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3 November, 1924£
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I N T H I S I S S U E Thanksgiving.........................Dr. John Murdoch Maclnnis “Nailing It to the Cross” ................ .......... .......... .................. ......... ...Dr, Clarence Edward Macartney The Revival of the Prayer Spirit..Dr. Arthur T . Pierson The Priesthood of the Ministry____Dr. Frederic W . Farr Our Continual Need of the Holy Spirit for Service (II) - - - - - ......-....... -............ -.........................Dr. F. E. Marsh Modernism---- ------------------------- .....Dr. Arthur H. Carter COMING IN DECEMBER Where God and Man Meet — A Christmas Message............. ............................................................................Dr. W . B. Hinson Does It Make any Difference? or The Question o f the Virgin Birth ....... -........................ ,.....................................Dr. I. M. Haldeman Vulnerable Points in the Evolution Theory........ ....................... .................................................... Prof. Leander S. Keyser, D. D. Our Continual Need o f The Holy Spirit for Service (Concluded) ..............................................................................Dr. F. E. Marsh
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Bible Institute of Los Angeles A T R A I N I N G S C H O O L F O R C H R I S T I A N W O R K E R S Interdenominational — Evangelical — Evangelistic
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CONTRIBUTORS DR. L. W . MUNHALL
WM . JENNINGS BRYAN DR. CHARLES R. ROADS
DR. JOHN M. MacINNIS DR. F. W . FARR
DR. LEANDER S. KEYSER DR. J. FRANK NORRIS
DR. R. A. TORREY DR. A . C. DIXON
THIS MAGAZINE stands for the Infallible W ord of God, and for its great, fundamental doctrines. ITS PURPOSE is to strengthen the faith o f all believers, in all the w orld; to stir their hearts to engage in definite Christian w ork; to acquaint them with the varied work o f the Bible Institute o f Los A ngeles; and to w ork in harmony and fellowship with them in m agnifying the person and work o f our Lord Jesus Christ, and thus hasten His com ing. Volume X V November, 1924 Number 11
Table of Contents
Page . 6 8 3 ..683 .684 .684 . 6 8 5 ..686
Editorials Triumphant Thanksgiving.................................................. Big Pay for Big Business..................................................... The Pilgrimage Play............................................................. Sherwood Eddy’s Example............................................... The Chicago Criminals................... ................................... Advance Information ..........................................................
Contributed Articles Thanksgiving— Dr. John Murdoch Maclnnis............................................... 687 Nailing it to the Cross— Dr. Clarence Edward Macartney....................... 688 The Revival of the Prayer Spirit— The late Dr. A . T . Pierson............... 689 The Priesthood of the Ministry— Dr. Frederic W . Farr..................- ........690 Modernism— Dr. Arthur H. Carter.....................................................................69 1 Our Continual Need of thè Holy Spirit for Service (II) — Dr. F. E. Marsh........................... .................................. - ............................692 How Shall W e Think About the Bible?.........................................................- 7 5 5 From Miry Pit to Solid Rock— T . T . Holloway.............................................758 Current Comment ................................................................................ Our Bible Institute in Hunan Province (China)............................................ ........695 Evangelistic Department (Interesting Soul-Winning Stories from Real Experience).................................... .696 Pointers for Preachers and Teachers (Homiletical Helps)............................. . 699 The Family Circle (For Fellowship and Intercession).....................................- .700 Practical Methods of Personal Work (For “ Defenders of the Faith” ) . . ...... 701 Comments on the Christian Endeavor Topics..................................................... .702 The Children’s Garden ......................................................................................................703 International S. S. Lesson Helps................................................................................... 704 The Whole Bible (Fundamental) S. S. Lesson Helps................................... . . 716 Bible Institute Happenings.......................................................................................... 735 Our Seven Correspondence Courses by Mail....................................................... - 744 The Chosen People, the Land, and The Book.................................... v........ .......751 Best Books .... .. ...................... .— .......... .................................. \ ..r . . . . . . . .....................753
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D R. OLIVER has conducted services in the auditorium of the Bible Institute of Los Angeles during July and September of this year. He came to us with'a fresh and in structive series of sermons and Bible addresses. The consensus of- opinion of the large audiences that followed his messages with deep appreciation was that he had never before elicited such intense interest. After spending more than a year in Australia and New Zealand, and facing the enemies of the Word of God and of the Cross there, his soul seemed stirred with new desire to arouse the faithful of the flock to greater faith and endeavor. We are grateful for his messages and plead for the prayers of God’s people upon his ministry.
