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The King s Business The True-to-the-Bible Family Magazine \T h e Official Organ of THE BIBLE INSTITUTE OF LOS ANGELES, Inc. LOUIS T. TALBOT • MILDRED M. COOK Editor-In-Chief Managing Editor
Theythat didthe King's Business HelpedtheJews!
Motto : “Unto him that, loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood” (Rev. 1:5),
“And all the princes of the provinces, and the sa traps, and the governors* and they that did the king’s business, helped the Jews!” —Esther 9:3 (R.V.) If ever in their history the Jews needed'your help, they need it now. A Hitler in Germany, a Stalin in Russia, persecution in Poland, bloodshed in Rou- mania—the age-old cry of the Jew pierces the heart of every true child of God — Wohin sol Ich gehen? Where shall I go? Can you afford, as a bom-agaln follower of the Lord Jesus Christ, to shut up your bowels of mercy to that haunting wail? The old time heathen of Haman’s day, in the hour of Israel’s distress, helped the Jews! Can you do less than those Godless heathen did? And do you know a truly better way to help the Jews now than to point them to the only cure for their troubles, the Lord Jesus Christ? Think it over; then write us. Some day you’ll be glad you did. The promise of God is still valid, “I will bless them that bless thee.” Gen. 12:3, Our world-wide testimony to. Israel is worthy of your faithful prayers and sympathy. Your help is always needed and appreciated. “THE CHOSEN PEOPLE,” be loved by B i b l e students for its helpful information on prophecy and the Jews, is sent to all con tributors. May we hear from you? AMERICAN BOARD OF MIS SIONS TO THE JEWS, INC. 31 Throop Avenue, Brooklyn, N. Y. I do want to help the Jews. Here is $.............................. Use it as God directs, to make known the saving power of the Lord Jesus Christ to Israel. Name ...:.____ _________________ _ Address ............................_................. City--------------- ..... State________
Volume XXXII
May, 1941 -
Num ber 5
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Ransom D. Marvin, Staff Artist Around the King’s Table —Editorial ___ _______ _______ _____ ...___170 Significance of the News —Dan Gilbert _______ ______________..........171 Getting the Best of Jealousy — Clarence Edward Macartney...... .......... 173 The Lamps Are Going O u t !—Herbert Lockyer .....................................174 What Does Military Life Do to a Christian?............................ ...........176 “By the Side of the Beautiful Sea ”—Adelaide IV. Locker ..................178 The Baptism with the Holy Spirit —Ruth Paxson..... ______________ 179 The Junior King’s Business —Martha S. Hooker ________________ 181 Bible Institute Family Circle_____ ____________________________ 183 International Lesson Commentary__ ___________________________184 Notes on Christian Endeavor —Lyman A. Wendt, Ethel Wallis, William W . Orr, Morena Holmes, and Adelaide W . Locher ..... 194 Daily Devotional Readings________ ____________________________ 200 Our Literature Table________ ________ __________ ± __________ 207 SUBSCRIPTION PRICE: ‘‘The King’s Business” is published monthly. $1.00—one year; $1.50—two years: 50 cents—-six months; 10 cents—single copy. Clubs of five or more at special rates; write for details. Canadian and foreign subscriptions 25 cents extra. It requires one month for a change of address to become effective. Please send both old and new addresses. REMI1TAJSCE Payable in advance, should be made by bank draft, express or P<^n 9“ ce ™oney order payable to ‘‘The King’s Business.” Date of expiration wiii show plainly each month on outside wrapper or cover of magazine.. ADYERTISINU—For information with reference to advertising in ‘‘The King's Business, address the Advertising Manager, 558 South Hope Street, Los Calif., or our eastern representative. Religious Press Association. 1108-10 Colonial Bldg., 13th and Market Streets, Philadelphia, Pa. MAIfUSCRIPTS—‘‘The King’s Business” cannot accept responsibility for loss or damage to manuscripts sent to it for consideration. Entered as second-class matter November 7, 1938, at the post office at Los Angeles, California, under the Act of March 3, 1879. Acceptance for mailing at special rate or Postage provided for in the Act of February 28, 1925, embodied in paragraph 4, section 538, P. L. and R., authorized October 1, 1918, and November 13, 1938. THE KING’S BUSINESS 558 South Hop« Street • Los Angeles, California INFORMATION FOR SUBSCRIBERS
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Will You Pray for THE KING'S BUSINESS? Encouraging word is received concerning the Lord’s use of this magazine in the salvation and strengthening of precious souls. Will you pray especially for the ministry of this present issue and of the / one to follow? The June issue will contain, among other features. Lessons from a Wedding---------- -------— —......... By H. A. Ironside Young end old will find.an answering response. China's Leaders Eager for the Gospel............. By Charles A. Roberts A rise!, (Who should, and why?) ----------------- --- By Vanee Havner Is the Spirit of God directing you friend ? to send a subscription to some
Around the King s Table
LOUIS T. TALBOT, Editor-In-Chief
