MARCH 1941
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"Be Still, and Know That I Am God " By HELEN FRAZEE-BOWER God made the giant breadth and length Oi rocks to herald forth His strength; God made the grace of leaf and limb To turn man's wandering thought to Him. Creation cries. “Be still, and know. . . ." But God is high—and men below. In sp ite of all His wisdom planned. Only in Christ men touch His hand.
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March, 1941
The King's Business The True-to-the-Bible Family Magazine The Official Organ of THE BIBLE INSTITUTE OF LOS ANGELES, Inc. LOUIS T. TALBOT % MILDBED M. COOK Editor-In-Chief Managing Editor
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ShouldKnow • Here is a fresh Gospel approach to the Jew. It is designed to enable you to reach the.Jew personally. : There are now fourteen separate leaflets in our new series, "What Every Jew Should Know.” They are brief, mostly four pages; they are attractively printed, with at tention-getting titles, and written • with a God-given native under standing of the Jewish mind. • The subjects will interest you: 1. What is a Christian? 2. W as Abraham a Jew? 3. Don’t Go to Jerusalem. 4. Son, Remember. 5. How Many Times Have You Been Born? 6. A Modern Jew Looks at Jesus. 7. Doctoring a Doctor. 8. An Open Letter to a Rabbi. 9. Thirty-three Prophecies Ful filled in One Day. 10. An Astonishing Yom Kippur Prayer. , 11. Do Christians Worship Three Gods ? 12. L e ft Hang the Hamans! 13. The Meaning of the Jewish Holy Days. 14. Behold, the Virgin ! • Already, reports come of the Lord’s rich blessings upon these tracts. Over 400,000 have so far been printed. • They are yours for the asking, in the Lord. Just say how many of each. You will of course prom ise the Lord to give them out faithfully. • If you wish to pay cost, or postage, or both, you may figure about $2.00 the hundred, assorted. Or, if you feel led of the Lord to help us in the larger printing and circulation of these economical and effective tracts, your gift will be put to work immediately, and will be received as of His pro vision. AMERICA?? BOABB OF MISSIONS TO THE JEWS, Inc. 31 Tkroop ATe., Brooklyn, New York Dear Friends: I want to help in your great Gospel literature program, for the Jews. Here is $.......................... May the Lord bless your testimony. Name ............... Street .••*•••••••••••••••••»••••••• City........... .. S tate.. . *••••«'
Motto : " Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood” (Rev. 1:5). .
Volume XXXII
March, 1941
Number 3
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Around the King’s Table— Editorial ...... .......................................... .— 84 The Forces Behind War— Dan Gilbert .................|---- ,--------------------- 86 Out of the Shadows— R. E. Neighbour ................................................... 87 Will America, Like Germany, Suffer Defeat?— Kenneth M . Monroe 88 Phases of Positional Sanctification— Ruth Paxson ................. T—~ ...— 90 Life Out of Death—Part II— Grace Livingston Hill ......................... 93 Junior King’s Business— Martha S. Hooker .......................................... 95 International Lesson Commentary........... ..................................... ............ 97 Notes on Christian Endeavor— Bertha Pentney, S. H . Sutherland, Annabel Lee Crumly, and Lyman A. Wendt ........ ............................. 107 Daily Devotional Readings.....................................................................- 113 Bible Institute Family Circle.................— ............|---- --------------- —- 117 SUBSCRIPTION PB1CE: “The King’s Business” is published monthly. $1.00 —one year; $1.50—two years: 50 cents—six months; 30 cents—single cbpy. Clubs of five or more at special rates; write for details. Canadian and foreign subscriptions 25 cents extra. It requires one month for a change of address to become effective. Please send both old and new addresses. REMITTANCE—Payable in advance, should be made by bank draft, express op post office money order payable to “The King's Business.” Date of expiration will show plainly each month on outside wrapper or cover of magazine. ADVERTISING—For information with reference to advertising in “The King’s Business,” address the Advertising Manager, 558 South Hope Street, Los Angeles, Calif., or our eastern representative, Religious Press Association, 1108-10 Colonial Bldg., 13th and Market Streets, Philadelphia, Pa. MANUSCRIPTS— “The King’s Business” cannot accept responsibility for loss or damage to manuscripts sent to it for consideration. Entered as second-class matter November 7, 1938, at the post office at Los Angeles, California, under the A ct of March 3, 1879. Acceptance for mailing at special rate of postage provided for in the Act of February 28, 1925, embodied in paragraph 4, section 538, P. L. and R., authorized October 1, 1918, and November 13, 1938. THE KING’S BUSINESS SS8 South Hope Street * Los Angeles, California INFORMATION FOR SUBSCRIBERS
March, 1941
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JOY Be Shared
YES , YOU KNOW CHRIST. H is death has accomplished your salvation, and by faith you have accepted Him. His resur rection assures your own impiortality and your being forever with Him. Amid all the heartbreak of these present days, there is a hallelujah in your heart be cause of all the glorious implications of the truth that “ Christ arose.” W ILL YOU SHARE THIS JO Y ? Shattered homes; bruised and broken bodies, tor
tured minds—all are crying out for com fort that is based on reality. Why not send a cheering word to some one who you know is walking in the shadow of a great sorrow or a pressing need? Why not do this by sending THE K ING ’ S BUSINESS — and let your gift begin with the Easter issue? The following are only a few’ of the features to be expected in next month’s number which will be a specially large and specially attractive issue.
