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evangelical Christianity
really changing?
see page 23
I WAS A P r o f e s s i o n a l G a m b l e r
Today at BIOLA there are 134 students in the college program training to be public school teachers. There’s a lot of talk nowadays about how bad things are in our public schools. Actual ly our public schools are doing a tremendous job . . . but we believe it’s mighty impor tant what the teachers believe. You don’t have to worry about a Bible college-trained teacher getting involved in atheistic Com munism . . . or any atheistic philosophy. A Christian public school teacher not only teaches our traditional democratic way of life . . . he also takes time to develop and protect the all-important spiritual values of each pupil. Isn’t this worthwhile? BIOLA can train students for such im portant life jobs only as Christians give generously. Your gift is needed now more than ever before. BIOLA has four schools: Bible Institute, College, School of Mission ar)- Medicine, Talbot Theological Seminary.
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Field Department Bible Institute of Los Angeles, Inc 558 So. Hope St., Los Angeles 17
2
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THREE WEEKS of fabulous
recreation in the paradise :ific combined with Christian
fellowship and Bible Study.
STAY in luxurious Moono Hotel on Woikiki Beoch.
Highlights of Your Trip ► Bible study under three outstanding pastors and Bible scholars ► Seven Conference Sessions in three Honolulu Churches. ► Visits to Mission Stations. Daytime reserved for sightseeing. ► Five organized Island Tours. ► Leisurely, living in Luxurious Moana Hotel on Waikiki Beach. ► Hawaiian Luau— 'Native Feast — served by local church. ► Optional tours to neighbor islands. ► Round trip cruise aboard palatial Luxury Liner SS Lurline 4V i days in each direction. All First Class. Finest of Food. Or, 7V4 hours each way on Pan American's new DC7C "midnight to dawn" fast and comfortable carriers. Your Hosts Rev. and Mrs. Arvid F. Carlson of Pasadena's Mission Covenant Church. Dr. and Mrs. John G. Mitchell of Portland's Central Bible Church. Dr. and Mrs. Robert B. Munger of Berkeley's First Presbyterian Church. MAIL COUPON TODAY —
'<04¿ r *«4 H4\yA , 5 f*i A/m
EE. breathtaking beauty in an enchanted won- erfand.
for information regarding baggage, clothing, costs, and reservations.
Dr. James T. Martin Chevy Chase Baptist Church 1209 East Garfield Glendale 5, California
Please send complete details regarding the Hawaiian Christian Conference Cruise.
Name-
OPTIONAL ROUND TRIP BY AIR P le If your time is limited you can go via Pan American Airways ' aving Los Angeles, San Fran cisco, Portland or Seattle on Fri day, August 9. Return August 26. This gives you 16 full days in the Islands.
Address-
. Zone—
City-
State_
A publication of the Bible Institute of Los Angeles, Inc. Louis T. Talbot, Chancellor
New happenings with staff & contributors Popular K.B. monthly writer is A l thea Miller (Under the Parsonage Roof). A man reader wants to know if she is married. Yep. Evidence: see photo of Mr. & Mrs. Miller and their nine. Writer Miller and her pastor-husband
S. H. Sutherland, President
•
Ray A. Myers, Chairman of the Board JANUARY
In the year of our Saviour Nineteen Hundred and Fifty-Seven
■Vol. 48, No. 1
Established 1910
Dedicated to the spiritual development of the Christian home
ARTICLES PRAYER THAT PREVAILS — Andrew Murray ___ _________ __________ 12 THE CROSS AND ITS POWER— Horatius Bonar __________ ______ 14 IS EVANGELICAL CHRISTIANITY CHANGING? — A symposium .. 23 INSPIRATION OF THE SCRIPTURES ..................... ......................... ....... 28 SILVER LINING — Poem — Helen Frazee-Bower ..... ............................ 29 LIVING YOUR DOCTRINE — Oswald Chambers .................................. 30 I WAS A PROFESSIONAL GAMBLER — How Christianity Works— Paul Ebling .................................... 48 FEATURES NEW — Happenings with staff and contributors .................................. 4 READER REACTION ............................................. ...... ................ 6 PEOPLE-— A monthly column of names in the news .. ...... ..... 8 UNDER THE PARSONAGE ROOF — Althea S. Miller _______ ____ 9 DR. TALBOT'S QUESTION BOX . ............................... ............. ............... 11 WORLD NEWSGRAMS — James O. Henry ............................................ 18 THEOLOGICALLY THINKING — Gerald B. Stanton ..... ................ 20 WORDS FROM THE WORD — Charles L. Feinberg ............................. 21 OUT OF THE LAB — Donald S. Robertson ........................................ .. 22 JUNIOR KING'S BUSINESS ROUND-UP — Cow-Country Farmer — Leonard Eilers .................................... 31 — Judy and the Lake — Rachael Borne ....................................... 33 SEARCHING THE SCRIPTURES: ACTS — Chester J. Padgett ..... . 37 BOOK REVIEWS — Donald G. Davis ........................................................ 42 TALKING IT OVER — A psychologist answers — Clyde Narramore.. 44 ADVERTISERS' INDEX ........ 50 CHRISTIAN EDUCATION HOME DEPARTMENT — Conclusion — Henry Jacobsen ................... 35 OBJECT LESSONS— Elmer L. Wilder ........................................ 45 COVER Once again we've devoted our cover to telling you about a special Green Report. This month the report deals with several topics relative to current discussions in some circles on the difference between evangel icals and fundamentalists. We've printed a limited number of extra copies that may be ordered at 25c each or five for $1, postpaid. For the special report see pages 23-30.
