VOL.1
Ruskin's Estimate of the Bible. LL that I have taught of Art, every- thing that I have written, what- ever greatness there has been in any thought of mine, whatever I have done in my life, has simply been due to the fact that when I was a child, my mother daily read to me a part of the Bible, and daily made me learn a part of it by heart. Though I have picked up the ele- ments of a little further knowlege and owe much to the teaching of other people, this property of chapters placed in my mind by. my mother, I count very confidently the most precious, and on the whole the one essential part of my education."—Ruskin. " A '
Published Once a Month by THE BIBLE INSTITUTE OF LOS ANGELES LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA Bible Institute Press.
TWENTY-FIVE CENTS A YEAR.
Forever, O Lord, Thy Word is settled in Heaven.—Psalm 1 19:89
I t f a l ? 3 n s t x t u U ( Incorporated ) 260-264 South Main Street (Second Floor) ,',•.':'.' i L o s An g e l e s , Ca l i f o r n ia
DIRECTORS: Lyman Stewart, President
B e r A»\ PriCh M n ^ i C e P r e ' V B. C. Atterbury, MjD. Secretary-Treas.
T - I Horton - Superintendent
R. A
. Ha
dden, Supt. Extension Work
E. A. K. Hackett
W. E. Blackstone S. I. Merrill W. L. Green
DOCTRINAL STATEMENT We hold to the Historic Faith of the Church as expressed in the Common Creed of Evangelical Christendom and including: ? he I H y i w ™ G ? < i h e a d - T h e Maintenance of Good Works. The Deity of the Christ The Second Coming of Christ The Personality of the Holy Spirit. The Immortality of the Soul t J X l P l e n a r jr a u " T h e Resurrection of the Body The FellowshiTwvf i Bf e i If Life everlasting of Beifevers. Th» 2 S 7 the Church. The Endless Punishment of the Im- Ihe Substitutionary Atonement. penitent The Necessity of the New Birth. The Reality and Personality of Satan. Purpose „ T h e Institute trains accredited men and women, free o t eost > m the knowledge and use of the Bible. Departments , ttl f55S Institute Classes held daily except Satur- r day and Sunday. (2) Extension Work. Classes and conferences held >n neighboring cities and towns. (3) Evangelistic. Meetings conducted by compe tent evangelists under our direction. (4) Spanish Mission. Meetings every night for Spanish-speaking people and house visitation. (5) Shop Work. Regular services in shops and factories all the year. (6) Jewish Evangelism. Personal work in homes for the Hebrew people. (7) Bible Women. House-to-house work and neigh- borhood classes. (8) Aqueduct. Work among the 4000 men on the new aqueduct. (9) Oil Fields. A mission to the men on the oil fields. (10) Books and Tracts. Sale and distribution of selected books and tracts. PRAY FOR THE WORK AND WORKERS OF THE INSTITUTE, If ye abide in me and My Words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will aiid it shall be done unto you.—John 15:7.
The True Test of the Bible
^ | " H E RE is one test to which I cannot but submit every creed, every religion, every book. What kind of manhood has it produced ? What sort of men did the old Bible grow? What of their aspirations, their service, their sacrifice? They were grand men. Perhaps narrow-minded, perhaps austere, per- haps conservative, but they were honorable, determined, self- sacrificing men. They were men who put themselves to a great deal of trouble for others. They gave away much money. They counted not their lives dear unto them. They liberated slaves, they smashed iniquitous monopolies, they founded missionary societies, they dared fire and sword, pestilenee' and cruelty. They had not the latest learning on the Pentateuch, Isaiah and the Apocryphal books, but they gripped the Bible with a nerve of steel. They had immense and miracle-working faith. I believe in my heart that they were more self-sacrificing than many who laugh at their ignorance and condemn their narrowness. They believed in the literal inspiration of the Bible, in the immortality of the soul, in eternal punishment, in the atoning death of the Lord Jesus, and they cried after, if finally they might attain the holiness of God. They were' not critics—they were great workers: not grammarians—but generous givers; not pedants—but unspar- ing in benevolence and sacrifice. I judge every religion by the men it makes, and so judged the Bible has no need to be ashamed of its stalwarts and its heroes. Shall I offend scholars and critics, grammarians and pedants, if I frankly say that merely as such they have next to nothing to do with the Bible ? That the Bible has little or nothing to say to them in their academical capacity? The Bible seeks and finds the heart, talks to the spirit when in the deepest humility goes out after the soul in its penitence and mortal hunger. When the reader is least a grammarian he may be nearest the spirit of the book. "Thus s a i th the high and lofty O ne that inhabiteth eternity, to this man will J look, to the man that is of a humble and a contrite heart, and that trembleth at My word." To " t r emb l e" is better than to parse; in a deep and large sense salvation is not of grammar, else then only grammar- ' ians could have a high place in heaven.-^The Life of Faith.
^^re We in the Succession ?
By Rev. J. H. Jowett, D. D.
