vol . vn
No. 3
MARCH, 1916
The King’s Business ■.......... — , j “ Unto him that loved us, and washed us l i ----------- 1 ■... .. 1 1 from our sins in his own blood.”—Rev. 1:5 I . ■'
Published once a month by the BIBLE INSTITUTE OF LOS ANGELES LOS ÁNGELES. CALIFORNIA, U. S. A.
ONE D O L L A R A YEAR
Mu
Kin 00 lustesa
MOTTO : **I the Lord do keep it, / wilt water it every moment lest any hurt it, I will keep it night and day.**—Isa. 27:3.
R. A . TORREY, D. D., Editor T .C . HORTON, J. H. HUNTER, WILLIAM EVANS, D. D., Associate Editors A . M. ROW, Managing Editor Published by the BIBLE INSTITUTE OF LOS ANGELES, Inc. Los Angeles, California, U. S. A. Entered as Second-Class Matter November. 17, 1910, at the postoffice at Los Angeles, Cal., under the Act of March 3,, 1879. Copyright by R. A. Torrey, D. D., and Bible Institute of Los Angeles, i for the year 1916.
DIRECTORS
Lyman Steward president. William Thorn, secretary. T. C. Horton, superintendent.
Leon V. Shaw, treasurer. William Evans. R. A . Torrey Giles Kellogg. H. A . Getz.
E. A . K. Hackett. J. M. Irvine. . ;
DOCTRINAL STATEMENT We hold to the Historic Faith of the Church as expressed in the Common Creed o f Evangelical Christendom and including: The Trinity of the Godhead. The Deity of the Christ.
The Maintenance of Good Works. The Second Coming of Christ. The Immortality of the Spirit. The Resurrection of the Body. The Life Everlasting of Believers. The Endless Punishment of the Im penitent. ' The Reality and Personality of Satan. (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 dis tribution of selected books and tracts. ( 10 ) Harbor Work. For seamen at Los Angeles harbor. ( 11 ) Yokefellows* Hall. Thoroughly manned. Our Mission for men with Street Meetings, and Bootblacks and Newsboys Sunday School. ( 12 ) Print Shop. For printing Testa ments, books, tracts, etc. A complete establishment, profits going to free dis-
The Personality of the Holy Ghost. The Supernatural and Plenary au thority o f the Holy Scriptures. The Unity in Diversity of'the Church, the Body and Bride of Christ. The Substitutionary Atonement. The Necessity of the New Birth.
SCOPE OF THE WORK
P u rn n co • The Institute trains, free ” ’ of cost, accredited men and women, in the knowledge and use
of the Bible. r*__. , ‘ V , Departments:
(1 ) The Institute ¿lasses held daily
except on Saturdays and Sundays. (2 ) Extension work. Classes and conferences held in neighboring cities and towns. (3 ) Evangelistic. Meetings conducted by our evangelists. (4 ) Spanish Mission. Meetings every night. (5 ) Shop W ork. Regular services in shops and factories. (6 ) Jewish Evangelism. Personal work among the Hebrews.
THE KING’S BUSINESS V q LVII. MARCH, 1916 No. 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS Editorial: Sound Doctrine’ s Defender— Incidental Evils of War-—Soldiers or Citizens— Over-Education of the Poor— The Laymen’s Missionary Movement— Over- Organization in the Church—Was Jesus a Soul Win ner?— Why Some Rural Churches Have Failed— Prais ing God in Song................................................................. 195 The Holy Spirit and Missions. By William Evans, D. D..... 201 Ours in the Field........................................................................... 209 Great Revivals and Evangelists— V. William C. Burns. By John H. Hunter...................... ............................. -.............. 212 Light on Puzzling Passages and Problems............................... 220 Jesus the First and the Last. By Samuel Garvin, D. D....... 221 At Home and Abroad............................................................... 224 Student Volunteers (Illustration)............................................ 227 The Unique Fishermen’s Club.................................................... 228 - Through the Bible with Dr. Evans........................................... 229 Bible Institute Activities. By the Superintendents............. 236 Homiletical Helps. By William Evans......... .......................... 242 International Sunday School Lessons. By R. A. Torrey and T. C. Horton................................................................ 247 Daily Devotional Studies in the New Testament for Individ ual Meditation and Family Worship. By R. A- Torrey— 263
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You Should Have It Once Tried—Always Retained The King's Business Published by the Bible Institute of Lo Angeles For Help in All Religious Work and Experience DR. R. A. TORREY, Editor DR. WILLIAM EVANS, J. H. HUNTER, T. C. HORTON, Associate Editors A. M. ROW, Managing Editor $1.00 a year Three Months, 25 cents Its Lesson Helps are the Best Its Homiletic Helps Unsurpassed Its Bible Readings Complete, Satisfying Its Fundamental Articles by greatest Writers Indispensable to Family or Sunday School Send 25 cents for a trial subscription and you will be grateful ever after for the opportunity. Or send $1.00 at once and receive it every month for one year. We will be glad to start it with January, thus making your volume complete. Make all orders payable to the Bible Institute of Los Angeles.
