fA T C H M A N , •what o f the n igh t? The
n r
morning cometh and also the night, is a . 21 : 11-12
d i e night Cometh When No man Can Work
J O H N 9:4
OCTOBER iqiq
33^ See First Editorial Inside
Bible Institute ofLosAngeles (INCORiPOkATED) Los A ngeles , C alifornia , u. s. a . Free Training ScKool for Christian Workers
DIRECTORS
Lyman Stewart, president J. M. Irvine, secretary T. C. Horton, superintendent H . A. Getz
R. A. Torrey, vice-president Leon V. Shaw, treasurer William Evans J. O. Smith
Nathan Newby
DOCTRINAL STATEMENT
nf Historic Faith of the Church as expressed in the Common Creed of Evangelical Christendom and including: The Trinity of the Godhead. The Deity of the Christ. The Personality of the Holy Ghost. The Supernatural and Plenary authority of the Holy Scriptures. The Unity in Diversity of the Church, the Body and Bride of Christ. The Substitutionary Atonement. The Necessity of the New Birth. The Maintenance of Good Works. The Second Coming of Christ. The Everlasting Existence of the Spirit. The Resurrection of the Body. The Life Everlasting of Believers. The Endless Punishment of the Impenitent. The Reality and Personality of Satan. SCOPE OF THE WORK PURPOSE: The Institute trains, free of cost, accredited men and women in the knowledge and use of the Bible. DEPARTMENTS: ( p _ Tl>e Institute Classes held daily except on Saturdays and wj, 1 Sundays. Extension work. Classes and conferences held in neighboring cities and towns Evangelistic. Meetings conducted by our evangelists, bpamsh Work. Personal work among Spanish speaking people. Shop W ork. Regular services in shops and factories. Pf rs,°n!l1 w° rf among the Hebrews and mission for Jews, n il n- ij *' Iio .use-t°-h°use visitation and neighborhood classes. J Oil Fields. A mission to men on the oil fields. Books and Tracts. Sale and distribution of selected books and tracts BBf i?,arb^ Work. For seamen at San Francisco harbor. *S' Biola Hall. Daily noon meetings for men in the down-town district with free Evangelistic service every evening. ' w,tn ,ree '12). Print Shop. For printing Testaments, books, tracts, etc. A comolete est.hn.t, ment, profits going to free distribution of religious literature complete establish- ( 2) (3) (4) (5) ( 6 ) (7) ( 8 ) (9) (10)
THE K ING ’S BUSINESS MOTTO: “I, the Lord, do keep it, I will water it every moment, lest any hurt it, I will keep it night and day. ", t '■-.'. t . t .' ti , . .....................- î . m - sts Isa. 27:3 ' ■■■■, t -- t : ---------------------------------- . . . --------• P U B L IS H E D M O N T H L Y BY T H E BIBLE Rev, T . C. HORTON , Editor in Chief I N S T I T U T E O F LO S A N G E L E S Rev. KEITH L. BROOKS, Managing Editor Entered as Second-Class M atter November 17, 1910, at the Post Office at Los Angeles, California under the A ct of M arch 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.
Number 10
Volume X
October, 1919
CONTENTS OF THIS ISSUE
Editorials: A Gilt-Edge Investment (891) Is the Human Race going on the Rocks? (892) The Lack of Leaders (893) The Evangel istic Appeal of the Second Coming (894) Refined Rational ism and Bold Infidelity (895) The Prayer Apostasy (896) Nobody Right but God (897) Why a Bible Institute? (898) The Late John H. Sammis (900) Sentence Sermons gleaned from Many Preachers (901) The Development of the Down Grade, Dr. A. C. Dixon (902) Pre and Post Millennialism, a Catechism, K. L. Brooks (905) Bible Institute Happenings (909) Evangelistic Stories from real experience (912) Ye are My Friends If —Evang. Wm. P. Nicholson (917) Thoughts for Unsaved People, Lady Hope (924) Notes Concerning the Jews (926) HomUetical Helps (928) Sunday School Lessons for October, (930) Daily Devotional Readings, Dr. Frederic W. Farr (959) The Critics and the Blessed Hope, Contributed (973) Modern Sowers of Tares, Philip Mauro (975) PLEASE W hen sending subscriptions, address correspondence to Office of The King’s Business, Bible In stitu te of Los Angeles, 536-558 South Hope Street. Checks m ay be m ade payable to Bible Institute of Los Angeles. Do not make checks or money orders to individuals connected w ith the Bible Institute. O N L Y O N E D O L L A R A Y E A R S U B S C R IP T IO N PR IC E— In tke United States and Its Possessions and Mexico, and points in tke Central American Postal Union, $1.00 per year. In all otker foreign countries, including Canada, $1.24. (5c. 2d.) Single copies 10 cents. See expiration date on tke wrapper, B I B L E I N S T I T U T E O F L O S A N G E L E S 536-558 South Hope Street . . . . - Los Angeles, Californie Don’t fail to read the first editorial!
