MARCH • 1940
The Bible Family Magazine
H ansom D. Marvin
*1
p w i f
a litt/e
' a t
• Maybe it merely supplements irregular earnings . . . Maybe it's just the difference between peace of mind and frequent worry . . . Maybe it’s all there is to protect old age . . .
There are many situations in life which an Annuity Agreement of the American Bible Society can take care of successfully. It can be planned to provide for yourself, for a rel ative or a friend. And when once it is arranged there is no further bother. No coupons to clip’—no papers to keep track of . . . Just accept the check which arrives at regu lar intervals. Such checks have been bringing comfort and peace of mind to thousands. And for over 90 years those checks have never failed, regardless of business conditions. Then, too, there is great personal satisfaction to every one who secures such an Annuity Agreement. For they help to extend the all-important, world-wide Bible ministry of the Ameri can Bible Society.
M A I L T H E C O U P O N T O D A Y American Bible Society, Bible House, New York, N. Y. Please send me, without obligation, your booklet K B »4 entitled “ A Gift That Lives” .
AN INCOME A S SU R ED
Let us send you a booklet e n t i t l e d “ A Gift That L ives." It tells you about the plan and how it works out.
■ Address
1 City „__________________
n
T H E K I N O ’ S B U S I N E S S
March, 1940
ATTENTION! Preachers a nd Christian Workers!
DON'T MISS this Unique Series of ARTICLES by HERBERT LOCKYER internationally known "Prince of Preachers" The ART and CRAFT of PREACHING Starting in the APRIL issue THEKING'SBUSINESS
Dr. Lockyer
R E G U L A R F E A T U R E S • Around the King’s Table • Views and Reviews of Current News • Stimulating Articles, Sermons and Stories • International Lesson Commentary • Notes on Christian Endeavor • Junior King’s Business •
DO YOU KNOW............. 1. • Of What Use Are Sermons? 2. • When to Memorize? 3. • How to Illustrate? 4. • When to Brief? 5. • How to Use Voice, Eyes, and Gestures? 6. • What to Do About Preachers' Moods and Habits? These questions shown above and many more will be answered in this series of articles which will run in coming months in THE KING’S BUSINESS. This group of messages alone will be worth several times the present subscription price of the magazine. fl WORDTOTHEWISE• WE WOULDADVISE that YOU take advantage o f BOTH this unique series o f articles and the NEW LOW SUBSCRIPTION PRICE: # your subscription is about to expire you want to extend your subscription you want to send it to a friend or relative. (Additional 85 cents for each foreign subscription except to certain countries. See contents page.) IF
50
*
for One Year (Twelve Issues)
I want THE KING’ S BUSINESS for myself and a friend at 50 cents for each subscription. Enclosed find..................................for both. N am e........... , . . , « « , A ddress............ .. C ity................................ .. State. N am e... A ddress. C ity......... S tate.
THE KING'S BUSINESS 5S8 South Hope St, •
Los Angeles, Calif,
82
March, 1940
T H E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
life. It is not forced upon us against our will, but it is constantly within our reach if we will “stoop down and drink and live.”—Charles Askwith. 5. Guidance' “When he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth” (John 16:13). We may be as sure of the guidance of the Holy Spirit as the chosen people were sure of the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night. He will guide us into all the truth about the character of God, the" work of Christ, the present possibility and the future destiny of man; but He will guide us also in the smallest details of daily experience.—Selected. “ W a tc h " “Watch ye therefore, and’ pray al ways” (Lk. 21:36). 6.
DAI LY Devot ional Readings
L My Prayer “Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest” (John 4:35). Open my eyes, that I may see This one and that one needing Thee, Hearts that are dumb, unsatisfied, lives that are dead, for whom Christ died. Open my eyes in faith, I pray; Give me the strength to speak today, Some one to bring, dear Lord, to Thee: Use me, O Lord, use even me. —Betty Stam. 2. Lord of Our Happiness ‘‘Delight thyself also in the Lord” Psa. 37:4). The great reason that life is troubled and restless lies not without, but within. It is not our changing circumstances, but our unregulated desires, that rob us of peace . . . When a whole heart, full of varying, sometimes contradictory longings, is boiling within a man, how can he but tremble and quiver ? . . . Unbridled and varying wishes, then, are the worst enemies to our repose. What A series o f pungent and thoughtful sermons dealing w ith the su fferin g o f our Saviour. The Rev. Ghysels Is equipped w ith rare Insight into the teaching and m eaning o f these great Scriptural truths. These are 17 ser mons, 8 o f which are on Isaiah 53. 128 pages. Cloth. PRICE, o n l y ............................. . . . . . # • Samuel M. Zw em er The Glory of the Cross A series o f thoughtful and suggestive m essages on these su bjects: “ F irst of all . . . . Christ Died” ; “W e Have Not F ollow ed Cunningly Devised F ables"; “They B lindfolded Him".; “ They Bound H im " . . . “ They Spat on H im ” ; “ They Parted H is Garments Am ong Them” ; “My God, My God, W hy . . . ?"; “ Behold the Lamb o f God” ; “ They C rucified the L ord o f G lory.” 192 pages. Cloth. PRICE, only . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 1.00