the bodies of their loved ones are laid. Let us pray, too, and earnestly, for those who clasp warmly to their hearts the belief that because their sons have died for their country, these boys there by have paid the price needful for obtain ing eternal life. The Word of God is plain: It is “not by works of righteous ness which we have done”—even though those deeds include the surrender of life itself—that men procure eternal salva- tion. “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast” (Eph. 2:8,9). Not his relation to country, but his relation to Christ, is the question of chief import ance that every man in the armed forces —every individual—must face and settle. To the Christian, Memorial Day will call to mind another grave, one that Could hold its divine Occupant for only three days. Adoring hearts will remem ber the grim battlefield of Calvary and how, by His making “one sacrifice for sins for ever,” the Lord Jesus Christ secured a blood-bought emancipation for all those in a sin-bound world who would receive Him. Dr. Riley Honored It is with distinct personal pleasure that the» Editor of this magazine has learned of the continuance, in the pas torate of the First Baptist Church of Minneapolis, of his good friend W. B. Riley. It will be remembered that in March of this year, at the conclusion of forty-four years as pastor of this
God, who had a human mother, and who by partaking of our humanity has ennobled womanhood. That mothers are dear to His heart is evidenced by the fact that He tells of His willingness to comfort us as a mother comforts her children. Remember On May 30, with customary solem nity, multitudes in America will make their way to cemeteries all over the country to decorate the graves espe cially of soldiers who lost their lives in the wars of this nation. It is a good thing that each year has in it a national Memorial Day, recalling, as it does, a fact which America needs sorely to pon der—that it cost the lives of hundreds of brave men in order that peace and liberty and the American way of life might be preserved. This nation does well to contemplate that stem reality. Not only in the past, but also in the turbulent present and in almost every country of the world, men are dying as the victims of war. In a world armed to the teeth, uncounted numbers of lives are being laid down daily, and the army of weeping women grows apace. Many of these sorrowing ones, alas, never will have graves to decorate, for their dead are buried in foreign soil or laid to rest at the bottom of the sea. As we journey to “God’s green acre” on Memorial Day, may we prayerfully remember these be reaved ones, denied as they are of even the scant comfort to be found in the placing of a few spring flowers where
Mother’s Day With our American way of capitaliz ing on anything pf national interest, Mother’s Day has been commercialized out of all proportion. For a week or so prior to May 11, shop windows will be telling us how to remember our mothers, and trade will be brisk. Doubtless some mothers will count themselves fortunate to be remembered once a year. We live in a heartless world, where many women work and weep and never receive re cognition for their tears and sacrifice. If you send a bunch of flowers on Mother’s Day to a mother whose love and care throughout the years you over look, then, candidly, you are a hypocrite. Practical gratitude is what a mother needs and not a mere yearly gift. Many a mother’s heart yearns for an occasion al .“thank you” or a “God bless you, dear.” If you had a mother whose love for God and His Word was the secret of her strength and courage, or if your mother is of that kind and in the providence of God is still with you, take time to bless the Lord for that godly mother. Further, as the day of national recog nition of motherhood comes round, ask yourself whether, so far as your spirit ual life is concerned, you are walking in the old-fashioned way your dear mother knew. If she prayed, do you? If she read the Bible daily, do you? If she loved the church, do you? If she lived that others might be blessed, are you so living? Above all, praise Him, the Son of
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church, Dr. Riley offered his resigna tion. By unanimous vote of its advisory board and congregation, the church de clined to accept the resignation. In the multitude of the Lord’s people who, in one way or another have had fellowship with this loyal, sympathetic, generous servant of His, many will rejoice in this action. May it please God to give to Dr. Riley an increasingly fruitful ministry as the days come and go. Bahaism in America It is surprising how many and how varied are the forms of religious ex pression men and women in America will embrace—some of them plainly non-Christian in character. A move ment that is not by any means new, but which is gaining ground in certain territories, claiming to have adherents in every state of the Union, is the Ba hai movement. William McElwee Miller, in a book let, The Bahai Cause Today, has given a careful account of the cult from its inception to the present day, pointing out that “the number of Spiritual As semblies (local congregations) has doubled in the last decade . . . The property of the Temple in Wilmette, Illinois, is now worth over a million dollars, just twice what it was in 1926.” Discussing the principles upon which the Bahai faith is founded, and tracing the relation of this movement (which is drawing increasing numbers of pro fessing Christians into its ranks) to ancient Mohammedanism, the author states: “The Bahai Faith recognizes the unity of God and of His Prophets, upholds the principle of an unfet tered search after truth, condemns all forms of superstition and pre judice, teaches that the fundamen tal purpose of religion is to promote [Continued on Page 172]
Significance of the News By DAN GILBERT Washington, D. C , and San Diego, California
THE REAL ENEMY OF WESTERN CIVILIZATION: • In a widely publicized address given before a convention of educators and sci entists, the noted Professor Mortimer J. Adler of the University of Chicago declared: “It is probably not from Hit ler, but from the professors, that we must ultimately be saved.” This struggle to save our youth from the professors and propagandists of pa ganism promises to be the longer and the harder conflict. After Hitler is dead and gone, this battle must still be con tinued. Walter Lippmann, who seems to have departed from the camp of modernism in which cause he was once a pen-and- ink warrior, has stated the issue bluntly and candidly. In an address delivered under the auspices of Phi Beta Kappa at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Sci ence, he defined it as “Education versus Western Civilization.” He declared: “The prevailing education is des tined, if it continues, to destroy Western civilization and is in fact destroying it. . . . Our civilization cannot effectively be maintained where it still flourishes, or be re stored where it has been crushed, without the revival of the central, • continuous, and perennnial culture of the Western world.” The “culture of the Western world” is the expression of the Christian faith. As Mr. Lippmann pointed out:
