—
F.WARF. ' lest any spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the traditions of men,
B
after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ,— Col. 2:8.
“ W ilhelm an d his van d als n ever planned the devastation o f the fa ir fields o f B el gium , Italy an d F ran ce a n y m ore deliber
ately an d th oro u gh ly th an did the G erm an -th eology-in toxica- ted -representatives o f m od ern th eology education, plan the tearin g down o f the fou n dation stones o f the C hu rch, and the c a rry in g a w a y into lib eral cap tivity o f o u r yo u n g m en p rep a rin g fo r the m inis try, B ew are o f the present cam paign th rough new spapers, m agazines an d books, fo r the underm ining o f the C h ristian faith o f the en tire country.**
NOVEMBER, 1918
Bible Institute| LosAngeles (IN CO R PO R A T ED ) LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, U. S. A.
DIRECTORS
R. A. Torrey, vice-president Leon V. Shaw, treasurer William Evans J. O. Smith
Lyman Stewart, president J. M. Irvine, secretary T. C. Horton, superintendent H. A. Getz
Nathan Newby
DOCTRINAL STATEMENT
Church as expressed in the Common Creed The Necessity of the New Birth. The Maintenance of Good Works. The Second Coming of Christ. The Immortality of the Spirit. The Resurrection of the Body. The Life Everlasting of Believers. The Endless Punishment of the Impenitent. The Reality and Personality of Satan.
We hold to the Historic Faith of the of Evangelical Christendom and including: The Trinity of the Godhead. The Deity of the Christ; The Personality of the Holy Ghost. :j The Supernatural and Plenary authority of the Holy Scriptures. . The Unity in Diversity of the Church, the Body and Bride of Christ. The Substitutionary Atonement.
SCOPE OF THE WORK
r»TTT>T3/-»QTT. The Institute trains, free of cost, accredited men and women, in the knowledge and use of the Bible. DEPARTMENTS* (B The Institute Classes held daily except on Saturdays and Sundays. ~ . . . . . . •• , , (2) Extension work. Classes and conferences held m neighboring cities and towns. (3) Evangelistic. Meetings conducted by our evangelists. (4) Spanish Work. Personal work among Spanish speaking people. (5) Shop Work. Regular services in shops and factories. • . . (6) Jewish Evangelism. Personal work among the Hebrews and mission for Jews. (7) Bible Women. House-to-house visitation and neighborhood classes. (8) Oil Fields. A mission to men on the oil fields. . . . , £ (9) Books and 'Tracts. Sale and distribution of selected books and tracts. (10) Harbor Work. For seaman at Los Angeles harbor. . _ (11) The Biola Hall. Daily noon meetings for men m the down-town district, with free reading-room privileges. Evangelistic service every evening. ... . (12) Print Shop. For printing Testaments, books, tracts, etc. A complete establish ment, profits going to free distribution of religious literature.
THE KING’S BUSINESS MOTTO. /, the Lord, do keep it. I w iltjvaterJ^ every^moment, lest any hurt it, / w ill keep it night and day, PU BLISH ED B T T H E BIB LE I N S T I T U T E O F L O S A N G E L E S , IN C O R PO R A T E D Entered as Second-Class Matter November 17, 1910, at the Post Office at Los Angeles, California W B re. underthe Art of March 3, 1879 Copyright by R. A . Torrey, D. D., and Bible Institute-of Los Angeles, for the year 1918 Volume IX ___________ November, 1918 ___________ '_______Number JI
LEADING ARTICLES OF THIS ISSUE
Editorials by Dr. Torrey: The Tobacco Profiteers (929) ; Patriotism or Treason (931); Can a League of Nations Work (932); Apostate Jews (933). Sermon by Dr. Torrey, “ Making the Most of Life” (93b). Sermon by Dr. P. W. Farr, “ Satanic Mimicry1’ (943). Bible Institute News (947). Puzzling Passages and Problems, Dr. Torrey, (952). Study in Second Corinthians, Dr. Evans (953). Evangelistic Department, Stories from Experience (957). Delivered from Perils in China, Dr. Frank Keller (963). International Sunday School Lessons (967). Bible Readings (1001). Daily Devotional Studies, Dr. Torrey (1003) .
