iQ THE READER—Stick a one-cent stamp here,, hand the magazine to m postman, and .it will be sent to the American soldiers. No address.
VOL. IX
FEBRUARY, 1918
No. 2
The King’s Business
‘Unto him that loved us, and wasted us from our sins in his own blood/’^R ev, 1:5
Published once a month by the BIBLE INSTITUTE OF LOS ANGELES LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, U. S. A.
ONE D O L L A R A YEAR
BIBLE INSTITUTE OF LOSANGELES (INCORPORATED)' '
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, U. S. A.
FreeTraining School for Christian Workers
DIRECTORS
Lyman Stew art, president. J. M. Irvine, secretary. T. C. Horton, superintendent,
R. A; Torrey, yice-president. Leon V. Shaw, treasurer.
William Evans.
H. A . Getz
Nathan Newby -.
J. O. Smith
DOCTRINAL STATEMENT We hoi*! -to' the H istoric F aith ,o f the C hurch as expressed in the Common C reed of Evangelical Christendom and including: The M aintenance of Good W orks. The Second Coming of Christ, The immortality of the Spirit. |gg The R esurrection of thé Body; T h e /T rinity of the Godhead. *.• ;' T he Deity of the Christ. T he Personality of the Holy; Ghost. The Supernatural and Plenary au thority of the Holy Scriptures, 'T he Unity in Diversity of th e C hurch, the Body and Bride of Christ. T he Life Everlasting of Believers. . T h é -Endless Punishment of the Im penitent. The Reality and Pers.onality o f Satan. T he »Substitutionary A tonement. T he Necessity of the New Birth;
THE WORK (7 ) Bible Women. House-to-house visitation and neighborhood, classes. (8 ) Oil Fields. A mission to men on the oil fields. | (9 ) Books and T racts. Sale and dis- tribution of selected books and tracts. (1 0) H arbor W o rk . For seamen a t Los Angeles harbor. V ( II ) . T he Biola Club. , Daily noon • meetings for men •in th e down-town district, w ith free reading-room privi- 'legeSi . (1 2 ) P rin t Shop. For printing T esta ments, books! tracts, etc. \ A complete establishment, profits going to free dis tribution of religious literature.
SCOPE OF 1 T he Institute trains, free /T /ijPOdC . 0f cost, accredited men and women, in the know ledge a n d use of the Bible. n ' ( l ) . T h e Institute Depa rtmenis > ., ciasses held daily except on Saturdays and Sundays. (2 ) Extension Classes and conferences held in neighboring cities and towns. (3 ) Evangelistic. Meetings conducted by o u r evangelists. (4 ) Spanish Mission* Meetings every night.' (5 ) Shop W ork. R egular services in shops and factories. (6 ) ' Jew ish ' Evangelism, Personal w ork among the Hebrews.
Tlh® ü^nim
MOTTO: “T the Lord do keep it, I will water it every moment lest-any hurt it, I will keep it night and day/*—Isa. 27:3
Published by BIBLE INSTITUTE OF LOS ANGELES, Incorporated Entered as Second-Class M atter November 17, 1910, at the postoffice at Los A ngeles, Cal., under the A ct of March 3, 1879. Copyright by R. A . Torrey, D . D., and Bible Institute of Los A ngeles, for the year 1918 VOL. IX FEBRUARY, 1918 No. 2 CONTENTS Editorial: Enlarged Plans of the Institute—February Minis terial Institute and Bible Conference—Jerusalem— Why Fear Death—The Worst That Can Come—Bless ings from the War—A Mother’s Talk to Mothers— Evolution Discredited Again—German Philosophers and Scientists Discredited by the War............................. 9 1 Is There a Literal Hell ? By Dr. R. A. Torrey........................ 101 Our New Evangelist—Rev. W. P. Nicholson........................... 108 Puzzling Passages and Problems. By Dr. R. A. Torrey........ I l l Influences of the Holy Spirit. By Dr. Henry Parry Liddon__ 113 Evangelistic Department. By Bible Institute Workers........... 120 Homiletical Helps. By William Evans...................................... 12 7 Through the Bible with Dr. Evans............................................. 129 Pernicious Activities. By Dr. Mark A. Matthews................. 133 The Lonely Cross in Kroo Land. By Walter Williams........... 135 International Sunday School Lessons. By Institute Specialists 138 Daily Devotional Studies in the New Testament for Indi vidual Meditation and Family Worship. By R. A. Torrey .................................................................................. 170
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R. A. TORREY, D. D., Editor T. C. HORTON, J. H. HUNTER, WILLIAM EVANS, D. D., A ssociate Editors A. M. ROW, Managing Editor Voi. 9 FEBRUARY, 1918
No. 2
E D I T O R I A L
■pPJLARGED PLANS OF THE INSTITUTE. ■*"* The number of students in the Institute is growing" so rapidly that it is necessary to increase the teaching force, and the Dean has plans in view to that end, but not sufficiently definite to announce them yet. Dr. William Evans will retire from the Associate Deanship, October 1, 1918. He will be at the Insti tute continuously, however, to July 1, 1918, with exception of one month —-, probably April—but beginning October 1, he will give his time largely to Bible Conference work throughout the country. He has very unusual gifts for this work. We know of no one in the country better adapted for this work than he. We expect, “however, that he will give two months at the Institute the next school year, probably January and February, 1919. We have not yet definitely,and finally decided who will be added to the teaching force to take Dr. Evans’ work, and other work that needs to be done. As an illustration of the growth of the Institute, a special Pullman car filled with students for the Bible Institute of Los Angeles will leave Chicago (While this February issue of T h e K i n g ’ s B u s i n e s s is on the press) December 28, to arrive here before the beginning of the Winter term January 2, 1918. Another special car (and possibly two) for Bible Institute students - will leave Vancouver about the same date, coming through to Los Angèles. .It is surprising how many students are coming from east of the Mississippi and from the north. When the Bible Institute began it was expected it would min ister for the most part to the nçeds of those west of the Rockies, and also to students coming from Japan, Korea and China, but at the present time the students are coming from all parts of the United States, as well as European countries and from Australia and New Zealand. Doubtless many come, drawn by the attractions of the climate, but far more attracted by the thoroughness of the course of study and the reputation of the teachers. FEBRU A RY MINISTERIAL INSTITUTE AND BIBLE CONFERENCE. It has been decided to put on this year at the Bible Institute a Mid winter Ministerial Institute and Bible Conference. This will be held through out the month of February, beginning Monday, February 4. Prof. M. G. Kyle, D. D., will lecture from February 4 to February 25. He will speak on. such subjects as, “The Value of the Spade as a Weapon in Defense of Scripture,” “The Tangled Web of Israel’s International Affairs,” “The Out-of-Doors in
