OCTOBER, 1911
VOL. II.
NO. 9
l f l L
B
U
The time Is coining when that bright sun of today will gather blackness, and the moon will lose the sheen of her splendor and turn into blood, and the stars in the vault of heaven will disappear, and convulsions will shake this entire world. The three that glitter in the belt of Orion will pale away, and Alps and Appen- nines uprooted from their base will go dancing to plunge headlong into the Rockies rushing to meet them. But high over all the wreck of sublunary things, this Word of God, from Genesis to Revelation, shall stand, immortal, immovable, unchangeable, ' a monument of all the attributes of Father, Son and Holy Ghost, a testimony of love, and of grace, and of truth to His people now, and to His people hereafter. And I heard a voice saying to me, " C r y ;" and I said, "What shall I cry?" The higher criticism is grass, and the goodness thereof is as thè flower of the field. The grass withereth and the flower thereof fadeth. Why? Because the Spirit of the Lord bloweth upon i t ." Surely the higher criticism is grass, but " t he Word of our God shall stand forever. "—Nathaniel West. Published Once a Month by THE BIBLE INSTITUTE OF LOS ANGELES LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA Bible Institute Press. S9ES35
TWENTY-FIVE CENTS A YEAR.
Forever, O Lord, Thy Word is settled in Heaven.—Psalm 119:89 I t b U i n s t i t u t e ( Incorporated ) 260-264 South Main Street (Second Floor) L»08 An g e l e s , Ga l i f o r n ia The King's Business: Entered as Second-Class Matter Nov. 17, 1910, at the postoffice at Los Angeles, Cai., Under the Act of March 3. 1879. DIRECTORS: Lyman Stewart, President Rev. A. B. Prichard, Vice Pre». T. C. Horton, Superintendent J. M. Irvine, Secretary-Tie«. R. A. Hadden, Supt. Extension Work E. A. K. Hackett W. E. Blackstone S. 1. Merrill W. L. Green
DOCTRINAL We bold to the Historic Faith of the Creed of Evangelical Christendom and The Trinity of the Godhead. The Deity of the Christ. The Personality of the Holy Spirit. The Supernatural and Plenary au- thority of the Holy Scriptures. The Fellowship of the Church. The Substitutionary Atonement. The Necessity of the New Birth. n The Institi
STATEMENT Church as expressed in the Common including: The Maintninance 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. > trains accredited men and women, free knowledge and use of the Bible.
rurpose
of C08t; in t ,
Classe ' held daily except Satur " (2) Extension Work. Classes and conferences held in neighboring cities and towns. (3) Evangelistic. Meetings conducted by compe- tent evangelists under our direction. (4) Spanish Mission. Meetings every night for Spanish-speaking people and house visitation. (5) Shop Work. Regular services in shops and factories all the year. (6) Jewish Evangelism. Personal work in homes for the Hebrew people. (7) Bible Women. House-to-house work and neigh- borhood classes. (8) Aqueduct. Work among the 4000 men on the new aqueduct. (9) Oil Fields. A mission to the men on the oil fields. (10) Books and Tracts. Sale and distribution of selected books and tracts.
Departments
PRAY FOR THE WORK AND WORKERS OF THE INSTITUTE. If ye abide in me and My Words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will and it shall be done unto you.—John 15:7.
ISlhJj A t k r t U . - ^ttuUipllcatiort of ^ibte. Schools GOOD sign of the times is the world wide recognition of the Bible Institute as a necessary factor in the work of aggressive evangelism. Those who have been careful students of the trend of the times in church life, have long been aware of the fact that God designed them to meet the present emergency. -All over our own land and on the missionary fields there is an increasing demand for interdenominational schools where the common people may be taught the fundamental things of God's Word, and be in some measure qualified to meet the satanic assault upon the Scriptures and to win men and women for Christ. It is proposed to erect a Bible In- stitute in Korea as a memorial for Dr. A. T. Pierson, whose life was so largely given to teaching the Word of God and to missionary enter- prises. In a recent issue of the Christian Worker's Magazine is the following: "We are interested in the news from Nanking, China, that three theological seminaries, representing four denominations—the Methodist, Disciples and Presbyterians, North and South—are to form a union Bible school to do the work of all these institutions, except that which is technically, denominational. We are interested in it because of the union, which was made for the sake of economy in the use of money, and to draw the educated young men of the church into a closer mutual fellowship. But we are even more interested in that it is to be a Bible school rather than a theological seminary, although the latter has its place. We are informed by The Missionary Review of the World that the secret of this co-operation is found in a testimony of Bishop Graves, of Shanghai, who has been engaged in training men for the ministry ever since he went to China. Experience has taught him that the best way to teach theology is to make the Bible the center of all the teach- ing, and to devote the greatest amount of time to giving the students the fullest knowledge of the Old and New Testaments and, in addition, to teach all other branches of theology with constant reference to the Holy Scriptures. In this way,-he believes, the training is made more real and practical. These were the ideas animating D. L. Moody in founding the Moody Bible Institute of Chicago, whose success and blessing are attributable to the fidelity with which they have been carried out in the last quarter of a century. It is, marvelous how the two ideas go together the study of the Bible, and denominational union. Almost every» shade of belief of evangelical Christendom is found in the student body of that Institute, and yet the, loyalty of all to the teaching of the Bible is abso- lutely supreme. Moreover, the work and the fruitage of their labors, demonstrates the wisdom of the principles both of Mr. Moody and' Bishop Graves. It is encouraging to learn, too, how these principles are gaining ground in other places. During the past summer a representative from St. Petersburg, Russia, and another from Copenhagen, Denmark, spent some time at the Institute, studying its life and methods with the view of organizing a similar work in those cities. The Bible is the hope of the church and the world."
