W hat thanks can we render to G od again? I THES. 3:9
The Lerci hath done great things for us: .^hereof v)e ’ are glad Ps«. 126:3
NOVEM BER 1920
F I V E Straight, Practical, Thorough B ible Courses by Correspondence
y ^ H E BIBLE IN S T IT U T E OF L O S A N G E L E S C J has issued only such courses as are Oitallj) necessary to the Bible Student. We have not multiplied courses, simply for the sake of enrolling a multitude of people. We have not hoped to make money. We lose money on our Bible courses, but the earnest people who Kave undertaken them, ha*i?e gotten a good grip on the Word ¿ f God, and many have become soul winners. This is what vJe want. W e will gladly send a bulletin outlining our correspondence courses and give any infor mation about them.
Write Secretary Correspondence School BIBLE INSTITUTE OF LOS ANGELES, CALIF.
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T H E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S MOTTO: “ I, the Lord, do keep it, I will water it every moment, lest any hurt it, / will keep it night and day. — ................. ..................+ ........................ -XSL»* Isa. 2 7 :3 .......................'■.......................................... ......................"" " ■ ■ ' PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY THE BIBLE INSTITUTE OF LOS ANGELES 536-558 S O U T H H O P E STRE ET, LO S AN G ELE S, C A L . Entered as Second-Class Matter November 17, 1910. at the Post O ffice at Los Angeles, California under tke A ct o f March 3, 1879 Acceptance for mailing at special rate of postage provided for in Section 1103, A ct of October 3, 1917 authorized October 1, 1918.
November, 1920 .
Volume X I
Number 11
Rev. T . C . H O R T O N , Editor in Chief
Rev. KEITH L. BROOKS, Managing Editor -
Contributing Editors
DR. F. W . FARR
DR. FRENCH E. OUVER
REV. W M . H . PIKE
DR. A . C. D IXON
CONTENTS Editorials— How Many Thanksgiving Days? (1013), Posing of the Pope (1014), New Thought Conference (1014), Shepherd Psalm (1016), Seminaries Settle It (1016), Help! Help! (1017) , Premillennial Methodist Church (1018), Clean Cut (1018) , Where Does Our Money Go? (1019) Sentence Sermons (1020) God’s Last Word— Sermon by Dr. W. B. Hinson (1021) Law Compared With New Testament —Chas. C. Cook (1026) The Overcoming Life— Sermon by Rev. W. P. Nicholson (1028) Satan’s Great Objective— By E. P. H. King (1033) Marking Prayer Answers —By George Muller (1034) Evangelistic Stories (1036) | Bible Institute Happenings (1042) — Homiletical Helps (1044) Russell’s Prophetical Program —By Keith L. Brooks (1047) Jewish Notes (1050) Sunday School Lessons (1051) Daily Devotional Readings— By Dr. P. W. Farr (1079) Editorial Afterthoughts (1086) Good Books (1088) How Shall We Pray?— By Fred S. Shepard (1089) Thoughts For the Unsaved (1091) Give us names and addresses of missionaries or worthy pastors who would appreciate The King’s Business. Remember we accept gifts to our Missionary Fund for sending out The King’s Business. PLEA SE When sending subscriptions, address correspondence to Office of The King’s Business, Bible Institute of Los Angeles, 536-558 South Hope Street. Checks may be made payable to Bible Institute of Los Angeles. Do not make checks or money orders to individuals connected with the Bible Institute. Y E A R FOREIGN COUNTRIES, INCLUDING CANADA $1.24 - SINGLE COPIES 15 CENTS O N L Y O N E D O L L A R A
BEWARE OF RECKLESS GIVING RESOURCES Your tithes and offerings should he viewed as sacred funds entrusted to you by the Lord, and to be invested for Him. RESPONSIBILITY You should seek the wisdom of God in the distribution of these sacred funds. You have a right to know, and are account able for knowing, where your funds are going, and the character of work and workmen entrusted with them. REWARD If faithfully administered in His name and for His glory, you will find your reward in the glory. Your funds will welcome you ‘ ‘ in the everlasting habitations. ’ ’ REGRET If you have carelessly turned your funds over to be used in schools and colleges where the Bible is belittled and faith de stroyed, or for the support of missionaries or teachers who are untrue to the Word of God, you will suffer loss from your invest ment, beside the consciousness that you have aided in the destruc tion of souls. RECOMMENDATION There are some schools that are safe. There are some mis sionary societies loyal to the whole Word of God, and there are missionaries in every land who are not counting their lives dear unto themselves. We will gladly serve you without charge and put you in touch with dependable societies, agents and agencies. Write for any desired particulars. T. C. HORTON, Superintendent, Bible Institute.
