VOL III
OCTOBER 1912
NO. 10
T IS a favorite habit of a prisoner to criticise his judge: and the chief fault that the heart of man has to find with the Bible is that it holds the mirror to his own sinful state.
"Instead of criticising the Book we should remember the remarkable Greek word used in the Epistle to the Hebrews, that the Word of God is the Kritikos. _ In other words, the Bible comes as our critic—not that we can ever set up ourselves in criticism of it—and until we have that attitude of soul towards the Holy Scriptures, I do not think we are in the right attitude. . . . I have no doubt as to the Bible standing all the stress and strain that have been put upon it. God's Word is vindicating itself every day more than ever, as containing the one vital message needed by mankind."—Dr. Henry Montgomery, of Belfast.
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MOTTO: "I the Lord do keep it. I will water it every moment lest any hurt it, I will keep it night and day."—Is.27: 3 THE KING'S BUSINESS J . H. SAMMIS, T . C . HORTON, J. H. HUNTER, Associate Editors Entered as Sècond-Class matter November 17, 1910, at the postoffice at Los Angeles, California; Under the Act of March 3, 1879 j Organof THE BIBLE INSTITUTE OF LOS ANGELES,(Inc.) 260-264 South Main St. (Second Floor) Los Angeles, California Table of Contents Bible Mosaic — - - . ¿ • - - - r ' ' " . • " Studies in the Gospel of John - - - Personal Evangelism - - - - - • Father's Hand in the Dark ; - - An Interesting Incident - - The Hope of Israel, with Scripture Texts. - ' The Law: Its Scope end Purpose - , Notes by the Way, Bible Briefs, etc. - - The Offence of the Cross - - The Dedicated Life - - - - Dr. R. A. Torrey T. C. Horton J. H. Hunter R. C. Lewis L. H. Jamison Robertson Nicoli T. H. McConkey
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D I R E C T ORS
• Rev. A. B. PHchard, Vice-Pres
Lyman Stewart, President
J. M. Irvine, Secretary-Treas. S. I. Merrill Giles Kellogg
T. C. Horton, Superintendent gflf A. K. Hackett R. A. Torrey
W. 15. Blackstone H. A. Getz Robert Watchorn
Do c t r i n al S t a t eme nt We hold to the Historic Faith of the Church as expressed in the Common Creed of Evangelical Christendom and including: The Trinity of the Godhead. The Deity of the Christ.
The Maintenance of Good Works. The Second Coming of Christ. The Immortality of the Soul. The Resurrection of the Body. The Life Everlasting of Believers. The Endless Punishment of the Im- penitent. The Reality and Personality of Satan. WO RK (4) Spanish Mission. Meetings every night. (5) Shop Work. Regular Services in shops and Factories. (6) Jewish Evangelism. Personal work and neighborhood classes. (8) Oil Fields. A mission to men on the oil fields. (9) Books and Tracts. Sale and distri- bution of selected books and tracts. among the Hebrews. (7) Bible Women. House-to-house
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The Personality of the Holy Ghost. The Supernatural and Plenary author- ity of the Holy Scriptures. The Unity in Diversity of the Church, which is the Body and Bride of Christ. The Substitutionary Atonement... The Necessity of the New Birth. OUR The Institute trains, free of cost, accredited men andwo- : men, in the knowledge and use of the Bible. (1) The Institute Classes held daily ex- cept Saturdays and Sundays. (2) Extension work. Classes and cor> ferences held in neighboring cities and towns. (3) Evangelistic. Meetings conducted by our evangelists. Purpose: Departments:
DOCTOR TORRE Y SAY S EVERY CHRISTIAN Should Own These BEST BOOKS Known as the MONTROSE LIBRARY
No. 1—HOW TO BRING MEN TO CHRIST (121 pages), by Dr. R. A. Torrey. A book regarded for years as a standard work on dealing with individuals of all classes. No. 2—THE DIVINE UNITY OF THE SCRIPTURES (304 pages), by Dr. Adolph Saphir. It is a g r e at religious classic No. 3—CHRIST AND THE SCRIP- TURES (142 pages), by Dr. Adolph Saphir. A companion work to Dr Saphir's "The Divine Unitv of the Scriptures." No. 4 ^ THE HIDDEN LIFE (291 pages), by Dr. Adolph Saphir. One of the most helpful books in English literature. No. 5—THE WONDERS OF PROPH- ECY (231 pages), by John Urquhart. A valuable introduction to the study of prophecy. No. 6—THE LORD FROM HEAVEN (134 pages), by Sir Robert Anderson, K. C. B., LL. D. A great contribution to current discussions on the deity of — . „ on
No. 7—THE GOSPEL AND ITS MINISTRY (183 pages), by Sir Rob- ert Anderson, K. C. B., LL. D. This is a standard work on the fundamental truths of Christianity. No. 8.—A DOUBTER'S DOUBTS ABOUT SCIENCE AND RELIGION (144 pages), by Sir Robert Anderson, K. . B., LL. D. This book discusses the divine origin of the Bible, Evolu- tion, and kindred themes. No. 9—THE GROWING CHURCH (130 pages), by Rev. leland B. Mc- Afee, D.D. A study of the Epistle to the Ephesians by a most gifted min- ister in the Presbyterian Church. No. 10—THE HIGHER CRITICISM AND THE NEW THEOLOGY (250 pages). Edited by Dr. R. A. Torrey. A book containing contributions from most gifted, scholarly, and evangelical men in England and America. No. 11—"SATAN" (163 pages), by Lewis S. Chafer. This is the most thorough biblical study on Satan with which we are acquainted.
Jesus Christ.
