JANUARY , 1914
No. 1
Vol. V
FIFTY CENTS A YEAR
MOTTO : “ I 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 TH E K ING ’S BUSINESS R. A.|TORBEY, Editor J. H. SAMMIS, T. 0. HORTON, J. H. HUNTER, Associate Editors Entered as Second-Class matter November 17, 1910, at the postoffice at Eos Angeles, California, under the Act of March 3, 1879. - Organ of the Bible Institute of Los Angeles Inc. Auditorium Building, Cor. T ifth and Olive, Los Angeles, California.
DIRECTORS
Lyman Stewart, President. T. C. ..Horton, Superintendent.
Rev. A. B. Prichard, Vice-President.
J. M. Irvine, Secrétary-Treasurer.
R.. A. Torrey,-Dean. Giles Kellogg. Robert Watchorn. William Thorn.
H. A. Getz. E. A. K. Hackett. S. I. Merrill.
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DOCTRINAL STATEMENT We hold to the Historic Faith of the Church as expressed in the Common Creed of Evangelical Christendom and including: The Trinity of the Godhead. The Deity of the Christ.
The Maintenance of Good Works. The Second Coming of Christ. The Immortality of the Soul. The Resurrection of the Body. The Life Everlasting of Believers. The Endless Punishment of the Im penitent. The Reality and Personality of Satan. (4) Spanish Mission. Meetings every night. (5) Shop Work, Regular services in shops and factories. (6) Jewish Evangelism. Personal work among the Hebrews. (7) Bible Women. House to-house visitation and neighborhood elastes. (8) Oil Fields. A mission to men on the oii fields. (9) Books and Tracts. Sale and dis tribution of selected books and tracts.
The Personality of the Holy Ghost. The Supernatural and Plenary au thority o'f the Holy Scriptures. The Unity in Diversity of the Church, which is the Body and Bride of Christ. The Substitutionary Atonement. The Necessity of the New Birth.,
OUR WORK
D n r n nco The Institute trains, free of r UI P0 S6 cost; accredited men and women, in the knowledge and use of the Bible. n . . . r 4 » (1) The I n s t i t u t e Department Ciasses held daily ex cept Saturdays and Sundays. (2) Extension work. Classes and con ferences held in neighboring cities and towns. (3) Evangelistic. "Meetings conducted by our evangelists.
T H E KING’S BUSINESS
Table of Contents Editorials: Keeping Christmas in a Christian Way—Our New Year’s Greeting—The Outlook an Uplook................................ 3 The Incarnation as Tested by the Temptation. By Dr. A . C. D ixon ..........'...................... ............................... ....................... .. 5 The Almighty the All-Merciful, (poem ! By J. H. Sammis.......... 12 The* Fundamental Principles of Christianity in the Light of Modern Thinking, II. By John M. Maclnnis........................ 13 How We Spent Christmas in Congo. By Edith Harland............ 17 Studies in the Gospel According to John (continued). By R. A . T o r r e y ....................... 18 Call for a Prophetic Conference.......................................................... 23 The International Sunday School Lessons. By J. H. S .............. 24 A Man Who Let His Light Shine (p o em )........................................ 30 The Heart o f the Lesson. By T . C. H o r ton . .................... 31 Junior Endeavor Topics. By J. K . H. S........................... ............... 33 A t Home and A b r o a d ..................... 35 Hints and H e lp s ....................................................................................... 39 Testimony o f God’s Direct Leading. By a Student...................... 43 Questions and Answers. By R. A . T o r r e y ...................................... 44 A New Song. By Annie M a cLdren .................................................. 46 Bible Institute o f Los Angeles.......................... ..................................... 48 FIFTY CENTS A YEAR Published by the Bible Institute of Los Angeles Auditorium Building, Corner Fifth and Olive Streets. SUBSCRIPTION RATES . . .
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The King’s Business
Voi. 5
JANUARY , 1914
No. 1
Keeping Christmas in a Christian Way W E have just passed that season of the year at which most Christians cele brate the birth iijto this wqrld of their Lord Jesus. O f course, none of us know that Jesus was born at Bethlehem on the 25th day of Decem ber. It is not absolutely certain that He was born even at this season o f the year. Doubtless God for wise reasons of His own has* kept us in ignorance a,s to the exact date o f His birth. We do know the exact date o f His crucifix ion, of Hjs resurrection and of His ascension but we do not know the exact date of His birth. It does not follow that we should not celebrate the birth of our Lord but it does follow that we should always bear in mind that there is no certainty, whatever that He was born on the exact date that we celebrate. Our Pilgrim Fathers did not celebrate Christmas at all,; they regarded Christ mas celebration as a relic of popery. If we do celebrate Christmas, we should certainly celebrate it in a Christian way. Squandering money to buy useless gifts to bestow upon those who already have plenty, is certainly not celebrating Christmas in the Christian way. Making personal sacrifices in order that we may give to those who are in,real need, certainly is celebrating Christmas in the Christian way. But the most essential thing in the Christian celebration of Christmas is recognizing our boundless debt to God the Father and to our Lord Jesus and showing our recognition of our great indebtedness to them by spending time and thought in expressions of gratitude and o f worship. It is of God, the Father, and of Christ, the Soh we should especially think, at Christ mas time. Our first duty at Christmas time is not -even to the poor—it is to God and to our Lord Jesus. But in point of fact, God who gave the Son, and the Son who was given by the Father, have largely dropped out of our Christ mas celebrations. Santa Claus has largely taken the place of our Lord Jesus Christ and self has taken the place of God. This might be expected of a godless world, but it is appalling to see the extent to which professing Chris tians have allowed themselves to be swept off o f their feet by the spirit o f the world. Here is a point at which there is need of deep and genuine repentance on the part of a very large portion of the professing Church.; Many of the Church and Sunday School Christmas entertainments must fill the heart of the discerning Christian with sorrow, yes even with horror. Our New Year’s Greeting A HAPPY New Year to thee, reader, or, more accurately, a blessed one. Happiness is happen-ness. We know nothing happens, merely. Our years do not, or, rather, are not run at hap-hazard. He who set sun and moon in the skies to rule day and night and seasons, did not thereby commit men’s destinies to the stars; they are His Who is Himself “ The Morn ing Star,” in Whose name the enlightened world instinctively indicts its calen dar. Now, may this Year of Our Lord Nineteen Hundred and Fourteen be a blessed year to you.
