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IOLA INVITES Every Prospective Student
To Enjoy the Blessing of Instruction in the W ord of God A ll courses of stu d y are bu ilt a ro u n d th e Bible. Biblical In trodu ction , Synthesis, B ible D octrine, and C h ristian E vidences are requ ired courses in all d ep a rtm en ts. O th e r Bible Courses offered in ce rta in classes. Instruction in all o th e r subjects keep s to th e fo re th e light th ey th row on th e Book an d th e la rg e r ability they give fo r u n d e rstand ing an d using th e W o rd in a soul-saving and soul-building m inistry. T h e tw o -year course includes 304 hou rs of stu d y in th e English Bible.
An Unexcelled Faculty The Faculty of the Bible Institute of Los Angeles is composed of men and women of God, of real consecration, possessed of spiritual power, highly trained, widely expe rienced, and of interna tional reputation. No one finds a p l a c e on the teaching staff of the In stitute who d o e s not w h o l e-heartedly sub scribe to the fundamen tals of the Christian Faith as outlined in the Statement of Doctrine held by B. I. 0 . L. A. since its founding.
Training in Methods of Service The several courses of study offered, including The General Course, The C h r i s t i a n Education, Missions, M u s i c , and Pastors’ Courses, pre pare those who complete them for Leadership in the Educational Pro gram of the Church, for direction of Music in the local Church and Evan gelistic Field, for Mis sion Service at home and abroad, and for all- around use wherever the Lord may lead.
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BLEST ARE ALL WHO ENTER HERE
The Finest of Christian Fellowship A carefully selected student body brings together young men and women of one heart and mind in loyalty to Christ, and desire to serve Him. Classroom activities, social life, ■ group and private devoitons and dormitory life—all notably reveal the Presence of the Holy Spirit and the fruitage of His gracious work.
Abundant Material Provision School activities are conducted in commodious build ings which in size, location and general arrangement are exceptionally well adapted for such use. Living quarters for both men and women are provided—single rooms comfortably furnished. Table board is ample in quantity and excellent in quality.
ALL OF THIS OFFERED AT A VERY REASONABLE PRICE No tuition fees. Nominal registration and nurse and hospital fees.
For Bulletin containing full information address Extension Department E I E L E IN S T I TU T E € E L €)f 4 N G E L E / Five-thirty-six to Five-fifty-eight South Hope Street, Los Angeles, California It ¿\ C ^ 3 THE KING’S BUSINESS Motto: "I, the Lord, do keep it; I will water it every moment: lest any hurt it, I will keep it night and day.” Isaiah 27:3. PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY AND REPRESENTING THE BIBLE INSTITUTE OF LOS ANGELES Volume XX May, 1929 Number 5 Table of Contents Review and Comment.................................. i ......................... ....... ...211 Christian Self-Mastery—Dr. W. Graham Scroggie...... . .......... 215 Old Wells Dug Out—Dr. G. B. M. Clouser......... ............... ......... 216 Heavenly Prayer—Dr. A. C. Dixon...................................... ..... 219 The Personality of the Holy Spirit —Pastor A. Reiliy Copeland............................................ ....... .221 “For Me”—Rev. Roy Allison......................... 1...................... ..........222 How Old is the Earth ?—Dudley Joseph Whitney......... . .........224 Seed Thoughts from St. Mark : —Rev. Wilfred M. Hopkins.............. H .......................... ......... 226 Striking Stories of God’s Workings.................. ................. .. ........ 228 Heart to Heart with our Young Readers —Florence Nye Whitwell.................................................. I n f o The Junior King’s Business—Sophie Shaw Meader............ ......... 233 Homiletical Helps for Preachers and Teachers.... ........ . .........235 “To the Jew First”—DavM L. Cooper......................... | ....... ......... 236 International Lesson Commentary—David L. Cooper......... ......... 237 Notes on Christian Endeavor—Alan S. Pearce..................... ..........243 Our Literature Table......:.... ........................ 1.......... :.246 A Book a Month................................................ :................... ......... 247 Daily Devotional Readings..... .................................................. ......... 248 An interesting book let descriptive of our Annuity Bonds is awaiting your request for a copy of same. You are now contrib uting from your surplus funds toward the carry- ing on of app roved Christian enterprises. The Annuity plan ap plied to your benefac tions makes it possible to increase your gifts for this purpose, since you are thus assured a reg ular income for life. Issued in amounts o f $100.00, $500.00, $5,000.00, $50,000.00, or any intermediate amount. ADDRESS BibleInstituteof LosAngel s 536-558 So. Hope St. Los A n g e le s , Calif. ■ _ ■ New HARPER Books WITH AND W ITH OUT CHRIST By Sadhu Sundar Singh. The life story of the famous Sadhu. “ He tells a remarkable unaffected mes sage with the fire of a prophet and the power ,o f an apostle.” — Basil Mathews $ 1.50 SEEING THE FUTURE By C hristabel P ankhurst. The Sunday School Times says, “ The ab normal, amazing signs o f the times are discussed with a fulness and richness and depth. Will the Church seriously, open-mindedly, scientifi cally approach and examine the facts that Miss Pankhurst has here so brilliantly placed before us?” $2.50 I BELIEVE IN MAN By Leon McCord. Judge McCord, who has spent years studying men of - all types, discusses those laws of life which will make man clean and wholesome of body and soul— fit for the courageous, strong and suc cessful life which is his destiny. $1.50 HARPER & BROTHERS, New York SU B SC R IB ER S ’ IN FO RM A T ION Advertising? : F o r in fo rm a tio n w ith r e f e r en ce to ad v ertisin g ? in T H E K IN G ’S BU S I NESS a d d re s s th e R e lig io u s P re s s A ssn., 325 N o rth 13th St., P h ila d e lp h ia , P a., or N o rth A m e ric a n B ldg., C h icag o , 111. E n te re d a s S econd C la ss M a tte r N o v em b e r 17, 1910, a t th e P o s t Office a t L os A n g eles, C a lifo rn ia , u n d e r th e A c t of M arch 3, 1879. A cce p ta n ce fo r m a ilin g a t sp e c ia l r a te of p o sta g e p ro v id ed fo r in S ectio n 1103, A ct o f O cto b er 3, 1917, a u th o