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into the Holy of holies where He stands, in behalf of His own. His promise rings out clear to our ears, “ I will come again and receive you unto myself. Behold, I come quickly, and my reward is with me,” and our hearts leap with joy in anticipation of the day of all days when we shall be with Him and like Him, and never more be separated from Him. “ What shall we render unto the Lord for all His
TRIUMPHANT THANKSGIVING The national habit of observing a day of thanksgiv ing is fixed. It will come in November. The Presi dent will issue a proclamation and old and young will be anticipating the holiday. It used to be a ‘ ‘ holy-day. ’ ’ Churches were crowded with worshippers, with thankful hearts,—thankful for the Bible, for the crucified, risen Christ, for the land of
benefits ?” What should we render? How can we withhold anything from Him whose great heart longs for one thing above all others from us-—thanks for- Himself! That covers it all. He gave Himself for us. He is ours. He includes all things, through In Him and Him all things “ What shall we W a i t quietly n o w ! G i v e t o H i m yourself. Let your life be a continual thank-offering and thanksgiving. Make every day a good, glad day for Him and you will have given to Him that which He will prize above all the gifts which can coine to Him from the children of men. BIG PAY consist. ‘ render ?a1
freedom of w o r s h i p . Prayer and praise would have their place. The Ma k e r , the Ruler, the Giver, would be recog nized and thanked. It was a day blessed alike to the believer and to the Bene factor who had made it all possible. Let us come back to it. Let us join the Psalmist of old and say: “ What shall I render unto the Lord for all His benefits unto me?” Let us stop and think a little—every one for himself. Th i nk ! There are the benefits common to us all,—the heavens with their glory, brilliantly beautiful' Look up ! Lose yourself for awhile in meditation until your soul exclaims “ won derful!”
O , Give Tkanks Unto tke Lord ! O give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good: for his mercy endureth forever. O give thanks unto the God of gods: for his mercy endureth forever. O give thanks to the Lord of lords: for his mercy endureth forever. To him who alone doeth great wonders: for his mercy endureth forever. To him that by wisdom made the heavens: for his mercy endureth forever. To him that stretched out the earth above the waters: for his mercy endureth forever. To him that made great lights: for his mercy endureth forever. The sun to rule by day: for his mercy endureth forever: The moon and stars to rule by night: for his mercy endureth forever. sj:$$$*$ Who remembered us in our low estate: for his mercy endureth forever. And hath redeemed us from our enemies: for his mercy endureth forever. Who giveth food to all flesh: for his mercy endureth forever. O give thanks unto the God of heaven: for his mercy endureth forever. —Psalm 136:1-9, 23-26.
The sun r i s e s and c l o t h e s the earth with glory. The brooks ripple a strange, sweet song. The birds carol in ecstasy. Flowers bloom. V a l l e y s , ________ hills and mountains are
FOR BIG BUSINESS “ Salary” is a big word with most people every where. T h e y naturally ______________ __________ ask: (1) “ How much is there in it?” (2) “ What are the working hours?” (3) “ How long is the vaca tion?” etc., etc. Well we have a position to offer you, and will an swer your questions straightway. (1) “ More than tongue can tell.” (2) “ Every wide-awake hour of the day and night.” (3) No vacation. But then, you have not asked the most important question of all, “ What is the nature of your business?” Why, it is BUSINESS FOR THE KING! The great est business in all the world. And you do not have to wait in an ante-room in order to have an interview with the Proprietor. You can see Him at any time of the day or night. You do not even have to knock at the door. It is always open. You are welcome. You will be received with a hearty handshake from a pierced Hand and a hearty welcome from the lips of Him who spake as never man spake.
all voicing their praises to God most high! Memory awakes and visions of past blessings pass before us. We are thinking now—thinking of God; of His might and power; of His great heart—the heart of love. The Psalmist’s conception was limited. Our vision is extended, for the Lord has spread new pages before us. The Psalmist looked “ through a glass, darkly,” but we have looked into His face. We have heard His message. We have seen Him walking amidst the children of men,—benedictions from His lips, blessings from His hand. We have stood with awe and wonder as we have seen Him upon the cross and have heard His cry of anguish. Sorrow has filled our soul. But we have seen Him, also, with shining face in resurrection life, and have heard His voice, “ Peace be unto you !” We have seen the Hand which has swept aside the clouds and have looked
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And this does not refer merely to a graven image but to any person who would assume to represent God manifest in the flesh and parade„himself before men. Let us ask a serious question: Does any one really believe that God is glorified in such a farce ? Will men or women or children have a more exalted ideal of God-Jfor Christ is God—“ I and my Father are one” ? Will this exhibition serve to bring people to their knees in worship ? When they pray in the name of Jesus will their memory mock them as it recalls the human being who paraded before them as God? We are descending rapidly enough, God knows and we know,—but this seems to be a,s near the bottom as it is possible to descend. Should there not be united prayer the country over for God’s power to destroy this mocking, money-making play; that it might be swept off from the stage and its sinful operators brought to their knees in confession of their sacrilege? Our hearts cry out to Him, “ 0 Lord forgive! 0 Lord blot out in some way and make thy displeasure so evi dent that saints and sinners may recognize thy rebuk ing hand!” SHERWOOD EDDY ’S EXAMPLE No greater sorrow confronts the evangelical church than that in connection with the downfall of leaders. For years, Sherwood Eddy occupied a prominent place in the Y. M. C. A. work on the foreign field. Conse crated funds were paid to him for his service. He pro fessedly held the doctrines of the Old Book. Men and women, young and old, sat at his feet and were led to believe in the validity of the Bible, Now he turns his back upon his former exposition of the Scriptures, and the following letter comes from a native pastor in India to The Presbyterian: It was with much surprise and sorrow we read your article in your valuable paper of February 28, re, “ Unbelief of College Workers,” and the astounding attitude taken up by Mr. G. Sherwood Eddy in his denial of the inspiration of the Gospels, and when he is reported to have said, “ They are full of error.” Also his denial of Genesis and other statements made by him which were not straight and true. Those who heard Dr. Eddy in India many years ago, when he was firm to the good old evangelical faith and the Word, cannot now but truly weep over his fall. What a terrible shock it is to the many thousands all over India, Burmah and Ceylon! What will the enemies of the cross think of this? Will it not wreck the faith of the many thousands of young men who were led to Christ through his instrumen tality? How true the blessed Word is when we read of St. Paul’s warnings to Timothy, and the words of the Prophets Ezekiel and Jeremiah. May the Lord help Dr. Eddy to see the wrong done, and we pray the Lord to help and strengthen those who are faithful to Him and His Word. Yours in sorrow, Native Pastor of India. Let us ask the reader a practical question: Is Mr. Eddy honorable in taking advantage of the prestige which he secured through the Y. M. C. A., and by means of the funds contributed by faithful men and women of God, to destroy the foundations of the faith ? Were he to leave religious work, earn his living in some legitimate way and seek to refund the money given so lavishly to support him while in supposedly Christian service,—we could pity his pathetic position; we could have some respect for his honesty of purpose. But what about: his attitude now, and his influence among the young people of our own, as well as foreign lands? We leave others to pass their own verdict, feel ing sure they know that of the writer.
