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M O N O P O L I S T ? N O ! P A R T A K E R ? Y E S ! “And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, be ing a wild olive tree, wert graffed in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree; boast not against the branches.“ Rom. 11:17, 18. SOME Jewish branches were broken off. Not all. SOME Jews will believe the Gospel, right now in this day of Grace. Then why speak of “The Gentile Church“ when there is no such mention in God’s Word? Do not Gentiles reject the Gospel, even more than Jews? Shall we not be fair to Israel? Is not the Jew entitled to receive from you a small return for the sac rifices he made in Apostolic days, that “the Gentiles by my mouth should hear the word of the Gospel, and believe?“ The Jew SHARED with you the Gospel blessings 1900 years ago, and you became a PAR TAKER with him. Will you now turn into a monopolist? Or will you share? Dear child of God, Paul sewed tents far into the midnight hour so that he could preach the Gospel to your forefathers, free of cost to them! Have you ever tried to pay back the debt? Is it nothing to you that millions of Jews are hunted over the streets of the world like wild beasts, and driven like cattle? Does not your heart ever bleed for those who are still “beloved for the fathers* sakes?“ Our work merits your every con fidence. It is a program of world wide Gospel testimony to Israel— a program which fulfills the com mand of Isaiah 40:1, “Comfort ye, comfort ye, my people.** Your fellowship is truly needed in these sad days for Israel. Our paper THE CHOSEN PEOPLE is sent to all contributors, and is prov ing a blessing to many of the Lord’s people. May we hear from you?
2 fteSiWe Tamil# 3 ta^ in e Motto: “Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood ."— R ev . 1:5.
Volume X X V
December, 1934
Number 11
TABLE OF CONTENTS
/ Around the King’s Table—Louis T. Talbot... ............ .................. ,--------- 418 Glory to God—Norman B. Harrison___________ ____ ____________ .—419 The Christmas Quest—Merrill C. Tenney-,-. ______ 1_________ ——420 Starward—Louise Harrison McCraw................................................... .......... 422 / “Prepare War!”—Louis S. Bauman..______ ,__________ <____1________ 424 Colossians—Heresies and Verities—Roy L. Laurin____ _______—___ 428 Bible Institute Family Circle__1_______________ __ u ' !____ __430 Junior King’s Business—Martha S. Hooker___________________ _—431 Notes on Christian Endeavor—Mary G. Goodner____ .......___________433 The Message of the King in 50,000 Homes________ ,.________: ........ .... 436 International Lesson Commentary___________________ ....______ ...____ 439 Daily Devotional Readings__________________ _11............................. ....... 449 Our Literature Table__________ ___ ___ ______ -__ ■X __—__________ ..456 Helps for Preachers and Teachers—Paul Prichard__________________ 456
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T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
December, 1934
c Around the King’s ‘Tables B y L o u is T . T albot
The Doom of Human Government he deterioration of human governmental power is clearly foretold. In the second chapter of Daniel, where we have the most complete prophetic picture of the character, course, and consummation of the times of the Gentiles, we find it emphasized that, in the affairs of the times of the Gentiles, there will be a downward tendency in political control—an absolute monarchy to communism -ancL_Bolshevism?) Gold, silver, brass, iron, ( clay—is the order. It is interesting to read history and «„¿•y to observe how this great prophecy in regard to the de- . i cline of governmental power from Nebuchadnezzar’s day '/^/■fto ours has been fulfilled just as it was prophesied. The symbolism of the clay in the feet of the great image is forcibly recalled as one watches the trend of af fairs in the world today, as illustrated, in the xeç^nt»elec tion in California. jThat the candidate wnraenmcfel lean ings and communistic tendencies were heralded so far and wide that every person could know his position in regard to God, Christ, the Scriptures, the home, and government, should have received, according to Associated Press re ports, 845,844 votes from 10,380 out of 10,721 precincts is certainly significant, to say the least] l " 5 r / n / t . + u T After a cynical denial of the deity of Christ, the in spiration of the Scriptures, and the atoning work of Christ, and after quoting approvingly the system of gov ernmental philosophy propounded by Emma Goldman, placing her on a par with Jesus, Isaiah, and John the Bap tist, this candidate proceeds to advocate a new religion. In spite of his blasphemous utterances and writings, the candidate who advocated man as “the master” had a tremendous following—a fact in itself a portent of the times. But he was defeated. It was in -direct answer to prayer that men and women were aroused to the serious ness of the issue, for many Christians gave themselves to waiting humbly upon God for His deliverance. The answer came, not only through professing Christians, but also through others who, although not claiming to be children of God through faith in Jesus Christ, realized the value of that restraint that is placed upon a man only when there is a belief in God and a sense of account ability to Him. (jh e conditions of the world are a call to Christians to press the battle and make every use of opportunities that the Lord is now giving us to make known His gospel. God’s purpose for this age is the calling out of the church. One day, how soon we do not khow, the last member will be added. The body of Christ will be complete, and there will immediately occur the translation of the church. Then will appear the man of sin, a man after Lenin’s type, who will weld the chaotic forcés together and bring into ex istence the Roman Empire in its final form. How conditions today should solemnize our hearts ! In the light o f . 2 Thessalonians 2, however, we believe that the church will not see the Antichrist. The hindering power that is holding in check the forces of sin and law lessness, and is preventing them from reaching their cli max in the person of the coming man of sin, will one day be removed. This restraining power is undoubtedly the
