King's Business - 1935-01

4

T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S

January, 1935

SCRIPTURE MEMORIZING - Imperative a n d Im portant B y OSCAR LOWRY* Chicago, Illinois

A s e x p r e s s in g my own experience in this most impor- . tant forth o f Bible study, I call attention to Jere­ miah IS :16: “ Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing o f mine heart.” I believe that literally millions o f God’s people since the time o f Jeremiah have been able to give a like testimony. The eating, or memorizing, o f God’s Word, has indeed proved to be the “ joy and rejoicing” o f their hearts. I can truthfully say that no other form o f Bible study has brought greater joy and satisfaction to me than Scripture memorizing, and I am sure that no other method has pro­ duced such satisfactory results in my own life and min­ istry as pastor, teacher, and evangelist. Near the beginning o f my preparation for Christian service, I came to realize the imperative importance of be­ ing able to quote the Scriptures verbatim when doing per­ sonal work with inquirers. Since that time I have had thousands o f opportunities for observing the powerful effects o f being able to quote the Scriptures correctly in' sermon and public address. It matters not how many pro­ fessed unbelievers there may be in the audience, they are all supernaturally endowed with God-consciousness, and when God’s Word is quoted verbatim, they are instantly interested. They want to know what the Book of books has to say, for they have an innate consciousness that it is different from any other book on earth. Many ministers and Christian workers are looking for something sensational with which to draw and hold the unchurched masses. I would say that there is nothing in these days that would cause a greater sensation in the average church than to have the pastor stand in the pulpit and give book, chapter, and verse, and quote verbatim an array o f Scripture passages touching on the vital ques­ tions o f the hour. But alas! For the vast majority o f the people, religion has degenerated into a round o f meaning- less_ forms and ceremonies, and the sermon is lacking in that positive certainty that is so necessary in reaching “ the man o f the street.” G od ’ s O w n W o rd W i n s S o u l s The thing most needed in these days is a study of the Bible itself, and not a study about the Bible. One may spend a lifetime studying about the Bible and yet know but little o f the Bible itself. In preparation for Christian service, and as a means o f spiritual growth and power, there is nothing more essential and important than Scrip­ ture memorizing. Some may at first consider this state­ ment too strong, but the more they think about it and the *Bible teacher, evangelist, and author o f "Scripture Memorising for Successful Soul-Winning.’’

further they go into the matter, the more convinced will they be that it is absolutely correct. The prime importance of Scripture memorizing holds true, not only in respect to personal soul-winning, but it applies also with equal force to all other kinds o f Christian service. It is true that there are many other things that are important and valuable in the development o f spiritual life and power, and are essen­ tial in our preparation for Christian service, but a thorough knowledge o f God’s Word ranks above all else. To prove this thesis, it is only necessary to call attention to the fact that the outstanding soul-winners, those known to have possessed great spiritual power, have been men and women mighty in the Scriptures. ¡A man may know Hebrew and Greek, he may know science and philosophy and all the wisdom o f this world, but if he does not know the Scriptures, he cannot be a successful soul-winner. On the other hand, one may not have had the privileges o f a so-called higher education, and yet if he is willing to apply himself, to treasuring up God’s Word in his heart and mind, ha-may be used to the salva­ tion o f a multitude o f soulsTftA knowledge o f the Bible and an ability to quote much oFit verbatim not only equips men for personal soul-winning, but it makes them men o f power in the pulpit. I f they are not able to wield “ the sword of the Spirit, which is the word o f God,” they miss the mark and fail in the very thing which all true gospel preaching was intended to accomplish. To be a helpful arid an effective preacher, one must know the Book o f books. No other can help much or for long, for their ministry is devoid o f that power so necessary in satisfying the heart hunger o f a lost humanity. The world craves the Book, and God always seems to find a place for that man or woman who has a Bible message. M e m o r iz in g H is W ord Personally, I consider that next to my conversion and salvation, the greatest blessing that has come to me in this world was given when the Lord led me to see the impor­ tance o f memorizing His Word. However, like many others, I had been trapped by the delusion that such an ac­ complishment was an impossibility so far as I was con­ cerned. But, praise God, I was gloriously delivered from that snare! It was but a short time after being confronted with the importance o f this method o f Bible study that I was providentially led into the discovery o f what at the time was termed “ The New System of Scripture Memorizing.” From the very first brief publication of the “ New System” in a religious journal, the results have been most gratifying indeed, and from all parts o f this and other lands have come

