THE WISE LITTLE BIRD SBS Teaches children to know and choose the right. “ Wise Little Bird'’ is a gripping story o f a bird protecting its mate and nest, presenting the Gospel in a very unique manner. Suitable for Grade or Pre-school children. Beauti fully colored kodachrome slides— 10 o f them in glass binders with illustrated color booklet, $6.00. TABERNACLE SLIDES Through tho IAS
A series of flannel* object lessons teaching Bible truths to junior-in termediate boys and girls. K77 Animate year words with CHRISTIAN’S TWO NATURES
A lso available immediately . . . "Bsrnsy’s Barrsl," 15 slltfts and accompanying booklet, $9.00. “ Uttls Boat Twlct Ownsd," 10 slid,» and accompanying booklat, $6.00. Slides are not sold without illustrated booklet. GOSPEL SLIDE & FILM SERVICE, 923 South lyo Stroot, Tacoma 3, Washington •SENDNOMONEY: W e mail the slides and booklet' to you for 5 days private preview.
* 8 pag.s oí colorad cut-outs ★ 12 lesson topics *10 -p ago lesson booklet
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Right, leaders of the nevt church in Chile. Left, he is waiting for the light. Will you toss the torch to him in darkest Africa?
“ 2 £ a b o r * r s S o x j e t f y e r W i t t y W H ILE The Independent Board for Presbyterian Foreign Missions stands heartily committed to the Reformed faith; yet members of five different denominations hold mem bership upon it; and individual members of many denominations bear it up in prayer and contribute to its support.
His existence. His sovereignty, the sufficiency of the atonement of Christ, the integrity of the Scrip tures, the necessity of a Christian life of purity and separation,under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and to the swift-coming return of Our Blessed Lord. Thus exalting those firm convic tions of spiritual truth and fact, of righteousness and Godly living, which, when they have been upheld, have ever made the Christian Church truly great at home and in foreign lands; we continue to build that united Christ - centered testimony which is the outstanding need of our day. Founded upon the impregnable rock of Holy Scripture, truly “ the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it!”
You GET A N IN C O M E for life Yes, you give greatly—and receive greatly— when you join the thousands of holders of American Bible Society Annuity Agreements. As long as you live, you receive a generous check at regular intervals throughout the year, and such checks have never failed in the more than 100 years of the Annuity Plan operation. At the same time you receive the abiding happiness of knowing that you share in the glorious work of distributing the Scriptures throughout the world, bringing joy and hope to the needy, the lonely, the distressed. Investigate this great Annuity Plan at once. Learn how it provides generously for your future security or the comfort of a loved one, and how it entitles you to certain tax exemp tions. Send today without fail for the interest ing booklet, “ A Gift That Lives!’ Mail this coupon today! American Bible Society, • -430 Park Ave., New York 22, N. Y. I 1 G Please send me, without obligation, yOur I 2 booklet KB*92 entitled “ A Gift That Lives!’ ! a I enclose $----- - for the world-wide distribu- I on of the Scriptures. | Name. ........, ............................ ....... I 1 A ddress ___..................... ............... -.... J \City~~.~ ............... ..........— Stato. _________ I
The work thus becomes a u n ify ing force centering around Christ, the world’s only redeemer— a rally ing point for all Bible-believing Christians. W e are “ laborers together — with God.” The Board believes itself in line with the great redemptive purposes of God when it holds aloft, in these end-times of apostasy and spiritual declension, a faithful testimony to
Cod is answering our prayers with a rapidly enlarging ministry. W ill you fellowship with us in petition, in life service, or as the Lord may lead you? For full informa tion, address The General Secretary, Dept. K77
f o r P R E S B Y T E R I A N F O R E I G N M I S S I O N S
t C e Independent Board
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Official Publication of The Bible Institute of Los Angeles, Incorporated
Louis T. Talbot, D.D.
Betty Bruechert Managing Editor
William W. Orr, D.D.
Editor in Chief
Associate Editor
Copyright, 1 9 4 The K tag’s Business No part of this magazine may be reproduced without permission. A ll Rights Reserved.
