S h e K i n g s B u s i n e s s The Bible Family M agazine F orever , 0 L ord , T hy W ord is S ettled
I n H eaven PSALM 119 :89
VOL. XV
NO. 5
0 MAY, 1924 6 ^ iioiounminmiiMiMWMininr
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LEADING ARTICLES IN THIS ISSUE
The Crime of our Godless Schools._Dr. Cortland Myers Is It Christ or the Critics?....Rev, W . H. Griffith Thomas The Necessity of Dogma...............Rev. Frederic W . Farr In Sight of the Cross............................... ...Rev, F. E. Marsh Six Weeks with Chinese Bandits....Mrs. Howard Taylor Is It Fundamental?..................................Rev. John G. Reid
LOOKING FO RW A RD TO JUNE
The Five Points and the General Assembly,........................... ................................ .................................Rev. A . Gordon MacLennan Inspiration, Prophecy and Higher Criticism............Dr. A . T . Pierson “Make Me a Sanctuary” .................................................... Rev. F. W . Farr Complete Redemption............................ ..................... Dr. David R. Breed The Christ: A Cure or Curse?........................... Evangelist T . T . Martin f
TheWrittenWordI IhrseparaMei^Tl^^ THY WORD IS TRUTH john - iz - it
I AM THE TRUTH jo h n - w - 6
A training school for C h ristian w o rk e rs .
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Bible Institute of Los Angeles An Interdenominational, Aggressive, Progressive, E v a n g e lis t ic and Evangelical Enterprise Founded on the Old Bible and the Whole Bible
STATEMENT OF DOCTRINE The Unity in Diversity of the Church, which is the Body and Bride of Christ. The Necessity of the New Birth. The Maintenance of Good Works. The Second Coming of Christ.
The Trinity of the Godhead. The Deity of Christ. The Personality of the Holy Ghost. The Substitutionary Atonement. The Supernatural and Plenary Author ity of the Holy Scriptures.
The Immortality of the Redeemed. The Resurrection of the Body. The Life Everlasting of Believers. The Endless Punishment of the Impeni tent. The Reality and Personality of Satan.
NO ONE CAN EVER PREACH OR TEACH IN THIS INSTITUTE WHO DOES NOT SUBSCRIBE TO THIS STATEMENT OF DOCTRINE
We Carry On Active Evangelistic Work In the Following Departments:
BIOLA CLUB, (Pasadena) A center for Bible Class and Evan gelistic Work for Men and Women. OUR FOREIGN WORK A Bible Training School in Chang sha (Hunan Province) China, and Twelve Colportage Boats (13 men on each boat) studying the Bible and doing personal evangelistic work among the native Chinese.
SHOP WORK Holding Gospel meetings in shops, factories and car-barns. SPANISH WORK Evangelistic work among the Span ish-speaking people of Los Angeles and surrounding towns. BIOLA HALL, (Los Angeles) Our City Mission work. Open day and night for men.
TWENTY-FIVE BIBLE WOMEN Engaged in Bible Class Work for women in homes, Women’s Clubs, and High School girls, as well as house-to-house visitation. SEAMEN’S WORK Reaching men from every nation on the globe. JEWISH WORK Giving the Gospel to the Jewish peo ple on the Pacific Coast.
Asisting in these■ § £ andthisMg trainedinpracticalChristianwork, areourie hundredstudents 13812322
T he K ing ’ s B usiness Motto: “ I, the Lord, do keep it; I will water it every moment: lest any hurt it, I will keep it night and day.*’ Isaiah 27 : 3 . PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY AND REPRESENTING THE BIBLE INSTITUTE OF LOS ANGELES
T. C. HORTON. Editor-in-Chief
R. H. RICHARDS, Business Manager
CONTRIBUTORS DR. J. FRANK NORRIS DR. L. W. MUNHALL
DR R. A. TORREY DR. A. C. DIXON
DR. LEANDER S. KEYSER DR. CORTLAND MYERS
DR. JOHN MacINNIS DR. F. W. FARR
WM. JENNINGS BRYAN DR. CHARLES R. ROADS
THIS MAGAZINE stands for the Infallible Word of God, and for its great, fundamental doctrines. ITS PURPOSE is to strengthen the faith of all believers, in all the world; to stir their hearts to engage in definite Christian work; to acquaint them with the varied work of the Bible Institute of Los Angeles; and to work in harmony and fellowship with them in magnifying the person and work of our Lord Jesus Christ, and thus hasten His coming. Volume X V May, 1924 Number 5
Table of Contents
Editorials
Theory Vs. Truth........................................... Is Anybody Answerable................................................ 267 The Creeping Critics............................................................... _.................. 268 • The Waste of Wealth............................................................................ 268 Sheldon’ s Edition of the Scripture............. ,..............................................268 Contributed Articles The Crime of Godless Schools— Dr. Cortland Myers................... ...... 270 Six Weeks with Chinese Brigands— Mrs, Howard Taylor.................... 272 In Sight o f the Cross— Rev. F. E. Marsh................................................273 The Necessity of Dogma— Dr. Frederick W. Farr................. ................274 Is If Christ or the Critics?— Rev. W. H. Griffith Thomas, D. D ............ 275 Is It Fundamental?— Rev John G. Reid.................. .............................. 277 A Gospel Which is not a Gospel— Rev. Arthur S. Paynter................. 278 The Essential Creed of a Christian— A Symposium................................279 Christian Fundamentals Association..................................... Darwinism Vindicated at Last— Rev. James P. Welliver............. .......317 Current Comment ...................................................................... Pointers for Preachers and Teachers.................................................................... 282 The Family Circle...... ................................................................... Bible Institute in Hunan Province, China........ .................................................286 Evangelistic Work and Experience....... ..............................................................288 International Sunday School Lesson Helps............ .................................... 293 The Whole Bible (Fundamental) S. S. Lessons................................................ 301 Bible Institute Happenings ..................................... .311 Best Books .}............................................................................ The Chosen People, the Land and the Book (Jewish News Notes)............. 31 5 267 Our Young P e o p le .................................................................. The Children’ s Garden.............................................................
