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Read the letters on this page frommen and women who havemade their dreams come true by this wonderful, scientific method of voice culture. You can continue your pres ent occupation and mode of life while you study in your own home —and the cost is nominal — only a very small amount each month as you study. 100% Improvement Guaranteed It makes no difference whether you wish to improve your voice for your own pleasure or for professional singing. The man or woman sing ing in the home—the opera or con cert singer—the choir singer—all canimprove their voices 100%, at the very least,byPhysicalVoice Culture. We absolutely guarantee 100% improvement or your tuition will be gladly refunded. You alone a re to be the judge.
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Gives Physical Voice Culture Credit for Grand Opera Voice Each 24 hours brings me a stronger and better hold on my voice. I feel# like telling you of it each day when I think back to six years ago when catarrh had just about finished my nearing and voice. I joined the Los Angeles Opera Company this Spring and we will have five Operas ready in September. It is reallypathetic to see the starpupils from the greatvoice masters try for a place in the Company. Some very pretty, but weak, palate attacks, throat and lip attacks. I work hard all day and your silent exercises are & wonderful rest.—Bert Longtre.
Harry Lompierre Finds the “ Right W ay ” I wish to give credit where credit is due.. The past twelve years have been spent in pro fessional singing. Believing that I had at last found “the right way," I cancelled an entire season's bookings to apply m y self diligently to your idea. Today my voice is completely new. Formerly, I could sing only a fair “ F" (fifth line). Now I can sing high “B" flat, with a rich, reso nant, manly tone. —Harry Lom pierre.
Church Singer Delights Congregation I cannot help but say “ Thank God” for everything you have done for me. As I sang in church yesterday people turned to see who was singing. I hope you will always think of me as one who has made a big success in the work I chose to do.—Carolyn Baker.
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I often think of that hopeless first letter I wrote to you and I want to thank you for the help you have given me and especially for the cheering letters at the beginning when I needed boosting along the worst way. Hoping that you will believe me to be ever your grate ful friend.—Mrs. Mary Brown.
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D r . J ohn .M. M ac I nnis , Dean D r . R alph A tkinson , Associate Dean R ev . J ohn H. H unter , Secretary of Faculty R ev . W illiam H. P ike , Secretary Evening, School R ev . K eith L. B rooks , Secretary Cor. School R ev . A lbert E. K elly , Student Secretary C hristian M. B ooks P rof . A rthur A. B utler M iss M arie C arter M iss :F lorence C haffee ;■ ,R evjj ;J ohn A. H ubbard P rof . H. W. K ellogg M rs . B esse D. M c A ni . is P rof . H. G. T ovey ' P rof . J. B. T rowbridge M iss C harlotte L. W oodbridge Book Orders: Much confusion and delay will be avoided if orders for books are sent direct to the Biola Book Room, 53(5- 558 S. Hope St., Los Angeles, California, instead of being en closed in mail intended for The King’s, Business. Advertising : For information with reference to advertising in The King’s Business, address the Religious Press Assn., 80Ö- 803 Witherspoon Bldg., Phila delphia, Pa., or North Amer ican Bldg.,.Chicago, 111. Entered as, Second Class Mat ter November, 17, 1910, at the Post Office at Los Angeles California, under the Act or March 3, 1879. Acceptance for mailing at spé cial rate of postage provided for in Section 1103, Act of October 3, 1917, authorized October 1, 1918.
EDITORIALS The -Immutable Christ................. . The Challenge of the New Year. Considerateness ...... ............... ... What Modern Youth Wants'.',.!.':: Practical Piety .............................. Spiritualists and Liberalists,.,........ Casting Your Vote for God.......... The Cry for Home........................ The Inner Life Revival................ Editorial Arrows ....... ................. :
Page ÊÈS .... 5 ..... 6 ....„ 6 ... 6 L:r ? .... 7 ... 8 .... 8 .... 9
J. M, I rvine , President H oward F rost , Vice-President A . A ddison M axwell , Treasurer
D r . A. T. C overt H . B. E vans , ; C. A. Lux N athan N ewby J. M. R ust M rs . L yman S tewart
How to begin the New Year—James H. Brookes..10 Contending for the Christian Faith—Robt. Haldane and Dr. Benjamin I. Greenwood—.... 12 Leaving our Characters with God—-John Ritchie.. 13 The Little Sermon—“The Best Last” i A—Dr. A. Maclaren...................... ..................... ...15 The Modern Wiles of the Devil .-j—Dr. A. T. Schofield................................. 16 ..........17 Christ’s Power Over a Demon-Ridden Soul......... 18 Topsy-Turvy Ideas of Prayer and Worship •'?iLJ>'hilip Sheppard, M.D.......... ............................ 19 Archaeological Review for 1926..................... 20 •The Defenders’ Column .................................. 21 Finest of the Wheat..... ...........................................22 Pointers for Preachers...... ....................... ............ ..23 Sentence Sermons.......................... .......................... 23 Striking Stories of God’s Workings.... ...................24 Passages that Perplex.................................. 26 The Children’s Garden................................ „...27 International Lesson Commentary....... ........ 30 Biola Table Chat................ 40 Outline Studies in the Epistles of John —T. C. Horton ........................ 42 Radio K-T-R-1......................................................... 44 Prophetic Notes—David L. Cooper....... .............46 Daily Meditations for the Year —Wilfred M. Hopkins........................... 53 In the Fulness of Time He Came! - -Thomas Fitzgerald ............... 14 The Man With the Divine Push V.—Pastor W.. Mallis.UL^—
:C has . E, H urlburt , Supt. J. Pi W elles ; Sec. to the Board of Directors W . R. H ale , Assistant Supt.
