T H O U skalt call His name JESUS for He skall save His people from tkeir sins. •I TH EY skall call His name Emmanuel, wkick being inter preted is, God Nvitk us.
----------------Matthew 1 : 21 , 23----------------
DECEMBER , 1920
Working For You WITHOUT WORRY TO YOU
The Bible Institute of Los Angeles
Iw,ri[Zr,„,oContoMINVEST YOUR FUNDS for you in definite Gospel Work, where the WORD OF GOD is h on ored thus GIVING YOU A LIFE INTEREST from FOUR to N INE percent, according to your age and GIVING YOU A DAILY JOY in the consciousness that your investment can never be used for other purposes
Write Us For Full Particulars T. C. HORTON, Supt. Bible Institute of Los Angeles
TH E K ING ’S BUSINESS MOTTO: “I, the Lord, do keep it, I will water it every moment, lest any hurt it, I will keep it night and day. 1 ■" .................... ................................. Isa. 27:3 ■■ 1 ...............■ ■— PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY THE BIBLE INSTITUTE OF LOS ANGELES 536-558 SO U T H HO PE STREET, LOS ANGELES, CAL. Entered as Second-Class Matter November 17, 1910. at the Post Office at Los Angeles, California under the Act of March 3, 1879 Acceptance for mailing at special rate of postage provided for in Section 1103, Act of October 3, 1917 authorized October 1, 1918. Volume XI December, 1Q20. Number 12 CONTENTS' Editorials: Christ and Christmas (1109), Pray, Brethren, Pray (1110), Making the Country Safe (1111), A Call to Prayer ( i i .l l ) , Make Them Produce Proof (1112), Romanizing the Protestant Church (1113), How God Makes Apostles (1115), Analyzing the Diet (1115), Looking, to the Lobsters (1116). Sentence Sermons (1117) The Birth of the Great'King—By Dr. A. C. Dixon (1118) Was Bethlehem’s Babe God in Human Flesh?—By Dr. Joseph G. Ken nedy (1122) Does Jesus Care?—A story (1125) The Poorest and the Richest—By Harry Bowling (1127) jesus and Lame Humanity—-By Dr. A,. D. Belden (1128) A Wonderful Gift Is Jesus—Song by Fred A. Mills (1132) Bible Institute Happenings (1133) Evangelistic Stories (1135) Hoihiletical Helps and Bible Outlines (1144) The Chosen People, The Land and the Book (1147) Helps for Young Students (1148) International Sunday School Lessons (1150) Daily Devotional Readings—By Dr. F. W. Farr (1172) Editorial Afterthoughts (1178) Thoughts for Unsaved People—By Oswald J. Smith (1180) Bryan Versus Darwin—By Wm. J. Bryan (1181) Facts Not Theories—By Roads in Eastern Methodist (1182) Book Review (1184) THE IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT OF THIS ISSUE WILL BE FOUND ON THE BACK COVER Give us names and addresses of missionaries or worthy pastors who would appreciate The King’s Business. Remember we accept gifts to our Missionary Fund for sending out The King’s Business. PLEASE W hen Bending subscriptions, address correspondence to Office of The K ing's Business, Bible In stitu te of Los Angeles, 636*658 South Hope Street. Checks m ay be m ade payable to Bible In stitu te of Los Angeles. Do not make checks or money orders to individuals connected w ith the Bible Institute. Y E A R FOREIGN COUNTRIES, INCLUDING CANADA $1.24 - SINGLE COPIES 15 CENTS Rev. T . C. HORTON , Editor in Chief Rev. KEITH L. BROOKS, Managing Editor ALAN PEARCE, Ad\>. Manager Contributing Editors DR. F. W . FARR DR. FRENCH E. OUVER REV. WM. H. PIKE DR. A. C. DIXON O N L Y O N E D O L L A R A
BEWARE OF RECKLESS GIVING RESOURCES Your tithes and offerings should be viewed as sa>cred funds entrusted to you by the Lord, and to be invested for Him. RESPONSIBILITY You should seek the wisdom of God in the distribution of these sacred funds. You have a right to know, and are account able for knowing, where your funds are going, and the character of work and workmen entrusted with them. • REWARD If faithfully administered in His name and for His glory, you will find your reward in the glory. Your funds will welcome you “ in the everlasting habitations.” REGRET If you have carelessly turned your funds over to be used in schools and colleges where the Bible is belittled and faith de stroyed, or for the support of missionaries or teachers who are untrue to the Word of God, you will suffer loss from your invest ment, beside the consciousness that you have aided in the destruc- tion of souls. RECOMMENDATION There are some schools that are safe. There are some mis sionary societies loyal, to the whole Word of God, and there are missionaries in every land who are not counting their lives dear unto themselves. We will gladly serve you without charge and put you in touch with dependable societies, agents and agencies. Write for any desired particulars. T. C. HORTON, Superintendent, Bible Institute.
Q N the back coOer of this magazine you ■Will find a proposition of utmost im portance to you.