You will be refreshed with a goblet of the Water of Life. You will be given an appointment as an ambas sador from the Court of Heaven to a lost world. Your field will! be world-wide. Your instructions will be put into your hands,—the Word of God. You are empow ered to speak with authority. No earthly potentate has any right to silence your message. You are not to add to or subtract anything from it. Your credentials are from Him, and He is King of kings and Lord of lords. The Book brings blessing to every one who hears— old and young. It puts peace into the hearts, of the restless. It brings :joy to the disconsolate. Hope springs eternal within the breasts of those who believe. There is no condition of life which your message will not meet; no problem that it will not solve. New life will be imparted, new desires inspired. New motives will animate, new impulses arise. A new; day,-a new life, will come. You will renew your youth. Your soul will bubble with joy. All your needs will be sup plied. Hours will be meaningless to you. There will be no appeal to you in the thought of a vacation. The joy of the Lord will be your strength. In eternity you will be given the report of y o u r b a n k balance,” Do you want the job? It is waiting for you, and we are authorized to tell you that it is yours for the taking. The call is simple—“ Come ” and “ Go” ! No matter who you are. No matter what you are. No matter where you are. Full particluars given upon appli cation. THE PILGRIMAGE PLAY They call it “ The Life of The Christ..’ ’ An actor impersonates the character of Christ. A few years ago the Passion Play was proposed for New York City, but its production was prohibited. Now we understand a large sum of money has been in vested in the production of this “ Pilgrimage Play” or, as it is sometimes called, “ America’s Passion Play.” Times have changed. Conceptions of the Bible and of Christian life and character have changed. Once Protestant England, Protestant Germany (except Bar varia) and infidel France banned the Passion Play, Now, a recent large gathering of a religious denomina tion adjourned to gaze upon the Pilgrimage Play. Is it possible to conceive of anything more humiliat ing, more debasing, than for a mere man to assume to portray the character of Christ? Who was Christ? He was.God, manifest in human form. “ All things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made.” “ In Him was life and the life was the light of men.” “ And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory (the glory as of the only begotten of the Father) full of grace and truth.” And yet some mere play actor assumes the role, and Christian people gather to look upon a sacri lege such as the heathen would never permit their gods to undergo! What a low conception of Christ! There is also now being shown a film based on the Ten Commandments. One of those commandments is: “ Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me.” -
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THE CHICAGO CRIMINALS Two sons of wealthy parents, whose boasted intel lectual attainments led them to commit one of the most dastardly and debasing crimes in the history of our country, have just been sentenced to life imprisonment, which verdict is a stain and a reproach upon our courts of justice. The boys confessed their crime and said they were ready to pay the penalty; that they were anxious to experience the emotions evoked by the commission of a
would never be safe anywhere except in solitary con finement. The cartoon by Sam Armstrong, originally appearing in the “ Tacoma News Tribune,” and which we are reprinting by permission of the Los Angeles “ Times,” conveys a timely and pertinent comment on the present-day travesty of justice so often enacted, especially where the wealthy are involved. As it is, they will go to the penitentiary, but how long will it be before these dear, elegant, refined, cultured, murderous criminals will be the objects of a petition for a pardon and back on the job of wasting their lives in
real mu r d e r , and that they would like to know the condi tions which prevail in t h e ’“’‘ o t h e r world.” P i c t u r e s of the p r i n c i p a l partici pants in the case, in abundance, adorned the pages of the daily papers, showing the scholarly young gen tlemen, whose high ideals, inculcated at the University of Chi cago, enabled them to afford such a long- drawn-out daily en tertainment for the public. One woman even cancelled her passage to E u r o p e that she might see and h e a r how the C h i c a g o “ play’ 5U went on. Mean while, Mr. Rockefel ler has the pleasure of knowing that his funds contributed to this world-wide en tertainment. Weary weeks were spent on the t r i a l .