riz e d O cto b er 1, 1918. T erm s: $1.25 p e r .y e a r. S in g le co p ies 25 ce n ts. F o re ig n C o u n trie s (in c lu d in g C a n a d a ) $1.50 p e r y e a r. C lu b s o f 5 o r m o re 25 c e n ts re d u c tio n on e ach su b s c rip tio n s e n t to o n e o r to s e p a ra te a d d re s s e s a s p re fe rre d . R em itta n ce: S h o u ld be m ad e b y B a n k D ra ft, E x p re s s o r P . O. M oney O rd er, p a y a b le to “B ib le I n s titu te o f L o s A n g e le s.” R e c e ip ts w ill n o t be s e n t fo r r e g u la r s u b s c rip tio n s , b u t d a te of e x p i ra tio n w ill sh o w p la in ly , ea c h m o n th , on o u tsid e w ra p p e r o r c o v e r o f m ag a z in e . M anuscripts: T H E K IN G ’S BU SIN E SS c a n n o t a c c e p t re s p o n s ib ility fo r lo ss o r d a m a g e to m a n u s c rip ts s e n t to it fo r c o n s id e ra tio n . Change o f A ddress: P le a s e sen d b o th old a n d n ew a d d re ss e s a t le a s t o n e m o n th p re v io u s to d a te o f d e s ire d ch a n g e . POLICY AS D E F IN E D BY T H E BOARD O F D IR E C T O R S O F T H E B IB L E IN S T I T U T E O F LOS AN G E L E S (a ) T o s ta n d fo r th e in fa llib le W o rd of G od a n d its g r e a t fu n d a m e n ta l tr u th s , (b ) T o s tr e n g th e n th e f a ith of a ll b e lie v e rs, (c) T o s tir y o u n g m en a n d w om en to fit th e m se lv e s fo r a n d e n g a g e in d efin ite C h ris tia n w o rk , (d ) T o m a k e th e B ib le I n s titu te o f L o s A n g eles k n o w n , (e) T o m a g n ify God o u r F a th e r a n d th e p erso n , w o rk a n d co m in g of o u r L o rd J e s u s C h ris t; a n d to te a c h th e tra n s fo rm in g p o w er o f th e H o ly S p irit in o u r p re s e n t p ra c tic a l life, (f) T o em p h asize in stro n g , c o n s tru c tiv e m e s sa g e s th e g r e a t fo u n d a tio n s of C h ris tia n fa ith . 536-558 S. Hope St.,,B1BIJE1XNSTITUTE OF LOS ANGELES, Los Angeles, California W A N T E D CLUB LEADERS fo r TH E K IN G ’S BU S INESS y l £'Notable j |Addition to the facu lty of “£Biola” D r . J ohn C. P age H E .R EV JO H N C. PAGE, D.D., who for the past fifteen years has been identified with the ( I Moody Bible Institute of Chicago, has been called to a place on the Faculty of the Bible 'J Institute of Los Angeles. . \ __ y Dr. Page was ordained to the Gospel ministry in 1901 and for fourteen years was actively engaged in the work of the pastorate. His first parish was in the mining camps of Colorado where he labored as missionary pastor in charge of several stations. Later he served in suburban and city churches, his last charge, in Denver, Colorado, covering a period of eight years. During these years he was frequently heard as a teacher in Bible Conferences. In 1914 Dr. Page was called to the teaching staff of the Moody Bible Institute of Chicago and for five years served as Bible teacher with the Extension Department of the Institute’s work. During these years he took part in Bible Conferences in many large centers of the East and taught Union Bible classes at points established by the Institute. The quality and success of this work is attested by many letters of commendation sent to the Moody Bible Institute in appreciation of Dr. Page’s work. When the material used by Dr. Page in his Bible classes was printed and published in book form, Dr. Gray, the President of the Moody Bible Institute, wrote the following words: “When our Lord ascended on high, He gave gifts unto men and He gave some teachers, and Mr. Page is one of them. “His long experience in teaching the Bible shows itself in this brochure on Paul’s Epistle to the Romans, which is terse and clear and true.” In September, 1919, Dr. Page was chosen to succeed the late Dr. Robert Russell as Instructor in Bible Doctrine and Homiletics, which position he occupied for eight years. His work in the Bible Insti tute will begin in September. Meanwhile Dr. Page will be engaged in Bible Conference work on the Western coast. 211 May 1929 T h e K i n g ' s B u s i n e s s | R E V I E W A N D C O M M E N T ] L„— B y A lv a J. M cC la in .„J God. The spiritual perceptions of little children on this point are more trustworthy than the reasonings of experts in educational methods. “I thank Thee,” our Lord once prayed to the Father, “because Thou hast hid these things from t,he wise and the prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes?’ (Matt. 11:25). The situation, from one standpoint, is rather amusing. Certain modern teachers of religion, not accepting the absolute Deity of Christ, nevertheless go on teaching the children about Him. And after a while they discover, to their intense embarrassment, that the children regard Him as God and insist upon praying to H im ! Bless their little hearts. The strangest aspect of the matter is that the above- mentioned author, in dealing with this “problem,”, for sakes her own pedagogical principles of religious educa tion. Over and over in her book she stresses the value of concreteness in dealing with children, and rightfully so. The child “ lives in the realm of the concrete.” And this is precisely why the child prays to Christ. Furthermore, this is one of the great reasons for the Incarnation of the Son of God. He became flesh in order to make the invisible God concrete to the human mind. “No man hath seen God at any time; the only Begotten Son . . . He hath declared Him” (Jn. 1:18). Christ is the “Image of the invisible God” (Col. 1 :15). One would think that, following their own principles of child education, the experts would recognize' the value of the Incarnation of God in Christ and encourage the children to find God in Him. The main difficulty apparently is not with the author’s pedagogy, but rather with her theology. And this leads us to an important observation. The antagonism of ortho dox Christians to the modern program of “religious educa tion” is not so much based upon> opposition to scientific teaching methods as it is to erroneous theological opinions. We wish to use the very best teaching methods, but we do not propose to use these methods to teach error. The religious education expert is always tempted to turn aside here and there for the purpose of teaching theology. For example, the book under discussion con tains a great deal of valuable material, but its value is seriously modified by the author’s amateur excursions into the realm of theology. Scientific principles are very important when we are teaching the most important book in the world—the