{TheBible Tamil# Magazine PUBLISHED BY THE BIBLE INSTITUTE OF LOS ANGELES
'A s \ for the old paths . . . the good way . . . and ye shall find rest for your souls.”
©EJECTS TEAT TALE ANC TEACH By LOU IS T. TALBOT, Pastor, Church of the Open Door; President, Bible Institute of Los Angeles 52Object Lesons 1 fo r each Sunday fo r the Year ’round 75Cents Common Objects and Toys are made toTalkand Teach BibleTruths
PASTORS, EVANGELISTS, TEACHERS, Y O U N G PEOPLE'S A N D CH ILDREN 'S WORKERS A N D PARENTS TAKE A DVAN TAG E OF THIS H E L P F U L O F F E R
T HE K ing’s Business announces that it will mail post paid to any address a copy, together with a year’s subscription to The K ing’s Business, for $1.50. Objects that Talk and T each is a book of useful object lessons for children, and is the direct outcom e of Mr. T al bot’s experience as pastor. Each of the 52 object lessons is ILLUSTRATED, the objects LISTED at the beginning of
the lesson, SCRIPTURE verses suggested, and the METHOD of presenting the lesson given. These Object Lessons Are Adaptable and Usable During the past year, Mr. Talbot, the author, has used these lessons as a part of his morning church service, to the delight and profit of several hundred boys and girls, and of several thousand grown-ups.
W H A T OTHERS SAY
DR. E. L. McCREERY, Dean of Bible institute of Los Angeles:
REV. CHAS. E. HURLBURT, Bible Teacher and Pioneer Missionary to Africa: "The object talks by Mr. Talbot to the children, young and old, at the Church of the Open Door, are the finest and most markedly Spirit-inspired of any to which I have ever listened. It is a joy to know that they are to be put in shape so a wider circle may get their messages, and perhaps some of God’s messengers may be able to use them again."
"I most heartily commend Mr. Talbot’s book, OBJECTS THAT TALK AND TEACH, as it meets a long-felt need on the part of many pastors and Chris tian workers, who are desirous of impressing spiritual truth on the minds of the children of their congregation."
ADD 25c FOR CANAD A OR FO REIGN COUNTRIES. In case only the book is desired, order should be addressed to THE K IN G ’S B U SIN ESS, 558 South Hope Street, Los Angeles, California, and 75e enclosed. ORDER THIS HELPFUL, USABLE BOOK T0DAY----52 OBJECT LESSONS FOR 75 CENTS
A New Zenobia Bird Story is an Event in Thousands of Christian Homes! In these days of shoddy and unnatural fiction Z E N O B I A , BIRD’S new book comes like a breath of mountain air to Christian readers Author of
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.. .Is commended io yon w iihou i reserve T he heroine, Sally Jo Brenton, loved and alm ost idolized by her two aunts, and full of life, fun and boundless energy, m eets a youn g theological student who influences her greatly. While y et in her teens she faces the question of living a life for God or for self. Here, also, is an appeal to young people to consider the opportunity and the challenge of the foreign m ission-field. The bright and the dark side of such a course are fully revealed, and the reward that is sure is shown, as well as the reward that may be m issed..........................
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The Scroll of the Law
S i b l e T a m i i # S t i a c c i n e Motto: “Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood .”—R ev . 1 :5.
Volume XXV
October, 1934
Number 9
TABLE OF CONTENTS '/Around the'K ing’s Table—Louis T. Talbot........................... ........338 The Power of a Book—Robert G. Lee................ —. . . . . . .......340 Are Foreign Missions Fundamental?—W. Gameron Townsend....342 Ephesians—God’s Purpose and God’s People—Roy L. Laurin.... .-.344 J “False Christs and False Prophets”—A Sign! —-Louis S. Bauman...................................................................... 348 Girls’ Query Corner-—Myrtle E. Scott........................... ..................351 Our Literature Table............................................................................ 352 Junior King’s Business—Martha S. Hooker.... , ............................. 353 Bible Institute Family Circle.—.................. .........................................355 Is There Any Word from the Lord? There I s !................ | .............356 Helps for Preachers and Teachers—Paul Prichard......... ..............358 Notes on Christian Endeavor-—Mary G. Goodner............................359 International Lesson Commentary...................................................... 363 Daily Devotional Readings..................... ......................'..................... 372
Miniature Scroll A Beautiful Jewish Antiquity f T he Scroll is the most Sacred thing in th e Jewish Synagogue. Christ read H is in t r o d u c t o r y m essage from the scroll in the Synagogue. Every Bible Student ought to have one of these miniature scrolls. Our Offer We want you to read The Chosen People, edited by Joseph Hoffman Cohn, son of ExRabbi Leopold Cohn, and considered by many Bible students the most help ful paper on prophecy and the Jew published in America. It gives you inspiring reports of'the world-wide activities of the American Board of Missions to the Jews, Inc. Also, we want you to read the life story of ExRabbi Leopold Cohn, written by himself in a sixty- page booklet—one of the most thrilling stories you have ever read. Jews are really . accepting the Lord Jesus Christ. The price of the Scroll is 50 cents, and The Chosen People is 50 cents a year. Mr. Cohn’s auto biography is 30 cents. Send us $1 and we will mail you ALL and enter your name for a year’s sub scription for The Chosen People; if not satisfied we’ll return your money without a question. And may we remind you also of the continuous need of our Mis sionary undertakings? Our work merits your every confidence. It is a program of world-wide Gospel testimony to the Jews. Your fel lowship in prayer and gift is always welcomed and appreciated. The Chosen People is of course sent to all contributors. A m e r ic an Board of M iss ions to the Jews Inc . 31 Throop A ve., Brooklyn, N. Y.
