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VOL. IV
MAY, 1913 NO. 5 I heKings Business The First Paragraph in J o h n P i e r p o n t M o r g a n ’s W i l l “ TT COMMIT my soul into the hands of my Saviour, in full confidence that having redeemed it and washed it in his most precious blood, he will present it faultless before the throne of my Heavenly Father; and I entreat my children to maintain and defend at all hazard and at any cost of per sonal sacrifice, the blessed doctrine of the complete atonement for sin, through the blood of Jesus Christ, once offered, and through that alone.”
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v : X ' MOTTO: “I the Lord do keep it. I will water it every moment lest any hurt it, I will keep it night and day.”—Is. 27:3 THE KING’S BUSINESS - R.' A. TOjRREY, Editor v J. H. SAMMIS, T. C.j HORTON, J . H. HUNTER, Associate Editors Entered as Second-Class matter November 17, 1910, at the postofflce at Los Angeles, California, under th eA ct of March 3, 1879.! : Organ of the Bible Institute of Los Angeles [Inc.] Auditorium Building, Cor. Fifth and Olive, Los Angeles, California. Lyman -Stewart, President. Rev. A. B. Prichard, Vice-President. J. M. Irvine, Secretary-Treasurer. T. C. Horton, Superintendent. R. A. Torrey, Dean H. A. Getz. Giles Kellogg. E. A. K. Hackett. . Robert Watchorn. S. I, Merrill. ^ William Tbom. DOCTRINAL STATEMENT. We hold to the Historic Faith of the Church as expressed in the Common Creed of Evangelical Christendom and including: Thè Trinity of the Godhead. The Deity of the Christ. The Personality of the Holy Ghost. The Supernatural and Plenary authority of thè 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. The Maintenance of Good Works. The Second Coming of Christ. The Immortality of the Soul, j The Resurrection of the Body. The Life Everlasting of Believers. The Endless Punishment of the Impenitent. The Reality and Personality of Satan. DIRECTORS.
OUR WORK.
(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 and neighborhood classes. (8) Oil Fields. A mission to men on the oil 'fields. (9) Books and Tracts. Sale and distribution of selected books and tracts.
Pnrnnnp The Institute trains, free of r u i pusE cost, accredited men and women, in the knowledge and use of the Bible. Departments cept Saturdays and Sundays. (2) Extension work. Classes and conferences held in neighboring cities and towns. (3) Evangelistic. Meetings conducted by our evangelists.
The K ing’s Business Vol. 4 MAY, 1913 No. 5 Table of Contents. Editorials: God’s Way Not Ours-—God’s Call to Repent ance and Man’s Heedlessness of the Call—China’s Call for P ray e r............................... . . . . . . . . .......................... . 215 Livingstone’s Life of Faith. By Basil Mathews, M.A........ 217 The Heart of Africa. By C. T. Studd................................... 219 The Dawn of a New Revival...................................................... 223 “ Ask What Thou Wilt.” (Poem) By J. H. Sammis.......... 226 Studies in the Gospel According to John (continued). By R. A* Tprrey................................. V ................................ 227 Memories. (Poem) S e lec ted ........... t .................................... 232 Questions and Answers. By R. A. Torrey......................... .. 233 “ The Fundamentals ” ................................................ .............. 235 The International Sunday School Lessons. By J. H. S........ 236 The Heart of the Lesson. By T. C. Horton........................... 243 At Home and Abroad ........................................................ . 247 Hints, and Helps.......................................................................... 251 The Bible Institute of Los Angeles........................................ . 255 SUBSCRIPTION RATES . . . FIFTY CENTS A YEAR Published by the Bible In stitu te of Los Angeles Auditorium Building, Cor. Fifth & Olive Sts.
DOCTOR T ORR E Y SAYS Every Christian Should Own These BE ST BOOKS Known as the Montrose Library No. 1—HOW TO BRING MEN TO CHRIST (121 pages), toy Dr. R. A. Torrey. A book regarded for years as a standard work on dealing with individuals of all classes No. 2—THE DIVINE UNITY OF THE SCRIPTURES (304 pages), by Dr. Adolph Saphir. It is a great religious classic. No 3—CHRIST AND THE SCRIPTURES (142 pages), iby Dr. Adolph Saphir. A companion work to Dr. Saphir’s “The Divine Unity of the Scriptures.” No. 4—THE HIDDEN LIFE (291 pages), by Dr. Adolph Saphir. One of the most helpful books in English literature. No. 5—THE WONDERS OF PROPHECY (231 pages), by John Urquhart. A valuable introduction to the study of prophecy. No. 6—THE LORD FROM HEAVEN (134 pages), by' Sir Robert Anderson, K. C. B., LL. D. A great contribution to current discussions on the Diety of Jesus Christ.