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God's Testimony Against Man 3 P we say that we have not sinned we' deceive ourselves, and 1 Jno. i : 8. H U the truth is not in us; if we say that we have no sin we 1 Jno. 1: 10. make Him a liar, and His word is not in us; for all have R o g.go ^ sinned and come short of the glory of God, for whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of ; all. For He that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. There is not a just man on earth that doeth good and j a . 2:10, 11. -V?) sinneth not; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. All we r 0 . 3:10, 12. | H like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to hi3 i s . 53 :6.' own way; because the carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the Law of God, neither indeed can be; for we r 0 3.7, know that the Law of God is spiritual. Man looketh on the out- R o ' I .f w a r d appearance, but the Lord looketh on t h e ' h e a r t. The heart a ' is deceitful and desperately wicked, for from within, out of the l b a m - l b : 7 - heart of man proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, J e - 1 7 : 9 - murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness, all these evil things. Mk 7-21-23 (And) all things are naked and open unto the eyes of Him with . whom we have to do. % Now we know that whatsoever things the Law saith, it saith H b - 4 : 1 2 - to them who are under the Law: that every mouth may be » stopped, and all the world become guilty before God. Therefore, Ro 3 19 2 0 by the deeds of the Law there shall no flesh be justified in His ; p, sight: for by the Law is the knowledge of sin. Ro. 3:22. S » U C H i s t h e w i t n e s s of God as to the standing of men before His Holy Law. Not that no man ever feels a noble im- pulse, or does a noble deed. Not that there is no difference of moral feeling and conduct comparing man with man; but that judged by God's standard, which can be nothing less than per- v f ection, all men fall short of it. Now ultimately men must be V judged not by their differences but by their likeness. There are ¿iijfc» black, mulatto, and white negroes in the South, but all have the taint of negro blood. The progeny of the whitest may at any >* t i m e revert to the original black. Socially they are ostracised. The taint is moral in the sinner's case, who, however exemplary ^ in conduct, is liable at any time to break into appalling sin, from which he might at other times shrink aghast, crying, "Is thy 2< Kgs 8 : 12 , 13. y servant a dog, that he should do this thing?" The innate disposi- tion of man is the seat of sin, and, hence, the source of sins. pfV . But, however this may be, God's word condemns all men, without exception, and so do their consciences, concluding them under sin." Nor can it help the criminal in the box to contra- dict the Judge upon the bench. His hope is a plea for mercy And mercy is offered to, nay urged upon men. "The quality of mercy is not strained"; it is freely tendered. "By faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is (here as there) no difference. The one damning sin is unbelief Jesus said, "Because they believe not on Me." Therefore "Be- J n ' 16:18-11. lieve on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved"; "though A c . 16:31. thy sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow." Isa. 1:18. J. H. S. ^
Studies in the Gospel According to John D ^ w t - 1 By R. A. Torrey, D.D. J NTRODUCTORY Notes. We are to begin at the beginning of the Gospel and go to the end. We shall not at- tack. But each attack has only served to bring into clearer light the certainty that John did write this gospel. The critics have exhausted their armory and yet have been unable to discover one vulnerable point. Why they should wish to discredit the' gospel is plain enough for (to use the words of Canon Liddon) "it is the most conspicuous attestation of our Lord's Godhead."
tempt to bring out everything in the Gospel. That would be impossible, for this book above every book in the Bible is an exhaustless mine in which are hidden the inexhaustible treasures of the wisdom and knowledge of God. I have read the Gospel of John in Qreek and English and , German more fre- quently than I have read any other book in the Bible. I have pondered its words as I have pondered those of no other book. I have studied more German, English and Swiss Commentaries upon this book than any other book, and yet to this day I take up the teaching of the book with fear and trembling. 1 tremble lest I omit much that I ought to see and bring others to see. The Author. The book beyond a reas- onable or candid doubt was written by John, the beloved disciple, the younger son of Zebedee and Salome. «tSalome, his mother, was in all probability the sister of Mary, the mother of our Lord. (Cf. Matt. 28:55, 56, with John 19:25), and thus John was a first cousin of Jesus. This fact throws light on numerous in- cidents recorded not only by John but by the synoptists as well. It was never seriously questioned until the close of the 18th century that John the apostle was the author of the Fourth Gospel. In 380 A. D., Epiphanius writes that there was a very small party who ascribed it to Cerinthus, a heretical teacher who lived in Ephesus at the same time that John did, and whom John sternly opposed. This obscure party had no reason for ascribing it to Cernithus except that they themselves did not like its teachings. In recent years the ra- tionalistic school and deniers of the deity of the Lord Jesus have sought to discredit this book with a persistence and laboriousness and ingenuity that they have displayed in attacking the integrity of no other book. Time and again they have been completely over- whelmed and maintained a measure of sulky silence, but only until they had regained their breath for another at-
Both the external and internal evi- dences that John wrote the book are conclusive and decisive. It is not our purpose here to go into them exhaust- ively. That is unnecessary. It has been done by many and to do it again would be to thresh out old straw. But to put the case very briefly and inadequately. 1. External evidence. Ireneus un- questionably accepted the book as a gen- uine work of the Apostle John. But Ireneus in early life was in intimate contact with Polycarp (born 70 A. D.) who was a disciple of John himself. So intimate was Ireneus' acquaintance with Polycarp that he wrote in 177 A. D. "I can describe the very places in which the blessed Polycarp used to sit when he discoursed, and his goings out and his comings in, and his manner of life and his personal appearance, and the discourses which he held before the peo- ple, and how he would describe his intercourse with John and with the rest who had seen the Lord, and how he would relate his words. And whatso- ever things he had heard from them about the Lord and about his miracles, Polycarp, as having received them from eye witnesses of the life of the Word, would relate altogether in accordance with the scriptures." It is impossible that Ireneus could have received this gospel as being written by John, as he unquestionably did if it had not been acknowledged by his teacher, Polycarp, who had been himself a disciple of John Justin Martyr about the middle of the second century refers frequently to ".Memoirs" composed by the apostles and applies to them the name of "Gos- pels." That he refers to the four gos- pels which we have in our Bible is evi- dent from the fact that almost all thç