O N L Y D O L L A R Y E A R SU B SC R IP T IO N PR IC E— In.the United States and Its Possessions and Mexico, and points in the Central American Postal Union, $1.00 per year. In all other foreign countries, including Canada, $1.24, copies 10 cents. Receipts sent on request. See expiration date on the wrapper. (5c. 2d.) Single BIBLE INST I TUTE OF LOS ANGELES 5 J 6-558 South Hop. S t r e e t ...................................... Lo, Angel,,, California O N E
THE KING ’S BUSINESS R. A . T O R R E T , D; D. Editor T . C . H O R TO N , J. H . H U N T E R , W ILLIAM E V A N S , D. D „ Associate Editors KEITH L. BROOK S, Managing Editor
EDITORIAL
T H E W O R D OF G O D For tke Present Hour “ The horse is prepared against the day of battle: t But victory is of Jehovah.” Prov. 21:31 R. V. • “ And they rose early in the morning, and went forth into the wilderness of Tekoa: and as they went forth, Jehoshaphat stood and said, Hear me, 0 Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem; Believe in the LORD your God, so shall ye be established; believe His prophets, so shall be prosper. And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed singers unto the LORD, and that should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army, and to say, Give thanks unto the LORD; for His mercy endureth for ever. And when they began to sing and to praise, the LORD set ambush-, ments against the children of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, which were come against Judah; and they were smitten.” 2 Chronicles 20:20-22. “ Be not deceived; God is not mocked; for whatsoever a man (or a nation) soweth, that shall he also reap. ” Galatians 6:7. “ Vengeance is mine, and recompense, M, the time when their foot shall slide : For the day of their calamity is at hand, And the things that are to come upon them shall make haste. ” Deutero nomy 32:35 R. V. T h e Tobacco Profiteers The Northwestern Christian Advocate is continuing its discouraging fight against the attempt of the tobacco producers to make money out of the war by bringing the young men who have gone to the front or are preparing to go to the front more and more under the power of the cigaret/Curse. The Northwestern Christian Advocate says, “ Take the matter of tobacco, par ticularly cigarets. Just previous to the war the fight on that insidious and destructive enemy of youth had progressed to the point of prohibition in certain States. Churches, without exception, opposed the use of cigarets, and the appellation ‘ coffin-nail’ was fastened upon it with more of earnest than jest. But suddenly the current of opposition seemed dried up; the friends of the cigaret multiplied; newspapers, magazines, bill-boards, and movie-screens were flooded with the most enticing advertisements ; the Red Cross gave its blessing; other soldiers’ aid societies were won over, and not a few ministers of the gospel either openly espoused the traffic or encouraged
930 THE K I N G ’ S B US I NE S S it by a policy of silence. At last the Government has officially recognized the cigaret as a regular feature of the soldier’s equipment. For the present victory favors the Tobacco Trust.” Some force with evidently a large amount of money behind it is trying its best to make it appear patriotic to furnish the soldiers with cigarets and unpatriotic to say anything against their use. Even some of the leaders in the Y. M. C. A. have been swept off of their feet or influenced in some way. Mr. Fred B. Shipp, treasurer and general field secretary of the Y. M. C. A. War Work Council in France, has recently returned from a year’s labor in France. He writes in the N. Y. “ Times Magazine” very earnestly urging the absolute necessity of cigarets and sneeringly of those who oppose such use. He says, !‘ I remember par ticularly one preacher who came to France with the belief that he would save a lot of the soldiers from the tobacco evil. His personal feelings against tobacco were so strong that he felt himself unable to sell the weed in one of our canteens. This was not discovered until the clergyman had been put in charge of a hut immediately behind the lines. One night there was con siderable infantry activity in this sector. At dawn the walking cases among the wounded began returning to a rest-station far behind the ‘ Y ’ hut. A party of twelve or thirteen under a sergeant stopped at the hut. The secre tary-clergyman saw wounded men returning from the trenches for the first time. They said they were ‘broke’ and asked for chocolate. He gave it to them. He asked the men if they wanted, anything else. The. sergeant told him that the only other thing they needed was cigarets. They needed them badly. There was a supply in the hut. The anti-tobacco clergyman hesitated for about one-half second. Then his program for saving men from nicotine went by the board. ' He passed cigarets around to each of the wounded men. They departed for the rear. In a few minutes another group came along. They, too, needed something to smoke. Once more he abandoned his principles. A third group appeared. Again the cigarets were distributed. By this time, the clergyman discovered that his supply of matches was prac tically exhausted. The fourth batch of visitors completely consumed it. For the rest of the day this crusader against tobacco found himself doing the only thing that would enable him to look his wounded countrymen in the eye as they stopped at the hut for rest. He kept a cigaret glowing in -his own lips all day long so that each boy would be able to get a light!” These words need little comment, if any. Anyone of real sense whose mind is not blinded by his desire to play to the galleries and who has not been swept off of his feet by the present craze for the advance of the cigaret, knows perfectly well that a man who remained true to his principles could “ look his wounded countrymen in the eye” quite as well as one whose sym pathies ran away with his judgment and his principles and who “ kept a cigaret glowing in his own lips all day long so that each boy would be able to get a light.”, The Literary Digest expresses the opinion that the writer in the Northwestern Christian Advocate (whose article we have quoted in part above) will “ conceivably find all his anxieties over the use of tobacco among the soldiers allayed by the experience of one of his initiated fellow workers.” He certainly will not if he has good sense, as we have no doubt , he has. As the Literary Digest prints a whole page advertisement of the R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., Winston-Salem, for which it is paid a very high price, we could quite réadily understand why it should not have very much sympathy with the attack on the use of tobacco, and why it should print
