VOL. VIII
AUGUST, 1917
No. 8
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The King’s Business
“Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood.**—Rev, 1:5
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Published once a month by the BIBLE INSTITUTE OF LOS ANGELES LOS’ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, U. S. A.
ONE D O L L A R A YEAR
cElu> S t i n g a M m x m B s MOTTO : “I the Lord do keep it , I will water it every moment lest any hurt it, I will keep it night and day/*—Isa. 27:3. R. A. TORREY, D. D., Editor T. C. HORTON, J. H. HUNTER, WILLIAM EVANS, D. D., Associate Editors A. M. ROW» Managing Editor Published by the BIBLE INSTITUTE OF LOS ANGELES, Inc. Los Angeles, California, U. S. A. Entered as Second-Class Matter November 17, 1910, at the postoffice at Los Angeles, Cal., under the Act of March 3, 1879. Copyright by R. A. Torrey, D. D., and Bible Institute of Los Angeles, for the year 1917
DIRECTORS
R. A. Torrey, vice-president Leon V. Shaw, treasurer. William Evans.
Lyman Stewart, president. J. M. Irvine, secretary. T. C. Horton, superintendent. H. A. Getz.
Nathan Newby
J. O. Smith
DOCTRINAL STATEMENT We hold to the Historic Faith of the Church as expressed in the Common Creed of Evangelical Christendom and including: The Trinity of the Godhead. The Deity of the Christ.
The Maintenance of Good Works. The Second Coming of Christ. The Immortality of the Spirit. The Resurrection of the Body. The Life Everlasting of Believers. The Endless Punishment of the Im penitent. The Reality and Personality of'Satan. (7 ) Bible Women. House-to-house visitation and neighborhood classes. (8 ) Oil Fields. A mission to men on the oil fields. (9 ) Books and Tracts. Sale and dis tribution of selected books and tracts. ( 10 ) Harbor Work. For seamen at Los Angeles harbor. ( 11) The Biola Club. Daily noon meetings for men in the down-town district, with free reading-room privi leges. . ( 1 2 ) Print Shop. For printing Testa ments, books, tracts, etc. A complete establishment, profits going to free dis tribution of religious literature.
The Personality of the Holy Ghost. The Supernatural and Plenary au thority of the Holy Scriptures. The Unity in Diversity of the Church, , the Body and Bride of Christ. The Substitutionary Atonement. The Necessity of the New Birth. of co|t> accredited men and women, in the knowledge and use of the Bible. n , . ( I ) The Institute Departments: ¿lasses held daily except on Saturdays and Sundays. (2 ) Extension work. Classes and conferences held in neighboring cities and towns. (3 ) Evangelistic. Meetings conducted by our evangelists. (4 ) Spanish Mission. Meetings every night. (5 ) Shop Work. Regular services in shops and factories, (6 ) Jewish Evangelism. Personal work among the Hebrews. • The Institute trains, free t'U rpO S e.
SCOPE OF THE WORK
æ THE KING’S BU S INESS VOL. VIII. AUGUST, 1917 No. 8 TABLE OF CONTENTS Editorial: “Neither Is There Salvation in Any O ther”— f—Our Personal Responsibility for Our Doubts— “W hat Is T ru th ? ”— The H op e of the Christian and the H ope of the W orldly Politician— Obey the T ru th You Know — An Unquestionable Certainty— Booze Still T rium phan t— An Absolute Certainty............................... 675 W hat Sort of a Being Is the Devil? By Dr. R. A. T o rrey ....... 679 Saving Chinese Girls. By M artha C. P ohnert........................... 687 A float in China. By Dr. F. A. Keller......... ........................... v... 690 Critics A re Perplexed. By Rev. R obert William Dale......... 693 Bible Institute G raduation Exercises.......................................... 699 Testing the Bible by Experience. Dr. William Evans............ 701 Through the Bible with Dr. Evans................................. ;............... 703 Light on Puzzling Passages and P roblem s................................... 706 New M ethod Evangelism ....................................................... 708 Outline S tudy of the Book of Job. By Rev. V. V. Morgan 709 Evangelistic D epartm ent. By Bible Institute W orkers............ 71 3 Two Interesting Questions. By William Evans........................ 722 T h e F a r Horizon......... I .................................... 8 ............................... 726 Sherman Institute. By Edith H. Menzer................................... 728 Hom iletical Helps. By William Evans........................................ 730 The Bible Always A ttacked. By William Evans......... ............ 734 International Sunday School Lessons. By Dr. R. A. Torrey and T. C. H o rton .................................................................... 736 Daily Devotional Studies in the New Testam ent fo r Individ ual Meditation and Fam ily Worship. By R. A. Torrey 75 1 SUBSCRIPTION PRICE In the United. States and its Possessions and Mexico, and points in the Central American Postal Union, $ 1 per year. In all other foreign countries, $1.24 (5s. 2d.). Single copies, 10 cents.
Receipts sent on request. See date on address tag. “Sept. 17“ means Expires Sept. 1917, etc.
