VOL. IV
NOS. 8 and 9
AUGUST-SEPTEMBER, 1913
The Bible and the Modern Mind By W ILLIAM GAR TER , D. D. What Jesus Continues to Do and to Teach By FREDERICK ALDEN True Stories of Conversion The Twenty-Sixth Christian Endeavor Convention By JO H N H. H U N T E R Studies in the Gospel According to John By R. A. TORR EY , D. D,
FIFTY CENTS A YEAR
MOTTO: “I the Lord do keep it. I will water it every moment lest any hurt it, I will keep it night and day.*”—Is. 27:3 THE KING’S BUSINESS R. A. TORREY, Editor J. H. SAMMIS, T. C. HORTON, J. H. HUNTER, Associate Editors; Entered as Second-Class matter Noyember 17, 1910, at thè postoffice at Los .Angeles. California, under the Act éf Marchjl, 1879. Organ of the Bible Institute of Los Angeles [Inc.] Auditorium Building, Cor. Fifth and Olive, Los Angeles, California. Lyman Stewart, President. Rev. A. B. Prichard, Vice-President. J. M., Irvine, Secretary-Treasurer. T. C. Horton, Superintendent. R. A. Torrey, Deán H. A. Getz. Giles Kellogg. E. A. K. Hackett. Robert Watchorn. S. I. Merrill. : William Thorn. DOCTRINAL STATEMENT. We hold to the Historic Faith of the Church as expressed in the Common Creed of Evangelical Christendom an 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, which is the Body and Bride of Christ. The Substitutionary Atonement. The Necessity of the New Birth. including: The Maintenance of Good Works. The Second , Coming of Christ. 1 The Immortality of the Soul. ; The Resurrection of the Body.' The Life Everlasting of Believers. The Endless Punishment of the Impenitent. The Reality and Personality of Satan. £ DIRECTORS.
OUR WORK.
(4) Spanish Mission. Meetings every night.. , \'n • (5) Shop Work. Regular services in shops and factories: (6) Jewish Evangelism. Personal work among the Hebrews. (7) Bible Women. House-to-house and ,neighborhood classes. - .. (8) ;-Gil Fields. A mission to men on tiie oil fields. (9) Books and Tracts. Sale and distribution of selected books and tracts.
P ltrn o se Tim Institute trains, free of r u ip u a c cost, accredited men and women, in the knowledge and use of the Bible. Departments cept Saturdays and Sundays. (2) Extension work. Classes and conferences held in neighboring cities and towns. (3) Evangelistic. Meetings conducted by our evangelists.
The King’s Business Voi. 4 AUGUST-SEPTEMBER, 1913 Nos. 8 & 9 Table of Contents. Editorials: The Freer Manuscript of the Gospels—What Would Jesus D o ? ......................... ........................................ 379 The Bible and the Modern Mind. William Carter .............. 381 What Jesus Continues to Do and to Teach.—Frederick Alden 386 True Stories of Conversion................................................ . 390 Enduement. A. T. Pierson ......................................................393 The Twenty-Sixth International Christian Endeavor Convention. John H. H u n t e r ..., ........................................... 394 Studies in the Gospel According to John (continued). R. A. To rrey ............................................................... 396 The International Sunday School Lessons. J. H. S............ 404 “ Trust H im ’’ (Poem)...................................................... 417 The Heart of the Lesson. T. C. Horton................. ............. 418 One Year in Heaven (Poem). J. L........................................ 422 Junior Endeavor Topics, J. K. H. S...................................... 423 The Crystal Christ (Poem). Sidney Lan ier........................ 427 At Home and Abroad.................................. .................. . 428 Hints and Helps......................................................................... 432 Questions and Answers—R. A. Torrey.............................. 437 The Bible Institute of Los Angeles : Graduating Exercises, Class of 1913—Our Outgoing Missionaries—Bible Women’s Notes, e t c . . . ...................... 439 . FIFTY CENTS A YEAR Published by the Bible In stitu te of Los Angeles Auditorium Building, Cor. Fifth & Olive Sts. SUBSCRIPTION RATES .
DOCTOR T O R R E Y SAYS Every Christian Should Own These B E S T BOOKS Known as the Montrose Library No. 1— HOW TO BRING MEN TO CHR IST (121 pages), by Dr. R. A. Torrey. A book regarded for years as a standard work on dealing with individuals of all classes. No. 2—T H E D IV IN E U N IT Y OF T H E SCRIPTURES (304 pages), by Dr. Adolph Saphir. It is a great religious classic. No 3—CHR IST AND TH E SCRIPTURES (142 pages), by Dr. Adolph Saphir. A companion work to Dr. Saphir’s “The Divine Unity of the Scriptures.” No. 4 — T H E H IDDEN L IFE (291 pages), by Dr. Adolph Saphir. One of the most helpful books in English literature. No. 5—T H E WONDERS OF PROPHECY (231 pages), by John Urquhart. A valuable introduction to the study of prophecy. No. 6—T H E LORD FROM HEAVEN (134 pages), by Sir Robert Anderson, K. C. B., LL. D. A great contribution to current discussions on the Diety of Jesus Christ.