riotous indifference to the laws of the land ? Had the judge sentenced them to be hung and then given them sixty days in which to prepare for the g a l l o w s they could have ma d e every preparation to meet God , and an e x a m p l e , w o u l d have, been given to other would-be crim inals which is great ly needed. In this connection,* we are glad to quote a stirring a r t i c l e f r o m .‘ ‘ The Better A m e r i c a Federa tion,” —a publication which is issued week ly by level-headed business men: Educational Danger “ It is no crime to use a human being in the interests of scien tific research. It is no more than impaling a beetle upon a pin.” This is the defense of the nineteen-year-old murderers of y o u n g Franks. They claim to be atheists and philo
(Sam Armstrong In Tacoma News Tribune)
sophical anarchists. As students of brilliant ability, they illustrate what may be the result of anarchistic teachings in perverting the morals of impressionable young people. If anything of so horrible a nature were needed to show the debasing danger of some of the radical teachings now being permitted in some of our colleges, it is afforded by this crime. It is folly, and a stupid blunder, ■for American parents to tolerate the demoralizing propaganda of atheism and anar chy being promoted under the specious pleas of “ self-deter mination,” “ freedom of expression,” the “ revolt of youth,” and other captions. Such activities have the power of making criminals of stu dents who are brought under their influence and innocently led by those with perverted vision. This unnatural crime may center public opinion upon a candid examination of the kind of “ education” American parents and teachers are endorsing, and be one of the means of calling for drastic remedies. Where are your young people being educated, and what are their studies? What kind of professors do they have, and what do they profess to teach? Would it not be wise to inculcate the teachings of God’s Word into the web and woof of their brain and heart and save them from the shipwreck of soul which confronts them in so many of our “ institutions of learning” ?
The court room was crowded with people who were feasting .upon and gloating over the dreadful details of the long-drawn-out effort upon the part of the State to convict and of the defence to acquit the criminals. Evi dence was introduced to show that not only was the little lad murdered but that his body was abused. The poor little victim of their cruelty had no warn ing, no opportunity to prepare for passing into the other world. There was no suggestion in any news paper report of sorrow upon the part of the perpetra tors of this devilish deed. They felt that they had back of them the necessary funds to secure a release. The cost to the City of Chicago will be tens of thou sands of dollars, and every citizen will have to help pay the bill. Two boys in Germany have already imi tated the crime, for the papers there were full of the details. Two little fellows in California had already planned to follow their example, but were discovered in time to prevent the consummation of their purpose. The attorney for the defence contended that these boys were not responsible for their deed because of certain mental conditions. If this was true then they
Advance Information Regarding Some Attractive Improvements Notwithstanding The King’s Business has the largest ; These changes will, of course, involve considerable circulation of any religious monthly magazine in the extra expense—as explained in the October issue—but United States, and many of the “ K. B. Family” tell us we are sure those of The King’s Business Family who that it ‘ ‘ absolutely could not be improved,’ ^ y e t we fcave responded to our appeal, either with two new sub- have felt for a long time that there were some improve- scriptions or a contribution of One Dollar, will feel ments that could be made and should be made, and amply repaid in the increased attractiveness and help- have been planning to bring them to pass. fulness of their magazine.
We have been especially encouraged by the splendid letters we have been receiving from the “ Defenders of the Faith’ ’, who have the matter of securing new sub scribers much on their hearts, and could wish that every reader were enrolled in this valiant “ Army of the Lord.” (See pages 701 and 746.) If you believe that The King’s Business has a needed message for a needy world then resolve to do your utmost to intro duce it to at least two persons who are not now ac quainted with it. What about your Minister, the Superintendent and Teachers in your Sunday School, other Ministers and Christian Workers, your Next Door Neighbor, or the Family Across the Street? If they are all subscribers, well and good. But if not—then keep after them until they are. You will be doing real missionary work, for surely the saints need its stimulating influence, for the strengthening of their faith, and the unsaved need the benefit of its soul-saving messages. The time is short! Our appeal to you is personal and definite. Remember all of our work is constructive and there are no commercial interests involved. All of our funds, from whatever source;they come,,can only be used to glorify God, and our work is all based on a statement of doctrine which rings true to the Whole Bible and the Old Bible, and can never be changed. Help us! ’ Help by service!
In the first p l a c e , we have been somewhat handi capped in our editorial comment on current events because, in order to get the Sunday School lesson helps to our subscribers in ample timé for use in preparing their lessons, we have had to close the forms two months in advance of thé date of issue. For instance, all matter for November was in the printer’s hands September 1. Obviously, under these; circumstances, it was not possible to comment upon really current events, Now we have found a way to overcome this difficulty by issuing all the S. S. lesson helps (both International and Whole Bible) as a Quarterly Supplement, eliminat ing them entirely from The King’s Business proper. This Supplement will positively not be sold separately, but can only be obtained in connection with a subscrip tion to the magazinelfi-both magazine and supplement being included in the subscription price of $1.25 per year. This plan will give us additional space for other feat ures,---such as a continued religious story, etc. The editor of ‘ ‘The Children’s Garden” is planning for some interesting things in connection with her depart ment;-which we are sure will please the wide circle of young folks who call themselves “ Gardeners,” and who have entered with such zest into the various Bible Study and Bible Story contests arranged for them by Mrs. Meader. The covers of the new magazine will be in colored inks on a white background, with à striking cartoon in colors on the front cover. The inside pages will be on heavier paper, greatly improving the legibility of the print.'
