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November 1929
T h e
K i n g ' s
B u s i n e s s
Jewry and that the Jewish Mission will prove to be the most inviting and fruitful field in the future. Furthermore, it is a well-known fact that the days of the ghetto aré past; that the Jew, in his close contact with his Christian neighbor, has had forced upon him Chris tian ideas and ideals; and that there has arisen in the hearts of ' Jewish laymen throughout the world an earnest desire to ascertain what are the historical facts concerning the life, teachings, claims, and death of Jesus of Nazareth. That this is a correct estimate of the present situation in Jewry, is evident from the fact that the movement to reorganize the Jewish Sanhedrin for the purpose of reviewing the life of Jesus in an impartial and righteous manner, has met with a hearty response throughout Jewry. This open- mindedness and desire to learn whether Jesus of Nazareth was and is the Jewish Messiah, constitutes God’s CHALLENGE to the Church of Christ to use its powers —spiritual, intellectual, financial, etc.-—to enter this field which is now white unto the harvest. III. E fforts of th e J ew ish D epart ment of th e B ible I nstitute to M eet T h is R esponsibility . Since 1914, when the Department was first organized, it has been endeavoring to do what it could to meet this grave re sponsibility. Its object is twofold: To train students to give the Gospel to the Jew in the most effective and least offen sive manner, and to bring as many Jews as possible to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. With this twofold object in view, it engages in various activities,' Among these may be mentioned the work at the “Community House.” For approximately eighteen months, with the exception of the vacation season, a definite evangelistic program has been carried on among the Jewish children. Last year it was im possible to continue the work which iri former years was carried on regularly ampng Hebrew Christian mothers, but it is the 'earnest desire of the Department to resume this very important phase of the, work. A. new work has just been started among the non-believing Jewish women. It promises to be most help ful in breaking down prejudice and in reaching Jewish families which could not otherwise be-reached. Other phases of -work are contemplated which, under God, it is hoped, will be the means of reaching many souls. House-to-ho-use .visitation, has proved most effective. Students, together with workers, engage in this work and thus are afforded an opportunity to distribute Gospel literature and to present the claims of Christ to these lost sheep of the house of Israel. As opportunity affords, lantern lectures are given in Jewish homes. Slides illustrative of Biblical scenes aré used and lectures on the Scriptures are given. This has proven one of the most, if riot the most, effective method of reaching the Jew. Many of them will attend a meeting in a private home, who under no consideration would be seén in a church or public meeting. Semi-monthly meetings are held at the Institute to which both Jews and Gentiles are invited; Biblical themes are discussed and Hebrew Christians are invited to testify as to what Jesus Christ means to them. These meetings have proved a great blessing in the past.
The Responsibility of th e Church A T ONE of the post-resurrection ap- pearances of our Lord to His disciples on a mountain in Galilee, Jesus gave the world-wide commission which was re corded in Matt. 28:18-20, ‘‘And Jesus came to them and spake unto them, saying, All authority hath been given unto me in heaven and on earth. Go ye therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit; teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world." Every race, tribe, and nation is included in this world-wide commission. Church history shows that during the entire Chris tian age, some of the most, heroic efforts have been made by godly, consecrated, self-sacrificing missionaries td give the Gospel to the various nations of earth. No congregation of believers or individual Christian can be in the center of God’s will and not do their utmost to- advance the cause of the spread of the Gospel through out the world. I. T h e G ospel to be G iven , to the J ew F irst . “For I am not ashamed of the gospel: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For therein is revealed a righteousness of God from faith unto faith: as it is written, But the righteous shall live by faith” (Rom. 1:16, 17). This passage is Paul’s thesis which he develops in a most masterly way,- as a careful study of the Roman letter shows. Notwithstanding the fact that Paul was the apostle to the Gentiles (Acts 22:21; Gal. 2:8), he felt the burden of giving the Gospel to the Jew first. There are two rival interpretations of the statement, “to the Jew first.” One is that the Church in the beginning of the dispensation first preached the Gospel to the Jew and gave him a full opportunity to accept it. 'When this work had been finished, and the Jew had finally rejected Jesus, God was through with him. He is now to be ignored while the Gospel is preached unto all: nations. To confirm this interpretation Acts 15:13, 14 is quoted —God is now “visiting the Gentiles to take out of them a people for his name.” The other interpretation does not look upon the expression “first” in the temporal sense, but as an expression defining the priority of responsibility in the preaching of the Gospel. In order to confirm this interpretation, Paul’s entire missionary activity, as described in Acts 13-28, is given as proof. It is an undeniable fact that although he was the apostle to the Gentiles, he invariably preached the Gospel to the Jew first. Having first evangelized his own people, he next went to the Gen tiles. Such was his program throughout his entire ministry. Since he practiced what he preached, and gave the Gospel to the Jew first in every place, it is logical to believe that that is what he meant in Rom. 1:16.
Rom. 2 :9, 10 confirms this interpretation. In these verses Paul speaks of God’s met ing out punishment to the wicked, and rewards to His faithful saints. In con cluding this line ol thought he affirms that Christ will act thus, “to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek,” It does not seem possible that the word “first” can signify time, but rather responsibility and obligation. That the expression “first,” as used in this passage with reference to future punish ments and rewards, has the significance of responsibility, is confirmed by Isa. 40:2, where God says that Jerusalem has been punished “double” for her sins. There fore, it is argued that Rom. 1:16 means that the obligation of the Church through out the ages is first to evangelize the Jews. After weighing the evidence for the two interpretations given above, the writer can not resist the conviction that the second is the only correct and possible interpreta tion. Therefore, he believes that Christ laid the great responsibility upon the Church to put Jewish evangelization first on its program—first in prayer, first on the budget, first in missionary zeal and activity, etc. Has the Church fulfilled this obligation through the centuries? History answers in the negative. If in every age the Gospel should be preached to Americans, to the Chinese, to the Hindus, it should be preached also to the Jews. During the dark weary centuries lying between the fall of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. and the middle of the last century, little or no effort was made by professing Christendom to preach the Gospel to the Jew. Instead of trying to win him to Christ through kindness and love, the professing Christian world showed, in most instances, hatred an<). antagonism. Not until comparatively recent decades has any consistent effort been made to- meet this great obligation which Christ laid upon His Church. It is with gratitude, however, that one sur veys the missionary efforts of the Church today and sees that a great awakening has come over the evangelistic bodies that now are endeavoring to discharge their duty to the neglected Jew. Since he has been neglected during the centuries, greater is the urgency that special efforts should be put forth now in these closing days of the dispensation to preach the Gospel in the power of the Spirit of God to all Jewry. II. T h e H our has C ome for J ew ish E vangelization . On account of the many pogroms which have burst forth upon the Jew through the centuries, and which continue to the pres ent day, the Jew has been forced to “steel” himself against all Christian influence. Most of this persecution has been brought upon him in the name of the Church and Christ. Notwithstanding these lamentable facts, the Jew is amenable to the Gospel today as never before. It is the testimony of Jewish missionaries throughout the world that a new era has dawned for
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