No. 7—T H E GOSPEL AND ITS M IN IS TR Y (183 pages), by Sir Robert Anderson, K. C. B., LL. D. This is a standard work on the fundamental truths of Christianity. No. 8—A DOUBTER’S DOUBTS ABOUT SCIENCE AND RELIG ION (144 pages), by Sir Robert Anderson, K. C. B., LL. D. This hook discusses the .divine origin of the Bible, evolution, and kindred themes. No. 9—TH E GROWING CHURCH (130 pages), by Rev. Cleland B. McAfee, D.D. A study of the Epistle to the Ephesians by a most gifted minister in the Presbyterian Church. No. 10—TH E H IGHER CR ITICISM AND T H E NEW THEOLOGY
(250 pages), Edited by Dr. R. A. Torrey. A book containing contributions from most gifted, scholarly, and evangelical men in England and America. No. 11— "SATAN” (163 pages), by Lewis S. Chafer. This is the most thorough biblical study on Satan with which we are acquainted. THEY ARE THE VERY CHO IC E ST OF ALL CHR ISTIAN LITERATURE This Set of 11 Books paper bound now only costs y o u : <|ji 1 O C If ordered by mail include 32c extra for postage *1P A • Address all orders to AUD ITOR IUM BU ILD ING Cor. 5th and Olive Sts., LOS ANGELES, CALIF. Send and get a set of these BEST BOOKS and when you know how good they aye Anrp f i f e YVn 11fo il if you think you can sell them to qthers, write us for Agents’ Terms.
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Voi. 4
AUGUST-SEPTEMBER, 1913
Nos. 8 & 9
The Freer Manuscript of The Gospels M UCH is being said in the religious and secular press about the manuscript purchased six years ago by Charles L. Freer of Detroit. It^ is thought by some that this manuscript will rank in the age nearly with the oldest known. But whatever the age of the Freer manuscript upon more careful and critical study may prove to be, it is evident to all versed in textual criticism and to all profoundly familiar with the style and spirit of our Lord’s teaching that this recently discovered manuscript is of little or no value in discovering what our Lord actually said. It is interesting, of course, but without the slightest critical value. It is not probable that the opinion of competent textual critics will be influenced in the slightest degree regarding one single verse in the four gospels. Much is made by some who are always looking for something new of the alleged utterance of our Lord inserted between the 14th and! 15th verses of Mark 16, in answer to the alleged words of the apostles in defense of their unbelief. The whole passage reads: “And they excused themselves, saying (that) This age of lawlessness and belief is under Satan, which on account of the unclean things of the spirits does not permit the true power of God to be apprehended. For this reason, said they to Christ, reveal now thy righteousness. And Christ said to them (that) The limit of the years of the power of Satan is fulfilled, but other terrible things approach. And for the sake of these who sinned was I given up unto death, that they may turn back unto the truth and no longer sin, so that they may inherit the spiritual and incorruptible glory of righteousness in heaven.” One says of this alleged utterance of our Lord that it “adds a new logion or saying of Jesus to the many that are reported elsewhere than in the Canonical Gospels.” But any one who has deeply studied the authentic utterances of our Lord recorded in the Synoptic Gospels and in John knows that this does not add a “new saying of our Lord,” but substitutes something immeasurably inferior, in both style and content for what He actually said. Dr. Hillis is entirely warranted in his comment upon this alleged utterance of the Lord Jesus, “a child can discern the difference between the simplicity and beauty, the majesty and dignity of the Gospel itself, and this variant.” The enthusiasm of a certain class of writers for this spurious utterance, reminds one of the enthusiasm among some for the so-called^ Logia (or sayings)” of Jesus discovered some years ago. They went quite wild over the thought that we should now have these ‘ sayings which Matthew, Mark, Luke and John had omitted to record. Some went so far as to preach sermons, taking one or more of these alleged utterances of Jesus Christ as a text. But when one compared the genuine sayings of Christ recorded by Matthew, Mark,.Luke and John, as they were moved by the Holy Spirit, with these alleged sayings, if he had any spiritual discernment,
380 THE KING’S BUSINESS he saw that the difference between them was as wide as the difference between heaven and earth. The same thing is true of the difference between the sayings and actions attributed to our Lord in the Canonical Gospels and those attributed to Him in the Apocryphal gospels. Any one who has any discernment who reads the Canonical Gospels and then reads the Apocryphal gospels will readily understand why the former were admitted into the Bible and why the latter were excluded from the Bible. He does not need to find out what Church councils decided the matter or by how large a vote pro or con. It is something the same with the Freer manuscripts. If they turn out after thorough and unbiased study to be as old as is claimed, it will only prove again what scholars already know that the value of a manuscript cannot be decided solely by its' relative antiquity. What Would Jesus Do ? M ANY have taken in hand of late to say what Jesus would do if He “came to Chicago,” Los Angeles, the Gentile world today; how He would war on social evils ; hygienize marriage ; sterilize foods and atmospheres; lengthen wages and shorten hours; run campaigns and vote. With the end these good men seek, we believe the Lord is in sympathy, and so are we, but not altogether with their associations, their methods, and their confidence in the flesh. Men went far astray who planned His program once, and when He came were all at sea in their pilotage. Some advised, “There is no man that doeth anything in secret, and he himself seeketh to be known openly. Show thyself to the world.” Others hindered saying, “This shall not be to thee,” which, well meant as it was, “savoured” of Satan. They had not that wisdonj “which none of the princes of this world knew ; for had they known it. they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.” He might be equally offensive to men’s politics today. It depends on one’s viewpoint of Jesus. Is He reformer, or redeemer ? Would He work from without, or from within? Would He make the fruit good, or, first, the tree? One thing in T he O racles is overlooked : The All-wise has a plan, a dispensation®! purpose. What a Jewish Messiah under Gentile regimen would do, and in the twentieth century, who can say? We know what He did do under a Jewish regimen, and that He did not do what they thought He would do and ought to do. It is enough for us to know what He would that we should do in Chicago, Los Angeles, and to the uttermost parts of the earth. We have not been put in trust with the sword of execution, nor with the besom of renovation, but with the Gospel. His will for His Church is definite. “Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel; live soberly,, righteously and godly; keep yourselves unspotted from the world; and wait for His Son from heaven.” Let us ask God’s blessing on every good word and work and lend a hand, as we have opportunity, but never losing sight of the main and real duty; never flattering ourselves, or the world, that anything less, or other, than the blood of Christ amd the regenerating Spirit, can cleanse, or reform human society; that ought but the manifest advent of the King can realize the Kingdom of righteousness; or that Jesus should He come would do or will do anything else than condemn and destroy the whole Christ- rejecting system.