Help by gifts, and help by prayer! Help us heartily,, and help us now!
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S e e F a c s i m i l e o f S u p p l e m e n t C o v e r on Pa g e 693
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C o n t r i b u t e d A r t i c l e s
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Thanksgiving By Dr. John Murdoch Maclnnis, Teacher of the “Philosophy of the Christian Religion” Bihle Institute of Bos Angeles, California
■ HANKSGIVING DAY is one of the most character istically American of all the days found on our national calendar of special days. Our fathers followed the logic of the essential life of the there can be little doubt that in its origin, constitution and history it is Christian. It was conceived and brought forth in the travail of a Christian life— our Supreme Court rec ognizes this. In the light of this fact it is highly fitting that we should have at least one day that sets forth the fact in an official way—our annual Thanksgiving Day does this thing. First, it officially recognizes God as a reality, and as one with whom we have to do in a living and vital way. Second, it recognizes Him as the source of the good things we enjoy—-we acknowledge Him as the Giver of the fruits of land and sea as well as the Giver of health and liberty. Practically every national Thanksgiving Proclama tion recognizes our dependence upon God for protection and guidance. How Shall We Give Thanks? As we are thus once more challenged to recognize these facts, how shall we appropriately thank Him for His good ness? If what we have noted means anything, it is cer tainly clear that a mere national holiday is not enough in the way of thanksgiving. What then ,shall we render unto Him for-His benefits?, This was the Psalmist’s question, and his answer to it is striking and full of challenge. It contains three things worthy of our careful attention as we try to answer the question for ourselves. (Psalm 116.) First, I will thank God by accepting more from Him— “ I will take— ” “What shall I render?” “ I will take.” At first thought this surely seems a strange and selfish answer. He had been getting all his life and now he says he will thank God by taking more. On closer thought, however, we discover that nothing could be more fundamentally acceptable than this very form of thanksgiving. How can we best thank mother for all she puts into the Thanks giving dinner for our comfort and pleasure? By eating it. There is no use saying “ thank you” if we refuse to partake of what she has prepared. The Psalmist saw this in his relation with God and he determined to show his appreciation of all God did for him by taking the cup of salvation. That meant the accept ing of God’s will for him. Salvation means a saving from sin and a saving to the will of God. For the nation this would mean the acceptance of the challenge of its destiny. In order to do this it must be freed from the sin, greed and selfishness that are throttling its life. Nothing but the redeeming action of God can do this. But God can save from sin and it is His desire that we should accept this salvation. Nothing can give Him greater joy. There is joy in heaven over one "sinner that repents and gives God a
chance to save him from sin. Just think of what the turn ing of a nation would mean to Him. But the acceptance of the cup of salvation means more than being saved from sin. It means to be saved into a positive life in God’s will. That life is a life of service. God has given us a wonderful heritage in land, people and history. These riches of life and material things are given for a purpose. This purpose cannot possibly be to use them on our own selfish interests. God’s method is to bless in order that we may be a blessing. It is only the life and power of God that can make this blessed life of help fulness and service possible. Put Godl First The second thing the Psalmist determined to do was to call upon the name of the Lord. That is to put God first in his life. He understood that there is salvation in no other name and he honored the name. If America is going to be saved she must honor the name which is above every name. In other words, she must put God first in her life. It is only by seeking first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness that we can be first in the life and service of the world. To ignore this fundamental fact is to go the way of all other world powers and to mingle the ashes of our failure with those of Egypt, Babylonia, Greece and Rome. Third, “ I will pay my vows unto the Lord.” This comes third, not first. He could not pay his vows until first he ■&as saved and had given God first place in his life. What a wonderful Thanksgiving this would be if this nation were to "determine to pay its vows unto the Lord! We hear a great deal about honest national debts in our day. The whole world is in danger of being thrown into the furnace of another war because some of the nations are not willing to pay their vows. What about our vows? We are a nation with solemn vows. The nation had its birth in the vows of God-fearing men who sought the will of God. Are we paying the vows taken and signed by the Pilgrim Fathers in the cabin of the Mayflower? Their vows were not selfish, but essen tially Christian. They sought primarily not a place to worship God according to the dictates of their conscience, but a place for the founding of a Commonwealth that would help the extension of the Kingdom of God in the earth. They wanted to share the life that they knew with the rest of the world. We believe God took note of these vows and has not forgotten them through the years of our history. Have we remembered them? Are America’s life and wealth at the disposal of God for the redeeming of the vows that made America possible? The redeeming of that Pilgrim’s vow would mean the saving of the nation from failure and utter ruin. Oh, that the nation on this Thanksgiving Day might make glad the heart of God by sincerely saying, “ I will pay my vows unto the Lord!,”
nation when they appointed it. While we may not be realiz ing the ideal in the practical, every-day life of the nation,
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Mailing It to the Cross The Death of Christ: Example or Expiation? Stenographic report of a sermon preached by Dr. Clarence Edward Macartney, in the Auditorium of the Bible Institute of Los Angeles, Sunday afternoon, July 27, 1024.