Bible. But the deity of Christ is more important than educational principles. We can do without the latter, if necessary, but not the former. If the writers on Sunday-school methods feel they must enter the field of Christian doctrine, they should see to it that they have the proper knowledge and training in this field. A psychologist is not necessarily a theologian. -— o — Christ in the Twentieth Century S OME of the opposition to the imminent personal return of our Lord to this earth seems to be based upon a secret fear that He would not “fit” into the twentieth cen tury. Men like to think of Him in the flowing dress of the It Makes a Difference HAT difference does it make, the “Liberals” ask, what we think about Jesus, just as long as we follow His teachings? The answer is that it makes a world of difference. In the first place, it makes a difference to us. Surely, men will follow the teachings of Jesus Christ better if they believe that God, not merely a man, is speaking to them. Once men are convinced, as some are today, that He is only a Jewish Rabbi, they, will treat His commands as they would the commands of a Jewish Rabbi; interesting perhaps, but not imperative. But more important, it makes a difference to Jesus Christ Himself, what we think about Him. He was always deeply interested in what men thought about Him. “Whom do men say that I . . . am?” He demands of His disciples. And He is not satisfied until the right an swer comes, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living \God.” The disciples called Him “LORD,” that august name which in their own Scriptures was used to designate the infinite God, Jehovah. And what was His response to this Name? He says, “Ye call Me Lord . . . and ye say well, for so I am.” It makes a difference to Him what we think of Him and how we speak of Him. The confession of Jesus as LORD is no question for mere academic discussion, something we may treat indif ferently as a debatable opinion. It is the very heart of Christianity. Failure to confess Him as Lord, whether out of indifference or antagonism, reveals moral blindness* “The pure in heart shall see God.” And those whose hearts have been cleansed from sin have always seen God in the Face of Jesus Christ. “Helping” the Children A CERTAIN author, writing on “Worship Training,” declares that there is complete confusion in the minds of most Sunday-school children concerning Christ and God. She says: “Most of them make no distinction, using the names interchangeably, but with a preference for the name of Jesus.” And she thinks something should be done about it to clear away this “ fog” and “confusion.” The children even pray to Jesus, she affirms. Now as a matter of fact, this writer is in the fog, not the children. Why shouldn’t they use the names of God and Christ interchangeably? The Bible does. And why shouldn’t they pray to Jesus? Stephen and Paul did, to say nothing of the millions since. And why shouldn’t they “prefer” the name of Jesus? Paul declares that He is to have “the preeminence” in all things, and that in confess ing Him as Lord we are giving glory to God the Father. The reason why little children pray to Christ and dis play a “preference” for His Name is that when they are brought into His presence, they feel at once that they are in the presence of God. And the child, not bothered with adult metaphysical problems, turns to Christ and deals with Him directly. Why look further? Here is 212 T h e May 1929 K i n g ’ s B u s i n e s s Orient, living in the ancient world, walking through the land of Judaea, healing the lepers, and feeding the mul titudes beside the Galilean sea. But they find it impos sible to visualise Him moving in the midst of modern civ ilization. They seem to feel that the personal figure of the Son of God would somehow be out of place in our sophis ticated cosmos. „ Such men do not know Christ. If they knew Him they could have no fears. For Jesus Christ belongs to no one certain age or stage of world civilization. “He rises above the parentage, the blood, the narrow horizon, which bounded, as it seemed, His life; for He is the archetypal Man in whose presence distinctions of race, intervals of ages, types of civilization and degrees of mental culture are as nothing” (Liddon). As the late Dr. Moorehead once wrote, “He belongs to all ages, He is related to all men, whether they shiver beneath the snows of the arctic circle, or pant beneath the burning heat of the equator, for He is the Son o f Man.” The enlightened Christian is certain that if, in the plan of God, the first coming of Christ had been fixed in our own twentieth century, not all its stupendous and complex works could have dimmed His majesty. He would have been just as great in this century as He was in the first century. He belongs to no century. The centuries belong to Him. He is the “Father o f eternity” (Isa. 9:6 A.R.V. margin). He is the Maker of the ages. Certainly, then, He is at home ih any of them. If this could be true of Him at His first coming, it can also be true of Him at His second coming. When “this same Jesus” shall come again, He will not be an incon gruous figure. He will not seem to be a first-century per son transplanted to the twentieth. Modern opposers of His coming may dismiss their fears on this point. It is true that our Lord, when He comes, will change radically some features of modern civilization that need changing (Matt. 13 :41), but if He should come tomorrow He would be just as much at home in this modern world as He was in the country of Galilee. He is the eternal Christ. Therefore, He is at home in all the ages because He is above them all. To some modern thinkers He may be merely “ this Jesus of Nazareth,” but to us He is “over all, God blessed forever.” Our “Precious” Illusions T HE other day Colonel Lindbergh, with his fiancee, narrowly escaped disaster while making an airplane landing. Except for his remarkable skill both might have been killed. The entire nation rejoices in their escape. Now for the strange and rather amusing aspect of the matter. At the field where the accident took place, Mex ican guards immediately cleared the field of spectators and systematically destroyed photographs taken by newspaper men.' But one enterprising reporter eluded the guards with his camera and within a few hours the pictures appeared in a Los Angeles paper. Naturally, it was a “scoop,” be cause the “flying eagle” is the best news in the world. The publication of the pictures, however, did not help the popu