THE K I N G ’ S BUS I NE S S 931 and give very prominent space to an article on ‘ ‘ Educating our Ministers at the Front,” the main object of which is to show that our ministers at home are altogether too narrow on th'e tobacco and kindred questions and that a little experience at the front would take this and kindred foolishnesses out of them. It also prints a one column advertisement of Larus & Brother Company of tobacco which begins with a very large type statement: “ Noted General Pays Tribute to Tobacco.” This advertisement after this caption reads: “ All my life I have heard that smoking was unhealthy until I read an article on Military Leadership and Training written by a high Army officer. This officer said:'“ If you don’t smoke a pipe, learn, and teach your men to smoke a pipe ; it quiets the nerves wonderfully, and gives one steadi ness that is so necessary for a military man. ’ The next time I went to town I went to Primm’s Tobacco shop and asked for a real pipe tobacco, and they gave me a tin of Edgeworth Plug Slice. Gentlemen, it is sure there with „the nerve-quieting, satisfying qualities. I have not tried Edgeworth Ready- Rubbed yet, but it has go to go some to equal the Plug Slice. Yours very truly, (Signed) S. W. Jones, 1st Lieut. Inf. R. 0 .” We are not told who this high army officer is. However, it is quite possible that some high army officer might say what he is here quoted as saying, for a man may be a high army officer and still be very foolish in some directions, but what he writes will not convince anyone who has made any thorough study of the "effects of tobacco. Of course, we do not think ourselves that it is a very important part of a minister’s business in working among soldiers to attack such a minor evil as the use of tobacco. He has something far more important afad more fundamental to do, and that is. to lead the soldiers to a definite accept ance of Jesus Christ and thus to the only adequate preparation either to live and fight or to die and go home to eternal glory. But certainly he has something far more important to do than to aid and abet the tobacco trust in its attempt to profiteer out of the war, and it also seems to us that the treasurer and general field secretary of the Y. M. C. A. War Work Council in France c.ould write upon something in which there would be more real profit than what Fred B. Shipp has written upon in the mischievous and contemptible article quoted above. Such articles do not increase the enthu siasm of »a good many thoughtful men and women for the work of the Y. M. C. A. nor does it help their desire to give generously to the work to which they have been giving very generously in the past. IS IT PATR IO T ISM or Treason? The Northwestern Christian Advocate in another part of the same article to which reference has already been made, well says, “ Patriotism is used to cover a multitude of abuses. One can secure public approval of almost any act if he prefaces it with the declaration, ‘ I am doing this in the name of patriotism.’ The other day a vaudeville stunt was ipdulged in in the crowded Chicago loop district. A small stage had been erected on the sidewalk and two too-scantily attired dancers performed shamefully before the noon-hour throng. They got by with it because it was in the interest, it was stated, of some war-fund. Had the disgusting act been attempted a
932
THE K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S year or two ago, the principals would have been arrested. If, as we say, these extravagances are opposed, one’s criticism returns with compound interest upon his own head. His patriotism is questioned and it is even insinuated that he is playing into the hands of the enemy. Under such stress, many whose opinions are just as strong are refraining from giving expression thereto, desiring not even the faintest doubt to he raised against their loyalty. Nothing in the foregoing justifies a policy of silence. Those possessing pronounced convictions regarding the matters touched upon should yield no ground at this critical juncture.” A friend in Chicago, a very prominent man in the religious life of that city, recently told us that under the patronage of women in the highest social circles in Chicago, some of them prominent Christian women, an- entertainment was given of the most questionable character for the benefit of the soldiers, where soldiers who were merely boys were allowed to come into the closest association with very scantily attired theatrical women and where the effect upon these boys could not but be ruinous in the extreme. A large part of American society has seemed to go crazy on the subject of doing anything and everything to make life pleasant for the brave young fellows who are going to the front. But certainly it is not patriotism, it is treason, to give these fine young men and boys a good time at the expense of their morals. They are not thus being fitted to fight, they are being disqualified for the highest type of soldierly conduct. The people who are doing these things are playing into the hands of the enemy more effectively than all the spies and German propagandists in the country. The Literary Digest recently had an editorial with the suggestive and important title, “ Can a League of Nations Work?” ■Any one who is thor oughly familiar with human nature and with the history o f the human race, to say nothing about being acquainted with the teachings of the Word of God, knows that a league of nations cannot work permanently. Neverthe less, there are many in our own land and across, the water who think that the only solution of our present grave difficulties is in a “ ¡League of Nations,” which will bring about a reign of universal peace and perfect righteous ness. Viscount Grey, the British ex-Foreign Minister, has brought out a pamphlet on the subject strongly favoring such a league of nations. The London Daily Chronicle summarizes the positions of the book. In its sum mary it says, “ Lord Grey is strongly convinced of the League’s necessity. War, as he points out, has developed into a ruthless and unlimited applica tion of the resources and discoveries of science to the destruction of human life, non-combatant as well as combatant. If future wars remain possible after this war is ended, another generation of scientific work, whose results cannot be confined to any one nation, will bring us within sight of the destruction of the human race. There are only two working alternatives— to stop war by establishing the permanent domination of one nation over the others, or to stop it by uniting all the nations or, at any rate, all the lead ing ones) in a peace-preserving League.” Now, doubtless Lord Grey is right when he says that “ If future wars remain possible after this war is ended, another generation of scientific work, whose results cannot be con- / C A N A League of Nations Work ?