S

T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S

January, 1935

review and started up the line again. When this system o f reviewing is prop­ erly used, the passages become so fixed in the memory that one could no more •forget them than he could forget the Lord’s Prayer or the Twenty-third Psalm. For practical purposes it is almost as important to know where a passage is as to know what it is. The moment you announce a Scripture reference, every listener, saved or unsaved, wants to know what it is, for he has an inner consciousness that the Bible is differ­ ent from any other book on earth. I n d is p e n s a b l e K n o w l e d g e Charles H. Spurgeon, the greatest o f all the great gospel preachers o f the nineteenth century, was once asked:

thousands o f testimonies from those who say they are now able to memorize the Scriptures by this simple card sys­ tem, though unable to do so before. Re­ ferring again to my own experience, and I trust in no sense o f boasting, but as an encouragement to others, may I say that by this system I have been able to memorize thousands o f Scripture passages. How many, I am unable to say, for I lost trace o f the number over twenty years ago, and to this hou" Scripture memorizing is still “ the jo> and rejoicing o f mine heart.” There are other important methods o f Bible study, and one should certainly study the Scriptures as a whole, that is, syn­ thetically. But if one would gain a prac­ tical or working knowledge o f the Bi­ ble, there is nothing that can take the

THE REPLY IS IN THE BO O K Drawing from her experiences as a tele­ phone operator, a young woman, now in attendance at the Bible Institute of Los Angeles, recently brought the following illustrations in a devotional message: When I went to work for the telephone company, I was given instructions for a week before I was permitted to work on the switchboard. There was a book— about the size of a Los Angeles telephone direc­ tory— full of phrases. I had to memorize these phrases and also to learn when to use them. Some phrases were not used often, and others were used hundreds of times a day. The phrases that were not used often were just as important as those used repeatedly. When a call came in, and some one very excitedly shouted, " I want the po­ lice," we would calmly answer, "I will give you the Police Department." If some one should ask, "W hat Is your

“ Have you ever been able to trace the conversion o f any one directly to a single sentence you ut­ tered ?” “ Never,” he replied, “ so far as I can remember, to any special sentence o f my own; but often to the utterance o f a verse from the Word o f God. In my experience, that has been the arrow o f conviction which has pierced the joints o f the armor and reached the heart of the sinner.” This testimony is per­ fectly in accord with the words o f our Lord in John

place of Scripture memor­ izing for effectiveness in soul-winning. A t the request o f Dr. James M. Gray,then Pres­ ident of the Moody Bible Institute, the writer turned aside for a season from his union revival work, and for almost three years held the position as Director o f Practical Work in that in­ stitution. During the last four terms o f that period, the students o f the day and evening schools mem­ orized over 200,000 pas­ sages of Scripture. Some o f the students memorized as many as two and three

6 :63 : “ It is the Spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.” And I would say in closing this brief article on the importance o f Scripture memorizing: If we know the Bible, we shall not only be successful workmen in the salvation o f others, but we shall be kept from astonishment or surprise or fear because o f the strange and startling things that are taking place around us in these perilous times. Then, too, as we drift along the swift, relentless current o f time toward the end o f life, we will find that no other book can equally avail to prepare us for that which is to come, m s we face the unknown sorrows and anxieties which sooner or later must be the portion of all men and women, we find that our only satisfying solace is in trusting upon the eternal unchangeable Word of God, whigh He says “ shall not pass away77 (& fa I “ The fear o f the Lord is the begin­ ning o f wisdom.” “ For the Lord giveth wisdom: out o f his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding.” Would you have true wisdom? Then memorize the Word o f God.

