VOL. VII MARCH, 1917 I _ SS —— The King’s Business ag] Ute him that fo from « ed us, and w Published once @ month by the BIBLE INSTITUTE OF LOS ANGELES LOS AN CALIFORNIA, U.S. A. Ss ————J —<— ONE DOLLAR A YEAR | : a | © TAITHE KING’S BUSINESS VOL. VIII. MARCH, 1917 No. 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS Editorial: Poisoning the Sunday Schools—Demoralizing Effect of the Theater—‘‘Notwithstanding, Christ Is Preached"’"—America’s Peril—The Need of the Hour —lIs Peace at Hand—How to Use The King’s Business —Drink’s Strangle-hold upon British Law-Makers—Is the Ape a Progenitor of Man or Man a Progenitor of the Ape?—The Demoralizing Effects of War—A Foolish General Does God Answer Prayer? By Rev. ‘Benienin Cox. The Institute Family... The Banners of fe the Whole ‘Church. By William Evans, Ph. Puzzling Passages ‘and Problems Evangelistic Department. By Bible Institute Workers... The Narrowness and Bigotry of So-Called Liberals Homiletical Helps. By William Evans. The Far Horizon............ Through the Bible with Dr. Evans. International Sunday School Lessons. By R. A. ‘Tones and T. C. Horton .. Daily Devotional Studies i in. the New Tetianacat 1885 Indi- vidual Meditation and amily Worship. By R. A. Torrey 2. eeeeeeeeeee - SUBSCRIPTION PRICE In the United States and its Possessions and Mexico, and points in the Central American Postal Union, $1 per year. In all other foreign $1.24 (5s. 2d.). Single copies, 10 cents. Receipts sent on request, Sce-dlato on address tag. “Sept. 17° means Expires Sept. 1917, etc. PUBLISHED BY THE BIBLE INSTITUTE OF LOS ANGELES 536-558 SOUTH HOPE STREET LOS ANGELES, CAL.194 THE KING'S BUSINESS A Million and a Half To Depositors During 1916 the Security Trust & Savings Bank paid its depositors in interest $1,476,684.66. It isa source of gratification that we have assisted in the growth of our depositors accounts, which now number over 101,000, to this extent. We shall be glad to have you share in our interest to depositors this year. EGURITY recst SAVINGS BANK. SAVINGS ‘COMMERCIAL ‘TRUST The oldest and largest savings bank in the Southwest SECURITY CORNER EQUITABLE BRANCH Fifth and Spring, First and Spring TEE OUTCTU TOE E CETTE EE HELP THE “K. B.” Subscription Fund Through the Generosity of Appreciative Christian People, this Magazine goes to MANY MISSIONARIES HO cannot afford to pay the sub- scription for themselves. The fund for this purpose is now exhausted but the requests continue to come. Last year one lady sent us $25 to be so applied, and here is a sample expression of gratitude: “It helps me in so many ways that I look for- ward to its coming each month. I hope my few words convey some idea of the gratitude I feel, through being one of those fortunate ones who receive your magazine.” BIBLE INSTITUTE OF LOS ANGELESTHE KING’S BUSINESS Tra 8. MARCH, 1917 No. 3] @ EDITORIAL . Our attention has been called to the character of some Poisoning the of the notes in Tarbell’s Teachers’ Guide for the Sun- Sunday Schools. day School Lessons of 1917, This book, in the early issues of former years, was one of the most satisfac- tory books published on the Sunday School Lessons, but Miss Tarbell has gone over pretty thoroughly to the enemy. She has adopted views about the authorship of Isaiah, and regarding the book of Daniel that are entirely unwar- ranted and thoroughly vicious, and she does not hesitate to exploit these views in her “Guide.” It is now an altogether unsafe Guide. She seems to think that her views are accepted by the best scholarship. They are views that were very widely held by the destructive critics, but they have been thoroughly exploded and many who once held them have given them up. The acceptance of her views would lead logically to the discrediting of our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and Miss Tarbell has become an altogether unsafe guide for Sunday School teachers. The destructive critics are not content with poisoning our theological seminaries, they are now trying to corrupt our Sunday Schools. The stage seems to be going from bad to worse. Its Demoralizing Effect { an interdenominational county evangelist jal local interest, that Christ's whose time and energies shall be given sters of the bids fair to be ing statement. the work One of the very favorable of spe uns, and one Church Universal is getting closer together. solely to traveling over the county and min- and in its various branches becoming more istering to the needs of the different fields harmonious, sympathetic and co-operative. without church advantages. by holding is to be noted in a new work just being Gospel meetings, organizing Sunday started in this county, which will be known Schools, and wherever he as the “Colusa County Church Extension wh Work.” or finds a. family have no opportunity of attending an ized Sunday School. and they will204 agree to teach their children the Sunday School lesson, they will be furnished with the denominational literature, by one of the pastors of the county, of that particular denomination, thereby getting every family in touch with the pastor of its choice. This is one of the most worthy religi enterprises that has ever been launched in * THE KING'S BUSINESS this county, and it is receiving the most cor- dial support of all the churches. The county officers selected by churches of Colusa county to head this work are: G. A. Ware, Williams, president; George Corbin, Delevan, vice-president! C.D. McComish. Colusa, secretary ; J. M. Stovall, Williams. treasurer. and George P. Wicker, Los Angeles, secretary. Me cee AN AWAKENING STUDENT of the Correspondence Course on “Personal Work” writes the following interesting and vitally im- portant letter : “Pardon my long silence. You must have wondered why I have failed to send for the second examination, It has been partly owing to my having been out of town, which prevented studying such a very Jong and difficult lesson, but largely to a fact which I will tell you, and which I am very sure will explain all and be clear to you. “When I studied the section on ‘Man! after finishing the first examination, | was conscious that I did not have full victory in my life, and experience; in fact, it was the heart ery after it which caused me to desire to make a real study; and when I noticed in Section 6. that one had to know this in personal experience to be a personal worker, I closed the book and set out to find it by prayer and His Word. 1 could not go on until I knew the secret of His fullness. Later in July 1 went to a Christian Girls’ camp. where ‘Victory’ was the chief theme, and there I learned the blessed Truth, and now am free to go on and take the examination when I have committed the texts as I am now endeavoring to do. In a very real way | desire to work for Him. How slow we are, even after knowing Him as’ our Saviour for years, to take Him as our Victory! I thank Him for using th lessons to arouse me, with the prayer that He may truly bless your work. ang 1 thank you for your prayers.” — —o___ AN EASTERN BLAST N Eastern visitor, upon his return home, addressed the following letter to the superintendent of the Bible Institute: “Things are so absolutely dead in this old stronghold af orthodoxy and blue laws that, coming from the breezes which blew upon me from the Bible Institute, I am almost fainting under the deadly calm, There is a great work of awakening to be done here, and I want to help to undertake it, though I feel so weak and greatly handicapped “The situation here is peculiar; an old- fashioned, proud community, priding itself upon being in a sacred circle, quite distin- guished and apart from common Yankee- dom; quite a number very rich, quite a number with comfortable incomes, a large proportion of good, middle-class people, Italian workmen and remnants of old Yan- kee working people; a few quite religious. all priding themselves in their old Congre- gational Church, but a great many dead on their fect as to real service in the Master's cause. The proximity of a large city with its wealth makes this a favorite suburb and place for a flourishing Country Club. There are lots of people of kind hearts and many desire a warm religious life and experience. “It is with the humble class here that I would begin to work. My own church, Episcopal, is as frigid as an arctic winter, and I have been in conference with our rector as to methods of procedure. It seems almost a situation to despair of. I will be glad for a word from you and for your prayers for this community, that I may be instrumental in trying to Point the way of salvation.”DOES GOD ANSWER PRAYER? Memphis Noonday Meeting By Rev. Benjamin Cox Pastor of Central Baptist Church Memphis, Tenn. Note.—We met, at the October Bible Conference in Chattanooga, the Rev. Benjamin Cox, Pastor of Central Baptist Church, Memphis, Tenn, the story of the Memphis Noon Prayer Meeting. He was requested to write an article describing this meeting ‘he King’s Business,” and wi it may stir up others to faith and good works. greatly stirred by it. for the readers of in the hope. that un. At the Conference he told Not only we, but others, were take great pleasure in presenting it, Mr. Cox has not mentioned the fact that when he took the Central Baptist Church it was in a part of the city from which church-going people had moved away, and the outlook of the church was aot hopeful, but through the prayer mecti Work of ‘the pastor, a new day seemg to have dawned for the church Persons in the staid and conservative church against the troduced, but as the methods were of God, and along biblical was opposition f new methods that were ig, ‘and through, the general Doubtless there Tines, they were honored of God. ‘Perhaps it ought to be added that a free tunch is given at the close of the prayer meeting for the poor and hungry. This doubtless draws many to the meeting, but it has been a source of great blessing, not merely to the hungry ones who have been fed, but to the rich who have been brought into con: tact with the poor, and whose hearts have been opened and who have been led to give largely to the work. great many strikin At the Bible Conference in Chattanooga Mr. Cox gave a instances of conversions and blessings of many kinds, and of answers to prayer that went up in the noon prayer meeting, that are not recorded in this article —Editor. %jT IS with pleasure that I accept the invitation of Dr. Torrey to write an article about our noon prayer meet- ing, which started with eight present in the pastor's office, January 19, 1914, Many people have asked me: “How came the movement to start?” The answer is found in the fact that a few of us who realized that we were spending all day down town, felt that it would be advan- tageous to set apart thirty minutes (12:30 to 1) for a prayer meeting. Pretty soon the papers had something to say about it, and it was not long before requests for prayer commenced coming in. Some would write, “I have decided to join your prayer league.” At first we had no thought of forming a league at all, but since so much interest had been taken we prepared cards with the following pledge to be signed by those who wished to do so: THE PLEDGE “Believing in the power of united prayer, I desire to become a member of the Noon Prayer League. I will endeavor to be in prayer some time between 12:30 and 1 p. m., daily, if possible, for the requests presented at the meeting.” Since that time this pledge has been signed by a great host of people in thirty different States, and hardly a day passes206 THE thaf new members are not received into the League. either in Memphis or out of Mem- phis. In this connection some very inter- esting things happen. For instance, an old lady who has heen an inmate of a Roman Catholic hospital for a year has sent im over 100 signed pledges. comprising doctors and patients in the hospital, coming from many States, Within the last few days a batch of pledges has come in signed by con- viets of a State Farm in the South. These signatures were gotten by a man who in the early part of his imprisonment felt very hard and bitter, but who is now living a very happy and useful Christian life. Our Father has manifested Himself very graciously as the prayer-hearing and prayer-answering God. He has shown that no-case is too hard for Him. A man came into my office, desperate and weeping. Between sobs he said: “Pray for me, for I am a sinner. My sister died and my brother committed suicide, but I have been afraid to think of my own con- dition for fear I should be forced to the conclusion