FEBRUARY
1945
Official Organ of THE BIBLE INSTITUTE OF LOS ANGELES. Incorporated
T ru s t y e in the L o rd f o r e v e r : f o r in the L o rd Jeh ovah is e v e r la s t in g s t ren g th ." Isaiah 2 6 :4 .
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to any) evangelical Christian Minister, Sunday School or Mi sionary superintendent, one copy of ‘‘Prove Me Now Herewith” for each family in his congregation providing he will agree to give a talk on Tithing before distribution. Write stating denomination and number of leaflets desired to TITHER, 710-K Title Insurance Bldg. Los Angeles 13, California ■Jr ■
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A This new song book you are sure to want reveals matchless resources )f SacredSongandScripturePortions. Here are the “old favorites”, many new numbers and songs to meet present evangelical needs. Just the practical all-purpose book of deep spiritual poweryouhave longawaited. Years in preparation—possibleonly from our many years’ experience in developing the Tabernacle Hymns series. This great “Song Book of the Nation” surpasses all its predecessors. Mail Coupon for FREE Sample Satisfies Young and Old, Pastor, People, Choir and Sunday School. Buy new books only after seeing this welcome aid in winning souls. TABERNACLE Publishing Company 360-B5 North Waller Ave., Chicago 44, III Gentlemen: Our Church needs new sons books. Therefore, please send me FREE sample of “ Tabernacle Hymns Number Four.” Official Name.............. ....................... Title..... Address .......... ...................... ........ Church and Member- Denom. ................................ ship......... Pastor ....... ..............-...Address......
To-day the world lies in darkness. One day Christ will come again, and darkness will flee before Him, but until that day all the light that reaches men must shine through those who have become partakers o f His life. W e need a generation of Lesser Lights — young people who are Spirit-filled and soundly taught in the Word of God, as well as in the arts and sciences. Westmont College is dedicated to the purpose of developing such young people in an atmosphere where Christ is held preeminent. The school is not endowed, yet in five years its development has been amazing - - amazing, that is, to those who do not appreciate God's faithfulness. Westmont’s financial policy is expressed by the words, “Ask God for all the needs, and keep His people informed, ” and in 'keeping with this policy a very inter esting booklet of information has been prepared for you. Your heart will be stirred as you read and discover that God still “moves in a mysterious way His wonders to perform.”
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WESTMONT COLLECE, Dept. K 2 231 So. Westmoreland Ave., Los Angeles 4, Calif.
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February, 1945
HebrewChristian's Report FromEurope
The Rev. Jacob Peltz. Ph.B., B.D.
The Official Organ of THE BIBLE INSTITUTE OF LOS ANGELES, Inc* "Vnto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood” (Rev. 1:5). THE KING'S BUSINESS Current Business ............................_____..............................................—........42 A Church at Prayer— K. Owen W h ite _________________ _______________ -— 43 God Uses M y Legs— M e l Larson ..................................................................44 Be Swift to Hear— John A. Hubbard ................................................... —,...47 Continual Victory— Is It Possible?— Ruth Paxson --------------------------- -.49 Dr. Talbot’s Question B o x ....................................~........................................ 51 Christ the Answer on a South Pacific Island— Anne Hazelto n ---- —------- 52 Junior K ing’s Business— Martha S. Hooker ---- .....----------------------------- 53 Biola Family ...................................................... ........................................... —55 International Lesson Commentary ................................................................56 Christian Endeavor— Mary Ellen Lehman, Albert W . Kliewer, Lois M , Foster, Don W , Hillis __................................ ........................ 66 Daily Devotional Readings ............ ...................................................... —: 70 Literature Table .....— _____________ ______________ -.....................................-77 Speaker’s Scrapbook...........— .......................................... .... ........................... 79 SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION —“ The King’s Business” is published monthly; $1.50, one yr.; $2.00, two yrs.; 75 cents, six months; 20 cents, single copy. Clubs of three or more at special rates. Write for details. ' Canadian and foreign subscriptions 25 cents extra. It requires one month for a change of address to become effective. Please send both old and new addresses. REM ITTANCE —Payable in advance, should be made by bank draft, express, or post office money order payable to “ The King’s Business.” Date of expiration will show plainly on outside wrapper or cover of magazine. ADVERTISING —For information, address the Advertising Manager* 558 South Hope Street, Los Angeles 13, Calif., or our eastern representative, Religious Press Association, 51 No. 52nd St., Philadelphia 39, Pa. MANUSCRIPTS —“ The King’s Business” cannot accept responsibility for loss or damage to manuscripts sent in for consideration. Entered as second-class matter November 7, 1938, at the Post Office at Los An geles, California, under the Act of March 3, 1879. Acceptance for mailing at spe cial rate of postage provided for in the Act of February 28, 1925, embodied in para graph 4, section 538, P. L. and R., authorized October 1, 1918, and November 13, 1938. ADDRESS: The King’s Business, 558 So. Hope St., L Reports from missionaries In Europe are both trifle and Inspiring. One Hebrew Christian from Roumania writes that the number of Jews in that country who starved to death who w e r e massacred in camps is estimated at about 400,000. He tells of the missionary Feinstein, one of the leaders of our Hebrew Christian Alliance in Roumania, who died of thirst. He could not get a drop of water. Many Hebrew Christians, the report states, ‘‘were shot or simply disappeared. From a whole congregation of Hebrew Chris- tains in Chisinau, only one is now alive.” The report continues on a note very similar to sections in the Acts of the Apostles when"' the first Hebrew Chris tians preached the gospel in the face of torture and death: ‘‘in Jassi a IHtle group of Hebrew Christians was massacred, in .