G ive T h a n k s “ And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Cord. And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by Him.” (Col. 3:15, 16, 17). A helpful message for Thanksgiving Day, and a message full of help for every saint for every day. * * * Have you done your part toward the 5000 new subscriptions for The King’s Business? Many have, and we acknowledge their helpful service with gratitude. If the magazine helps you, why not serve others by securing their sub scriptions? HOW MANY Thanksgiving Da^s? Thanksgiving Day originated in New England in 1621 after the first, harvest at Plymouth Settlement. In 1863 Lincoln issued a proclamation recommending the day as a national observance for the last Thursday of each November. Franklin has. said that in a time of great despondency among the first, settlers, it was proposed in a public meeting to proclaim a fast. An old farmer arose, spoke of their provoking Heaven with their complaints, re viewed their mercies, showed that they had much to he thankful for and moved that instead of appointing a day of fasting they should appoint a day of thanksgiving. This was accordingly done. Plato, looking through the dim spectacles of nature, thanked God for three things: first, that God created him a man instead of a beast; second, that he was horn a Grecian instead of a barbarian; third, that he was born a philosopher also. There are many Christians who are better taught and who do not in these days take time to reckon their blessings even as far as did Plato. Surely the Christian, of all men, should he speedy in his returns of praise. He should not wait until Thanksgiving Day, for time soon wears out the sense of our mercies. No sin is more common than that of ingratitude. Not one in ten render praise according to the benefits done them. Jesus when on earth, was astonished at the instances of ingratitude (Luke 17:11-19). Many are experiencing His miracles in their behalf, yet yielding no homage to their Benefactor. Even Christians seem blind to the Divine hand in their deliverances and after having prayed, are found trying to trace the results to second causes. Such failure to give glory to God is what makes heathen,
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THE K I NG ' S BUSINESS for Romans 1 :21 says that the heathen when they knew God, glorified TTim not as God, neither were thankful, and thus they became vain in their imaginations and their foolish heart was darkened. Where are the nine?” How wistfully Jesus watched them go away. How often those prove most grateful to Him from whom it would be least expected. The Samaritan returns to praise Him. Nine Jews, professors of religion, forget it. Shall we as Christians be put to shame by any who are governed by mere natural religion? Saved eternally, complete in Christ, kept and blessed forever, should not the Christian celebrate Thanksgiving Day at least three hundred and sixty-five times a year? —K. L. B. THE POSING of tke Pope The camera has reached the climax. It has looked into the faces of kings and queens, presidents and politicians. It has caught the smile of the brook and lake and faced the rugged rocks of the mountain peak. It has poked its nose into hidden recesses and brought to light gruesome pictures of the dead and dying. But the end has been reached. The “ prisoner of the Vatican” has fallen for the films. We must confess that we never had a very high regard for these old gentlemen, the victims of an ecclesiastical-political game, more dangerous to the life of nations than all of the other systems combined, but there was something of suggestive reverence about them, when their assumed pre eminence was manifested by their condescension in permitting the humbled dignitaries of national repute to kiss the great toe. But, alas, those good old days are gone. A new age has dawned and the reckless, happy-go-lucky callers want to shake hands with His Eminence and josh him a b it! And he says, “ Let the Americans have what they want.” So he gets down from his high horse, wreathes his face in a smile, shakes hands with the leaders, and the Pope is on the film. Now, do not imagine for a moment that this picture was merely an incident in the life of the Pope. It is a part of a big game staged before hand. There is money in it. There always is when the Pope plays. Listen and you will hear the rattle of the “ Peter’s pence.” Every loyal Roman Catholic in all the world will want to see that picture, and thousands of silly Protestants will put up the price for a glance at his so-called “ Holiness,” who has come down from his presumed eminence, and has ceased to be “ His Eminence” but instead a mere figure on a film. Surely, this is a progressive age. We are “ movieing” along at a rapid rate, and the whole world is going hand in hand in the dance with the devil. The night darkens. Thank God if you are a child of the day- —T. C. H. ¿Wi. .$!£. m m A NEW Thought Conference It was duly announced and duly convened. We sent our religious reporter to take notes. He was present at the opening session. It was a woman’s conference. Three men braved the breeze and sat on the back seats. These men were in the yellow leaf age. One man inquired “ Why
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BETWEEN THE TWO------- ? ? am I not on the program?” He was informed that he was not, and that was all there was to it. How could there be anything more? We confess that we have been a little shy on the New Thought stunt. We have so many new cults to look after that we have neglected this, rather waiting for it to get ripe. But let us have the reporter’s report: “ The leader was trained for the performance. The audience evidenced the usual sign of paint and powder, and there was the odor of perfume. The con vention was dedicated to ‘knowledge, love and truth.’ We looked for ‘Mrs.’ or ‘Miss’ Knowledge, but did not find her. Love was there, manifested in every attitude of the throng— self-love. As for truth,—well, listen to some of the rich and rare specimens of rhetoric, and you will he able to decide for yourself. The leader announced that the speakers would ‘pour out their life-blood in their addresses. These addresses will go through your divine body, and on to others.’ (The reporter says he got some.) ‘God is in every one of you, and we will smile. No matter what happens— (pause)— . We will now enter into the silence, and smile way down in our systems. Does your heart smile? Does your stomach smile? Does your liver smile? Your smile will kill all your ills. Your feet will smile. Your eyes will smile. Your ears will smile. Your hands will smile. AH must smile. Give us an example of it now. (The leader grinned). You will hear no talk from this platform about the world being wrong. Sin and sickness are unrealities. (She had just said that smiles would cure all ills!) Animals do not smile. We are divine. So smile. Smile and the world will smile with you. A smile is God’s laugh. Be quiet now. Enter into the quiet state and then smile. Infinite All forgives divine man—smile.’ (Silence for one minute). “ Then the leader talked with her eyes shut, while all sat still and stared at her. “ ‘New Thought is sunshine. Your inside is not your body. Our thinking is simply God thinking. We will now go into the silence.’ ’’ Nine speakers were present, representing many states and towns. It was announced that the New Thought Alliance was to work in the colleges and universities, Y. M. C. A .’s, Y. W. C. A .’s, schools and everywhere. That they would sell New Thought books, have New Thought ministers, doctors and nurses. It certainly is wonderful. Almost as unintelligible as Christian Science. It is a great age this New Era. "Why not call it “ The Brainless Age”
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THE K I N G ’ S BUSINESS commencing with the seminaries and going down the line? You cannot help but smile, can you? __T. C. H. THE Shepkerd Psalm It is good to find a daily paper quoting from a monthly paper the following by James Wallen in ‘ ‘ Printer’s Ink” : Speaking of the Twenty-Third Psalm, he says: “ Promise is the essence of advertising. To my mind the greatest advertise ment ever written is the Twenty Third Psalm of David. “ This psalm is all promise. It is undiluted emotion. It gives no reasons why, and yet as Henry Ward Beecher said, ‘It has charmed more griefs to rest than all of the philosophy of the world.’ Most of the great consolations of the human heart do not particularize. . “ Let us remember that man. does not live by the bread of reason alone. He lives partly by the inspirational word. “ We speak of pictures as a power. They are not nearly so potent as a few words of consolation that have gone down the ages. ‘Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.’ The mere affirmation couched in the language of faith without a shred of explanation suffices all of the needs of the average heart and mind. Now, here is the great secret of emotional writing. There is reason back of it, but the machinery is not revealed.” This is true and well said of the Pearl of Psalms, but it is also true that when you have the good Shepherd Himself speaking as He does in the New Testament and dying as He did as recorded in the New Testament, those facts throw a wonderful meaning and halo upon this Psalm which has comforted and consoled millions of saints on their pilgrim journey through pastures green to the paradise eternal. C. H. T he sem inaries Settle it The Premillenarians might just as well surrender their position and be done with it. We must go out of business. The position we have held is Biblical, no doubt; but the seminaries do not endorse it! A popular preacher in a recent sermon against the Premillennial view of our Lord’s return, among other things, is quoted to have said, “ I once believed and taught this doctrine, Paul evidently believed it, as sug gested by his earlier epistles, but says nothing about it in his later ones, and there is not a seminary in the land that teaches it.” You see, we have got to choose between the Bible and. the seminaries and, of course, we could not be expected to stand for the Bible against the marvelous intellectual giants in the seminaries! Just imagine two or three hundred thousand of us with Bibles in our hands daring to confront a couple of hundred of these mighty men who insist upon telling us that the Bible does not mean what it says at all; that the meaning is so deep and mysterious that often it means just the opposite; that when it says, ‘ ‘ Christ will come again,” it means that He never went away and that when it says, “ Behold, I come quickly,” “ Watch, for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh,” it does not mean that He is coming; hut that He is here now; and that when it says, “ In the last days perilous times shall come,” and “ Evil men shall wax worse and worse,” it means that the world is getting better every day!
THE K I N G ’ S BUSINESS 1017 Now, don’t argue, brother. Please don’t say that you cannot under stand these seminary men. Remember that you are not supposed to know. You have not been highly enough educated. You have been believing that when the Bible says “ heaven,” it means heaven; and when it says | eter nal punishment,” it means eternal punishment; but, you see, that is a mistake in your education. It means “ heaven” all right, but fire and brimstone” are susceptible of different theological interpretations, we must learn to take our place with our good Catholic brethren. They never think of questioning the authority of the Church. They know that only the Church can interpret the Bible for them, and so we must allow these wonderful, mighty intellectual giants to tell us, all about it._ We ought to be very grateful to them. Just think of their being will ing, with their mighty, intellects, to condescend (for a consideration of ? few thousand dollars a year) to give a few moments to Biblical matters and to the training of our dear ministers and missionaries! , All of this trouble has come from our forefathers taking the bit m their teeth and protesting against the rule of the Pope. Protestantism is a failure. We have been enjoying the bliss of ignorance, believing that the Bible means what it says. Hereafter we need not trouble ourselves to study the Bible. We will just sit and gaze upon the beaming faces of our theologians who, even if they do not believe the Bible or teach it, do tell us so many sweet and charming things; read poems so beautifully; tell such wonderful jokes and entertain us so delightfully, and demand so little from us excepting the surrender of our poor undeveloped intellects and our little offerings. Beloved, how ungrateful we have been! How, ignorant we have been! Let us rejoice now and be glad, for a new day has dawned upon the Church. The seminaries have settled it. Cease to be a Protestant, and be willing ' and grateful to be a Puppet.
Let us, then, be up and doing, Things unorthodox each day ; Ripping Gospels up and strewing Old beliefs along the way! Be not like dumb, driven cattle,— That would be a foolish crime. Flout the Holy Bible,—that’ll Make you famous every time!” (Sel.) T. C. H.
