King's Business - 1929-04

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THE K ING ’S B U S IN E S S Motto: "I, the Lord, do keep it; I tirili water it every moment: lest any hurt it, I will keep it night and day.” Isaiah 27:3. PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY AND REPRESENTING TH E BIBLE IN STITUTE O F LOS ANGELES Volume XX April, 1929 Number 4 Table of Contents Review and Comment.......................................................................... 163 The Four Essential Controlling Doctrines of the Christian Church—Dr. Mark A. Matthews........................... ..167 The Call of the Cross—Rev. John Wood....................................... 170 The New Covenant—W. E. Clark......................... ..........................171 Lowell Mason and Hymn Tunes —Prof. John Bissell Trowbridge.......................................... 173 The High Cost of Sin—J. T. Larsen.....'............... :.......................175 The Present Violent Attack on the Christian Faith......................177 Seed Thoughts from St. Mark—Rev. Wilfred M. Hopkins....... 178 Striking Stories of God’s Workings.................................................. 180 Heart to Heart with Young Readers—Florence Nye Whitwell..... 183 The Junior King’s Business—Sophie Shaw Meader..................... 185 Homiletical Helps for Preachers and Teachers......................... ......187 “To the Jew First”—David L. Cooper............................................. 188 International Lesson Commentary—David L. Cooper................... 189 Notes on Christian Endeavor—Alan S. Pearce..... ........:.................194 Our Literature T ab le ................................................ 197 A Book a Month...... ................................| ......................... :...............198 Daily Devotional Readings ....:........................... ....... .......................199 Biola Question Box—Rev. W. H. Pike............................................204

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POLICY AS D E F IN ED BY THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF TH E BIBLE IN ST I TUTE OF LOS ANGELES (a ) To sta n d fo r th e in fallib le W ord of God and its g re a t fu n d am e n ta l 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 an d w om en to fit them selves fo r and en g ag e in definite C h ristia n w ork, (d) To m ak e th e Bible In s titu te of Los A ngeles know n, (e) To m ag n ify God our F a th e r and th e person, w o rk and com ing of our L ord Je su s C h rist; and to tea ch th e tra n s fo rm in g pow er of th e H oly S p irit in ou r p re se n t p ra c tic a l life, (f) To em phasize in stro n g , co n stru ctiv e m essages th e g re a t fo u n d atio n s of C h ristia n faith . 536-558 S. Hope St., BIBLE INSTITUTE OF LOS ANGELES, Los Angeles, California

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kDirectors’ Statement A FTER much prayer and serious reflection concerning the C_^JL book, “Peter, the Fisherman Philosopher,” written by Dr, J. M. Maclnnis, former dean of the Bible Institute of Los Angeles, the Board of Directors desires to make the following statement: We reaffirm our belief in the great fundamental doctrines of Christianity as set forth in the Statement of Doctrine of the Bible Institute. Because we recognized that we were in error in commend ing the book, “Peter, the Fisherman Philosopher,” the Board some time ago accepted the resignation of the author, and he. has now absolutely no connection with the Institute; and being determined that our testimony to and teaching of the Funda mental doctrines of Christianity as set forth in the Institute’s Statement of Doctrine shall be so clear as to be absolutely above all possibility of suspicion, we hereby express our disapproval of said book, and declare that its thought and teaching does not represent the thinking and teaching of the Bible Institute today; and further, as a first step in the execution of our determina tion to pursue a course which will put this Institute's loyalty to the Bible beyond question, we have already discontinued the use, sale and circulation of the book, “Peter, the Fisherman Philosopher,” in the Bible Institute or elsewhere, and all remain ing copies, together with the type-forms, have been destroyed. In respect to the future policy of the Institute, the Board hereby declares its determination to adhere strictly to the pu r pose for which the Bible Institute of Los Angeles was founded, namely: The teaching of the Bible as the inspired and infallible Word of God in order to train men and women for the task of proclaiming the Gospel of salvation through the blood of Christ at home and abroad. The Board also hereby declares that only such teachers will be elected to or retained on the Faculty of the Institute as do solemnly pledge themselves without reservation that their teaching shall be in complete harmony with the doctrinal state ment of the Institute and with this declaration, and that they will carry out this declared policy of the Board. Adopted at a special meeting of the Board of Directors held March 20, 1929.

President, Board of Directors

Bible Institute of Los Angeles.

