NOVEMBER • 1938
The Bible Family Magazine
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D UR ING the summer of 1938, the Directors of T he K ing ’ s B usiness as an economy measure decided to re-enter T he K ing ’ s B usiness at the Los Angeles Post Office on a T EN -M ON TH S ’ schedule as is customary with the official organs of other schools and colleges which omit publi cation during the vacation months. This move was intended as an economy measure and to make it possible for us to send free subscriptions to the many mission aries, pastors, Sunday-school teachers, and other Christian work ers in this and foreign lands who are writing us constandy for subscriptions to the magazine to aid in their work. The savings effected would have enabled us to nil many more of these appeals than is normally possible, and we believe that never in the history of the magazine have we received so many letters of this character as have been coming recently. Two of them, reproduced on pages 370 and 371 of this issue, will show our readers the great value of this service to missionaries. W e have felt keenly, however, that there is another side to the question. Our many thousands of regular readers who depend upon the dated International Sunday-school Lessons, Christian Endeavor Notes, and other features, must be considered. But the esqjense of printing all of these departments in the June issue each year for the omitted months would be almost as great as the cost of the two additional numbers. The Directors have there fore decided to resume publication on a twelve-months’
schedule beginning with this issue. T h e Special Subscrip tion Price o f $1.25 for a single subscription for twelve months will continue in effect until February 1, 1939, after which date the old price of $1.50 for a single annual subscription will be charged. W h y Everybody W ants T h e K ing’s Business It appeals to the whole fam ily. As its slogan implies, it is indeed the Bible Family Magazine. For inspiration, relax ation, information, and all-year-round enjoyment, young and old turn to T he K ing ’ s B usiness —and are satisfied! It is a boon to Sunday-school teachers. In each issue, at least one-fifth of the contents of T he K ing ’ s B usiness is specially adaptable to the needs of Sunday-school pupils and teachers. Sunday-school superintendents recommend the use of T he K ing ’ s B usiness among their teachers and officers. It will come in time to be useful, for all Sunday-school lesson materials, as well as Christian Endeavor Notes and Devotional Readings, are provided at least one month in advance o f the magazine date. W hy not form a club in your church, Sunday-school, or adult Bible class, and thus promote the diligent and pleasurable study of the Greatest Book? Children enjoy it. Two pages, “The Junior King’s Busi ness,” are exclusively for children. Pastors, missionaries, and personal workers say they cannot do without it.
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Biolu “Go Forward” Campaign Passes Hall-Way Mark P er iod o f Campaign— O c tober 1 ,1937 , to June 1 ,1940 (E stim ated R equ irem en t ... $1 ,500 ,000 .00) STATUS as of October 1, 1938 (First Anniversary)
Cash from "Go Forward" pledges (pledges $77,783.13)—................... ..$ 28,175.80 Other donation income.......................... _____________ _____'.................... 61,950.44 Income from other sources............................. .,.......... .........i........... 99,075.84 Debt cancellations secured (junior mortgages and liens)—................... 756,731.25 $945,933.33 ESTIMATED REQUIREMENTS For Balance of Period of Campaign to Accomplish Payment in Full of: Mortgage and Other Obligations Estimated cost of training 400 students (no tuition charged)
October 1, 1938, to June 1,1940............................I........ |................... $153,600.00 First mortgage.......................................... ....fe..............:,........... ................... 188,000.00 Provision for Bible Women's work............................. —.....¿i..',.x.................. 8,500.00 Miscellaneous operating costs, additional annuity reserve requirements and China Institute needs (estimated).................. 204,000.00 554,100.00 ------------------------------- -------------- ! ------ 9 $1,500,033.33
T h e b io l a " g o f o r w a r d " CAMPAIGN, which ' began with prayer and supplication on Octo ber 1, 1937, looking toward the payment of the Institute debt and the mainte nance and operation of the school for a period of thirty-three monfhs, has been blessed of God in an unusual way. BY OCTOBER 1, 1938, CAMPAIGN PLEDGES AND EFFORTS IN REDUC TION OF THE INSTITUTE DEBT, AG GREGATED N E A R L Y A M IL L IO N DOLLARS. In this result, which has been granted by the grace of God, a total of 1,355 friends of the Institute have cooperated^ by means of their month-by-month pledge payments and by their faithful intercession. Furthermore, the Board of Trustees of the Institute, now led by President Louis T. Talbot, has been and is continuing to look to the Lord for the full achievement for which the cam paign originally tvas launched. On every hand, there has been cordial en dorsement of the "GO FORWARD" CAMPAIGN method: the system con- viently providing for regular payments extending over a period of thirty-three months. The plan is flexible and adapt able. to individual needs. It may be asked: What were the ob jects in view in the inaugurating of the "GO FORWARD" CAMPAIGN? To an swer this query, the Bible Institute of Los- Angeles announced in September, 1937, that the.proceeds of the campaign would be devoted to four specific pur poses in the following order: (1) To the maintenance and opera tion of the Institute. (2) To the strengthening of the annu ity reserve fund and the keeping up of payments to our aged an nuitants. (3) To the reduction, of the Institute's mortgage indebtedness. (4) To such extension work as may be planned. This fourfold program—which the In stitute believes was given of God—cov ers an aggressive ministry which has for its object the glory of the Lord Jesus.