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THE KING’S BUSINESS “ blessed,” in the Hebrew (O. T .) is from a root meaning “ right” or “ upright,” and therefore gives the same moral quality to the Greek (N. T .) term rendered “ blessed” ; which originally meant no more than " fortunate” “prosperous,” “ rich,” like our happy. These are significant facts. In the heathen tongues “ happiness” had no moral foundations; to the Hebrew it could stand on no other! Hence, friend, to be happy in the biblical sense righteous ness is essential; the ideas, upright, happy, are identical (Rom. 4 :6 ). There are two aspects of this essential: I. An imputed righteousness reckoned to believers in virtue of the blood of the righteous One, by the grace of God, on the ground of faith (Rom. 3 :24- 26; 4:1-7). Without this peace of mind and security o f life are impossible . Whatever fancied felicity one may anticipate or bask in, in this or any year, “ the stars light against” him. II. The second aspect of righteousness essential to happiness is right eousness inherent and in practice; a righteousness animated by love, for right eousness is conformity to moral law and love is the substance and fulfilling of that law (Rom. 13:8-10). Our prayer for you, and your hope, for the year can be realized only if you are reckoned and reckoning* yourself a possessor of that imputed righteousness (Rom. 5 : 1 ) ; and practice, through grace, that other righteousness, the root and fruit of Love. Happiness is thus, as the Hebrew intuitively saw, inseparable from right relations to Law and loving relations with God and man. Make happy—be happy. In every instance in the Hebrew the word “ blessed” is plural. Think of that! God gives no blessing, but “ blessednesses” ; whom He calls them He also justifies; whom He justifies them he also glorifies” (Rom. 8 :3 0 ). “All things are yours” (2 Cor. 3 :21 -23 ); aye, “ all seeming evil” is real good (Rom. 8 :28 ). “ Our heart is enlarged toward you,” reader, we beseech you, therefore by the mercies of God, to present your body a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service, and the happen-nesses of the year shall prove the blessednesses of the Blessed God, Whose are all the years. Good, fortune, happiness, blessedness, whatever you term it, is as certain to follow you all the days of the year as radiance the clear course of the sun, if you but keep yourself in the love of God (Jude), that is, in the consciousness of His favor and fellowship. Be at peace through the blood; confess Him who shed it; make His word your daily feast and fountain; offer the sacrifices of prayer and praise; do justly; love mercy; walk humbly with Thy God; give thanks for all things; save somebody 1 The Outlook an. Uplook What I shall see And grant my plea This coming year For daily cheer God only knows: To friends and foes;
Where I shall be, Or there, or here, At the year’s close;
And led by Thee I will not fear How e’er it goes; But oh, the glee Shouldst Thou appear E ’er the year close.
But give to me A record clear, As on it flows;
The Incarnation as Tested by the T emptation* By Dr. A . C. D IXON O F T H E M E TR O P O L ITA N T A B E R N A C L E , LONDON , ENG. A S I asked God for a message for this afternoon Bible hour, my mind has settled down upon the
Incarnation, "God hath sent forth His Son” ; (2 ). The Process of the Incar nation, “ Born of a woman, made un der the law” ; (3 ). The Purpose of the Incarnation, “ To redeem those that are under the law.”
Incarnation, the Incarnation today (Saturday) as Tested by the Tempta tion; Monday, the Transfiguration of
DR. DIXON IN HIS STUDY.
Jesus, the Unveiling o f the Incarna tion; on Tuesday, the Cross of Christ, the Glory o f the Incarnation, and on Thursday, the Second Coming of our Lord, the Consummation of the In carnation. As introductory to it let us read from Galatians 4: 4, 5, “ When the ful ness of the time was come, God sent forth His Son, made o f a woman, made under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.” In those words we have three things clearly taught: ( 1 ). The fact of the •An address by Rev. Dr. A. G. Dixon, Sat urday, August 2, 1913, 3 p. m„ at the Mont- rose Bible Conference, Montrose, Penn.
“ God sent forth His Son,” and more than once our Lord said that He came down from Heaven. The Babel pro cess is to build from beneath upward, from the mud to the skies; God’s pro cess is that o f Jacob’s ladder, let down from heaven. “ Ye must be born from above.” Nathanael said to Jesus “ Thou art the Son of God; Thou art the King of Israel.” He had just heard the words of the Lord, “ Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile.” And the response of his heart was, “ Lord, if I am an Israelite, here is the sceptre; here is the crown, here is the throne. Thou art the King of Israel.”