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facts concerning Christ's life which he mentions in about 200 passages scattered here and there through his writings are found in one of the four gospels which we possess, and the seven explicit quota- tions which he makes from the "Mem- oirs" are to be found in our gospels. Furthermore, in 170 A. D., Tatian, a disciple of Justin Martyr drew up a harmony of the four gospels, which must have been the "Memoirs" to which his teacher referred. In a fragment of ancient manuscript (called the Muritor- ian fragment) assigned by scholars to 170 A. D., the gospels of Luke and John are mentioned as third and fourth. It is furthermore certain that in 185 A. D. the four gospels which we now possess were circulated in all parts of Christendom, in thousands of copies anú were read at the weekly gatherings of Christians for worship. Going back to much earlier times Valentinus (145 A. D.), though a heret- ical teacher, borrowed his favorite phrases from the opening verses of the Gospel of John and still earlier (125 A. D.) another heretical teacher, Ba- silides specially quotes John's gospel. As far as the external evidence goes it may be safely said that no book of an- cient or modern times is better attested than this. All the evidence is for its genuineness; there is nothing on the other side. But the internal evidence is if possible more conclusive. 2. Internal Evidence. (1) The fa- miliarity of the author of the fourth Gospel with Jewish opinions; the fact that the Old Testament was certainly the source of the religious life of the writer; t h e ' f u r t h er fact that the vocabu- lary, the structure of the sentence, "the symmetry and numerical symbolism of the composition" are Hebraic: all prove conclusively that the author was a Jew. (2) It is also clear that the author was a Palestine Jew of the first century. No Gentile and no Jew of the dispersion or living long after the destruction of Jeru- salem "could have realized as the Evan- gelist has done with vivid unerring ac- curacy the relation of parties and inter- ests which ceased to exist after the fall of Jerusalem" (Westcett). The local knowledge displayed in many places, es- pecially the minute knowledge of Jeru- salem as it was before the year 70 A. D., proves the author to have been a Pales- tinian Jew. The desolation of Jerusa- lem after it fell before Titus was so complete that no genius of the second century, no matter how able and gifted could have reconstructed from the ma- terial then available the lost site. Furth-
ermore, the quotations from the Old Testament show that the writer was not dependent on the LiXX, but was ac- quainted with the original Hebrew. (3) It is clear from a careful and minute study of the Gospel that the writer was an eye witness of many of the scenes which' he describes. The story of an eye witness always differs from that of a mere reporter of what he has heard from others. The marks of the eye witness abound in the Gospel of John (see the writer's lecture on the Internal Evidence for the Resurrection of Christ in his "The Bible and Its Christ.") (4) It is clear that the author was an apostle. ' Some of the scenes which he describes and describes as only an eye witness could (ch. 1:19-24; ch. 4; ch. 6; chps. 7, 9, 11) are scenes that only one of the apostles could have witnessed and described in just this way. He also displays the most intimate knowledge of the feelings of the apostles, such knowledge as only one of the apostles could have possessed. He knows what their thoughts were at the most critical moments (2:11; 17:22; 4:27; ^6:19; 60, etc.; 12:16; 13:22, 28, 21:12). He recalls their words spoken among themselves (4:33; 16:17; 22:25; 21:3, 5). (5) Of all the apostles there is but one that he could have been, John. The book has never been ascribed to any other apostle. The name of John, the Apostle, never appears in the gospel, John the Baptist is always called simply John without the addition of "the bap- tist" as in the three other gospels (John thus sinking himself out of sight more completely), there is only one explicit mention of either John or his brother James in the Gospel and then they are referred to simply as "the sons of Zebi- dee." The position asbigned to them in the list of disciples is much lower than that usual in other Gospels. Salome, John's mother, is nowhere mentioned but in 19:25, and then not by name. The author must have been John or his brother, James, but James.died 44 A. D. (Acts 12:2), and the Gospel could not have been written before the destruc- tion of Jerusalem (A. D. 70). If the Gospel was not written by John, it was written by some one who wished to pass as John. But if some one else than John wrote the book and was trying to palm himself off as John he would have said right out that John was the author and never invented so subtle a -method of making it appear that he was John. Furthermore, if it was not written by John but by one who was masquerading as John, the
John apparently had a further pur- pose in t he gospel, namely, to supple- ment what Matthew, Mark and Luke had written in their gospels and to cor- rect some false impressions that some might have received from them. There is a tradition that John wrote the gos- pel "on the entreaty and with the sub- sequent approval of the Apostle Andrew and other leading members of the church, in order to supplement the teaching of the three gospels already published, and to counteract errors which were beguiling some from the simplicity of the faith." This tradition is not of much value, but the gospel ia certainly supplementary in its charac- ter. This accounts for omissions in ii as well as for what is related. Rarely do we find in the Fourth Gospel any- thing that has been related in the other three. John relates no miracle performed by Jesus that is related by the other three except that of the feed- ing of the five thousand and that is told for a certain purpose, viz., to introduce a discourse which none of the three relates. On the other hand, John re- lates six miracles that no one of the three mention. The Fourth Gospel is entirely independent of the other three, but it presupposes, confirms and sup- plements them. Our conception of Jesus would be utterly incomplete and inadequate without the Fourth Gospel. Where written. The tradition is that this gospel was written in Ephesus and the character of the gospel fits the tra- dition. Its references seem to point to Ephesus. Ephesus was the great meet- ing place of Oriental mysticism on the one hand and Greek philosophy on the other, and the character of the gospel is eminently adapted to meet the needs of such an environment. It also pecu- liarly adapts to the needs of the present days when mysticism, occultism and philosophy are joining in an unholy alli- ance. 1 Character of the Gospel. It is a book with a very clearly defined purpose (Jno. 20:31), a purpose which domi- nates the whole book. The three syn- optic gospels give us the impression that they had n6 other object in view than simply to' tell the words and acts of Jesus as the authors recalled them, but everything in John is written with the absorbing purpose that men might come to know Him as the "Christ, the Son of God," and thus obtain what the apostle had himself already obtained-— eternal life. This leads the apostle, be- fore telling the acts and words, to sum- marize the meaning of them in the
