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EDUCAT ION THAT LEAVES OUT GOD E DUCATION that leaves out God is incomplete—this has been the con viction of the founders and faculty of Stony Brook School. The most adequate secondary education should provide a rounded curriculum leading to the sym metrical development of body, mind and spirit. But how can this ideal be fully at tained when the highest aspect of life is neglected and God is either relegated to a minor place or ignored? The Stony Brook philosophy of edu cation is, therefore, a spiritual one, de- rived from the Bible. Believing as we do that the Christian faith is true and that the Bible is the Word of God, we turn to these things for the element missing in much of modern education. In a democracy an independent school like Stony Brook has the privilege of using its liberty in a forthright effort to put back into education what is called “ The Fourth ‘R’ ’’—Religion. Stony Brook, a boarding school for boys from the sixth grade to college, opens on September 19 for its twenty- fourth year. Most places for next year are already taken. . There still may be a few vacancies in certain classes when this announcement reaches its readers. iJyV For a catalogue of the J L School, address the A j Headmaster (JtomjBrookSchool Frank E. Gaebelein, Litt.D., Headmaster Stony Brook, Long Island, New York Please Mention K ing ’ s B usiness
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T H E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
THE K IN G 'S B U S IN E S S
The Bible Institute of Los Angeles, Incorporated
Published Monthly by And Representing
No. 8 William W. Orr, D.D. Associate Editor
Voi. 36 Louis T. Talbot, D.D. Editor-in-Chief
August, 1945 Ransom Marvin John Bazart Illustrators Betty Bruechert, Managing Editor
CONTENTS: The Man in the Glory, by J. C. Macaulay.... ............ *...... ............ 283 God in the Home, by Dr. Walter L. Wilson ....................... ........... 285 Poem, by Martha Snell Nicholson ...................................................286 As Thy Servant Was Busy, by Vance Havner .............. ................ 287 Editorially Speaking... ,.................... ..... .................... ........... - .....288 The Third Golgotha, Part 2, by H. Framer Smith ...... ...... .*........290 The Bible in the News................— .„ .*........- ............................ 292 Diamonds, by Helen B. Young ........... ........................................... 293 Greek Word Treasures, by Bernard Ramm ....... ........................... 294 The Bible Institute on the Air........... .............. .............................295 Junior King’s Business, by Martha S. Hooker ............... ............... 296 Biola Family Circle ....... ................. ........... ............................,...298 The “G. I.s” Turn the Tables, by Sgt. T. W. Engstrom ................. 300 Devotional Readings ............................ ...... ................................... 301 Sunday School Lessons ....... ........................... ............................... 302 Young People’s Topics ..... ...................................................... .—308 Object Lessons for August, by Elmer L. Wilder ............................. 312 Dr. Talbot’s Question B o x ................. ......... .......- .......................„314 Surveying the Gap, by Norman Allensworth ................................. 315 SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION—“ The King’s Business" is published monthly; $1.60* one yr.; $2.00, two yrs.; 75 cents, six months; 20 cents, single copy. Clubs of three s or more at special rates. Write for details. Canadian and foreign subscriptions 25 cents extra. It requires one month for a change of address to become effective. Please send both old and new addresses. REMITTANCE—Payable in advance, should be made by bank draft, express, or post office money order payable to “ The King’s Business.” Date of expiration will show plainly on outside wrapper or cover of magazine. ADVERTISING—For information, address the Advertising Manager, 558 South Hope Street, Los Angeles 13, Calif., or our eastern representatives, Religious Press Asso ciation, 51 No. 52nd St., Philadelphia 39, Pa. MANUSCRIPTS—“ The King’s Business” cannot accept responsibility for loss or damage to manuscripts sent in for consideration. Entered as second-class matter November 7, 1938, at the Post Office at Los Angeles, California, under the Act of March 3, 1879. Acceptance for mailing at special rate of postage provided for in the Act of February 28, 1925, embodied in paragraph 4, section 538. P. L. and R., authorized October 1, 1918, and November 13, 1938. ADDRESS; The King’s Business, 558 So. Hope St., Los Angeles 13, Calif.
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THf MAN U 1 1 fi IIIL I'll! 1 11 tlLU ni StoHalUu^ Begone the Alton,
By J. C. Macaulay
Second in a series on the subject of our Lord‘s present ministry on our behalf, this article will be most helpful to every believer.