BUSINESS vine does violence to his reason. The true Rationalist is the man who lets his reason work unhindered by preju dice, and accepts the evidence in favor of the Deity of our Lord, I believe, ,by, the way, the other propositions just as firmly, that the Bible has such truth in favor o f in spiration, being the very Word o f God that.any one who knows the truth and does not ,accept the Bible as inspired does violence to his reason. The true Rationalist is 'the manwho, enlight ened by revelation, accepts Jesus Christ as what He claims to be, Son o f man and Son of God, and the Bible as what it claims to be, the Word o f ' God. jpl I have never lost the force of the argument I heard as a lad in the mountains of North Carolina. Jesus Christ claimed to be the Son of man and Son of God and made claims that only a God could make, of Omnipo tence and Omnipresence and Om niscience. Such claims that He made others admit them; others bowed be fore Him when they looked up into His face and worshipped. “ Now, if you believe that Jesus Christ is a good man,” said the old preacher, “ and no body admits the opposite o f that, then you must believe that He is God, or you must prove that a good man can claim to be what he is not, and that a good man can at the same time be a hypocrite. For if He claimed to be God He was either self-deceived or He was bad, and when you read the record of His utterances and study His character in its setting, you are convinced that He was not self-de ceived, and, therefore, being good He was God.” That was the argument the Lord Jesus used to the rich young man, “ Why callest thou me Good? There is none good but one, that is God. In calling me good you have called me God, and the place for you is at my feet as a worshiper, and the place for
6 THE, KING’S In acknowledging Him king of Is rael he also acknowledges Him as Son of God. Mentioning Israel, of course# suggests Jacob’s-ladder-and rjthe Lord Jesus then says. "Hereafter ye shall see heaven open- and the angels of God ascending and descending, upon the Son o f man.” ,' ‘Nathanael,’^ He says, “ You have given me the top of the ladder; I am.Son o f God. I want- to give you the bottom o f the ladder; I am also Son of Man.” The real Jacob’s ladder is Jesus, Who in His' Deity touches the sky, and Who in His humanity rests upon the earth ; and that ladder gives a constant com munication between us and heaven, angels ascending and descending all the time. It is clear, therefore, that the Lord Jesus was not a product of the age in which He lived, but of another world. He came to this world for a purpose. Now, we are tempted to go further into that line of thought. It is proved by His claims backed up by His char acter and His works. He came to be the Son of man; not Son o f a Jew or a Roman, or a Greek, but Son of man, the blood of all humanity in His veins,' a heart big enough to take in the world. He was not Jew enough for the Jew, nor Roman enough for the Roman, nor Greek enough for the Greek; He was too big for any of them. He was Son of man; and we are to seek to be like Him, sons of men. with hearts big enough to take in-all humanity. 'Then He claimed to be Son of God in a very unique sense. As Son of man, of course, He was Man—nobody denies that; and as Son o f God, of course, He was God—nobody ought to deny that. The proof in favor of the 'Deity o f Christ, that He really came down from heaven, and was not the product of the age in which He lived, is to me so overwhelming that I , believe anv man who knows the truth and will not accept Him as Di-
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without the ship; and to commit your self to the justice o f God without His mercy is like getting aboard the ship without the ocean. It is in the ship of His justice floated upon the ocean of His mercy that we sail into the haven of everlasting rest. Then, Possession and Expression. “ Because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the spirit of His Son into your hearts.” You become a possessor of the Spirit of Jesus Christ. There is something imparted to you. You be come a partaker o f the Divine nature; and that spirit expresses itself to wards God in the familiar prattle of the nursery, “ Abba Father.” We re gard God as great Creator, Ruler of the Universe, and when we approach Him it is with reverence and adora tion ; but as•children we come with the nursery prattle. We come with the familiar word, and God and His child understand it. Those who are eavesdropping may not be sympa thetic, because they have not partaken of that Spirit; and it is through Jesus Christ in His Incarnation that this im parting of the Spirit of Christ becomes possible at all. “ He that seen me hath seen the Father.” In Christ there is a revelation of the full Fatherhood of God. A gentleman in Boston, in an ad dress to a minister’s meeting, said he represented a settlement work, and the purpose of it was to prepare the way for the coming of God. He said, “ We never use the name o f God, we never use the name of Christ, for that would be an offence; but we prepare the people by living among them. Why, if we spoke o f the Fatherhood of God, some of those boys and girls with drunken parents would have a distorted idea of fatherhood. They know nothing of that except as mani fested by a cruel.drunkard. We stay there in their midst and live father hood, and let them see- what father hood in a Christian character really