THE K I N G ’ S BUS I NE S S 933 fined to any one nation, will bring us within sight of the destruction of the human race.” But he is not right when he says, “ There are only two work ing alternatives by which war may be stopped.” There is another alterna tive and this other alternative furnishes the only solution, that is, the coming and reign of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is quite possible that there may be a temporary league of nations. There is Bible warrant for expecting there will be such a league at the close of the present dispensation, when all the nations are headed up. under the Anti-Christ, but such a league will not prove permanent and will not accomplish what Lord Grey expects. The establishment of a league of nations that will bring in universal and perma nent peace and a universal reign of righteousness is impossible because men are what they are: they are sinners, and they are selfish. A reign of univer sal righteousness can never be established among men who are radically and essentially selfish. England and France and America are fighting together now as one nation under one military head with one great common purpose, the complete defeat of the Central Powers; but it is only their fear of a com mon foe that binds them together, they have separate interests and often times antagonistic interests, and it will not be long after the common foe is crushed before these nations will find themselves more or less at variance with one another, though it is to be hoped that they will learn wisdom enough from the awful calamities of the present war not to let their vari ances lead to war. But there is no permanent hope in man. The only hope 'is in God, and there will never be universal and permanent peace until God’s own King, the ¡Lord Jesus Christ, reigns. A p o s t a t e jew s A very considerable- number of the leading Jews in America, including not a few of their ablest rabbis, are apostate from the God of their Sacred Scriptures, from those Scriptures themselves, and from all that in the highest sense distinctively Jewish. Instead of welcoming, they spurn, though courteously, Mr. Balfour’s declaration that stirred the whole civilized world, that “ Palestine is to be a national homeland for the Jewish people.” As faithless Israelites even in Moses day, lured by the leeks and onions and garlic of Egypt, whished to turn their backs upon the fair land that a loving God had appointed for them, so they, captivated by the properity that they have enjoyed in America and England, have no longing for the land God has given them by an irrevocable covenant. The Central Conference of American Rabbis passed a resolution, which is printed in The Modern View, which reads: “ Tfie Central Conference of American Rabbis notes with grateful appreciation the declaration made on behalf of the British Govern ment by Mr. Balfour as an evidence of good will toward the Jews. We naturally favor the facilitation of immigration to Palestine of Jews who either because of economic necessity or political or religious persecution desire to settle there. We hold that Jews in Palestine, as everywhere else in the world, are entitled to equality in political, religious and civil rights, but we do not subscribe to the phrase in the declaration which says, .‘ Pales tine is to be a national homeland for the Jewish people.’ This statement assumes that the Jews, although identified with the life of many nations for many centuries, are, in fact, a people without a country. We hold that
934
THE K I N G ’ S B U S I NE S S the Jewish people is, and of right ought to be< at home in all lands. Israel, like every other religious communion, has the right to live and to assert its message in any part of the world. We are opposed to the idea that Palestine should be considered the homeland of the Jews. Jews in America are part of the American nation. The ideal of the Jew is not the establishment of a Jewish state, not the reassertion of Jewish nationality, which has long been outgrown. We believe that our survival as a people is dependent upon the assertion and the maintenance of our historic religious role and not upon the acceptance of Palestine as a homeland of the Jewish people. The mis sion of ths Jew is to witness to God all over the world.” There are many sentences in this statement that call for criticism and comment, indeed that call so loudly that it is almost impossible to be silent, but the criticisms and comments are so obvious that any one who has even a moderate knowledge of what the Scriptures of both the Old and New Testaments teach as to the mission and future of the Jew, and any considerable knowledge of the his tory of the Jews during the centuries of their Dispersion can make the com ments and criticisms for themselves. We suggest that our readers ponder this pronouncement of the Central Conference of American Rabbis carefully and follow out the lines of criticism and comment suggested by it. It cer tainly is calculated to suggest many interesting and profitable lines of thought.
CHRIST AND THE WAR “Nothing has happened in this war which has invalidated a single claim ever made by Christ or on behalf of Christ. Not, a thing has taken place in the world which has weakened one of Christ’s principles. Christ never was so necessary, never more so; never more unique and never more sufficient. It is a great thing by an infinite proc ess of exclusion, like this war has been, gradually to rivet the attention of the world upon the unchangeable One, the One who is the same yesterday, to-day, and forever. He came not only to pro claim a message, hut that there might be a message to proclaim. Thank God for the chance of the ages to go back to our colleges and into our homes and into non-Christian nations and fix atten tion on the only One that has not slip ped and fallen. There He stands other than all the rest, strong among the weak, erect among the fallen, clean among the defiled, living among the dead— Jesus Christ the Lord.” — John R. Mott.
BOUNDLESS HUMPTION A handful of men of ordinary ability, meager attainments, and nominal relig ion, declare themselves to be the chief representatives of world scholarship and piety. Such disgusting self-conceit is so offensive to the great multitude of educated Christians, that it might fitly be termed Unmitigated Gall. The Bible Champion would better characterize it as Boundless Bumption. It is time for some plain speaking and stern dealing with the Apostles of Bumption. We have made the offer, before a great audience of learned and educated men, to furnish ten great Scholars who are Evangelical, for every one who is Infidel. We were not chal lenged then, nor have been since. Let all Christians declare this everywhere, that the world may know that Infidelity is so discredited, that those who repeat its hoasts, are not only behind in schol arship, but are little less than crimin als, so overwhelming is the evidence at hand. — Rev. J. Benson Hamilton.