Here, then, is a principle. The Gospel of a broken heart demands the ministry of bleeding hearts. If that succession be broken, we lose our fellowship with the King. As soon as we cease to bleed we cease to bless. My brethren are we in this succession? Does the cry of the world's need pierce the heart, and ring even through the fabric of our dreams? Do we "fill u p " our Lord's sufferings > with our own sufferings, or are we the unsympathetic ministers of a mighty passion? I am amazed how easily I beocme callous. I am ashamed how small and insensitive is the surface which I present to the needs and sor- rows of the world. I so easily become enwrapped in the soft wool of self-in- dulgency, and the cries from f ar and near cannot reach my easeful soul. " W h y do you wish to r e t u r n ?" I asked a noble young missionary who had been invalided home: ' ' Because I can't sleep for thinking of them! " But, my breth- ren, except when I spend a day with my Lord, the trend of my life is quite an- other way. I cannot think about them because I am so inclined to sleep! My brethren, I do not know how ai)y Chris- tian service is to be fruitful if the ser- vant is not primarily baptized in the spirit of a suffering compassion. We can never heal the needs we do not feel. Tearless hearts can never be the heralds
of the passion. We must pity if we would redeem. We must bleed if we would be the ministers of the saving blood. Are we m the succession? Are we shedding our blood? Are we filling up ' ' that which is behind of the suffer- ings of Ch r i s t ?" They are doing it among the heathen. It was done in Uganda, when that handful of lads, hav- ing been tortured, and their arms cut on, and while they were being slowly burned to death, raised a song of tri- umph, and praised their Saviour in the fire, "singing till their shriveled tongues refused to form the sound. ' They are doing it in China, the little remnant of the decimated churches gathering here and there upon the very spots of butcnery and martyrdom, and renewing their covenant with the Lord. They are "filling up that which is be- hind of the sufferings of Christ." They are doing it among the missionaries. James Hannington was doing it when he wrote this splendidly heroic word, when he was encountered by tremen- dous opposition:. " I refuse to be disap- pointed;; I will only p r a i s e !" James Chalmers was doi,ng it when, after iong years of hardship and difficulty, he pro- claimed his unalterable choice: " R e- call the twenty-one years, give ine~ back all' its experience, give me ; its ship- wrecks, give me its standings in' the face of death, give it me surrounded with savages with spears and clubs, give it me back again with spears fly- ing about me, with the club knocking me to the ground—give it me back, and I will still be your missionary!" Arc we in the succession?
j i o t e s by the Way.
By J. H. Sammis
to care only for the truth, " so they appear to be very good Christians. They speak of Christianity as the only hope of mankind. They talk of a "cruci- fied and risen Christ," of "revela- t i o n "; of a "regeneration and sancti- fication of peisonality through Go d ," and of " a life that streams from J esus. ' ' But whatever the appearances we know that those men, riarnac, Sa- batier, and others, have repudiated the supernatural m the commonly accepted sense of the word. Miracles, Virgin Birth; physical resurrection, ascension, and îeturn of Jesus; regeneration and sanctification as mystical operations of the Holy Spirit; all this they discard. In thé ethical garb, and the doctrinal speech of Christianity they would ' ' de- ceive the very elect ' ' with their anti- christianity. tory. It is distinguished from all other religions by precisely those facts and tenets which these men repudiate. It is a supernatural religion. It is built upon the miraculous, and it will culmi- nate in the miraculous. Its cardinal, and peculiar teachings are of a Virgin- born God-Man; a miracle working and divinely authoritative Teacher; an ex- piatory sacrifice c-n the Cross; a physi- cally risen, ascended and coming Jesus; an ever present and Personal God the Holy Snirit. communicating the life of the Living Christ to His Body the Church. .Any other " Ch r i s t i a n i t y ," call it " f r e e , ' - "progressive," " l i b 1 oral," " modern,'' whatever you please is not Christianity. It is only the vain and spiritually impotent "wisdom of this world, and of the princes of this world which come to nought.'' There is no doubt on this point. It is the conceit of men to whom the Cross, and What Is Chris- There is only one Christianity! It is that of Scripture and his- tianity?
All things are " P e o p le say that one ! Possible with cannot convert Moslems, I God. because apostasy for such means death. Let I me tell you my experience. After I had I learned through the gospel to know my I true Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, I nationality, honors, life, ancestry lost I all the value which, up to that time, I they had had for me. The truth alone I became my aim and goal. When I first 1 confessed Christ and the Mohammedan I priests came together in my village to § confute my testimony, one of them J struck me in the face with all his I strength. At that moment my heart I said: 'There is a proof that Jesus has • accepted you, for He has accounted you ,§, worthy to suffer shame for His name.' ft Before my inner eyes there rose up « plainly written the letters of Acts v. & 4, and this gave me such a rapture of « j o y as I had never known or experi- JLenced in any way up to that time. I ¡»said: ' If a blow can make, me partake 4 of such heavenly delights, how great » w o u ld be the bliss of dying for the •»Lord .Jesus!' From that time death lost Mall significance for me. My only wish Wiwas to preach the gospel to Mohamme- r| dans.' '—A Mohammedan Priest. ! ¡ J " l i b e r a l" scholars and preachers was « h e l d at Berlin in July. It is reported ijthat its personnel was "profoundly re- ' ligious," and " a p p e a r ed to care only If or the t r u t h ." " They believe in a free Christianity—but it is in Christ- ianity they believe.'' They are ' ' f r e e ' ' ' vin the sense that they have " c a s t His i bonds from t h em ," and confess no con- I Straints of old orthodoxy; of Church, j fcreed, or Scripture. As they " a p p e ar The "World's Congress 1 of Free Christianity. Unuer this title a gather- ing of noted
the wisdom ordained for our glory from the foundation of the World, is foolish- ness. Paul has long ago and explicitly characterized and condemned it in the opening chapters of Corinthians. There is but one fixed vs. Science, science and that is tne Sci-ence of Salvation; " t o know Thee and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast s e n t ." It is not discovered facts but uncovered facts that are cer- tainly real. A very learned man re- cently said: " We know and can know nothing. That is the sole certainty. Honest science has abandoned the pre- tence which it cherished yesterday of ever being able to explain things. Every time that a poor human brain discovers the reason for anything it is as if it had succeeded in forcing an iron door only to rush into a still dark- er and more securely barred corridor. As we advance, the mystery, the dark- ness deepens, the horror increases." Such is the confession of twentieth cen- tury science. Surely we have nothing yet to fear if it presumes to question the explanation of things as found in Holy Scripture. Here the "poor human brain" may find rest. Here the hand of Omniscience sets before the man of faith s '-an open d o o r '' leading into a corridor of light, where " t h e path of tne just groweth more and more unto tne perfect d a y ." " The darkness is past and the true light now siuneth." the University of Death, to learn and un- learn in much of which he was ignor- ant, ana much in which ue erred. He had done what '-he could to move our feet from the Rock of Ages to the shift- ing sand of " s c i e n t i f i c" speculation. He believed in immortality, but on foundations so unstable as to need the proD of ghostly testimony communi- cated tohrugh the ' ' medium'' of spirit- "Science" "What .cools An eminent teach- er and author has just matriculated in these mortals be."