How Contributions May be Made Contributions for this work' may be made by: (1) Direct Gift. (2) A 33-months' Pledge Payable Monthly. (3) Bequests or Wills. (4) Purchase of Insured Annuities. . Direct Giving Direct giving to the Institute is .divided into the following classifications: occa sional donations, 33-months' pledges, in dividual pledges, pledges under the Biola Honor Roll plan (regular monthly contributions of any stated amount), and Contract Giving, under which last head may be included the transfer of property to the Institute, real or per sonal, during the lifetime”of the donor, in the form of an executed gift, which passes to the Institute upon the giver's death. Under this last plan, many have relieved themselves of the care of prop erties while retaining the income during their lifetime. Bequests Under Wills The Institute maintains a staff of train ed field representatives who are experts in giving advice in estate matters. The Institute's attorney will, upon request, prepare wills or trusts under wills that adequately will meet the- need of the individual donor. Insured Annuities The Institute is now offering what ex perience has proved- to be the safest form of money investment on earth in the form of insured annuities, under the terms of which a liberal rate of interest is paid during the lifetime of the annu itant. All of the Institute's annuities is sued under this provision will be insur ed by the strongest and safest of the American life insurance companies, a feature not offered by many institutions in the United States. Co-ordination of Efforts The purpose of the "Go Forward" Campaign is to co-ordinate the efforts of the various departments of the Insti tute and to organize the benefactions of the school's friends in such a way that
the economical operation of the Institute may be assured for the future. Work of Biola The Bible Institute of Los Angeles has existed as an organized Christian work for more than a quarter of a century. During this period it has given training to more than 15,000 students. Several hundreds of these have become mission aries, pastors, evangelists, or other full time Christian workers, while nearly all, we believe, have exerted a spiritual in fluence in the life of their respective communities. In addition to its American labors, the Bible Institute of Los Angeles carries on an extensive mission work in China through the Hunan Bible Institute, lo cated in the populous Chinese city of Changsha, in Hunan Province, from which a number of evangelistic bands radiate, doing house-to-house visitation in the more remote sections of this teem ing Chinese area. Including Biola's Chinese work, its correspondence school, and its day and evening schools, it is estimated that more than 1,000 present students and their instructors are among those who are most vitally affected by the Insti tute's program of extension. Biola "Go Forward" Campaign The Bible Institute of Los Angeles, Inc. I hereby subscribe to the BIO LA "G O FO RW A RD " C A M PA IG N and agree to give □ monthly $— ------------------ ........ □ quarterly □ semiannually □ annually for thirty-three months until the total of $...........— , has been paid. I am enclosing $-------- to apply on this gift and pledge. (Can be paid as addition to existing Honor Roll Pledge if desired.) N a me.................... ........................... ....... . Add ress............................. ...._____ ______ ____ Enroll me in the divisions ’¡checked Honor Roll □ Friend of Institute □ Present student □ Cor™sug °^ enco Former student □ China donor O 558 South Hope Street Los Angeles, California Dear Friends:
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How sorely the world needs staunch devotion to Christ’s ideals! Build strong Christian character in your Sunday school through the use of our time- tested Story Papers and Lesson Btelps—and thus begin to build a better world. No Sunday School Should Be Without TH E B O Y S ’W O R LD TH E G IR L S ' COM PAN ION Weekly 8-page story papers for teen-age groups. In lots of live or more addressed to one person, either publication 12 cents each subscription per quarter. TH E YOUNG P E O P L E 'S W E E K L Y 16 pages weekly for ages 18 to 22. In lots of five or more sent to one person, 17 cents each subscription per quarter. CH R IST -C EN T ER ED L E S S O N H E L P S • True to the Bible. • Based on International Uniform Lessons. • Graded to the needs of each age group. They are spiritual in approach, evangelistic in pur pose, practical in application. MAIL COUPON
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Gentlemen: Please send details of your Half-Price Trial Offer, your 1939 Catalog and samples of teaching materials for departments checked: Cradle Roll Begin, and Prl. Junior Intermediate Young People’s Adult Name ............................... .............................. St., Box, Route ...................... .............,;.............................. City ...........................i..........— ...... state .......__________ ............................................................................... Sunday School
November, 1938
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T H E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
LOUIS T. TALBOT, Editor-In-Chief M ildred M. C ook , Managing Editor H. S. R isley , Circulation Manager
IT...
