9ke KINGS
$ i M « J a m i f q S i t a q a j i n c December • 1929
ct o h e G r e a t d i v i d e
4 When sin first made its deadly thrust It forced a widening span Between the man who walked with God And God who made the man. With sense of sin came sense of fear; The naked sought to hide; Instead of Fellowship and peace There came a great divide. Infinite Love was wounded sore; God sought to bridge the span, Force out the separating wedge And walk again with man. He gave His best, His Son beloved, Who came, who loved, who died; He paid the cost to reconcile; He crossed the great divide. The God who still would walk with man And man who needs His care, Again each other’s fellowship In confidence may share, For Christ the way to peace with God For all has opened wide; The ransom price is paid in full; Spanned is the great divide. “Come” is the tender word of Him Who crossed the great divide To bring the man who walks afar Back to the Father’s side. Haste, then, to heed the Saviour’s call; Unclothed no longer hide; Accept His robe of righteousness And cross the great divide. •X'trsII. V. Andrews. $ 1 , 500-00 IN C A S H ! For Original Sermons on V ita l Christian Themes T HIS prize offer is made to commemorate a quarter of a century of fruitful ministry. During this time The Evangelical Christian has been sent forth monthly with such quality that its intrinsic worth as a faithful exponent of Scripture truth and its fervent advocacy of world-wide missions has won for it a unique place in the hearts and homes of thousands on this continent and in lands beyond the seas. for further enlargement to meet the spiritual hunger in the hearts of people everywhere. In line with this, The Evangelical Christian offers these exceptionally liberal prizes in or der to secure sermons of power, purpose and spiritual depth. The Evangelical Christian wants to publish the best and it is willing to pay for the best, hence the following offer; EN TER N O W IN O N E O R A L L O F T H E S E TH R E E G R O U P S 1 The W a y of Life Made Plain 2 Great Doctrines of the Faith 3 Practical Sermons on Christian Living Launched without capital, the editorial con viction that it had a place and a message for the whole Church has enabled it to con tinue and expand. Rising above denomina tional differences and emphasizing the great evangelical verities and unities, it has won the goodwill of thousands, representative of many communions. Now the time has come 48 PRIZES 3 GROUPS A soul winning sermon or message with the simplest and most convincing present ation of the Gospel. . . . EVERYONE CAN QUAL IFY This offer is not made solely to attract contributions from lead ing theologians, but rather to stimulate all preachers who have a living message. Manuscripts will be judged by an impartial committee of clergymen and Christian business men. The ap peal must be made to the minds and hearts of “ordinary folks”. Expositions of the great foundation truths of Christi anity or sermons in defence of the faith............................ Sermons that clearly set forth the practical application of Christian truths in everyday life.......................................... 16 PRIZES IN EACH GROUP NO TE THE FEW S IM P L E C O N D I T IO N S A contestant may enter up to three sermons but each in a separate 1 group. No one will be entitled to receive more than one first, one second and one third prize. Q Manuscript must be legible, preferably typewritten, one side of A paper only, size 8% x 11; each page numbered, title and classifi cation only to be written on top of manuscript. Must not exceed 4,000 words. Q Name and address with title and classification of manuscript to be ^ enclosed on separate sheet in a plain, sealed envelope which will not be opened until after the judges' decision. This sealed envelope and' the manuscript must be mailed. together. Registered post is advisable in order to insure their safe arrival. A As no manuscript will be returned, contributors are advised to * keep duplicate copy. Address manuscript to CONTEST EDITOR, THE EVANGELICAL CHRISTIAN, 366 Bay Street, Toronto 2, Canada. C Contest closes January 15th, 1930. Any manuscript postmarked *■' January 15th, will be accepted if it reaches our office by January 31st, 1930. A Announcement of prize winners will be made in our April issue, ^ when three of the winning articles will be published. *7 All manuscripts receiving prizes | become the property of The * Evangelical Christian. Other articles (if used), will be paid for on publication. A S F O L L O W S : First Prize *150-oo Second Prize $ 75 .00 The Evangelical Christian An evangelical missionary monthly (inter-denomina tional) combining all the best features of a religious magazine. $1.50 per year. Sample copy gladly given. O The judges' decision is final and no correspondence will be entered 0 into regarding their awards. The judges shall not be bound to award prizes under any classification in which there are not at least 25 entries. The Evangelical Christian ( R O W L A N D V . B IN G H A M , Editor) Dept. F 366 Bay Street Toronto 2, Canada Third Prize $50-oo —A L SO— Three Prizes of $25.00 Each Ten Prizes of $15.00 Each THE KING’S BUSINESS W illiam P. W h ite , D.D., E ditor J. E. J aderquist , P h .D., M anaging E ditor Motto: “I, the Lord, do keep it; I will water it every moment: lest any hurt it, I will keep it night and day.” Isaiah 27:3. PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY AND REPRESENTING THE BIBLE INSTITUTE OF LOS ANGELES Volume XX December, 1929 Number 12 Table of Contents Crumbs from the King’s Table—The Editor........... .,.... ...............567 Editorial Comment .............................................................................. 568 The Marvel of the Ages—Rev. Allon Poole...... ............................. 570 Professor W. G. Moorehead on Verbal Inspiration —Elbert L. McCreery .................................... .............................572 The Brotherhood of Christ—P. W. Philpott, D.D........................ 573 Redemption—Its Meaning and Scope—Dr. John C. Page......... 576 Unfailing Love—G. B. M. Clouser..................................................578 “Give Them a Chapter”—Stanley H. Bailes................................... 579 Jude’s Certain Men—R. E. Neighbour............................................. 580 The True Kenosis of our Lord Jesus Christ (Concluded) —Rev. D. Beaton......... ............... 581 Radio KTBI . 1 ....... .... . .................. 583 Seed Thoughts from St. Mark—Rev. Wilfred M. Hopkins....... 584 Striking Stories of God’s Workings...................................... .........587 Heart to Heart With Our Young Readers ■¿—Florence Nye Whitwell.................................................. ........ 