your money is on my altar.” It was easy for Thomas to look up into His face, his reason, his conscience, his spiritual being responded, and say, “ My Lord and my God.” “ Born of a woman, made under the law.” We cannot go into that. I be lieve in the virgin birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, and His Deity hinges on the fact of His virgin birth. Now, the purposes o f the Incarna tion. It has in it three, couplets in the Scripture. First, Redemption and Adoption. “ To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.” Second, Pos session and Expression. “ Because you are sons God hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying Abba Father.” Thirdly, Son- ship and Heirship. “Wherefore thou are no more a servant but a Son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.” . Redemption and Adoption. The re demption seems to me, is universal. “ The propitiation for our sins, and not for our sins only, but also for the sins of the whole world.” Yet the adop tion is limited. “ As many as receive Him, to them gave He power to be come the Sons of God.” “ That we might receive the adoption of sons.” The Greek for that phrase is a single word. It means “ son-placing.” More than taking up a waif on the street and by a process of law adopting him into the family. I believe it would be no straining at that word to trans late it “ son-experience.” “ That we might receive a real son experience.” We become. sons of God through a new birth. “ There’s a wideness in God’s mercy, Like the wideness o f the sea Ana we bless Him for it! But there is a narrowness in God’s justice like the narrowness of the ship on the sea.. To commit- yourself to the mercy without the satisfaction of justice is like committing ypurself to the ocean
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means. Then after a few years, we can talk to them in a language they can understand.” Now, some one made this reply, and it struck me as very forcible, “ My dear friend, you go down to the slums o f Boston where your settlement work is, and preach Jesus Christ for forty five minutes and they will know more about the Fatherhood o f God than they can learn from your life in twelve years!” I believe he spoke the truth. When you have seen Christ you have seen the Father; and when you have par taken of the nature of Christ,’ you have partaken of the nature of the Father. We have received the Spirit of Christ, that expresses itself towards the Father in the familiar language of the nursery. Again, Sonship and Heirship. “ If a son, then an heir o f God through Christ.” It seems to me that is rather stable. The heirship depends upon the sonship, and the sonship is abso lutely immutable—once a son always a son. You can never unson a man. You can do a great many other things to him, but if you make anything de pend upon his sonship that is his for surety. “ If sons, then heirs.” And if I am certain that I am a son I am just as certain of heaven as if I was there. Possession and Expression—sonship and heirship rejoicing together. That brings us to a study of the Temptation o f Jesus as a Testing of the Incarnation. Shall we read a few Scriptures out of which our study will come? You will find them, o f course, in Matthew 4 ; then in Mark 1 and Luke 4. In Matthew 4 : “ Then was Jesus led up o f the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the Devil. And when He had fasted 40 days and 40 nights, He was afterward an hungered. And when the Tempter came to Him he said, ‘ If thou be the Son of God, com mand that these stones be made bread.’ But He answered and said,
‘It is written, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. Then the Devil taketh him up into the holy city and setteth Him on a pinna cle o f the temple and saith unto Him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thy self down: for it is written, He shall give His angels charge concerning thee; and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. Again, the Devil taketh Him up into an exceeding high mountain and showeth Him all the kingdoms o f the world, and the glory of them; and saith unto Him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. Then saith Jesus unto Mim, ‘Get thee hence, Satan, for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and Him only shalt thou serve. Then the Devil leaveth Him; and, behold, angels came and minis tered unto Him.” As a vestibule to our study, let us read some verses from Mark 1: 10-12, “ And straight way coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens opened and the Spirit like a dove descending upon Him, and there came a voice from heaven say ing, Thou art my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. And im mediately the Spirit, driveth Him into the wilderness.” Satan cometh (1 read between the lines) was summoned to this confer ence, and he came reluctantly. Back in the Garden of Eden he had defeat ed the first Adam, when everything was in his favor; and now he is sum moned to meet the last Adam in the wilderness when everything will be against him. I am quite certain that Jesus went to this conflict shrinkingly. It was a crisis in the history of the human race. Great battles always mark crises. The battles of Yorktown and Gettysburg
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were crises in the history o f America. The duel between Goliath and David was a crisis in the history of Israel; and this duel between the prince of the power o f the air, and the Lord Jesus Christ was a crisis in the history of our race. “ The Spirit driveth Him into the wilderness.” The word will not soften. It means what the Eng lish saith, “ The Spirit driveth Him.” In every fibre of the being of our Lord He shrank from the presence of the foul fiend. His sensitive holiness, His tenderness, His gentleness, everything in Him made Him shrink from con tact with the very climax of evil. So “ The Spirit driveth Him.” But read in the 10 th verse, “The Spirit like a dove descendeth upon Him.” The driving of the dove, no harsh ness, no severity. Matthew and Luke tell us He was led o f the Spirit. The Spirit’s leading is God’s driving. That is God’s compulsion, that is God’s must; and it drives not with the lash and the goad, but drives by the gentle influence of the dove. He deals with us gently and quietly and lovingly, “ I will guide thee with mine eye.” Keep near enough to see His eye, please, so that He may guide you by His ev ery look! There is to-day such a thing as be ing driven by the Spirit. Moses shrinking from the task was driven of Jehovah into Egypt. Wm. Carey was driven from his carpenter’s bench into Burmah. David Livingstone was driven from his native country into Africa. “ The love of Christ constrain- eth me.” I must go under the influ ence of that constraining^ power. Will it be out of place to speak a personal word? You ask me why I went to England. I can hardly tell you. I did not plan it. I had no thought of it. I received my first im pression to preach the Gospel by read ing Charles H. Spurgeon’s sermons in my father’s home. He was a moun