Official Organ of The Bible Institute of Los Angeles, Incorporated
ISLIKE THEWEATHER
She 3 it»le Tam il# OHa^^ine Copyright, 1938, by T he K ing ’ s B usiness (a California non-profit corporation) M otto: “Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood ."—R ev . 1 :5.
Mark Twain rem a rk ed once that “the weather is something everybody talks about, but no body does a n y th in g about it.“ And so we find it o fte n with regard to God’s covenant people, Israel, and the importance of giv ing them the Gospel in these last days. The Lord Jesus Christ gave us solemn warning that we shall be doers of the Word, and not hearers only. He gave the Phari sees a scathing rebuke when He told the disciples, “For they say and do not.” Surely no child of God wishes knowingly to be guilty of saying and not doing! In the crow d in g of tragedy upon tragedy, the era of Gentile world dominion is about to come to a catastrophic end, and now if ever is the time for the true child of God- to “speak comfortably to Jerusalem.” A recent letter from a friend put the case as effectively as we have seen it put: “For a long time I have been conscious of our obligation to the Jews, and now the need is more acute than it has ever been. As I study the Word and realize the awful plight the Jews are in, my heart is crushed for them, and I pray that Christians everywhere may wake up to the fact that now is the time to befriend them and show them the error of their ways that they may accept Christ as Lord, and that they in turn may preach the Gospel to their own race even before the rapture, that the chosen people may have a part in that marvelous redemption prepared for all who will accept it.” Need we say more? Your fel lowship in prayer and gift is always a welcome evidence of the Lord’s provision for us, and it adds you to those faithful ones who wish to become partners with Him in the closing program of the age. AMERICAN BOARD OF MISSIONS TO THE JEW S, INC., 31 Throop Ave., Brook lyn, N. Y. Dear Friends in the Lord: I pray for Israel in her hour of agony, and gladly enclose $___________ as fellow ship with you in your world-wide Gospel work. Name..................... ................ ____________________ Street..... ....................................................... City-----....— ................................... State...................
Volume XX IX
November, 1938
Number 9
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Cover Illustration by Ransom D. Marvin Around the K ing’s Table— Louis T . Talbot.................................................364 Views and Reviews of Current News— Dan Gilbert................................. 365 Where Are the Nine?— Herbert Lockyer.......................................................366 What Is Christianity?—W . Graham Scroggie............................................ 367 The European Imbroglio—-Louis S. Bauman.............................................. 368 Around the World with the Gospel............................................................... 370 Junior K ing’s Business—Martha S. Hooker...............................................373 Our Literature Table...........................................................................................1..375 The Bible Institute Family Circle.......................................................................376 Evangelistic Notices ...............................................................................................377 International Lesson Commentary.................................................................... 379 Notes on Christian Endeavor—Mary G.Goodner........................................389 Daily Devotional Readings.................................................................................. 392
I N F O R M A T I O N
F O R
S U B S C R I B E R S
Canadian and foreign addresses for all single and annual club subscriptions re quire 25 cents extra postage for each subscription. It requires one month for a change of address to become effective. Please send both old and new addresses. REMITTANCE: Should be made by Bank Draft, Ex press or P. O. Money Order, payable to "The King’s Business.'* Receipts will not be sent for regular sub scriptions, but date of expiration will show plainly each month, on outside wrapper or cover of magazine. ADVERTISING: For information with reference to advertising in THE KING’S BUSINESS, address the ADVERTISING MANAGER, 558 SOUTH HOPE STREET, LOS ANGELES, CALIF., or our eastern representative. Religious Press Association, 1108-10 Colonial Bldg., 13th and Market Streets, Philadelphia, Pa. Entered as Second Class Matter June 8, 1938, at the Post Office at Los Angeles, California, under the Act of March 3, 1879. Acceptance for mailing at special rate of postage pro vided for in Section 1103, Act of October 3, 1917. authorized October 1, 1918. MANUSCRIPTS: THE KING'S BUSINESS cannot accept responsibility for loss or damage to manuscripts sent to it for consideration.