■ a Rabbi was converted and confessed his faith. Two thousand Gospels and tracts have been distributed there, and this secretly. We are working continually in greatest danger of our lives and liberty. No services, no meetings are allowed. Secretly we meet in numbers of twenty to forty In private houses. A ser mon, prayer. Communion, without hymns, then we scatter immediately. If we are caught we go to prison. We live now the same days as the first Christians.” Happily Roumania and other parts of Europe »are now free. We are therefore called upon to give food and shelter not only to refugees already under our care, but to stretch out our ministry of relief and Christian witness amongst those who have survived the fiendish Nazi terror. Please help us in our work amongst the refugees and our world-wide Hebrew Christian t e s t i m o n y at this hour of Israel’s desperate need. THE International Hebrew Christian Alliance Rev. Jacob Peltz, Ph-B., B.D., Secretary Dept KB-25, 4919 N. Albany Aye., Chicago 25, III. Canada: 91 Bellevue Ave., Toronto, Canada Note: Free booklet, “ The Present Day Attempt to Destroy the Jews” or the “ British White Paper and Palestine” gladly sent on request. 42 T H E K I N G , ’ S B U S I N E S S Current Business LOUIS T. TALBOT, Editor-In-Chief of sins forgiven fo r Christ’s sake Is very real; that His help, companion ship, and /friendship are very real; that the help He gives to overcome sin is very real; that intercourse with Him through prayer or the reading of His Book is very real and prac tical, and that the'Christian life, if it is lived in dependence on and in obe dience to Him, is a very feasible, practical, and happy thing.” Seventeen Cents— and God’s Tithe In Omaha, Nebraska, a friend has been sending gifts of money to the Institute for many years, to be ap plied toward the training of students. Not long ago, someone asked her how her interest in the school began. She sent this reply: “ I never have been a student of the Bible Institute of Los Angeles and no one ever has called on me. In 1931, we lost our son in an automobile accident. He was only sixteen, and his going was a heavy blow. One of my neigh bors asked me to go to a Wednesday morning Bible class, and through the class I began taking THE KING’S BUSINESS... In the fall of that year the depression really hit us. We have always considered it a blessing, how ever, for it taught us so surely that if we will only place ourselves com pletely in His care, we shall be pro vided for. During that time, my hus band was persuaded to tithe. We started by giving the Lord two cents of our total sum, seventeen cents. By. referring tp the record of our sub sequent contributions, I believe you can see what happened. My prayers are always with you and I know that you, too, have learned that faith and prayer are the two greatest factors in the lives of any of us.” Infilling By Martha Snell Nicholson Someone brought me a little gift, A thin glass amber bowl. When empty it is lusterless And commonplace and dull. But filled with water it becom® A rare and lovely sight, To charm the eye, and make me catch My breath with sheer delight. A glowing jewel, holding all The sunlight in the room, A globe of liquid loveliness, A golden rose in bloom. I n,ever fill the empty bowl And then step back to see Its shining miracle again But that I think how He Into our empty, dull-hued souls His Holy Spirit pours, Nor stays His hand until we glow With beauty—His, not ours! In Los Angeles: Youth for Christ One after another,, the large cities of the nation and many smaller places are witnessing a work of God among young people. In Chicago, so enthu siastic was the response that more than 28,000 crowded the Chicago Sta dium on a Saturday night last fall, and the good work goes on without interruption. (See December K ING ’S BUSINESS.) Now Los Angeles has been awak ened. The first meeting of the “Saturday Night Jubilee,” as it is called here, was held on January 6 if f the audito rium of the Church of the Open Door. Some 3,000 attended. High-school and college-age youth predominated both in the audience and on the platform. The program announced that “Youth Does It,” and with gusto, youth did! Briefly, this is the background of the movement in Los Angeles. A l most two years ago, a few young men. who were concerned for the evangelization of the world began to pray that God would give them a vi sion of what He wanted to do for the youth in this vicinity; and then that He Himself would accomplish that purpose by doing something that would have repercussions around the world. Those meetings for prayer con tinued a l m o s t every week right through the two years. A few months ago the Lord laid upon the hearts of these men a bur den for prayer particularly for a youth rally, similar to those being held in other parts of the U n i t e d States, and having as its main theme the evangelization of the worl,d. The meeting on January 6 w a s God’s answer. The program was pop ular; young people liked it; it w a s evangelistic; and it presented t h e missionary challenge with vigor and with surprise. The aim of the movement here is threefold; To give to Christian young people a vision of responsibility for witnessing for the Lord; to press the claims of the Great Commission; and to interest and win for Christ that vast army of high-school and college- age youth that might otherwise never be reached. While there is no official connection between the Bible Institute of Los An geles and this youth movement, the school is naturally a center for prayer and interest in what the Lord is per forming. The plan is to hold these gatherings every Saturday night until, the Lord indicates differently. An encouraging token of His work ing was received when, on Monday morning following the Saturday night beginning, a young Korean telephoned one of the leaders to say that he had sat through the meeting without mak ing any “decision. But the Spirit of God had spoken to him so insistently that on Sunday, while riding on a street car, he had determined to set tle the matter, and he then and there received Christ. May God grant that many another young person may receive the Saviour and "then go out valiantly to witness for Him. Christian General Governor and commander-in-chief of the rugged mid-Mediterranean is land fortress of Malta during some of the darkest days of British history, Lt.