istic seance. Such testimony he, him- self, pledged to supply axter deatn if he could. His message has been re- ceived (?). It is, indeed, hardly worthy of so profound and keen an intellect as the professor's, but the learned gentle- man confesses to being a good deal aazed and befuddled by the new, though pleasant, conditions in whicn he finds himself. He promises, however, to "ma n i f e st more c l e a r l y" when he gets thoroughly settled in the new coun- try. Men will believe anything but the Bible; and seek any source of informa- tion rather than the page of self-evi- dent truthfulness. Holy men of God, moved by the Holy Spirit, have declared unto us the things " e y e hath not seen, and ear hath not h e a r d ." ±$ut proud man, boasting his sanity and profundity prefers to " s e ek unto spirits that peep and mu t t e r "; to " m e d i u m s" a thousand times trapped in grossest irauds; and listen soberly to senseless drivel too absurd to attribute to rational beings in the body or out of it. And on such evidence "¡scholarship" would have us rest our case for life or death! Truth." He who brought life and immor- tality to light through the Gospei spoke not so uncertainly. There were no " i f s " when He said, " I f I go, ± will come a g a i n ." " I will manifest My- s e l f ," Jno. 14:3, 21. He came again; He manifested Himself; not through impure ,and charlatanic montebanks male and female; not with legerdemain and clownish pranks under cover of darkness; but by His hoiy apostles, and the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven, confirming their word with equally noly and beneficent " s i g n s " following. Again let us thank God; for " t o be aDsent from the body is to be present with the L o r d ," m the company of just men made perfect, f ar from the horrible seances of aead men in the flesh, or in spirit. firmer ground. " I am the Thank God! We stand on
^
Short Story of the Los Angeles Bible Institute.
i Bible Schools are a produet of the times—an outgrowth of cer- tain conditions; they are God's agency for an emergency. God foresees a need and supplies it. He laid the foundations over a quarter of a century ago, when the work of undermining the faith in the Word of God began to take definite shape in this country. God must hav workmen and they must be trained in His Word. At present comparatively few men are entering the ministry. Many large seminaries are destitute of students. Hundreds of small churches are without pastors.; Other hundreds are closed en- tirely. There are thousands .of unoccupied fields throughout the land, and more than half of the earth's inhabitants have never heard the Gospel. There are constant calls for men and women who can do things for God. The Church needs Sunday School teachers, helpers, evangelists, and leaders who know the Bible, and it is to meet this demand that God has raised up in different sections of the land Bible Schools where men and women can be trained in a knowledge of the Bible and practical work in the saving and sanctifying of souls. These schools are not theological seminaries; they are not designed to be competitors—they could not be. The Bible is the book of the common people, and a work- ing knowledge of the Bible is the first great requisite in equipment for service among the people, and to give this instruction is the task committed by God to Bible Institutes., Is an incorporated institution with an uncompormising Bible standard, for which it makes no apology. It is fair to those who are in any way interested that its doctrinal position should be clearly stated. We hold to the historic faith of the evangelical church, and teach: The Trinity of the Godhead. The Deity of the Christ.
Why a Bible Institute ?
The Los Angeles Bible Institute
The Personality of the Holy Spirit. The Supernatural and Plenary author- ity of the Holy Scriptures. The Fellowship of the Church. The Substitutionary Atonement. The Necessity of the New Birth. The Maintainance of Good Works. The Second Coming of Christ.
The King's Business
1 7 2
The Immortality of the Soul. The Resurrection of the Body. The Life everlasting of Believers.' The Endless Punishment of the Im- penitent. The Reality and Personality of Satan.
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Our position is INTERDENOMINATIONAL. All of the above doetrines are held by many members in good standing in the various evangelical churches. We hold no fads or fancies. The text book is the English Bible. We seek to present truth in its proper proportion, as the Spirit has given it in the Word. Many denominations are represented upon our Board and Faculty. The Dean of our School, Mr. W. E. Blackstone, is an honored and greatly beloved layman of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and our students represent almost all evangelical denom- inations. The Institute has but one purpose in its work—the qualifying of men and women for service in any field to which the Lord in His providence may call them. There are no charges for tuition; the work is a labor of love. We seek to be a real blessing to every evangelical church, and to the largest number of individuals pos- sible. We are under rio obligation to any denomination, and wili not curry favor with any sect or individual. The foundation of the school has been laid upon broad lines for large and permanent usefulness. The faculty is comopsed of strong Bible men, who bring to their service a large, practical experience in definite Christian work; men who have been successful as teach- ers, preachers, evangelists and leaders in aggressive business for God. The School seeks to give, in a two years' course a practical working knowledge of the whole Bible. The curriculum includes: Books of the Bible, The Great Doctrines, Chapter Studies, Homi- letics, Church History, Practical and Personal Work, and Missions. The Course is thorough and the examinations are rigid.
The Purpose
The Officials
Extension
T l i e Institute work is not confined to the work within its build- ing, but conducts classes in different sections of the «ity, and in
Work
the surrounding cities and towns.
