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B I B L E I N S T I T U T E
OF LO S A N G E L E S
P U B L I S H E D B Y
O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, . . . how oft-
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JANUARY, 1932
The K IN G 'S B U S IN E S S extends
s f o r l Q ß 2
The New Year Sugge sts New Things!
A BEAUTIFUL, four-page pictorial supplement will appear each quarter, containing pictures of the Holy Land, which are particularly related to the Sunday School Lessons for that quarter. These will be of interest to everybody and of especial value to Sunday School teachers. The up-to- date, sound, and spiritual articles in this issue are typical of those which readers may expect to receive throughout the year. The following will appear in early issues: Tragedies and Triumphs of |L_ IHE BY GEORGE W. DAVIS tile Last Uays b e l l , C A L IFO RN IA Christ s Great Contribution
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A supply of extra copies of this issue has been printed. Send us a list of Sunday School su perintendents, teachers, a n d other church officers whom you think would be interested in the magazine, and we will gladly send a copy to each one. The supply is limited. "First come, first served." Send your list today!
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Do not fail to read Senator Eddy's striking message in this issue (page 10) on "The Kind of Preaching the People Want."
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2 h t $ i W e T a m i l # » 1 Motto: “ Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood.” —R ev . 1 :5.
Volume XXIII
January , 1932
Number 1
TABLE OF CONTENTS Crumbs from the King’s Table—The Editor...................................... 3 Present-Day Fulfillment of Prophecy—Louis S. Bauman.................. 5 A Motto for the New Year—Harvey Farmer.................................... 7 Hitherto—Henceforth—Arthur T. O ’Rear........................................ 9 The Kind of Preaching the People Want—B. L. Eddy....................10 The Jewish Challenge—J. A. Vaus.................................................. ..12 Repentance is the Key.............................................................................13 A Glimpse of the Hunan Bible Institute—Everett F. Harrison.......14 In the Beginning—Roy Talmage Brumbaugh.................................... 16 Studies in the Epistle to the Hebrews—John C. Page....................... 18 The Return of the Tide—Zenobia Bird...... ....................................... 20 Heart to Heart with our Young Readers— Florence Nye Whitwell ................................................................. 23 Bible Institute Family Circle—Cutler B. Whitwell............................25 Homiletical Helps ............................... 26 Our Literature Table ....................................................................... ....28 Junior King’s Business—HelenHowarth Lemmel..............................29 International Sunday School LessonCommentary................................31 Notes on Christian Endeavor—Milo F. Jamison................................38 Daily Devotional Readings................................. ...... ............................ 42
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POLICY AS DEFINED B Y THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE BIBLE INSTITUTE OF LOS ANGELES (a) To stand for the infallible Word of God and ita great fundamental truths, (b) To strengthen the faith of all believers, (c) To stir young men and women to fit themselves for and engage in definite Chritian work, (d) To make the Bible Institute of Los Angeles known, (e) To magnify God our Father and the person, work and coming ef our Lord Jesus Christ; and to teach the transforming power of the Holy 8pirit in our present practical life, (f) To emphasize in strong, constructive messages the great foundations of Christian faith.
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TO our Friends: The Bible
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Angeles I f f i l 7 Year's greeting
M iS °Ublessnyou with all tha\ ? " l e s s i n g s in Christ jesus^ during the year 1932- .„+e your great We appreciate sr during loyalty to the pray- the past year. year may be ing that one of Sraatars+udent body, a»4 ■ R a g B A g instruction. May God tless you! Cordially>
President.
_r_ _ f c« 1 9 3 2 « New Y e a r s ,
January 1932
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rum L from THE KING’S TABLE . . . By THE EDITOR The Providence of God o ne reason why the providence
“ Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name.” “ I will recall the years of God’S right hand.” We are not to think of these cases as exceptional. The goodness of God’s providence was not more manifest in the lives of Joseph and David than it will be some day in ours. Some day we shall see that we never drank one bit ter cup too much—O my soul, say that again and think it over!—that we never climbed one steep hill too many, that
of God is so difficult to, interpret is because it is not like creation, a finished work. It is still unfolding, new chapters are constantly being added. God knows what He is going to write; there is no confusion in His mind; from begin ning to end, it is all perfectly clear to Him, but it is not so to us. Go to an architect in the middle of his plan, with
walls half built and arches half sprung, rooms without doors, and pillars without cap itals; what appears as perfect order to the architect who has the plan all in his eye, will seem to you a scene of perfect confusion. And so stands man amid that vast scheme of prov idence which God began six thousand years ago. Stolen away from his fa ther’s side, cast into a pit, sold into slavery, carried i n t o Egypt, and, though innocent of any crime, committed to a fil thy dungeon, Joseph must have felt his lot a hard one in deed; and if he had cried out in rebellion, it would not have been strange. We can sympa thize with dear old Jacob, when he exclaimed, “ All these things are against me!” His father heart was crushed and broken, and we may be sure the sorrow of it all must some times have been overwhelming to Joseph. But by and by,
all our heartaches and disap pointments, that all our sor rows and afflictions, were the unchanging benevolence of our Heavenly Father. We shall see that the way that seemed right to us and most desirable was all wrong, that it was a way of danger and destruction, and that, if the gracious God had not turned us out of it with a stern hand, we would have gone on to inevitable ruin. As children of God, it is a
His Chosen Path for Thee