S O THEN the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken unto them, was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God" (Mk. 16:19, R.V.). Such is Mark’s brief account of the ascension of our Lord. But when Stephen, “full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stead fastly into heaven," he “saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God” (Acts 7:55). The first statement refers to the finished work of Christ, for the writer to the Hebrews declares, “ But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God" (Heb. 10:12). A finished work has earned the seat of rest. The martyr Stephen’s vision and testimony are in line with Luke’s significant statement in the prologue to the Acts: “The former treatise I made, O Theophilus, con cerning all that Jesus began both to do and to teach” (Acts 1:1 R.V.). This standing posture suggests activity. Once again we turn to Hebrews for the key to unlock this treasure: “Christ entered not into a holy place made with hands, like in pattern to the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear before the face of God for us" (Heb. 9:24 R.V.). He finished a work on Calvary for us; there He. paid the full price of our redemption. But His “for u's" activity did not end at the Cross; it continues “ before the face of God.” What then is now the nature of our Lord’s activity on our behalf? An exhaustive answer is not attempted. Three considerations are suggested, all in keeping with the priestly office to which our Lord has been elevated; as it is written, “Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek” (Heb. 5:6 R.V.). Christ Deals With the Sins of the Saints What-a paradox—“the sins of the saints” ! Yes, even when we think of a saint in correct New Testament meaning, and not in the perverted medieval sense, it is still an anomaly—yet unfortunately it is a fact. Indeed, so universal is the experience of sinning saints that the Apostle John defied any saint to think himself an excep tion in this respect. “If we say that we have no sin,” he wrotti “we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us”
(1 John 1:8). This does not lessen the shame of it. Sins of the saints are a reproach to Christ, a denial of the Cross, a contradiction of our high calling, a grief to the Holy Spirit, a hindrance to the testimony of the Gospel, a blight on the Church. Yet, here they are, witnessing against us. They might be less if we did not regard them so lightly. If only the sinfulness of sin were impressed upon us, it would be easier from our lives to distinguish between “ the saint” and “the sinner.” If the sins of the saints are admittedly a tragic fact, certainly they are not a necessity. “These things write I unto you that ye may not sin” (1 John 2:1 R.V.). It is always possible to sin, but it is not obligatory. Whatever the common experience, the standard of Christian living is not sinning, but overcoming. So John did not say, “ Since it must be that we sin, we have the provision of an advocate.” He said rather, “If any man sin, we have an advocate” (1 John 2:1). The sprinkler system in the factory d o e s not proclaim the inevitability of a fire; neither do the life-boats on a liner declare that there must be a shipwreck. In like manner, God’s provision of His Son as our advocate does not imply that sin is an imperative of the Christian life. Sin is regarded by Scrip ture as the exception, not the rule; the perversion, not the norm. We refuse to accept present experiences as ultimate goals. We press on, “That to perfection’s sacred height We nearer still may rise, And all we think, and all we do Be pleasing in Thine eyes.” The saint stands in an entirely different relation to God from that of the sinner. The sinner is “condemned
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This difference between Christ’s temptation and ours does indeed imply that it will not suffice to make Him our example. Imitation is not adequate. How can a man whose heart is natively sinful imitate Him in whom is no sin? That is not the kind of help the Lord supplies. He offers, not the inspiration of a noble example, but the succor of a proven champion. We are not asked to meet our temptations by encouraging ourselves with the standard of His victory; we are invited to meet them by turning them over to Him, and letting Him fight for us. A minister, shortly after her conversion, questioned a little lass about her progress in the Christian life. He asked her what she did when Satan tempted her to do wrong. She replied: “Before I took Jesus into my heart, Satan would come and knock at the door of my heart. When I opened the door, he saw that it was just a weak little girl and he burst right in, and before I knew it, I did wrong. But now, when Satan comes to the door, I ask Jesus to answer. When Satan sees Jesus at the door, he says, ‘Oh, please excuse me, I have come to the wrong house.’ And he runs away so fast you cannot see his heels for dust.” “He is able to succor them that are tempted” (Heb. 2:18 R.V.)! Christ Deals with the Prayers of the Saints Our prayers at best are poor things. They are so selfish, so foolish, so formal, so hesitant, so unbelieving. If we could see them under God’s microscope we would wonder how God could ever hear us. Indeed, they do not reach God just as they left our hearts and lips. The passionate supplications of Bishop Andrewes, the lofty petitions of Charles Haddon Spurgeon, the thousands of spiritual and eloquent prayers of Christians throughout the centuries were not received at the Throne as these masters of religious expression uttered them. Their inter cession and our feeble prayers prevail only because of the fact that our great High Priest deals with the prayers of the saints. “And another angel came and stood -over the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should add it unto the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, went up before God out of the angel’s hand” (Rev. 8:3, 4 R.V.). What is done with our prayers? First they make con tact with the altar, and there touch the precious blood with which our High Priest entered once for all into the holy place. Thus they are cleansed from all defile ment of the flesh. Then “much incense” is added to them —all the fragrance of the manifold virtues and worth of our exalted Lord. Thus embellished, they are offered as “ a sweet savour of Christ” ! Beloved, we would not recognize our prayers in the condition in which t h e y reach God’s throne; Christ makes them consistent and pure. Prayer in the name of Jesus, however simple, how ever weak, w ill reach Him so purged with blood, so enriched with incense that it Will be received by the Eternal Father as a personal petition from the well-be loved Son. How tremendous the effect of such prayers! “And the angel taketh the censer; and he filled it with the fire of the altar, and cast it upon the earth; and there fo l lowed thunders, and voices, and lightnings, and an earth quake” (Rev. 8:5 R.V.). The poet affirms that— “ Satan trembles when he sees The weakest saint upon his knees.” I do not know whether he does or not, but he should, for by such prayers the mighty works of God are wrought in the earth; by such prayers the Church of Christ is being built; by such prayers the powers of darkness will fa ll; by such prayers the kingdom of God w ill come.