C H R IS T and Christmas Luke 1*35. “ And the angel answered and said unto her. The Holy Ghost shall come npon thee, and the pawS- of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thmg which shall be born of “thee shall be called the Son of God. What sweet, happy and hallowed memories cluster around the day we call Christmas! The childhood days when we thought of giving and getting gifts, of the family gatherings with loved ones, of kindly greetings, Christmas greetings for all. There were Christmas trees shimmering with silver and bright with light. There were music and mirth and happy children with dolls and drums. It was Christmas time and gloom and grudge were laid aside and the hand was outstretched to friend and foe. Somehow the heart had warmth and cheer and a happy wish for all. It was Christmas day, so different from any and every other day in all the year. And what of the Christ whose name has been so inseparably interwoven into that strange name, Christmas? He came one day, and baby eyes opened upon the wonderful world which He had Himself made. He awoke in a stable and was cradled in a manger. Angels burst through the fleecy clouds and proclaimed His coming. Shepherds heard it, wise men believed it. He came on mercy’s mis-. sion to the sons of men. He lived, He toiled, He blessed, He died. Centuries have come and gone. The Christmas days have come and gone, and Christmas day is more today to men than is the Christ of the Christmas day. We would not take a fragment from the cheer and gladness of the day. We would if we could, add to its joy a thousandfold, and speed the blessing of Christmas day to every human heart. But we would dae glad, oh so glad, could all the crea tures know the Christ, the anointed of God. To the multitudes Christmas is a day, but Christ is the unknown One. Will there be a touch of sorrow in the great heart of Christ on Christmas day, because though He hath made the day possible, He,-Himself, is not known, not recognized, not honored, not beloved? When the day comes, if so it please Him to tarry, will we stop for just a little season and think of Him and give to Him some Christmas gift, some loving remembrance, some love gift, something, for His Christmas day? “This is the month, and this the happy morn, Wherein the Son of Heaven’s’ eternal King t Of wedded maid, and virgin mother born, Our great redemption from above did bring, For so the holy sages once did sing, That He our deadly forfeit should release, And with His Father work us a perpetual peace.”—'p Q H.
THE K I N G ’ S BUS I NESS
m o
P R A T , Brethren, Pra$ It is not difficult to point to the perils that confront us as a people in our beloved country; nor to the manifold menaces that face us as the fol lowers of Jesus Christ, for never was there so much opposition to the. truth as now. Every daily paper in our great commercial center accentuates- the grave dangers. The risk to human life, to morals, to the perpetuity of the foundations upon which has been built our.government, grows more seri ous with every revolution of the globe. The seed sown by Satanic influ ences has taken deep root. A growing opposition to God, the Bible, mor ality and decency is, with brazen face, asserting itself. Before the war, enrollment in our universities and colleges was 139,000. This year it is 250,000. Once our hearts would have rejoiced greatly over this. Now a great fear possesses us. What does it portend when we con sider the present attitude of so many of the professors toward the Word of God? We know what has been wrought in the last twenty-five years. We can shut our eyes and calmly say “ we hope for the best,” but that does not change the facts. There is a great law of God, unchanging and un changeable—“ sow and reap.” We open wide our eyes and look straight at the seed which will be sown in almost every institute of learning and ask ourselves, and ask God, the question: “ What will the harvest be?” What can we do who hold fast to God’s unerring Word? We can pray. And we can do something else. We can lift our voices and contend for the faith. But we must as believers in the Word and power of God, as those who have a, heart for all men, do the one great thing against which all the powers of Satan and men are as the puny bulwarks of the seashore against the mighty tidal waves of the ocean—pray! When Aaron and Hur upheld the arms' of Moses, Israel prevailed. Let us pray! Let us plead! If God has not been able to soften or break our hearts over the sad, pitiable condition of this poor, sin-sick world, which reels on like a drunken man to its doom, and over the sight of the profess ing church, pliant in the hands of professional religious politicians, then our case would seem hopeless. But His eyes are not blinded. His ears are not heavy. His armds not shortened. His heart is not hardened. Let us gather in the name of Christ, His only-begotten, well-beloved Son, who has said: “ Whatsoever ye shall ask in my Name that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son” ; in the name of our crucified, risen, coming Lord; and let us plead for the outpouring of His Spirit. God’s grace has reached such hearts as hard as that of Saul of Tarsus, the Jerusalem professor and murderer. He can break the stony hearts of college leaders. He reached Nicodemus, and the politicians of the church are not beyond His power. Backsliders, like the poor prodigal, can be brought back to the Father’s house. Sinful men and women in places, high and low, are susceptible to the pleading winning influences of God’s Holy Spirit; but God wants us to take our places at His feet; to confess our own sins, our own indifference, our own selfishness, our own lack of love for lost men, our own blindness to conditions.
THE - KI NG' S BUS I NESS 1111 He will hear. He will act. Our dependence is upon Him. We have His Word. We know what fearful judgments await the nations, hut we also know what our place should be in our relation to Him. Beloved, let us pray! Was there ever a louder call? Let us answer that call on bended knees. Let us pray! T. C. H. ¿Ue, M A K IN G TH E C O U N T R Y Safe for the Children The slogan “ Make the country safe for Democracy” cannot mean half so much as “ Make the country safe for the Children.” The devil has been at work for years. While the church has been doz ing away at a poor, dying rate, he has systematically saturated the^children of the public schools, through his teaching agencies, with a Satanic poison that threatens the very foundations of the Republic. The Roman Catholic Church has been shrewd enough to care for the lambs of the flock, and they have been duly indoctrinated in the teaching of that church, but the Protestant Church has been so busy in the effort to reform the good citizens, that it has forgotten to inform the children. It has lost sight of the fact that good citizenship without a Bible would be “ good-for-nothing” citizenship; and that a Bible that does not mean what it says is a “ good-for-nothing” Book. You cannot make the country safe for the children unless you have good, safe, moral precepts and examples in the schools, and the more edu cated they become without the fear of God in their hearts, the more dan gerous they become as citizens. We plead for the children. Every child in our land is entitled to have a Bible in its hand, and the privilege of knowing what it teaches.. There is no single obligation resting upon the Christian people of our country greater than the privilege and duty imposed by our Lord of giving every child the opportunity to know the story of God’s infinite love, and of Christ’s infinite sacrifice for sinners. .We do not want the Bible taught in the schools, but we do want the Bible honored and read. When the Bible is recognized as God’s Word and read, God will take care of the message. Don’t be afraid to tell people that God will hold them to strict account for their failure to bring up their children in the way they should go. A little more prayer, brethren, in the prayer meeting for the children! They are coming along rapidly, these boys and girls, and they will soon have the destiny of this country.in their hands. What shall it be? Don’t forget the methods of Rome,—always, everlastingly at work, with one great object in view. Listen! There is a muffled cry! Can you hear it? MAKE THE COUNTRY SAFE FOR THE CHILDREN! m. m. t . c. h . A CALL to Prayer The Great Commission Prayer League has requested that we give no tice of the call for a watch night service at the close of this year. We do this with great pleasure. It has been the habit in the Bible Institute for many years to hold a watch night service followed by an all night prayer service for men, and always with marked evidence of God’s blessing. This