April 1929

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Ideal-olatry and th e “Living God” pffi&S^HE God of the Bible is referred to in a number I f e r ' of passages as “the living God.” The use of this striking phrase was no mere rhetorical flour- ish on the part of the writers. Rather it was ¡p y | employed to convey a very definite, simple and 1AAI understandable conception of the true God. The humblest reader needs no acquaintance with the various scientific and philosophical definitions of “life” in order to comprehend this expression, “the living God.” When the Bible writers spoke thus they meant simply that God is able to do things. The context of those passages which refer to God as, “living” almost invariably reveals this meaning. God is “living” because He is able to speak (Deut. 5 :26), work miracles (Josh. 3:10-17), create and preserve the world (Jer. 10:10-13), deliver His people out of trouble (Dan. 6:26-27), save men from sin (1 Tim. 4:10), judge and punish evildoers (Heb. 10:30-31). In the passage from Daniel this meaning is especially clear; “For He is the living God . . . . He delivereth and rescueth, and He worketh signs and wonders in heaven and in earth.” The God of the Bible is not the impotent god of Pan theism (locked in the world). He is not the far-off god of Deism (locked out of the world). Neither is He the stumbling, doddering, decrepit god of H. G. Wells (helpless before the world when we need Him most). He is the living God, the God who can do things,—the things which need to be done, all things. In Old Testament days the “living God” was preached as an antidote to Idolatry. Over against the idol which could do nothing the prophets proclaimed the God who could do something. Now the crude idolatry of ancient times no longer prevails among those peoples whom we call civilized and intelligent, but there exists today a relig ious error even more dangerous because of its subtle appeal and apparent respectability. God, we are told, is the great Ideal. This Ideal has no objective existence. It is wholly the creation of man’s mind. Of itself, it can do nothing. But its value, they say, lies in the fact that man reacts to this Ideal as to a stimulus, and he is thus led to improve himself and be a better man. The worship of such an Ideal is called “A Free Man’s Worship” by a much-admired writer of the cult. It is free, doubtless, because the worshiper makes his own god and, like the savage fetishist, he can throw it away in case it gives him no help. Now all this, of course, is nothing but Idolatry in a refined and more intellectual form. I have named it Ideal- olatry. . The ancient pagan worshiped the work of his own hands. The modern pagan worships the work of his own brain. The Ideal is often very noble and beautiful, created perhaps out of the highest ethical values of the race. Into it there may have entered even elements gleaned from the matchless life of Jesus Christ Himself. But as a religious object the thing is nothing but a “dumb idol.” Even the ancient images were, it should be remembered, often beautiful creations of artistic ability.

The most effective antidote for this Ideal-olatry is, as of old, the preaching of the “living God.” The deepest needs of the human heart have never yet been met by either Idols or Ideals. The Psalmist went straight to the heart of the matter when he said, “My heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God.” In the midst of our sin and moral helplessness, in the face of the dread “last enemy,” we need a God who can do something, not a mere beautiful “Picture-god” who exists only on the canvas of the imagination. We need the living God. And we have found Him in Jesus Christ our Lord. “I am the Lord thy God . . . Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness o f anything. . . . . Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them” (Exo. 20 :2 ,4 ). ; ! m The Suicide o f “Science” L OSS of belief in the existence of God, so common-in J our day, would seem to be the utmost limit in the way of skepticism. But now there comes forth still an other form of unbelief. Having dispensed with God, the unbelievers are turning their attention to man. A group of pseudo-scientists, together with their satellites, have abandoned belief in the existence of man. They deny the existence of “man” , in the ordinary sense of that word ; that is, man as a being with mind, personality, free- will and moral responsibility. What we call “man,” they say, is only an animal or ganism which reacts automatically to-outside stimuli; and what we call “thought” is really nothing but certain gland ular and muscular responses which take place somewhere in the region of man’s neck. Of course, it follows that for such a being there could be no freedom or moral responsibility, since all his actions are rigidly determined by the stimuli of his environment. Such, in brief, is the scheme offered by the new cult. Psychologically, it is called “Behaviorism.” And some one, with a sense of humor, has defined a “Behaviorist” as “a philosopher who has made up his windpipe that he has no mind.” The Pope of the new cult is Dr. J. B. Watson; its prophet is H. L. Mencken; and Mr. Clarence Darrow completes the trinity. The worshipers are many. Its popularity may possibly be explained by the fact that it relieves man of all moral responsibility. Man, according to the theory, must do whatever he does. To blame him for his conduct is absurd. And of course, all this is very convenient for these modern souls who always try to do what they want to do. The rise of such a cult should not surprise us. When men abandon belief in the existence of a personal God, how could we expect them to keep on believing in the existence of man as a person created in the “image of God” ? In this theory of man, the so-called “ free thought” has arrived gat the blind alley of self-annihilation. While attempting to maintain its boasted freedom from “theo logical interference,” it has reached the astonishing con clusion that there is no such thing as “ freedom,” and