-Gen. Sir William G; S. Dobbie is credited wijh saving the “m o s t bombed spot on earth.” Equally distinguished is he as a loyal believer in the Lord J e s u s Christ. Accompanied by Lady Dobbie, he will begin in late January a coast- to-coast tour of principal cities of the United States and Canada, telling to American audiences the epochal story of God’s deliverance. The General and his wife, who stayed faithfully at his side, experienced more than 2,300 air raids in the two-year siege. Excerpts from his writings show the character of his faith. " I am con vinced,” he declares, “ that a real and sure foundation can be found, and that millions all down the centuries have found it in the inspired Word of God, the Holy Scriptures . . . . It has the authority of God Himself, and tells us with all the force of that authority what Almighty God thinks about the deepest things of life. “I believe that God intended that man should be for His (God’s) own delight and pleasure . . . But I find that this purpose was frustrated by the Fall, when sin entered in and formed a barrier between man and God. I find that God planned to re move this barrier by dealing with the sin of man, and delivering man from its guilt and penalty. “I believe that it was for this pre cise purpose that the Son of God, whom we know as the Lord Jesus Christ,, came to this earth, and o f fered Himself as a sacrifice in order to pay the penalty for our sins and thus reconcile us tp God. “I have found that the assurance February, 1945 43 Paganism is on the march in our beloved country. W ha t can be done to stem the tide? What • can we do? The author shows us. A Church at Prayer By K. OWEN W H ITE * Washington, D. C. H AVING been a pastor for the last eighteen years, it is natu ral that I should think of the There can be no substitute for strong, spiritual, evangelistic, New Testament churches. The pattern is laid out in the New Testament and particularly in the Book of Acts. * Pastor, Metropolitan Baptist Church . Wash - ington, D. C. Dr. White was graduated from the Bible Institute of Los Angeles in the class of m What is it that characterizes the churches of the first century? Read once again with open heart and mind the first six chapters of Acts. Notice the pre-eminent place of earnest, be lieving prayer (Acts 1:14, 24, 25; 2:42; 3:1; 4:24-31; 6:4, 6). No decision was made, no step undertaken, no problem attacked, no danger faced without im mediate and united prayer. A ll the work grew out of intercession, and was saturated in it. If the churches of the New Testament found their victory through combined prayer why should not we? Conditions in the Nation Consider the conditions that exist in our nation as a whole. It is au thoritatively stated that less than two per cent of the population go to church anywhere on Sunday evening. Com mercialized sports and amusement^ have made a “field day” of- Sunday. Profanity, smoking, and drinking are [ Continued on Page 46] Lord’s work in terms of “church life.” 1 1 ; \, 44 T H E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S God Uses My Legs! By MEL LARSON S OME thirteen years ago an ado lescent lad named Gilbert Lo- thair Dodds was faced with a lem with which you go to bed at night and awaken with the solution the next morning. Nor was it the type of question which could be solved with a pencil in one hand and a sizable pad of scratch paper in the other, with plenty of time for “ figuring.” No, it was something different, and yet, not so different! It comes to most people at some time in life, and Gil Dodds, being human, was meeting it at a time when a decision either way would shape his entire life. Day of Decision Gil was sitting in a youth evange lism class in Falls City, Nebraska, with bundles of unharnessed boyhood problem. It was not the kind of prob Gil DexMj trains at though everythin depends on himself, and prays as / though everything depends on God. 45 February, 1945 The Path to Yictory Fame has not come easily. Dodds has worked, and worked hard, for the laurels he has won. As one sports writer commented, “He trains as though everything depends on him self, and prays as though everything depends on God!” After Gil was saved at the age of thirteen, he started to become a run ner. While in Falls City, Nebraska, he became acquainted with Lloyd Hahn, the great miler of 1924-1929, who had starred in two Olympic games and had set five world’s records. Their first meeting was eventful, though un pleasant. “Gallopin’ ” Gil was on his way home from fishing with his pals one day, and tossed a rock at a pass ing car. The car stopped immediately, and Gil Dodds was off over the hill in a hurry. Gil thought he could out run “the farmer,” but “the farmer” was Lloyd Hahn! When Hahn, caught the strong-legged Gil, a lusty kick in the seat of the pants informed the young boy that stones were not made to be thrown at passing automobiles. . Gil came back to his grinning play mates, and said, “Who was that fe l low?” They told him, “ Lloyd Hahn,” and Gil almost cried when he thought that he had made such an impression on the man whom he admired so highly. A year or so later, however, when Gil had run and won a few. races, signs his autograph, sometimes slip ping a tract into the hand of a youth ful admirer; and why, with continued glory assured for him for years to come, he preferred to say to news paper reporters last November: “I don’t know how long I’ll be racing; I feel that the Lord is calling me to the mission field and I hope to get out there as soon as possible.” This is the man whom the Amateur Athletic Union and its six hundred ex perts chose as the winner of the famed Sullivan award. for 1943—an award made to the athlete who had done the •most to advance the cause of sports manship during the year. Gil’s main claim to the award, in the eyes of the judges, came when he laid aside a well-planned summer of w o r k to c h a s e Gunder Hagg of Sweden around