TLife in IV 3Moo6.
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man chose to eat of another tree and found the way to Death. But man was warned. In Genesis 2:17, God says, " I n the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely d i e ." This first state- ment announces the principle that con- tinues through the Bible that sin and death are inseparably linked. But the Serpent, possibly at that time a beautiful and fascinating creature, the satanic tool, in bold denial of God's threat, says,'"Ye shall not surely d i e ." Strangely, too, the satanie lie is in the form of truth, as so many of his later lies haye been, for man did not at once die a physical death. Grace intervened to stay the penalty. The point should be established as a first and fundamental principle that sin involves death. " T h e soul that sinneth it shall d i e ." Ezek. 18:4. " T h e wages of sin is d e a t h ." Bom. 6:23. " T h en when lust hath conceived it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth d e a t h ." James 1:15. It is but natural, therefore, that the Arch Instigator to sin should have the power of death. : ''Since then the children are sharers in flesh and blood, he also himself in like manner partook of the same; tha! through deatn he might bring to naught him that had the power of death, that is, the devil." Heb. 2:14. The struggle, then, is literally a life and death struggle, a struggle between the Lord of Life and the King of Death, a struggle that shall not end before Death and Hades and Satan and his host have found their place in the lake of fire which is the second death. For details, see the twentieth chapter of Revelation. In the meantime the horrid toll of death goes on and this earth, still under the curse because of sin, lays the grim harvest at the feet of the Grim Reaper. Let us beware the common practice of ascribing death to the hand of God. The hand of the Savior when on earth was sufficient to stop the funeral train and restore the young man to his mother. It was suffi-
TEST of orthodoxy is one's position with reference to the Blood of Atonement. But why? "Wi t h o ut shedding of blood there is no remis- sion." Heb. 9:22. But why
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ilgani • . Because the Word of God declares it. But is the condition an arbitrary on«? or are there reasons assigned which flow in- evitably from the constitution of man and the essential nature of sin? These questions have had their answer for the Bible student in every age, but it is none the less true that to the average Christian the reasons have not been made dear. • . An evidence of this want of definite in- formation among church people has come to the writer of these pages whenever the theme of Life in the Blood has been pre- sented. Many have asserted that the teaching has brought to them a new per- ception of a truth that has been believed, but always with a measure of blindness. In response to frequent requests, the sub- ject now fin^s its way into type and is sent out with the hope that believers who read may welcome this statement of a truth which forms so large a part of the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints. "Thou Shalt Surely Die."—God. "Ye Shall Not Surely Die."—The Serpent. Squarely a.t the beginning of human his- tory, the death penalty is pronounced upon the sinner. Warning precedes dis- obedience. But warning is- met by flat denial. In the brief description of the Garden, fresh from the hand of God, there is but one sinister thing, the mysterious tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Every tree pleasant to the sight is there and every tree good for food, even the Tree of Life. By a strange perversit,-, the one- forbidden thing is chosen. God's way, God's choice for man is Life. He is the Author and Provider of Life, but
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N. T.
cient to impart life ti) Jairus' daughter, fc and to Lazarus, though four days dead., The theme of the Apostle John is Life. k He writes his Gospel that men may believe that Jesus is the Christ and that, believ- , ing, they may have life in His name. He begins his first chapter in harmony with 1 this theme, for he says, In Him was Life. The First Epistle begins with the declara- tion that the Life was manifested and we " have seen it; and he closes the Epistle with the climax, ' ' This is the True God ^ and Eternal L i f e ." Life, therefore, is associated with God J L the Father and the Son, and Death with Satan who wields its power. II. LIFE, WHERE . IS IT? In the preceding chapter, we have seen that sin involves death. But what is r death? For definitions we seek the dic- tionary. The first one found gives this: • "Death—extinction of life; entire loss of vitality; mortality; decease; demise; de- parture from this world; separation of the scul from the b o d y ." The first definition [» and the last are such as suit our need—< » "extinction of l i f e ," "separation of the soul from the b o d y ." Were these defini- • tions to find expression in Hebrew, the same word would be used in both, thus: "extinction of nephesh" and "separation of nephesh from the body.'' However the • Scriptures would not use the term ' ' ex- t i n c t i o n" with reference to nephesh, for f)the continued existence of the soul, albeit this is also the life of the flesh, is clearly seen. » Thus f ar then, with the exception just noted, our common English speech and the Scripture usages of words are equally agreed, that death is the absence of life, ^ the forfeiture of life, the laying down or H pouring out of life. It is of vast import- I aiice, then, to know what life-is. Our English word is used in a great variety I f of ways—we speak of life as an abstrac- tion or a principle, or a force; we speak of it as something inherent in the creature; wo speak of it as revealing character or we speak of it as the record of one's daily acts. The languages in which our Bible was written were not so poor in their vocabu- laries as to require such stress to be put upon a single word for the expression of this great ar.ray of ideas. There are three principal words in the Old Testament translated " l i f e , " and these three correspond with three principal words in the New Testament translated " l i f e . "' This may be shown more clearly thus:
zoo —general term for life. The only word ever used for eternal life. " I n Him was l i f e ," etc. psuche—Soul or life. In the latter sense it is the vital part of earthly living beings, even ani- mals. It is not the equivalent of spirit
nephesh