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finally that there is no such thing as a mind which “thinks.” Thus man, having set out to follow the truth no matter where it led, finishes by denying the possibility of truth. And the psychologists, who started to explain the nature of “knowledge,” conclude by proving that knowledge is impossible. That which began confidently as “science” ends by destroying itself. One rather curious aspect of the matter is that the “Behaviorists” apparently do not see where they have landed. Having proved to their own satisfaction that “thinking” is an illusion, still they insist that the rest of us must accept what they “think” about “thinking.” Not even the Roman Catholic Church ever asked men to do anything so absurd. Darwin, one of the greater deities of the cult, and partially responsible for laying its foundations, once had a remarkable premonition of the end to which the thing would at last come. In a letter to a friend he wrote: “But then with me the horrid doubt always arises whether the convictions of man’s mind, which has been developed from the mind of lower animals, are of any value or at all trustworthy. Would anyone trust the convictions of a monkey’s mind, if there are any convictions in such a mind ?” Darwin evidently saw further than his disciples, for his “horrid doubt” has today become a finished dogma. And, mark well, it destroys science as well as religion, if accepted. This new psychology is like the snake, described by Dr. Mullins, which in the presence of danger begins to swallow its tail and keeps on swallowing until nothing is left. Here we have the remarkable paradox of thorough going “evolutionary science.” Having used the so-called “scientific method” to show that man is only a complex animal organism with no more mind than a monkey, it now begins to wonder whether the conclusions of such a mind can be trusted. Well, it is no secret that some of us have suspected the conclusions of this “school” for some time. But we still believe that even they have “minds,” although this belief imposes a severe strain upon our credulity at times. The very fact that man is able to argue that he is only an “ape,” proves conclusively that he is more than an ape. And the fact that man can argue that he has no “mind” proves that he has a mind, however feeble it may be. What a commentary upon the stubborn perverseness of fallen human nature! Man, endowed by his Creator with all the marvelous reasoning faculties of mind, uses them to prove that he has no mind. But we should not be surprised. If man could, as he did, “change the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like . . . . to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things,” is it strange that he does not hesitate to degrade himself to the same level? P lato’s Failure T HE philosophic speculations of the ancient Greeks constitute one of the most amazing of all the reaches of the human mind. Even after 2500 years learned men talk about Plato with profound respect and are not quite sure that they have plumbed the depths of his writings. Yet, with all his intellectual greatness, it must be said that Plato and his philosophic successors never solved a major: human problem. They found men in the darkness and they left men in the darkness. Why was this? What

was it that made the greatest of human philosophies powerless to rescue men from intellectual pessimism and moral degradation? Dr. Geo. G. Findlay, great English scholar and expos itor, gives the right answer: “The philosophic conceptions of Plato and Plutarch were too speculative and ideal to affect the common mind; they were powerless to move the heart, to possess the imagination and will. These en lightened men scarcely attempted to overthrow the idols of the populace; and their teachings offered a feeble and slight resistance to the tide of moral corruption. False religions can be destroyed only by the real. The concrete and actual is displaced by the more actual, never by abstractions. It was faith in a living and true God, in the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ as the supreme fact of the Universe, the enthroned Almighty and All-holy Will bent upon blessing and saving men, that struck down the idols, that transformed society and reversed the stream of history. It was not belief in ‘the Divine’ as the highest category of human thought, as the Substance behind phe nomena, the unknown and unknowable depositary of the collective powers of nature. Such ideas, at the best, shed but a cold glimmering light upon the path of daily toil and suffering; they proved themselves nerveless and pith less, all too faint to encounter the shock of passion and to master the turbulence of flesh and blood. Not in the name of Pythagoras or Plato did the Greek find salva tion.” It was the late President Mullins who once spoke of certain types of philosophy as a sort of “metaphysical cliff climbing.” Now, cliff-climbing is fascinating business for those who are willing to take the risks, and it does pro vide exercise of a kind, but it is not the most essential thing for a dying world of men. Exercise is not to be de spised, of course, but men need life more than intel lectual exercise. There is no life in Plato. History should teach us that much. For life we must come to Jesus Christ, the Lord of Life. “For there is hone other name under heaven, given among men, whereby we must be saved.” A Pessim istic President AN International Conference is proposed by Senator a J l Borah for the purpose of humanizing the rules of warfare and making more secure the rights of neutrals. Certainly, if we cannot get rid of war, anything would seem sensible that might alleviate its terrible cruelties, especially as they affect innocent non-combatants. But Mr. Coolidge is against the proposed Confer ence for several very interesting reasons. He is doubt ful as to the motives of the nations «hich would attend; and even if some useful agreements should be reached he is certain that our own Senate would never ratify them; and even if that obstacle were overcome he thinks the nations will do as they please, anyhow, in the next war, regardless of agreements. Thus Mr. Coolidge expresses his opinion of the world after dealing with it for seven years as its highest ruling official. Not even thé Prophet Jeremiah could have painted a gloomier picture. But Jeremiah had this important advantage: By the Grace of God he could always see the light beyond the darkness. “Behold, the days come, saith Jehovah, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and He shall reign as King and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land” (Jer. 23:5).