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BIBLE INSTITUTE OF LOS ANGELES
Los Angeles, California
HE BIOLA PRESS had a humble birth in the printing of a little weekly outline of the Sunday School lesson, “ Brief Thoughts for Busy Teachers,’ ’ which later developed into “ The King’s Business,” a monthly, of limited size and circulation. Plans for the present buildings of the Bible Institute of Los Angeles suggested a larger work for the Press, and the need for a full-fledged, competent manager was supplied by the timely coming of Mr. Albert Havermale, who has never disappointed us. We covenanted with the Lord to use all profits from Biola Press in the free distribution of Bibles and Christian literature. This agreement has had His abundant blessing, though the profits have never been sufficient to supply the needs for our own extensive evangelistic work. The business of Biola Press so increased that larger quarters were demanded, and this building is the result, standing as a monument to the fact that it is possible to successfully conduct a Chris tian business. It is recognized as one of the most efficient (though not the largest) printing plants in the city. We take pleasure in bearing this testi mony, and give God all the glory.
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IS A N Y B O D Y AN SWERABLE ? That there is a tremendous break-down in the moral character of our young people is an evident and indis putable fact. That someone or something is respons ible, is self-evident. Is it the late war, the schools, the home, the church, the movies? What is it? What is it? From a very careful observation for the last fifteen years we are sure that all of these suggested things
TH EOR Y vs. TRUTH We congratulate Mr. Pace upon his cartoon which we present herewith. It is realistic. It carries an im portant message. God’s Word is a well of water,— living water. A still is, according to the Standard Dictionary, “ an apparatus in which a substance is changed by heat, either with or without chemical decomposition, into
have played their part. Are there any signs of im provement ? N o, it is getting worse and logically so, because none of the agencies sug gested are doing anything to rem edy t h e matter. Things are drift ing a l o n g from bad to worse. The stream is swell ing ; the b a n k s are breaking; the age limit of crim inals is lowering. I s i t of suffi cient importance to give us con cern ? T h a t de pends upon who the us are. If you are a Christian, a father or mother, a property owner, a lover of your country it should concern you tre mendously. T h e future o f o u r country depends
vapor, which va por is then liqui fied in a conden ser, and collected e l s e w h e r e.” The b r a i n of the Modernist is t h e still through which passes the W o r d o f Go d , which is there de composed i n t o n o x i o u s vapor and the vapor col lected i n . t h e school room and the church. This vapor might well be described, also, as gas which is distributed with out stint, as it is a cheap product. The odor is offen sive to the normal Christian nostril, but evidently it loses its unpleas antness after one has become accus tomed to breath ing it. Some of us have, i n d e e d , b e en
upon our youth. Fifteen years from now the boys and girls of today will play a great part in affairs in home, church, school and state. If they are not reached and helped now the possibility of helping conditions will grow less and less each year. You ask, “ Are you not a pessimist?” We answer, “ No, we have had the privilege of carefully following statistics regarding our youth for fifty years and have been in such personal touch with conditions that we know whereof we speak.’ ’ No honest man or woman with any knowledge of af fairs can dispute these facts. Ask the honest church man or the interested parent. Ask the judge on the bench. Ask the police authorities. Inquire at the prisons. Make inquiry of the press. What can be done? Where would you commence?
drinking for a long time the living water from the deep well of God’s Word, and are not wanting any Twentieth Century patented distillers. We have found Isaiah spoke the truth when he said, “ Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of Salvation,” and have believed the word of Jesus Christ to the woman of Samaria: “ I f thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith unto thee, Give me to drink, thou wouldst have asked of Him, and he would have given thee living water.” So “ run along, sonny Modernist. Yours are wells without water; clouds that are carried with a tempest, to whom the mists of darkness are reserved forever. We know whom we have believed, and are persuaded that He is able to keep that which we have committed unto Him against that day.”