DR. A. C. DIXON, of--London, England (Now a memoer. of tKe faculty of the Bible Institute of Los Angeles) Is heartily welomed to America and to the fellowship of the Institute
“T h y Word Is T ru th” “To th e law and to th e testimony,; if they speak n o t according to th is word, it is because th e re is no lig h t in them .” (Isa. 8 :2 0 ) “F o r many deceivers a re en tered in to th e world, who confess n o t th a t Jesus Christ is come in th e flesh. This is a deceiver and an an tich rist. * * * “Whosoever tran sg resseth , an d abideth n o t in th e doctrine of Christ, hath n o t God. H e th a t abideth in th e doctrine of Christ, h e h a th bo th th e F a th e r and th e Son. “If th e re come any u n to you, and b ring n o t th is doctrine, receive h im n o t in to you r house, n eith er b id h im God-speed. “F o r h e th a t biddeth him God-speed is a p a rta k e r of h is evil deeds.” (2 Jo h n 7-11). A G ILT EDGE INV E STM EN T— Less than Two Cents a Week Will you favor us with less than two minutes of your time, while we present a matter of vital interest to you and to us? We are living in the most solemn hours of the world’s history. We are Christians —true believers in God’s Holy Word. The great majority of professed, Christians are ignorant or indifferent to the conditions confronting a lost world. Everything that we can do to help them, we should do. We can all do something by putting facts into their hands. We cannot stem, the tide; no orie can; for “ IT IS WRITTEN!” But we can save something from the wreek, and encourage some believers to stand in the “ faith once for all delivered,” and encourage some:believers to lives of devotion in these last days. How can this something be done? By co-operating with us in a sim ple plan. You believe that The King’s Business is true to the Word of God; is helpful to the lives of those who read it; that its words of Warning apd messages of comfort and instructions, are owned of God. You must know that it costs us more: to publish it than we receive for it, (which is less than two1cents a week); that there is no commercialism connected with it, and, if any profit ever does accrue from it, it will go into the distribution of Testaments and Gospel literature. We want you to pray for a moment just now and ask the Lord to guide you, and then we want you to seeure for us one or more subscriptions. We are not going to buy your interest in this by offering you a premium of any kind. We think you would rightfully resent that. We are talking about real, important, definite service for our Coming Lord! You can perhaps subscribe for some friend, or some acquaintance in whose life you are interested. You may be,moved to subscribe for a num ber of copies,, to be sent to some missionary or pastor who needs it.
892 T HE K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S Yon could go out and secure some subscriptions and have an oppor tunity to do some personal work and stir some people to a new realization of the seriousness of living in these days. Now we have placed the matter before you the best we know how, and we leave it with you and the Lord. We will be glad to have any suggestions from you or any help you are led to give us. God bless you and make you all that He would have you to he in these last days.—T. C. H. IS the Human Race Going on the Rocks ? The above is the title of a remarkable editorial from a daily paper— one of the largest in the United States, the Los Angeles Times; and we are giving the major part of it because it portrays in such pungent terms the story of unregenerate human nature and the fearful conditions confronting the Church of God. One would search in vain in any of our denominational papers for such an arraignment of humanity. In those papers, for the most part, we hear the soft notes of the flute and the soothing message of “ all is well.” We hear the talk of the birth pangs of a new era and the high-sounding, pomp ous proposal of a new program for the saving of the world. We would suggest that after reading this note of warning from the secular press, you get your optimistic friends to read it and thus help them to have an open vision to things as they really are: One-half of the world Is ablaze, th e o ther h alf smoldering. The half capable of saving th e property already on fire is ju st now over-occupied checking th e spread of th e conflagration to its own home buildings. A “ suave qui p eu t” sp irit is a t p resen t the dom inant incentive to most hum an action. F o r hum anity is only ju st emerging, somewhat fearfully, somewhat reck lessly, from th e shadow of a g rea t crime. The dawn of peace is obscured in the cloud rack th a t follows th e w ake of th e w ar tempest. F o r th e tim e being th e tendency of social forces is tow ard discord and dis in teg ration . A lmost every newspaper dispatch, foreign and domestic, affords evidence of th is dangerous trend. England, F rance, Germany Redivivus, the th ree balance wheels, are runn ing ou t of true. Our people a t home are fre ttin g und er new laws and new obligations; re st less and irritated , they are tu rn ing away from th e wisdom of th e ages. These psychological causes are m anifest in violent disturbances. The whole world is mutinous. * * * * * Chicago is counting its dead and in ju red and figuring th e damage bill afte r a week of rio t th a t apparen tly sta rted from nothing and ended in nothing. Yet it had a lesson for school children— and statesmen. It dem onstrated plainly the demoralizing example of th e rage for sensation among th e “higher-ups” on those who are igno ran t and prone to lawlessness. The selfish individual drives his high-power motor a t breakneck speed along the public highway. The radical labor-unionist calls a strik e to bring him self into spectacular prominence. * * * The an arch ist lies low in his cellar and would un seat the m ighty w ith a bomb. The same perilous sp irit in a varying degree anim ates all these defiers of society. Nothing is more destructive to th e S tate th a n th e “ public-be-damned” spirit. All those who delight in shocking th e ir neighbors, who glory in th e ir improprieties, play into th e hands of th e lawless. The wild g irl who immodestly exposes w hat she considers h er n a tu ra l charm s on a public w ater front, th e wild man who secretly cherishes a h atred for his supposed wrongs again st all happy