book is a brand of the most impossible ingenious character from beginning to end, and no true child of God who has ever deeply studied this book and felt its matchless power can for one moment believe it to be fraudulent. The External and Internal Evidence converge to one point and prove to a practical demonstration that John is the author of this gospel. The one who in this day attacks or questions the Johan- nine authorship- of the Fourth Gospel does not discredit the gospel, he dis- credits himself. Anyone who denies that John wrote this gospel is an unsafe teacher—he reveals either a lack of re- search or a lack of fairness and candor. But after all, John is not the real author of thé book. The Holy Spirit is the real author. He guided John in the selection of his material, what he should record and what he should omit. He guided in the choice of words in which the events were told. He brought to John's remembrance the exact words Jesus had spoken (Jno. 14:26). He inspired John's interpre- tation of the meaning of Jesus Christ's manifestation. Time.—The gospel was written not earlier than 85 A. D., and some com- petent scholars place it after 95 A. D. Purpose.—The principal purpose for which the gospel was'written John him- self defines. It was written that men might be brought through reading it to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and through believing they might obtain eternal life (Jno. 20:31). This purpose has been accomplished in the lives of countless men and women in all the centuries since it was writ- ten. This gospel is the one book to put in the hands of the honest sceptic, ag- nostic, Unitarian or any sincere seeker after truth. No man can surrender his will to God to do God's will as God may show it to him, and then ask God to show him whether Jesus Christ is His Son or not, with the promise to ac- cept Jesus as his own Saviour and Lord and confess Him as such before the world if you Shall show it to him, and then read this gospel through slowly, carefully, and thoughtfully, having asked God to show him what of truth there is in the verses he is about to read and having promised God to take his stand upon what He shows him to be true, without coming to the con- clusion before he finishes the gospel that "Jesus is the Christ, the Son ©f God." I have tried this with all classes of sceptics in many lands and with one uniform result.
^ opening verses of the book (ch. 1:1-18). "It séts forth the inner meaning of all Christ did and said instead of merely relating the outward events. Clement , of Alexandria, • toward the end of the second century, wrote that John, "feel- ing that the things pertaining to the body had been sufficiently declared in the previous gospels, at the request of *• his friends and under the inspiration of the Spirit, wrote a spiritual gospel." McClymont characterizes it as "the spiritual gospel." Because of its pur- pose, the doctrinal element in the gospel predominates over the narrative ele- ment. It is a doctrinal and theological ; gospel rather than a merely historical gospel. History there is, history of '*' transcendent importance, and rigidly accurate history, but always history with a purpose. It is like modern his- tory, history written with the philoso- ^ phy of history always in view. "It represents Christ's person and work not , with special reference to the Past or t he Present or the Future, but generally with reference to Eternity, in which Past, Present, and Future are alike in- cluded." (McClymont.) As it is the latest of the gospels, it is also the ripest and most perfect. It is "the gospel of gospels. It is the conclusion, the com- pletion, -and the crown of the gospels. It j^i is the most remarkable as well as the most important book ever written." Lesson 8. HERE is. such a thing as Passion for Souls. We know Paul the apostle had it, we know that some of the missionaries like Brainard and Judson had it, but we do not have it. Why not? We know that there is but little of it in the church. Why is 1r this? It would be well for us in our lesson for today to stop and ask our- y selves the question, Why do I have no passion for souls? Listen to these words by Dr. John Balcom Shaw: "Oh, my friend, when I see George Whitefield standing on the stairway of the house at Newburyport with the can- dle in his hand, preaching to the multi- tude that had gathered on the lawn until long after midnight, almost until the breaking of the new day made the light of the candle no longer necessary; when I find Charles G. Finney asking ill Personal 'V
(Van Doren.) While the Bible is the book of books, the gospel of John is the book of all books in the Bible. "It is a voice of thunder, and yet more love bewitching and elevating in its influence • than all the harmonies of music." (Chrysostum.) "The most important part of the New Testament." (Lessing.) "Eternal, child-like, Christmas joys possess John's soul." (Schleiermacher.) "It possesses a peculiar charm to which there is no parallel." (Tholuck.) "The diamond among the gospels, which re- flects the glory of the godhead, even in the crown of thorns." (Lange.) "A river deep enough for an elephant to swim, with shallows where a lamb may wade." (Owen.) "There is both in the vocabulary and in the form of the sen- tences a surprising simplicity, which becomes majestic by the solemn direct- ness." (Westcott.) "It is the gospel of the world, resolving reason into intui- tion, and faith into sight." (Westcott.) "It reveals the soul of Christ; the others seek rather to describe his body." (Cal- vin.) "It is the unique, tender, gen- uine, leading gospel." (Luther.) "It pours forth the water of life John him- self had drunk from the bosom of Jesus in secret." (Augustine.) "It can be comprehended only by those who lean upon the bosom of Jesus, and there im- bibe the spirit of John." (Origen.) (To be continued) his hostess to let him sleep that night in the barn, rather than in a comfort- able bed in the house, and spending the whole night until daybreak on his knees in the hay-mow, praying for power with sinners; when I see D. L. Moody back in the great Hippodrome meetings, 1 anxious to get through with the larger service, though addressing five thousand souls, that he might go yonder into a little ante-room to deal personally in- dividually, with men; and when I take up the biography of George Macgregor, who was such a benediction to many of us at Northfield, and to many others over in Keswick, and, turning to the chapter entitled "Passion for Souls," read the remarkable statement made by his cousin, that there was probably not a moment of the day when a passion for Evangelism Horton
By T. C.