No. 7
Vol. 38
July, 1947
Eternal Security "Our eternal security is pledged by God's Providence and Promise. 'Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?' Then comes the triumphant answer, after all possible obstacles and enemies have been mentioned one by one, 'Nay, in all these things we are more than con querors, through him that loved us.* Our trials will be turned to our helps; our enemies will be taken prisoners *nd made to fight our battles. Like the weights on a clock, which keep it going, our very diffi culties will prove incentives to faith and prayer, and occasions for God’s becoming more real to us. "N o t only will we escape from those who attack us, but their very attack will become an unspeakable benefit by making us stronger for the discipline, and leaving them weaker for the defeet. We shall get out of our troubles not only deliver ance, but triumph, and in all these things be even more than conquerors through Him that loved us. "O u r security depends not upon our ^unchanging love, but upon the love of God in Christ Jesus toward us. It is not the clinging arm of the babe on the mother's breest that keeps it from falling, but the strong er arms of the mother about it, which will never let it go. He has loved us with an everlasting love; and although all else may change, yet He will never leave us nor for sake us." — A. B. Simpson. From *HU Love* by B. McCall Barbour
CON T EN T S Editorially Speaking................................................................................ 4 How T o Be Fully and Forever Satisfied, Reuben Archer Torrey ....... 6 The Sphinx, Richard Todd .................................................................... 9 The Secret of Endurance, Arthur Hedley .............................................. 10 The Twenty-Third Psalm, Martha Snell Nicholson ............................. 11 Mountain Parable, Thelma Hollingsworth ....................... .................... 12 Practical Apostolicism, H . L . Phillips .................................................... 13 Extra-Curricular, Charles A. Roberts .... .................................... .......... 14 The Apocrypha, Bernard Ramm ................................................. .......... 15 He Cometh, F. W . H . Myers. ............................................................... 16 Achan and Ananias, Keith L . Brooks .................................................... 17 Earth’s Treasure Heaps, Paul R. Bauman ............................................ 18 The Bible in the News........... ............ ............................— ............... . 20 W h y Study Prophecy? W ill H . Muston ...... ......... :............................. 21 Dr. Talbot’s Question Box_____ ____ ................. ..............................— . 23 Biola Family Circle............................................................................... 24 Teaching T in y Tots, Elizabeth Killough .............................................. 27 Junior King’s Business, Martha S. Hooker. ........................................... 29 Young People’s Topics, Walter L . Wilson ............................................ 31 It ’s An Idea, Carlton C. Buck ........................ ....................................... 32 Miscellanea ................................................................................ .......... ... 35 Sunday School Lessons.............. .........................................i................... 36 Ten Ways to K ill the Sunday School, Vera Weightman ....................... 42 Object Lessons, Elmer L , tVilder. ......................................................... 44 Reader Reaction ......................................................................... ....... 46 New Accrediting Association.................................................................. 46 Picture Credits: Cover, p. 11, Eva Luoma; Yosemite Park and Curry Co., p. 6; George R. King, pp. 10, 18. S U B S C R IP T IO N IN F O R M A T IO N — "The King’s Business” is published monthly; $2.00, one yr.; $1.00, 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. R E M IT T A N C E S —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. A D V E R T IS IN G ! —For Information, address the Advertising Manager, 558 South Hope Street, Los Angeles 13, California. M A N U S C R IP T S —“ 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 Angeles. California, under the Act of March 3, 1879. Acceptance for mailing at special rate of postage provided for in the Act of February 28, 1925, embodied in paragraph 4, section 538, P. L. and R ., authorized October 1, 1918, and November 13. 1938. A D D R E S S ; The King’s Business, 558 So. Hope St., Los Angeles 13, Calif. PAGE THREE
2ft Georoe IV Bridge , Edinburgh i, Scotland
JULY, 1947
We have not referred to that larger work which came indirectly through Mr. Horton and the Fishermen’s Club—the Bible Institute of Los An geles with its graduates living for Christ to the ends of the earth. Truly the memory of “Daddy” Horton is a blessed one, and his work continues to increase with the passing of the years. ☆ The Bible Still on Trial O NE of the very splendid laymen’s organizations in our land is that of the Gideons, whose purpose is the printing and free distribution of the Scriptures. During the last war, the record attained by this comparatively small organization in the work of distribution of New Testaments to the members of the armed forces was indeed a noble one. At the close of the war, the Gideons attempted a new goal which was to place a scholar’s New Testament in the hand of every schoolchild in America. As was to be expected, in a number of places, there was opposition. For instance, in the city of Den ver, an attorney charges that this proposal of the Gideons “departs from the basic principles upon which our country is founded.” Reports in the press stated that the attorney is threatening court action if the Den ver School Board allows such free distribution of New Testaments. It is preposterous to hear a state ment to the effect that the Word of the Living God violates the basic principles of America. Our entire history as a nation shows that the exact opposite is true. Throughout the years, hundreds of America’s great have given their unqualified approval to the value and indispensa bility of the Word of God. Benjamin Franklin said: “Young man, my advice to you is that you cultivate an acquaintance with, and firm belief in, the Holy Scriptures, for this is to your certain interest. I think Christ’s system of morals and religion, as He left them with us, the best the world ever saw or is likely to see.” Thomas Jefferson stated: “ I have said and always will say that the studious perusal of the sacred vol- T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” A ll is a word which can be used in its strict sense only by God Him self. What person or nation would dare to guarantee that all things which come into our lives would turn out for good? Another choice gem of Scripture is 2 Corinthians 9:8: “And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all suffi ciency in all things, may abound to every good work.” What a wonderful God is ours! He not only makes such a guarantee but backs it up with all the resources of heaven. Nor is this benefit just for some par ticular group of God’s children. All of God’s children are included and His love abounds to everyone. So, we greet you as our friend greeted us, “ God bless you always and all ways.” ☆ His Works Continue T HE occasion was a recent anni versary dinner of the Fisher men’s Club in the Bible Institute of Los Angeles. Those present included about twenty men who, twoscore years before, had been introduced to the Lord Jesus Christ and to the privilege of serving Him by a stocky, little man who was nearing the re tirement age. That one was Thomas Horton, a veritable dynamo of spir itual energy—a real soul winner. One after another, “Daddy” Hor ton’s “ boys” told how he had pointed them to “ the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world.” One of the “ boys” is serving his Lord in Korea; another in South America; a third is working with young men, having contacted over 1,200 of them for Christ. Still others are living out in the business world the principles with which “Daddy” Horton inspired them. What a lesson for our own edifi cation is to be found here. That which is done in the name of Christ and for His glory alone will never die. It is like the pebble thrown into the pond producing ripples which never stop until the farthest shore is reached.
