April 1928
T h e K i n g ’ s B u s i n e s s
213
things that indicate that many individuals and churches that are tremendously active in work, toil, patience, •defense o f truth have lost the love o f their espousal and are without a genuine mission and message in our day ? The only thing that can put us right here is the submission •of the life so that the Spirit o f God may have a chance to form in us Jesus Christ as the hope of glory! That is a •supernatural thing and can only be done by God’s Spirit. Perhaps the best illustration we have o f the difference between mere religious activity and interest, and a genuine Christian life that is dominated by the love of ,espousal, is in the life o f the Apostle Paul. Previous to his conversion Paul was a great religionist, active, zealous and unweary ing ; but it was a zeal without knowledge and he sought the establishing o f his own righteousness rather than the doing o f the will o f God. In that life he persecuted the •church and was willing to put to death those who did not •conform to his theological beliefs. Then he met Jesus Christ and he became a new creation. What about this great realm of his emotional life? What happened to it? It was so fundamentally changed that this man who was willing to put people to death in order that they might ■conform to his way o f doing was now willing to die in order that he might win others to the Lord Jesus Christ. One o f the great chapters of the Word of God is the ■closing part o f the 8th chapter of Romans and the opening o f the 9th. He speaks of the great love o f God and he •calls attention to the fact this is real to him. “ I say the f VANGEL ISM is the essential note of the Bible Institute o f Los Angeles. I know o f no other school o f this class where the note is more fre quently heard. The primary purpose o f the Institute is to win men and women to Jesus Christ. Each course o f study is shaped to that end, and each program of service has that in view. Classes and clinics in personal, professional and pastoral evangelism are held every week of the school year. The evangelistic note has never been permitted to become silent, and, what is more, the very charter o f the Institute will never permit it to become so. Dr. Torrey, who for more than a third o f a century has been a recog nized pioneer in the field o f soul winning, when he became Dean o f the Los Angeles Institute, and who, for thirteen years functioned in that capacity, gave a large place to the study o f Personal Evangelism, directing that that study should follow the lines mapped out in his well- known book, “ Personal Work.” That book is still the textbook for the subject. The present teacher of Evangel ism, sat as a student in the old Moody Institute, receiving instruction along this line from the author, long before the subject was placed in book form, and in the subsequent years has passed on this knowledge to his students, deep ened and enriched by years of service as pastor, evan gelist, and teacher. The object of the Bible Institute o f Los Angeles, as stated in its catalogue, is as follows: “ The Institute aims in its training of all classes for whom it is intended, to send out men and women having
truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience bearing witness with me in the Holy Spirit, that I have great sorrow and unceasing pain in my heart. For I could wish that I my self were anathema from Christ, fo r my brethren’s sake, my kinsmen according to the flesh : who are Israelites.” Remember, these were the people who were stoning him and persecuting him and casting him into prison and finally succeeded in putting him to death. Yet he was willing to die for them if by doing so he could only win them to Jesus Christ. There is no place where Paul is more like the, Lord Jesus Christ than in that passage, and-that:came to-pass in; his life because Christ lived in Him and lie could honestly say that for him to live was Christ. It is important that we should unswervingly stand for the fundamental doctrines o f our faith. W e must not cbmpromise there. On the other hand, it is just as im portant we should - stand unswervingly in the realm o f love, a love that is like unto the love of our Lord Jesus. A man that is not right at that center is just as much a heretic, and perhaps if we speak by comparison, more o f a heretic, than the man who may be wrong in his think ing. The fact is, we must not be wrong in either our thinking or our love. I f ,we understand Christ and the Apostle Paul we can not be Christian and be wrong in the realm o f our love life. There is no place where we need to know Jesus Christ more than in the cleansing and purifying o f the heart life, that we may not lose the love o f espousal. at least seven characteristics,” tlie first two of these seven requirements being “ genuine and thorough consecration, and intense love for souls.” It is more than interesting to know that with the vari ous_changes in the personnel of the Institute staff, the subject o f Evangelism continues to be taught, and evangel istic activities are stressed today under Dr. Maclnnis as always in the past, and “ intense, love for souls” is ever kept before the student body as the supreme passion o f the true Servant o f Jesus Christ. One of the most illuminating and inspiring series of lectures ever delivered to our students within the compass of your writer’s memory, is being presented during this semester, by Dr. G. Campbell Morgan, a member o'f our faculty, on the general theme, “ Christ and Personality, or A Study o f Christ’s Methods in dealing with varied Per sonalities.” I understand these studies are to be given to the public in book form in the near future. My object in making this intimation is simply this: I f you are at all interested in the theme, “ Knowing Christ in Sp.ul W in ning)” you will find Dr. Morgan’s book invaluable. The subject o f soul winning has claimed the thought o f God’s children uninterruptedly, since the day He said to the fishermen of Galilee: “ Follow Me and I will make you fishers of men.” Those who speak about winning souls are constantly challenged to present something new. How can w e ! The theme is as old as man, and the Word of God is concerned about it from Genesis to Revelation, and in ' the sense o f age, the Bible is no recent book. Hundreds o f thousands of pages have been written, and
ÿ è jÉ U è Knowing Christ In Soul Winning B y D r . R alph A tkinson , A ssociate D ean (An Anniversary Conference Lecture )
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