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THE KING’S BUS INESS è — Vol 7 , MARCH, 1916, No. 3 El E D I T O R I A L m i] Some of the letters that we receive from those renew- Sound Doctrine’s ing their subscriptions to T he K ing ' s B usiness are not Defender. only encouraging but suggestive. Here is one from a minister in New Brunswick: “ I enclose $1.00 for a-year’s subscription to T he K ing ’ s B usiness . More power to you in defense of sound doctrine! Cry aloud and spare not. Insidious belief is paralyzing the church of today. The people are overwhelmingly for orthodoxy; the col leges, many pulpits, many so-called religious journals, are engaged in a cam paign to inoculate Christianity with the virus of infidelity. You have come to the kingdom for such a time as this. The Lord strengthen and prosper you and your enterprise.” ________________ __ At the present time all other interests seem to be sacri- Incidental ficed to the monstrous war god. Even the necessities Evils of War. of life are being diverted from their true use to the manufacture of instruments o,f destruction. Even the cheese-factory men are complaining of a shortage of milk because so much milk is now consumed in the making of ammunition. The casein is being extracted from the milk and employed in various ways in the manufacture o f' ammunition. Vinegar is being employed for the same purpose, the acid in the vinegar being converted into an explosive of the picric-acid type. The war god is proving himself a far more horrid monster than the Moloch of ancient times, or the Juggernaut of more recent times in India. It is becoming a burning question, in all lands today as Soldiers r to whether we shall introduce military training into our or Citizens. public schools. Because of Germany’s tremendous success in the opening months of the war, many are thinking that we should follow in Germany’s footsteps in the training of pur boys and young men. It is suggestive that exception to the German system of training has been taken by a German in an address before the National Educa tional Association in California. John Mez of Munich, Germany, gave, it as his opinion that Germany’s system of education was entirely wrong. He is reported as saying: “ Those of my country who made war did it for the world’s gain. They did not mean to destroy. They are victims of a wrong system of education. They know nothing beyond an irrational conception of militarism.” Many of those who are most familiar with the German system of education and of the attitude of the German people toward the present war, are Of the opinion that this statement is true. Certainly we should hesitate a long time before we train our boys and our young men to be soldiers. After all, the best national defense is not a large and well equipped army, but righteousness in our conduct toward other nations.
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THE KING ’ S BUSINESS A criticism of our educational system comes from a source .that ought to command attention. Dr. W. A. White, Superintendent of the Federal Hospital for the Insane, near Washington, D. C., has given it as his
Over-Education of the Poor.
opinion that the training of children of poor parents above their station is a mistake. He says that daughters of poor parents who learn a little algebra, a little history, and a little music, are spoiled for their natural positions in life and still are not competent to fill higher positions. We cannot but feel that there is a great deal of truth in this statement. We have gone to great extremes in this country in thinking that everybody must be trained along every line of scientific knowledge. A very large share of our people must always occupy humble positions in life, and it is the part of wisdom to train them for the work that they are likely to do, and not to train them for positions which they will never have an opportunity to fill. To educate people beyond their position in life is simply to make them discontented and unfit. is to be hoped in permanent results also, those held several years ago. The movement is one in which not only the laymen, but also the ministers should be deeply interested, and it should have the prayers of all Christians. There was never a time in which there were so many openings for missionary work on the one hand, and so many difficulties on the other. The war has paralyzed the work of English and German missionary societies in some places, thus lay ing' an additional responsibility upon American Christians. In gratitude to God that He has kept us out of this awful war we should do what we can to aid the work thus hindered by the war, The great gathering in Los Angeles will be held in the auditorium of our Bible Institute, February 27 to March 1. Prominent missionary speakers will be present from different parts of the country, and it is expected that five thousand delegates will be in attendance. The local details are in the hands of a very competent committee, headed by Hon. A. J. Wallace, former Lieutenant Governor of the State of California. A fuller account of the Laymen’s Missionary Movement will be found in another part of this magazine. We extend a very hearty welcome to the Con vention. Our churches at the present time seem to be going to Over-Organization seed along the line of organization. Every new thing in the Church. that is to be done seems to call for some new organiza tion to do it. The various societies in some of our churches are so numerous that they are stumbling over one another. President Wilson, at a recent meeting of the Federal Council of Churches, spoke some wise words along this line: “ I have been a member of one or two churches that were admirably organ ized and were accomplishing nothing. You know some people dearly love organization. They dearly love to sit in a chair and preside. They pride them selves upon their knowledge of -parliamentary practise. They love to concoct and write minutes. They love to appoint committees. They boast of the num ber of committees that their organization has, and they like the power and the The Laymen’s Missionary Movement is conducting a series' of missionary campaigns in seventy-five of the Missionary Movement, leading cities of America. The meetings held thus far have greatly exceeded in numbers and interest, and ft The Laymen’s