Welcome rpHIS is our first opportunity to of- fer a word of welcome to the host of new friends who have become members of our King’s Business family during our half-price sale. We are more than delighted to ex tend to you the right hand of Chris tian fellowship, and to assure you of our earnest desire that your Chris tian life may be advanced through the medium of these pages. The King’s Business, one of the earliest magazines in the field of re ligious journalism, has been a de fender of the truth for many years. Our contributors are an army of God’s great. Our field is the world and our reason for existence is to publish abroad the greatest story in the world, that of the love of God as found in Christ. Again, we renew our pledge, as God gives us grace, to lift high the banner of the Lord .Jesus Christ, to exalt His name, and to preach with out fear His truth as found in His Word. May we invite your prayers, not only for the ministry of the Bible Institute of Los Angeles, but also for the ministry of this printed page? One of the best things you can do for us, after you have prayed, is to introduce The King’s Business to your friends. I f every subscriber would add one new name each year, what a glorious group we would have! So, friends, from our heart to yours, we give you a very warm welcome! ☆ God’s AU TN A RECENT letter from a Chris- ■*- tian friend just above his signa ture we found these words: “God bless you always and all ways.” We were struck by the warmth and Christian regard of these words. After all, who else but the Lord is able to bless us, not only in every circumstance, but during every day? It is a delightful exercise to one’s spirit to interpret the all’s in the Word of God. Romans 8:28, which is the citadel of the Christian’s faith, states: "And we know that all things work together for good to them that PAGE FOUR
Harry S. Truman, the only adequate prayer which he felt could express his desire was one recorded in the Bible—“Give me now wisdom and knowledge, that 1 may go out and come in before this people: for who can judge this thy people, that is so great?” (2 Chron. 1:10). Judge for yourself if some of the greatest minds that America has ever produced do not constitute a united chorus in ascribing honor and praise to the Bible as the greatest, grandest and most valuable book of all ages. ☆ Missionary Statesman Goes Home A NOTHER great missionary states- man, Dr. Robert Hall Glover, of Philadelphia, Pa., Home Director Emeritus of the China Inland Mis sion, went in to see the King on March 23, 1947. Dr. Glover was bom in Quebec in 1871, and at the age of 14 heard the call to the foreign field. He then prepared himself for foreign mis sionary service, going to China in 1895. Along with other pioneers, he opened up the unreached interior and there wrought valiantly for God. Succeeding to positions of greater and greater responsibility, he jour neyed over 100,000 miles through world mission fields. In 1930, Dr. Glover became Home Director of the China Inland Mission. Dr. Glover was also known and loved because of the work of his pen. His volume, The Progress of World-Wide Missions, is used as a textbook in many Bible institutes and seminaries. Dr. Glover was well known at the Bible Institute of Los Angeles, and wrote many interesting articles for The King’s Business. We bow with others in grateful thanksgiving to God for the privilege of knowing this man, so thoroughly humble, yet such a spiritual giant. ☆ “Come Ye Yourselves Apart . . . And Rest a While” rpHESE words were the Lord’s in- -*■ vltation to His disciples whose lives, during those three and one-half years of ministry, were very busy. Because the Lord so graciously heal ed the sick and comforted the sor rowing, He was greatly sought after by those who desired His minister ing touch. So it was that in many cases they had no leisure, no, not so much as even to eat in peace. There were always crowds, people
with questions, parents with prob lems and children with needs. Of course we hear no word of censure from our precious Lord. He was the Good Shepherd who had come for the express purpose of caring for the lambs and sheep. But the dis ciples were in danger of becoming acrimonious and critical. Too, busy life was bringing the inevitable hypertension, and attendant evils. So the Lord said to them, "Come ye yourselves apart . . . and rest a while,” and the twelve went into a place, away from the crowds where they themselves might sit at thq Lord’s feet, and drink in the precious truth as from an inexhaustible fountain. These too are days of stress, and the “jitters” which have afflicted the world will also affect God’s peo ple, if we allow them to do so. It is a good thing for Christians to follow the example of the disciples to go apart and rest a while. This very naturally leads us to say that the Bible Institute of Los Angeles is sponsoring a Biola Bible Conference at beautiful Mount Her- mon Conference Grounds in Central California. This is a very choice spot, located deep in the heart of the tall redwood country near Santa Cruz, California. The Conference days are from Sunday, August 24, to and in cluding Labor Day, September 1. The Conference speakers include Dr. W il liam Evans, Dr. J. Vernon McGee, Dr. Harry Rimmer and Dr. Louis T. Tal bot. Music will be in charge of Dr. Herbert Tovey. All inquiries regarding accommo dations should be directed to Rev. Cyrus N. Nelson, c/o Mount Hermon Conference Association, Mount Her mon, California. All other inquiries should be directed to the Conference Director, Dr. William Orr, 558 S. Hope St., Los Angeles 13, California. McLean, died recently at the age of sixty. She had been a prominent figure in Washington society fot many years. The priceless diamond weighing 44% karats and valued at $2,000,000, was her most cherished possession. Almost a fortune had been spent in preserving and guard ing this gem which was coveted by thousands. Now Mrs. McLean is gone and the jewel is still here, for even 44% karat diamonds cannot be car ried with us out of this life. Only the precious gems of unselfish, sacrifical, effectual service for Christ can survive the gates of death. PAGE FIVE ☆ Diamond rpHE OWNER of the fabulous Hope Diamond, Mrs. Evalyn Walsh