hundred in a single term. This is prob­ ably the largest number o f specially as­ signed passages o f Scripture ever mem­ orized by any student body in so short a time. Since resuming my work as an evangelist, |T have met a number of those students who are now in active service o f various kinds, and without an exception they have testified to the wonderful blessing Scripture memoriz­ ing is to them now that they, are on the firing line for the LonT? (& ) faI A P r a c t ic a l M e t h o d The system in itself is very simple. I took a small card ( 2 " x 3 x 2 " ) and wrote on one side the reference, and on the other side the passage o f Scripture to be memorized. When I had memor­ ized a hundred passages or more, I found that I was taking too much time to review them all every day. I had also discovered that it was not necessary to do this to be able to retain them. Those that I had thoroughly mastered, I laid aside to be reviewed only once a week. Monthly, quarterly, and annual reviews were organized as these verses became more fixed in my mind. If I failed to recall a reference or to repeat a passage correctly, it was put back into the daily

name?" we were to reply, "I am sorry, but I cannot give you my name." Now, what if the telephone company had not taught us these phrases? I know that I would have been speechless hun­ dreds of times a day. I know, too, that in each instance, I could not have said any­ thing else as convincing in four or five sentences as the one chosen phrase. Are we good telephone operators on G od's switchboard? Too often we try to lead a soul to Christ with our own words. W e forget that it is G od's Word that is "sharper than any two-edged sword." His Word meets every need and every ques­ tion of the human heart. Our .words could never convince a man of his need of a Saviour, but ¡ust one verse from G od's Word may bring him to his knees before God. It would indeed be ridiculous and un­ businesslike if, in response to each call, every operator had to search through a bulky book to learn what reply to give. And how amusing we must appear to a sinner when we are desperately trying to find a passage we want to give him. While we are trying to find the verse, Satan has time to say what he wants to say, and he says it. Satan knows the power of the Word of God, and he would like to keep us from knowing and using it. For every attack, there is in the Word of God an answer which can de­ feat Satan's purpose and a word of con­ viction that is able to lead the sinner to salvation. Do we know that answer?

6

T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S

January, 1935

Conquest o f PALESTINE B y JAMES L. KELSO* Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Joshua’s

u 2 su ^ 4 ¿ j L/\A¿LS¿ j O --'' ULST* -C -JA -

J o s h u a ' s conquest o f Palestine is one o f the major fields o f archaeological study at the present time. In 1931, Professor John Garstang published his important book, The Foundations o f Bible History, in which he worked out with great detail and by the use o f archaeological data the date o f Joshua’s conquest of Palestine as about 1400 B. C. Although Professor Garstang did excellent work on many o f the geographic problems o f the conquest, unfortunately his archaeological work failed to recognize the great cultural differences between the Canaanite civilization and the Is* raelite civilization. Thus his book still remains an excellent treatise o f the geography o f the conquest, but it is already antiquated from the archaeological viewpoint. Archaeology is now compelled to reject this early date for the conquest, i. e., approximately 1400 B. C., and to locate it after the reign of Merneptah, i.e., after 1200 B. C. E d o m ’ s H is t o r y U n c o v e r e d The conquest o f Palestine really begins as a military problem when Moses leads Israel out o f the forty years’ wandering in the wilderness into Transjordan. Numbers 20:14-21 tells us how Moses sent messengers to the king o f Edom asking permission for Israel to pass through Edom. Israel offered to pay for this privilege and to do no damage while crossing the land. Edom, however, refused the offer; and, at God’s command, Israel did not fight Edom, but instead took the long wilderness journey clear around the boundaries o f Edom. The account beginning with Numbers 2 1 :4 tells of the great sufferings o f Israel upon this journey. During the spring and summer o f 1934, Professor Nel­ son Gleuck, o f the Hebrew Union College of Cincinnati, traveled all over the land o f Edom, making the first ar­ chaeological survey o f that country. He found that Edom was a well-populated country with fine cities in the days of Abraham, just as Genesis 14 states. He discovered, how­

sion), Edom suddenly took on new life, and cities grew up everywhere. A great line o f forts was built around the natural geographic frontiers o f the land. W e do not know what was the cause o f Edom’s resurrection ; we sim­ ply know that cities suddenly appear where for centuries all had been desert. It was this new Edom so recently recov­ ered from the desert that refused to let Israel pass through its territory. Moab’s history from Abraham’s time to the time of Moses is a parallel o f Edom’s history, and consequently Dr. Gleuck points out the impossibility o f the conquest of Pal­ estine as being in 1400 B. C., for “ the Israelites would have found neither Edomites nor Moabites who could have giv­ en or withheld permission to traverse their territories.” R u in s R e c o r d in g t h e T i m e o f t h e C o n q u e s t A fter the death o f Moses and the crossing o f the Jordan, the Israelites besieged Jericho. Before the war, the Ger­ mans excavated at Jericho, and since the war, Professor Garstang dug there. Each party thought it had found the Jericho o f Joshua’s time, but each was mistaken. Exca­ vations at other cities which Joshua conquered have been made, and here the cultural changes and the religious d if­ ferences between the Canaanite city which was conquered and the Israelite city which succeeded were so plain that the city o f Jericho must be studied a third time by the ar­ chaeologists. That they will find the city o f Joshua in the old mound is certain, for Pere Vincent, the greatest ar­ chaeologist in Palestine, has often picked up on the surface o f the mound the pottery from the correct date of Joshua’s conquest. A i was the next city Joshua conquered. He could not have conquered A i at 1400 B. C., for at that time A i was in ruins and had been in ruins for at least four hundred years. This city of A i is now being excavated by a Jewish expedition, and at the time the writer of this article last