soever we make necessary for our con tentment, we make lord of our happi ness.—Alexander Maclaren. 3. Eating Manna “And the children of Israel did eat manna . . . until they came to a land inhabited” (Ex. 16:35). It is a great blessing to be hungry. Lack of hunger is a sign of illness. When our soul does not crave spiritual food, it is sick. Hungry souls are healthful souls. Jesus Christ is our manna. He is the Bread of Life. There was no substitute for the desert’s manna. There is no substitute for Jesus Christ.—Selected. 4. Appropriate “Oh, how great is thy goodness, which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee” (Psa. 31:19). God has provided for us all that we need; has stored it for us in Jesus Christ; has communicated it to us by the Holy Spirit—but it must be appro priated by faith . . . Prayer, Bible study, and worship are all means of grace whereby we may receive the water of The conception o f the vast sig n ifi cance and the utter centrality o f the cross is the central thème o f this heart stirring message. It deals w ith sub je c ts, as “ The Cross in the Old Testa ment” ; “The Cross in the Mind o f Jesus” ; “The Cross and Satan” ; “The Finality o f the Cross,” etc. 192 pages. Cloth. A A PRICE, only ............................^ J fc a W • Vance Havner ' • Blood, Bread and Fire A series o f unique m essages on the Christian’s threefold experience. - Dr. Havner has the ability o f w riting pungent things in an effective manner. Sermon titles; “ Shall/ W e Crown or C rucify Jesus?” ; “And He Stood Speech less” ; “W here Are Y ou at Calvary?” ; “ Faith in Christ Jesus,” etc. 119 pages. PRICE, only . . . . . . . . . . . S I A A
We live in an atmosphere that has a constant tendency to unfit us for Christ’s coming. The world tends to draw us down by its gratifications and its cares. There is only one way by which we can rise triumphant above these things — by constant watching unto prayer, that is, by sleeplessness unto prayer. Pray! Pray! Pray! —R. A. Torrey. [Continued on Page 93] LENTEN READING SUGGESTIONS . • James M. Ghysels Wounded For Our Transgressions • F, J. H ucgel The Cross of Christ The Throne of God • Andrew Murray \ The Power of the Blood of Jesus
In this strong book the author deals w ith subjects as; “W hat the Scriptures Teach A bout the B lood” ; “ R econcilia tion, Cleansing. Sanctification Through the B lood” ; “ Dw elling in The H oliest Through the B lood” ; “H eavenly Joy Through the B lood,” etc. 128 pages. PRICE, o n l y ...................................... • Andrew Murray The Blood of the Cross A series o f pow erful m essages deal ing w ith the various subjects connected w ith the shedding o f the blood o f Christ on the cross. Dr. Murray includes a communion message, “The A ltar Sanc tified by the B lood,” and a stirring evangelistic message, “ When I S.ee the B lood.” A lso many other interesting subjects treated, 126 pages. CfeAlf PRICE, only .......................... . . ^ W ^ Ideal fo r Lenten reading, this little book contains nine chapters on sub jects as “W ill Dead Men Live A gain?” “W as the B ody of Christ Raised?” and “W hat Does the R esurrection o f Christ S ign ify?” ..............2 0 b PRICE Headquarters . . . Fundamental t Norman H. Camp The Resurrection of the Human Body
PROPHECIES OF CENTURIES FULFILLED IN A DAY 3c each, 30c a dozen, $2 a hundred H ere is an excellent tract that is o f special interest at this E aster sea son. It show s Old Testament prophecies that w ere fu lfilled at the time of the cru cifixion o f our Lord. May w e-su ggest that you purchase a quantity o f these to distribute am ong your friends— both saved and unsaved. The price is nom inal— 3c each, 30c dozen, $2 hundred. B IOLA BOOK ROOM Los Angeles, Calif. 560 S. Hope St.
Literature .
SS
March, 1940
THE K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
MILDRED M. COOK» Managing Editor W. F. KEMPF» Advertising and Circulation Manager
What Every Jew
O fficial Organ o f The Bible Institute o f Los Angeles, Incorporated
ShouldKnow e Here is a fresh Gospel approach- to the Jew. It is designed to enable you to reach the Jew personally. There are now twelve separate leaflets in our new series, “What Every Jew Should Know.” They are brief, mostly four pages; they are attractively printed, with at tention-getting titles, and written with a God-given native under standing o f the Jewish mind. • The subjects will interest you: 1. W hat is a Christian? 2. W as Abraham a Jew ? 3. Don’t Go to Jerusalem. 4. Son, Remember. 5. H ow Many Times Have You Been B orn? 6. A Modern Jew L ooks at Jesus. 7. D octoring a D octor. 8. An Open Letter to a Rabbi. 8. T hirty-three Prophecies F u l filled in One Day. 10. An A stonishing Tom Kippur Prayer. 11. Do Christians W orship Three Gods? 12. Let’ s H ang the Hamans! • Already, reports come of the Lord’s rich blessings upon these tracts. Over 250,000 have so far been printed. • They are yours for the asking, in the Lord. Just say how many, of each. You will ,of course prom ise the Lord to give them out faithfully. • If you wish to pay cost, or postage, or both, you may figure about $2.00 the hundred, assorted. Or, if you feel led of the Lord to help us in the larger printing and circulation of these economical and effective tracts, your gift will be put to work immediately, and will be received as of His pro vision. AMERICAN BOARD OF MISSIONS TO THE JEW S, Inc. 31 Throop Ave., B rooklyn, New Y ork. Dear F riends: I want to help in your great G os pel literature program fo r the Jews., Here is $..................... May the Lord bless your testim ony. N am e..............................................................’ S tre e t........................... C ity ................................... S ta te.............. ..
SheSitileTamil#Oïïag^ine Motto: “ Vnto him that loved us9and washed us from our sins in his own blood.99- — Rev. 1 :5.