that they were both lost.” Earn- est prayer was made at once and for some time thereafter at the noon prayer meeting. Soon after he made a bright profession of religion and entered very heartily upon the Lord’s work. He shows much evidence that the Lord has called him to preach and is on fire for the salvation of souls. Before leaving for his vacation this sum- mer he came to my office and said: "If Jesus means so much to me, He ought to mean something to the other members of my family, I want you to pray for them.” While he was away the good news came to us that his sixty-year-old mother and two sisters had confessed Christ as their Savior, and that his father was almost persuaded to take the same step. This young man has been getting along wonderfully well in a business way. A recent letter says: “I have been appointed manager. of Mr. Blank’s store, Please pray for me that I may make good,” A GRATEFUL WOMAN A letter signed “Mary Magdalene” says: KING'S BUSIN: me time ago I entered your church for the noon prayer meeting. I had a heavy heart and troubled mind, for 1 was a great sinner. My stepfather a Jew, my mother norant Roman Catholic, 1 had never T heard of your noon- had proper training, y meeting. and was curious to see and Oh, 1 wanted help; needed help for mind and The was interesting and instructive to me. T won dered all through the hymn. sermon and prayers: ‘Will Jesus save me? Will He Mot out my sins? Will Jesus wash me in His precious blood? How 1 longed and prayed for Jesus to lift me up and make a worker out of me. I promised God that I would go out into the world and bring others to Him. From that day 1 have been a witness for the Lord. All my people have turned against me. God is my énly friénd and helper—no earthly props to lean on— only the mighty arm of God who is able to lift me from earth to heaven, Jesus is able to heal soul, mind and body, If He had not taken charge of me I would have lost my mind and have been now either in the insane asylum, or in hell. Praise the Lord, I am now in my right mind, and I hasten to send you these line begging you for your prayers that I may continue to grow ‘in grace, as I want to become a soul-winner. I do hope God will use me among the sick and afflicted.” FOUR RUNAWAYS One Saturday three boys came to the meeting and occupied the back seat; when the men went in to lunch they went also. Mr. Cole, the pastor's assistant, found upon inquiry that the boys had all run away from their hothes in a Mississippi city the week before. They were not only willing, but anxious to return home if the way were opened. There was another boy with them who hadn't come into the meeting, making four in all, ages ranging from 12 ta 15 years. Mr. Cole telegraphed the mother of one of the boys, and the next morning the father of one, and the brother of an- other, came and took them home. The next day we found that the father of the Doddly serviceTHE KING'S BUSINESS third boy was a chief railroad dispatcher, so we got the dispatcher here to wire him. In response the father telegraphed trans- portation, and said he would meet the 2 a. m. train next morning. Cole found that the mother of the fourth boy poor widow, so he bought him a ticke home. The boys came to us at Saturday noon; by 5 o'clock, Monday, they were all at home or on their way. Two months later we wrote to one of the mothers to ‘know how the boys were getting along. She replied: “The boys are all at home safe and sound. Thanks to you a thousand times for what you have done. My boy is all the time talking about you, and when we come to Memphis I am certainly going to take him around. to Central Church to see you again.” The mother of one of the boys died last Sunday. A PREACHER’S TROUBLES A Presbyterian pastor requested prayer for a friend in another State, who was unsaved, sick, a drunkard and dope fiend. After weeks of earnest prayer the news came that the one for whom we had been praying had been converted, was improving in health and had quit his dope and drink. He wrote: “The people here all know my past. and it is hard for me to get a job; pray for me that I may soon find work.” A few days after this he secured a good position. This impressive letter was received from St. Louis. Mo.: “I guess you don’t know me—I am one of the four boys that asked you to pray for them at one noon-day service. Iam the one that told you I was from Louisville. I want to say the Lord has done lots for me since that day. I came to St. Louis right after leaving Memphis and saw mother, I told her I was going to Canada. She begged me to stay home with her in St. Louis, so I did. The second day I went to work at my old job and have worked about a week. I want to thank the Lord for providing such good luck for me. But I also want to thank the young lady that invited me in the church that day. I do not know her name, but she will know. 207 It did me so much good when she came to me after the service and stretched out a warm hand to a ‘no-count’ hobo. She told me she was glad I came in. I was certainly glad I came myself. It woke me up. I was coming in with the intention of getting nothing but soup, but I got more ian soup. If possible I would like to get young lady's address, so as to thank the good she did me that day. I want tohank you one and all for the good- will you thowed me while there. I remain, your friekd.” The lady he speaks of in the letter is a young married woman who had been very close to death's door with a serious illness. As soon as she was able to go out she came to the noon meeting and gave a testimony of thanks. This occasion was the second time she had been out since here sickness. CAUGHT BY THE WAY During the Gypsy Smith, Jr., meeting at our church, a young man started to the red- light district. Noticing that it was early he followed the crowd to Central Church, where he met Jesus. Through his sobs and tears he told us at the close of the meeting how thankful and happy he was that he followed the crowd that night. The next day it was found that a letter had come to the noon prayer meeting from this man's sister, requesting, that we pray that he be sent around to the Gypsy Smith meeting. He has quit drinking, joined the church, settled down and is managing his mother’s plantation in Mississippi. Early in the history of the movement a woman came one morning seeking a per- sonal interview with the pastor. “I wish to ask you a very frank question: If a woman has gone wrong, do you think there is any hope for her?” I replied: “The same hope as for a man; otherwise, I would not preach another sermon.” She told me her sorrowful story of the trouble she had been caused by a man's unfaithfulness. She accepted the advice I offered, stayed for the noon prayer meeting, and became one of the leading supporters of the movement; joined the church and since then has been208 happily married, and church work, This letter comes from a man who is exceedingly grateful for a small favor: “Dear Brother Cox: Along about the first of March this year I came to you at the church and borrowed a dollar because I was in great need, and you gave me the money freely. I am now sending you the money back, because I have not forgotten you, neither has my wife. We have had some mighty hard bumps since that time, but most of them are forgotten. We only wish to remember the good and let the bad pass out. Should we ever return to Mem- phis, which is quite probable, we will call upon you. If there is any service we can render you at this great distance, we shall count it a great privilege to be permitted to serve you. Wishing you a most happy Christmas and a useful New Year, We are, sincerely yours.” This man is now manager of a film agency in a northern city. MONEY HELPS An Episcopalian friend, who was badly in need of $50 to save his home, made a request one day. God answered this prayer through some one who was at the meeting. After he had repaid the loan he came to give a testimony of thanks, but was too full for utterance and had to get some one else to give the message for him. is very active in Some wonderfully. good work has been done by small loans, at a time when the need was very urgent. A letter came one day from a very superior little woman, that she was in deep trouble and did not wish to apply to the Associated Charities unless it was absolutely necessary. My wife and 1 went to call on her and found them living in one room, everything neat and clean, and a bright little boy sick with pneumonia. After prayer I handed her $2, and she said, “Husband, you can now get the prescription filled.” The husband seized the prescrip- tion from the dresser and hurried to the drug store. The little boy recovered and by our help the husband has been able to get work. He and his wife are now happy THE KING'S BUSINESS and useful members of our church. She is a full-blooded Greek. One week the meetings were led by peo- ple of the Memphis Blind Shop. T. B. King, superintendent, spoke on Monday. On Tuesday a man, stone-blind, delivered the address, This was the first time a blind person had spoken at the meetings. A noon prayer meeting calendar has been published with a text for every day of the year. These texts are usually read at the meeting, and it was a striking coincidence that the text on the day the blind man spoke was; “Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom though now ye see him not, yet believing ye rejoice with joy unspeak- able and full of glory.” RICH AND POOR The democracy of this movement is very impressive. 1 have been strongly impressed sometimes to see ladies of wealth and prominence coming in their automobiles to the meetings, and going up the church steps at the same time with cripples just out of the City Hospital, without money, home, friends or health. The sight impresses me with the text, “The rich and the poor meet together, the Lord is the maker of them all.” Almost every day quite a number of people want to see me privately after the meeting, sometimes representing families of wealth, and sometimes down to the very poorest. During recent months letters have been received, illustrating this truth in a very forceful way. One was from a man about 65 years old, who had been taking our free lunches for a while, and then decided to go to Arkansas to pick cotton. He was furnished money to cross the river, and soon after wrote that he was happily at work picking cotton, but had not forgotten the noon meetings, and asking that we pray for his success. In about two weeks he wrote again: “I would like to see you; I trust you will remember me in your prayer meeting; write often to your friend and brother.” The other case was that of one of America’s greatest preachers, who, on account of overwork, had a serious break-THE KING’S down. He wrote: “Again and again I have turned my heart to your noon-day meetings, and no other agency has brought me more strength. You cannot know, nor can your noon-day meeting people know how my heart has gone out in gratitude and love since you first told me of their prayers.” A WRONG START The following letter is from a young man who started wrong in life and who has been in the very depths of sin and shame: “I have lost my health and am now a physical wreck, and I am without God. I do not know Him in the forgiveness of my sins. Have lived in the city, for the past three years, and one thing has brought on another, until I am now in serious trouble and am afraid I will have to spend my last days in the penitentiary. I am charged with a serious matter. I was brought up in a respectable family, but like many boys. 1 departed fom the training of my youth. Having heard a great deal about your noon- day prayer meetings, I am writing you this letter and carnestly askirig that you pray for me one day. Pray that I may find my God, and know Him in the’ forgiveness of my sins, also that my health may he restored to me, and that I may get out of my present trouble.” God so gloriously answered prayer for him that he is now the Lord's very happy and zealous in service. Matters of romance have quite a place in the meeting. Sometime ago a Baptist preacher came into my office in the middle of the forenoon, He seemed greatly bothered and desperate. Said he had come many hundreds of miles from another State to marry a woman to whom he was engaged, and when he got here she informed him that she had changed her mind. He was then on the way back home, He said, “I have been walking up and down, the street like a caged lion. I saw your sign and thought I would drop in.” Of course