blood-bought company of men and women, baptized into one body of which Christ is the Head, and indwelt and empowered by the Holy Ghost. Believers will be above the clouds when the storm breaks]/ 'i/ n / y>, t + it During the present time, however, the mystery of in iquity is now working, preparing the world for the devil’s man. Let us who name the name of Christ also work, making it our chief business in life to be the right kind of ambassadors for the Lord Jesus Christ.—L.T.T. The Purpose of the Incarnation A t this time of the year, when men’s thoughts turn to the coming into the world of the Lord Jesus Christ, it is well for those who know and love Him to recall clearly just why our Saviour came to earth. Hun dreds of years before the incarnation, the Holy Spirit drew portraits of the coming Messiah, the Christ of God. And these inspired word pictures, preserved for us in the Word of God, emphasize the purpose of Christ’s incar nation. That purpose may be summed up in a threefold declaration. First, Christ came to reveal God. “No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him” (John 1 :18). In Old Testament days, men knew something of God. The psalmist speaks of the heavens as declaring the glory of God and of the firmament as showing His handiwork. But there is more to be known of God than can be grasped through this revelation in nature. And Jesus, as He walked among men, brought that fuller un derstanding. He said, in effect: “I am God uncovered; I am God unveiled.” If one would know who God is, and understand something of His nature and work, he must study the four Gospels, for therein is Jesus Christ, God’s only begotten Son, revealed as Immanuel, “God with us.” Second, Christ came to redeem man. He eame to do a work of atonement, by means of which men alienated from God because of their sins, might live forever in His holy presence. To make possible this blessed relationship, Christ, the Sinless One, came into the world to die. He could say, as no man could ever say, “I lay down my life . . . No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself” (John 10:17, 18). Nevertheless, “The wages of sin is death,” and those wages must be paid. Justice must be satisfied. Penalties must be met. No mortal man could meet the requirements of divine law, but the Lord Jesus Christ, God incarnate, became the sinner’s Substitute, and on the cross of Calvary the sin of the world was rolled upon Him. Since that day, God’s message to sinners has been to believe on Jesus, who died for their justification. Third, Christ came to renew fellowship. Christ’s own resurrection was not only the evidence that the demands of God’s holy law. had been fully met, and that, if he be in Christ, the sinner is justified; but that resurrection is also a pledge that one day believers shall be raised from the dead or changed “in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye,” their bodies made like unto His glorious body, their natures capable of fellowship with God throughout eter nity.—L.T.T.
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B y NORMAN B. HARRISON* Minneapolis, Minn.
G lory to god ” ! This is the divine declaration of the intent of the incarnation. The angels could not keep the Good News to themselves, but caused the sleeping Judean hills to reverberate with their paeans of praise that first Christmastide. And well they might. Glory is manifested excellence. To make God the Father known in His essential worth and excellence of character and being—to glorify Him—this the Son alone could do, and this was His all-absorbing purpose. So we read: “The Word [essentially God from eternity] 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” (John 1:14). The person and work of our Lord became the focal point of the glory of God; from Him that glory radiates to all men to the end of time. This Christmas season, in the year of our Lord 1934, when men need so sorely to be lifted out of the sordidness of earth’s sin and shame, shall we not turn our ears anew toward the heavens to hear the clarion call, “Glory to God,” as the antidote for all our ills? Now, more than ever before, we need to be occupied with Him. What, think you, would be the effect, even at this late day, upon this old world of ours, were we to refuse to celebrate another mere holiday of tawdry tinsel, and to humbly beseech the Christ of Bethlehem and Calvary to glorify Himself in the muddled affairs of men as Re deemer and Lord ? Long, long ago, a servant of the Lord voiced the hunger of his heart in the cry, “I beseech thee, show me thy glory” (Ex. 33:18). We must see His glory; only so will we turn back to Him the praise and glory that is His due. What Moses merely glimpsed of heavenly glory, it is ours to envisage in the entire panorama of divine revelation. v G lory in the H eavens
The heavens, God’s great illuminated sign pointing to Himself, condemn every godless man. The unbeliever has not lived up to his knowledge; he has “glorified him not as God” (Rom. 1:21). G lory in the T abernacle The tabernacle is God’s picture of His plan of salvation. It portrays God’s provision for man’s redemption, recon- conciliation, and restoration to full relationship with Him self. It prefigures His purpose to “dwell in them, and walk in them.” It was the “tent of meeting” for God and man. Coming by way of the altar of sacrifice, man was brought on into the tent, into the presence chamber of the King. So we read that when “Moses finished the work,” with every thing done as directed, God accepted, approved, occupied, “and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle” (Ex. 40: 33, 34). God was present among His people; His glory was manifest. G lory in the S on What the tabernacle was in type, Christ our Lord be came in reality. “The Word”—who “was with God” and “was God”—“tabernacled among us [for such is the Greek], (and we beheld his glory . . . ) . ” In what did that glory consist? Did it consist in the manifesting of His deity and lordship over nature by mir acles and wonders? Yes, for we read of the turning of water to wine: “This beginning of miracles did Jesus . . . and manifested forth his glory.” But there was more. His glory consisted in doing as a Man what mere man through sin failed to do. His glory lay in doing always His Father’s will—“I delight to do thy will, O my God”—resulting in the constant, uninterrupted, abiding presence and approval of God. “He that sent me is with m e: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him” (John 8 :29). His was a life centered in God, claiming His constant approval, presence, and power —a life of glory to God. G lory in the C ross
“The heavens declare the glory of God” (Psa. 19:1). The stellar universe was cre ated as the material setting for the glory of the Creator. It is the visible expression to all mankind of the invisible God. With this daily and nightly display of His reality and deity emblazoned plainly—“For the in visible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eter nal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse” (Rom. 1 :20)—every god less unbeliever is condemned by the involun tary sight of his own eyes. *Pastor, Oliver Presbyterian Church.