He said, in Luke 16 :17: "It is easi- j for heaven and earth to pass th^n on j tittle of the law to fail. Again He says in John 10:35: "The! Scripture cannot be broken." In Hisl last prayer, speaking of Judas, in J o h n! 17:12, He says, "That the Scriptures! might be fulfilled." When He hung upon the cross the I; soldiers gambled for His clothes, " T h a t! the Scriptures might be fulfilled." Jno. I 19:24. He said, "I thirst" " t h at t h e ! Scriptures might be fulfilled." Jno. I 19:28. When they failed to break his bones I as they did the bones of the two thieves, I it was that the Scripture might be ful- I filled. Jno. 19:36. He was pierced in order that the I Scripture might be fulfilled. Jno. 19: 1 37. It is perfectly clear from these pas- j sages that the Lord Jesus believed the Scriptures of the Old Testament to b< the Word of God. He also promised inspiration to His followers, Jno. 16: 13-15, and Peter testifies to it. 1 Pet. 1:21. Few people deny that the Gospels are the Word of God. They a re almost uni- versally accepted. The Lord promised that the Apostles should speak by in- spiration. Matt. 10:19-20; Mark 13: 13; Luke 12:11-12. On the day of Pentecost they spake by inspiration, Acts 2:4. Paul spake by inspiration. 1 Cor. 2:12, 13-lf Thess. 2:13. Petfer testifies to Paul's inspiration, 2 Pet. 3:15-16, and Paul tells us that "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God," 2 Tim. 3:16. Those who a re Christians also know the Scriptures are the Word of God because they have put the promises of the Scripture to test and have found t;hem to be absolutely true. Take, for example, Isa. 26:3 and Psa. 23:1.
souls did not present itself consciously and irresistibly to the heart of the man, I think I know what Is the matter with me, and what perhaps is the matter with you. Until we get a like passion for souls, we will call out to God and- Heaven will mock us." Pray daily that God will grant you a passion for the lost. Pray definitely, be willing to make whatever sacrifice is needed that this may be accomplished in your life. Dealing with Those Who Doubt or Deny the Word of God When you find a person who says, "I do not believe the Bible," "The Bible is full of errors," commence by asking a few questions. Have you ever read the Bible? It would be unfair for one to say that they did not believe a book which they had never read. Ask them to name the contradictions- and hand your Bible to them so that they may point them out. Tell them that the Bible claims to be the Word of God, and if they say it is not, they ought to be able to prove it and ask them to please do so. Nine times out of ten you will have routed the objection. Now for a few simple, practical proofs that the Bible is the Word of God. The Son of God when here on earth had in His hands the same Old Testa- ment Scriptures that we have, and He accepted those Scriptures as the Word of God and set His seal to that fact. The Jews divided the Old Testament into three divisions, the law of Moses, the Psalms, and the Prophets. In Luke 24:44 Jesus says: "All things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and in the Prophets and in t he Psalms concerning me." In Matt. 5:17, '18, He says, "Think not that I am come to destroy the law (Moses) or the Prophets. Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass till all be fulfilled."
Father's Hand in the Dark John H. Hunter
matter. To my astonishment he burst into a fit of weeping, and it was some time before he could control himself sufficiently to talk. Meanwhile, I sat silently lifting up my heart to God for the right message and power to de- liver it. When he could trust himself to speak, he told me he had not been in a church for forty years until about a
HIS gentleman wants to know about the baptism with the Holy V ^ Spirit, and I «think you can help him better than I can." So said one of our younger workers at the close of a Sunday afternoon address, as he intro- duced Mr. M to me.. I invited the gentleman to sit down, and then asked him a question or two to find out why he was interested 1 in the (t\
life." We dwelt on this until it was plain, using John 3 :18 to emphasize the fact that salvation now depends upon our acceptance of Christ. Satisfied that my aged friend realized what Christ had done for him, I asked him if he was ready to kneel down and tell God he believed His word, that he now ac- cepted Christ as his substitute Saviour, surrendered his life to Him as his Lord, and that he knew, on the authority of God's word, that he had eternal life. After he had done this, and I had fol- lowed him in prayer, I said, "Now, let us see about the witness of the Spirit," and turning to Romans 8:15, we read: "For ye have not received the spirit oT bondage again to fear; but ye have re- ceived the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father." I pointed out to him the changed attitude of the be- liever to God—no longer at enmity against Him, deliberately and wilfully disobeying Him, no longer afraid of Him and wishing to keep away from Him; but lovingly striving to do His will, longing to be with Him, and hoping to hear Him say, "Well, done, good and faithful servant." For a minute Mr. M looked at me silently, and then a smile broke over his face as he said, "I have just thought of something that is like the witness of the Spirit. When I came to Montana first, I built the best house I could for my wife, little daughter and myself. It was only a log house, and had only two rooms a living room and a sleeping room. My little girl's bed was close to my side of our bed, and sometimes in the dark the little one would awaken and begin to cry for me. Then I used to reach over and get her hand in mine, and her little heart was comforted, and she would quiet down and go to sleep again. I haven't thought of that for thirty years, but it seems to me that the witness of the Spirit is just feeling Father's hand in the dark." Now, that may make a theologian smile, but the tears in the smiling, con- tented face, so different from the trou- bled face I had looked into a quarter of an hour before, convinced me that my old friend had found his Father's hand. Reader, have you?