our first remedy was to prescribe prayer, and a cordial invitation to attend the noon prayer meeting, which he did. I stated the case without revealing his BUSINESS 209 identity. Afterwards I had some corre- spondence with him, and not so very long ago a letter full of thangsgiving was received, in which he tells me that every- thing is all right; they are now happily married. Another, who signs herself “A. Believer in Prayer,” writes: “I am in great trouble because of a sin which I did not wilfully commit. I feel God has forgiven me, but the grief and shock to my dear husband are breaking his heart. I have confessed all to him, and he wants to love me as he once did, but is unable to-do so. This trouble is not imaginary in any sense of the word, for my husband has lost eight pounds of weight in three weeks.” FINANCIAL HELP God has blessed us wonderfully in the financial support of the enterprise. Al- though a great deal of money has been spent, we have never taken a collection, nor has 2 personal solicitation been made of anyone save of the Lord. Many people bring or send money to the church, some- times anonymously, but as George Mueller used to say, “We do not always know who brings it, but we always know who sends it.” A Georgia woman whom I have never seen has sent altogether about $62 at different times. She never sends money orders or checks, hut always currency. In onc of her letters enclosing $10 she wrote, “I enjoy very much sending this money.” One morning. in the same mail, there were received two dimes, securely sewed in cloth, from an old lady in Louisiana, who wrote: “Lam old, have nothing but what ‘my friends give me;" also two dimes from Virginia, wrapped in newspaper. The sender wrote: “Here is 20 cents. I hope it will give somebody something to cat.” I spoke of these four dimes, and a Memphis banker gave me $5 for them, then gave them back and said put them on sale and I will start the bid on them for $5 each. His hid not being raised, he paid $20 for them; so that the four dimes brought $25 in cash. This banker has been led to take renewed interest in the church and its210 THE KING'S work, through the practical work of the noon prayer meeting. Several months ago a railroad office man in a Southern State requested prayer that he might get a position. He had heen out of work for quite a while. He had very fine recommendations as a railroad office man, one of them signed by a prominent official, but it seems that when he was on the eve of getting a position his application was tured down by this same official. He became very much discouraged and finally wrote: “My sister in Texas is willing for my family to go and live there un get a position. Can you arrange a loan T can $ BUSINESS for us?” We were very short of money just then, and I replied that we could not, but we would pray earnestly that God would change the enmity of that man into friendship: “Mail the last two days has brought me offers of five positions, one in New Jersey, one in North Carolina, one in Montgomery, Ala, and two in the city where I live. I have accepted the position at ——, and shall remit to you one-tenth of my salary for the prayer mecting.” He worked about one-third of a. month and sent me a check for $2.60. Yesterday a check came for $7.50, being one-tenth of his salary for October. [ The Institute Family HE public Friday night Bible classes, held great auditorium, are exceptionally successful during the present term, The opening night of the season witnessed the presence of an audience of 2000 persons, and th continued larger than last year. when the average attendance was about 1000. This is a splen- did endorsement of the Bible Institute's teachings, by the people of Los Angeles. The enrollment of students was increased by about fifty, at the opening of the winter term, making the total more than 300. They are a fine lot of young people and will do effective service for the Master in the days to come. Dr. R. A. Torrey, dean of the Bible Institute, went East to Chicago, and was one of the speakers at the Revival Con- ference held in that city from January 31 to February 5 C. H. Hurlburt, director of the Africa Inland Mission at Kijabe, British East Africa, will return to the field probably in July, having spent about a year on fur- lough, a considerable part of it with his family in Los Angeles. During the present month he will go to England, where he in our have will spend about three months. Returning to New York, he will there meet Mrs. Hurlburt and the entire family, and all will sail for Africa together. Mrs. Hurl- burt formerly spent five years at Kijabe, but several years ago returned, leaving one daughter, Alta, who has been here on furlough, with her father. An arrangement has been effected where- by the Institute will place religious litera- ture on all transpacifie steamers sailing from San Francisco. A. Edward Heiniger, one of our students now in Chicago, writes of the success of Rev. H. C. Fulton, also a former student, but now pastor of the old Danish Baptist Church at Raymond Center, Wis, It is said to be the oldest Danish church in the United States, having recently celebrated its six- ticth anniversary, Mr. Heiniger preached for him on last Thanksgiving Day. Miss Edith G. Harris and Miss M. Ruth Kolachny, graduates in the Class of 1916, have now joined the missionary colony at Kijabe, British East Africa, and are rejoicing in the actual commencement of the high calling they have chosen. Miss Winifred Banta, a former student,THE KING'S was united in marriage with John 1 Daniel, on Christmas, at the her Mr. and Mrs. B. A. Banta, Colo- home of parents, rado Springs, Cole. H. E. Grings, working with George P. Wicker in Mendocino County. finds his work fascinating. He says: “I am’ glad to be here in the Church Extension work. BUSINESS ail ndian School are ill, and it is expected many of the older ones of the tribe will die this winter of tuberculosis. The tribe numbers about 1400. They never have heard the story of Jesus before. My brother is the first missionary to that tribe, only thirty hours’ ride from Los Angeles. When hg,tells them the story of H. E. Grings, Mendocino County Missionary. ‘There are about 15.000 people to be reached the rural districts of Mendocino county It is like a big gold mine, and already T found several nuggets. Of course. I to handle a good deal of material to have ve ol prospecting them, but it is fascinating work.” and do considerable find Harry Anderson, former student, now doing home missionary and work in Missouri, writes: “God ha blessing me here amongst the unsaved col- lege boys. They are beginning to read the Bible in answer to prayer on the part of God's children, and I am praying that it will convict and convert. My brother writes that almost fifty per cent. of the Indian boys and girls of Truxton Canyon evangelistic been fable, because the white man did not tell them of it long ago.” Jesus they think it is a E. H. Osborne, one of our boys now in Idaho, writes: “I enjoy working here very much. The meetings are successful and many calls come from different parts of the State. This country is full of seminary men, and while I would not be uncharitable in the least degree, their churches have frozen up on their hands. I have just returned from holding a meeting with one of them and found the church in frightful condition spiritually. They all ought to Institute, or out of the minis- are blind to their real need. get into the try, but theyTHE BUSINESS OF THE WHOLE CHURCH SH) gelistic campaign has had its own characteristic keynote. The predominant note of the Edwards was the sovereignty of God: God must be worshiped; God is absolute; God is King. Under Wesley, the doctrine of free will received special emphasis: “Who- soever will, let him come;” “Him that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out.” Under Finney, the noteeof per- sonal responsibility seemed to be the out. standing one: “How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation?’ Under Moody, the vision of God's love to man was the characteristic in his great revival campaigns. If there shall come upon us in these last days a campaign anything similar to those campaigns of the past; if the past is any prophet of the future; if the temple of the future is to be built on the founda- tion of the past; if the present enables us in any sense of the word to tell what shall be the nature of the great campaign and revival that is yet to come, or that has begun, but is yet to come in its fullness, then I am of the firm opinion that the predominant note of the revival that is to come wilt be that of Personal Evangelism for Jesus Christ. Such a revival must begin with the church itself and not with the masses. The Old —| By William Evans, Ph. D., D. D. Associate Dean of the Bible Institute of Los Angeles Testament shows us that when the fear of God fell on Israel, and when that nation fell on its face before God and assumed right relations with Him, then the fear of God fell on the nations round about them. “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me”—then, when the church is right, when the believer is right—then “shall sinners be converted unto thee.” The disciples of old began their revival at Jerusalem. Can there be a better place for us to begin a personal evangelistic revival than at the church door, yea, within the walls of the church? That the church is indifferent and hypo- critical is too true. Judgment must there- fore hegin with the Church ‘of God. ITS GREAT IMPORTANCE The importance of Personal Evangelism cannot be overestimated. We have noth- ing to say against revivals as a means of extending the kingdom of God. We believe in revivals. We believe ‘in fishing with a hook, sa that we may catch one fish at a time. We believe also in catching fish with a great net. Each kind of fishing has its place. There are some fish you never can catch with a net; they can only be caught with a hook and line. They can not be caught in shoals, but only one at a time. We are not going to find fault with a man who is a mechanic because he uses his left hand instead of the right. Nor are we going to say that the only way to214 reach a desired goal is by running, for you can get there by walking also. So you can gather in souls by the great revival net, or you can gather them in with the single hook of personal evangelism. You may be left-handed or right-handed, you may run or walk, and yet be successful. Whatever our faith in revivals, their de- sired end is to make more effective and efficient the individual Christian in the work of soul-winning. Any revival that does not result in a movement on the part of the Church towards individual soul- saving is a failure. Do we not: too often make the mistake of trying to sweep people into the kingdom of God in crowds? Much has been said about men being like sheep, but you cannot deal with men as you deal with sheep. What is a man better than a sheep? In what does his superiority consist? Is it not that he is a personality, in that he must be dealt with indiyidually, personally and alone? You cannot sweep men into the kingdom as you chase a flock of sheep into a fold. You have got to deal with men personally and individually; hence the altar service after the invitation has been given; hence the need of personal workers, This talk of “social salvation” is not to the point. You may care for sheep in flocks but men must be cared for individually and alone. THE GREATEST ONE Jesus Christ was a great personal evan- gelist. Did you ever notice how He got His disciples? He did not get them by great sermons. There was not in the whole of His public ministry anything like a general religious movement. It is quite safe to say’ that there was no great revival. Tt was by individual work that Christ's cause grew. He was walking by the sea- shore, and seeing two men casting in a net, He said to them, “Come, follow me.” He passed by the roadside, and secing a man in a publican’s booth, He said, “Come, fol- low me.” Qne by one, man by man, that is the way Jesus got His disciples. Then He enthused into them His own person- THE KING'S BUSINESS ality and spirit. and sent them out to save individual men. Jt was thus that the Church of Jesus Christ grew until it coy- ered the earth. Go through the four Gospels and con- sider well if the gospel of individual evan- gclism is not the prominent keynote of all of the four, Take the Acts of the Apostles: Pentecost is passed over with comparatively small mention, but the Church doing