92 THE KING’S BUSINESS the Life of Christ." Dr. Thomas F. Cummings, the leading teacher of the world in Phonetics, will be present through the entire month, with a special view of helping those who are preparing for foreign mission work. As is gen erally known, the leading Missionary Boards in the East now send all their accepted candidates for foreign mission work to Dr. Cummings for a course before leaving for their field. Evangelist W. P. Nicholson will hold evangelis tic meetings at night, from February 10 through the mqnth. The regular teachers, Dr, Torrey, Dr., Evans, Mr. Hunter, Mr. W. H. Pike, Mr. Baldwin, and the teachers in the musical department will carry on their regular work. This is a very unusual opportunity for ministers, missionaries or lay-workers who wish a larger equipment for their work along the lines of Bible study and teaching. . One of the most suggestive and significant and heartening results of the war up to date is the taking of Jerusalem by the English forces. Whether or not they will be able to hold it, of course, remains to be seen. _If they do, according to England’s explicitly expressed purpose, Jerusalem will be turned over to some form of Jewish government. Whether this will be possible or not: at the present time depends upon the further developments of the war. But whether this is accomplished at the present time or not, it will be accom plished sooner or later. The Word of God makes it perfectly clear that Jerusa lem again is to be the center of a Jewish government. A few years ago there seemed to be no probability of such a thing, but,history is making most rapidly in these days. But there is-to be, according to the prophecy in the Word of God, not merely the establishment of a Jewish government there again, but an awful siege of Jerusalem, and an awful time of trouble for Jacob, in compari son with which that which they have passed through in the centuries, is as nothing, but the outcome of that will be the return of our Lord to deliver His people when the darkness of their sorrow and anguish becomes the deepest. There are thousands of young men in the various cantonments through out the United States who, while they may not confess it (though they often do confess it), are filled with apprehension of the loss of their lives when they go to France. But why should they fear that? If they are not Christians, of course, there are reasons to fear, but if they really have accepted Christy and are confessing Him as their Saviour, and living to please Him in all things, there is nothing whatever to dread, but everything to welcome, in the death that they may meet on the field of battle; for to die for the believer is a privilege. The moment he closes his eyes upon this world he opens them upon a far brighter and better world. “To depart, and be with Christ; . ^ . is very far better” (Phil. 1:23). If a Christian man is called upon to lay down his present body shot through and through with bullets, or blown to pieces by bombs, he knows that he has a far better body, “a building of God, a house not J ERUSALEM. W HY FEAR DEATH.
THE KING’S BUSINESS 93 made with hands, eternal in the heavens,” and while he is waiting for that resurrection body, though he is absent from the body he is “at home with the Lord” (2 Cor. 5:1-8).
r p H E WORST THAT CAN COME.
A few months ago it was hoped that America would not be in the war for any great length of time. Indeed it was hoped that the war would close so soon that the great majority of those who had already been drafted would never reach France. Apparently very few of those who> know conditions best entertain any such hope today. The probability is that the war will go on for a long time, that not only will all those who have already been drafted be forced to go into battle, but that there will be other drafts. There seems to be every probability that practically all of us will suffer, hundreds of thousands,by the loss of life or limb, still more by the loss of loved ones, and that every one of us will suffer financial loss of a serious character, and hardships that it is impossible as yet to estimate. In view of this apparently dark future, many hearts, perhaps one might say most hearts, throughout our country are filled with gloom and apprehension in these days. But this is entirely unnecessary. Even if the worst things that we can conjure up come to pass, the believer in Christ has absolutely nothing to fear. We have God’s own sure word for it: “We know that all things work together for góod to them that love God” (Rom. 8:28). Whatever may come to pass in our individual lives, or in our families, it will be one of the “all things,” and God will make it to work together with other things for our highest good. Good, and good only, can come to the believer, even out of this awful war with all that it involves. We can face thè future absolutely without fear and with a smile. It is our duty to do this. There is no more specific command in the Bible than that we should “rejoice in tlie Lord alivays” (Phil. 4:4). Indeed the darker the night grows the more jubi lant our, hearts should be, for the darkening night is but the harbinger of the soon coming of the brightest day the world ever saw. Our Lord Jesus bids us that when “men’s hearts (are) failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth,” we should “look up, and lift up your (our) heads; for your (our) redemption draweth nigh” (Luke 21:26-28). One stands appalled as he thinks of all the miseries and evils that have arisen from the present war, and yet even this awful and wicked war has its compensations. Beyond a question it has made many men and women, who were formerly utterly frivolous, serious and thoughtful. To any intelligent person things that formerly were considered tolerable* are utterly intolerable in view of the solemn questions that confront us today in connection with this war, and not a few have felt it. Many have been led to see and feel how unsatisfying and transitory are all the things that the present life offers. The possibility of death has become a vivid reality to many who hitherto have put the thought away and lived as1if the present life must go on forever. There are many also who have become interested in the Bible and in the things of God, who a short time ago had no thought either of the Bible or eternal things. "D LESSINGS FROM THE WAR.