Althea Miller Is she married? Yep.
have just moved to St. Petersburg, Fla. for a preaching-teaching ministry at Grace Livingston Hill Memorial School and Hill Chapel. K.B. Copy Editor (since 1952) Rose Hardie is no longer on the staff. Reason:
S. H. SUTHERLAND: editor LUCY BARAJIKIAN: editorial assistant JANE M. CLARK: circulation manager
LLOYD HAM ILL: managing editor MILTON R. SUE: advertising manager J. RUSSELL ALLDER: business manager
editorial board: Donald G. Davis, Charles L. Feinberg, James O. Henry, Martha S. Hooker, Margaret Jacobsen, Chester J. Padgett, Donald S. Robertson, Oran H. Smith, Gerald B. Stanton
SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION — "The King's Business" is published monthly: U.S., its possessions, and Canada, $3.00, one year; $1.50. six months; 25 cents, single copy. Clubs of three or more at special rates. Write for details. Foreign subscriptions 50 cents extra. It requires one month for a change of address to become effective. Please send both old and new addresses. REMITTANCES — Should be made by bank draft, express, or post office money order payable to ''The King's Business." ADVERTISING — For information address the Advertising Manager, The King's Business, 558 South Hope Street, Los Angeles 17, California. 4
MANUSCRIPTS — "The King's Business" cannot accept responsibility for loss or damage to manuscripts mailed to us for consideration. Entered as second-class matter November 7, 1938, at the Post Office of Los An geles. 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, em bodied in paragraph 4, section 538, P.L. and R., authorized October 1, 1918, and November 13, 1938. Printed in U.S.A. by Church Press, Glendale, California. ADDRESS: The King's Business, 558 S. Hope St., Los Angeles 17, California. [Copyrighted 1956, The King's Business]
Copy Editor Hardie She married the managing editor
she married the managing editor. Both took their journalism at the Univ. of Calif, in Berkeley but didn’t know each other there. Managing Editor Hamill is 33; ex-Copy Editor Hardie, 26. Both are native Californians. Her pastor, C. Victor Nyquist (Mission Covenant), per formed the ceremony in Los Angeles. THE KING'S BUSINESS
Number six in a series of photo stories on education in California
Elisabeth Stavenow, originally from Stockholm, Sweden is shown with fellow student Bill Bishop in Christian Service Dept. work. Miss Stavenow is a fresh man majoring in Christian Education, came to Biola because she wanted to learn more about the Bible, be able to help others with their faith and teach Sunday school.
B lO LA STUDENTS gain valuable experience by actually practicing Christian work in the field. Through the Chris tian Service Department students are assigned to regular practical work in local churches, on Gospel teams, visitation teams at the Los Angeles County Farm and Juvenile Hall, in child evangelism classes, street meeting groups, etc. The Christian Service Department also obtains speakers to fill the needs of local churches and organizations from the ranks of both faculty and students as well as endeavoring to make full-time placement of graduates across the land. Biola offers a Bible College granting B.A. degree with
majors in Bible, Christian education, public school educa tion, psychology (with emphasis on guidance and coun seling) , English, history. In addition to Biola Bible College there is Talbot Theological Seminary, School of Missionary Medicine (an intensive one-year training in medicine for the prospective missionary and missionaries home on fur lough) and two-year Bible Institute.
Biola graduates include: Percy Crawford, Charles E. Fuller, Dick and Don Hillis, Irwin Moon, Dawson Trotman.
SEND10 CENTS FORYOURCOPY of a beautiful 16-page picture story booklet. Big 8 x 10 photos showing scenic and educational sites of Southern California. See for yourself why so many students are coming to sunny Southern California. BISLE INSTITUTE OF LOS ANGELES, INC., 558 South Hope St., Los Angeles 17, Calif.
JANUARY 1957
5
Sirs: I don’t believe in all my, years of reading as a Christian that I have ever read anything so enlight ening, scriptural and so badly need ed. Send 10 copies. Detroit, Mich. Blanche S. Quint Sirs: Is it in reprint form? Washington, D. C. Norman B. Rohrer Publications Director International Students, Inc. Sirs: Send 100 copies for use in our work. Harrisburg, Pa. Rev. William B. Haber Harrisburg School of the Bible Sirs: It certainly showed me where I have fallen far short. Broadbent, Ore. Mrs. F. C. Hoffman Sirs: How I praise the Lord for this which I have needed. Redding, Calif. Mrs. Joe Heatt Sirs: Hill Chapel, which my husband shepherds, was thrilled with that report. They want to give them out Sirs: I teach 10 adult Bible classes each week and want to give each lady a copy . . . send 300. Bridgeton, N. J. Mrs. Anna K. Meyers Sirs: One of the best I have ever read. Send 100 copies. San Diego, Calif. Rev. Milo L. Nixon College Ave. Baptist Church Never have we received such re sponse to an article as “ The Chris tian & Worldliness” by Ray C. Stedman. Our entire stock of re prints was immediately sold out and orders are still piling up. Be cause of the supreme importance of this article we are making a second reprint which should be ready by to each family. St. Petersburg, Fla. Mrs. Robert Miller
the time this magazine is delivered. The new reprint is an attractive 32-page booklet with a two-color cover. Because of the larger quan tity ordered we can sell this beau tifully printed booklet for the same low cost of 10 cents each as the original magazine reprint. — ED. Aushiri Indians Sirs: I read with keen interest your reprint article on the Aushiri In dians [Dec. K.B.] of Ecuador, be lieved by Pan American Union writer Perez to be the tribe respon sible for the tragic deaths of the five U.S. missionaries. Although I detect a pro-Catholic bias, such arti cles are healthy if only to stimulate Christian thought and renewed mis sionary dedication. Incidentally, your readers may be interested to learn of persistent rumors heard in Quito, Ecuador to the effect that two Catholic priests have made a strange pilgrimage to the Curaray River site of the com mon grave for the celebration of a mass. Missionary Aviation Fellow ship pilots on a reconnaissance flight over the area reported that a crude wooden structure has been erected over the mound beneath the m u ch -pub lic ized tree-house. This gives credence to the rumors concerning mysterious visitors who are apparently the only non-In dians who have returned to the site since the tragedy. My own continued interest stems from the fact that World Wide Pic tures is carefully preparing a searching, comprehensive film doc ument on the missionary martyrs to be released in the spring of 1957 coincidental with the publication of Harper’s Through Gates of Splen dor, Abe Van Der Puy’s ambitious undertaking which has all the po tentials of climbing to the top of the non-fiction Best Seller list. Hollywood, Calif. Dick Ross, President World Wide Pictures