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POLICY A S D EF IN E D BY THE BOARD OF D IRECTO RS OF TH E B IB L E IN ST ITU TE OF LOS A N G ELES (a) To stand for the infallible Word of God and its great fundamental truths, (b) To strengthen the faith of all believers, (c) To stir young men and women to fit themselves for and engage in definite Christian work, (d) To make the Bible Institute of Los Angeles known, (e) To magnify God our Father and the person, work and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ; and to teach the transforming power of the Holy Spirit in our present practical life, (f) To emphasize in strong, constructive messages the great foundations of Christian faith.
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October, 1934
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'^Around, the King’s Tables B y L ouis T. T albot
o h r / s t m * / ¿ 'F E
2. “And the power of his resurrection.” It is not only the earthly life of Christ and its secret which Paul wishes experimentally to know. He desires also to know the full ness of the power of Christ’s resurrection. He has already referred to this power in the first chapter of Ephesians, verses 19 and 20: “What the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to that working
Paul’s Ambition and Ours “That I may know him, and the power o f his resur rection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, becoming con formed unto his death” (Phil. 3:10, R.V.). I n the verses immediately preceding, beginning with verse 8, Paul has set forth his attitude toward the things
of the strength of his might which he wrought in Christ, when he raised hifn from the dead.” “And you . . . when ye were dead”—that was the past condition (Eph. 2:1) -t- “God . . . made . . . alive together with Christ . . . and raised us up with him”—that is the pres ent fact. Paul here indicates that the power—the greatness of God’s power—which was wrought in Christ in His resur rection is that same power which is exercised on our be half when, being dead through trespasses and sins, we are made alive together w i t h Christ. What strength is avail able for the weakest child of God when he fully realizes the meaning of the power of Christ’s resurrection! “Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more.” 3. his sufferings." How we all shrink from pain and suffer ing! How we desire that our friends shall be shielded from such! You recall that during the lifetime of our Lord here upon the earth, when Peter be came aware of the suffering ahead for the Lord, his word was: “This shall never be unto thee.” But Paul has come to the place where he realizes something of the fact of fel lowship with Christ through suffering. Hear him in Colos-
which men ordinarily highly prize, saying that he counts all these things to be loss for the excellency of the knowledge of C h r is t J e su s the L o rd . Throughout this passage is re vealed the transforming power of the gospel as it shapes the thinking and the attitude of men’s hearts. Paul has come to the place where he freely, re nounces all those things which men customarily would count as high prizes to be grasped and tightly held. Was there reason for pride of race on the part of any ? Paul says he had more reason than others to be proud of his race—“of the stock of Israel, of this tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of He brews; as touching the law, a Pharisee; as touching zeal, per secuting the church; as touch ing the righteousness which is in the law, found blameless.” These are the things which Paul renounces and counts loss for Christ. In one verse—Philippians 3:10—Paul sets forth his de sire and ambition. What a wor thy ambition it is ! 1. him.” Paul’s ambition now is not simply that he may have a speculative knowledge concern ing the person of Christ, but rather that he may have a prac tical and experimental under standing, entering by expe
Certainty BY E. MARGARET C LA RK SO N Sure as the deep dusk gathers When day is done, Sure as the purple morning When night is gone; Sure as the springtime follows The winter's snows, Sure as the pale bud breaking Reveals the rose; Sure as the skylark's carol, The linnet's trill, Sure as the rock foundation O f mighty hill; Sure as the flight of ages Abides His Word— The promise of th' Eternal, Unmoved, unstirred! Then why shouldst thou be fearful, And why distrest? His Word abideth faithful— His way is best!
“T h a t I may know
sians 1 :24 as he says: “Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and fill up on my part that which is lacking of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church.” He realizes that if we are to share Christ’s glory, we must also share in His reproach and shame and suffering. The Lord was made perfect through suffering. 4. “Becoming conformed unto his death.” Paul recog nizes that to know the Lord Jesus Christ, to know the power of His resurrection, to know the fellowship of His sufferings, has a glorious outcome: For the one thus expe riencing these things will be conformed to the likeness of
rience into a fuller knowledge than he has ever heretofore had concerning the secret of living a life like that of his Lord and Master Jesus Christ. His desire is to enter into the secret of that fellowship which is found only in such a spotless life, a life wholly free from sin, a life which truly revealed to men the grace and the purity of the heavenly Father’s life and love. In the temporary absence of the President, Louis T. Talbot, the comments on these pages have come from the office of the Dean and Vice-President of the Institute, Elbert L. McCreery, and from the editorial department.