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“On the Wings

of the Morning” A picturesque scene on Japan’s great inland sea. A sampan going forth to the day’s work. —Courtesy “Japan Magazine"

This prophecy should be good news for disillusioned and discouraged rulers. It is a “blessed hope” for the rest of us.

span. The Life Extension Institute, with an impressive list of patrons, is devoted to this end. A European gland expert discusses the possibility of even eliminating death altogether. The ancient limitation of “three score and ten” is to be wholly transcended, so it is thought. Statistical figures are solemnly brought forth to prove that science has already added years to the measure of man’s life. But there is a “joker” in all these figures. The “average?’ life span has been lengthened. That is, due to the splendid work of scientific research, the child today has a better chance to reach maturity. But the “maximum” life span has not been lengthened. You have a better chance now to become an old man, but not to outlive the other old men. This is the ultimatum of Professor Pearl, noted biologist of Johns Hopkins University. The word of Job stands, “Thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot pass” (Job 14:5). But don’t forget that Job was speaking of fallen man. Some day, it may be soon, long life will reign in a kingdom of righteousness. “My Mind Was Bewildered” A WEALTHY young collegian in the South, bored by life, found a new thrill by robbing and shooting to death a druggist. His attorneys pleaded that he was a “con stitutional psychopath,” incapable of knowing right from wrong. The jury, evidently composed of men who do know something about right and wrong, found him guilty of first-degree murder. He will die in the electric chair, with more time to prepare for the end than he gave to his victim. Judges sand juries are getting tired of seeing hard- faced criminals escape on pleas of insanity, “constitu tional” or “temporary.” Such pleas are becoming an old story. For that matter, they were never new. Agamem non, king and general of the Greeks in the famous siege of Troy, once committed an outrageous crime. When charged with guilt, he pleaded aasamen— "my mind was

Missionaries Wanted I N spite of the falling off of missionary gifts during the past several years, reports from approximately one hun dred Boards in the United States and Canada indicate that workers are needed even more than money. There are definite calls for 1,186 missionaries to sail in 1929. Of this number the money is ready for 754. In nearly every instance special educational prepara tion is required. The largest need is for ordained minis ters, next for teachers, then doctors, and last for special ists of various kinds. But almost without exception, every worker must be able and willing to take part in the su preme business of missions, namely, the direct winning of men and women for Jesus Christ—which is as it should be. For Asia the calls are 661; for Africa 174; for Latin America 150; for Oceania 31; and for fields not speci fied 146. An analysis of these figures reveals three definite needs: first, for more missionary volunteers; second, for more adequate preparation on the part of those who vol unteer; and third, for more money with which to send them out. But above all these the greatest need is for PRAYER —prayer addressed to “the Lord of the Harvest.” He is able to supply all the other needs. Mission boards forget that, sometimes. Three Score and Ten T HE only trouble with life, one man complains, is that there isn’t enough of it. And so men are always struggling, often pathetically, to get more of it, in terms of years. It is nothing unusual to read here and there very opti mistic predictions about the lengthening of the human life