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l a i L ln£alhbJ e w o r d of God a n d its g r e a t fu n d a m e n ta l tr u th s , (b ) T o s tr e n g th e n th e f a ith of a ll b eliev ers, (c) To s tir y o u n g m en a n d w om en to fit th e m se lv e s fo r a n d e n g a g e in d efin ite C h ris tia n w o rk , (d ) T o m a k e th e B ib le I n s titu te o f Los- A " S'e L i t J V L A L J o m a g n ify God p u r F a th e r a n d th e p erso n , w o rk a n d com in g of o u r L o rd Je s u s C h rist; an d to te a c h th e fo u n d aU m is^ o f °m uds The Editor's Statement to The Ring’s Business Family iCTUi I INE of the greatest needs in the church today is for bright, up-to- ' —' 1 date, constructive, orthodox literature. Definite liberal interests have come to control much of th e most attractive, challenging and popular religious, political and social literature published in recent years. It has come to use the conservative and orthodox terms of other days to introduce ideas that are wholly.subversive of the things for which these terms stand historically. These periodicals are gotten up in an attractive form and are pleasing to the eye and literary tastes of the masses. The Christian church is challenged to provide a thoroughly constructive, at- tractive and orthodox literature to offset the sinister influences Which are liter '*1 ally pouring into our homes and libraries thfough such publications. Denunciation of these is not enough. The field is open to the church, and if it has something better to offer it should be offered in the best and most at' tractive way possible. Dr. Glover says that “Christianity won out in the Roman Empire because Christians outthought, outlived and outdied the devotees of the old Roman religions”. If we would win in this field of literature we must out' live, outthink and outwrite the men and women who áre writing from a Wrong point of view. The new editors of The King’s Business desire to circulate in the largest, possible way an attractive magazine that shall emphasize in a strong and a constructive way the great foundation truths of the-Christiamfaith. In doing this We feel an impelling desire to specially stress the teachings of the Scriptures concerning the transformingpower of Christianity in practical daily life. We are convinced that our times demand outspoken frankness. The effort to be neither hot nor cold, must prove disastrous. A colorless periodical is worse than useless and we have no sympathy with mere shallow sentences that have no burning convictions back of them. There- fore by the grabe of God we shall endeavor to give a clean,, ringing testimony concerning the great evangelical doctrines and principles for which the Bible Institute of Los Angeles has always stood—and still stands. In opposing error our policy shall be to deal with principles and not to indulge in person alities. We shall endeavor to not unnecessarily antagonize Our opponents but rather, in the Spirit of Christ, win them to what we conceive to be the right and the' truth. In all our writing we shall earnestly desire the triumph of God’s truth rather than the downing of an enemy. If at an£ time personalities become necessary for the good of the causes of right and righteousness, they shall not be indulged without the most careful investigation and the fullest possible chance for fair explanations.' ‘ My associates, Dr. Charles'E. Hurlburt and Keith L. Brooks, earnestly share with me these convictions, and we most earnestly covet and ask the prayers of all our subscribers, and in the assurance of this co-operation we now dedicate ourselves to this new and important task. EDirOR'IH'CHIEF The Immutable Christ “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today and forever” Heb. 13:8. The Challenge of the New Year W E are leaving the old year exactly as it stands. No single hour of it can be changed now. No unholy wish or unkind word cart be recalled or taken back. It is irrevocably fixed and holds its story for good or ill forever. We are entering upon the new year and it stands ready to be made whatever we determine to make it. Its pages are white, ready to record whatever we choose to write upon it. Its life is plastic, ready to be moulded after our thought. We cannot unmake 1926 but we can make 1927. What shall we make it ? This question challenges us to courage ous thinking and high resolve. He must be dead indeed who does not endeavor to think and resolve in answer to this question. Indifference to it is not, and cannot be the sign of superior thinking or courage but the luring shadow of an indifference that must be fatal in the living of life. Clear and courageous thinking is necessary to high and holy resolve. Think of the year to which we are now bidding farewell! Honestly face its record and dare to put a right value upon its life. We know wherq sye failed and why. We may be inclined to blame our circumstances for the failures but if we are honest and frank we know that the fatal break was not in our circumstances but in ourselves. We failed, and we failed because we made wrong choices and yielded to unworthy motives. In the last analysis we willed the shadows and failures into our lives. The circumstances were difficult and exceedingly trying but we did not have to yield to the unchristian feeling and speak the unkind and blighting word. A dif ferent feeling and word would have been better for us and for those whose lives were scorched by our unholy blame. This thought should lead to high resolve on the threshold of the New Year. We should resolve that it shall be different and better. We can make it different, and in order to be true to God, ourselves and our fellows we must make it better. “To every man there openeth If we would look back upon the High Way