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the Lord Himself. The word “conform” means “to make like unto.” Paul’s expression would suggest that the proc ess through which Christ passed resulted in a certain form, and that a like form may be expected of the followers who proceed along the same pathway. The knowledge of which Paul speaks must mean a quickening of the soul. Likewise it will result in confirming our hope of immortality and our expectation of fellowship with Christ Himself throughout eternity. When one comes to know the power of His resurrection, that same Spirit of Him “that raised up Jesus from the dead . . . shall give life also to your mortal bodies through his Spirit that dwell- eth in you.” Knowing the power of His resurrection is a guaranty of our own: “Christ the firstfruits; then they that are Christ’s, at his coming.” Such knowledge must result in the assurance of our present justification: He “was raised for our justification.” The very fact of His resur rection, therefore, is the evidence that a divine justification has been wrought out and that through faith it has be come ours. “That I may know him, and the power of his resurrec tion, and the fellowship of his sufferings, becoming con formed unto his death”—shall we not make Paul’s ambi tion, as suggested in these brief statements, our own ambi tion for a fuller knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ? —E. L. McC. New President of Moody Bible Institute A wise executive, an unusually clear Bible teacher, a respected author, and a Christian gentleman always, Rev. James M. Gray, D.D., LL.D., has for many years carried, with amazing ability and fortitude, the increasingly heavy responsibilities in connection with the offices of Dean and President of the Moody Bible Institute of Chicago. Many of the Lord’s people have marveled that the pressure of recent times, combined with the physical frailty coinci dent with Dr. Gray’s advancing years, has not proved too great a burden for him to bear. But in the will of God, he has been graciously sustained in body and in spirit. To all those to whom Dr. Gray is “a beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord”—and their number is countless—it will be good news to learn that the heavy burdens connected with the leadership of the “school that D. L. Moody founded” are to be transferred to the shoul ders of a younger man-—one whom, it is believed, God has been preparing through the years for this position. In a news release made public on September 10, Dr. Will H. Houghton, pastor of Calvary Baptist Churah, New York, is announced as the new President of the Moody Bible Institute, beginning his duties on November L The report states that the call to the presidency was extended unanimously by the Board of Trustees, and that Dr. Gray will become President Emeritus, remaining on the teaching faculty and as editor of the Moody Bible In'stitute Monthly. Dr. Houghton was born and educated in Boston, and received his honorary Doctor of Divinity degree from Wheaton College, Wheaton, 111., in 1931. He first com manded attention when, as pastor of the Tabernacle in Atlanta, Ga., there were added 2,000 members to the church rolls during a period of four years. From this unusual ministry in the South, he went to New York in January, 1930, accepting the pastorate of the Calvary Baptist Church. Dr. Houghton is “instant in season, out of season” —preaching always with informality and in the language of the layman. His sympathy with the problems of youth has made him extremely popular as a youth leader. It is the hope of many of the Lord’s people—in which hope the Bible Institute of Los Angeles eagerly joins—Ahat God may continue to bless the Moody Bible Institute as it enters upon this new era in its notable history.
Campaign for Improved Motion Pictures T o the child of God whose passion is to “grieve not the Holy Spirit of God,” the question of whether or not he may patronize the modern motion picture industry does not constitute a problem. Many Christians have long real ized that obedience to the apostle’s command, “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world,” de mands absolute separation from the products of an industry which, as a whole, has repeatedly shown a tendency to profit through the presentation, in popular style, of sin that God hates. While thus in a definite sense detached from the situa tion, many believers are nevertheless observing with inter est the motion picture industry’s reaction to the nation wide “Legion of Decency” campaign against salacious films. Every Christian may well thank God for any agitation which places a restraint upon the recent trend in the cinema. With Protestants, Catholics, and Jews engaged in a com mon effort in behalf of better and cleaner movies, pro ducers seem to have awakened with a jolt. It is the opinion of George J. Hecht, publisher of the Parents’ Magazine, that the producers are truly alarmed: Leaders in the industry have until now been wont to regard reform waves as a sort of seven-year-itch—bound to occur at intervals, uncomfortable while it lasts, but equally bound to wane and subside. A very different atti tude prevails since the recent storm broke. Martin Quigley, publisher of the Motion Picture Herald and the Motion Picture Daily, characterized the present situation as “the severest test it [the motion picture indus try] has encountered in its whole history.” What is the basis for such widespread concern? Arch bishop McNicholas, chairman of the Catholic bishops’ com mittee on motion pictures, answers in the Ecclesiastical Review, in an article which summarizes the committee’s campaign: The tragic thing about the producers of the salacious film is that . . . they seem to have no fixed moral stan dards ; they do not seem to be able to distinguish between what is moral and immoral . . . At present they recog nize that they have offended, but they do not seem to know why or how. While the thought is not expressed by any of the leaders of the present campaign, it is our opinion that fluc tuating moral standards will always exist so long as the authority of the Word of God is not sought and accepted: “The law of the Lord is perfect.” Is the motion picture industry prepared to measure its products by that rule? Such willingness to accept the divine dictum would con stitute reformation indeed! And since producers lack the disposition to recognize the law of God in its practical ap plication to the motion picture industry, although the cam paign may accomplish definite improvement in which every child of God could rejoice, we doubt whether the effort can produce the desired result. Meanwhile, the conflict of ideals continues. Regarding the Hollywood visit of Will H. Hays, in charge of the film industry’s self-imposed censorship program, the Los An geles Times of July 25 stated: “His only comment while here on the current attacks against motion pictures was that the pictures now being made will be Hollywood’s answer to these criticisms.” But in the same edition of the Timets appeared a United Press dispatch headed “Dil- linger Double Will Get Film Role.” The report read : While John Dillinger was alive Ralph Alsman’s re semblance to the outlaw was a nuisance. He was arrested seventeen times, shot twice and discharged from his job. Now he says he has signed to play the lead in a motion picture based on the bandit’s life. Is this the fulfillment of Mr.-Hays’ promise? Is this “Hollywood’s answer to these criticisms” ?