PUBLISHED BY THE BIBLE INSTITUTE OF LOS ANGELES 536- 558 SOUTH HOPE STREET
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Our Correspondence School By the Faculty of the .BIBLE INSTITUTE OF LOS ANGELES Instruction by correspondence long since ceased to be an experiment and took its well-earned place as a duly accredited method of education. If it lacks the personal touch of the class-room, it intensifies the originality and determ ination of the individ ual student. A student may thus pursue his ordinary occupation while perfecting himself as a Christian worker.
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Course 1.—Fundamental Doctrines of Christianity By R. A . TORREY, Dean of the Institute
upon the doctrine under discussion' and from ,ithem ascertain and formulate the teaching of the Bible. This is the true inductive method of study.
This is a careful study .. of what the Bible teaches on the Christian faith. The method pursued is to bring together every statem ent of Scripture bearing
Course 2.—The Life and Teachings of Our Lord By R. A. TORREY, Dean of the Institute
tically every verse in the four Gospels. At the end of each twenty lessons^ a series of questions on the whole section is sent to the student to be answered.
This course presents a thorough study of the life and teachings of our Lord^ as recorded in the four Gospels, it consists of 140 studies. These studies cover prac-
Course 3.—Through the Bible by Books and Chapters By JOHN H. HUNTER, Secretary of the Faculty
each chapter in each book analyzed A special blank is furnished on which the student records the result of his own study.
This course carries the student through the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, each book being studied as a whole, and
Course 4.—Personal Evangelism and Practical Work By T. C. HORTON, Superintendent of the Institute
The business of every believer is to be qualified for service^ The work of every believer is soul saving, It will therefore be the privilege of the instructor in this course: first, to put the student in touch with the Scripture best calculated to
equip for the work of dealing with believ ers and unbelievers; second, to direct the student in the best methods of doing per sonal work; third, to give suggestions concerning the preparation for conduct of religious meetings.
Other Courses in Preparation TERMS : For Numbers 1, 2 and 3—$5.00 each. For Number 4—$3.00 SEND FOR PROSPECTUS
1st T H E K I NG ’S B U S I N E S S - m AUGUST, 1917 No. 8 || = - ...................... H m = | Vol. 8 m = E D I T O R I A L It is an easily demonstrable certainty that there is no “Neither Is ^ other Saviour from the guilt and power of sin but There Salvation Jesus Christ. It is not only in the Bible that we read in Any Other.” ‘neither is there,salvation in any other: for there is none other name given under heaven among men whereby we must be saved,” wp read it in experience also. Christianity has had and has today, many rival claimants. There are many beautiful teachings in some of these other religions, but they all fail at one point --they do not save. They do not save from the guilt of sin, they do not saVe from the power of sin, they do not give a guilty conscience peace, they do not deliver men from sin’s awful thraldom. .Jesus Christ alone gives the conscience peace, perfect, unbroken peace with God, and Jesus Christ alone sets men free from the bondage of «sin.
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Every man ought to make an honest and diligent search for the truth and follow every possible clue that promises to lead to it. No man has a right to t ask the question, “what is truth,” in the spirit in which
Our Personal Responsibility i° r Our Doubts.
( Pilate asked it, with a toss of the head, and not wait for' an ansWer. ’ No man has a right to give up the search after truth until he has made an honest and diligent search for the truth and followed out every possible clue that may lead to it. Our unbelief is no excuse,’ but rather a sin for which we ourselves are to blame, until we have made an honest and diligent and thorough search for truth and followed out all possible clues that present themselves to us. Any one who does this will ,Soon come out of the darkness of utter unbelief or agnosticism into the clear light of faith in the great fundamental verities.
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Pilate asked this question, but waited for no answer to it. He either wished no answer or else despaired of receiving one. Tossed about as he has been by the
“What Is Truth?”