already,” but the saint “shall not come into condemna tion.” The sinner is “ alienated from the life of God,” but the saint is a child of God, a present possessor of life everlasting. The sins of the sinner but confirm his lost estate. The sins of the saint do not touch his eternal justification, his sonship, but they do affect his fellow ship with the Father. When we sin, joy departs; peace, and freedom, and power are lost; our testimony is ineffec tive. Thank God, that is the time the faithful Father exercises discipline, and takes measures to effect re pentance and confession leading to restoration, i What basis has God established for securing a sin ning saint in his position of grace, and for restoring him to the place of fellowship? “ If any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: And he is the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 2:1,2). Advo cacy based on propitiation: that is God’s answer to the sins of the saints. i'/.i . “ Five bleeding wounds He bears Received on Calvary; They pour effectual prayers, They strongly plead for me: By the- blood of Christ we are saved; by the same blood we are secured; and by the same blood we are restored. The advocacy of Christ assures the perpetual efficacy of the blood. Christ Deals with the Temptations of the Saints T “ For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succor them that are tempted” (Heb. 2:18 R.V.). Temptation is not sin. We are certain of that, be cause our Lord Jesus was “ tempted in all points like as we are, yet without sin” (Heb. 4:15 R.V.). The old Sunday school hymn expresses it well: “Yield not to temptation, for yielding is sin.” Temptation may provide occasion for uncovering the depths of sin that lie in the secret recesses of the heart, ready to respond to the appropriate appeal. If this revelation of our inner corruption drives us to God with a cry for cleansing, it will be a whole some experience—an instrument of sanctification. There is a vast difference between our Lord’s temp tation and ours. “He was tempted in all points like as we are, apart from sin" (Heb. 4:15, marg.). This state- inent signifies more than that Christ did not yield to temptation. There was no original sin in Him to respond to evil suggestion; nothing in His nature that corre sponded to Satan’s insinuations. On one occasion, Jesus stated: “The prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me” (John 14:30). The powers of darkness had established no “ beachhead” in our peerless Lord! Would that this might be said of His children! It may be felt that this difference is a barrier between Christ and us; that He is not in a position to understand completely our easy yielding to temptation when He did not hide a “fifth column” in His nature as we do. This is not the case. The man who yields to sin is not the one who knows the full force of temptation. He who valiantly fights temptation to a standstill and exhausts it in utter defeat really knows the power of the devil. It was so with Christ. Temptation hurled its complete weight at the Lord Jesus. Christ, only to be beaten back in confusion. Temptation has met its match, nay, its Conqueror! This mighty Conqueror has become the Cham pion of all His tried and tempted children. Forgive him, O forgive, they cry, Nor let that ransomed sinner die!”
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This message from "The Beloved Physician," father of eight, will warm your heart Let him tell you what it means to have
IN THE HOME
By Dr. Walter L. Wilson
Y OU MAY have noticed that very few Christian homes ever are broken up, and that very few Christian young people ever seek the divorce derful attributes, kindness, thoughtfulness, and gracious helpfulness, accompany His presence. It is God who makes the heart attentive t o 'the needs and desires of another. It is God who makes the mind and spirit sub ject to the desires and the will of the companion whom we love. It is God who enables us to overlook those faults and failures which appear after the freshness and the newness of married life has become more or less commonplace. God Himself ordained the wedding service. It was God who gave Eve to Adam. It was God who saw the need of the man for the loving care of a suitable com panion, and who arranged that sweet relationship which we know as the marriage experience. Since God or dained this love life between two hearts that are mated, it is only reasonable to believe that He should have a prominent part in the affairs of the new home, thus created by the wedding. The conscious presence of God in the home will hinder the rise of unpleasant words and the development of_unrighteous attitudes. Happy, though Married God is love. A ll of His plans and arrangements for man prove that He is. Through His influence and guid ance, hearts arid lives that are suited to each other are brought together for a happy life of sweet companion ship. Only God knows the true character of each per
son, and therefore only He can prevent unhappy com binations, and accomplish the desirable union. It is wise to consult Him about choosing the life, partner. He will prevent deception. He w ill thwart unhappy unions. He w ill enlighten the understanding concerning the one in whom you are interested! He will cause you to dis cover those happy or unhappy traits which' are to be sought or avoided. God is a wise and able matchmaker. God is not the author of confusion, but of peace. It is His desire that your home should be a happy one. For that reason it is most essential that you agree concern ing your attitude toward God, His people,, and His serv ice. Love is so ardent and yet so unwise, that it will sometimes lead you to think that you can separate on religious lines and still be in perfect and loving harmony about each other’s paths. It does not work out in this manner. It is not reasonable to suppose that loVe is fostered and harmony is promoted, when -on Sunday morning the wife goes to worship in one church while the husband attends another. Hearts must be happy in a united faith, if the reefs of discord are to be avoided. There must be unity in your hearts about God’s path for you both, if you would avoid a rift in your affections. This agreement should be made before you walk together to the nuptial altar. Loving thoughts about God, a quiet confidence in His Word, and a desire in the heart to please Him, will be an invaluable asset in the making of a home of happi ness. Only the heathen live without God. - Criminals, gam blers, and wicked people of every type shut God out of
court When God is brought into the home, all His won
T H E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
their lives. They endeavor to find happiness in financial gain, and in the pursuit of sinful pleasures. Their homes are filled with wrangling, bitterness, selfishness, and fi nally the divorce. The home is an institution of God and it cannot be very successfully operated without God. Love, joy, and peace in the home are gifts of God. These cannot very Well be present when God is absent. Fellow ship and sweet consideration for the comforts and joys of each other are the products and the results of the presence of God in your lives. I f He is not included in the program of your home, then there is a possibility that these beautiful attributes w ill be absent. At the wedding at Cana in Galilee, the joy of the bridal couple was not complete until the Lord Jesus Christ came with His rich blessing which none other could provide. You will find it so in your own lives. True love is a strange plant. ’ It needs showers from Heaven to make it bloom and fill the house with its fra grance. God has only good for you. It is His blessed will that you should be always happy, free from care, and filled with peace. It is His plan that your home shall be an ideal home, where the wife is treated like a queen, and the husband is honored like a king. The Third Person in the Home The Spirit of God is such a wonderfully blessed Per son that when He is permitted to rule and reign in the life, then the heart is tender, and the decisions that are made in the mind are fair and just, kind and equitable. He will prevent selfishness, and will hinder personal greed. He will enhance the value of your companion and will diminish the demands of your own life. He will fill your mind and heart with pleasant thoughts, with kindness and care for the one to whom you are joined in the bonds of sacred love. He w ill minimize the faults of your companion and will give you a quickened sense of your own. He will lead you to think and to plan a happy program for your lover so that together you may rejoice in those things which are of mutual interest and profit. God in His kindness and grace has given to. us His blessed Word. In this priceless volume God has revealed His formula for a happy home. He tells us how to live with each other and for each other. He describes the beauties of the home in which the husband thinks and plans for the happiness of his bride and the wife seeks to serve in godly deference the man of her choice. She learns in the Scripture how to choose the right kind of companion and then to love the man of her choice. The Scripture never promotes discord in the home nor does it encourage any antagonism whatever between those hearts that have been joined in matrimony. God’s words are like God Himself. His counsel is for peace and not for strife. That which He prescribes for domestic felicity always results in a home of peace and contentment when it is followed. Do let God’s blessed Word have a great place in the program o f your home. Read it together. Follow it fully. Pray together over its precepts. Come together, in prayer to the living God over every problem and seek His counsel. Let the living God be your God. Let His Saviour be your Saviour. Let His Word be your guide. Thus you will defeat Satan in any effort he may make to destroy the sweetness which is your rightful heritage in the home you have established.