visited A i in August, the excava­ tors were looking for the city o f Joshua’s conquest at the post-Mer- neptah date. A t Bethel, a mile and a half from Ai, our expedition (the Kyle Memorial) found the palace o f the king o f Bethel which Joshua cap­ tured. The city had been burned by him, but nevertheless the ashes o f the palace revealed a wealth of valuable objects and data. Imme-

ever, that a century or two after Abraham’s time, Edom was in­ vaded, her cities were annihilated, and the whole country became sim­ ply a part o f the Arabian desert. No cities existed in the land, and only the Bedouin roamed there. By the time o f Ramses the Great (the Pharaoh o f the Oppres- *Professor o f Semitics and Biblical Archaeology, Pittsburgh-Xenia Theo­ logical Seminary.

Above: Water jar and two cook­ ing pots as used in Bethel in the time of Christ. Left: House walls of a section of palace of Bethel which Joshua c a p t u r e d (lower walls). Upper walls are Israelite reconstructions. Right: Houses of Bethel from the time of Christ.

7

THE K I N G ' S BUS I NESS

January^ 1935

There are their idols, their altars, their Astarte figurines and their amulets. Furthermore, we find that their reli­ gious motifs were often worked into the common objects o f the daily use. The new Israelite houses, on the other hand, show almost nothing o f this Canaanite religion. The Israel­ ite house normally yields not a single object o f a religious nature. Israel was practicing— that is, most o f Israel was practicing—a pure monotheism, and monotheism leaves no objects for an archaeologist to find. Even in the days of Joshua, however, we know that a certain percentage o f Israel was turning from the pure faith o f Jehovah, to Baalism. There is something pathetic in Joshua’s farewell address when he says: “ Now therefore put away the strange gods which are among you, and in­ cline your heart unto the Lord, the God o f Israel.” Aqd it is true that in some o f the earlier Israelite houses little plaques of the goddess Astarte are found, but they are rare in number and very soon turn from a distinct idol into an amulet or charm. G o v e r n m e n t a l C h a n g e s

diately upon the ruins o f Canaanite Bethel, the Israelites built a new city, and this new city was absolutely different from the preceding Canaanite city. It is this absolute dif­ ference in all phases of culture, in military and domestic architecture, in ceramics, in metals, and in religion, that gives the demonstration that the Israelites have come into Palestine and established themselves there. Furthermore, this contrast demonstrates that these Israelites are dis­ tinctly different in religion and practice. C o n t r a s t in g C u l t u r e s In all early Palestine we find only two major cultures— a Canaanite culture and an Israelite one. The Canaanite culture was distinctly feudal in character, and it had be­ hind it centuries o f practice, so that by Joshua’s time the Canaanite overlords were enjoying a degree o f material wealth and a distribution o f art and culture through all the phases o f human experience that were never again reached in Palestine until after the days o f Alexander the Great. Foreign importations o f all kinds and native imitations

o f them abound in the Canaanite cities. The architecture o f their cities shows public works that are built only by serf or slave labor, and their private houses are of such magnificence that only a su­ perfluity o f wealth could either build or maintain them. Now contrast this brilliant Canaanite civilization at its peak with the culture shown by the Is l raelite cities which rise from the ashes o f these conquered Ca­ naanite cities. That generation o f Israel which was skilled in the arts and crafts o f Egypt had all died during the wilderness jour­ ney, and their children who were born in the wilderness were by