THE KING’S BUSINESS In consequence of this, many have been led to see and feel their need of a Saviour, and have been, led to accept the Lord Jesus Christ. Then the better side of the character of many young men has been brought out. Not a few who have been leading an utterly selfish life have had their thoughts turned toward others, toward the Belgians for example, and their misfortunes, and also toward the need of their country at the present time. While many of those who have entered the army have entered simply because they were drafted, thousands have gone in because they have been awakened to a sense of their duty to their country and to the oppressed and wronged in other lands. And men who have been living lives of self-indulgence hitherto have taken upon themselves hardships of all kinds and done it cheerfully, in order that they might do their duty toward their country and toward the world in .this trying hour. In addition to all this many have very cheerfully given up the lavish expenditure and waste that has characterized their lives in the past, and entered upon a life of comparative simplicity and economy. Doubtless if the war ends soon this new and wiser and better mode of living will be followed by many even after plenty and prosperity return. The sacrifices that people in America have been called upon thus far to make in “meatless days” and “wheatless days” and “ice-creamless days” are no real hardship. A very large share of our population will be better off physically for having one meatless day a week. An overwhelming proportion of the people in this country eat altogether too much meat any way, and certainly two or three meatless days a week would do them no harm, but oftentimes much good. Not a few of our people, even peo ple in very moderate circumstances, have been lavish in their expenditure of money on food, clothes, and luxuries, and anything that causes us to_exhibit a stricter economy along pretty much all lines will be a benefit to the individual and the family and the nation. A MOTHER’S TALK TO MOTHERS. The talk on prayer of which we give an outline below, was given at a mothers’ meeting by a mother of three children (the^ oldest eight and the youngest two), who does her own housework and does it well. The notes_ fell into our hands and we thought them worth giving a wider circulation, especially in view of the circumstances under which given: _ , “ P r a y e r . —Prayer should play an'important part in each of our lives, and yet what an unimportant factor it often is. There are among us too many Marthas,’careful and troubled about many things, life has become so complex, and too few Marys who have ‘chosen the better part.’ Oftentimes prayer is cut down to just a few hurried petitions the last thing at night,, which are uttered through force of habit', rather than a yearning to talk with our Father. “Plow unnatural and hard a person would be considered who bore the strained and hurried relation with their earthly father that many do with the Heavenly Father. If we were living in the same house with our father and spoke to"him only once or twice a day and then only a few hurried sentences, something surely would be vitally wrong. “Should we not commune with our Heavenly Father with even a greater degree of love, trust, freedom and understanding than with an earthly parent?
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THE KING’S BUSINESS 95 I think it was Mr. Trotter who said he was skeptical of a man’s earnest ness who knelt on one knee and prayed, it looked as if he were in too great a hurry to be up and off. I heard Dr. Broughton say once that many a young man started to backslide when he went to college and began saying his prayers «1 bed for fear of ridicule. We can pray to God at any time, anywhere, about anything which con cerns us, and it is a beautiful realization to know that He is constantly beside us, anxious to be an intimate friend, but He Himself tells us to have a quiet, secret place of prayer, and a quiet time for prayer when we will >be conscious'; of the fact that we are absolutely alone with God, with the world and all its cares and duties shut out for the time. “Personally I get more help and strength out of keeping ‘the morning w;atcrr than I do in any other way, giving the first fifteen minutes of the day to God. To go alone with God the first thing upon arising in the morning— before you have come in contact with others, and the many duties and distrac tions of the day—it gives a calm strength to meet the petty worries that noth- mg else will. Even though it mean rising fifteen minutes earlier than usual on a cold morning, it is worth it. “We put emphasis on the wrong thing, let duties crowd prayer out. The more we pray the more real He becomes. t fiuietly alone with God, seeking for guidance, wisdom, and patience tor the day, before others are stirring and your mind is full of plans for a busy day, brings a sense of quiet strength and restfulness. “We do not pray enough about the things which concern us, about our- selves—that we as Christians may be shown our shbrtcomings which are hin dering our usefulness, or causing others to stumble, that we may be given strength to_overcome them and that we may grow in grace. About our homes that Christ may be the head of the house and have control of the home life. “We do not pray enough about our children, for wisdom in training them, and that they may be given strength to overcome the many temptations that surround-young people today. “We do not pray enough for our church and pastor—that our church organizations may be strengthened and used to further God’s kingdom at home and abroad, and for our pastor that! he may be given physical strength and Divine wisdom for God’s work. Let us resolve to spend more time in quiet, earnest, sincere prayer to our rather who seeth in secret so that we may be openly rewarded by haviner our petitions answered.”