his presentation of the subject and his explanation of it more effective than in this passage of the letter to the Colossians, where he says that Christ nailed our sins to the Cross. Paul represents man as under condemnation because he has broken the laws of God. The wages of sin is death. All men have sinned, and are therefore facing the dread penalty upon sin. God would have been •unimpeachably just had He executed upon man the sentence of death. But because God so loved the world He sent His only begotten Son to die for the world. He commended His love towards us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. Christ, as the representative of both man and God, took man’s place, and on the Cross paid the full penalty of sin, tasting for every man the darkness and death of sin. Because of this death of Christ and its satisfaction to the holy law of God, God can show mercy to the sinner. He can remain just, and yet justify them that believe in Jesus. Paul uses three expressions to show how fully Christ has done this great work of lifting the condemnation for sin from the human race. He says that Christ blotted out the writing against man; that He carried it away, removed it out of sight; and then in this powerful metaphor, that “He nailed it to the Cross.” Utter destruction! Complete for giveness and justification. It is as if he had said that every blow from the Roman soldiers which drove the nails through the hands and feet of our Lord were also blows which nailed our sin and our punishment to ■ the Cross, destroying it forever. When we speak of those great facts of the Atonement, we are dealing with God’s great mystery, and there is no language which is a door into that mystery. But as to the great fact itself, that Christ died for our sins, that He was offered up as an expiation and atonement to make it pos sible for God to forgive sin, as to that there can be no doubt. The first Apostles themselves trusted in this great truth before they preached remission of sins to the world. All of Christianity, its theologies, its liturgies, its art and music and architecture, its past triumphs and its hope of future conquest is centered upon this grand and primary fact that Christ died for our sins on the Cross. n . The New Christianity with the Doctrine of the Cross Left Out Today there is to be seen the emergence of a new kind of Christianity, and the distinguishing thing about it is the absence, not of any particular theory of atonement and expiation, but the absence of the idea itself. This creative idea of Christianity, the satisfaction of Christ for sin, is in some quarters quietly ignored, in other places explained in a way that explains it away, and elsewhere openly and boldly rejected. Let me cite some of the evidences of this great change: A minister of the Congregational Church writes that, “ The Protestant Church with rare and fine exceptions has ceased to preach the absolute necessity of redemption through the Cross of Christ.” A candidate for the ministry in the Presbyterian Church, examined as to the Atonement, says that he believes “ in the principle of vicarious atonement as exemplified in the Cross.” Another tells us that while he believes in vicarious sufferings, he does not believe in the “ governmental theory of substitutionary punishment which (Continued on page 730)
|N THE early spring of this year I received an invi tation to preach and lecture this summer in this auditorium, but I was not able to accept the invi tation. But now, in the Providence of God, I have this opportunity to visit this renowned place. I wish to speak to you this afternoon about the central fact of the Christian religion— the death of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the words about which I shall gather my thoughts are those of the Apostle Paul as recorded in Colossians 2:14: “Nailing it to His cross .’11 Christianity is summed up in the answer we give to three great questions: (1) Who is the Lord Jesus Christ? I ask you to consider with me this afternoon the answer to the second of these great questions,— “What has He done?” “ Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to His cross.” (Col. 2:14.) In one of his most eloquent passages, John Chrysostom says that he loves Rome above all cities because there Paul died, there his dust reposes, and there he will he raised up to meet the Lord. He longs to see the “ dust of Paul’s body that sowed the Gospel everywhere; the dust of that mouth which lifted the truth on high, and through which the sacred writings were written; the dust of those feet which ran through the world and were not weary; the dust of those eyes which were blinded gloriously, but which recovered their sight again for the salvation of the world; the dust of that heart which a man would not do wrong to call the heart of the world, so enlarged that it could take in cities and nations and peoples, which burned at each one that was lost, which despised both death and hell, and yet was broken down by a brother’s tears.” ; , The secret of the power of that great life was Christ. But what did Christ mean to Paul? The best answer to that is one word, the Cross. Of the Cross he dreamed, for the. Cross he died, and in the Cross he gloried. What was it in the Cross of Christ that Paul found so constraining, so inspiring, and so suited to the deep needs of humanity? It cannot have been the shame and ignominy which attached to the Cross, nor was it the unmerited pathos and sadness of the death of Jesus on Calvary, for St. Paul never refers to any of those incidents of the trial and agony and crucifix ion of Jesus which so move and touch us in the narratives of the evangelists. The one thing in the death of Christ which thrilled the soul of Paul and engaged all the facul ties of that splendid intellect was the fact of the relation ship of the death of Christ on the Cross to the sin of the world. I. The Cross the Central Fact Other men have died heroic martyr deaths. All who are now in the world must die at their appointed hour. But Jesus Christ was the only one who ever came into this world with the one great purpose of dying. This death of Christ for the sins of the world is the one great theme which is the center of Paul’s thinking and preaching, and writing and dreaming. He approaches the subject by many avenues of argument and illustration. But nowhere is (2) What has He done? (3) What will He yet do?