R eally Remarkable R emarks SE LE C T ED S E N T E N C E S FROM M A N Y
You can’t be the salt of the earth without smarting someone. Many a preacher fails to strike fire because he has a cord of books in his head and an ice plant in his heart. The devil would rather put a long face on a saint than throw down a high church steeple. Fanaticism is a tornado of the flesh. The devil has to work hard for all he gets in the home of a praying mother. What a man earns in the daytime goes into his pocket, but what he spends in the evening goes into his character. The folks who never give away any milk until after they skim it are sure to want credit for cream. He who sits nearest the dust sits nearest heaven. Faith heals only because it brings us into union with His power; faith is the hand which receives the blessing. God does not withdraw His protec tion every time we forfeit it. Selfishness is that detestable vice which' no one will forgive in others, yet no one is without in himself. We ought to be thankful that when sin came into the world, God didn’t take the music out. Whatever makes men good Chris tians makes them good citizens. The highest return for doing any thing lies in the power one gains to do it better and to do more of it. Philosophy goes no farther than probability and in every assertion keeps a doubt in reserve. When God sends a man to the lion’s den, He goes there with him. Give the devil his choice between a man and a boy and he will always take a boy.
If you are “ in Christ” you are in the One under whose feet the devil is. Faith never comes to a wall too high for it to surmount. If you want God to honor you, get into the habit of taking Him at His Word. How many are trying to shine for Christ without burning for Him! Any coward can praise Christ, hut it takes a royal hero to follow him. He who thinks he is the happiest man, really is so; he who thinks him self the wisest, generally is a fool. Any man can commit a mistake, hut none but a fool will continue in it. The great man is he who does not lose his child’s heart. Waiting hours are seedtimes of blessing. Temptations are a file which rub off much of the rust of self-confidence. The devil often grinds the tools with which God works. The trouble with a little sin is that it won’t stay little. A sinner cannot look up, if he real izes his doom, and a saint cannot look down if he realizes his destiny. There is no failure more heart breaking and disastrous than success which leaves God out of the bargain. Nearly all the fools are self made. The man who will go out of his way to kick a dog, is not to he trusted any where. God never puts anybody in a place too small to grow in. The world despises a savorless Christian. Education is the development of power and not the accumulation of facts.
Dr. Torrey Preacked this Sermon June 23 , igi 8 , to tke Class that graduated from the Bible Institute at tke close of tke Summer Term. Printed at tke request of many
JF You will find our text this morning in John 17:4: “I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.” (John 17:4). In these words our Lord Jestfs a few hours before His death sums up His whole life. It is a wonderful summing up, a glorious summing up. It is a glorious thing to be able to say to God at the close of our life, “I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work thou gavest me to do.” I. The Solemn Duty of Each One of Us to Glorify God by Finishing the Work Which He has Given Us to- Do. It should be the aim of each one of us to so live and so be that at the close of our life we could say, “I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.” Of course the work God gave our Lord Jesus to do was an altogether unique work, a work that He alone could accom plish. God laid upon the Lord Jesus the work of making a perfect atonement for sin, the work of undoing the ruin that Adam had brought upon the human race by sin; and no one can share in that work. It was necessary, that the Lord Jesus tread the winepress of God’s wrath against sin alone. But God has given each of us also a work to do. It is a small work indeed compared with the work He gave the Lord Jesus to do. It may be a small work even compared with that of many of our fellowmen. It may be a very small work. It may be a work that very few will ever see or hear of, but it should be our aim to do
that work, to do it well, to do it thor oughly, to so do it that we can say at the close of our life: “I have finished (i. e., completed, “accomplished,” perfected, or brought to full fruition), the work which thou gavest me to do.” To look at life in this way, as presenting a work that God the Father has given us to do, gives great importance and dignity to life. No matter how apparently insig nificant and obscure the work may be that God has given to us to do, neverthe less it is God-given and therefore import ant, immeasurably important, as import ant in its place as the work of the great est man or woman. It may be the work of being a wife or a mother, but it is important as that of the woman who is called to travel far and wide and move thousands of men and women for right eousness., It may be the work of a hum ble toiler. It is as important in its place as that of the great leader or teacher or preacher. Horace Bushnell once preached a sermon on the subject of “Every man’s life a plan of God.” It was a great thought and it is a true thought. There is a work for each of us to do that no one else can do; and, if we do not do it, it will not be done. There are souls for each of us to save, that we alone can save; and, if we do not save them, they will not be saved. To me that is an overwhelmingly solemn thought. In Mr. Moody’s evangelistic campaign in New Haven at the close of my senior year in the Theological Sem inary, I saw a young lady in the inquiry
T HE K I N G ' S B U S I NE S S
937