THE KING’ S BUSINESS 197 social influence o f distributing their friends among the committees, and then when the committees are formed there is nothing to commit to them. “ This is a nation which loves to go through the motions of public meeting, whether there is anything particularly important to consider or not. It is an interesting thing to me how the American is born knowing how to conduct a public meeting. I remember that when I was a lad I belonged to an organiza tion which at that time seemed to me very important, which was known as the Lightfoot Baseball Club. Our clubroom was. a corner, an unoccupied corner, of the loft of my father’s barn—the part that the hay had not encroached upon —and I distinctly remember how we used to conduct orderly meetings of the club in that comer o f the loft. I had never seen a'public meeting, and I do not believe any of the other lads with whom I was associated had ever seen a pub lic meeting, but we somehow knew how to conduct one. We knew how to make motions and second them; we knew that a motion could not have more than two amendments offered at the same time, and we knew, the order in which the amendments had to be put, the second amendment before the first. How .we knew it I don’t know. We were born that way, I .suppose. But nothing very important happened at those meetings, and I have been present at some church organization meetings at which nothing more important happened than hap pened with the Lightfoot Baseball Club. And I remember distinctly that my delight and interest were in the meetings, not in what they were fo r ; just the sense of belonging to an organization and doing something with the organiza tion, it didn’t very much matter what. Some churches are organized that way. They are exceedingly active about nothing.” The great need of the church today is not more organization, but less organization and more power. There are times, of course, when organizations are absolutely necessary, but we have altogether too many of them today, and while new ones may bemeeded for some lines of work, it is the part of wisdom to hesitate long before organizing any new society in our churches. O f course, we do not know exactly what Mr. Strayer had in mind by “ what is popularly, spoken of as soul winning,” but certainly Jesus spent His whole life in what is properly known as soul winning, and in what is known as soul winning in aggressive evangelistic circles today. On two occasions the Lord Himself defined the purpose of His coming into this world. One of these defi nitions we find in Luke 19:10: “ For the Son of Man came to seek and to save that which was lost.” That certainly is what is properly known as soul win ning, and what is commonly known as soul winning in evangelistic circles today —the seeking out and saving of definite lost men, women and- children; the bringing of- definite lost men and women and children to a definite acceptance of a definite'Saviour. Our Lord’s other definition of His purpose of coming into this world is found in John 10:10: “ I came that they may have life, and may have it abundantly.” Certainly this is soul winning as properly known and as commonly spoken of in evangelistic circles—the ,bringing of definite men, women and children unto a definite obtaining of life by a definite accept- In an article on “ Evangelism—A Bigger Word Than Suspected,” in The Continent, December 30, 1915, Paul Was Jesus a Soul Winner? Moore Strayer makes the following astoriishing state ment: “ The truth is that Jesus spent almost no time in what is popularly spoken of as ‘soul winning.’ ”
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THE KING’S BUSINESS anee of a definite Saviour, Jesus Christ. A great deal of our Lord’s life was spent in personal work with different classes of men. For example, we see Him doing definite soul-winning work with Nicodemus in the third chapter of John, and definite soul-winning work with the woman of Samaria in the fourth chapter of John, ana definite soul-winning work with the impotent man in the fifth chapter of John; and so we might go on right through the Gospel. It is true, as Mr. Strayer says in another part of his article, that Jesus “ put His standard so’ high as to discourage many who would follow Him,” but that was not in order that He might not win souls, but that He might truly win them and not only seemingly do so by the superficial work that is done by so many pas tors as well as evangelists today.' Jesus spent His whole time in soul winning. It was to win souls He came into this world at all. It was to win souls that He left heaven with all its glory and came down to earth with all its shame. It was to win souls that He gave up the praise of the angelic world and came down to this world to be despised and rejected of men, to be blindfolded, buf feted, spit upon, scourged, and crucified. It was to win souls that He came : it was to win souls that He labored: it was to win souls that He prayed: it was to win souls that He suffered: it was to win souls that He died. Soul winning was the whole business of His life, and it should be the whole business o f life for every follower of Jesus. Soul winning was the one all-absorbing ambition, the one consuming passion of His life, and if soul winning is not the all-absorb ing ambition and consuming passion of our lives we are not followers of Jesus. broad- enough programme or supplied a magnetism sufficiently strong. Those who would keep to the narrower evangelistic appeal'must account for the church’s gradual loss of prestige in places where it has had no other programme but to preach the Gospel.” This statement regarding the rural church is unfor tunately untrue. The rural churches that have failed have not maintained exclusively the evangelistic note; indeed, in those that have made the most utter failure the evangelistic note has very seldom been heard, and therefore it is not incumbent upon “ those who would keep to the narrower evangelistic appeal” - to account for the church’s lost prestige. The church’s loss of prestige in such rural places as it may have suffered such loss is largely due to the fact