The breadth of the work can only be comprehended by personal touch with all of its departments. The Institute has become a ral- lying center for the study of the Word, and a radiating center for various forms of aggressive Christian work. The Institute has supported eight Bible Women, who have been engaged in house- to-house visitation and the conducting of Bible classes in churches and homes; a successful Mission among the twenty thousand
Theory and Practice
Mexicans; two workers giving theif whole time to service among the Jews; two workers in the shops and factories where successful meetings are held every week in the year; one worker working among the men on the aqueduct and two men among the oil fields; three evangelists have held services from San Diego to Washing- ton; and these combined workers have held in the last year over 3000 meetings, and over 2000 have confessed conversion. No part of our service has had greater significance than has our touch with the young people of the city. Hundreds of them are enrolled in our Monday and Tuesday evening classes, and the monthly meeting of these combined classes with the young people f the most impressive and blessed meetings ever held in our city. The entering wedge of paganism is in this fair state of ours. Our sister city on the North, with more than 400,000 inhabitants, has but 12,000 evangelical church members—one out of every thirty-three of the people are strangers to the evangelical Gospel. There are great fields throughout the State without any Gospel privileges. Many of them we have visited. The near future will bring to us through the Panama Canal, thousands of unevangelized people. We must reach this people with the Gospel or they will reach us and our children with their infidelity. This State is the hot-bed for all sorts of fads and fancies which deny the Deity of our Lord. These are not new but old as the devil himself, and fraught with awful danger to all of our institutions. The fol- lowers of these devilish systems are indefatigable in their efforts to sow the seed of destruction, and we must evangelize the State with the Gospel of God or be evangelized with the doctrines of devils. This condition makes it imperative upon the people of God, who are true to the Truth, to unite in an effort to stem the tide. Los Angeles is the logical place for a great Bible Institute. Our wonderful climate affords the privilege of living out doors all t h e y e a r a r o u n f l - The living is cheap, the cosmopolitan character of the city makes possible the study of the peoples from all sec- tions of the earth, and gives opportunity for practical work in their midst. i g o n e 0
T h e
Young People
T h e
Ideal i lace
g r i e f Thoughts
For Busy Teachers.
International Sunday School Lesson as Taught By T. C. Horton At the Bible Institute, Los Angeles.
SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON FOK NOV. 6, 1910. THE LAST SUPPEE. Matt. 26:17-30. Golden Text —Luke 22:19. Outline. (1) Locating the place for the supper. Vs. 17-19. (2) Last Passover Feast. Vs. 20-25. (3) Lord's Supper. Vs. 26-30, The city of Jerusalem was making ready for the great feast. The Jews were plotting to kill the Lord. At Bethany our Lord had been anointed. He had made His triumphal entry into Jerusalem. Had cursed the fig tree. On Olivet He had given the discourse we have been studying,, and after a few days' rest in Bethany. He comes to the city for the Passover Feast. THE PLACE. ' - I will keep the Pass- over at thy house." Having no home of his own in Jeru- salem he must secure the home of an- other. The people of Jerusalem were free in offering their homes to strang- rs for this feast. A curtain was some- times hung before the front door as a sign that there was still room for gups' V. • Our Lord made choice of a room which he did not designate only per- haps to keen the place a secret from .Tudas, who had already bargained for the delivery of His Master, Mark 14: 10-11, Luke 23:3-6. The Lord sent two of His Disciples, Mark 14:13. Luke says Peter and John, Luke 22:8. They were to meet a man bearing a pitcher
of water and were to follow him and ask for a room for the Master. He exercised -his supreme authority as when he sent them for the ass and colt, Matt. 21:2. This 'man was probably a dis- ciple. Some have thought the place was the home of Mary, thè mother of John Mark,. where the disciples afterward met for prayer and received the Holy Spirit, Acts 1:13, and where prayer was made for Peter when he was in prison, Acts 12:12. Edersheim says: " A room was needed with tables surrounded by couches, for the Passover Feast must be eaten reclining, since it was a canon that even the poorest must partake of that supper in a reclining attitude, TO indicate rest, safety and l i b e r t y ." they did eat." What a history lies between the first Passover, that night in Egypt, and this eventful last one. A history of one people whose King has come, has been rejected and now reclines at the table with a dozen men to partake of the last meal before His crucifixion. The order of events connected wij;h the Passover feast is as follows: (1) The Lord and His disciples at the table. (2) The contention as to who should be greatest. (3) The feet washing. (4) The identification of Judas as the traitor. (5) The' withdrawal of Judas. (6) The institution of the Supper. THEPASSOVEE FEAST. "And as
tines. For money Gehazi deceived Naa- man and lied to Elisha. For money Annanias and Sapphira deceived the early church and lied to Peter and the Holy Ghost, and for money God's pre- cious Son was sold into the nands of His An awful woe is pronounced upon Judas. " It had been good for that man ij. he had not been born." It would have been better never to have lived than to live and reject Jesus Christ. There is no room in the light of this statement for universalism or for annihilation. There is no change in that world of darkness into which Judas and those who follow in his foot- steps are projected, where the worm never dies and the fire is never quenched, Mark 9:44. Every faithful hearts are filled with gratitude—with glad hearts we cry, •' Hallelujah, what a Saviour.'' A Feast. The host is the Lord Himself. He presides. It is His table. Here He en- tertains His friends. Bread and wine blessed by the King of Heaven. Here He welcomed all alike. He is the cen- ter of all eyes and all thought. A Fellowship. Here all the children of God can unite. No initiation, no secret meet- ings, no regalia, no ritual, no grips, no rows, and yet the strongest tie that ever held the hearts of men in a bond of the brotherhood. It recognizes no east, no color, no conditions, no distinc- tions; united in one bond of faith, in love and joy they are strengthened, In this feast we are permitted to tes- t i fy to onr faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. We say to H i m , " We believe in you, we take your name and your place and acknowledge your leader- ship. ' ' A Prophecy. This table has a voice which speaks sanctified and built up. A Profession of Faith.