individual work for Jesus Christ—John here. Peter there, Philip here and another disciple there. going from house to house and from city to city—is given in detail, The church at Ephesus did not begin with a great revival, but with the personal work of one individual, The church at Galatia was not founded by Pauline oratory; it was founded when the apostle lay there sick for six months, and the only place from which he could preach was his sick bed. Take the church, at Colosse as another illustration: Epaphras the layman, founded the church there. How was the church at Rome founded? By the individual apostle being chained there and speaking individually to men as they came to visit hin in prison, Personal work all through, you sce, AN AGREED FACT Pastors acknowledge that the best addi- tions to their churches are the result of personal evangelism. or individual work. Bishop Hughes gives his opinion of per- sonal evangelism as follows: He said that when a pastor, a revival in his church cover- ing two years resulted in forty-eight ‘con- verts—eleven men and thirty-seven women. As the result of personal work during the same period there were seventy-five con- verts—forty men and thirty-five women. Here is the solution of the pastor's prob- lem as to how to reach the men. The women will come to church, but every wife knows -how indifferent her husband is to- ward the house of God, If you want to get the men into the church, how are you going to get them? By Personal Evangel- ism. The writer overheard a conversation between two pastors some time ago, OneTHE KING’S BUSINESS 215 was going up to the Conference with an addition of seventy members during the year, and fifty of them were men, the most of them being received on confession of faith. The other pastor was going to the Conference with two additions to the church, both women, and they were by letter and not by confession of faith. Said the pastor with two to the pastor with seventy, “How did you do it? How did you get so many men into your church?” The successful pastor answered, “Let me ask you a question: What did you do for the men? Have you called on any busi- ness men in their offices?” “Well, no,” artswered the other pastor, “I haven't.’ “Do you spend any evenings with men in their homes?" “Well, not to speak of. I have been so busy with committee meet- ings and officers’ meetings.” Said the other pastor, “I have spent hour after hour, day after day in the office, in the store, and in the homes of men.” O brothers in the min- istry, we may tap doorbells, sip afternoon tea with the ladies, and even hold babies, but if we are going to get men into the church, we must go after them and by per- sonal effort win them for Jesus Christ. THE GREATEST FORCE Preaching will not always win them. If we want men in our congregations, if we want men to know the Lord Jesus Christ, there isn't any force in the world like per- sonal evangelism to accomplish that re- sult. In preaching. the intensity of the ap- peal is in inverse proportion to the area cov- ered, so the psychologists tell us. The larger your audience, the smaller the prob- ability of your appeal going to the individ- ual heart. For instance, if you have twenty persons in your audience, your message is divided among twenty; if you have a thou- sand in your audience your message is divided among a thousand. Thus you see that the larger your audience, the smaller the probability of your message being effee- tive, because your message scatters, Audi- ences are usually very liberal. They put up their umbrellas and let the showers of truth run down somebody else's neck. But when you get an individual in a corner and de- liver your message to him he cannot get away from it. It is the message for him; he cannot give it to anybody else. Beecher said, “Give me the audience of one man, where one man is the audience, and where everything I say goes straight to the heart of that one man.” Close observation shows that the preachers who are known as great soul-winners and church-builders lay spe- cial emphasis on personal evangelism. Dr. J. 0. Peck is quoted as saying that if he had the certainty that he had but ten years to live, and as a condition of his gaining heaven at the end of that time he was to win a thousand, of even ten thousand souls for Christ. and he was given the oppor tunity of winning them by preaching ser- mons or by individual effort, he would choose individual evangelism every time, and stand a better chance of winning ten thousand. FOR THE MINISTERS. Brethren in the ministry, here is the individual message for us, Have you ever thought what would happen if every min- ister in every denomination would win one soul a month for a year? One million six hundred thousand would be brought into the kingdom of God. Is that important? It took five preachers one year, according to certain church statistics, to bring one person into church fellowship, and that does not always mean bringing that person to Jesus Christ. It took thirty-three and one-fourth church members to bring one member into the church ina year. Tt took four Sunday School teachers to bring one scholar to the Sunday School in the same Iength of time. We are told that one hun- dred and nineteen churches in New Eng- land reported not one single accession to the church on confession of faith in a sin- gle year. They toiled a whole year and caught nothing, yea, some of them did not even hold their own. In the face of such facts and figures, brethren, why is it that we do not engage in work of personal evangelism? Is it because we are not taught it in our semi-216 naries? I have three boys, and I have given them every one to God. I expect some day to give them to the seminary. © seminaries, theological professors, we ask you to take our sons and make men of God out of them, If they come to you crude, polish them; if they are conceited, take it out of them; if they are ignorant, educate them, Put them on the operating table if necessary, do anything with them, only send them out with a passion for men and women such as was never put into our breasts! That is where we must begin our work of personal evangelism. BE SOUL WINNERS Brethren in the ministry, let us preach for souls. Never mind art and literature and music. We have specialists who can deliver lectures on those themes much bet ter than we can. Let us do something they cannot do: feed the sheep ;.go after the lost and straying. It may mean, my brother. that you will have to change your sermons. I think it was Dr. Wilton Merle Smith I heard at Northfield some time ago who said that when he came face to face with the fact of preaching to save the lost, the question came to him, “Am I willing to die to my sermonie reputation?” “Except a grain of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone.” I remember Mr. Frost telling me the last time he was here that a relative of his was a very popular pastor in St. Louis, His church was crowded all the time with people, and one day while in his study he thought he saw a vision and Christ said to him in the vision, “Whom are you preaching?” “Why,” he said, “Lord, I am preaching the Bible.” “No,” the voice said, “Whom are you preaching?” “Why, Lord, I am preaching the gospel.” “No, whom are-you preaching?” and I had to fall on my face and confess that I had been preaching myself, and I took every sermon, that I had and burned it, and I went into my pulpit on Sunday morning and I told my people what had happened; and one by one they left me until I had but a cor- poral’s guard instead of a full house, but ‘one by one new ones came in and I got a THE KING'S BUSINESS new church and a new people.” “Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone, but if it die,” what then? It bringeth forth much fruit, and before some of us can do anything for the Master in our preaching, we have got to die to our sermonic reputation and preach Christ and Him crucified, There is danger of the Church becoming a mutual admiration society; the pastor tells the people how much he thinks of them, and the people tell the pastor how much they think of him. Our members come to us and say, “That was a fine sermon you gave us,” and we turn around and say, “Thank you, I am so glad you appreciate it; T am glad you liked it” SEEK THE LOST Let us remiind ourselves of the Master's words, “What man of you, having a hun- dred sheep. if he lose one, doth not leave the ninety and nine and go into the wilder- ness after that which is gone astray until he find it?”* Would it not be more pleasing to God if we left the ninety and nine well- fed sheep in the church Sunday morning— those people who are in their seats at the punetual morning hour, those people—the old guard, they have been called, deat souls. you don’t know what you would do without them, you are so used to seeing them in their accustomed: places; and for the life of you, you don't know what to do with them—would it not be more pleasing to God, we repeat. if we left those well-fed sheep in the fold and went after the lost sheep and tried to bring the wandering ones back into the fold? The life of the sheep is in the hands of the shepherd. A shiftless shepherd means starved sheep. Put new life into the shep- herd and you will get new life into the sheep. The Church of today is in need of a ministry that will take the lead in this matter of personal evangelism in belialf of the lost. A pastor was holding evangelistic services in one of our large cities. He was not having results; the unconverted were not being drawn into the Church, “He was burdened about it, and prayed in his room* THE KING'S BUSINESS before he went to the meeting that God would help him in this matter. As he was going to the meeting, he saw three young men standing on the corner of the street. Here was an opportunity to talk to three men personally. He stepped up to them and said, “Young men, I would like to ask if you are Christians?” “Yes, thank you,” said two of them, “we are, and belong to the Methodist Church.” The third said, “I am not, but my mother is a Christian and belongs to the Methodist Chureh.” “Well,” said the pastor, “won't you come to th church tonight with me?” He said, “I can- not very well; I am preparing for a high school examination.” But after a great deal of urging, the young man accepted the pastor’s invitation, went to the church, was converted that very night, and today is preaching the gospel. That pastor was A. C. Dixon, now pastor of Spurgeon’s Taber- nacle, London, who is now crowding the old Tabernacle—a thing which has not been done before since Spurgeon died. Every pastor that goes after men will have a church that goes after them too. The work must begin with the pastor. He must be not only a feeder of sheep, but also a steker after the lost. PREACHERS IN THE PEW But the Church, too, has a responsibility in the matter of personal evangelism. The Church is to be a personal evangelistic force. The Church is not merely, certainly not primarily, a field in which to work so much as it is a force with which to accom- plish God's purposes in the world, It mat- ters not how magnificent a history a church may have, nor how heavily its library shelves may be groaning beneath the weight of its historical origin; no church, be it Presbyterian, Baptist, Methodist, Congregational, or any other denomination, can live on past history. No church can live on history at all. The Church must live on souls, and the very minute she ceases to go after souls, she dies. We hear a great deal being said about the church being a conservator and defender of the faith, We are told thct the church’s busi- 217 ness is to be evangelical, and that it does not matter so much about being evange- listic, If we understand the church of Jesus Christ aright, the church that is evangelical must and, indeed, will be evangelistic. What is evangelical truth? What is an evangel cal church? An evangelical church is one that believes that all men are lost outside of Jesus Christ, that believes that the race is going down to ruin without the redemp- tion of Jesus Christ, that there is nothing in the world that can save a man or woman but faith in the Lord Jesus. That is an evangelical church, Can a pastor or any member of such an evangelical church believe that truth and not be evangelistic, and not go out into the streets and bring in men and women to be saved? EVANGELISTIC CHURCHES If you stood outside a house and saw the flames coming out of the window and knew that a family were sleeping within, ignorant of the danger, would