room one 'afternoon whom I had known before my conversion. Though nearly three years had passed since I made a profession of my faith in Christ I had never seen her to speak to her since. But this afternoon as I saw her in the inquiry meeting I went over to speak to her about her salvation. I had to reason long with her to persuade her to accept the Lord Jesus Christ, but she did, and came out clearly for Him. After the great decision had been made, she said to me, “Mr. Sankey has spoken to me, Mr. Wil liams (a prominent minister in New Haven) has spoken to me and others have spoken to me, but no one has helped me as you have.” If I had had any temp tation to be exalted or elated over these words, it would have been of short dura tion; for she said immediately, “ I thought if Jesus-Christ could save you He could save anybody,” There appár- ently was a soul for me to save that no one else could save. There are broken hearts for each of us to comfort, and if we do not comfort them they will not be comforted. There are persons ignor ant in the things ■of God for us to instruct, and if we do not instruct them no one else will. It is therefore of tre mendous importance that each of us, no matter how small our gifts may be, glor ify Him by accomplishing or perfecting the particular work He has given us to •do. H. How Each One of Us Can Make the Most of Our Lives by Finishing the Work that the Father Has Given Us To Do. This brings us face to face with the question, How can we finish the work which God has given us to do. It is especially for the purpose of answering this question that I have selected the text for today. 1. F irst of all there m u st be th e DEFINITE AND CONSCIOUS PURPOSE ON OUR PART TO GLORIFY GOD BY FINISHING THE WORK HE HAS GIVEN US TO DO, WHATEVER it m a y be . The work may be a hard work: the work God gave our Lord to do
was a hard work, such a work as was never given another person, angel or man. But our Lord finished that work, finished it without a murmur. He said in contemplation of the bitter cup He was given to drink to the very dregs: “The cup that my Father giveth me shall I not drink it?” And on another occasion, in contemplation of the heart-breaking agony that was ahead of Him, He said, “Now is my soul troubled and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour, but for this cause came I unto this hour. Father, glorify thy name." (John 12: 27, 28) And on still another occasion, He said, “My meat is to do the will of Him that sent me, and to finish His Work." (John 4:34). So, no matter how hard the work may be that He has given us to finish, it should be the joy of our life and our all-absorbing purpose to fin ish it. That is the path to glory, the only path to glory. This was the path to glory that our Lord Himself trod. How wonderfully that comes out in Phil. 2:5-10: “Have this mind in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, Who being in the form of Cod, counted it not a thing to be grasped to be on an equal ity with Cod, but emptied Himself, tak -, ing the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of man; and being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, becoming obedient unto death, yea the death of the cross. Wherefore (note carefully the “Wherefore” ; it was because the Lord Jesus had chosen the work the Father had given Him to do that the results mentioned immediately after follow) also Cod highly exalted Him and gave unto Him the name which is above every name; that in the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven and things on earth and things under the earth, and that eyery tongue shduld confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father" No matter how apparently circumscribed and insignificant and obscure the work is that God gives us to do, it should be our joy to finish that particular work.
THE K I N G ' S BUS I NE S S
938
to finish the work that He has given us to do, whatever that work may be. The desire to do the work that God has appointed someone else to do rather than to do the work He gives us to do, often prevents men and women from seeing clearly the work God has given th em to do. 3. This suggests the third and the all- important condition of finishing the work that God has given us to do. T here m u st be a n absolute surrender to th e w ill of G od . N o man can accomplish the work God has given him to do unless there is a very definite and an absolute surrender to the will of God. Each of us should go to God and say to Him, “Heavenly Father, here I am. I put myself absolutely in Thy hands, send me where Thou wilt, use me as Thou wilt, do with me as Thou wilt.” No mat ter how hard we work and now matter how hard and long we pray, no man can by any possibility accomplish the work the Father has given him to do unless he thus make a full surrender to God. Have you made such a surrender? I put that question to all who are here, but I put it especially to each member of the graduating class. Oh, how sad it would be if there were one member of this graduating class to go out without that definite and full surrender. If anyone of you should go out without making such a surrender, the money, the time and the labor spent upon you has been wasted. No matter how brilliant you may be, no matter how good a record you may have made in your studies, no matter how . much praise your future work may bring, if you have not made a full surrender to God, or do not make that full surrender today, you will be a disgrace to the school, a disgrace to me, a disgrace to Dr. Evans, a disgrace to Mr. Hunter, a disgrace to every member of the faculty, but worst of all, a dis grace to God and to His Son, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. 4. If you are to finish the work which God has given you to do, you
We should have no longing for the apparently greater work of some one else. We should be able to say with abso lute truth: “I have finished the work which thou paves ME to do.” 2. If we are to glorify God upon earth by finishing the work which He has given us to do, w e should find out JUST WHAT THE WOKK IS THAT GOD HAS given us to do . Each must find it out for himself. No person can decide for another what is their work. When I fin ished my college course and told my roommate that I was going to study for the ministry, he said to me, “You are spoiling a good business man to make a poor preacher.”;,. He had good reason for saying it. I had a natural talent for business. In college I not only looked after my own business affairs, but after his also, though he was a good business man—so good a business man that he became practically the head of one of the largest and best known houses in New York City. But I had attended to his business in college as well ag my own and to that of numerous other friends of mine. I liked to do it. On the other hand, I had apparently no gifts that fitted me for the ministry, but everything about me'to unfit me for the ministry. Nevertheless I knew in spite of what he said and in spite of my knowledge of myself, that preaching was the work which God had given me to do. How can we find out what the work is which God has given us to do? God Himself has answered that question in James 1:5: “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not, and it shall be given Him.” •The way to find out is by going to God in prayer, by ask ing God directly to make clear to us what the work is which He would have us to do. He may show us but a step at a time, but He will show us. There must be on our part, however, if we are to get God’s direction, that of which I have already spoken, a definite and con scious purpose to do the will of God and