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Solomon's Wife R ECENTLY, front-page newspaper publicity was given to a story reporting that archeologists had dug up the mummy of Solomon’s Egyptian wife. The next day the newspapers announced very briefly that the story was pure fiction. Two lessons are obvious. First, don’t believe all you read in the papers. Second, and more important, ar cheological discoveries relating to Bible matters are always good for news. No other book holds such a universal interest among men. ¿Wc. Sunday in Brazil I N the March issue of T h e ' K ing ’ s B usiness , Mr. Hoover’s presence on Sunday at a Brazilian race track was made the subject of comment. Word now comes from a reliable source that Mr. Hoover protested strongly against the inclusion of this feature in his program, but finally consented to a brief appearance in order not to disappoint the thousands of people who had gathered there for the purpose of seeing the President-elect of the United States. Majestic spirit, infinitely wise, throned in the far, illimitable skies, yet to our little needs completely near, God of eons, thou art now and here! Thou Christ-con- tinuer, thou loving one sent by the Father to replace the Son, bring to our minds dear memories of Him, and flash resplendent truths once dull and dim. Thou holy Judge, whose vision pierces through deep to the heart of all we say or do, deep to the secret foulness within, stern purity, convict us of our sin ! Thou Comforter, thou pitying Advocate, plead thou our cause before it is too late; lift us, our hindering passions far above, up to the waiting Father’s yearning love. Spirit of fire, burn forth upon our soul! Spirit of truth, illuminate the whole! Spirit of strength, thy vital power give! Spirit of peace, in all our living live! Born of the Spirit, then is life indeed. Led by the Spirit, then we first succeed. Fruit of the Spirit then we brightly bear. O Holy Spirit, take us to thy care!—5\ 5. Times. True Repentance If repentance be genuine, it will drive us from sin to Christ: and the Bible reveals no other salvation but through Him. As prisoners can never open their prison doors by the deepest repentance for their crimes, so no acquittal from the guilt of our sins can ever be obtained but through the sufferings and death of Christ, who opens the prison doors to them that are fast tied and bound with the chain of their sins .—Rowland Hill. The Holy Spirit B y A mos R. W ells a s

bewildered.” The plea was accepted as valid, even by the injured party ! There is nothing new under the sun. The main thing to remember is that the Biblical law for the protection of human life has never been repealed. See Genesis ninth chapter, verses five and six. { as Religion With “No Shirt” O NCE upon a time, according to an ancient legend, the king of a great realm fell sick with a strange disease. Ordinary remedies having failed, all the wise men were called together in solemn conclave to determine what should be done. Only one thing, they said, could save the king. Search must be made for a perfectly happy man. The shirt of such a man, if worn by the king, would cure the terrible disease. At once the hunt began for a perfectly happy man, through cities and villages and to the uttermost borders of the kingdom. For a long time the quest seemed vain, but at last far up oh the mountain side, alone in a humble cabin, they found an old man who said he was perfectly happy. But, alas, he had no shirt. “Modern” religion is like the old man on the mountain side. It has no shirt. It has no remedy for the disease of a world which is stricken unto death. Ur and Los Angeles I N U r of the Chaldees, ancient home of Abraham, the archeologists have uncovered a great death pit contain ing forty-five bodies. Among the Sumerians of that day, it was the custom to sacrifice human victims in connection with the burial of some great person. Some people, reading this, will thank God that the world has made progress in some respects at least. Still, we should not feel too superior. In Los Angeles, for example, during the first twenty-one days of 1929, fifty- one victims were sacrificéd to the god of speed. And many of them were children. The ancient Sumerians at least thought they were do ing the will of the gods. There is no such excuse for us. Marriage and th e Movies I OUELLA O. PARSONS, very efficient press agent of * the moving picture industry, ventures the hope that this year marriages will outdistance the divorces among the players. This recalls a couple of very interesting questions put to a highly intelligent observer of human affairs here in Southern California. The first question was, “What is the strongest argu ment against the moving-picture industry as now con ducted?” His answer was, “A record of the marital experiences of its players.” The second question was, “What is the most power ful influence opposed to the Christian ideal of marriage in America today?”- His answer was, “The example of prominent players in the moving-picture world.” The word of Christ in Matthew, nineteenth chapter, ninth verse, has never been abrogated. No one is exempt from its high standards, not even the favorites of the screen. By His Word, the high and the low will be judged in the last day.

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The Four Essential Controlling Doctrines of the Christian Church By D r . M ark A. M atthews Ex-Moderator Presbyterian General Assembly, Pastor First Presbyterian Church, Seattle, Washington.

may ask “What are the four essential, controlling doctrines ?” First: The Virgin Birth. It is the essen tial doctrine. On it rests the plan of sal vation. Upon it the whole superstructure of Christianity is builded. The infallibil

there are four great facts because it is impossible to have a . doctrine that does not rest upon a fact. When you study within the realm of pure science or the ology, you find that both rest upon a fact. When you step outside the realm of sci