In the Next KING S BUSINESS Easter Comfort— 1941 By Louis T. Talbot Victory Through the Victor ■ By W . B. Riley All This Because Christ Lives! By W . H . Rogers How does the situation in Southern Europe today relate to the revival of the Roman Empire? By Louis S. Bauman The Divorce That Failed Anonymous "H e Ever Liveth”— An Easter program with directions for producing it By Ethel S. Low
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SPREAD THE GLADNESS (B e Ready fo r Easter, April 13, 194 1 )
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Around the King's Table LOUIS T. TALBOT, Edltor-in-Chief
The message made plain at the time of Christ’s incarnation expresses His direct will for the nations: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” Godlessness, war, and hatred now characterize the nations because of their unwillingness to follow God’s will. The present inter national catastrophe is with us because the nations have chosen to act and live without God. They have had the clear revelation of His mind regarding gov ernment, righteousness, and unity of nations. They have forgotten God and are having a foretaste of hell in these days of sorrow. War is the corrective rod of chastise ment. Many church leaders in Britain daily pray that out of all the terrible carnage the nation is enduring there may come a people purified and approxi mated to the divine ideal. Here, for example, are a few excerpts taken from a letter received- from a well-known English writer: “Churches are hard
we might sin, for “God’s permissive will never extends to things.morally wrong,” but that in our refusal to sin we might have a practical holiness which is ever pleasing to God. Balaam, you will remember, knew that it was God’s direct will that he should not curse a people God had blessed. Yet the Lord permitted Balaam to go with Balak. C. I. Scofield explains in his comment on Numbers 22:12, YO, 22 : “The prophet is now free to go, but knows the true mind of the Lord about it . . . The permission •of verse 20 really constitutes a testing of Balaam. He chose the path of self-will and self-advantage, and Jehovah could not but gravely disapprove.” In like manner, God has decreed that the nations of the earth should love Him and walk in the light of His Word.
What Is God Doing? It must not be thought that the title of this comment is irreverent. We use' it to express what we feel regarding the seeming inactivity of God in these days of wholesale destruction of per sons and property, and of a pagan tri umph over the forces of righteousness. The question uppermost in the minds of multitudes of distressed souls is: “Why does God not do something to stop the conquest of the free peoples of the earth?” Peace-loving nations have been savagely attacked, and mysti fied minds in all lands are asking why God does not intervene to stop the onward march of Christless dictators. Is God not as omnipotent as we have deemed Him to be? Can it be that He is powerless or indifferent? At the outset, let it be frankly con fessed that mystery often shrouds the permissive will of God. Even the Lord Jesus had a' “why” on His lips as He pondered the dealings of His heavenly
Father: “My God, my God, why hast thou for- s a k e n me?” (Matt. 27:46). There was no apparent endeavor on the Father’s part to rescue Jesus from the terrible l o a d He was bearing. The mystery, however, associated with God’s nonintervention in the affairs of men and na tions clears somewhat when we see the dis- tipction between His di rect will and His per missive will. For ex ample, God commands us to be holy. His direct will is our sanctification. Yet He permits us to live amid s i n f u l sur roundings and to be sorely tempted. And commanding us , to. be holy as He Himself is holy, He graciously sup plies all that is neces sary for the accomplish ment of His directive will. But, respecting the human will, God does not force us to take on His holiness. We must choose what He wills. Temptation, therefore, is permitted, not that
hit, but I believe good will come of it all, that is, if only the church sees in this present crisis God’s judgment upon it for the part it has played in the exaltation of man and the dethrone ment of God. It has sadly ‘ neglected the fact of divine judg ment and is now fac ing it with a venge ance. It is reaping as it has s o wn . God grant that in true re pentance both church and nation may ac knowledge their sin.” Returning to the mat ter of God’s forcibly stopping the raging con flict and compelling the nations to live in peace, it must be borne in mind that God is not a mere lookef-on. H e. is not powerless to accomplish His d i r e e t will, even although earthly rulers ruthlessly endeavor to destroy His commands and His cause. He makes the wrath of man to praise His name. “In tervention,” we feel, is