He chose this path for thee: No feeble chance, nor hard, relentless fate, ■ But love, His love, hath placed thy footsteps here. He knew the way was rough and desolate, Knew how the heart would often sink with fear, Yet tenderly He whispered: “ Child, I see This path is best for thee.” He chose this path for thee: Though well He knew sharp thorns would tear thy feet, Knew how the troubles would obstruct the way, Knew all the hidden dangers thou wouldst meet, Knew how thy faith would falter day by day, And still the whisper echoed, “ Yes, I see Even while He knew the fearful midnight gloom Thy timid, shrinking soul must travel through; How towering rocks would oft before thee loom, And phantoms grim would meet thy frightened view; Still comes the whisper, “My beloved, I see This path is best for thee.” —S elected . This path is best for thee." He chose this path for thee:
good thing to think that we are on the good ship of provi dence;. that He who is at the wheel is Master of every wind that blows, and of every wave that dashes against the vessel; and that all the veer-ing and tacking, all the rough tossing, all the discomforts of the voy age, all the storms and cloudy days are as much a part of the great Captain’s thoughtfulness and love as .are the blue sea and the sunny sky. It must be so if God is what the Bible repre sents Him to be. Nothing but good can come from the One who. is infinitely good. Unity Through Christian Love , T he H oly S pirit names four ways in which Christian unity may be both helped and shown. First, by doing nothing through faction. The party spirit, particularly in a congregation or Christian institu tion, is always a mischievous.spirit. It destroys peace and harmony. The moment a man falls into a factious temper, and thinks not so much of getting on himself as of hinder ing somebody else from getting on, and not so much of promoting good ends as of opposing them in a spirit of sheer willfulness, and makes it his chief business to object and find fault, he becomes an element of discord to every body with whom he may be identified. If there is to be any real unity—unity of mind and heart—the disposition to be self-assertive, and to strive on all occasions MiiSt be cru cified. Second, by doing nothing through vainglory. Or, in
when he was raised to the throne of Egypt, exalted to the premiership of a great empire, put in a position where he could lay up corn with which to save his own people from starvation, he could see, and his old father could see, at every turn of the road- and in every crook in their lot, the manifest goodness of God. Look at David. He was taken from the sheepfold, where his young life was sunny and free from anxiety, and where the days were filled with brightness, to experiences of the most harrowing and cruel sort. He was envied, suspected, hated, hunted over the hills of Judah like a wild beast, and in daily peril of his life. Sdch was the road he had to travel to the throne, which was really thrust upon him; and after he reached it, the road was quite as thorny. But later on, with his kingdom established, with his character purified and enriched by communion with heaven, with his name and fame wrought into Israel’s his tory forever, with the whole providential sweep o f his career lying before him,, he could take his harp and sing,
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other words, by doing nothing from motives of personal vanity and show. Every Christian ought to have a settled aversion to anything like an empty-headed and strutting actor on the religious stage. “ If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the spirit. Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.” Jesus, it will be remembered, has a very striking warning against doing righteousness to be seen of men. One can have some respect for pride, but vanity is the emptiest and the most contemptible motive from which a man can act. When one undertakes to be a disciple of Jesus Christ, and to live out his Christian life in a temper bf vaingloriousness, he is running dead against the whole current o f the teaching and spirit o f the gospel o f Jesus Christ. Putting the two together, party spirit and vainglory, it may be said that party spirit misuses and wrongs men in order to carry out its own aims, while vainglory mis uses its own possessions and those of the world to glorify its lust for attention. The party spirit presses others down in order to raise itself up, while vainglory becomes hollow and empty and worthless in its efforts to please others and draw out from them tributes of praise. Party spirit, sooner or later, is sure to work destruction to whatever it touches, while vainglory is a butterfly which flits back and forth as long as the sunshine of popular favor lasts, and then folds its wings and dies. Vainglory, like party spirit, must give way to worthy motives and aims if one’s actions are either to help or to exhibit the exalted principles of Christian unity. Third, by manifesting humility o f mind. “ But in lowli ness of mind let each esteem other better than them selves.” This is the direct opposition of the factious spirit and the vainglorious spirit against which we are so earn estly warned. Self-conceit, self-assertion, and self-seeking are all deadly foes, not only to unity of thought and feeling, but also to high efficiency in the service of the Master, and it is only by displacing them with the humility of mind which recognizes ability and merit in others that there can be harmony and progress. We do not become great through the exhibition o f party spirit and personal vanity, but through submission, reverence, and obedience. W e do not advance to high places in the moral world by clamoring and intriguing for them, but by taking our places at the bottom, and by waiting and working there till the call comes to go up higher. If we are humble, God can use us, but if we are opinionated and airy and inclined to think we are made o f a little better clay than the ordinary mortal, though He can still use us, it is very hard for Him to do it effectually, except as examples o f arrogance and folly. Humility conditions more excellencies than we think. Is not this the real characteristic of the Christian, that he does not think highly of himself, but that he is disposed always to put a high estimate on the ability and qualities of others, and to esteem them for their virtues ? Does not the true Christian, in the catholicity of a true Christian spirit, rejoice to see and acknowledge excellencies in those who are about him ? I f we only looked at ourselves with the keen eyes and' searching judgments with which we look at others, and if we weighed our own demerits in the scales in which we weigh the demerits of those who are associated with us in Christian work, it would be less difficult to be humble. Fourth, by consenting to give the interests o f others a fair share o f recognition in our thoughts and aims. “ Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.”