ume will make better citizens, better fathers, and better husbands.” Daniel Webster affirmed: “If we abide by the principles taught in the Bible, our country will go on prospering and to success; but if we and our posterity neglect its in structions and authority, no man can tell how sudden a catastrophe may overwhelm us and bury all our glory in profound obscurity. The Bible is the Book of all others for lawyers as well as divines, and I pity the man who cannot find in it a rich supply of thought and rule of con duct. I believe Jesus Christ to be the Son of God. The miracles which He wrought establish in my mind His personal authority and r e n d e r it proper for me to believe what He asserts.” • William Jennings Bryan stated: "Wherever the moral standard is be ing lifted up; wherever life is be coming larger in the v i s i o n that directs it and richer in its fruitage, the improvement is traceable to the Bible and to the influence of the God and Christ of whom the Bible tells . . . To the doubts and ‘I do not knows’ of the a g n o s t i c , the Christian, Bible in hand, answers: I believe.’ ” Theodore Roosevelt wrote: “Sad, patient, kindly Lincoln, who after bearing upon his weary shoulders for four years a greater burden than that borne by any other man of the 19th century, laid down his life for the people whom, living, he had served so well—built up his entire reading upon his early study of the Bible—he mastered it so that he be came almost ‘a man of one Book.’ ” Theodore Roosevelt also asserted: “We plead for a closer and wider and deeper study of the Bible, so that our people may be in fact as well as in theory ‘doers of the word and not hearers only.’ ” Woodrow Wilson testified: “The man whose faith is rooted in the Bible knows that reform cannot be stayed; that the finger of God that moves upon the face of the nations is against every man that plots the nation’s downfall or the people’s de ceit; that these men are simply groping and staggering in their ignorance to a fearful day of judg ment; and that whether one genera tion witnesses it or not, the glad day of revelation and of freedom will come in which men will sing of the coming of the Lord in His glory, and all those w ill be forgotten— those little, scheming, contemptible creatures that forgot the image of God and tried to frame men accord ing to the image of the evil one.” And who does not recall the fact that when Franklin D. Roosevelt died and the presidency of the U. S. A. fell “like a load of hay” on JULY, 1947
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O UR LORD Jesus Christ Himself tells us how each ■one of us can be fully satisfied, and satisfied forever. "But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.” There is a match less music in these words. I remember how, as a boy, before I had any thought of becoming a Christian myself, I would read this verse. There was to me a fascination in those words. I did not understand their meaning at all, but they seemed to me like a mar velous strain of music from some faraway, heavenly world. When I came to understand their meaning and to experience for myself the great truth they set forth, there was in them a preciousness that I cannot put into words. Our Lord Jesus had been taking a long and tire some journey on foot. He had started out in the early morning with His disciples, and they had trudged along the whole day through, apparently without any thing to eat. About sunset, they reached the outskirts of the village of Sychar. It was formerly thought that the "sixth hour” was noontime, but it was later dis covered that in Ephesus, where John wrote this Gospel, time was reckoned as it is with us today, from mid night till noon, and from noon till midnight. So “ about the sixth hour” was six o’clock in the evening. Since our Lord was as truly a real man as He was “very God of very God,” dusty, tired, hungry, thirsty, He sank upon the well-curb. The disciples had gone into a near-by town to get something to eat, but apparently He was too tired to accompany them. In a little while, Jesus looking up the road, saw a woman of evil character coming toward the well to draw water. Immediately a new thirst took possession A chapter from the book, "The Holu Spirit," by Dr. Torrey, published by Fleming II. Hevell Company, hew York, and used bu permission.
of Him—not a thirst for water—but a thirst for the salvation of that outcast woman’s soul. As soon as she approached within speaking distance, Jesus, seeking an approach to her soul, said: “Give me to drink.” Instead of letting down into the well to draw water the jug she carried, the Samaritan woman meanly and contemptuously said: “How is it that thou being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria?” Our Lord, overlooking the insult, replied: “ If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.” Immediately the woman said to Him: “Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water?" Pointing down into that well, at which so many generations of men and cattle had slaked their thirst, Jesus replied: “Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again.” How true is that of every earthly fountain of satis faction or joy: no matter how deeply one drinks, he soon thirsts again. Drink as deeply as you will of the fountain of wealth; drink of the fountain of worldly honor, or power; drink of the fountain of worldly pleas ure; drink of the fountain of human knowledge; you will not be satisfied for long. Yes, even drink of that most nearly divine of all human fountains, the foun tain of human love; soon you w ill thirst again. Then our Lord added those wonderful words: “Who- ’ soever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst;” or to translate more literally: “shall not thirst forever; but the water that I shall give him shall' be in him a well of water springing up into everlast ing life.” I would that wd might ponder those words in silence until their meaning and force take possession of our minds and hearts. Drink, and keep on drinking ct the water the Lord Jesud gives, and you will be fully and forever satisfied.