Number 3
March, 1940
Volume XXXII
TABLE OF CONTENTS • Ransom D. Marvin, Staff Artist
Daily Devotional Readings........................... .................................... .*..............82 Around the King’s Table— Editorial ....... ................................................84 Views and Reviews of Current News — Dan Gilbert .............................. 85 The Fact of the Resurrection— W . Graham Scroggie -------------------------86 Encouragement from the Risen Christ— W . E . Edmonds .....................87 The Most Momentous Day in Human History —Louis S. Bauman ......88 Stones That Hinder— Herbert, Lockyer ........-........................................... -89 Christian Philosophy of Purpose, Property, Pain — Roy L. Laurin........9\ The Bible Institute Family Circle..................................................... ........95 Tunior King’s Business —Martha S. Hooker ................ L ____ ........._____ 97 International Lesson Commentary........................................ ..........................99 Notes on Christian Endeavor —Mary G. Goodner ......................... .........110 Our Literature Table............ ............................................... ......... ...............119 I N F O R M A T I O N F O R S U B S C R I B E R S THE KING’S BUSINESS is pub lished monthly at the rates below, payable in advance, for either old or new subscribers, in the United States or its possessions. These rate include postage. REMITTANCE: Should bo made by Bank Draft, Express or P-. O. Money Order pay able to “ The King’s Business.’’ Receipts will not be sent for regular subscriptions, but date of expiration will show plainly each month,
on outside wrapper or cover of magazine. ADVERTISING: For information with refer ence to advertising in Tip] KING’S BUSI NESS, address the ADVERTISING MAN AGER, 558 SOUTH HOPE STREET, LOS ANGELES, CALIF., or our eastern represen tative, Religious Press Association, 1108-10 Colonial Bldg., 13th and Market Streets, Philadelphia, Pa: Entered as Second Class Matter November 7, 1938, at the Post Office ' at Los Angeles, California, under the Act of March 3, 1879. Acceptance for mailing at special rate of postage provided for in Section 1103, Act of October 3, 1917, authorized October 1, 1918. MANUSCRIPTS: THE KING’S BUSINESS cannot accept responsibility for loss or dam age to manuscripts sent to it for consideration.
50 cents—For one annual subscrip tion, 50 cents per year (Twelve maga zines). One two-year subscription, $1.00 (Twenty-four magazines). 25 cents—For one six-months’ sub scription (Six magazines). Subscriptions to Cuba, Dom. Repub lic, Haiti, Spain, Central and South Am erican countries, except the Guianas and British H onduras, 50 cents per year. To all other foreign countries, including the Guianas and B ritish Honduras, 75 cents per year. (Canada 62 cents.) It requires one month fo r a change o f address to becom e effective. Please send both old and new addresses.
THE KINO’S BUSINESS
558 South Hope Street
Lot Angeles, California
M
March, 1940
TH E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
Around the King's Table ' E D I T O R I A L
Yes, He ever liveth, and rife is able “to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him.” What an as surance! What comfort of love! What courage comes to the Bible-belieying Christian when he remembers that his Saviour and Lord ever liveth and even now makes intercession for him! The apostles and the early church made much of this great fact. To them the cross was vacant. The tomb was empty. These were symbols of a work accomplished and a worn accepted on their behalf. Hence comes the exhor tation to the Christian: “ Seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God” (Col. 3:1). The resurrection of our Lord and Sav iour Jesus Christ means little or noth ing to us unless We share His life. This Easter season has little value to us unless we rise above the petty affairs of earth and have Easter in our souls. The Bible abounds with ungainsayable evidence of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, but in the final analysis the evi dence that is most satisfying and pre cious to the believer is personal and “To know Christ and to make Him known” — this was the purpose, ex pressed in the conference slogan, which drew increasingly large audiences to the Bible Institute of Los Angeles, January 21 to 28, for the fifth annual Torrey Memorial Bible Conference. It was estimated that three times as many delegates attended this year as attended any similar conference in previous years. Nor did the people gather in vain, for all of the meetings proved to be “times of refreshing . . . from the presence of the Lord.” Among the vis itors, many of whom were from out of the state, were numerous pastors, Christian workers, and missionaries home on furlough. Many Institute alum ni came from distant points. On the program for the conference were: A. H. Ackley, Louis S. Bau man, Keith L. Brooks, Everett B. Cowan, Charles E. Fuller, Paul Jack- son, Andrew Johnson, John H. Hunter, Herbert Lockyer, James McGinlay, Kenneth M. Monroe, Earl Morgan, William P. Nicholson, George Palmer, P. W. Philpott, A. B. Prichard, Britton