HELP! Help! Help! Audacious audacity! A robber entered the room of the Police Court in Los Angeles and robbed the safe of $25,000.00. In the room underneath were a number of the flying squadron, heavily armed, awaiting emergency calls; but they did not hear the gentleman in the room above. Hark! Listen! Can you hear anything? Don’t you hear the cracksman? He is stealing the souls of men. He has on a professor’s garb or a preacher’s gown. He is deadening the sounds. He is telling the boys and girls, the young men and women and the older ones that in the twentieth century no one with brains believes in the Bible stories; that God couldn’t make
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THE K I N G ’ S BUSINESS a path in the sea or feed two thousand men with five loaves and two fishes. These bandits belong to a gang who have conspired to steal the faith of people in the inspired Word of God. They are the worst robbers in the world; soul snatchers; they work in the dark. They have a skeleton key and enter the room of a man’s soul and lawlessly, ruthlessly, wantonly, heart lessly rob him of his faith. Who stole the $25,000.00 stole trash, but whoso ever steals one soul and puts it in the hands of the devil for safe keeping is the enemy of God and man. Cry aloud, “ Stop, thief!” T. C. H. A PREMILLENNIAL Metkodist Ckurck The First Methodist Church of Mt. Vernon, N. Y., is a real Methodist Church. Dr. O. F. Bartholomew is the pastor and has been for sixteen years. This church has moved five times, and left five self-supporting churches, and the first church has now seventeen hundred members. Dr. Bartholomew believes in the Bible as the Word of God, and is a premillen- arian and is not afraid to preach that doctrine. This premillennial pastor has a Bible class and recently 878 men participated in a dinner given by the class in the Armory of Mt. Vernon. The mayor of the city, a brass band and a squad of policemen escorted the class to the dinner. Every once in a while some item of this kind breaks out to give sor row to those who insist that the despised doctrine of our Lord’s return is a menace. God bless Dr. Bartholomew and his church, and multiply his kind. The good man stands side by side with the father of Methodism. Hear John Wesley speak: “ I grant, supposing thy Lord should delay His coming, it were meet and right to wait for His appearing, in doing, so far as thou hast power, whatsoever He hath commanded thee. But there is no necessity for making such a sup position. How knowest thou that He will delay? Perhaps He will appear as the day spring from on high before the morning light. O do not set Him a time; expect Him every hour! Now He is nigh! even at the door.” Now, beloved brethren of the Methodist Church, please do not be angry with us. We are only seeking to vindicate dear old “ Saint” John Wesley. T. C. H. C lean c u t Witnessing for Christ is not trench warfare. Those who intend to stand for Him in these days, must stand out in the open. It is related that Schram the landscape painter, was engaged in sketching in a field when an old farmer drove up with his team. The horses could not make out what the artist was and began to rise up on their hind legs. The farmer called out excitedly to the artist, “ Durn ye, stand up and let my critters see what ye are.” The pastor of the Atlantic Avenue Baptist Church, Rochester, New York, must be a man who believes in standing up and letting the world know what he stands for. A large display advertisement in a Rochester newspaper is headed “ What this Church Stands for,” and continues, “ If
THE KI NG ' S BUSINESS 1019 in sympathy with these doctrines, worship with us and we will do you good.” Then follows their statement of belief. It reads : 1. The unique, inspired authority and infallibility of the entire Bible in> every part as the Word of God. 2. The lost condition of all men by nature, as the result of Adam’s fall. 3. The deity of Jesus Christ, different in kind as well as in degree from any so-called “ divinity” of man. 4. The virgin birth of Jesus Christ. 5. The redemption for men only by faith in Christ and His finished work, who by His death became man’s Saviour by becoming man’s Substitute, receiving in Himself thè penalty of man’s sin and the necessary and holy wrath of God against sin. 6. The resurrection of the body of Christ and of all men. WHERE DOES Our Money Go? The Chief Physicist of the Bureau of Standards at Washington has compiled the Government records and gives us the following interesting items: “ Out of every dollar paid into the national treasury the disbursement is divided as follows: For past and future wars, the war debt, pensions, war risk insurance, the army and navy departments, the sum of ninety-three cents. For the department dealing with human welfare, educational work, agriculture, public health work, women’s and children’s welfare, libraries, research work, etc., a little over one cent. The remaining five cents of each dollar is used for the machinery of the Government, public buildings, navies and harbors, etc.” This is an interesting piece of news and, no doubt, will be a-revelation to most people and this question, “Where?” suggests another of vital import. Where does the money of the church members go? It would be of interest if we knew how much went to educational purposes in this and foreign fields, where it is being used to teach people that the Bible is not an infallible guide and where infidel text books are used. How much of it goes to pay the salaries of professors and missionaries who take a devilish delight in wrecking the faith of men and women? How much of it goes to the publication of church and Sunday school literature that carries the seed of doubt and denial of fundamental doctrine? How much of it is spent in surveys and social service, moving pictures and other interests foreign to the real work of the church? If we could have these facts and figures, we might stir the sluggish souls of church members and help to bring about a real reformation in the financial affairs of the Church. We cannot hope to obtain these facts, but we do desire to awaken our readers to the consciousness that it is their business to see that none of their money is given for soul destroying pur poses. Where does our money go? T. C. H. 7. The personality of the Holy Spirit. Let’s have more of the same kind. — It. L. B.
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that they can be better to themselves than God would be. Christianity without Christ is a mere Sunday club, a joy to the devil and a disgust to God. One of the signs of depth is clear ness. Mrs. Eddy, for instance, thinks she is deep when she is merely muddy. Many men are not Gospel hardened so much as they are method hardened. If you must disobey God, seek a place where He cannot see you. Thefts never enrich, alms never im poverish and prayers never hinder work. There are two things inseparable from lying; many promises and many excuses. We cannot ascend to God’s heaven until we first descend into the hell of our own hearts. Every command of God has a promise for its kernel. Some men will cry out against the breaking of an alabaster box while si lently furnishing the nails for a coffin in which to bury their competitor. To possess a sanctimonious face is no sign of a Spirit-filled heart. A sheep killing dog looks sanctimonious. Don’t have your concert first and then tune- your instruments afterward. Begin the day with the Word of God and prayer and get first of all into har mony with Him. No man shall be in heaven but he that sees himself fully qualified for hell, as a fagot that is bound up for eternal burnings unless mercy plucks the brand out of the fire. He who honors the Lord will give Him his substance as well as his senti ment.