INVOLUT ION DISCREDITED AGAIN.
There can be no question that the present war and some of the most horrible features of German “frightfulness” are the direct outcome of the evolutionary hypothesis, which has had so great a sway in German universities and German scientific thought. The leaders among the German scientists and philosophers who have been advocating war, and a merciless war, and a war absolutely without moral restraint, have drawn their chief arguments for such
96 THE KING’S BUSINESS a war from the evolutionary, philosophy. For example,, Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche, to whose philosophy more than that of any one else the German state of mind that led to this war is due, says in his hook “The Joyous Wis- : dom,” Section 377, “We children df the future . . . do not by any means think it desirable that the kingdom of righteousness and peace should be estab lished on the earth. . H We rejoice in all men who, like ourselves, love danger, war, and adventure. . . . We count ourselves among the con querors; we ponder over the need of a new order of things, even of a new ^slavery—for every strengthening and elevation of the type man also involves a new-form of slavery.” Of course, the whole meaning of this is that .the sur vival of the fittest, Darwinian evolution in its extremest form, is a benehcial thing and demands war as a beneficent institution. Klaus Wagner m his book • called'“War,” page 183, says, “Unless we choose to shut our eyes to the neces sity of evolution we must recognize the necessity of war. We must accept war, which will last as long as development and existence; we must accept eternal war.” Prof. Ernst liasse says, ‘“ War is the father of everything, sáysUerac- litus. It will be the father of the new German race of the future. (.Die Zukunft des deutschen Volkstums, page 126). This was written ás long ago as 1908. The evolutionary origin of-this opinion is evident to any one iamiliar with evolutionary teaching. General von Bernhardi, to whose teaching muc ^ of the war spirit in Germany was due, says in his book Germany and the Next W a r” page 34, “The efforts directed toward the abolition of war must not only 'be termed foolish, but absolutely immoral, and must_ be stigmatized as unworthy of the human race. . . . The weak nation is to have the same right as the powerful and,vigorous nation! The, whole idea represents a pre sumptuous encroachment on the natural lazvs of development.” This may sound like Darwinian evolution gone mad, but it is really the evolutionary hypothesis carried to its logical issue. General von Bernhardi says again m the same book, on page 18, “War is a biological necessity of the first importance, a regulative element in the life of mankind which cannot be dispensed with. . . . v\ ar is the father of all things.’ The sages of antiquity, long before Darwin, recog nized this . ‘To supplant or to be supplanted is the essence of lite, . says Goethe, ‘and the strong life gains the upper hand.’ ” Heinrich Treitschke whbse teaching shares with that of Bernhardi and Nietzsche the dishonor of being chiefly responsible for the present ruthless war spirit in Germany, says in his book, “Politics,” Volume 1, page 121, “The Germans let the primitive Prussian tribes decide whether they should be put to the sword or thoroughly Germanized. Cruel as these processes of transformation may be, they are a blessing for humanity. It makes for health that the nobler race should absorb the inferior stock.” Of course, such a philosophy is clearly evolutionary, Prof. Vernon Kellogg of Leland Stanford University, in an interesting article in the Atlantic Monthly, shows very clearly how German ruthlessness grows logically and necessarily out of the Neo-Darwinian theory. Prof. Kellogg was a repre sentative for northern France of the American Relief Commission, and lived with the German Headquarters’ Staff, and in this position had very unusual opportunity for learning thé German view point. Furthermore, he had many long talks with a German professor who was an old 'fellow-worker of his own at the biological laboratories at the University of Leipsic, and whom he describes as “one of the most brilliant of present-day biologists. As an outcome of the conversations that they had and. the things that he observed in his position,
THE KING’S BUSINESS 97 Prof. Kellogg says “with conviction” that the whole heart of the German attitude toward the war is based upon “a. point of view that justifies itself by a whole-hearted acceptance of the worst of neo-Darwinism, the Allmacht (all- sufficiency) of natural selection applied rigorously to life and society and: Kultur.” In explaining how German ruthlessness came logically and necessarily out of this view point, Prof. Kellogg goes on to say concerning the German professbr with whom he had these talks, that he “Is neo-Darwinian, as are most German biologists and natural philosophers. The creed of the -Allmacht of a natural selection based on violent and fatal competitive struggle is the' gospel of the German intellectuals; all else is illusion and anathema.” He says further, “Natural selection depends for its workings on a rigorous and ruth less struggle for existence.” And further still, “This struggle not only must go on for that is the natural law, but it should go on, so that this natural law may work out in its cruel, inevitable way the salvation of the human species. By its salvation is meant its desirable 'natural evolution. That human group, which is the most ^advanced evolutionary stage as regards internal organization and form of social relationship is best, and'should, for the sake of the species, be preserved for the sake of the less advanced, the less effective. It should -win the struggle for existence, and this struggle should occur precisely that the various types may be tested, and the best not only preserved, but put in a posi tion to impose its kind of social organization—its Kultur— on the others, or alternatively to destroy and replace them.” The natural outcome of this philosophy is, as Prof. Kellogg shows, that both the intellectuals and the mil itarists of Germany believe that “for the good of the world, the_ Germans should win the war, and ,win it completely and terribly” all of which makes it as clear as day that all the worst features of the present war, the most appall ing things, the most revolting things, are the direct outcome of the ¿volutionary •philosophy. When Charles Darwin and Herbert Spencer sowed the seeds of '“Natural Selection” and “The Survival of the Fittest,” in scientific and phil osophic thought, they were preparing the soil for their countrymen and all mankind to reap an awful harvest of woe and calamity. And yet even today the head of a Christian university sneers at those theologians who will not do all their thinking in forms of evolution. For a generation now England and Scotland have very largely received their science and philosophy from Germany, and America has received its science and philosophy either directly from Germany or indirectly from Ger many through England and Scotland. We have been sending our brightest university graduates to Germany to study. What Germany had to say in Science, Philosophy or Biblical Criticism was considered the final word, and “the concensus of German scholarship” with many settled every question at issue. But the present war, and the utterances of the leading university pro fessors of Germany regarding the war, have thoroughly discredited German methods of thought and German logic. Sooner or later this discrediting will be applied to the conclusions that have been so universally accepted throughout our country, and to a certain extent with unthinking people are still accepted, and G e r m a n p h il o s o p h e r s a n d s c ie n t is t s d is c r e d it e d BY THE WAR.