No. 7—THE GOSPEL AND ITS MINISTRY (183 pages), by Sir Robert Anderson, K. C. B„ LL. D. This is a standard work on the fundamental truths of Christianity. No. 8—A DOUBTER’S DOUBTS ABOUT SCIENCE AND RELIGION (144 pages), by Sir Robert Anderson, K. C. B., LL. D. This book discusses the divine origin of the Bible, evolution, and kindred themes. No. 9—THE GROWING CHURCH
(130 pages), by Rev. Cleland B. McAfee, D.D. A study of the Epistle to the Ephesians by a most gifted minister in the Presbyterian Church. No. 10—THE HIGHER CRITICISM AND THE NEW THEOLOGY (250 pages), Edited by Dr. R. A. Torrey. A book containing contributions from most gifted, scholarly, and evangelical men in England and America. No. 11—"SATAN” (163 pages), by Lewis S. Chafer. This is the most thorough biblical study on Satan with which we are acquainted. THEY ARE THE VERY CHOICEST OF ALL CHRISTIAN LITERATURE This Set of 11 Books paper bound now only costs you : 1 O 5 If ordered by mail include 32c extra for postage *lr Address all orders to BIBLE INSTITUTE BOOK ROOM AUDITORIUM BUILDING Cor. 5th and Olive Sts., LOS ANGELES, CALIF. Send and get a set of these BEST BOOKS and when you know how good they are Anratifo W iH lfp d if you think you can sell them to others, write us for Agents’ Terms. 111
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Voi. 4
APRIL, 1913
No. 5
God’s Ways Not Ours O UR God is constantly doing, or permitting to be done, things which we in our shortsightedness cannot understand, but though God’s ways are often inscrutable and His judgments unsearchable (Rom. 11:33), nevertheless His ways and judgments are always right. His ways are as much higher than our ways, and His thoughts as much higher than our thoughts, as the heavens are higher than the earth .(Isa. 55 :8, 9). In the early church there was no one who seemed better fitted for long life and efficient service than Stepheh, and yet God permitted him to be cut off in the very beginning of his ministry. We can see now how Stephen accomplished far more by dying than he could possibly have accomplished by living, but the Christians of that day could not have seen it. Yesterday the Associated Press brought the information that William Borden had died in Cairo, Egypt. We know of no young life that was more full of promise for usefulness in the Church of Christ than his. He was 25 years old, possessed of very large wealth, a graduate of Yale College and Princeton Theological Seminary, in both of which institutions he had made a fine record; and he had turned his back upon all the opportunities that his social and financial position offered him here in America and had gone to Cairo, Egypt, to learn Arabic as a further preparation to do missionary work in the heart of China among the Mohammedan population. He had determined to devote all his wealth to the work of Jesus Christ. We have known him ever since boyhood. It was our privilege and joy to receive him as a boy into the fellowship of the Chicago Avenue Church. A few years later through his father’s death, he fell heir to a large fortune, but he was not in the least spoiled by it. He was never moved from the soundest orthodoxy by different forms of error with which he came in very close contact. He never seemed to be even tempted to give up simplicity of living and devotion to Christ by the many temptations that come to a young man possessed of large wealth. In the last conversation that we had with him he very quietly but forcibly voiced his determination to go out under the China Inland Mission rather than under a church board, and a desire to be ordained in the Chicago Avenue Church rather than in some more ostentatious way. He was a singularly strong and lovable young man, and now he is taken away at the very beginning of his usefulness. Some are saying, “We cannot understand it.” No, we cannot and we do not need to. Our business is not to understand God’s ways but to trust Him. That for some reason, which God has not seen fit to reveal, it was far better for William Borden to depart and be with Christ than to stay here and work for Him, we do not for one moment question. Many who read these words may have been called upon to part with those whom they' dearly love and whose lives seemed full of richest promise, and you cannot understand it. You do not need to understand it. God knows best. His thoughts are not our thoughts, and His ways are not our ways, but as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are His ways higher than our ways,
216 THE KING’S BUSINESS and His thoughts than our thoughts, and some day we shall praise Him for the very things which we now least understand. God’s Call to Repentance and Man’s Heedlessness of the Call T HE past few weeks have been full of such widespread disasters through cyclones and floods and storms as this country has seldom experienced before. Thousands of lives and millions of dollars have been lost. The papers have been full of the accounts of misery and death, and yet in no account have we seen the slightest suggestion that we should hear the voice of God speaking to us in these terrible disasters. When, in our Lord’s day, the tower fell in Siloam and killed 18 persons, our Lord interpreted it* as a -call to repentance to others, not because those upon whom the tower fell were sinners above others, but just because they were not. God is speaking to us in every calamity that overtakes men; He is telling us of the transitory character of earthly wealth and the uncertainty of our own lives, and the need that we be always prepared to meet Him; but the average man has no ear for the voice of God. Men instead of heeding God’s warning, simply inquire what they can do to make property more secure. Earthly possessions cannot be made secure. They are not intended to be secure; they are simply a trust committed to us to use for God while we have them. We live in an age in which men are boasting great things and are forgetting God; and when God lets His winds blow or His rains fall, we are utterly helpless, but we are never ready to confess our helplessness. There is no lesson that men need more to learn than that of their utter helplessness before God, and absolute dependence upon God; but there is no lesson that they are so unwilling to learn. Our age is one of increasing godlessness, not immorality, but godlessness. God is not in all our thoughts. In our prevailing ethical teaching man’s whole duty is represented as being just and loving in our dealings with our fellowman. That we have any duty to perform toward the infinite God we have quite forgotten. Yet when one stops to remember that God is infinite and man is finite, and that no number of finites equals infinity, then it becomes clear that if we should do our whole duty toward every member of the human race and fail in our duty toward the one infinite God, that where we had done our duty would be as nothing to where we had neglected to do our duty. God’s rights are superior to the rights of the whole human race, and the one who fails in his duty toward God has failed utterly even though he should do his duty toward every human being. I N 1807 Robert Morrison, first Protestant missionary to China, landed at Canton. The New York merchant through whom he engaged his passage, said, “with a sardonic grin,” “And so, Mr. Morrison, you really expect to make an impression on the idolatry of the great Chinese empire?” •“No, sir,” replied the man of God, “I expect God to do it.” And God has. China has turned from joss to Jesus. The glorious news has just gone out that China’s government begs China’s church to pray for wisdom for the civil councils. “It is marvellous in our eyes.” Not a century since Tsae-Ako, the first convert, confessed Christ,—and now 300,000,000 of his countrymen, through their official representatives, ask Him to “teach their senators wisdom.” The new republic appeals to Pleaven for recognition, and it shall not be disappointed. Morrison was right,—God has done it.