the cinder paths of this coun try in seven races which netted the Army Air Relief Fund over $136,000. The Christian's Athlete Gil Dodds has done much to encour age Christian young people. With the country as sports-minded as it is, and with the high school and college youth eager to idolize and admire their fa vorite heroes, it was cheering to Chris tians around the world to know that the greatest athlete in the United States in 1943 was a genuine believer in Christ, eager to serve his Lord. on all sides of him. He was facing once more the query: “What shall I do with Jesus?” That afternoon, a God-guided lady who was leading the class explained the way of salvation to young Gil Dodds in such a way that he never washable to get away from it. This teacher knew her Bible well. She knew what passages appealed to boys, and as she talked that day she per haps had in mind particularly a boy who liked athletics and running, above all else. Passage after passage of Scripture came from her lips. Then came Isaiah 40:31, and Gil remembers it clearly to' this very day: “But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.” God used that verse to move Gil Dodds, the world’s greatest miler of the present day, onto the “ bom again” ledger of His Book of Life. From that day on, he has been a Christian. And, from that day on, Gil Dodds has been a runner! Until this time his desire to be an athlete had been frustrated by well- meaning friends who had advised him by saying, “You can’t be an athlete and a Christian at the same time.” The lad had caught those words and nursed them in a troubled mind. But when “ decision day” came in his life, he not only became a Christian, but he also received the peace of mind in his own heart that he could and should run as long as God could be glorified thereby. Th« Rule for Running, To the modest and unassuming seminary student who was scheduled to be graduated from Boston’s School of Theology and Missions in February of 1945, the measuring rod always has been: “ Can I do this and glorify God?” Dodds realized from the beginning that any talents of running which he possessed were Goc(-given, and that to use them in any other way would be robbing God of that which was rightfully His. That is why he has said, “ I’ll hang up my spikes any time the Lord wants me to do so” ; that is why he never has run a race on Sunday (even when experts in the East told him he would get nowhere fast if he insisted on not running on Sun day) ; why he passed up a great track summer in 1944 to tour the country under the auspices of three national soul-saving organizations; and why he never has padded an expense ac count while his fellow athletes in the big time look askance at him when they see and hear about his “ ex penses.” . This is the reason, too, that he adds a Bible verse every time he „ Lloyd Hahn was prevailed upon by the The Gil Dodds who set the world m- £ cit4 ns of FansPCity to give his ex- record m New York on March 1 , pert attentjon to the “ promising sopho- 1944 by running the mile in 4 : 0 7 . 3 ^ . ^ , , He di from fhen on minutes and who broke that record ^ through Gil>s iour /ears at Ashland seven days later m Chicago by run- college in Ohio, Lloyd Hahn coached nmg the mile in 4:06 4 mmutes-the 2 Mm “ ither & persot/ or by maiL fastest time ever run by a human be- . . ing indoors in the world—is the same^. There was no track team at Ash- Gil Dodds who took time in a crowded land, and no track coach. This did restaurant in a midwest city to askjjjnpt hinder Gil, however/ and the a little fellow, “ You going to Sunday ^ coaching which he received from Hahn school tomorrow, pal?” Hearing the, every week in the mail kept him win- lad say no, Gil soon succeeded in get- ning races. He ran in Madison Square ting an answer, from him that he!2 Garden in the winter of 1939, but his would go the next day. ^ first race there found him being booed off the track when his lungs, unac- 1 customed to the heavy smoke in the . . . . . . The fame which has come Dodds’ way has not changed him. He admits that as a youth he actually dreamed of sbme day running in Madison Square Garden, but he comes back in the next breath and says that he cannot see why the Lord has been so good to him in allowing that dream to be realized. He acknowledges that on January 1, 1939, when he stood in the Sugar Bowl at New Orleans and saw Don Lash receive the Sullivan award for 1938, that he, too, had dreams of receiving that award; but quickly he tells you that when that same award was presented to him in Madison Square Garden five years later that “ only God made this possi ble for me, and to Him I give all of the credit’' auditorium, caused him to wobble from side to side on the track and spoil a great race between Greg Rice and Don Lash. Gil fell on the boards just as Lash was passing him and, in falling, threw Lash off stride. The crowd roared its anger on the "mail order miler." But three years later, after Hahn had coaxed Gil to go east to Boston for training under Jack Ryder, and the Lord had opened the way, Gil was back in the Garden, once more as a front runner. He had learned much in those three years. He had learned to depend upon the Lord for strength in every race; he had learned that it al ways pays to keep trying. 46 T H E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S Now he was back to stay. He did not win all of his races. In fact, Gil has achieved much of his fame from being a second-place star, first to famed Greg Rice and'then to Gunder Hagg. Sports writers remembered him not for his pleasantness in winning, but for his graciousness in losing. In 1943, he was nearing the peak. He won most of the races in the win ter circuit of nine meets, but was not far ahead of two other aces—Frank Dixon and Bill Hulse. In 1944, how ever, he won every race in which he competed, and broke the world record for the mile event twice within seven days. The Secret of Victory Gil never enters a race without praying. His wife is with him in prayer every time he runs, and throughout the country he has prayer warriors who bring him before the Throne o f Grace each time he is to run a race. Headlines such as, “I prayed as I ran,” have filled newspapers all over the country. Before each race •starts, in that momentary lull before the gun goes off, a