larity of thè newspaper. The editor has been bitterly ex coriated by various people for daring to publish a picture of Lindbergh’s accident! One critic thinks the alert re porter should be “tarred and feathered.” Thus humanity loves its precious illusions. When the ancient Roman Emperor, deified by the people, made a blunder, it was extremely bad form for any one to “see” it. And George Washington, it is said, never told a lie. And Mrs. Eddy, in the minds of many devotees, has never died. Likewise, we resent the unpleasant discovery that even the splendid Mr. Lindbergh can have an accident. It is this stubborn tendency of man to deify himself in his heroes that will pave the way for that final apothe osis of humanity in the “Man of Sin.” Having rejected the truth, men will finally come to believe a lie. The truth is that men at their best are human, finite, full of sin and mistakes. But there is one Man who is more than human, infinite, sinless, infallible and worthy of di vine honors—the Man Christ Jesus. Those who idealize and worship men are following illusions, and at the last they will find nothing but disillusionment and bitter dis appointment. But those who worship the Lord Jesus Christ shall never be put to shame, because in Him we have found One who is “over all, God blessed forever.” He alone makes no mistakes. With Him there are no accidents. The pitiless light of publicity can never dim His glory. He alone never disappoints His worshipers. Roman Catholic “Salvation” A CROSS the front page of a Roman Catholic paper, • L I left in the writer’s mail box, in great newspaper headlines were these words : “Except you do penance, you shall all likewise perish, says Christ.” Now, of course, careful Bible students know that Christ never said any thing of the kind. But this is the priestly version of our Lord’s words in Luke 13:5. Inside the paper was an article instructing men how to be saved. The writer said : “The great remedy for evil is Jesus Christ’s atonement on the Cross and the grace of God which comes therefrom, especially in the Mass and the Sacraments.” What a mixture of truth and error ! And yet not much worse than the mixture offered by some Protestants. For those who say that salvation is to be had through the Atonement plus the sacraments are really following the Roman scheme, although they may not realize this. No one who tries toi be saved by works, however good in themselves, can ever find assurance and peace of soul. Roman Catholics have never found it. Those who would be saved by keeping the commandments must keep them all, not merely one or two. And that is an endless road. Ask the Apostle Paul. He can tell you in his epistle to the Romans. Lasting peace comes only as we trust Christ and His finished work. We should withstand “to his face” anyone who may try to lead us back to the Roman system. Works are the result of salvation, not the procuring cause of it. Until we have learned this, we know nothing about Christianity. Why Is It? H UNDREDS of men and women, many of them church members, traveled thousands of miles to see Mr. Hoover inaugurated. The same people stood in line for hours for an opportunity to shake his hand or see him pass in parade. Church leaders will do almost any thing to get a President to appear for a few minutés and speak a few sentences at a church conference or con vention. Yet some of these same church leaders are stoutly op posed to the personal return of Jesus Christ to this earth, on the ground that such an expectation is “grossly mate rialistic.” They accuse us of “materialism” because we long to have His literal bodily presence once more among May 1929 213 T h e K i n g ' s B u s i n e s s men ruling them in power and solving the problems of hu manity. And they regard us as “unspiritual” because we would rather see Christ upon the throne of His glory than to see all the human rulers that ever lived passing in parade. Why is it ? These same men will expend fortunes and travel around the world to hold a conference in the city where our Lord once lived and suffered. And we find no fault with them for this; we, too, would find joy in beholding the land where He once walked. But some of us would find a far greater fascination in Jerusalem if He were there once more. Yet we are told that this desire of ours is crass and materialistic. If one can be “spiritual” while desiring to see the hill on which He died, why should we be thought materialistic when we long to see Him? Why is it? The “Raft” of Human Notions I N all the history of human gropings for some hope con cerning life after death, there is no more pathetic ex pression than that of Simmias in his argument with Socrates about the immortality of the soul. “I dare say,” he says, “that you, Socrates, feel as I do how hard and almost impossible is the attainment of any certainty about questions such as these in the present life. And yet I should deem him a coward who did not prove what is said about them to the uttermost, or whose heart failed him before he had examined them on every side. For he should persevere until he has attained one of two things; either he should discover or learn the truth about them; or if this is impossible I would have him take the best and most irrefragable of human notions, and let this be the raft upon which he sails through life—not without some risk, as I admit—if he cannot find some word of God which will more surely and safely carry him.” Our heart goes out in pity for this pagan Greek who lived before Christ had brought “life and immortality to light.” Longing for some sure “word of God” in this mat ter, but having none, Simmias turns to the rickety “raft” of human notions; and yet. he feels keenly the “risk” of such a course. What shall we say then of those men today, to whom has been spoken the sure Word of God, and who choose rather to set sail upon the raft of human opinion? It will be more tolerable for Simmias in the Day of Judgment. “God hath spoken to u s ” How, then, shall we escape if we neglect? (Heb. 1:2; 2:3.) Mexico and th e “Mass” ANOTHER serious rebellion has broken out in that ■ i x unfortunate country. In all the reports from there no legitimate reason has appeared which would justify armed revolution against the present government. One recurring item in the news, however, is inter esting. In various places where the revolution has suc ceeded, the Roman Catholic Church has begun once more to conduct religious services. This church has maintained an attitude of bitter hostility