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THE KING’S BUSINESS then German scientific and philosophical and critical thought will be thrown to the winds. Perhaps no modern German philosopher has had the vogue in America that Wundt has had, but how just and fair and reliable a thinker he is may be judged by a recent utterance (1915) in his book, Die Nationen und ihre Philosophie, page 131: “The Englishman treats the foreigner, when he does not need him, as thin air, when he does need him, as a piece of goods; consequently^ when he sits in the Cabinet, he considers that, towards a foreign State, a lie is not a lie, deceit is not deceit, and a surprise attack in time of peace is a perfectly legitimate measure, so long as it serves England’s interests.” He says again in the same book, on page 32, that Puritanism leads to “that shrinking from the frank expression of emotions which, (for example) explains the fact that cultiyated England reads its great poet Shakespeare for the most part in editions in which everything is deleted that could give offense to a sensitive old maid.” Prof. Rudolf Eucken, who has probably had a greater following in America the last few years than any other German philosopher, said in October 1914, in the Internationale Monatschrift fur Wissenschaft, Kunst und Technik, page 74, “Our German Kultur has, in its unique depth, something shrinking and severe, it does not obtrude itself, or readily yield itself up, it must be earnestly sought after and lovingly assimilated very often. This love was lacking in our neighbors; wherefore they easily came to look upon us with the eyes of hatred.” Any one can judge for himself of the justice of the judgment of this eminent philosopher. His modestly and reli ability appear in the following statement in his book published in 1914. The World-historic Significance of the German Spirit, page 23: “We have a right to say that we (i.e. we Germans) form the soul of humanity, and that the destruc tion of the German sort would fob world-history of its deepest meaning.” No other name in the world of science, especially in the world of evolutionary. scientific thought, is so well known in this country as that of Ernst Haeckel, professor of Zoology at Jena. How much importance Americans or English or Scotch will hereafter attach to his opinions is evident from such utterances as t h i s “One singly highly cultured German warrior, of those who are, alas! falling in thousands, represents a higher intellectual and moral life-value than hundreds of the raw children of nature whom England and France, Russia and Italy, oppose to them.” This utterance is found in his book published in 1915, entitled, Eternity: Thoughts on the World War. He says again in the same book, page 122: “We must establish ourselves firmly at Antwerp on the North Sea and at Riga on the, Baltic . . . At all events we must, at the con clusion of peace, demand substantial expansion of the German Empire. In this our motive will not be the greed and covetousness of world-ruling England, nor the national vanity of gloire-seeking France, nor the childish megalomania of Rome-mad Italy, nor the insatiable craving for expansion of semi-barb,arous Russia.” He says again, on page 113 of the same book, “It is certain that the present generation of continental Europe, which has been for fifteen months a daily witness of Great Britain’s barbarous and infamous conduct of the war— the unexampled massacres, the shameless political, falsity and hypocrisy, the cowardly ill-treatment of prisoners and wounded /—cannot possibly make any move toward reconciliation.” How far from scientific accuracy this description of Great Britain’s conduct is We all know, and any man who so writes utterly puts himsely out of court hereafter for reliability and accuracy of statement. He says again on the same page: “That the blood-guiltiness of this ‘greatest
THE KING’S BUSINESS 99 crime in world-history’ lies at the door of England alone and that she has for more than forty years been plotting the annihilation of her dangerous German competitor, has been established by numerous facts.” On page 61 of the same book he says: “The President of the United States, Professor Wilson . . . allows American munition works to supply bur enemies with unlimited quan tities of war material, favors the infamous design of England to starve out Germany, and rises in his ‘peace’ speeches to a height of political and religious hypocrasy in no way inferior to that attained by the English ‘million-murderer’ Grey.” In the field of Biblical Criticism the name of Adolf Harnack stood as high as any. He has been regarded as the one preeminent ecclesiastical his torian. He is a Doctor of Theology, Doctor of Philosophy, Doctor of Medicine, and Doctor of Law, a professor at the University of Berlin. With many, what Harnack said was an end of all controversy. But Harnack’s' dependability as a thinker and logician will no longer be trusted by those who are familiar with what he has said in recent days. In October 1914 in the International Monat- schrift, etc., page 26, he