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The Revival of the Prayer Spirit By the late Arthur T. Pierson, D.D. This article, reprinted from “ Forward Movements of the Bast Half Centnry” (published in 1900) is as timely and true as when it came from the pen of Dr. Pierson. “ Things which are impossible with man, are possible with God.” Bet us pray.
|HE pivot of piety is prayer. A pivot is of double use: it acts as a fastener and as a center; it holds in place, and it is the axis of revolution. Prayer is also the double secret; it keeps stedfast in faith, and it helps to all holy, activity. Hence, as surely as God is lifting His people in these latter times to a higher level of spirituality, and moving them to a more unselfish and self-denying service, there will be new emphasis laid upon supplication, and especially upon intercession. This revival of the praying-spirit, if not first in order of development, is first in order of importance, for without it there is no advance. Generally, if not uniformly, prayer is both starting-point and goal to every movement in which are the elements of permanent progress. Whenever the church is aroused and the world’s wickedness arrested, somebody has been praying. If the secret history of all true spiritual advance could be written and read, there would be found some intercessors who, like Job, Samuel, Daniel, Elijah, Paul and James, Jonathan Edwards, Wil liam Carey, George Muller and Hudson Taylor, have been led to shut themselves in the secret place with God, and have labored fervently in prayers. And, as the starting- point is thus found in supplication, and intercession, so the final outcome must be that God’s people shall have learned to pray; otherwise there ¡will be rapid reaction and disastrous relapse from the better conditions secured. Patient and long continued study of the religious his tory of the race confirms the conviction that no seal of permanence is stamped upon any movement, however spiritual in appearance and tendency, which does not sooner or later show a decided revival of the praying spirit. The Philosophy of Prayer There is a divine philosophy behind this fact. The great est need is to keep in close touch with God; the greatest risk is the loss of the sense of the divine. In a world where every appeal is to the physical senses and through them, reality is in direct proportion to the power of contact. What we see, hear, taste, touch, or smell—what is material and sensible— we can not doubt. The present and material absorbs attention and appears solid, substantial: but the future, the immaterial, the invisible, the spiritual, seem vague, distant, illusive, imaginary. Practically, the unseen has no reality and no influence with the vast majority of mankind. Even the unseen God is to them less a verity than the commonest object of vision; to many He, the highest verity, is really vanity, while the world’s vanities are prac tically the highest verities; God’s great corrective for this most disastrous inversion and perversion of the true relation of things, is prayer. “ Enter into thy closet.” There all is silence, secrecy, soli tude, seclusion. Within that shut door, the disciple is left alone— all others shut out, that the suppliant may be shut in—with God. The silence is in order to the hearing of the still, small voice that is drowned in worldly clamor, and which even a human voice may cause to be unheard or indistinct. The secrecy is in order to a meeting with Him who seeth in secret and is best seen in secret. The solitude is for the purpose of being alone with One who can fully impress with His presence only when there is no other pres ence to divert thought. The'place of seclusion with God is the one school where we learn that He is, and is the
rewarder of those that diligently seek Him. The closet is “ not only the oratory, it is the observatory,” not for prayer only but for prospect— the wide-reaching, clear-seeing out look upon the eternal! The decline of prayer is the decay of piety; for prayer to cease altogether, would be spiritual death, for it is to every child of God the breath of life. The Great Underlying Purpose of Prayer To keep in close touch with God in the secret chamber of His presence, is the great underlying purpose of prayer. To speak with God is a priceless privilege; but what shall be said of having and hearing Him speak with us! We can tell Him nothing He does not know; but He can tell us what no imagination has ever conceived, no research ever unveiled. The highest of all possible attainments is the knowledge of God, and this is the practical mode of His revelation of Himself. Even His holy word needs to be read in the light of the closet,’ if it is to be understood. “ And when Moses was gone into the tabernacle of the congregation to speak with him, then he heard the voice of one speaking unto him from off the mercy seat that was upon the ark of testimony, from between the two cheru bim: and he spake unto him.” Numbers 7:89. And, where there is this close touch with God, and this clear insight into His name which is His nature, and into His word which is His will made known, there will be a new power to walk with Him in holiness and work with Him in service. “ He made known His ways unto Moses, His acts unto the children of Israel.” The mass of the people stood afar off and saw His deeds, like the over throwing of Pharaoh’s hosts in the Red Sea; but Moses drew near into the thick darkness where God was, and in that thick darkness he found a light such as never shone elsewhere, >and in that light he read God’s secret plans and purposes and interpreted His wondrous ways of working. Victory Dependent on Closet Communion All practical power over sin and over men depends on maintaining closet communion. Those who abide in the secret place with God show themselves mighty to conquer evil, and strong to work and to war for God. They are the seers who read His secrets; they know His will; they are the meek whom He guides in judgment and teaches His way. They are His prophets, who speak for Him to others, and even forecast things to come. They watch the signs of the times and discern His tokens and read His signals. We sometimes count as mystics those who, like Savon arola and Catharine of Siena, claim to have communica tions from God; to have revelations of a definite plan of God for His Church, or for themselves as individuals, like the reformer of Erfurt, the founder of the Bristol orphan ages, or the leader of the China Inland Mission. But may it not be that we stumble at these experiences because v e do not have them ourselves? Have not many of these men and women proved by their lives that they were not mis taken, and that God has led them by a way that no other eye could trace? Prayer Imparts Power But, for close contact with the living God in prayer, there is another reason that rises perhaps to a still higher (Continued on page 737)
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The Priesthood of the Ministry By Frederic W. Farr, D.D. Pastor, Calvary Baptist Church, Bos Angeles, California
Dr. Farr has the reputation of being able to say more, in choice, terse, understandable English, in a shorter space of time, than the majority of speakers and writers. We are sure those who read this article will concur in this opinion.