silent prayer goes up to God for strength and help. Not strength and help to win, but strength and help to do his best! Many have been the times, in losing, when fans have taunted him with, “What hap pened to your prayers tonight, Dodds?” to which he always has replied, “ I didn’t pray to' God that He would let me win, but just that He would let- me do my best. And I think He an swered that prayer.” One enterprising New York sports writer asked Gil what prayer he prayed so he could pass it on to prom ising youngsters. Gil answered, “ I don’t pray any special prayer; I just speak from the heart, and if anyone does that ,I know that God will hear and answer.” increasing at an appalling rate. Here in our nation’s capital we hold the tragic distinction of consuming more liquor per capita than any other great city in the land! Paganism is on the march in our beloved country. What can be done to stem the tide? What is the way out? What can we do? Long ago, the answer to these ques tions was given. It is recorded in 2 Chronicles 7:14: “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then w ill I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their lanu.” Sincere, penitent prayer is the answerl Once, and only once, did Gil run a race without praying. He won it, but for two days after that he was com pletely exhausted, with no explana tion for it inasmuch as the race had not been too grueling or hard. God, however, had a lesson to teach one of His children, and Gil learned it. Where he goes and what he does in the future is entirely in the Lord’s hands. In all of his record-seULig and trophy-collecting, Gil always has been more interested in preaching and teaching the Word of God than in win ning races. After the mark-breaking attempt in Chicago he told reporters that he was more excited about preaching the next day in Goshen, In diana, than he was in winning the Banker’s mile event that night and setting the world record! “Preach the gospei is his burning compassion. After spanning the country in the summer of 19 44, speaking 158 times in sixteen states and before thousands of servicemen, Gil concluded that much of the United States has been reached with the gospel, or people have at least had the opportunity to hear it, so he has felt the tug at his heart to go to the regions beyond as a foreign missionary. Where that will be he does not know, but God does. Wherever God puts Gil Dodds, he will work endlessly and tirelessly to win precious souls to a saving faith in the Lord Jesus. His winsome, hum ble personality will do much to show Christ to people wherever he goes. Through his years of running Gil has been able to say without apology, “I run for Christ.” His aim in life is to win souls to the Lord. He often has asked himself the challenging ques tion “Do people want what I have? And am I giving it to them?” These are the questions all must face who desire to run the race for Christ. Conditions in the Church Consider the conditions in the aver age church today. Usually less than one-third of its membership is active in any measure at all. Attendance at the worship services often is pitifully small. Comparatively few people make a public profession of faith. Many churches depend upon an annual se ries of evangelistic services for their increase in membership. Personal soul-winning is so rare as to be un usual. Worldliness characterizes the lives of many leading officers and members. The world in the church is keeping the churclwfrom going into the world with a viuil, appealing, im pelling message. There can be no change in condi tions in general unless individual hearts and lives are changed. If any change comes at all, it must comb through the churches. There will be no revival, far-reaching and mighty, unless there comes, first of all, a change in the churches themselves. We waste our time trying to change insti tutions and movements so long as human hearts are unregenerate and unsurrendered. With paganism all about us on the outsfde; with worldliness stifling our testimony and throttling our spirit on the inside, what can be done? The answer is that we must turn again to repentant, wholehearted, e a r n e s t , united, prevailing prayer. God is still on the throne! The gospel of Christ is still the power of God unto salva tion! The Holy Spirit is,still the source of spiritual power! The churches are still the agencies through which God purposes to reveal Himself to men! Where is our passion for the lost? Where is our zeal for Christ? Where is our loyalty to “him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood” ? Where is our burden in prayer? The fact is, that either we never had this burden or we have lost it. What Happens When the Church Prays? What happened in New Testament days when they prayed? The answer stands clear and forceful upon the glorious pages of the Book of Acts. “And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assem bled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spake the word of God with boldness” (Acts 4:31). What happened when the members of the early church prayed? God re vealed His presence. The believers faced wealthy, influential, and power ful foes. They faced persecution, dan ger, and death. They faced problems insurmountable a n d immeasurable. They faced a task gigantic and breath taking. Human wisdom was insuffi cient; human resources were incapa ble of meeting it; human courage was not enough. Faith and vision and con secration were sorely tested, but in every hour of challenge the Christians’ first weapon was united prayer, and when they had prayed “ the place was shaken.” They accepted this as the token of the presence of the living God. Unbelieving liberalism would scorn fully attribute this phenomenon to an accidental earthquake. We who be lieve the Word accept it as a mani festation of the presence and power of Him who had said, “The works that I do shall [ye] do arso; and greater [ Continued on Page 65] A Church at Prayer [ Continued from Page 43] 47 February, 1945 John A. Hubbard, member o f the faculty of the Bible Institute of Los Angeles, and Head of' the depart ment of English Bible. $e Swift to Hear By JOHN A . HUBBARD Los Angeles, Calif. I N ADDITION to its wonderful doc trinal truths; the Bible contains very practical teaching. Indeed, the great doctrinal