The plague o f souls, the plague of communities, and the plague o f churches is selfishness. To displace selfishness with love, to get men to be willing to take into consideration the welfare o f others as well as his own interests, would be to insure the personal prosperity of every institution and every organization which has been set up for the good of mankind. Men have to look after their own interests, but if they are Christian men and are acting on a Christian basis, they will look beyond their own interests and con sider carefully and tenderly the bearing of their actions on the interests of their fellows. The keynote, therefore, of unity among the brethren is love. I f there is love enough to keep down the factious spirit, to shame vainglory into the background, to inspire a proper humility, and to make one considerate of the inter ests o f others, there will be little difficulty in securing a working unity of thought, sentiment, aim, and aspiration. These great motives of the comfort in Christ, the consola tion of love, the fellowship of the Spirit, and the tender mercies and compassions which swell hearts in all true Christians will have their way. There will be a splendid exhibition o f union and oneness of soul. How essential is this unity to the success of any church or Christian organization ! How much even the smallest or ganization of God’s people can do if only it is provided with this thought and sentiment of unity ! How little is it pos sible for even the largest organization to do if there be no harmony and sense o f fellowship in the members ! Ambi tions, jealousies, envying, selfishness, whisperings, oppo sition—they are bad enough anywhere, and they are de structive everywhere, but it is a shame to even think o f them in connection with the church o f our Lord and Sav iour Jesus Christ. Love is the life of any church, of any Christian organization ; love is the bond o f union ; love con ditions the prosperity of any body of Christians. The ex hortation is always appropriate, and there is no exhorta tion more appropriate than that we love one another. Do Not Be Unkind A number have tried to apply our editorial in the last K ing ’ s B usiness on “ Love and Humility” to certain indi viduals. This is very unkind. W e mentioned no names in that editorial. They were hypothetical cases. Christian Endeavor Notes Rev. Milo F. Jamison, director of the University Bible Clubs, Inc., has been giving to readers o f T he K ing ’ s B usiness some exceptionally fine material in the depart ment known as Notes on Christian Endeavor. From all parts of the country, as well as from foreign lands, letters of appreciation of his work have been received- We regret exceedingly that his overcrowded program will not permit him to continue his work on the magazine. We are happy to introduce, however, a new and able writer, Mrs. E. S. Goodner, of Hollywood, California, who will contribute regularly to the pages of T he K ing ’ s B usi ness , beginning with the February issue. Mrs. Goodner is a member of the Hollywood Presbyterian Church, a splendid Bible teacher, and a recognized leader o f young people. She will take up the work which is being relin quished by Mr. Jamison. The regular Christian Endeavor topics will be used so far as possible.
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ffu lfilL en i o/pROPHECY ~ ~ B y LOUIS S. BAUMAN
rendering her rich heritage of freedom to a coming Mass Man? This “ concourse of humanity” may be “ nebulous” to some, but it is far from being “ nebulous” to one familiar with the great prophecies of God’s unfailing Word. Biblical Pictures of the Coming Mass Man hat did Nebuchadnezzar behold in his dream? He saw Nebuchadnezzar, Cyrus, Alexander, Caesar, and the great Gentile rulers of the world’s last mighty civilizations, all combined in one gigantic, mon strous Mass Man, “whose brightness was excellent . . . and the form thereof was terrible” (Dan. 2 :31-45). What did Daniel see when “ four great beasts came up from the sea” (Dan. 7 :3) ? He saw the majestic march of four successive world-empires personified in Nebuchad nezzar, Cyrus, Alexander, and Caesar. But what did John see when one mighty, awful beast arose “ up out of the sea” (Rev. 13:1, 2) ? Behold, the four beasts of Daniel massed together in one terrible beast—Nebuchadnezzar, Cyrus, Alexander, and Caesar, the four in one— a Mass Man indeed! No wonder the nations of the earth shall cry in unison, “ Who is like unto the beast ? who is able to make war with him?” No wonder that all the blinded, unregenerate masses of the earth will fall to worship their g od ! No wonder that even the Jews, having rejected their true Messiah, will be fearfully deceived by this Mass Man deified (cf. John 5:43) ! But the Mass Man will come at last to the zenith o f his power and glory only when ten mighty Gentile powers of the end-time shall “ have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast” (Rev. 17:13). The dream comes true— “millions of human beings working with one mind for the benefit of one universal state” ! And that will be man’s proudest, most boasted accomplishment! But how his Satanic Majesty will exult! Once the devil offered the Son of God “all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them” (Matt. 4 :8 ) in return for the worship o f himself. The Son of God instantly spurned the offer. Satan, highly indignant, has not yet recovered from the slight. Now he will exult in his revenge by bestowing all this power and glory upon “ another”—his own worshipful Mass Man! The World Preparing for the Reign of the Mass Man T he entire world today seems to be working overtime in its feverish desire to have all things ready for the coming reign of this Mass Man. The whole trend of hu man activity seems to be toward the consolidation of our moral, social, religious, industrial, educational, and political life; so that the whole structure of human activity can read ily and easily be brought under the control of one gigantic corporate mind. To this end, America and all other leading nations of the earth are called to the worship of a new and most revered god, known as “ efficiency.” To this god, an unregenerate world stands ready to make its greatest possible sacrifice— the sacrifice of the free individual. For the sake o f efficiency, man is supposed to forget that he is