(Address Delivered at the Twenty- Second Anniversary Service of the Bible Institute of Los Angeles, on Sunday Afternoon, February 17, 1929.) M Y precious friends, it is a great privilege to me to visit the Insti

tute, and to have the honor of delivering the Anniversary ser mon. I have entitled the ser mon, The Four Essential Con trolling D o c t r i n e s of the Christian Church. 1 Timothy 4:16: " Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doc trine; continue in them; for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.” 2 John 9 :25: ‘‘He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son.” Acts 2:42: “And they contin ued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.” Christianity is essentially doctrinal. You cannot conceive of Christianity without think ing of its great doctrines. The propagation of Christianity must be through the presenta tion of its doctrines. The church g r o w s and becomes powerful when thoroughly in doctrinated. These statements are, in a sense, an epitome of the explanations or the expo sitions of the texts. Any Chris tian or any congregation is im potent if not indoctrinated. The Christian or the church who is not grounded in the great fundamental doctrines of Christianity is susceptible to all

ity of the Bible rests upon that fact. The whole plan of re demption is sustained because of that great fact. “In the be ginning was the Word.” The pre-existence of Christ made possible the Incarnation. If you could blot out the fact that Jesus Christ was pre-existent, then you could blot out the doctrine and the fact of the Incarnation. The pre-existence made possible the Incarnation. Not a new Christ, or a sepa rate God was born, but,, the eternal Son of God, coeval with and coequal to the Fa ther, was incarnated. The Holy Ghost conceived the body in the womb of the Virgin. There has been but one Incarnation. There can be no other Incar nation. That great fundamental fact makes all the “isms” and cults impossible in their state ments. Jesus could not have been born the son of Joseph and Mary. There was no other way by which He could have been incarnated except through the act of the Holy Ghost in con ceiving the body in order that He might be born of a virgin. If you want to stop a moment when you return to your study, begin and think of any con ceivable way by which He could have been otherwise in carnated. If this be true these

ence you step into that of pure conjec ture. But in the realm of theology, as in pure science, every statement rests upon a fact. These facts and doctrines are re vealed only in God’s infallible Word. Therefore it is essential to know the Bible. When you are asked _to study the Bible it is with a view of presenting to you the fact that you cannot know the great doc trines on which Christianity rests if you do not know the Bible. The texts quoted make it.imperative to know the doctrines and to continue steadfast in them. You

facts are essential. They establish the Trinity. If you destroy the fact of the In carnation you have to establish the fact of the Trinity. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit in one. being. Not three beings in three persons, but three persons in one being. The second member of the Trinity, co eval with and coequal to the Father, laid aside His robes of invisibility and took upon Himself our robes of visibility. The same Christ, coming through the body conceived by the Holy Ghost, made Him-

the seductive teachings and influences of the anti-Christian propagandists. The last sentence uttered, if you understand it and believe it, gives you a clear explanation of why so many in Christianity are falling away from the great principles of evan gelical Christianity. The only answer to their falling away and the only answer to their status when fallen away, is that they are not' indoctrinated. There are four great facts on which the controlling doctrines of Christianity rest and out of which they are evolved. I say

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God knows how long. I do not. He has fixed the time when it shall awake, or when it shall be changed, but you can not get rid of it. It shall be raised. Christ was the firstfruits. It has been said that you can rest the claims of Christianity upon the Resurrection. The reason for that is, the Crucifixion could not have taken place had not Jesus Christ, who is God, very God of very God, been incarnated. I said a few moments ago that He was crucified not only in my stead but to sat isfy the moral government of God. It was God who made that sacrifice, but it had to be in human flesh. When it was said that "God so loved the 'world,” of course bulk is included, but God did not love the world in bulk. He loved it in the con crete. Jesus Christ died for the individual man; in the stead of the individual. Therefore, the Incarnation is essential to the whole superstructure, is essential to the Resurrection and made it inevitable; therefore, the existence of Christianity is proven by the Resurrection. I heard one of the greatest men of the country—Dr. Patton—say the other night that he was perfectly willing to rest the claim of Christianity upon the Resurrection. That was a perfectly correct statement, but he was not discussing the fact as I am this afternoon. What is Christianity? A religion? No. Christianity is not a religion. Christianity is the life of the eternal Son of God in the heart of the redeemed, controlled and directed by the Holy Ghost. Why! Religion is a formula of a dead man. Christianity is the pulsating heart of the ever-living Christ. That is thé difference. Buddha gave a philosophical view of cer tain moral tenets. Confucius did the same, and others have done the same. But they are dead and there are no fruits. Chris tianity lives and therefore you know ex perimentally that Jesus Christ rose from the dead. Of course if He had not you would still be in your sins and you would not have taken a seat in this auditorium this afternoon. And therefore I say that you can rest the claims for the existence of Christianity on the Resurrection. I speak reverently when I say that God, working on His own plan, would not have redeemed a soul had not Christ passed through these steps and come from the grave in the body in which He was cru cified. When God created man and man per mitted sin to enter and he lost his estate before God, then every means of human government was devised to bridge the gap again. Law does not save anyone, not even a poor criminal. Law was intended to discipline, not to save. So I say, God, working on His own plan, would not have redeemed a soul without Christ’s sacri-