that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water
T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
PAGE SIX
But what is the water that our Lord Jesus gives? If you look at the commentaries on John 4:14, you will find a great many different replies to this question. But the Bihle itself answers the question in John 7:37-39: “In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on Him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified).” The water which Jesus Christ gives is the Holy Spirit, whom He gives to those who believe on Him, and who ask Him for the Gift (John 4:10). Anyone who really receives the Holy Spirit as an indwelling presence will be fully and forever satisfied, and that is the only possible way to be thus satisfied. It is a great thing to have your joy, not in en vironment, nor in circumstances, nor in possessions, but within your own heart. If our joy is in our environment or in our possessions, we cannot by any possibility be always happy, for sometimes our environment is not what we would have it. So when our environment is pleasant, we are happy, but when it is unpleasant, we are miserable. If our joy is in our possessions, we can not always be happy, for sometimes we have them, and sometimes we lose them. When we have them we are happy, but when they are gone, we are utterly miserable. We are happy when we are rich, but we are miserable when we are poor. We are happy when we are well, but we are miserable when we are sick. We are happy when men speak well of us, but we are miserable when they speak evil of us. We are happy when we have our friends with us, but plunged into the depths of sorrow and despair when they are taken from us. But if our source of joy is in our own hearts, a fountain springing up within us, then we are entirely independent of our surroundings, our circumstances, or our possessions. We are joyful when we are rich, and equally joyful when we are poor; we are joyful when things go just right, and equally joyful when they go “ dead wrong” ; we are joyful when we are well, but equally joyful when we are sick; we are joyful when men speak well of us, but equally joyful when they speak all manner of evil against us; we are joyful when we have our friends with us, but equally joyful when the dearest friend we have on earth is taken from us; indeed, the joy of the indwelling Spirit of God seems oftentimes to well up with even greater power in the moments of deepest bereavement. In that dark hour that comes, sooner or later, to every one of us, when for the last time we look into the face of some dearly loved one lying cold and still in death, what possible comfort can this world give? Is there any surcease for 001 * sorrow in such an hour to be gained by going to the theater, the opera, the card party, the dance? No, those things only add to our sor row. But from this fountain within us, which the in dwelling Spirit has become, gushes up at such a time as that “joy unspeakable and full of glory.” How well I remember such an experience in a time of apparently overwhelming sorrow which came to my wife and me. We had a lovely nine-year-old daughter, a most winsome child. One Saturday afternoon a friend came to our house to take the children with him to Lincoln Park. When they returned that evening about six o’clock, our little Elizabeth said: “ I don’t think I’ll eat any supper tonight; I don’t feel real well.” The next morning when she came down to breakfast she said: “ I don’t think I’ll go to church this morning; my head aches." Monday morning, when she came to the JULY, 1947
breakfast table, she said: “I don’t feel real well yet; I don’t think I’d better go to school today.” Her mother looked into her throat and saw the telltale white patch, and of course, we sent for a physician at once. When he came and had carefully examined the child, he said: “There is nothing to be anxious about. It is not diph theria; it is only tonsilitis. But I will keep a close watch.” The next morning he came again and gave her another examination, and then said: “Well, it is diphtheria, but not a serious case at all. There is noth ing to be alarmed about” That night I slept downstairs to avoid exposing others whom I might have to meet during the following day, and her mother stayed upstairs with the little child. The next morning, long before daylight, her mother ran to the top of the stairs, calling: “Archie, come up, quick!” I rushed upstairs and saw Elizabeth choking. I ran at once for the physician. He came back with me; but Elizabeth was apparently very much bet ter. The choking had all passed away; indeed, she seemed well on the road to recovery. The doctor said: “ For some reason or other I don’t feel like administer ing antitoxin, but keep a close watch on her, and if she gets any worse, telephone me at the Medical Col lege and I will leave my classes and come at once.” But she seemed to grow rapidly better rather than worse; indeed, she said to her Mother: “Mother, I am well; I want to get up and dress.” In the meantime, a trained nurse had come, and her mother came down stairs to talk with me. We were very happy in the thought that our little girl had been spared to us. Suddenly, the nurse ran to the top of the stairs and called: “Come up, quick!” We rushed upstairs. Eliza beth’s eyes were closed. She was breathing rapidly, not choking, but the little heart was giving out. There was no time to send for the doctor. I dropped on my knees to pray. I had hardly time to begin when the spirit of our little one had taken its flight from the mortal body. It was so sudden, so unexpected, it was almost crushing. One morning, as I went to my classes, as I passed around the corner of Chestnut Street and La Salle Avenue, I could contain my grief no longer. There was