589 Homiletical Helps for Preachers and Teachers.............................592 The Junior King’s Business—Sophie Shaw Meader......... ............593 Alumni Notes ............... ...... .......................................•_........................:595 “To the Jew First”—David L. Cooper............................................. 596 International Lesson Commentary ....... 597 Notes on Christian Endeavor—Alan S’. Pearce........................... 604 Our Literature Table................................................ 607 A Book A Month.... ..................... 608 Daily Devotional Readings............................. .........:..........................610 gg R E G U L A R ■NCCML a t from 4% to 9% is a s s u r e d those whose gifts to the Bible In s titu te of Los A n g e l e s are represented by ou r ANNUITY UONRT All monies placed in ou r h a n d s under this p lan are imme diately invested in sound securities and held in tac t un til the death o f the annu i tan t, a t which time the m o n e y is re leased fo r the regu lar w o rk o f the In stitute. C ircular descriptive o f this most satis factory f o r m of C h r i s t i a n invest ment w ill be gladly sent upon request. 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Change of Address: P lease send bo th old and new ad d resses a t le a st one m onth previous to d ate of desired change. lessroi Bible Institute o f Los Angeles 536-558 South Hope Street Los Angeles, California POLICY AS D E FIN ED BY TH E BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE B IBLE IN ST I TUTE OF LOS ANGELES (a) To sta n d fo r th e in fallib le W ord of God an d its g re a t fu n d am en tal tru th s , (b) To stre n g th e n th e fa ith of a ll believers, (c) To s tir young m en and wom en to fit th em selv es fo r and en g ag e in definite C h ristian w ork, (d) To m ake th e B ible In s titu te of Los A ngeles known, (e) To m ag n ify God our F a th e r an d th e person, w o rk an d com ing of our L ord Je su s C h rist; and to teach th e tra n s fo rm in g pow er of th e H oly S p irit in our p re se n t p ra ctic a l life, (f) To em pha size in stro n g , co n stru ctiv e m essag es th e g re a t fo u n d atio n s of C h ristian faith . S36-558 S. Hope St., BIBLE INSTITUTE OF LOS ANGELES, Los Angeles, California 19 1 € T W E N T Y Y E A R S OF WONDERFUL WORLD-WIDE MINISTRY CLOSES WITH THIS ISSUE. OUR TWENTY-FIRST ANNIVERSARY WILL BE CELEBRATED IN JANUARY, 1930, BY MAKING THE MAGAZINE BIGGER AND BETTER THAN EVER. ** 19 29 SOME THINGS TO BE LOOKING FOR . . . . IN THE COMING ISSUE OF . . . . The K i n g ' sBus V [ i > n r c w t o y T V c i c m ®ur A r t Department has produced a new cover i > C W O U V c I L - 'C o l g l l design of great merit. I t is truly a work of art, conveying a definite Gospel message. New Sunday School Lesson Helps pupils of various grades, the lesson being approached from various angles. X N . . . " P r l - t 1 C i . 0 LT Competent writers, each one fitted for his own I N C W J - /L H L U I I d , I O L d l l particular department, will be added to the per sonnel of The King’s Business editorial staff. A list of these will be given next month. New Contributors in the near future are: Men well known as true defenders of the faith. Among those who will present valuable articles Rev. Mark A. Matthews, Pastor, First Presbyterian Church, Seattle. Rev. P. W. Philpott, D.D., Pastor, Church of the Open Door, Los Angeles. Rev. B. B. Sutcliffe, D.D., Pastor, Calvary Presbyterian Church, Portland, Oregon. Rev. J. O. Buswell, D.D., President, Wheaton College, Wheaton, Illinois. Rev. J. A. Huffman, D.D., Dean of Marion Theological Seminary, Marion, Indiana. Rev. R. H. Glover, M.D., Home Director, China Inland Mission, Philadelphia, Pa. Rev. H. D. Campbell, General Secretary, Africa Inland Mission, Brooklyn, N. Y. O f b p r T ' i p l 'X i l f f m p r y F c Much will make T H E K I N G S w u i c r J ^ e p d l T I I i e i l t S BUSINESS more than ever a monthly feast of good things. WILLIAM P. WHITE, Editor J. E. JADERQUIST, Managing Editor December 1929 T h e K i n g ’ s B u s i n e s s 567 ' Crumbs from the King’s Table By the Editor Men and Machinery acceptably who does not get his message fresh from God in the closet. God can work wonders if he can get a suitable man. The past has not exhausted the possibili ties nor the demand for doing great things for God. I have no sympathy with the teachings of some of our brethren that there can be no great revival until the Lord Jesus comes. “His arm is not shortened that he cannot save; and his ear is not heavy that he cannot hear.” A Prayerless Church Y EARS of millennial glory have been lost by a prayer less church. The coming of our Lord Jesus has been postponed by a prayerless, church. Hell has enlarged her self in the presence of the dead service of a prayerless church. Do we know we are raising up a prayerless set of saints? Where are the Christly leaders who can teach the modem saints how to pray, and put them at it? Let them come to the front and do the work. It will be the greatest work that can be done. An increase of educa tional facilities and an increase of money force will be the direst curse to the cause of Christ if they are not sancti fied by more and better praying. We are not a generation of praying saints. We are a beggarly gang who have nei ther the ardor, nor the beauty, nor the power of saints. Who will restore the breach? Who, under God, will set the church to praying? “Unto him who is able to do ex ceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, ac cording to the power that worketh in us.” Editorial Announcement In January, 1910, T he K ing ’ s B usiness made its bow to the public. With the present issue it completes its first score of years of service. Year by year it has en larged and developed as a Christian magazine for church and home. In the providence of God, T h e K ing ’ s B usiness , as it passes this new milestone, is in new hands. There will be no boisterous celebration, no boastful glorying in past successes, no lamenting because of past or present trials. The future is faced with confidence. Observant readers have doubtless noted some improve ments that have already been made. Attention is called to announcements on another page of further changes to come, which we modestly claim will enable T h e K ing ’ s B usiness to maintain a very high standard of efficiency. Many classes of readers will be served. Sunday-school teachers and pupils will have most useful lesson helps; the J unior K ing ’ s B usiness will please the children; young people will find helpful