even when translated soul, but seems never to be divorced from spirit, yomayim bios —the earthly life, e. g., long life, this world's good, etc. In looking, then, for the word which ex- presses that life which is given up at death, we find the word nephesh in the Old Testament and psuche in the New. We find that these two words are translated both soul and life. The former use is the more common, for soul appears as the trans- lation of nephesh in 456 passages, while life is the translation in 99. Similarly, in the New Testament, psuche is translated soul in 57 passages and life in 41. With few exceptions, a possessive is used in con- nection with these words whether they be translated soul or life, e. g.: A man's soul, etc. Just here, though the subject is not vital to the present discussion, we must turn aside to the consideration of man's tri-une nature as clearly revealed in the Word of God. In Genesis 2:7, is given an account of the creation of man-—"And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground (his body), and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life (his spirit); and mau became a living soul (his soul)."' Dr. An- drew Murray says that '''The spirit is the seat of our God—consciousness; the soul of our self-consciousness; the body of our world—consciousness. In the spirit, God dwells; in the soul self; in the body sense."' Were man to live as it was: designed that he should live, his spiritual nature would dominate his soul and that the body. But his fellowship with God depended upon a condition of unbroken obedience. When man sinned, he chose a life in which soul and body became confederate as against the domination of the spirit, and man be- came " f l e s h " in the Pauline sense of the term. " F o r they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the spirit the things of the spirit. For the mind of the flesh is death; but the mind of the spirit is life and peace; because the mind of the flesh is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can it be: and
13 And whatsoever man there be of the children of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn among you, which hunteth and catcheth any beast or fowl that may be eaten; he shall even pour out the blood thereof, and cover it with dust. 14 Por it is the life of all flesh, the blooi of it is for the life thereof: therefore I said unto the children of Israel, Yo shall eat the blood of no manner of flesh: for the life of all flesh is the blood thereof: whosoever eateth it shall be cut of. This passage in Leviticus is remarkable for many things: First, that it states and restates so many times the fact that the life is in the blood. This truth was so firmly imbedded in the mind of Israel that to this day the orthodox Jew will not èat other than " Ko s h e r" meat. Every city or any size has its kosher butcher shops in which meat is kept that has been killed with special provision for draining it of blood. Jews living in places too small to maintain a kosher shop will band together and have shipments made at intervals to them, and the meat is then divided among the families interested. But the great teaching of this passage from Leviticus 17 is found in the 11th verse in which the reason for this special care is stated. God has devised in all grace'that there shall be a way in which sin may be forgiven without the penal death of the sinner. " F o r the life (or soul) of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls: for it is) the blood that maketh atonement by rea- son of the l i f e ." R. V. This is to say that the sinner has for- feited his life by his sin. Acting in jus- tice alone, God would demand the forfeited life, but God does not act in justice alone; | ' Mercy glorieth against judgment, ' ' James 2:13, R. V. Love overleaps justice and man is permitted to take the blood of an animal and, by pouring it out upon the altar, to confess that his own blood ought to flow. God seeing that thè sinner con- fesses his iniquity to be worthy of death, forgives the sin and absolves the sinner. The way of salvation in Old and New Tes- tament times is identical—the way of faith. It is on condition of confession in terms that acknowledge the ruinous character of sin that God can forgive it. The sacrifices oc the Tabernacle and Temple were t'o the same end as the sacrifice on Calvary. The blood of-bulls and goats covered sin. The blood of Christ forever took it away. (To be Continued)
they that are in the flesh cannot please God." (Rom. 8:5-8.) But lest we should infer that there is something essentially evil about the body, and that while in the body we cannot please God, Paul immedi- ately adds, verse 9, " B u t ye are not in the flesh but in the spirit, ii so be that the spirit of God dwelleth in y o u ." In other words, the man who is still in his body, if a spirit-filled man, is not in the ' ' flesh'' in the sense used above. The " f l e s h " and the ' ' b o d y '' are not equivalent terms in Paul's nomenclature, but the flesh life is that earthly life which the " n a t u r a l ." or ' ' soulish I' man leads when soul and body coalesce for the fulfilling of the "desires of the flesh and of the m i n d ." The " n a t- ural m a n " of I Cor.. 2 that is so incapable oi perceiving the things of the spirit, is simply the " s o u l i s h" man. It is there- fore of great importance that we dis- tinguish between soul and spirit. To return to the subject of Life—the word nephesh which is translated 1 ' soul'' in 456 passages is also translated " l i f e * in 99. And this life is the physical life, for animals share it with man. It is this life that is poured out at death. It is this life at whicn sin strikes. Nor are we left in doubt as to the loca- tion of this life. The Scriptures are ex- plicit—"The life is in the blood." The ninth chapter of Genesis contains God 's commission to Noah after the flood. Until this time there is no record that ani- mal food had been permitted to man. Now. with changed conditions—conditions which i o doubt involved a far more rapid break- ing down of physical tissue than before the flood—man is given permission to re- pair the waste by the eating of animal food. " B u t flesh with the life (nephesh) thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall he not e a t ." Wen. 9:4. At Sinai where Israel's laws were codi- fied, this fundamental relation of the blood and the life was further emphasized and made the basis tor the forgiveness of sins. Lev. 17:10-14 10 And whatsoever man there be of the house of Israel, or of the strangers that so- journ among you, tnat eateth any manner of blood; I will even set my face against that soul that eateth blood, and will cut him off from among his people. 11 For the life of p f i flesh • is m the biood: and I have given it to you upon the altar, to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul. 12 Therefore i said unto the children ot Israel, No sord of you shall eat bloocl, neither shall any stranger that sojourneth among you eat blood.
Office of tl)e Tfol? Spirit.
By L. W. Munhall, Evangelist.