conflicting claims of the many religions and philosophies with which he had been brought in contact, absolute truth had become to him a shadow without substance. He despaired of finding it, and' it is doubtful if he wished to find i t There .was never a day in which there were more people in hopeless confusion than the day in which we live. We live in a day when all religions and philosophies are being brought together for comparison. What an intri-
676 THE KING’S BUSINESS cate tangle there seems to be—Christianity, Mohammedanism, Buddhism and Zoroasterism, and all the forms and phases of materialistic and spirit ualistic philosophy. Then Christianity itself! What a conflict of rival theol ogies ! Where is the truth to be found ? “What -is truth ?” Like Pilate, many have given it up, some because they fear they cannot find it, and still more1because they would rather not find it. The intellectual perplexity In which they find themselves is a comfort to them in their sins, and they hug it to their bosoms, instead of endeavoring to be rid of it and its paralyzing effects. But to every serious minded man and woman it is a great relief, unspeakable joy, to find some certainties among this endless mass of Uncer tainties, to find something to stand upon and to be able to say, here at last I have solid rock under my feet. Having found one certainty, we can from that vantage ground discover another and from that still another, and so on until the whole glorious sphere of God’s eternal truth begins to burst Upon one’s enraptured gaze. Whosoever will can find one absolute certainty, and that is, that there is an absolute difference between right and wrong. It may be difficult oftentimes tp decide what is right ‘and what is wrong in a specific instance ,but that there is an absolute difference between right and wrong in itself there can be no question. Here then is one certainty to start with, and anyone who will start with that and take his stand upon it with the determina tion that he will follow the right wherever it carries him, at any cost, will soon find other things that are absolutely certain. of the free peoples of western civilization over German autocracy. The Boston Transcript says regarding these declarations that they seem- “almost to create a new citizenship, a new allegiance—the citizenship of a Greater Republic of ultimate democracies and an allegiance to the future League of Peace which shall rest on the understanding that the civic liberties of Europe and America are not again to be disturbed by the attempts at tyrannical domination.” He goes on to say further, “this great Triple Understanding can no more fail than the eventual resplendent rising of the sun upon a long night’s darkness can fail.” We have nothing to say about the rather cheap rhetoric, for a paper of the literary standing of the Transcript, found in these words, but we have something to say about its absolutely baseless and unscriptural hope. A citizen of the U. S. is a citizen of the U. S. and as a citizen he has his responsibilities and his duties, sometimes, as at the present time, very grave responsibilities and very grave duties, but his other citizenship is not in any “Greater Republic of ultimate democracies” but in heaven, and it is from that place of his ultimate citizenship that he is expecting the Saviour to come. (Phil. 3:20, 21). He is the “Sun” of righteousness who is to soon burst upon this earth after its “long night’s darkness,” a darkness which did not begin with the present wqr, though it has been accentuated by the present war. Our present civilization The Hope of the Christian and the Hope of the Worldly Politician. A great many of our legislators and apparently most of our great daily newspapers have been quite swept off their feet with enthusiasm over the commissions that have come to this country from England, France and Italy, especially have they been Carried away by Mr. Balfour’s expression of confidence in the joint victory
THE KING’S BUSINESS 677 is doomed. If all nations of. the earth should become democracies, or if all should gather together in one great democracy, it would not save our present civilization. The only permanent hope for the world is the coming of a King, that King “whose right it is to reign,” Jesus.
Every man ought to obey so much of the truth as he has found. He ought to obey the truth just as fast as he finds it. Many persons make the things they don’t see an excuse for not living up to the things they
Obey the Truth You Know.
do see. This is neither honest nor reasonable, it is manifestly absurd. We are not responsible for the truth we do not have, but we are responsible, and will be held strictly responsible for the truth that we do have. And the fact that we have not as yet other truth is no excuse for not obeying the truth we have. In faot the way to get more truth is by obeying the truth we already possess. It was because men when they knew God glorified Him not as God neither gave thanks that they “became vain in their reasonings and their senseless heart was darkened, professing themselves to be wise, they became fools. For this cause God gave them up to ever increasing vileness and sin.” (Rom. 1:21-27).
It is a certainty that admits of no question, that Jesus saves those who put their trust in Him. Whatever our theory about the person of Jesus Christ may be, whether we believe that He is Divine or believe that
An Unquestionable
Certainty.
He is merely human, whether we believe there was ever such an historical personage as Jesus of Nazareth or not, or whether we believe that the Gospels give a true record of His life or not, it is a certain fact of repeated experience that He does save. He saves from the guilt of sin, He brings peace to guilty consciences, there is no room to question this. There are millions of instances to prove it. There are multitudes of people in the world today who were once haunted and cursed by their consciences, in a veritable hell of agony because of their accusing consciences^ who today have perfect peace of con science through believing in the finished work of Christ. And there are multi tudes of others who were once in hopeless bondage to sin who have found deliverence from sin’s power through simple faith in that Jesus who died on the cross of Calvary and rose again.
Weeks and weeks have passed up to the present time (June 12) since every thoughtful man in this country has been brought face to face with the fact that the reason for hard times and insufficient food for our
Booze Still Triumphant.
selves and our allies was principally due to the fact that enough grain was going into booze to incapacitate and destroy men, to furnish eleven million loaves of bread a day. And yet our legislators have not taken one single definite and decided step in the direction of stopping this enormous waste. If the allies, and with them America, are defeated it will be not by force of
678 THE KING’S .BUSINESS arms but by shortage of food, and this shortage of food in its worst aspects is entirely due to the waste of foodstuffs in manufacturing them into destroy ing drink: Our legislators could have stopped this long long ago, but they have not done it. We are beginning to féar that they will not do it soon enough to be of great help. They will have to do it ultimately, but the fear is that they will do it too late. The President of the U. S. has sufficient influencé and power if he will exert his influence in that direction as stren uously and intelligently as he has exerted it in other directions, to put an immediate stop to this waste. We are told that he has said that he is waiting to hear from the country, but why should he wait to hear from the country? He has not waited to hear from the country in other things that he has done where he knew what ought to be done. As |fa r as that is concerned, if he would read the papers he would have heard from the country, and doubtless he knows what the feeling of the overwhelming majority of the country is. Why don’t he act? If this country and the allies fail in the present awful conflict, it will be because they, are betrayed, and unless something is* done immediately to stop this waste of necessary foodstuffs, the betrayers will be the President of the U. S. and our national legislators. come short of the glory of *God” (Rom. 3 :23), but we know it without the Bible, we know it from our own consciousness. The consciousness of sin is universal. Men may try to persuade themselves by a subtle and thoroughly false philosophy that “sin is an illusion,” that it is only “mortal thought,” that it has no real existence; but in our inmost soul we all know we are sinners. Any philosophy that denies the reality of sin and the guilt of the individual man, is so utterly contrary to the universal consciousness that though we may try to shut our eyes to facts, the consciousness of sin will constantly assert itself, and we can find no abiding peace along that line.. The sacrifices that one finds offered in all lands is simply the expression of man’s universal consciousness of sin and the universal sense of the need of a Saviour. Every man knows, no matter how steadfastly he may try to deny it, that he needs a Saviour from the guilt of the sins he is committing. He knows that he needs someone or something to blot out and cover up those sins. Every man also who has ever made a definite attempt to lead a holy life knows that he needs a Saviour from the present power of sin. It is absolutely certain that every man is a sinner and needs a Saviour. We don’t need to go to the Bible to find that out. This truth may have a clearer statement in the Bible than elsewhere, that “all have sinned and An Absolute Certainty.