Men are wise as long as they seek wisdom. They are not so wise when they think they have found it. The only way to avoid the sight of fools is to remain in one’s chamber and break the mirror. Silence may sometimes he foolish be fore the wise, but it is always wise be fore the foolish. Don’t stare iip the steps of success; step up the stairs. It isn’t necessarily the right road because it is well beaten. A hen doesn’t quit scratching be cause the worms are scarce. Politeness is like an air cushion. There may be nothing in it, but it eases the joints wonderfully. Every form prostrated before an image, represents glory taken from God. Be looking for something more to do FOR Christ and you will keep re ceiving more FROM Christ. The Pope’s calendar only makes saints of the dead, but the Bible re quires saintliness in the living. When by yourself, watch your thoughts. When in the family, watch your temper. When in company, watch your tongue. He that hath light thoughts of sin, never had great thoughts of God. Anger is a gun that bursts at the breech and kills the holder. He that labors is tempted by one devil; he that is idle, by a thousand. Giving to the Lord is but transport ing our goods to a higher floor. A sweet spirit can make the plainest face beautiful. We cannot always say clever things, but we can always say kind things. Some people are under the delusion
God’s Last Word
to a Lost World
Let Christian People Everywhere Pass on the Message to Rejectors of Christ By DR. W, B. HINSON ISAIAH 3:10.
upon the upturned sword of the suicide, “ Is it ill with the wicked?” Ask Sen nacherib as the bugle calls sound to raise an army to its daily duty, and the whole army lies still in death, “ Is it ill with the wicked?” Ask Nebuchad nezzar, leaving a palace to go out and eat grass like an ox because of his stupid pride, “ Is it ill with the wicked?” Ask Belshazzar, calling for the profana tion of the. sacred vessels of the temple and his red blood mingling with the red wine on the white floor of the palace, while along the drained Euphrates bed the Persian comes to slay, “ Is it ill with the wicked?” Ask Herod, elate, making his wonderful speech, and hearing the plaudit, “ It is not the voice of a man, but the voice of God,” and he suddenly writhes and is eaten of worms and dies, “ Is it ill with the wicked?” Ask Judas, falling, because of a broken rope, and landing so heavily that his very bowels gushed out— the loathing and scorn of twenty centuries— “ Is it ill with the wicked?” Ask Julian, the apostate em peror of Rome, as he bowed his head in the drift of the wild world’s pride, and “Thou hast conquered Galilean,” he said, and died, . “ Is it ill with the wicked?” Ask Napoleon eating out his heart on the island of St. Helena after he boasted God was always wise enough to get on the side of the heaviest bat talion, “ Is it ill with the wicked?” Ask that fool over in Holland—murderer twelve million times over— as he twists in agony of shame and dread, “ Is it ill with the wicked?” Go into your jails, and asylums, and some wards of the hospital, and see if God told the truth
“ Say ye ta the v-'icked, it shall be ill with him. Say ye to the righteous, It shall be well with him.“
HAT is the summing up of the whole revelation of God. And so His last word as He closes the long disclosure of His will is, “ Say ye to the wicked it shall be ill with him, and to the righteous, it shall be
well with him.’’ Now is that true? Ask Adam as he turns his hack on the fairest garden ever made— for you know God was the first gardener— “ Is it ill with the wicked?” Ask Cain as he staggers out with bowed shoulders from the presence of God and exclaims, “ My punishment is greater than I can bear,” “ Is it ill with the wicked?” Ask the ante diluvian as the great floods drop, and the fountains of the deep are broken up, and the scream and the wail and the curse blend, “ Is it ill with the wicked?” Ask Egypt as at midnight there rises up over the doomed land the sob that tells of the death of the first born in every un-blood protected house, “ Is it ill with thé wicked?” Ask Pharaoh as the Red Sea waters fall back into their channels, and the wild scream of the drowning horse mingles with the hot imprecations of the drown ing men, “ Is it ill with the wicked?” Ask Korah, Dathan and Abiram, as holding the scoffers’ fire in their hands they go down alive into hell, “ Is it ill with the wicked?” Ask Achan as he and his are stoned to death outside the camp for disloyalty to the mandate of God, “ Is it ill with the wicked?” Ask Saul as his massive form bends down