HE word ' ' unction'' occurs but once in the authorized version—1 John 2:20. It is from the same Greek word that is rendered anointing m the 27th verse of the same chapter—chrisma. anoint usually means " t o
process by which the ripe fruit is made luscious. Enduement gave them knowledge and courage. Unction, gentleness, patience, meekness, goodness—ail the graces of the Spirit—so that, while like Christ in bold- ness to speak the Word with authority they were also like Him—loving, sympa- thetic and of very great compassion. Since Christ received the "heavenly u n c t i o n" and the disciples were not quali- fied for service until they received it, what shall we say of ourselves as co-la- borers with God? or rather what says God's Word? Well I notice: First—That man is incapable of doing anything acceptable unto God, of Himself. See John 6:63; 15:5. Second—That God has nevertheless chosen man as the agent through and by whom he works. See Eph. 2:10; Phil. 2:12-13. Third—This anointing is for disciples now. It is for us. See Luke 24:49; Acts 2:1-4; 10:45-46; 11:15; 19:6; John 7:38-29; Joel 2:28-29. Since the apostles and those disciples who waited upon the personal ministry of our Lord and witnessed His mighty works, were not competent for testimony and ser-i vice without the anointing of the Holy Spirit no more are believers in these times. This is the one great, vital lack of the church today.
The word
sme a r ." Here, however, it means " r u b- bing i n . " It is the same as in Luke 4:18. ' ' The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, be- cause He anointed me to preach good tid- ings to the poor, etc r ," and in Acts 4:2'7, 1 ' For of a truth in this city against Thy Holy Servant* Jesus, whom Thou didst anoint, e t c . ;" and so in 2 Cor. 1:21: " N ow he that stablisheth us with you in Christ and anointed us, is God, e t c ." (Chrio— to rub.) Jesus said: "Wh en He is come He will guide you into all t r u t h ," and " Y e shall receive power (dunamis) when the Holy Ghost is come upon y o u ." " But tarry ye in the city until ye be clothed with power from on h i g h ." On the day of Pentecost the Holy Spirit clothed the disciples with power and im- parted unto them knowledge, so that they were qualified to proclaim Jesus and the resurrection accurately and with boldness. What they received at that time was " r u b b ed i n . " To what shall we liken these things by way of contrast? Enduement is like unto ripening fruit. Unction, the mellowing
Tfmpregnable 3\ock* By H. W. Frost.
seen in this, that, formerly they came mostly from without the Church, and, now, frequently they come from within the Church. Moreover, of late, there is this deceit about them which makes them pe- culiarly dangerous in their process and ef- fect; they are so mixed up with truth that it becomes, often, difficult to recognize them as error. Hence, not a few of us behold, and tremble, asking ourselves and others the question, what is to be the end of all these things, and what is to become
' ' We can do nothing against the truth, but for the t r u t h ." (2 Corinthians 13:8.) There are some of us, in these days, who find it difficult not to be anxious as to the result of the many attacks which are be- ing made upon God's holy Word. Such attacks are not a new thing in human ex- perience, and it may be true that they are not more vigorous now than of old. But it is recognized that there is a subtlety f^bout them at this present time, which has seldom before been known. This is chiefly
of this Word which God has given and we have received and reveied ? As so often happens ih similar cases, the Lord of light and love has anticipated our question, and has spoken the word which casts out fear. As our text declares, the "Word will not be harmed, but will stand. Sad and ter- rible things will happen as the result of all this Satanic onslaught, but the effect will not be that God's truth will suffer. Some years since, the great iron steamer upon which the writer was traveling hurled itself with all its force against an i island of rocks off the China coast. The contact was terrific. But when we examined, the next morning, the harm which had been done, we found that the steamer was the thing damaged, not the rock. Afterwards, the steamer was abandoned, as worthless, being self-destroyed, and it no longer ex- ists. But the great rock still stands where God placed it, without a mark upon it. So shall we find i t upon that glorious morn- ing when Christ shall come to vindicate His truth. His holy Word will be found even as it was from the beginning, un- moved and immovable, unmarked and un- marred. Let those of us who have fearful, and fainting hearts, therefore, be of good cheer. It is our business to witness to the truth. As we do so, God will preserve and vindicate His truth. Ofye iDeeper Secrets of tfye ìèible*
D r . ^ r t l j u r o . P i e r s o n . D .
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illumining its meaning and opening up its depths. Pray, because prayer is the illumining secret even of the intellectual eye. "Op en thou mine eyes that I may behold won- drous things out of thy l a w ." And, as Paul wrote to the Corinthians, " I f any man think himself to be a prophet, or spir- itual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the Command- ments of God''—that is to say 1 , Paul, con- scious of being inspired, appealed to the verifying faculty in the prophets of the Corinthian Church. And that is one thing that settled the canon, and shows how we got our Bible. Holy men, who knew that God inspired them, appealed to the pro- phetic spirit in the early Church, until their epistles and writings were acknowl- edged by the Church to be the very voice of God and were incorporated into the canon. It is a very remarkable piece of history which shows God's providence in superintending the compilation of the Word of God. And not only pray, but believe. In all other departments men believe what they know, but in the matter of Scripture men know what they believe. It is a very re- markable and unique fact, that you come to the highest certainty only as you first beli eve. In the scientific world men- pride themselves on their incredulity, but in the spiritual world we learn that faith' is not credulity, but it is the entering of the door into the secret chambers of God. The prophet Isaiah said to Ahaz, " I f ye will
OW shall we enter into the ""TiS deeper secrets of this book? m Let me give you six rules, easily remembered: search, meditate, compare, pray, be- lieve, obey. What would you think of some univer-
sity professor who proposed carrying you into the mysteries of philosophy, by these six rules? You would think that either he was a fool, or else that he thought you were. No book on philosophy or science, poetry or history, needs any such condi- tions, but without these and every one of them, no reader penetrates the secrets of this Book! Search it; because its wonders do not lie on the surface like shells on the beach," but like nuggets in veins and caverns, to be dug up with the pickaxe. Meditate, because there is a process, akin to rumination, by which, as you dwell upon the Scriptures, your being takes root in them and shoots up and bears fruit-—the " t r e e planted by the rivers of w a t e r ;" and without such meditation you skim over the surface a thousand times and lcnow nothing of what is beneath. Compare, because there is no error on earth that may not find apparent support in an isolated text, but no error in doc- trine or practice can stand the test of the whole Scripture. And so you need to compare Scripture with Seripture, so that one passage may correct your misinterpre- tation of another, or confirm your right impression of another, or let in new light
not believe, surely ye shall not be estab- lished"—the force of the Hebrew is, " I f ye will not believe, surely ye shall not be confirmed in knowledge." Finally, obey. You never learn a second ^ lesson from God till you practice the first. In human universities you can go through ¡¡. and manage to get out and not know much more than when you went in. But not so m God's university. Under God's train- ing it is like mounting a ladder; you have to step on one rung before you can get to T 1 the next above it. And so our Lord says in John vii:17, " I f any man will do His !J f will, he shall know of the doctrine.'' If . you have a doubt of h o ly Scripture it is
pi obably linked with disobedience. Come in the spirit of obedience and bow before the authority of this word; whatever you see here in the nature of a command, put if, into conduct and character; whatever you see as a precept, translate it into prac- tice. Obey what God teaches, and He will lc-ad you into larger knowledge of Himself and of His commandments, so that you shall find that, by searching and meditat- ing and'comparing; by praying and be- lieving and obeying, you are enabled to see in this Book its Divine Author, to see in this Book the remedy for your fallen and depraved estate and nature, and to come into the deepest knowledge and un- derstanding of its inscrutable mysteries. Why I Reject the "Helping Hand" of
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I Millennial Dawn.