year ago, and then he had been so con- ' victed of sin that he had to get up and leave in the middle of the service. This conviction had remained with him all the year, and had increased, until now he was afraid there was scarcely any hope of his being saved at all. After_ he had Unburdened his heart, and calmed down a little, a question disclosed the fact that what he wanted was-, in his own phrase, "the witness of the Spirit." Opening my Bible, I turned to Ephe- sians 1:13, and said: "Let us see what one must do to receive the witness of the Spirit." As the light was too dim for him to read, I read slowly: "In whom ye also trusted, after that ye lieard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also after that ye believed, y e' were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise." "Now," said I, "that is what you want." He said it was. "Then, let us see just how these people in Ephesus were sealed with the Holy Spirit. The verse tells us that they trusted in Christ, but before they could trust in Him they had to hear about Him. So, first of all, before they became Christians they heard the gos- pel; then they believed the gospel a;nd trusted in Christ; then a f t er they be- lieved they were sealed with the Holy Spirit. Did they believe because they were sealed, or were they sealed because they believd?" "Why," said Mr. M——," thy be- lieved first and then they were sealed." "Quite right," said I. "A man is not saved until he believes in Christ, and so the Holy Spirit cannot witness that he is saved when it is not yet true. Now, Mr. M—j—, what have you been wanting the Holy Spirit to do?" "Oh," said he, "I see it all now." "Very well. Let us go back a bit now, and see what Christ has done and what you are to believe." - Finding Isaiah 53:6, we went over it, step by step, until Mr. M saw the great truth that all his sins had been laid on Christ when He died on the cross, nineteen hundred years ago. Turning from t h ai to John 5:24, we found that every man who believes God's word concerning Christ "hath everlasting
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An Interesting
Incident
By Robert Lewis Mr. Lewis is our beloved leader in the Shop Work, and Pastor of the Lincoln Avenue Presbyterian Church, Pasadena. Charles
A T our April C. E. social, convers- ing on a subject on which I supposed all were agreed, a young lady said, "We don't believe there is a hell, or a personal devil; nor that Jesus was the Son of God, died for our race, or rose from the dead. His tomb was in two parts, and His disciples stole the body." Th e s p e a k er was one of two gifted college girls come lately from Boston. My soul went out to them, but I said, "I do not care what you believe, that makes no difference to me." "You don't?" said the speaker. "No; does it make any difference to you what I believe?" "But," said she, "we. thought you did care." "I am concerned," I said, "about Who you believe, the whats are legion and can be considered after you settle Whom you believe."" "But," she went on, "we don't believe Adam was the first man, nor that the world was made in six days of twenty- four hours each," "No? Neither do I," I said. "You don't? Why I thought all Pres- byterians believed that; this is inter- esting, and we would like to have a good talk with you when you have time." "I would be pleased I am sure," I answered, "if you drop your Unitarian- ism as I do my Presbyterianism." "Why, aren't you the pastor of the Presbyterian chapel on Lincoln Ave- nue?" "Yes>, but I do not talk Presbyterian- ism; I talk of Him—the Who of whom I spoke," said I, "and if you wish to talk with me, I will gladly give you the time, if you have a soul burdened for sin, and want the joy and overflowing peace which is mine; but I have not five minutes to spare for a mere exchange of words. Come to my study Thursday afternoon. There is no reason why you ladies' should not know the peace of God that passes all understanding, but there are many reasons why you should." They came at the appointed time. Much prayer had gone up, to the throne of grace meanwhile, and we claimed
those two for God. When they were seated I said, "Now, I desire to talk o f ® Him, His plan and purpose for you through the ages, and trust that silently you will be asking, "Am I in line with that plan and purpose for me?' " From four to five o'clock they poured forth all manner of questions and argu- ments. Prom five to six they said little. I saw they were becoming deeply con- victed, not only of the fact of sin but * of its awful consequences. From six to about seven they said nothing, and the Holy Spirit was breaking in upon them, and their tears began to flow. Then I said, "Have you recognized God's pur- pose for you? Have you seen in His Son His settlement for sin? Do you see Him to be your sin-offering; that the sin question is forever settled, and that for you there remains only the Son ^ question? That God says to you t o d a y ,* 'What will you do with My Son?' Will you still reject Him, or say, with Thomas, 'My Lord and my God'?" As we knelt in prayer, it was pre- cious to witness their reception of Him to their hearts Whom they had so long denied. They came sobbing and broken hearted to the feet of Him Who died to save them. They rose from their knees praising the Lord for the peace that had come to their souls, and said, "Pray that we may be used to lead father, and mother, and brother to know Him too."' And they have since been used to win t h a t ' brother, and the three have been re- ceived into our C. E. society. One sister now plays the violin in our choir for the Master; the other, a sweet singer, sang for us on Sunday morning, "I've found a Friend, oh, such a Friend, He loved me e'er I knew Him; He drew me with the chords of love, And thus He- bound me to Him." The mother attends our evening ser- vices and seems much interested. She will come! The younger sister re- marked, "Mr. Lewis, before I went to your houss I read and studied hard to have something to answer you. It was no use;, the Lord broke my heart."