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iBMffiSPfl H H GodnuhSBbe perfect.-?HI Mm J H unto
/3VOM S
OF A BOOK
P OW E R
B y ROBERT G. LEE* Memphis, Tenn.
with great transfiguration. A good book is an author, writing the literature of godliness on the fleshly tablets of human hearts—a jeweler, adorning the mind with thoughts that give light. A good book is a comrade giving instruc tions, continuing with us on the intellectual road, in mute fidelity, from childhood to the end of life. A good book is a tailor, keeping the rustle of divine garments in the ear —a musician, building before the eyes of the soul rhythmic palaces of melody—a pilot, guiding away from the shallows into the deep things of life, of history, of love, of God. A good book is a telescope and microscope in one—showing us God’s signature, written sometimes hugely large and sometimes very small, on every page of this universe— God’s vast autograph album. I read of how a woman, whose name has been forgotten, gave a tract to a very bad man—Richard Baxter. It seemed to be a matter of no importance. But Baxter read the tract, and it was the means of his salvation. Then, later, Baxter wrote a book, The Call o f the Unconverted, which brought a multitude to God, among others, Philip Doddridge. Doddridge wrote a book, The Rise and Progress o f Religion, which brought tens of thousands into the kingdom, among them, Wilberforce. Wilberforce wrote a book, A Practical View o f Christianity, which brought a multitude to Christ, among them, Leigh Richmond. Leigh Richmond wrote a tract, “The Dairyman’s Daughter,” which has been the means of the salvation of unconverted multitudes. And that tide of influence rolling on through Richard Baxter, rolling on through Doddridge, rolling on through Wilberforce, roll ing on through Richmond, on, on, on forever and forever —because of a good book! No wonder Rufus Choate said, “A book is the only im mortality on earth.” No wonder Whipple said, “Books are lighthouses erected in the great sea of Time.” No wonder Plato said, “Books are immortal sons deifying their sires.” No wonder Kingsley said, “Except a living man, there is nothing more wonderful than a book.” No wonder Bartolini said, “Without books God is silent, justice dormant, natural science at a stand, philosophy lame, letters dumb, and all things involved in darkness.” No wonder Bulwer said, “A thousand ages were blank if books had not evoked their ghosts, and kept the pale unbodied shades to warn us from fleshless lips.” The freedom of the city, where one walks in crowds alone, The silence of the upland, where one climbs anear the throne, The blitheness of the morning and the solemn hush of night Are in this pleasant world of books for one who reads aright. Here, pure and sharp, the pictured spire its Cleaving point uplifts; There, swept by stormy winds of fate, Time’s sands are tossed in drifts; And I who sit beside the fire, an heir of time and sense, My book to me, the angel of God’s sleepless providence. The good book! Have it as a companion!
“Of making many books there is no end" (Eccl. 12:12). Consider What We Can Do By Means of Books By- means of books we can march with the war-worn spear men of Alexander down beyond the rim of the known world, and watch this conqueror as he rears new dynasties amid the wreck of dismantled kingdoms!We can hear grate on the coast of Britain the
R obert G. L ee
keels of the boats of the low-Dutch sea thieves whose chil dren’s children were to inherit unknown continents. We can travel afar and thrill to the triumphs of Hannibal as he scales the Alps and rushes down their icy slopes into sunny Italy to threaten the Roman dominion. We can walk with Peary amid ice floes of Arctic seas—go beyond dim centuries and see the banners float above armed hosts and conquerors riding to victories that have changed the course of time—go with Columbus until he touches the shores of a new world, with Magellan as he girdles the globe, with Hugh Miller among the rocks, with Galileo and Newton among star gardens, with Faraday among the universes of atoms and electrons. We can journey on pathless oceans—listen to prophecies of forgotten seers, to dead poets singing to us the deeds of mighty men and the love of beautiful women, to the war horns of King Olaf wailing across the floods, to harps sounding high festivals in forgotten halls. We can sit down with the kings of Nineveh and Tyre, enter at leisure into the intellectual heritage of centuries, see all the kingdoms of the world with the glories and tragedies thereof, and walk with the noblest spirits through the most enchanting regions. Thus we get some conception of the power of a book. And, when we use a book, we see how the hand pulls back the curtain from the events of a life, and helps us travel to the uttermost parts in time and space. We understand how wars that devastated continents rage, without creating a disturbance, in a narrow room. We see how, without moving from a cozy nook or swinging hammock or warm fireside, we can crawl through jungles with an explorer, fight Indians with Custer, or take a flight into the high realms where Shakespeare’s marvelous creations flock to meet us and Milton’s choral hymns of Paradise peal in our ears. Consider the Good Book A good book is a ship of thought, voyaging to us with precious cargo of truth and beauty. A good book is an artist nainting the vision splendid in various colors before the dullest eves—an orator sneaking with power—a soloist singing a song that, passing from itself, enters the memory *Pastor, Bellevue Baptist Church.
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Consider the Evil Book For evil books we need a bonfire as consuming as the one in the streets of Ephesus: “Many of them also which used curious arts brought their books together, and burned them before all men: and they counted the price of them, and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver” (Acts 19:19). An evil book! Who can describe the contamination that comes from such a stream of pollution? Who can cause to ripen into righteousness the immature fruit bruised and beaten by such a printed hailstorm? Who can show the tragedy of the blight of such a verbal volcano spewing corrupt lava through green gardens of life? Or who can know fully the overtopping and underlying curse of a profligate hook ? A bad book lives on, whenever a copy of that book is
Was ever book containing such vile matter So fairly bound? O, that deceit should dwell In such a gorgeous palace.