lessons in the Christian Endeavor column and in Heart to Heart Talks. The busy pastor will have his share of the good things. The family altar will be enriched by well-selected devotional readings. In short, T h e K ing ’ s B usiness ' will aim to be an ideal church and family magazine. f HE trend of the day is to lose sight of the man, or sink the man in the plan or organization.. God’s plan is to make much of the man—far more of him than of anything else. Men are God’s method. The church is looking for better methods, God is looking for better men. “There was a man ”—not a method or an organization— “sent from God whose name was John.” The glory and effic iency of the Gospel is staked on the men who proclaim it. In this age of machinery, we are apt to forget this. What the Church needs is not more machinery, or better; not new organizations, or more methods, but men whom the Holy Spirit can use. The Holy Spirit does not flow through methods, but through men. He does not come on machinery, but on men. He does not anoint plans, but men. —°— The Messenger and the Message T HE character, as well as the fortunes, of the Gos pel is committed to the messenger. He makes or mars the message from God to man. The messenger is the golden pipe through which the divine oil flows. The pipe must not only be golden, but open and flawless, that the oil may have full, unhindered, unwasted flow. What the messenger says is impregnated by what the messenger is. The man is a part of the sermon. True preaching is not the performance of an hour; it is the outflow of a life. The sermon is forceful because the man is forceful. The_ sermon is holy because the man is holy. The sermon is full of divine unction because the man is full of divine unction. The messenger must impersonate the message. It is not great talent, nor great learning, nor great preach ers that God needs; but men great in holiness, great in faith, great in love, great in fidelity; always preaching by faithful sermons in the pulpit and by holy lives out of it. —o— The Messenger and Prayer P RAYER is the messenger’s mightiest weapon. The real man whose life is a message is made in the closet. The weightiest and sweetest messages are found in sacred communion with God. Every messenger who does not make prayer a mighty factor in his life and min istry, is weak as a factor in God’s work, and is powerless to protect God’s cause in the world. Even sermon-mak ing will engross and harden and estrange the heart from God if prayer is neglected. The preacher must be preeminently a man of prayer. In the school of prayer only can the heart learn to preach. No learning can make up for the failure to pray. No earnestness, no diligence, no study, no gifts will supply its lack. Talking to men for God is a great thing; but talking to God for men is greater. No man can preach 568 T h e K i n g ’ s B u s i n e s s December 1929 \ M II E D I T O R I A L C O M M E N T II L____________ .________________ I ..... aES Shall We Cease Thinking? « GENERATION ago theological students were taught that theology was the Queen of the Sci ences, and that theological knowledge was the highest grade of scientific knowledge. But now l in an age which boasts that it is scientific, above all ages of the past, the science of the knowledge of God has been cast down from its lofty pinnacle by those who claim to be leaders of religious thought. Any effort to think accurately and clearly in matters of relig ion is likely to be treated by them as if it were an evidence of irrationality. To put one’s beliefs in the orderly form of a creed is anathema. Even theological seminaries must be untheological if they would be abreast of the times. They must teach that there is no finality of truth to be discovered anywhere, that truth is in fact fluid, not static, and that if we speak of “old truths” (using the language of accommodation) they must be tested and interpreted in the light of the latest conclusions of empirical science or philosophy. The man of the street is tempted to say, concerning all this, “What is it all about? And what is to come of it?” The up-to-date untheological theologian answers that he seeks a basis for unity and harmony by avoiding “fruitless theological discussion.” He would have all men gather in harmonious worship around “the religion of Jesus,” in order to escape from divisive discussions inci dent to what he terms “the old religion about Jesus.” He would discard all creeds in order to build a brother hood of man. Or, if, as a concession to some old-fash ioned folks, the form of some creed of the church must still be retained, it would be held with mental reserva tions and would, be interpreted and restated in the light of the latest conclusions of modern scholarship. By this latter phrase is meant the latest nebulous philosophy which has supplanted the Word of God as the final au thority in matters religious. It is conceded that with such restatement the creed will be made to mean the opposite of what the church has always believed and taught. Thus theology has been dishonored. And what is given in place of it? “The religion of Jesus,” as the modem liberal understands that phrase, will relieve the mind of such unnecessary (? ) theological questions as the incar nation of Christ, the virgin birth, and the resurrection of Christ. It will not be necessary to believe in miracles or to give them any thought, for the seeker after truth will be looking only for “reproducible experiences.” Jesus will have “the value of God” to the Christian, whether He be “very God of very God” or the natural son of Joseph. If he has to the believer “the value of God,” why worry, says the new religion, about such a puz zle as the hypostatic union of the divine and human na tures in Jesus Christ? In short, according to this “modern religious thought,” there is no need of, or room for, the kind of positive, ob jective thinking that has engaged the best minds of the church for nineteen hundred years. But such a religion is not scholarly. It is a negation of true scholarship, the absence of constructive thinking. It is not charged that all Modernism is like this, for there are shades and de grees of modernistic religion. Furthermore, there is some evidence of a reaction against wild extremes of the critics of theology. This is the conclusion, also, of an editorial writer in the Citadel o f Truth for September, whose lan guage is worth quoting: The present wave of aversion to downright thinking can not last. Thank God here and there minds are emerging to declare in unequivocal terms that the things of God are certain and not conjectural, that the truth of God is positive and not relative, and any effort