THE KING’S BUSINESS Livingstone’s Life of Faith* A Study in Personality and Achievement By BASIL MATHEWS, M. A. Editorial Secretary of the London Missionary Society
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I F EVER any man-of the past century could have as the epitome of the whole of his personality and deeds the title, “The Life of Faith,” that man was David Livingstone. Every day of his life was a launching on the unknown in faith. From the hour when, as a young man, having read Gutzlaff’s Appeal, he resolved to go out in the footsteps of God’s Son as a medical missionary, Livingstone relied not primarily on organization or elaborate equipment, not on any knowledge of the way which he was to tread, but on the Divine guidance of his footsteps, on God’s illumination of his understanding. He explored Africa, but he did something greater still—he explored the infinite resources of God to protect His servants in peril, and to lead them to the great goal. The Livingstone centenary which is being celebrated on a world scale this week, brings us face to face with a personality whose daily adventure of his whole life and the promise, “Lo, I am with you,” is a challenge to our faith, and a touchstone of its adequacy. This week we shall follow the story of the Lanarkshire boy of ten working his fourteen-hour days in the cotton mill, mending broken threads and s p i n n i n g thought-threads that stretched out and out to the ends of the earth where he won “deathless renown.” We shall think of Livingstone, a student, facing the vision of unknown Africa, and in Moffat’s words, “The
great plain to the north where he had sometimes seen in the morning sun the smoke of a thousand villages where no missionary had ever been.” CHRISTIANITY IN ACTION There he went; saved the little slave girl at the opening of his first journey—a prophecy and parable of all his later life. With his own right hand he built three houses, dug watercourses for his African villages, healed their bodies and lifted their feet from the clay, was felled by the lion from whom he was delivering his friends, and went maimed all his days with a fractured -arm and eleven great lion tooth-marks in his shoulder. Over veldt and desert, through swamp and marsh, the hero-scout of Christ and Empire met his adventures among wild beasts and savage men, in perilous journeys in wagon and by canoe, on ox-back and on foot, along the rivers and through the tangled forests of Africa, where no white man had ever been before, with his motto, “I will go anywhere provided it be forward.” A. perfect geographer, Livingstone discovered unknown lakes, plains and river systems, and mapped his route with a scientific accuracy that is the admiration and despair today of men with far more perfect mechanical equipment. He revolutionized the world’s outlook on Africa, and in the steps first made by this pathfinder commerce and Empire have walked. As missionary and British Consul —:and who shall discover in Livingstone where one began and the other
♦ From th e Life of F aith .
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And through prayer he (as we see here) crossed rivers, faced poisoned arrows, waded marshes, endured fevers, and, bearing on his back the cross of the African’s agony of slavery, marched on to the little hut at Ilala, where at cockcrow his followers found the faithful disciple who had entered into the presence of his Lord on his knees in intercession for Africa. In celebration of his own last birthday on earth, Livingstone gave himself thus “Birthday.—My Jesus, my King, my Life, my A ll; I again dedicate my whole self to Thee. Accept me, and grant, O gracious Father, that ere this year is gone I may finish my task. In Jesus’ name I ask it. Amen. So let it be.—David Livingstone.” Faced by the life of this amazing man, whose life of action was more incessant and fruitful than that of any other Christian of his generation, one is met by the still more astonishing fact that he was greater even than his deeds. We look for the inspiration that was behind him, and we may find it in those words of his which enthralled the undergraduates of Glasgow who had come armed with their pea-shooters and ready for disturbance, but sat in enthralled silence as he told them of his travels, and closed with the words:— “Shall I tell you what sustained me amidst the toil, the hardship and loneliness of my exiled life? It was the promise, ‘Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end.’ ” A BIBLE CHRISTIAN. The real test of the inner life of a man of action comes in his time of enforced quiet. Livingstone, as he trudged through the Manyuema country stricken and shaken with fever and smitten with sores that stained his path with blood, (Concluded on page 258)
ended?—he set his face resolutely and w i t h stern, unfaltering courage against the hideous atrocities of the slave trade—the bones of slaughtered Africans cracking beneath his feet as he walked across deserted plains where once “the smoke of a thousand villages” had risen in the air. With that “forward tread which meant getting there” he struggled on against increasing weakness, often with bleeding feet, bearing on his bent shoulders the cross of African—slavery. The gleam of the.fellowship of Stanley shone out momentarily, and then flickered out as he turned back alone to face the end. Then he was borne to that hut at Ilala. There, in late hours of the night, by the dim light of the flickering candle, the awed and whispering companions saw the bowed form of their master kneeling by the bedside, his head buried in his hands on the pillow. RELIANCE ON TH E PRAYER LIEE. The forerunner of Christ in Africa had crossed his last river—in prayer— for Africa. When at last he was laid to rest in the “forest of stone”—Westminister Abbey—that story of his fight for slavery was told, at which “both the ears of everyone that heard it tingled.” And the whole world heard. The treaty abolishing slavery in Central and East Africa was signed. Never, surely, were audacity and childlike meekness, intrepid and indomitable courage in face of hydraheaded perils, utter simplicity and the strong meekness that inherits the earth, blended more intimately into a great heroic life. The central secret of each of those qualities (as we look meditatively over them) lies right back there, as we see in a multitude of passages from his journals, in that utter reliance on the prayer life.