The Bible and the Modern Mind* By WILLIAM CARTER SECR ETA RY O F T H E IN T E R N A T IO N A L PEACE FORUM "The word of. the Lord was precious in those days; there was no open vision.’’— First Samuel 3 : 1 . T HERE was no open vision! There could be none under such circumstances. Sin had blinded Israel’s eyes th a t. she could riot see. Evil had dulled her ears that she could not hear the celestial voices of the soul as she had heard before. Worldly pride had drawn the veil of dense materialism across all her senses and shut out the vision splendid that had been before so oft- times vouchsafed, so that Israel was turned perforce to the word of God, to gain her view, her vision, her perspective of God’s great plan, and eternal purpose concerning her, and the Word became the more precious, the more appreciated as'they investigated it and depended upon it more and more.We today are living in times when even the most sanguine of us must admit there is no open vision, no view, no perspective of God or of our everlasting home. Dense materialism-, sordid commercialism as well as sin and folly of every kind have blinded our eyes to the eternal. Men don’t expect now to walk with God in their gardens in the cool of the day and talk with Him familiarly as Adam talked. They don’t expect to sit in their doors at eventime and entertain celestial visitants as Abraham did. There is no open vision! We cannot have one under such conditions as we are under today. Sin is the obscuring screen. Worldly-mindedness it the veil that shuts us out from the eternal. There is no open vision! ♦ An address (abbreviated) delivered at the Graduating Exercises of the Bible Institute of Los Angeles, June 20, 1913. But ah, remember the Word of the Lord remains! And, as we have fewer spiritual visions in this worldly-minded age, even as Israel in the midst of her folly and her sin, so may the faithful remnant of us, like Israel, find the Word of the Lord grow more precious to us day by day as we turn to it more and more for our comfort and encouragement. * * * * Now if such be true you would think that in this materialistic age when there is so little view, so little vision and perspective that the Word of the Lord would be precious unto all, as it is the only thing that will clear away the shadows, enlarge our view and give us at last a glorious vision of the Most High. Contra- wise, however, we find it is an age when doubt is rampant, the Bible most assailed and criticism, even rejection of the very fundamentals of our faith, the most common and familiar. This, however, is not to be wondered at, when we remember that doubt always feeds upon itself, as evil feeds on evil, folly on folly, and sin upon every form of sin and wickedness, Believe Your Beliefs Whenever, for instance, you find a young man saying: “I have my doubts concerning the Bible/’ you don’t, as a rule, find that young man trying to settle his doubts by a study of the Bible, but you find him rather increasing his doubts by a study of Tom Paine, Robert G. Ingersoll, Voltaire, Spencer, Huxley or Darwin. Now it’s
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all right to have your beliefs and to have your doubts, but, young man, let me beseech of you, believe your beliefs and doubt your doubts. Don’t believe your doubts or doubt' your beliefs. It’s like a man saying he wants to reduce his weight, and yet keeps on overeating! If you want to get rid of your doubts don’t keep feeding on doubts—give yourself a diet of belief, turn to God’s Word, make’that precious, and your doubts will even vanish as the mists and darkness vanish before the rising sun. * * * * We are no longer living in an age of infidelity, but in an age of criticism. The attack has shifted from the person of God to the Word of God. The world is too intelligent today to deny the existence of God. It’s only the fool that says in his heart, “there is no God.” The wise, the intelligent, as this world goes, are no longer attacking that truth, but are now attacking the Word of God. The situation is made the more serious and terrible when we remember that as in Samuel’s day, so now even the priests of God are entering upon these attack's instead of making the Word of God more precious and secure. Let us thank God then that Prof. Green of Princeton, Bissell of McCormick, Sayce of Oxford, Winckler of Germany, Orr of Glasgow, Parker of London, all believed in these things and have as high a learning, as keen an insight and as mighty a mind as Graf, Wellhausen, . Colenso, Driver, Cheyne or any on the other side. Don’t, young men, young women, be led astray by the so-called “learning” of the other side as though all knowledge, all learning and philosophy would die with them. Remember, there is just as much learning, just as keen intellects, just as mighty minds on the side of Christ as against Him
and a mightier faith, a nobler heart, a holier purpose which is set for God and for His holy Word. Don’t let the “ipse dixit” of any man or any set of men lead you from your moor-' ings. “Study to show thyself approved unto God, * * * rightly dividing the word of truth.” Think the thing through yourself. “Study,” “search the scriptures,” “compare spiritual things with spiritual,” not with the Carnal, the intellectual and material and you’ll find the Word of God growing more precious and also more reasonable to .you, day by day. Leading Scientists Corroborate the Bible They say the Mosaic account of creation is foolish and unscientific. Prof. Dana, professor of geology at Yale, says, however: “The first chapter of Genesis and the last chapter of nature agree so closely as to /r prove that both must have been written by the same hand.” Cuvier, also, the founder of the science of paleontology, says: “Moses has left us a cosmogony, the exactitude of which is most wonderfully confirmed every day.” They say the Bible, as a whole, is unscientific, yet, Jeremiah says in the 30th chapter and 22nd verse of the book which bears his name: “The host of heaven cannot be numbered.” That sounded unscientific then, for Hipparchus, a century and a half before the birth of Christ, had actually numbered them, every one then visible, and found just 1022. Ptolemy also, the founder of the Ptolemaic system of astronomy, numbered them again at the beginning of the second century after Christ and found but 1026, so near had Hipparchus come to the truth almost three centuries before. But Jeremiah says with defin- nite exactude, “the stars cannot be numbered for multitude,” and science