B y B ï 0 R . A . T © r r e y Dean of the Bible Institute of Los Angeles
Apostle Paul writes in ^ ^ ■ S ^ E p h . 6:10-12: “Be strong in
a personal Devil.” Denial of the existence of a personal Devil is one of the main points in the system which is so widespread today and which is doing so much evil that with considerable reason it has been called “The Devil’s Masterpiece”—rChristian Sci ence. I. Is There a Personal Devil? The first question then that faces us in the consideration of this subject is, Is there a personal Devil ? The experience of thoughtful and earnest men and women is proof enough that there is a personal Devil, but we are going to rely upon some thing far more sure than the experience of thoughtful and earnest men and women, we are going to the Word of God to see what is the clear and unmistakable teaching of that Bdok upon this very vital subject. That the Bible is the Word of God, that its teachings are exactly true and abso lutely sure, no matter how difficult to understand or believe they ihay seem to us to be, admits of no reasonable question. It can be easily proven that the Bible is the Word of God, (see the writer’s book, “The Bible and Its Christ”). ^Therefore, what the Bible has to say on this subject settles the question, just as what the Bible
the Lord, and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye
may be able to stand against the .wiles of the devil. For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the principal ities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” These are remarkable words' and they throw a flood of light upon the question of the existence, personality and power of the Devil. Thé question of the existence, personality and character of the Devil is one of fundamental importance. Experi ence shows that if men are in error in regard to this subject they are pretty sure to be in error in regard to other ques tions that are fundamental. When men or women begin to question the existence of a personal Devil it is pretty sure that before long they will be questioning a good many other things regarding which a true child of God will have no questions. Doubt of the existence of a personal Devil is wide spread today. Many preachers in sup posedly orthodox pulpits do not hesitate to say, “I do not believe in the existence of
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answered and said, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man; (38) and the field is the world; and the good seed, these are the sons of the kingdom; and the tares are the sons of the evil one; (39) and the enemy that sowed them is the Devil; and the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are angels.” I call your attention again to the fact that these words are not found in the parable, but in the explanation of the parable, and our Lord here distinctly teaches that there is a person, named "the Devil,” whose work it is to sow tares among the sons of the kingdom. If there is not a personal Devil then our Lord Jesus was either a fool or a fraud. The question of believing in the personality of the Devil involves the honor of our Lord Jesus. If His teaching is not to be trusted on this point it is not to be trusted on-any other point, and the denial of a personal Devil involves the trustworthiness of the Lord Jesus as a Teacher and a Saviour at every point; so we see that the question of the existence of a personal Devil is fundamental and of vital import ance. 2. Now let us turn to the teaching of Peter. Turn first of all to 1 Peter 5 :8, 9, “Be sober, be watchful: your adversary the devil, as a ibaring lion, walketh about, seek ing whom he may devour. (9) whom withstand steadfast in your faith.” The meaning of these words is evident. They teach us distinctly that there is not merely an impersonal evil that we must withstand, but a person who is himself the embodiment of evil, who is seeking our destruction, and whom we must withstand. We have another teaching of Peter on this same point recorded by Luke in the Acts of the Apostles. Acts S:3: “But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thy heart to lie to the Holy Spirit, and to keep back part of the price of the land?” Here Peter distinctly teaches that it was a person, here called “Satan,” who had filled the heart of Ananias with this awful pur-
has to say on any other subject settles that question. We will turn first to the teaching of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, for there are many in these days who say that they accept the teaching of the Lord Jesus even though they are doubtful about the teach ing of John or Paul or other New Tes tament or Old Testament writers. Turn first to the 13th chapter of Mat thew and the 19th verse. - "When any one heareth the word of the,, kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the evil one, and snatcheth away that which hath been sown in his heart. This is he that was sown by the way side.” These words are found in the interpreta tion of the parable of the sower. It is impos sible to say that they are figurative. In parables we have figures : in the explana tion of the parables we have the literal facts that the figures symbolize, and these words are not taken from the parable, but from our Lord’s own explanation of the parable, and here we are distinctly told that there is a person who is here called “the evil one” whose business it is to snatch awa^ the Word of God when it has been sown in hearts that do not understand and heed it. If evil is only impersonal and our Lord had only referred to impersonal influences, or human influences, as taking away the word out of the hearts where it had been sown, these words of His would be utterly without meaning. That the Lord Jesus believed that there was a person whom He here speaks of as “the evil one” and whom he elsewhere speaks of, as we shall see directly, as “the Devil,” admits of no doubt, if we grant that the Lord Jesus was an honest man. We must, therefore, if we believe in the Lord Jesus, believe that there is a personal Devil. We can deny his existence only by questioning either the honesty or the intelli gence of our Lord. He certainly taught that there was a personal Devil. But let us read other verses in explanation of another parable, The Parable of the Tares! Matt. 13:37-39: “And he (Jesus)