1112 THE K I N G ’ S BUS I NESS call tells us that hundreds of such meetings were held last year all over the country, and pleads for yet other hundreds for this year to pray for the outpouring of God’s Holy Spirit upon the evangelists and evangelistic meetings and for the bringing to the feet of our Lord Jesus Christ a great multitude of sinners who will accept Him as Saviour and confess Him to he Lord to the glory of God the Father. Take the matter to heart, and arrange for such a meeting in your church or home, and enter into fellowship with thousands of fellow saints in definite prayer for the salvation of the lost. The headquarters of the Great Commission Prayer League are at 808- North LaSalle Street, Chicago. T. C. H. M AK E TH EM Produce the Proof You can silence some of these critics who prate about the Bible and what it does not mean, by challenging them to prove their position from the Bible itself. We preached one noonday to a thousand people in a city park, and were led to say “ If any man tells you that the Bible is not the Word of God, make him prove it. Don’t waste any time arguing with him.” At the close of the service, on the way to the Gospel meeting which fol lowed, a man linked arms with us and said, “ You took a new angle in your remarks today. I have been putting men up against the wall and compelling them to prove that the Bible is true. You have turned the tables on me.” We said, “ Well, can you prove that the Bible is not true?” He replied, “ No, I cannot.” He was an attorney and at the meeting con fessed Christ. If a preacher says Jesus was not born of a Virgin, make him prove it. If he says Jesus was not raised from the dead, compel him to prove it. If he says God is too good to punish sinners, make him produce the proof. If he says there is no future state, tell him you are waiting for the proof. If he says there is no hell, hold him to the proof.. If he denies that the big fish swallowed Jonah, tell him you will give him a week in which to proye it. -You have the Bible with its “ Thus saith the Lord,” and you will find that most of these people know as little about the Bible as. the little girl whose pastor asked her if she attended Sunday School, and she answered, “ Oh, yes, sir.” “ Do you know your Bible?” “ Oh, yes, sir.” “ Could you tell me something that is in i t ? “ Yes, sir, I can tell you everything that is in it. Sister’s beau’s picture is in it, and mamma’s recipe for vanishing cream is in it, and a lock of my hair when I was a baby, and the ticket for papa’s watch is in it.” If you know your Bible you will not have great difficulty in routing any one of these big boasters. Don’t be afraid to tackle any of them or their followers for there is one thing that they do not know,—they do not know the Bible nor its Author. T. C. H.
Ou r Christmas Proposition you vJill find on the Back Cover. Be sure to read it.
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Here is a statement made by Dr. Freeman, Minneapolis: “My church has spent $1,700,000 in institutionalism, and I’m through with it. It makes the minister a man ager of machinery, instead of a prophet of God. I am going back to the upper-room life”
R o m a n i z i n g tke Protestant ChurcH What do we mean? Simply putting the Protestant Church into the hands of political eeclesiasts. - Have you read#your Bible? Don’t you know how Israel suffered at the hands of the eeclesiasts? What Christ and the early church suffered? Don’t you know what Italy, Spain, Portugal, South America, Central America and Mexico have suffered? Haven’t you seen the cloud about the size of a man’s hand on the horizon?
1114 THE K I N G ’ S BUS I NESS Forty years ago, as a Secretary of the Y. M. C. A., in a little gathering of leaders of a prominent denomination, we heard one of the so-called “ gentlemen” say: “ If another fellow of that stripe comes to town, let’s hit him on the head.” The man he referred to was a mighty man of God who believed the whole Bible, whom hundreds of people had flocked to hear. We were new to the ecclesiastical game then. We knew politics. We had put our money into the hands of men and voted them in the interests of our party and believed we were serving our country; but now we had come into the church and thought it was clean and holy. We had a rude awakening and have kept, our eyes and ears open ever since and have become conscious of the growing peril to the church from self-seeking ecclesiastical politicians. There was .a time in the Protestant Church when the people had some authority. There was a time when even the little churches had the choice of their preachers. A time when the church gathered in prayer and waited upon God for wisdom and His direction. That time is no more. Even among denominations supposedly inde pendent, it is no longer so. There aré leaders in these days and the lead ers say: “ You cannot have a man unless he is a college or seminary man l” “ The Lord help us! What college or seminary?” “ One after our heart,” say the leaders. “ We will send you a man.” Pretty soon they will pick out our groceries for us, and tell us on which days to eat meat and when to fast. One denomination says, “ You must use the literature we send you,” and in another denomination, “ We will send you a man. Look him over, but don’t allow any man to preach in your pulpit unless we send him. You cannot have any man unless we recommend him, and we will never send you one of those premillennialists. So be good.” v “ Well, well, brethren, you are surely going some, aren’t you? Who are you, anyhow?” They reply, “ We are your leaders; your superiors. You are not sufficient for this great business. All you have to do is to fol low our advice, take our men, put your money into the bag, send it to us, and we will relieve you of all further responsibility.” , “ How about the missionary brethren? Can we select them?” “ No. You may support them, but we will choose them. They must be college- trained.” “What college?” “ Never mind. Now be good. We will ar range this whole thing. 'You just put up the money. You have not been educated sufficiently to know how to carry on a great work. Leave it to* us. We have learned this game pretty well in national, state and city politics.” . For the most part, when the Pope says “ Simon says ‘Wiggle-waggle’ ” the little politicians and the newspapers wiggle-waggle; and when the Pope says “ Simon says ‘thumbs up—vote,’ ” up come the thumbs and we vote. Can we help ourselves? Of course not. Let the leaders lead us. But, say, the leaders are blind! Never mind. The pit is there, and we can all fall into it together. . . T. C. H.