T HE K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S 893 people are both figures on the same crazy patchwork. F rom bareness to bomb throw ing th e re are many degrees of latitude, b u t th e Gulf Stream flows from the E qu ato r to th e Arctic. . _ . . , .. . In. such sporadic outbreaks as the W innipeg revolt, the Chicago riots, the prom iscuous bomb-throwing a t leading citizens in th e United States, the S atu r n alia of th e dregs of th e hum an race in unpoliced Liverpool, th e general strik e situation th a t th rea ten s to paralyze England, we see th e economic peril th a t springs from th is general world sp irit of unrest, dissatisfaction and dislike for all form er restrain ts. As th e cost of living goes up the price of hum an life goes down. The same sp irit perm eates no t only popular tastes, b u t even popular decencies and morals. Los Angeles stands high among th e cities of th e world. Our citizenship has been bu ilt up of the best m aterials. Yet in our own city the other day twenty- eight divorce suits were filed, as against twenty-five m arriage licenses issued. Such figures h ard ly need comment; they speak for themselves. B u t when the lu st for divorce has exceeded th e love of m arriage, even m so highly respected a community as Los Angeles— and when such a breakdown of man s holiest insti tu tion can be passed over w ithout a ripple of comment— m ust we not adm it th a t th e “ public-be-damned” sp irit of these near-peace days is jeopardizing something even more v ital th a n the liberty of th e American people— the sanctity of th e American home? But th e ho rro rs of th e vilest w ar ever inflicted on suffering hum anity have trie d th e world’s soul to th e lim it of endurance. The reaction has been violent. Human n atu re is passing th rough a spasm of protest. Hence rio ts and extrava gance and immodesty and jazz music and shimm ie dances are a seething wash of unrest. But th e spasm will no t tu rn into convulsions. The whole hum an race will not consent to its own exterm ination. Is hum anity going on th e rocks? I t seems to be— th e m argin of safety a t tim es appears to be cu t down to a recklessly-fine line. The ship is passing through stormy seas, steering closer th a n caution w arran ts to the reefs. And malcon ten ts in th e fo’c’sle are try ing to unsteady th e hand of th e pilot. The article closes with the statement that humanity will weather the storm. This is a logical conclusion for a man without a Bible, but for the man with the Book in his hand, this editorial sounds like the death sen tence of humanity.' At any rate it must be a bitter pill for the evolutionists to swallow.—T. C. H. T H E LACK of Leaders There is a lack of leadership in the Church—leaders who will stand in defense of the whole Bible, and leaders who will aggressively attack the enemies of the Bible. The devil has always used subtle, underhanded, plausi ble men and methods. The devil is a soothsayer, and so are his followers. Have you ever noticed how oily are the tongues of the higher critics, how sweet and heavenly is their attitude, what soft speeches they make, how charming is their demeanor, how the very elect are persuaded by them into believing that black is white? These are the most dangerous of all the enemies of the Lord and His church. For instance they acknowledge that the Lord accredited Moses’ authorship of the Pentateuch—but explain this in one of two ways: either that the Lord knew that the Jews believed that Moses was the author and did not want to disturb their faith and thus accommodated Himself to their error of belief; or else that the Lord Hun- self did not know the difference, being Himself unacquainted with the facts now so fully known by these learned men! And the rank and file of the
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church not being instructed in the Word of God, easily fait into the pit pre pared for them, and without knowing it, dishonor their Lord, fall a prey to Satan’s snare and join the ranks of the infidels. The false leaders in the Church are adroit; they tell the poor sheep that, being unlettered, théy do not know how to interpret the Word of God nor what they need from the Bible, and so they prepare a “ Shorter Bible’5 for them. These false prophets talk eloquently about the “ new age” and about the “ new; period”,; about “ reconstruction” and try to delude the people into believing that we are entering upon an age of wonderful spiritual advancément, by the use of moving pictures and lectures on “ social prog ress” and “ sociology.” ■ Wb need men with hearts full of love for the Lord and compassion for the lost, who can hold the Word of God in their hands and challenge its enemies to combat; men who ¿re not afraid of thé face of men, and who are prepared to stand like stalwarts in defense and proclamation of ¿ “ Thus saith the Lord.” Thank God we have some, with brains and brawn of the highest character, but, alas, there are so many of those Who do believe in the verities of the Word, who are afraid to stand and strike like real Sol diers in this time of danger and desperate need of the Church and the World.—T. C. H. H M. ' T H E EVANGEL IST IC Appeal of The Second Coming Adventists assert th a t all g reat evangelists hold th e ir views b u t fail to point to one g reat revival th a t was b rough t about by th e preaching of th is doc trin e .”— Rev. Lawrence Keister. D.D. The above is a quotation that has been widely copied by Post-Millen- narian papers. This sh-ealled assertion may easily be justified by simply repeating the names of Moody, Torrey, Chapman, Biederwolf, Di^on, Sun day, etc. The revivals which these gifted men of God have carried on were
895
T HE K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S produced by the preaching of the Gospel, not by any particular phase, feature or doctrine of the Gospel as a hobby but the Gospel m its integrity and entirety, which is the power of God unto salvation. The truth of our Lord’s second coining is a constituent part of the Gospel and when evan gelists faithfully proclaim it, their labors are owned and blessed ot Lod. Let those who reject the Second Advent and denounce the doctrine as impractical and visionary, explain why it is that throughout the New Tes- tament exhortations and appeals to holy living and Christian _duty are invariably re-enforced and stressed by being associated with the Lord s return, e. g. Repentance, Acts 17:3Q-31. Ashamed of. Christ, Mark 8 :38. Comfort in sorrow, 1 Thess. 4:13-18. Not judging, 1 Cor. 4:5. Grieving the Spirit, Eph. 4:30. Sobriety, 1 Thess. 5:2-6. Forbearance and gentle ness, Phil. 4:5. Patience, Jas. 5:7. Mortifying the flesh, Col. 3:4-5 Sin cerity, Phil. 1 :l0. Abiding in Christ, 1 Jno. 2:28. Trial of faith, 1 Pet. 1-7 Rejoicing, 1 Pet. 4:13. Watching unto prayer, 1 Pet. 4:7. There is an evangelistic appeal of great cogency and power m the Scriptural doctrine of the Second Advent which no Spirit-taught evange list will disregard.