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existence of a personal Devil. If there is not a personal Devil we may as well give up our Bible as a book that is full of folly and of fraud. If there is 'not a per sonal Devil we must give up our belief in the inspired authority of the Apostle Paul, the Apostle John, the Apostle Peter, and we must give up our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. No intelligent student of the Bible can retain his faith in the inspiration and authority of that Book, or his faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, if he gives up belief in the existence of a personal Devil. As intelligent men and women we must take our choice between believing in the exist ence of a-personal Devil or giving up our faith in Jesus Christ and Christianity. Any t .system of doctrine that denies the existence of a personal Dtevil is radically unchristian, whatever name it may arrogate to itself. II. What Sort of a Being Is the Devil? Having settled the question of the existence of-, a personal Devil, the next question that confronts us is, what sort bf a being is he? 1. First of all the Bible teaches us that he is a being of great power and authority. This we learn from Eph. 6:11-12: “Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.” These words make it clear that the Devil is so mighty that the people of God can not} resist his cunning wiles without hav ing on “the whole armour of God,” and it is also evident from the tenth verse, “Be strong in the Lord, and in the strength,of his might,”That we cannot resist his power unless we are strengthened with the strength of God. But this is not all. In the 12th verse we read: “For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world- rulers of this darkness, against the spirit ual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” These are tremendous words. If they mean anything they certainly mean that
pose that led to his death and that of his wife, the purpose to lie to the Holy Spirit. It was not an impersonal temptation that came to Ananias, but a temptation from a living person who was opposed to the Lord Jesus and His church, a person known as “the Devil.” Peter’s words are mean ingless, or worse than meaningless, if there is not a personal Devil. 3. Now we will turn to the teaching of John "the beloved disciple, as to tjie exist ence of a personal Devil, and we will find this teaching in John 13 :2: “And during supper, the Devil having already put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son to betray him.” Here John distinctly teaches that the purpose of betraying the Lord Jesus was ^ not a temptation that came to Judas Iscariot merely through a love of money, but came from a personal enemy—the Devil—that this person put into the heart of Judas Iscariot this infernal purpose to betray his Lord and Master, the Son of God. 4. Now let us turn to the teaching of Paul. We find it in Eph. 6:10-12: “Be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of His might. (11) Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the Devil. (12) For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” Here Paul distinctly tells us that the great reason why we need to be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might and why we need to put on the whole armour of God, is because there is a being of great cunning, subtlety and power, named the Devil, and that this being has under him a multitude of other personalities of such dignity and power as. to be called by the titles: “principalities,” “powers,” “world rulers,” “spiritual hosts of wicked ness,” Beyond a question our Lord Jesus, the Apostle Peter, the Apostle John, and ' the Apostle Paul believed in and taught the
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there are beings of great authority and dignity who are under the leadership of the one supreme being of evil, the Devil. The conflict that we have on hand as believers in Christ is terrific. The con flict that the Allies have on with the mighty military forces of the Kaiser is nothing to the battle that we have on with the Devil and his hosts. We are fools if we under-estimate the battle. On the other hand, we must not over-estimate it. While our conflict is with the Devil, and while our wrestling is against “the principalities,” “against the powers,” “against the world rulers,” “against the spiritual hosts of wickedness,” nevertheless, He that is for us is far mightier than they. The Devil is might'y but our Saviour is almighty. It is quite possible for one to become morbid over this subject of the Devil, and to become utterly discouraged and even deranged. That is unnecessary and entirely unwarranted. While our conflict is 'with the Devil find his mighty hosts, God has provided for us a strength and an armour whereby we shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the Evil One and to withstand in the evil day, and having done all to stand, (v. 13). 2. We learn still more about the majesty and dignity of the Devil and the high posi tion originally occupied by the Devil from Jude 8, 9: “Yet in like manner these also in their dreamings defile the flesh, and set at nought dominion, and rail at dignities (Greek, glories). (9) But Michael the archan gel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing judgment, but said, The Lord rebuke thee.” From these words it is evident that the position of the Devil was so exalted that even Michael the archangel did not dare to bring a railing judgment against him. The context seems to imply that the posi tion of the Devil was more exalted than that of Michael the archangel himself. The Devil of the Bible is not at all the Devil of common thought. He is not a being