at the end of the year we must now choose to enter upon it. “Every man decideth which way his soul shall go.” If we could now change last year we would make it all High Way. We cannot do that but we can now choose to make all 1927 High Way. Christ’s way is the High W ay ; every other way is a Low Way. "■ Neuman 'can scale the highest heights of 1927 and leave Christ out of his thinking and life. If we would know the highest, Jesus must have the supreme place in our program. The New Year will be determined by the place we give Him. We know His way,—it is the way of Love. He does not require great riches or learning to enter upon it and to pursue its course. It is open to all but we must individually choose as to whether we are willing to ga A High Way and a Low, And every man decideth The way his soul shall go.” HE writer of “Hebrews” has been giving emphasis to the fact that the believer is represented at the right hand of the throne of God by One who still has a human heart (although He is God) and so can be touched with the feeling of our infirmities. This union of human and divine is forever indissoluble in Christ. Without that permanent manhood, He could not succor those who are tempted, and have compassion on them. In the yesterday of His life on earth, in the today of His priesthood, and in the tomorrow of His coming as King, He remains both Son of God and Son of man. His earthly robe of human tenderness did not, like Elijah’s mantle, drop off as He passed into the skies. He has not, as one religious sect teaches, taken on a spirit form, no longer human. Unto all eternity we have one Mediator, THE MAN Christ Jesus (1 Tim. 2:5) the God-man. Were He suddenly to appear now at your side, it would be that same Jesus whom the disciples knew, with the same warm heart beating in His breast. This “same Jesus” is coming back again for His own (Acts 1:11). j, What a rock for our wave-tossed souls is this truth concerning the unchanging Christ! Is not the phenome non of the abiding power of Christ in the lives of men after these 1900 years an unanswerable testimony to this truth? Dr. Maclaren once said: “All other men, however, burning and shining their light, flicker and die out into extinction and but for a season can the world rejoice in any of their beams; but this Jesus dominates the ages and is as fresh today, in spite of all that men say, as He was centuries ago. They tell us He is losing His power; that the mists of oblivion are wrapping Him around as He moves slowly to the doom which awaits Him in common with all the great names of the world. But Christ is not done with yet, nor is He less available for the necessities of this generation with its perplexities and difficulties than He was in the past.” Stand on the seashore and think that those waters have been rolling and dashing for thousands of years, yet they shqw no signs of waste. Watch the sun rise above the hill-crests and think that its beams have melted the snows of thousands of winters and renewed the verdure of as many springs, painted the flowers of as' many,,summers, ripened the Jruits of a§ many ,autumns. Y.gt it is not dimmed, nor is its power in the least abated. These are but images of the immutable Christ. It was Dr. Guthrie who said: “When judgment flames shall have licked up the waters of the sea and the light of the glorious sun shall be quenched in darkness or veiled in the smoke of the pit, the fullness of Christ shall surge on throughout eternity, in the bliss of the redeemed.” January 1927 T h e - K i n g ’ s B u s i n e s s 6 now,” says Mr. Waehlte. “Everywhere there is harsh ness, bitterness,; threatening, scolding. In the midst of a world of coarseness, the Lord wills that His people shall walk in calm and gentleness as a testimony against the age in which they are living.” It is interesting to notice that the above precept is enforced with an appeal to the Lord’s corning. A vivid sense of the nearness of His advent will surely help one to do and bear as in His presence, for when He comes we shall give account for every idle word. What Modem Youth Wants a UESTIONNAIRES were recently circulated by the Christian Herald, with the view to discovering the attitude of modern youth to r'eligion. These replies came from 86 churches, 52 communities, 6 Eastern states and 2 Pacific states. A large number seemed to feel that what is most lack ing in sermons today is religion. Several complain that their ministers give lectures instead of preaching the Gos pel. “-I have to listen to lectures six days in the week,” says one. Other remarks were : “Not enough of God in them;” “Lack spirituality and conviction.;” “No bearing on every day Christian living;” “Not enough of . Christ’s redeeming love.” There seemed to be no evidence of a 'désiré for ser mons which are dramatic Of sensational. Constructive teachihg is wanted. Only five cared to hear discussions on Fundamentalism and Modernism. They want more Bible, not less. In particular, they want more Christ'. The life and teachings of Christ, and His saving power, were explicitly mentioned by many. , As one put it: “We want sermons which are not all through when church is over, but result in some form-of action.” Practical Piety T HE more we study the’ Epistles, the more we are convinced that many of us are not insisting, as we should, upon the practical issues of Christianity. he impression seems to be abroad that piety means a knowledge of- prophecy, saying prayers and attending meetings. We may lustily sing about “Higher Ground)” and about “Living on the Mountain underneath a Cloudless Sky,” but if Scripture is to be trusted, God is taking more notice of what we are down on thè' plane where we do business with our fellow-men. Study, services and" supplication are not to be depre ciated, but