i
There is much vile matter “so fairly bound.” A bad book that is ornately embellished, artistically printed, some times attractively illustrated, is a palace of mental poison. But poison ivy is also pretty. A snake is beautiful. And acid looks harmless. Reading an evil book is like jumping through a hedge of thorns to get one blackberry—like swimming through fifty yards of sewerage to get one teaspoon of truth—like jumping into a volcano to see whether fire burns. Burned be the book that trys to make crime attractive, hypocrisy noble,- and impurity decent ! Cursed be the infidel book that summons the Scripture to appear at the bar of human reason, that persuades men to give up the gospel and spirit
read, long after — some times even centuries after -—the author is in a coffin. The influence of a bad book spreads and persists. The vicious influence runs on in successive harvests of evil. A crushed rattle snake bites no more. A lion with a bullet through its brain devours no more. A spent bullet wounds no more. But a bad book continues to wound and de stroy. It continues to agi tate the current of the world’s thought and life, planting the seeds of disso lution and misery, chilling religion, low e rin g the moral tone. We cannot reckon as dead the authors who sur vive in base books. A bad book walks earth’s high ways and bypaths as a curse. Its image is painted in fast colors; its biogra phy is written in indelible ink, its dirty hands be smirched and besmirching with immoral filth. There is no worse bur
ual religion as a myth, that blatantly declares God is a nonentity, that persuades peop le to give up the church of Christ as a use less burden on humanity’s back, that asks youth to give up good morals as an infringement on personal rights and expression! Bad, woefully bad, it is to think bad thoughts. Evil indeed it is to utter bad thoughts in spoken word. But it is a crime to commit them to paper by way of the printing press. I doubt whether any faculty is so abused by man as that of speech. And certainly the effect of no other discovery or invention is so terrible when put to sinful use as the printing press. It is an awful perversion of power when this most monumen tal of all man’s discoveries for his good is given to the publication of a book whose contents are such as to pervert the mind to evil thinking.
Photograph by Adelbert Bartlett
9 Students of the Bible Institute of Los Angeles enjoy the facilities of a library which is constantly being enlarged and improved. Over 6,000 volumes are now available for use, including a complete copy of the Braille Bible, an unusually strong reference and commentary section, and a valuable missionary department. Five original Babylonian tablets, dated 2350 B.C., were presented to the Institute by the late Melvin Grove Kyle, and are now on exhibition in the library. At about the time of the opening of the fall semester, four large cases of missionary curios, representing almost every mission field of the world, will be in readiness for the use of not only the students and faculty of the Insti tute, but also visiting groups of Sunday-school workers and other friends.
glar or robber than a bad book. A bad book cannot repent. If the devil cannot keep men in ignorance, he will do all he can to poison man’s books. A bad book, like an intoxicating drink, furnishes neither nourishment nor medicine. A man who writes an evil book may be followed into eternity by a procession of lost souls, each soul to be a witness against him at the judgment, to show him and the universe the immeasurableness of his iniquity. You can kill a bandit or imprison a criminal and stop their evil conduct, but you cannot kill the evil started and maintained by an evil book. The influence of a criminal is for but a few short years, while that of an evil book that corrupts the imagination and influences the passions may be for ages. What a scourge is an unclean book! It helps fill insane asylums, penitentiaries, dens of shame. While plagues count their bodily victims by the thousands, a bad book has power to put tens of thousands in the morgue of the morally dead—power to bring putrefactions in the land. A bad book is the most subtle and insidious agent under the dominion of the prince of darkness. Juliet said to Romeo—when she discovered he had slain Tybalt:
There Is the Book of Books— the Bible One gem from the Book of books is worth all the jewels from all earthly mines. This blessed Book have countless hosts found to be “the ladder to heaven’s open skies—stair ways that lead them to God.” The Bible, settled in its source (Psa. 119:89), is a Book above and beyond all books as a river is beyond a rill in reach. The Bible, so sure in its promises (Jer. 1 :12), is above and beyond all books as the sun is beyond a tallow dip in brightness. The Bible, so satisfying in its contents (Jer. 15:16), is above and beyond all books as the wings of an eagle are beyond the wings of a sparrow in strength. The Bible, so secure in its guidance (Psa. 119:105), is above and beyond all books as an orchard is beyond a road side weed in fruit-bearing. The Bible, supreme in God’s estimation (Psa. 138:2), is above and beyond all books as Niagara is beyond a mud puddle in glory. The Bible, coming to us drenched in the tears of multi tudinous contritions, is the Book our fathers touched with reverent hands. The Bible, coming to us worn with the fingers of agony and death, is the Book our mothers stained [Continued on page 347].