against the present Mexican government, going so far as to stop its religious services in protest against the governmental ruling against foreign priests. In stopping the celebration of the Mass, the Roman hierarchy struck a terrific blow at the Mexican govern ment. In the mind of the Roman Catholic worshiper his very life and relation to God hangs on the “sacrifice” of the Mass. To be deprived of its benefits,, to him, is an appalling thing. The Rorhan Catholic organization could not have taken a more effective way to foment unrest among the Roman Catholic population of Mexico than to stop the celebration of the Mass, and then lay the blame for this deprivation upon the civil government. Tech-: nically, of course, the Roman Catholic Church has nothing' to do with the present revolution. In the matter of political cleverness, modern govern ments are scarcely a match for the Great Harlot which; “sitteth upon many waters.” Her political wisdom is the accumulation of centuries. A Pathetic Admission T HOMAS ALVA EDISON, questioned about! his formula for a happy life, answers, “I am not ac quainted with anyone who is happy.” There is unspeakable pathos in these words. They! mean, of course, that Mr. Edison, with all his great dis coveries, has not found happiness for himself. Many peo ple will think this strange, imagining that if they could have only a small part of what Edison has they would be perfectly happy. Many years of useful life, wealth, fame,! noted friends, the gratitude of millions for the physical comforts he has given them—what more could one ask of life ? But to a man of eighty-two years, what, after all, are a few millions of money more or less? What is fame?: What is anything else the world has to offer? Only a few' more very brief days and that marvelously fertile and busy; brain will go down to the dust and be no more, according to Mr. Edison’s philosophy. When that last summons comes, he will doubtless meet it with courage. But there will be no joy, unless^— The Christian will hope, and pray, that the great inventor will make one more discovery before he goes— the discovery of the “Light of the Knowledge of the Glory o f God in the Face o f Jesus Christ.” In His presence there is “fulness of joy.” At His right hand there are “pleasures forevermore.” Segregating the Incorrigibles A WRITER with imagination, predicts that the time is coming when we shall be able to communicate and travel between the other planets and stars. And he sug gests that perhaps in that day we shall select some far away unoccupied planet and deport our incorrigible crim inals to that place. What an awful place it would b e ! Of course all this is human fancy, but the writer has hit upon an idea that is not so far wrong. The “incor rigibles” shall be deported and segregated some day. But God will do the segregating, not man. Somewhere in the “outer darkness” a place will be “prepared,” and there the incorrigibles will be sent. “Then the King said to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and cast him into the outer darkness; there shall be the weeping and the gnashing o f teeth” (Matt. 22:13). It is not pleasant to contemplate, but neither are human prisons. Yet they are necessary in a world of re bellious sinners. But don’t forget that no soul will ever be sent out into that awful prison-house of the lost who did not de liberately choose to reject the mercy of G°d- 214 May 1929 T h e K i n g ' s B u s i n e s s crossroad minister is trying to be a Colonel House. In the old days those fellows read their Bibles. Now they read the Congressional Record.” Of course, the wise will understand it is a dangerous thing to take Mr. Rogers too seriously. They will remem ber that he is a humorist, and that he is paid a great deal to make us laugh at ourselves (which is a good thing once in a while), and also that the professional humorist is com pelled to exaggerate our follies for the sake of effect. But after making all these allowances', there is still enough truth in Mr. Rogers’ caricature to turn all our amusement into soberness. The highest service that any minister can render for his nation is to bring the message of salvation to the indi vidual men and women who make up the nation. This is more important business than even prohibition and peace pacts. Mohammed’s Opinion of Human Nature M OHAMMED, prophet of Islam, didn’t think much of the ability of human nature, and he formulated his religious -requirements accordingly. “Human nature is weak,” he says; therefore, the religious standards must not be set too high. Man can do two things at least, Mohammed thought; he can perform religious rites, and fight. In these two matters the “prophet” is very severe. But in other things, such as the moral law, his followers were left to follow the fatal bent of “human nature.” How different are the demands of Jesus Christ. He knew all about the weakness of human nature, more than Mohammed ever knew; yet He never relaxed a single re quirement of the moral law. “Be ye perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect” (Mt. 5 :48). We are saved by grace, and not by keeping the moral law, thank God. But Grace in Christ never lowers the high demands of the moral law in. deference to the weakness of human nature. Courage and Advertising C ONGRESS very appropriately has passed a special act expressing the nation’s appreciation to Captain George Fried and his crew for their courageous rescue of thirty-two men from the wrecked Florida. Captain Fried has also been “honored” by the manu facturers of a well-advertised cigarette for endorsing their product. In this last matter, doubtless, the Captain re ceived more than a vote of thanks. To have refused is something else that would have taken courage. Remarkable Frankness I N a bitter speech against the 18th Amendment, Senator Reed of Missouri declares that during his campaign travels he never entered a single State, city or village where liquor was not offered him. Evidently, the bootleggers felt perfectly safe with Mr. Reed. But the surprising thing is that he should tell about the matter. — o — THE TAJ MAHAL AT AGRA, INDIA, REPUTED TO BE THE MOST BEAUTIFUL BUILDING IN THE WORLD. —Courtesy "Japan Magazine" Getting the Habit D R. M c AFEE, in his book on Changing Foreign Mis sions, quotes a Korean to the effect that in Korea the habit of “personal giving” to support a church, with no thought of personal material gain, has to be acquired just as truly as the habit qf singing in a seven-toned scale in stead