the world has a right to ex:pect a Christian to be something besides a star-gazer. A Christian is one who goes about the common tasks of life under the control of the Holy Spirit. If a man does not do that, has he any right tojcall himself “consecrated?” A creed is a good thing, for it furnishes a concise state ment of the fundamentals of life. If, however, it becomes a mere quibble in words, that does not result in actual attainment in character, it is worse than useless. Isn’t it time we began to give more attention to the fundamentals of the Christian, life? The first eleven chapters of Romans set forth the won- ___ ' wére distributed in schools and collèges where most who replied were more or less out of touch with church activities. Various denominations were represented and that way or not. He has made it possible but God will not force us to follow that ¡way. It is simple but seems very difficult. His grace alone makes it possible. Here it is, and every mile of it is practical and leads on to higher and truer things. It is the way of patience and kindness and knows no jealousy. It makes no parade, gives itself no airs and is never rude. It is 1 never selfish, never irri tated and never resentful. It is the way of gladness, char ity and kindly hope. This way can never fail. It is the way of First Corinthians 13, and to reject it is to disobey the solemn command of Christ and to make a sure failure of the New Year. To accept it as our way of life is to make a Sure success of the New Year whatever may be the accidents and circumstances of its secret stores. The thing that determines the year for us in its deeper life and meanings is not the thing we are going to encounter in it but the soul and the resolve that we bring to it—the steadfast gaze we fix upon the goal of His way. Considerateness I N Phil. 4 :5 there is an inspired precept which seems long since to have been forgotten. “Let your moderation be known unto all men.” The word means “considerateness.” ■The French ver sion uses a word which means “sweetness.” ■ This we do not take to mean that a Christian is to be a sort of maple syrup (refined sap) individual, a reed in the breeze. It means that he should be a man who tries to put himself in the place of the other fellow. He real izes that in order to master others, he must first be master of himself. He aims to disarm opposition rather than aggravate it; to compel men with calmness, courtesy and sanctified common sense. Is this considerateness characteristic of orthodox lead ers today? It is to be applied to “all men”—friend or foe, erring Christians or apostates. We were impressed by a recent utterance of Evangelist Charles Waehlte: “Never has there been such a lack of considerateness among the Lord’s people as appears right 7 January 1927 T h e K i n g ’ s B u s i n e s s J ohn M. M ac I nnis W illiam A. F isher This will make you acquainted with your new editors each one of whom takes this opportunity to beg your continued prayers. Mr. William A. Fisher, formerly Managing Editor, now assumes the responsibilities of Circulation Manager, and we bespeak for him the hearty cooperation of all interested in spreading the message <3f these pages. Mr. Fisher’s appointment as Director of Publicity for. the Bible Institute, necessitates the limiting of his duties connected with The King’s Business. C harles K. H urlbcrt .. . K eith L. : B rooks —apart from His claims to Deity? (Jn. 8:58; 10:30; 14:9). If He is not “God manifest in the flesh,” what is He? Mr. Terry then drives straight to the point. !He says: “Within the church today there is rising into prominence and power a body of intelligent men whose minds are being enlightened by the spirit of truth. They are called Modernists, and when we éxamifte what these pedple believe, we find they^ are'very near to Modern Spirit ualism:’ Well said ! Spiritüalists are Modernists. Many Mod ernists prefer to form their own conceptions of Christ and His teachings without dependence upon the Scripture statements. : Note Mr. Terry’s use of the expression “spirit of truth” as applied to Modernism. - “Hereby know we the spirit of truth and the spirit of error,” says John in that fourth chapter of his epistle, in which he gives us seven tests of divine truth, ’“Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him and he in God” (v. 15) . : He writes his entire Gospel to set forth the proofs of Christ’s Deity (Jn. 20 ¡31 ; ;1:14, 18). In his second epistle he warns us that if there come any tintons, and bring not that doctrine, we are not to receive them into, our houses or bid them God-speed (2 Jn. 10). Is any one in doubt as to where the Spiritualist stands as touching the Scriptures? Mr. Terry has told us plainly. He proceeds to show that Jesus was but a spirit ualistic medium. His first great “seance,” he declares, was on the Transfiguration mount. a» Casting Your Vote for God S OME who are anxious to get the Bible out of our life and schools, and think that our country would be bet ter without what they are pleased to call “the superstitions and traditions of the Bible” ought to read carefully what one of America’s greatest poets, James Russel Lowell, says in the following paragraphs : “When the keen scrutiny of skeptics has found a place on this planet where a decent man may live in decency, comfort and security, supporting and educating his chil- derful philosophy of redemption and salvation. From chapter 12 forward, we read of the traits of character that should logically result from the acceptance of divine right eousness, Some of us have no t' done much thorough studying beyond chapter 1 1 . What, about the “love .without two faces” (verse 9) ? .Wiiat about being “kindly affectioned one to another?” What about “in honor preferring one another,” “patient