—F. W. Farr. REFINED Rationalism and Bold Infidelity Bob Ingersoll when once asked why he no longer gave his lecture against the .'Bible, replied: “ The professors and preachers are doing that better than I possibly can and their influence is much greater than mine. While the infidel and the critic stand together as to their wrork, which is the undermining of faith, and a blocking of the way to Jesus Christ as a personal Saviour, one only has to read some of the infidel papers to learn that the infidel has far less respect for the critic than for the minister wlio sincerely preaches the Bible. The modem theory of a half-inspired Bible, to the mind of the infidel, shows that the critics are either fools or tour flushers. Many an infidel has had his mouth stopped because he could not answer the argument of a godly life; resulting from belief m the Scriptures. He. has, had to admit th a t the Bible was the only' miracle-working Book. But by a very simple line of reasoning, he can put it all-over the modern liberalist preacher. • . . . . “ The Truth Seeker” is a blatant infidel paper. We give a quotation : “Unable any longer to palm off th e ignorant, cruel and unclean sto n e s of th e Bible as the teachings of a wise and good God, th e advanced theologians h it upon a happy idea— they declared th a t th e Bible is only partially inspired. So we have thousands of clergymen today who will tell you th a t th e Bible is no t th e Word of God, b u t th a t it “ contains” th e word of God. According to th is argum ent, th e Bible th a t countless m illions have cherished as infinitely sacred, contains th e tru th s of God m ixed w ith th e falsehoods of m an in perhaps equal proportions. How much of it is th e word of God and how much the word of man, cannot be determ ined, for none can tell where God stopped w riting and where man began. It is sufficient to know th a t God-had something to say on th e sub ject and th a t when he ran sh o rt of inspiration, man finished th e sto ry on his own account. This doctrine of p artial inspiration has one strik ing advantage it puts an end to all au tho ritativ e teaching on th e Bible. W hat a pity th e world did no t know two thousand years ago th a t only p arts of th e Bible are. inspired and th a t nobody can tell where those p arts are. We b u t tatog er w ith our own understanding and consciences by such attem p ts a t once to hold on and let go,, to re ta in th e shadow of a belief when the substance has passed away. F a r b etter
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u ^ hatever e? ° r t may cost- honestly to adm it th a t th e sacred books of sacred books of o ther nations, the works of man and not of God. The tru th is th a t th e B ible is th e word of God o r it is not. If it is it m ust be inspired m its en tirety . If it is not, no p a rt of it can be inspired The ta k if mv.en tt d ,th e absurd apology th a t God inspired, not th e th in g s you ppp I t h l l P tT t0*’ bUt„ some o th er things. By th is means do they seek to con- su rL y p assin ^ aw aT .”0 mBpirat,on and to camouflaSe a mischievous erro r th a t is ■ tHfidel has adopted the very course of Reasoning which the expon e n t s ^ the Bible, have long used as a basis for proving that the Bible is inspired, and its verbal and plenary inspiration has been shown from every a.nf .• 'Y,hy 1S that the scholarly men of the higher critic schools per sist m offering to the church their milk and water argument that any ignorant infidel can dispose of in a minute’s time? Why not “ come clean” ani l ai*mit there is no difference between refined rationalism and bold infidelity?—K. L. B. Tif ai’e W v , T H E PRA TER Apostasy The following editorial in an Ohio paper has been sent to us • ____undeluded person knows th a t the church has not ‘made good’ on prayer. Or, th a t prayer does not do w hat is wildly claimed for it. The shrewd u n t T p f t W° -i? haS discovered th e fact th a t prayer does not work, th a t it does no t get tangible results, th a t while it may “ inspire” th e one who prays— th a t no o th er gam s are to be had from it. In th e te st of fact and honesty prayer has not made good. It does not “w ork,” it is inefficient. And th e world^ knows it The world believes in faith , works and fru ition— bu t to postpone all fruU ion to ano th er world, is somewhat visionary and unsatisfying. And any sane person 1*0 expenence, will have to adm it th a t th ere is no case of answered prayer, tltSmSgtZ ,8K prooh«'*» mo , 1 ° „ S # world drops th e church and prayer, like any o ther crude, inefficient machinery, and simply forgets th e church. The world has no grudge a t the
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church— no fight w ith it— b u t simply h as forgotten th a t it exists. The world don’t need it! P ray er may have an auto-inspirational effect— it often has a seem ing resu lt — b u t a resu lt th a t would have doubtless come anyhow. P ray er seems to hypnotize its subjects into a sta te of ecstacy, and self- importance, th a t rank s not unfavorably w ith o th er form s of intoxication. The tro u b le ' w ith frenzied prayer, revivals and o ther form s of intoxication, comes in th e reaction, th e relapse.” The charge that the church is failing to make good in prayer-results hews so near to the truth that it should cause a lot of professing Christian people to sit up and take notice. It is a fact that scores of churches today are not praying churches and multitudes of Christians are only saying prayers instead of praying. Prayer is being abused instead of used. Many seem to think the power of prayer, should operate without any regard to the laws of the power as laid down in the Bible. People talk of prayer who are far from being on praying ground—who do not meet the first conditions of true prayer as taught by Jesus Christ. They know not what it is to “ pray in the Spirit” (Rom. 8:26, 27) and “ according to the will of God” (1 Jno. 5:14) and the result is, they see few results. Many Christians have come to think of prayer (because of their failures to get results) as some thing for only the gifted few. God will certainly hold every saint account able for the use of the mighty lever of prayer which he has placed in their hands with full directions as to how it may be used to the blessing of the world. But when any man makes so wild a claim as does the writer above— that prayer will not do what is claimed for i t ; that there never was a case of answered prayer that would stand investigation ; that its only use is to hypnotize believers into a state of ecstacy and self importance, he thereby brands himself as an ignoramus on the subject. He pits himself against the commands and promises of the Lord Jesus Christ—he proclaims thou sands of intelligent people in all ages to be either self-deceived or im posters. He shows that he has given a wide berth to prayer meetings and spiritual people. His ravings are not worthy of notice, except as a warn ing to some drowsy disciple. If this editor wanted evidence, he could have gotten any amount of it in any town or hamlet in the country. The argument of the reflex or psychological value of prayer is utter nonsense. Imagine a child asking of its parents something for the relief of a real want. Hour after hour, the requests continue. The mother only answers, “ Go on asking; it does you good. The more you ask, the better you’ll feel, and after a while you’ll cease to want the_thing you’re asking for.” If prayer does not actually avail to change things, as Jesus Christ declared it would (Jno. 14:14) then indeed it is a sickening mockery; the injunction to pray is cruel deceit and every praying Christian has been making a fool of himself. Prayer is either a prodigious force or a pitiful farce.—K. L. B. a » i » N o b o d y Right But God Some of the letters we receive from Christian Scientists are most re markable demonstrations of the fact that they are more or less dominated by this thing called “ mortal error.” Most of the epistles which we receive are either unsigned or without address. Some have the habit of writing