Dont Fail to Consider Our Christmas Proposition. See Outside Back Cover
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H O W G O D Makes Apostles The curse ,of the modem church is the man-made apostle. The dif ference between the God-made and the man-made apostle is as vast as the difference between the paper rose and the American Beauty rose. The man-made apostle may overflow with paraphrastic perfume and abound in poetic pedantry, and the people Who swallow the ministrations of the man whom God has not sent, will ,wither and starve in soul, and like sick sheep will turn into any trail at hand, seeking rest and food. The man-made apostle deals in man-made philosophy, poetry, rational ism, science and political bombast. The God-made apostle feeds the people upon the Word of the living God. He magnifies God’s Son. He presents God’s ultimatum to a wicked and. pleasure-mad generation. Man-made apostles boast their education. God-made apostles rejoice in salvation. Man-made apostles preach legislation as the cure for man’s moral decay. God-made apostles preach regeneration as the only hope for bankrupt humanity. . ■ Man-made apostles deal in interrogation points and subtle denials. God-made apostles use exclamation points and eternal verities. A nalyzing the Diet In Elisha’s time there might have been a dead congregation one day but for the fact that a timely discovery was made that there was poison in the pot and steps were immediately taken to counteract the poison (2 Kings 4:38-41). The concoction that had been prepared from the wild gourds of the world would have put all the sons of the prophets promptly to .sleep. Much depends upon one’s ability to analyze their food—and in the spiritual sense this is especially true. There are_ many who do not care what kind of spiritual food they get just so they are soothed. There are others who actually clamor for wild gourds and will have nothing else. There is some hope for people who will analyze their diet and who will not tolerate wild gourds however delicately dished up with rhetoric or gar nished with intellectual phraseology. Let it be noticed that it was the guests who cried out concerning the poison pottage being served them. Does not the pew share the responsibility of the pulpit? “ The time will come,” said the apostle Paul, “ when they will not en dure sound doctrine but after their own lusts shall heap to themselves teachers having itching ears, and they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables.” According to this passage the trouble is not entirely with the pulpit. If God puts an anathema on the faithless shepherds who conform to the popular judgment, let it not be for gotten that He also has one for those who “ will not endure sound doctrine” but cry out for the wild gourds of the world. On the other hand, we must avoid another extreme. It is possible to become mere poison hunters to the neglect of our task of giving out the meal of the Gospel. It is easy to be occupied with arguments to the neglect of Christ Himself. It is not enough that we should know and expose error. We must plant the truth and we must live Christ. Dr. Jowett has said, “ We frequently mistake the passionate defense of dogma for the evidence of a
1116 THE K I N G ’ S BUS I NESS burning faith.” We may hold to the Apostles’ Creed and still not have the apostles’ Christ. We must take our stand against error, but let us see to it that we are not merely bristling for our beliefs but fervent in our fel lowship with Christ Himself. K. b. B. m m LOOK ING to the Lobsters “ All disease is wholly mental. What is termed disease does not exist.” So says Mrs. Eddy. “ Sickness is a growth of error springing from man’s ignorance of Christian Science. Sufferings are not the penalty for having broken a law. Any supposed information coming from the body is illusion- of mortal mind. Nerves are a part of a -belief that there is sensa tion in matter.” In proof of this contention Mrs. Eddy tells us that “ cold empurpled the cheeks of our ancestors but they never indulged in inflamed bronchial tubes because they were ignorant of the existence of such things as tubes and lungs.” (We wonder how she knows.) But she gives an even more convincing argument when she says, “ When the unthinking lobster loses its claw it grows again. If Christian Science was understood, the human limb would be replaced as readily as the lobster’s claw. The less mind there is manifested in matter the better.” (It is true that a lobster’s claw will grow again, but she forgot that a cat’s tail if cut off will not replace itself. Evidently lobsters make better Christian Scientists than cats, the latter having too much intellect for their own good). Now if all of this is true, then the only hope for a one-legged man is to become either a lobster or a lunatic. “ The less mind there is manifested in matter the better.” Instead of recognizing the reality of matter, sin, sick ness and death and looking to Jesus Christ for overcoming strength, we should look to the unthinking lobster and go and do likewise. Strange, is it not, that Mrs. Eddy is compelled to scrape down amidst the crags and rocks of the ocean bottom for a perfect example of her doc trine when we have in the high heavens One Who patiently suffered and “ left us an example that We should follow in His steps.” If lobsters could only understand, they might well swell with pride at the number of people in the world who are trying to follow in their footsteps as the result of the free advertising given their virtues by Mrs. Eddy. Now you will understand why some people are called lobsters. It is a genteel epithet for an ignoramus. K. L. B.
DEATH OF CHAS. ALEXANDER A telegram received at the hour of going to press announces the death of Chas. M. Alexander, in England, on Oc tober 12, following a brief illness.
MUCH TALK WITH JESUS “A little talk with Jesus” will do well enough for the tiny saintlets who de sire just religion enough to keep them in respectable society, but those who would be strong in the Lord and make inroads on hell-territory must be mighty in prayer! They must talk MUCH with Jesus.
Novi once more let us call your attention to the back co'Jer.