tain preacher, and he only had three or four books in his library, the Bible, and Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress and Cruden’s Concordance, and Cole ridge’s Poems (I never knew why!) and Spurgeon’s sermons as they came out volume by volume. He said to me more than once, for he preached the Gospel sixty nine years before he went to glory, “ All you need, my boy, are those four books. You burn up the rest o f your library, and you will be a better preacher.” I am inclined to think he was right! I did receive my inspiration to preach from Spurgeon’s sermons, but if anybody had told me that I might some time stand in Spur geon’s pulpit as the pastor of the Met ropolitan Tabernacle, I should have said, “ Impossible!” When the call came I stood bewildered, and I went because I could not help it. That is all I can say—just because I could not help it. I went shrinking, I went trembling, I went full of trepidation, believing that the God of Charles H. Spurgeon and John Wesley, and Whit field, and the rest of our fathers lived in England to-day. “ The Spirit driv eth Him.” Oh, let us be willing to be driven against our fleshly indulgence, against our plans, against all our scheming. Let us be willing to be driven even by the dove in gentleness and quietness of Spirit. Now let us go into it as far as time will permit; and you will see, as we study this testing of the Incarnation in the Temptation o f our Lord the purpose of Satan. Let me say first o f all,—bear it in mind—that the pur pose of Satan was to deflect Christ from the cross. He knew what the cross meant and his purpose was to destroy the sacrificial mission of our Lord, and to give Him any other mis sion however glorious. He made these three appeals. The first was to the physical nature; the second to the spiritual nature, the third—and we shall show you I think, a distinction
•¿’O'dUHi «S.Ï-; x 5 BUSINESS .'oF- I S 1, ';-
io ' THE KING ’! with a difference—to the moral nature of Jesus. , , { The first appeal was along’ a low line; it was a coarse appeal compared with* the other two. Jesús was faken up; with spiritual things. He forgot ttf’éat. He was hungry. There is no sin in being hungry ; hunger is a sign of health, i Pity the man who !nevef- gets hungry! I am sorry for him if- he gòes to the table just because the bell had rung withqút-any appéfíte; There is a hunger -and thirst aïfëî- righteousness t|iat means health of* soul, ' and hunger of body means good physical health. '-There is- nothing’ wrong in gratifying hunger of body;' in eating bread. It is wrong .not to eat it under certain circumstances. Satan tells Jesus to do a right thing. “ You are hungry; you need bread. I know, though the people...about you may not know, that thou art.Creator, that Thou didst speak worlds into ex istence, that Thou- didst make thè; fields that make the bréad: I know* that you have .power -Just to speák: to these stones and they will become 1 bread. •Speak, and satisfy your hun-- ge_r.” It was a request to do a right thing on the wrong side,..a right thing under the Devil’s auspices, a right thing within-Satan’s circle. If Christ had obeyed Satan He would have moved Hipjself from-the circle of God to the circle of Satan. Moses, you.rememberj did a wrong thing on the right side. He looked out and around and seeing nobody, he-, killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. He did not happen to look up ;., if he had, perhaps he would not have: done it. The next dâÿ two Israelites- were quarreling. -He tried to settle the quarrel between -thèm, and they said, “ You will kill one of us as you- did the Egyptian yesterday.” He had lost his influence. He did wrong on the right side, and then was u-nablé to dò right on the right side when the op-: portunity came. That is the experi-
É f l g sJjfetë ft ’ enee of not a few. The Devil would have Its, either do wrong on the right side o f fight on the wrong side—and it make's no difference‘to him which! Bq^a good thing in connection with a. bad thing, and the g ood . thing wilt have the. quality o f the bad. You put. a.;drop of clear water in a glass. ;of ink; and it makes little impression.; but you put a! drop of' ink ill a glpss o f clear wafer and you have ink .as- to result. The Lord Jesus refused to .obey Satah,-eveii to satisfy hunger ; and ,He' appealed to the §cripture fQr ffis au-, thòrity. I think'yod will'find ft sug-' gestive to turn over to Genesft 3:1, thè Devil’s first question, “ Yea, hath God 'said,-'Ye shall not eat o f ’ ëvéfÿ tree o f the Garden ?” jg “ Hath God. said ?”—calling- ip|question thé' fact o f revelation. That is the little aper ture through which sin entered thé world. Eve replied, “ God hath. said;” , and the Devil saw-it was^ not worth' while- going on that-line any further,- so he flatly denied the truth of revela- tiqri—“ Ye shall surely not die.” : Now'the Lord Jesus comes at Satan' with the sw'ord that He.'had tried to. set aside; . Satan called in. question the fact that God had spokèn at all, and. the„Lord comes back at Him with the ' sword that he would ‘have laid afeide . when he knew that the one thing ‘ stronger' than he was the revelation- of God. Jesus said, “ it is written,- Man shall not -live by bread alone, but' by every word that proceedetb out of the mouth o f God.” “ Man shall not' live by bread alone.” He can have a physical existence by bread but ex istence is not life. I can imagine this stand existing a million years just as dead then as it is now. Perpetuity- of existence is not eternal life. Im mortality is not eternal life ;-“ This is- eternal -life that you know God, and Jesus.. Christ whom He hath sent." • And on this side of the grave or the other eternal life is knowing; God, - Man shall live not by the bread that