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the wrong word to use when we think of God’s interest in the world. He is not a spectator, watching nations bat ter each other to death, and One whom distressed souls are to call upon to in tervene and save the warring peoples from annihilation. God has the reins in, His hands. He has not abdicated His throne. He declares: “I will shake all nations” (Hag. 2:7). In some unknown way, “the powers that be are ordained of God” (Rom. 13:i). Enumerating the present and future sorrows of earth, Jesus said that “these things must come to pass” (Matt. 24:6). If we are eager for God to show His hand in judgment upon wrong and in the vindication of right, where would we choose to have Him begin ? There is not a nation that has not, by its prostitution of moral and spiritual val ues, provoked God’s judgment rather than His good will. Partial intervention in this total war would be unjust and useless. We may want the lightning of divine justice to destroy Nazi Ger many for cruel and hellish treatment of the Jews and of peace-loving na tions. We may call upon God to turn the battle against Rome, and to cir cumvent the crafty schemes of Russia. Insistently, we may urge God to deal with Japan for her barbarian and un provoked attack upon China. And, let it not be forgotten, God will yet pun ish all unrighteousness. Even now Italy is being punished for her shameful slaughter in Abyssinia. But are there not also crimes in Britain and in Amer ica calling out for justice? While the determination of these democracies is to free the enslaved peoples of Europe, do not they themselves have national sms calling out for divine punishment? If the English-speaking nations would repent and turn to God, we believe they Would immediately prove His willing ness to use them to bring the other nations of the earth into the orbit of His will. James reminds us that wars and fightings come as the result of per sonal lusts. War is covering the earth because of a multiplied individual antag onism against God and divine things. A sweeping revival, then, of personal evangelism quickly would solve many of our international problems and con flicts.
“ Hell Myth” A writer who signed herself “Con fused,” addressed a query to a popular newspaper columnist and sought light concerning spiritual matters. Following is a part of the printed reply: “Here is something that may help ‘Confused’ discard a belief that dis tresses her, but- which she fears to discard, the belief in the fantastic fable above referred to, hell. If the lady will study geology, and then read the Adamic account of creation, the chances are that she will realize that the Biblical account was a rather pathetic effort to ex plain happenings that puzzled and distressed people.” It is true that many persons are con fused in their eschatology—the doctrine of last t h i n g s , including life after death. The pathway of reason leads to perplexity and unutterable despair. It leads to the overthrow of the clear teachings of Scripture, but does not give the heart the satisfying feeling which comes to one who accepts the ipse dixit of the Word of God. The same Bible that portrays the wicked as being separated forever from the presence of God—the place of which separation is designated .“hell”—also tells of God’s grace extended to sinful men through His Son Jesus Christ. It contains a John 3:16. Hell is depicted as a place to shun, and heaven is shown as a place to gain. The syndicate writer mentioned ear lier is one who further indicates her ignorance of the hell idea. She be lieves it to be of human origin, whereas Scripture indicates that the existence of hell is a fact which God has graciously revealed. Her words are most mislead ing: “All of our ancestors were igno rant, and their ignorance filled the world with horrors and falsehoods. I know, because my own childhood and youth curdled under them until, by study and logic, I found the rea sons for which they were created, and discarded them forever.” As for us, we prefer gladly to accept the words of Scripture: “Ityis appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment” and “there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust.” Scripture further teaches that all the “unjust” will have an experience com mon with that of “a certain rich man” (Lk. 16): “And in hell he lifted up his eyes, being in torments, . . . And he cried and said, . . have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.” No amount of human “study and logic” can nullify these facts. —Kenneth M. Monroe.
“ Science says man can. live forever. Philoiophy says man wants to live forever. Ethics says man ought to live forever. Christ says man will live forever."