says: “If we are beaten-jfiwhich God and our strong arm forbid—all the highest Kultur of our hemisphere, which it was our mis sion to guard, sinks with us into the grave.” In 1914 again, in “What We Have Already Won, and What We Have Yet to Win,” he says: “The International Lie-Press has given us a fourth Great Power against Germany* and deluges the world with lies against our magnificent and strongly moral army, and slanders everything that is German. I propose that in the treaty of peace we should claim a special Milliard 1 as indemnity for lies.” In other words, he demands an overwhelming money indemnity as compensation for the lies that he alleges the enemies in Germany have been telling. How fair and reliable and dependable he is as an historian is evident from this., In the same issue of the Internationale Monatschrift, etc. to which we have already referred, Octo ber 1, 1914, on page 25, he says: “England thinks the hour has come fqr our annihilation. Why should she want to annihilate us ? Because she cannot for give our strength, our industry, our prosperity! There is no other explana tion!” He even goes so far (in this same periodical, same issue, page 23) as to defend Germany’s conduct in Belgium. He says, “Our Chancellor has, with the scrupulous conscience peculiar to him, admitted that we were guilty of a certain wrong (Harnack refers to the wrong done Belgium).: Here I cannot follow him. . . . ' When David, in the pinch of necessity, took the shew bread from the table of the Lord, he was absolutely in the right; for at that Moment the letter of the law no longer existed.” In other words, Harnack defends Germany’s infamous violation of her word toward Belgium by saying that it was necessary, and therefore it was right. Probably not many. Ameri can, English, or Scotch students, from now on, will desire to sit at the feet of Harnack. In the theological world, few names, if any, of German professors, have stood higher than that of Prof. Gustav Adolf Deissmann, Professor of New Testament Exegesis at Berlin. The Universities of Aberdeen, St. Andrews, and. Manchester, have conferred honorary degrees upon him. In the series of pamphlets issued by the professors of Berlin University, “German Speeches in Difficult Days,” issued in 1914-1915, in Pamphlet .No. 9, page 16, Deissmann writes: “The German God is not only the theme of some bf our poets and prophets, but also a historian like Max Lenz has, with fiery tongue and in deep thankfulness borne witness to the revelation of the German God in our holy war, the German, the national God! . . . Has war in this case
100 THE KING’S BUSINESS impaired, or has it steeled religion? I say it has steeled it, . . . This is not relapse to a lower level, but a biounting up to God Himself.” Who will desire to study New Testament theology under a man who is Capable of such an infamous and Satanic utterance as this. He says again on page 24: “There is a gospel saying which bursts the bonds of its original historical meaning and takes new wings in the storm of the world-war, a saying which we may weir take as the consecration of our German mission : ‘Ye are the salt of the earth! ye are the light of the world!’ ” Such a perversion of the words of our Lord needs no comment, but it is amazing as coming from a professor of New Testament Exegesis. He says again on page 24: “In the age .of the most remendous mobilization of physical and spiritual forces the world has ever seen, we proclaim—no we do not proclaim it but it reveals itself— the religion of strength.” Prof. Friedrich Delitzsch of Berlin University, the noted Assyrologist has had quite a vogue in this country in destructive critical circles since the publica tion some years ago of his book “Babel und Bibel.” He must not be confused with his father, the great commentator, Franz Delitzsch, who was the beloved instructor of the writer pf .this article, Friedrich Delitzsch says in the same Series of pamphlets to which reference has already .been made, No. 13, page 21: “Do you not see, Albion, that the German Michel, on whom you look down with such contempt, is now transformed into the archangel Michal, and encountering you with his flaming sword, triumphs over the race of the fallen angels and of the offspring of hell?” He says again in the same pamphlet, page 20: “Another vice has been developed to its highest pitch in this war: to wit, lying. England in particular has established a record in this department, even as against the Father of Lies, the Devil.”;, . , ; ■ ; / ; f These are simply specimen utterances of the leading thinkers, philoso phers, scientists, theologians, literary critics of Germany, and they illustrate how absolutely incapable of fair and judicious reasoning these german profes sors are. It is the same method of reasoning that they have exhibited in their many- productions along the iines of destructive criticism of the Bible which they have issued during many years. It makes for the progress of true thought that they and their theories are necessarily discredited by these recent utter ances.
Is There a Literal Hell ?