THE K I N G ' S BUS I NE S S must have a definite baptism, or anoint ing, or filling, with the Holy Spirit. Our Lord Jesus said to His disciples when they had graduated from the Bible Institute of which He was the Head and in which He was the sole and all-suffic ient teacher: "Tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye he endued with power from on high.” (Luke 24:49). And He said to them again just before he left them at His ascension: “Ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you." (Acts 1:8). No man or woman can by any possibility accom plish the work which God has given them to do by mere natural gifts. They must have supernatural gifts.' It is not only the preacher or the evangelist who needs this, it is every and each insignificant member of the body. The Apostle Paul tells us in 1 Cor. 12:13, that it is “in the one Spirit” that “we all are baptized into the one body,” as effective, working mem bers of that body contributing to the growth of the body. Have you had such a baptism, or anointing, or filling with the Holy Spirit? I put the question to every Christian here, but I put it especially to each member of the grad uating class, tfnless you can answer “Yes” to that question I would say to you as the Lord said to His graduating class: “Tarry ye (literally, sit ye down)” “till ye be endued with power from on high.” 5. In the fifth place if we are to finish the work which the Father has given to US to do WE MUST BE MEN AND WOMEN OF prayer . Here is where many fail, here is where multitudes of ministers and missionaries fail: they do not pray enough. One great reason why our Lord Jesus could say, nJ have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gaves me to do” was because He gave so much time to prayer. We read in Mark 1:35 that on one occasion when an enlarging work lay before Him, “In the morning, a great while before day, He rose up and went out, and departed into a desert place, and there
939
prayed." And we read that on another occasion, “It came to pass in these days, that He went out into a mountain apart; and He continued all night in prayer to God." (Luke 6:12). No less.than twenty five times in the very brief record of the life of our Lord which is given us in the four Gospels, the words “pray” and prayer” are used in connection with Him. He spent whole nights in prayer. The Apostle Paul followed closely in His footsteps in this respect, as in many others, and therefore he also could say at the close of his life, in ' words that strongly remind us of those of our Lord in our text: “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord the righteous Judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but also to alt them that love His appearing.” (2 Tim. 4:7, 8). We shall never be able to say what Jesus said, or what Paul said, unless we take much time for prayer. It is told of Dr. Stephen Tyng, perhaps the greatest pastor in the history of the Protestant Episcopal church, that when he lay dying he said to his friends gathered around his death bed: “I do not wish that I had preached more (he could not very well, for he was at it all the time) ; I do not wish I had done better pastoral work (he could not very well, for he was a model pastor. In fact a book was written about him after his death entitled, “The Model Pastor” ) ; but I do wish I had prayed morè.” Every one of us when this life is ended and we stand on yonder shore and look back upon this life, will wish that we had prayed more. Be men and women of prayer. I hope that often in the future when you are off in the heart of Africa, or in China, or in Japan, or in India, or in South America, or in some obscure field in America, or it may be, nursing a baby in a lonely shack in the desert or mountains or on the farm, and when multiplying duties are striving to crowd out prayer, you may recall this hour and
THE K I N G ’ S BUS I NE S S power from the omnipotent power house in heaven to our hearts and homes and lives. You are to graduate this week in the Bible. You have completed and passed satisfactory examinations in vari ous very complete ' and thorough courses in the Bible. God grant, however, that you may not dream for one moment that you have graduated from Bible study. I have studied the Bible forty three years and have read the Bible every day of my life without a single exception for forty nine years, and yet I feel today as I nCver felt before how little I know of its prec ious contents, and how much I need to study it, to dig into it every day. I would not dare go twenty four hours without studying this Book. I would have a great fear I would not finish the work God had given me to do. I do sometimes go twenty four hours without taking a morsel of food for my body. I never go twenty four hours without feeding my soul on that which alone presents the Living Bread in its purity, the Word of God. 7. There is one more thing we must do if we would glorify God by finishing the work which He has given us to do: WE MUST MAKE THE VERY BEST USE OF th e tim e G od gives u s . W e m u st REDEEM THE TIME, OR AS THE REVISED V ersion pu ts it , ‘‘B u y u p th e oppor tu n it y .” (Eph. 5:16). I have not time to dwell upon that at length. Simply let me say this: First of all we must be watchful that we waste no time. One of the great watchwords of the hour is “Do not waste.” We are told that it is by scrupulously avoiding waste of food that we shall win the war. But there is some thing of greater value than food or other resources, that men are wasting daily, and that is time. We should be watchful every day and moment of our lives that we waste no time. We waste time not only when we employ it in doing wrong things ,or in doing nothing at all. We waste it when we do good things when we might be doing better things. For all the follies of the Germans, they have