(7) The words of Jesus while still in the room, Matt. 26:26-29, Luke 22:35-38, Jno. 13:31-35", 14:1-31. (8) Tthe words of Jesus between the room and the garden, Matt. 26:31-35, Mark 14:26-31, Jno. 15:16, 17. It seems probable that the high priestly prayer, Jno. 17, was uttered after they reached the garden. (9) The agony in the garden. (10) Jesus before Caiaphas; Peter's denial. The Passover was a type of Christ as redeemer. A lamb without blemish was slain, Jno, 1:29, 1 Pet. 1:19: Slain from the foundation of the world, Rev. 13:8. The Passover commemorated the de- liverance of Israel from Egypt, Ex. 12: 1-28. It was observed on that night when judgment came upon Egypt and when Israel departed from the land. It was a solemn, yet joyful feast. The victim was a lamb, Jno. 1:29, without blemish, 1 Pet. 1:19, slain by all Israel, Matt. 27:35. The sprinkled blood upon the door- post and lintel assured safety, 1 Jno. 1:7, Heb. 12:24. Christ crucified is the only hope. Christ received is the only refuge for lost souls. The Betrayer. During the meal the Lord made the announcement that one of those pres- ent should betray him. This statement fell like a pall unon all but one of the disciples. Each one was looking into his own heart and wondering , whether he could be guilty of such a sin. The human heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked, Tno. 17: 9. Ouly God himself knows the depth of human depravity, Jno. 2:25. Judas was the treasurer and a money lover. The love of money is the root of all evil, 2 Tim. 6:10. For money Joseph was sold by his brethren and Sampson was betrayed to the Philis-
of another life. " T i l l I come," 1 Cor. teacher should use this opportunity to press home the solemn truth of thé eter- nal woe of the wicked. The Lord's Supper. "This is my blood of the new testament. With the same bread and wine the Lord now institutes a new feast, sealed by the blood of a new covenant. ' ' This is my body. ' ' That the Lord could not have intended to teach that it was his literal body is plain, because he stood before them in his natural body. The Jews had been taught never to eat flesh with the blood, Jno. 6:53-57, and when the disciples said, " T h is is a hard say- ing, who can bear it,'-' he answered: " I t is the Spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing," Jno. 6:60-63. This supper is A Memorial. The Lord authorized no monument erected in his memory. He needed none. The Bible, The Lord's Day, The Church, are the lasting monuments, 'ine Crucifixion of Christ is the most momentous event in the world's history Matt. 24:32-51. Golden Text—Matt. 26;41. Theme—The Parable of the Fig Tree. Outline. (1) The Sign of the Lord's Coming. (2) The Sure Word of the Lord. THE SIGN OF HIS COMING. "When ye see all these things." In returning to this chapter for our study we must call attention to the context. In the 38th verse of the chap- ter 23, He says: "Behold your house is left unto you desolate.'' The first
and of that event the Supper is a me- morial. The table recalls the cross. A Symbol. This table represents the invisible. The bread represents His body and the cup His blood. His death represents His blood poured out. He has become the food for our souls—there is none apart from Him—'' Except ye eat, ye have no life in y e , " Jno. 6:53. Thus it becomes a channel for the interpreta- tion of spiritual blessings. A Thanksgiving Service. Here the soul is lifted in praise to the Lord God; we remember His grace and devotion and all the benefits flow- ing from His great sacrifice and our 11:23-26. It stands between two peaks S - t he cross and the glory. He is com- ing again; what a glorious prospect! A Command. He left not many commands. We are free for service. He urges us, in view of His love and sacrifice. How can we stay away—until He comes! Let us gather in grateful remembrance, blend- ing our hearts in loving adoration. verse of our chapter sayg, ' ' And Jesus went out and departed from the Tem- p l e ." He has separated Himself from Israel as a nation and they shall not see Him until they shall say, "Blessed is i^e that cometh in the name of the L o r d ." What .a long period must exist and what events must transpire. As they sat upon the Mo)int of Olives the disciples asked him: "Wh en shall these things be? What shall be the sign of thy Coming? and the end of the a g e . " The portion we study is a par- tial reply to these three questions. The Lord introduces the parable of
WORLD'S TEMPERANCE LESSON.
there will be the evident manifestation of the leaves upon the Jewish tree. Their summer will be nigh, when the fruit will be ripe and Israel shall come to her own again. THE SURE WORD. "But My words shall not pass away." It is well to note that the Lord Jesus here séís His seal to the great doctrine of His Coming again, by this declara- tion concerning His word. He declares that His words are mightier than His works for all of His works shall pass away, 2 Pet. 3:10, but His words shall endure forever, 1 Pet. 1:25. They are incorruptible, 1 Pet. -1:23. The heavens and the earth are kept by His Word, 2 Pet. 3:7. So with this never failing mighty Word of God every teacher can go to the class and teach with authority and not as the Scribes, Matt. 7:29. We have a more sure word of prophecy whereunto we do well to take heed, 2 Pet. 1:19. THE SOCIAL CONDITION. "As it was in the days of Noah." The day and hour of the Lord's Com- ing is not known. We must always distinguish the Lord's Coming for His Saints and His coming with His saints.. if we forget that we are looking at the Coming of the Son of Man in its Jew- ish aspect, we shall be sure to err in interpretation. The Lord comes for His Saints and meets them in the air, ,1 Thess. 4:16-17. The Lord comes with His Saints to judge the nations and to establish His personal and temporal reign upon the eartn, Rev. 1:7. He comes for His own and eatcnes them up, both those WHO sleep and those who are awake. All that are in Christ, dead and living. They are His own. They have be- lieved on Him and have His eternal life, Jno. 6:47. They shall never perish, •Ino. 10:28, 29. They shall never be separated from God, Rom. 8:38, 39.