truths are designed to issue in practical living. There is nothing more practical than this mat ter of the use of our tongues, and on this theme the Bible has a great deal to say. The Epistle of James is defi nitely of a practical nature, and it is remarkable how much there is in its few chapters on the use of the tongue. Our attention w ill be centered on the statement in James'1:19: “Let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak.” A great many people reverse this or der. They are slow to hear, but very swift to speak, and because the Bible order has thus been reversed, there is almost endless trouble in the world today. The following Hebrew epigram is illuminating in this connection: My friend, speak always once, but listen twice, This, I would have you know, is sound advice. Proverbs 21:23 gives us another very excellent reason for being slow to speak. “Whoso keepeth his mouth and his tongue, keepeth his soul from troubles.” ( The truth of these words needs no proof, for doubtless everyone of us has proved this in his own experience. The enemies of Jeremiah said: “Come, and let us devise devices against Jeremiah . . . let us smite him with the tongue” (Jer. 18:18). We should be slow to speak because of the possibility of wounding others with our words. In this connection the fo l lowing Scriptures are very much to the point: “The words of a talebearer are as woutids” (Prov. 18:8). “There is that speaketh rashly like the piercings of a sword” (Prov. 12:18, R.V.). In Job 5:21 the tongue is likened to a scourge. We sometimes hear people speak of giving others a “tongue lashing,” and altogether too often this form of scourging is far worse than that ter rible form of punishment in the phys ical realm. For God has giver, you and all your peers A single mouth, friend, but a pair of ears. Someone has said, “ God has given us two hands and but one tongue that we may do much and say little. Yet many say so much and do so little as though they had two tongues and but one hand; nay, three tongues and never a hand.” Reasons for Restraint Let us now consider some reasons for being slow to speak. Proverbs 29:20 reveals that those who are hasty in speech are hopeless. “Seest thou a man that is hasty in his words? there is more hope for a fool than of him.” “He that hath knowledge spareth his words” (Prov. 17:27). “ A fool uttereth all his mind: but a wise man keepeth it in till afterward” (Prov. 29:11). These two passages indicate that the one who is slow to speak shows knowledge and wisdom. 48 T H E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S Yet another reason for being slow to speak is revealed in Proverbs 10:19, “ In the multitude of words there wanteth not sin: but he that refraineth his lips is wise.” Too much talk inevitably leads to sin, and we would do well to take the position of the Psalmist: “I said, I w ill take heed to my ways, that 11 sin not with my tongue” (Psa. 39:1). It is very significant that when Isaiah had his wonderful vision of the Lord, t waieh vision revealed to him his sinful ness, the only sin which he mentioned was that of “ unclean lips,” applying this both to himself and to the people among whom he dwelt. And when the seraphim took the live coal in his hand he placed it upon Isaiah’s mouth saying, “Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged” (Isa. 6:7). Sins of the Tongue Let us study some of the sins of the tongue. We are all aware of the fact that taking the name of~the Lord in vain is a sin, but unfortunately we are inclined to confine this to “profan ity,” But without doubt, many a real Christian has many times taken His name in vain by using it in a careless, meaningless way. We should be on our guard at this point. An altogether too common sin is that of “lying.” When we say, “too com mon,” we are referring more especially to this being the case among Christian people. I am sure we would all be greatly shocked by the aggregate of lies spoken by believers in a single day. The Epistle to the Ephesians is commonly thought of as giving us the high water mark in Christian experi ence, and even here we have the ex hortation: “Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbor” (Eph. 4:25). If there had been no need for this exhortation among the saints at Ephesus, the in spired Apostle would not have ut tered it. "To the saints and faithful breth ren in Christ which are at Colosse,” the inspired Apostle wrote: “Lie not one to another” (Col. 1:2; 3:9). “L y ing lips are abomination to the Lord” (Prov. 12:22), whether they are the lips of an unsaved or a saved person. From John 8:44 we learn that- the devil is the father of lies, so that when one is guilty of this sin, he is for the time being, at least, in close league with the devil. The Spirit-filled Peter said to Ananias, “Why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost?” (Acts 5:3). There are many who feel that under certain circumstances a lie is justi fiable. We know that this has been debated down through the ages, and that a fu ll treatment of the subject would take many articles as long as this one. But let me say that I be lieve that under no circumstances is a lie justifiable, for the following rea sons: First, lying “ destroys the bond of so ciety, which bond is confidence.” If a person holds that there are conditions under which a lie is justifiable, how can one tell whether he is telling a lie or the truth at any one given time? Just follow this thought through and see where it leads you. In the second place, we hold it is unjustifiable be cause it is inconsistent with the char acter of God—God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. In Titus 1:2 we read, “ God, that cannot lie,” and what He cannot do, He does not jus tify another in doing. With reference to God the Son, we quote G. Campbell Morgan: “He who said, ‘I am . . . the truth’ never made peace with a lie.” The Holy Spirit is called “ the Spirit of truth” in John 16:13. In the light of these statements con cerning the Trinity, are we not justi fied in declaring that one who lies is not being prompted by God? Another sin altogether too common among God’s people is that of tale bearing. This sin is specifically for bidden in the Word of God. “Thou shalt not raise a false report” (Ex. 23:1). It is significant that the Re