A chapter from the book by Dr. Wilson, “Happiness tn the Home J” which may be secured from The Biota Book Room, 536 So. Hope St., Los Angeles i3, California, for forty cents, tax and postage included. This booklet is excellent as a gift to the newly married as it contains a full-page marriage certificate . „
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¡Mil B>if Vance ¿Maane'i
This searching message cannot fall to reach the heart of every minister and every Christian,
I SRAEL’S King Ahab, contrary to the will of God, had allowed Ben-hadad, King of Syria, to go free. A prophet dared to reproach the king: “Thy servant went out into the midst of the battle; and, behold, a man . turned aside, and brought a man unto me, and said, Keep this man . . . and as thy servant was busy here and there, he was gone" (1 Ki. 20:39-40). Here is a man unfaithful to his trust. A charge was committed to him, and, while he was “ busy here and there," he failed in his chief responsibility. Mind you he did not fail because he was asleep or drunk or inat tentive, but because he was busy! Can it be wrong to be busy? We glorify busyness these days. “Idleness is the devil’s workshop," we are reminded. Busyness can be used by the devil too if it causes us to miss the principal thing in life. America is a beehive, much of our activity is not worth the trouble. We are like squirrels in a cage; there is plenty of action, but no progress. We are like one going the wrong way on an escalator, feverishly energetic, but never arriving any where! While we are so ’busily engaged with unimportant details, the im portant thing gets away. A ll of us have been entrusted with sacred charges, but while we are “ busy here and there,” the main responsibility is disregarded and neg lected. How well this kind of busyness is illustrated in the home! God gives parents a child to rear for Him, and, while they are “ busy here and there,” with such good things as food, shelter, clothing and education, the soul of the child gets away. There is no time for the bread of life or the family altar. Then these parents wake up one day to discover that while they were “ busy here and there,” the children followed the road to hell. If some mothers and fathers were as concerned about the souls of their children as they are about their daughters’ social success and their sons’ business prosperity, more names would be written in Heaven, and there would be fewer broken hearts. Thank God, my father lost no time rigging me up according to fashion charts! I had little acquaintance with first-class haberdashery! But he did fortify my soul against the years ahead and deposited in my heart convictions that have stood the strain of life. Old Noah made a lot of mistakes but he got his family into the ark! While you are “ busy here and there,” are your chil dren going down the wide road that leadeth to eternal destruction ? While Christians are “busy here and there” with
inconsequential matters, souls are lost and chances to win them are gone. The fields are white unto harvest but we keep on saying, “There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest.” We are not buying up the oppor tunities and numbering our days that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom. We are our brother’s keeper, and we should look not on our own things, but on the things of others. But while we are “ busy here and there,” souls go into eternity without God. A dying man was asked if he wanted a certain professing Christian to come and talk with him. “No,” he replied, “he has worked beside me for years and never has mentioned Christ. If he couldn’t talk Christ then, I wouldn’t want him to talk Christ now.” “Busy here and there,” he waited to do the significant thing until it was too late! What is our business? We read that the apostles would not assume the finan- cial responsibilities of the church, lest while they were “ busy here and there,” the ministry of the Word and prayer would be neglected. The biggest problem many pastors face is that, while they are engrossed with such trivia as church suppers, social calls, pronouncing an invocation here and laying a cornerstone there, they for get that their calling is to preach the Word. It is so easy to become an ecclesiastical bellboy! I Would rather dwell in the woods, drink spring water, and live on blackber ries, than to fail to fu lfill my Divine commission by such “piddling around” here and there! One can become so busy at “church work” that he misses something better. The man referred to in our next text was not idling or dissipating. Whatever he was busy about may have been good in its place, but it was not that for which he was responsible. All too often “the good is the enemy of the best.” The church today is squandering her devotion and strength by having so many irons in the fire that none of them are hot! We need not only consecration, but concentration, on our main business. The church of Sardis had a name for being alive, but Jesus pronounced her dead. Without doubt it was a very busy church. So was the church at Ephesus: ortho dox, active and aggressive, but deprived of fhe best thing—its first love! While we are busy with reports and committees and conventions and campaigns—things all right in their place—the best things: the deeper Chris- tion life, growth in grace., the saving of the lost, fail to get our time and attention. (Continued on Page 291^