the fig tree which is a symbol of Israel, Joel 1:7. The Coming of the Lord is here seen in its relation to Israel. If this can be born in mind it will help to simplify the interpretation. Signs are for Israel. The sign shall be in heaven. As there was a sign of the star to the wise men at His first coming, so there will be a sign before He shall come to the earth. Some have thought that the sign will be the ap- pearance of Christ Himself, Matt. 26: 64. Others have thought it would be a star, others a great light and still others that it will be the sign of the cross which is the emblem of both the trial and triumph of Christ, 'l'he sign will undoubtedly be different from the Son Himself. THE TIME. Immediately afteT the tribulation spoken of in the 29th verse. This trib- ulation can not be the destruction of Jerusalem as some teach. In Luke 21: 20-24 the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus is prophesied and the scattering of the Jews among all nations is fore- told and thus to continue until the time of the Gentile is fulfilled. Not only the Jews, but the tribes of the earth shall moan. The times of the Gentiles began with the captivity of Judah, 2 ChTon. 36:1-21. Since which time Jerusalem has been under the lordship of Gentiles. THE JEWISH RACE. The generation- shall not pass away until all these things shall be fulfilled. The primary meaning of the word gen- eration is race, family, stock. The Jew- ish race must be perpetuated; their scattering is a part of the plan of God, but so also is their gathering, and tliey will be in their own land again when the Sign appears and not only so, but
When He appears they must appear with Him in glory, Col. 3:4.
ful for those who are u n p r e p a r e d- while about the usual avocations—-like a bolt out of a clear sky will the war- rant be served.
CHARACTER OF THE DAYS. To the oft repeated question, "Wi ll the world be converted when the Lord comes," we have only to point to this and other scripture to show that it will be impossible. Noah's Bay. Read Gen. 6:1-8, and you will catch the reflection of the kind of day that existed when Noah was saved out of the judgment of waters, when God saw that the wickedness of man was so great that He could not put up with it any longer. Lot's Day. In Luke 17:28, 29, the Lord describes the days when the wick- edness was so great that God rained fire irom heaven and destroyed the cities of the plain. So it will be, He says, when He shall be revealed, Peter says, 2 Pet. and delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked. Perilous Days. Jude says, Jude 14: 18, that the Lord is coming to execute judgment upon all the ungodly mockers who walk after their own lusts, and Paul says: " I n the last that perilous times shall come and evil men and se- ducers shall wax worse ana worse, de- ceiving and being deceived, 2 Tim. 3:1-13. James tells them to weep and iiowl lor the miseries thai, shall come upon them and that they have heaped treasures together for .the last days, James j:'l 8. And Jesus says when He comes, shall He find the faith upon the earth, Luke 18:8. THE SOLEMN INJUNCTION. "Watch." No man knows the day nor the hour of the Lord's return'. JSfo events are left to intervene between His going and His return for the Church. The Church is left in the attitude of ignor- ance as to the time. Even the Son of Man has voluntarily limited Himself in thi£ respect. Only God the Father knows. We know the fact, not the date. It will be sudden, as a lightning flash across the heavens; it will be aw-
THE FAITHFUL SERVANT. Is of the day, not of the night.
Hp believes the Word. He is therefore ready. , He is therefore doing the Master's will. He watches to be faithful, 1 Cor. 4: 2, 1 Tim. 1:12. . THE UNFAITHFUL SERVANT. Doubts the Word and says, "Wh e re is thé sign of His Coming?" He says, the Lord tarrieth and will not come quickly. He lives like a worldling. He is blind to the truth. He is indifferent to the Lord's com- mand. He does not love His appearing. He must suffer the consequences. Whatsoever we sow, we reap. Are you looking for the Lord? POINTS. Practical. (1) The Sign of the Son of Man will seal the doom of many of tue sons of men. (2) The righteous will rejoiee more and more, but the wicked will wax worse and worse. -.(3) The wise man works and watch- es: the wicked man wastes his time in wantonness. The words of men will perish with this world, but the words of the Master will outlive the perish- ing world. The works of God will pass away; the Words of Christ will endure through eternity. (4) The Faithful Servant, will be found filling his place and toiling at the task given by his Master. (5) If we love Him we will not only look 'for him, but will long for Him. (6) The secret of a strong Christian life is to live in the dany, delightful expectation of the Lord's return.
SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON FOB NOV. 20, 1910.