898 T HE K I N G ’S B U S I N E S S the most biting part of their messages on the outside of the envelope. Others return to us tracts and literature issued against Christian Science, the literature having undergone the . Christian Science treatment. Slips of paper are carefully pasted over certain words and unique artistic ability is displayed in the retouching of titles, etc., by the use of the pen. One zealous brother decorates the outside of his envelope with the words, “ The reason you rail at Christian Science is because they are in whiteheat favor. ’’ He tells the truth. But when did public favor ever prove the truth of a cause? The plain truths of God’s Word have never had that favor. Jesus Christ never knew anything of whiteheat favor. A religion that denies the fact of sin as well as a penalty for sin would natur ally be expected to reach whiteheat favor. One remarks on the outside of his envelope, “ If God don’t object to Christian Science, why should you worry?” But God does object. His whole Word objects. He warns and re-warns against the damnable false religions that will characterize the last days of the age, especially “ science falsely so-called.” He says, “ Mark them, avoid them.” Rom. 16:17. He says ‘‘Rebuke them,” Tit. 1:13; “ Bid them not Godspeed,” 2 Jno. 11; “ Re ceive them not into your houses,” 2 Jno. 10; “ Stop their mouths,” Tit. 1:11; “ Try them whether they be of God,” 1 Jno. 4:1. He says mqny other things concerning those who will bring in strange doctrines concern ing the person and work of our Lord Jesus Christ. Perhaps this is why Mrs. Eddy is compelled to tell us that “ a mortal and material sense stole into the divine record, darkening to some extent the inspired pages with its own hue.” Another decorates the title of a tract and makes it read, “ Everyone wrong but me,” (then follows the author’s name). No, EVERYONE WRONG BUT GOD. “ Thy Word is Truth.” “ To the law and to the tes timony, if they speak not according to this Word there is no truth in them.” Isa. 8:20. God’s Word was given to correct men’s thoughts in re gard to eternal things. (Isa. 55:8-9). “ Everyone wrong but me”—so says Mrs. Eddy. “ Science and Health,” she says, “ is the voice of truth, the revealed truth, uncontaminated by human hypothesis.” “ God has been fitting me for the reception of a FINAL revelation.” “ Divine Science is the Word of God.” Let us warn once more, “ Everyone is wrong BUT GOD.” The moment we find a human writing that claims to be essential to the understanding of the Bible, we may be assured we are to be carried BEYOND THE BIBLE and upon dangerous ground. The constant search for “ new tru th” is noth ing but the desire to escape the need of practicing the old. There is no new truth. God’s Word is the FINAL revelation, open to all who will read with the aid of the Holy Spirit, not to be added to or subtracted from. —K L. B. W H Y A Bible Institute? The wisdom and power of God is manifested and illustrated in His plan and preparation for the present-day need of the church and the world. What is that need? Men and women, trained in the knowledge and use of the Word of God, fitted and qualified to carry to the people of the
T HE K I N G ’S B U S I N E S S 899 church and the world, God’s message concerning sin and salvation, eternal life* and eternal punishment. Men and women with God’s Book in their hands—the Book which alone can solve the problems for a ruined world. For the last thirty-five years, with increasing volume and velocity, the tide of infidelity has swept over this land of ours. Men upon the watch towers have recognized it and cried over it with broken hearts ; have lifted up their voices and have thrown the power of their influence against it. Mr. Rockefeller endowed with millions a university, professedly for the Lord’s cause, and the devil took possession and installed his representa tives to see that his devilish, deceptive work was carried on in that high place. Mr. Carnegie spent millions for public library buildings, and Satan placed his choicest literature on the shelves. You can think of no avenue of approach to the souls of men in which the devil has not placed his emis saries. The public schools and colleges, the seminaries and universities have slowly, but surely, been permeated with the virus of infidel teaching. Faith in the Word of God has been wantonly destroyed; and boys and girls, young men and women, aping their God-denying teachers, impudently propound questions concerning the. verity and authority of God’s Word. Teachers in the schools take special pains to air their views, and prate before the people in high-sounding, but meaningless phrases, of the so-called “ latest results” of the pretentious critics. The deluded people, with no more knowledge of God’s Word than their teachers, whose livery may be heaven, but whose license is from hell -—people with weary souls, longing for the peace and rest, the comfort and consolation that only the precious Word of God can give—go in and out, finding no pastures green, no waters still ! While the false shepherds keep fooling the sheep with an unwarranted hope, telling them of the “ good day” that is coming, and urging them to keep on pouring their offerings into the treasury; to keep on turning the wheels of churchly activity; to keep looking up and out; to keep going on and on. And the helpless peo ple, ignorant of the Word of God, sick at heart, go wearily on in their wretched way, subject to the snare of every false, devil-devised system that curses the earth. - 1 The ordination vows of preachers are ruthlessly broken. Promises of loyalty to God’s Word, made in the presence of God and His people, are like “ scraps of paper,” and the political-ecclesiastical game to retain a job is played to the finish. The .people of the world have, lost their faith in the church, and why not? The church tries to ape the world, and the world resents and ridicules its apish actions. The world knows the real thing and prefers it to the pretentious performafices of the church. But God in His wisdom, foreseeing and foreknowing the present day apostasy of the professing church, has provided—as He always does—a method of meeting the emergency—a simple, practical, time-honored method. He has ordained Bible Schools and has them ready. Schools for young men and women, and for untrained preachers and missionaries. Schools of the Bible where qualified instructors—believing with their whole heart the whole Word of’God, and knowing from long experience what the Bible will do in and through the lives of devoted men and women—teach them the Word of God, and put them through practical training in ,the use of that Word with saved and unsaved people.