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Summer Camps O NE of the encouraging move o f our country young people are gath ering in the mountains and by the seashore, for a time of physical relax ation and spiritual refreshment. As a general rule, this summer camp movement has been one with empha sis upon spiritual things, and statis tics testify to the high percentage of young people who find Christ in these camps and either immediately or subsequently make a dedication of life. The reason behind the rather amazing (spiritually speaking) suc cess of these gatherings is simple enough. Young people are taken from the home environment and from associa tion with a preponderance of non- Christians, into a situation where the greater number of delegates have found Christ as Saviour. Also, in ad dition to constant study of the Word of God, there' is the influence of God’s wonders in nature. Young people are encouraged to think how great must be the God who has brought into being the world and all that is therein. Generally speaking, young folks need little or no encouragement to enroll in a summer camp. The only hindrance seems to be lack of financial assistance in some cases, and organizers to handle the details of transportation and discipline. The re sults of these camps are very good and extremely gratifying. They are being used of God, not only in the life of the individual, but in the life of the church, and are helpful to the cause of Christ at large. ★ ★ Second Syllable The meaning of the word “ Protest antism” is, as everyone knows, an attitude expressing opposition to the doctrines promulgated by the Roman Catholic Church. Reformation history is replete with stirring details of men who dared to oppose what they knew to be wrong. Strong voices were raised against the abuses, both moral and theological, of that day, even though such opposition led to im prisonment, deprivation, torture and death. The results of such protesting are seen today in the blessings and benefits of religious liberty. However, we stand in need of a new birth of Protestantism—a new
birth with the emphasis on the second syllable. Too many of us have lost sight of the principles upon which our nation was built. Too many are forgetting that liberty can only be maintained at the price of constant vigilance and continuous protestation. This is a day of softening of convic tions—more backbone Is needed. We need again the spirit of inquiry—the examination of doctrines. Let us not think for one minute that the atti tude of either the world, or of re ligious oppressors, has changed. God gave us a new birth of Protestantism with emphasis on the second syllable! i t ★ The President’s Appeal Practically the first request of President Truman upon assumption of his high office was a prayer for wisdom. According to the pastor of the First Baptist Church of Grand view, Missouri, where Mr. Truman is a member, he is in very good stand ing in his church. When the Presi dent was a Senator, he was regular in attendance with the group that met for prayer in he Senate. Certainly his appeal for prayer should not be forgotten very soon; it should chal lenge Christians faithfully to mention his name before the Throne of Grace. ★ ★ Blood Donors An interesting story concerns a res ident of Alhambra; California, who gave a pint of blood to the Red Cross blood bank late last year The young soldier, whose life had been saved through her blood, telephoned her re cently. He was given the opportunity to meet this blood donor and to ex press to her his deep appreciation for the gift which saved his life. A ll of which reminds u~ that some day it w ill be the priceless privilege of every child of God to look upon the face of the greatest blood donor of all time, the Lofd Jesus and to express thanksgiving to Him for the gift of all gifts which washed away sin and gave life everlasting. ★ ★ Generous Advertising Some fine publicity has been given to the Los Angeles Saturday Night Youth Jubilee by one of the local papers, The Examiner. When ques tioned about it, the City Editor de clared that for the past three years
The Examiner has been seeking for the best answer to the problem of juvenile delinquency, and that after careful examination, he is thoroughly satisfied that this movement is it. He agrees with us that the Bible, the missionary challenge, and especially the Lord Jesus Christ, are the com plete solution, to this problem. ★ At Encouraging Trend One of the late Gallup Polls shows a definite shifting of sentiment to ward the Dry Cause. The percentage today, according to the Chicago Daily News, is 37% in favor of prohibition as compared with 34% a year ago, and 30% ten years ago. A surpris ingly large number of communities in the United States have gone dry by local option vote. The poll also in dicates by their votes that women are more in favor of prohibition than are the men. ★ ★ Travel Regulations An odd quirk in the regulations of O.D.T. is that you may travel to your heart’s content if your objective is pleasure, but you are banned from traveling if you have religious work in mind. In spite of many petitions, there has been no lifting of the ban on religious gatherings. The discrim ination is made more apparent when one, leaving his office in downtown Los Angeles in the late evening, meets the tremendous stream of traf fic returning from the horse races at Santa Anita Park. ★ ★ Church History in the Making L ife magazine of July 2 relates the election and crowning of Alexei, the thirteenth patriarch of the czars’ own Holy Orthodox Eastern Catholic and Apostolic Church. Since the patriarch was blessed by a Communist official, this is a significant step toward rec ognition of organized religion on the part of the Soviets. Two things men tioned in this article w ill interest all Christians: that Alexei reads the Eng lish Bible, and that the Moscow patri archate has offered to restore to its fold the American Russian Orthodox Church with which it severed relations in ,1934, on the condition that it “ abstain from political activities in the USSR.” Let us keep on praying for complete religious freedom in Russia.