positive. He must be able, to say with the Apostle Paul: “Christ liveth in me.” —P. W. Philpott. The Cause of Crime A few mornings ago, while I was paging through the paper at break- feist, these words halted my progress: “I do not pretend to know the causes of crime.”' The evening before, the warden of Alcatraz had made this, statement before a large Los Angeles audience. For years he has been deal ing with the embittered inmates of two California state prisons, and now he studies those incarcerated by fed eral law. The Word of God reduces the causes of crime to a single word, and it would be well if those dealing with crime and vice would acquaint themselves with this one word and its God-given remedy. Crime is a legal word; vice is a social word; but SIN is a theo logical word. It relates man to God and His revealed will. Indeed, the cause of crime is SIN. —Kenneth M. Monroe. Ross, and Mrs. Edwin B. Young. Presi dent Louis T. Talbot presided at most of the sessions. In regard to the conference, the Dean of the Bible Institute, Kenneth M. Monroe, stated: “The whole stu dent body (over four hundred en rolled) was richly blessed by the chal lenging' messages in the conference sessions. We now look back on the greatest Torrey Memorial Conference that we have ever had and look for ward to even greater blessings. Plans for the next year’s conference have already been discussed.” “Personally,” said Dr. Lockyer, “I feel it was indeed a great privilege to have had a share in a week that in spiritual influence will remain mem orable.” Dr. McGinlay made the fol lowing comment: “During my vari ous travels up and down the land, it has been my happy privilege to attend several of the leading Bible confer ences. At each one my soul has been stirred and my life blessed, but the Torrey Memorial Conference brought me to the mountain peak of spiritual •
“ But There Is a God” Recently, as I was teaching to a class some of the prophecies of Daniel, these first five words of Daniel 2:28 stood out as in bold type. The child of Goa may balance his adversities with the declaration, “But there is a God.” While one is spending days in. “the valley of the shadow,” there still may be joy in the heart because of the con viction, “But there is a God.” “Truth forever on the scaffold, wrong for ever on the throne,” is reversed in the meditation, “But there is a God.” . “But there is a God” who knows. Much depends on the character of our God. Our Lord declares that His Father marks the fall of a sparrow, and adds, “Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows.” God’s omniscient eye is upon every one of His children, no matter in what travail of soul or mind or body that needy one may find himself. "But there is a God” who is able. “God hath spoken once; twice have I heard this; that power belongeth unto God.” One of the most comforting themes for meditation is contained herein. He is able to make the hills a plain for His children; and, when He does not, it is because He knows that it would not be best. “But there is a God” who is good. “O give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.” As we count our blessings, one by one, we see God’s hand mani festing His lovingkindness toward- us. How precious is this trinity of medi tations to the believer in the time of need!—Kenneth M. Monroe. Resurrection Comfort in a Warring World A little time ago, a Chinese Chris tian, in speaking to an American au dience in California, stated that above everything else China needed the Lord Jesus Christ. “■Why should Christians preach Christ in China?” asked one of his listeners. “ China has Confucius, his teaching, and the religion that has developed from it. Why bring in a new belief ?” “Ah,” replied the Chinese, “we do have the teaching of Confucius, but Confucius is dead. My country is in great distress; war is causing untold suffering. China needs a living Saviour* and Jesus Christ ‘ever liveth.’ ”
TORREY MEMORIAL BIBLE CONFERENCE
Fear and faith cannot keep house together.
March, 1940
85
THE K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
ecstasy. What an inspiration to see those great crowds gather as they did morning, afternoim, and night in the beautiful church auditorium! I be lieve that no more powerful testimony iS being given on the American con tinent than that which goes forth from that platform. We enjoyed fel lowship with Dr. Talbot, the faculty, and the students of the school, and we believe that greater days than ever before are ahead of them.” The Lord has indeed been working in the lives of the Institute students. Many have spoken of a renewed ear nestness to live wholly for Him, and the following testimonies are but ex amples of widespread rejoicing. “The messages of the Torrey Memorial Con ference have intensified the desire within my heart to know and make known the Christ revealed in the holy Word of God,” declared a young man who will be graduated in the June class. More than one heart echoed the words of a young woman from Michigan when she said, “The power of the Holy Spirit to make my life more radiant for the Lord Jesus Ohrist if I would but yield to His ministry —this truth brought about new sur render for me.” . A recent graduate of the University of California, now a student at Biola, said: “The very practical approach of the conference messages applied the challenge of the Word just where it is needed; »they were a real encouragement to better Christian living and more zealous serv ice.” Hundreds, both of students and of guests from outside the school, agree that the conference aim is being fulfilled in their own deepened ex perience of knowing Christ and mak ing Him.known! Gospel Fellowship Association In a commendable effort to promote a greater unity among orthodox Chris tians throughout the nation, Evangelist Bob Jones has taken the lead in organ izing the Gospel Fellowship Association, which has its headquarters at Cleveland, Tenn. He has become impressed with the need for more widespread harmony among evangelical Christians every where, not through organic union of all churches, but in a manner which he describes thus: “The Association is making a sin cere effort to unite individual ortho dox Christians in the harmonious task of getting the gospel of the grace of God to as many people as possible in the shortest time pos sible . . . It is my opinion that Christians have now the greatest .opportunity that they ever had to tell as individuals the gospel story to a hungry-hearted world.” . .