THE KING’; continues the existence of the body, but by the Word incarnate, and every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. We know God through His Word, and there comes jo us eternal life through this knowledge of God. Not existence, (bear that, , Ira ' mind ! Hence eternal death is not annihila tion—that is, the ceasing of existence. Eternal death is eternal ignorance of God. Man shall live by this knowl edge o f God. We have not time' to develop that further. Notice the appeal to the spir itual nature. Satan did not continue; the.tactics ; that’ hf had pursued with Ève any ' further ; he saw, it .was no ’ ttsp. He said ‘to Eve, “ Hath Go,ci said?” | Eve sani, '“ He hasX,He has spoken.” Then he bqgan to deceive her and say, “ Ye shall not die.” Ho knew he could not .'deceive the Lord Jestis so ‘he accepts the revelation and says, “ Yes. Now come with me to the top of the temple tower. Look down upon thè people. You have heard the. voice from heaven, ‘This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.’ Show to the people that you are God. Cast thyself down. iViake a spectacular display o f thy power. There is no need of going by the Cross and the resurrection to establish your Deity; establish it by,this wonderful sign here in the presence of the- peo ple. For it is written.” Then Jesus said, “ It is written again.” The Lord always meets dis located Scripture by another Scrip ture. “ It is written again.” It is the “ agpirts” that confound the Devil He can take one passage of Scripture and do what he pleases with it; it is the “ agains” that put him to silence. It is the consensus of Scripture that gives us the mind o f God. I f you will turn to Psalm 91 and“read what the Devil quoted you will see his • stratagem again. He leaves out just one little phrase. “He shall .give his angels charge oyer thee to keep thee,” said I
BUSINESS 11 Satan. That is all he said, but the Psalm says, “He, shall give his angels fharge over thee tp keep thee in all thy ways.” There is no. promise to keep him in the- ways of the Devil. Oh, no, not a. bit, but in the ways o f’ God. “ He shall keep thee in all thy ways.” Satan takes just that portion of Scrip ture that sqits,.his purpose, you.see, All of it is true, but it is not the whole truth. Hp takes.the Scripture,..and he passes it off, in a sense for more than it is worth, . The picture, that you see of Satan with forked .tail and. snorting fire'.you had better blot out. Paul tells us in ? Corinthians .il r14 that he is now an a.Ugel, “ a messenger of light,” Satan himself,is transformed into an angel o f light and . he wants his ministers to be ministers o f righteousness .1 It is thè mission o f Satan to give light, but-eounterfeit light. And the very attributes o f our Lord —Oh, we must say it gently—the very attributes o f our Lord he counterfeits. I have heard imen preach who would not mention the blood, who did not bow the hnee to Christ, who had re jected His Deity, and everything fun damental to Christianity, and yet praised the Lord Jesus Christ in a way that thrilled me. They would speak o f His manliness, His purity,' His sympathy, His love, and,- taking the very attributes o f Jesus, would shine away the offense o f the cross and the atoning blood -by the vèry’ light that comes from the human nature o f Jesus Christ our Lord. That is'what Satan is at to-dày; he takes a dislocated passage o f Scrip ture and he builds a ‘ whole 'system upon that, and the Lord says to him, It is written again.” Look through the Bible and get the consensus o f truth. Next Satan makes an appeal to the moral nature of. jChrist. Spirituality means our relation to God. IVIorality means, in a limited sense, our relation
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THE KING’S BUSINESS
to; man. Ethics means right relation with people; spirituality means right relation with God. If you want to class both of them under the spiritual I will not quarrel with you, but it seems to me that there is a distinction with a difference. When the Devil had failed through an appeal to the coarse physical nature, and that through the more subtle appeal to the spiritual nature, he appealed to the moral sense. The appeal to the spir itual nature is the appeal to-day. Oh, how anxious he is that Christian peo ple should seek the spectacular! Throw yourself down from the tem ple; show it in a spectacular way. Perform a sign! “ A wicked and adul terous generation seeketh after a sign!” It is a faith that trusts Jesus without spectacular display, it is a faith that moves the arm of God with
out the things that make the world gape that is the need of the Church. When Satan had 'failed here he takes Jesus up to the mountain and shows Him the kingdoms of the world. We will have to stop there! He says, “ If you will recognize me as supreme, if you will fall down before me and acknowledge my supremacy, I will give them to you, for they have been delivered to me.” He told the truth for once. The world kingdoms were his, not given of God; but given by the kingdoms themselves. I am afraid that it is too true to-day, that modern civilization is a deflection from the cross. Armies kill their enemies, they not die for them. Modern civiliza tion is founded upon the bayonet and the cannon and the navy, more than the Cross.
The Almighty,the All-Merciful By J. H. SAMMIS “Power belongeth unto God. Also unto thee, 0 Lord, belongeth mercv 1 Psalm 62 :11,12. ^ S TRONG Son of God, and kind as strong, Mercy and might to thee belong; Among the mighty Thou alone Art worth the Universal throne; All-able and all-loving, too, T o Thee our wills,'our hearts are due.
Thy sovereign love in grace exceeds A seraph’s thought, a sinner’s needs. Thy loving-kindness shares our grief; Thy greatness stoops to our relief; How strong to compass our defence; How kindly to our penitence. Before thine anger who could stand To dare thy. wrath or stay thy hand? But pity like a fountain flows To bless thy poor ; to spare thy foes.
Thy Kingdom come and never cease, Thy grace, thy mercy and thy peace, While wondering worlds adoring sing Their happy lot, their gracious King. Ye kings and judges hither haste, Come, kiss the Son, His mercy taste; And you, ye poor, securely rest On your almighty Brother’s breast.
Lord, grant that we, who daily prove Thy gentle care, Almighty Love, Now strong through grape by Thee bestowed, May show, the kindness of our God,
The Fundamental Principles of Christianity in the Light of Modern Thinking* By JOHN M. MacINNIS, B. D. II. The Doctrine of God.—Luke 10:22; Acts 17:22-31.