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went away from the earth, and I look for His return day by day.” Here, then, is a very full, a very definite statement concerning most of these fundamental yet disputed doctrines of God’s Word, and by a scientist of highest standing. The scientists are with us, therefore, young men and women of this present age who want to know more of the truth of this blessed Word of God. The scientists are with us, also, mature men and women who have borne the burden and heat of the day and been sustained by the strength and comfort of God’s holy Word. The scientists are with us, not only on questions of- science but on questions of faith; not only on the general truth of the validity of God’s word but also on these questions of fundamental doctrines, fundamental truths that lie as the basic elements of our faith. Therefore, “Hold fast the profession of your faith without wavering, for He is faithful that has promised” and will surely bring it to pass. Hi * * * The age is a hard one, a wearing one, a grinding one. Commercialism and worldly-mindedness have shut out spiritual visions so much from our eyes that the reaction has of necessity set in ; the people are turned perforce to the Word of God. “Where there is no vision the people perish.” Where shall we get the vision? “The entrance of Thy Word giveth light,” the Scripture says, and an eaget, groping, blinded world says: Then we’ll turn to the Word of God! We’ll get the vision there! We’ll study the Word of God! We’ll ask God to open our eyes afresh that we, may see Him in all the beauty of His holiness and the glory of His grace! The Bible the “Best Seller ” And so the world has been giving
now says Jeremiah was right, for when Lord Rosse turned his great telescope to the sky he found 400,- 000,000 stars and, far beyond, myriads on myriads that literally cannot be numbered. Noted Surgeon’s Statement of Faith They say the virgin birth is a myth, the atonement a fallacy, the fall of man a delusion, the second coming of Christ a vagary, the resurrection a misnomer, and the inspiration of the Scriotures a fanaticism which no reasoning, scientific and intelligent mind can believe. But Dr. Howard A. Kelly, professor of obstetrics and gynecology in Johns Hopkins university, a man whom Appleton’s Magazine says stands first in his profession of all the doctors of Europe and America, a man who has degrees from the universities of Aberdeen and Edinburgh, as well as from the leading American universities, a man that a dozen learned societies in England, Scotland, Ireland, France, Germany, Italy, Austria, and the United States have taken into membership, says: “I believe ¿he Bible to be the inspired Word of God. I believe Jesus Christ to be the son of God, without human father, conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary; that all men, without exception, are by nature sinners, alienated from God, and when thus utterly lost in sin, the Son of God Himself came down to earth and, by the shedding of His Blood upon the Cross, paid the infinite penalty of the guilt of the whole world. I believe he who thus receives Jesus Christ as his Saviour is born again spiritually, as definitely as in his first birth. Satan I believe to be the cause of man’s fall and sin * * * yet will be in the end cast into the pit and made harmless. Christ will come again in glory to earth to reign, even as He
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itself so to the study of the Word of God that it is estimated that more copies of the Bible were sold last year than the combined sales of any other hundred books throughout the world. The Oxford press alone prints more than 20,000 Bibles every week. The British and Foreign Bible society prints the Bible in no less than 400 different languages. Twenty-seven of these Bible societies are printing the Word of God in different parts of the world, and in 1910 they printed and -sold an aggregate of 12,843,196 Bibles, while all of the agencies, both secular and religious, printing and distributing the Word of God have an annual sale of more than 19,000,000. It was Voltaire, you remember, who said over 200 years ago, that the Bible would be an extinct book in fifty years, and now the strange irony of fate is that not only has the Bible far from being extinct, quadrupled and septupled it’s sales throughout, the world, but the very house in which Voltaire made that foolish prophecy is today used as a Bible depository! College Men Studying the Bible But some say : “Ah, that is pnly because the unreasoning masses are reading it more! The serious, the intellectual and the studious do not turn to it as much as they used to, and have long since given up its serious study!” Have they? Do you know that last year 80,000 college men in eighteen different countries were banded together in voluntary classes for the study of the Word of God? I say “voluntarily,” for I mean it was not in their regular classroom work, but an entirely voluntary study they took up among themselves. Do you know also that 97,232 men were gathered at the same time in Bible classes in our Y. M. C. A.’s, and 350,000 men at the same time were found in special
Baraca and young men’s Bible classes in our churches studying the Word of God ? Over 500,000 men, then, in these branches alone giving them- ‘selves, in their college and technical training, to gaining a better knowledge of the Word of God! That doesn’t show that the Bible doesn’t appeal to the intellectual and the studious, does it? It shows, that the Word of the Lord is as precious to the classes as to the masses, to the cultured as to the uncultured, for it is God’s message to men in every class and every condition, showing them the way in which they long to go. Leading Athletes Studying the Bible But mark this also, young men today;—you who perhaps have thought that Bible study was not especially virile and manly for red-blooded men: The records show that the most virile and athletic were, also ready to give themselves to this great study, that they might learn how to keep their bodies under, and how to run with patience the race that was set before them. In the United States and Canada alone 1522 members of varsity football teams, were enrolled in these classes in our colleges and higher institutions of learning, 1402 members of varsity baseball teams, 712 members of basketball teams, and 1053 members of varsity track teams. It’s a noble, aye, a manly thing to know the Word of God, to study the Father’s will and know from whence to get your strength. It will help you in all the contests of life. The World’s Sunday Schools And what shall I say more concerning that larger field of the Sabbath school, that training ground of the ' Church where so many millions are