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Paul tells us that we are to be “ henceforth no more children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine by the sleight of men and cun ning craftiness whereby they lie in wait to deceive.” Peter says: “ But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable here sies ; even denying the Lord that bought them.” The Book is full of warnings. Let us keep our eyes open, be much in prayer for safety from Satan’s snares; love all men, but fight for the faith against all enemies, no matter who or where. May the Lord grant unto us both grace and grit. THE W A S T E OF W E A L TH A good woman recently sent us some jewelry, includ ing a diamond, which had been Overlooked by the burglars when they robbed her home. She thought it would be wise to put it to some definite use for the Lord, and of course, was sorry that the burglars ’ loot had not also been included. An item in our daily paper says that the sale of jewelry in Los Angeles will reach twelve million dol lars this year. Wé do not know how much of that be longs to the Lord’s people, but:we do know that it is a sorrowful comment upon conditions when millions are: starving for the bread that perisheth and other millions perishing for the lack of the Bread of Eternal Life. Many are pulling down their barns and building greater and storing away their fruits and goods, but they are not having any joy in their souls and are missing the real pleasure that comes from giving and the satisfaction of seeing while they are giving. The message, “ Thou fool, this night shall thy soul be re quired of thee” has come to many a man when he least expected it and too late he has found he had fooled himself in not being rich toward God and thus being able to rejoice throughout eternity. It must be a sorrowful voice that can say, “ Soul take thine ease. Eat, drink and be merry.” It must be a serious problem to pray when the barns are bursting with foods and sinners are saying, “ No man careth for my soul.” SHELDON ’S EDITION OF THE SCRIPTURE The following item was recently -clipped from a daily paper: DB. CHARLES SHELDON WILL JAZZ UP BIBLE COVERS Topeka, Feb. 14.—The Rev. Charles M. Sheldon, of To peka, head of the Christian Herald, and widely known author, is going to try a little experiment in psychology in creating greater interest in Bible reading. “ The Bible is too interesting a book to be bound in undertaker colors,” said Doctor Sheldon. In the. last twenty years, Doctor Sheldon has prepared what he calls an “ American” version of the Bible, In real ity the new edition simply has a part of the King James version eliminated. The so-called contradictory chapters and verses dnd much repeated material have been removed. The new book will be much smaller than the standard Bibles and will be printed in bright covers. As a matter of fact, the new edition will compare favorably in appearance with the novels and general literature books to be seen in book stores. We would not feel like criticizing any one for wishing to use some other color than black for the covers óf the Bible (provided their purpose in so doing was not
With the daily newspapers. Homes must be reached, facts produced, an appeal made to parents to exercise the proper influence. ; The church next. Open the doors during-the week. Teach the youth respect for the Bible and for the moral laws of the land. Let the people of God go as they are commanded by our Lord and carry the Gos pel to homes,—gather the children in the neighbor hood and teach them God’s Word. Insist upon the eviction of all evolutionary books and teaching and o f all denial of the inspiration of God’s Word. The worst enemies of our land now are preachers and teachers who trifle with God’s Book. Woe unto them when God deals with those who are answerable for these conditions. Parents, pastors, teachers, judges, religious newspapers and magazines, daily papers, yourself, myself,—love for Christ, lové for souls, love for our country demand that we do our best and do it now! THE CREEPING CRITICS In teaching the Book of Jude recently to a Men’s Bible Class, and seeking to stress the admonition found therein to be - ‘ earnestly contending for the faith, once for all' delivered unto the saints, we were consider ing the reason given : ‘ ‘ For there have CREPT in cer tain men” (i. e., “ slipping in by s t e a l t h s i d e ways-” ). This - suggested to us that the description exactly suited some of the present age who are doing such untold damage to the saints. These men did not knock at the door, make' themselves known and reyeal their purpose, but secretly slipped in sideways; and once safely inside, they have secretly, shrewdly and Satan- ically laid their plans to foist upon the saints their, doctrine of denial of God’s holy Word and of the Vir gin Birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. We have watched -some of these “ creepers” for forty years,— some of them serenely angelic, the es sence' of honey oozing from their lips, tongues ‘ so smooth, talk so sweet; so devoted to the darling, de luded saints ' Had we ¡seeing eyes, we could penetrate the sophis try with which they seduce the. people, and behind them discern the Satanic face and form of him who .hates the Christ of the cross. We are standing firmly on Scriptural ground when we say this, and are not going out of our way’ t.o paint: a black picture. We are standing with our Lord, with Paul, with Jude, with all honest believers in God’S Word, when we warn the flock against these conscienceless creepers who parade their boasted piety, and flaunt their flimsy, flippant arguments against the verity of the W ord 'o f God. Beware of these creeping croakers! They may themselves be deluded but they are dangerous, and you owe it 1o your homes, to your church, to" your country, to clean them out lest they contaminate the church and prevent the Gospel from reaching unsaved people who are helpless without the testimony of the followers of Christ. They are multiplying in' numbers. They are manip ulating the ecclesiastical machinery in Such a manner as to perpetuate their position. Be on your guard ! Act now! Act definitely! Don’t sleep! Remember the warning of our Lord that “ while he slept his enemy came in arid sowed tares .among"the wheat. ”