pumping, they lowered a man in a basket down into the well with a rag carpet in his hand. He found the great orifice where the water was pouring in and shoved the rag carpet in to stop the flow of water. Then they piled in rocks on top of it, and the well was per fectly safe. But it was also perfectly useless. One day, standing by that expensive hole, the man said to himself: “I have put a lot of money into that hole and I am going to have that water!” They took out the rocks that had been piled in, then curbed the well up with stone from the bottom to the top; and then he sent for the fire department again. Again they lowered the man into the well. In one hand he held a cord with which to pull a bell to signal them when he got hold of the carpet. He took hold of the carpet with one hand, and with the other rang the bell, and they pulled him up, dragging the carpet with him. And the water poured in again, but now it was perfectly safe. For years we drank of that well, and wonderful water it was. But in the course of time my father and mother died, and the place passed into other hands. Twenty years later, I visited the place. The house had been taken down, brick by brick, stone by stone. Many of the finest trees had been cut down. The lawns and gardens and orchards were laid out in city lots. I thought at first I was to find nothing that belonged to the old home. But, passing by a house, I noticed a well right in front of the front porch. I thought to myself: “What a strange place to have a well!” Then it oc curred to me that it was our old well! Leaving the old home place, I went down town. The Presbyterian minister met me on the street. “Oh,” he said, “have you been up to the old place?" I replied: “I have.” He said: “ You didn’t find anything left, did you?” “Yes,” I said, “just one thing—the old well. But what a strange place for a well—right in front of your front porch! I should think they would fill it up.” He replied: ‘They will never fill that well up—it’s the best water in Geneva!” Do you see the point?—the best water in Geneva! And yet it had been plugged up for a long time with an old rag! If you have ever received the Holy Spirit as an indwelling source of joy, you have had in your heart, not “the best water there is in Geneva,” but the best water there is in the universe. And in many of you the well is plugged up by some old rag of sin or worldly conformity. Let’s pull out the old rags today. What is it that stops the fountain in your heart? Do you know? If so, put it away today. But perhaps you do not know what it is. You know you once had that joy, and know you have lost it. Well, you can know. Ask God to show you what it is that stops the fountain and promise Him that if He will show you what it is, you will give it up. He will show you if you are really sincere. But perhaps some of you never knew the joy of the Holy Spirit. You can know that wondrous joy today The Lord Jesus stands here today, all unseen, but nevertheless, Jiere, holding out the golden goblet that contains the living water, and saying: "Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life” (John 4:14). W ill you drink? Further back in the chapter the Lord Jesus says (v. 10): “If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.” Just ask the Lord Jesus, but be sure, when you ask, that you really mean it, and that you really long for the Holy Spirit at any price, and that your will is fully surrendered to God, for He gives the Holy Spirit “to them that obey him” (Acts 5:32).
no one on the street, and I cried aloud: “Oh, Elizabeth! Elizabeth!” And just then, this fountain that I had jn my heart broke forth with such power as I think I had never experienced before, and it was the most joyful moment that I had ever known in my life! Oh, how wonderful is the joy of the Holy Ghost! It is an unspeakably glorious thing to have your joy, not in things without you, not even in your most dearly loved friends, but to have within you a fountain ever Springing up, springing up, springing up, always spring ing up, three hundred and sixty-five days in every year, springing up under all circumstances into everlasting life. j It is also a great thing that you can have a foun tain that you can take with you wherever you go. j When one has this fountain of satisfaction and joy within him, he is entirely independent of the world’s sources of joy. What does he care for the dance, or the card party, or the theater, or any other kind of Earthly satisfaction? Who would go to an old green, ¿limy pool to drink when he had right at hand a clear Crystal spring? Oh, the world with its allurements has ho power over the one who has this fountain within! I often think there is little use in telling young Christians: You must not dance; you must not play cards; you must not go to the theater; you must not #0 this, that and the other thing. There is a far better Way: Get them to receive the Holy Spirit, and let Him Jiave full right o f way within, and they will have no desire for such things. j But someone will say: “Why is it, then, that so E any Christians do run after these things?” The answer very simple: It is either because they never have Jreally received the Holy Spirit as an indwelling foun tain of life and joy and satisfaction, which is doubtless true of many professing Christians; or else the fountain pas become choked. You know it is quite possible to choke a fountain. I was born in the city and brought up in the city. Occasionally, in the summer, our family would take a vacation in the country. When I was ten years of age, my two brothers and I, tired of the city, went to our father and said: "Father, buy a home in the country." He was born in the country and was, I suspect, more tired of the city than we were. So he bought a lovely place at Geneva, New York, which is a beautiful city lying at the foot of Seneca Lake, one of the most beau tiful sheets of water in the world, forty-two miles long &nd from two to five miles wide. The man who had Originally built the place had spent a great deal of money upon it. It was half a mile from the lake and bart of the city lay between the place and the lake. But the man wished to see the lake. So he had three hundred teams to work for many weeks building an artificial hill, so that they could see over the lake and up the lake twenty miles. Then he laid out his lawns and gardens and sent to different parts of this Country and, I think, also to England, to get large trees to set out. But when the trees were set out and the house and bams and stables built, and the orchards planted, though he could see twenty miles up the lake fhe man was not satisfied, because of the water supply. 7’here was a good well, but it was a. long way from the house, and he wished to have a well near at hand Where he could pump water through the house. He Sent for well diggers and set them to digging a well hot very far from the house. They dug and dug and dug; it seemed as if they never would strike water. But one day they struck water and struck altogether too much. They struck a “ gusher” and the water came pouring in until they were afraid it would undermine the foundations of the house. He sent for the fire de partment; they pumped the well out, and while still
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T H E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
By Richard Todd, Biola ’49
>
And trav’lers, viewing Luxor’s site,
Say, "What a splendor once was here!”