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of the existence of other countries and other civilizations and of a great past stretching back to the farthest limits of the oldest nations of the world.” The Bible Meets Every Phase of Life For information, then, for history and literature, for poetry and art, read the Bible! For romance and drama, for thrilling tales of fire and flood and field, read the Bible! For tenderness and pathos, for tales of love and pity, for imagination that leaps to the highest bounds and fires the very soul of man, read the Bible! For helpfulness in weary homes and strength and blessing when you are the most in need, read the Bible! It peoples earth with heavenly visitants that carry grace and strength and comfort for our longing souls. It carpets our path with flowers when the cruel rocks have bruised our bleeding feet. It gives us literature in its highest forms and knowledge in its deepest depths. It shows us truth and duty which we must fulfill and gives us also grace and strength with which to do it. It opens heaven and on our awestruck ears there falls the music of the angel song as they chant in loud hosannas the glories of our Lord and God. We se6 the dazzling brightness of that great white throrte, we see the bending angels as they fair prostrate at the feet of Him who sits thereon, we hear them crying “Glory and honor and blessing and power be unto Him that sitteth upon the throne and to the Lamb forever and ever!” We get at last indeed the vision splendid which our eyes have missed and for which all our hearts were aching. Yes, read the Bible! Study the Word of God, for, remember above all things, it will make you “wise unto salvation.” It will not only give you this vision, but it will make you “partakers of the Divine gift.
each Sabbath studying the Word of God? Well, here in the United States we have 150,000 schools with 1,544,000 teachers and officers, and 12,777,000 scholars, a total enrollment of 14,321,- 000, or one school for every 526 of our population. That shows that the Word of God is precious to the fathers and mothers of the children of the land, that they are anxious for them to have the stimulus, uplift and guidance of God’s blessed Word, does it not ?And for the world—what; Well, here we have a population of 1,624,- 321,004. I often like to think I am One of those four! Or that my four children are the ones that make the extra four of the world’s count! We have 285,999 Sunday schools, 2,607,- 371 teachers and officers, 25,403,823 scholars, or a total enrollment of 28,- 011,194, making a school for each 5680 of the world’s population. Doesn’t that show that the Word of the Lord is precious throughout the world today. When we realize how many heathen lands there are, when we realize the hostility of so much of the world, a Sunday school for every 5000 of the world’s population is certainly a good showing and proves that the Word of the Lord is indeed precious to the world’s great millions. • * * * Do you wish to know literature ? Ruskin says: “Read your Bible. To my early knowledge of the Bible I owe the best part of my taste in literature.” Do'you wish to know, poetry? Count Tolstoi says: “I do not know a book which gives in such complete and poetic form every phase of human ideas as the Bible.” Do you wish to know history Even Huxley says: “For three centuries this book has been woven into the life of all that is best and noblest in English history. * * * It forbids the veriest hind who has never left his village to be ignorant
What Jesus Continues to Do and to Teach* By FREDERICK ALDEN The former treatise have I made, 0 Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach .—Acts 1 :1. T HE titles of the books of the J3ible are, of course, not contemporary with the date of the books themselves ; but are the later addition of scribes and copyists. In the title given to this book of the New Testament we have something of a misnomer. Only three or four of the Apostles are mentioned and the acts of many of them are scarcely mentioned. The introduction or preface of a book is often ignored by the reader, but it frequently throws a great light on the purpose and motive of the author. In the introduction or preface the author lays bare his heart and takes the reader into his confidence, and in skipping the preface, as so many do, we pass over the touchstone which would reveal the true metal of the tale. The book of the Acts of the Apostles has an introduction just as has that other work of Luke’s, the Gospel that bears his name.' Our text is part of this introduction. In it he follows the rule that so many writers of secular and sacred history follow and gives us a little glimpse into his mind and motive in writing the work. But more than that, we have in this introduction a glimpse of what Luke conceived this book to be, and we thus gain a truer idea of the book than that which the title (added by other hands and at a later date) gives us. This we gain not by direct statement but by a legitimate inference from the language used. Luke begins this book with a word to a man, Theophilus, for whose immediate benefit, or in consultation *A sermon preached in the Presbyterian Church, Montrose, Penn., Sunday, July 6, 1913. with whom, he evidently wrote. The Acts begins with a reference to the Gospel of Luke. The Gospel was written, Luke says, “concerning all that Jesus began both to do and to teach until the day in which he was received up.” The theme of the Gospel then was that which Jesus began to do and to teach. The inference is plain, that this sequel to the Gospel is to be concerning that which Jesus continued to do and to teach after that He was received up. Would not a more accurate title for this book be “The Acts of Jesus Christ, continued,” or “The Acts of the Risen and Ascended Christ?” Now out of this plain inference we may draw some suggestive thoughts not only concerning this part of the Scriptures, but concerning our life and work today 1. T he comparative place oe man and G od in the work of the K ingdom . The human worker is given as a rule a comparatively low place in the Acts. By that I do not mean that the heroic work of the first missionaries of the cross was belittled, or that anything that they did was made light of. We follow the footsteps of Paul, and his great task out in the broad Roman Empire is told in much detail. The daily life of some of the others of the leaders of that day are set forth vividly to us. But after all is said, the destiny and end of the human instruments that God was using in those days, are matters of entirely secondary importance in the movement of the history. It is the success or failure of the Gospel that is the important thing, the rise or the decline of the Kingdom.