you, could you stand there idly and make no effort to rescue those within? No, certainly not. Nor do we believe that men are lost if we stand idly by and do nothing to save them. No church is really evangelical that is not evangelistic. Our Lord said, The gates of hell shall never prevail against the Church. Some of us may have in our minds a picture of the powers of evil attacking the Church of Jesus Christ, waging the battle and bringing their forces right up to the very gates of the Church. But we have changed our viewpoint here. We find, as we study ancient methods of warfare, that the people did not carry the gates up to the enemy, but the enemy came up to the gates. We have here, then, a pictorial representation of the Church of Jesus Christ carrying her warfare right up to the gates of hell and not waiting until the gates of hell come to her. ‘The Church takes her message, her gospel, right to the very gates of the foe and wins her éon- flicts there. And not until the Church of Jesus Christ takes her message out to the individual, out to the sinner, out to the gates of hell, shall she prevail. The whole218 THE KING'S BUSINESS church, not the pastor alone, must be doing this work of personal evangelism. The gospel we need to preach is not that of social reform, but of spiritual redemp- tion, True, there are certain social prob- lems that must be faced: problems of charity, socialism, and social economy. But there are other regularly organized forces that can attend to these problems. Let the Church attend to the business of soul- winning. RETARDED GROWTH The Church has not grown. Certainly it has not grown as it ought to have done, Do you know why it has not grown? Some denominations and many individual churches have lost in membership, and yet we boast of the forward movement of the Church, What is this forward movement? It seems to be a treadmill movement— motién, but no progress, It is a marking time, a standing still. We are not advanc- ing as much as men with such a gospel ought to advance. Why is it? If every member of the Church would go to worl and win one soul a year, and that one soul would win another, and those two, two more, and those four. four more, and so on, in thirty-three years the whole world would be brought to Jesus Christ. What do you think of that? John R. Mott said to the writer one day when talking on this subject in Mr. Moody's room at the Moody Bible Institute, “This is the’room in which the motto “The world for Christ in this generation’ was born.” I said, "Do you think that such a thing is possible?” Mr. Mott replied, “I know it is possible if the Church of Jesus Christ will do her work.” Thirty-three years of such personal evan- gelism will bring the world to Christ. It is not likely that the whole world will be saved, but it can be evangelized in a gen- eration. What, then, is the matter with the Church that she is not doing this work? The trouble with the Church today is that she is being killed with decorum and is dying with dignity. We are very demo- cratic, and yet we are very aristocratic, too. Everything must be done decently and in order in the Sunday service. “Wasn't that a splendid service? Everything moved along so harmoniously. There wasn’t a hitch in the whole program. I mever saw such a beautiful service in my life. Things seemed to go so smoothly and so nicely.” This is the opinion we covet for our ser- vices, and our decorum and dignity have robbed us of the blessing and fulfilment of Joel's vision. We are afraid of being called crazy; we are afraid of being called drunk as were the apostles and Jesus. The trouble with the Church is that she can be explained. Everything we do in our services can be explained and duplicated by the men of the world, The marvelous effect on the day of Pentecost consisted largely in the fact that something was done there that could neither be explained nor done by any natural means. LIFE-SAVING CREW But it is true, brethren, that not only must the pastor do it, but every individual member of the church must do personal evangelism. The preaching is like the fog horn; it has its place and its use. Its purpose is to warn ships away from the rocks. But a fog horn can never take the place of the life-saving érew. The preacher may be like the fog horn and the church like a life boat, and both may be splen- didly equipped. But of what use is the fog horn to save the sailor perishing on the wreck? Or of what use is the life boat if it is not manned by individual effort and taken out to the wreck? The Mormon Church requires that every male Mormon must give two years of his life to the work of personal evangelism. Has not the Mor- mon evangelist already come to your house and to mine? Every village, every school, every university, every home, affords the Mormon a field for personal effort. These missionaries are doing their work silently, but nevertheless effectively. Every Mormon a missionary. Why should not the Christian Church adopt as its slogan, “Every church member a personal evangelist for Jesus Christ?”THE KING'S BUSINESS 2ly ~ What is it that impresses us in our read- g of the New Testament as the most marked characteristic of the early Chris- tians? Is it not their utter absorption in the salvation of their fellow men? So enthusiastic were they in their own faith, so anxious were they that every one else should share in the blessings of the gospel, that they were willing to be wanderers on the face of the earth, willing to live in dens, willing to be burned, willing to be covered with pitch and be made material for bonfires, willing to be torn asunder, willing to be cast to the wild beasts in the arena—glad to die if only men could be saved. Before such a church as that the devil did not have the ghost of a show, And when the adversary saw that thes¢ personal evangelistig Christians were carrying every- thing before them, what did he do? He said, I will have to get even with these people somehow, and so he introduced per- sonal work by proxy. He got the church member to call a minister to do the work for him. So we now have two classes in the church: the clergy and the laity. It is supposed that to the minister now is delegated all the work of preaching and soul-winning. The layman goes about his daily business; he has delegated by proxy his soul-winning duties to the minister. THE MASTER'S COMMAND What was the Master's command to every Christian? Was it not, Go, speak this word, open men’s eyes, tear off the bandages from their eyes, open and unstop their deaf ears, arouse them, wake them up, tell them they are lost and how they can be saved. Go, save men. Is not that what the Master said? Oh, the masses, how they need to be saved! They do fot need to be convinced of theological proposi- tions, but they do need to know the story of the Christian faith, for know it they must if they are to be saved. And know it they shall, if not through the Christian, then through the scientist. It would be better for the Church that the masses Icarned the certainty and hope and power of the Christian faith through the Chris- tian, rather than through the scientist. Science has demonstrated that faith is a reality. It has taken both faith and prayer into its laboratory and demonstrated that these things are real. But must the world be convinced of the reality of prayer and faith through the scientist, or through the believer in Christ and the theologian? The world is waiting for the Christ who can save it. The individual Christian rust consider himself responsible for the carry- ing of Christ to the world. He cannot evade this responsibility. He cannot serve by proxy. God holds him responsible. Do not continue to ask, “Am I my brother's: keeper?” This always seems to me to be a cold, heartless, Godless, Christless ques- tion for"anybody to ask. If you continue to ask, “Am I my brother's keeper;” if you continue to neglect the personal evangel- istic element of the gospel, though you build fine churches, though you have your magnificent choirs, though you have your splendid ecclesiastical organization, some day the Master will meet you, for His words fail not, and hold you responsible for your neglect. He will meet you there before the throne, and around you will be gathered the men and the women whose souls you have neglected, the widow, the orphan, the outcast, the prisoner, the hun- gry, the crowds that have had no compass; the ranks that have had no refuge: the souls that have had no salvation; the hearts that have had no home of faith. These will rise up against you as so many witnesses in the last great day. And as Jesus Christ, who loved these people, gathers these nameless human wrecks, these broken hearts for their final disposition, methinks He will cry out with convicting nearness to the truth, “Inasmuch as ye did it not to the least of these my brethren, ye did it not unto me.” SEEK THE LOST Go out into the world where men are looking for Christ. You say they don't want Christ. Very true, but Christ wants. them. You say they don’t want the Church.220 True, but the Church wants them, or at least it ought to. It is our place to take Christ and His gospel to the lost and perishing sons of men. Shall we do it? A soldier lay on a field of battle after a hard- fought battle. He was mortally wounded. He lay from noon, all afternoon, until evening time, until the sun sect and the moon came out. There seemed to be no help for him; and no surgeon had come to bind up his wounds, A fellow soldier had. given him a drink of water and that had revived him somewhat, He was just about to pass off into unconsciousness when he saw the light of a lantern. Nearer and nearer came the light, and his heart beat faster and faster at its approach. The light stopped by him. Looking up he recognized the face of the surgeon. After examining the wounded man the surgeon said to his assistant: “Poor fellow, he is badly wounded. Iam afraid he won't get over it, but if he lives until sundown tomorrow, he will get well.” The surgeon passed on. These words had been heard and had fallen deep into the heart of the wounded man. “If he lives until sundown, he will get well.” “If I live until sundown, 1 will get well; then I will see my little baby-boy again, and will feel his little arms around THE KING'S BUSINESS neck and his little lips on my cheek. If I live until sundown—then Iwill see my precious wife and I will throw my arms ‘around her neck and tell her how I love her, If I live until sundown—ah, then I will see my dear old mother once again, and I will Dury my head in her lap just as I used to when I was a little boy, and tell her all about the agony and the pain of these terrible days. If I live until sundown"—and he watched with anxious eye the sun as it rose in the east, and then followed it with wandering gaze as it stood over him and then as it went down over the west, and his heart beat faster and his thoughts went more toward home—"If I liye until sundown”—and as the great sun was going down, the Son of Man reached down through the clouds and put His nail- pierced hand over the wound and stanched the flow of blood until the sun went down, and the moon shone and the stars came out, and the man was saved. ‘This world is a battlefield. Men are lying wounded all around us and saying, “If T could only hear the message of God.” Will you be the pierced hand, will you reach down and put your hand over the wounded, broken heart and stanch the flow of blood until the Christ comes and life comes?LIGHT ON PUZZLING PASSAGES and PROBLEMS By R. A. TORREY 0. Was it possible for our Lord to sin? It was not. Our Lord was holy. His holiness was the fundamental fact about His character. He was absolutely holy. “The Holy One” (Acts 4:27, 30). As abso- lutely holy, sin made no appeal whatever to Him. He loved righteousness and hated iniquity (Heb, 1:19), Sin found no response in Him whatever. He was tempted in all points like as we are, but He was tempted “without sin” (Heb. 4:15). The Greek word translated “without” in this passage means “apart from.” The sense of it is something with which one has no associa~ tion whatever, something with which one has absolutely no connection or fellowship. Sin found absolutely no response in the heart of our Lord Jesus. The impossibility of His sinning, however, lay entirely in His own perfectly holy character. ‘It was a moral impossibility, but none the less abso- lute because moral. Just as God could not lie (Titus 1:2), because He would not lie,» because in Him was no darkness at ‘all (1 John 