The Christian & Worldliness Sirs: Mr. Stedman, [“ The Christian & Worldliness,” Nov. K.B.] no doubt, makes a strong plea for something. At first it seems he wants Christians to throw away their standards, but later in the article this is repudiated. He also seems to recommend the most friendly of relations with the un saved. By implication the purpose of this friendliness is to bring them to Christ. Certainly Mr. Stedman does not recommend that Christians partake of the gambling, evil speak ing, drinking, smoking and the rest of the recreational activities of the unsaved. Where does that leave the puzzled reader? . . . The Lord gives strict warnings about “ beware of men” and “ salute no man by the way.” Not much friendliness in those words! So. Son Gabriel, Calif. L. W. King Sirs: Thank God for Mr. Stedman. He will never know how much his article has helped me and several of my friends. We stand alone be cause we refuse to make a check list but rather insist on the Bible as our standard, which doesn’t back up a lot of our church dogma of today. Please send 20 reprints. Raymond, Wash. Mrs. Alice Rushing Sirs: Send 15 copies. Phoenix, Arlz. Sadie Wiersma, Librarian Cook Christian Training School Sirs: We found the article very val uable and plan to use it in a series of roundtable discussions. No. Hollywood, Calif. A. Duane Borror Calvary Church of the Valley Sirs: I believe that a great service to the Christians of our day has been done by this article. It would be of even further value if it could be put into pamphlet form and widely circulated. Trail, B. C. W. M. Dawes
6
THE KING'S BUSINESS
in the 14,h ANNUAL BIBLE Memorizing CONTEST
I S w ig @ JP® I p f - M « JytcWs tvj\\- oo^-- cords. l l l l l l i 9 *; ,— M i CO'°^ s l flH arn°n9 the H Lf| Reierenc®B u >Nt^ B h h I *e *. » " M „ c Bo o K s - c°n' 4 *4 i s a i i Vl< fW t 3\a9°eS| etc*1 eot ADULT CONTESTANTS receive as rewards two substantial books and also a thrilling week at camp. The camp is on a freewill offering basis. 2,810 adults en rolled last year. THE WELL-PROVED PLAN That Challenges Adults, Young People and Children. • YOU actually learn 150 choice Bible verses ! • YOU do only 12 verses.a week and enjoy doing it from handy booklets! • YOU earn all those rewards while drinking in God’s Word — this world’s greatest treasure! HOW THE PLAN WORKS 1. 2. Scriptures in King James version arranged in poetry like style in attractive booklet. Youths up through 20 years old take Book I, "Basis for the Christian Life” — a total o f 150 verses divided into 12 topical assignments. Adults, 21 years and up, take Adult Book I, "Let there be Light” — a total of 105 verses divided into 15 • For youths and adults from all denominations, and effective also to reach those outside the church. • The cost: Youth contestants pay $2.00 enrollment fee, adults $3.00. Those who come to camp pay $2.00 regis tration fee, which covers registration, insurance and camp notebook. Applications accepted of those who are unable to pay enrollment fee. • Over 61,000 from every state and several foreign coun tries enrolled in the last 13 years. 35,304 completed the full year’s work. • The work is sponsored by the Bible Memory Associa tion, Inc., interdenominational and evangelical, and is sup- T O D A y I topical assignments. Adults learn 7 verses per week. 4. The Memory Work Booklet and instructions sent to you after your enrollment blank is received. 5. You recite one assignment each week beginning Feb. 9th to a local “ Hearer,” whom you help select. 6 . The system and rewards help carry you along in the most profitable endeavor of your life. ported by freewill offerings of Christian people. We invite the prayer fellowship of the Lord’s people. • This plan might be just the thing for you and for those in whom you are interested in achieving an effectual planting of the Word. # Applications will be accepted until January 29, 1957. Write at once for detailed information and enrollment blanks. BIBLE MEMORY ASSOCIATION, INC • ° - Box Station, Dept. K H Louis 12, Mo. OTHER INFORMATION JANUARY 1957 7 THE BIBLE UP AN OLIVE TREE This is Takis C O N S I D E R H I M Olive Wyon In prayer it is far more important to turn our minds to Christ than it is to think of self. These three meditations are intended as “point ers” to help our prayers become Christ-centered —to make him live in our hearts. The subjects are Jesus in the Upper Room, in Gethsemane, on the Cross—supreme events of the Crucifix ion. An introduction on meditation is included. $1 breathe can pray. Yet there are many of us who want to pray, who need to pray—who do not know how to pray. It is for these people that this book is intend ed—for the individual who seeks closer com mun ion w ith God through a richer life of prayer. The content of true prayer is here ex plored in depth. The beginner is shown when and how to pray, and prayer is revealed as vi tal and enriching for all who understand and practice it. $2 A S I MP L E GUI DE TO PRAY ER John Underwood Stephens A n y on e who can Marmaras, one of the students from B e r e a , Greece, at the Macedonian Bi ble Institute in Katerini. He says: “ From the day Christ came A monthly column of names in the news T. C. Horton, co-founder of the Bible Institute of Los Angeles, had three vivacious daughters and they all had an active part in getting the school started. But it remained for the youngest, Margaret, to carry on in the family tradition. In 1914 Margaret married the Rev. Vernon Morgan. But being a housewife and mother never slowed down her public life. One minister recently quipped: “ She’s the only woman I’ve ever known who into my heart a struggle began with my Greek Orthodox mother which continues to this very day. Sometimes she would not let me in the house or give me any thing to eat. I hid any spiritual literature under my shirt and looked for an opportunity to read it. They searched my room and whatever books Mother found she would take away. They even broke the lock of my door so I could not lock myself in to pray. I had to climb up an olive tree in our yard and there read my Testament and pray. Up there they could not reach me. I tied my Testament to a branch when I wanted to hide it.” Takis endured this for 12 years. Don’t you think he will make a wonderful Gospel work er? Such testimonies could be repeated by many of our Bible students. Shall we not he held accountable before the Lord if we turn such students away? We shall