ments in today’s youth picture is that of the wide-spread sum mer camp movement. In all sections
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Progressive Education? Two challenging articles have ap peared in the columns of The Satur day Evening Post. The theme under discussion was the matter of the so- called modern approach to education, or what has been termed “Progressive Education.” The writer of the first article is now principal of a school in Michigan, and for a number of years was an enthusiastic supporter of pro gressive education. The theories of this revolutionary movement were somewhat as follows: to free the pupil from regulations, and the fear of authority in the school room; to eliminate the dread of fa il ure; to adjust curricula to the men tality of the average student; to group classes by age and social ad justments, and to permit the individ ual to advance as speedily as he was able and willing. For nearly twenty- five years, these theories have been tried in school rooms throughout our land, but today, according to Princi pal Owen, there is a decided retrac tion of this policy. The trouble with this idealistic theory was that it just did not take into consideration the propensities of human nature. It pro vided no means of discipline. The teachers learned, and learned the hard way, that in the class room someone has to be boss. Those little boys and girls who had delighted and awed the teachers in the early grades by d i s p l a y i n g their ingenuity in amusing themselves in the school room were not nearly so attractive as they began to emerge as insubordi nate ten and twelve-year-olds. It is not difficult to see that a great amount of present-day delinquency is the direct result of the lack of re straint in conduct by the teachers of this method. Principal Owen readily confesses his mistakes, and his desire to return to the old-fashioned principles of ed ucation. He sees some good things in the progressive system which may be salvaged and used, but, in general, his idea is to swing back to a system where the teacher controls the pupil and not the pupil the teacher. He points out that our development as a civilized people has come through training ourselves to endure certain restrictions, and that Christianity, which he admits to be the greatest single influence upon the develop ment of humanity, in its essence de-
mands control of most of the natural instincts. He states that schools train ing boys and girls to express them selves without restriction, are causing our twentieth century youth to revert to the state-of savages. Now, of course, we as Christians, see a great deal more in this than Principal Owen has pointed out. The truth which was suggested but not clearly expressed is that boys and girls are born with their faces away from God—born of sinful parents and with a fallen nature. This nature, when stripped of the veneer of civili zation, is revealed to be selfish, un ruly, cruel, and ungodly. The only cure is the new birth. But for the purpose o f governmental duties in this world, God has given the child par ents, and these parents have been in structed by His Word regarding the rearing of their children. The Book of Proverbs in the Bible sheds an amazing amount of light on parental responsibility. It is commanded to spare not the rod; through the appli cation of physical correction, the child is to be guided through the shoals of ignorance. As far as our own country is con cerned, it is generally conceded that the men and women of pioneer days exhibited to a greater degree than the people of today, unselfishness, courage, strength and tenacity of pur pose. Their superiority in this respect may be attributed to the fact that they were reared in homes where par ental discipline was strict and where parental love was strong. Children were taught that obedience to parents was one of the first requirements of God. It is high time that the edu cators of our land of America saw the handwriting on the wall. They had better return to the old-fashioned ideals of discipline, obedience and hard work for the class room. This w ill have a saluatory effect on Amer ican life and the prosperity of its citi zens, for education geared to God’s way is truly the only Progressive Education. ★ ★ Tax Exemption The recent law enacted at the last general election in California gave re ligious and charitable institutions ex emption from the real estate tax. It is estimated that this law will save the Catholic institutions of the Los Angeles District $100,000 a year.
Morale Building An entirely new method of military procedure is the suggestion of General issimo Chiang Kai-shek that the Na tional Christian Council of Chungking enlist a thousand Christian workers to serve as morale o f f i c e r s in the Chinese army. If and when this is brought to pass, it will be the first time that a non-Christian nation has set up a Christian chaplaincy for its armies. These morale officers will be a l l o w e d freedom of m o v e m e n t throughout the army. What a marvel ous opportunity for China, and what a bright hope for China’s tomorrow! There is the definite command that Christians are to pray for “kings and all that are in authority.” The pro mise is given too “that we may live a quiet and peaceful life in all god liness and honesty” (2 Tim. 2:2). We wonder sometimes if the lack of a quiet and peaceable life is not trace able to the failure of God’s children to thus remember in definite and con certed prayer the needs of our leaders. ★ ★ Juvenile Smoking An item from The Associated Press states that a special smoking room has been set apart at a public gram mar school in Shelby County, Ten nessee, for juvenile smokers. Accord ing to this report, nine youngsters, ranging in age from twelve to four teen, frequent this room at noon for a cigaret. The principal states this is done in order to eliminate smoking en the campus. Apparently all that is required to secure the use of this room by the youngsters is a request from their parents.
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By H. Framer Smith This is the second and concluding part of a valuable Bible study by this outstanding teacher; another article from his pen will appear in the near future.