900 T HE K I N G ’S B U S I N E S S These schools are springing up all over this country, and are being honored of God. What other means could there be of meeting a crisis like this—few men offering for training for the ministry in the seminaries, and many of them when graduated unfit for an orthodox church or mis sion field! A seething mass of humanity without a single message from the Lord! How would men and women be trained, where would they be trained, were it not, that God Himself had devised these Bible Training Institutes ? Lift up your hearts in thanksgiving, and pour out your souls in praise for them. Pray that the Lord may multiply the number of young men and women who will devote their lives to the work of giving the Gospel to our own and other lands. There are over ten thousand vacant churches in this country; no minister or missionary for them. There are millions beyond the seas, hopeless and helpless without God’s Word. How. will or how can the need be met save by this God-inspired, God-instituted, God- sustained and God-blessed method? Give of your means. Give gladly, give bountifully to this work—- the work of God—for a lost world.—T. C. H. T h e Late Jokn H . Sammis Rev. John H. Sammis, who departed to be w ith the Lord Jun e 12, 1919, was for a number of y ears an honored member of the faculty of th e Bible In stitu te of Los Angeles, and editor of The K ing’s Business. He came to th e In stitu te in the early period of its life, when his knowledge of th e Word of God and his loyal defence of th e tru th were needed and greatly appreciated. Mr. Sammis was by m ental equipment a scholar. F o r years he was a close and continuous stud en t of the Word' of God, and— possessing a rem arkable mem ory—_was a walking encyclopedia of th e text of the Scriptures. He knew by h eart whole books of th e Bible and few men have been able to quote from Genesis to Révélation so readily portions of th e Holy Book. F o r many years a preacher of the P resbyterian Church and pastor of sev eral churches, he was loyal to th e faith h e professed, honored by his breth ren , and beloved by his people. Mr. Sammis was best known, however, as a hymn w riter, and a little brochure of his hymns has been widely scattered. Among these gems, two are outstanding, and have become known th roughou t the world. “T ru st and Obey,” tran slated into several languages, and “H e’s a F riend of Mine,” have found a large place in the h ea rt life of thousands of people. No man has lived in vain who has been perm itted to speak to hundreds of thousands of people th rough his Gospel songs. His messages were ever char acterized by loyalty to th e teaching of th e Scripture and in th a t differed from so much of th e sing-song, rag-tim e verse so prevalent in Gospel hymnology. F o r over fo rty years Mr. Sammis was a personal and beloved friend of the w riter, and I tak e pleasure in bearing th is simple testim ony to th e life and service of a man beloved of all who knew him. T rue to God and to his conviction of th e tru th , tru e to his people and to his friends— he will be held in loving remembrance by hundreds whose lives he touched in the God-given m inistry comm itted to him. His loving and faith fu l wife and devoted daugh ter and a long list of loving friends will look forw ard to a joyful re-union when the Lord gives the victorious shout. T. C. H. Did You Read the First Editorial? If So, Read It Again.
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S E R M O N S REMARKABLE REMARKS GATHERED FOR BUST READERS
cum stance may be tak ing your meas ure for a larg er place. The tim e for “ sitting down in the Kingdom of H eaven” is no t yet. This is th e tim e for standing up for it. . The tragedy of the load of w orry is th a t it is an unnecessary burden. The sain t is th e L o rd ’s consecrated temple, and by sin th a t temple is pro faned. The sin of an unbeliever is th eft, because it robs God of th e glory due Him, b u t th e sin of a sain t is sac rilege, because it robs God of w hat is specially dedicated to His use. We are more in need of those who can ta lk about religion th a n those who can preach it. F rom th e lowest depth th e re is a p ath to the lo ftiest height. There are lots of nets th a t will not catch any fish unless they are first washed and mended. If the very cat and dog in th e house are no t b etter and happier for your being a Christian, it is a question w hether you really are one. If th e re be a spot of gu ilt on th e con science it spoils th e h ea rt for the heav enly music. We can m easure our likeness to the Lord by th e range of our sensitiveness to th e world’s sorrow and pain. Our real songs begin w ith our sac rifices. To disobey th e gospel is far worse th a n to b reak the law. F o r disobe dience to th e law th e re is remedy in th e gospel, b u t for disobedience to the gospel no remedy can he found. There rem aineth no more sacrifice for sins. Would your banker guess from the way your checks are drawn th a t the spread of th e Gospel is your chief con cern?
When your love grows so cold th a t no one can h ear its th rob or feel its heat, you have somehow grieved the Holy Spirit and lost touch w ith Jesus Christ. The blues are sp iritu al cross eyes. He is th e best studen t in divinity who studies most on his knees. The acid te st of th e greatness or smallness of a hum an ch aracter is found in an a ttitu d e toward the little things of life. The w inds of God are always blowing, b u t if you wish to go forw ard you must keep your sails unfurled. The th e a te r is certainly no t a good place to die in, nor will it he a good place for Christians to he found when Jesus Christ comes to ea rth again. The g reatest friend of tru th is tim e; her g reatest enemy is prejudice; her constant companion is hum ility. G reatness is to ta k e the little things of life and w alk tru ly among them . T ru th can be outraged by silence quite as cruelly as by speech. Many a man can brave th e perils of adversity who succumbs to th e seduc tions of prosperity. Love which cannot stand th e hammer and the anvil is h u t a counterfeit. We cannot all be apostles h u t we ought to he “ epistles”— love-letters from Jesus to th e world. The pessim ist is the man who sees in every opportunity a difficulty; and th e optim ist is a man who sees in every difficulty an opportunity. R ivers of v itality have th e ir rise in souls th a t are on th e ir knees before God. It is a blessed fever th a t brings Christ to the bedside. Let every occasion be a g reat oc casion, for you cannot tell when Cir
Tne Development
of tne Down Grade W hat German Rationalism Has Been Doing For Our Preachers and Churches. A Call to Return to the Book.
BY DR. A. C . D IXON Bible Institute of Los Angeles
HAT Spurgeon called the “ Downgrade” theology has been for twenty-five years the w ithèring scourge of ! our churches, causing th e ir
prom inent leaders in th is movement for a federation of churches candidly con fesses th a t his faith is a d rift; and, im agining th a t others are like himself, he calmly advises us to postpone all evan gelistic efforts u n til we can decide where we are. A leader who has so u tte rly lost his way is a p ath etic spec tacle. Can we follow a theological leader who is theologically lost? Will it not be a case of th e blind leading th e blind, and both falling togeth er into the ditch? The saddest featu re of th e whole sit uation is th e fact th a t some of our leaders have refused to give to our Lord Jesu s Christ th e crown of pre-em inence in th e realm of knowledge; and th e ir reasons for th is would compel a clear- thinking, logical m ind to refuse Him pre-em inence in th e realm of ethics. If w hat they claim for Him is true, He is no t to be tru ste d in any realm . We are told th a t in th e “Kenosis” Jesus chose so to empty H imself th a t He was in H is totality, igno ran t of some things. As Son of Man, He was ignor a n t of the tim e of His Second Advent, and they decline to perm it H im t o . be igno ran t as Son of Man w ithout in sist ing th at, as Son of God, He was equally igno ran t; although they are w illing to adm it th a t a man today may be in his physical and m ental being thoroughly igno ran t of whal he knows clearly and fully in his sp iritu al being. He may have a sp iritual discernm ent which n eith er his body nor his m ind can un derstand. Both th e Scriptures and psy chology are against them .