1:5), so Jesus could not sin because He would not sin. If the Lord Jesus could not sin, in what way did the temptation affect Him? For if He could not sin there would be no glory in the temptation. We have given this question just as written, but we think our questioner has left out some words. We presume that he means, no glory in the victory over the temptation. ‘The fact that our Lord could not sin does not make the temptation any less real. Temptations come from appetites and desires which are perfectly proper in their place. For example, take the Lord’s first temptation. He had. been without food for forty days. -He was hungry, one of the hungyiest men that ever lived, and so the temptation to get something to cat was very real, and therefore it was a real test- ing anda real temptation. But not for one moment even in thought did our Lord yield to the suggestion of gratifying His perfectly proper appetite, His hunger, in an unlawful way. So with our temptations, the longing may be very real and very intense, and therefore the temptation very real, but if one is holy, he will not yield to the temptation to gratify the longing or desire in a wrong way. That does not make the temptation any less real. As to the glory in victory over the temptation, there was all the more glory in it because it came from His absolute holiness, and as the temptation was real the victory was real. Could we say that in His human nature it was possible for our Lord to sin, but as God man in His Divine nature He could not do any sin? No, Jesus was not only holy as God man, He was holy as.man. In His human char- acter He was absolutely holy and therefore could not’ sin. In His human nature, which was an absolutely holy nature, He could not sin, irrespective of the fact that He was also Divine. :EVANGELISTIC DEPARTMENT _ REVIEW OF THE MONTH'S ACTIVITIES By Bible Institute Workers WORK IN THE SHOPS, David Cant, Supt. MAN said to us, the other day, that he had been accumulating some tithe money, and knew of no better, place to invest it than in bringing the Gospel to the men in the shops. This man was but recently brought out of deep spiritual dark- ness into the clear light of the saving power of the Lord Jesus, and from the beginning has grown by leaps and bounds, having a deep hunger for the Word, a loving desire to reach the other fellow, a desire to give himself and his means—all indicating a thorough work of grace, nothing forced or pressing heyond the work of the Holy Spirit, but just a real growth in grace and knowledge, “By their fruits ye shall know them,” and while the Lord looks upon the heart and knows His own, we may look upon the fruits in their lives and rejoice and give Him the glory. We shall not soon forget the impression made by one sad face in a recent testimony meeting, in which we were just talking out of our hearts what Jesus Christ really meant to us. The message came with love and joy from the band of Christian men, but through it all this poor fellow sat with downcast eyes, never making the slightest effort to move. When the service was over we felt constrained to talk with him. After while he opened up a little, and between the broken’ lines of a broken story. we read the same old tale which we hear every day— one who had once stoad firm and true for the faith, but temptation came, he fell, and then the adversary easily perstaded him it was no use. What a joy to tell him of God’s faithfulness, of the blessed interces- sory work of Christ, the open door all waiting. “Faithful amid unfaithfulness, His heart can only love.” We left him with the printed Word-in his hand, the spoken word in his heart; believing, as he expressed it, that “things will be far different in my life from tonight.” Truly, “there shall be more joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth, than over ninety- and-nine just persons who need no repentance.” Wasn't it Mr. Moody who said, “If you go through this world with love in your heart, you will make people love you?” Apropos of this truth, about a year ago God led us to give the message in a special engine house, and it was a case of love at first sight. These splendid men got a grip on our hearts, which we have never tried to shake off. They are a bunch of clean- cut, great, red-blooded. real men, who simply challenge one's admiration. As they sat quietly and reverently, with uncovered heads, week after week, under the unfolding of the grand old Book, we felt honored to carry them on our hearts that the faith which worketh by love would grip and stick and make them mighty men in His service. It would be difficult to express our surprise and pleasure, when, just previous to Christmas Day, a letter reached us enclosing a most substantial expression of their good will. Here is what they wrote, which it were well worth a whole received : Tife-time of service, to have224 “Dear Brother: In sending you this little token, we are expressing in a very small way our appreciation of the pleasant, hours we have spent in hearing you tell ‘The story that never grows old.’ Hoping that it will be accepted in the same spirit in which it is offered, arid wishing you many happy returns of the day, we remain, THE KING'S BUSINESS The Boys who love you. We are also enclosing an order for your able assistant.” “Give and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down and shaken together and running over. shall men give into your bosoms. with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured unto you again.” For ieee WORK OF THE BIBLE WOMEN Mrs. T. ©. Horton, Supt. H, Lam so glad to see you,” exclaimed a lady as she opened the door to the Bible woman. And then she told an experience so tangled that it seemed only God could smooth it out. The Bible woman prayed for guidance and then asked the lady, who was a Christian, if she had prayed about it. She said, “yes.” “Then,” said the Bible woman, “when you meet to discuss the matter have a prayer mecting first. Get them in a place where they will meet God, before you have any discussion about it.” The dear woman promised she would, saying: “I believe this is the solu- tion of the matter. although I should not have thought of doing that. God must Truly, many and varied are the incidents in a Bible woman's life. have sent you.” A worker's heart was rejoiced one day at being invited to “come in” in the follow= ing way: “I have been looking into Chris- tian Science of late, but so much of it I cannot understand; maybe you can help me out” We found a really hungry-hearted woman. She admitted the things in Chris- tian Science did not satisfy her, and she could not understand it; still she did not understand the Bible. We showed her very simply God's plan and His way, and when the direct question was put to her, “Can you, and will you, receive Jesus Christ as your Saviour?” she said with a true ring in her voice, “I can and 1 will,” with such a light in her eye that it sent us to Him in a prayer of real praise. ‘Another woman came to the door with such a look of real suffering. We made our introduction very brief, and said: “You are in trouble. Let me help you.” She burst into tears and replied: “No one can; I am living in a perfect hell.” Any one would agree with her were her story known. but we were able to quiet her by telling her of the Master who loved her and would never desert her. One Bible woman is attacking the strongholds of Christian Science this year, and already one woman has had her deliv- I studied Christian Science for three years,” she said, and paid $100 to attend their school, but I never found any- thing that satisfied in here (laying her hand on her heart), until I came to the Bible class and found Christ. My relatives are all Christian Scientists, and they tell me that human ties do not count, but they do, and I shall keep praying and working for them until they all come to Christ.” Let us pray that this may indeed come to pass. The door was opened by a sweet-faced little woman, evidently in a great hurry, “Nothing today; nothing today.” “I haven't anything to sell,” answered the Bible woman, “but am visiting in the neighbor- hood, trying to locate Christians and non- Christians.” This brought a quick response from the woman, and the story was but the story of many others in our great city: “A stranger here; once a Baptist, a daugh- ter of a minister, but now going anywhere, though very much interested in Christian Science.” Then came the opportunity for the Bible woman to present the Scripture concerning this false doctrine, and to make erance.THE KING’S BUSINESS plain the way of salvation. After an hour spent over-the Word, the tangles were straightened out and the Bible woman left, rejoicing that one who had wandered from the fold had returned to the Father's love. The afternoon had, been most discourag- ing. One after another had seemed so indifferent to the claims of the Lord Jesus Christ. Some had blasphemed the Holy Name, saying they did not believe; God was only a myth, conjured up in the frenzied brain of some fanatics. Others had said the Bible was only ancient history and not at all accurate even as history. ‘The worker was almost discouraged and prayed God to lead to some one who would really listen; someone who wanted the truth, Just as she prayed, she saw a young woman sitting on the porch. Going up, with an introductory remark about making Christmas presents, the Bible woman entered into conversation and found a soul hungry for the truth, At last the question ‘Do you want this Saviour for Dropping her work she said, 225 ‘oh, so earnestly, “I do, but I do not know how to do it” Then the Bible woman had the joy of showing to this seeking soul, Jesus who had done it all, showing her there was nothing to do; that all had been done on Calvary long ago; and there on the porch, with heads bowed in prayer, another soul came home and gave herself in glad surrender to Him who loved her and who had died for her. Heard in the Bible classes: “My father was a minister, and two uncles are also, but T never read the Bible as I do now. It is a new Book to me, and oh, so precious.” Said another: “I tried to read the Bible through alone, but it was such hard work. Now, as I study, things are so much clearer and have so much mean- ing.” Still another said: “I never knew the Old Testament held so much for us. One can get the Gospel in the Old as well as in the New Testament. It is wonderful how much we can find when God shows the way.” oo THE NEGLECTED FIELDS Geo. P. Wicker, Evangelist EVANGELIST George P. Wicker, who, with his wife, is representing the Christian Endeavor Society of the Church of the Open Door in some of the neglected and unreached counties of California, writes as follows: “Few of us realize that right near us in our own State lies a field that is “white to the harvest,” where the cross of Christ has seldom or ever been lifted up, and where, in many communities, children have grown to manhood and womanhood without the opportunity of attending either church or Sunday School. I talked to one woman who had never attended a Sunday School or church service until after she married, had children of her own and moved to another community. These people have souls, but “how shall they hear without a preacher?” The dif- ferent denominations have not shirked their responsibility, but have reached as far as their finances would allow, and many faithful pastors have taken on extra work in an effort to reach out into these neglected. places. One pastor whom I met, already having two charges seventeen miles apart, preaching alternate Sundays, took four other communities under his wing, and had a call to come to still another, where a Gospel sermon had not been preached for twenty-five years. However, we find the devil ig busy sending in Christian Science, Russellite, Seventh Day Adventist and other similar literature. . [The Bible Institute will be glad to for- ward funds for this much-needed and practically-organized work.