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M ( $ & /O tO £ <_Are FOR E IGN M ISS IONS F undam en ta l? B y W. CAMERON TOWNSEND* Sulphur Springs, Arkansas W e fundamentalists often deny by our acts the very truths which modernists deny with their lips. We profess to believe that Christ
Then the Apostle Paul came on the scene, and his first words as an infant in Christ were: “Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?” The reply was a specialized version of the Great Commission, and from then on the prime motive of the apostle’s life was to preach the gospel in the “regions beyond,” where Christ had not yet been named. Toward the end of his career, he could truthfully say: “I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision.” He so influenced the church of his day in this respect that it con tinued to be a missionary church until long after his death. Today we honor his memory and defend the doctrines which he preached, but we give a secondary place in our lives to
is God and cloaked with all authority, but when He says, “Go,” we stay at home. We say that He died “for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.” But while we sing with snug contentedness, “There is a fountain filled with blood, Drawn from Immanuel’s veins,” we actually dam up that healing tide by neglect ing to tell the multitudes of “him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood.” We stoutly affirm that the Bible is God’s in spired Word, but while we unearth cities to prove its accuracy, spend lifetimes and fortunes
M r . T ownsend and a C entral A merican C hristian
,1 , , • 1 • that which was first in his. i * i r
N eglecting the A tonement of C hrist I once heard a modernist make the statement that a cer tain great evangelist then living kept more people from God than he led to Him, simply because of his preaching the vi carious atonement. While shuddering at the statement, I am forced to admit that such blasphemy is not doing nearly as much damage as is being done the cause of Christ by those who believe and preach the power of the blood shed on Calvary to wash away sin, but who neglect to apply it to the wounds of the world. All the modernists in existence cannot prevent the remission of a sinner’s guilt when that blood is applied, but the fundamentalist's who fail to tell the lost of its power, can prevent its efficacy. “The Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world.” “How shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard?” If countless multitudes in distant lands are to be “made nigh by the blood of Christ,” we who enjoy redemption “through his blood” must endeavor to “fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ.” We must “endure all things for the elect’s sake, that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus.” D enying the P rophecies of C hrist We quote with great frequency and unfeigned joy the prophecy contained in Acts 1:11: “This same Jesus . . . shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.” We are sure that that promise is going to be ful filled, but we often fail to notice that the eighth verse in the same passage is likewise in the nature of a prophecy, and likewise must be fulfilled. It reads: “Ye shall be wit nesses unto me . . . unto the uttermost part of the earth.” “Ye shall be witnesses.” That means you and me. If I become enthusiastic over one part of this passage—and I should—I must likewise take the other part seriously.
in correcting and multiplying the English versions, and publish unnumbered volumes discussing and defending it, we dare to set up our own program as against its program, and by misdirecting our efforts accomplish more than its most bitter enemies to endanger the fulfillment of one of its most important prophecies. In fact, we give the impres sion to an impartial observer that we ourselves are endeav oring to demonstrate that at least one of its predictions can not be carried out. To.consummate our stupidity, we wear ourselves out throwing firecrackers over the wall into the camp of the modernists, when underneath their whole fortification our Captain has laid a mine which will blow it all up as soon as we clear our own slate so that He can set off the fuse. D isregarding the A uthority of C hrist The army officer whose faith our Lord so signally com mended explained what it means to acknowledge some one else’s authority when he said: “I also am a man under au thority, having under myself soldiers: and I say to this one, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it.” The greatest proof any one can give of his belief in the deity and author ity of Christ is to render Him obedience. The wind and the sea obeyed Him. The evil spirits moved out at His com mand. Sickness and even death fled at the sound of His voice. His authority is never questioned except by those who refuse to recognize His lordship and, strange to say, by a church so zealous in minor matters that it forgets or neglects its Great Commission. The church was designed to be a “going” concern. “I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go.” We are told where to go. “Go ye into all the world.” This going is linked right up with our Lord’s authority. “All
power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore.” The first con verts forgot this command at the very start. Things were so lovely in Jerusalem and the need there was so great that, like the Babelites of old, they forgot that the globe was to be covered, and settled down to rear high the turrets of the glorious church. The Lord intervened, however, and by persecutions forced the saints to go farther on with the message. *Affiliated with the Pioneer Mission Agency.
The Scriptures are full of prophecies regarding the evangelization of the world. A number of them from the Old Testament are quoted in the fifteenth chapter of Romans. The prophecy made to Abraham is quoted in Galatians 3 :8 : “In thee shall all nations be blessed.” Time and again during His earthly min istry, our Saviour referred to the world wide preaching of the gospel: “This gos pel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all na-
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tions.” “It is written . . . that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations.” “The mystery . . . now is . . . accord ing to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith.” This reference to the “commandment of the everlast ing God,” though found in Ro mans 16:26, must point back to the giving of the Great Com mission by Christ Himself. There was to be no break in the plan of strategy outlined by
and surely He will not linger longer after we have advanced with the standard of salvation into the last recesses of the ut termost part. R epudiating the O bliga tion to C hrist Awake, O church of God! “How long are ye slack to go to possess the land?” Will ye be ashamed at His coming? How can you spend that which God has intrusted to your stew ardship, on beautiful homes, fine food, lovely clothes, and fancy cars, when multitudes
I sland W orld
L atin A merica in heathen lands die daily
our Commanding Officer in His prophetic statements. The very same campaign which began in Jerusalem was to em brace Judea, afterwards Samaria, and then the uttermost
without having had a single chance to be saved? You feed your own souls but forget the “other sheep” which must be
part of the earth. There were to be the same message, the same messengers, or their suc cessors, the same methods, and the same objec tive at the culmination as at the beginning. The prophecies quoted above outline a pro gram for us. Have you noticed how the time clock of our Saviour’s life was set by prophecy? “Mine hour is not yet come.” “When the time was come . . . he steadfastly set his face.” “All this was done, that the Scriptures of the proph ets might be fulfilled.” Are you living accord ing to prophecy? You are, if your interests are found all along the line of battle from Jerusa lem to the uttermost part of the earth. Dare not to substitute your plan for the Scriptural plan. If you do, you will miss a great blessing. What percentage of your prayers, your labors, your gifts are to make Christ known to the uttermost part of the earth? If the portion is insignificant —if your prayers, your efforts, your gifts are almost all for the homeland—you are trying to defeat prophecy, and you had better not talk very loudly about your belief in the inerrancy of Holy Writ.