THE KING'S BUSINESS The Heart of Africa! A Call and a Chance to be a Hero for Christ now By C. T. jpTJDD [Mr. Studd is one of th e fam ous "C am bridge B and”—a band of seven u n iversity stu d en ts who volunteered for foreign m issionary service in the ’80s. H e has spent th e g re a te r p a rt of h is life since th en in China. In Jan u a ry of th is y ear he sailed from E ngland w ith a sm all p arty of m en to carry th e Gospel into "th e h e a rt of A frica.”—E ditors.]
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C HRISTIANS! what shall we do with it? Shall it belong to the devil, or to Christ? By right it belongs to Christ, bought with His blood, but is now in the hands of the devil. Are we Christians content to leave it so ?God forbid! “God’s will be done,” is our daily prayer ! That will is that all should come to the knowledge of the truth. There are millions in the heart of Africa who have not that knowledge! “If ye love Me,” said Jesus, “keep My c o m m a n d ments.” What are H i s c o m m a n d ments ? “Go, make disciples of all nations !” “Ye shall be My witnesses unto the uttermost parts of the earth!” “Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature 1” But we have not gone! Christ has no witness there! To no creature there have we preached the Gospel Surely to pray, “Thy will be done,” yet not to execute it, is sheer hypocrisy!Christ made no exceptions! Dare we?
God has opened the door! Shall we fear to enter in? Having begun to build, shall we omit to put on the roof? Obedience is the first duty of a soldier ! Shall Christian soldiers disobey? To disobey Christ is to deny H im ! Excuses are but lies which increase our sin. “Ours not to reason why! Ours but to do and die!” “Nothing ven- t u r e , n o t h i n g have!” Let us go up at once and possess the land. “He goeth before us.” BUT WHERE is THE HEART OE AERICA? Half way between Alexandria and the Cape of Good Hope, -midway between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, just above the Equator, between the Congo River and the southern boundary of the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan. Draw a line across the continent parallel to the Equator, but three degrees north of it. The middle point of that line is the center of the heart of Africa. About that point describe a circle within a radius of 200 miles, that circle contains the heart of Africa. In that heart and round about it
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and Wadai, they are still to be met with as far north as Khartum, and also in Katanga the extreme southeastern corner of the Belgian Congo. Won to Christ they are likely to become missionaries to other tribes in the interior of Africa, left alone they will become Mohammedan and the missionaries of Islam. “Shall I tell you,” says Dr. Holland, of India, “what is going to happen; as certainly as anything can ever be predicted in the next few years Africa is going to be Mohammedan, unless something absolutely radical and revolutionary occurs in the Church at home.” Africa Pagan with its cruelties, tortures, cannibalism, sorcery, witchcraft, deviltry, and unbridled lust is bad enough. Africa Mohammedan would be worse. The people desire our advent. The Belgian officials invite us to come, promising to help rather than to hinder. Yet once let the Niam-Niams become Mohammedan and the door of their hearts lies locked and barred against u s ; for it is a hundred times harder to win a Mohammedan to Christ than to convert a Pagan. The crisis is on. It is “now or never.” THE DELAY OF A COUPLE OF YEARS MEANS TH E LOSS OF OUR GREAT OPPORTUNITY. Last June at the mouth of the Congo there waited 2,000 prospectors, traders, merchants, and gold seekers, waiting to rush into these regions as soon as the government should open the door to them, for rumor declared that there is an abundance of gold. If such can hear so loudly the call of gold and obey it, can it he the ears of Christ’s soldiers are deaf to the call of God and the cries of the dying souls of men ? Are gamblers for gold so many and gamblers for God so
are vast tracts of land inhabited by some forty million people who have never heard of the name of Jesus, nor seen the face of a Protestant •Christian “soldier!” “In the Belgian Congo State are twenty millions of unevangelised people ! In the French Congo, eight millions ! In Baghirmi, in Kanem, and Wadai are another four millions. In the Eastern Kameruns, three millions; in N. E. Nigeria, six millions." (Edinburgh Conference Report). In all 41 millions as yet unevangelised. Japan has 40 millions of people and 1,034 Christian missionaries. These folks have not one. Japan has 2,140 native workers. These have none. Japan has 100 principal missionary stations and 1,146 sub-stations. In these regions there is not one of any kind. Japan has 67,000 communicants, 82,000 baptised Christians, 1,- .394 Sunday schools, and 87,000 Sunday school teachers and scholars, but the heart of Africa is destitute of one any kind. Yet Japan is undermanned, and the position critical. Then what about the crisis in the heart of Africa ? THE N IAM -N IAM S ARE TH E BLOOD OE TH E HEART OP AFRICA. A great Pagan tribe, otherwise called the Zandey or Azandi, number ing about one and a half millions in the Belgian Congo and some millions more in the French Sudan. Considerably more intelligent than most interior tribes, the Niam-Niams are a brave and hardy race; the men are workers in iron and excel in hunting, the women cultivate the soil. Universal report declares them to be or to have been cannibals, but at the same time they are eager to learn, quick at picking up ideas and putting them in practice, and desire that teachers be sent to them. Rovers who originally came from the provinces of Darfur