that something else besides the Gospel has been preached; that another Gospel has been substituted for that proclaimed by the Lord Jesus Christ and His disciples. Doubtless divisions among believers and a consequent multiplying of weak churches in rural communities has had something to do, as the writer indicates, with the church’s loss of prestige, but it has not had nearly so much to do with it as the failure to preach the Word of God in the power of the Holy Ghost. The country churches have not kept at the work of winning souls and kept ever lastingly at it, neither have they kept at the work of building up those who were “ converted.” Country churches which have had a faithful ministry, where the Word of God has been persistently preached in the power of the Holy Ghost and where the whole community has been worked by faithful visi tation, personal work, neighborhood meetings, etc., and where the prayer meet ing has beerr maintained in power, have not lost their prestige, but increased in numbers and in power. What is needed today in country churches and in city In the article already referred to on “ Evangelism—A Bigger Word Than Suspected,” the writer says: “ The Churches Have Failed, rural church has known nothing else than the evange listic note and obviously that alone has not furnished a Why Some Rural
THE KING’S BUSINESS 199 churches, is not more ’work along the line of “ social service,” so called, but a more faithful preaching of the Word in the power of the Holy Ghost, and a more faithful Lninistry of the Word from house to house and store to store, and more prayer on the part of believers, and more persistent and intelligent efforts along definite soul winningJines, In point o f fact, the city and country churches that have grown and prospered through a long term of years have not been the,churches that have gone off along social lines, but churches that have held fast to apostolic methods. Institutional churches have not proven an aston ishing success even in cities. Evangelistic churches have proven as great a suc cess in the twentieth century as in the earlier centuries. in Song. before his death wrote for the Herald and Presbyter an article on “ The Praise Element in Public Worship,” a copy o f which was sent the editor. The portion directly to the point is here given: The third element in our worship is praise. An earnest pastor recently said to us: “ The question o f worship in praise has come to be a serious problem.” What is acceptable praise to God? What is to be achieved by it? W e know the aim and value o f teaching. It is to give us truth. W e know the use o f prayer. It is to secure from -God the, things without which we must die eternally. But what is the aim o f praise in public worship? Let it be written large that the object is not to teach the congregation music. A devout German Christian was asked, “What kind o f music do you hear in your churches in Germany?” “Music? W e do not hear music in our churches. W e have praise!” _ The distinction is clear. He did not mean that our blessed hymns'were not set to sweet harmonies to be sung. But the harmony o f the music was not the important thing. The sentiment o f praise, the very utterance o f it with the voice and from the heart, is what God would have. There has grown up among our evangelistic singers a very distressing and, we may say, offensive habit. W e have been waiting for the evangelistic preachers to-cry out against it., It is developed in singing hymns for fifteen minutes or more before the preaching service. This is designed to be a time o f praise. But instead, it is frequently degraded into a musical performance, with the attempted witticisms o f the leader thrust in between the verses o f the hymns. W e passed through a meeting o f several weeks, a few years ago. The preaching Was exceK lent. The leader o f the -praise service gave us a series o f antics. A fter singing a verse or two with the audience, the congregation was halted until he had informed the gentlemen how to open their mouths. He would then ask the ladies to sing a verse alone, to shoW the gentlemen how to open their mouths. That kind o f performance was called a praise service, and was permitted, supposedly fe to honor God, and prepare the minds o f the audience for the preaching o f the Word. W e have recently been enjoying some very" profitable preaching services in this city, despite the pre performances. Beautiful, precious, devotional hymns were frequently chopped into hash. A fter singing a verse, our leader stopped to tell his audience how much he had been praying over that hymn, and wanted to know how many o f his audience had been praying for a blessing on that hymn, though none o f them knew it was to be sung. Again the gentlemen are asked to - sing while the ladies whistle the hymn. Selecting another hymn, our leader put his hands down low and said: “When my hands are low, thus, let the gentlemen sing.” Then raising his hands midway he. said: “When my hands are raised, thus, let the ladies sing, and when they are raised aloft, let all sing.” It is a shame to speak o f these performances, that are, by a great stretch - o f a curious imagination, called praise meetings. One is almost moyed to cry out against this caricature o f a praise service. What is'the object o f true praise? Let God answer, “Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me.” And such praise lifts Rev. Dr. Samuel Ellis Wishard, who recently passed away in Los Angeles at the age of 90 years,, shortly Praising God
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THE KING’S BUSINESS us into the very presence o f him whom we serve. “ God is a Spirit, and they that worship him, must worship him in spirit and in truth.” We are in hearty agreement with what Dr. Wishard has said here. No part of the service in the average regular church gathering, as well as in-evan gelistic meetings, comes farther short from the true Christian ideal than the song service. On the one hand we have a musical display, and on the other hand we have what nearly approaches a vaudeville performance. What is needed is a truly worshipful rendering of true hymns of praise by saved men and. women who sing with the spirit ancl understanding.