“Modern education, however, is based on a denial that it is' neces sary or useful or desirable for the schools and colleges to continue to ■ transmit from generation to genera tion thé religious and classical cul ture of the Western world. . . . Modern education rejects and ex cludes from the curriculum of nec essary studies the whole religious tradition of the West.” Modern education stands revealed to day as the real and enduring enemy of Western civilization. SCIENCE—A FALSE MESSIAH: • Science cannot itself be a substitute, nor can it supply a substitute, for the religious faith which must provide pur posive direction and spiritual content to the culture which underlies Western civ ilization. As Mr. Lippmann says: "The power which s'cience places in men’s hands is ungoverned. Quickly it becomes ungovernable. . . . That is why men today are ap- ■ palled by the discovery that when modern man fights he is the most destructive animal ever known on this planet. . . . And, at last, educa tion founded on the secular image of man must destroy knowledge itself.” Lippmann might have gone on to show that modem dictatorship is the logical consequence of substituting the “authority of science” for the authority of the Word of God. A school system which exalts science over the Bible is bound to produce a system of govern ment which elevates militarism and ma terialism over the things of the spirit. • War preparations will increasingly compel the American people to do with out many things they would otherwise use in abundance. We do not suggest that it is the equivalent of a silver lin ing for the cloud; but it is true that, on the whole, some of the war-created shortages may actually be beneficial. For instance, a United Press dispatch contains this information: “It appears that the war is about to cause a shortage of artificial blondes. Peroxide is getting scarce. Red fingernails also are liable to disappear. The goo that m a k e s them red is being used to make high explosives. WAR SHORTAGES AND SACRIFICES:
Dr. Talbot in the Bay Region Under the auspices of the Christian Business Men’s Committee, San Francisco, Calif., Louis T . Talbot, President of the Bible Insti tute of Los Angeles, will be heard jn meetings from May 11 to 16: May I I— 11:00 A. M. — First Baptist Church, San Jose. 3:00 P. M.— Rally held at Melrose Baptist Church, Oakland. 7:30 P. M. — Glide Memorial Church, San Francisco. WEEK DAY MEETINGS AT 7:30 P. M.t May 12— First Baptist Church, San Francisco.
May 13 — Alliance Tabernacle, Oakland. May 14 — First Baptist Church, Richmond. May 15 — Mission Covenant Church, Oakland. May 16— Calvary Presbyterian Church, San Francisco.
From Monday, May 12, through Friday, May 16, Dr. Talbot will be heard daily over the radio, KYA, 1230 kc., at 12:30 P. M. Please pray for these services and make them known as widely as possible.
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office do not take seriously their oaths of allegiance to support the Constitution. Without honesty among nations, there can be no peace, even oi^*a temporary basis. The crying need today is not for more cleverness in the carrying on of international relations. It is for more fair dealing and simple honesty. It is believed by many that diplomacy must consist of bluffing and deceiving, of fiomp and pretense. It is sometimes ar gued that the democracies must “beat the dictatorships at their own game.” But this is false and unchristian coun sel. Honesty is still the best policy. The Ten Commandments are good for the nation as well as for the individual. AROUND THE KING’S TABLE [Continued from Page 171] concord and harmony . . . It . . . provides the necessary agencies for the establishment and safeguarding of a permanent and universal peace . . . “But in the Bahai teaching, sin is seldom mentioned. The evils of war, ignorance, poverty, prejudice, etc., are discussed, but Bahaism has contented itself with an attack on the symptoms, and has failed to realize the seriousness of the dis ease.” Again we see man’s futile attempt to bring in a golden age, largely by means of his own power. All of the aims are high-sounding and beauitful, but they lack the Scriptural conviction of “thus saith the Lord.” . In summing up the weaknesses of the movement, Mr. Miller exposes the heart of the error: « “The most serious charge which can be brought against Bahaism is that it has dishonored Him whom Bahais profess to love, the Lord Jesus Christ . . . The clear teaching of this Faith is that Jesus was not what the Bible represents Him to be—the only begotten Son of God, the one Saviour of men—for it declares that Jesus was succeeded by a greater Prophet, namely, Mo- ' hammed, who brought a new springtime to the world, and was for a period of twelve hundred years the Manifestation of God for all men.” The Christian cannot for a moment tolerate this disloyalty. For while on the surface, especially as it is pre sented in American" circles,- Bahaism appears to embody the highest of Christian sentiments, yet in its essence it is but another of Satan’s many de ceptions to veil the deity and the ab solute authority of the Son of God and His infallible Word. [Copies of The Bahai Cause Today are available upon request to The Mos lem World, 156 Fifth Ave., New York, N. Y.]