Views and Reviews Of Current News By DAN G ILBERT Washington, D. C , and San Diego, California
MILITARIZING AMERICA: More than a year ago, this writer pointed out the danger that “war hysteria” would be engendered in our nation’s Capitol and throughout the country. At that time, we endeavored, to measure the “hys teria” in terms of propaganda; it can now be calculated in dollars and cents— from the standpoint of the ever-increas ing military budget. Here is the record of our swelling armaments expenditures. The army-and- navy appropriations in the federal bud get are as follows: 1933- 34 ..........................$540,356,000 1934- 35 .............. 729,931,000 1935-36 ......................... . 921,684,000 1936- 37 ,... 935,114,000 1937- 38 ...................... 1,027,841,000 1938-39 .......................... % 1,119,810,000 1939- 40 ....................... 1,734,342,253 1940- 41 .......__________ 2,116,169,000 And the end is not yet! Super-navy enthusiasts are suggesting that an addi tional $5,000,000,000 will be needed within the next three years to “round off our armed forces.” Yet, already some nine billions of dollars have been poured into war preparations, including the proposed budget for the coming year.’ In view of such stupendous war prep arations as these, it may be in order to ask, “Whom are we getting ready to fight?” The well-known international affairs expert, John T. Flynn, supplies this answer: • “These war preparations are not for uqe in South America or in Europe or against a ,Russian and German invasion. They are being.. prepared to fight in Asia against Japan. . . . Do the American people want to fight a war in Asia for any reason that is visible now? If we have a war in Asia it will be for one reason. There will be the usual bunk about civilization and democ racy. But the real reason will be trade—trade for a few dozen large corporations. Do the American peo ple want to fight a war in the Orient about trade? Well, that is what they are being prepared to do. And that preparation is carrying us into an era of military economics with all that will mean to our busi-
ness, our social patterns, our ideals, our democracy.” THE REAL SOVIET STRATEGY: In view of the Soviets’ costly reverses, their loss of men and supplies as well, as world prestige, many observers have marked down Stalin’s invasion of Fin land as a colossal blunder. Some even go so far as to suggest it was lacking in sense from the beginning. Even if it had succeeded as a “lightning” con quest, similar to Hitler’s drive in Po land, would the seizure of so small a nation compensate for the loss of piiblic opinion throughout the world? Stalin must have known, in advance, that his invasion of Finland would alienate so-called “liberal” opinion throughout the world. Stalin was will ing to pay this price because conquest of Finland is absolutely indispensable to what seems to oe a secret long-range objective. That objective is to make of Soviet Russia a first-rate naval power. In carrying out this design, Leningrad must be the center for naval construc tion. And a mere glance at the map will reveal the reason that control of the shores of the Gulf of Finland is necessary for the security of such a project. The Estonian, or southern, shore was obtained by coercion. These tactics did not work on Finland; but Stalin is so determined to control also the northern shore that he is willing to make any sacrifice, however costly, to secure it. In building a great navy, Stalin will need the iron ore of Sweden, and the nickel of Northern Finland. Soviet su premacy must be established in Scan dinavia.. Contrary to the opinion of some, there is no reason to suppose that Stalin’s design is in conflict with Hitler’s. Hitler’s ambition is to smash the British Empire; to do this, he will need a strong navy—what is more natural than to let Stalin supply it ? It seems fairly clear now that Stalin and Hitler are working together on a long-range proposition. The Nazi and the Soviet revolutions are merging. What Stalin is trying to do in Finland appears to be but the first step toward a world program to be carried out by Soviet Russia in collaboration with Nazi Germany.
Faith never yet outstripped the bounty o f the Lord,
3«
TH E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
March, 1940
The Fact of the Resurrection By W. GRAHAM SCROGGIE London, England
not dispute anything you have said so far, that the literary sourçe of infor mation is the New Testament; but then I do not beliève the New Testa ment.” I would remind such a one that he must be prepared to defend his unbelief; that this is as obliga tory upon hfin as it is that we should defend our faith. Objections of Doubters There are many who deny Christ’s resurrection because, like the people at Corinth, they deny the possibility of resurrection at all. If resurrection is impossible, then, o f course, Christ is not risen; but you remember that Paul said, “Why should it be thought a thing incredible . . . , that God should raise the dead?” Yet the history of the criti cisms of the resurrection narratives is one long record of attempts to impugn their trustworthiness, and to form hy potheses which are purely naturalistic, and so to explain the resurrection away. It used to be said that Jesus Christ did not die, that He only swooned. Will you recall what He had suffered in the hall where the soldiers made the flag ellation, the buffeting, the bruising, the crown of thorns, till He was broken and bleeding from head to foot, so overcome with suffering, so shockingly malhan- dled, that He fell beneath the cross on the way to Calvary? If He only swooned, and did not die, what do you think would have been His physical condition three days later? Have you ever thought of that? Would there not still have been manifested the marks of His suffering? Bqt many who do not deny tie death and burial of the Lord Jesus, try to explain away the empty tomb. They treat the narratives as unhistorical; they say the empty grave was never seen by any of the disciples. There are others who say that the disciples went to the wrong tomb; that they mistook the way and saw an empty tomb, but not the tomb in which there had been placed the body of Jesus. There are others Who say that the body of Jesus had been secretly removed from the tomb, either by the disciples, or by Pilate, or by members of the Sanhedrin, or by Joseph of Arimathea. All these attempted explanations are highly unlikely. This denial of the res- urrection is only a part of the general disbelief in the supernatural. The ra