o
REV. S. E. WISHARD, D. D. A characteristic pose from a picture made shortly before his death
By Dr. William Evans Associate Dean of the Bible Institute of Los Angeles
this age is clear, again, from the structure o f the book o f Acts, a careful considera tion of which reveals the fact that the book does not deal so much with those good men, Peter, James and John, who stayed at home, as with Paul and Barna bas, who went out into the broad world, and who are in fact the heroes of the book. It is one o f the purposes o f the Acts to show how the church gradually detached itself from Jerusalem and attached itself to the world. This age is a magnificent parenthesis" o f history, lying as it does between Pente cost and the Second Advent o f our Lord, between the casting off and the receiving again o f Israel. This is the age o f world evangelism. The business o f the day in which we live is to take the gospel to the whole world. - We may not bring all the world to Christ, but we must take Christ to all the world. The whole world may not desire Christ and His gospel, but Christ and the gospel desire the whole world. Indeed the gospel was made for the world and the world for the gospel. The limit o f the gospel is “all nations” and “ every creature.” This is the beneficence o f Christianity: it is not
HIS is the age of the Holy Spirit, the - continuation of the apostolic age. Because it is the age' o f the Spirit it is also the age of Missions,
for missionary activity is the Spirit’s plan for this dispensation. This is clearly evi dent from a study of Acts 15 :13-18: “And after they had held their peace, James answered, saying, Men and breth ren, hearken unto me: Simeon hath declared how God at the first did visit . the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name. And to this agree the words of the prophets; as it is written, A fter this I will return, and will build again the taber nacle of David which is fallen down; and I will Jmild- again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up: That the residue of men might seek after the Lord, and all theAJen- tiles, upon whom my. name is called, saith the Lord, who doeth all these things. Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world.”. It is the purpose o f Him who made the ages that the age in which we live should be characterized by world-wide evangeliza tion. That Missions are the Spirit’s plan for
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to teach a few, nor to be dwarfed by ,a sect, nor to be bricked up by boundaries, Nationality, climate, territory have no place in the foundations o f the city o f God. Geographical considerations may order the procedure o f the enterprise o f missions, but they are forbidden to limit its scope, and so the distinction between home and foreign missions, while convenient for administration, has no spiritual basis. The true homeland o f the Church is defined by the words ‘‘In Christ Jesus/’ and all who do not know Christ Jesus are within thè- bounds o f the visible church o f Christ for evangelical enterprises. Christianity-is not one o f the religions o f the world. It is THE religion for the whole world, a claim which history has long since abundantly justified. In Christianity everything must bring forth after its-kind. Christianity’s commission is Co-extensive with the com mand o f Christianity’s Master. Jesus had worlds in His brain and empires in His heart. So will His church. W e talk about individual and social work, ' and very little about missionary work. It is perfectly evident that Jesus meant to save a man—that is personal work ; and that He meant to save a town— that is Social work ; but it is. also clearly evident that-He meant to evangelize the world:—and that is missionary work. The gospel has a fitness for the world and the' world for the gospel. Only by embracing the globe does the gospel fulfill its own inherent nature. The business o f the church is not to make new creeds, but a new heaven , and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness». He who truly understands the gospel finds himself stand ing between a gospel that needs the world and iL world that needs the gospel, the one reaching out for the other, deep calling unto deep. Missions are not a department o f the church’s'w ork ; they are the whole thing. Missionary activity is not a luxury, but a necessity. ■ THE SUPREME BUSINESS Missions are the supreme business o f the Church. A fter the second battle o f Bull Run, the people in Lexington, Virginia, the
home o f Stonewall Jackson, were in a fever o f anxiety for news from the battlefield. The wires were down, and they were unable to get a message. Finally a letter came in General Jackson’s own well- known handwriting addressed to Dr. White, the pastor, o f the Presbyterian Church; Instantly the news spread through the little town that a letter had come from General Jackson and the people gathered to hear the tidings o f the battle. Dr. White broke the seal, and this is what he read: “My dear pastor, I recall that next Sunday is the day- for our missionary collection, enclosed please find my contribution for foreign missions. Yours truly, T. J. Jack- son.” Not a word about the war between the States, but a volume in a line about missions: •The Church’s foremost duty is to evan gelize the whole world, The church that fails to engage in this propaganda is doomed to death. The artist was not mis taken who, when asked to paint the pic ture o f a dying church, put upon the can- vas a splendid Gothic structure thronged by a fashionable audience which was enter tained by eloquent preaching and beautiful music, but that passed heedlessly in and out by a plain box marked “ For foreign missions” that hung on a nail by the door and ovfer whose slit to receive the gifts there was painted a large undisturbed cob-' web. It was the artist’s Way o f saying that a church that had no concern for the evangelization o f the world is a dying church. I. The Holy Spirit is the incentive to, and the instigator of all true mis sionary activity. The key-note o f a recent missionary con vention was expressed by one o f the mis sionaries in these words: “ The Spirit is within me, therefore I must go.” That the Holy Spirit is the great incen tive to, and the' instigator o f missionary activity is evident, i. From a study o f the book o f Acts itself, in which missionary activity is 1 never separated from the Holy Spirit.