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That is the essential point that the book of the Acts considers. When we read the biographies -of the leaders in the Church of later days we notice a marked difference. Take the matter of the end of the lives of these men of old. With the exception of the first martyr Stephen,'where the end is spoken of at all it is dismissed with a word. Of James it is said simply that he was “killed with a swbrd.” Peter’s end is’not told us at all, and Paul is left in his own hired house, yet a prisoner, in Rome. But when we pick up the biographies of the men of later days their chroniclers enter into details, théir last days are set forth fully and sometimes- even their dying words and the circumstances of their entering into glory are given ùs. Men’s dying words are left by their biographers as a heritage to' those who remain. This is not uttered in any spirit of criticism, though it is a thing that may be easily overworked, and a death-bed scene though it may bè moving is rarely of permanent valu« for creating a permanent impression. But I refer to it by way of comparison and to emphasize the thought that in this book the thing we are really concerned with is not the fate or fortune of men, but the work of Him who was behind the men and who inspired them. As has been pointed out by others, this reference of the book to the activity of Jesus Himself is very évident. Explaining the signs and wonders of the day of Pentecost, Peter says of Jesus : “He hath poured forth this which ye see and hear.” And again “The Lord (Jesus) added to the church daily such as were being saved.” Peter says to Aeneas “Jesus Christ maketh thee whole.” And so through the entire book, as these deeds are done, Jesus Christ is seen everywhere presént doing these wonders and signs, healing the sick and bringing multitudes to himself. Jesús
Christ is working through signs and wonders and various ways. The men are the instruments by which and through which Jesus Christ does His work. This is all in line with that trait which we mentioned a moment ago, where the fate of the human instruments seems such an indifferent thing. How many of them are merely touched on and then left. Now, as we have said, this was not for the purpose of minimizing or belittling men. It was not to discount the value of services rendered by disciples, but rather in the end to exalt them. But it was all for the purpose of emphasizing one great truth,, that the power that worked among men in Galilee and Judea, “this same Jesus," was He who worked in the churches of Samaria and Macedonia and Rome, and we may add in the churches of Europe and America even till today. The truth of owr Lord’s continuous activity in all the affairs of His kingdom and His Church in all ages is the great truth which this thought emphasizes. Any view of Christianity which makes it merely a great historic faith is lacking in a very real and vital present power. The promise of the Master given to His working disciples, “Lo, I am with you always even to the end,” is more than a mere figure of speech. It is a promise of a real fact. The things that are past are the things that Jesus began to do and to teach, the things that are now present, day by day, and the things to come, are those that He is continuing to do. Now, if this can be made a very real conviction in our hearts, what a sacredness and beauty it will give to the progress of events; and how safe and secure the believer should feel under the guidance of the great Head of the Church. Discouragement may come and doubts may intrude and sometimes even good men despair of the days that lie ahead, but if this thought
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becomes a conviction, that in His Church today the hand that is back of it is not the faulty and faltering hand of man, but the living power of Jesus Christ, continuing that which He began to do when on earth, then there is no room for discouragement, but only for the unwavering certainty of hope. This thought, this conviction, is the rebuke of all our fears and doubts. You remember once on his journeys when Jacob, in the days when his heart was hot and restless and full of foreboding, in a threatened meeting with Laban, and when the threatened evil did not come, Jacob called the name of that place Mahanaim, or two camps, his own and God’s, and the angels of God present but unseen were the power that delivered him. The same truth is found in daily life. The places of difficulty afid of danger, of crisis, are found to be the camp of two forces, not only our own but God’s, not only of the enemy but that of Divine power as well. And I do not know of any other thought with so great an uplift, with so great a power to help, as this conviction that history is a continuous process, and is not divided sharply into two parts, as we .sometimes are prone to divide it, for'we.may say of older days, “those were the days when God walked with man, those were the days when His power was manifest, those were the days when Jesus was present and today all is changed.” This is a mistake that we may fall into, and a mistake that will surely rob us of much of our comfort and assurance, if we do fall into it. Rather, is it true that those were the days when Jesus began to do, these are the days when He continues to do. There is another suggestion akin to this first that comes from these words and that is : He continues His work through men.