to avoid the issue between God’s Word to man and man’s word about God is both foolish and futile. He who would avoid theology avoids thinking, and instead of brand ing any other he but brands himself. The widespread self- imposed silence of our day upon the transcendent themes of theology shows not courage but cowardice. History has amply shown that the Queen of the Sciences cannot be dethroned by a haughty gesture or a groundless censure. “The talk that we hear today,” says Karl Barth, “can acquire meaning only if we are willing to go the way that Luther and Zwingli and Calvin went, the straight and rigorous way that leads from thought to action—and no other.” Spiritual action emerges from spirit ual thought, character issues from creed. It were like cutting the limb on which we sit to cast aside theology and expect any thing worthy the name of Christianity to persist. Scholarism or Evangelism O N all sides the lament is heard that evangelism of the old type is no longer successful or desirable. By many it is decried as wholly unsuited to our modern times. The type of evangelism which was apparently successful in the days of the Wesleys, Charles G. Finney and D. L. Moody, has been largely displaced by methods which, .whether passing by the name of evangelism or not, are totally different. What has brought about such a sudden and radical change in attitude toward the Gospel message and the method of presenting it? Sometimes the blame is laid to the excessive emotionalism which has occasionally appeared in evangelism, or to commercialism in connec tion with efforts for the salvation of souls. But the root of the trouble lies deeper. In the Biblical Review for October Dr. S. D. Chown has a most illuminating discussion of “some causes of the decline of the earlier typical evangelism.” He reviews the events of the last twenty-five years which have “diluted the strength of the earlier evangelistic message.” He finds no less of religious sentiment now than formerly, nor any decrease in good works on the part of Christians. But he argues that present-day Christian character is to a large extent the product of environment, using the term widely, and that there is lack of a “ forceful spiritual dy namic vitally energizing the inner divine life.” Dr. Chown feels that the loss of vital power in preach ing is due to “currents of intellectualism, which have changed . . . the character of the thinking of many preachers.” There has been an effort to “build a feas ible bridge between Christianity and the modern mind,” which has led to most unfortunate results. “First, the process of wisdomizing theology has di verted attention from it as an experimental science, and December 1929 T h e 569 K i n g ’ s B u s i n e s s has given dominance to a series of somewhat nebulous philosophical concepts. The liberalist theologian, for bet ter or worse, has been ousted by the philosopher who came into his workshop to serve him. . . . The second result of the modern treatment is found in a lesser emphasis upon several important theological postulates, and in the substitution for these of other forms of thought carrying a lower degree of evangelistic content. The following changes are especially evident: The emphasis upon the Deity of Christ has swung to the acceptance of His per sonal worth. Belief in the necessity of the death of Jesus to expiate human guilt is displaced by emphasis upon the supremacy of His moral influence and the splendor of His spiritual teaching. The supernatural has been in geniously scaled down to the natural, and for the supreme and final authority of the revelation of the Scriptures has been substituted the coordinate authority of Christian consciousness. In the same category is the displacement of the objective value and validity of prayer by an unsatis fying conception of its subjective psychological advan tage.” This new theology need but be stated to show that it has totally changed the evangelical message and lacks the power to lead sinners to seek salvation through Jesus Christ. There can be no sense of grief or shame, such as is aroused in a sinner’s mind when he believes that his sin brought the Saviour to the cross. If the supernatural is ruled out there is no sense of responsibility to God, and conscience becomes seared. Dr. Chown also refers to the effect of modern psy chology upon evangelism. He quotes Professor William James, the eminent psychologist, at length. If, with Dr. James, it is acknowledged that conversion “in its essence is a normal adolescent phenomenon incidental to the passage from the child’s small universe to the wider intel lectual and spiritual life of maturity,” no room is left for the preaching of the old Gospel message in the old way. And, again, when Dr. James declares that “some persons never are, and possibly never under any circumstances could be converted,” he most evidently paralyzes evangel ism. Dr. Chown well says, “If these affirmations be the findings of a true psychologist, then scholarism has dis placed evangelism, and the memory and work of the great evangelistic leaders of the church deserve only oblivion.” Is World Peace Possible? P H IL IP MARSHALL BROWN, Professor of Inter national Law, Princeton University, is recognized as an authority on international affairs. Writing in Current History on “The Main Factors of Disarmament” he pre sents views that give little comfort to the extremist, be he a militarist or a pacifist. To the idealists who “feel that armaments may no longer be employed for national de fense,” he says that such a view “denies the practical experience of daily life . . . and makes no appeal to the common sense of mankind.” To those who count on arbitration as a method to settle all disputes he answers: “The essential interests of a nation may not be safely left in the hand of third parties. It is very- doubtful whether any important arbitration ever averted a war.” The Permanent Court of International Justice is like wise ruled out as an effective agent to bring peace because it deals with legal questions and “purely legal matters rarely ever cause war.” The Kellogg Pact for the Renun ciation of War, valuable as it may be as an expression of desire to avert war, permits wars of defense, does not demand disarmament, and does not “provide any sanc tions against a nation violating the pact.” Furthermore, there is no final remedy to be fpund through the League of Nations, for it is not a super-state and has no method of dealing with outlaw nations—Russia, for example. Where, then, is the final remedy? Professor Brown frankly admits it remains yet to be found. He would avoid extremes, saying: “If there is a need of intellectual