by means of his life and his pen there went forth continually a call to God’s people to enter into the riches of the grace of God as revealed in His Word. An important phase of Dr. Trumbull’s ministry was his leadership of Victo rious Life Bible Conferences in churches across the continent. In the files of THE KING’S BUS INESS are a number of letters from Dr. Trumbull, all of them closing with such words as “Yours in His faithful ness” or “Faithfully yours.” Those who knew the writer were aware that his was a reliance upon the faithfulness of the altogether Faithful One, not any dependence upon his own faith which might at times waver. It seems signi ficant, too, that the last correspondence that this office had with Dr. Trumbull —which occurred as recently as the early fall of 1940—had to dQ with faith and faithfulness, for Dr. Trumbull had been requested to write an article for the December issue of this magazine, and he had chosen for his theme “The Faith of the Bethlehem Shepherds.” He went on to explain: “I shall prayerfully hope to make this article a challenge and a com fort to Christian people in these dark days, by showing that the shepherds to whom our Lord’s birth was announced that first Christmas night exercised a faith in spite of slight knowledge of God and His Son as compared with our knowledge today, which many Christian people today are falling to exercise—yet could exercise if they would.” Those few words sum up, in large measure, the aims olf this great Chris tian journalist: to challenge—and com fort—Christian people in these dark days, to show them, in the light of God’s Word, where they were failing, and to help them into the victory that there is in Christ. Many will thank God for His servant’s simplicity, clarity, and persuasiveness. To the efld of his life, Charles G. Trumbull’s relationship to men and women was dependent upon his own relationship to Christ—“Yours in His faithfulness.” May the Lord find others of whom this may be said.'
“ Yours Faithfully— Charles G. Trumbull”
When, on January 13, during a visit in Pasadena, California, Charles G. Trumbull was ushered suddenly into the presence- of Christ, for him a long and blessed walk “by faith” was crowned with the glimpse of his risen Lord. As Editor of the Sunday School Times from 1903 to 1941, Dr. Trumbull e x e r t e d an i n f l u e n c e which reached to the ends of the earth, and
March, 1041
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Behind War
Thé Forces By DAN GILBERT
Washington, D. C., and San Diego, California
Hitler, Stalin, and Mussolini have pro ceeded upon the assumption that Darwin is right, that “Might makes Right.” Nor is this attitude confined to Ger many, Russia, and Italy alone. Underlying the isms of our day is the philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche. As Will Durant points out in his The Story of Philosophy, “Nietzsche was the child of Darwin.” Nietzsche developed a “new morality” on the basis of “the struggle for existence.” According to this principle, “ strength is the only virtue, and weakness is the only fault.” Nietzsche taught that the supreme aim in life should be “the will to power.” Today, as a result of the Darwin-Nietz- sche influence, Europe is dominated by “power politics.” Abraham Lincoln believed that “might does not make right, but Right does make Might.” This is the teaching of the Bible, which declares that the meek shall inherit the earth. More technically, the conflict is be tween Naturalism and Supernaturalism. The naturalistic idea, developed by Dar win, is that the strongest always win. That is said to be the law of nature. But the Bible teaches the reality of the supernatural, of a miracle-working God who is above the laws of nature, and who intervenes in the affairs of men. Napoleon was a naturalist. He thought that “God, if there is one, is on the side of the strongest cannon.” But the founders of America were su pernaturalists. They believed in a God who hears and answers the prayers of the righteous. They believed that super natural power, which is greater than all the powers of nature, is on the side of the righteous. NIETZSCHE AND NAZISM: • Hitler’s conception of his Nazis as a self-chosen and superior race, destined to dominate the. world, is derived direct ly from Nietzsche who taught: “A superior type must emerge: . . . a higher species of men who, thanks to their preponderance of will, knowledge, riches, and influ ence, will avail themselves of demo cratic Europe as the most suitable [Continued on Page 92]
BEHIND THE WAR: • To understand the second world war, one must look rather deeply into its background. One must look far beyond the Versailles treaty. Treaties and alli ances are themselves the result of changing ideas which take hold of the lives and destinies of men and of na tions. Modem wars are correctly called “ideological wars’’ ; basically, they are conflicts between rival ideas, or philoso phies. Charles Darwin planted the seeds of totalitarian wars when he popularized the revolutionary idea of “the survival of the fittest.” Darwin, apparently, did not fully realize thè effect his evolution ary teachings would have in justifying and sanctifying war. Yet, it is signifi cant that within six weeks after the publication of his Origin of Species, Darwin wrote ini a letter to Lyell, “I have received, in a Manchester news paper, rather a good squib; showing I have proved ‘might is right’ and therefore that Napoleon is right.” Two years ago, Geoffrey West of Oxford, England, wrote what has been acclaimed as the best biography of Charles Darwin* ever written. Therein, he comments: “Now, nearly eighty years later, every newspaper, any morning or evening, will cry out from its head- .. lines what degree of brutality and degradation . has come upon the world like a shadowing cloud. . . . “That is the condition of the world today—the struggle of indi viduals and of nations to survive at whatever .price of brutality, since survival is the only ponder able value. There were wars before Darwinism, true, but never was the world so menaced by war as today, and that not merely by the acci dent of the aeroplane and the gas- bomb, but because never since frankly barbarian days was the gospel of the Might of Right, the unholy test Of simple survival, so widely and authoritatively preached and accepted.”