With the destruction o f the Canaanite feudalism comes a new type o f life founded upon the equality o f men. It is much like modern democracy, and when one studies the Mosaic code and the prophets, he discovers a sur­ prising relationship between the American theory o f government and the old Mosaic law. Israel conquered a wealthy Canaanite civilization, but it was unable to a p p r o p r i a t e this wealth or to create new wealth. The study o f these old houses from t h e d a y s o f J o s h u a and the Judges shows that Is- r a e l ’ s o n e c o n c e r n w a s

H

l

i

Imprint of a seal cylinder, showing the Canaanite god Baal and the goddess Astarte in the phase of war deities. This picture, and those on the preceding page, were pro­ vided by Dr. Kelso, who was a member of the staff in the Palestinian excavations conducted by the late Melvin Grove Kyle in 1926, 1930, and 1932.

for food and shelter. Their granaries and little homes clut­ ter up the area inside the city walls, whereas in Canaanite days palatial homes with their accommodations for the lord and his slaves occupied the same area. Israel knew pros­ perity in the days o f Solomon, but not in the days o f Joshua and the Judges. And it is after the prosperity o f the days o f Solomon and his successors in both kingdoms that the great prophetic voices burst out, saying that Israel has for­ saken its simplicity, its democracy, and its monotheism, and has degenerated into the feudalism and heathenism o f the old Canaanite. A t Debir, also called Kirjath-Sepher, Joshua’s conquest tHIs the same story o f the complete change o f cultures. Here there is the additional evidence o f the Philistine in­ vasion o f Palestine which followed so shortly upon Josh­ ua’s conquest, for shortly after the conquest o f Joshua the Philistines won the city and continued to hold it until the time o f David. This Philistine invasion is another reason why we date Joshua’s conquest late. The Philistines did not enter Palestine until after they were defeated by Ram­ ses the Great, some little time after 1200 B. C. I r o n i n P a l e s t in e In Joshua’s conquest of Palestine, a significant military item appears— the Israelites are unable to conquer parts o f Palestine, especially the plains, because o f the iron char­ iots o f the Canaanites. Now there is no question whatso­ ever as to when iron came into Palestine. Every one is agreed that that date was somewhere close to 1200 B. C. Even in the days o f Tut-ankh-amon, who ruled in Egypt [Continued on page 10]

the very nature o f this wilderness denied any opportunity o f learning the arts and crafts from their parents. The re­ sult was thatwhenever they rebuild a Palestinian city which they have conquered, it lacks all the cultural marks of the conquered Canaanite city. Whenever the Israelites destroyed only a part o f the fortifications o f an old Canaanite city, you can instantly tell the reconstruction work which they put in, for it is vastly inferior both in the type o f masonry used and in the method of building. All distinctly new military works that were put in by the Israelites represent a new principle of construction. Incoming Israel lacked the serf and slave class o f the Canaanites, and thus they did not use a solid type o f masonry which the Canaanites had been able to build with their cheap labor. The Israelite was a free man, and he would not spend all his time carrying rock. Since the conquest, the normal Palestinian city has no longer a solid massive city wall, but two thinner walls bound to­ gether by casemates. It is a poorer type o f construction, but it represents the work of a democracy versus a feudal state. The new Israelite houses within the city have nothing o f the luxury o f the old Canaanite houses, either in size, con­ struction, or in furnishings. In comparison with the old Canaanite houses, these little Israelite homes seem more like hovels, The old Canaanite city had wealthSit showed it in every object—but the mere necessities o f existence are all that we can find in these new Israelite homes. Luxury is missing in these houses until about the time o f Solomon. B a a l i s m a n d M o n o t h e is m In the old Canaanite houses we find the objects o f the old Baal-Astarte religion which dominated all o f Canaan.

8

January, 1935

T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S

Socialism, Communism, fascism “ T H R E E U N C r ï r 3 r N S P I R I T S L I K E F R O G S ” B y LOUIS S. BAUMAN Long Beach, California