God's
Witness
7 7 i e J e u ; s ,
From an "Address
on the Bible" by
Hon. John H.
Stiness
Among the things told in the Bible are many prophecies. I will only men- tion one, the truth of which is plainly before our eyes. Read these passages about the Jewish nation: Deut. 38:64, 65: "The Lord shall scatter thee among all people, from the one end of the earth even unto the other; and among these nations shalt thou find no ease, neither shall the soje of thy foot have rest; but the Lord shall give thee a trembling heart and failing of eyes and sorrow of mind. And thy life shall hang in doubt before thee; and thou shalt fear day and night and shalt have none assurance of thy life." Deut. 38:37: "And thou shalt be- come an astonishment, a proverb and a byword among all nations whither the Lord shall lead thee." Lev. 26:44: "And yet for all that, when they be in the land of their ene- mies, I will not cast them away, neither will I abhor them to destroy them utterly." Jer. 30:11: "Though I will make a full end of all t he nations whither I have driven thee, yet will I not make a full end of thee." Hos. 3:4: "For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king and without a prince and without a sacrifice." Ezek. 11:16, 1'7: "Although I have scattered them among the countries, . . . I will even gather you from the people and assemble you out of the countries where you have been scat- tered and I will give you the land of Israel." In reading these words the history of the Jews has come to your minds. But, passing that by, look at them as they are today. "Scattered among all peo- ple," from one end of the earth to the other. Finding no ease, nor rest for their feet. In most countries despised, oppressed, persecuted, banished. As a people—with trembling hearts and fail- ing eyes and sorrow of mind. Remem- ber that these causes have brought them in swarms to our land, and that but recently France has been shaken to its center by reason of hatred to a Jew. Israel sahll be brought in." It seems to me that no Christian should ever look with disdain upon a Jew, for in him he may see a proof of t h e prophetic words of revelation.
Have they not been and are they not now, "an astonishment, a proverb and a byword among all nations?" Has there not been a full end of the nations to which they were driven? Assyrians and Chaldeans, who took them captive, have . utterly perished and are known only to history. Egyptians, who held them in bondage, have passed away, leaving no trace of that great and an- cient people. Romans who took and destroyed Jerusalem, in a way that ful- filled many prophecies, in minute detail, • are gone and no man can be pointed to as of the posterity of imperial Rome. All these were great and powerful nations, rulers of the world, which have died and left no living sign. But the small and peaceful nation of Palestine, which men would have looked upon as the first to be blotted out, still lives "without a king and without a prince and without a sacrifice," it is true, but still a separate people everywhere. There has been no assimilation wher- ever they have lived,;"and today you can tell the Jew, whether he comes from Russia or Poland, Germany or England, Italy or Spain, or from the islands of the sea. A recent article in The Interior says: "For eighteen cen- turies he has had no country, .no scep- ter, no home. And yet behind every throne he stands, a figure silent, immo- bile, supreme. He is girded with no sword; yet his word makes war or es- tablishes peace, for he holds the key of the money chest of Czar or Kaiser or Queen. . . . There is not a department in which he fails to excel. He is not merely some deathless shade; he is a living personality, virile, aggressive triumphant. Yet with all these won- derful qualities he still remains in each land an exile; in every place an alien. All this strangely contradictory life is foretold in the Bible. Whenever that word was written, by whomsoever it was penned, it foretells this imperish- able, this invincible, this unsatisfying life. It foretells at once his pre- eminence and captivity. He is at once 'chosen and rejected.' Without a throne, or a temple, or a home, he rules and worships and dwells. He is a living witness to the truth of the sacred Scrip- .tures, the inspiration of the prophets, the purposes yet to be wrought but. He is the miracle of history.
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The Hope of Israel - i. O Zion forsaken, an dscattered, an dpeeled, Though great ar eth yplagues th ybruise shall b e healed; The Lord who betrothed thee will favor restore, And thou shalt b e "Ammi," "Loammi" o n more. II. Thy sins a small moment have hidden Hi sface, But Love everlasting still offers thee grace; Abundant i n .pardon H ewaiteth t o give The sure mercies o f David an dsa yt o thee, "Live!" III. Thy Ransom i s found i n th eblood o f a Lamb More precious than bullock,, or heifer, o rra m Oft slain fo rth ypeace o n thine altars o f yore. Dear blood that once shed, need b e offered n o more. IV. Thy fathers, th esleepers, awaking shall come; Thy sons an dth ydaughters long exiled from home From lands o f their sojourn rich treasure shall bring, And gather, O Zion, t o David th yKing. V., Again shall th yheroes wa xvaliant i n fight; Again shall th ealien b escattered i n flight; And forth from th ygates th yfair virgins shall throng To welcome th ycaptains with timbrel an dsong. VI. The heart o f th emighty shall faint with th ydread; Thy flocks t o their pastures al lsafely b eled ; Thy warfare b e over; th ywanderings cease; And flow like a river th yfulness o f peace. VII. Thy hills with th eolive an dvine shall b e clad; Thy vales with t h ewealth o f t h eharvest b e glad; The desert an dwaste like bright Eden shall be ; And there shalt thou dwell, an dforever b efree. VIII. The Lord i n Hi smountain a banquet shall spread And there a t th ytable al lnations b e fed ; And thou filled with laughter shall publish th yglee; And forever th ysorrow forgotten shall be . IX. O Zion, repenting, trust no wi n Hi sWord; That t h etimes o f refreshing ma ycome from th eLord, And H eshall send Jesu Messiah again, Thy Glory an dFlower, God's Yea, an dAmen. REFERENCE S VERS EB Y VERSE . 