of a five-toned scale. The Doctor might have replied that the same thing is true in America. Our churches have thousands of members who have never “acquired the, habit” of giving to God with no thought of personal material gain. And the worst of it is that, like learning to sing, the older you get the harder it is to acquire the habit. One man will give one hundred dollars to foreign missions, without a bit of fuss or travail of soul. Another man will give five dollars, and in so doing he will struggle like a sixty-year-old man trying to sing a solo for the first time. At heart he feels that he has accomplished a remarkable feat, which he really has perhaps. The whole trouble is that he didn’t begin early enough. That is what makes it so hard for him; he started to learn too late. Will Rogers Rebukes the Preachers I N a syndicated article, he writes: “A preacher just can’t save anybody nowadays. He is too busy saving the Na tion. He can’t monkey with individual salvation. Every May 1929 215 T h e K i n g ' s B u s i n e s s Christian Self-Mastery B y D r . W. G raham S croggie (A Keswick Address ) “Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. “And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. “I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: "But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway." —1 Cor. 9:24-27. HESE verses are set in a lengthy passage, which treats of the limits of liberty, beginning in chap. 8, v. 1, and ending in chap. 11, v. 1; and here we learn that a Christian’s liberty finds a limit in his relation to others: that is the subject of the first part of the discourse; and then this liberty finds a limit in his relation to himself: that is the subject of the second part of the discourse, which begins with the 24th verse of this 9th chapter. This thought, worked out, teaches us that voluntary renunciation is necessary to progressive salvation. In the passage before us we have the apostle’s exhortation, but we have also his examination, and he here tells us of three things: First, here is an object to be attained; second, a means to be employed; third, an issue to be dreaded. There is an object to be attained. The apostle speaks of this as the “prize,” and the “incorruptible crown,” and in telling us how this prize, this crown, may be won, he uses two illustrations, one of racing and the other of box ing. The passage, therefore, involves the apostle’s con ception of the Christian life. It is a strenuous life. He frequently uses these figures, and they indicate exacting preparation, strenuous toil, persistent effort. .He does not go to nature and illustrate the Christian life by the growth of plants, but he takes us to the arena and points to the boxer and to the runner. This is not a conception of the Christian life which we like, but it is, nevertheless, thoroughly characteristic of it, and it is well that we should know that lest we become sadly disillusioned and disappointed. C learly D efined E nd I n V iew The passage intimates the necessity of having a clearly defined end in view. “I so run, not as uncer tainly.” Paul is not without a steady aim. There are few things more lacking in the average Christian life of today than a clear conciousness of aim kept ever steadily before us. Do we all know what we are aiming at? Have we a distinct theory of life, and of its purpose, which we could put into half-a-dozen words, or have we not? In the one case there is some chance of our attaining our object; in the other case there is none. The lack of clearly defined purpose is one of the most widespread and enervating dangers of the spiritual life. We have got to be definite; we have got to clarify our thinking as well as purify our hearts. The passage before us indicates the nature of the prize for which we are bidden to strive, and let me say, it is not eternal life, and for several reasons. Only Christians can run and fight in the way the apostle here indicates. Then, eternal life is not a reward, but a gift. “The zvages of sin is death, but the FREE gift of God is eternal life.” We cannot run for it, or fight for it. though we run and fight from it. and in it. Then the loss of this prize is not the loss of life, yet Paul fears lest he should lose his reward. We can fall in the way of life, but we cannot fall from it. What, then, is the prize? It is the reward of loyalty to Christ Jesus: “I press toward the mark for the prise.” It is a solemn truth that we may have a saved soul and a lost life, and it is that which Paul fears. Now there is this object to be attained; this prize to be won; this crown to be striven for. We should have this object ever clearly before u s ; have definiteness of aim; and distinctiveness of purpose. T he M eans T o B e E mployed . What, then, are the means to be employed to this end ? Such an end is not attained; such a crown is not won, without'’ the employment of means, without strenuous effort on our part. There must, of course, be resolute concentration; mind and heart and will must be set upon the crown. In another connection the apostle says,,¿‘This one thing I do,” which does not mean that he did only one thirfgj'but that all the things he did were gathered up in a single purpose; all the powers of his nature were unified; everything worked toward an end and from a center; his life was a mosaic, and not a heap of stones; there was plan in i t ; there was design in his life ; it was not made up of a lot of loosely related incidents and events, but it was something great, grand, appealing, attractive, drawing, driving. Is life like that in our esti mate and experience ? Think of the concentration of the runner and the boxer. Concentration is one of the great secrets of suc cess, and lack of it, one of the prime causes of failure. In Lord Riddell’s book, “Some Things That Matter,” the first chapter is on concentration. And further, not only must there be resolute concentration, but also severe self- discipline. This is too much out of our view. For ten months before the contest the competitors were in train ing; they had to be pure and sober, to eat sparely and simply, to bear effort and fatigue, and this, mark you, in preparation for the contest itself. The Christian race is no languid promenading in silken slippers; it is no lounging parade toward the goal but racing with all the eagerness of competition, where the racers are companions, but not competitors. The Christian race is strenuous; the Christian fight is no shadow-battle, no hitting the air, no