RISE OF MODERN MILITARISM: • The modem glorification of war was spread on the wings of enveloping Dar winian propaganda. As Professor Haynes has shown in his A Political and Social History of Modern Europe, . “Militarists were not slow to uti lize a supposedly scientific doctrine that was enunciated by scholars and that was sure to secure a large following among the ignorant and half-educated masses in an age in which ‘science’ was fast becoming a popular fetish.” Wars of aggression were waged under a “scientific sanction” ; “Prominent European militarists, with the authority of their newly discovered Darwinian philosophy, commenced to talk less of the de fensive character of armaments and more of the ‘struggle for existence,’ and of the advantages, nay the downright necessity, of waging war.” The meaning of Darwinism, when ap plied to the relations of nations, was clearly set forth by General von Bem- hardi, when he wrote: “War gives a biologically just decision. The knowledge, therefore, that war depends on biological laws leads to the conclusion that every attempt to exclude it from inter national relations must be demon strably untenable. But it is not only a biological law, but a moral obli gation, and, as such, an indispen sable factor in civilization.” THE REAL CAUSE OF CONFLICT: • At thè conclusion of the Austro- Prussian War of 1866, a member of the Austrian Reichsrat opened an im portant address by saying: “The ques tion we have first to consider is whether Charles Darwin is right o r no.” That is still the most decisive issue under consideration by the nations of Europe.
•Charles Darwin: A Portrait, published bp Yale University Press , Copyright 1938.
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Out of the Shadows .
I N THE experiences of the two on the Emmaus road, and in the Lord's dealing with them, there is light for those who walk in- the shadows today. Let us consider together the record in Luke 24. The Setting o f the Story 1. A special day is set before us. Luke 24 opens with these words: “Now upon the first day of the week.” That first day was the day of the resurrec tion of Christ. It was the day of the empty tomb. It was the day of the Lord’s great joy in His victory over death and hell and the grave. It was the day of rejoicing in heaven. On the other hand, it was the day of Satan’s defeat, when he was driven back into his lair, bruised and broken by the victory of God the Son. The resurrec tion morning brought the greatest joy note that had ever been spoken. The angel had proclaimed it thus: “He is not here, but is risen.” It was on that same day that two disciples were jour neying toward Emmaus. 2. A special two were walking home ward. One of them was Cleopas. The other one was perhaps the wife of Cleopas. Whoever they were, they were of note among the disciples. They were [This sermon was delivered in the auditorium of the Church of the Open Door, Los Angeles, Calif., in January, in connection with the Torrey Memo rial Bible Conference held by the Bible Institute of Los Angeles .]
saints of today would dwell much on the fact that the earthly journey through the valley of the shadows is short indeed when compared to the eter nal glory that awaits them in the pres ence of Christ. The Conversation by the Way Here is the Scripture: “They talked together of all these things which had happened” (v. 14). We can surmise much of the course of their conversa tion. . 1. They talked of the events preceding Christ’s death. We are sure of 'this. Those events had astonished them, startled them, and brought them low. Doubtless they spoke of the m a n y events that lay within what we usually call the Passion week. They would recall the feast which Martha gave, where Mary had anointed Him with her precious nard and the Lord had said, “Against the day of my burying hath she kept this.” They no doubt talked of the triumphal entry and Christ’s weeping as He foretold the sor rows and the travails of Israel. Then there were the scenes in the upper room when Christ had taken the bread and broken it, and had said, “This is my body,” and had taken the cup and poured it forth, saying, “ This cup is the new covenant in my blood” (Lk. 22:20, R. V .).. There were, also the Gethsemane scenes, where Judas had betrayed the Lord with a kiss and Christ had delivered Himself into the hands of sinners. [Continued on Page 118]
numbered with the close followers of Christ, for they said, “Certain women also of our company . . . were early at the sepulchre” (Lk. 24:22). Again, they said, “Certain of them which were with went to the sepulchre, and found it even so as the women had said” (v. 24). 3. A special darkness overshadowed the lonely travelers. The One they loved had been crucified and buried, and they bemoaned that fact. Over them there hung deep darkness. All joy was gone; all hopes were broken. The affections of their hearts were wrecked. To us, this seems impossible, for they had heard of the resurrection. How ever, they believed it not. How could they be sighing, when they should have been singing? We have no right to be harsh with them, however. This unbe lief is too often present in us all. If these two had accepted' the reality of the resurrection, and had understood that Christ had risen indeed, they could not have contained their joy. 4. A special distance was involved. The last statement of verse 13 reads: “From Jerusalem about threescore fur longs." The distance was about seven of our miles: Thank God, our journey- ings in the shadows are not for, long. Sorrow will endure but for a night; joy will come in the morning. In 2 Corinthians 4:17 we read of “our light affliction, which is but for a moment.” Yes, the two disciples had but a short journey before them; and then, the dawning. Lazarus was in the grave but four days; then came the cry of the Master, “Come forth." Would that the
March, 1941
TH E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
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Will America,
Like Germany,
Suffer Defeat?