God often encourages the weak in faith by giving speedy answer to prayer, but the strong in faith are often tested by his delays. You may recover much that is lost but never a lost opportunity. It is easy to tell one lie but hard to tell just one.' When progress ceases backsliding be gins. Give your tongue more rest than your eyes and ears. Inspiration in private devotion can never be replaced by perspiration in pub lic service. The great danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it but that our aim is too low and we reach it. We can only know God’s estimate of sin by the sacrifice which He provided to atone for it. Man is the only animal God has made to look up. The best way to ¿rove your religion is not to argue about its facts but to produce its proper results. It sometimes takes more courage to face ridicule than to. face a cannon. Great souls prove their greatness by making opportunities where others make only complaint. Be the first to praise and the first to deserve praise. Fear not the threats of the great but rather the tears of the poor. A man may be almost saved yet en tirely lost. I 11'.....ijipM:............................................. . | EXTREMES i O AID the Scientist to the Proto- g 1 ^ plasm:, [ I “ ’Twixt you and me is a mighty [ g chasm, = I We represent extremes, my friend__ I i You the beginning, I the end. | The Protoplasm made reply 1 | As he winked his embryoniceye: 1 1 “Well, when I look at you, old man, 1 | I’m rather sorry I began!” —New York Post. §
If you would succeed, work your' ton gue little, your hands much and your brain most. The greatest.thing that any of us can do is to live not “for Christ” hut to live Christ. The religion of some people consists principally of praying that the Lord will provide. Giving advice to the poor is about as near charity as some people ever get. Tact is merely the art of saying noth ing when there is nothing to say. It is impossible to take your pleasure here in this world and after that to reign with Christ. The lazier a man is the more he in tends to do tomorrow. Rank, wealth, capacity, talents, all things, are given to us that we may use them to the last particle for the glory of God. Service and power are measured by God’s working through man, not by man’s working for God. A man’s religion never accumulates by laying it away in cold storage. If you cast away one cross, without doubt you will find another and that perhaps more heavy. None are so blind as those who see our faults. No man can produce great things who is not thoroughly sincere in dealing with himself. Do not mourn too much over past failures. What bird ever went back ward in its flight to recover the feather that had dropped from its wing? The best way to get from a lower position to a higher is to be conspicuous ly efficient in the lower. Keep a record of all the kindnesses you receive and you will find it helpful reading on a day of discouragement. It is tragically possible to have a saved soul and a lost life. One bad example spoils a good many precepts. Few stockings need darning at the knees. You cannot always tell. Some men who are always active don’t know whether they are coming or going.
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Its Miraculous Mature and Its Historical, Social and Religious Setting The Harmon;? of the Two Genealogies By DR. A. C. DIXON "Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise.” Matt. 1:18.
only man, and so truly God that we may think of Him as only God. He was not God humanized, nor man deified, but a union of God and man in one personal ity, the like of which the world has never seen in any other. I. THE NATURE OF CHRIST’S BIRTH There are four witnesses to the fact that Jesus Christ was born of a virgin: ,1. The Evangelists Matthew and Luke. Matthew says, “She was found with child of the Holy Ghost.” (Matt. 1:18). Luke refers to Mary as “a vir gin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David.” (Luke 1:27). The fact that Mark does not mention the virgin birth is no proof against it, for Mark does not mention the birth of Christ at all. His purpose is to portray Christ as the great Worker; and 'therefore he begins his Gospel with His public ministry. John does not directly mention the virgin birth, for the purpose of his Gospel is to portray Christ as the Son of God, and the Holy Spirit, under whose guid ance he wrote, knew that two compe tent witnesses were testifying to the fact that He was the Son of man, in the royal line of succession from David. But John does intimate the nature of Christ’s birth in the words, six times repeated in one chapter, “He came down from heaven,” showing that Christ was pre-existent to His birth, and that His birth, therefore, was the incarnation of Deity. There was no occasion for the Lord Jesus to refer to it Himself; and Paul intimates His pre-existence in the words, “Being in the form of God . . . emp-
HE Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John make a great diamond of truth, With four fa cets, each one of which gives forth its own peculiar radiance. Matthew presents Christ 'as King, Mark as Worker, Luke
as Man, and John as God. Matthew’s is the Royal Christ, Mark’s the Serving Christ, Luke’s the Human Christ, and John’s the Divine Christ. The inspired title of Matthew’s Gos pel is “The Genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham,” and His royal lineage is traced through David to Joseph. In Luke we have the human lineage, traced back from Jos eph to Adam and God, the Creator. It is evident that Joseph and Mary were both of the tribe of Judah and in the line of royal descent from King Da vid, so that the genealogy of Joseph, though he was not the real father of Christ, served the purpose of proving that both of them had royal blood in their veins. Joseph had a right to the throne of David, and Mary, as his queen, would have shared it with him. Christ was, therefore, literally “King of the Jews,” ; according to the flesh, and had a right to sit on David’s throne. “Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise.” Jesus is the name which Joseph and Mary were told to give Him, and Christ was the name given Him of God. In the two names we have the union of the human and the Divine na tures—truly man and truly God; so truly man that we may think of Him as