brought in. You tear down your houses of worship to build them up again on a grander scale and forget that the foundation has not yet been laid in yonder jungles of Amazonia, where naked savages never dream that God loves them and would build them as lively stones into the temple for His dwelling. You multiply oppor tunities for your own kith and kin with many preachers in every city, with radio programs, schools, magazines, tracts, and Bibles in lavish abundance. These things you have done but have left the other undone. Is it nothing to you that the Bible has not even been translated into the languages of a thousand different tribes, that they have no preachers, no Bible schools, no Christian literature? In a similar situation, your Master -said: “Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God.” Awake, ye preachers! “Like people, like priest.” Are you really burdened over the un finished task of the church ? How much do you know about the unreached multitudes in for eign lands ? Many of you demand salaries which would, support several missionaries. Is your
C hina
A call was recently sent out by a world-wide organiza tion of fundamentalists. It was a plea to “hold fast that which thou hast” (R.V.) and of course was timely—but, oh, how shortsighted ! It sounded no martial call for a new advance into the regions beyond, where the gospel has never been preached. No concern is expressed nor sorrow shown
map of the world limited by the frontiers of the U.S.A. ? It often seems so. Ye Christian editors, awake! How little space is given in your magazines to aggressive missionary articles! Directors of Bible conferences, how many of you plan conventions with no time or little given to the subject of foreign missions? Ye Christian educators, are you, by your constant pleading for your own institutions, so ex hausting the funds of Christian donors that when the grad uates of your schools volun
over the fact that we have not yet taken the good news to over three hundred tribes in Africa, nor to the many tribes of dialect-speaking Indians in Latin America, nor to mil lions of souls in Mongolia, Chinese Turkestan, Baluchis tan, Afghanistan, Nepal, and Tibet. Of course we should lament the inroads of modern ism and the ravages of sin, but why should we not grieve over this great shortcoming of our own and set about to rectify it? We can evangelize the world ; we can complete the task which He has given us to do. We cannot blot out modernism; we cannot stem the tide of iniquity. Christ will do this when He returns,
teer for service in unevangel- Mawm. ized lands, there is no money Rjj with which to send them out ? ¡pf* Ye missionaries, awake !
How many of you settle down in fields where the gospel has been preached for years, and continue to pour the offerings of homeland churches into w o r k which the national churches themselves should be supporting,while pioneer fields remain untouched? Is it pos sible that one-sixth of all the missionaries in China are lo cated in Shanghai, while in land cities have no witness! Awake, awake, ye funda- [Continued Oft page 346]
A frica
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God’s Purposeand God’sPeople B y ROY L. LAURIN San Gabriel, Calif.
EPHESIANS ¿jf/S
T he book of Ephesians is recognized as one of the mountain peaks of divine revelation, with a spiritual summit as yet unreached by the human mind. It was written by Paul while he was a prisoner in Rome. There is no particular reason assigned for the writing of this epistle. Certainly there appears no reason so plain as that which prompted the writing of Galatians, in which Paul gave eloquent and convincing answer to the Judaizers who had invaded the Galatian churches. This letter assumes a more general character, and in fact it is a lofty treatise of Christian doctrine concerning the human membership of the Christian church at large. As one reads and rereads and then reads again the six chapters of this letter, his mind is shaped by this reading to see the eternal plan of God in the process of consum mation. He sees this important truth in three particulars : 1. The Purpose of God’s Plan. 2. The People of God’s' Purpose. 3. The Practice of God’s People. T he P urpose of G od ’ s P lan The purpose of
tury of Progress to measure the genius of man. We build great instruments that sweep the skies, and it is great news when a new star is discovered. We are easily disposed to think of God as sitting on some promontory of heaven surveying the flaming suns, as if His greatest delight were in a sun or a star of staggering dimensions. Or we might think that as His all-seeing eyes scan this globe of ours, He would delight most in the vastness of its oceans or the highness of its mountains or the colorfulness of its autumn changes. But God’s greatest delight is not in the universe. The purpose of His creation did not reach its peak when His hands pushed up the mountains and scooped out the seas, but only when He made man in His own image and likeness. God’s greatest delight is in man—not a man marred by the sin of the first Adam, not a man great by the standards of man’s world, but a man redeemed and finally transformed into the likeness of the “last Adam.” This purpose of God is expressed in the epistle in such passages as 1 :3-14 and 2 :l-22. During the process of catechizing a little girl, her father asked this question: “What is the chief end of man?” The reply was, “To glorify God and enjoy Him forever.” And then, thinking to change the ques tioning a bit, the father asked this further question: “And what is the chief end of God?” After a mo ment’s hesitation, she replied, “To glorify man and enjoy him forever.” This indeed is the purpose of God’s plan. T he P eople of G od ’ s P urpose This people of God’s great purpose constitute God’s present workmanship. God is no longer busy with planets and suns, but with man. His creative work is now a re creative work. We, therefore, as
God’s plan is the ré demption) of a peo ple. This people, re- deemed, w ill be made to share in the eternal likeness and companionship o f God. We define, too often, the purpose of God with nebu lous definitions of great eternal pro jects concerning the universe. But every project of God in the universe has be hind it a purpose f o r H is p eop le . W ill God have some day a new uni verse ? Then, re- m em ber that this new universe will be c re a te d f o r God’s new people. We have a Cen t This is the second of a series of articles on “The Gist of Four G r e a t L e tte r s ,” brought to K i n g ’ s B u s i n e s s readers by the pastor of. the Sari Gabri el Union Church. — E ditor .]
the people of God, are God’s workmanship— not complete, but be ing c om p le te d ; not finished, but being fin ished; not faultless, but blameless. In this workman ship, God is working _ both to a purpose and a pattern. The pur pose is Christlikeness, and the p a t t e r n is Christ. This people who are the workmanship of God’s purpose and God’s pattern are to be seen in this epistle in at least seven different aspects. They appear:
9 Men build instruments that sweep the heavens— yet they know comparatively little of the wonders of God's handi work. Pictured here are (upper left) the nebula in the constel lation of Andromeda and (low er right) the central portion of the same nebula. On the basis of facts obtained t hr oug h studying the greater magnifi cation of the central portion of this nebula, astronomers have concluded that not every nebula is a gaseous cloud, as formerly was supposed. They now believe that at least some nebulae are great "island universes" com posed of countless flaming stars. Yet God's greatest delight is not in the universe, but in man.