9:2) and in the power of the resurrec- tion of Jairus' daughter? (Luke 8:51.) Are they to be merely witnesses of this most sacred, scene? Does the humanity of Jesus crave fellowship in the hour oi temptation that lies just before Him? Is this lesson to be a certificate of His perfect humanity, manifest in His deep desire for the presence of these loved men who had for so long a time shared His earthly ministry? Does He long for the conscious touch with humanity as He enters the awful gloom of that dreadful, dark trial? He began to be sorrowful and very heavy and tenderly said to them,. ' f. Tarry ye here and watch with Me . '' The wine press is before Him (Rev. 19:15). He must enter it alone; but, here are three faithful ones, men who love him; their presence will comofrt Him. (2) THE SUPPLICATING SAVIOR. " A n d fell on His face and p r a y e d" (Luke 22:41). Here is one of the most striking pictures in the whole Bible; sad, sacred, solemn. We stand ift awe as we behold it. This is a holy place. Alone, in the deep recesses of the gar- den, in the dead oi night, a man goes to battle, not for Himself, not for His country, but for a lost world. Prostrate upon His face, pleading with His Fath- er, lies the beautiful form of the be- loved Son of God. Issuing from His lips comes the strange cry, " Qh, my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from m e . " Is God torturing His Son? Does the Savior shrink from death? Other men have met it calmy; would He shrink from the suffering of the Cross? He had already said, " I have power to lay my life down, and I have power to take it up a g a i n ." What is the meaning of this prayer? In the wilderness temptation, : when Tesus had mastered Satan, we are told that Satan left Him for a season (Luke 4-13). In His words, just uttered in the upper room He had- said, " T h e Prince of this world cometh and hath nothing in m e " (Jno. 14:30); and now he comes, marshalling all the powers of darkness and sweeps down upon the
By T. C. Horton. Jesus in Gethsemane. Matt. 26:36-56. Theme—The Cup of Sorrow. Outline. (1) The sorrowing Saviour. "Vs. 36-38. (2) The supplicating Saviour. Ys. 39-44. (3) The sleeping saints. Vs. 40-43. (4) The solemn statement. Vs. 45, 46. The Passover Feast and the Lord's Supper were over; the Lord had girded Himself with an apron and washed the disciples' feet; He had warned Peter of his coming denial; He spoke those wonderful words found in the 14th, 15th and 16th of John's gospel, and offered that marvelous prayer recorded in the 17th chapter; which is the real Lord's Prayer; they had sung a hymn, the last He sang with them and they went out. (1) THE SORROWING SAVIOR. " M y soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto d e a t h ." Gethsemane was about half a mile east from the walls of Jerusalem, beyond the brook Kedron, and at the foot of the Mt. of Olives. Here was a place or a farm where, prob- ably, oil was made from the olives of the adjoining hill. .Attached to it was a garden. This was a favorite resort for Christ and His disciples, where they might find grateful quiet and shelter from the burning sun. It is night when Jesus leads the little company into the' quiet of that sacred spot. Leaving the eight near the en- trance, He takes Peter, Tames and Tohn with Him into the deep recesses of the wood. I t is the oicture of Abraham leaving the servant behind and ascending, alone with his son, into the mount so near this place. (Gen. 22:5.) For what purpose does He select these three men who had ben with Him in the glory of the transfiguration (Mk.
Son of God. All the malignant hatred of hell itself is manifested in this at- tack. Jesus stands confronted with the fact that His own people have rejected Him (Jno. 1:11); one of His own disciples had betrayed Him; the eleven were to forsake Him; He was to be numiliated before men in a moek trial; His body was to endure the cruel scourge; there was the cross and the physical suffer- ing. Beyond all this was the awful sense of the load of guilt of a sinful world and still farther and above all, the~ midnight darkness, when the Fath- er 's face was to be turned from Him. Therefore there is a threefold prayer and. perhaps, a threefold temptation, as at the first. Paul prayed three times for deliverance and was given, instead, grace to bear his trial. The Lord prayed three times and His prayer was answered. We are told in Heb. 5:7 ' ' That in the days of JLLIS flesn, when He had offered up prayer and supplica- tion, with strong crying and tears, unto Him who was able to save Him from death and was heard in that He f e a r e d ," and does this not give us the key to the meaning of the cup which He desired to pass from Him? He feared lest He might, at the crucial moment, fail in loyalty to the Father's will. The thought of the awful darkness and veiled face of His Father; the "becoming S i n " was with Him and He needed Divine power to resist the shrinking from that cup. He did not shrink from the Cross. (Jno. 12:27, 28.) His Father sent an angel to strength- en Him and He found, as aid Paul, that God's grace was sufficient. What a lesson concerning our own trialsl We pray and then faint. . If our prayers are not immediately answered, we charge God with neglect and indiffer- ence. The Son of God struggled for at least an hour and prayed three times before He received the answer. Let us learn to meet temptation and trial with pray- er. All life is a battle. There is con- flict in the state, conflict in the home, conflict in the heart; there is conflict with the will of God. We need to rec-
ognize the right of the Father to rule our lives. We must bend our wills to His will. It is well to be overcome of God, as was Jacob (Gen. 32:25). We may go limping through life, but halt- ing steps will be the seal to our victory. (3) THE SLEEPING SAINTS. " A n d findeth them asleep." What a disappointment! Here are the three trusted friends and all asleep. Peter had been sure he would never fail his Lord (Matt. 26:35). We must allow for the exciting events of the day; the strange message of the Master, and the prayer in the upper room; the agonized face of the Lord and their deep sorrow, for all of these combined to weary the flesh (Luke 22:45). He had warned them to watch. The rebuke of the Lord is gentle, but it is penetrating. When David wept at the Mt< of Olives, all of his follow- ers wept wth hm; but when Davd's Son and Lord sweat drops of blood, His fol- lowers went to sleep. Jesus felt, keen- ly, their indifference and He designed to teach them and all o f ' u s a needed lesson. We are all subject to tempta- tion. The only safety is in watching and praying. We should be on the alert to see the first intimation of temp- tation to sin, so that it may De cheeked. When we find ourselves yielding we should be alarmed. Had Peter remained awake- he might have saved the others. We should be on guard against certain tendencies. Practice makes habit. .'How humiliating to be found asleep once! How painful to be found the third time! v If Jesus needed to pray, how much more do we? (4) THE SOLEMN STATEMENT. "Sleep on now and take your r e s t ." What a sad awakening for tnose dis- ciples! Their loving Master had need- ed their sympathy; they had failed Him. The opportunity was gone; it never could return again. The trial was over. He had been victorious. He calmy looks unon them and then awakens them. The disciples awake to find them- selves in peril. They need strength •
prayer. Failing to watch and pray, men are overcome and swept away by the power of some mighty wave of temp- tation. The Devil watches and at the critical time he comes in like a flood. Praying without watching is hypocrisy; watch- ing without praying is presumption. Let us put on the whole armour of God, take the Sword of the Spirit and watcn unto prayer (Eph. 6:13-18). Keep all the facts clearly in view. istered? Where are the eleven apostles whom He had chosen? Where is Peter who had sworn to stand by Him and John who had reclined on His bosom? Where is the tnrong which had hailed ±j.im with hosannas and crowned .Him as thejr ,M'eSsia"h? What a pathetic picture! See the divine Man with hands bound behind Him, head bowed, surrounded by a mob and led by His erstwhile follow- ers to the palaec of the priest! How perfectly human He is now! Contrast Christ and Peter; one with the .consciousness of innocence, doing His Father's will, the other with a troubled conscience, following afar off. Love for the Lord led Peter to fol- low; fear of impending danger, in which he might be involved, kept him in the background. Through fear of death he forsook Him who was the fountain of life and had raised from the dead. As Jesus passed through the sheep gate, where the animals designed for Slaughter were led, the words of Isaiah might have been repeated: " H e is brought as a lamb to the slaughter'' (Isa. 53:7). (2) THE SEARCH FOR FALSE WIT- NESSES. " So u g ht false witnesses against Jesus. " This was an informal gather- ing of the Sanhedrists, hastily called. It was not held in their hall, but in a room belonging to the palace of the High Priest, Caiaphas.