in tribulation,” “blessing those who .persecute,” “condescend ing, to men, of low estate” ? What do we know about “pro viding things honest in the sight of all men,” “living peace ably with all men,” “feeding our ,enemies,” “overcoming evil with good?” W RITING in “The National Spiritualist?”’'Alfred .H. Terry sums up the Spiritualist position as to :Christ when he says that Spiritualists “.recog nize Him not as a Roman god but as a man. He was born in the same manner that all men are, and died as all men do.” To the Spiritualist, Christ is “Master” not “Lord,” and the world has but a human Saviour. “Thus saith the Lord; cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm” (Jer. 17:5). The Scriptural doctrine of atonement falls in ruins when the Deity of Christ is thus taken away. If Jesus were man only, His work on the Cross would not be sufficient for God. If He were God only, it would not be suitable for man. To be capable of saving mankind and able to satisfy God, He must be God-man. Mr. Terry says further: “Herein lies the key to the understanding of Christ. * * * It is to see Him as a human being like ourselves, but one who has attained the unfold- ment of all His innate powers.” Just how this is recon ciled to the fact that even as a child He was wise far above earth’s greatest sages (Lk. 2:47), and that from the very first public appearance He manifested omnipo tence and omniscience, we are not told. How can His character* His words, His works be accounted for—how can His influence upon all subsequent history be explained January 1927 8 T h e K i n g ’ s B u s i n e s s back—no better : worse, worse. What about climate, about frost or snow or cold weather, when one’s at home ? I wish I had never left it....... I have no money, and I want to get home, home, home.” This cry for home is more or less in every heart and God answered it when He said in Christ, “Let not your heart be troubled : believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions (literally, “abid ing places” ) ....... I go to prepare a place for you, and if I go and prepare à placé for you, I come again and will receive you untp Myself ; that where I atp, there ye may be also.” We' were made for Him and we can never be lonely when we are with Him. The Inner Life Revival D R. S. PARKES CADMAN in a recent number of the Federal Council bulletin (Sept.-Oct. 1926) calls at tention to “the Returning Emphasis on the Inner Life” in England and expresses the hope that he may see this glorious revival in the United S t a t e s of America. In order to make this possible he says that its proclamation will have to be splendidly equipped and well led. “It must assert in intelligent ways the major truths of the. New Testament faith. There must be no dealing with iniquity, no compromise with wrong, no economy of truth, no flattering of error, hence those who align themselves with this crusade must be prepared to take risks. They will have to combat the indifference w h i c h paralyzes countless churches and makes them subservient to 'the dictates of worldly-minded multitudes. They will have to refuse to lower Christ’s claim upon the whole life of mankind by a single iota. They must first deal with the individual if they would bring about that social recon struction in justice, peace and security for which the nations are asking today. This answer is the word of one of the greatest mystics of our' day, and undoubtedly reveals the secret of his long and wonderful service for Christ. In a series of short articles we wish to make a study of Mysticism by introducing some of the great mystics to the King’s Business family circle. Next month we will carry an article on the Christian Mystic in which we will briefly explain what Mysticism is. T he C hristian P hilosopher Christianity has a very definite explanation of our world. It accounts for its origin, its meanings and points out its destiny. That means that it has a philosophy of the world. What is that philosophy? How many Chris tians could intelligently answer this question? In Ja series of short articles on the Christian view of God and the world we shall endeavor to indicate the lines on which the most humble Christian can answer this question. In doing this we shall also e n d e a v o r to show how this philosophy may be vindicated in the light of the most searcing thinking of our day. We especially commend these studies to young-people in High Schools and Col leges. Watch the February issue for the first article. — 83 88 dren unspoiled and unpolluted; a place where age is rever enced, infancy protected, womanhood honored, and human life held in due regard,—when skeptics can find such a place ten miles square on this globe where the Gospel of Christ has not gone before and cleared the way and laid the foundations that made decency and security possible, it will then be in order for these skeptical literati to move thither and there ventilate their views, but so long as these men are dependent upon the very religion, which they dis card for every privilege they enjoy, they may well hesi tate to rob the Christian of his hope, and humanity of faith in that Saviour who alone has given td man that hope of eternal life which makes life tolerable and society possible and robs death of its terrors and the grave of its gloom.” In the light of these sane and memorable words it surely cannot be out of the way for Christians everywhere to do all in their power to put the Bible in the home and in the school and, so far as it is possible, into every phase of the life of the nation. The putting of the Bible where it belongs in the life of the individual, the home and the nation is casting a vote for the recognition of God, and there is nothing that America needs more than the cast ing of this vote at