that the airplane wings and the engines of war will receive the coatings and the paintings r a t h e r than human faces, fingernails, and toenails! STALIN’S STRADDLE: • For days the newspaper headlines featured the “sensational news” that Russia had signed a nonaggression pact with Turkey. For weeks thereafter, the editorial writers and columnists pro ceeded to comment on the “high sig nificance” of this development. Past experience has proved that an agree ment made by Stalin is worth precisely as much as a treaty made by Hitler. The “significance” of any pact signed by Stalin is exactly nothing at all. If it indicates anything, it is the likelihood that the signatory will do the opposite of what he pledges himself to do. The strategy of the totalitarian diplo mats in sealing "pacts” is, of course, to deceive the nations of the world as to the nature of their real intentions. It will be recalled that the Soviets had a “nonaggression” pact with Poland. It was reaffirmed less than a year before the joint invasion and seizure of Poland by Germany on the west and Russia on the east. America will be laying herself open for deception and destruction if she permits herself to be deluded into be lieving that any agreement made by an atheist government is worth any. more than the paper upon which it is written. WASHINGTON’S WARNING: • It is sometimes said that, because he lived in the “horse-and-buggy” days, George Washington’s advice to his coun try is no longer valid. It is true that Washington did not understand modern machinery and inventions, but he did understand modern problems. Our prob lems today are derived, not from tech nology and invention, but from sin in the human heart. And Washington lqiew the awful reality of sin; he also knew the blessed deliverance from sin which comes through accepting Christ as Lord and Saviour. In his “Farewell Address,” Washing ton counseled his countrymen that the Christian faith of our people must be kept strong if the nation is to stand. All human relations, he pointed out, must be based upon truthfulness and common honesty among men. Even our courts of law, he observed, cannot operate fairly if the “sense of sanctity” departs from the hearts and lips of those who offer testimony. But where there is no fear of the Lord, there is no regard for truth. In America today our judicial system has been seriously impaired by the loose ness and laxity with which witnesses in court will engage in various modifica tions of perjury. Our Constitutional sys tem is imperiled because men elected to
By HELEN FRAZEE-BOWER Lord, nothing I can say will be enough /To keep hint at my side; But, when the way grows long, and steep,"and rough, Be Xhou his guide. My love would hold him close, but distance calls: The far horizon’s rim Beckons. Beyond the shelter of these walls, Remember him. Thy mother knew the anguish, sudden, brief, That-makes these eyes go blind With woman’s tears: But Thou didst know the grief Of all mankind. Thou wast a young man once in Nazareth . . . Henceforth I must forego His secret thoughts, his dreams of life and death, But Thou wilt know. This is the end: The work of heart and hands— The mother-task—all done; But, safely, with the One who understands I leave ray son. “All the big cosmetic houses have attempted to lay in supplies of as many things as they can, but right now they are having to quit using brass, tubes for lipstick. The tubes are going into cartridge shells. . . . Lipstick itself is becoming scarce, for its color is built up through complex chemical reactions. involv- , ing bromine and chlorine. These chemicals make poison gas.’’ The article goes on to explain that the “gooey mixtures” which are used to make fingernail and toenail polish “are now being shunted from the cosmetics factories to the high-explosive plants. They also are being used for coating airplane wings.” Perhaps it is for the good of the health and beauty of American womanhood
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W h e t h e r in men or in nations, jealousy is as cruel as the grave, as devastating as fire.
“We all deplore the fact that Europe is an armed camp, and trem ble lest the signal of war be given. What is the influence w h i c h maintains this intoler able bondage and may yet fling these masses of men at each other’s throats? Whatever the politicians may say, it is not patriotism. The next great European war will not be an out burst of patriotism to cast off a yoke or to secure liberty for the slave—it will be a duel between n a t i o n s in flamed and blinded by racial jealousy.” . The words were fear fully fulfilled. It was national j e a l o u s y which turned the sun into darkness and the moon into blood, and poured out the tears of mankind like an ocean. The dark history of the past is repeating itself.
