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TH E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
January, 1940
Around the King s Table By ROY L. LAURIN
Psalm 119:89 we read, “ For ever, I» Lord, thy word is settled in heaven.!' The construction of the word “settled” indicates the thought of being “set up.” The idea conveyed is not merely the set tling of an issue, or the conclusion of a dispute, but indicatés that the Bible in all sixty-six books of its revelation ex ists as a complete and composite volume in its original writing. It is there as an eternal witness against subtraction and addition. It is there as thè Magna Charta of Salvation and the guarantee of the rights and privileges of the Sovereign’s blood-bought subjects. Any Bible muti lator has this “settled” Word as a wit ness to condemn his unholy deeds. All the cultists with their brazen additions and subtractions, have this “settled’’ Word to condemn them. , . Thank God for a Word “settled” in heaven and secure on earth! The Bible which is “settled” in heaven should be loosed on earth and sown in the hearts of men. Only in such manner can it work its mighty miracle of grace. A Mad World These lines are being written at the moment that word has come of the ruth less bombing of Finnish civilians by the conscienceless Communists. It is difficult to refrain from speaking in bitterness. These are madmen off of leash in. the world and running amuck through \he bloodied streets of a vaunted civil!1 zation. At last the true stripe of Com munism shows beneath the hypocritical garb of a boasted proletarianism. Here is humanity at its worst. Let the rest of the world bear in mind that neither Germany nor Russia can espouse anti- Christianity and remain either civilized or gentle. In Los Angeles Superior Court, it is reported, “The business of determining the sanity of more than a score of per- sons brought into the psychopathic department was interrupted sudden ly when the judge announced, ‘This court will now listen to the great est madman in the world.’ ” What a •setting for hearing the radio broadcast of Hitler’s war speech! It is indeed a mad world. Let us preserve what remnants of peace and liberty yet remain by remembering that the Bible and its Christ are our last bulwarks. To this end the church can render service
The Magna Charta of Salvation On November 28, 1939, the Associated Press carried this dispatch: "The British Government, which burned the American Capital 125 years ago, today turned over to the United States for safe keeping one of its most precious pieces of paper —the Magna Charta, signed by King John of Runnymede in 1215 A.D., and regarded as the foundation of British liberty.” There are four copies of this historic document, of an original twelve, now in existence. Three are in England and- this fourth is in our own Congressional li brary. This copy was brought here for exhibition at the New York World’s Fair, and to avoid the risk of a dangerous ocean transit, it will rest opposite our own Constitution and Declaration of In dependence under constant guard. The Magna Charta is a document of great significance because it sets forth the principles of political and social liberty. So far as the intrinsic, value of the parchment itself is concerned, it has none. The document’s entire value lies in the principles it sets forth. Apart from the fact that this copy of the Magna Charta is, in the words of Lord Lothian, the British Ambassador, just “a musty parchment,” that very parchment is important because it is one of the original instruments which con veyed the priceless privileges of a free people. Therefore its safe-keeping is of great importance. «The elaborate ceremony and meticu lous care for the protection and reten tion of this document remind us of an other Magna Charta. It is the Bible, which we may rightly call the Magna Charta of Salvation. This charter of freedom is for all peoples and for all ages. Upon earth there is not a single manuscript remaining of the original in struments. All have gone, and our Bible has come to us through transcriptions from these original documents. This fact may seem tragic when in reality it is providential. The Bible might then be come a physical relic instead of a spir itual reality. It would be worshiped as a curio instead of being enshrined in daily life. But despite the earthly absence of the original sixty-six sections of the Bible, there appears a p - -sibility that the Bible as a complete revelation is kept in safety as an eternal witness. In
A Call to Remembrance Within the Word of. God is this sig nificant command: “Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God: whose faith follow” (Heb. 13:7). In this issue of THE KING’S BUSI NESS, where some of the words and work of Reuben Archer Torrey are again recalled, effort has been put forth to direct the Lord’s people in a refresh ing obedience to this Scriptural injunc tion. Dr. Torrey gave to the Bible Insti tute of Los Angeles “twelve of the best years” of his life—to use his own de scription of the period, 1912 to 1924, when he served Biola and was known as its beloved Dean. In him was a rare combination of the scholar, the teacher, the executive, and the evangelist. And in the course of his lifetime, which Closed with the Lord’s call on October 26, 1928, his field of service embraced the world. In recalling the anniversary of his birth (January 28, 1856), what better exercise for Christians could there be than meditation upon the grace of God, revealed through Dr. Torrey’s yielded personality ? He was a man of one Book. To him, the Bible was to be studied, believed, and preached enthusiastically, and he centered all his remarkable intellectual and spiritual powers upon the fulfill ment of that task. Many a grateful soul will forever praise God that R. A. Torrey was among- those who “have spoken . . . the word of God”—not opin ions about the Word, but the powerful, convicting, Spirit-inspired Word itself. Read his sermon on page 5 of this issue. He was a man of faith. Since “faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Rom. 10:17), it is not surprising that Torrey’s daily assimila tion of the Word should make him a man of gigantic faith. Not to extol the memory of any in dividual, but to magnify the power and grace of God, the Torrey Memorial Bible Conference has been planned .for this year—the fifth of such gatherings. It is the hope of Institute leaders that attendance upon the Torrey Memo rial Bible Conference and the reading of this Torrey issue o f . THE KING’S BUSINESS will result in increased love of the Word of God and faith in the Christ of God-—qualities which marked the life of R. A. Torrey.
Hear Biola’ s “ Back Home Family Hour” Program, Radio Station KMTR, 570 Kilocycles, 9 :3 0 to 10:15 P. M., Sundays
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