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Principal W. C. Stevens. C Our Arraignment of Millennial Dawn.
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are practically the Bible itself.' , He de- clares them to be in such a sense " t h e light of the Scriptures," that "people can- not see the Divine Plan in studying the Bible by i t s e l f ." Indeed, he declares that i | one ,after obtaining the interpretation of the Bible from his Studies, then makes use of the Bible alone without the Studies, " w i t h in two years he goes into darkness," whereas " i f he had merely read the Studies with their references, and had not read a page of the Bible, as such, he would be in the light at the end of two y e a r s ." It follows, then, that our only .light is the Russellized Bible, and that the Word of God never was the lamp to one's feet, the light to one's path, until it became Rus- sellized. 2. He represents God as purposelv se- creting irom human knowledge throughout the past six thousand years the most vital truths of revelation. Not only does he claim to be the first reliable and exhaust- ive interpreter of .the Scriptures, but also claims that by God's express plan his teachings are " t h e light now first d u e ." He denies that the writers of Scripture un- derstood at all reliably or largely their own utterances; he asserts that nineteen centuries of Bible study and teaching have progressed mostly in " t h e smoke," and
CAREFUL examination of this system of false doe- trine, by means of the lat- est" edition of " S t u d i es in the Scriptures" and of the
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^ Tower," the former of which, a series of six compact volumes, is published by the hundreds of thousands and almost given away in well-bound j cc pies as " A Helping Hand for Bible Stu- ' d e n t s ," impels us to expose, in a summary « form under seven chief -captions, its flag- •f rant denials of the gospel of God. The ostensible author, C. T. Russell, has offered i to us in these writings a compound of the heretical teachings of the last nineteen centuries, which he now casts out of his mouth as a flood, that he might cause in- • cautious readers to be carried away as with a flood. (Rev. xii. 15.) I THE BIBLE. He handles the Word of God deceitfully. 1. He offers the Bible to us as capable of being understood only by means of his interpretation. He professes to give in "Studies in the. Scriptures" the exhaust- ive exposition of all and every Scripture. These volumes he declares to be " t h e Bible in an arranged f o r m ," yea, " t h e y
common to all beings, whether God, man, animals or plants. Being results from the infusion of this • life-principle into or- ganism, the nature of the being resulting wholly from the kind of organism. Man results spontaneously from the impartation of life-principle to' a human bodily organ- ism. Extinction results necessarily from the separation of the life-principle from the organism. This is all a denial of man's true creation and .of his immortality of spirit, the latter being a truth which Mr. Bussell utterly repudiates. 2. He makes death to be an extinction of being, whether in beast or man, and even in Christ Himself. And he allows no more to death, as the penalty of sin, than a forfeiture of right to continued exist- ence, and no more to "everlasting l i f e " than never-ending existence. He, there- fore, allows no rroral or spiritual character to any Scriptural terms of life and death; they mean only the departure of the life- principle from organism, on the one hand, and the continuance of the universal life- principle in organism, on the other. There is no su"h thing, then, as "the gift of eternal l i f e" as a present boon from heaven to us mortals, but only as a final, unend- ing continuance of our existence in our own human nature. Accordingly. A dam did not die' in the day he sinned, but only began to .iourney toward the tomb. " S h e that liveth in pleasure" jjannnt in any moral or spiritual sense be said to be " d e a d while she l i v e t h ." neither cm it be said, "nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in m e ." 3. The "second d e a t h" is described as extinction of being the second time, to last forever. This means the annihilation of the finally disobedient, an old doctrine of the devil. IV. RESTITUTION. He teaches future probation for all the dead. i | He falsely interprets the Scriptural promise of " t h e restitution of all t h i n g s ." What refers to a restoration of earthly dominion to Israel, and its attendant cir- cumstances. he capriciously construes to refer to a " future probation'' and restor- ation of mankind in general. 2. He claims that only Adam has had a probation for everlasting life, that even he will, and must have a "second proba- t i o n " before he. now extinct, can obtain that life. All others have died in conse- quence of their f a t h e r 's sin and have not been as yet on trial at all for their final destiny. Indeed, he teaches, God is per- mitting sin without probationary restraint