O ne of the most inexplicable situations in this strange world o f ours is the fact that it is left for a bitter iconoclast, H. L. Mencken, editor o f the American Mer­ cury, to express his astonishment that the average clergy­ man seems so utterly blind to the clear testimony o f the prophetic Scriptures. He declares, “ The silence o f the theologians is one o f the incredible phenomena o f these dangerous days.” “ All I desire to point out,” he says, “ is that the New Testament offers precise and elaborate speci­ fications o f the events preceding the inevitable end o f the world, and that a fair reading of them must lead any rational man to conclude that these events are now upon us.” With these words, even from the pen o f a caustic skeptic, we must heartily agree. Even demons, if reports from the mediumistic world are to be trusted, are warning men o f tremendous impending events that will fulfill the infallible Word. All o f this is interesting. However, as for us, we rest only upon the Testimony o f the Eternal, forever settled in the heavens! “ T h r e e U n c l e a n S p ir it s l i k e F r o g s ” Armageddon— the world’s most famous and only decis­ ive battle— is yet to be fought. Its Victor will be none other than the Lion o f the Tribe o f Judah roaring forth from an opened sky. Overthrown completely will all powers be that oppose the kingdom o f God. When the smoke and dust o f that battle pass on with the winds, the throne o f David will be set, and over all “ shall the Sun o f righteousness arise with healing in his wings” (Mai. 4 :2 ). However, the prophetic picture assures us that that bat­ tle will not materialize until “ three unclean spirits like frogs” go forth under Satanic direction, and lure the na­ tions to the fateful field. Even so it is written: “ I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out o f the mouth o f the dragon, and out o f the mouth o f the beast, and out of the mouth o f the false prophet. For they are the spirits o f devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings o f the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day o f God Almighty . . . And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon” (Rev. 16:13, 14, 16). T o the ancients, frogs and serpents were emblems o f all that is vile, loathsome, and nauseating. The Greeks, in their mythology, regarded frogs as the inhabitants o f the Stygian lake or river o f hell. “ Like frogs,” therefore, can only signify the extremely offensive nature o f the spirits which shall entice the godless nations to Armageddon in the Val­ ley o f Jehoshaphat, where the thunderbolts o f divine wrath shall hurl them to the dust. These “ unclean spirits like frogs” are the source o f much perplexity to the commentators. For instance: One com­ mentator believes that the spirit emanating from “ the drag­ on” is “ the spirit o f wisdom, earthly, sensual, devilish” ; while the spirit from “ the beast” is the spirit o f power apostate from G od ; and the spirit from “ the false prophet” is the spirit which inspires hopes that are not o f G od : “ so the mass is led.” Another sees spiritism and evolution in at least two o f these froglike creatures. Another thinks of [This is the first of. a series o f articles on this subject, by the pastor o f the First Brethren Church, Long Beach, Calif .—E ditor .]

“ Christian Science,” spiritism, and theosophy. Another beholds “ the draconic spirit o f heathenlike antisocial infi­ delity ; the popish spirit ; the Tractarian spirit.” One man’s guess seems to be about as good as another. W i l l H is t o r y R e p e a t I t s e l f ? But may not history repeat? God once decreed that at Ramoth-gilead the apostate Ahab should fall. The fated hour arrived. “ And the Lord said, Who shall persuade Ahab, that he may go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead? . . . And there came forth a spirit, and stood before the Lord, and said* I will persuade him . . . . I will be a lying spirit in the mouth o f all his prophets. And he [God] said, Thou shalt per­ suade him, and prevail also: go forth, and do so” (1 Ki. 22:20-22). Immediately, “ the king o f Israel . . . went up to Ra­ moth-gilead”—marched to the spot o f doom. A well- directed arrow opened the sluices o f his heart. His life’s blood reddened his chariot, and the dogs licked up that blood, fulfilling the prophecy o f Jehovah to its jot and tittle ! Mark it well— it was a “ lying spirit” that led forth the wicked Ahab to the field o f doom. So again, unclean, lying spirits will lure “ that Wicked” (2 Thess. 2 :8) to his awful end in Armageddon’s blood-stained vale (Rev. 19:20). {Unmistakable signs o f our Lord’s imminent return are everywhere. And, if He is imminent, have we any indica­ tion o f a probably correct identification o f the “ three un­ clean spirits like frogs . . . which [are to] go forth unto the kings o f the earth and o f the whole world, to gather them to the battle o f that great day o f God Almighty”j?_, ,Are they, even now, on the march Tj ( tfuv tí wV a ¡ (Sry l S o c ia l is m , C o m m u n i s m , a n d F a s c is m ¡A multitude o f demonic frog-spirits are now croaking in the world’s deepening night. And, creeping above their fellows in the dark, dismal, pestilential swamps o f earth, we do not hesitate to name three which, in the light of prophecy, will bear close observance, to say the least. These three are Socialism, Communism, and Fascism. Who can listen in upon the news-flashes o f the hour and not realize that these three, more than any others, are responsible for the feverish fears o f the nations, beggaring themselves and the generations yet unborn in order to accouter themselves with all the paraphernalia ÆJr>skughtepp^arming as they have never armed beforelfA^h iVvéry momAt, these three godless frog-spirits are preparing to inveigle the kings o f the whole world to the battle from which no man shall ever return. Socialism, Communism, Fascism— three pied pip­ ers, on their awful march o f death, with the godless mil­ lions upon millions o f human beings, falling to! Will a whole eternity ever again witness such folly? The insid­ ious croakings o f these “ unclean spirits” is about all that any longer breaks the ominous hush within the shadows that betoken the end o f our unregenerate civilization with all its human folly, sorrow, and woe. W e welcome the night, for the gloomy blackness o f night must precede the glory-burst o f “ the bright and morning star”— the rising o f the Sun !