disarmament on the part of those who thinlc militaristi- cally, there is also a need to avoid the intellectual dis armament which would lull us into illusionment and a false sense of security, having disastrous results.” The warning to extremists may well be heeded by Christian leaders. There is unquestionably a duty laid upon the Church to resist by proper means the war-mind- edness which is fostered by militaristic propaganda; some times issued at the expense of the manufacturers of engines of war. But that does not warrant the conclusion that all weapons of war should be scrapped, without con cern for national security. The millennium has not yet arrived. —o— A New Confession of Faith S EVERAL exchanges recently have commented on the increasing popularity of a “Confession of Faith,” written by Professor William G. Ballantine, which is dis placing in church ritual the Apostles’ Creed. As it may be unfamiliar to some readers of T he K ing ’ s B usiness it is reproduced, with apologies: I believe that God loves us like a Father, that He hears prayer, that He gives food to the hungry, strength to the weak, comfort to the sorrowful, light to those in darkness, and for giveness to the penitent. I believe in loving my neighbor as myself, in doing to others as I would be done by, and in helping those in distress even when of a different race or religion. I believe that God looks upon kindness to a'"child as a per sonal favor to Himself. I believe that service to others gives the truest happiness and that service is the measure of greatness. I believe in the forgiveness of injuries. I believe that love and peace will finally prevail on earth and I look for unending life after death. Amen. A comparison between this and the Apostles’ Creed will show to even a careless reader that they have very little in common. The old creed is Biblical, the new might have come out of almost any religious literature. The thoughts of the old are lofty, sublime and mysterious, because filled with divine wisdom; the sentiments of the new are commonplace. The God of the old creed is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who “so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son”; the God of the new is a sentimental Being who seems never to have any concern about offenses against His holy law. The heart and center of the old creed is the Lord Jesus Christ portrayed in all the majesty and mystery of His person and wonder of His grace, without whom there could be no Christianity; in the new He is not so much as named. The Church has always believed that the for giveness of sins has been purchased through the redemp tion of Christ; in this new theology the idea of the guilt of sin is wholly absent. The new confession looks for the final establishment of love and peace upon the earth, but it says nothing about the coming of Christ, the Judge of the living and the dead, or of the resurrection of the body. 570 December 1929 T h e K i n g ’ s B u s i n e s s The Marvel of the Ages—A Christmastide Meditation B y R ev . A llon P oole {in “The Christian”) “Thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins." —Matt. 1 :21. HE name Jesus was a favorite word in Jewish family circles about 4 B.C. It was a form of the Hebrew word Joshua, and had his est, and the inter-penetrative energy of the life-creating Spirit, were sufficient to account for that event to which the whole civilized world is turning now, and around which the universal Church gathers in adoring wonder, love and praise. The words of the shepherds toric significance. It was, in the popular mind, a blend of hope and hero worship. Every : as appropriate now as when they fol lowed the music of the angels’ song; Let us go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass.” T h e O rig in of J esus W as U n ique How unique was the origin newly born male child might be the leader of a new conquest, the cen ter of a new national movement, the pioneer of a real freedom, and prove to be the Messiah, for whom the nation waited, and whose advent was generally believed to be near (Matt. 2: H j . . 1 The declaration of Isaiah 7: 14 concerning the Virgin Birth of our Lord was then about to be fulfilled. “The Mighty God” was about to take the weakness of infancy. “The Everlasting Father" —ifi Jesus Christ—was about to become a Son, and assume the time-vesture of our mortality. “The Prince o f Peace,” of whose government and peace there was to be no end, was not only to be “born under the law," He was to mark a new advance in the divine unveiling. The greatest marvel of all ages was about to come to pass. The unseen silent God of the uni verse was about to become vis ible and vocal. The Creator was to become subject to His own creative laws, and to lie cra dled in a woman’s arms, for the divine had a l r e a d y conde scended to the human and the human had been exalted to vi tal partnership with the divine. New possibilities of moral and spiritual attainment—with cor responding depths to be fath omed—were to be opened up to the race by the birth of Jesus Christ. He was to be “set for the falling and rising o f many” —not in Israel only of Jesus! It is impossible to think of those three great first chapters of the New Testament (John 1, Col. 1, and Heb. 1) as other than commentaries on Isa iah’s arrestive p h r a s e ; “The Mighty God.” They help us to a complete understanding of the glory of Christ’s Person and the unsearchable riches of His power, while the blinding vi sions of the Damascus road and the Isle of Patmos disclose that glory which was His be fore the world began—His as the coequal of the Father. All the creative energies of God found expression through Him as their channel, and all His works had Him as the object of their being. The sinless min strelsy of heaven hymned His praise and honored His Per son as He entered on this sub lime disclosure of His grace: “When he bringeth the firstbe- gotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him.” God is seen and heard in Him. Eternal Deity, at the fullest, is possessed by Him. All the Father’s glories, gleaming in scattered rays in the Old Testament, are gath ered up and re-expressed in His divine human personality. This is how George Herbert quaintly expressed the wonder of the Incarnation The Universal Joy B y E dgar C ooper M ason Bethlehem! O Bethlehem! Crowned with heaven’s own diadem! Ay, in thee was born a King, Moving angel choirs to sing! Song of peace, good will on earth, Through our Saviour’s lowly birth, Sung to shepherds, telling them: “Christ is born in Bethlehem.” As the shepherds on the plain Heard the News and glad refrain;— As the Wise Men from afar Thrilled with joy to