this time. The Cry for Home D AVID GRAY, a young Scottish poet who had been educated for the ministry but chose the life of a literary man and lost his health, wrote from London while in poverty and loneliness one of the most appealing let ters to be found in literature. Among other things he said: “I am coming home—homesick. I cannot stay from home any longer. What’s the good of my being so far from home and sick and ill ? O God! I wish I were home never to leave it more! Tell everybody that I am coming B ible P sychology One of the most subtle and searching attacks being made on Christianity today is made from the point of view of psychology. It does not deny religion but en deavors to explain it on purely naturalistic grounds, seek ing to do away with the supernatural. Psychology is a study of the inner life of man and his behaviour and no book has a more comprehensive study o f that life than the Bible. We are going to outline in a series of articles some of the fundamentals of Bible psych ology. This series will begin next month by an article on “Some Reasons Why Christians should Study Psych ology.” T he C hristian M ystic The Christian mystics have been among the richest and most creative souls in the Christian church. They represent a living experience which has kept the fires on the altars of the church burning through the darkest hours of its history. In a recent number of Th6 Life of Faith it was said by Dr. F. B. Meyer in being interviewed about his trip to this country “that many people wanted to discuss Fundamentalism with him but he invariably declined, pointing out to them that religion is not a matter of argument but a spiritual force which may and should influence all.” æ— - 83- Ju s t to Whet Your Appe tite fo r the February Issue January 1927 T h e K i n g ’ s B u s i n e s s 9 States, It was the greatest number ever, and for the sixth con secutive year established a new record for quantity. China buys 62 per cent of, the 8,000,000,000 cigarettes we export. Our mis sionaries find that the greatest stumbling block to natives is this kind of propaganda carried on among them by representatives of a reputed Christian land. ♦ * * * Robert E. Speer, at the conference on evangelism, Northfield, made a statement that we could desire emblazoned over the door of every Christian Church, “However great be our rightful emphasis on orthodoxy of thought, the deepest necessity is for orthodoxy of life.” It seems at times that some earnest defend ers of orthodoxy are inclined to forget that Christianity is not a cloak put on but a life put in. * * * * A recent visitor to China, reports the “Intelligent Chinese,” declares : “No* you missionaries did not shoot our people in Shanghai and other places, but you come here to tell us that ours are false religions and yet you bring your sacred book which you, yourselves, tell is a false book.” Again, an oriental is quoted as declaring: “You ask me to give up what I do believe and accept what you do not believe.” The missionary with ques tion marks in his mind, would do well to remain at home. * * * * “The young man who thinks he is a big gun will soon get fired,” says the Washington Star. Just another way of saying “He that exalteth himself shall be abased.” The benches of Pershing Square, Los Angeles, are filled with fellows who tried to tell the boss how to run his business. * * * * “We are living in the last stage in the history of a great religion,” says Dr. Slaten (Unitarian). “It is falling into decay and gradually* giving place to a new and vigorous successor. For a long time the two must run parallel.” Yes, one might fancy Cain making a similar statement in ages long ago, when that which some still delight to call “Modern” had its rise in the world. After all, there are but two religions in the world—God’s and man s—atonement and attainment. They have been running parallel for many a long century. Where is the evidence of the breaking down of our Lord’s promise concerning His Church : “The gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matt. 16:18). There are other changes which our readers will discover for themselves. The new editorial staff await with interest any comments subscribers may be led to make, and suggestions for the improvement of The King’s Business will be most gratefully received. KEITH L. BROOKS, Managing Editor. "A college education never hurt anybody who was willing to learn something afterward.”—says the Boston Transcript. Over the Hope Street entrance of the Los Angeles City Library, are carved these words: “Wisdom is the ripest fruit of much con templation.” * * * * Dr. Campbell Morgan refers to the demand of the Liberals that we turn from creed and controversy back to Christ. “Yes,” he says, “but to what Christ?”'?' That indeed is the crux of the issue. * * * * “The modern home today is supplied with everything except the family,” says an Exchange. Yes—homes are getting to be mere “filling stations,”. * * * * Rabbi Wise says truly, “We seem to have lost every capacity for high resentment” Awful waves of crime and shocking vices, situations of indecency and vile lust, robberies and mur ders, but who cares? Is this not due to the change in man’s conception of God? Light Views of sin go with little thoughts of God. * * * * United States uses more opium per person than any other nation. The per capita consumption has increased five grains since the enactment of the Harrison Narcotic Act (1914). Our consumption of opium is sufficient to supply a million addicts with a grain a day, eight times as much as is usually administered by a physician. Narcotic Education Association booklet warns against the rapidly spreading dope evil among pupils of the schools, even in elementary grades. Many have fallen prey through the agency of