hideous in appearance with hoofs and horns and tail. He is not even the being of Milton or Bunyan. He is a being of very great original majesty and dignity, a being of great wisdom and power. When people talk lightly and contemptuously about the Devil they display gross ignor ance of what the Bible teaches about him. It is true that he is evil in character and therefore called “the evil one,” (1 John 5:19, R. V.) ; it is true he is a liar and a murderer, (John 8 :44) ; it is true that he is full of malignity, (2 Cor. 4:4), but he is a being of great dignity and majesty so that even Michael the archangel durst not bring against him a railing judgment. 3. The Bible teaches us furthermore that the Devil is “the prince of this world.” Our Lord Jesus Himself taught this. He says in John 12:31: “Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out.” The Greek word translated “world” in this passage is Kosmos, and the thought is of the present world order, and our Lord’s teaching is that the Devil is the prince of the present world order. We have the same teaching of our'Lord in John 14:30 where we read: “I will no more speak much with you, for the prince of the world cometh: and he j hath nothing in me.” These words of our Lord are found in what many regard as the most precious chapter in the Bible, the 14th chapter of John, and if we give! up this teaching of our Lord regarding Satan we must give up, not merely the Bible as a whole, but this most precious chapter in the Bible. We find the Lord teaching the same thing again on the same night, the night before His crucifixion, in John 16:11 where he says: "The prince of this world is judged,” the evident reference being to Satan. How the Devil came to be the prince of this world it may be impossible for us to say, but that he is so admits of no question, if we are to accept the teaching of Jesus Christ, and any one who will study the
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ruling principles of commercial life, and of political life, and above all of inter national relations, to such a one it will become perfectly evident that the Devil is the one who is master of the present order of things. If we had ever doubted before that there was a Devil, and just such a Devil as the Bible pictures, we can scarcely doubt it now, when we consider the action of the rulers of the earth in this present mad world war. How could beings so intelligent in matters of science and phil osophy and economics as the present rulers of the world are, ever be guilty of plung ing the nations of the earth into this mad war ? There is but one reasonable answer: because there is a Devil who rules the present Kosmos, or world order, and he controls the Kaisers and Kings and Parlia ments of the world, and will till the true prince comes, the prince of peace, the Lord Jesus Christ. III. How the Devil Manifests Himself and Works at the Present Time. We come now to the important practical question as to how the Devil manifests himself and works at the present time. 1. First of all he tempts men to sin. We have a most striking illustration of this in his temptation of our Lord. We have in the Bible three accounts of this temptation. We will look at Matthew’s account: Matt. 4: (1) “Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the Devil. (3) And the tempter came and said unto Him, If thou art the Son of God, command that these stones become bread. (5) Then the Devil taketh Him into the holy city; and he set Him on the pinnacle of the temple. (6) and saith unto Him, If thou art the Son of God, cast thyself down. (8) Again, the Devil taketh Him unto an exceeding high mountain, and showeth Him all the kingdoms Of the world, and the glory of them; (9) and he said unto Him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.”
We have not time to go into the whole question of our Lord’s temptation, but this much is certainly plain, that the Devil is represented as the tempter tempting our Lord. If there is no personal Devil, as so many would have us believe, and if he is not the tempter there would be abso lutely n6 reason for bringing him into this account. As the Devil tempted our Lord, so he tempts us today, and it is to, be noticed that he does not tempt us mere ly to gross animal lusts and vile sins, but with subtle spiritual temptations, and above all he tempts us to doubt God’s Word. It was with this form of temptation that he first assaulted our Lord. God had just said to the Lord Jesus at His baptism j “Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased,” (Luke 3:22), and Satan came, insinuating doubt of God’s word: “I f thou art the Son of God,” he says, and again further down in the temptation he repeats the doubt, saying to the Lord Jesus again, " If thou art the Son of God." In just the same way Satan began his assault upon Eve in the Garden of Eden, by insinuating a doubt of God’s Word and of God’s goodness, he began by saying: “Yea, hath , God said . . . . ?” (Gen. 3:2), and further on when Eve stated exactly what God had said, the Devil flatly contradicted and said: “Ye shall not surely die (Dying, thou shalt not die,”) when God had said: “Thou shalt surely die (Dying, thou shalt die.”) That is Satan’s favorite method today, he gets us to doubt God’s Word. Satan’s most effective mode of work is by leading men to doubt, and into error on fundamental points. The saloons and the gambling hells and the brothels are not the chief spheres of Satan’s activities, but the schools and colleges and theological seminaries where he is induc ing men, women and callow yquths and maidens to doubt the truth of God’s Word and to reject the fundamental truths of God’s Word and to accept Satan’s errors in their place. Satan knows well if he can get men to doubting God’s Word it is easy to lead them into the vilest sins. False
