November 1925
é72
T H E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
The F irs t Bible Conference As reported by Richard Wells, Bushkill, Pennsylvania, in “The Episcopal Recorder,” forty-one years ago.
“The Scriptures were the in-breathing of the thoughts of God by human lips, through human agents, any single syllable being as thoroughly inspired as the sentence, ‘God was manifested in the flesh.’ ” The teachers'of the Conference are men who preach the sovereignty of God, our fall in Adam and utterly lost estate, salvation only in the blood of Jesus through faith, and are not afraid to tell out to the unbeliever, no matter how amiahle and cultured he may be, that he is going down to hell; They do not preach, like most of the preachers, that “There is a good time coming,” but appear to take the Holy Spirit at His Word when He writes that there is first an evil time coming (2 Tim. 3 :1 ). Being earnest Bible students, they all hold the doctrine of the Second Coming of our Lord, which “blessed hope” continually breaks out in their - prayers and songs and praise. Their prayers are remarkable for shortness and sweetness; we have not once heard them ask God'to send His Holy Spirit (jown into their hearts, for they know so well that they are sealed with Him until the day of Redemption, and they really believe that the Lord Jesus will keep His promise made in John 14; 16; but we do hear them daily cry that He may be manifested in greater power. Nor do they close their prayers with the stereotyped form, “and at last save us all in heaven for Jesus’ sake,” for they know on the authority of God’s Word that they are now as completely saved, if believers, as they ever will be in Heaven. Nor do. they seem to believe so much in the “per severance of the saints,” as they do in the perseverance of the Lord, who has said of the believer that “no man is able to pluck him out of His Father’s hand.” Nor do they appear to place much reliance upon the thoughts or opin- iops of men, the question always being, “What does God say about it?” For instance, Rev. Dr. Brookes will sometimes startle us with, “this is what that poor, miserable, wretched being —man— says, but that God says so and so.” To those of your readers who are acquainted With the writings of the Rev. Dr. Brookes, and have been instructed and blessed by his “Way Made Plain,” his “Maranatha,” .and “The Truth,” we would like to say just here that we think they could pick him out from a score of men, as we did ourselves. Coming upon the croquet ground, soon after we arrived, we pointed to one of a group of gentlemen and said, “There stands Dr. Brookes!” The way he struck the ball reminded us of the hits he knows how to give so well, say to Whitby or Dr. David Brown; and when he would drive his adversary’s ball flying across the ground, you could not help but recognize the hand that sends t h e 'shot so hot into the legalizing Professors and D. D.’s of the present day. It was Dr. Brookes who gave the first Bible reading of the Conference on “Jesus Only,” thus striking the keynote for the week, but especially did we enjoy his sermon on Sun day from 1 Peter 5:10, showing how the Lord gives grace now to the believer for every need, and promises him only glory for the future. If space permitted we would like to give you some of the points brought out in each of the sub jects taken up for Bible study, but as there were four a day throughout the week, we will only mention a few we thought the best, which, however, is rather difficult to do, for all were so good, so full and rich with Gospel truth, we (Continued on page 520)
Bible Conferences have been held in our coun- this summer, and many of the children of have had their faith stimulated and strength- 1 thereby. We thank God for every gathering of this kind in which the Written and Living Word of God have been exalted and honored. We are sure that every lover of the truth will be greatly interested in this little story of the first Bible Conference ever held in this country, which has been sent to us by Mr. Richard Wells,—a beloved member of The King’s Business Family. Mr. Wells attended this conference (later known as “The Niagara Bible Conference” ), and sent this report of the proceedings to The Episcopal Recorder of Phila delphia. Personally, the editor is very glad to have it, for he him self met some of the speakers mentioned and learned to love them. This first conference and some of those which fol lowed in that hallowed place; greatly influenced his life and aided him in his decision to yield himself for service for Jesus Christ. Niagara, Ontario, August 1, 1884. We promised you in our last letter to write again and give you the names of those most prominent at the “Believers’ Meeting for Bible Study” and to also furnish you with addi tional particulars concerning it. Ministers connected with all the principal denominations of “the States” are here, while we also notice quite a num ber of clergymen, daily coming and going from Toronto, and the other numerous towns of Canada in this vicinity. There are present of the Presbyterian Church, Rev. James H. Brookes, of St. Louis; of the Baptist Church, Rev. E. Harris, of Toronto; of the Methodist Episcopal Church, Rev. L. W. Munhall, of Indianapolis; of the Dutch Reformed Church, Rev. W. W. Clark, of Staten Island; of the Church of England, Rev. T. C. Desbarres, of Toronto; and of the R. E. Church, Rev.,G. Albert Redles of Scranton; also Judge Ardagh of Barrie, Canada. Ministers Of the P. E. Church are conspicuous by their absence. In addition to the above, there are present Prof. W. G. Moorehead of the U. P. Seminary, Xenia, O.; and Prof. J. T. Cooper, of the U. P. Seminary, Allegheny, Penna. The fol lowing evangelists are also here; Major Whittle, Geo. C. Needham and his three brothers;. Harry Sayles, H. T. Wil liams, St. Louis; H. W. Brown, Chicago, and R. G. Pearson, Nashville; while the singing is conducted by Mr. and Mrs. McGranahan. To the lover of the truth as it is in Jesus it is certainly a most gratifying sight, in this day of ritualism, broad- churchism, skepticism and infidelity, to see men coming from points as far South as Texas, and as far West as Minnesota, simply to sit for a season at the feet of Jesus, and be taught of Him. As all here are of one mind upon the essential doctrines of the Bible, no time is wasted in discussion, but every minute of each session is taken up to see what God says upon the subject before them. There is one subject about which all are most positive, and that is, the verbal and plenary inspiration of the Scrip tures. The Rev. H. M. Parsons, of Toronto, brought this out in one of his Bible messages, when he said, “The Bible is inspired, absolutely and eternally, from the first letter of Genesis to the- last letter of Revelation,” and further added,
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