Q e
O NE OF THE pleasant memories of my boyhood days is of a visit that we used to make, my River. There were two dogs on the farm, a fine shepherd and a mongrel close skinned dog. They were boon compan ions. Together they hunted for ground hogs and rabbits, and together they trod the treadmill of the dog chum. The dogs were good friends; but if you put your hand down and patted one of- them, im mediately the bristles began to rise on the back of the other and a warning growl proceeded from his jaws. Jeal ousy! Its empire extends from the brute creation to man, the prince of creation. In the Song of Solomon, it is written, “Jealousy is cruel as the grave: the coals thereof are coals of fire.” To un derstand the force of this comparison of jealousy with the grave, walk with me through the grassy aisles of the ceme tery and read the names and the dates that are graven, on the tombs. Here is the grave of a man who lived to be al most a hundred years old; there the grave of one who died in middle life; and yonder the tomb of an infant who “did but yesterday suspire.” Brief in scriptions tell the story of the life that here was rounded in a sleep. Some were men and some were women; some were poor and some were rich; some were ignorant and some were learned; some died b e l i e v i n g in Jesus Christ; and some died without faith and without hope. Now we begin to see the truth and power of comparing jealousy with the grave. Like the grave, jealousy preys upon all ages and sexes and kinds and conditions of men. Jealousy is as cruel as the grave! . Nor is the second comparison of the text any the less forceful: “The coals thereof are coals of fire, which hath a most vehement flame.” Many and fierce *Pastor nf the First Presbyterian Church .
brother and I, to a farm across the Ohio
By CLARENCE EDWARD MACARTNEY* Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
are the flames which leap out of the furnace of the heart of man; but most vehement of all, scorching unto death every good thing that comes within its path, is the flame of jealousy. The first crime that stained the his tory of the race—the first blow that man ever struck against man—was the blow of a jealous man. Alas! how many crimes since then jealousy has com mitted; what eminent careers it has wrecked; what nations it has drenched with blood; what cities it lias consumed with fire; what hopes it has blasted; what hearts it has broken, and what homes it has blighted with its withering curse! Jealousy Among Nations The flaming torch of jealousy is a light which helps one to read and un derstand the pages of human history. A few years before the last great war, a distinguished Scottish preacher wrote these words;
Again the world is darkened with the tragedy of great nations engaged in a bitter war which will bring sorrow and destruction to untold millions. In one sense, this war is a war of international jealousy. One nation wants to take an other’s place in the sun. Jealousy Between Individuals The first case of jealousy in the world was the jealousy of the evil for the good. Cain slew Abel because his own works were evil and Abel’s righteous. Goodness will always invite scorn and persecution on the part of evil. The ac cuser of his brethren is ever abroad. Satanic malignity is often called into action by purity of heart and meekness of life in another person. The eruption of evil passions which took place when Christ appeared on earth is the crown ing illustration of how purity of char acter, which we like to think will evoke [Continued nn Page 206]
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The Lamps Are Going Out! By HERBERT LOCKYER
E D GREY of Falloiion, the Brit ish Foreign Secretary in 1914, hated war. History records that prevent war with Germany, just as the late Premier Chamberlain labored hard to avoid war with the same country in 1939. After that momentous Cabinet meeting in the summer of 1914, when it was decided to go to war, Lord Grey walked from the Foreign Office along with a friend. It was early morning, and the lamplighter was on his rounds put ting out the gas lamps one by one. Drawing attention to the lamplighter, Lord Grey made the remarkable fore cast to his companion, “The lamps are going out all over Europe; we shall not see them lit again in our lifetime.” And, truly, darkness covers the earth, seeing that the lamps of freedom and Christian witness are going out. Brutal dictator ships are ruthlessly extinguishing the lights that have long illu minated the world. A sign
decadence in the days of Hezekiah is indicated by the phrase “they have . . . put out the lamps” (2 Chron. 29:7), that is, the lamps that were in the temple. The Lamp of Jewish Freedom Is Going Out Nazism is out to exterminate the J$w. Untold horrors have overtaken multi tudes of Jews in European countries. With our ears to the ground, we can hear the wail of anguish from thousands who are being treated worse than cattle. Truly, the greatest tragedy of the age long history of blood and tears of Israel is being enacted in our own' times. A recent report shows that out of more than 9,000,000 Jews in Europe, less than 1,000,000 are living normal lives. One dare not lift the veil too high upon Jew ish atrocities and tortures, and upon the unspeakable horror and brutality the Jews have been subjected to in Nazi Poland. Not until this total war is over will the full truth of the Jewish tragedy be told. When the Gestapo (secret police) entered Paris to begin their dread work, we are told that over three hundred Jews committed suicide in twenty-four hours. In view of the fact that accord ing to divine prediction the darkest page of Jewish history is yet to be written, it would seem as if the Satanically in spired efforts of Nazism, Fascism, and Communism to exterminate the Jew are preparing the way for “the time of Jacob’s trouble.” But the Jew is indestructible! Pha raoh tried to put out this lamp, but on