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THE K I N G ’ S BUSINESS fool, and ten thousand times ten thousand 'others* who all in solemn chorus assert God told the truth, “ It is ill with the wicked.” But what about the other half of my text? “ Say ye to the righteous, ‘well.’ ” Start again where you started before, even when the world was young. Hear the voices of the first man to die, before he goes out to his God. Bet ter still, hear his eulogy pronounced four thousand years after he was killed: “ God had respect unto the of fering of Abel, and he being dead yet speaketh,” “ It is well with the right eous.” Or the seventh from Adam, Enoch; who had this testimony that he walked with God and he was not, for God took him, “ It is well with the righteous.” Hear Noah, rising hourly on the breast of the tumultuous waters nearer to heaven and God say, “ It is well with the righteous.” See Abra ham— called today by even Mohamme danism “ the Friend of God,” known wherever there is a Bible as “ the Father of the Faithful,” “ It is well with the righteous.” Think of Moses, looking at the treasures of Egypt, and then turning disdainfully from them away to the treasures of Christ; and the lengthened shadow of the man is Judaism, the platform upon which God built the cross of Cavalry, “ It is well with the righteous.” Or think of David, the most widely known utter ance in the Christian world trembling from his lip. “ The Lord is my Shep herd, I shall not want;” and ere he died he said, “ I have been young and am now old, but I never saw the right eous forsaken.” “ It is well with the righteous.” Or see Paul as the execu tioner’s sword gleams against the light of the sparkling sun, and the man about to die said, “ There is laid up for me a crown of righteousness,” “ It is well with the righteous.” Or hear Polycarp, led out to lions, as he said, “ Eighty and four years have I served my Lord Christ, and I know of no
when He said, “ It is ill with the wicked.” Bead your Shakespeare and watch a man as he looks at his mur derous fingers, and they flame red while he cries, “ All great Neptune’s waters cannot cleanse the blood from that hand,” “ Is it ill with the wicked?” Ask Browning as he tells you how Guido the murderer must have the lights about him for the darkness is full of ghastly weird shapes, “ Is it ill with the wicked?” Ask Coleridge as in his “ Ancient Mar iner” he writes: “ The very deep did rot, O Christ, That ever this could be, And slimy things did crawl with legs Upon a slimy sea,” “ Is it ill with the wicked?” Ask Jack Johnson in Chicago jail, put for loath some filthiness in the murderer’s cell, making such a wild racket in the dead of the night that they had to move him to another cell, and all his reason was, "The spirits of the murdered are about me!” “ Is it ill with the wicked?” Ask the men I have known, I can see one of them dying in delirium tremens, and I buried another who bore his in tolerable life as long as he could and then took it with his own hand, “ Is it ill with the wicked?” And you ask the men you have met. Said a man to me only last night as he told of the stories of the men he had known, and added, “ They are all dead,” “ Is it ill with the wicked?” Hear the curses pealing and reverberating down the pages of that Book telling what is the effect of sin here and" there, now and then, and say, “ Is it ill with the wicked?” Ask the men grown old, and every year, a year of shame, friendless ness, hopelessness, uselessness and doom, “ Is it ill with the wicked?” Hear the text and then I say listen to the voices of Adam, the drowned of the flood, Egypt, Pharaoh, Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, Achan, Saul, Sennacherib, Nebuchadnezzar, Belshazzar, Herod, Judas, Julian, Napoleon, Wilhelm the
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THE K I N G ’ S BUSINESS reason why I should forsake him now,” “ It is well with the righteous.” Or hear Rutherford in Edinburgh, “ Daugh ters, I think I am going to leave you. I cannot see, and I feel so strangely. Get the Book. Put my fingers on the verse in Romans 8 that says, ‘I am persuaded that nothing, neither death, nor life, nor angels, principalities nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God,’ put my fingers on that verse,” and they said, “ Father, you are touching it,” and he answered, “ Good-bye, daugh ters, I breakfasted with you this morn ing, I shall sup with my Lord Christ tonight,” “ It is well with the right eous.” Come to my study on the hillcrest beyond, and let me show you a cane and a Greek testament given me by one of the best men I ever knew in my life, who was dead half an hour after he gave me the stick and the book; but who looking at the sun set ting over the Pacific, said in his quaint old time way, “ Elder, when it comes up in the morning I shall be seeing the King." “ It is well with the right eous.” And I will stop and think of my father singing the last night I ever heard his voice, as the moonlight slanted over his mane of white hair, while he sang. “ Oh that home of the soul, in my • visions and dreams, Its bright jasper walls I can see, Till I fancy but thinly the veil inter venes Between the fair city and me,” “ It is well with the righteous.” Or I will pause again and you think of your mother. She had weathered many a storm with Jesus; she had been in many a bit of lonely road with Jesus; but man, woman, God grant you to get to the heaven that holds your mother; “ It is well with the righteous.” Or let me sharpen this by a contrast.