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must speak. It is set forth in 2 Cor. 4 :3-4 R. V .: “And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled in them that perish: (4) in whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should not dawn upon them.” We read here that it is the work of Satan to blind the minds of unbelievers in order “that the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should not dawn upon them.” It is evident then that the Devil is-the author of false views, especially false views about Christ. He is the author of Unitarianism, and the denial of the Deity of our Lord in all its forms. He so blinds the minds of men who submit to his blinding that the Divine “glory of Christ,” “who is the very, image of God,” is hidden from them. This explains why it is that Unitarianism in all its various forms persists even after its folly has been so often exposed. Satan’s i work along this line is to culminate at the appearing of the Anti-Christ, “Even he, whose coming is according to the working of Satan with all power, and signs and lying wonders, .and with all deceit of unrighteousness for them that perish; because they received not.the love of the truth, that they might be saved.” (2 Thess. 2:9-10, R. V.). IV. Our Duty Regarding the Devil. In conclusion a few words concerning our duty regarding the Devil. 1. Eph. 4:27 teaches us that we are to give no place to him. That is to say, we are to leave no opening for him. He is ever seeking an opening. We should see to it that he gets none. The context sug gests that we give an opening to him by | being angry and continuing in wrath (■v. 26). This door into the heart is a favorite one with the Devil. 2. Jas. 4:7 teaches us that we are to “resist the Devil,” and that, if we do resist him, for all his cunning and power, he will flee from us. Although the Devil is strong,
doctrine has been a more prolific source of the vilest sins than, even the saloons. 2. But Satan not 'merely tempts men to sin by insinuating doubts of God’s Word, he also has his synagogues and ministers among men to do his work. Let us turn to Rev. 3:9: “Behold, I give of the syn agogues of Satan, of them that ‘say they are Jews, and they are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee.” What I wish you to notice here is these words, "the synagogue of Satan." In this case it was a Jewish synagogue, but now- a-dayi it is often a so-called Christian church. But in 2 Cor. 11:14-15 we have an even more remarkable passage: “For even Satan fashioneth himself into an angel of light. (15) It is no great thing therefore if his ministers also fashion themselves as ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.” Here we are told that Satan has his ministers. They do not advertise them selves as ministers of Satan, oftentimes they are not even conscious that they are; they put themselves forward ,as “ministers of righteousness.” They advocate "ethical culture," a system of salvation without atoning blood. They are frequently men of very attractive personality and great intellectual brilliance and ability, but they are doing the Devil’s work. Satan is never so dangerous as when he “fashions himself into an angel of light,” and no other minis ters of his are so dangerous as, the men and women of attractive personality and brilliant intellectual gifts who are under mining the faith of God’s children, or who are teaching various forms of seductive and alluring error; “Christian Science,” “New Thought,” (or Spiritualism), “Oc cultism,” and all those species of cults. 3. We have not time to speak here of Satan’s work as the author of sickness, (Acts 10:38; Luke 13:16) an$ as the one who has the power of death (Heb. 2:14). 4. But of another work of the Devil we
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it is ours in God’s strength, and by the power of God’s Word, to withstand him. 1 John 2:14 teaches us that it is when we feed upon the Word and store the Word of God in our heart that we shall be able to overcome him. John says: “I have writ ten unto you, young men, because ye are strong, and the Word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the evil one.” If we neglect the study of the Bible for a single day we leave an open door for the Devil to enter. I have been a Christian for 42 years, but I would not dare to neglect the study of God’s word for a single day. Why not? Because there is a Devil, £nd if I neglect the study of the Word of God for a single day I leave a window open for him to enter and leave myself too weak to cope with, and conquer him. But if we will feed upon the Word of God and trust in God, we can resist the Devil at every hung more jewels of thrilling interest than on any river that was ever twisted in the sunshine. It ripples through the Book of Ezekiel, and flashes in the Books of Deute ronomy and Isaiah and Zechariah and Nahum, and on its banks stood the mighties of many ages. It was the crystal cradle of Moses, and on its banks Mary, the refugee, carried the infant Jesus. To find the birthplace of this river was the fascina tion and defeat of expeditions without number. The greatest damage that ever came to Egypt came by the drying up of the River Nile, and the greatest blessing by its healthful and abundant flow. The famine in Joseph’s time came from the lack of sufficient inundation from the Nile. Not enough Nile is drought; too much Talmage on the Nile r P HIS is the River Nile. A brown or yellow or silver cord on which are
point. Though the Devil is cunning and strong, God is stronger. 3. In Eph. 6:11, we are taught that in order to stand against the wiles of the Devil we must “put on the whole armour of God.” What that armour is is found in the verses that follow. This armour is at our disposal. The fact that there is a Devil, that he is a being of such majesty, dignity, cunning and power, that he is so incessantly plotting our ruin and under mining our faith, is no reason for fear or discouragement. By taking the shield of faith we shall be “able to quench all the fiery darts of the evil one,” by taking “th e ' helmet ‘of salvation,” and “the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God,” and by “praying always with all prayer and sup plication in the Spirit,” it is our privilege to have victory every day of our lives, every hour of the day, and every minute in the hour.
Nile is freshet and plague. The rivers of' the earth are the mothers of its prosperity.