that God meant it to be so, and that he should be the first and exclusive revelator of. the sense of God's entire Bible. He explicitly defines this as " t h e divine pur- pose of concealing the truth until the due time for it to be understood." 3. He obtains his sense of Scripture by means of key-words chosen and capricious- ly explained by himself, by a continual paraphrasing of Scripture language in a way to suit his own mind, by false trans- lations of the original, and even by sacri- legious alteration of the very language of Scripture. 4. His followers and associates tell us that with them, as not with the public, he is undisguised in " t h e presumptuous claim of being the " o n l y , c h a n n e l" of truth, the only one qualified and authorized to in- terpret God's Word, while exposing to them " a mass of evidence of his spiritual degeneracy." "Nevertheless, he does not hesitate to consign to 'second death,' ' outer darkness,' etc., any who differ with him on any ma t t e r s ." I I THE GODHEAD. He denies the God- head of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. His doctrine is strictly unitarian. 1. He makes God Almighty to be a sol- itary being from eternity; who is unre- vealed and unknown, not only in any di- rect way, but even in any mediate way for no one has existed as His equal to re- veal Him. 2. He denies to Jesus Christ all deity and makes Him in His pre-existence to have been only a finite, mortal creature, though the highest of all creatures. He is to be called only " a g o d ," as there are ' ' gods many, and lords ma n y ," a " mighty o n e ," a hero. He is the " o n ly begotten S o n " simply because God generated only Him, while Christ generated all other crea- tures. 3. He denies all being and personality to the. Holy Spirit and makes Him to be only the mind, power or influence of God, of Christ, or of any holy person. All ex- pressions and evidences of the Spirit's per- sonality are ignored by Mr. Russell, or easily brushed aside by his manner of in- terpretation. The saints' " f e l l ow s h i p" and " c ommu n i o n" with the " o t h er Com- f o r t e r " is of no present weight or value; however much of delusive " c o n s o l a t i o n" it may have afforded them all these past centuries. III. MAN. His teachings as to human be- ing, life and death are false. 1. He represents life to be a principle,
or accountability for full six thousand years, with no other end in view than to give mankind a thorough experience of the natural results of evil doing. 3. The time of this first general proba- tion of men individually is set for the Mil- dennium, the " s e v e n th thousand y e a r s ," when man's past experience in sin will, it is supposed, serve as a deterrent and spur him to take the most favorable op- portunity of the Millennium to do well. 4. Most offensive is his definition of resurrection. He belittles, almost elimi- nates, the bodily resurrection of the Scrip- ture, and he interprets the word as a rais- ing up of man to Adamic perfection, through the favoring influences of the thousand years to follow the return to earth of the generations of men now dead, or extinct, as he makes out. 5. In all this conglomerate doetrine of being, life, death, resurrection, it is evi- dently impossible to establish any iden- tity of being and personality between man's first and second existences; yet this Curious A minister preaching recently or on, John 21:22, " If I -will that Serious he tarry till I come what is that to thee?" commended serious in- quiry but condemned curious prying into the future, and puzzling, but profitless questions as to Bible statements and Christian doctrine. toricity of the Book of Jonah, we could not agree with him. There are few more seri- jous questions than the historicity of Scrip- ture statement«. The preacher thought it enough to learn from Jonah that the gos- pel is to be preached among the Gentiles; and that if you run away from duty you will get into trouble. But Jonah says, "The word of the Lord came to Jonah, the son of Amittai," etc. If this is not Jonah But when he included among prof- itless questions that of the hist- f l o t es
does not trouble Mr. Russell at all. An extinct memory,' an extinct conscience, an extinct personality, no kind of resurrec- tion, not even a recreation, can restore. The very term resurrection pre-supposes unbroken identity, an unsuspended intel- ligence, conscience and personality. 6. AH ordinary meaning of " j u d g- ment, " as a moral settlement of account- able acts, he entirely expunges and re- places with the idea of a mere discipli- nary training in this coming probation, by which the way of self-perfecting by grad- ual degrees during the thousand years will be made easy. So bewildered is the heart of many that this mess of heresy finds welcome, encour- aging men carelessly to say, " L e t us eat and drink, for tomorrow we d i e " (be- come extinct, to be given another and better chance later on to mend our ways and inherit everlasting life). (To be Continued.) historical the word of the Lord did not come to the son of Amittai; and if so why should we believe that it came to any other son of man who says it did? If the book is fiction what authority has its teaching? Paul held it a great mys- tery supernaturally unveiled that the Gen- tile should have the gospel preached ;to them (Eph. 3:1-7). Did some allegorizer of the 9th century B. C., or later if you please, reach this conclusion by a shrewd guess that gave him authority to say, " I am allegorizing but what is that to thee? follow thou m e ? " The historicity of a biblical doeument is a vital object of investigation. Jonah is well proven his- tory, and is true, every word of it. The Good referred to the Atonement. We Minister can not explain it, and should not attempt it; "What Is that to thee?" Trust to the Christ of the Cross. Way.