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Y subject tonight is, “Is There a Literal Hell?” I wish that the things that I am going to preach to you tonight were not true. God wishes so, Loo. “ The Lord,
believe that men and women who sin in the present life and who die impenitent and unsaved will be punished to some extent at.least in the life that is to come. They believe that whoever sins must suffer, and that the suffering which sin1 causes will not be limited to this present life. But, while almost all intelligent people who believe in a future life at all believe that there is some kind of future punishment, there are many that do not believe in a literal hell, that is, in a place of awful and unutterable torment. Is there a hell? Isi there a place to which impenitent men and women will go sometime after death and suffer agonies far beyond those that any one suffers here on earth? Some say, “yes,” there is a hell. Many, even including not a few supposedly orthodox preachers, say, no, the only hell is the inward hell in a man’s heart.” How are we to settle this question? How are we to determine who is right?- We cannot settle it as some are trying to settle it by “Counting noses.” Majorities are not always right. Especially is it true that majorities are not always right in science and in philosophy and in theology. What the majority of scientists firmly believed a century ago the majority, of scientists laugh at today. What the" majority of philosophers once believed, the majority of philosophers today regard as
is. longsuffering to usward, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." (2 Peter 3 :9.) But God has made us in His own image, with a moral nature, with a capacity for self-determina tion, with a power of choice, and men can if they will choose darkness instead of light. They can choose to trample God’s i saving love under foot. They can choose to reject the One who was wounded for their transgressions and'bruised for their iniquities, and upon whom :the chastise ment of their peace Was laid, and some will so choose.. I am sorry that they will. I would be willing to die to save them. The Lord Jesus did die to save them. But they spurn Hipi. So these things that I am to. speak tonight are/true and I am going to preach them in order that you may know them, and in order that you may be sure of them. I am going to preach about hell to keep as many of'you as. possible from going there. My subject tonight is, “Is There a Literal Hell.” Almost all intelligent people who believe that there is a future life at all,
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speculation. Thé whole question is what does the Bible say about Hell? But while, we are dependent entirely upon the Bible, the Bible clearly reveals all that we need to know. The Bible tells us a great deal about heaven, and it tells us still more about hell, and it is an interesting fact that the Lord Jesus Himself, whqse author ity many are ready to accept who do not accept the authority of the rest of the Bible, is the one who tells us the most about hell, and the most clearly about hell. Indeed, all that I am going to show you tonight is what the Lord Jesus Himself says on this subject. I. Hell and Hades A re Not the Same. , First of all, in order to .clear the’ way for the study of what Jesus says on this subject, let me call your attention to the fact that Hell and Hades are not the same. There are numerous places in the Author ized Version where we find the word “Hell” but where that word does not occur in the Revised Version, and where the word “Hades” is substituted for the word “Hell.” The Revised Version is right at that point, as every Greek scholar knows. Hades is not Hell. “Hades is the Greek equivalent of the Old Testament Hebrew word “Sheol.” This Hebrew word “Sheol” is frequently translated in the Authorized Version of the Old Testament by the En glish word “Grave.” It ought never to be so translated, as it never means “Grave.” I have taken the pains to look up every y passage where this Hebrew word is used and in not a single instance does it mean “Grave.” There is an entirely different Hebrew word which can properly be trans lated in that way. “Sheol,” or New Testa ment “Hades,” means the place of departed spirits. Sheol (or Hades) before the coming, life, death, resurrection, and ascension of our Lord, was the place where all the spirits of the dead, good and bad, went. Before the ascension of Christ, in Hades was Paradise, the place of the blessed dead, and Tartaros, the place of the wicked dead. At His ascension Christ emptied the Paradise of Hades, and took
ridiculous. So majorities cannot always be right. And, therefore, we cannot' settle •this question by asking what the majority believe. We cannot settle the question by reason ing as to what such a being as God must do, for how can finite and foolish man judge what an infinitely holy and infinitely wise God would do? Man never appears more foolish than when he tries to reason out what an infinite God must do. All these arguments about hell by reasoning what God must, or must not, do are stupid. A child of seven cannot reason infallibly as to what a wise and good man of fifty will do, much less can puny creatures of the dust (such as you and I are, such as the most learned philosophers and theologians are) reason infallibly as to what .an infinitely wise and infinitely holy God must do. It is, however, far easier to believe in a literal hell, and an everlasting hell, from the standpoint of pure reasoning today than it was three years and a half ago. Never theless, we cannot settle the question as to whether there is a literal hell by reasoning even today as to what such a being as God must do. There is only one way to settle this question right; that is by going to the Bible, and finding out what it says, and taking our stand firmly and unhesitatingly upon that. We have seen the last three Sunday nights that the Bible is beyond an honest question God’s word, so whatever the Bible says on this subject or any other subject, is true and is sure. Especially is it true that we must go to the Bible and find what it says in the matter of future punishment and future blessedness. ALL WE KNOW ABOUT THE FUTURE IS WHAT THE BIBLE TELLS US. All reasoning about the future out side of what the Bible tells us is pure guessing, it is a waste of time. We know nothing about heaven but what the . Bible tells us, and we know nothing about hell but what the Bible tells us. On a subject like this one ounce of God’s revela tion is worth a thousand tons of man’s