have to unless you rally to their support which is $25 a month. There is really a desperate need at our Macedon ian Bible Institute, where we are training the Greeks to bring the Gospel to their own people. No foreign missionaries can go there. We hope the Lord will speak to your heart so that you will help this work by undertaking either full or partial support of one of these Bible students. We shall be glad to send you the picture of the one you will pray for and help. May God lead you to do His will. Send your gifts to: American Mission to Greeks, Inc., Dept. K, P.O. Box 423, New York 36, New York (In Canada: 90 Duplex Ave., Toronto 7, On tario.) Mrs. Morgan: 63 equals 100. in 63 years of living has crowded in 100 years of work.” The most spectacular work of the Morgans was on the campus of the University of California at Berkeley. There for some 20 years they brought a hard-hitting, vitally alive Christian witness geared into a daily radio broadcast. Started as Bible League, the work was later renamed Univer sity Christian Fellowship. Housed in Horton Hall (a huge three-story for mer Jewish fraternity house) the work reached literally thousands of students on the big campus. It was routine for Mrs. Morgan to work with her husband until two or three in the morning. Then in 1950 Vernon Morgan died from cancer. Mrs. Mor gan pitched in harder than ever. The youngest of the Horton girls was in deed a bright image of her godly father. But one day recently death from a heart attack ended the prodig ious career of Margaret Morgan. And with her death the work of UCF end ed. Horton Hall and most of the cash assets were turned over to Bill Bright's Campus Crusade. The remaining cash went to another campus work, Inter- Varsity Christian Fellowship. ' at a ll bookstores Abingdon Press 8 THE KING'S BUSINESS DO YOU HAVE$300, $500 or $1,000? Under the Parsonage Roof by Althea S. Miller APPLES OF LOVE Qn the hustle and bustle of getting " " a ll the household linens washed and packed prior to the 1,000 mile move from Virginia to Florida, Moth er stepped hard into a small hole on the lawn by the clothesline. The jolt threw her to the ground with her fist doubled up against her body by the ribs. She finished packing and left on the long hot trip to the time of un welcome pain from several cracked ribs. The p a in h a u n t e d Mother for weeks. Just about the time she was beginning to draw some free breaths she hurt the lower part of her back in trying to move an unpacked box. “ Here we go again,” she groaned. “What a summer this has been. After : we finally get settled in a house of j our own, I’m going to rest for a solid j week. And pity the person who dares say ‘Nay’ to me.” Even as she con- i soled herself Mother knew her self- I made promise was likely a lovely I pipe dream. After a particularly hot and trying day as she stood over a still hotter stove finishing up the evening meal she raised her heart to the Lord and said half audibly, “ Dear Lord, I’ve j done nothing but moan and groan I for weeks now with one ache after another. I’m just not worth my salt any more.” “ Oh yes, you are,” her startled ears heard a childish voice disagree. “ At : least you are here to kiss us good night when we go to bed.” Leaving her work at the stove Mother gathered her eight-year-old son into her arms. “ Thank you, dar ling.” Her voice was so choked she could hardly hear the words. “ I’m glad you think it is important to kiss Mother good night.” A new vigor possessed Mother as she went about her evening chores. The spontaneity of a child’s love is priceless. She realized anew the im portance to her children of her pres ence and demonstrated love. Inher ent in the heart of every child is the need for love’s assurances and protec tion. Inherent too in Mother’s heart is the need for assurance that God’s love is behind each trial for her good and His glory. “ Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you . . . But rejoice . ; .” (1 Pet. 4:12, 13). And Mother sang. JANUARY 1957 This will interest YOU . . . Our field representatives meet Christian men and women quite frequently who are looking for places to invest their money. Most of them need a return on their savings. Some are considering investments in stocks. But because of their limited knowledge of stocks and bonds, they are reluctant to buy. Others hesitate because of market fluctua tions, uncertainty of dividends, etc. And some tell us of disappointing experi ences on their investments. * * p Without exception, all are looking for security . . . a guarantee that they will be as sured of a generous income. Something they can count on as long as they live . . . in good times or bad . . . regardless of whether the stock market is up or down. But they’re interested in something else, too. * * * You should see their faces light up . . . when we tell them about the double dividends provided by Moody Annuities. When we tell them that Moody Annuities assure them of a generous, guaranteed income as long as they live (up to 8 V 4 % depending on their age) . . . plus a share in the Lord’s work . . . they’re overjoyed! And when we tell them that every annuity is backed by all the resources of Moody Bible Institute, and that MBI has never missed a single payment in almost 50 years . . . they are convinced that it’s the plan for them! W O U L D Y O U L I K E TO R E C E I V E D O U B L E D I V I D E N D S ON Y O U R M O N E Y ? We’ll be happy to send you the free booklet, double dividends , which explains the Moody Annuity Plan in detail. Contains a chart showing income rates for all ages, explains tax benefits and tells you all about the many ministries of Moody Bible Institute in which you’ll have a share. C L I P A N D M A I L C O U P O N T O D A Y ! Write: Carl J. Frlzen, Stew ardship Departm ent MOODY BIBLE INSTITUTE 820 N. LaSalle Street • Chicago 10, Illinois □ Please send me, without obligation, d o u b l e d iv id e n d s , Plan. □ Please send folder, Where There’s a Will, relating to stewardship. Dept- K-57-30-3 story of Moody Annuity _ Age_ Name __ Address_ City ____ _State_ Zone_ 9 for boys & girls w where If there was ever a real honest- to-goodness cowboy, Leonard Eilers is one. He learned the cowboy trade on big ranches in Wyoming and Nevada and at one time worked for Paramount Studios. He and his wife live on their North Rim Ranch out in California’s San Fernando Valley. When we at T h e K in g ’ s B usi ness found out Cowboy Leonard your training A U is provided The ‘WEST POINT" of CHRISTIAN SERVICE M TU I T I ON F REE ^ d f e MBI’s three-year, tuition-free training is open to high school students who meet In stitute standards. This training is made possible by the gifts and prayers of faithful stewards —men