Mass Man— A Definition ebster does not give the word “mass” as an adjec tive. Nevertheless, it is a very much used adjective in these last days; and, from a scriptural standpoint, it is tremendously significant. We hear much about “mass production,” “mass religion,” “ mass psychology,” and “mass mind.” The other day, an editorial in The Los An geles Times was headed, “ Mass Fear.” What student of the prophetic Word fails to understand the portent of all those expressions? Recently, we saw in a British paper another expres sion, more portentous than all the rest—“ Mass Man.” This creature was defined thus: “ millions of human beings working with one mind for the benefit of one universal state.” According to the writer, a world now sick nigh unto death will revive when earth’s “millions of human beings” will forget that they are individuals, and form themselves into one great Mass Man “working with one mind for the benefit of one universal state.” But it takes neither a prophet nor a philosopher to understand that “millions of human beings” can never “work together with one mind” until they lose their individuality, and thus sacrifice their personal freedom, to some incarnate expression of that “ one mind”—a Mass Man! A Warning from a Great President o less a man than the President of the United States, Calvin Coolidge, in his Memorial Day address, May 30, 1925, forecast the possibility of the early rise and reign, even in America, o f a Mass Man, to whom we would sacrifice the precious heritage of liberty, bought for us with the blood of our forefathers. He said: Our country was conceived in the theory o f local self-government . . . It is the foundation principle of our system o f liberty. It makes the largest promise to the freedom and development of the individual. Its preserva tion is worth all the effort and all the sacrifice that it may cost. It cannot be denied that the present tendency is not in harmony with this spirit. The individual, instead of working out his own salvation and securing his own free dom by establishing his own economic and moral inde pendence by his own industry and his own self-mastery, tends to throw himself on some vague influence which he denominates “society" [italics ours] and to hold that in some way responsible for the sufficiency o f his support and the morality o f his actions. The local political units likewise look to the states, the states look to the nation, and nations are beginning to look to some vague organization, some nebulous con course of humanity, to pay their bills and tell them what to do. This is not local self-government. It is not American. . . . I f we permit some one to come to support us, we can not prevent some one coming to govern us. . . . I f we cannot govern ourselves, if we cannot observe the law, nothing remains but to have some one else govern us, to have the law enforced against us, and to step down from the honorable abiding place o f freedom to the ignominious abode o f servitude. What do these words mean, except that the United States of America, earth’s freest nation, ever before in the vanguard of human liberty, is in grave danger of sur
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of God by teaching evolution. Nor is it for them to say whether or not their «children shall “ trip . . . the light fan tastic toe” on their way to hell. Is it not time to do some serious thinking when, on penalty of losing their jobs, men and women are compelled to support community pro grams whose social ethics they cannot approve, and whose teachings in the spiritual realm are unfaithful to their divine Lord and to what they believe to be sacred duties ? Does the world not already see the Mass Man en throned in one great nation of the earth, breaking down the family which God instituted in Eden, even denying men and women the right to their own bodies—glorifying free- love-ism—and compelling children to be given to the state ? And what nation of earth is not being leavened with these doctrines of hell? The Educational World Preparing O nce again , over the realm of our education, the shadow of the coming Mass Man falls. One of the greatest educational forces on earth is the newspaper. But what must we think when less than a score of men de termine what the millions of newspaper readers, young or old, shall see or not see ? Consider another important fac tor—-the radio. How helpless we all stand when the Mass Man stalks forth, not from Moscow, but from Washington, to inform us what shall or shall not be spoken into the homes where millions are “ listening in.” And what are our forebodings when this Mass Man even now decides that a witness for God and against evil-doers, even though he may not be without fault, must be shut off from the rights of the air “ in the public interest,” while round-by-round descriptions of brutal prize fights, together with the inces sant jazz of The brothels, and extolling the healing vir tues of cigarettes are“ in the public interest” ! God help u s ! The Religious World Prepairing oreover , and yet more terrible, over the realm of our spiritual lives, falls the sinister shadow! Great reli gious federations are being built, up, whose purpose it is to unify truth and falsehood, righteousness and sin, God and the devil. A “ scientific world” goes to its assis tance. Men must go along, or the stigma of narrow-mind edness, intolerance, bigotry, ignorance, or what-not is branded on their brows. Already, the religious Mass Man is getting control of our most powerful religious organiza tions. And some day the Mass Man will say, “ Worship or die!” (Rev. 13:11-15). The Political World Preparing ll the world knows of the great political leagues that are banding themselves together, working night and day, with the firm determination to make the na tions of the earth of “ one mind.” Statesmen are telling us in no uncertain terms that the only hope of the world is a United States of the Earth! Can they be blamed ? N'ot knowing the salvation of our God, what can they do to save the nations they represent from sure destruction? League upon league will they form— a league in the South, a league in the North, and a league in old Rome. But when at last ten kings shall “ receive power as kings one hour with the beast,” and when “ these have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast” (Rev. 17:12, 13), then man’s proudest muster—the Mass Man—arrives on the stage and revels in his brief and bloody glory. [Continued on page 22]