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merely to cover up the fact that something had been eliminated from the Bible). A blue color, for instance, would carry the suggestion that the Bible is a Heaven sent book. Or a red cover would suggest that the Book carried—from Genesis to Revelation—the story of blood as an atonement for sin. , Perhaps, however, Dr. Sheldon dislikes the black cover because it reminds him of the doom awaiting those who trifle with the contents of the Bible, for it says (Rev. 22:18, 19): “ If any man take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book 'o f life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.” Mr. Sheldon has well named it the “ Smaller Bible”— a small Bible from a man, not large enough to believe in and follow the whole, God-given, God-blessed Word of God. But it is in no sense an “ American” edition, but “ un- American,” for the President of the United States, when he takes his oath of office, will not use either this “ Smaller Bible,” or the previously published “ Shorter Bible,” but will put his lips to a good, old-fashioned "Holy Bible,”— the kind our fathers and mothers knew and read and loved. No doubt the next attempt will be to produce a “ Smarter Bible,”— and perhaps Mr. Van Loon considers that his “ Story of the Bible would come under that designation, though as we have looked it over we have wondered how he ever imagined it would be given a place in any home where God the Father, Jesus Christ the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, were honored. It contains not a word of prophecy fulfilled and yet to be fulfilled; not a word about Jesus dying for the sins of the people; not a word about the open heavens and His personal revelation to Stephen; not a word from John’s Gospel about eternal life through faith in Him; not a word about the wrath of God which abides on those who reject Him,|I-no just a “ Smarter Story” of a Bible from which one is at liberty to accept what they want to accept and reject what they want to reject. Why a new story of the Bible when there are already many in print, far superior from a literary point of view, that ring true to the Bible as God’s Word? Pity the child whose only knowledge of God’s precious Word is gleaned from this travesty, rather than from the Bible story given by inspiration of God, upon which our Lord Jesus Christ set His own seal. Why a “ Shorter Bible” ? Why a “ Smaller Bible?” What is the purpose of either? What would be the effect if either were to prevail? Have these men been chosen of God to eliminate a portion of the Scriptures? Every book of the Bible is printed separately, for convenience sake,— but to assume the ability to decide what should and should not be excluded is an assumption which will not commend itself to the true believer, nor to God.
A S E C R E T - I want' to tell the King’s Business Family a real secret. The King’s Business is not a money-making enterprise. There has never been a dollar made through its publication. It has been pub lished year after year at considerable financial loss. Every magazine you have received has cost a third more than you have paid for it. Every year the Institute has had to make up a large deficit for the publication. This is not because of poor management, but because we have kept our subscription price so low and, as a rule, have refrained from taking outside advertisements, Even now the subscription price is too low to enable us to break even. B U T We have regarded The King’s Business as part of the work which God has given us to do. W e have spared no pains or expense to make it the best Family Bible Magazine in the United States. God has set His seal of approval upon it and used it as a help and blessing to thou sands of Ministers, Missionaries, Evangelists, Bible Teachers, S. S. Superintendents and Teachers and others in all walks of life throughout the world. Many of these say they could not get along without it and would give up every other periodical first. Hence, we have gone right on with the work in His Name praising Him for the privilege of this service to His dear people. We are telling you this that you may ap preciate your magazine more — that you may feel more charitable to us who are bearing the burden and trying to serve you conscientiously and faithfully, and that you may feel that it is your work, too, and with the hope that you will esteem it a privilege to bring it to the at tention of your friends and induce them to join The King’ s Business Family and share the blessings with us. Yours in His service, R. H. Richards, Business Manager.
FORM OF BEQUEST TO THE BIBLE INSTITUTE I give and bequeath to Bible Institute of Los Angeles, incorporated under the laws of the State of California.....................................................Dollars, and I direct that the release of the President of the Board of Directors of said Bible Institute of Los Angeles shall be sufficient discharge to my executors in the premises.