feint, no blows at random, but forthright strokes, hard give and take. Paul’s figure is very forceful. He says, “I buffet my body and bring it into bondage.” It is not somebody else that he is boxing, it is himself, and he is merciless on him self ; he is not advocating ascetic observances, but he is insisting that the spirit must dominate the. body and not the body the spirit. May 1929 2.16 T h e K i n g ' s B u s i n e s s did not forfeit their lives, but they lost their reward. What is here in view is not what is commonly spoken of as the Great Assize, where penal verdicts are pronounced. There is a day coming for all of us Christians, which will reveal how we have spent our time here. I think that that day will reveal much; obscure people will be called forward, and prominent people will be sent back. Those who have lived for the public eye, who have sought only the limelight, may find that they got their reward here; the thing they sought they received, as those religionists who made long prayers at street corners that they might be seen of men, and of whom our Lord said , “Verily I say unto you, they have their reward.” When? When they were seen of men. That is what they aimed at, and that is what they hit; that is what they sought, and that is what they got. There are others who have not sought these things, and have, perhaps, not been highly esteemed of their fellows, but who have been consistent and diligent in the task which God has appointed them. The day will reveal it, when they are called to receive the prize. T he C astaway A castaway Christian does not go to hell, but he does lose his crown. There is a terrible possibility that at last in the light which heaven shall pour in upon our hearts, we may find that we have lost something beyond recovery; not life, let me say again, but the crown, the reward of loyalty here and now to Jesus Christ. The word “lest” indicates the value of fear as a motive in Christian life—“lest”—and I do not want the shadow of that fear ever to be off my path. I want ever to be reminded of the ever-present danger. Prominent places are dangerous places, giddy heights are full of peril; and is there anything more tragic than that, having preached to others, having pointed others to the way of life, having shown to others the possibility of life victorious, the preacher himself shall fail; that, having coached others to box and race, and having taken part himself in the boxing and in the racing, he should be told, in the day when the Judge distributes the prizes, that there is no prize for him? “Be earnest, earnest, earnest, Mad if thou wilt, Do what thou dost as if the stake were Heaven And that thy last deed ere Judgment Day.” Paul did not believe, as some philosophers of his day believed, that the body was essentially evil; but he did believe that in order to obtain self-mastery it must be taken thoroughly in hand. And for two reasons, among others, because it is the weapon with which the law of sin and death fights us, and also because it is the sphere within which the spiritual powers of evil come within our reach to be bruised and destroyed. The body is a good servant but a bad master. The tendency in all of us, and all the time, is to pamper the body and to neglect the spirit. Where that tendency is yielded to, there is no self- mastery. The grace of God will do very little for you and for me if we are resolved to do nothing for ourselves. God calls us to cooperate with Him unto the perfecting of character, and we must discipline ourselves; we must get down to the business of life. We must come to see where we are weak and should be strong, where we are strong and should be weak. We must school ourselves, we must penalize ourselves, we must discipline ourselves. Nobody else can do it, and Almighty God will not. It is your business, and it is mine. E ndurance U nto T h e E nd There must, with this, be patient endurance. Endur ance is one of the sterling qualities. Without it the most commendable efforts must prove abortive: “Whosoever endureth unto the end, the same shall be saved.” The dis cipline and effort of the athlete are of short duration, but the Christian’s are loftg protracted. Our preparation is not over in ten months, nor our effort in an hour. A lifetime is the scale on which we work, and this calls for patient endurance. For a one-hundred-yard race you must sprint all the time, but not for a ten-mile race. The body is not subdued in a day. There is no self-mastery without endurance. There must, therefore, as a means to this end, be concentration, and self-discipline, and patient endurance. What is the issue to be dreaded? It is stated in these solemn words: “Lest by any means, after that I have preached to others, I myself should be rejected.” Here we see the possibility of a Christian becoming a castaway, and that this is a possibility, the text plainly declares. The. meaning of “castaway” must be determined by the whole passage, and more especially by the figures em ployed. The competitors who lost the race or the fight, gfe afe 'èà Old Wells Dug Out Gen. 26:18; Isa. 12:3. B y D r . G. B. M. C louser f the footprints of the Divine Master, and which was to remain forever the center of the moral and religious world. Here in this foreign land Abraham became a great prince before he possessed a foot of it, and while the Philistines still dwelt in their walled cities. Regarded as a prince by the inhabitants, he was permitted to sojourn here with his ever-increasing flocks and servants, digging wells where needed to slake the thirst of man and beast. But these wells became a source of' strife, a bone of conten tion, between his servants and those of Abimelech, king of Gerar, and it was only by great tact and princely bear- HOSEN to fulfill a unique and important mis sion, Abraham was called out from the land of his nativity to become the father of a people * greatly favored of heaven, through whom Jehovah’s mighty power would be made known in the earth (Ps. 106:8). In a strange land where the patriarchs were destined to journey for centuries, Abraham was told to lift up his eyes and look northward, southward, eastward and westward, “for all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed forever.” And there by faith he accepted as a gift the land which was destined to be the battlefield of the ages, the soil of which was to be made sacred by 217 May 1929 T h e K i n g ' s B u s i n e s s White - Sun - Tide (W h it sun t id e ) B y W illiam O lney The first word in the season’s special name Means that the converts who, then, owned their Lord, Were robed in W H ITE to signify their trust In lesus’ blood, that cleanses from all sin. Grant, Lord, this Whitsuntide, we may once more obtain The peace that comes from conscience freed from sin’s dark stain. Embosomed in the name is the word SUN , Bringing the thought o f Spring and sunny hours; O f buds and blossoms on reviving tree; And o f young lambs, frisking in pastures green. 