and women who are counting on young people like you to carry the gospel and maintain a strong testimony — in full-time Christian service, business, professional life, or in the home. MBI’s Student Placement Office helps hun dreds of students find part-time employ ment each year. Down through the years, Moody students have earned an excellent reputation with employers in the Chicago area and their services are in demand. CHOOSE FROM EIGHT BASIC COURSES . . . General Bible Christian Education Christian Education—Music Jewish Missions Leonard Eilers Eilers was figuring on writing some stories for boys and girls, we asked him if we could run them in the Junior King’s Business. He said he reckoned as how that would be fine. He’s written 12 top- notch western yams for us and the first one appears this month on page 31. We think it’s pretty great reading. After you read it let us know what you think. Jr. K.B. is a whopping big four pages this month. In addition to the western story by Cowboy Eilers, we have another exciting tale from the pen of Rachael Borne. It’s about New Year’s and we think you’re going to like it. And keep watching the Jr. K.B. It’s going to be bigger and better each month from now Missionary Missionary Technical Pastors Course SacredMusic W rite Today fo r Free B o o k le t . ■■ “ Trained at Moody . . . Used o f God ” —attractive, interesting booklet with stories about several Moody alumni and how they came to the Institute to prepare themselves for happy, useful service. A Moody catalog will also be enclosed. Write Office o f Admissions, Room k-57-252 INTERDENOMINATIONAL . . . EVANGELICAL M O O D Y B I B L E I N S T I T U T E 820 N. LaSalle Street • Chicago 10, Illinois D r . W illiam C ulbertson , president • D r . S. M axwell C oder , dean ACCREDITED BY ACCREDITING ASSOCIATION OF BIBLE INSTITUTES AND BIBLE COLLEGES 10 on. THE KING'S BUSINESS How Could Cain Know? Q. How could Cain know what kind of an offering to bring if God did not tell him? A. He did know and so did Abel, and of course they were told by their parents, Adam and Eve. One took the way of faith and the other, man’s unbelieving way. This is fully explained in Hebrews 11:4. Naturally, Adam and Eve would relate to their sons the story of the fall and of the redemption prom ised through the woman’s seed in Genesis 3:15. So their sons knew of the Redeemer to come. God made clear to them that sin carried with it a penalty to be atoned for only by the shedding of blood. God also told Gain to bring the animal sacrifice. In Genesis 4:5-7, note especially the words, “ . . . if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. . . .” In Hebrew the word for “ sin” and “ sin offering” is the same. Thus Cain’s sin is iden tified with the sin offering, the animal sacrifice, that crouched at his tent door. Working Out Our Salvation Q. What is the meaning, of the verse, “ . . . work out your own sal vation with fear and trembling” ? (Phil 2:12.) A. The best comment on this is the verse that follows, “ For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.” Note it does not say, “work for your own salvation,” but “work out your own salvation.” The entire passage means that the Christian is to man ifest or show forth to the world his salvation by a godly and a careful walk. This he cannot do in his own strength; he can do it only by the power of God. of intoxicating liquor, would have no part in creating a thing that would cause one of His own crea tures to sin. Evidently the wine made at Cana was like the fresh, first press of the grapes — a lus cious, delicious grape juice superior to all the drink the guests had up to that time. The best was saved to the last, as in the Christian life. As for use of liquor see Rom. 14:21. Baptismal Regeneration Q. Is baptismal regeneration taught in the Word of God? A. It certainly is not. You have only to turn to such vers'es as John 1:12; John 1:29; John 3:16; John 5:24; Acts 16:31; Ephesians 2 :8 ,9 and hundreds of other verses to know that one is saved by faith alone. The thief on the cross had no opportunity to be baptized and yet we read: “And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.” Baptism is the “ outward sign of an inward work” and has no saving power whatsoever. It is the blood of Christ, not water, that washes away our sins. The Lord's Supper Q. If you are not required to do anything to be saved, how do you explain Matthew 26:27,28 which describes the Lord’s supper where Jesus says, “ . . . Drink ye all of it” ? A. Jesus was not speaking to those who needed salvation when He spoke these words but to those who already possessed it. He said, “ This do in remembrance of me” . . . “ Ye do show the Lord’s death until he come” and He was speaking to those who already knew His saving pow er and the forgiveness of their sins through His shed blood. 11 Intermarriage Q. Should races intermarry? A. I think each race is happier to marry within its own race. The child born to parents of different races is the one who suffers most for he belongs to neither. Mission aries often tell of the heartache of the offspring of mixed blood in for eign lands. It has been proven that couples similar in tastes, in educa tion, in social position, in purposes and dreams are happiest. The few er gaps there are to bridge, the more contentment is experienced. Are Infants Who Die Saved? Q. Do you believe that all infants and children who die are saved? A. Yes, I do. All infants, including stillborn babies and young children who have not yet reached the age of accountability at death, go im mediately into the presence of God. Christ died for the world and His atonement provides for them; “ . . . of such is the kingdom of God” (Mark 10:14). Was The Wine Fermented? Q. Was the wine the Lord made at the marriage in Cana of Galilee fermented? A. Luke 1:15 sheds light upon the question you ask. This verse con cerns John the Baptist: “For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink. . . .” Here a dis tinction is made between “wine” and “ strong drink,” obviously the wine being a soft or unfermented drink, and the strong drink fer mented. This I know, that our sinless Saviour, who throughout His in spired Word warns against the use JANUARY 1957 And when ye stand praying, for give, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven m ay f o r g i v e you your trespasses (Mark 11:25) ^ ^ hese words follow immedi ately on the great prayer- promise, . . What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them and ye shall have them.” The words that precede that promise, “Have faith in God,” teach us that in prayer all depends upon our relation to God being clear, but these words that follow remind us that our relation with our fellow- men must be