he did his utmost, in and before 1914, to
of spiritual and national
it s h o n e , in spite of that monarch’s
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hatred. As a God-lit lamp, Jewry never can be extinguished (cf. 1 Ki. 15:4). If Adolph Hitler wins the war, he will de mand a Europe without Jews. They will be banished from countries under Ger man domination. Hitler’s maniacal ha tred of the' Jews, already resulting in appalling suffering for a people who have added greatly to the development of old German culture, has as its objec tive the scattering of the Jews to some remote comer of the globe. But in spite of the bitter anti-Semitism' sweeping the world, the Jew will live on. The prophetic Scripture declares that cruel hands will never be able to extinguish this lamp. Prophecies, relating to the glorious future of a people whose tears and blood have been so freely shed when hatred toward them has arisen, will yet be fulfilled literally. In a coming day, the Jewish lamp, refilled by the hand of divine favor, is yet to illuminate the nations of the earth. The Lamp o f Missionary Activity Is Going Out The antichristian trinity of Nazism, Fascism, and Communism has evidently no room in its philosophy for the spread of the gospel among those in heathen darkness. In this connection, mission ary reports make sad reading. The rapid spread of war is resulting in the curtailment of missionary activities. Af ter years of steady brilliance, the mis sionary lamp seems to be going out. Pathetic reports come, telling of mis sion stations closing down, missionaries imprisoned, others back home with their work gone, and yet others held up in definitely, as the fields of their past or prospective labors are almost closed tigh t While limited space will not permit a wide survey of dislocation and aban donment, yet here are some sad facts that are sending lovers of missionary work to their knees in earnest inter cession that God will, in some way or other, turn the way of wicked men up side down. A revolutionary change is in process in Japan, where it would appear that the lamp of organized Christianity is, about to go out. According to the plan, foreign denominational churches are to give way to one national church, in which there are to be no foreign workers at all, and no dependence upon financial help from other countries. The executive committee of foreign missions of thtf Presbyterian Church in the United States— to name just one denomination — announces t h e w i t h- drawal of one hundred missionaries and their families from China, Japan, and Korea. Severe r e p r e s s i o n and gov ernment - enforced reorganization a r e likewise affecting the Salvation Army. In fact, from the Army’s headquarters in London comes word of the critical condition of their work in Japan, Den mark, Holland, and France. In 1922, the
Army had to leave Russia, and now it is having to strike its flag in Estonia and Latvia, seeing these countries are now under Russian control. Here are one or two paragraphs out of a letter from Japan which I was privileged to read: “We are wondering just how much longer we will be here and can hardly even hope that it will be later than April when the new gov ernment ruling and Religious Bill goes into e f f e c t . However, our times are in His hands, and He is able to do the impossible. So our eyes are unto Him and we are not in’ despair. With all of the anti forces and feelings, it is hard to witness for Christ, but the Lord is • our God. . . . With the new order of things and the new arrangement of the churches, there is hardly anything left for the missionary, and there seems to be almost a wholesale exodus. "The J a p a n Evangelistic Band, which is perhaps the oldest and largest independent mission [in this region], is closing its foreign side, and all of the missionaries are leav ing; some have just gone, and others leave this month and next and early in the New Y e a r . The Canadian branch of the Church of England will be d o i n g the same, and all foreigners will be leaving by April. Many others of the larger de nominations are finding It useless to try to continue. So pray for the church and Christianity, and espe cially for the ones who will become the leaders.” Missionary work in China, India, and Africa is also facing tremendous diffi culties as the result of the titanic strug gle among the nations. The evangelical lamp in Norway, Denmark, Holland, Poland, France, and Germany is not al lowed to shine very brightly. A report to hand describes the confiscation by the Spanish government of 110,000 copies of the Bible and portions of the Scriptures. Sent by the British and Foreign Bible Society, the books were ground up by the Spaniards to make cellulose, one of the materials most lacking in Spain. A well-known Baptist magazine, The Watchman-Examiner, has g i v e n the following excellent summary and appeal: “Christian missions confront the gravest crisis we have known. The sending countries are engaged in war, are prostrated by war, or are preparing for war. Economic stric tures prohibit or limit the disburse ment of funds in .European states. The largest field affected is the Dutch East Indies. Three hundred Dutch and two hundred German Protestant missionaries w e r e at work there when Holland was over run. A native Protestant Christian community of one and a half mil-
FROM A LONDON LETTER “ God’s promises do i n d e e d stand the strain of a t e n s i o n that breaks anything leu and anything else, and we praise Him again and again.”