peddlers who appoint students to work for them at good pay. ♦ * * * In 192S, 88,000,000,000 cigarettes were produced in the United Your Eye—For Ju st a M om en t—Please! The Editors invite your special attention to several new features of the King’s Business. We are especially desirous that our subscribers should make daily use of the Morning Devotional Readings by Wilfred M. Hopkins, author of the “The Tabernacle and its Teachings,” “Thoughts in His Presence,” and other devotional writings. These meditations have been prepared especially for The King’s Busi ness. Finest of the Wheat is a new department which we hope to make especially valuable to ministers and Bible students. It will be noted that we are making the Bible outlines available to all readers by printing in the Scripture texts. We a r e presenting an entirely n ew arrangement of the International Sunday School Lessons. We shall strive to make these helps as pointed and helpful as possible. We do not wish to encourage the users of these lessons in the habit of preparing (heir lessons without the use of a Bible. We are therefore ask ing that you open your Bible to the lesson text, and that you look up suggestive references supplied in the comment. Under the heading— Passages that Perplex —we will discuss portions of Scripture which commonly give difficulty. “In a multitude of counsel there is safety.” We will therefore wel come correspondence from readers who may from time to time throw some added light upon passages under discussion, and we hope to publish material which we feel will be of general interest E are compelled to announce th e d iscon tinuance of th e serial story, “ Mark of th e Beast” , started som e m on th s ago by our predecessor, space n o t being available under our new plans. The story, in book form can be procured at our Book Room . January 1927 B u s i n é s s IO K i n d ’ s T h e How to Begin the N ew Year B y J ames H . B rookes Exodus 12. T HE seventh month had been reached in the progress of the year, when Jehovah laid hold of it and moved it to the front. He “spake unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, This month shall be, unto you the beginning of months : it shall be the first month of the year to you.” Not ohly did it become by divine proclama tion the first in order, but the first in importance, because it was identified with the redemption of His people, , Up to that momentous period in the history of the soul, time is counted as nothing in God’s estimation. One may have lived thirty, forty, or fifty years according to human chronology, but until sheltered beneath the blood of Christj we do not live at all in His sight. Hence the reader is earnestly besought at the threshold of another year to consider with intense solicitude whether he is alive or dead, or in other /words, whether that pre cious blood has been applied, wfiich was so aptly set forth in the blood of the passover lamb. It will be observed that it was a lamb without blemish, selected on the tenth day of the month and kept until the evening of the four teenth, suggesting the period from the day John the Bap tist introduced the Lord Jesus as thè “Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world,” to the day of the cru cifixion, thus embracing four years according to the Jew ish mode of reckoning time. Ten is the scriptural number of responsibility to God ; and for thirty years, the average length of a generation then, He had been thoroughly tested; and had perfectly discharged all of man’s respon sibility in every particular. No H ope W ithout th e L amb Every man was to take a lamb,, “according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house; and if the house hold be too little for the lamb,” the nearest neighbors were to be joined together ; “and the whole assembly of the con gregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening.” There is no hint that the lamb might be too little for the household, and so far as the record goes, there was but one assembly and one lamb, for God would seek to impress upon His people the unity of the Spirit founded upon the one accepted and all sufficient sacrifice of His Son. The Israelites, who were not a whit better than the Egyptians lying under sentence of death, were commanded to take a bunch of hyssop, and, having dipped it in the blood of the slain lamb, to strike that blood on the two side posts, and on the upper door post, of their houses, not beneath to be trampled under foot, but protecting them on either side, and overhead. Then God said, “The blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are : and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt.” But if the blood had not been sprink led as commanded, the destroyer would most certainly have entered the houses, and the stroke of death would have been inflicted. It was not enough that the lamb was slain; the blood must be sprinkled. It is not enough that Christ, our passover, has been sacrificed, but He must be personally received. His death in itself considered will not save a single accountable soul, apart from faith in Himself. A re W e T rusting in th e B lood ? It is absolutely essential, therefore, at the outset to ask ourselves whether we are trusting in the blood alone, or partly at least in our faith, our feelings, our repentance, our résolutions, our baptism, our union with, the church, our good works. God did not say,, “When I see these things,” , buth“'When L see the blood.” Nor did He say, “When you see the blood,” but “When I see it.” He was satisfied with the blood outside, and we must be satisfied with His Word inside. The blood alone makes us safe ; the Word alone makes us sure. There was no doubt great variety in the age, moral character, past history, and degree of confidence on