r
By KENNETH M. MONROE* Los Angeles, California
Illustrations by Ransom D . Marvin
And History with all her volumes vast hath but one page.” Ideas and ideals, not mere events, determine history. How, then, is Amer ica’s future being influenced by the thought life of today? In what sort of ground have the gallows been erected? The Ground o f Evolution In the conflict between the early chapters of Genesis and the evolutionary hypothesis, modem American education has definitely east its lot with the lat ter view. If a man today states belief in the fact that God created the world and animal species and man by special acts of creation, that individual is auto matically, in the eyes of the so-called intelligentsia, relegated to the limbo of tfie uninformed. In the fields of the natural and social sciences and even in religious circles, “to have risen from a lower life, however low, seems prefer able to having fallen from a higher life, however high.” It is not our purpose to argue this proposition, but merely to suggest that America’s scaffold is protruding from the ground of evolution. Can it be pleasing to the Creator to have the crown of His creation regarded as “a highly temporary chemical epi sode, the product of resident forces” ?
lence with one word, “Ichabod,” and after some silence the ominous voice in measured cadence added, “And all the nations that forget God.” These words, as seeds, began to grow, take shape, and cast their shadows. Ichabod, literally “where is the glory?” was the name given to a child bom in the dark days of a nation’s life (1 Sam. 4) when the ark, symbol of God’s pres ence and blessing, fell into the hands of enemies. Scripture states of the mother, “ And she named the child Icha bod, saying, The glory is departed from Israel: because the ark of God was taken” (v. 21). It is within a Psalm of David the King that we read, “The wicked shall be. turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.” Momsen, the great historian, writes, “God makes a Bible out of history"; and, it may be added, within this record, for all ages to read, is inscribed, “The finger of time is writing ‘Ichabod’ on the portals of the nation that forgets God.” - Lord Byron read volumes of history and reduced them to a score of words: “First Freedom and then Glory— when that fails, Wealth, vice, corruption— barbarism at last.
[In his last month’s treatment of the theme which heads this page, Dr. Mon- roi showed that German higher criti cism poisoned the minds of Germany’s students, destroying their confidence in the W ord of God. H e further indicated how such philosophies as Schopenhauer s pessimism and Nietzsche’s exaltation of the " superman” carried forward the movement and had a direct bearing upon Germany’s present activities. Thus de nial of God's IVord was shown as caus ing the spiritual defeat apparent in a large sphere of German, life. This month’s article deals with those tenden cies in the basic thought life of America that menace our own nation. — E ditor .} PART it. A ND I SAW, as ta a dream, a / \ huge scaffold being raised over X X the land of America. The ground was firm, the uprights set in concrete. The crosspiece was in place, well braced on each side. * The noose dangled in space. And as I mused on the meaning of all I saw, a voice penetrated the si-
* Dtan, Bible Institute 0 / Los Angeles.