now; yonder are the torches of the band whose leader is the traitor Judas. Danger now threatens them. What a splendid opportunity to show their faith and faithfulness I But they were unprepared; they had failed to pray and now they all forsake Him and flee. What emphasis should be placed on that injunction of the Lord, " w a t ch and pray lest ye enter into t emp t a t i o n" (Mark 14:38, 1 Pet. 4:7). Many times We fall into sin because we have not bulwarked our lives with T. C. Horton. The trial of Jesus.— Matt. 26:57, 58... Outline. (1) The Solitary Prisoner. Vs. 57, 58. (2) The Search for False Witnesses. Vs. 59-62. (3) The Silent Prisoner. Vs. 63. (4) The Sacriligious Court. Vs. 63-65. (5) The Slanderous Sentence. Vs. 66-68. This lesson is one of character study. What motives actuated the Rulers? What motives controlled Jesus! What does it teach concerning cul- tured religious human nature? What about the perfect human and divine nature of ..esus? (1) THE SOLITARY PRISONER. 'They led Him awa y ." The preced- ing verse tells us that they all forsook Him and fled. He stood alone. They then laid hands upon Him, bound Him and led Him away. What a picture of the Christ! What a fulfillment of the saying, " M y kinsfolk have failed me and my familiar friends have forgot- ten m e " (Job.-19:14). Where now is the multitude whom He fed? Where are the sick whom He healed; the distressed whom He had delivered? Where are the disciples whom He loved and to whom He min-
SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON FOR NOV. 27, 1910.
They were gathered at midnight, the time best suited- to their hellish pur- pose. Their evil deed would not stand the light and there was, with them, as there ever is in wieked deeds, a fear of the people. This council has resolved upon the death of Jesus; the trial is to be a mere formality (Matt. 26:15). The Jewish canons prescribed that capital causes should be tried in the day and be punished in the day. Jewish law demanded that there should be two or three witnesses whose testimony should agree (Deut. 17:6). For such witnesses they had been seek- ing. Many were ready to testify,' but there was no agreement in their testi- mony. " F a l se witnesses did rjse uti; they laid to my charge things that I knew n o t " (Ps. .27:12). There was no time to coach the wit- nesses as do our modern lawyers.- The old saying was verified, ' 1'he legs of the lame were not equal." There was an old tradition among the lews that It was blasphemy to predict the destruc- tion of the temple. When Jeremiah pro- pnesied against the city, ' 1 This man is worthy to die for he hath prophesied against the c i t y " (Jer. 26:11). aiOw two men were found who testi- fied that He said He was able to destroy the temple and to build it in three days —words which John tells us He spoke concerning the temple of His body (Tno. 2:19). Mark tells us that these two witnesses, even, did not agree (Mark 14:59). The High Priest is a c r a f ty Jew. He knows that the testimony of the witnesses is not sufficient, so he seeks the prisoner to in- criminate Himself. ' ' Answerest thou n o t h i n g ?" Jesus maintains the same attitude that He did before Pilate. " H e answered him never a wo r d ." Prophecy is again fulfilled': " H e was oppressed; He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mo u t h ." As a'sheep before her. shearers is dumb, so He opened not His mouth. He was reviled, yet He reviled not again; He suffered, yet He threatened not; He committed (3) THE SILENT PRISONER. " H e held His peace."
Himself to Him that judgeth righteous- l y " (Isa. 53; 7, 1 Pet. 2:23). The best answer to make to slander is to say nothing. He had taught that they were not to resist evil; to love their enemies; to bless those who cursed them; to do good to those who hated them. He is not here to uefend His own cause. He could have eomamhded angels to defend Him (Matt. 26:53), but He is in the hands of His Father. He held His peace, (4) THE SACRIIiIOrlOUS COURT. " I adjure thee by the living God." The High Priest is stung to the quick. The silence of Jesus nettles him. The witnesses had failed; Jesus would not be entrapped. He has another card to play. He adjures Him in the name of Jehovah. Here is the highest tribunal of the Jewish people, presided over by the High Priest who, officially, is sup- osed to represent God among men and to appear before God for men. This council has determined beforehand that the prisoner must die; they have bar- tered with one of H s own followers for His betrayal; they havfe gathered false witnesses; they have convened to" carry out the .plot and now the judge uses strategy to compel the prisoner to tes- t i fy against Himself. Jesus was a teacher of the truth, claiming to be from God. He will compel Him in the name of Jehovah to testify. Jesus had always claimed to be the Son of God: He had openly taught this great truth. Now He manifests a proper re- gard, not for the man, but for the of- fice. The office is filled by a low, mur- derous demagogue, but if he nuts Him under oath to testify, He will tell the truth. He acknowledges that He is the Son of God. I am the Christ, and the day will -come when you, the high Priest, will see Me, the real High Priest, taking up my official position as Tudge and you will then stand before Me. He defends His claim. He has already proved His title by the finger of God in the many mighty miracles which He had wrought. The question was not asKed in the interest of truth, but the answer is the whole truth and is given without regard to the eonse-
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