The supreme revelation of the glory of God is in the cross. Whatever of agony, shrinking, and shame it held for the Godhead, Jesus Christ viewed it as the goal of His earthly ministry and rejoiced in it as the glo rifying of both the Father and Himself. In it God is glorified: First, by the manifestation of His love—“God commendeth his love to ward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5 :8 ) ; second, by the obedience of the Son—“obedient unto [Continued on page 426]
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December, 1934
TheChristmas Quest By MERRILL C. TENNEY* Boston, Massachusetts “Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we saw his star in the east, and are come to worship him” (Matt. 2 ;2).
I nto the city of Jerusalem one day long ago rode a small group of travelers. Hot and dusty from the day’s journey, they were ready for rest; but stronger than their weariness was the urge of the quest that had brought them there. Their first concern was not for the nearest inn, but for an answer to the question: “Where is he that is born King of the Jews?” Why should they be so interested in the birth of a King to a nation that had lost its cause and practically its in dependence? What m o tiv a te d them to leave their distant homes and to travel the tiresome journey over mountain, desert, and plain to make an inquiry like this ? The quest of these men is a testi mony to the fact that man is dis contented at heart, and is seeking something or Someone outside of himself to satisfy his deepest longings. These men were Magi, students of nature and of ancient lore. They possessed w e a l t h , learning, s o c ia l p o s itio n , and power. They belonged to the priv ileged class. Some tremendous mo tive must have impelled them to this effort. Evidently, they were spiritually enlightened. Perhaps some frag ment of primitive revelation lin gered in their sacred books to in form them of God’s ancient prom ise that, in His own time, a De liverer would come forth from the home of His people. Possibly the utterance of Balaam, himself an Eastern prophet, was known to them: “I see him, but not now ; I behold him, but not nigh; There shall come forth a star out of Jacob, And a sceptre shall rise out of Israel, And shall smite through the corners of Moab, And break down all the sons of tumult.” (Num. 24:17.) Whatever the source of their information may have been, the Magi put implicit faith in the rev elation that had been vouchsafed *Assistant Professor of Greek and New Testament Interpretation, Gordon College of Theology and Missions.
to them. Convinced that the un usual star in the sky betokened the birth of the coming King, they set out on their journey to find the answer to their cherished hopes. Not contented with their learning, eminence, and possessions, they sought for Him who is the Desire of all nations, with full confidence that the search was imperative, and that it would be amply rewarded. Their quest was, therefore, A Q uest of C onviction These men were moved by the assurance that the message which they had heard of a coming King, and the portent of an exceptionally brilliant star blazing in the heavens, were both divinely sent. So certain were they of this divine origin, that they staked life and fortune on their conviction. They believed that God had a revelation for them; and with open mind and heart they re solved to trace it as far as they could, in order that the blessing might be theirs. It was a matter of tremendous consequence to them. Small as was the truth that they possessed, feeble as was the light that illumined their road, they de voted their fullest energies to this quest. So great was their longing for the realization of the purpose of God, that they could not rest un til they had put their conviction into action. Contemporary with them we find those whose quest, stimulated by theirs, was utterly different in motive and in action. To Herod, the Christmas quest was one of enmity. He sought the young Child that he might destroy Him. Under the guise of a simu lated devotion, he masked a savage hatred. The promise and presence of the infant King were gall and wormwood to his soul because they threatened the security of his throne and exposed the selfishness of his life. His sole interest was in ridding himself of a possible rival; and because of his insane jealously and murderous intent, he was ex cluded from sharing the quest of the Wise Men. This feeling, unfortunately, did not die with Herod. Those to whom the Lord Jesus Christ is rival rather
★ B EHOLD, Wise-men from the east came to Jerusalem saying, Where we saw his star in the east, and are come to worship him. And when Herod the Icing heard it, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. And gathering together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ should be born. And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judaea: for thus it is written through the prophet . . . Then Herod privily called the.Wise- men, and learned of them exactly what time the star appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, Go and search out exactly concerning the young child; and when ye have found him, bring me word, that I also may come and wor ship him. And they, having heard the king, went their way; and lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was. And when they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. And they came into the house and saw the young child with Mary his mother; and they fell down and wor shipped him; and opening their treas ures they offered unto him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh.