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THE KING’S BUSINESS
558 South Hope Street
Los Angeles, California
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B U S I N E S S
November, 1938
Around the King's Table E D I T O R I A L
A Letter to Friends D ear "K ing ’ s B usiness " F amily : "But God . . . ”
man initiative. We are building on and go ing on with God. And in any emergency or any crisis that may arise, we will put these words, "but God," into the breach—and they will be sufficient. Believe this with us! Second, we are surrounded with a new spirit in our people that is nation-wide. All who know and love Biola are rallying to God’s standard raised here, with new zeal and renewed confidence in Him. Wavering and uncertainty are gone. Doubt has flown. A new people have been bom out of the travail and trial of the past The fire has done its purifying work. We stand ready, chas tened and deepened, for God’s greater call. Third, the present student body, num bering 392 Day School students with ap proximately 100 Evening School students, is a challenge that no one dare ignore or resist. They have been placed by God in our hands. They are potential salvation to the multitudes of tomorrow. We must not fail them. W e must, by God's help, train and equip them for Christian service. Fourth, we are led by a Board of Trus tees with a personnel of successful and ex perienced businessmen consecrated to the last measure of devotion to the cause of Christ. They are verily "come to the king dom for such a time as this.” Filth, we have a happy family of work ers in the faculty and administrative staff, all of whom are unitedly determined to lend unto the Spirit of God their life and talent and capacity for consecrated service. Sixth, the whole-hearted interest and sup port of the Church of the Open Door is one of our greatest assets. The people of this great church, of which I have had the privilege of being pastor for the past seven years, stepped into the breach in the Insti tute’s darkest hour. The church and the In stitute are now bound together by both physical and spiritual ties, but they cannot bear this burden alone. It belongs to God’s people at large. The church very generous ly has released me for administrative duties in the Institute and for Bible ^conference work wherever doors may open.
Seventh, this last reason for believing in the triumphant future of the Bible Institute is the first reason over again, for remember it is Scripturally written in another con nection, that the “first shall be last; and the last shall be first.” It is "but God." It is our hope, our strength, and our lasting suf ficiency. It is our declaration of faith. It is our platform of practice. It is the battle cry as we go forward to Biola’s greater future. Go with us! The objective toward which we now set ourselves as an Institute is the liquidation of the remaining indebtedness on the build ing which exists in the form of a first mort gage to the amount of $188,000.00. And in this great project we ask your sympathy, prayers, and cooperation. Let us take anew these words, "but God," and put them to this task. If we will dare to believe and if we will be ready to obey, these walls may echo with increasing mean ing the words of our triumphant Lord: "For I will be with thee thy troubles to bless, And sanctify to thee thy deepest distress, E ’en down to old age, all my people shall prove My sovereign, eternal, unchangeable love.” Yours in the fellowship of the King,
This, which is my first editorial as Presi dent of the Bible Institute of Los Angeles and Editor of T he K ing ’ s B usiness , comes in the form of a heart-to-heart talk about matters of mutual interest concerning God's work here. The words that head this letter—" but God" —tell the whole story of the imme diate past and contain the entire prospect of the future regarding this Institute. But for God, the Bible Institute of Los Angeles would not be in existence as a functioning Christian institution today. But for God, and the certain conviction that it will be His blessing and enabling that will carry us through, I would not now be in the President’s chair. Coming fresh from the days of financial and spiritual miracle which God so won derfully wrought here this past summer, I am convinced that it is the prophecy of complete victory in every department of this work. I wish you to share this convic tion too, and for that reason, I am taking you into my most intimate confidence. Let us knit heart to heart and trust God for even greater triumphs in the future. Surely the fact that God enabled us to re duce our indebtedness by over $700,000.00 is the most convincing proof that His bless ing is upon this Bible Institute and is also evidence that our continuing faith and faith fulness will see the entire obligation wiped out in due course. Of this I am convinced; and toward this end I have set myself by prayer and personal sacrifice. I enjoy the same conviction in my associates. There are manifest and manifold rea sons for believing in a triumphant future for the Bible Institute of Los Angeles. First, the words "but God" are both the conviction and challenge of the moment. They are our tower of strength. W e are not building this Bible Institute on human management, nor are we advancing in hu
President, The Bible Institute of Los Angeles,-
Observing, Thanksgiving Sunday In the belief that God will bless united efforts to retrieve the lost spiritual ra diance of Thanksgiving Day, the Great Commission Prayer League of Chicago is sending out an urgent call for special ob servance of Thanksgiving Sunday (No vember 20, 1938). In the call, it is pointed out that Thanks- [Continued on page 397]
WON BY THE WORD LEFT; Girls from Euodia Club (Bi ble study groups for high-school and junior high-school girls, conducted by Institute Bible Women) study the Bible joyously and lead classmates to Christ. An average of 65 club meet ings are held each week, with a total weekly a tte n d a n c e approximating 800— a vast evangelistic field. RIGHT: Men students of the Bible Institute of Los Angeles, organized as teams, take the gospel at the noon hour to industrial plants in the Los Angeles district. Music, testimony, and straightforward preaching reach men who have been indifferent.