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The Crime of Our Godless Schools Dr. Cortland Myers (Sermon preached in the Bible Institute Auditorium, Los Angeles, California)
“ And thou shalt teach them diligently to thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.’’ (Deut. 6:7) l l are discussing one of the most important pro blems of this hour: Shall we have a Godless edu cation and then a Godless civilization, and then the inevitable wreckage and ruin— our own soil buried under the dust and ashes of past empires? Shall the Bible be brought back into every public school in the land? is a burning, blazing interrogation. Can there be any sane and justifiable answer except one? A half dozen States in the Union permit the reading of the Bible in their schools. The remaining vast majority either neglect or forbid this necessary factor in the making of future citizens and the saving of society. The arguments which prevent that holy business in our national life have little substance in them, and are met by the overwhelming reasons for this elevating and saving influence. This is ah alarming hour to thinking men and women and largely so because of the lack of moral and spiritual training in our youth. The Bible should be in our public schools,— first Because Democracy Demands It We are in grave danger of losing the patriotic spirit and the enthusiasm for our institutions. The war created a temporary excitement which was quickly dissipated, but since the war there has been less of real patriotism and deathless love for the Republic. Disappointment in perma nent and beneficial results helped in the cooling of the fires and the increase of the ashes. Many of the veterans of that murderous useless war have emphatically ex pressed themselves concerning any future relations to world wars and their hesitation in expressing any enthusiasm over our own democracy. We need some new fuel on the fire. We need some blaze on holidays and other occasions. Even our Fourth of July has degenerated into a mere pleasure seeking holiday and almost absolute forgetfulness of its meaning. More than lost memory on the part of the fore igners and others, it is an astounding ignorance. The old- fashioned Fourth of July was celebrated in altogether dif ferent fashion, and not without the worthiness of com mendation. Fire-crackers and torpedoes and guns and sky rockets and processions and all the rest of the program, and all-day and all-night enthusiasm, has its beneficial re sults. There may have been some danger and a few ac cidents, but there is now the greater peril of a cold and indifferent and unpatriotic spirit: This generation must be taught the value of democracy for America and the rest of the world. They must understand its first principles and live by it and live for it. We must believe it the best of all governments and then make it that by knowing and saving and living its ideals.
One of the great fundamentals in any democracy is the rule of the majority. Just now this foundation principle is ignored and endangered and trampled upon. The rule of the majority is not recognized and enforced. A small minority assume the right to dictate to the large majority. If the test was made, two-thirds of the American people would place the Bible in every public school under the flag. Now prejudice and the irreligiousness of religion and a small amount of atheism dominate and insist on keeping our public schools godless, and then in bold mockery turn and condemn them and the immorality which comes from them. In the name of everything sacred and safe in a democracy, why should a comparatively small branch of the nominal Christian church and a few Jews and foreign ers be permitted to commit this offense against the original Americans and the much larger class of citizens, against the best interests of the nation and against its prosperity and perpetuity. If this is not an unjustifiable tyranny, I cannot find it on the pages of history. Minority rule in a democracy is the basis of tyranny. Tyranny is thè rule by the one or a few. Away with it from this American soil! It will desecrate it and damn it— the majority must rule. Democracy demands it. Liberty demands it. Justice demands it. And by the grace of God, we will demand it. Making the world safe for democracy is not our first business, but our making democracy safe for the world. This can only be done by. making it a real democracy, a government in which the majority shall always rule. I have no enmity towards a certain branch, of the Christian church. I have no hatred for the Jews. I have only love for the foreigner, but there is not a square foot of ground in these United States for either a machine or a man who places dynamite under neath the foundations of the Republic. The three million Jews in this country have found here a shelter and an op portunity like which they have never found in any other part of the world geography. In view of this, they are the last class of people in the world to make any attack upon our Christian institutions which have become dis tinctly national. Three per cent of the population can find no justice in an attempt to control any part of the govern ment. Here in America for years with increasing energy and determination and finances, they have tried to prevent Christian exercises in the public schools and even to insist that Christmas carols shall no longer be sung by the school children. They have also made most vigorous attempts to destroy the American Sunday, and all this has been a very poor expression of appreciation for what they have so abun dantly and freely received in this land of liberty. It is an outrage on democracy that this shall continue and we shall be compelled to submit to this small minority. We must in sist, in the name of democracy, that the majority have their way and the Bible find its place again in all our schools.
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Some years ago, by invitation of one of the great teach ers who was at that time principal of the largest Boys’ School in the world, with several thousand of students on the Bast side of New York under his supervision, I visited his school and sat on the platform in front of this great assembly of the future American citizens. He arose in dignity and solemnity amidst perfect silence and read the Bible and offered a most sincere and helpful prayer; then immediately passed to a very impressive flag exercise, and thus began the day with this holy combination of the Bible and the flag before the eyes and in the hearts of his stu dents. That scene fastened itself to memory and has been the fountainhead of a desire that I might see the day when the same religious atmosphere should be created in every school in the land. Those boys can never be separated from its impression either in religion or patriotism. One of the greatest influences in all my boyhood life was the daily reading of the Bible and prayer in the old country school- house. It may have had more to do with my life than all the other lessons learned within those walls. Anyway, I must believe that the arithmetic and geography were sec ond to the great things of the soul. I. am cognizant of the objections which have been made and the difficulties which might be mentioned. But I can discover no reason why parts of the Bible should not be de signated for daily reading, something after the manner of the selection of Scripture for our Sunday Schools, and ac companying this reading, without comment, a brief prayer in recognition of God and the necessity for His guidance, be offered; if no other, then a daily repetition of the Lord’s Prayer. If the teacher should be an atheist, there is no place for him or her as a teacher of our children. Some one else ought immediately to be substituted if the teacher should have any opposition to the Bible. This is nominally a Christian country and that teacher should abide by this public desire or give up this position. There is a far better way for either an atheist or an irreligious person to earn their living. This is freedom, and there is no other. This is democracy,— and there is no other. The Bible should be in our public schools, second, Because Education Demands It Mark Twain, in his story of Huckleberry Finn, tells about Huck’s father, coming into the village after a week of drunkenness in the woods, finds the boy he has deserted going to school with a book in his hand. The father asks the child to read a page and when the boy has dutifully fulfilled the task, tears the book into shreds, shakes the ehild until he is half-unconscious and then hisses the words, “ I never could read a word, my father could not read a word and I will cowhide you well if you don’t give up these hifalutin ideas. No child of mine is ever going to know more than his father and his grandfather.” That idea is purely humorous and riduculous and has no relation to real life in America, for here education has its right place and an extremely important place. A part of the nation’s business is to educate its young people and prepare them for self-government and for life. Wendell Phillips once said that Europe greeted our an nouncement of universal suffrage with the words, “A congress of mad men, a republic of lunatics.” To which Fisher Ames answered, “ A monarchy or an autocracy is a man of war, staunch, iron-ribbed and resistless when under full sail, yet a single hidden rock sends her to the bottom. Our Republic is a raft hard to steer, but you can send two cannon-balls through every log in the raft and you cannot sink her.”