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lyiTSS POHNERT, a graduate of the Bible Institute of Los Angeles, and now a missionary at Miyang, China, has written an interesting letter to Superinten dent Horton, which is here given in part. It is valuable and entertaining for the detail into which it enters, as showing the daily life lived by one devoted to the cause of the Master. She begins by telling of the week of evangelism observed throughout the mission, and then of affairs in general as touching upon her work as principal of the girls’ school: The pupil-teacher went out with me. Our near-by neighbors had been on my heart for some time—many of their homes I had not been in. Every one was so glad to see us and as the teacher opened the Word to them they would listen for two and more hours and not move. And would ask many questions about this wonderful saviour of men. Some sit with mouth, eyes and ears open to listen as she teaches. Many say, “How very wonderful.” One said, “where have yog been so long?” Others call us on the street, and ask us to re-visit them. They are very much interested in the 21st chapter of Revelation, where we read about the Heavenly home in which those who accept Jesus are going to live. We make the plan of salvation very plain and teach them how to pray. In nearly every home were grandmothers, between 70 and 80 years old. Just ready as it were to drop into the grave. For some years they had not been worshiping the false gods because they felt that there was no power within them to help them. When they heard about Jesus and His great love for them they would say, “He is the one we want to follow and put our trust in.” One old
woman cried and cried, to think that these eighty years she had never called on this living powerful Jesus. Another place that we went we asked if there was any one else in the yard, and were told that there was an old deaf woman at the other end of the yard, who never went out so it would be no use to talk to her. “Well,” I said, “she is the very one we want to 'see.” After leading her out into the yard the teacher sat close to her side and talked' to her at the top of her voice, while I sat at her side asking God to open up her understanding so that she might know what it meant to believe in this Jesus and go to Heaven. After a while her -face lit up and she said, “I want to believe in this Jesus and want to go to Heaven.” Remarked that she had been, waiting for some time for some one to show her the right road. It would do your hearts good to see many of these old women come into meeting leaning on a long bamboo cane, all smiles, saying, “I could not stay away; had to come and hear more about this Jesus.” One of our school girls by the name of Fan was saved last term from a large wealthy family. Her grandmother, who is the head of the family, has been saved during these meetings. They have a large number of young women in the family, and as they do not go on the street in the day time she has been bringing them over in the evenings and thus they hear the gospel. Last Monday, went to one of our near-by out-stations, just about ten miles. For three days they were holding an open air theatre, people coming for miles to attend. From morning until night the chapel was filled with women and girls. Many of them had never heard the wonderful story of
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women between 70 and 80 years sat for hours. God had prepared their hearts and as soon as they heard the story they said they wanted to accept this Jesus and follow Him. At noon they insisted that we eat their food. The girl is very bright— her father has taught her to read and write. There is a vegetarian doctrine that teaches that if you do not eat meat and certain kind of vegetables, when you die you will turn into god. This little girl had heard about this doctrine, and for three years had eaten no meat. She heard the teacher in the morning preach the foolish ness of it and that very noon she broke her vow. A week ago Monday, at S:30 a. m., the pupil-teacher and myself started off in our cart for one of our out-statons which is just a day’s journey from our main station. We reached the place at 5 p. m. On the way we learned that there was to be a large open-air theatre held for three days and that crowds would come to the chapel to hear the gospel. We went out at once to visit the homes of two girls, who for a long time had thought of coming to school. We went on purpose to this place to bring four girls who had sent in word several times that they wanted to come, but when the time came they always backed out. All they need was to have some one encourage them. That evening we led a meeting and a goodly number of people were out. The next morning the city was full of people who had come to worship the false gods and attend the theatre. We began at 9:30 a. m., to have a meeting and soon the church was filled and people standing in the doorways and courtyard. They even crowded into the pulpit and would listen for two or three hours ati a time. Then the room would again fill up with women and - children. After the teacher preached for two hours I would teach them a hymn. It would have done your hearts good to see some of the old women go over and oyer the hymn, sometimes for more than an hour before they would recite it. They were so pleased fo see we did not get tired
salvation. The pupil-teacher would preach for two or three hours at a time, and then the people would not care to go. In Between, I would teach them a hymn. A young woman carrying a little boy went over it again and again remarking that she was going to stay until she had learned it, no matter if everyone else went. The next night she came again, saying 'that she wanted to recite it again. It is such a sim ple hymn and yet it has the whole message, of salvation in it. The old women who had never read a chapter would go over it a great number of times. One day I got so interested in helping them that I never ate any dinner. Another young woman who had been worshipping false gods three times a day, an hour at a time, thinking that they could heal her eyes, came to know^Jesus. They would stay until late at night and come early in the morning to hear about Jesus. The people just treated us royally and after three days meetings did not want us to go home. The people everywhere are ready to hear the gospel but O, the workers are So few. One even ing we walked out to a near-by village. In a short time we had 100 or more people out to hear, and everyone was as quiet as could be. There were many girls there who would like to have come bqck with us; many were hindered because they had no money, others their fathers or mothers or some relative was standing in the way, so we need to pray that God will overcome the enemy who is resisting on every side. While out walking one day a year ago, a man spoke to me asking many questions about the school, stating that he had a giri of 11 years who would like to come to school, also inviting us to his village just an hour’s walk from the city. I had for gotten about the man. The other day he - came in to see if his girl could attend school, as she was very anxious and did not give him any rest about it. Yesterday we went to see the girl and preached Jesus to them, between 200 and 300 people came out to hear the gospel. Many did not go home for dinner; a large number of
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