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it up to Heaven with Him, as we read in Eph. 4:8, “When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.” Before Christ ascended Para dise was down, now it is up. Christ said to the repentant thief on the cross, “Verily I say unto thee, today shalt thou be with me in Paradise," and Jesus Himself taught us He went down into Tthe heart of the earth" (Luke 12:40) and the dying thief went down with Him into this subterranean Paradise. I think Jesus Himself went also into that part of Hades where the lost spirits were (1 Peter 3:18-20), but that is another story that we will consider later. All that is important now is that the repent- ant, dying thief went down into Paradise, but after the ascension of the Lord, when Paul went to Paradise, he was “caught up even to the third heaven into Paradise" (2 Cor. 12:2-4). No blessed dead are now left in Hades, and ultimately “death” and “Hades,” i. e., all that are dead who have not yet been raised, or caught up into the Celestial Paradise, all who are still in Hades, shall be “cast into the lake of fire" (Rev. 20:14). This “lake of fire" into which death and Hades are to be cast, is the true and ultimate Hell. H. T here Is to Be a Literal Hell. Having cleared the way by removing the misapprehension so common in the minds of people today, that Hades and Hell are the same, now let us say next that there is to be a Hell. The Bible says so, Jesus says, “but I say unto you, that everyone who is angry with his brother, shall be in danger of the judgment; and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council; and whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of the hell of fire.” In the 29th verse of the same chapter the Lord Jesus says, “And if thy right eye offend thee pluck it out, and cast it from thee;-for it is profitable fo r thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.” And in the 30th verse He says, “And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee; for it is profitable for
thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell." We read again what our Lord , Jesus said in Mark 9:45-48 , “and if thy foot cause thee to stumble, cut it off; it is good for thee to enter into life halt, rather than having thy two feet to be cast into hell. And if thine eye cause thee to stum ble, cast it out; it is good for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one/ eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into hell; where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched." Some one may say that these words of our Lord are figura tive. There is not the slightest suggestion that they are figurative. The whole context is against their being taken figuratively. It is indeed wrong to interpret figurative lan guage as if it were literal, but it is just as unwarranted and just as wrong to interpret literal language as if' it were figurative. Of course, the word “Gehenna,” which is translated “Hell” is derived from the valley of Hinnom, where in ancient times human sacrifices were offered, but the use of the word is literal throughout the New Testament, though its derivation is figurative. Many words that are figurative ' in their derivation are literal in their use, and the meaning of words is never deter mined by derivation, but by usage. For example, our word “eclipse” is a figure of speech. According to the figure it is a leaving or falling or fainting of the moon or sun, whichever it may ie that is eclipsed. But though it is figurative in its derivation, the ordinary usage of it is literal. The universal use in the New Testament of “Gehenna” or “Hell” is literal. .The word here translated “Hell” is found twelve times in the New Testament, .eleven of these twelve times it is used by our Lord Jesus Himself, and He uniformly uses it as in the passages which I have just read, of a literal hell. If there is no literal hell, then our Lord Jesus was either a fool or a fraud. He certainly meant to convey the impression that there was a literal hell. There can be no doubt of that, if we go to His words to find out what is the
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fool, \ha ll be in, danger of the hell of fire.” These are Christ’s own words., He not only speaks of hell, but a “hell of fire, , and this too is .from the Sermon on thè Mount. In Matt. 18: 9 the Lord Jesus says again ; “And if thine eye cause .thee toás stumble,. pluck it out, and cast if from thee; it is good for thee to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into the hell of fire.” And again in Mark 9 : 43-49, the passage, read a few moments ago, we read, “And if thy hand, cause thee to stumble, cut it off; it is good for thee to enter into life maimed, rather than having thy two hands to go into hell, into the UNQUENCHABLE FIRE. And i f thy foot cause thee to stumble, cut it off; i t is good for thee to enter’into life halt, rather than having thy two feet to be cast, into hell. And if thine eye cause thee< to stumble, cast it out; it is good for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one ■ eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into hell, where the worm dieth not, and THE FIRE IS NOT QUENCHED.” Here again some may say the fire is figurative1, Turn to Matt. 13 :30, 41, 42, we read these , words, “Let both grow together until the harvest; and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, gather up first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them; ^ but gather the wheat into my barn." Now here is a parable and we háve figures and there would be warrant, if this were all th a t. we had, for saying that the fire was figura tive, as other things in the verse aré figura tive; but in the 41st and 42nd verses of the same chapter we read, “The son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of His kingdom all things that cause stumbling, and they that do iniquity, and shall cast them into the furnace OF FIRE; there shall be the weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Here wè have the interpretation of the parable. Now in parables, as already said, we have figures, but in the interpretation of parables we have the literal facts which the figures represent, but we see clearly that here in the interpretation as well as in the parable,
natural meaning of them. If there is no literal hell then either Jesus thought there was one when there was not, in which case He.was a fool, or else He knew that there vías not, but tried to make men think that there was, in which case He was a fraud. There is no other alternative but either to believe that there is a literal hell or else to believe that Jesus of Nazareth, our Lord and Saviour, was a fool or a fraud. I know that Jesus was not a fool. I know that He was the only begotten Soil of God, that in Him dwelt all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; that He and the Father are- one, that all men should honor the Son even as they honor the Father. I know that He spoke the very words of God, therefore-1 know that .there is a literal hell, for He Said so. It is worthy of note, furthermore, that most of these words about hell that I have read you tonight are taken from the Sermon on the Mount, the one part of the Bible that pretty much all men claim to believe. There are many who say that they do not know about the Bible as a-whole,'but they do accept the Sermon on the Mount. Well,' these passages are for the most part from the Sermon on the Mount. Either accept this part of thef Sermon on the Mount or else throw the whole thing overboard as the utterance of a fool or a fraud. There is no other ground possible for any man who is willing to think things through. III. Is th e Fire of Hell L iteral F ire? The next question that confronts us is, is the fire of hell mentioned in some of the passages we have read, literal fire? This is not so vital a question as the question, is, there a literal hell, but nevertheless it is an important question, and I believe the question is plainly answered in the Bible, and plainly answered by Jesus Christ Him self. To turn again to the passage already referred to, Matt.-' 5:22, we read, “But I say unto y'ou, that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be in danger of the judgment; and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council; and whosoever shall say, Thou
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