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few? Shall the votaries of mammon be more brave than the disciples of Christ ? Shall the missionaries of the Crescent be more zealous than the soldiers of the Cross? God forbid. WHAT ABOUT THE CLIMATE? Africa does not profess to be a health resort for Europeans or timid Christians, yet it is not so bad as to furnish any excuse for not taking the Gospel to those for whom Christ died. The Belgian officials reside there, anyhow! Gold hunters, etc., clamor to be allowed to enter. Should not the soldiers of Christ be braver than the brave, and rush in gladly when the bravest of the brave hang back? A house on fire is not usually considered to be a safe or salubrious place, yet our firemen rush into the hottest of the flaipes to save their fellow men, and sometimes even property. Are nof Christians in honor bound to go to the very jaws of death or hell to save the souls of them that sit in darkness and the shadow of death? Shall our blood turn to water and our hearts to stone at the cries of needy and thirsty souls in their agony, calling on us for deliverance, forsooth because the climate is not “just so?” What would Jesus do? Let us follow Him, or cease to confess His name with our lips- while denying Him with our life. Should we—unlike the great Apostle—consult with flesh and blood, or pray to be excused ? Should we not reply to those who would hold us back by the selfish call of affection: “I could not love three, dear, so much, loved I not honor more?” Here at least there is no danger of overlapping nor of a repetition of God-dishonoring sectarian squabbles. Here there is a real chance to be apostolic in making it our aim to
preach the Gospel not where Christ has already been named! Here there will be but little temptation to decry others and preach oneself, rather than proclaim the name of our Lord Jesus Christ: for no other society than the Africa Inland Mission contemplates the evangelisation of these millions. AND WHAT IS TH E AERICA INLAND MISSION ? One working on the same lines as the China Inland Mission— International, Interdenominational, Evangelical, and Inspirational, i. e., holding fast to the Holy Scriptures, the whole of the Holy Scriptures, and nothing but the Holy Scriptures. It has already some ninety missionaries at work in British and German East Africa, and on the shores of Lake Albert, etc. Its objective is the evangelisation of the unevangelized tribes of Africa which cannot be evangelized by other societies or missionaries. Its method i§ perhaps best described by the words of our Saviour who said A#‘Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things (the necessities of life and protection) shall be added unto you.” BUT HOW CAN WE GET TO THESE “ n i a m - n ia m s ?” By steamer to Mombasa, thence by rail to Lake Victoria, cross the lake to Tinga, thence by rail and steamer to Port Mashindi, by motor to Lake Albert, cross the lake by steamer to Mahagi, and you are on the threshold of the promised land. AND WHAT IS TH E PLAN OE OPERATION ? Learn the language, which is declared to be an easy one. March in and select a station or centre, and
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Hear the Word of The Lord:— “Zebulon was a people that jeopardized their lives unto the death, and Naphtali upon the high places of the field.” “Curse ye Meroz, said the angel of The Lord: curse ye bitterly the inhabitants thereof, because they came not to the help of the Lord, to the help of The Lord against the mighty.” W H ICH EOR YOU? “Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world.” or, “What do ye weeping and breaking my heart? for I am ready not to be bound only but also to die for the name of The Lord Jesus, and in the heart of Africa.” Verily, spectators are many but heroes for Christ are few Now is your chance to prove yourself a man! It sounds a little strange, as we analyze the present condition. The devil in possession. The Mohammedans pouring in in crowds. 2,000 traders, prospectors, and gold hunters now in occupation, whilst the contribution to the cause of Christ by the churches of Christendom is just four men of no account!! But Delhi was won and India saved by the gambler’s throw of a few brave and venturesome men. Cortes won Mexico, and Pizarro Peru by the simple method of refusing to count heads or the cost. Men can save their fellows from an angry sea or a house on fire only at great personal risk. “I cannot rest whilst souls are being lost; there is all eternity to rest in after life is done.”—Duncan Mathe- son. “If I must be laid on the shelf let that shelf be Africa.”—Livingstone.
evangelize round about, proceeding further and further inland, planting other stations as God shall direct and thrust forth the men. The carriage of goods will be so costly that it will be necessary to become largely, or wholly, self-supporting; this will be done by planting and sowing, and generally living on the country: the land is exceedingly fertile. One luxury will be forthcoming, and that the best—that of a simple life. The discomforts and angers of a dinner party will be “off the slate,” so to speak, but there will be the continual feast of a wholesome and open-air life. THE PRAYERS OR GOD’S PEOPLE ARE EARNESTLY DESIRED for those who go out, for those to whom they go, and that God will call and make and send forth brave and simple men who will gladly count all things but dross that they may follow Christ, and win souls in the heart of Africa. Five men are now moving in to occupy this field; four more are ready in England, and several in this country. David with his staff and his five smooth stones, and trusting in the living God, was more than a match for the lion, the bear, and Goliath himself. If God be for us, who can be against us? There is no such luxury in heaven or earth as that of fighting for God against impossible odds. Thank God there is still on the earth something really worth doing for The Lord Jesus Christ, and license to do it. Thank God there is no reason why the navy and army should have a monopoly in heroes and heroism, unless we Christians basely surrender our birthright to them.