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T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
Views and Reviews of Current News By DAN GILBERT San Diego, California, and Washington, D.C.
to be used to raise the standards of public instruction in the so-called “poor” states. Educators have long noted the great dis parity in educational standards prevailing in the different states. States in which the income of the people is subnormal are un able to raise sufficient tax funds to maintain high educational standards. Proponents of the federal “subsidy" idea contend that the “poor” states must be helped with the fed eral funds to raise their public school sys tem to a par with the wealthier states. Opponents of the “federal financing" proposal see dangers lurking in the whole program. They contend that federal sup port of state schools will inevitably lead to federal control of state education. By such a method, state schools will become propaganda agencies for politicians in Washington, so it is argued. CRIME MARCHES ON: Excelsior, a pe riodical published in Mexico City, reports that 1938 has witnessed "an alarming in crease” of crimes of murder and out rageous violence comm itted against defenseless women and children. These forms of crime, characterized by “surprising cruelty,” are said to be on the rapid in crease in many parts of the Mexican nation. The callousness of organized criminals operating in our own and other nations of the world is a striking evidence of the fresh outbreak in modem times of the moral decadence prevailing in ancient Rome. The famous historian, Lecky, wrote in his His tory o f European Morals, "While the Greek and Roman world was perplexed by the mystery of being, and shadowed by the suffering of life, and while it was moved by the examples of great heroism, there was no sense o f sin possessing m ens hearts. Remorse was an unknown passion, and penitent shame was impossible. The bur den of guilt did not rest on even a crim inal’s heart. Men looked on deeds of infamy and were not shocked. The sin of the world and its moral corruption infected [Continued on page 377]
eluding the United States and Canada, were reported in attendance. The international congress is sponsored by the “World Union of Free Thinkers.” This atheistic union, created at Prague two years ago, was bom of the consolidation of the three antireligious “internationals” which were then in existence. These three world-wide organizations were the "Inter national Federation of Free Thought,” formed in 1880: the "Proletarian Free Thinkers International,” organized in 1926, and the “International of the Godless," founded in Soviet Russia in 1931. Among the announced speakers at the anti-God convention were H. G. Wells, noted writer and propagandist of evolution and socialism, and Professor Harold J. Laskl, well-known lecturer in American and English universities. The books of Wells and Laski are widely in use in American educational institutions. They are impor tant factors in steering youth into radical ism. The annual congress of the international atheists will be held in Moscow in 1939. Plans are under way to bring the antireli gious convention to the United States or Canada in 1940. Vigorous protests of thousands of Chris tian citizens in England were unable to halt the assembling of the international atheists in London. Investigation revealed that there exists no law under which the anti-Christ congress could be banned. A bill has been prepared for submission to Parliament, pro hibiting future anti-God conventions in England. Special legislation is needed in the United States, likewise, if an antireli gious invasion of our nation is to be fore stalled. drive for federal financing of state schools is expected to bear fruit in the Congres sional session opening in January, 1939. The goal is an initial outlay of not less than half a billion dollars of federal funds
LAWLESSNESS AND CIVILIZATION: A prominent professor of psychology, as sociated with the University of California at Los Angeles, recently has set forth the thesis that “crime is a necessity” if civiliza tion is to survive. The world would revert to savagery, he maintains, if "there were no lawbreakers and all laws were obeyed.” The professor’s pronouncement comes on the heels of the publication of a widely advertised book by another professor—this one identified with a well-known Eastern university. The book argues that stealing is a “natural” and “normal” human activity. The glorification of lawlessness is what might be expected in the age fast closing in upon us. The theory of the nations of the world seems to be that lawbreaking is the road to progress and higher civilization. In their domestic policies, as well as abroad, the dictators apparently pursue a policy of disregarding common rights and common decencies. Confiscation of property with out compensation, imprisonments and even executions without a trial, malicious perse cution without cause other than the vic tim's class, color, creed, or race—all forms of crime and immorality have been elevated to the status of “state policy.” Thinking people will wonder whether prevailing lawlessness is not carrying our civilization back to savagery, rather than rescuing it from savagery, as the professor contends. It is small wonder that our crime wave rises ever higher, when the public prints are filled with accounts of men of learning who have put their intellects to the task of "making out a case” in favor of the practice of lawlessness.
ANTI-GOD FORCES CONVENE: On September 9, the organized anti-God forces of the world opened their “international congress" in London, England. Delegates from not less than thirty-six nations, in“FEDERALIZED” EDUCATION: T h e
FASCINATED BY THE WORD LEFT: Tuesday night Intercommu nity Bible Class . . . Meets in San Ga briel Union Church, Roy L. Laurin, Pastor . . . Taught by President Louis T. Talbot of the Bible Institute of Los Angeles . . . Between 150 and 200 persons come weekly to study the Book of Revelation . . . They find no other hook so up-to-date as the Bible . . . Have you proved this true in YOUR community? RIGHT: Biola students find oppor tunities for soul-winning among hoys and girls on streets and in parks. The children of YOUR community need the gospel too. Are you giving it?
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November, 1938
Where Are the Nine?