tionalist does not believe in the super natural at all. The resurrection is not denied because the evidence is regarded as insufficient, but the evidence is re jected and repudiated because the res urrection itself is denied. The unbe liever reasons like this: The resurrec tion is impossible; therefore the New Testament is not true. The true scien tific method, whether we are treating of this, or of any other subject, is to examine the facts, and then to form a theory; not to form a theory first, and then try to crush the facts into a theory. Evidences that Lead to Faith Can we really believe that Jesus rose from the dead? That He came forth alive from out of the tomb ? Let us see. Our Lord, being what He was, necessi tated the resurrection. We must believe in His resurrection if we believe in Christ at all. In the light of His life and character, it is impossible to believe that He did not rise. We could not imagine Christ as remaining in the grave and seeing corruption. With His resurrection everything else that has been revealed concerning Him assumes its due proportion and order and har mony. Think of His miraculous and mysterious beginning; think of His per fect life. No one can point to Christ and say that He was wrong in His thinking or doing. You say, “I do not believe the record.” It was impossible for the disciples to have created such a character as Christ. In the fiction of the world we have countless charac ters who have been created by their authors, but there is not a character like Jesus Christ in the whole range of fiction. If the resurrection is not a fact, then all is mystery. We have a lock without a key; we have a labyrinth without a clue; we have a beginning without a corresponding end. All is mystery if the resurrection of Christ be not a fact. Our Lord, being what He was, neces sitated it. Again, the work which Christ came to do required it. The resurrection was, and is, an essential and integral part of His redeeming work. He said, “I lay down my life, that I may take it again” (John 10:17, R.V.). He never thought of His death apart from His resurrec tion. You remember He spoke about the exodus which He was to accomplish at Jerusalem. An “exodus” is something
“He rose again the third day” (1 Cor. 15:4). F EW of those who commonly com pany with Christians would be disposed to question the fact of the resurrection. But supposing you were to be examined in the shop, at the factory, in the hospital; in the club, or anywhere else, by some one who pbured scorn upon the idea of the res-- urrection, and who regarded it as a foolish thing to believe the record of that event, would you be able to stand your ground and to defend your faith? Remember, in these critical days it is not sufficient that we be satisfied in oUr own minds as to the truth of that Which we believe; we must be prepared to vindicate, and to justify, and to de fend our faith; we must be prepared, not merely to stand our own ground, but also to carry the battle into the enemy’s territory. The Sources of Information “He rose again the third day.” The first question we ask is, How do we know this? What are our sources of information? Well, the literary sources of information are the Epistles of the Apostles, and the records of the Evan gelists—in other words, the New Testa ment. Now what do these records claim ? The New Testament declares three things about JesUs: It says that Jesus died on a cross; that He was buried in the tomb of Joseph; and that three days after His burial that tomb was empty because Jesus had risen from the dead. I can imagine some one saying, “I do
*Pastor, Metropolitan Tabernaclf .
87
TH E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
March, 1940
to Jesus, and not knowing it wsa Jesus, said, “We hoped that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel” (ef. R. V.). The speaker was saying, in effect, “Our hopes are disappointed; now He is dead.” But He was not dead; as a mat ter of fact, He was actually walking with them, but they did not recognize Him. Yet within six weeks of the death of Jesus these very disciples were de claring fearlessly, and at great peril to their safety, that they had seen Jesus alive. The removal of the body of Jesus Christ would not have explained the change in their outlook and conviction’; and three days were not long enough for a legend to spring up that should so tremendously have affected these men and women. The only rational ex planation is in the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ rose again from the dead. Let us go forth in the power of His resurrection to face the present world. “Like as Christ was raised up from the dead by th.e glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.”
unwind the clothes. If His foes had taken Him away, they would have ,taken Him just as He was at His burial. But the wrappings were still there. How do you account for their being there? JeSus, in His glorified body, had slipped out of them. And that explanation was accepted within twenty-five years of the event by the whole Christian church, and in places as far removed from one another as Corinth, Rome, and Jerusa lem. Everywhere it was accepted as a historical fact by the Christian church, and the belief was based, in the first place, upon the testimony of eyewit nesses. Not one of the disciples expected Jesus to rise from the dead. Do you think they would have gone to the ex pense of embalming His body if they had believed in the resurrection? Em balming was a very expensive thing; and the very fact that they embalmed Him indicates that they had not the slightest idea that He was going to rise again. They did not really believe it. You remember that one of the disciples on the road to* Emmaus, when talking O F ALL the men whom Jesus made, Simon Peter is the one we love the most. His awful back- humanness about them which brings him very close to us. What he finally became under the personal power of Jesus the Christ teaches us what we may become under the same leadership. Christ managed the tumultuous and fluctuating elements of Peter’s charac ter. He transformed a nature as un stable as water into the consistency of a rock: “Upon this rock [Peter’s testi mony to the deity of Christ] I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” “Thou art Simon . . . thou shalt be called Cephas . . . A. stone.” Under Christ’s power, Peter became the man of rock. Christ by His own words has made Peter the great central figure of the resurrection. [ The author of this article, who served for years on the Board of Trustees of the Bible Institute of Los Angeles, part of the time as Chairman of the Board, went to be with the Lord on February 22, 1937. The appropriateness of this Eas ter meditation for this present hour will be clearly apparent. — E ditor .]