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The Dawn of a New Revival* A Specially Written Account of the Present Awakening in Wales, with Some Words of Solemn Warning
S INCE the last report, the writer has been privileged to pay a hurried visit to the scene of the Revival, in Radnorshire, and to have an interview with the two brothers, Jeffreys, who are known as the “revivalists.” After some interesting conversation with them one was favorably impressed with their natural frankness, joyousness, and eagerness to be used in the salvation of souls. Stephen Jeffreys, who was first led to begin the great work in the Swansea Valley, and had been himself surprised and awed by the power manifested there, is a simple, humble, and yet intelli' gent, level-headed man of the superior South Wales miner type. He is more at home and at ease when conversing in Welsh than in English, although he has a fair command of the latter language. He protested that he was not a preacher, but that he simply delivered what he was taught in the Word and prompted by the Spirit to declare, together with his personal testimony of the great work of grace wrought in his own soul in the revival of 1904-5, and ever since. t h e r e v iv a l is t s a n d t h e ir t h e m e . When he first went to Cwmtwrch, last Christmas, he had not the slightest idea that he would be used to conduct revival meetings in the place for nearly two months. He could only say, “This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.” He has no desire to give up the mine in favor of the ministry, and no ambition to become a permanent revivalist beyond •R eprinted from T he L ife of F aith , March 19, 1913.
what he may be called upon to do in helping on the good and great work which has begun. He and his brother George receive invitations from many places to conduct revival meetings, but they will only go as they believe the Spirit clearly leads. He is most anxious that the present awakening should be kept on right and safe lines, without any denominational label or interference from any sect or movement as such. All extravagances are discouraged, and all undue sensationalism is discountenanced. Both brothers realize that the graces of the Spirit are more important than the gifts, and that the Gospel of a full salvation must ever be their one theme. They fully appreciate how important it is to be exceedingly careful to do all that is possible to avoid the mistakes of the past in connection with revivals in the principality. Coming from Glamorganshire, where the revival fire had been burning brightly for many weeks, to Radnorshire, where only a desire and prayer for an awakening had been expressed, was a great change to the revivalists and a severe test to their faith and zeal. Indeed, when they arrived at Fenybout they realized that they had come into a district which was totally different from the scene of the revival in the Swansea Valley. Apart from the change of language, there was a different atmosphere. It was like changing climates. They had come into a new and strange neighborhood, where the atmosphere of revival remained to be created, although the spirit of prayer, among the faithful few, helped to prepare a
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noting this, we shalL.understand the intimate relationship between the season of renewal in the heart of the individual believer and the time of reviving in the Church. If two harp- strings are in perfect tune, you cannot smite the one without causing the other to vibrate; and if one Christian is touched and agitated by the Spirit of God, think it not strange that all who are likeminded in the Church are moved by the same Divine impulse.” - BLESSING IN RADNORSHIRE. This proved to be true in the case of the revivalists moving into Radnor, where the outward conditions of revival seemed not encouraging. The people soon congregated from far and near. They walked many miles, and every evening the countryside roads, byways, and lanes were aglow with the lamps of bicycles and all sorts of vehicles as well as the lanterns of pedestrians. From the quiet surrounding hills it could be seen there was something unusual causing this stir in the district, and the joyous singing might be heard to advantage. On the night that the present writer was there people had come from long distances. Among the nine or ten ministers present the majority had travelled some miles. The congregation had not waited for the revivalists to arrive before opening the meeting. It was in full swing when they entered the building. The Brothers Jeffreys, in a very natural .way, gradually as- summed control by praying, then starting a chorus, reading a few verses of Scripture, followed by terse sentences adressed to the audience, sometimes with thrilling feeling and effect. Stephen afterwards invited testimony, and several responded, among whom were ministers. Although this was a good meeting, it was not one of the most powerful of the gatherings they had had. Up till then there had been
hearth and kindle the fire. In addition to that there was another disadvantage in the fact that the district is a sparsely populated, agricultural one. The evangelists could not, at first, see where they were to get their congregations from. They felt like Philip, when he had been commanded to arise and go toward the south, unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem, into Gaza, “which is desert.” god ’ s m e t h o d e o r h i s w o r k ... That evangelist might not at first understand why he should leave the revival in Samaria to go right into the desert where there was no population. Having, however, obeyed the Spirit, he found an important audience in the Ethiopian eunuch and his attendants. Tradition says that they carried the revival to far away Ethiopia. It was Divinely arranged. The late Dr. A. J, Gordon has a striking passage on such arrangements, and as it is in connection with a reference to a revival in Wales, early in last century, it may be of interest to quote it here. Referring to Christmas Evans, the author, in his valuable book, “The Twofold Life,” observes:—“At the time that the Spirit fell on him (between Dolgelly and Machynlleth on the mountain side) it was falling on his brethren in distant places (in An- glesea). So it is always. God never makes half a providence any more than man makes half a pair of shears. He fits a preacher to declare His Word, He fits a hearer to receive that Word; if He moves one soul to cry, ‘What must I do?’ He has always moved some other servant of His to direct him what to do. Let us ponder the story of Paul and Ananias, of Peter and Cornelius, of Philip and the eunuch, if we would observe the mystery of the Spirit, His twofold ministry to preacher and to hearer, to counsellor and to inquirer. And
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seventeen good eases of conversion and several of definite blessing. All those who have followed revival meetings know how these vary greatly in spiritual temperature and intensity, and often in the one and the same meeting the spiritually sensitive can perceive the difference and feel the changes that come over the gathering. A hard meeting sometimes melts quickly into a most tender one, and vice versa. There are often conflicting currents and opposing forces, without any visible causes, confusing and apparently spoiling some of these meetings. The true revivalist, susceptible of these sudden changes, is able to guide helpfully by getting a volume of united prayer to clear the atmosphere and steady the meeting. These earnest brothers seem to be experienced already in dealing with different phases of revival symptoms. This is most important, and if they are to be used in guiding a general awakening in Wales, they must sternly refuse to be exploited for the advancement of any sect or movement.' Spiritual power needs the most careful and delicate handling. Paul tells us that those to whom this power is entrusted may be the savour of death unto death, as well as a savour of life unto life. No wonder he asked, “And who is sufficient for these things ?” It is certain that Wales, today, is ripe for another revival; but as certain as that there is a general feeling of fear of revival. Although there is a genuine deep desire for a spiritual awakening in the hearts of both the best churches and ministers the great question is anxiously asked, “And who is sufficient for these things?” Whilst there are ominous signs of spiritual declension, in the principality, as elsewhere, there are also encouraging signs of a great expectation of a wonderful time of'Spiritual quickening and activity at hand.