A minute ago you saw Saul of the Old Testament dying a suicide. Less than a minute ago I showed you Saul of the New Testament, exultingly, tri umphantly, rejoicingly facing death. “ It is well with the righteous.” Or again, Jezebel in the Old Testament is flung from a window and the dogs lick up her blood. And Mary of the New.Testament is honored the whole world over, and has the unique distinc tion of being the mother of Jesus, “ It is well with the righteous.” Or yet again, there lies Judas, and the loathe- some spot where he burst asunder shall be called Aceldema, place of blood. And there is John, who writes, “ I saw the new heaven and the new earth; I saw its citizens and they hunger no more, nor thirst; and there is no more sickness, nor pain, nor sorrow, nor cry ing, nor death; and God shall wipe away-all tears from their eyes;” “ It is well with the righteous.” Do you hear the ChoTus? God says, “ It is well with the righteous;” and beginning with Abel, and coming all down the weary centuries till it gets so near to us as my father is to me, and your mother to you, and all these voices say, “ God was right and not wrong; truthful and not lying, when He said, ‘It is well with the right eous.’ ” And where do I stand as this study nears it close? “ Ill with the wicked.” Who are the wicked? “Hear O heav ens, and give ear O earth, I have nourished and brought up children and they have rebelled against me.” Ah that sounds like Eve’s scream as she leaves Eden; or the shriek of those dying folk of the flood; or those doomed ones of Egypt. For we are wicked. But how did anybody ever get righteous? “ For there is none that doeth good, no not one, and all have sinned and come short of the glory of God,” and there is no difference. I am quoting the Bible. Then how :does there come to be any distinction be-
1024 tween the wicked and the righteous? What is it separates one from the other? What is it so transforms the man in the camp of the wicked that he passes over into the church of the righteous! What is the bridge that spans this dividing gulf? If all great Neptune’s waters will not wash the sin from the soul,- what will? If man is powerless to effect his own salvation, who can do it for him? Why; they tell me down in the Unitarian church you do not need a divine Saviour. Well what in the world do you need then? Who is going to do this? Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard its spots? And how? The question is thousands of years old, “ How can mortal man be just before -God?” By Jesus Christ! I am al ways glad in my heart when I hear, as I sometimes do, the criticism, “ He knows nothing but Jesus Christ.” I wish it were true. I am trying hard to make it true. But just now it is true. There is the wicked, and it is ill with him God says. There is the righteous, and it is well with him, God says. Now how can I get over from that side to this? Mr. Unitarian, how are you going to do it? And fool Christian Scientist, how are you going to do it? And speculator talking of salvation by character, where are you going to get the character from? You can do without the Christ? It does not look like it. You have outgrown the cross? Who has? Speak for your self. Now then let God say another word ere we stop. “ Though your sins be as scarlet They shall be as snow, Though they be red like crimson, They shall be as wool.” How? The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin.” So you see once more how as moving water rushes up against a dividing boulder, so you come to Christ’s cross and it sep arates the audience. And he that be-
THE K I N G ’ S BUSINESS lieveth on the Son hath life, and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him. A word, and I stop. Have you been to Jesus for the cleansing power, and been washed in the blood of the Lamb? Hear the affirmation of God. “ It shall be well with you.” But you are poor. “ It shall be well with you.” But you are sick. “ It shall be well with you.” But you are growing old. “ It shall be well with you.” But you feel that your power is declining. “ It shall be well with you.” But you have nothing laid up for the rainy day. “ It shall be well with you.” But you may be overtaken and prostrated by some illness. “ It shall be well with you.” But——Listen! God is our -refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear though the earth be re moved, and the mountains be cast into the midst of the sea, though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof.” And why should we not fear? Because God is in the midst of us. Jehovah Jesus, Emmanuel, the Saviour, Christ the Lord. But you have got .to die. “ It shall be well with you.” You have got to face judgment. “ It shall be well With you.” You have gojt to appear before God. Why then, it certainly must be well with .you. Oh hear Him again as He says, “ Say ye to the righteous, It shall be well with him.” But I am compelled to add ere I close, the same God says, “ To the wicked, it shall be ill.” You said the other day, we have got rid of hell. Who has? The Bible has not. Jesus Christ has not ceased to mention it. I am preaching for a long day that will never know noon, daylight, nor dark, the endless day of eternity; and by the help of God there shall be no one of you say to me in the day we stand before the throne, “ You sup pressed part of the truth.” I set be-
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THE K I N G ’ S BUSINESS fore you the way of life and the way of death, and I stop, and let God say His text, “ Say ye to the wicked, ill with him. Say ye to the righteous, well with him.” m m TRUTH AND ERROR The Chart, outlining modern false cults, and known as “ The Spirit of Truth and the Spirit of Error,” is hav ing its fifth large edition in England, 100,000 having been circulated in that country alone. This Chart started a lit tle over a year ago with a Bible class in Los Angeles and has now been printed in several countries in large editions. It is being circulated in America by the Christian Fundamentals League, Room 207, Van Nuys Building, Los An geles, and those who desire literature for winning their friends from false cults should get in touch with Mr. Had den, secretary of this league. The Master’s words, “ Pray ye the Lord of the harvest that he would thrust forth laborers into his harvest,” have been heard on many occasions when the needs of the mission fields have been presented to Christians, but it is not often that a reversal of this prayer finds voice. From a missionary returned from ICorea we leajn that practicably the entire mission force of -all denomina tions, and practically the entire church of Korea, is premillennial; that the Korean Christians and preachers to a man believe the Bible through and through, and it is not their purpose to stand- for any teaching, subverting to simple faith in the fundamentals of the Word of God, including the blessed hope of the Lord’s coming. When a missionary appears on the field whose views of the Bible and of this doctrine afe a » PRAY THEM IN OR OUT
are at variance with the established be lief we are told that the Korean churches unite in prayer to thrust this laborer out of the field. Such has been done in the case of a number of mis sionaries, who found themselves “ per sonae non gratae” and their surround ings so uncomfortable that they found it best to return to America.— Friends Minister. A BIBLE INSTITUTE NEEDED Recent letters from Mr. A. E. Bish op, who has been a missionary for over twenty-five years, in Guatemala, Cen tral America,—working under the Cen tral American Mission, speak of the great need for a Bible Institute there for the training of native workers. Mr. Bishop has founded in Guatemala a strong, definite, evangelical and evangelistic work, on a Bible basis, in which we are greatly interested. Some of our own Institute graduates are now laboring there. Mr. Bishop is a fine Bible teacher,— a man who has not only put his life blood into the work, but also his means, having given up his business in order to take up this work. Guatemala City is peculiarly well adapted for such a training school, and we take pleasure in heartily commend ing the enterprise. We will be glad to give any further information de sired, or a communication addressed di rect to Mr. A. E. Bishop, Box 74, Guate mala City, Guatemala, C. A., will meet with a prompt and definite response. THE BAIT Falsehood is never so successful as when she baits her hook with truth. No opinions so fatally mislead us as those that are not wholly wrong; as no watches so effectually deceive the wearer as those that are sometimes right.—Colton.