fax more significant than death. It means “the way out.” That is the rea son the second hook of the Bible is called “Exodus” ; it was the way out of bondage, out of Egypt, for the children of Israel. And when Christ sppke about His exodus, He was not referring to death, but about a way out; and if He had not risen, there would have been no Way out. He went into the darkness of the tunnel, and then came out again into the light. The resurrection is the complement of His incarnation and His crucifixion. Furthermore, Jesus Himself predicted His resurrection. The New Testament claims for Him absolute perfection in motived in thought, in word, in deed; but if He had predicted something con cerning Himself which had not come to pass, we should need to modify our views concerning His perfection. First, in an indefinite sort of way He pre dicted it. “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” And to ward the end He told His disciples that He was going to die, and that after three days He would rise again. Was He right, or was He wrong? Did He rise again, or did He not? Again, the empty tomb demonstrated His résurrection. If the foes of Jesus had taken His body from the grave, why did they not produce it, to silence for evermore those who were preaching that He had risen? It would have been wholly to their advantage to have pro duced the body; and that would have discredited the statements of His disci ples forever. But we know that they did not produce the body of Jesus. Why? Because they did not have it to produce! And if His friends had taken it, and then had said He was risen, they would have been deceivers. And are you going to ask me to believe that the church for nineteen hundred years has been built up on deceit and lies? Can we suppose that these disciples would have sacrificed liberty and life, and would have been content to suffer and to die for such a falsehood as that? Read again the history of the martyrs, and of their sufferings under Nero and Dio cletian. They were thrown to the lions and were torn to pieces; they were burned at the stake; they were tortured on the rack. Why? Because they would not dény^ their faith in a crucified and risen Christ! But the tomb was not empty; His clothes remained. In the East they wound the clothes round the body, with a napkin round the head. When the dis ciples went into the tomb, they did not perhaps at first realize that Jesus was not there. When He rose, Jesus did not R esurrection Faith o f the Early Christian Martyrs
Encouragement from the Risen Christ M a rk 16:7 By W. E. EDMONDS
Peter has been criticized and perhaps justly so, but what would you have done with the same disposition and same en vironment? Put yourself in Peter’s place. He was not a hypocrite; you could read him at a glance; his heart was in his countenance and on his lips. He tried to be a hypocrite on one occasion and made such bungling work of it that no one would believe his lie. What was in him was sure in some way or other to come out. He had no diplomacy. He thought aloud. There was no duplicity about him. He did nothing underhanded. Neither did he seek honor by round- [ Continued on Page 96]
slidings endear him to us, for there is a
f c j H I
• “Because I live, ye shall l i ve
■ ili m\ 1* x
also.”
88
March, 1940
TH E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
The Mos t Momen tous Day in Human H i s to ry By LOUIS S. BAUMAN*
T T TlTHOUT the slightest hesita- : A / V / tion we affirm that Palm Sun- V V day, A. D. 30, was the most momentous day in human history. All Of the rivers of blood that have run down through the last nineteen centu ries are due to Israel’s failure in that tragic hour! Early that day, the Lord Jesus Christ, "because he was nigh to Jerusalem, and because they thought that the kingdom of God should immediately appear” (Lk. 19:11), spoke to His disciples of a “cer tain nobleman [who] went into a far country to receive for himself a king dom, and to return . . . But his citizens hated him, and sent a message after him, saying, We will not have this man to reign over us.” Just a few hours later, Pilate “sat down in the judgment seat in . . . Gab- batha” (John 19:13), and, surveying the veiled Lord of Glory, majestic even in chains, called to the Jews: “Behold your King!” But they cried out: “Away with him, away with him .* . . we have no king but- Caesar.” On that momentous day, Palm Sunday, the kingdom of heaven was offered to men: “Tell ye the daughter of Sion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass” (Matt. 21:5). And then began our Lord’s triumphal march. As the King of Kings rode down old Olivet’s brow that day, the multi tude cried: “Hosanna to the Son of Da vid: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the high est.” To its last jot and tittle, the King of Israel fulfilled that day the prophecy: “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upbn an ass” (Zech. 9:9).
in the beginning, seen Israel receiving the King, prophecy would have been a different story; and God in some way would have provided, as in the case of Isaac, a lamb for an offering (Gen. 22 : 8 ). As our Lord rode down thq Mount of Olives, “the whole multitude of the dis ciples began to rejoice and praise God . . . Saying, Blessed be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord: peace in heaven, and glory in the highest” (Lk. 19:37, 38). Verily, a prophetic ut terance! When Jesus was bom in Beth lehem, the angels spoke of “peace on earth.” When men rejected "peace on earth,” then the multitude, unquestion ably by inspiration, sang of “peace in heaven” ! For God knew, if man did not, that in the few hours .that followed that descent from the mountain, the blood would be shed whereby God would be reconciled to men and there would be, at least, “peace in heaven” ! The Kingdom Postponed With the rejection on that momentous day of “peace on earth,” the kingdom of heaven upon earth was postponed; and Israel was doomed to trek on for at least nineteen hundred years over bloody pathways, splashing the wailing wall with her bitter tears, while calling, call ing, calling for the Messiah, the Saviour who, to Israel, never seemed to come. The postponement of the kingdom of God on that day is not a theory; it is an established fact. Zechariah 9:9 was fulfilled to its last jot on Palm Sunday, A. D. 30. That is the assurance that verse 10 likewise must be fulfilled. “The Scripture cannot be broken” (John 10: 35). Suddenly pausing on His way down the side of old Olivet, our Lord “beheld the city, and wept over it, saying, If thpu hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes” (Lk. 19:42).
Israel’s Supreme Opportunity Had official Israel that day not blinded their eyes, the rest of the great prophecy would have been fulfilled com pletely: “And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem; and the battle bow shall be cut off; and he shall speak peace unto the nations: and his. dominion shall be from sea to sea” (v. 10, R.V.). Into the realm of that peace, no wars ever could have come! We must insist that the offer of the kingdom to Israel on that day was bona fide; and had Is rael received her King, He would have mounted the throne of David and spo ken peace to the nations. Had God,
* Pastor, First Brethren Church, Long Beach, Calif.