1119 His miracles, His resurrection and His ascension, harmonize with His super natural birth. If, therefore, Christ was not born of a virgin, or was the natural son of Jos-> eph and Mary, as some scandalously as sert, Matthew and Luke were liars; the angel was a liar; the prophet Isaiah was a liar; Joseph was a liar, for he ac knowledged the testimony of the angel by doing as he was commanded; John was a liar in claiming that Christ came down from heaven; Paul was a liar in asserting that Christ was made in the likeness of men and became of a.woman; the Christian church in all ages has been a liar. For our part we believe that Matthew and Luke, John and Paul, the prophet Isaiah, the angel and the Christian church have better credentials of knowledge and truthfulness than the skeptical theologians, philosophers and scientists who refuse to believe in a God greater than the world of sense and rationalism in which they live and move and have their being. The Virgin Birth of Jesus Christ is one of the best attested facts in all his tory, and is itself a bulwark of Christ ian evidence. n . The Setting of the Birth of Christ It has a distinct historical setting. “When the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman.” (Gal. 4:4). Movements great and small prepared the world for this stupendous event. The Roman power had given access to all ports of the earth, and the Greek language had become a well-nigh perfect medium of communication. Even the decree of Augustus that the world should be taxed brought Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem, that the prophecy of Micah might be fulfilled. Christless civiliza tions, with their laws and letters, arts and military power, had been weighed in the balances and found wanting. A glimpse into Pompeii will show their
THE K I N G ’ S BUS I NESS tied Himself, taking the form of a ser vant, being made in the likeness of men.” (Phil. 2:6). “Being made,” or, as it may be translated, “becoming,” im plies pre-existence, and the process by which He came into the likeness of men. Again, He was “born of the seed of David according to the flesh,” is ren dered by Dr. James Orr, “He became of the seed of David,” also implying pre existence. 2. *ihe angel. The angel said to Jos eph, “Take unto thee Mary thy wife; for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.” (Matt. 1:20). In Luke’s Gospel the angel says to Mary, “The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall over shadow' thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.” (Luke l: 35). This messenger from heaven knew more about the birth of Christ than all critics, ancient and modern; and his tes timony is therefore weighty. 3. The prophet Isaiah. “All this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son.” (Matt. 1:22-23; Isa. 7:14). 4. The Church of Christ from the Apostolic times to the present. Of course there have been those who de nied the Virgin Birth, from the days of Cerinthus, contemporary with the Apostle John, to the days of the Higher Critic and the New Theologian. All who deny the supernatural in Christian ity, of course, deny the supernatural in the birth of Jesus; but they do not now and have never represented the Church of Christ, but only the portion of it that has apostatised from apostolic faith and practice. The claim which some of them make that faith in the‘ Virgin Birth is not essential to Christianity is simply a plea for unbelief in the realm where faith is requisite. The super natural works of Christ, as expressed in
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mother and Child by prompt obedience. Thus the union of the natural and su pernatural has more than once out witted, the conspiracies of Herod to de stroy Christ and His cause. Those to whom God has committed the sacred charge of His Son have only to keep in communication with Heaven and re spond obediently to every Divine call, in order to thwart the wiles of the wicked. The social setting of the birth of Christ should not be overlooked. Jos eph and Mary, with royal blood in their veins, belonging to the Jewish aristo cracy as they did, are now in humble circumstances. He has no power to levy taxes which aré his due, but must support his family at the carpenter’s bench. He is known as “the carpenter,” and doubtless the best houses in Beth lehem were the result of his artistic taste, intelligent skill and honest toil. Jesus, the only Child who ever had the choice of His parentage, chose to be born into this royal family who had identified themselves with the common people. As Son of man, He had the royal blood of Judah’s kings in His veins, while He made common cause with thé weary toilers of earth. In His birth He honors both kingly dignity and lowly labor, an uncrowned King by right of royal lineage as well as royal character. Joseph in his carpenter’s frock was every, inch a king, and Mary is a queen in every feature of her character. Real kings are not made by crowns, sceptres and thrones. Many a human beast has worn a crown, held a sceptre and sat upon a throne; but a' man who has in his veins the blood of kings and shows in his life the kingly character, has a two-fold right to crown, sceptre and throne. It is fitting that kingly char acter should be crowned, sceptred and enthroned, and it will be, whether amid the rich upholstery, the gorgeous robes, the flashing lights and martial music of
heights of literature and art, with their depths of moral degradation. Even Ju daism had failed to redeem the people, for the Jews had been dragged down with the other nations. The birth of Christ had a striking po litical setting. It makes Herod, a self ish, sensual, cruel and degraded prince, tremble on his throne. To be sure, the birth of a Child whose parents, on ac count of their poverty, were crowded out of an inn and thrust into a stable, where He was born among the cattle and laid in one of their troughs for a cradle, will not even excite the inter est of a wicked king; but the claim that He is of royal descent, and the fact that eminent men have come from a distance to do Him homage, set the diseased imagination of the dissolute Herod afire with strange forebodings; and he sees ,at a glance that the wisest political course will be to destroy this Infant. To do so is bad morals, but good politics. It will violate every prin ciple of justice and humanity, but it will further the interests of the Herodian political party. Morals, humanity and justice must give way to politics. So the command goes forth that the Child must be slain, though it carries with it the murder of every baby in Bethle hem. Such politics and such politicians are not yet dead. There are Herods to day, at the head of great political or ganizations, who would plunge the world into war that their schemes of aggrandisement may be carried for ward. They destroy lives and wreck homes, giving occasion to many Rachels to weep for their children, because they are not. The birth of Christ into the world of these political Herods, with a spirit of peace and good will among men, troubles the politicians and all the people who are under their spell. It is interesting, however, to note how the angel and Joseph are too much for Herod. The angel reveals the danger to Joseph, who saves the