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3 . IK. Sammis
cross to the penitent. The Lamb of God died a substitute for guilty men. The Also condemned the curiosity Preacher that asks whether the Lord is at hand, or a million y ears? away. He condemned the Millerites who set His return in t~e year 1842, and fanat- ically abandoned their business and goods and robed themselves for the ascension. But the fault of the Millerites was not tLat they searched the Scriptures to learn the times and seasons, but that they did not rightly divide the Scriptures, and drew conclusions that were false. Interrogating the prophets is "inquiring of tne Lord," and the prevailing want of " c u r i o s i t y" as to what the predictions mean is ono oi our great faults and weaknesses today. But we should not "be wise above what is written." If you use helps, prove everything by the Word. Isa. 8:20l Obey all you understand and you will learn more. Jno. 7:17. Let your eye be single and your heart will be full. Matt. 6:22. THE WORD OF GOD. Made flesh and dwelt among us.- Jno. 1:14. He that heaneth and believeth hath life. Jno. 5:24. He that is of God heareth God's words. Jno. 8:47. The Word shall judge him in the last day. Jno. 12:48. If a man love me he will keep my words. Jno. 14:23. Sanctified by the truth, the Word. Jno. 17:17. Able to build believers up. Acts 20:32. Many corrupt the Word of God. 2 Cor. 2:17. Cleansing by the Word. JnoV 15:3. The Word is quick and powerful. Heb. 4:12.
In nothing has the Holy Spirit been more' explicit than in unfolding the meaning of the Atonement, from one end of the Book to other. Has
3' All the blood of beasts On Jewish altars slain,"
all the priestly and sanguinary ceremonies; all the inspired reasoning of the apostles, failed to explain how the cross explains how God can be just and justify him that believeth in Jesus? (Rom. 3:6; 4:5). If certain theologians and scholars wilfully reject the inspired explanation, is the "anxious inquirer" after the meaning of the cross t o . be told, "What is that to thee?" It is rank superstition to trust an unexplained atonement, and such a cross can give no lawful peace to guilty souls. Our first duty is. to expound the
Iftorç to Stilò? tt)e
Study it prayerfully. The Author is the only interpreter. Jno. 16:1.3. Don't study it to f o r t i fy your own opin- ions. Mark 7:13. Search; do not skim over it, but dig till you find water. Jno. 5:39. Don't try to harmonize Scripture, God has done that. Luke 24:27. If you meet with seeming contradictions study further, for remember it is all true and can not contradict itself. Find out what every book says on the subject. Psa. 119:160. itead all that is written before you make a decision. Rightly divide it, put things where they belong. 2 Tim. 2:15. Was it written for the Jew, the Gentile, or the Church of God? Study the dispensations. Distinguish between Law and Grace. Find the general scope or design of the Book. To whom, by whom, and for what it was written. . . Compare not the letter, but spirit. 1 Cor. 2:13. J Get the best concordance. With your Bible it makes the full library.
Begotten of God by the Word of truth. James 1:18. Born again of incorruptible seed. 1 Pet. 1:23. Milk of the Word, means of growth. 1 Pet. 2:2. Love perfected in keeping the Word. 1 Jno. 2;5. Keep my word and I will keep you. Rev. 3:10. The name of the Judge, the Word. Eev. 19:13. Doubting it, we make God a liar. 1 Jno. 5:10. WHAT GOD SAYS OF HIS WORD. Psa. 138:2. Its decisions are immutable. Isa. 8:20. Its doctrines are holy. Psa. 19:8. Its precepts are binding. Deut. 6:6. Its histories are true. Isa. 53:11. I t has light to direct you. Psa. 119:105. It has food to nourish you. 1 Pet. 2:2. It has comfort to cheer you. Psa. 119:50. It is the traveler's map. Isa. 30:21. It is the pilgrim's staff. Isa. 41:10. It is the soldier's sword. Eph. 6:17. It is the pilot's compass. Jno. 16:13. It is the river of pleasure. Jer. 15:16. It is a mine of wealth. Psa. 19:10. It is a paradise of glory. 1 Jno. 3:24.
Practice it to be holy. 2 Gor. 7:1. Let it fill the memory. 2 Tim. 3:14, Let it guide the feet. Psa. 73:24. Let it rule the heart. Rom. 10:10. SEVEN REASONS FOR STUDYING THE WORD. 1—It is God's command. John 5:39. 2 —Ü is God's power to save. Rom. 1: 16. 3—It is God's power to keep. Ps. 119- 9-11. • 4—It is the Wisdom of God. 2 Tim. 3:16. 5—It is Enduring. Mark 13:31. 6—Because we will be Judged bv it. John 12:48; Rev. 20:12. 7—Because of the Rewards. —Honor me and I will honor you. Isa. 66:2. Keep my -word and I will keep you. Rev. 3:10. Hear when I speak and I will hear when you call. John 15:7. FAITH IN THE CHRIST OF THIS BOOK. Is the source of salvation. Acts 4:12, Is the author of life. John 20:21. Is the means of remission. Acts 10:43. I t makes us sons of God. John 1:12. It gives power in prayer. John 14:13. It gives victory over Satan. Luke 10:17. The Sinner's Gospel. Christ died for me. "Whosoever will, may come." The Believer's Gospel. We died with Him. "Whatsoever He saith, do i t . "
Read it to be wise. Isa. 50:4. Believe it to be safe. Jno. 5:24.
" P r a ? . Ä r e t l j r e n ,
1 3 r a ? .
Lyman Stewart, whose heart is So occupied with interests of the school. May it please the Lord to grant unto him strength and wisdom for the manifold duties devolving upon him in his business life. P r ay for every departmen tof our growing work. Those who wish to be enrolled on our intercessory list will be furnished with our little prayer pamphlet upon applica- tion. Let us give ourselves as never be- fore to prayer.
We are in the' midst of great events in connection with the Institute and we need the continued prayers of our intercessors that the Lord will select a site and de- cide the character of our school buildings; for the enlargement of our clasB work; for Dr. Torrey and Mr. Hunter, who will be with us January 1st. Dr. Torrey is filling an evangelistic engagement in Eng- land. Pray that he may be abundantly used of God. And for our president, Mr.
t&rief Ot)ou$l)ts for ì&us? Oeac^ers
International Sunday School Lessons by J. H. Sammis.
EZEK I EL THE WATCHMAN. Lesson I—October 1. Ez. 3.