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In Acts 1 :8 the promise o f the Holy Spirit is given, and connected with wit nessing throughout the whole world; in c. 2 the Holy Spirit fell upon the apostles and filled them all, with the result that they testified to men o f every nation and tongue and tribe ; in c. 3 we are told they were all filled ’with the Holy Spirit and went everywhere preaching the gospel; in 13:2 the Holy Spirit is seen separating Barnabas and Saul for missionary work ; in 16:7 He is seen guiding the missionaries into their appointed fields o f labor. It is apparent then that wherever the out-pour ing o f the Holy Spirit is recorded in the book o f Acts, missionary activity is always the outcome. 2. That the Holy Spirit is the instigator of missionary activity' is also mani fest in the history of missions. Wherever in a single heart or com munity there is an out-pouring o f the Holy Spirit there you will find unusual interest in missionary activity. Thé spirit Of Mis sions is the result o f the constraining Spirit o f Sod. When the mother o f Christian Frederick Schwartz was dying in Sonneberg she said to her weeping husband, “ I have dedicated my youngest son to the service o f God. Assure me that when God shall call him you will encourage him.” In ,the process ,of time young Schwartz went to college, and there listened to a remarkable address by Francke on the Holy Spirit, from which meeting he went home and told his father that God had called him to India. After three days o f wrestling in prayer his father gave the lad his consent. At thirty years o f age Schwartz entered upon his mission ary activity, and for forty-three years he labored in India. What is true o f Schwartz is true also o f Zinzendorf, the founder o f the great Moravian church. At one time he exclaimed, “I have one passion, and that is Christ, and He alone ! Henceforth that place is my home where I can have the greatest opportunity o f laboring for my
Saviour.” Reading the story o f Zinzen dorf’s life reveals to us the fact that his passion for and surrender to the great missionary cause came at a little prayer meeting conducted by Spener and Francke, and on which the Holy Ghost fell in a remarkable way. II* The Holy Spirit is the superintendent of all missionary activity. Acts 13:2, 16:7. “A s they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul fo r the work where- unto I have called them." “A fter they' were come to Mysia, they assayed to go into Bithynia: but the Spirit suffered them not.” This is a fact we must constantly recog nize: it is the Spirit who calls men and sends them forth; He is “the Lord o f the harvest.” The first word in the history o f Missions is, “ Separate unto me Barna bas and Saul.” The Spirit not only creates within the human heart the desire- to do missionary work; but also sends men out to do it. It should also be noted in this .connection that the Spirit sometimes sends men whom the missionary boards will not send. Some o f the greatest missionaries have gone out against the consent o f the board or the vote o f the church, but sim ply because the Spirit has moved them to go. Carey, the great missionary to India, went out by virtue of. the stubborn minor ity o f one—himself. Dr. Hyland, speaking o f Carey’s call to Missions, said, “I believe the Holy Spirit Himself infused into the mind o f Carey the solicitation for the souls o f India, which cannot fairly be'traced to any other source.” John Paton, the great missionary to the New Hebrides, went out against the protest o f the congregation and the churches, but surely under the guidance o f the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit calls out men as missionaries, and when He calls, His chosen ones will hear and go forth, even though at times the .church, the clergy and the missionary board may have had no notification o f the appointment. W e should never forget that the Spirit is He who thrusts men out into
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needed to arouse greater missionary activ ity is not information or knowledge of facts about missions. These things do not make men missionaries, nor do they create zéál - in missionary work. These things are fuel, but fuel does not make fire; it only feeds it. The Holy Ghost in the heart makes missionary fire; these other things feed the fire. The Holy Ghost in the heart makes going sure, easy and permanent. III. Our Relation to the Call of the Holy Spirit with Reference to Missionary Activity. ' Seeing then that this is indeed the age o f the Spirit, and as such is characterized by missionary activity; seeing.further that the Holy Spirit calls and provides the men for missionary fields, we may ask you this solemn question: Has the Spirit said noth ing to your soul on the subject o f Mis sions? Has He created no concern in your heart with reference to the millions who are dying without Christ and without hope? Do you reply, “ No, not definitely. I have not had a specific call to Missions?” It may be pertinent to ask, What special call do you need or expect? Is not the command o f the Mastér, as found in His parting words in Matthew 28:19, “Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature,” a command? What constitutes, do you think, a call to foreign missions? I f Christ should stand by your side, put His hand upon your shoulder, and say to you, “ I want you for China, or India, or Egypt, or Africa, you would be sure, would you not, that He had called you? Is not the Master’s last commission as true for the church today as it was for that band o f disciples when He gave them this parting commission? William Carey said that his call con sisted o f un open Bible before an open map o f the world. Henry Martin had the idea o f missions" first suggested to him by his pastor, who said, “ Henry, are not you the kind o f man who might give his life to the evangelization o f India?” David Livingstone said that he had no special