THE K I N G ’ S BUS I NESS a palace, or amid the lowing cattle of a Bethlehem stable or the clatter and shavings of the carpenter’s shop. The birth of Christ into a royal family ap peals to the nobility of earth, and the birth of Christ into a carpenter’s family appeals to the millions of earth’s toil ers. This two-fold fact brings Him in to touch with mankind, and would merge all classes into one brotherhood of hope and holiness. In His social standing Christ classes among kings; in His employment He classes among toil ers. In His nature as Son of man He classes with the whole race, without re gard to national or social distinctions. In His love and sympathy He classes with all the sons and daughters of man kind. The birth of Christ has, too, a religi ons setting. The wise men of the Bast came to worship Him. Man has the in stinct of worship. He is a religious animal. He looks up and longs for the Divine. There is a hunger in his soul for God; and this hunger, if not satis fied with the true God, will seek satis faction in the worship of idols. These men from the East were wise enough to leave their homes and go a long jour ney in search of the Christ. It is the part of true wisdom to neglect and for sake everything else till we find Christ. They followed the star till it led them to Jesus. They took sides with the an gel against Herod. They accepted His revelation from heaven. They wor shipped God in the infant Jesus, and opened to Him their treasures of gold, frankincense and myrrh, expressing their worship in an appropriate posture of body, and in gifts of the best they had. These wise men represent the men of brains and wealth who are led to Christ by direct providential guidance. When they find Him they give themselves and their wealth in joyful worship. The wisest of earth’s statesmen have bowed before Him. The greatest of earth’s
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poets have worshipped Him. The brav est soldiers have knelt before Him. The mightiest monarchs have felt honored in kneeling before His throne. “Let every kindred, every tribe On this terrestrial ball To Him all majesty ascribe, And crown Him Lord of all.” Shall He who comes unto His own today Find still no welcome—none to bid Him stay? Is there no home prepared for such a : Guest— No place on earth wherein the Christ may rest? Despised—forsaken—must He longer stand Outside the door, with His dear, wounded hand Still knocking? Nay! O Christ, the Crucified, Come, and for ever in our hearts abide. And, for bur Christmas gift, we pray Thee, bring Life’s truest happiness to us, O King!— The love that far exceeds our highest thought— The riches whi 9 h Thy blood for us has bought. —Edith Divall. A DELUDED ROMANIST A Romanist epitaph in Cork contains the following: “Edward Molloy, the friend of humanity, the father of the poor. He employed the wealth of this world only to procure, the riches of the next; and leaving a balance of credit on the .book of life, he made heaven debtor to mercy.” This is a Romanist idea, but according to the Word, poor Edward will miss the riches of the next world since he thought to enter on his own merits. CHRISTMAS THOUGHTS . U e cam e u n to H is own, and H is own re ceived H im not.”
Was Betklehem’s Babe
God in Human Flesk?
Jekovak’s Names, Attributes and Authority Applied to Jesus by His Disciples Bÿ DR. JOSEPH
G. KENNEDY and prophecies. He wrought redemp tion, received worship, executed judg ment, ruled men and nations. He was God’s mouthpiece and ministrator up until the close of Malachi. The lan guage changes to the Greek in the New Testament. What became of this striking Personality? His name might change but His ministry was needed as much as ever by sinful men. Did not Jesus Christ do for men in the new dispen sation what Jehovah did for them in the old dispensation? Which one of all the ministries accredited to Jehovah in the Old Testament is not predicated of Christ by the writers of the New Testa ment? Let us set some of these texts side by side and see if we can escape the conclusion that Jehovah and Jesus Christ are one and the same person of the Godhead and that this second per son of the Trinity has always been the Mediator between God and man? I. THE DISCIPLES APPLIED JE HOVAH TEXTS TO JESUS CHRIST. (1) Voice. The voice of one that crieth, prepare ye—the way of Jehovah, Isa. 40:3; The voice of one crying—make ye ready the way of the Lord, Matt. 3:3. (2) Messenger. -Behold, I send My Messenger, and He shall prepare the way before Me. Mai. 3:1. (Jehovah the speaker). Be hold I send my messenger before Thy face who shall prepare Thy way. Mark 1 : 2 . (3) Redeemer. Thus saith Jehovah, thy Redeemer, Isa. 44:24. Jesus Christ—in whom we have our redemption, Eph. 1:7.
OD is—-unchangeable in His be ing.” There have always been three persons in the Godhead. No reorganization was neces sary at the time of the incar nation. The Second person of the Trinity has been the
Mediator between God and man since the beginning. Men were chosen in Christ Jesus “Before the foundation of the world.” Eph. 1:4. By what name was this Mediator revealed in the Old Testament? In the first verse the name Elohim meets us. This word is always trans lated God in our Bibles. This name re curs about two thousand five hundred times in the Old Testament. It is plural in form and suggests more than one person. This name is coupled with the work of creation, the exercise of might, the control of nature, the super vision of providences, etc. The name Jehovah is introduced in the second chapter and recurs about seven thousand times. In the common version it is translated LORD, all cap ital letters. In the American Revision it is reproduced Jehovah. This name designates God in His special dealings with men. Man’s creation, Gen. 2:7; Home, 2:8; Sin and Judgment, 3:9-16; Worship, 4:3-4; Punishment of world, 6:5-7; Salvation of faithful, 7:1; Cove nant witji men, 8:20; Deliverance from bondage, Ex. 12; Giving of the law. These are but samples of Jehovah’s relationship to men. In the Old Testa ment it will be found that Jehovah re veals "God’s personality, nature, will, work, and word. He punished sin, sup plied grace, made covenants, promises