see His Star;— Still the wise and lowly may Find the same sweet joy today, If, with all the heart of them, They but come to Bethlehem! Of all joys of Christmas time, Voiced in song and ringing chime, Filling every human heart, Lighting every home and mart;— Of the Christmas hopes and joys Of our happy girls and boys;— He’s the Source of all of them, Who was born in Bethlehem. Let His joy fill every heart; Let all gloom and fear depart; Let the world rejoice and sing: “Christ, of all our joys the Spring.” Men, your hearts in praises lift For God’s all-embracing Gift;— Spring from which all blessings flow, As from Judah, long ago. -during the ages then to come. To the Spirit-taught, Scripture-loving mind, the rec ord of Matthew 1 makes interesting reading—even to the point of fascination. Joseph of Nazareth learns his duty by direct revelation, and hears that Isaiah’s prophecy is on the verge of fulfillment . ; The overshadowing of the High Hast thou not heard that my Lord Jesus died? Then let me tell thee a strange storie. The God of Power, as He did ride In His majestic robes of glorie,' Resolved to ’light; and so one day He did descend, undressing all the way. December 1929 571 T h e K i n g ' s B u s i n e s s The stars His ’tire of light and rings obtained, The cloud His bow; the fire His spear; The sky His azure mantle gained. And when they asked what He would wear, He smiled, and said as He did go, He had new clothes a-making here below! unembittered by treachery, unswerving in, fidelity, un flinching in agony, peerless in His humanity. He moved among men “full o f grace, and truth” and kept the white radiance of His purity unsoiled amid the moral soot that ceaselessly fell about His life. That unstained holiness He committed to His Father’s hands when He, the Sav iour, was made an offering for sin. A S tr ik ing N ame W as H is What a striking name was H is ! “Thou sha.lt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins.” N ot E xemplar ! Not a pattern to be copied, a model to be imitated. At least, not that only, nor that first of all. That only after the ransom of the Cross and the humility of service (John 13:1-17). N ot T h in k e r ! N o explorer in realms of thought, no prospector in the kingdom of philosophy, but ever drawing from the deeps of His own knowledge wherein reposed all the wisdom o.f God. N ot M artyr ! Not a captive helpless to free Himself ! No wit ness sealing His testimony to divine truth with His out poured life! Passive, but not powerless; meek, but still majestic; weak, but yet mighty; He "moved along the sor rowful way to the crest of the “Green Hill,” and died as He had lived, as only God could live and d ie! Power was His up to the very last. Power to lay His life down, and power to take jt again. N ot R uler ! He had come to His own in lowly guise, “born o f a woman, born under the law” —notwithstanding that He was Lord of all, and the fount and origin of all law, whether written on stone or the consciences of men. N ot W arrior ! His Cause was not to be built on force working from without, but on love operating from within. His mission was not to destroy men’s lives, but to save them ; not to “wade through slaughter to a throne,” but to show that the high est—even the divinest—life is a blend of service and sac rifice, of service through sacrifice. The world has had no lack of examples, thinkers, martyrs, rulers, and warriors. Its primary and perennial need is for a Saviour, and it was to meet that need that Jesus came to Bethlehem, His advent heralded by the hosts of heaven. A D iv ine T ask W as H is What a divine task was H is ! “He shall save His peo ple from their sins.” The Jews were groaning under the yoke of Imperial Rome. How ruthless and despotic that could be, Luke records (13:1). They panted after the fulfillment of those Messianic prophecies which should make Jerusalem the metropolis of the world, and divert to its treasury the riches of the Gentiles. The Jews were ever ready to hail a deliverer from civic enslavement, while content to wear the fetters of sin. They had no eyes for the evils of the heart what time the soldiers of Rome trod their streets. Jesus came to meet their deepest need. His salvation brought rescue from man’s worst tyranny. He came to bring their souls out of prison, to give deliver ance to the captives of sin and Satan. For men are ever keener on salvation from outer perils than from inner evils. The League of Nations, Peace Pacts, and Arma ment reductions are so many attempts to secure immunity from the menace of the mailed fist, the oppression of small nations, and the awful wreckage, waste and madness of war. Yet what the world most needs is de liverance from the vices latent within the individual soul— ambition, lust of power, greed, .vice, .'love of luxury, the vanity of display, the pursuit of-pleasure, indifference to, The making and wearing of His “new clothes” did not shut out for long the consciousness of His divine origin and mission. At the age of twelve He knew God to be His Father, and was eager to be about His Father’s business. At the baptism in the wilderness, on the Mount of Transfiguration, just before and in Gethsemane, He had either the Father’s audible approval, the com pany of Moses and Elijah, or personal service from the angel hosts. Scattered throughout the Gospel records are incontestable proofs that all the essential powers of the Godhead function through Him. There is only one pos sible explanation of this, and John records it in His Gos pel (ch. 13:1-3; 17:1, 2, 5, 24). He knew that He came from God, knew Himself equal with God, knew He was returning to God, knew that He had, before His human birth, shared the unapproachable glory of God. All that makes the manger of Bethlehem the marvel of the ages. T h e L ife of J esus W as U nique What a unique life was to. be H is ! However we may look upon the birth of Jesus, what occurred at Bethlehem was a marvel of divine condescension. And the more the mind dwells on it, the greater the marvel becomes. For here among the lowing cattle and the lowly occupants of the caravansary, through Jesus, the Eternal drew about Himself a true circle; the Mighty God became limited by the weakness of infancy: “He came, a little baby thing, That made a woman cry.” Yet it was far more than an act of divine limitation. It marked an advance in divine self-expression. It was to give new meaning to the old revelation. It was to make real that which had been faintly set forth by such terms as Shepherd, Father, Friend. By becoming subject to the limitations of humanity, God was drawing as near to man as He could come. Henceforth man’s best concep tion of God