The New Testament
Showing to What Extent it is Binding Under the Dispensation of Grace Bj) CHARLES C. COOK
had nothing to do with the Old Testa ment law.” Here we have the Ten Command ments as reproduced in the New Testa ment: I. None other gods. “ God is one” (Gal. 3:20). “ There is one God” (1 Tim. 2 :5). “ To us there is one God, the Father, and one Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Cor. 8:4-6). “ One Spirit, one Lord, one God and Father of all” (Eph. 4:3-6). II. Idolatry forbidden. “Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them” (1 Cor. 10:7). “ Dearly beloved, flee from idolatry” (1 Cor. 10:14). “ Keep yourselves from idols” (1 John 5:21). III. The Name of the Lord thy God. “ But now ye also put off all these; . . . blasphemy . . .” (Col. 3 :8). “ Hallowed be thy name” (Matt. 6 :9). IV. The Sabbath. This commandment is not reproduced in the New Testament, showing that the Sabbath was (is) a Jewish insti tution (see Exodus 31:13). See how definite are the references, in the church epistles, to the believers free dom from obligation to this Jewish day: “ Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years, I am afraid of you” (Gal. 4:10-11). “ Let no man judge you . . . in respect of an holy day, or of the new moon, or of the Sabbath days; which are a shadow of things to come” (Col. 2:16, 17). The “ first day” of the Christian is
N that remarkable book by D. Day Adventism Renounced,” will be found on pages 346- 349 an interesting portion en titled, “ Eminent authors on the Decalogue.” We make only
M. Canright: “ Seventh
one selection: “ An incident related by Mrs. Emily C. Judson, in the Life of Adoniram Judson, by his son, Dr. Ed ward Judson. Mrs. Judson says that her husband once reproved her for in troducing some lessons from the Old Testament in her Bible classes, com paring it to groping among shadows when she might just as well have the noonday sun! Mrs. Judson, in relat ing the incident, says: ‘My impression, drawn from many a long talk, is that he considered the Old Testament as the Scriptures given to the Jews es pecially, and to them only. He did not like the distinction commonly drawn between the moral and cere monial law, and sometimes spoke with an earnestness amounting to severity, of the constant use made of the ten commandments by Christians. He thought the Old Testament very im portant as explanatory and corrobora tive of the New^—as a portion of the inspiration which came from God, etc., but binding on Christians only so far as repeated in the New Testament. He used to speak of the Mosaic law as ful filled in Crhist, and so having no fur ther power whatever; and to say that we have no right to pick out this as moral, and therefore obligatory, and the other as ceremonial and no longer demanding obedience. Practically we
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THE K I N G ’ S BUSINESS
DR. METER RETIRES The many friends of Dr. F. B. Meyer will learn with interest of his intention to retire from the pastorate in London at the end of this year. He celebrated his jubilee a few months ago, and, hav ing now reached the age of seventy- three, he suggests that Christ Church, Westminster Bridge Rd., shall have an early opportunity of choosing a man of more vigorous life. •Wc. m sfe BIBLE SUNDAY Mayflower Universal Bible Sunday will be observed throughout America on November 28, 1920. Universal Bible Sunday claimed last year the cordial co-operation of thousands of Protestant, churches of all denominations, and plans are already under way to make Mayflower Universal Bible Sunday a great day for America and for the world. • The year 1920 as the tercentenary of the landing of the Pilgrim Fathers on the Mayflower will be an occasion of rejoicing throughout the entire coun try. In the celebration of this occasion the American Bible Society proposes to take part by the observance of a special Sunday as indicated above. In view of the fact that the greatest gift brought by the Pilgrim Fathers to this country was the open Bible, the appropriateness of such a celebration is apparent at once. The American Bible Society will have ready at an early date appropriate lit erature on the subject. Requests for this free literature may be sent imme diately to the. American Bible Society, Bible House, Astor Place, New York City, and the literature will be mailed well in advance of November 28, 1920.
altogether different from the Jewish Sabbath. It commemorates the Resur rection of the Lord, and its blessings and privileges are embraced with grati tude by devout hearts. V. Honor thy father and mother. “ Honor thy father and mother” (Eph. 6 :2). “ Children, obey .your parents in all things: for this is well pleasing unto the Lord” (Col. 3:20). VI. Thou shalt not kill. “We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth (continues) in death. Wh6so- ever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him” (1 John 3 : 14 , 15 ). (In this entire chapter the contrast between the children of light, and the children of darkness is clear ly shown.) ' VII. Adultery. “ But fornication, and all unclean ness . . . let it not be once named among you as becometh saints.” “No whore monger, no unclean person . . .. hatn any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God” (Eph. 5:3, 5). “ The works of the flesh are . . . adultery” (Gal. 5:19). VIII. Stealing. “ Let him that stole steal no more” (Eph. 4:28). IX. False witness. “Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neigh bor” (Eph. 4:25). “ Love thinketh no evil” (1 Cor. 13:5). X. Coveting. “ Covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints” (Eph. 5 :3). ¡gjGjgi ^ i il A soldier, looking at a bullet hole through his leg, said, “ Well, that’s a fancy hole. Now, that’ll get me a fur lough,— just what my wife wants.”
It is said that a good violinist is one with ability to play first fiddle and a willingness to play second.
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