2-6 -18:2 ;Dt.'28:59; Ho s . 14:4 ;2:19 ;P s a .102:13; Ho s .2:1 ;1:9 ; 2:23 . ( 2 )—I s a. 54:47; J e r .31:3 ; I s a .55:7 ;55:3 ;E z a .37:24 ( 3 ) — J ob 33:23-26; I s a .53:6 ,7 ; I T i m .2:6 ;P s a .40:6-8; H e b .10:1 ;9:11-15, 25 ,26 . ( 4 )—E z e. 37:12, 13 ;D a n .12:2 ; J n o .5:24-26; I s a 60: 49 ; E z e . 37:24 rn— Zee 12- 89 " H e b .11:32, 34 ;D t .32:29, 30 ;Jdgr. 11:34; I S am . 18:6, -7 . 6 _ D t 11T25; J e r 31:23, 24 ;I s L 61:5 ; 40=2; 11:12; 60:21; 31:28; 66:12. ( 7 )—Am. 9:13 , 14 ;Ho s .2:22 ; I s a .41:19; 35:41:18; Am .9:15 . ( 8 )—I s a. 25:6 ; 66:10-12; P s a .126:2; I s a .52:7-10;. 65115; 54:4 . ( 9 ) —A c ts 2:38 , 39 ; 3:19-23; R o m . 9:5 ;L u k e 4:22 . d ) x s a
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The Law: Its Scope and Purpose L. H. Jamison
II. The Scope oi t he i a w . It is complete and full, both in its requirements, Godward and manward. Each commandment is all inclusive in itself, and at the same time a counter- part of the others; e. g., one who fully obeys the first will thereby meet the re- quirements of the other nine. The commandments were first spoken by God from Mount Sinai to all Israel, who were gathered about at the foot of the mount. (Ex. 20). They were after- wards given to Moses, written by the finger of God upon two tables of stone. (Ex. 31:18.)- These tables were broken by Moses at the foot of the mount, when he saw Israel worshipping the golden calf. (Ex. 32:19; Deut. 9:15-17.) Thus terminated the covenant of pure law, and Moses pleads grace for Israel (Ex. 32:11-14.) The covenant was then re- newed with Israel, but now it was law mixed with grace, as is shown by the proclamation of Jehovah's name. (Ex. 34:5, 6), and the provision made for guarding the tables of t he law in the ark of the covenant, under the blood- sprinkled mercy seat. (Lev. 16:14, 15.) These second • tables of the law were hewn out by Moses, and Jehovah wrote the same commandments upon them as were on the first, -which Moses broke. (Ex. 34:1-4; Deut. 10:1-15.) Chapters 21 to 23 of Exodus seem to be test cases for the practical applica- tion of the law, an expansion of chap- ter '20. A recapitulation of the law is r ,given in the fifth of Deuteronomy. The tenth commandment was omitted by our Lord in dealing with the rich young ruler, in order to convict him, who had claimed "all these have I kept." (Matt. 19:18, 19.) Verse 21 shows him what he lacked. He sought eternal life by doing good; t he Lord shows him his fail- ure and impotence. The commandments are divided by Christ into two parts: duties Godward and duties manward. (Matt. 22:37-40.) He here gives a summary of the law, showing what is a f t e rwa r ds stated by Paul that love is the fulfillment of the law. (Rom. 13:10.) ' In looking into the extent by which the law fulfills the purpose for which it was given, let us consider: (a) The duties Godward. These are given in the first four of the command- ments.
1. The first commandment. (Ex. 20: 2, 3.) "I am Jehovah, thy God, Who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage: Thou shalt have no other gods beside Me." (R. V. Marg.) The first part of this command- ment is considered by some as a preface to the ten commandments, in which Jehovah declares His sovereignty, im- mutability and almightiness, thus cloth- ing these "ten words" with His own holiness, justice, and goodness. (Rom. 7:12.) (a) In the first commandment the unity and sovereignty of God are de- clared. He is what He is because He is what He is. Under His various names He has revealed what He is. He is the one Triune God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit (1 J no. 5 : 7 ). (Note—The word for God in this commandment "Jehovah thy God," is Elohim, and is a plural noun, thus revealing the Trinity latent in His name,) (b) In t he first commandment all that would oppose the unity and sover- eignty of God is prohibited: Deut. 6:4, 5; Psa. 81:9, 10; Isa. 43:10; '44:8; 45: 21, 22; 46:9; Jer. 25:6; Matt. 4:10; 1 Cor. 8:4-6; Heb. 3:12; Rev. 19:10; 22:9. (1) Atheism, the denying or not having a God. Psa. 14:1; Eph. 2:12. (2) Idolatry, the worshipping of more gods than one, or any, with or instead of the t r ue God. Jer. 2:27, 28; 2 Kings 17:29-41; 1 Thess. 1:9.
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(3) 81:11. (4) 22-24. (5)
The refusal to have God. Psa. Negligence of God. Isa. 43: Ignorance of God. Jer. 4:22; Forgetfulness of God. Jer. 2:32. Misapprehensions of God. Acts
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Hos. 4:1-6; 2 Thess. 1:8. (6)
(7)
17:23, 29. (8)
False opinions of God. las. 4 0: 18; Rom. 1:21-23. (9) Misconceptions of God. 50:21. (10 Bold apd curious searching into the secrets of God not revealed. Deut. 29:29. (11) Profaneness, or the treating of things of God with contempt. Ti. 1:16; Heb. 12:16. (13) Hatred of God. Rom. 1:30. (14) Self-love. 2 Tim. 3:2. Psa.
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