940 this scene and the words I now speak will come back to you, “Be men and women of prayer.” “Pray without ceas ing.” Take time for prayer. Take much time for prayer every day. Prayer is the key that unlocks the door that opens into the secrets of God’s will and prayer is also the key that unlocks the power house of God, and puts all His power at our disposal. 6. If we are to be able to say at the close of our life, “7 have glorified on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest. me to do," w e m u st earn e stly , PERSISTENTLY AND REGULARLY STUDY th e W ord of G od . The Word of God is the instrument God uses for the revela tion of His will. Through the Word of God He makes clear to us what the work is which He has given us to do. He does not do it once for all, in some great crisis of life when we receive our call to serv ice, but continuously day by day as we study the Book. It is, as I study the Book of God, the Book that stands abso lutely alone among the books of earth, the Bible, as I study it day by day, that God reveals to me what each day, is the work that He would have me do for that day. Begin each day with the study of this Book that you may find God’s will for that day. But the Bible not only makes known to each of us the will of God, it also imparts power to do that will. The Apostle John, writing to young men just entering upon their life work, says, “I have written unto you, young men, because ye are strong, and the Word of God abideth in you, and ye have over come the wicked one." (1 John 2:14). Evidently the strength and the victory over the Wicked One came through the studied and obeyed, and therefore indwelling, Word of God. God’s word is the wire along which God transmits not only His wisdom but His power to us. The same wire that transmits light to pur homes transmits power to our elec tric motors; and God’s Word, the Bible, is the wire that transmits both light and
THE K I N G ' S BUS I NE S S some wise sayings and one of them is, “The good is a great enemy of the best.” That is to say, good things crowd out the best things. We should be on our guard that we use every moment of our time not merely in doing good things hut in doing the best things. This, of course, does not mean that we shall not take time for rest and sleep. Rest and sleep are the very best use to which we can put some of our hours. It does not mean that we should never seek recrea tion, for recreation oftentimes is re-crea tion, and by putting a half hour into exercise or other recreation we may put new power into whole hours or days. But it is not enough that we avoid waste of time, we should make every moment of time count to the uttermost. Conclusion: To sum up all that I have said this morning, make this one of the great governing mottoes of your life: “I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do" and to that end, form today— if' you have formed it already put new decision into it—the conscious and defin ite purpose to glorify God by finishing the work which He has given you to do. Seek earnestly and honestly to find out what the work is that God has given you to do, make an absolute surrender to God, to be wholly His, seek to obtain a definite baptism with the Holy Spirit for the service to which God has called you, be men and women of prayer, continue to be earnest daily students of the Word, and make every moment of life count to the uttermost. And now I am to stay farewell to the members of the Graduating Class. This is the last time that I shall have the privilege of addressing most of you at all. I want to tell you before you go that I love you. I do not think that there has been another class that has gone out from the Institute toward which I have had just the same feeling that I have toward this class. Some of you have been so near to me that you almost seem as if you were my own children, and
941 when I come back next Fall and you are not in your accustomed seats I shall miss you. If you were to go down to the lec ture room this morning and take your usual seats, I could be led into that lec ture room blindfolded and I could tell just where most of you were seated. And when next Autumn I stand on the plat form and look out upon the seats that you now occupy and see new faces there I cannot tell you how much I shall miss you. But I am glad you are going, for God needs you in various fields in the world, in China and Africa, South Amer ica and elsewhere. We shall not meet again here on earth but the glad day is hastening on when we shall meet, meet in the air, in that glorious hour when the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, 'with the voice of the archangel and the trump of Go THE K I N G ’ S BUS I NE S S 942 SHORT GOSPEL. MEASURE The Scriptures say, “ A false balance is abomination to the Lord.” If this is true regarding a measure by which to sell grain or oil, how much more abom inable must a short Gospel measure be in the sight of the Lord. The cheated customer might not be ruined by the short measure of provision, but many a person is ruined by a short-measured Gospel. —Wm. M. Smith. WANTED “ SEPTEMBER’* KING’ S BUSINESS We have some urgent calls for copies of our September issue which we are unable to supply. If you have one which you do not care to keep, we will appreciate it if you will drop us a card to that effect, and we will forward post age, with extra for your trouble. You can thus be a blessing to some other life. The Latest Stales of Women’s Gear Bÿ ISAIAH—Written 750 B. C. The Predictions are Timely The Catastrophe is at Hand “ Because the daughters . . . are haughty, and walk with outstretched necks and wanton eyes, walking and mincing as they go . . . in that day the Lord will take away the beauty of their anklets, and the networks (marg.) and the crescents; the pendents, and the bracelets, and the mufflers; the head tires, and the . . . chains, and the sashes, and the perfume boxes, and the amulets; the rings and the . . . jewels; the festival robes and the mantles, and the shawls, and the satchels; the hand-mirrors, the fine linen, the turbans, and the veils. And it shall come to pass, that instead of sweet spices there shall be rottenness; and instead of a girdle, a rope; and instead of well set hair, bald ness; and instead of a robe, a girding of sackcloth; branding instead of beauty. Isa. 3:16-24, R. Y. “ Whose adorning let it not be the outward adorning of braiding the hair, and in wearing jewels of gold, or of putting on apparel; but let it be the hidden man of the heart, in the incorrup tible apparel of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.”— 1 Peter 3:3, 4, 5. “ But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ and make not provision for the flesh.”— Rom. 13:14. — J. H. SAMMIS.
Made with FlippingBook Online newsletter