It is this that makes for the permanency of a republic. One man killed and an autocracy is slain, but to destroy a republic you must murder the millions. This necessitates that each individual has his definite place to fill and must- be prepared by the best education possible to occupy that important position. His education should not be narrow or incomplete. It should be broad and sufficient. It should include all that is necessary to a real education. There fore, the Bible should have its place in every system of edu cation. No student can afford to ignore all the world’s greatest literature or all the world’s most important history or some of the world’s best philosophy, or all the founda tion of all the world’s laws, or even some elements of sci ence. All this is included within the covers of the Bible which is acknowledged to be the greatest book, or collec tion of books in the world. Merely from the standpoint of education, the Bible should be in every school room in the land, in relation to which now there is an astonishing ignorance. This should not be increased or allowed to continue but immediately remedied. We have our serious defects in education, but none of them more serious than this. The Bible should be in the public school, third, Because Morality Demands It We have had great success in this Western world in solving mechanical problems. I was much interested re cently in reading about the possibility of making a hole of any shape by an invention recently put into practical opera tion. Throughout all the years, the ordinary auger with its gimlet-like point could bore away and make a round hole of various sizes. Roundness was an excellent quality in a hole if you wished to fit into it a round peg. But what if it would serve your purpose better to use a square peg or a triangular one, then it would be a great convenience to bore a hole that is not round. Could this thing be done? Men always said “No” and carpenters with a chisel worked away at the round hole with great difficulty a length of time to transform it into a square hole. Now there is a combina tion of augers and machinery and adjustment, with which a hole of any shape or size can be quickly secured. We are great geniuses in the solution of these mechanical problems, but we have manifested a vast amount of ig norance in the moral world and inability to solve its pro blems. But if we fail here all our success in the mechanical and material world must ultimately be a .failure. If our youth are not given moral training, all other success goes for naught and we have been basely guilty in our relation to them. The tragic results of this guilt are witnessed in many places in the world now. In Germany, with all its past culture, morality is now at its lowest ebb. Bribery among officials is reported rampant, and for the first time in history all the cells at the police station are filled and the overflow is housed in various sections of the cities. Liquor and tobacco are freely sold to minors and the motto of a large percent of the German youth is “ To live one’s self out.” Leaders are convinced that only a revival of religion and morality can give any hope for the coming generation. We are in the same world and must live by the same principles and expect the same causes to produce the same effects. Geographical lines do not prevent the passing over. A friend of mine said he met recently in his city a boy of 11 years of age who was begging and gave evidence also of being dishonest. He said he asked him if he knew the Ten Commandments, and the boy replied that he had never (Continued on page 322)
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Six Weeks With Chinese Brigands
Mrs. Howard Taylor Dr. and Mrs. Howard Taylor have been spend ing some months in this country after a tour of three years and a half through all the prov inces of China. Dr. Taylor is the son of J. Hud son Taylor, the founder of the China Inland Mis sion and Mrs. Taylor is the daughter of H. Grat tan Guinness, so well known a generation ago as one of the greatest preachers and Bible teach ers in England. The following is a stenographic report of Mrs. Taylor’s own story of their mar vellous deliverance from the Chinese brigands, as she gave it in the Bible Institute Auditorium, Los Angeles, California.