And when upon a moonlit night, In eerie light with awe and fear, They Kamak’s pillared might behold, And whisper words most fearfully, "What grandeur Egypt had of old!” Then why should Egypt des’late be? Why should the Sphinx forlorn now stand, Still gazing out o’er moonlit sand?
rphe answer’s not within the span Of man’s authority or power. ’Twas not the will of puny man
That brought great Egypt to this hour
Of baseness, ruin and poverty,
’Twas not a foreign monarch’s wrath, O’er treaty’s breach or boundary, That spread such woe on Egypt’s path, That e’en though Egypt’s Sphinx still stands, Her glory lies beneath the sands. TITTien Israel was in Egypt land, * ' Long years before Messiah’s day, She was by Pharaoh’s cruel hand Oppressed in making brick of clay, Until she cried in agony For freedom from her bondage sore; God heard her cry and set her free, And led her forth to turn no more Unto the land where still doth stand The Sphinx upon the desert sand. A nd when in Canaan’s promised land God’s people were the victims made Of wars with foes on every hand, And cried to Egypt’s king for aid, A bruised reed was Egypt found, A staff on which no man might lean; No help there was in Egypt’s crown. So therefore all the world has seen God’s judgment on the land, where stands The Sphinx alone upon the sands. Jehovah’s Word in truth spake he: “ For Egypt shall be waste and bare, The basest of all kingdoms be, No more o’er nations east and west Shall Pharaoh’s hand exalted be.” And history records the rest, The ruin, fall and misery, Degradation of that des’late land Tpzekiel, the prophet, hear, A lesson here the world may learn Which many a nation has forgot; Yes, kings may rage, their armies turn The passion bred by greed and hate; But God still rules in this dark hour. Yet doubts some hopeful potentate? Yet boasts he of his own great power? Let stand that fool where silent stands The Sphinx, the king of endless sands. ’Gainst friend or foe, while waxes hot Where stands the Sphinx upon the sand.
T stand tonight on Egypt’s sands, Before the still and solemn Sphinx, That time-scarred form, half beast, half man, Which Egypt’s past and present links. The noble face is worn and scarred; Nor can the moonlight’s soft caress Renew the features cruelly marred By wind and sand—the ancient stress; And still the stolid Sphinx doth stand, The king of miles of moonlit sand. \I7'hence came this mass of dateless stone, ” With beast the body, man the head, This remnant great of glories flown, This monument to ages dead? Here once was Egypt’s empire great; It spread o’er all the neighb’ring land, It stretched beyond to Syria’s gate, But now the Sphinx alone doth stand, The empire—only endless sand. TTThere is the empire once so great, ” Where are the cities, temples grand, Where now the jeweled potentates, Whose word was law, whose iron hand Held fast the nations far and wide? Where are the cities onjce well known To all the world as Egypt's pride? Is Thebes no more than ruined stone? Why doth the Sphinx alone still stand, While Memphis sleeps beneath the sand? Great Canaan’s length and breadth to span;
JULY, 1947
PAGE N INE
Burnham Beeches, Knghuid
I F ANY MAN ever had cause to grow faint and weary in welldo ing, it was the Apostle Paul. Con sider his position when he wrote his Second Epistle to the Corinthians and his Epistle to the Galatians, which were written within a short interval of each other. During his absence, false teachers had been successful in destroying the faith of some of his converts in Galatia. These believers had brought themselves under the bondage of the law and there was much dissension within the church. There was such discord that Paul had to warn against its fatal re sults: "If you are perpetually snarl ing and snapping at one another, beware lest you are destroyed by one another” (Gal. 5:15, Weymouth). Is there anything more discourag ing to a servant of Christ than to see a good work, which has been built up by much patient and sacri ficial service, injured by selfish, un scrupulous men? This has been the experience of many of our mission aries in pagan lands. In his Second Epistle to the Co rinthians, Paul unveils his innermost soul. There was no relief for his spirit or flesh; "without were fight ings, within were fears” (2 Cor. 2:13; 7:5). He was pressed on every side,
vast, so complex, that nothing man does seems to make any difference. All classes today are suffering from an insidious form of war-weariness. Unless we recognize it as a real thing which must be overcome, it will be productive of worse evils. Reaction after war is inevitable. During the war, men had no time for relaxation; they were set on winning the victory and seemed to possess superhuman strength. There is need of renewal today to rise above this deadening spirit which makes it so easy for Satan to rob us of our faith and hope, and to tempt us to give up Christian service. It is a tragedy to see so many who once were full of zeal for Christ and His Kingdom, losing their enthusiasm. To go on daily when one is weary in body, mind and spirit, is not easy, for it is natural for "mortal spirits to tire and faint,” yet we must carry on for Christ’s sake. To lose heart in the heavenly race, to lose hope in the good fight, is the sure way to disaster. The devil takes advantage of the listlessness of the saints. To grow disheartened and to surrender to the foe is the way to dishonor and defeat. No wreath of victory is promised to those who quit the field. T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