Adam’s sin. The tares of the third must be reaped and burned because of the sins of Adam's progeny. TI m Grad« of the Three Golgethas Passing by, for the time being, the many other bib lical truths that are predicated of the third Golgotha, we turn to all three crosses of our cosmos Calvary. On the first, He died for us: for our sins. On the second, we who believe on Him died with Him. On the third, the cosmos was crucified unto believers, and believers were crucified unto it. Many false prophets have gone forth into the cosmos, and are a present continuing part of it.? The spirit of the antichrist, refusing to confess that Jesus came out from God,* is now in the cosmos (1 John 4:1,3). Many deceivers, whom the Greek term describes as “wander ing seducers and impostors,” went out into, and hence are now in, the cosmos (2 John 7). Yet, despite this lux uriance of tares, God loves the cosmos (John 3:16), and has given His only-begotten Son as the propitiation for the whole cosmos (John 3:16; 1 John 2:2).9 The first Golgotha is born of this Father love: love of God com mended toward us in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us (Rom. 5:8). We read: “ Behold what manner of love!” The Father sanctified and sent the Son into the cosmos (John 10:36): the Son who is not of the cosmos (John 17:16). He sent Him as the Sav iour of the cosmos (T John 4:14), that all who believe on the Son might live through Him (1 John 4:9). Jesus tells us that He came out from the Father (John 16:28): that he was born of a woman in order to come into the cosmos and there bear witness to Truth (John 18:37). He is sent, He says, by the True One, whose words He speaks to the cosmos (John 8:26). He declares that He came as Light into the cosmos (John 12:46): to judge the cosmos (John 9:39), yet not to judge it (John 12:47).!® He is Christ, the Son of God, who comes into the cosmos to save sinners (John 11:27; 1 Tim. 1:15). Though but a Babe in swaddling clothes, when He came into the world He addressed the Father, affirming the ineffectualness of animal sacrifice (Heb. 10:3,4) as the reason why God had prepared a body for Him (Heb. 10:5): a body in and through which, becoming sin for us (2 Cor. 5:21) as the climax to perfectly performing the Father’s w ill (Heb. 10:7,9), He sanctified believers once, and for all (Heb. 10:10).U The cosmos hated Him (John 15:8). It hated Him because He bore witness to its wickedness (John 7:7). The climax of this hatred of the cosmos was Calvary: the first Golgotha. For the believer the place of the skull, the hill far away, is not gray but green: it is the hill of the second Golgotha. There he is crucified with Christ (Gal. 2:20): a third malefactor, “the old man,” is nailed to the cros? (Rom. 6:6). He is dead, and his life is hid with Christ in God (Col. 3:3). He is baptized into Christ’s death (Rom. 6:3). He reckons himself dead indeed to sin
When the Enemy Came in Like a Flood
^ I i HE TARES of the third Golgotha did not just grow: “ the enemy that sowed them is the devil” JL (Matt. 13:39). It is -not certain that the Garden of Eden was the site of his initial “ cultivation” of the cosmos soil. Angelic, rather than human, heavenly rather than earthly, yet nevertheless a created being, his tare-sowing presence in the cosmos-creation may have preceded the appearance of Adam and of Eve. That he was created before Adam is difficult to question. When multitudinous iniquity was found in him (cf. Ezek. 28:11- 19)1 he was “cast to the ground” (Ezek. 28:17): “ laid down" (Isa. 14:8). “How art thou fallen, O Lucifer! How art thou cut down to the ground!” (Isa. 14:12).2 The ground to which Lucifer is cut and cast down in these passages is taken by many erudite and Spirit-filled scholars to mean the earth2 of the primeval creation described, in their Judgment, only in Genesis 1:1.3 Hence when Adam and his helpmeet were placed in Paradise, the sower of tares was there to sow into Eve’s conversation the seed of doubt and into the later action of both Adam and Eve the corruptible seed of sin. How well the enemy sowed tares in Eden is expressed in a number of New Testament comments upon it: bet ter observed in a more literal rather than the commonly received translation of these pronouncements. “Through one man (the) sin made initial entrance into the world, and through (the) sin, (the) death . . . and in this way (the) death once and for all passed through to all man kind, in that4 all actually sinned” (Rom. 5:12). In con sequence “ the whole world lieth in the wicked one” 5 (1 John 5:19). If it be asked “How can sin make initial entrance into the cosmos here in Eden, if Lucifer’s fall brought sin into the universe prior to this time?” the answer lies in a thorough study made of the following New Testament use of kosmos. In 2 Peter 3:5,6 we read about a cosmos that then was; its heavens were of old, and the earth was standing out of the water and in the water. It perished, being overflowed with water. In 2 Peter 2:5 we are told of another old cosmos, further de scribed as an ungodly cosmos: a cosmos upon which the flood or deluge was brought. In 2 Peter 3:7 we are told of a cosmos that now is. On the surface it would ap pear that 2 Peter 2:5 and 2 Peter 3:5,6 speak of identical kosmoi. This, however, is not true. Each reference is to a separate and distinctly different cosmos.5 The cos mos of 2 Peter 3:5,6 is the cosmos of Genesis 1:1,2a. The cosmos of 2 Peter 2:5 is the renovated creation into whose Eden the enemy sowed the tares. The cosmos that now is, 2 Peter 3:7, is the field in which tares, of rich and luxuriant growth, ail but throttle the cross of the third Golgotha. Not that there are three kosmoi but rather that the cosmos-creation falls into at least three cosmos segments. The first segment became a chaos because of Lucifer’s sin. The second suffered deluge because of
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(Rom. 6:11). The cross on the hill at Calvary is the be liever’s second Golgotha. When Jesus died, he died: par- adoxical truth, but real! The greater paradox of Christian belief is that though crucified with Christ, the believer lives: the life he now lives in the flesh he lives by the faith of the Son of God who loved him, and gave Himself for him (Gal. 2:20). He is dead to sin, but he is alive unto God, through Christ (Rom. 6:11). He is hot of~the sinful cosmos (John 15:19), but he is most definitely In it (John 17:11). By the faith of the life he how lives in the flesh, he is en treated to overcome the cosmos (1 John 5:4,5): he is bidden neither to love it, nor the things, the lusts, that are in it (1 John 2:15,16). He must not walk according to its course (Eph. 2:2).12 All this and more, much more, constitutes the believer’s third Golgotha: the cross in the field of tares; the hill in the field that is not so green as it is gray and sombre. Happy indeed is that believer who can say: "To me may it never occur to go on boost ing, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which—to me—cosmos stands crucified: and I stand crucified to cosmos" (Gal. 6:14; Greek). if. A discerning reader will observe that much of the content of Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28 goes beyond the prince of Babylon and the prince of Tyre, therein named, to the prince of this «world, •Satan: just a,s the “ My God,, my God, why hast thou for« saken me” of Psa. 22:1 goes beyond king David to King Jesus. 