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THE K I N G ’ S BUS I NESS (4) Strength. I love Thee, O Jehovah, my strength, Ps. 18:1. I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me, Phil. 4:13. (5) First and Last. Thus saith Jehovah, I am the first, and I am the last, Isa. 44:6. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end, Rev. 22:13. (6 )Righteousness. Jehovah our righteousness, Jer. 23:6. Christ Jesus, who was made unto us wisdom from God, and righteousness, 1 Cor. 1:30. (7) King of Glory. Jehovah of hosts, He is the King of glory, Ps. 24:10. Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, Jas. 2:1; also 1 Cor. 2 : 8 . (8) Called Upon. Whosoever shall call upon the name of Jehovah shall be delivered, Joel 2:32. Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved, Acts 2:21. (9) Trusted. Whoso putteth his trust in Jehovah shall be safe, Prov. 29:25. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved, Acts 16:31. However much the disciples may have failed to realize the deity of Jesus in the days of His flesh they had no hesi tancy in applying to Hiip. these and many other texts which were spoken of their Jehovah God, after the day of Pentecost. II. THE DISCIPLES APPLIED THE JEHOVAH NAME . TO JESUS CHRIST. As Jews the disciples had been care fully taught never to speak thé name Jehovah lest they fall under the con demnation of Lev. 24:16. He that blasphemeth the name of Jehovah, he shall surely be put to death. They al ways expressed this name of God by the Greek word for Lord wherever it oc
curred in the Old Testament. Our old English version followed their lead and translated it LORD. Now the disciples in their writings used that word about a hundred times where they meant Je hovah, as set forth in the Old Testa ment and applied exactly the same word to Jesus about six hundred times. Look up the word Lord in any exhaustive con cordance. Let a single example suffice, from Stephen’s address: Then said the Lord (Jehovah) to him, put off thy shoes from thy feet, Acts 7:33. Lord Jesus, receive my Spirit.—Lord, lay not this sin to their charge, 7:59, 60. III. THE DISCIPLES ASCRIBED JE HOVAH ATTRIBUTES TO JESUS CHRIST. (1) Eternal Existence. Jehovah, the Everlasting God, Gen. 21:33. I am. the first and the last, and the Living one; and I was dead and behold I am alive forevermore, Rev. 1:18. (2) Creation. Jehovah God made earth and heaven, Gen. 2:4. In the beginning was the Word. All things were made through Him; and without Him was not any thing made, John 1:1-3. (3) Omnisci ence. O Jehovah, Thou hast searched me and known me—thou understandest my thought afar off, Ps. 139:1-4. Jesus knew all men.-—He Himself knew what was in man, John 2:24, 25. (4) Un changeableness. For I, Jehovah, change not, Mai. 3:6. Jesus Christ, the same yesterday and today, yea and forever, Heb. 13:8. (5) Universal Triumph. Thine enemies, O Jehovah, Thine enemies shall perish, Ps. 92:9. He must reign, till He hath put all enemies pnder His feet. The last enemy that shall be abolished is death, 1 Cor. 15:25. (6) Universal Dominion. Jehovah shall be king over all the earth, Zech. 14:9. The kingdom of the world is become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ; and He shall reign forever and ever. (7) Universal Supremacy. O Jehovah God of hosts, who is a mighty one like unto Thee? Ps. 89:6-9. And also hath
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friends God’s plans so did Jesus. (4) Life. Love Jehovah thy God—for He is thy life, Deut. 30:20. In Him was life, John 1:4. Son also to have life in Himself, John 5:26. (5) Light. Je hovah is my light, Ps. 27:1. I am the light of the world. (6) Truth. O Je hovah, thou God of truth, Ps. 31:5. I am the way, and the truth, and the life, John 14:6. VI. JESUS ASSUMED THE AUTHOR ITY OF JEHOVAH. (1) Law-giver. I am Jehovah thy God—Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Ex. 20:1-22. But I say unto you. Matt. 5:22, 28, 32, 34, etc. He taught them as one having author ity. Matt. 7:29. (2) Forgiver of Sin. Bless Jehovah,—who forgiveth all thine iniquity. Ps. 103:2, 3. He said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven. Luke 7: 47-50. The Son of man hath author ity on earth to forgive sins, Matt. 9:1- 8. (3) Lord of the Sabbath day. The seventh day is the Sabbath of Jehovah thy God. Ex. 20:10. For the Son of man is lord of the Sabbath. Matt. 12: 8. (4) Judge of the world. Jehovah; for He cometh to judge the earth, Ps. 98:9. He hath given all judgment un to the Son. John 5:22. The Son of man shall come in the glory of His Father with His angels; and then shall He render unto every man according to his deeds. Matt. 16:27. (5) Re ceive worship. Exalt ye Jehovah our God, and worship at His footstool. Ps. 99:5, 9. Lord, I believe. And he wor shipped Him, John 9:35-38. See also Matt. 28:9, 17 and Rev. 5:6-14. The living creatures, the elders, the angels, the redeemed hosts all worshipping the glorified Christ. Under almost every one of the above lines of argument the proof texts might be greatly multiplied and the parallels also be increased. Look up the refer ences to the texts given and you will discover much additional material in proof of the points made.
highly exalted Him, and given Him a name which-is above every name, Phil. 2:9. (8) Universal Worship. All the ends of the earth shall—turn unto Je hovah—and shall worship before Thee, Ps. 22:27. That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, Phil. 2:10. Under each of the above headings the texts might be greatly multiplied and other subjects might be added to show that the disciples in their thinking and writing put Jesus into the place as signed to Jehovah in the Old Testa ment. Did they misunderstand or mis represent Jesus Christ in the claims they made for Him after His resurrec tion and ascension? Did not the endue- ment with the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost make such things absolute ly impossible? Let us now examine some of the claims made by Jesus Himself and some of His unmistakable assumptions of the authority and attributes of Jehovah. IV. JESUS ASSUMED THE DESIGNA TION OP JEHOVAH. When Jehovah appeared to Moses in the wilderness, Ex. 3:6, He instructed him to say, “I AM hath sent me unto you.” Ex. 3:14, using the root letters of the name Jehovah. Jesus, in His fierce encounters with His enemies, said unto them, “Before Abraham was born, I AM. John 8:58. No wonder the Jews took up stones to kill Him for thus identifying Himself with that most sacred name when they believed Him to be but a man. He thus claimed self existence as did Jehovah. V. JESUS ASSUMED THE ATTRI BUTES OF JEHOVAH. (1) Saviour. I, even I, am Jehovah; and besides Me there is no saviour, Isa. 43:11. The Son of man came to seek and save that which was lost. Luke 19: 10. (2) Shepherd. Compare Psalm 23 with John 10:1-18. (3) Friend-. Ab raham My friend. Isa. 41:8, also Ex. 3-3:11. Ye are My friends, said Christ, John 15:13-15. As Jehovah told His
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