the vineyard. Are we sending out men and women whom the Spirit has not sent, or are We holding back those whom the Spirit has told to. go? Why are you going to the foreign field ? Are you self- appointed, or Spirit-appointed? The, mis sionary boards have to deal with quite a number o f “ returners” from missionary fields each year.—those who have gone by self-appointment instead o f by divine appointment. O f course we must recognize that the church has her part to play in sending out missionaries. W e are not unmindful of that fact. W e “are told in the Acts that while the church fasted and prayed, the Holy Spirit set apart missionaries. Christ commands the church to , “ Pray yé the Lord o f the harvest that He will thrust forth laborers into His, vineyard.” Liv ingstone on his knees in death agony, pray ing by Lake Bangweolo that God would send missionaries to heal the open sore of the world, is worth more to the cause of Missions than millions o f gold. What we jneed today is not so much a rich church as a praying church. W e would not under- estimaté the work o f the church, but would exalt the Spirit in this matter. Thus saith the Spirit: Whom I call and separate, ye shall ordaip. The question is asked o f candidates for the office o f deacon in thé Episcopal church: “ Do you trust that you are inwardly moved *by the Holy Ghost to take upon you this office?” . This same question is pertinent to every one who undertakes the office o f missionary. Here, then, is the true motive for all missionary activity—the call o f the Holy Spirit. The motive is not philanthropic; it is not the condition o f the people; it is not the call o f the volunteer band; it is not the example of others ; it is not because we are failures at _home; it is because the Spirit o f God so moves us. This being true we are brought face to face with the tremendous fact then that the great need o f foreign missions is a more definite experience and knowledge o f the Holy Spirit and His working. What is
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call, no special enthusiasm for the mission field beyond what he described as an “overwhelming sense o f duty.” Young Keith Falconer, the son of a peer, rich, one o f the best athletes o f' his day, a Cam bridge University reader in Arabic, said, “A call—what is a call ? ' A call is a need, a need made known, and power to meet that need.” The call o f Amos the prophet is instruc tive in this connection. One wonders if he had any outward call at all. With him it was more o f an inward conviction than an outward call. There was no formal process o f consecration o f the voice o f the prophet. His calk was not connected with any prophetic ecstasy, for he disclaims being equal to-the prophets, or even o f a preacher’s family. Through the desert air the call o f God breaks upon him without medium or saGrament. “ The lion hath roared,” saith he. “Who shall nol fear? Jehovah hath spoken: who can but proph esy?” The call o f Amos came from con science and history. Within his soul he hears the voice o f God speaking in cer tain moral principles; he sees the condition o f Israel, and he beholds certain judicial acts o f God in the condition o f the nation. The voice o f God in his soul and the moral principles enunciated in that voice condemn the life .o f Israel, and the prophet knows that unless repentance takes place Israel will be involved in captivity and ruin. Thus from inward conviction and the outward event, (from, the knowledge he has o f what God requires and o f the condition in which he found his people—the consider ation o f these facts lays a pressing burden upon his soul, and therein he finds his com mission. SEEKING A SIGN Are we like the Pharisees, tempting God in asking for a sign? Is it not an evil and adulterous generation that seeketh after a sign? Read the open Bible, look upon the map o f the world; see in the Bible what God thinks o f a heathen world and it's need, then o f the power o f the gospel to satisfy that need. Think o f yourself as standing between a mighty gospel and a lost world;
then say, if you can, with your hand upon your heart, and looking up into the clear blue sky, and into the face o f Jesus Christ, “ I am sure, O Saviorf Thou art not calling me to the foreign field.” Before,you sleep tonight answer that question in the pres ence o f your Lord. Look up into the Master’s face, watch the direction in which it is turned, and if you see it turned towards those dark regions—go, go with Him—Do not turn away. You may reply: “ I want time to think,” certainly, by all means take timeAo ponder this -question, but in your meditation will you not think: First, o f the awful condi tion o f the heathen world in the light of the present revelation. Millions and mil lions o f them lost, and the gospel and Christ alone can save them, and you have that Christ and that gospel. Think o f the lost condition o f the heathen—perishing without God and without hope. It was this belief that inspired Carey and Judson in India, Moffett in Africa, Hudson Taylor in China, Brainerd among the Indians. Present-day theology may have modified its views o f the lost condition o f the heathen since these noble men labored among them, but you have no conclusive evidence that these -men were not right in the views they held. W e need a vision o f the dying heathen, their idol worship, their moral degredation, their human sacrifices, their lost condition. And so I ask you to look upon these darkened,' dying heathen nations, . these open sores o f the world, and. thus think o f your relation to Missions. Tell me not but what at the last day these black men, one o f whom bore the Master’s cross, shall cry out against us for our neglect, and the Saviour o f men, who loved these perishing souls, who gave His life that they through Him might know the true God and eter nity, as these nameless human' wrecks, these broken human hearts, stand up before Him at the last great day perishing for want o f vision, methinks will cry out to us with convicting nearness to the truth, that “Inasmuch as ye did it not to these ye did it not to me.”