EFORE speaking about the brigands this af ternoon, I am tempted to mention a sweet lit
tlon we have given to us there, in the 4th verse: “ That thou mightest know the certainty of those things that are commonly believed among us.” Oh, friends, it is our privilege to know— to know— that we are dealing with certainties. And this knowledge comes in a vari ety of w a y s , and especially through experience. Those ter rible weeks among Chinese bri-
tle experience that happened not long ago in China showing how the Lord cares for the needs of His children, not only in great things and very i m p o r t a n t things, but in little things too. And don’t you think that some-
times the care of God in the lit tle things is almost more sweet and precious than in the gands, those six long weeks, the suffering of which could very big things?
never be fully told, have become to us such a rich and precious experience— because they brought to us anew a knowledge of some of the great “ certainties that are be lieved among us.” We made then a rediscovery of, some of the great realities that has been, and still is to us, in estimably precious., We rediscovered two great certainties; — the certainty of the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the certainty of the living power of this precious Word, the life of the Word of God. May I just speak about the reason for brigandage in China today, and something of the results? As you know, dear Christian friends, that great country, containing one- quarter of the human race, is thrown at the present mo ment into confusion and chaos that is almost indescribable. The central government is not strong enough to control the situation, and there is civil war ^between practically all the eighteen provinces in China, and the only rulers in China today are the military dictators or military governors of these Provinces. There is civil war, as you know, between the North and the South, and aiso this between the provinces, because they are all armed to the teeth and every one seeking to get the most of whatever they can in loot and plunder. Now these brigands, you know, are for the most part soldiers who cannot get their pay. The great government officials enrich themselves in so many cases, and the sol diers cannot get their pay. You may have heard what the Christian General Feng had to do when his soldiers could not get their pay. For many months they had no pay and at last General Feng stopped a train going up the line with a large quantity of silver for Peking. He took his ac counts to the train and showed just how much salary was due to his soldiers. Then he took just that much silver from the train, put back all the rest and sent it on with his accounts to Peking, and paid his men. And the wonder that swept over China was not that he had taken some of the silver, but that he had left any. But unfortunately there are very few Christian Generals like that in China today. If there were a few more to take charge there today, things would very soon be different. Pray for Gen eral Feng; pray for that great country in its suffering; pray for a better government; and, oh, pray for the mission aries and Chinese Christians who are exposed just as we were. We had been traveling in China for three and a half years through fifteen provinces, and had seen everywhere the terrible doings of these brigands. They will come per haps to a town in the early morning and announce, “ Be- (Continued on page 324)
We had a dear missionary family whose funds during the time of the war were rather low, not because the money did not come, (for the incorne of the Mission went up steadily every year all through the war), but the exchange was very much against Us in China. One summer the mother in this family of missionaries, was a little bit troubled. She al ways used to buy fruit and sugar to make preserves for the children for she liked to have the storeroom well stocked with jars of jelly and preserves for the winter vacation. But that summer she felt that perhaps she ought not to purchase the sugar and fruit. I am sure every mother here will understand what it meant to her to leave those jars in the storeroom empty, because the children only came home once a year and she did want to make a good time for them. But that summer she went away to the hills leaving all the jars in the storeroom quite empty. She was taking care of the sanitorium in the hills, and when the summer was over she came back to the home and as she was going into the storeroom,—-just turning the key to go in,— the Chinese caretaker, who had been in charge during the summer stopped her. “ Oh, do not go in there!” “ And why?” she said. “ Oh, it is very dangerous to go in there.” “ But what is the matter?” “ Oh, that storeroom is full of bees. If you go in there you will be stung.” She was not very much afraid of bees and opened the door quietly, and there— and there— a great humming was heard and she saw that the storeroom was just full of bees. As she looked around she saw bound to all those shelves a great mass of honeycomb, and the bees were just filling it with honey as fast as ever they could. Right op posite them were those empty jam pots on the shelves. Who had sent the swarm of bees into that particular storeroom? The window had been left open and they had come in there, and there they were working so hard and laying up pounds and pounds of sweet delicious honey, right there where it was needed. The bees were never turned out and are in possession of that storeroom still. Last win ter we were told they made thirty pounds. When the chiL dren came home from school they said, “ Oh, mother, who would want jam if they could have honey like this?” And so the Lord cares for the little needs as well as the great needs of His children. Now I am so glad of this opportunity this afternoon of 'speaking about brigandage in China, and abouKour own experience— and that for two reasons. But first of all I want to ask a question. I wonder if everybody here knows exactly why the Gospel of Luke was written? Will you bear with me if I refer to the first of Luke, and the explana-
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In Sight of the Cross By Rev. F. E. Marsh,, London, England In “ The Wonderful Word”