lion souls still requires the watch- care of missionaries. A sacrificial effort of over seventy years’ mis sionary investment is at stake. An other field badly hit is Madagascar. More than four hundred thousand native Christians are mainly de pendent for nurture and leadership on sixty-six Norwegian and twenty- nine French missionaries. Norwe gian, Danish, Belgian, French, and German churches are no longer able to send funds to their missions. Swe dish, Finnish, and British churches are greatly restricted and cannot keep up the high level of support for missions their prewar commit ments call for. “The only sending country not impaired by war is the United States. American churches face an unprecedented challenge. The full weight of responsibility for the world missionary enterprise rests on the Christians of this country. Great Britain was proportionately the greatest missionary s e n d i n g country in the world before war broke out. Her vast interests in the gospel call for outside support or there must come a tragic let down. So will it be with the mis sionary efforts of all other sending countries. Help must be forthcom ing for them.” The Lamp of Christian Witness Is Going Out In the death struggle of democracy, the Christian testimony is imperiled. Under a true democracy, the Christian message is given full scope. The forces of tyranny, savagery, and godlessness are seriously impeding the furtherance of those Christian i d e a l s that have helped to make the nations gerat. Black-outs, air raids, and invasion perils have dislocated church and Sun day-school work. Air raids have taken a heavy toll on churches, possibly be cause of their conspicuous spires and buildings. Historic shrines are in ruins. Famous churches like Spurgeon’s Tab ernacle, the City Temple, and St. Paul’s have been damaged seriously. Within Greater L o n d o n , some four hundred Church of England places of worship are either destroyed or closed. A sim ilar number of Methodist churches are in ruins. [Continued on Page 198]
Maÿ, 1941
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What Does Military Life Do to a Christian?
A Story of Men o f the United States Navy
for further “inspection” at his own home, two miles away. An Im po rtan t Question Throughout A m e r i c a , the coming months—and years—will see the first homecoming in uniform of many thou sands of young men either conscripted for training in the United States Army or having enlisted for the United States Navy or Marine Corps. In Christian homes, the iqost deeply felt question, even if unexpressed, will be, “How has camp life affected him morally and spiritually ?” In Jack’s case, joyful letters to his own Christian home and to the Naviga tors’ Director had told of the Lord’s miracle-working power. Here is one: “The only time for prayer is when you are beside some profane and cursing boot. I haven’t been alone since arrival, yet the Lord, of course, has been con stantly abiding, and in His presence it is no trouble or work at all to talk with Him. “No time to ‘get into the Spirit’; only a second to breathe a word in childlike faith and expect the needed answer im mediately (which always comes). You are not allowed to get up or ‘turn in’ early; so up to today, my Scripture read ing has been from the ‘fleshy tables of the heart.’ I wouldn’t sell any verses I have learned for $50 apiece, nor even ten times that amount.
He has to start from the beginning then. But think what an opportunity it gives him. as a Christian among the other fel lows now!” Then followed the hasty explanation of Jack’s promotion to a place of responsi bility in the work of 123 other new re cruits, where already he was conspicuous as “the guy that doesn’t swear.” “After all, with men on a dozen ships praying for him, I suppose we should expect something special to happen,” ad mitted the guest, recalling the keen in terest the Navigators had shown ever since Jack, after a year of college train ing and several months’ gospel team ex perience, felt called of God to enlist in the United States Navy, realizing the opportunity he would have .there "to win men to Christ.” Several in the group at the home that afternoon were eager to know what progress had been made by the young man Jack had led to Christ the previous week. “He’s showing his colors all right— bows his head for grace at table in spite of the kidding—and carries his Testa ment in plain sight in his uniform pocket,” was the brief but satisfying sketch. There followed a quiet moment of prayer as the group committed Jack and his testimony to the Lord’s keeping power. Then the new sailor hurried away
I NTO the back door of a comfortable bungalow adjoining the park lagoon and golf course in Long Beach, Cali fornia, slipped a young man in Navy uni form. He had the expectant manner of one who “belonged” and anticipated a welcome. It was the uniform that ar rested attention first, for though Long Beach is normally the home port of 40,000 men from a large number of war ships, the United States Fleet was mak ing a prolonged stay at Honolulu in the summer of 1940. Navy uniforms were a rare sight on Long Beach streets that July. A sudden stir of excitement brought a general rush to the living room, where Dawson E. Trotman, the young civilian who has served for nearly eight years as Director of a group of sailors and ma rines, called the Navigators Christian Service Men, was being enthusiastically seconded by his wife as he greeted the new arrival with much vehemence and delight. “Jack Forbes!* . . . Just back from ‘boot camp’—the Naval Training Sta tion, you know . .'. San Diego . . . Look at the stubby haircut. . . Yes, but it was still shorter a few days ago! . . . The first time we’ve seen him in uniform”— such were the fragments of conversa tion overheard in the general confusion. A guest, noting the three small chev rons on Jack’s right sleeve, exclaimed, “Look at those chevrons! How do you rate?” “ ‘Rate’! Why, it’s the Lord’s doing, of course!” the Director’s wife replied. “They appointed him a first-class recruit petty officer [Jack’s rank was Master at Arms] for boot camp. Doesn’t mean any thing for rank after he gets on a ship. *Actual name withheld . • Recruits on the drill field at the U. S. Naval Training Station, San Diego, Calif. Similar training stations are lo cated at Great Lakes, 111.; Newport, R. L, and Norfolk, Va. Photograph, courtesy of the U. S. Navy Recruiting Service.