vised Version says, “ Thou shalt not take up a false report.” Again, the sin is forbidden in the words of Leviti cus 19:16: “Thou shalt not go up and down as a talebearer among thy peo ple.” It is utterly impossible for us to conceive of the amount of trouble and sorrow in the world today because of talebearers. And this, alas, is not con fined to unbelievers. In this regard we should indeed be “ slow to speak.” Everyone of us would do well to use the tests of “Three Gates,” given by L. L. Boyd: If you are tempted to reveal A tale someone to you has told About another, make It pass, Before you speak, three gates of gold. Three narrow gates—First, “Is it true?" Then “ Is it needful?" In your mind Give truthful answer. And the next Is last and narrowest, “ Is it kind?" And if, to reach your lips at last, It passes through these gate ways three, Then you may tell the tale, nor fear What the result of speech may be. We should be slow to speak in criti cism. There are two kinds of criti cism: One is constructive and helpful. Of course, it is not to this that we are referring now, but rather to the cen sorious type, which is usually uttered behind a person’s back. It takes few brains and no race to criticize in this way. We should be slow to criticize because we do not understand all the circumstances. The words of Proverbs 18:13 are very much to the point in this connection: “He that answereth a matter before he heareth it, it is folly and shame unto him.” Our Lord said, “If ye had known . . . ye Would not have condemned the guiltless.” We should be slow to criticize because we may be criticizing that which the Lord blesses. This is illustrated in the case of Judas’ criticism of Mary’s unselfish act in anointing the Lord (John 12 : 1 - 8 ). There are other reasons for being slow to speak, but let us now turn to the practical question as to how to avoid the wrong use of our tongues. What to Do There must be purpose and watch fulness. The Psalmist said, “I am pur posed that my mouth shall not trans gress” (Psa. 17:3). And again he said, “ I w ill take heed to my ways that I sin not with my tongue” (Psa. 39:1). Then there must be definite prayer with regard to this matter, realizing our own helplessness to always use our tongues aright. “The tongue can no man tame” (Jas. 3:8). But thank God, He can! We may well pray in the words of Psalm 19:14, “Let the words of my mouth, and the medita tion of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my re deemer.” “O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall show forth thy praise” (Psa. 51:15). “Set a watch, O Lord, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips” (Psa. 141:3). Alex ander Maclaren’s rendering of the last clause of this verse is significant: “ Keep guard over the door of my lips.” Probably the most important thing is to have our hearts right, for our Lord said, “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh” (Matt. 12:34). The wrong use of the tongue is a symptom of a serious disease— heart disease, the only cure for which is obedience to the injunction, “ Sancti fy in your hearts Christ as Lord” (1 Pet. 3:15, R.V.). Our words reveal whether self and sin are enthroned in the heart, or Christ and love. God’s Word says that “ death and life are in the power of the tongue” (Prov. 18:21). Let us therefore heed the in junction “ be slow to speak,” and pray that our tongues may be used by Him as a means of life. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ 49 February, 1945 Continual Victory— Is It Possible? I T IS one thing to stand steadfast in the moment of crisis, but quite another to continue in a sustained steadfastness in the ordinary routine of a drab, monotonous life. Many may face an emergency victoriously, but very few Jive habitually the life of an overcomer. If one is failing to do so, he is quite apt to insist that such a life is im possible. Many earnest Christians are questioning, “Does the life of victory work under all circumstances? Is the fullness of the Holy Spirit for every one, and can it be continuous? Can life be lived habitually on the high est plane in this unspiritual world and with such human limitations as we all have? Has anyone ever lived the life of an overcomer?” There are two ways of answering these questions. First: What does God’s Word say about it? If God’s Word teaches that such a life is pro vided for in Christ’s work for us and His life in us, then it is possible for every Christian, whether we have ever seen such a life or not. Second: Is there any record of such a life in Scripture? If even one person has lived the life of an overcomer, then such a life is possible to every .per son who meets the Scriptural condi tions for it. No truly honest student of God’s Word could deny that it teaches with crystal clearness that not only is such a life possible, but that it also is obligatory upon every Christian to live The author of this article is well-known for books on the deeper life in Christ, such as LIFE ON THE HIGHEST PLANE, etc., and for her Bible-teaching ministry in many coun tries. See page 78 for information about Miss Paxson's booklet.—± Editor. it. And a careful study of Caleb’s life shows that it has been done. 1$ In young manhood, Caleb stood in glorious victory at Kadesh-barnea. But now he is compelled by the sin of others to turn away from the land of his heart’s delight and to renounce all hope of Canaan for forty years. Instead of occupying a God-given possession, he m u-s t wander forty years in the wilderness with this querulous, discontented people. The best years of his middle life must be sacrificed to the sin of rebel relatives and brethren. Yes, he was an overcomer in the moment of crisis at Kadesh-barnea; but surely it is not to be expected that he can continue to be one for forty years in the wildemes's with this un believing, unspiritual crowd! Can he stand this test? If so, then there is a similar daily victory for you and me. rW e are always prone to think that our lot is the hardest; that there is some excuse for us because of circum stances so much more difficult than those of others. This attitude is clearly revealed in a letter which I received from a friend. "It seems,” this person wrote, “that I have had nothing but trials and af flictions for so long. I pray so much for patience and long-suffering, but I must confess that I have not reached the place where I can take my trials joyfully, and what is more, I fear I never can. I may be wrong, but I don’t believe anyone does, unless it is some one who is in Chirstian work all the time, or someone who does not have the worries of home life with all its trials and burdens.” [ Continued By RUTH PAXSON First of two articles to appear. 