a body and soul of infinite worth. He must think of him self as only a cog in's vast machine, to be utterly controlled by “ one mind”—the mind of the Mass Man. The Son of God Himself was sacrificed to this Mass Man, for was it not said, “ It is expedient for us, that one man should die for the people” ? And the hour is approaching when the saints of God will be sacrificed (Rev. 13:7, 15) by the multitudes for the same reason. The Economic World Preparing aving the way for the reign of the Mass Man,, the wealth of the earth is fast being concentrated into the hands of the few. Huge corporations talk in terms of billions. In our glorious land of liberty, it is estimated that ten per cent of the people control ninety per cent of its wealth. Competition is in course o f being eliminated, and human society will see in the near future the formation of a single, vast merger, a gigantic “ trust,” world-wide in its operations, controlling the production, distribution, and sale of all commodities. As we write these words, there comes to- our desk The Saturday Evening Post for De cember 5, 1931, the leading article of which is entitled: “ Our Vanishing Economic Freedom,” with the prophetic subtitle— “ And with It Will Go Our Political Freedom.” The opening paragraph reads: No business man has the freedom o f action which he had ten years ago, must less twenty years ago. No matter who he is—manufacturer, distributor, merchandiser, transportation man, banker, insurance man, or oil, coal, or timber producer, or farmer—he is falling progressively under the shadow o f political administration. W e are. ■as a nation, striking out on a new road. It may or may not lead, as Representative Beck says, to Moscow. Then, in a later paragraph, he again says : The economic freedom o f the individual has been cur tailed; in the place o f the hormal interchange o f goods and services, there have been set up artificial barriers and restraints, resulting from over-regulation, over-supervi sion, over-servicing, and downright competition. Who can read these words and fail to recall the fa mous prqphecy of a coming day when “ no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark” (Rev. 13:17), that is, the permission of the Mass Man, who in that day will be “ the government.” The Social World Preparing ot content to drive the individual out of the eco nomic domain, the shadow of the coming Mass Man falls on America’s social life, until many are asking here also, “ How far is it to Moscow?” Once again, we quote from the above-mentioned article : The United States now stands at the parting o f the ways . . . Government bureaus prescribe diets, design clothing, give helpful hints to the citizen, and regulate his conduct from the day he is born to the day he is laid in the ground. It is assuming the roles of doctor and nurse to such an extent that it is arousing the alarm o f the 96,000 doctors who make up the American Medical As sociation. Even in family life, the nations are more and more heading toward the Mass Man who already is so firmly en throned in Russia. The state is more and more assum ing the sacred “ rights” that heretofore were presumed to belong to the heads of the family—husband and wife, father and mother. Those unimportant personages that we call parents are made to wonder whether they longer pos sess the right to train and educate their own children. It is not for them to concern themselves when the state wishes to inculcate in their children unbelief in the Word
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*_K s Z aa J — A MOTTO for 1 /,,’ n EW YEAR .. .By HARVEY FARMER,‘ Philadelphia, Pa.
mony at the end pf life ; but why should it not be said of us at the end of each day? Jonathan Edwards used to take stock every night be fore retiring. He would review his walk and work to see how far his life and labors had been in harmony with the divine mind. Why not let us take stock ? Having commit ted ourselves to the keeping power of God and seeking the help of the Holy Spirit as we start out upon each day’s details and duties, then as we come to its close, after thus going over it all in the light of His Word, taking stock and
“Wherefore we labor, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted o f him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat o f Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad." ^ ^ his is a message that was sent to the church of God at Corinth and to all the saints which were in all Achaia. Therefore, when we read that the apos tle says, “ We labor to be accepted of him,” we recognize that this has no application to the sinner, to the unsaved soul. Not the labor of my hands But being saved, it is of supreme impor tance that the child of God should recog nize the privileged obligation of the Chris tian life to let its testimony be altogether to the glory of the Name that is above every name. This was a matter of deep concern to the apostle, who says, “ Wherefore we labor.” That is not a bad translation. In the margin of your Bible, you will see another word, “endeavor,” and those of you who ®R- use the Revised Version will notice in the text the word “aim.” But the best word is that which is found in the margin of the Revised rendering, “ ambition.” “ This is my ambition,” says the apostle. “ This is the dominating passion o f my life, this is the thing to which all my energies are directed through the enabling grace of God.” Ambi tious for what? “ To be accepted of him.” But you must put the right emphasis there. We would perhaps get a lit tle more of the thought in the heart of the apostle, as in spired by the Holy Spirit, if the word “ acceptable” rather than “ accepted” had been used. It is one thing to be ac cepted in the Beloved. It is quite another thing for you and me to so live as to be acceptable, to Him. Again in the Revised Version we have the preferable rendering of this latter word so that the phrase would read, “ ambitious to be well pleasing unto him.” Is not that magnificent ? The child of God filled with the ambition to be well pleasing unto Him in every detail of life and service! T aking S tock What a thrill comes to the heart as we read what was said concerning Enoch in those far-away days when God saw “ that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” But amid all the horror and moral down-drag of that day, this one man so walked with God and lived for God’s glory that he had this testimony borne to him, “ He pleased God.” It is fine to have such a testi- Can fulfill Thy law’s demands; Could my zeal no respite know, Could my tears for ever flow, All for sin could not atone; Thou must save, and Thou alone.