IV. Self Crucified. “ I am crucified with Christ.” The Lord wishes us to recognize this as true of every believer, judically; but He also wants us to know it practically. There is only one way to get rid of self, good and bad, and that is to die, and the only way to die is to see we are dead in the death of Christ. “ For years I have been trying to realize I was dead to self, and I cannot realize it,” so said an earnest child of God to the writer. I replied “ It is not trying to realize you are dead, but to do ;a,s the Spirit enjoins.” “ Reckon” we are dead to sin, for He says, “ The old man is crucified.” The old man is the old man of self. Faith believes what the Lord says, and in the Spirit’s power makes it true in the experience. Pascal says, “ It is one of the great principles of Christianity that everything which happened to Jesus Christ should come to pass in the soul and in the body of each Christian." When Christ died for us, He lost His life in self-sacrifice, and calls upon us to do the same. Peter said to Christ;''“ Pity thyself,” but Christ responded * “ Deny thyself.” Self-denial is not deifying certain things to self, but denying self itself. This is not self trying to put itself to death, but faith reckoning that self is dead in the death of Christ, as A. J. Gordon, of sainted memory says, “ The dying of our’ Lord in His members is to be constantly effected by the indwelling Spirit.” V. Consecration Begotten. “ For their sakes I sanctify Myself,” so said Christ to His Father. The thought here is that Christ willingly conse crated Himself to death for us; and He goes on to say the reason why He thus consecrated Himself was, “ That they also might he sanctified in the Truth.” As Christ hallowed Himself for our benefit in holy consecration to God, so there should burn on the altar of our life the holy fire of His passion, which shall inflame us in whole-hearted devotion to the will and service of God. This thought lifts us away from the low conception of the merely negative aspect of holiness, namely: separation from that which defiles, into the positive realm of consecration to God. In that realm our spiritual comforts do not concern us, our Christian work does not fret us, our soul’s salvation does not trouble us, our brethren do not disturb us, our spiritual experience does not occupy us, and our difficulties do not depress. The Lord Himself is the One with whom we are concerned. When we live in Him, as Rutherford says, “ He, He Him self, is more excellent than Heaven, for Heaven is but a creature, but He is something more than a creature.” VI. Sorrow Comforted. “ Since we believe Jesus died and rose again, even so them also that sleep, by means of Jesus will God bring with Him.” The Man of Sorrows is the only One who can meet the sorrowing heart in its lonely grief. But He can and does. The Nailed Hand of Calvary has a touch of con solation for every riven heart of sorrow. “ Jesus wept” tells out His sympathetic nature, and His “ weep not” is His word for every sorrowing soul. . The Man of Sorrows is the only one that can meet the sorrows of men. There is no sad sorrowing place on earth, but Christ has sanctified it by His presence. Recall the sorrow of Gethsemane and Golgotha, and it shall be medicine to heal thy sorrow. (Continued on Page 327)
“ Standing by the cross o f Jesus” (John 19:25, R . V .). S we stand like Mary and John at the Cross, we see a sevenfold color as the light of Scripture strikes the prism of Christ’s sacrifice. I. Sin Condemned. “ By a sacrifice for sin, God condemned sin” (Rom. 8 :3 ). Sin condemns the sinner, and puts him in the place of death and judgment, and all are there. As the father does not forgive the temper of his stubborn child, but condemns it, while he forgives the child when penitent, so God never for gives sin, but judges it, although He forgives the believing sinner in Christ. As the fire of judgment consumed the sin- offering, so the wrath of God against our sin ,fell upon the Christ of Calvary, and it can never fall upon us. This is eyer the message ef the Lord’s Supper, and we do well to remember Him with gratitude, for the Cross is ever the starting point and the staying place of all Christian life and service. So let us sing with new thankfulness, each of us, II. Love Manifested. Man is seen at his worst at Calvary, and God at His best. Ponder the Spirit’s words, “ In this Was manifested the love of God towards us, because that God sent His only begotten Son, that we might live through Him!” and then He ex plains the “ through Him” by the words, “ to be a propitia tion for our sins” (1 John 4:9, 10). “ This!” not something else. “ In this’” satisfaction which God provided in the death of Christ is love manifested. Love unparalleled, un precedented, and unrivalled. The motto of the Scotch Baron Newark Is, “ I had perished unless I had perished.’’ Love’s exhaustion is seen at the Cross, and from those dying embers there flames into sight an exhibition of love never seen before. The pure unsullied light of love dies out in death at Calvary, and comes forth in life again in blood-red rays of sun-warming grace to bless and benefit all. The unquenchable seemed to be quenched when the overwhelm ing flood rolled over Christ, but the quenchable was only fuel to feed the unquenchable and to make it burn with more vehement flame and heat. Let us keep near the fire of Calvary’s love, then we shall find ourselves kept from chills, yea, we shall find food and fir$, as when Christ in vited His disciples to come to His kindled fire, and to “ come and dine.” HI. Guilt Removed. “Now, where remission of these is” (the “ sins and in iquities” ) “ there is no more offering for sin” (Heb. 10:17, 18). An offering for sin speaks of the sins which demand the offering, but when the sins are cancelled, there is no necessity for an offering. If there were a call for another offering for sin, it would show Christ’s offering was not sufficient. The suggestion proves its fallacy. But Christ has, in the eternal value of His own Spirit, offered Himself for us. Since He has shed His blood for us, there is remis sion of the guilt of our sins, and the sins that brought the guilt, and we are accepted in the eternal value of Christ’s offering, and in the intrinsic value of His own personal worth. Who is he that condemneth, since Christ died and rose again? Who indeed, for the only One who has the right to condemn has been condemned for us. “ Bearing shame and scoffing rude, In my place condemned He stood.”
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