—T. C. Horton, Supt.] In Mendocino County we have under-226 taken to solve the problem by the organ- ization of a board consisting of one man from each evangelical denomination, the pastors acting as an advisory board, thereby making the work interdenomina- tional. The worker goes from one com- munity to another, visits every home, organ- izes Sunday Schools wherever possible, and if he finds a family so situated that they are unable to attend any place of wor- ship, and they will agree to teach their chil- dren the Sunday School lesson, they are supplied with literature of the denomination of their choice, by the pastor of that “denomination. THE KING'S BUSINESS The reports from this worker for the first four weeks are very satisfactory, show- ing one hundred families visited, three Sun- day Schools organized; one hundred and twenty persons dealt with regarding their soul's salvation: eighteen professed con- versions; 770 tracts distributed ; forty-two Gospels, twelve Testaments and several Colportage hooks given out. The pastors of Lake and Colusa counties are co-operating with us in placing a worker in the unreached and neglected communi- ties in their respective counties, each county hearing half of the expense. ogg WORK AMONG THE JEWS James A. Vaus, Supt. F THE very noticeable signs of life in the Fig Tree are any indication—and Scripture says they are—then one would be justified in believing that the coming of the Son of Man is near, “even at the doors.” The Jews of foday are more ready to listen to the claims of Jesus Christ than at any time since the destruction of Jerusalem. There is a stir among the “dry bones” and conversions, which in time past have been so rare, are of frequent occurrence. In response to a request, a worker called on a woman, and in the-conversation that followed learned that she was a Christian Scientist. The visitor desired to talk of God and the things of the Bible, so the lady brought out her Bible and with it a copy of “Science and Health.” The worker, anxious to avoid, as far as possible, any antagonism, made no attack on Christian Science, knowing that if she could get the lady to accept the teaching of the Scripture along certain lines, she would have no further use for “Science and Health.” With that end in view, the teaching of the Bible concerning the Deity of Jesus Christ was studied, and to such good purpose that she became very much interested, so much so in fact that as time went on and she had more and more light thrown on the teach- ings of Scripture, she received Jesus Christ. not as a “spiritual idea.” but as the very God of Heaven, who was manifested in human form, To hear her testimony is to” know that she has passed from death unto Many of our orthodox and reform Jews, dissatisfied with present-day Judaism. drifting into Christian Science, thinking to find gratification of their craving after spiritual things, but find themselves instead “out of the frying pan into the fire” The failure of Judaism to satisfy the heart- longing after God, and the demands of con- science, in the face of death, is well iffus- trated by the following incident: A Hebrew, born of strietly orthodox parents, and well instructed in things per- taining to the Jewish religion, became afflicted with that dread disease, tubercu- losis. For years he was under the doctor's care, but in spite of medical treatment he continued to grow worse. A change of climate was suggested and he left his home for California. Here. instead of being benefited, his sickness. was aggravated, and he was confronted with the prospect of death at no distant date. Judaism could not bring peace to the troubled heart; he knew he must meet God, and he did not oo he arei. THE KING'S BUSINESS know what the outcome would be. Like Rabbi Jochanan Ben’ Jackai, of old, he saw two roads before him, one leading to Gon- Aden (Paradise), the other leading to Gehennum (Hades), and he knew not which of these two roads he was on. A friend brought him to our Mission Home, where a long conversation was held with him, His troubled eyes had such a wistful look in them as he said he would indeed like to know before he went to meet God that his sins were all forgiven. It was pointed out to him that “God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the Fathers of the Prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son;” “Who His own self vare our sins, in His own body on.the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness.” Further, that, God has never had but one way of forgiveness of sins, and that is by faith in the blood of sacrifice, Even though Jerusalem is the only place of sacrifice, according to the law of Moses, and though the nation is without a priesthood, king or sacrifice, yet God has opened up a “new and living way,” 227 whereby men can find the necessary sacrifice to meet the demands of the broken law; “for the law, having a shadow of good things to come and not the very image of the things, can never, with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually, make the comers thereunto perfect.” The proofs of the Messiahship of Jesus from the Jewish Bible (old Testament) were so many in number and so convincing, that the visitor was deeply impressed, and taking some literature with him, departed, saying, “If I find what you say is true, T will accept Jesus as my Messiah.” It was not long before he paid a second visit to our home, and told us he was satis- fied of the truth of the claims of Jesus and was ready to accept Him as his Saviour. (Men do not, as a rule, waste much time in coming to a. decision when staring death in the face.) Our hearts rejoiced when he knelt in prayer and thanked God that though he had not found healing for his body by coming to Los Angeles, yet he had found what was more important—healing for his soul. ———_¢ SAN QUENTIN PRISON By Loren 8. Hanna HESE have been strenuous days; they have been joy-laden days. God has been blessing the work in San Quentin in a peculiar way. The attendance and interest in the Bible Class have been good; the personal conferences have been productive. On Christmas day the San Quentin Chris- tian Endeavor Society had charge of the service; it was the privilege of your repre- sentative to be present and have a share in the program, which was without exception the best Christmas program I have ever Two hours of good things, with about 600 or 700 men present, and the Spirit of God manifestly present in a special One man out of the dozens that seen. sense. crowded around me at the close to speak. asked, “Did you ever see a cup full to the brim and running over all the way round? Well, that's me.” I neglected my gram- mar long enough to say, “That's me too.” In the afternoon of Christmas day, we held a special service with only two men in the main audience. There wete other men in the room, but they sat in the rear of the room and listened. These two men are the condemned men. One goes to the gallows ere long, according to present pro- gram. These two men sat with heads bowed, and a look of sadness upon their I had a quartet with me, and the first song brought a smile; the second song faces.228 THE KING'S BUSINESS brought tears. As God led me in the giving of the message, it was a joy to see the smile of responsiveness on their faces whenever a promise to the believer was quoted. This little service has made a life- long impression. On the following’ Saturday I spent an hour in one of the condemned cells and half an hour in the gther. I trust that it will be my privilege to bring consider- able comfort to these men during the few weeks that remain for them to live, pare herte aaen WORK IN THE OIL FIELDS By Frank J. Shelley THE last month of the old year brought to us many and varied experiences, and has been a time of “checking up” and taking stock, so to speak. It is so easy for one to settle down into a rut in a spiritual way, that one needs to constantly pray for guidance and wisdom. to be enabled, like the good man, out of the treasure of his heart to bring forth the things new and old. © for more holy zeal for God, for without it we are weale and lifeless. How many times in our journeys we go into a camp where “everything seems against us.” Then is the time for holy courage and cohfidence in God. How many, many times the “preacher” has to go from bunk room to bunk room and “rout out” his congregation. At our last visit to the Standard Camp, Lost Hills, we had to do this, but as a consequence the Amusement Hall was nicely filled, We have traveled about 300 miles this month; given out from 600 to 1000 clear and scriptural Gospel tracts; have had per- haps 500 or 600 personal interviews with men concerning their condition before God; conducted about ten Bible readings and preached the Word six or seven times. Extremely cold weather and two rainy Sun- days in the month, however, somewhat interfered with the work, The Christian Science delusion we meet everywhere! It is worse than appalling. They are having lecturers come here from Boston. At one house, the lady announced, “Iam a Scientist.” We replied, “Then you are not saved.” She admitted this. We remarked, “One of the sad things about this teaching is that it can promise you no hope whatever beyond this life,” which she admitted. There were four other ladies in the house, and they all listened most attentively, and as we showed them the scriptures (2 Thess. 2:11), they pleaded with her to give it up. She said, “Well, I am not a real Christian Scientist.” and seemed to be touched. She asked us to come again, and we are going next week to hold a Bible reading, The Methodist people here allow us to hold Bible readings in their church, and want us to take up a propoganda against the Christian Science error, and we think this should be done, God is gathering out His own through the Spirit (Acts 15:14), and here and there one turns to the Lord, but the only work worth speaking about, so far as this great region is concerned, is personal, definite work for Christ. This poor world is trying to get to Heaven without a Saviour, All the false teachers and wicked cults one meets every day are trying to invent some way for men to escape responsibility. One sees so much of “Cain's religion” in these days (Jude 11). So many, too, are so very ignorant and dark, that we make the burden of our message the simple Gospel, man’s utter ruin; God has included all under “sin,” utterly lost and without hope. What a responsibility to know Him? How much of failure there is even in God's own dear children. We are passing on; not aTHE KING'S BUSINESS 229 week goes by but we hear of some dear iend who has gone. How much are we doing for Him? We seem to have so little time for the real things of God. We hear His voice speaking from Heaven, “Behold, I come quickly.” May the Holy Spirit revive the saints of God until the glad ery shall ascend to the Throne, “Even so, come, Lord Jesus.” > oo ——— WORK IN PACIFIC COAST HARBORS Oscar Zimmermann, Supt. NE vessel passed in or out of the Golden Gate about every forty-five minutes during 1916, according to a ship- ping summary issued by the Marine Depart- ment of the Chamber of Commerce. The record shows that 5570 vessels arrived at this port in 1916, and 5631 departed, a-total of 11,201. The tonnage was 6,393,720 for steamers and 836,790 for sailing vessels. This report for San Francisco Harbor gives a good idea of the big field and the splendid opportunities offered here for definite service for Christ. Eliminating those vessels which arrive several and those reached in Los Angeles Harbor (San Pedro), every vessel can be reached with the help of the launch soon to be ready, Alongside two piers in San Francisco, on a recent day, we found a large transpacific liner, flying the American flag, with a crew of about 150 men, all English-speaking; a former English-owned vessel, from Chile, now of the Maple Leaf Line (American registry), the crew composed. of English- men, Spaniards and Portugese; a Danish steamer, with Danish officers and crew, arriving from Japan; a Dutch steamer, earrying Dutch officers, Java men as stewards and Chinese sailors and stokers, all from Javanese ports; an American sail- ing vessel, from the South Seas; a large French sailing ship, with French officers and men, coming from French ports; and a Norwegian steamer, with a Norwegian crew, coming from the West Coast of South America! Does this not offer a wonderful opportunity to preach the Gos- pel? We need not travel far to reach these imes men; they were all grouped close together alongside the two docks. Every one of those vessels was visited and each man given the Gospel in his own language in various ways—at least in the printed page, A few days afterward not one of these ships was there, having left to make room for others, where the work is continued, and they, in turn, leaving to make room for still others. Is there another agency known, whereby so many men ean be reached with so little effort? Praising God for it all, we pray and ask you to pray, that He may water the seed and give the increase. Among other good things which the Lord