AN ECHO OE T H E LAST REVIVAL. The Brothers Jeffreys have received and accepted a pressing invitation to conduct revival services in the center of the Rhondda Valley, the largest and most important of the “fire valleys.” They go there direct from Radnorshire. Stephen Jeffreys, as a working collier, is likely to be used still mightier among the miners. Most likely he will hold meetings in the mines, and the results of the last revival may be repeated if not excelled. As the Rev. Elvet Lewis, M. A., in his book, “With Christ Among the Miners,” observes, “Coal mines had their sanctuaries, where prayer meetings were regularly held. And these prayer meetings had their tale of conversions. It was a wierd but winsome scene when the solemn question was put, ‘Who is on the Lord’s side?’ and the safety lamps went up, one by one; and when a new lamp was held up, in token of a soul changing sides, it was to the music of the far-echoed refrain of hundreds of meetings: Diolch ido Byth am gofio llwch y llawr. It was no figure of speech, but the literal fact that the horses underground were sensitive of the difference which those days made. They were obliged to learn the meaning of a new and milder language than they had been accustomed to. The prayer of Ebenezer Elliot, ‘The people, Lord, the people!’ was so grandly answered then, as to make still more desired the day of its universal answer.” Let us pray for this now. It may be interesting here to refer to the remarkable article which appeared in The Times, a few days ago, on “A New Wales.” After dwelling upon the rapid changes going on in all departments, the writer says: “This review of the situation would
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ation in that article, it must be admitted that the situation is spiritually grave. And to meet that “wayward mood of challenge at this hour” nothing will do but the challenge of a genuine radical spiritual revival. This is now within the reach of the churches if they will. After visiting the present revival and revivalists, one feels that Wales is being graciously offered another season of refreshing from the presence of the Lord. This may be the last offer before a time of great trouble comes upon this guilty world. One has tried to impress upon the present revivalists the importance of keeping on right lines, and would now earnestly desire to urge one’s fellow- countrymen to know the time of their visitation. There are signs of a dawn of revival, but, like that referred to by Joel 2 :2 R. V., it is “As the dawn spread (or broken and scattered by ugly clouds) upon the mountains.” “Ask what thou wilt.” And shall I ask The praise of men, the obsequious crowd That, fawning, break the fulsom flask Of flattery o’er the proud? “Ask what thou wilt?” And shall I ask A monarch’s might, a statesman’s skill, To bear the sword and wear the mask That rules the world at will? Ask what I will? Then, Lord, I ask Thy will, Thy praise, Thy kingdom be. Choose Thou my lot, my cross, my task, And I am rich in Thee. — S. S. Times. f) ^
obviously be incomplete without some reference to the revolution in the religious life of Wales. It is only nine years since the country was in the throes of a wonderful religious revival. It was shaken with a tempest of spiritual emotionalism, b u t a strangely different spirit prevails today. There can be no doubt that the old theology and all it stood for is rapidly losing its hold on the mind of young Wales. The fall in attendance at religious services, the marked decreases in voluntary contributions to religious causes, the shrill note of defiance and criticism in the writings of the younger men, all indicate that a fundamental change is proceeding— and no one can predict the issues. The Welshman will always need some definite form of spiritual expression, and for that reason he will never utterly forsake the temple; but that he is in a wayward mood of challenge at this hour is evident.” After allowing for evident exagger “Ask what thou wilt.” What shall I-ask? From labor and the cross release, Exemption'from the common task, A life of careless ease? “Ask what thou wilt.” Or shall I ask For gold, a million yellow suns With favoring beams, that 1 may bask With Fortune’s pampered sons? “Ask what thou wilt.” And should I ask For many days? That thou shouldst arm My strength with cuitas, shield, and casque, Invincible to harm?
“ Ask What Thou Wilt.” (
By J. H. Sammis.
M E KING'S BUSINESS 127 Studies in the Gospel According to John* By R. A. TORREY [These Studies are for careful study, not rapid and heedless reading] II. The Public Ministry of Jesus Leading Those Who Were of the Truth to Believe in Him as the Christ, the Son of God. Ch. 1:19—12:50. (Continued.)