loss of power, th e ir alienation from the people; and th e ir décline in member ship. German rationalism has been do ing for our churches and Sunday schools w hat German shells have been doing for th e towns of F ran ce and F land ers; and one of the leaders in this movement frank ly confesses th a t he has tak en p a rt in bombarding the fair cathe d ral of tru th which we call th e Bible un til it is only a w reck of its form er self, while he calls upon us to help him to recon struct th e ru in s according to th e ru les which he and his fellow- destructionists have adopted. But we like the old building, erected by holy men under th e G reat A rchitect, w ith all its hallowed memories, b etter th a n th e new stru ctu re w ith its assumption of “ assured resu lts.” These “ assured re su lts’’ are already proved to be, not solid stones, b u t soft p laster, which crumbles under the touch of p atien t in- vestigation. The facts compel us to adm it th a t living men in high positions are w rit ing articles and books in which they al lege th a t th e destructive criticism of th e Bible has made good its claim s; and they are giving us a. Bible in ruins, w ith th e claim th a t th e ru in s are to them more beau tifu l and useful th a n th e Book in its form er glory. And along w ith the w reck of th e Book th e ir evangeli-. cal faith has been wrecked. One of the
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certain his sp iritu al need, he promptly replied: “ I am going to join th e Roman Catholic church.” “And w hy?” I asked. “ Because,” he said, “ I have been a t tending a Sunday afternoon meeting in which th e preacher has been telling us th a t th e Bible stories are m yths; and th a t if Jesu s lived now He would know b e tte r th a n to say some things He said a t th a t time. I h ear th a t Roman Cath olics do n o t ta lk th a t way, and I am going to jo in them .” I trie d to con vince him th a t th e re were P ro te sta n t preachers and churches th a t did no t ta lk or believe th a t way, bu t he persisted in his resolve. There is a Roman Catholic order known as th e “P au list F a th e rs,” every one of whom is a perverted P ro testan t. Only men who have been P ro testan ts are adm itted to th e order, and th ey are usually sent to Rome for several years of prep aration for th e ir work. These “ P au list F a th e rs” hold - “m issions” which rem ind one of Moody and Sankey. They even use Gospel songs. W hile I was p asto r in Boston, Mass., they held such a "m ission” of five weeks w ith the cathed ral as its centre. No Catholic was adm itted who did not bring a P ro t estan t w ith him ; and th e larg e aud ito r ium of th e cathed ral was usually crowded. The daily press published the sermons, th e first of which was on “ God”—-just such a sermon as Phillips Brooks m ight have preached. The sec ond sermon was on th e “Deity of Christ” ; and Charles H. Spurgeon m ight have preached it w ithout changing a word. The th ird was on th e atoning blood of Christ; and D. L, Moody m ight have preached it. And th e fou rth was on th e full inspiration of the B ible; and it satisfied even those who believed in verbal inspiration. The whole city was stirred . . “H ere are Roman Catholic p riests,” we were told, “who preach a b etter Gospel th a n we have been h ea r ing in P ro te sta n t pulpits. We had been told th a t th ey depreciate th e Bible even
L et us look a t th e facts and th e fair inferences from them . The Lord Jesus believed in demons, we are told, no t be cause th e re were really any demons in existence, b u t because it was th e cur ren t belief of th e times. And He cer tain ly ta u g h t the existence of demons. The Lord Jesus is th u s presented to us as a teacher of things th a t are false; and th e ethical situation is made worse by th e claim th a t in th e “Kenosis” He became w ilfully igno ran t of th e things which He taugh t. Such a man we would no t select as a Sunday School teacher, nor would a comm ittee even of worldly men choose as a d istrict school teacher a man who is known to be wil fully igno ran t of the things he pro fesses to teach. When such a character as th is is of fered me as a Saviour, I remember th a t th e Lamb m ust be “w ithout spot or blem ish,” and I should be compelled to reje ct Him. I could no t even offer Him as an example to th e young; for good character cannot be b u ilt upon the basis of w ilful ignorance of th e things one teaches. The sto ry of George W ash ington and th e h atch et is b etter fitted for cultivating tru th fu ln ess and integ rity. The claim th a t Jesus Christ so emp tied H imself in His to ta lity as to be wil fully igno ran t of w hat He ta u g h t is a menace to Christianity, for it removes th e one foundation of our hope, th e In fallible Christ, th e faultless, spotless Lamb of God Who “ ta k eth away th e sin of th e W orld.” I t is impossible to hold th a t view of Christ and m aintain H is sinlessness; and when th e sinless ness of His ch aracter is surrendered, th e C hristian hope of salvation is wrecked. Again: th is in te rp re tatio n of the “Kenosis” is a g reat menace to P ro tes tantism . An in telligen t working man lingered for a conversation afte r a Sun day evening service in th e M etropolitan T abernacle; and when I sought to as
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more th a n th e H igher Critics who have been tearing th e Old Book to pieces, b u t they are now exalting it as th e in spired, infallible Word of God.” Thus th e ear and the confidence of th e public were secured. Then began a series of sermons setting fo rth the dis tinctive ten ets of Rome. “All we have said about God is tru e ,” they said; “ bu t who is H is representative on earth ? All we have said about th e Deity of Christ is tru e ; bu t we m ust remember th a t the Pope is His vice-gerent. All we have said about th e atoning blood is tru e ; bu t it m ust be applied to th e soul through th e sacraments, adm inistered by th e ac credited successors to the Apostles. All we have said about the Bible is tru e; it is the very Word of God; b u t the Church is its in terp reter. Modern cri ticism has discredited it. Come to us, we will restore to you th e dear old Book w ith th e au tho ritativ e in terp retation of its tru th s .” It was repo rted th a t as a direct re su lt of th is “mission,” seventeen thou sand new members were added to the Roman Catholic churches of Boston-—■ ten thousand women and seven thousand men. I th in k th e repo rt was an exag geration ; b u t th ere is no doubt of the fact th a t the policy of th e “P au list F a th e rs”-—many of whom were doubt less driven to Rome in search of some basis of au tho rity , afte r the Bible had been discredited by th e universities and theological colleges, in which they were trained in unbelief-—is a real menace to P rotestantism . GO SHOW ON MEMORIALS The editor of “Life” says: “Hon. Cass G ilbert, a man of judg m ent on some subjects, is quoted in the papers as deprecating haste about w ar memorials, especially monuments and arch itectu ral splurges. “Yes; let us go slow on such things, even when approached to give money for them . Mark the graves, cure the