I T is impossible to think very long about things as we see and know them, without asking questions which lead us to the very foundations o f thought. Where did this world Come from ? Why is it as it is ? Is any power, or person responsible for it ? To attempt to answer these ques tions involves a study of God, and this study at once leads us' to the heart of all constructive thinking. What, according to Luke’s account, are some of the things that Jesus taught concerning God? To begin with, we are challenged with the claim that He alone is able to reveal God—“ No one knoweth who the Father is save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son willeth to reveal Him.” These are striking words. There can be no doubt that they are the words of Christ. Dr. Plummer says that it is impos sible upon any principles of criticism to question their genuineness. What ever the full significance o f the words there can be no question of the fact that in them Christ claimed for Him self supreme place in the matter of revealing God. He would be a bold man who would challenge this claim. Even those who reject Christ as “ God manifest in the flesh,” readily grant that He revealed God more perfectly than any one else who has ever lived. Therefore it is of superlative import ance that we should study with the greatest care what Jesus reveals con cerning God. It is impossible to go •Copyright, 1913, by John M. Maclnnis. An pd^ress delivered at the Montrose, Penn., Bible Conference.
into a study of details in our present study. At most we can only touch upon some of the outstanding facts. But we hope to touch upon these in such a way as to suggest the richness of the subject. and to incite a fuller study of the whole question. As we take up the story of Christ as recorded by Luke and go over it with this question of the revelation of God uppermost in our minds one o f the first things that impresses us is that Jesus never attempted to prove the existence of God. From the very first the story thrills with the consciousness of His presence and everywhere in it you are made to feel the tremendous reality of this presence. Christ lived God, and His, conscious relation with Him was the determining factor in all that He did and said. The second thing that impresses us is that the God of the consciousness of Christ was the God of the Old Tes tament. He was fulfilling the things concerning which the God o f the Old Testament spoke through priest and prophet, and carrying out the program that was introduced by them. It is simply impossible to separate the Gos pel of Luke from the Old Testament revelation and program. In the third place we are startled to find that notwithstanding the fact that Christ declares in the plainest lan guage possible that He knows the Father, He never attempts a definition of the nature and person of God. If there had been a definition you may depend upon it the scientific mind of Luke would have laid hold of it. There is much that.is clearly inferred,
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THE KING’S BUSINESS
and, indeed, cannot be logically es caped, but there is no definition. That fact is worth pondering. Jesus knew that men could believe and love God without a scientific definition of His nature and person. Furthermore, be cause Jesus knew God, He also knew that the finite mind could hever grasp a, definition of the Infinite. This, however, does not mean that Jesus did not reveal much that we can measurably understand concerning God and His relations with thè world. Op the contrary,He lived God in such a way that a little child can understand much o f what He revealed concerning Him. Let us note-a few o f these things. * 1. He showed that He is the su preme one—Lord of Heaven and earth, who alone is to be worshiped ( Luke 4 :8 ; 10:21). As the supreme One He is active- in Creation and Providence 12:7, 24, 28). As He looked Upon 1 nature with all her beau ties and activities He said, “ God; my Father, paints the lily and watches over the sparrow. He is not indiffer ent to the most insignificant of her interests.” This is a wonderful pic ture of a Creator actively engaged in directing and sustaining the activities of His own Creation. 2. He also showed that this One who is in and above natur'e directing all her processes is Our Father. The supreme revelatibn which Jesus made was His revelation of God as our Father, with a Father’s love and ten derness which are manifested in a pro gram of redemption which He is carry ing out through Jesus Christ ( 'l l ; 12; 35-36 ; 11: 2-4 ; 12: 30 ; 15), •The pic ture of father love which Luke gives us in chapter 15 is the most beautiful picture of love ever painted in human words. However, in our emphasis of the Father’s love and tenderness we must not lose sight of the essential fact of Fatherhood. The fundamental fact in Fatherhood is the paternal pas
sion—the desire to reproduce his own life and image. It is interesting to note that this is the vital fact around which nature and history center. It is the key to their activities and devel opments. In this fact we have the key to God’s relations with the universe. The essential fact in the Divine nature is 'the fact of Fatherhood. Therefore the paternal passion seeks a means by which to reproduce the Divine life. This, then, is the chief end of creation. If God /is supreme this must be the goal towards which all things are moving. Therefore we may naturally expect to find Creation culminating in an instrument capable of giving ex pression to the Divine life. This is what we find. This, then, is the heart fact of Fatherhood. It is not that God loves us. That is true. Indeed it is essen tial to the fullest and deepest expres sion of Fatherhood/ But the deepest fact of the Fatherhood of God is the paternal passion—the desire to repro duce His own life of righteousness and holiness in His creation. This revelation received supreme ‘emphasis in the life of Christ, and was accepted by His disciples in the first century. They accepted this twofold revelation without any attempt at definition or explanation. They worshiped’ God as revealed in Jesus Christ, and present in life in the person of the Holy Spirit who sought constantly to form Christ in them the hope o f glory; In later days men began to specu late about the nature and person of God and attempted to define these in scientific statements or Creeds. These attempts were given permanent form by the Councils of Nicsea and Con stantinople 325 and 381 A. D. “ They affirmed the co-equal and co-eternal existence of three centers of personal life and activity in the unity of the Divine Being; ‘The Father Almighty,
THE KING ’S BUSINESS
51
The Spanish Work