clear too. Love to God and love to our neighbor are insep arable: the prayer from a heart that is either not right with God on the one side or with men on the other cannot prevail. Faith and love are essential to each other. We find that this is a thought to which our Lord frequently gave expression. In the Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5:23, 24) when speaking of the sixth command ment, He taught His disciples how impossible acceptable worship to the Father was if everything were not right with the brother: “ . . . if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.” And so later when speaking of prayer to God after having taught us to pray, “ forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors,” He added at the close of the prayer, “ . . . if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” At the close of the parable of the unmerciful servant He applies His teaching in the words, “ So shall also my heavenly Father do unto you, if ye forgive not every one his brother from your hearts.” And so here, beside the dried-up fig tree, where He speaks of the wonderful power of faith and the prayer of faith, He all at once apparently without connection introduces the thought, “ And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your ® What does love for our neighbor have to do with Prayer that Prevails by A ndrew M urray Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.” It is as if the Lord had learned during His life at Nazareth and afterwards that disobedience to the law of love to men was the great sin even of praying people and the great cause of the feebleness of their prayer. And it is as if He wanted to lead us into His own blessed experience that nothing gives such liberty of access and such power in believing as the consciousness that we have given ourselves in love and com passion for those whom God loves. The first lesson taught here is that of a forgiving disposition. We pray, “ Forgive, even as we have forgiven.” Scripture says, “Forgive one another, even as God also in Christ forgave you.” God’s full and free forgiveness is to be the rule of ours with men. Otherwise our reluctant, halfhearted forgiveness, which is not forgiveness at all, will be God’s rule with us. Every prayer rests upon our faith in God’s par doning grace. If God dealt with us after our sins, not one prayer could be heard. Pardon opens the door to all God’s love and blessing; because God has pardoned all our sin, our prayer can prevail to obtain all we need. The deep sure ground of answer to prayer is God’s forgiving love. When it has taken possession of the heart, we pray in faith. But also when it has taken possession of the heart, we live in love. God’s forgiving disposition revealed in His love to us becomes a disposition in us; as the power of His forgiving love shed abroad and dwelling within us, we forgive even as He forgives. If there be great and grievous injury or injustice done us, we seek first of all to possess a God-like disposition: to be kept from a sense of wounded honor, from a desire to maintain our rights or from re warding the offender as he has deserved. In the little annoyances of daily life, we are watchful not to excuse the hasty temper, the sharp word, the quick judgment with the thought that we mean no harm, that we do not keep the anger long or that it would be too much to expect from feeble human nature that we should really forgive the way God and Christ do. No, we take the command literally, “ Even as Christ forgave, so also do ye.” The blood that cleanses the c o n s c ie n c e fr om dead works cleanses from selfishness too; the love it reveals is pardoning love that takes possession of us and flows through us to others. Our forgiving love to men is the evidence of the reality of God’s forgiving love in 12 THE KING'S BUSINESS us and so the condition of the prayer of faith. There is a second, more general lesson: our daily life in the world is made the rest of our intercourse with God in prayer. How often the Christian when he comes to pray does his utmost to cultivate certain frames of mind which he thinks will be pleasing. He does not under stand, or forgets, that life does not consist of so many loose pieces of which now the one, then the other, can he taken up. Life is a whole and the pious frame of the hour of prayer is judged of by God from the ordinary frame of the daily life of which the hour of prayer is but a small part. Not the feeling I call up, but the tone of my life during the day, is God’s criterion of what I really am and desire. My drawing nigh to God is of one piece with my inter course with men and earth; failure here will cause failure there. And that not only when there is the distinct consciousness of anything wrong between my neighbor and myself; by the ordinary current of my th in k in g and judging, the unloving thoughts and words I allow to pass unnoticed, can hinder my prayer. The effectual prayer of faith comes out from a life given up to the will and the love of God. Not according to what I try to be when praying, but when I am not praying, is my prayer dealt with by God. We may gather these thoughts into a third lesson: in our life with men the one thing on which every thing depends is love. The spirit of forgiveness is the spirit of love. Because God is love, He forgives: it is only when we are dwelling in love that we can forgive as God forgives. In love to the brethren we have the evidence of love to the Father, the ground of confidence before God and the assurance that our prayer will be heard (1 John 4:20, 3:18-21,23). “ . . . let us . . . love . . . in deed and in truth. And hereby . . . assure our hearts before him . . . if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence to ward God. And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him. . . .” Neither faith nor work will profit if we have not love; it is love that unites with God, it is love that proves the reality of faith. As essential as in the word that precedes the great prayer-promise in Mark 11:24, “Have faith in God,” is this one that follows it, “Have love to men.” The right relations to the living God above me and living men around me are the conditions of ef fectual prayer. This love is of special conse quence when we labor for such and pray for them. We sometimes give ourselves to work for Christ from zeal for His cause, as we call it, or for our own spiritual health with out giving ourselves in personal self-sacrificing loye for those whose souls we seek. No wonder that our faith is feeble and does not conquer. To look on each wretched one, how ever unlovable he be, in the light of the tender love of Jesus the Shepherd seeking the lost; to see Jesus Christ in him and to take him up for