h u rt, pay th e bills so far as possible, bu t w ait about memorials u n til we get b reath and see where we are. “This recent w ar will be remembered a long time. It is still a question how many of th e nations will survive it. In Europe things have by no means set tled yet. There is h ard ly a square yard of th a t continent th a t may not blow up any m inute. Nobody knows how re sumption of norm al life is to be accom plished, if a t all, or when. Things are still very, very much in tran sition . Until they settl§, it is obviously unsuitable to make memorials of the war, even in this country.” ^>4. ’MM m m YE SHALL BE AS GODS A Los Angeles m inister said in his sermon a few Sundays ago: “Three m ighty tru th s do I celebrate today: The glory th a t is man, th e depths from which he has sprung, and the splendor of his destiny. “Who shall tell th e greatness of the hum an sp irit? He is th e suprem e trium ph of evolution. Through un counted ages he has marched, through fire, m ist and slime and seething agony, undaunted and invincible, un til today he stands the conqueror of th e elemehts, the m aster of n a tu re ’s law, intelligent worker w ith God in th e creation of an ideal universe, superb dream er of divine dreams. Some of th e mud still clings to his clothes, and his hands are not wholly clean, b u t th e vision splendid illum ines his soul and in his h e a rt burns th e sacred fire. The glorious courage and eager sacrifice of F land ers fields stops the mouths of th e cynic and mis anthrope. H um anity need not fear so long as its sons are w illing to die for a g reat ideal.” Thus we are carried back to th e days when th e devil said to th e first man, “ Ye shall be as gods.”
Did you read the FIRST editorial?
Is Ckrist’s Return to be
“Pre” or "Post^-Millennial? A CA TECH ISM B? K. L. B.
world conversion is to be found in th e prophets and the “ restitu tio n ” of which they speak is th e resto ra tion of Israel to th e ir promised land, an event which is to accom pany th e second coming of Christ. Even if th e word “ restitu tio n ” be tak en to refer to a sp iritu al restitu tion, th ere are abundan t passages to show th a t th is restitu tio n is to be b rough t about not by the efforts of man bu t by the Lord Jesus Him self a t His coming. “W hen the Son of man cometh shall he find faith on th e e a rth ? ” 5. Is Christ’s second coming a gradual sp iritu al process, as some of th e post-m illennial school believe? It is everywhere in Scripture spoken- o f as a literal and very sudden event. The though t of His imm inent coming is used many times as a w arning to the un faith ful. The devil is not to lose his power gradually bu t is to continue to “ deceive the nation s” un til he is cast out a t the coming of Christ. 6 . Is Christ h ere already, working H im self o u t th ro u g h th e g re a t so cial movements, and eventually to m an ifest H im self by cortiplete r e in carn ation in all men, as some o th ers of th e post-m illennial school are now teaching? Christ is in heaven a t the rig h t hand of th e th rone of God and will th e re rem ain u n til He comes fo rth as th e B ridegroom to receive the w aiting Bride, the tru e church. 7. Is th e an ti-ch rist to come during th e m illennium ? Adm ittedly by all, he comes be fore. He is to come a t the culm in ation of the g rea t appstasy of the p resen t age and is to be “ destroyed by th e b righ tness of Christ’s com ing.” (2 Thes. 2 :8 ). Is the sec ond coming therefore before or af te r th e m illennium? 8 . Is th e G reat T ribu lation period which is to come upon th e ea rth , a p a rt of th e program of th e m illen n ium ? . f Adm ittedly by all, it is before the m illennium begins. Christ’s coming is to occur imm ediately
A CATECHISM. 1. W h at is th e difference between pre and post m illennialism ? P re-m illennialists believe the Scriptures teach th a t Christ is to re tu rn in the clouds of heaven at th e close of th e present evil age and th a t He H imself w ith H is ac- - companying angelic hosts will make th e separation between good and bad, afte r which He will personally reign as King th roughou t th e mil lennial age. The post-m illennialist believes all things are, during th e present age, moving irresistibly forw ard tow ard the golden age, and th a t man him self will, th rough th e ad vances of science, education and religious teaching succeed in p u rg ing th e ea rth and bringing about the m illennial age. Christ w ill not re tu rn un til th e close of th is per fect age. 2. D id th e Cord Jesu s expect th e world to be converted before H is re tu rn ? Mt. 13:30, 38-43, 48-50; 24:4- 31, 37-51; 25:1-13, 31-46; Mk. 13:5-27, 34-37; Lk. 12:35-48; 21:20-18. If Christ ta u g h t' th a t ju s t p rio r to His coming th ere should be troubles such as never were before as th e climax of an age filled w ith w ars and rum ors of wars, can His coming be a t the close of th e m illennium? 3. Did th e Apostles expect th e world to be in a converted sta te a t Christ’s second com ing? 1 Thes. 5:1-9; 2 Thes. 2:1-11; 1 Tim. 4 :1-3; 2 Tim. 3:1-14;, 4:1-4; Jas. 5 :1-8; 2 Pet. 2:1-8, 12-14; 3:1-15; 2 Jno. 7-9; Jud e 8-19, 24; Rev. 3:14-22 and th roughout. If Christ’s coming is to immediately follow an age of world perplexities and sp iritu al apostasy, can it be at th e close of th e m illennium? 4. Is th e re a verse in th e Bible which says th e world w ill be converted before th e L o rd 's re tu rn ? No. Acts 3:21 is often quoted, b u t the meaning of th is verse is lim ited by the words, “which God h a th spoken by the mouth of His holy prophets.” No prediction of
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