1. By offering sacrifice. 2. By making intercession. 3. By coming forth to bless the people.
New Testament teaches the priesthood of all evers. Ministers of the Gospel, therefore, are “ priests” in any different sense from that in ch all Christians are. Curiously enough the word “ priest” ( “ hiereus” ) is never applied to a minister in Scripture. Ministers are called all other imaginable names that express the manifold activi ties of the pastoral office, but not once are they called “ priests.” No priestly function is attributed to them. The silence of Scripture is as significant as its teaching. Christ is the one great Prophet, Priest and King. These three offices are necessary to the work of redemption. He must be a Prophet to save us from the ignorance of sin; a Priest to save us from the guilt of sin; and a King to save us from the power of sin. All believers exercise these offices in a qualified way by virtue of their union with Christ. This union is created by regeneration, which makes the believer a partaker of the Divine nature. The Approach to God Since all men are sinners, they can only approach God through the mediation of a priest who is appointed to offer sacrifice for sin. A priest is therefore a necessity in religion. There can be no religion without a priest. The Aaronic Priesthood The Aaronic priesthood was instituted for men in the flesh. Priests of that order were made according to the law of a carnal commandment, and they serve not unto heavenly things but “ unto the example and shadow of heavenly things.” The Aaronic order was part of a system of types and shadows, which passed away when Christ, who is the substance and fulfillment of all types and shad ows, came into this world and fulfilled His mission here. Although the people of God on earth have received a new birth from God in the washing of regeneration, nevertheless they have sin in them and they still inhabit the mortal, death-doomed bodies of their humiliation. Therefore, they can approach God only through the High Priest, the Minister of the true sanctuary and the heavenly tabernacle which the Lord pitched and not man. “ For through him we both have access by one spirit unto the Father.” ' “ I am the way; no man cometh unto the Father but by me.” “ Seeing then that we have a great High Priest that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.” There is, therefore, no priest on earth today, since heaven is the sphere of priestly ministry. Moreover, if Christ Him self were on earth, He would not be a priest on this account. The assumption of a priest of any kind on earth is an impertinence and a sacrilege and is tantamount to a denial of the high priesthood of Jesus Christ. The Believer’s Priestly Character and Work Since a minister of the Gospel is to be an example in word, conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity, to all believers, we may consider his priestly character and work, with the understanding that he is only a model and a sample of what every Christian ought to be. A priest is one Divinely appointed to transact business with God on man’s behalf. He fulfills his office in a three fold way:
At His first advent, Christ offered the one sacrifice for sin. In the present interval, between His first and second advents, He is appearing in the presence of God to make intercession for us. “ And unto them that look for Him shall He appear the second time unto salvation.” The Old Testament priests were types and symbols of the true priesthood in Christ. In the New Testament, min isters of the Gospel do not mediate between God and men. They are never said to offer sacrifices for sin. They have no power as intercessors with God which every believer does not have. God has made all His people kings and priests unto Him, and each one has liberty of access through Christ. Is a Mediator Necessary? The church of Rome, on the contrary, teaches that her ministers are priests in the official sense of the word, because they mediate between God and His people, since they maintain that the sinner cannot of himself draw near to God through Christ, and obtain pardon and grace except through their intervention. They assume to offer sacrifice in the real body and -blood of Christ in the mass, as an expiation of the sins of the people. Again, they are inter cessors, not as one man may pray for another, but as having the power to forgive sins. “ Ego to absolvo.” Any school boy knows that the “ priest” of the Old Covenant and the “ presbyter or elder” of the New Covenant are two different personages having nothing in common to justify equivalency of names. Yet Rome has confounded them in her French version of the Scriptures in which these two different words are translated by the one French word “ piètre.” In what sense may a believer discharge these three func tions of the priestly office? The one sacrifice of Christ is not to be repeated and nothing can ever be added to it or taken from it. Even when we are exhorted to fill up that which is behind of the sufferings of Christ for His body’s sake, which is the church, we are not for a moment to suppose that the sufferings of saints have any expiatory merit or sacrificial value. Expiatory sacrifices of all kinds were fulfilled in the offering upon the cross and therefore they have ceased forever, for by one offering he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. We find, however, that sacrifices are mentioned in the New Testament, the phraseology of Juda ism being carried over and applied to certain features of the Christian life that must have some correspondence with priestly work, otherwise the names would not apply. Whenever a Christian, therefore, engages in these exer cises, he may be considered to be magnifying his priestly office and performing his priestly functions. “ By Him, there fore, let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, confessing His name.” This corresponds to the continual burnt offering in Israel day by day. “Whoso offereth praise (literally, sacrificeth) glorifleth me.” “ Confessing to His name” does not mean using His name as the closing formula of a prayer. His name stands for Himself and for His (Continued on page 740)
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