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are endeavoring to break down the morals of both youth and age, those who would destroy the sanctity of mar riage, those who would cashier the Deca logue, ostracize God, deify man, and bow the knee only to Mammon, Pan, and Priapus. Turn away from “the true God” who is “the living God” to idols ..of wood dec orated with silver and gold, who “speak not” neither do evil or good (Jer. 10), and there is a collapse o f conscience and confidence. Godlessness breaks into lawlessness. In Henry T. F. Rhoades’ book en titled The Criminals We Deserve, appear these words: “Show me your crimes, and I will show you the nature of your society.” Although a criminologist of Lyons University, France, this writer gives a thesis that is as applicable to our nation as to any other: “Societies get the criminals they deserve.” Crime is one of the more lucrative professions of America. Human passions are capitalized. Greed, lust, and anger are the leading three causes, and they are long and sad commentaries on the failure of character building of our youth. Indeed, “all the nations that forget God” lose the power of preserving their own integrity. Ostracism o f the Bible The institution of ostracism w a s traditionally ascribed to the great law giver of Athens, Cleisthenes by name, who flourished 4n 500 B. C. The citizens of the city-state were grouped in tribes, and each citizen placed in an urn a piece of potsherd (ostrakon) inscribed with the name of the person he desired to be “ostracized.” Hellenic history re cords that whosoever had most ostraka against him was condemned to leave Attica within ten days and not set foot in it again for ten years. However, he was allowed to retain both his citizen ship and his property. The s t o r y of the
Would we consider a young man quite normal, if, In light of Observation and parental testimony with regard to his origin and care and guidance as being motivated by love, he were to search among the animals committed- to his care for the source of his existence and prosperous condition? The parallelism is not far from the truth in relation to man’s seeking the key to .the mysteries of life. He busies himself amid guesses rather than accepting the clear testi monies of Scripture. As to our attitude, the words of Dean Burgon, commenting on anti-Scriptural speculation, a r e apropos: -“He shall guess; and I will sit at his feet and listen—while he re ports to me his guesses (for the really great man is eager to assure me that they are no more). But, if any question be moved as to how that actual system of things to which man belongs, began—I bid him come down, and take the learn er’s place. God is now speaking.’’ One modern intellectual, somewhat reasonable in carrying out his evolu tionary hypothesis, suggests it is too bad Jesus was not bom in our day that He might have a university education. Such blasphemy! Although Genesis 2:7 states that “ the Lord God formed man of the dust 'o f the ground,” still we must account for the immaterial part of man. Revelation solves our problem in the remaining words of the same verse, “and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” We are. herein taught that God imparts to mah a part o f His own life, enabling man to live the relatively independent life of a creature. Thus, man is joined with his living Creator by having life him self, Man’s forgetfulness of his origin and his turning to worship other creations are the fruit of human reason steeped in sin, rather than of revelation. Man’s gradual descent is graphically depicted by Paul in Romans 1:21-23. Men need tq be reminded often of “the fallibility of .human reason versus the infallibility of divine revelation.” The ground of evolution is exceedingly hard—and dan gerous. 'Godlessness and Lawlessness . Springing frOm the ground of evolu tion are two powerful supports for the defeat that threatens America. These are godlessness and lawlessness. Evolution, “a word of terrific mule power covering a multitude of miscal culations,” having instructed man to look down ra.ther than up, encourages our youth to bid farewell to the moral Governor of the universe, as well as the personal Creator described in Scrip ture. Having poured the acids of mo dernity on both God and the devil from the test tubes of their personal experi
ences, the educated youth of America are glad to usher both to the edge o f the universe and consign them to the ozone with, “Thanks, Mr. God, and thanks, Mr. Devil, for your provisional services; we do not need either of you any longer.” . In a godless age there is less of God; and when God moves out, the devil moves in. In Romans 1, subsequent to verses 21 to 23, which we cited a few paragraphs back, three times we dis cover that “God gave them up” (vs. 24, 26, 28). In each instance as the result of and penalty for less of God, the people gave themselves over to godless ness., In the first instance it was with respect to their own bodies; in the second, with respect to the mind; and in the third, their spiritual natures. The laws of God are immutable. “God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap” (Gal. 6:7). The fact that lawlessness follows hard upon godlessness should be no sur prise to the individual who thinks the problem through. When God is deleted from the equation, there is not suffi cient left to make the struggle of life worthy, and man naturally seeks the way of least resistance, which at the same time will minister to more im mediate physical and mental happiness. Certainly there is “less of God” and less of His will being carried out when only eight per cent of the people of our nation attend services on Sunday morn ings, and only two per cent Sunday eve nings. A certain preacher has blamed decrease in. church attendance at his church on the “Six R’s” : riding, radio, relatives, rest, roomers, and rum. Some years before Lincoln became President, he delivered an address in Springfield, Illinois, in which he dis cussed America’s future. In it he said that, although the nations of the world would combine their armies and to gether strain to fill one mammoth war chest, “they could not, without our consent, put one foot on the Allegheny' Mountains or take one drop from the
O h i o River.” He then pro ceeded to. say, “If America ever' will be destroyed, it w i l l b e b y seeds of - de- s t r u c t . i on within.” Sub- s e q u e n t events fulfilled his words.