By HERBERT LOCKYER Chicago, Illinois
Me *■ n ■ 1 7
T CALVARY in His cruel death the Lord fesus suffered th e base ingratitude of man in all its full ness. In a measure of preparation for this sorrow, on His l a s t pilgrimage to Jerusalem the grate
The phrase, “giving him thanks,” indi cates the necessity of expressing our grati tude to the Lord —a gratitude He looks for and misses when it is not forthcoming. Such gratitude is enjoined specifically: "Abounding therein with thanksgiving” (Col. 2 :7 ); "be ye thankful” (Col. 3:15); “giving thanks always for all things” (Eph. 5:20). It also glorifies God: "Whoso of- fereth praise glorifieth me” (Psa. 50:23). The cleansed leper by his thankful spirit gave glory to God (v. 18). Natural grati tude is the natural pleasure felt in prosper ity. But gracious gratitude—gratitude filled with grace—blesses God, as Job could, in adversity, because of faith in His wisdom and goodness. Thankfulness in Action Gratitude is one of the foremost blessings and the parent of all graces. It produces contentment in all conditions, and it places a bridle on all one's desires. It checks gloom, it destroys envy, and it returns with blessings upon the head. W e taste the sweetness of a gift twice over when we are grateful for it. Gratitude likewise fits us for greater blessings. God is ever ready to give more abundantly when previous gifts are prop erly valued, appreciated, and enjoyed. Often the added gift is far more precious than the material benefit for which we have thanked Him. To the grateful leper Jesus gave a still greater blessing, a "second blessing,” if you like. He was told that his faith had saved him (v. 19, R. V. margin). A cleansed soul now resided within a cleansed body. Valuing blessings as they fall upon our unworthy heads, we receive further tokens of divine favor. Again, gratitude is a remarkable discov erer. It can find causes for thankfulness in the most ordinary and sometimes unwel come things of life. If you set before me a tray of sand containing some small parti cles of iron or steel, clumsy fingers would never be able to separate the two. But give me a magnet to swing over the tray, and then in a moment of time the invisible par ticles of metal will be drawn by the power of attraction to the magnet. The unthank ful heart is like a finger in the sand search ing for fillings. It can find no mercies for
which to praise God. But as the magnet attracts the metal, so gratitude finds in every hour some heavenly blessings to sing about. "Count your many blessings, name them one by one, And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.” Doubtless you have read of the old lady who could thank God for her two teeth. She had only two left, but she was so grateful that they were opposite each other and thus she was enabled to chew! The Arabians put the case of gratitude and contentment very plainly in the shape of a proverb: “I had no socks and com plained . . . until I saw a man who had no feet." Think and thank! If hitherto you have lived in Grumbling Street or Whining Lane, remove to Gratitude Terrace or to Thanks giving Corner, where the air and district are of the best and the rent is no higher. At this moment, close your eyes and exclaim: “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits” (Psa. 103:2). The Ingratitude of the Nine Being Himself the perfection of grateful Man in His relation to His Father, Jesus was saddened when the nine healed men failed to return to say “Thank you.” This is the reason that with a stung heart He asked: “Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine?” Ah, where were they? Why did they push on with no overmaster ing remembrance of Him to whom they owed everything? Alas! we are often in the company of the ungrateful nine, for like them, we too take all we can get from God, but offer Him very little in return. Ingratitude— What It Is Ingratitude! It is a sin. The Apostle Paul would have us know that ingratitude is one of the characteristic features of heathenism. We read that men "glorified him not as God, neither were thankful . . . ” (Rom. 1:21). Ingratitude is a sin against God, against society, against ourselves. Ingratitude! It is robbery. Can a man rob God? Yes, he certainly can. The [Continued on page 377]
ful Christ tasted the bitter thanklessness of man. And that His thankful heart was stung by the action of the cleansed lepers is evidenced by His question to the one grate ful leper: "Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine?” (Lk. 17:17). As the narrative contains several impressive truths worthy of our prayerful meditation at this Thanksgiving season, may the Holy Spirit guide us in our study. The Ten All ten men were lepers, being smitten with the same loathsome, hopeless disease. All were afar off. All cried for mercy (vs. 12, 13). What a picture of sin-stricken humanity! Thank God that the Saviour who cleansed the lepers can cleanse the more terrible “leprosy” of sin. All ten went to the priest in response to the command of Christ. All acted in the spirit of obedience and faith. As they walked, something happened—new life shot through their withered, corrupted frames. Their halting steps were made firm. Loath someness vanished, and pure white flesh was theirs again (v. 14). The ingratitude, therefore, of nine of these lepers was the ingratitude of nine men who had been cleansed and healed by divine power. The Gratitude of One Ten were healed, but only one, when conscious of the boon received, turned and fell at the feet of his Healer. Only one rendered immediate gratitude for immediate healing. This one cleansed man turned baqk: the other nine turned their backs and walked off with new, clean bodies, for getting the One who had made their res toration possible. With a croaking voice now clear and musical, only one of the lep ers glorified God for the mercy and miracle of healing (vs. 15, 16).