2. The word ground cited from these chapters is the Hebrew eretz, just as in Gen. 1:1, “ In the beginning God created the heaven and 'eth ha'aretz (that is, the ’eretz). .' ?.• ?n the other hand, there are scholars equally erudite and spiritual who reject- the idea of a primeval creation (Gen. 1:1) and a subsequent renovation (Gen. l:2b-31) of that cosmos after the earth became void and without’ form” (Gen. 1:2a). Theirs Is a kind of "thelstic evolution” viewpoint, in which God created a void and without form” chaos and from it. by successive fiats, evolved the very good cosmos of Genesis 1:31. 4. The Greek for "in that” is eph’ ho. The Greek preposi tional phrase is explained by some, among them a scholar of fundamentalism, as indicating non-sinful birth, but almost imme diate sinfulness of every one coming into the world that Adam plunged into sin,. The aorist tense of the closing verb sinned, together with passages like Eph. 2:3 and Psa. 51:5, reveal that all mankind sinned when Adam sinned. 5. The Greek text has the form to ponero, which could b» the ;•locative case of either a masculine (person) or a neuter (thing) nominative. But the immediately preceding, and insep arable. verse has the nominative: "the wicked one:” The same must be read here. S. An excellent exposition of 2 Pet. 3:5,6 as the cosmos or creation of Gen. 1:1,2a is Dr. Bartoli’s little volume on The Cre ation, first published by the Sunday. School Times a decade or lortn into a continuing ministry of misrepresentation. 8. The Greek reads: "That the Jesus out from God . . . is." A. neresy of John s day. incipient Gnosticism, taught that vthe was human and "the Christ” divine: that there were God and man, but no God-man. In our passages the Spirit is con- luting this error. . « . L oh. L !OV' here expressed by God is agape, not philos. a second Greek word for love employed in the New Testament. Agape is reasoning and selective attachment: philos is instinc tive exercise of the natural affections. The New Testament fre- S ie -®£ .?flaPa.n God; it never commands us to philein Him (Trench). Propitiation translates hilasmo*, one of two New restamen t Greek terms employed to translate the Hebrew cappo- reth, meaning mercy seat, or cover of the ark of the covenant. S H ” V s th®r?fore coyer, or mercy seat, for the whole world. The Phrase sms of is omitted by the Greek text. Though He died for the whole cosmos, only those are saved from their sins who believe on Him as Saviour. 10. The contexts explain the seemingly contradictory eon- “ 5s6 °L.st?i®™®nt3- Christ speaks the words of salvation to all men. The Father judges the hearers according to their receiv ing or rejecting this message of salvation. ; 1 }}■. W most striking that the Greek word for "cometh 52J°. m Hebrews 10:5 Is eiserchomai. a verb used in the New testament for initial entrance. Not only as the Boy in the Tem ple, and as the Agonizer in Gethsemane. hut as the Babe in the Manger he knew the futility of sacrificial blood other than His own precious blood! 12. The Greek text has ton aiona, "the age,” As an aid to ° ,J1, e r s ding of ton aiona as here employed, we can be glad that one of the Syriac manuscripts knew a text that read leanona, meaning canon, that is, standard of measurement* so ago. t ¿ 1 ' , verb’ exeleluthasin, Is perfect tense: they have gone
Lord, Grant Us Calm Lord, grant us calm, if calm can set forth Thee; j Or tempest, if a tempest set Thee forth; Wind from the east or west or south or north. Or congelation of a silent sea, With stillness of each tremulous aspen tree. I Still let fruit fall, or hang upon the tree; Still let the east and west, the south and north, i Curb in their winds, or plough a thundering sea; I Still let the earth abide to set Thee forth, Or vanish like a smoke to set forth Thee. ( Continued from Page 287 ) Furthermore, while we are "busy here and there," life itself gets away. God has given us but a few years on this earth. "Only one life, ’twill soon be past; Only what’s done for Christ will last.” We are busy—-but about what? Land-grabbing, politics, pleasure-seeking, making a living, a great "much ado about nothing!” Jesus was never in a hurry. He said, "Are there not twelve hours in the day?” There is always time enough to do what God wants done. What takes so much time and wears us out is doing what we we want done. The tragedy of most lives is not that men rob banks, drink, curse and steal; they just putter around, playing "tiddledywinks” with life. As in the days of Noah, they eat and drink, they buy and sell, they plant and build, they are “ busy here and there” until the day is ended. The men who missed the Great Supper were occupied with land, oxen and wives. Now there is nothing bad in these things, but they diverted these men from the call of God. Many people go to hell, not because they are extremely wicked, but simply because they are too busy to be saved. "The wicked shall be cast into hell and all nations that forget God.” They do not revile, blaspheme, or curse God; they simply forget Him. That is what we do when we are "busy here and there.” Everyone means to be saved some day, when he feels like it, when he is good enough, when he can make up his mind. To a great degree, the population of hell w ill be made up of such people. "The road of bye-and- bye leads to the city of Never.” One need only to keep procrastinating, soon the harvest w ill be past, the sum mer ended and still he w ill be unsaved. The devil leads some into infidelity, crime, worldly pleasure. Other hon est, industrious souls who would never fall for that, he ensnares by keeping them so busy tinkering with decent and respectable things, that they are as lost and certain of hell as the worst criminal. The man who missed the Supper because of land, oxen or wife missed it as surely as if he had spent the time getting drunk or robbing a bank. The rich fool of our Lord’s parable was not a com plete fool. He was a successful farmer. He was religious, for he talked to his soul. But his clock was too slow: he said, "Many years” but God said, "This night.” In his relation to God he was a fool. Any man who is too busy to consider the salvation of his soul is the greatest of all fools. Beware lest while you are "busy here and there,” the best gets away from you! "Tomorrow’s sun may never rise to bless thy long- deluded sight; This is the time, O then, be wise. Why not to night T ' ' —. —Christina Georgina Rossetti. AS THY SERVANT WAS BUSY
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