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y As a People Predestinated in Christ—C alling (1 :4 ). ( God’s purpose began before the foundation of the world, and the people of that purpose were chosen in Christ at that time. 2. As a People Sealed in Christ—S ecurity (1:13). The guarantee of the consummation of God’s purpose for His people is the seal of God by the Holy Spirit where with every true and regenerate believer has been sealed. 3. A s a People Seat ed in Christ— S t a t u s ( 2 : 6 ). This is the spiritual
church (5 :23-32). Please note particularly verse 32. In connection with this subject, we are confronted with a teaching which has arisen in comparatively recent years, based upon 2 Timothy 2:15, a teaching which is more novel than Scriptural and which, instead of rightly dividing the Word of truth, is wrongly dividing the body of believers. This novel teaching, which originated in England, maintains that Acts 28—and not Acts 2—marks the dis- pensational boundary of this age, and that the church com
menced, not with Pente cost, but with the Jews’ rejection of the gospel in Acts 28. There is already extreme confusion in the ranks of the adherents of this view, among whom there is a mixture of teaching that the dead are unconscious in a soul sleep; that the bride of Christ is Israel and not the church; t h a t th e Lord’s Supper and like w ise w a te r b a p tism ceased as legitimate ordi nances at Acts 28. In the teaching as it is expressed from vari ous sources, we find our selves with many church es instead of one church. We have the “church in the w ild e rn e s s ” (Acts 7 :38). We have the Jew ish church dating from Pentecost. We have the Gentile c h u rc h dating from Acts 10 and 11. Then we have the “body” church dating from Acts 28. We further find our selves struggling with fif
elevation of God’s peo ple, who, so far as their standing is concerned, are considered as being seated in heavenly places in Christ. 4. ed upon Christ—S ta bility (2:20-22), The composite, collec tive people of God’s pur pose are united in one great spiritual structure, each unit of redeemed h um a n ity becoming a unit of building material for this divine cathedral —“a habitation of God through the Spirit.” 5. As a P eop le Growing into Christ — P erfection (4:15, 16). The composite, collec tive people of God’s pur pose compose a divine organism. They form the parts K a body, each unit of redeemed humanity becoming a unit of body
As a People Build-
Photograph by Adalbert Bartlett
# "All one in Christ"— young men and women from many lands meet at the Bible Institute of Los Angeles for study of the Word of God and for Christian fellowship. Here they find a practical demonstration of the truth that in the body of Christ there are neither national nor social distinctions. The young people in the picture represent seven nationalities: (seated) John Ganiatsos, Greek; Amy Talas, Hopi Indian; Sophie Witter, Canadian; Ruth Takamune, Japanese from Hawaii; and Frank Fung, Chinese; (standing) Martha Schindler, American; and Harry Deutchman, Jew born in Poland.
structure and organism. Christ Himself is the Head. 6. As a People Espoused to Christ—E ngagement (5:23-32). The most sacred, most romantic, most happy relation ship in life is the relationship of love in which one party, in love, is affianced to another party, in love. This is the relationship which the composite, collective church in this age bears to Christ, she being His espoused bride. 7. As a People Separated unto Christ—P ractice (5:5-11), The composite, collective people of God’s purpose are -—by the very nature of their calling, their character, and their name—a people not to be identified as a part of this world system, but as separate from it. The church is an ecclesia, or a company of “called out” people. Now of these seven characteristics of the people of God’s purpose, three specifically identify them with God’s instrument of the age—the church. And when we speak of the church, we are not speaking of an institution, but of a people. The institutions we know as churches were formed by creeds. But the people who are the church were formed by Christ. This people, as the church, exist as such in a threefold character. One body. This one body is the church.—the one true church ( 1 :22, 23 ; cf. 4:4; cf. 4 :15, 16). One building. This one building is the church—the one true church (2:20-22). One bride. This one bride is the church—the one true
teen dispensations. We also find ourselves with fences built by human minds around various sections of the Scripture,' saying, “You cannot read this; it is for the Jew,” and so on ad infinitum. Only those letters written by Paul in prison are left to us. Romans is thrown out, Galatians is out, the Epistles of John are out, and so are the Revelation and many other books. The largest contribution of this teaching is division, and on that basis it is disqualified. There is but one church. That one church could only become one church by the baptism of the Holy Spirit into one body as seen in Ep'hesians 4 :4. That one body does not exist in many churches, some Jewish and some Gentile, for, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus” (Gal. 3:28). In speaking of the bride and Bridegroom, it is plainly stated: “This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.” It is not Christ and Israel, but “Christ and the church.” If Israel is the bride of Christ, then Israel must be the people caught up before the Great Tribulation to be made ready for the marriage of the Lamb. Furthermore, in Revelation 22:17, the Word de clares : “The Spirit and the bride say, Come.” This is the last invitation of the Scripture, and it is for this age. The Spirit is the Holy Spirit, and the bride is the church, for we know very well that Israel is not the agent of God’s invitation in this dispensation. To the church alone is committed “the ministry of reconciliation.”
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