committing it all to Him, what a joy it would be to get the echo of the still small voice through our heart, “ My child, I am well pleased” ! That would be a blessed pil low for the heart as well as for the head. And is not that an ambition worth posses sing? Why not let it mark our lives each day? How rich toward God we might be come and what blessing the Holy Spirit could minister through us to others as we sought to follow more closely in the steps of our Master who was able to say, “ I do al ways those things which please my Father” ! For illustrative exemplification of this, let us turn to the record of the life of our adorable Lord and consider two references in the first gospel. In Matthew 3:17, He is coming up out of the water after His bap
F armer
tism, the heavens are opened, the Spirit; like a dove, de scends upon Him, and the Father’s voice is heard, saying, “ This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” In the seventeenth chapter and the fifth verse, the voice is heard again. Christ is on the mount of transfiguration this time. The three years of public ministry are hastening on, and the Father bears the further word of testimony: “ This is my beloved Son, in whom J am well pleased; hear ye him.” Yes, it is well to take hefed to what Moses taught and to what Elijah said, but let no one come between your soul and the Son of my love. His is the only authoritative voice. His is the only infallible word to which you must give earnest heed perpetually. The first voice would have had reference to the years that lay behind— those thirty years, which were spent for the most part, no doubt, in Nazareth, which had not alto gether an enviable reputation. It lay just a little off the main thoroughfare, so that anything could go on there. You know the contempt with which people referred to that part of the country, “ Galilee of the Gentiles,” and that was where our blessed Lord spent most of His days. In that un desirable atmosphere and amid uncongenial circumstances, He lived in the home and wrought at the carpenter’s bench, and the Father bears testimony concerning His life and labor in that village home and work shop: “ My beloved Son, . . . I am well pleased.” W ell P leasing in D aily L ife Fellow child of God, are you, am I, pleasing the Father
*Secretary and Field Superintendent of The North Africa Mission.
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hid, which shall not be made manifest. Yes, but let us take it more literally, and so get a very solemn and searching truth which the Holy Spirit would have us take to heart: “ For we must all come without disguise before the judg ment seat of Christ.” It is possible for me to assume a dis guise, to have on a veneer of spirituality with which to de ceive others, and myself also in time. This may continue until the judgment seat is reached; but there that disguise must drop off. God forbid that any one of us should con tinue another moment with any such disguise, trying to veil
well ? Where I live, in my home, and in my place of busi ness, what kind of work am I turning out ? Is. it of such a character that the Heavenly Father could look down and say, “ I am well pleased” ? If this thought were ever in our hearts and minds, would it not revolutionize some of our lives? How careless we can become in our homes in the way in which we talk to one another and treat one another! We get through our daily toil somehow, too often in a casual sort of way. And surely this reveals the fact that there is something wrong and something lacking. We are
our true character. It is not difficult to do this—to pretend to be other than we really are, so that others may be deceived, but we can not deceive Him with whom we have to do. Is there anything more startling for the child of God than to know that, according to the word in John’s first letter, chapter two, verse twenty-eight, he or s h e m a y be “ ashamed before him at his coming” ? Yes, it is possible for the believer at the judg ment seat to blush with shame. God for bid that that should be the lot o f any one of us. May the Holy Spirit search us thor oughly and see if there be any way of grief or sin tolerated in these lives and hearts, so that it may be put away; for we do not know when the end of life’s testimony will come. It may be quite sudden, and w h a t would it mean to be ushered into His pres- e n c e a n d to be ashamed!. Notice t h a t t h e apostle s a y s , “We
not possessed with the ambition that fired the soul of the apostle. For instance, it is so easy to join in the hymn, “ Oh, for a thousand tongues to sing my great Re deemer’s praise,” and within half an hour of doing so, it is possible to be using the one tongue I have, to say something unkind or untrue concerning a fellow believer. This it is which hurts the heart of God and which spoils my testi mony. Beloved, in the sphere of our daily calling, let this have its application, that we may live to commend the gospel a m o n g those with whom we have to do. How often it has been said, “ Oh, yes, he g e t s through somehow or other; he wants to go off to that meeting” ! God does not want us at the meeting if it means that, to get there, we are slack or slipshod in our busi ness. We cannot please Him well in any wit ness or work we seek to take up in His name
YUCCA Called by the Spanish, “Candles of the Lord.'