the part of the hundreds of thou sands within those blood-sprinkled houses; but they were equally safe, for the LORD saw, the blood, and passed over the door, and stood beside it to bar it, as if with the stability of His throne, as if with the length of eternity, against the entrance of the destroyer. Until, He dies, not one sheltered beneath the blood can perish. But, mark it well, those who were saved by sovereign grace through sprinkled blood, were to eat the lamb in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread, and bitter herbs. Eire is the symbol of God’s holiness burning against sin, but it had fed upon the appointed substitute, and was satisfied. Leaven is the symbol of evil, and hence it was said to the Israelites, “Ye shall put away leaven out of your houses : for whosoever eateth leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall be cut off from Israel.” The first word here, rend ered “leaven” means “leaving, or remainder,” that is, “old leaven,” and the second word rendered “leavened” means “sourness,” that is, open sin, recalling the striking exhor tation of the Holy Ghost, “Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us There fore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness ; but with the unleav ened bread of sincerity and truth” (1 Cor. 5 :7, 8). T h e C hristian ’ s P ilgrim C haracter Moreover, the redeemed were to eat the lamb with girded loins, with shoes on their feet, with staff in hand, and in haste. This clearly betokened their pilgrim char acter. From that eventful night they were done with Egypt forever, and they were to be in the attitude of strangers, about to take their march for the promised land, not knowing what moment the summons might come, but always ready, and watching and waiting. But, alas ! “a mixed multitude went up also with them,” and these afterwards became the fruitful source of their unbelief, and weakness, and failure, and apostasy, and ruin. So it is in the Church today, and hence the only hope of a happy, prosperous, progressive, and useful Christian experience during the coming year is to keep aloof from all entangling alliances with the world and worldly minded professors of religion. “If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honor, sanctified, and meet for the master’s use, and prepared unto every good work” (2 Tim. 2:21). January 1927. T h e ,. K i n g ’ s B u s i n e s s w lik i^ th p 6 tiifrianthn n fiX ? IAN s iI B p H B R D of to d ay . H ow little h e h a s 1c h a n g e d th ro u g h th e c e n tu rie s! A nd°the sh e ep n a tu re , th is v jlw “ S S fn d u s a t SA>n-.e0od,ep? ? d®?-t ’-.5 f!5 ? ^ e_1i BP th in g ,,e v e r in n eed of le a d e rsh ip a n d p ro te c tio n . D oes n o t n ev er." O niv hv inrtiriTio- H E b H m °?n,1927’ f “J” ' ||S e a s i n g n e e d I of the. S h ep h erd of Gove, “w h o se g o o d n ess fa ile th o n ly hy lo o k in g u n to H im , w ill w e be ab le to sa y— “I n o th in g la c k , fo r I am H is a n d H e is m in e fo re v e r." “So Much th e More” H EB. 10:25 exhorts believers not to forsake the assembling of themselves together as a church, “and so much the more as ye see the day approaching.” The signs that the day of Christ’s advent is fast approaching are evident to all who know anything of the Scriptures. It is indeed strange to find people who talk much of the signs of the times while they advance excuses for no longer assembling with believers or being identified with any church. They consider it sufficient that they are members of the “mystical body.” From the first, Christ promised His presence in a special way to those who assembled regularly in His name. The com munion bread and wine in the congregation has always been a means of grace of which isolated believers are deprived.. Pity the Christian who does not want to stand alongside of other Christians and join his voice to the psalm of thanksgiving; who does not care to kneel beside others in prayer or who does not. get a greater blessing from divine truth when he can feel that the dews of heaven are refreshing others at the same time. There is a “mystical body” it is true, and Christianity is a heart affair of the individual, but God’s Word places great em phasis upon the fact that it is also eminently social. The Spirit of Christ causes members of His body to realize that our fellow members have claims upon us and that we need to know one another, fellowship together and labor together. Failure to share in the work of the visible church indicates a weak sense of the responsibilities under which one; comes in entering the fellowship of the invisible church. It checks the process of spiritual cul ture, hinders the progress of the Gospel and comforts the ene mies of the church. No wonder that assembling together in the house of God is made in Scripture an important test of one’s faithfulness to Christ. Do not, miss the fact that Christ’s second coming is here mentioned as more and more a restraining motive why believers should not forsake the banding of themselves together. Those who hope to be owned of Christ as members of His body when He comes, will be in a most awkward position if they have refused to recognize and co-operate with the other members of His body. It is the spirit of sin that has always been the spirit of separation, making men want to walk in their own paths and think their own thoughts. What must the unsaved think of those who show by their refusal to co-operate with Christ’s people that they are ashamed of the body to which they belong and of which Christ is the Head? Friend, if you believe Christ is soon coming, and you do not wish Him to be ashamed of you, find your place somewhere in the ranks of His people and get busy.
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