perplexed, smitten by exhausting la bors; his journeys were full of dan ger. He was pursued by the hate of his own countrymen and harassed by false teachers. There were times when he despaired even of life it self: “We had the sentence of death in ourselves” (2 Cor. 1:9). He was “always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus” (2 Cor. 4:10). The maltreatment he had re ceived was visible in his physical frame: “I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus” (Gal. 6:17). If ever a man was tried, slandered, per secuted, exhausted by sacrificial la bors, it was the Apostle Paul. Yet under his physical weakness and weariness, there was an immense fund of moral vigor. After years of unremitting toil, relentless perse cution and torturing' pain, his faith and hope were undimmed, and he was always planning some new mis sionary advance. He ever bade oth ers to keep a stout heart and not to give way to faintheartedness (Gal. 6:9). We stand in dire need of the spirit of endurance and courage which Paul possessed. Many are weary in well doing, wondering if anything is really worth while. The problems of the world and of the church are so
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. What was the sefcret of Paul’s en durance? What enabled him to per severe in the face of hostility, dis couragement, weariness, privation and peril? He lived in close com munion with the Lord Jesus. He literally Jived in Christ, and Christ in him. There flowed into his life continually the grace and strength of Christ. In his daily dying, he was strengthened by the life of the risen, indwelling Lord (2 Cor. 4:11). He was "strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus” (2 Tim. 2:1). He testi fied: “When I am weak, then am I strong” (2 Cor. 12:10). He boasted of his weaknesses rather than com plaining of them, because of the full ness of Christ’s power which he re ceived when he was insulted, perse cuted, and in difficulties and dan gers (2 Cor. 12:9). Only as we main tain such a life of intimate com munion with Christ shall we continue in His service. When we abide in Him, we receive grace which enables us to be “more than conquerors” in the fight (Rom. 8:37). A well-known Christian journalist found himself staying at the same hotel as a celebrated English preach er who was in poor health. He went to hear the minister preach and was amazed that so frail a man could deliver a message so eloquent and powerful. Afterwards, the journalist asked the preacher how he had man aged to speak with such vigor and inspiration, to which question the latter replied, “We get help.” Paul, when persecuted for the faith, never forgot the fact that he himself had once been a persecutor. God in mercy had arrested him in his mad career, had saved him, and, most astounding of all, had appoint ed him as the apostle to the Gen tiles. "Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not” (2 Cor. 4:1). Thé man who ever remembers the wonder of' his own salvation, the honor of being a child of God, has an incentive, to go on with confidence and courage, however hard the path. The less our salvation means to us, the greater is the danger of our becoming dis couraged and giving up the fight. The mercy of God in saving our souls, in making us His sons, in call ing us to His service, is amazing, and even more amazing is it that He still loves us in spite of a thousand fail ures since conversion. This consid eration helps us to bear with those who persecute us, and to continue serving them though our love be un requited. Paul was saved from growing weary in welldoing because he main tained a forward look. Present hap-* penings could not overwhelm him, or crush his spirit, because he constant
ly refreshed his soul by meditating on his glorious inheritance in Christ. The grandeur of his future with Christ saved him from going under when things went hard against him1. Although his old body was decaying, it was of little consequence in view of the day when he would be "absent from the body ... present with the Lord” (2 Cor. 5:8). The hope of im mortality, of eternal fellowship with Christ, made present trials so light that he could say, “For which cause we faint not... For our light afflic tion, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory” (2 Cor. 4:16,17). In the light of the eternal, he reckoned that the sufferings of the present were not worthy of com parison with future glories (Rom. 8:18). A man who looks at things like that will never surrender his ministry. On the other hand, he who aban dons the Christian faith and hope cannot but become a fatalist. H. G. Wells wrote in his last book, Mind at the End of Its Tether: “Mind,
near exhaustion, still makes its final, futile movement towards the way out or around or through the impasse. That is the utmost now that mind can do. And this, its last expiring thrust, is to demonstrate that the door closes upon us forevermore. There is no way out or around or through.” Such must be the despair ing cry of the man who rejects the revelation of God in Christ, for only those who trust in the words of Him who said, “Behold, I make all things new” (Rev. 21:5), can go on hope fully and joyfully. Only those whose hope is fixed in Christ, in His prom ises, in His coming, in His insep arable love, can be strong, stedfast, enthusiastic, and “faithful even unto death.” The way before us is long and hard and uphill, and will be so to the very end; but for those who persevere and endure, there awaits a glorious welcome into heaven; and the Saviour’s “Well Done” for serv ice. The believer alone is an opti mist, who with Robert Browning in vites us: "Grow old along with me, the best is yet to be.”
The Lord is my Shepherd. What want can be mine? M y hand is clasped close in that dear hand oi Thine. Thy pastures are green and Thy waters are still; M y soul is restored as it drinketh its Fill. All day For Thy name's sake Thou leadest my Feet In paths that are righteous and pleasant and sweet. What though through the valley oi death I must go I Fear not its shadow oF evil, I know That Thou wilt go with me each step oF the way, Thy rod and Thy staff For my comfort and stay, I dine at Thy table; Thine own hand doth pour The oil on my head. M y cup runneth o'er. Thy Goodness and Mercy shall not leave my side Till at last in the house of my Lord I abide.
—Martha Snell Nicholson.
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JULY, 1947
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