is he that is born King of the Jews? for
T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
December, 1934
aid us. Job laments, and many hearts echo: “For he is not a man, as I am, that I should answer him, That we should come together in judgment. There is no umpire betwixt us, That might lay his hand upon us both.” (Job 9:32, 33). The cry of the afflicted patriarch makes articulate the yearning of us all—the same yearning ex pressed by the Wise Men in their quest. They found Him who “hath been in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin” (Heb. 4.T5) ; and who, though “existing in the form of God, counted not the being on an equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant [margin, “Gr. bond- servant”], being made in the likeness of men”
than sovereign follow in Herod’s steps. Jesus does not ask us to admire Him, but to abdicate in His favor. Those who cannot come to Him with the conviction that He is the answer to their needs find that His claims are more than selfish human nature can bear. “Away with him ! We will not have this man to reign over u s !” is the cry of all who have not the conviction of need that created the Christ mas quest. Again, to the chief priests and the scribes, the Christmas quest was purely another intellectual achievement. They were quite capable of inform ing the Wise Men exactly where the Messiah should be born; and they quoted from the prophet the very passage which supplied the desired infor mation. We are not told that they joined the search. There is not a shred of evidence that they Christmas quest because their faith is frozen. They possess ideas, but not convictions; for mula, but not faith. They know the truth, but never use it. Sat isfied with the consciousness of superior knowledge, they make plain that the lure of a pilgrim age of love for His sake holds no charms for them. They have not been gripped by the power of an inescapable conviction that they must seek in actuality the fulfillment of God’s promise and the work of redemption. In this day of actual enmity to Christ and of indifference toward His cause, we need more of that conviction that set the Wise Men on their road. They were sure of their aim and of their need of reaching it; nor did they relinquish the quest until they had attained their objective. We must have that definiteness and persistence of faith that conviction brings. What did they seek ? It was, again, A Q uest of E xpectation We must not forget that, while the main line of revelation came through the chosen nation of the Jews, there was a primitive revelation concerning the Seed of the woman, a coming Deliverer, who should bruise the serpent’s head. Like a candle flickering dimly in the darkness, there was in the consciousness of all peoples the hope of a coming Saviour. Though it was obscured by the supersti tions of idolatry and almost quenched by the gross ness of sin, that hope remained, nevertheless. Such a Deliverer these men sought. They sought Him as a Man. “Where is he that is born . . . ?” The cry of mankind has always been for Another, a greater Man, who could under stand our needs, sympathize with our sorrows, share our toils and tears, and yet lift us out of all of them. God seems so distant, and circumstances so crushing, that we instinctively desire the inter vention of one who can stand upon our level and manifested a sufficient interest in the matter to investigate for themselves. Their religion was academic, not active. It was perfect in concept, but barren in results. Today, many miss the
(Phil. 2:6, 7). Here is God’s response to Job’s lament, and to ours. They s o u g h t a King. “Where is he that is born ?” The slow millen niums of human life have been filled with experimentation in government, in hopes that some form of rule might be evolved which would prove to be a pan acea for our ills, social, moral, and economic. Man has tried everything from anarchy to au tocracy, but all have success ively failed to produce the de sired result. What can the Christmas quest bring? It re veals the One upon whose shoulder the government shall King
CHR IST ’S CO M IN G “That ye through his poverty might he rich” (2 Cor. 8:9). His was the wonderful surrender, The putting off, the stooping low, The gift of love so strong and tender That we His blessedness might know. * This is the Lord who waits to bless us With joy and everlasting gifts, Howe'er earth's troubles may distress us, Jesus the trusting heart uplifts. * Oh, teach us, Lord, the wondrous treasure That even here our own may be; For riches that we cannot measure Are waiting for us, Lord, in Thee. - —Constance Coote.