2. E ach individual ’ s work is an INCOMPLETE PART OE G od ’ s WORK. Peter and James and John; Paul, Barnabas, Silas and Philip, all do their part in their own times and places, and yet all these are very incomplete parts of the whole work that has to be done. The one thing that lifted these men from discouragement, and that made them feel that their work was worth while, was the consideration that it was the part of a greater and perfect whole. Even the best of them, those •that did most, could not but be conscious of the imperfection of what they had done and yet they were all great minded enough to see the truth that Paul expressed, “Yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.” Jesus began and continued to do and to teach through these men. And let us emphasize again for our deeper thought that the book of the Acts of the Apostles is still an unfinished book. It stops abruptly with no natural ending. It does not bring any life to a graceful and logical end. It leaves the activities of Paul still in full swing and there it closes. And it closes so because it had to, for the thing of which the book treats has never come to an end and will not till time itself shall.cease to be. This gives us a suggestion as to the way in which we should look at our work today, and this way of regarding it serves both as a deterrent from undue pride and as an encouragement against unnecessary depression. The greatest thing a man can do, the highest service he can render to his generation, the noblest sacrifice to God, is only a part of the great work that the Master of men is working out among men. It is not that thesé services were not the expression of per-" sonality, the free gift of a human soul giving itself for the needs of others. This is true, but back of that there is the great work of God which He car-
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they built the cathedral. This is a rough picture of what the building up of the Kingdom of God is. We do our part, our very best, our most consecrated effort, and then pass on and leave the whole incomplete. Yet we need not be discouraged for those to come will do their part and they in turn must drop their tools and leave the work to other hands. And all are but doing His will and are the instruments through whom He continues to work. Then away with discouragement. Paul plants, Apollos waters, but God gives the increase. The best we can. do is but a part of all that He would have and will have done, the least done for Him is His own power working. And this suggestive title to the book (or inferred title) leads us to the thought of the Christ present and active in His Church and in the world today, and leaves us with a plea. It is a plea for men and for women, for youth and for older lives, that shall gladly and willingly live the life of service to God and to their fel- lowmen. It is the plea for the service of hopeful and expectant men and women and young men and maidens, who trust a living God and who follow a living and a vital faith. The foundations of the Church have been lhid. broad and deep on the one enduring foundation, the only one that could be laid. Men and women too, of ages gone have reared its walls true and strong, and builded grace and beauty into its structure, but the building is not yet complete. We have our work to do, our generation to serve, God’s purpose for us to fulfill. And let us give our lives to Him that He may make them His own so that our deeds shall be blessed and the Acts of our lives shall be the acts of Jesus Christ among men today.
ries on through what His children do and only so. A soldier of his country falls in the charge against the foe.. His gift of service and his final gift of life is wholly personal, it is the free offer of patriotism. Yet in another sense his sacrifice is only part of a greater one and his fall was the part in the working out of a great plan of campaign where many must fall to make it a success. In thè mind of the general was the great purpose and this patriot’s fall was but a part of it. It 'is as true of our deeds as it is of our philosophies that "Our little systems have their day, They have their day and cease to be. They are but broken lights of Thee, And Thou, O Lord, art more than they.” But the encouragement is also manifest. When anyone feels that his work has been more or less of a failure, when conscious of weakness and disappointment, then the thought is strong and great that this which we do is after all not ours alone but God’s. It is His work, His purpose, His service, that we are doing. And from this come lessons of patience. Those who stand before some ancient cathedral of the old world and fillecUwitha sense of its beauty ask unthinkingly, “who built this temple of God?” will be told a story of many years, even centuries. For men of one generation laid broad and deep its foundations and reared its massive walls. They passed away and the children brought their added knowledge and sense of beauty to the work, and added an arch here and there or put the glory of a great window in its walls. Their children gave their contribution and so bit by bit and generation by generation
True Stories of Conversion The Bishop’ By AN IRISH
i Housemaid CLERGYMAN She was again greatly pleased with what she heard, and the two friends spent much time together in talking over the sermons and searching the Scriptures. The. entrance of God’s Word was gradually giving light, and Kate came to be reluctant to go to confession, and at last abandoned the practice altogether. She continued for some time to attend mass on Sunday morning, but gladly accompanied her friend to the . Presbyterian church in the evening. At last she realized the grand truth that God, for Jesus Christ’s sake, and by virtue of His atoning death upon the Cross, had pardoned all her sins, and that, too, without the absolution of the priest, and without the propitiatory sacrifice of the mass. She felt that she could no longer join in a worship that now seemed, NOT ONLY USELESS, BUT SINFUL It was not long before the facts became known to the parish priest, for no defection from Romanism can long remain unknown. Accordingly, the priest waited upon her to ask why she was not attending to “her religious duties.” She replied that she had ceased to believe in the doctrines of the Roman Catholic church, and did not wish to be considered a Romanist any longer. She was then informed that she had been “born a Roman Catholic, and baptized a Roman Catholic, and a Roman Catholic she must remain!” Moreover, she would not be allowed to attend the Presbyterian church any longer. The priest also required that she should attend confession on the following Saturday. However, she stood firm, and the priest, having threatened her with terrible conse-
K ATE O’DEEE, under-housemaid to a Protestant bishop, was a Roman Catholic, while Helen McGregor, the upper housemaid, was a Presbyterian and an earnest Christian. It happened that a Roman Catholic mission was held in the city, and the Romanists were urged to do all they could to bring Protestants to hear the preachers. Kate naturally thought of the house- maid—with whom she daily came in Contact, and whom she. greatly respected—and invited her to attend the mission. 'Helen answered: ’“Will you go with me to my church if I go with you to the mission?” Kate, feeling that the occasion demanded almost any sacrifice, replied that she would. Accordingly, Helen McGregor attended the mission at the Roman Catholic church, and afterwards talked with Kate of the things she heard there. A few days later, when there was a service at the Presbyterian church, Helen reminded Kate of her promise, asking if she would go with her that evening. Kate agreed to do so, and thus, for the first time in her life, found herself taking part in Protestant worship. On leaving, she said she was very much surprised and pleased at what she had heard, for she had anticipated that the time would be taken up with “abusing the Pope and Roman Catholics.” Helen spoke a good deal about the sermon, and when they were alone in their bedroom she opened her Bible and explained more fully those precious truths which she loved so well. To her surprise and pleasure Kate asked if she might, again accompany her, and from that day became a regular attendant at the Wednesday evening service of the Presbyterian church.