were reduced in the laboratory of time to one unit,—they could not produce the sinless satisfaction. You cannot offer a single fallen man as a satisfaction for justice. That is logically impossible. Then where are you going to get a sinless satisfaction? Through Jo seph and Mary? No. Because the trans mission through Joseph would have trans mitted the taint. Therefore the Holy Ghost conceived the body in which the eternal Son of God came, in that superr naturally conceived body, that He might stand as my Substitute and say to the God head, “He is guilty and would justify Di vine providence in his execution, but I stand in his stead and for him and in his stead let the divine power of the violated moral government of God and the power of the Godhead fall on me. Let him go free. I am his Substitute, provided that he accepts Me as such.” What are you going to do with the moral government of God? It does not make any difference what you think about it. It does not make any difference how much you hate it! The law had to be satisfied. God was not angry with the sin ner, but He was angry with sin, and He hates sin today as much as He ever hated it—enough to give His Son to be my Sub stitute, that He might redeem me from sin if I will accept the Substitute. Third: The Resurrection of the body of Jesus Christ is an essential doctrine. When He submitted His soul in the hands of His Father, His body had to be bur ied. The Incarnation not only pointed to the Crucifixion, but it guaranteed the Resurrection. Perhaps this is not stressed as much as it ought to be stressed. There are those today who can say that the Resurrection is the essential doctrine. It is true that it is essential, but remember it is third removed from the origin of essentials and you could not have the Resurrection if the Incarnation had not preceded the Crucifixion. You can not get rid of the body. You are perfectly willing, some of you, to ac cept the doctrine and fact of Christ’s res urrection, but I am going to say to you that you can not get rid of the body in which you live. You can be separated from it for a while. It must sleep. It is the only thing about us that ever sleeps. The mind never slumbers and the soul can not sleep, but the body must sleep. Why! Your soul is eternal and eternity can not sleep. But the body sleeps every twenty-four hours so that the white cor puscles of the body may repair the dam age of the day. This is indicative of the long sleep. So when the soul leaves the body, the body sleeps, but you are not rid of the body. Its sleep is definitely fixed. A defi nite period of time the body shall sleep.

self manifest and manifested the Father, and therefore the Incarnation is the es sential doctrine on which rests the infal lible proof of the Trinity, the infallible proof of the Deity and the infallible proof of the conception of His body. They pre sent the Son of Man and the Son of God, born of a Virgin, the Saviour of the world. There are those who deny that the doctrine is essential, or that the fact is essential, and yet any logician knows that God, working on His own plan, could not have been just and at the same time the Justifier of the unjust, had not Jesus Christ been born of the Virgin, the incar nate Son of God. He came in that form, in our flesh, to assume our position, to take our place, in order that He might be our Substitute. I do not mean for a moment to limit God when I use the words “can not.” I use them to explain to a finite mind, as best I can, an infi nite truth. There was no way in the economy of God by which Jesus Christ could become my Substitute except through the Incarnation. I challenge any intellect or any scientist on earth to re fute that statement. Second: The doctrine of the Cruci fixion —the vicarious, substitutionary cru cifixion of Christ—was logical and inev itable after the Incarnation. In order for God to be manifest, He had to be mani fest in something. His decree was that He was to be manifest in the flesh, and when He became manifest in the flesh, the cross became inevitable. He w a s not incarnated simply for a demonstration, but for a definite and fixed purpose; namely, the purpose to die. Jesus Christ came into this world for no other pur pose than to die. He did not come to live, nor to be an example, nor to teach us how to die. He came to die in our stead, that We might live and never die. He came to die for us, but, in a more glorious sense, He came to die in our stead. Therefore His substitutionary death w.as essential to satisfy absolute justice and at the same time release the mercy of God that it might be extended to fallen men. Perhaps some student will ask, “Why do you say that the Crucifixion was log ical and essential to satisfy the justice of God?” The reason is this: The moral government of God is unshaken and can not be altered. It is fixed, eternal. There fore, when man rebelled against the moral government of God, when he lost his estate in that government, when he lost his status in that government, then there had to be satisfaction of .that government. Where are you going to get satisfaction? Man was fallen, therefore all the indi viduals that have lived, are now living, and may live, could not produce, if they