On the first of December our Spanish Mission was moved from 603 North Main street to 639ji San Fernando street. The location is better as it is on a street in the very heart of Sonora or Spanish town. Nightly open air meetings are still contin ued at the corner of Main and Republic streets in front of the Brunswig Drug Com pany, generally between six and seven o’clock in the evening, afterward di rectly in front of the Mission Hall.- The hall is better than the old one, and so far the increased attendance shows the wisdom of the change. Friday evening, December the 12th, a Gospel message was given from Matthew 19:i3, 14, showing the Lord’s willingness to receive all that will come to Him, and the need of a child-like spirit among His disciples and how such a spirit can only be in one surrendered to Him and filled by His Spirit. Then after two or three testi monies from the believers present, the in vitation to accept Christ was given and one man deliberately stood up and said that he would. He then came forward and pub licly confessed to accept Christ Jesus as his Saviour and Lord. He looked as though he meant every word. Then after prayer for him and thanksgiving he was given the Gospel of John and some other literature, Many times Satan hinders by putting lit tle obstacles in the path of the workers to keep them from an immediate victory for Christ. In that time God gives boldness and an expectation to His faithfulness. It was so in the case of a fine young fellow, a wireless operator; on a coast-line steamer, who accepted Christ as his personal Saviour. When the "worker tried to board that ship the man in charge of the dock said, “ No, it’s no use, we do not believe it (the Gos pel), we are all free-thinkers on this ship and we are all busy.” Taken back a little by this unexpected hindrance, he paused a moment, asking for wisdom, and not be
and instructed more fully in the way of life; emphasis being laid upon the reading of the Word and prayer. His frequent at tendance at the mission since attests to a real work o f regeneration. Another who accepted the Lord in Sep tember went away a day or two afterwards. A letter was received from him asking for two Bibles and some literature, which were sent to him. The first of December he re turned from San Francisco on purpose to be baptised and received into one of the evangelical churches. A spècial meeting of the session o f the Presbyterian Church was called and he was baptised and received is a member. The next day he returned to San Francisco, taking with him quite a sup ply of Gospel literature. Word from him since tells" of his continued service for the Master. A man at Clearwater, where weekly meet ings are being held, has voluntarily given fifty cents toward expenses every time the worker has gone there. When conversion reaches the pocketbook it looks encourag ing. Weekly visits at the County Hospital have been blessed. One who had accepted Christ there during these visits is now out and is one of our attendants at the mission. L. H. J amison , Superintendent. ing led to say then that they must be all “ free from ever thinking” went aboard the ship anyway. The operator was found and in the course o f conversation the fact was revealed that he was unsaved and that his mother was supplying him with literature regarding Christian Science and that he was in darkness of unbelief. “ Have you read Mrs. Eddy’s books?” he questioned the worker. “That woman does not know her self what she is talking about. I can’t see head or tail to it.” The Gospel was pre sented and decision for Christ urged. Hë accepted Christ, saying, "I am so glad you came. I never heard it explained that way
The Harbor Work for Seamen
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THE KING’S BUSINESS
God is absolutely holy and righteous. Therefore the goal of life is right eousness. God is seeking a right life. That is the greatest and deepest fact that we know concerning God. Men have emphasized the Fatherhood of God in such a. way as to make it seem that he is all father love and therefore indifferent to our morals. “ It does not make much difference what we do all will be well when we meet Him. He is all love and will overlook our faults and weaknesses.” This kind of sentiment has had a most fatal in fluence upon our ethical life. It has wholly failed to move men towards the ideal. We were told that if we would only preach this conception of God men would flock to our banners. Now we realize that they have not so flocked and we are becoming weary and restless. Prof. Eucken says, “ A weariness o f the world and a deep dislike to its limitations are becoming more and more general. We feel that life must forfeit all meaning and value if man ma.y not strive towards some lofty goal in dependence on a power that is higher than man, and as he reaches forward realize himself more fully than he could ever do under the conditions of sense-experience. Cut off from, the larger life of the universe, and shut up in a sphere o f his own, he is condemned to an unbearable nar row and paltry existence, and the deeps of his own nature are locked away from him. Thus today we hear a great deal of the superhuman and the superman, but, for all the genuine longing that such a movement may embody, it cannot but degenerate into mere idle words if this superhuman be sought within the world of sense- experience within the sphere of our immediate existence. He must either break with the realistic culture or re nounce all hope of inwardly raising humanity and realizing the meaning: of life.”
This is the word of one of our greatest philosophers and not the word of an evangelist. But, where are we going to find this outside help that is so essential to the redemption of our life from this fatal narrowness and paltry existence of which he speaks? So far as I know human thought and human history there is but one thing that can meet this tremendous chal lenge of the best thought of: our day. Our help cometh from Jehovah who was revealed by Christ as Our Father who is in heaven. This revelation alone can meet the deepest need of our life. It not only stands the test of our best thinking, but is found to be essen tial to the realization of life as under stood by the greatest thinkers of our day. But this revelation of Fatherhood is a challenge to holiness of life. If we are the Sons of God we must have the life of God in us. “ We must purify ourselves even as He is pure.” This is the logic o f the New Testament Fatherhood, and is the thing that meets the need of our time. Eucken is absolutely right when he says that we are hopeless if the ideal is to be sought within ourselves. We are de pendent upon a higher power and that power is made available in JesuS Christ. The hope o f the world is in. meeting God in Jesus Christ and be ing reconciled to Him. At this point the life of God comes into our lives- and lifts us from the narrowness arid bondage of sin into the freedom of sons of God. This' is a philosophy of life which has always worked and works today when put to the test. It is the truest and most comprehensive philosophy of life that I know any thing about. It does hot flatter the flesh, but it saves us from our sins, and that after all is the supreme thing. It makes men holy and that is the chief end o f life.
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