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the unscrupulousness of the people with whom she had to deal), she could not return with them. They sat in the hall of the bishop’s house all day long,: till they just had time to catch the last train, and were then persuaded by Kate to leave for home. A short time after this, Kate received a message, one dark night, to the effect that a Mrs. Nooman, whom she knew very well, and who was housekeeper to a Roman Catholic college, wished to see her at the hall door. Kate was walking to the door, without any suspicion of deceit, when, to her surprise, she saw from the shadow of the street lamp, the tall hats of four priests. She realized immediately that this was an attempt to kidnap her, and accordingly sent word that she declined to see Mrs. Nooman. The last person to whom was committed the task of getting her back to Romanism was an old doctor who had retired from practice, and now spent his time running about the city in the interests of Popery. ’ He arrived one morning at nine o’clock, asked to see Kate, and informed her that he had been sent for her by the Roman Catholic bishop, that he had a car waiting at the door, and that he would not leave the house till she consented to accompany him. Kate replied that she would not go. The doctor sat in the hall till one o’clock, when Kate went to him, and said: “Doctor, there is no use in your waiting here any longer. 1 shall not go with you.” She recommended him to await events, and to call three days later. The doctor returned, but only to find that Kate had left. As a matter of fact, she had proceeded to Glasgow, having found a refuge with some kind friends of Helen McGregor, until another situation could be found for her. She was a very bright and happy Christian, and after a year’s residence in Scotland was not afraid to return to
quences if she failed to make her appearance, went away. As she did not go to confession, the case was reported to the Roman Catholic bishop, who sent his vicar- general to Kate to “command her instant obedience and submission.” The vicar-general saw the Protestant bishop—who was quite ignorant of what had taken place—and also his daughter, who kept house for him. The vicar-general was informed that he or any one else could have full liberty of access to Kate, and they could use what moral sausion they pleased, but there must be no violence, and the girl must not be compelled to do anything against her will. He also spoke to Kate, who told him directly that she had ceased to be a Roman Catholic, and that nothing would induce her to become one again. The next person who was sent to use his influence with the young woman was the old parish priest of the place where she was born and brought up. He besought her, with tears, “not to disgrace herself and her family, but to return to the bosom of the true church,” out of which he assured her she could not be saved. Kate told him SHE WAS ALREADY SAVED She had put her trust in Jesus Christ, and in His finished work, and she had no doubt whatever that God for Jesus’ sake had pardoned all her sins. She had no fear regarding the future, either in this life or the life to come; she had committed herself wholly to the Saviour’s keeping, and He would lead her safely home. The next to plead with her were her father and mother. They were sent with strict orders to bring their daughter back with them. They arrived by the early train, and told Kate that they could not and would not return without her. She replied that, under the circumstances (that is, knowing
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He shut it up, and put it where it was before, and said that he would not look into ‘that cursed old chest’ again. But that did hot matter, for the prayer had got into his heart, and he could not lock his heart up in that chest. He became thoroughly miserable; and the wretched woman with whom he lived asked him what was the matter with him. He told her what he had read in that paper, and she said she hoped he would not become a hypocrite. , All the jokes and frivolities of his companions could not take out the dart which God had sent into his heart; and, ere long, by true repentance and by living faith, that man was in Christ a saved soul, married honorably to. the woman with whom he had iived in sin, and walking in uprightness, serving his father’s God, as the result of a prayer which had lain in an old chest for fifty-four years, but which God’s eye had seen all the while, and which, at last, He had answered when the set time had come. Be of good courage, all ye who are pleading for your children, for God will yet answer your supplications. Just Now By Rev. GEORGE COATES V ERY interesting was another case — that of a young man whom I found bowed down in one of the pews in a country chapel, in the West Riding. On my asking him if he was saved, he said: “No, and I think I .never shall be.” “Why not?” “Why, because I ’m such a big sinner,” “Not too big,” was my answer. “Well, I ’m trying to be a bit better, and when I ’m a bit more fit, I’ll come and be saved.” I asked him if he thought he would
Ireland, or even to visit her parents in her native village, where she has been on two or three occasions since her return. Kate met the arguments and intimidations of Rome in the name of the Lord of Hosts, and she ¡prevailed. The Yet Unborn Child By C. H. SPURGEON T HERE was a captain, whose name I will not give in full just now—-I will call him Mitchell. This captain was a goodly man, and he once went to sea, leaving his wife at home expecting soon to give birth to their first-born child. While he was at sea, one day a time of deep solemnity came over him, in the course of which he penned a prayer. ’ This prayer was for his yet unborn child.. He put the prayer into the oak chest in which he kept his papers. He never came home again, for he died* at sea. His chest was brought home to his wife. She did not open it to look at his papers, but she thought they might be of use to her son when he should grow up. That son lived; and, at the age of sixteen, he joined a regiment at Boston. In that regiment he became exceedingly debauched, profane, blasphemous, and sinful in every way. At the age of fifty-four while he was living in sin with a wicked woman, it struck him that he would like to look through the contents of the old chest which his father had left. He opened it, and at the bottom found, tied up with red tape, a paper, on the outside of which was written, “The prayer of Mitchell K----- for his wife and child.” He opened it and read it; it was a most fervent plea with God that the man’s wife and child might belong to Christ, written fifty-four years back, and before ,that child was; .hdTP-
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