crossarm of our scaf fold is the story of the ostracism of the Word of God by parents, pro fessors, and preachers —from the home, the schoolroom; and the pulpit. Y e s , we
h a v e bought Bibles, but we have not read them. We have
Again in the one hundred and fifty years of our national history, we face leeches within which, if continually allowed to feed upon the blood of our ideals and institutions, will drain the vitality of America. I refer to those who engage in commercialized crime, those who are unscrupulous purveyors of corrupting amusements, those who
built Churches, but less than thirty per cent of our populatlbn ever darken their doors. In a very real sense the American people have voted for the modernism and social gospel that are leeching the life blood from God’s holy Word. Was [ Continued on Page 112]
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Phases of Positional Sanctification 1. Through the Blood of Christ By RUTH PAXSON I N THESE studies, we are thinking together of the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer
proclamation of the finished work of Jesus Christ. John 1:29 says, “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world!” And John 1:33 gives the other aspect: “Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with [or ‘in’ ] the Holy Ghost.” The foundation stone of our sanctifica tion, then, is the blood of the Saviour poured out on Calvary’s Cross and the baptism of the Spirit poured out at Pentecost. The old creation was taken to the Cross and was taken on to the grave with Christ. The new creation was taken out of the tomb and was taken into the heavenlies with Christ. This truth of identification with Him in His death, resurrection, and ascension is given clearly in Romans 6:2 and in chapters 2 and 3 of Colossians. Clearly, the
people.” It was the Lord speaking to Pharaoh, who symbolizes the world and the flesh, as he„was a part of the world and a part of the flesh and also a sub ject and a slave of Satan. God always made a division between Satan’s people and His people. This thought is carried forward in Exodus 11:7, “That ye may know how that the Lord doth put a dif ference between the Egyptians and Is rael.” Then we see as we put those two verses together that there is a division that both provides and presumes a dif ference between the people of God and the people of Satan. It is necessary to keep in mind all through these studies that there is an exact antithesis between Sdtan and Christ, between the world and the Church, and between the flesh and the Spirit. From the first page of Scripture to the last, Satan is antagonistic to Christ, the world is antagonistic to the Church, and the flesh is antagonistic to the Spirit. They are exact opposites. Friend, if you and I could get that thought and believe it and act upon it, it would answer one thousand questions that come to us for solution day by day, and w’e would not have to answer those questions one by one, as they come, with a struggle over each answer. All we would have to know would be: Is this thing from Satan, or is it from Christ? Is it of the world, or is it a part of the Church? Is it of the flesh or o f the Spirit? When once we get that answer, then the question is answered, and we know what we must do. Thus we find that this division puts an irrevocable difference between the people of Satan and the people of Christ. In Leviticus 20:26 we read, “And ye shall be holy unto me: for I the Lord am holy, and have severed you [get the force o f the word] from other people, that ye should be mine.” So we are going to think now of the great divide; the blood of the Saviour and the bap tism with the Spirit. This is the true Scriptural basis for our sanctification, and it is given clearly in John the Baptist’s twofold
with special reference to the, believer’s sanctification. The primary reference of the word “sanctify” is to something or some one wholly set apart unto God, dedicated to God alone for His posses sion, His control* and His use. The secondary meaning is necessarily that of holiness, for that which belongs to God alone must be holy as He is holy and because He is holy. In the previous discussion [in the February KING’S BUSINESS] we were thinking of the background for this message in the two trinities that indi cate the position in which every human being is found before—and after—he accepts the Lord Jesus Christ as his personal Saviour. On the one side of the cross is the trinity of evil: Satan, the
world, and the flesh; and the only way that one can cross to the other side and become a Christian, or a “saint,” as the Apostle Paul delighted to use that word, is by putting faith in the atoning blood of the Saviour. Then the individual comes into that new position in Christ, in the Church, and in the Spirit, and becomes a part of the trinity of holi ness and of love. God always starts in His thought of us with where we are, for that determines what we are. “ The Lord Doth Put a D ifference” It is now time to think together of our positional sanctification as brought about through the blood of the Saviour, and the baptism with the Spirit. In Exodus 8:23 we read, “And I will put a division between my people and thy [This message, the second in a series of K ING 'S BUSINESS articles by Miss Paxson, has been prepared from stenographic notes taken when she gave this group of studies in the Church of the Open Door, Los Angeles. Positional sanctification in its other phase— the baptism with the Holy Spirit— is to be dealt with in a later issue .— E ditor .]
Christian is sanctified through the baptism with the Spirit which means separation unto Christ and all that per tains to Christ, a growing likeness to His image through the indwelling and infilling of the Holy Spirit. Why the B lood o f Christ Is Needed We now come to one of the two main phases of our subject of the great divide —the blood of the Saviour. The greatest of all questions that ever comes to a human being is recorded for us in Acts 16:30, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” How can a sinner be separated from Satan, from the world, and from the flesh, and become i a Christian, a “saint” ? In order to answer that ques tion we must understand first the utter ruin that was wrought in our life by sin, and then we must understand the uttermost of salvation t h a t w a s wrought for us by the Saviour. So let us look for a moment at the utter ruin that was wrought by sin. We cannot cover the whole theme, but I mention four points as they relate to our salva tion: 1. Sin made us each a subject in Satan’s kingdom and a slave of sin;
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