0 Sun o f Righteousness! in this glad season shine, Till New Life thrill in us, and Faith and Love combine. Thou risen and ascended Lord, from Thy high throne Send forth Thy Spirit’s power, which multitudes shall own. inspired, but only by the spirit of Milton; Tennyson’s “In Memoriam” is inspired, but only by the spirit of a man who earnestly cried for light, and with no language but a cry. Lowell’s noble lines are inspired, but the strength and beauty in them emanate from an exalted human soul. The voice is that of his own better self, and never that of a god. Men who have written great- thoughts that will live as long as time lasts, have been influenced by inspired truth, and this is the secret of their power; but holy men of old wrote as they were moved by the Spirit of Truth,— by a person of intelligent, designing mind. - II. W ells of S alvation S topped U p To affirm that the wells of salvation have been stopped up is to stress a well-known and pathetic fact. “An enemy hath done this” (Matt. 13:28). The great and gracious fact of a divine provision for sin needs to be dug from the rubbish that a lying devil and a skeptical world have heaped upon it, and announced with a new emphasis as man’s only hope. For the reason that divine wisdom could find no other way of putting away sin, the method of propitiatory sac rifice was adopted as a means of reconciliation between sinful man and a thrice holy God. Since human nature remains the same in all ages, it will be impossible to im prove upon the provision of Calvary. There is revealed not only the holiness of God and the vileness of man, but also a divine and therefore a perfect remedy for sin. “Without shedding o f blood there is no remission” and never will be, for the ages are built on the principle of vicarious sacrifice. Sacrifice, the greatest law of life, is the foundation of all permanent building, whether it is the home, the church or the state. The progress that centuries must bring demands new methods and new measures; but while human wisdom may search out many inventions and solve in some measure the social, moral and civic problems of life, neither time nor eternity will produce an intellect sufficiently wise to tell how a single sin against a holy God could be put away, or blotted out, apart from the precious blood of the Lamb The closing syllable of WhitsunTIDE Reminds us of the fair moon’s influence Over the mighty waves of deepest seas, Leading them on, again, sending back. ing that Abraham was able to keep these wells of water for his own use. After Abraham fell on sleep, Isaac, journeying in the same land, found these wells filled up, “and Isaac digged again the wells of water which they had digged in the days o f Abraham his father, for the Philistines had stopped them after the death of Abraham; and he called their names after the names by which his father had called them.” Apart from the historic interest that attaches to these wells, they speak eloquently of spiritual things, and may with good reason be regarded as ancient types of modern conditions in the modern world. Genesis, as the name implies, is a book of beginnings, a book of types, in which we may read the plan and program known to God from the beginning, and His purposes of grace for all the race (Acts 15:18). Here, more than in any other book of revealed truth, we must learn to read between the lines, also beneath the surface, and notice the different kinds of truth taught, as well as the different planes on which they have meaning and will have fulfillment. The Philistines represent the enemies of the Lord’s people in all the ages, and what they did in the days of Isaac they are doing in the twentieth century. Regard ing these wells in a spiritual sense, the meaning is not far to seek. The wells of living water dug out long centuries ago by the Prince of Life and Friend of man, for the renewing of a dying race and desert world, have been stopped up, and for the reason that they were dug out by a stranger in the land! Strange as it may seem to mor tals, Jesus the Christ was a homeless stranger in the world His hands had made. I. W ells of I nspired T ruth S topped U p In the first place, the wells o f inspired truth have been stopped up by the enemies of God. The foes of truth would have us believe that other books are inspired in the same way, and in the same degree, that the Scriptures are inspired,—that Shakespeare, Milton, and Tennyson; By ron, Burns and Bryant; Campbell, Collins and Coleridge, wrote under inspiration as did the prophets of old. The advocates of this theory fail to see that there are dif ferent sources of inspiration. Regarding the term in ref erence to Scripture, the Standard Dictionary defines it as, “ supernatural divine influence exerted upon the teachers and writers by the Spirit of God, by which divine author ity was given to their writings.” In ordinary use the word means “the inbreathing or imparting of an idea, emotion, or mental or spiritual influence.” There are three sources of inspiration; the Spirit of God, the spirit of the devil, and inspired truth. The Spirit of God speaks only through godly men; “Holy men of old wrote as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.” The spirit of the devil speaks only through evil men, and doubtless Judas was inspired to betray his Lord when the spirit of Satan entered into him! In the same way, false prophets were inspired to speak lies in the name of the Lord, or in their own name! Let it be confessed, all good and great poets have been inspired by some great truth, and as far as they are influ enced by truth they sing unerringly of the facts of life; but the ease with which human imagination leaps beyond the bounds of revealed truth, the literatures of the world will abundantly prove. What is claimed for the Scriptures is not simply that they are inspired, but that they are inspired by the Holy Spirit, the Author and Revealer of the truth, and this can not be claimed for any other book. Milton’s great epic is
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