When 1 am pressed by cares, And all my faith grows dim, Still God’s tapers burn To light my way toward Him Who makes the desert places Blossom as the rose, A nd to my shadowed eyes Heaven’s light foreshows. Splendor of God, far flung, My raptured soul infills. Candles of God, which light His everlasting hills! — M artha S nell N icholson ,
must all appear before the judgment seat o f Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, ac cording to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.” You see, the bad is to be dealt with as well as the good. We shall all be gathered in the Father’s home as His children, for we have been born into His family, and there is a place prepared for us yonder. Not one who has been thus regenerated will be missing. That is glorious, but, beloved, when we get there, what is it going to mean to you and to me if we have walked carelessly and wrought selfishly? It is so easy to presume upon our standing in grace, and to think, “ Oh, yes, I shall arrive; I will be there.” That is true, but what will it mean to you and to me when we do get there? For our characters will be re vealed then, as we stand before Him whose eyes are as a
if we are inconsistent in the home and in the sphere of our daily calling. What a testimony it would be if each child of God had this as the dominating passion of heart and life— in the home, in the place of toil, among the circle of friends as well as in the church fellowship, to be well pleas ing unto the Lord ! Let this be the supreme ambition of mind and heart, and let nothing divert us therefrom at any time or in any way. B efore the J udgment S eat of C hrist The apostle says that the incentive to this in his. own soul lies in the fact that “we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ.” That is quite a good translation, but in the Revised Version we read, “ We must all be made manifest.” Our Lord reminds us that there is nothing
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flame of fire; the motives of our hearts will be laid bare; and our dealing with our brothers and sisters in Christ will be taken into account (Rom. 14:10). Yes, the whole of life from the moment we trusted Christ till our translation will be adjudicated by Him then. “ If any man’s work abide . . . he shall receive a reward. If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss; but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire” (1 Cor. 3 :14 ,15). Some of you will have heard of Dr. Cuyler. There is an incident in his life that comes to remembrance. His little boy, George, was very seriously ill. The doctor gave no hope of his recovery. Mrs. Cuyler was sitting at the bedside almost heartbroken at the prospect of losing her treasure. George was a true believer and had been seeking to comfort his mother with the thought of what it would mean for him to be with the Lord Jesus Christ, and to be there to welcome Mother and Father when they came. Tired with his efforts, he closed his eyes and dozed. The mother remained intently watching for any change that might come over his features. After a while, his face be t this season of the year, it is always helpful to take a look back over the past, and then to turn our eyes to the future. Looking to, the past, we learn lessons from our failures and our successes, from our trials and our victories. And looking to the future, we make our consecration and claim power for better service. Such an attitude of mind is entirely scriptural; for we find some helpful injunctions as we study the words “ hitherto” and “ henceforth” as they appear in the Word of God. M arking the P lace of T riumph “Hitherto” is a very suggestive word. It carries us back to some event of the past and bases our plea or praise on that event. In 1 Samuel 7 :12, it occurs in the connection in which we want to use it here: “ Then Samuel took a stone, and set it between Mizpeh and Shen, and called the name of it Ebenezer, saying, Hitherto hath the Lord helped us.” For a long time, conditions in Israel had been bad. More than twenty years before the incident of this text, Israel was overcome by the Philistines, and the ark of God had been taken captive. After a period of years, it had been returned to Israel, and Israel had triumphed over the Phil istines. In commemoration of that victory, Samuel set up this stone. It is well to mark the places of our triumphs; for when we come to such a place, our hearts are stirred and our faith is encouraged to lay hold of God for new victories. There is a story of a colored man who had much d if ficulty in holding fast his profession. There was a certain sin which was a besetment, and when he fell, Satan would accuse him o f never having really accepted Christ and being born again. On one occasion, after a particularly hard fight to recover and maintain his faith, he drove a stake down at the place out in the woods where he had “ prayed *Pastor o f St. Paul’s M. E. Church South, San Jose, Calif.
came radiant with a smile, and opening his eyes and turning toward his mother, he said, “ I have had a peep through the gate. It was very beautiful. It was ever so lovely, but, Mother, what do you think Jesus will say when He sees me ?” That is a question that comes back to my own heart continually. What will He say when He sees me? What will He say concerning my home life, concerning the way in which I have wrought in business ? Oh, that God would work so graciously in the heart of each one of us who names His name, that we might be filled with this desire, inspired by this ambition, to be well pleasing unto Him in every detail of life, in every bit of service. He has prom ised all the resources of His fullness for our enablement day by day and all the way, so that there will never be a moment when we may not count upon that all-sufficient grace, however sore the trial, however great the testing which we may have to face through the coming year. “ Furthermore then we beseech you, brethren, and ex hort you by the Lord Jesus, that as ye have received o f us how ye ought to walk and to please God, so ye would abound more and more” (1 Thess. 4 :1 ). through:” Always after that, when the tempter came, this simple-minded believer would rush out into the woods near his cabin, and pointing to the stake, he would cry ou t: “ See dar, Debbil, I ’se done settled it right dar. Glory!” And when he began to shout the victory, Satan fled as he always does (2 Chron. 20:22). This soul had found the secret of real victory, and he had no more trouble with his besetting sin. Let us learn to drive down a stake. S ome “ H itherto ’ s ” Standing as we do at the threshold of a new year, let us look back on the places of victory, and let us shout as Samuel did, “ Hitherto hath the Lord helped us.” Do you recall when, in answer to prayer and through your faith in the blood, the Lord saved you ? Do you recall when He led you to a full surrender and consecration for service ? Do you recall that hard place you were in, when you saw no way out, but when you cried to Him, and He opened the way? Do you recall how many times, even in the past year, He has marvelously intervened ? Looking back, the long years over, What a varied path! And yet, All the way His hand has led us, Placed each hindrance we have met. N ot S erving S in There are four scriptures which gather up the thought of “ henceforth,” and which challenge us to a higher life for the year toward which we are now so rapidly moving. Our first “ henceforth” is found in Romans 6 :6 : “ Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.” Sin is a terrible taskmaster, and all those who are in bondage to it are in a pitiful plight. Multiplied thousands [Continued on page 15]
HITHERTO. . . HENCEFORTH . . . By ARTHUR T. O’REAR, *San Jose, Calif.