would lie in his power to revision Jesus Christ. The Word, who was God, was made flesh in order that He might be “touched with the feeling o f our infirmities, tempted in all points like as we are,” qualified to succor, and made perfect by sufferings. There is this further uniqueness about the Saviour. He stands before the race as God’s ideal of perfect manhood. The first Adam was made in the image of the Last Adam, who restores all that the first lost when he could no longer walk with God in innocence and joy. The Person of Jesus is a prophecy and a pledge that man, redeemed by the sacrifice of the cross and renewed by the Spirit of God, shall be changed into His likeness. The destiny of God’s redeemed is declared by St. John: “We shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.” Is there anything more attractive than the charm of childhood ? The trustfulness, the purity, the unstained in nocence that looks out of a child’s eyes! No wonder Jesus caught little children up in His arms and blessed them! They were akin to His Spirit, nearest the kingdom of heaven, and their angels looked into His Father’s face! What Jesus possessed as the Babe in the manger He kept unto the end. He was unaffected by obscurity, unspoiled by publicity* unsoured by adversity, unmoved by hostility, 572 December 1929 T h e K i n g ’ s B u s i n e s s and defiance of, the claims of God on life and love and service. “He came unto his own, and his own received him not.” Had they done so, they would have made their greatest .discovery. They would have beheld in Jesus the greatest marvel of all time. Had they welcomed Him for what He was, had they worshiped with the Magi, adored with the shepherds, praised with Simeon and Anna, and reechoed the angels’ Gloria, they would have saved their place and their nation, and the exile of over nineteen hun dred years. Meanwhile, the individual heart, in response to the call of the Word, in the power of the Spirit, enters upon a profound experience. “That I have a Saviour,” is the modern testimony of countless thousands besides Sir James Simpson. The Jesus of Prophecy, the Jesus of History, the Jesus of Calvary, the Divine Man in the Glory, justifies His Name. He is still exalted to be “a Prince and a Saviour, to give repentance to Israel and remission o f sins.” And, finally, that is His greatest glory. It is for that He lives and reigns and reveals Himself. It is because of this that Saul of Tarsus is arrested on the Damascus load HOSE theological students who were privileged to sit at the feet of Dr. Moorehead during the days of his ministry at Xenia Theological Seminary, recognize the great privilege that was theirs to be acquainted with such a man of God. Not least among the values of this personal con tact were those intimate, incidental touches which came when he told the story of his own intellectual and spiritual struggles. The recital always confirmed the faith of his students and beautified the doctrines of Christianity. Those who knew Dr. Moorehead well and recall his exceptional command of language, how both English and Greek flowed from his lips most eloquently, would scarcely suspect that he had ever had any difficulty in acquiring a new language. One day in one of his New Testament Greek classes a question was asked him which had to do with the doctrine of the inspiration of the Scriptures. He replied by giving an incident from his own experience to illustrate his idea of the meaning of verbal inspiration. He sought through the illustration to emphasize the abso lute necessity of words as a vehicle for conveying thoughts, because, as he said, thought cannot be conveyed apart from the use of words. He related that he had been for some time a missionary in Italy. After he had gained a reading knowledge of the Italian, he felt that, in order to do his best work and to have the greatest influence with the Italian people, he must be able to use the language like a native—think in it, dream in it; make it, as it were, his native tongue. In order to accomplish this, Dr. Moorehead went to a seaport town where he saw no one but Italians and heard only the Italian language. Here he applied himself dili gently to his self-appointed task. After some time he became very much discouraged, even fearing he was and receives new letters of authority. It is for this that a door is opened in heaven for St. John. It is this—the one unfailing demonstration of it—which guards the Church against all the assaults of death and hell. It is still a miracle that the Church, ever assailed, ever triumphs. She survives because she enshrines and enthrones a Sav iour. The center of her life, the source of her power, the fountain of her sacrifice, the secret of her successes, are explained by Him who is not now the Babe of Bethle hem, but the Lord of Glory, enthroned in the power of an endless life. “Who came down from heaven to earth? Jesus Christ our Saviour! Came a Child of lowly birth? Jesus Christ our Saviour 1 “Sound the chorus loud and clear— He hath brought salvation near; None so precious, none so dear: Jesus Christ our Saviour 1” Therefore, let the whole earth raise a seven-fold Hal lelujah ! losing his mind. This distress came because he seemed unable to think freely and to express his thoughts clearly, as he had been accustomed to do. He became so oppressed with this burden that he determined to find out as soon as possible whether he was actually losing his mind. Opportunity to do so came one day when he saw a British vessel come into the port. Knowing he would there find some one who could speak the English language, he went down and accosted the first man who left the boat. It proved to be one of the English officers, who was making his way to a restaurant. Dr. Moorehead asked, and re ceived, the privilege of talking with him as he ate his meal. For an hour or more he was busily engaged in conversation with this Englishman on all sorts of subjects, including English literature, and found that mental relief which he sought. He discovered he was not losing his mind, at all. He could think and speak in English as formerly, and therefore he concluded that his confusion was not due to any mental weakness but simply to his lack of Italian words. He went away from that conversation convinced that his mind was quite normal but that he did not have an Italian vocabulary sufficient to match the thoughts needing expression. Dr. Moorehead made us understand, through this re cital of his experience, that we cannot think apart from words, and one’s thought life is limited by the vocabulary he possesses. As he applied this to the doctrine of inspira tion two things were indelibly impressed upon our minds: First, the necessary part that words play in the matter of our thinking; second, the absolute impossibility of con veying our thought apart from the use of the vehicle of words. If, therefore, there is to be a revelation from God which is in its nature infallible, it can only be such a revelation as comes through the medit m of words. ate ate ate Professor W. G. Moorehead on Verbal Inspiration B y O ne of H is S tudents , E lbert L. M c C reery December 1929 573 T h e K i n g ’ s B u s i n e s s The Brotherhood of Christ B y P . W . P h ilpott , D.D. (Sermon delivered at Church o f the Open Door, Los Angeles, Sunday Evening, October 6, 1929) "For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren.”