rest. Our hope must be placed in the Christmas promise: “The Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: and he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.” His kingdom shall one day supersede the outworn and ineffective governments of earth, and shall give peace to a world now torn by strife and hatred. They sought One whom they could worship. “Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we . . . are come to worship him.” Mankind has been described as incurably religious. Some one has said that if there were no God, it would behoove us to invent one. Augustine voiced the same truth in a more positive way when he wrote in his Confes sions: “Thou hast made us for Thyself; and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in Thee.” The legendary deities of heathenism—whose fantastic deeds were trifling, or immoral, or both —and the stern, remote First Cause of the philoso phers alike fail to satisfy our desire for One whom we can worship. The former provoke our ridicule and disgust; the latter is only the product of our own speculation. Neither can be a convincing real ity. Only a God good enough and great enough to merit our adoration and obedience can really fill the sanctuary which our worship would erect. For Him we go on quest; at Bethlehem we find Him. Here is “the Word . . . made flesh,” who could say : “He that hath seen me hath seen the Father.” His righteousness demands our respect; His love evokes our adoration; His everlasting glory com- [Continued on page 427]
December, 1914
Starward A STORY B y L ouise H arrison M c C raw
I t w a s the day before Christmas Eve. Marion Berkeley watched the clock, and the snowflakes. The icy wind from an open window blew her flaxen hair into her eyes and sent a shiver through her small, muscular body. But what did it matter? Nothing mattered much; the pain in her heart was so acute that physical discomfort served only as a counterirritant. At four o’clock, she had an appointment with the man who had been giving the Foundation Lectures for the col lege this year. It might be that he could suggest some work in which she could lose herself. At any rate, it would be a relief just to talk with a man like that—to tell him things she had not been able to tell any of her uncle’s family, with whom She had made her home since childhood. She pulled down the window, jammed on a last winter’s hat without looking into the mirror, put on her coat, and started to ward the college chapel. Dr. Fenwick had said he would be in the conference room to the right of the chapel, so she walked boldly toward it, ig n o rin g the curious glances of some of the college boys who were hanging around. Dr. Fenwick saw her through the window, and had the door open for her before she knocked. He was big and tall and loose-jointed, with rug ged features, iron-gray hair, and blue-gray eyes somewhat like her own; his tones were reassuring, somehow; and right away Marion felt i f had not been silly for her to come. As she took the chair he placed for her, she said, “I don’t know whether you can help me o r not; but I believe you know God, and I am so miserable that I felt I must The author of this three-installment story is the secretary o f the Braille Circulating Library, Y. M. C. A. Building, Rich mond, Va. The work is operated along faith lines; as the Lord provides the means, sound, helpful Christian literature is fur nished, free of charge, to hundreds of blind readers .— E ditor .
have somebody who really knows Him, to plead my case.” “Now, just what is it you want of God, my child?” “I want what I believe every child of God deserves— happiness.” “It might be well, you know, not to use that word ‘de serve’ in connection with ourselves, but we can certainly agree that happiness is the natural heritage of every child of God. If one does not have it, he must be selling his birth right, either consciously or unconsciously. I am so glad you are sure that you are one of His children, because we must be sure of our base, you know, before we can follow anything to its logical conclusion.” “Yes, I am surd about that. A young woman who rep resented some sort of religious organization came to my col lege during my senior year, and in an interview I had with her, she made plain to me what ‘receiving Christ’ meant and showed me the promise in the Bible that if I would ‘receive Him,’ I would be one of the ‘sons of God.’ I am very sure I did this then, and it was only that little spark of faith that has kept me from desperation these past two years. But, Dr. Fenwick, it doesn’t keep me from being miserable now. You are a mind reader. You probably know that a love affair is at the bottom of all this. But, oh, don’t think it was an ordinary love affair! It wasn’t. It swept me off my feet. That was happiness! “I met him at a fraternity dance during my senior year, and he was all I had dreamed of—my fairy prince brought over from childhood—tall and dark and splendid-looking. He always knew what to do and say. And brilliant, too! Just graduated from law school, and in spite of all that, he wasn’t conceited! He seemed to have no thought for him self—or anybody else, but me. For a year and a half, I simply walked on air. He wrote every day —didn’t forget every now and then, as most boys would. He never for-
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“But you know what I meant. I wasn’t thinking of that general kind of love,” said Marion. “Some one has very wisely said that ‘love does not dif fer in kind, but only in degree,’ ” Dr. Fenwick answered. "Expressions of love vary, of course, according to relation ships, but love is always love. I don’t ask you to accept this point of view, but just to think it over. But we sidetracked a little, didn’t we? The point is, are you willing to hand over this precious life of yours and trust Him who loved you and gave Himself for you, to order it hereafter ? Are you willing to fold up all preconceived plans and be willing to accept substitutes, if He judges a substitute to be better for you? If you are willing to do this, the Book, with all its golden promises, will become a new Book to you, because you will be finding parts of the plan there. There will be a gradual unfolding, you know. You will be sure to find there a promise of your life work, and there’s joy beyond joy in th a t! Whether thatxwork be what you call ‘religious work’ or not, it will be sure to be a means whereby you shall let your own little world know what kind of Christ you have, what kind of Person lives in you and really does things by using your hand and brain.” Marion was silent and Dr. Fenwick went bn: “If you decide to do this—to hand over the key of your life to Christ—you will find praying, too, to be a very different sort of thing than it has been to you. I wonder if you had thought about that.” “I have thought more about praying than any other one thing in connection with all this trouble, and I have longed to be able to get God to do what I asked,” she an swered. “Do you know, I believe that’s just what He is saying about you. He is begging you to have enough confidence in Him to do what He asks—to hand over everything to Him. Once that is done, the door is opened for conversation; prayer was never meant to be one-sided, you know.” “Dr. Fenwick, please don’t tell me that prayer is a means of growth fo r my soul. Honestly, if prayer is not a means of getting what I want, I don’t believe it’s worth while.” Again she sent up a challenge with her eyes. “Prayer is primarily and fundamentally a means of get ting what you want. There are other benefits, but we need not discuss them now. But, did you ever think, my dear girl, that close association with God might change one’s tastes? might supplant certain desires with others? might cause you to desire and ask for just the things His Father- heart had been longing to give you, but would not until you really wanted them? You remember the how-much-more- shall-your-Father-which-is-in - heaven-give - good - things- to-them-that-ask-Him promise. We take it that sincerity is implied in the asking, that real desire prompted the peti tion, so that what we need is to honestly want ‘good things’ and ask for them. Many people do not really want ‘good things,’ you know, and God won’t give anything else, so they never get what they pray for.” “I think I see an application of that already,” said Marion quietly. “I have been wanting Don’s worship. I was willing to have him break the first commandment. It is plain enough that the burden of my prayer was not for a ‘good thing.’ But there is one thing I want that I know is a good thing, and that is work; it won’t be so hard to believe God will give that. I can’t honestly say, as I have [Continued on page 427]
got to send me flowers and other things at the right times, and everything he sent seemed to be complimentary to me •—seemed to say again all the wonderful things he had been saying in his letters. “Last August (he had been away six months then; he lived in the West) I missed hearing from him for five days. You can imagine what I went through during those five days. And then came the letter which changed every thing in the world for me. Well, the substance of it was that he had been grossly untrue—and there were far-reach ing consequences.” Marion’s face burned as she reached the climax of the story, but she saw that the gray eyes of her listener were fixed on the floor—not looking straight into hers, as they had at first—so she went on with less embarrassment. “He said he was unworthy,” Marion continued, “and that he never expected to be happy again. But I wonder if he could have suffered as I have—the disappointment, the humiliation, and then this maddening monotony. The family think I have been jilted, in the ordinary way, or am being jilted. I know he loved me—loves me now, I believe —but we may have to be separated forever. That’s all” —arid for the first time, there was a sob in her voice. “I know religion ought to help me find life endurable and even joyous under any circumstances, and that’s just what I want to talk to you about.” As Marion looked into the kindly, serious face before her, she had no fear of the man’s depreciating her agony of soul, and that realization, in itself, brought comfort. Per haps, long ago, he had walked the same way. Dr. Fenwick met steadily the challenge in the girl’s hon est gray eyes and said, “No, you are wrong there; religion won’t help you. It wasn’t meant for that. Religion is merely a by-product of something else.” “But what is that ‘something else’?” Marion asked. “It is union with Christ, and that simply means recog nizing His presence in you and His authority over your ‘self’—all there is of you; it is ‘bringing into captivity every thought.’ You belong to Him by right of His purchase, made through His sacrifice. But the question i s : Is He allowed to use His property as He desires ? When you turn over the key to Him, you rid yourself of a vast deal of responsibility; did you know that? Thereafter, He must plan concerning the use of the property and must provide for its needs. All you have to do is to find out His plans and follow them. I said, ‘He must plan,’ but I should have said, ‘He has planned’—ages ago—just what He wants to make of the Marion-Berkeley-property. There is one thing you may be sure of—there is nothing commonplace about His plans for you. There is not one doubt in my mind that His plans will lead you into experiences that are not only higher and nobler than any you have known, but which are also infinitely more satisfying than could ever come as a result of your own planning. There is not a question about His willingness or His ability. The only question is in regard to your own will—whether you will to do God’s will or not.” “I am ashamed to admit it,” Marion replied, “but I never thought of God’s will as being anything nice. It seems to me that whenever I ’ve heard it mentioned, it was in con nection with death, or something else as horrible. But, hon estly, I can’t conceive of a plan that would be ‘satisfying’ to me with love left out.” “You may be absolutely sure that love will not be left out. When He who is love has the right of way, an absence of love would be impossible,” ’ he answered, smilingly.
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December, 1934
PREPARE War!” B y LOUIS S. BAUMAN* Long Beach, Calif.
God’s Final Challenge to the Nations “Peace, peace; when there is no peace” (Jer. 6:14). N o ancient prophecy is so universally known among the sons of men as th is: “And they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more” (Isa. 2 :4). Fervently have men prayed and unceasingly have they toiled for a realization of that day. Yet, never before in the history of man has there been such a multiplication of instruments for the destruction of war, as today— “Ministerial Strikes against War,” Student Pacifist Or ganizations, Disarmament Conferences, Peace Societies, Peace Leagues, Peace Treaties, “Peace Patriots,” Peace Petitions—Peace This and Peace That! Paradoxical as it may seem, the most vociferous prayers for peace and universal disarmament emit from the lair of the huge Russian bear. This fact led Senor de Madariaga, Spanish delegate to that organized flimflam at Geneva, to let loose a bit of satire before that august body: “The lion,” said he, “suggested to the eagle that it should dispense with its talons; the eagle appealed to the
and having given itself over to demonic influences, it must even be so. They would understand the utter futility of all their puny efforts at holding back the storm, and would spend their energies in getting themselves and their fel lows into a refuge upon the top of a Rock that no surging waves of human anguish will ever overflow?) Only ignor ance or unbelief of the “Scripture [that] cannot be broken” (John 10:35) can be back of the waste of effort on the part of church councils in petitioning preachers to preach peace, pray for peace, work for peace, promise peace—when there can be no peace.jHowever much we may admire the good intentions and sympathize with the holy passions which drive men to a hopeless task, and however much we realize that the slightest criticism of these well- meant peace efforts only creates misunderstanding and brings down contempt, we dare affirm that the mission of every true messenger of the most high God is not to preach the gospel of peace to the unregenerate nations as such, but to preach the gospel ofpeace by the blood of Christ to the unregenerate individuaLl We must leave it to Another to plant His feet upon themauntains and publish peace to the nations, even as it is written n-r? h i / / • va 9 “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daugh
bull to give up its horns; the bull appealed to the tiger to abandon its claws; then the bear suggested that all should disarm completely and join him in a universal embrace!”