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than sounding brass and tinkling cymbals because they have left out of their mes sage the only things that could produce music and joy. Whát is the matter with the evangelistic program of the world? You can not carry on such a program unless it is carried on .under these doc trines. These doctrines are not only essential to salvation; they are essential to the world’s evangelization. Sin is a fact. Not sins. I am not worried about sins. The Holy Ghost was sent into the world, not to convict you of lying. You are not a sinner because you lie, but you lie be cause you are a sinner. The Holy Ghost came into the world to convince the world of sin as a fact. The heinousness of sin is. that it has its source in that great mon ster who hates God. Jesus Christ came into the world to destroy his works. Now you come out, if you please, to evangelize the world. And what are you going to evangelize it on? You must convince men of sin. You can hot preach Christ with out presenting the Virgin Birth, His cru cifixion, resurrection, and second coming. It is impossible! Therefore, those who are not doing it are not preaching the Gospel. On these doctrines this School must rest. It would be worse than Judas Is cariot if it eliminated or minimized in any way its teaching of these doctrines. Glo rious has been the work of this Institute, because it has been on these doctrines that its work has been done. May its future be unclouded; may its history become more glorious; and may its field of opera tion be extended until the whole world shall feel its influence because of these facts and these doctrines. Defenders Convention The Defenders of the Christian Faith held a national convention in Cadle Tab ernacle, Indianapolis, February 3rd to 10th. This event marked the launching of the Defender Movement on a nation-wide basis. Until recently its efforts have been concentrated upon the Middle States. It plans now to invade every State of the Union, establishing nerve-centers in each. Eventually The Defenders expect to con duct forty-eight conventions a year, one in every State. Cadle Tabernacle, in which the Conven tion was held, seats 10,000 people, It was well filled every night, the services being broadcast over the radio. Rev. Charles E. Fuller, President of the Bible Institute of Los Angeles, was one of the speakers. Several young people in Indianapolis expressed the opinion that they would enroll as ¡students of the Insti tute next year.

fice. You ought to be very appreciative that you are a Christian and that Christ redeemed you. Your, bodies shall be raised. There is no power in the universe that can pre vent the resurrection of your body. When the angel shouts, “the dead in Christ shall rise first." Those of us who remain shall have our bodies changed in the twinkling of an eye. Fourth: The Premillennial Coming of Christ. Jesus Christ came into the world for a definite purpose: namely, to estab lish His Father’s kingdom. The kingdom was rejected; the King was crucified. When He was rejected, He, out of His own substance, builded His church and set it in between the Crucifixion and the Resurrection. The church is His master piece. It is His Body. He must come for His church and He will come with His church to reign a thousand years. When He will have finished the steps that fol low, He will take His church into the new heavens and there will dwell with the re deemed forever. These are the essential and controlling doctrines. They are controlling in the following ways: First: You can not preach the Gospel without preaching these doctrines. You can not teach the, Bible without teaching these doctrines. Whenever they are elim inated, the teacher occupies a false posi tion; the church loses its spiritual power and the unsaved become hardened in their sins. During the first hundred years of Christianity there was not a sermon preached where these doctrines were not emphasized. If you want the key to the failure in the preaching of today it is in the fact ttiat they have eliminated these doctrines as essential. You can not build up the church if you eliminate these doctrines. Second: These doctrines are essential to the evangelization of the world. You may ask me, “Do you mean to claim that these doctrines absolutely control the whole evangelistic program of the church?” I mean to say that it is abso lutely impossible for you to evangelize the world and eliminate these doctrines from your program. What do you do when you preach the Gospel? You first of all magnify sin. You can not preach if you leave out sin. You can not preach if you begin with relativity or social service or reform. I am not interested in the reformation of the world. I am not interested in cutting off the boughs of the tree, but in chang-. ing the life of the free. You can clothe a swine in fine raiment, but the nature :of the swine is not changed by silk and satin,1

“Stand still, and consider the wondrous works of God." —Job 37:14. by jewels and gems. I want a supernatural power that will lift the swine out of the nature of swinedom. The church can not bring the world to Christ unless these doctrines are taught. Third: You can not indoctrinate the church if you omit any one of these doc trines. I am not interested in the polished, educated, philosophical and legal man, Nicodemus, and if you will permit me, when Jesus Christ said to Nicodemus, “Ye must be born again,” in the preceding conversation He said, “We do not need any more Nicodemus. We need á new man, not Nicodemus.” Therefore, “Ye must be born again.” “Wherefrom?” said Nicodemus. From a supernatural force, from above, from God. Ye must be born a new creature in Christ Jesus, baptized into His body by the Holy Ghost, which is His seal, which means “folded over.” And there is no power in the universe which can take a human being out of the hand of God. Fourth : You can not grow spiritually if any of these doctrines is minimized. Therefore, on these doctrines the church must rest and in their propagation she must evangelizé the world and develop her members. The evangelical church is today suffering because some of the pul pits, have iceased to sound these notes." There are ministers who are no more

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