minister, “I could not give him up. I called to my wife, to bring the warm blankets. I tore open my clothing; I lifted the limp form of my baby and, put him over my heart; my wife wrapped us. in the blankets. I held my baby there nine hours.” For a few seconds the min ister’s lips quivered and he said, “My baby is now twenty- three years old. a senior in college, and is doing a wonder ful work for Christ.” I stood aghast as I looked at him. His boy had been saved by a glowing heart. A R enewed D evotion to a - S piritual E xercise —P rayer , Prayer is as essential to evangelism as air to the lungs. Charles Spurgeon, “who, being dead, yet speaketh,” says: “Of course, the preacher is, above all others, distinguished as a man of prayer. He prays as an ordinary Christian, else Ije is a hypocrite. He prays more than ordinary Chris tians, else he were disqualified for the office he has under taken. If you become lax in secret devotion, not only will you need to be pitied, but your people also; and the day cometh in which you shall be ashamed and con founded. All our libraries and studies are mere empti ness compared with our closets.”
Pity! B y H enry G uise *
Tossed in the turmoil of unchecked passion, The soul lies writhing, yet often sighs — “Oh, for a friend who can feel compassion Who with my strivings will sympathize!” While, ’mid the mountains of molten fire, God’s hosts are waiting with quiz/ring wings, To change the object of our desire, And breathe a longing for better things. Only a moan from a young life squandered! A piercing cry from a pit of sin. . However distant the child has wandered, However black may his past have been. Such prayer has reached the Almighty power, And wrung with pity a Father’s heart; Life from the dead has begun that hour-^ ' Life, like a well, that can life impart. Grant me, great God, Thy intense compassion E’en for the man who has gone astray, Since he is one whom Thy hands did fashion — Made—half o f iron—and half of-clay. '•'Copyright by author. The evangelistic movement that gave birth to the Church of Jesus Christ was born in prayer. “These dll continued with one accord in prayer and supplication” (Acts 1:14). “And suddenly there came a sound from heaz'en as o f a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting” (Acts 2 :2). And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness” (Acts 4:31). As in apostolic days, so in post-apostolic times every real evangelistic' movement, with the resultant spiritual awakening in the history of the church, has been the result of prayer. There never has been a real spiritual awak ening without prayer. They have differed in other re spects, but all are alike in th is: they began in prayer. “The Great Awakening” of the eighteenth century began with Jonathan Edwards’s famous “Call to Prayer.” Both the Wesley and Whitefield revivals were characterized by days and nights of prayer. Again I am tempted to call the roll of the noble wor thies whose names adorn history. Payson wore grooves where his knees pressed so often and long. Listen to David Brainerd: “I love to be alone in my cottage, where I can spend much time in prayer.” William Bramwell, famous in Methodist annals, almost lived on his knees; he went over his circuits like a flame of fire. The fire was kindled by the time he spent in prayer. He often spent four hours in a single season of prayer in retirement. Bishop Andrews spent the greatest part of five hours every day in prayer and devotion. Sir Henry Havelock always spent the first two hours alone with God. If the encampment was to be struck at six, he would rise at four o’clock. Dr. Judson’s success is attributed to his prayer life: “Arrange thy affairs, if possible, so that thou canst
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