November, 1938
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What Is Christianity? By W . G R A H A M SC RO G G IE * London, England
short of a divine revelation, an emergence into the world of God Himself, at once consummating and transcending all previous revelations. It is because of this fact that "the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolish ness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Cor. 2:14). Christianity, then, is a fact, and this Fact is a Revelation. All other religions are facts, but no one of them is a Revelation. Christianity in its origin and character is absolutely unique.. An Experience of Salvation And now, in the next place, let it be said that Christianity is an experience. Christianity is embodied in the Christian church, and the Christian church is a society of converted people, of men and women who follow Christ. But to acknowledge the fact of Christ in human history is not neces sarily to follow Him, and to give intellec tual assent to His claims, on the evidence supplied by the Gospels, is not necessarily to follow Him. Many do this who would disclaim being Christians. Christians are people who have a knowledge of Christ in their experience, who know Him to be the Saviour, not merely because the Bible says so, but because He has saved them. The church is Christianity’s monument. It is the institution in which the fact of Christ becomes experimental; in which the Christian religion finds articulation; and what is true of the church as a whole is true of every member of it. Christianity is an experience o f salvation, and were it not that, it would have perished from the be ginning. This cannot be said of Moham medanism, or Buddhism, for Mohammed and Buddha are not living realities in the hearts of their followers. They are dead, and they are not further necessary to the religions to which they gave rise. But Christianity needs Christ for its very existence—not a memory of Christ, but Himself —risen from the dead, and mys tically, but very really, indwelling those whom He has delivered from the guilt, the stain, and the dominion of sin. The very nature of Christianity requires this. Chris tianity is a fact in the world, which for multitudes has become an experience in the soul, an experience which begins at the foot of the cross. Christ Indwelling the Christian Thus it can be said further that C/iris- tianity is a life. W e all have many experi ences, which touch us on one or other of the many sides of our nature, but the ex perience of Christ touches us on every side of our nature; it invades and pervades the whole soul. [Continued on page 372]
A Fact to be Acknowledged First of all, Christianity is a fact. It is not unnecessary to make this, declaration, for this truth seems to have been overlooked by many. Christianity is as genuine a fact in religious history as is Mohammedanism, or Buddhism: and as are these, Christianity is a great factor in human history. W e shall see, in a moment, that it is the greatest of all factors, but even those who will not admit that point cannot deny the fact of Christianity. Like Mohammedanism and Buddhism, Christianity takes its name from its Foun der. Mohammed, Buddha, and Christ are historical characters, and nothing we may think about any of them can affect that fact. All Mohammedans acknowledge Moham med; all Buddhists acknowledge Buddha; and all Christians acknowledge Christ; but those who do not follow any of them can not call into question the fact of all of them. The fact of Christianity, then, originates with the fact of Christ, and He has given to it its character, as Mohammed and Buddha did to the religions which bear their names. Therefore, we are not now con sidering an abstract idea, but something substantial, actual, present, a religious fact and force in the world. A New Revelation In the second place, Christianity is a revelation. Christianity is not the develop ment of anything that went before it, but something startlingly new. Christianity is no more a product of the past than Jesus Christ was a product of the human race. Of Christianity it has been said truly: "It was not developed out of Judaism— the Jews were its bitterest opponents; it was not indebted to Greek philosophic thought, or to Roman political science, though afterwards it made use of and powerfully influenced both; it had nothing in common with the current superstitions of Oriental religions; it did not owe its origin to some cunningly devised religious syn cretism, such as was not uncommon at the time when Christianity began to infuse life into the declining Roman Empire.” There had been, of course, under the Old Covenant, anticipations of Christianity. The foundation of it was laid in the monotheism of the Hebrews, and something of its char acter was indicated in Isaiah’s Rhapsody of Zion Redeemed, and in Jeremiah’s Spiritual Covenant. Nevertheless, when Christianity came, it was entirely new, so new that even at this late date we are far from fully under standing it. Christianity, at its advent, pre sented new doctrines, new impulses, new motives, new outlooks, a new ground of faith, and a new hope. Christianity was not and is not anything
T HESE are days in which many values are being debased, and among them the values of Christianity’s ter minology and of Christianity itself. It is a serious thing that some modem bastard cults should have chosen to employ the vocabulary of the Christian faith, after having emptied it of its true content, and poured into it a foreign meaning. In conse quence of this deception, numberless souls are greatly perplexed, and the situation de mands that we redefine our terms. I invite my readers, then, to consider with me the question: W hat is Christianity? In answering this question, a wide field of thought might easily be covered, relative to the origin of Christianity and to its essence and progress, its tendencies and claims and influence, its place among other religions, and much besides. Christianity being “a complex multiform phenomenon,” it is perhaps impossible comprehensively to define it with accuracy, though many at tempts have been made so to do, most of them cumbrous, and all of them inadequate. The subject may be viewed in many aspects, objectively and subjectively, his torically, and dogmatically, but no one approach is adequate for an understanding of what Christianity really is. The subject is too vast to be crushed into a formula, but that does not mean that we must remain in ignorance of what Christianity really is. That which cannot be defined may be described, and thus—having regard for our limits of space—I would call your attention to certain phases of this great sub ject which, together, will at least help us better to understand and more to appreciate the meaning of Christianity. * Pastor, Metropolitan Tabernacle.