9

T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S

January, 1935

ity,” indeed! It is the “ morality” o f every Luciferian rebel who has existed in heaven, or in hell, since that moment when, somewhere back in the fathomless eternity past, the great archrebel lifted himself up to say: I am the master, or shall become s o ! There is no law save the law o f my own being, no check upon my will save that which I, my­ self, impose! “ I will exalt my throne above the stars o f God . . . I will be like the Most High” (Isa. 14:13, 14) ! The result is that in those lands where this spirit of “ Invic- tus” maintains, the curse pronounced by the prophet o f God is already appearing: “ Thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides o f the pit” (Isa. 14:15) ! The California Socialist, proclaimer o f “ the new mo­ rality,” does not hesitate to make clear what he means by his words. He says:

“ T h e N e w M o r a l it y ” “ Unclean” in the sight o f the holy God are all these froglike spirits, however clean they may appear in the bloodshot eyes of men. “ Unclean” in sex, they have pol­ luted the fountain of life. M we write, before us lies a book written by a world-famed Socialist, who erstwhile would be governor o f California. From this book ( The Profits o f Religion) we quote: The new morality is thus a morality o f freedom. It teaches that man is the master, or shall become so; that there is no law, save the law of his own being, no check upon his will save that which he himself imposes. (Page 309.) However much they may otherwise differ, this “ new morality” doctrine impregnates the bodies o f all three—

. 81 H

. „ .

Courtesy, The Friend, Minneapolis

Photo by Norton and Peel

%l Personally, I am prepared to go as far as the extreme sex radical in the defense of love and the right to love . . And when I say love, I do not mean mere affection. I do not mean merely the habit o f living in the same house. (The Book o f Life, Part 3, Page 56.) If those words mean anything, they mean thatQhhe new morality” is, indeed, the “ morality” o f frogs— frogs that crawl up out o f the slimy depths of the underworld ¡ France, impregnated for nearly two centuries with the spirit o f So­ cialism, is famous for the practice o f “ the right to love.” She has longjmaintained also an unenviable reputation for on n u in muuiicu cu u uui —

Socialism, Communism, and Fascism, frog-spirits creeping/jj) . . ’ .. ... _____s u m _______n n,,*. '■ t - . forth over the earth like the pestilences that they ar|Q_ But, be not deceived! When they talk o f “ the new morality, they remind us o f the old widower who went back to the home o f his boyhood and married the sweetheart o f his youth. Returning with her to his home, he introduced her to his children as their “ new mamma,” whereupon his small son drew his father’s head down and whispered into his ear : “ Pop, you’re sold ! She’s not new, she’s old, !” “ New morality,” indeed ! It is more ancient than the race o f men. It is the selfsame “ morality” which caused

Satan to be catapulted from “ the midst 'of the stones of © fem o ra l d ir^ Itomm un istic Russia’s god, Lenin, lying fire” (Ezek. 28 :14), and which hurled a third o f the angelsHI asleep in his glass-encased catafalque, his brainless head o f heaven down to their chains in Tartarus. It is the exact resting on a red pillow, is a dead god— dead from syphilis. philosophy which the Serpent poured into the ears o f Eve Glowing reports from pro-Russian _ pink parlors not­ in Eden, and sent her from paradise to hell! “ New moral- withstanding, the fact is that the millions of free-lovers

Made with FlippingBook - Online magazine maker