ter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt, the foal of an ass. And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem, and the battle bow shall be cut off: and he shall speak peace unto the heathen” (Zech. 9:9, 10 ) “Behold upon the mountains the feet of him that bringeth good tid ing, that publisheth peace!” (Nahum 1:15). ¡There is no hope for humanity at Geneva, Lausanne, London, Washington, or elsewhere on this earth. No war of man will end war, whether carried on by bullets or ballots?) Simply because we believe the eternal Word of God, we accept the striking dictum of General Sir Ian Hamilton: “Nothing will stop war save a second advent o f Christ” (The Encyclopaedia Britannica, Thirteenth Edition, Page 981). I nconsistent P eace A dvocates
The Hope of the World The hope of the world Is not in leagues, pacts, or alliances, but in the coming of a personal divine King. It is sometimes said that the laws of economics have broken down. That is not so. It is the men who have to live economic lives who have disobeyed the laws. And the disobedience / rSJ is so widespread that no man can force his fellows to a sufficient obedience to the laws to restore prosperity. It is Christ— coming as King— who can alone do that. But that implies that He who Is coming as the King of the world must be also the King of the individual. "I cannot tell how He will win the nations, How He shall claim His earthly heritage,
2 n spite of all the pretentious gestures for peace, the most stu pendous preparations for slaughter in the history of earth or helLsare # being made by these “beasts” r(Dan. 7 :12) of the earth. They sulk back in their ill-smelling dens, only to await an opportune moment for dashing forth to rip and tear each other into shreds. While the quiv ering voices of fearful and shiver ing multitudes are everywhere call ing, “Peace! Peace!” they arise only to be drowned by the continu ous thunderclaps of the jagged lightnings within the red-black clouds now threatening to sweep man once more from the earth-— this time in a deluge of bloodJlFis aiT7 aptly summed up by Britain’s fam- {_ ous World-War statesman, David Lloyd George: “All nations »are marching to the battlefield with the dove of peace embroidered on their banners.” T he O nly H ope for H umanity -
How satisfy the needs and aspirations O f East and West, of sinners and of sage; But this I know: All flesh shall see His glory, ^ And He shall reap the harvest He h as,,^ s°wn. y w And some glad day His sun shall shine in / splendor A ^
^When He, the Saviour, Saviour of the world, is known." A t _ j. RUSSELL HOW DEN .
The difficulty with so many advocates of peace is that they advocate peace only in time of peace. Some of us have very vivid recollections of many of the present-day advo cates of peace back in World-War days. Peaceful enough until the great provocation came! Then the blood of na tionalism suddenly throbbed hotly in their veins, and they went forth in the spirit of General Jauch, who, in the Swiss civil war, at the battle of Cappel, amid dead silence ex claimed : “In the name of the Holy Trinity, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost— fire!”
Thinking men stand in amazement at the stupidity of a world in which “every prospect pleases”—preparing with avidity the implements with which to blow itself into atoms. Yet (if men would only open their ears to the inspired voices of the prophets of God, they would know that, due to an unregenerate world’s having forsaken God,
* Pastor, First Brethren Church.
