March, 1935
T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
83
c Around the King’s ‘Tables By Louis T. T albot
(1 Are Premillenarians Pessimists?
he appear the second time” (Heb. 9 :28). T o such as these, , He shall appear in the midst o f the darkness that precedes the dawn, heralding that day when all the world shall be hold Him as the “ Sun o f righteousness” who shall “ arise with healing in his wings” (Mai. 4 :2 ). He shall arise with healing for the nations; with healing for the troubled in heart; with healing for a sinful, suffering, struggling race. No, the real pessimists must be those who in vain try to harmonize their postmillennial views with the present- day world conditions. The real optimists are the pre millenarians who are looking for the return o f the One who can cope with the situation, and who shall reign in righteousness, exercising judgment with wisdom. “ He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends o f the earth . . . Yea, all kings shall fall down before him : all nations shall serve him.” “ For the earth shall be full o f the knowledge o f the Lord, as the .-waters cover the sea” (Psa. 7 2 :8, 11 ; Isa. 11:9 ). y ) , ' ___T 7 t f L. T. T. Evangelistic Fervor in Communistic China W hen news reached America concerning the serious communistic uprisings that were taking place in deeply concerned, not only for the physical safety o f mis sionaries and native Christians in the affected areas, but also for the progress o f gospel work in these regions. Word of the capture and martyrdom o f some o f the Lord’s wit nesses in that land led to much prayer for China. Joining in this great volume of intercession, the Bible Institute o f Los Angeles eagerly awaited word from its China department, the Hunan Bible Institute, where Dr. and Mrs. Frank A . Keller, with a group o f associates, are working, and out from which numerous Biola Evangelistic Bands o f consecrated Chinese are continually being sent with the gospel to surrounding regions. As this issue o f the K ing ’ s B usiness goes to press, a letter is at hand from Dr. Keller, superintendent o f the Institute in China, dated January 11, and written from Changsha, Hunan. Intimating that both the work and workers at that center have suffered no injury, Dr. Keller refers, with praise to God, to the courage and perseverance o f the members o f the Evangelistic Bands and to the won derful blessing o f God that is resting on their faithful proclamation o f the Word. Just now [Dr. Keller writes], some parts of Hunan are badly upset by the recent communistic invasion. We have four refugee missionary families living here on our compound, and we expect two or three more families early next week. Three of our evangelistic bands have been obliged to retire from the fields where they were working, but fortunately they were heartily welcomed in other fields that are undisturbed and that had been longing for their help. Band No. 1 was obliged to retire for a few days . . . but as soon as conditions improved a little in that district, the men got right back on the job. . . . A letter has just come to hand from Mr. Hsiao, leader o f Band No. 1,
I A s touching the second coming o f the Lord Jesus Christ, I / a . the body o f Christians is divided into two classes: those who believe He will come before the millennium, and those who believe He will come after the millennium. By “ millennium” is meant the thousand years’ reign o f Christ mentioned in the twentieth chapter o f Revelation. Those who place His coming after the millennium expect this age o f peace and righteousness to be introduced and established by the church through the preaching o f the gospel, while those who believe He will come before the millennium hold that there can be no reign o f peace and righteousness until He does come. This second group finds in the Scrip tures the prophecy that during the absence o f the King, iniquity will abound, and that social disorder will charac terize this age, culminating in the rise o f the Antichrist. Those who hold this latter view are often described as pessimistic; but the premillennial coming o f Christ is the key to the right understanding o f God’s plan and p r o ^ gram, and can hardly be called pessimismJOn the contrary^ this interpretation holds out the “ blessed hope” that the King o f peace and righteousness will establish His own kingdom far more quickly than even the orthodox church could possibly do in thousands o f years. Is this pessimism— to look for the imminent setting up o f such a kingdom? Moreover,jthe premillennial view is the only solution to the world’s problems—and this truth is seen more and more clearly as the days go by. The war o f 1914-1918 was heralded as “a war to end war.” But, lo, we find more men under arms today than there were in 1914. And the atmosphere surrounding every nation is surcharged with hate, suspicion, and distrust such as the world has never known before. This situation has called for the rise o f dictators, ruling over millions o f Europe’s population who have less liberty today than they had in 1914, before the war was fought to “make the world safe for democ racy?] Not only is the political condition o f the world today very grave, but there is also in the professing church a state o f apostasy from which recovery is impossible, under the present order. In past centuries, the church was able to offset apostasy through conference and council, reaffirm ing with the voice of authority “ the faith . . . once for all delivered unto the saints.” Today such silencing o f heresy is impossible. Modernism holds the reins; and the influence o f this system, which, in its essence, is nothing but in fidelity, is widening as months extend into years,^ Are we who are known as premillenarians pessimistic ? In the midst o f the present-day darkness, with the eye of faith we see a star— the Morning Star—that heralds a new day! The voice o f the coming King speaks with authority, and His promise is sure: “ I am the root and the offspring o f David, and the bright and morning star.” “ Behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be” (Rev. 2 2 :1 6 ,12). The morning star appears in the sky shortly before the sun rises in his strength. And as the morning star heralds the coming day, even so, “ unto them that look for him shall
several provinces o f China, the Lord’s people were at once
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