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m KIND of PREACHING iL PEOPLE WANT .. .By Senator B. L. EDDY, Roseburg, Oregon
tical politics. They would prefer that he keep his crude ideas to himself. The informed hearer is especially an- . noyed when his pastor launches forth to deliver a “ canned” sermon received from the Federal Council of Churches on the subject of “ World Peace,” “ Child Labor,” “ Disarmament,” or the like. Such propaganda is usually unpatriotic and modernistic. In addi tion to that, it is often mere twaddle in an intellectual way. The minister who cannot discern such stuff for what it is should get out of the pulpit, open His Bible, and ask the Lord to enlighten the eyes of his understand ing. The average man in the pew who reads the newspapers will come nearer talking sense about the tariff, taxation, the size of the army and navy, and world peace than the most cultured product of the most learned theological seminary. The practical citizen does not go to church to hear such matters discussed. Even though he is not a regenerated man, he goes to church to get into a spiritual atmos phere, arid he likes to hear the Bible expounded and questions discussed which have to do with the soul and its relation to God. Even the unregen erate church-goes has more or less
[Senator Eddy is an attorney, a mem ber , o f the upper house o f the Oregon Legislature for many years, an elder in his home church, and at present is the Moderator o f the Synod of Oregon of. the Presbyterian Church. He has written this article especially for T he K ing ’ s B usi ness , and we heartily respond with an '■ Amen” to all that he says .—E ditor .] P. erhaps it is necessary first to inquire, Who are “ the peo ple” ? “ There are people and people,” says a proverb. When Job was a little irritated by the preaching of his friends, he exclaimed, “ No doubt but ye are the people, and wisdom shall die with you.” We speak not for those who preach, but for those who listen to preaching, for those who sit in Job’s place, but who may lack the old patri arch’s patience, for the average folk who occupy the pews. These average folk are far from being of one mind as to preaching, or. anything else. An ancient saying is, “ There’s naught so queer as folk.” When a writer or speaker tells us o f the pref erences, the thoughts, the views, the wants, the likes, and the dislikes of “ the people,” we understand.that he presents his personal observations,' largely colored by his personal views or opinions. He speaks as one of the
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people, with more or less knowledge of what others think. He necessarily gives prominence to the pronoun “ I.” How ever, we all reflect to some extent the expressed and unex pressed ideas and standards, as well as critical or uncritical views, of those with whom we have daily contact. Hence each observant person has some warrant for speaking for “ the people.” The word which I think is most used in praise of a preacher o f the gospel is not “ eloquent,” nor “fluent,” but the simple word “ earnest.” “ He is an earnest man,” says the everyday, practical citizen, of the preacher who has impressed him. A rich vocabulary, learning, rhetorical skill—all these count less with the ordinary hearer than the dead earnestness of a man. O f course, he must have some message to communicate. But he must thoroughly believe that message, and he must deliver it as though somebody may be lost if that sermon be not preached. When a min ister preaches as though he is throwing out the life line to his perishing fellows, and not as if he is merely pitching verbal horeshoes, average people will listen and come again. P olitics in the P ulpit Thoughtful church attendants do not care a rap for the preacher’s political views. They feel irritated when he strays into strange pastures. They know that, if he is giv ing proper time to the study and work of the ministry, he has no time to master questions of statesmanship or prac
faith in God and the Bible, or he would not be at church. He might not say so in so many words, but he instinctively seeks to find pasture for his soul. The church that does not furnish that pasture, but sets up a civic forum, a school o f politics, or a headquarters for some literary or scientific cult instead of preaching the religion of Jesus Christ, is ob taining money under false pretenses. What will be done to the Balaam-following church o f Pergamos will not be a cir cumstance to what will happen to these modern imitation affairs. T he M inister ’ s V ocabulary Even people of limited education like to hear the preacher use words with some degree of care. Such words as “ divinity,” “ religion,” and “ reform” have come to be used in a non-Christian sense, and when a speaker is refer ring to the deity of our Lord, he leaves only doubt or mis giving in the mind when he speaks o f His “ divinity.” When he talks of “ religion,” if he means Christianity, he had bet ter say so. When he uses the word “ reform,” as relating to an individual life, he should make it clear whether or not he is speaking of the new birth, or o f mere moral improvement. It has come to pass in our day that the term “ religious education” is of doubtful meaning. With some, it means the inculcation of ethical principles gathered from the va rious religions of the world, mingled with some Christian truth, but largely excluding the supernatural, sneering at
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