— Heb. 2:11. f N these days we hear a great deal about frater nities, fellowships and brotherhoods; but I am to talk to you about the brotherhood of Christ, one that is really worth while. sented from numerous viewpoints. Sometimes it is a life of faith. It begins by believing on Jesus Christ as our personal Saviour. “We walk by faith.” “Without faith it is impossible to please him.” Again, it is a life o f service, ministering to others in the name and spirit of Him “who went about doing good.” It is also a life o f holiness. “Without holiness no man shall see the Lord.” And Jesus is made unto us “wisdom, righteousness, sanctifi cation and redemption.” You have doubtless observed, in reading the New Testament, that the Christian life is pre But again, it is a life of hope—“that blessed hope,” Paul calls it in his Epistle to Titus, “the glorious appear ing o f the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.” But above all, the Christian life is a life of love, a life of intimacy and fellowship with our precious Saviour and Lord. T he F act of th e V ital U n ion B etween C hrist and H is C hurch One of the great and glorious truths of divine revela tion is the fact of the vital, eternal union that subsists between Christ and His Church. This truth is so im portant and blessed that the Holy Spirit has taken the most exquisite figure of human affection to describe the bond that binds His heart to the hearts of those whom He calls “His own.” It is not the love of a comrade, or the love of a brother, or even the more sacred love of a mother. But it is that love which links two hearts in an exclusive union that is all their own and into which none other dare intrude. It is the love of the husband and the wife, of the bride and the bridegroom. Even that beautiful figure fails to set forth this union in all its perfection; hence several other metaphors are used. For instance, in John’s gospel we read of the shep herd and the sheep. Christ is the shepherd and we are the sheep. In the fifteenth chapter we have the figure of the vine and the branches. He is the vine and we are the branches. In the epistles we have the figure of a building. The foundation is Christ and we are the material that makes up the whole. Then we have the figure of the human body. He is the head and we are the members of that body, “members o f his flesh and o f his'bones.” But the most sublime metaphor is that of the husband and the wife. The apostle Paul in his Epistle,, to the Corin thians, speaking of the marriage, bond, says when the twain are joined they are “one flesh, but he that is joined “Jesus, Thy blood and righteousness My beauty are, my glorious dress; Midst flaming worlds in these arrayed, With joy shall I lift up my head.” unto the Lord is one spirit.” You may separate the sheep from the shepherd; you may cut away the branches from the vine; you may sever a member from the body; you may tear away the material from the corner stone and the foundation; you may divorce the wife or the husband; but there is no line o f cleavage in one’s spirit. Oh, what a sanctifying and satisfying truth! I have come to think that all real Christians are equally secure no matter what they believe, whether Calvinists or Arminians. But all Christians are not equally happy, and it is because this great truth has never gripped them. There is a tradition that comes down to us from the days ■of the Passover in Egypt, of two Hebrew maidens who, on the night that the death angel was passing through the land, were behind the closed door that had been sprinkled with the blood of the lamb. One was seated at the table feasting on the roasted lamb while the other was walking the floor in anguish of mind and agony of heart. She kept wondering if the death angel had passed by. Her sister said, “It makes no difference whether he has passed by or not. The blood is on the door and God has said, ‘When I see the blood, I will pass over you.’ ” You see, both were safe, but they were not equally sure. It matters a great deal whether we believe the Word of God or not-—it makes a difference in our happiness. In the first chapters of this wonderful Epistle to the Hebrews the writer suggests several blessed aspects of this glorious union. C hrist O ne W ith U s in O ur H uman ity Christ is one with us in our humanity. “Forasmuch,” we read in the fourteenth verse of the second chapter, “as the children are partakers o f flesh and blood, he also him self likewise took part o f the same.” And in verse six teen : “For verily he took not on him the nature of angek; but he took on him the seed o f Abraham.” In the first chapter the emphasis is upon the deity of the Lord Jesus. He is “heir o f all things, by whom also he made the worlds; who being the brightness o f his glory, and the express image o f his person, and upholding all things by the word o f his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand o f the Majesty on high.” Here He is Very God of Very God. But in the second chapter He is Very Man of Very Man. In our day many are denying His deity. It is just as great an error to deny His humanity. There is a very popular religion that denies the humanity of the Lord Jesus Christ, that denies that God has been manifest in the flesh. John in his epistle tells us that we are to “try the spirits whether they be o f God.” Here is one of the tests: “Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is o f God: and every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not o f God ; and this is the spirit o f antichrist.” We all know of a religion that is very prosperous and popular today that denies that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. “This is the spirit o f antichrist.” The only way we can account for Jesus Christ is to believe the story of His incarnation as it is recorded in the Gospels; How cart I account for this Man except by believing that the Babe
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