Jesus’ sake in a heart that really loves — this, this is the secret of believing prayer and suc cessful effort. Jesus, in speaking of forgiveness, speaks of love as its root. Just as in the Sermon on the Mount He connected His teaching and promises about prayer with the call to be merciful as the Father in heaven is merciful (Matt. 5:7, 8, 22, 38-48), so we see it here: a Your Prayer Requests Each morning at eight the editorial staff of T h e K in g ’ s B usiness magazine gathers for prayer. Over the years God has answered the heartcry of thousands. Should you have a request we would count it a privilege to take it to the throne of grace. Your request will be held in the strictest confidence. Address: The Editors, T h e K in g ’ s B usiness , 5 58 So. Hope St., Los Angeles 17, Calif. It has been said there is nothing so heart-searching as b e lie v in g prayer or even the honest effort to pray in faith. Oh, let us not turn the edge of that self-examination by the thought that God does not hear our prayer for reasons known to Himself alone. By no means. “ Ye ask and receive not, because ye ask amiss.” Let that Word of God search us. Let us ask whether our loving life is the condition of be lieving prayer. prayer be indeed the expression of a life wholly given over to the will of God and the love of man. Love is the only soil in which faith can strike its roots and thrive. As it throws its arms up and opens its heart heavenward, the Father al ways looks to see if it has them opened towards the evil and the unworthy too. In that love, not indeed the love of perfect attain ment, but the love of fixed purpose and sincere obedience, faith can alone obtain the blessing. It is he who gives himself to let the love of God dwell in him and in the practice of daily life to love as God loves who will have the power to believe in the Love that hears his every prayer. It is the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne: it is suffering and forbearing love that prevails with God in prayer. The merciful shall obtain mercy; the meek shall inherit the earth. Lord, Teach Us To Pray Blessed Father! Thou art Love, and only he that abideth in love abideth in Thee and in fellowship with Thee. The blessed Son hath this day again taught me how deeply true this is of my fellowship with Thee in prayer. 0 my God, let Thy love, shed abroad in my heart by the Holy Spirit, be in me a fountain of love to all around me, that out of a life in love may spring the power of believing prayer. Oh my Father, grant by the Holy Spirit that this may be my experi ence, that a life in love to all around me is the gate to a life in the love of my God. And give me especially to find in the joy with which I forgive day by day who ever might offend me, the proof that Thy forgiveness to me is a power and a life. . Lord Jesus, my blessed Teacher, teach Thou me to forgive and to love. Let the power of Thy blood make the pardon of my sins such a reality that forgiveness as shown by Thee to me and by me to others may be the very joy of heaven. Show me whatever in my inter course with my fellow-men might hinder my fellowship with God, so that my daily life in my own home and in society may be the school in which strength and con fidence are gathered for the prayer of faith. Amen. END. 13 JANUARY 1957 Becoming Imitators of the Crucified One by Horatius Bonar the and its power B efore I can live a Christian life, I must be a Christian man. Am I such? I ought to know this. Do I know it and, in knowing it, know whose I am and whom I serve? Or is my title to the name still questionable, still a matter of anxious debate and search? If I am to live as a son of God, I must be a son and I must know it; otherwise my life will be an artificial imitation, a pi,ece of barren mechanism, performing certain excellent movements but destitute of vital heat and force. Here many fail. They try to live like sons in order to make themselves sons, forgetting God’s simple plan for attaining sonship at once, “ . . . as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God . . .” (John 1:12). The faith of many amongst us is, after all, but a trying to believe, their repentance but a trying to repent; and in so doing they but use the words which they have learned from others. It is not the love of holiness that actuates them but (at best) the love of the love of holiness; it is not the love of God that fills them but the love of the love of God. God’s description of a Christian man is clear and well-defined. It has about it so little of the vague and wide that one wonders how any mistake should have arisen on this point and so many dubious, so many false claims put in. A Christian is one who has “ . . . tasted that the Lord is gracious” (1 Pet. 2 :3 ); who has been be gotten “ . . . again unto a lively hope” (1 Pet. 1:3); who has been quickened together with Christ (Eph. 2 :5 ); made partaker of Christ (Heb. 3:14); partaker “ of the divine nature” (2 Pet. 1:4); who has been delivered from this present evil world (Gal. 1:4). Such is God’s description of one who has found his way to the cross and is warranted in taking to him self the Antiochian name of “Christian” or the apos tolic name of “ saint.” Of good about himself previous to his receiving the record of the free forgiveness, he cannot speak. He remembers nothing lovable that could have recommended him to God; nothing fit that could have qualified him for the divine favor, save that he needed life. All that he can say for himself is that he has “ . . . known and believed the love that God hath to us . . .” (1 John 4:16); and in believing has found that which makes him not merely a happy but a holy man. He has discovered the fountainhead of a holy life. Have I then found my way to the cross? If so, I am safe. I have the everlasting life. The first true touch of that cross has secured for me the eternal blessing. I am in the hands of Christ and none shall pluck me thence (John 10:28). The cross makes us whole; not all at once indeed, but it does the work effectually. Before we reached it we were not “whole” but broken and scattered, nay, without a center toward which to gravitate. The cross forms that center and in doing so it draws to gether the disordered fragments of our being; it unites our heart (Ps. 86:11), producing a wholeness or unity which, beginning with the individual, repro duces itself on a larger scale, but with the same center of gravitation, in the Church of God. O f spiritual health, the cross is the source. From it there goes forth the “ virtue” (du- namis, the power, Luke 6:19) that heals all maladies, be they slight or deadly. For “ . . . with his stripes we are healed” (Isa. 5,3:5); and in Him we find “ the tree of life,” with its healing leaves (Rev. 22:2). Golgotha has become Gilead with its skillful physician and its “ bruised” balm (Jer. 8:22; Isa. 53:5). Old Latimer says well regard ing the woman whom Christ cured, “ she believed that Christ was such a healthful man that she should be sound as soon as she might touch Him.” The “ . . . whole head was sick, and the whole heart faint” (Isa. 1:5); but now the sickness is gone and the vigor comes again to the fainting heart. The look, or rather the object looked at, has done its work (Isa. 45:22); the serpent of brass has accomplished that which no earthly medicines could effect. Not to us can it now be said, “ . . . thou has no healing medicines” (Jer. 30:13), for the word of the great 14 THE KING'S BUSINESS us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin” (has “ died unto sin,” as in Rom. 6:10), “ That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God” (1 Pet. 4:1, 2). Standing by the cross, we realize the meaning of such a text as this— “ . . . our old man is [was] cruci fied with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin” (Rom. 6 :6 ); where the crucifixion of our old man, the destruction of the body of sin and deliverance from the bondage of sin are strikingly linked to one another and linked, all of them, to the cross of Christ. Or we read the meaning of another, “ I am [have been] crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me” (Gal. 2:20). Here the one Paul (not two Pauls or two persons) speaks through out as completely identified with Christ and His cross. It is not one part of Paul in this clause and another in that; it is the one whole Paul throughout who is crucified, dies, lives! Like Isaac, he has been “ received from the dead in a figure” ; and as Abraham would, after the strange Moriah transaction look on Isaac as given back from the dead, so would Jehovah reckon and treat this Paul as a risen man! Isaac would be the same Isaac and yet not the same; so Paul is the same Paul and yet not the same! He has passed through something which alters his state legally and his character morally; he is new. Instead of the first Adam who was of the earth earthly, he has got the last Adam who is the Lord from heaven for his guest; “ Christ liveth in him” ; “ I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me” (just as he says, “ Yet not I, but the grace of God in me” ); and so he lives the rest of his life on earth, holding fast his connection with the crucified Son of God and His love. Or again we gather light upon that text, “ . . . they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts” (Gal. 5:24); and that, “ . . . God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world” (Gal. 6:14). Standing by the cross, we realize the death of the surety, and discover more truly the meaning of pas sages such as these: “ . . . ye are dead [ye died], and your life is hid with Christ in God” (Col. 3 :3 ); ye died “ . . . with Christ from the rudiments of the world . . .” (Col. 2:20); His death (and yours with Him) dissolved your connection with these; “ . . . if one died for all, then were all dead [riot died]: And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again” (2 Cor. 5:14, 15); “ .. . to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living” (Rom. 14:9); “ . . . he that is dead [has died] is freed [justified] from sin. Now. if we be dead with Christ [or since we died with Christ], we believe that we shall also live with him: Knowing that Christ being [having been] raised from the dead dieth no more CONTINUED Healer is, . . I will bring it health and cure, and I will cure them, and will reveal unto them the abun dance of peace and truth” (Jer. 33:6). Thus it is by the abundance of that peace and truth revealed to us in the cross that our cure is wrought. The cure is not perfected in an hour. But as the sight of the cross begins it, so does it complete it at last. The pulses of new health now beat in all our veins. Our whole being recognizes the potency of the divine medicine and our diseases yield to it. Yes, the cross heals. It possesses the double virtue of killing sin and quickening holiness. It makes all the fruits of the flesh to wither while it cherishes and ripens the fruit of the Spirit which is “ . . . love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meek ness, temperance . . .” (Gal. 5:22,23). By this the hurt of the soul is not “ healed slightly” but truly and thoroughly. It acts like the fresh balm of southern air to one whose constitution the frost and balm of the far north had undermined. It gives new tone and energy to our faculties, a new bent and aim to all our purposes, and a new elevation to all our hopes and longings. It gives the death-blow to self, it mortifies our members which are upon1the earth, it crucifies the flesh with its affections and lusts. Thus, looking continually to the cross each day as at the first, we are made sensible of the restoration of our soul’s health; evil loosens its hold while good strengthens and ripens. It is not merely that we glory in the cross (Gal. 6:14) but we draw strength from it. It is the place of weakness for there Christ “ . . . was crucified through weakness . . .” (2 Cor. 13:4); but it is, notwithstanding, the fountainhead of power to us; for as out of death came forth life, so out of weakness came forth strength. This is strength, not for one thing, but for everything. It is strength for activity or for endurance, for holiness as well as for work. He that would be holy or useful must keep near the cross. The cross is the secret of power and the pledge of victory. With it we fight and overcome. No weapon can prosper against it nor enemy prevail. With it we meet the fightings without as well as the fears within. With it we war the good warfare, we wrestle with principalities and powers, we “withstand” and we “ stand” (Eph. 6:12 ,13); we fight the good fight, we finish the course, we keep the faith (2 Tim. 4:7). S tanding by the cross, we become imitators of the crucified one. We seek to be like Him—• men who please not themselves (Rom. 15:3); who do the Father’s will, counting not our life dear to us; who love our neighbors as ourselves and the brethren as He loved us; who pray for our enemies; who revile not again when reviled; who threaten not when we suffer but commit our selves to Him that judgeth righteously; who live not to ourselves and who die not to ourselves; who are willing to be of “ no reputation” but to “ suffer shame for his name” ; to take the place and name of “ ser vant,” nay, to count “ . . . the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt . . .” (Heb. 11:26). “ Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for 15 JANUARY 1957
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