(2- and 10:); its vivid action, in t he acted prophecy: the m i m ic siege, t he m a ny days prostration in symbolically b e a r i ng his peo- ple's iniquity; picture t he p r o p h et weighing his hard f a m i ne fare, a nd m e a s u r i ng his drink all those months, vicariously suffering a l l - t he privations of t he coming seige, (4:); see h im burning, smiting, s c a t t e r i ng t he portions of his hair, and .binding some in his skirts, to signify t h a t n6t all shall p e r- ish in t he selge, or by t he sword, or exile, b ut t h at a reninant should be preserved (5:1-5). Again he is hurriedly moving his goods f r om place to place by day, or t h r o u gh a v e nt in t he wall by night, as a "sign" to t he behollefs (12:1-12); or writhing as one in pairi (21:6), a nd "sighing" "before their eyes"; or b r e w i ng a horrid b r o th in a caldron over b u r n i ng bones (24:3-6); a nd above all suppressing all signs of woe on t he d e a th of his "precious" wife (24:15-18), to show how n a t u r al affection will b e h a r d- ened into indifference in t he brutalities of seige and famine. T h us to t he eye as well as to t he ear t he w a t c h m an conveyed his w a r n i n g, and suffered affliction in t he dis- c h a r ge of his duty. W h a t t e a c h er cannot convey to y o u ng and old t he lesson t h r o u gh these stories, and s h ow how full of interest our Old- T e s t a m e nt is? Besides, we h a ve the Inkhorn man, and t he sword bearers, moving (invisible to the passers-by), t h r o u gh t he city streets, appointing some to d e a th a nd some to life (9:). S e e - t he p r o p h et dig- ging t h r o u gh t he temple wall and coming full upon t he sinners in t he act of "abom- ination," on which wickedness THE EYE OF THE LORD rested a l w a ys (8:); all t h is is as useful to t he w a t c h m an of today as to Ezekiel then. H a r d e n ed and i mp e n i t e nt backsliders and sinners a re here called "Im- pudent," "hard hearted" (3:7); "briers," "thorns," "scorpions" (2:6); "dross," "brass," "lead," "iron," "tin," in the cruc- ible, c o n t r a s t ed with the "silver" (22:17-22). W e a re not told to call h a rd names, b ut we m a y tenderly show to m en In peril of j u d g- m e n t w h a t God t h i n ks of t h em. Especially should t he w a t c h m an w a rn against t he op- timistic "lies" of false preachers, whose pre- s u m p t u o us and d a m n i ng conceits a re hère likened to "untempered mortar," and a wall melting a w ay in t he s t o rm flood and leaving m en defenseless (13:8-11). Of the wonderful Living River we shall l e a rn n e xt week (40: 48-35). III. EZEKIEL T HE WATCHMAN. 1. His call was special. "Not all have the same office" (Rom. 12:4); "Are all apostles? are all prophets?" a s ks P a ul (1 Cor. 12:28).
I.—EZEKIEL THE MAN. i. His descent. "The Son of Buzl" (1:3). "Buzi" m e a ns "contemned of Jehovah>" but Ezekiet w as honored of Jehovah, which s u g g e s ts t he falsity of t h e proverb, "The fathers have eaten sour grapes and the chil- dren's teeth are set on edge" (Eze. 18.2). 2 His birthright, a "priest" (1:3). H e could not use his office., for t he temple w as pol- luted by idolatry. God « ^ M w r a W ^ ^ him, for ministers deprived o r their pulpits can still serve s o m e w h e r e ' if t h ey will. A * His name, "Ezeklel" m e a ns "God strength- ens." So God's m e s s e n g e rs need G o d s s t r e n g t h; "Power from on high" ( L u ke 24. 49)? T he Holy Spirit is the "Comforter » t h a t is t he co-helper. H e baptises all H is ser- vants—' "Ezeklel," for t h ey h a ve H is s t r e n g th (3-8) and H e gives a "mouth and wisdom which their adversaries cannot gainsay ( L u ke 21:15; Eze. 2:5). 3. His Period. T he prophets a re divided into Pre-exile, Exile, a nd Post-exile prophets. Ezeklel prophe- sied d u r i ng t he Exile, or Captivity. T h o u gh t he Captivity h a d begun, t he throne, t he city, and t he temple w e re still s t a n d i ng w h en _he b e g an to prophesy. T h e re w e re t h r ee de- portations, w i th t w e n ty y e a rs . interval be- t w e en t he first a nd last. God is t h us long- suffering (Ex. 34:6). T h e .three sucessive strokes were chastisement, b ut also w a r n- ing and opportunity. T he delay w as to to repentance," b ut they "despised the lona-sufferlng and goodness of God (Bom. 2 4) as Ezekiel's portrayal of their wicked- n e ss «hows (8:6-17). T he final stroke c a me a t last for "he that being often reproved hardeneth his neck shall suddenly be cut Sff and "hat without remedy" (Proy. 29.1). 4 His Character. All t he prophets were " h o ^ men of God" (2 Pet. 1.21). Ezek.el II. EZEKIEL THE BOOK. 1 Its Outline. (a) t he Prophet' (11-3:2); (b) Prophecies Against Is- f4-2-24'7): (c) Prophecies Against t he GlSitiies (25 :l-35 :l-23); (d) Promises of R e s- toration of I f n d and People / ^ ¿ i v ( f j fe) T he Destruction of God w T he L a nd a nd Temple as Restored (40:1— 48-35) ' T h r ee words s u m up t he whole: T u r n (14-6) ; Overturn (21:27); Return (16:55, With 60-63) 2. Its Literary Characteristics. Note its m a j e s t ic a nd my s t e r i o us imagery T h e . Call of
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