50 T H E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S May the record of Caleb’s life act as a spiritual tonic to all such defeated», self-pitying Christians! Let us study the circumstances under which he liVed those forty years in the wilder ness. First, let us see what it meant to him physically. Th' ik of the exhaust ing weariness of body caused by those marches and counter-marches. There were days, months, years of futile, aimless wandering, always going and never getting anywhere. There was the still more wearying work of war. Then there were the physical de privations he was compelled to en dure. To his completely surrendered soul the daily manna was ever sweet and palatable, we may be sure. But it could not compare with the abound- « ing plenty of the promised land. Furthermore, to such a home-lover as Caleb was, what must the forty years of homelessness have meant? In Lausanne, Switzerland, not far from where I have lived, is the dear little home of a retired school teacher. It overlooks the lake of Geneva and the mountains beyond and nestles down into a little vegetable and flower garden in a most homelike manner. On the two gate posts, writ ten so every passerby may see, are the two words, “MY OWN.” In spiritual imagination Caleb had written these two charming words up on the gate posts of Hebron when he went to search out the land. Yet for forty years he was deprived of the PQace and plenty, the sweetness and They had deliberately chosen their w ill as against God’s will. And what had they now to live for? Only death! Forty years of aimless wandering, waiting to die! No vision, no aspira tion, no incentive, no goal! How did Caleb ever- keep himself from being drawn by the eddies of this low moral standard into the whirlpool of sin that had engulfed the others? But think, too, of what terrific Inner tempations Caleb must have experi enced, the subtle tempation that must certainly have come sometimes, to re bellion against God, for causing him, for the sins of others, to wander forty years in that wilderness for a cause for which he was utterly blameless. How did Caleb refrain from yielding to perpetual self-pity, increasing as the years went on? Or, if he avoided this pitfall, how did he ever escape falling into the opposite one of self- righteousness, comparing h i s sur rendered life with their selfish lives? Think of the daily, nay hourly temptation to yield to the level of his environment and sink down into the conventional carnality of all those about him, vindicating himself for it on the ground of his circumstances. But did Caleb yield to these mani fold temptations? Did he succumb to circumstances, becoming a victim to them instead of a victor over them? Or did Caleb’s victory work in the grueling routine of the wilderness discipline as gloriously as in the moment of sudden crisis? Did Caleb remain an overcomer? Everything in the record would go to show that he did. The same “spirit” (Num. 14:24) that animated him at Kadesh-barnea seems to .have sus tained him for the.whole wilderness wandering. He himself testified to God’s wondrous keeping power. He rested upon the promises of God. “Caleb . . . said unto him [Joshua], Thou knowest the things that the Lord said unto Moses the man of God con cerning me and thee in Kadesh-bar nea. .. Now therefore give me this mountain, whereof the Lord spake in that day; for thou heardest in that day how the Anakim were there, and that the cities were great and fenced: if so be the Lord will be with me, then I shall be able to drive them out, as the Lord said" (Josh. 14:6, 12). “As the Lord said”—here is the secret spring of Caleb’s sustained overcoming. The promises of his God burned as a steady light in his soul. That light never went out, never burned low. His delight was in the spoken word of God and in it he meditated day and night. Therefore, Caleb was “ like a tree planted by the rivers ' of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper” (Psa. 1:3). satisfaction of Hebron, his rightful home. ^'■'Perhaps hardest of all to bear was the useless waste of life .as it might legitimately have seemed to a wholly yielded person. Think of those rare years of middle life that might have been spent in the cultivation and use of his inheritance, sacrificed to what seemed to be mere existence. But the physical test was by far the easier. Can we appreciate what those forty years cost Caleb spiritually? Think what it must have meant of heartache to Caleb to have to listen to the ceaseless murmuring of the peo ple against God. How did he keep his own heart free from the taint of this fearful sin? How did he escape being drawn into the petty jealousies that broke out among the leaders? How very easy it would have been for Caleb to be a party to the jealous spite of Aaron and Miriam against Moses and to capitalize on it for his own advantage to gain a place of leadership! For did he not know from God’s own Word that Moses would not enter Canaan? Or how was Caleb kept from terrible depression? Think of the deaths he witnessed! The funerals he attended! The constant atmosphere of sadness that hung like a black cloud over that camp! Finally, think of the constantly eb bing tide in the moral life of the children of Israel from the moment they turned from Kadesh-barnea into the wilderness. Any departure from God inevitably leads to degeneration. Four Freedoms in Christ FROM CONDEMNATION—“There is .., now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus" (Rom. 8:1). FROM THIS WORLD—“Who [Christ] gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world" (Gal. 1:4). FROM FEAR—“Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee" (Isa. 41:10). FROM ANXIETY—“In nothing be anxious; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God" (Phil. 4:6, R. V.). RECEIVE CHRIST AS YOUR SAVIOUR, AND ENJOY THESE “FREEDOMS."
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