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•‘Wow! Things have certainly been happening down here. The Lord is doing ■so very much that it almost sweeps me off my feet. When I’m worrying about seeking out men for Christ, He sends them to me so fast I don’t have time to look for any. It’s like panning for gold; only you are too busy picking diamonds out of the pan to get the gold.” Do such victories as these await every yielded Christian young man who enters a training camp? Or are they reserved only for those whpjire prepared? “ P rep a red ” fo r the Navy For two years Jack had been in con tinuous contact with a group of sailors and marines who knew from experience what “the victorious Christian life” meant on a warship. From the stories of their adventures in soul-winning, he had gleaned many practical hints con cerning his own witnessing. Better still, for two years he had set tled down to a definite prayer life and to the same kind of personal, intensive Bible study the Navigators stress, par ticularly memorization of God’s Word. For a period of nine months, Jack and seven other boys of high school and col lege age had served on the “Dunamis Gospel Team,” holding meetings for young people’s societies in Southern Cal ifornia churches. (The Dunamis Bible Clubs for young men and boys, as well as the Martures Bible Clubs for young women and girls, are directed by Mr. Trotman, a work in which the Naviga tors play a part by reason of their gifts.) Jack had seen that the public testimony of the Navigators Gospel Team has been in itself a practical dem onstration to multiplied hundreds of churchgoing young men of draft age of what the Word of God can do in a service man’s life. It is clear, then, that Jack’s "preparation” was one of per sonal prayer, intensive Bible study, con stant witnessing for Christ, and victo rious Christian living. In all this, for him, the Navigators had set the example.
Slow Growth fo r Great Power It may be asked, What has been the secret of the Navigators’ fruitful testi mony on their ships and among boys and young men ashore ? To answer briefly, those who know this work inti mately would say, “It is a work of the Holy Spirit.” And indeed it is His bur dening of their leader, first for the need among boys and then for service men, never allowing the vision of either field to fade, that is behind this record. First, back in 1928, when Mr. Trot man was himself a Christian of only a few months’ experience, there began several years of effort to reach boys, not on a small scale, but in large num bers. During the first three years of this period, well over two hundred boys, through the leader’s own four Bible clubs, were definitely led to accept Christ as their Saviour. The next two years were spent in establishing this work in other cities. But following this phase of ministry, the Lord led His servant, in 1933, to an entirely different emphasis, not that of wholesale evangelism among Navy men, but of concentrated spiritual help for one sailor on the U. S. S, West Virginia. This man “meant business” so whole heartedly that he came ashore again and again to study the Word until midnight, rising at four-thirty in the mornings to return to his ship for duty in the ship’s kitchen. His life was being watched by a young man who had entered the Navy to save money toward attending theo logical seminary but had slipped into spending his free time at beer parlors ashore. After a time, the would-be theo logical student, brought under convic tion of sin, joined him in prayer and Bible study aboard ship. After completing their term of Navy service, during which time they won others of their shipmates to Christ, both of these men enrolled at the Bible Insti tute of Los Angeles, the school in which Mr. Trotman himself had studied in
1929 and 1930. The first of these two Navigators became President of the school’s Student Missionary Union and is now a missionary under the American Sunday School Union. The second man served as President of the Biola Men, of his senior class, and of the Student Missionary Union, and is now a member of the Africa Inland Mission, witnessing for Christ in the Belgian Congo. Half of his support is supplied by his Navy friends. Another Navigator of the early days on the West Virginia sailed for China under the China Inland Mission after his graduation from Biola. Still another is serving in Mexico under the Pioneer Mission Agency. The work oh the ships spread slowly, for it had been proved that only as young men were thoroughly grounded in the Word of God could they find vic tory over the fierce temptations that faced them aboard ship and ashore. Not merely salvation from the guilt of sin, but the fullness of the Holy Spirit for deliverance from sin’s power was the need. A “genuine Navigator” is expected to maintain rigid self-discipline in matters of Bible study, prayer, “living the life,” and in witnessing for his Saviour, as well as advancing steadily in his regular Na vy rates. Above all, as he leads another man to Christ, he must feel his respon sibility for establishing that man in the Christian life and in soul-winning ef fort. Long before entering the Navy, Jack, through watching the Navigators and through his training in Dunamis Club, had learned to regard this careful follow-up work as only a normal phase of personal evangelism. The Navigators’ Director h i m s e l f seeks to give intensive Bible instruc tion, training leaders who shall be able to win others to Christ. His Scriptural reason for this approach appears in 2 Timothy 2:2: “And the things that thou hast heard of me among many wit nesses, the same commit thou to faith ful men, who shall be able to teach others also.” A number of the Navi gators have the exceptional educational background or natural gifts that aid their testimony, and quite a large pro portion of the men are petty officers with positions of responsibility on their ships. They repeatedly remind them selves, however, of the Lord's words, “Without me ye can do nothing.” Life at the Navigators’ Home While Jack was still in training -at San Diego, a new center for Navigators’ work, patterned after the one at Long [Continued on Page 199] • “Shore liberty” brings men of the U. S. Fleet to the Navy Landing at Long Beach, Calif. (The accompanying photo graph and the one at the top of the opposite page are used through the courtesy of the LONG BEACH PRESS- TELEGRAM.)
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