December, 1934
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Highly symptomatic is the incongruous fact that Al fred Nobel, founder of the Nobel Prize for Peace—the man who bequeathed 1,500,000 pounds sterling for his Prize Fund, made his riches through the discovery, in 1866, of dynamite. Later, he created so many other “vil lainous saltpetres” that he held 120 patents in England alone, and controlled fifteen factories for making them throughout the world. You see, “thar’s gold in them thar planes, tanks, gases, bombs, submarines, and battleships!” Unregenerate men may talk loudly of “the brotherhood of man” and blather forth protestations of peace. But the world will lie in greater security when once it is man aged by men bom from above! C ovenant -B reakers Only born-again men can be trusted to keep their cove nants, yet reliability is utterly essential to any disarmament and peace. In 1899, Tsar Nicholas II, impressed by the piling up of armaments in the world, sent out an invita tion to the powers. There was a conference, and the dele gates spent their time making laws prohibiting poison gases, dumdum bullets, and bombs from balloons. The boys who fought fifteen years later on Flanders Field can tell you how much these solemn covenants were worth! The famous German, General Ludendorff, in 1930 wrote that, in the next world war, Aerial and naval warfare will begin immediately in the night of the first day of mobilization. . . . Military operations will be begun in Europe with an elemental fury in the first moment. . . . Everywhere and from the first instant, fighting of unprecedented barbarity will be begun on the land, in the air, and on the sea. Less attention will be paid to interna tional law than in the World War, 1914-18, when the enemy powers exploited it to the utmost All agreements concerning warfare, the prohibition against dropping gas bombs from aeroplanes, for instance, or restrictions concerning the use of submarines, will be ignored. “Wars and rumors of wars” (Matt. 2 4 :6) will continue to the end of the age, simply because unregenerate man is a covenant-breaker. No agreement he can make gives assurance. Where there is no assurance, there is fear. And it is the spirit of fear which haunts the nations today and rushes them forward into piling up the vastest munition dumps of all the centuries. F irst , J oel —T hen , I saiah ! Odd as it may seem, the “sure word of prophecy” sets forth the beating of plowshares into swords and of pruning hooks into speaks as an outstanding sign of the near approach of the day when swords will be beaten into plowshares, and spears into pruning hooks. First comes Joel. Then follows Isaiah. A world familiar with Isaiah’s great prophecy of peace (Isa. 2:4) is not so familiar with Joel’s prophecy of battle: “Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles; Prepare war. . . . Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruning hooks into spears” (Joel 3:9, 10). And Joel makes this proclamation of preparation for war the immediate harbinger of the day when “Jerusalem [shall] be holy, and there shall no strangers pass through her any more” (3:17). And in the peace of Jerusalem shall all the nations of the earth find peace! A rmageddon Remember that is it Armageddon of which Joel speaks: “For, behold, in those days, and in that time, when I shall bring again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem, I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat” (Joel 3 :1 ,2 ). And there, in that valley where Jabin’s hosts and their
nine hundred chariots of iron were destroyed, where Sam son with the jawbone of an ass piled the enemies of Jehovah in “heaps upon heaps,” where little David spilled the blood of the mighty giant of Gath, where Josiah fought his fatal fight with Pharaoh-nechoh, where of old “The kings came and fought” and “the stars in their courses fought against Sisera” (Judg. 5 :19, 20)—in that cockpit in which more blood has drenched the ground than in any other equal area on earth—there it is that Arma geddon’s horses will wade blood even to their bridles’ bits (Rev. 14:20). T he L ast C hallenge of O mnipotence If ever a challenge went forth from the almighty God, Joel is the prophet of that challenge: “Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles; P repare war !” When on the clock of the Eternal, the hour strikes for the issuance of the order: “Remove the diadem, and take o ff the crown" (Ezek. 21 :26) from the head of “the prince o f this world" (John 14:30), “when iniquity shall have an end" (Ezek. 2 i :25)—when the moment arrives for Him to come and reign “whose right it is" (Ezek. 21:27), then all the Gentile nations of earth will turn from the paths of peace to an unprecedented “preparedness” pro gram. If the Gentiles’ program now beggaring the peo ples of earth is not a fulfillment of this, then, pray, how can it ever be fulfilled ? “Beat your plowshares into swords" — and the unre generate millions rush to obey! “Let the weak say, I am strong" (Joel 3:10)—and the little nations grasp their swords immediately and outrattle the mighty! Austria outrattles England, and Yugoslavia outrattles the United States of America! “Assemble yourselves"-^ t is God’s final summons to Armageddon. “Come, all ye neathen . . . gather yourselves" —and the nations gather! A British Government White Paper declares that 4,000,000 peace time men of war are now standing on guard on the fron tiers of Europe. Military experts reckon that 32,000,000 trained men await the beat of the drum; 7,500,000 men and women in Russia alone would leap for the Red flag at the first shot. And in this hour, authoritative voices in every land are telling us in no uncertain tones that it is not a matter of years, but of months, when the battle flags of the nations will again unfurl, and the scourge of the earth will be on the march— to A rm ageddon tjy - 6 S Lord Rennell (Great Britain) says: “ I spend some months of every year on the Continent, where I have many links and hear many opinions; and wherever I go, I have for the last year or two been deeply impressed with the universal apprehension of the imminence of war. To the question as to what occasion could provoke it, or whose interest it could possibly be to engage in war, no answer is forthcoming. But a menace of war is in the air.” Henry Morgenthau, Secretary of the United States Treasury, and a chief adviser of President Roosevelt, re turned as a delegate from the recent London Economic Conference and issued the following statement: “War in Europe in 1934 seems to me inevitable. It is fore shadowed by signs ominously similar to those which were clearly visible in Europe in 1913. . . . Dominant leaders have sought what might be made to appear, before the eyes of the world, ‘just’ cause for a war of ‘defense.’ When that is found, and it is likely to be created, war will break with spectacular suddenness. There will be no in terval permitting mediation. During years of anxiety, general staffs have perfected plans for a far swifter action than was possible twenty years ago. Planes and standing armies will be on the move instantly; mobilized millions will be en route almost overnight.”
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