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• "Iro n " of dictator ships and "clay" of de mocracies m in g le d at the fateful conference at Munich on Septem ber 2.9, when the issue of immediate w ar or p e a c e was at stake. From left to right: Pre mier Benito Mussolini of Ita ly , R e ic h s fu e h re r Adolf H it le r of Ger many, Paul Schmidt, of ficial interpreter, and P rim e Minister Neville Ch amberlain of Britain. Premier Edouard Dala- dier of France was seat ed at the right, ¡ust out of camera range. (In ternational News Photo)
The European Imbroglio T h e Antichrist M arching On
By LOU IS S. BAUM AN * Long Beach, California
"O my Lord, what shall be the end of these things1" (Dan. 12:8). ARE W E not living through the strangest times in all history?” asks -A- an editorial writer in the issue of the Los Angeles Times that has just come to my desk. Yes! And were any of the old prophets alive today—Isaiah, Amos, Micah, Hosea, Daniel, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, or any of the rest of them—their hearts would throb and thrill in glorious expectancy in the light of the latest events in the world, especially in Europe. The man who reads his newspaper and knows his Bible must be stirred to the depths of his soul as he ponders the anti- God, anti-Christ, and anti-moral deeds of the lords of earth, and then ponders likewise the declaration of the mighty God of Jacob: "The unjust knoweth no shame . . . There fore . . . my determination is to gather the nations, that I may assemble the kingdoms, to pour upon them mine indignation' (Zeph. 3:5, 8). From the farthest east to the farthest west, the heavens are flashing signals that even fools should understand, to warn that the sun of man’s day on this earth is about to set in vast seas of human blood. All save those who are willfully and spiritually blind are compelled to believe that the zero hour of “the times of the Gentiles” ap proaches, and "the day of the Lord” is at hand. Bitterness Against God's "Anointed Ones" Let those who doubt weigh the Scrip tures that are backed by the oaths of Om nipotence. *Pastor First Brethren Church
"The kings o f the earth set them selves, and the rulers take counsel to gether against the Lord, and against his Anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us . . . Yet have I set my King upon my holy hill of Zion . . . Be wise now therefore, O ye kings, be in structed, ye judges of the earth” (Psa. 2:2, 3, 6, 10). We are fully aware that “his Anointed” in the above passage is Jesus, the Christ; yet the pronoun “their” that follows surely justifies us in believing that the expression can be broadened to include “his anointed” nation, Israel. “O ye seed of Israel his servant, Ye children of Jacob, his chosen ones Yea, he reproved kings for their sakes; Saying, Touch not mine anointed ones, And do my prophets no harm" (1 Chron. 16:13, 21, 22, R .V .). Israel is an indestructible nation. Though Jew and Gentile should seek for its destruc tion, yet the "anointed” nation will abide. For, “Thus saith the Lord, which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night . . . If those ordinances depart from before me, saith the Lord, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for ever. Thus saith the Lord, if heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out be neath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, saith the Lord” (Jer. 31:35-37). The immutable covenants of God made with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and David, are not to be
changed by what Israel may or may not do. When the Lord of glory presented Himself to the Jews as their King, the Jews replied by spitting upon Him (Matt. 27:30). That mattered not as regards the promises. The King Himself had said: “Salvation is of the Jews” (John 4:22). Recent weeks have seen the mightiest rulers of earth agree to the destruction of Israel in Central Europe—agree to the de struction of the indestructible! “What fools these mortals be!” These rulers of the earth may not allow Israel a place whereon they may set the soles of their feet to rest. Mussolini orders thousands of them out of Italy “within six months.” Britain imme diately proposes to close the doors of Pal estine to their immigration. Very well, then, there will be a nation within the na tions, rebel against it as the nations do. It is the decree of Omnipotence. Why blame the Jew? The Day of Israel's Sorrow The four mightiest leaders of Europe surrounded a table at Munich a few days ago; and, some willingly and some unwill ingly, joined themselves into a pact that stood for the oppression of the weak and helpless, and the strengthening of the al ready strong enemies of Israel. They went through the fiasco of trying to establish peace on the basis of that which all the world knows is monstrous injustice. Pro fessedly in the interests of peace, their' action had the effect of driving from their defenses whatever defenders the bleeding and impoverished sons of Jacob still had in Central Europe. They burst open the doors to what refuges were left upon the moun tains for the sobbing sons and daughters of Israel.
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