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when she forgot it, she failed. This is the church’s shame—shall we say crime?— that since the Master’s final command for world evangelization was given, twenty centuries have struck on the clock o f ages, more than sixty generations have lived, suffered, sinned, died, with an aggregate population o f ten to twenty times the present number o f the human race. This great number have perished, not only unsaved, but unwarned. For such a state o f things the Christian church has no apology. Standing òne day in front o f the moun tains o f Moab and casting my eyes over them into that great region west o f the Jordan, I was informed by the missionary who stood by my - side that among the fifteen million Mohammedans in that region he ,was the only Protestant mis sionary. Think o f it—one missionary among 15,000,000 o f people! I was woe fully impressed with the small handful of American missionaries in Cairo, that great capital of the Egyptian empire with its teeming Mohammedan population and-its great Mohammedan University with 12,000- students preparing to be Mohammedan priests. It seemed to me, on looking over tlie ground, as though the Christian Church was simply playing at missions. I had a similar impression as the result of a careful view of Missionary effort in Jerusalem and Palestine. Should we not think o f all these things when considering a field for our Christian activity ? It was such a consid eration that led William Borden, that rich, gifted, Christian man, when looking for a field jn which he could do most for Christ, to choose the great Mohammedan world as that field. T o that splendid Christian hero it was the darkest and the neediest field, therefore he chose it. Standing with uncovered head, one day last May, by the side of the grave of this young Christian hero, in Cairo, Egypt, I sent up a prayer similar to that which I saw on thè grave stone of David Livingstone, in Westminster Abbey: “All I can add in my solitude is, May-heaven’s rich blessings come down on every one, American, English, or Turk,
Then, think, in the second place, o f the command o f the Master, Go ye into all the' world, and preach the gospel to every creature” The comtnand is go, not stay. W e shall have to give account at the last day not only o f why we-did not go, but why we stayed at home. The Duke of Wellington was once asked by a young clergyman, who knew the Duke had been, in India, if by reason o f the condition of the people it was not useless to preach to them. The Duke replied, “ Look, sir, to your marching orders, which arc, Go, preadh the gospel to every creature.” WHERE IS THE NEED? Where, think you, lies the greatest call to labor for the Master—in these enlight ened,' civilized countries where the streets and homes are ablaze with gospel light, and where on almost every corner the gos7 pel is; proclaimed? Or in darkest Africa or Inland China, or West o f the Jordan, or in Mohammedan lands where gospel ignorance is as dark as Egyptian midnight ? Do you know that since Matthew 28 :19 was spoken by our Lord, that after these twenty centuries since the uttering of that parting commission there are now in-rthis day 25,000 different districts in-the non- christian world, every one o f them con taining 25,00(1 individuals who know not Christ nor the gospel. ; All these 25,000 districts are unoccupied by a single mis sionary; no one is offering to supply them in the name of Christ. When in our coun try one out o f every four persons is a member o f a Protestant church, and when if every one o f us did his duty he would only have to preach the gospel to three or four in this land o f ours -does it not seem that tfiese 25,000 parishes each of 25,000 members would be more of an appeal, more o f a calf to the disciple of Jesus Christ for a field o f evangelistic effort ? A t the beginning o f this age there stood the cross, and from its shadow the disciples -of Jesus launched out to plant that cross in every soil, - and to cause its ensign to - wave in every breeze. And so long as the church continued-this work, she prospered;.
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who will help to Teal this open sore o f the world.” So I prayed for the great Ameri can Church in its relation to the evangeli zation in Mohammedan lands. “ Shall we, whose souls are lighted With wisdom from on high— Shall we, to men benighted, The lamp o f life deny?” “I know o f a land that is sunk in shame. O f hearts that faint and tire; And I know o f a name, a name, a name That can set that land on fire.: Its sound is a brand, its letters flame, I know o f a naipe, a name, a name A PITIFUL PLEA I once heard a member o f a Missionary Commission o f one o f the large denomina tions, who had been sent to India to over-' look the missionary work in general and seek out new and needy fields, telUof a Hin du father who had run thirty-three miles in order to have an interview with the Com mission and to beg them to send a mis- -sionary to .his village. He spoke o f the need o f his father and mother, his children, his friends—how they all needed the mis sionary., The Commission promised to send them a missionary. . The last words this member o f the Commission heard, and which he said were still ringing in his ears, were : “ Thank you ; then if I live till the missionary comes I will know more about Jesus and heaven, and my father and mother and my children too will learn about Him. I hope I live till the missionary comes.” A soldier lay wounded on a hard-fought field. The roar o f the battle had died away, and Tie rested in a' deathly stillness o f its aftermath. Off over thé field flick ered the lanterns ,o f the survivors, search ing for wounded ones who might be car ried away and saved. This poor soldier watched, unable to turn or to speak, as the lanterns drew near. Then a light flashed in his face and the surgeon bent That will set this land afire— The precious name o f Jesus.”
over him, .shook his head, and was gone. By and by the party came back, and again the kindly surgeon bent over him. *T believe if this poor fellow lives till sun down tomorrow, he will get well.” In a moment the surgeon was gone, but he had put a great hope in the soldier’s heart. All night the words kept repeating them selves—“ I f I live till sundown I shall get well.” He turned his head to the east to watch for the dawn. At last the stars went out, the east quivered with radiance, and the sun arose. Intently his eye fol lowed the orb o f day. He was growing weaker—could he live till sundown? He thought o f his home. - “ If I live till sun down I shall see it again, I will walk down the shady lane, I will drink again at the old mossy spring.” He thought o f his wife who had put her hand shyly in his, and had brought sweetness to his life. “ If I live"till sun down, I Shall look- once more into her deep loving eyes.” He thought o f the lit tle children that clambered on his knees and tangled their little hands in his heart strings.. “If I live till sundown they will again find my parched lips with their warm kisses, and their fingers shall run once more over my face.” Then he thought o f the old mother who gathered these.. children ab,out her, and breathed her old heart afresh in their brightness,, that she might live till her big boy came home. “If I live till sundown I shall see her again, and I will rest my Head at its old place on her knee, and weep away the memory o f this desolate night.” And the Son. o f God who had died for men, bending down from the stars, put the band that had been nailed to the cross. on the ebbing life, and held on the staunch until the sun went down and the stars came opt, and shone down into the brave man s heart, and blurred in his glistening eyes. And the surgeon came again and he was taken from death to life. Take time to think? Surely; take leis ure for the Holy .Spirit. Think o f what the great commission means; think o f what
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