2. The Testimony of the First Disciples to the Lord Jesus, 1:35- 51. (Continued.) (3). The testimony of Philip and Nathanael to Jesus, 43-51. Vs. 43, 44. “The day following (rather, “on the morrow ”) Jesus would go forth (rather, “He willed to go forth”) into Galilee, and findeth Philip, and (Jesus) saith unto him, Follow me. Now Philip was of (rather, “from”) Bethsaida, (out of) the city of Andrew and Peter.” Up to this point we have had men seeking Jesus. Here we have Jesus seeking men. Andrew and John found the Messiah but Jesus found Philip. But before Andrew and John found Christ, His Spirit had found them, and He was really the first seeker, not they. Just how and where Jesus found Philip we are not told, but the word implies that Jesus was seeking for Philip and that the meeting was not accidental. Indeed, there are no accidents in our Lord’s work. This Philip is not Philip the evangelist (Acts 6:5; 8:5; 21:8) but Philip who afterwards became one of the twelve Apostles. In the various lists of the Apostles the first six given are the six persons here definitely mentioned or alluded to, Peter and Andrew, James and John, Philip and Bartholomew (Nathanael) (Matt. 10:1-3; Mark 3:13-18; Luke 6:12- 14). This is another indication that the unnamed disciple in vs. 37-40 was •Copyright, 1813, by R. A. Torrey.
John. Our Lord’s invitation to Philip was very brief and simple, yet there was an inexhaustible meaning in it. There is a world of sacrifice involved in accepting the invitation (Matt. 16:24; John 15:20), but there is a more vast world of blessing both here and hereafter (John 12:26). How to follow Jesus Paul makes plain in Philippians 2:5-8. Only a Divine Person has a right say to any man “Follow MB” (Jer. 17:5-7). But our Lord Jesus constantly demanded that men should put the same trust in Him that they did in God (cf. John 14:1). This is one of the many incidental proofs of His Deity. This simple word of Christ had power— Philip followed Him. The fact here stated that Philip was from the same city as Andrew and Peter suggests that probably Philip had come with the two brothers to John the Baptist and he may have been thus prepared to accept the invitation of Jesus to become one of His disciples. The Bethsaida here mentioned wa» on the west side of the Sea of Galilee (cf. ch. 6:16-22; Mark 6:45) and was known as “Bethsaida of Galilee,” and is to be distinguished from the city on the east side of the Jordan which was known as “Bethsaida Julias,” which was rebuilt by Philip the tet- rarch and called “Julias” in honor of the profligate daughter of Augustus. It is a significant fact that Jesus chose four of His Apostles from this insignificant city of Galilee. The Em-
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21:2). Cana is mentioned in the opening of the next chapter as the place where Jesus went with His disciples to the marriage feast and some have thought that Nathanael was the bridegroom on that occasion. Cana was only about five miles distant from Nazareth and yet apparently Nathanael had never heard of Jesus. Philip’s testimony to Nathanael was essentially the same as that of Andrew to Peter but expressed in a more' exact and full way. Philip seems to have been very methodical in his thought. This comes out also in John 6 :7-9. It is noteworthy how throughout the Gospel of John what is said about one person in any one place fits what is said about him in another even down to minutest details, thus showing the minute accuracy of John and how the story that he tells is not a fiction but real fact. Philip was evidently a careful and thorough student of the Old Testament Scriptures. He had discovered (what many modern “scholars” have not discovered even yet) that the one great subject of the Old Testament Scriptures, of “the law” as well as “the prophets,” was the coming Messiah, and he also saw that Jesus fitted this description. Apparently at this time Philip did not know that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, nor did he know of His virgin birth. Of course, he was a new disciple and had many things yet to learn. Jesus would be known by the name of “son of Joseph” (cf. ch. 6: 42), even though He was not in actual fact his son. The order of the words in the Greek lays the heavy emphasis on “Him of whom Moses in the lazv and the prophets wrote.” Perhaps there is an implication that Philip and Nathanael had together dwelt on the Old Testament pictures of "the coming Messiah. Philip did not say, “I have found” but “We have found,” thus referring to the other members
peror Julian and the philosopher Porphyry ridiculed the Apostles, for following Jesus and Celsus ridiculed Christ’s Apostles as mechanics and fishermen. Vs. 45, 46, “Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto him, We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets did write (rather, “wrote”'), Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. And Nathanael said unto him, Can any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip saith unto him, Come and see.” Just aS Andrew when he had found the Christ went out and found some one else, so Philip having found Him went and sought and found another. It was probably as they journeyed toward Galilee that Philip found Nathanael. Nathanael means the same as our name Theodore, i. e., “gift of God.” He evidently is to be identified with Bartholomew the Apostle. This is clear for several reasons: First, No mention is made of Nathanael in the synoptic Gospels or of Bartholomew in John’s Gospel, and Nathanael occupies the same position in John’s Gospel in relation to Andrew and Peter and John and James and Philip that Bartholomew occupies in the other Gospels. Second, In the list of Apostles, Bartholomew is coupled with Philip (Matt. 10:3; Luke 6:14; Mark 3 :18) in the way we would naturally expect if he 'were the Nathanael* whom Philip found in the passage we are now studying. Third, In the 21st chapter and the 2nd verse Nathanael is seen to occupy a prominent position among the disciples, such a position as he would not have been likely to have occupied if he were not one of the Apostolic company. The name “Bartholomew” is his patronymic name and signifies simply son of Tolmai, so his whole name was Nathanael son of Tolmai. Nathanael was of Cana in Galilee (ch.
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