March, 1940
THE K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
89
hold the King on the great white charger, even now champing at its bits. The prophet Joel beheld that stupen dous scene. He beheld in vision the fu ture mobilization of the nations; they came at the call and challenge of God Himself: “Assemble yourselves, and come, all ye heathen [R. V., ‘nations’] ” (3:11). He beheld them: “Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision” (v. 14). Beholding all of the (forces of hell assembled to challenge the right of Christ, the Jew, to rule the earth in righteousness, the prophet could not re strain himself. He turned his eyes unto the heavens and cried: “Thither cause thy mighty ones to come down, O Lord.” In answer to that cry, with his pro-
phetic gaze he beheld “the Lion of the tribe of Juda” leap from the opened heavens and become “the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel” (Joel 3:16). And when that stupendous battle was over, the seventh trumpet sounded, and “the kingdoms of this world” became “the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ” (Rev. 11:15-17). Such was the vision. Fulfilled it must be! Then, and not before, the nations “shall beat their swords into plowshares” (Micah 4:3)! Then, and not before, righteousness shall cover the earth as the waters cover the sea! Then, and not before,- sorrow and crying will flee away! O King of Kings, mount and ride!
The Awful Cost of Postponement Meditate! If only Israel “had known” on that day “the things which belong” unto her “peace,” she would have ac cepted her King; and the ships of state would not have ploughed, these nineteen centuries past, through seas of blood. The great Lover of Israel looked down across the centuries and saw it all. Our Lord saw Caesar, their chosen king, Only twenty years ahead, butchering 30,000 of His earthly brethren in one day on those very streets. Little wonder that His great heart broke! Looking ahead just forty years, He saw Titus hurling his engines of war against those city walls; and He saw men weep and die in agonies that beg gar description. The soldiers of Caesar ceased from the awful butchery only be cause they were physically weary. One million men were slain, while the hand somest young men and women were Carried away captive to Rome. Only a century after that momentous day, a Caesar again devastated Israel’s land and put 580,000 of them to the sword, ran a plowshare through their city, and left not one stone upon an other, fulfilling to the last tittle the prophecy: “Thine enemies . . . shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy chil dren within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another” (Lk. 19: 43, 44). Why? “Because thou khewest not the time of thy visitation” (v. 44). The Jewish blood that is spurt ing today in Germany, in Poland, in Russia, in the Balkans, yea, all over the world, is due to their failure on that day! Future Fulfillment But let there be no mistake! The entire Scripture must be fulfilled! “Re joice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee . . . riding upon an ass”—that has been fulfilled. Now no king, coming to make war, would come riding upon an ass. Imagine, if you can, a Caesar, or a Napoleon, or a Mussolini, riding into battle upon an ass! A king who rides an ass comes in peace. But the world rejected the King who rode the ass. Therefore the vision: “Behold, a white horse, and he that sat thereon called Faithful and True; and in righteousness he doth judge and make war . . . And out of his mouth proceed e d a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness of the wrath of God, . the Almighty. And he hath on his garment and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS” (Rev. 19:11, 15, 16, R. V.). The world of. men that rejected the King who rede .the ass, must soon be
S ton e s Tha t H inder* By HERBERT LOCKYER Liverpool, England
“Take ye away the stone” (John 11:39). D ID you ever ask yourself the question: Why did not the Lord Jesus himself roll the stone away from Lazarus’ tomb? Surely if He had power to raise the dead, with a word He could have caus ed the stone to be removed. Later, the stone at the entrance of His own tomb was dislodged without man’s aid (cf. Matt. 28:2). But on this occasion Jesus said to his disciples: “Take ye away the stone.” In this simple command, there are several important lessons for us to learn—that is, if we are to have any share in the work of the Lord. The first lesson is this: There is a wonderful economy of divine strength. The Lord Jesus Christ never uses His power wastefully. For instance, when Herod, that evil-minded monarch, looked on our Lord as a kind of magician and desired Him to perform a miracle so that his own curiosity might be satis fied, the Lord Jesus did not oblige that gentleman and accede to his request (Lk. 23:8, 9). Christ never squandered His power. The next thought emerging from the text is that the Lord Jesus will not do for us what we are able to do for our selves. It was the work of the disciples to roll away the stone; the Lord left that part of the service to them. It was His work to raise the dead—an operation they could not accomplish. We are slow to learn this lesson in connec tion with Christian life and growth. The Lord Jesus Christ requires us to do what we can do; but there is a blessed
cooperation in this service to which we have been called. We are “workers to gether with him” (2 Cor. 6:1). That day, the disciples had a share in the miracle that the Lord Jesus performed.^ It was His work to raise the dead, but, in the wonder of the divine plan and grace, He could not accomplish His task until the disciples had fulfilled theirs. In this sense, we, too, have the' privilege of coming “to the help of the Lord.” Round about us there are men and women who are buried, spiritually, in graves of sin. Only Christ can free them. But before the Lord will pronounce the all-commanding word and bring these “Lazaruses” to life, we—His people— must obey His command. We have a work to do in relation to their deliver ance. There must be the removal of all hindrances, if the Lord Jesus is to manifest Himself as the Resurrection and the Life. Let us consider, then, some of the hindrances to revival in the church. What are some of the “stones” that we must take away ere the Lord can move in our midst in the greatness of His strength? Jesus said: “Take ye away the stone.” I. There Is the Stone of Prayer- lessness. How can the Lord work through a church, or through a Christian, if that one fails to grasp the deep significance of intercession? The church was born in a prayer meeting, and her life can be sustained only as she lives in that atmosphere. Ceasing to pray, she ceases to function effectively for her Lord. We are in danger of forgetting the em phasis that was placed on prayer by the early church. Those saints of old de clared that they would give themselves “to prayer and to the ministry of the
*An address delivered at the Torrey Memorial Bible Conference, 1940 ,
Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44Made with FlippingBook flipbook maker