has given us, is the continued interest taken by the men of the Marshall Island Bible class, where every man on the vessel is present at each meeting. Much prayer is needed for this class, where much blessing has been experienced. On the U. S. S. “Oregon.” at San Pedro, two meetings were held with good results. Two men accepted Christ at the first meet- ing and four or five at the second meeting, one backslider being reclaimed also. The attendance was doubled at the second meet- ing, which tends to show that a manly message from the old Gospel, direct to the heart, is a power, and is the need among men. The Moody Colportage books and portions of the Bible are gladly taken, and often more asked for. God is blessing the work among the men of the Navy in a gracious way. On the “Seijo Maru,” a Japanese passen- ger vessel, another splendid meeting was held in the quarters below the main deck among the steerage passengers, numbering230 several hunted. The message of the Cross found especially eager ears, and realized splendid results, Eleven persons came for- ward on the invitation to accept Christ after the sermon, and each was given a New Testament. Qn the second invitation, a large number raised their hands. Hun- dreds of tracts and a large number of New Testaments were given to these people who are so eager for the Scriptures, and who are on their way to join the thousands of their countrymen already in South America who have also passed through this port and were given the Bread of Life on their way THE KING'S BUSINESS to Bibleless, Rome-ridden South America. No one has as yet been raised up to min- ister to these people after they reach their destination, Our hearts go out to them, as would the hearts of every Christian, could they but once witness one of the services held on these vessels. For two years we have been praying God to raise up a prepared worker to lay the foundation for a work there, stich as would influence the whole history of the Japanese in South America, Will you not pray very definitely for th net nin THE EXTENSION DEPARTMENT Geo. W. Hunter, Representative HE first threg months of Bible Ins tute work iff the First Presbyterian Church of Seattle closed December 18. with gratifying results for a beginning, -and with good prospects for an increasingly interesting and stronger work with the opening of the new semester. Like others we have had to feel our way during these first three months, but feel that we now have things well in hand. We are well organized, with definite work planned for the new term, which will extend to June 30. when we shall close for the summer, beginning again September 1. ‘The several teachers have well defined ines of study so that no one will encroach ‘on ground covered hy another. Dr. Marle Matthews will teach “Doctrine; Dr. Forbes, Joshua, Judges. Samuel and Kings: Dr. MacCullough, Isaiah, Jeremiah. Hag- gai. Zechariah, Nehemiah® and Malachi; Mr. Miles, “The Social Teachings of Jesus;” Mr. Hunter, “The Life of Christ’ Dr. Matthews will cover the rest of the Epistles and the Minor Prophets that have not been assigned to others, and once cach month will give a popular lecture om Church History. An examination is planned for the end of each semester. We are trying to get the fact advertised that this is nef a denominational school, but a Bible School, and hope with the aid of printers! ink to spread this news through- out the State. letting the peaple who would like a knowledge of the Book of Books know that there is an Institute here where those who cannot go to Los Angeles can receive instruction which will make them stronger, more intelligent and hetter Chris- tian workers, During thé Christmas holiday your repre- sentative took occasion to visit Spokane and Idaho, in the interests of Extension work. isiting with several of the pastors in Spokane and making tentative plans for Bible conference work and arranging for some evangélistic work for Dr. French E, Oliver, later in the year. We desire to open doors for some of the strongest Bible teachers who come to the coast each year. Spokane and Ellensburg. in Washington, Miscow in Idaho, and some other places, including Tacoma and Olympia, are in line for good work as fast as we can make the “definite arrangements for it. A seven days’ Bible Conference was held in Ellensburg. January 2 to 8, inclusive. Good audiences were in attendance, and many new friends were added to the long list of Bible Institute supporters, both forTHE KING’S BUSINESS prayer and we hope financially as well. The last night a stereopticon lecture on the Institute work was well attended and keen interest shown, Tue Kino’s Bustsrss was generously supported, and we shall look for greater things from this section of the country. Kittitas, where we held a five days’ Conference last November, will try to include the Bible Institute in its annual budget for Missions. We are looking ahead joy to the coming of Doctors Gray, Gaebelein and Evans in March, for a Bible Conference of several days’ duration, We hope to make this character of work very useful in get- ting before the good people of Seattle and other places the importance of the Bible 231 Institutes of both Seattle and Los Angeles. A request has come to us to prepare a series of Bible-study suggestions for the year's issues of the Christian Endeavor News, three such articles having been pub- lished in the State Christian Endeavor paper of Washington, and already letters are being received asking for information as to how and what to study. We have distributed several thousand tracts through the agency of men here who call and get them, passing them on to the jails, hospitals and on the street. Many thousand pieces of literature could be dis tributed, if they were available, through the avenues mentioned, with profit to the upbuilding of the cause of Christ. a TESTIMONIALS Wm. H. Willeock, 34 King’s Road, Mum- bles Glen, Wales: “Am delighted to be able to state how helpful and interesting the magazine proves to be, and trust that, in God's grace, such a clear enunciation of the fundamentals of our glorious faith may be continued.” Rev, A. Carnell, Port Byron, Il: “I cannot speak too highly of your magazine; it is such a help to me in these days of apostacy; many of its truths I bring before my own people. May God bless your printed page, and your work of faith for Him, and may we be found. among the faithful when He comes.” From A. Graffley Smith, Newhall Vicar- age, Burton on Trent, England: “It is with great pleasure that I renew my sub- scription for Tat Krxo’s Business. It is invaluable, The strong meat of God's teaching which it delights to publish and uphold, wil do much to stiffen and strengthen some of our spineless theo- logians.” W. W. Carter, Dublin, Ireland: “I've much pleasure in renewing my subscription for another twelve months. I send them to my friends, and they think a lot about them, for Tue Kino’s Bustyess is the aeme of Biblical truth. To myself (though only a workingman, with ordinary intelli gence) I find great. comfort in reading it. May God bless your noble effort in the far West.” ‘This splendid endorsement comes from B. Irving Valentine, Press Superintendent of the California Christian Union: “Couldn't get along without Tae Kine’s Business, I used to take several Sunday School helps, but have discarded all but your magazine and the Sunday School Times, and feel better prepared after reading Dr. Torrey’s notes and references than when I had to ‘get around? so much material.” Endeavor& S 2 = s 2 a E EAUTH ATE AS. A RULE fhe most narrow and bigoted men in the world are those who most flaunt their liberality. The following correspondence is an illustration of this narrowness. The quiet assumption of the new theology men that all who do not accept their ill-founded conclusions do not think for themselves, and belong to “the dark ages,” would be amusing if it were not so sad. While holding united evangelistic meet- ings in the City of Philadelphia for three months in 1906, I received the following letter from a Universalist minister in a city in New Jersey. Of course we do not give the minister's name, because the cor- respondence reflects seriously upon him. The letter read as follows: “Please excuse me for the liberty I take in addressing to you these few” lines, but I desire from your pen a little information which I trust you will gladly give me. If you answer them in the-affirmative. would you give me the names of five presidents or professors of theological schools who agree with you in the theology? I have kept in touch with your work from the beginning of the Philadelphia mission, and I desire now to know correctly the position you hold upon the central theological and ecclesiastical doctrines. The Ledger reports of your sermons indicate that you are riding in a theological stage coach, con- structed in the dark ages, and I cannot con- ceive of a Yale graduate doing such a thing: Believing there must be some mistake, write for light. Thanking you, Iam, Yours in Christian fellowship.” The following list of questions enclosed in the letter: Do you believe the following: Infallible Bible? Special Creation? Original Sin? Total Depravity? Vicarious Atonement? Physical Resurrection ? General Judgment? Endless Punishment? Election? was ONAN RON THE NARROWNESS AND BIGOTRY OF SO-CALLED LIBERALS SU UU CAAEUAEAUAUEU LEU ACEUTANAEA CUA AACA HUEE TAA ATEN UT ELE ETAE EEE fr 10. Man a Free Moral Agent? ll. Sovereignty of God? 12. Trinity? 13. Life is a Probation? 14. Salvation is from Hell? 15. Eternity keeps us as death finds us? 16. A Personal God? 17. A Personal Devil? 18. Heaven as a Place? 19. Hell as a Place? 20. Devil as a Fallen Angel? 21. Fatherhood of God (a) by Nature, (b) by Adoption? 22. Must one be a church member before he can be a Christian? 23. Have you ever made a special study of church creeds? 24. Do you know the chief doctrines of the different churches? Name three reasons why you are a member of your chosen’ church. Have you ever read any Universalist Literature? What is your Universalism? To this letter we replied as follows, dated No. 505 South Forty-second St., Philadel- phia, Pa., March 22, 1906: “Dear Sir: Your narrow-minded, dis- courteous and ungentlemanly letter of March 20th received. I cannot but believe that you wrote in haste, and that if you had read the letter over you would not have sent it. It is quite possible for men to differ from one another and yet neither ‘cone of them. be an ignoramus. I suppose you know this, but in your haste wrote foolishly. Of course, I know that there is a type of Universalist minister who is characterized by nothing so much as by narrowness and bigotry, and he takes it for granted that any one who does not agree with him has not studied the subject and knows nothing. I trust you are not of this type, though your letter implies that you are. You say, ‘The Ledger reports of Your sermons indicate that you are riding in a theological stage coach constructed in the dark ages, and I cannot conceive of a Yale graduate doing such a thing.” I have not read The Ledger reports of my ser- mons, but suppose that to a large extent they reflect what I have said. If they do and any one thinks that they indicate that I am riding in a theological stage coach chief objection to234 constructed in the dark ages,’ it simply shows that he is ignorant of the theology of ‘the dark ages.” (I suppose you mean by the ‘dark ages,’ the middle ages, which are constantly so characterized.) There is not the slightest resemblance between my theology and that of the middle ages, as you will see if you will take the trouble to study and find out what the theology of the middle ages was. My theology is older than that time. It comes from an earlier date and from sources that were not dark. It is the theology of Jesus Christ and the Apostles, a theology more rational than much of the theology that is constructed today. It was from the theology of Christ and the Apostles that the theology of the dark ages departed. ‘The stage coach in which I am riding’ (if it be a stage coach) is a good one to ride in. The theology which I preach has been drawing thousands of people daily to hear it, and has been used of God to the salvation of scores of thousands of people around the world. Can you say anything better of the theology that you teach? Now I will answer your questions: I will have to re-write them, as you have not left room to answer them on the paper which you send. Sincerely, yours, A. Torrey.” 1. “Do you believe in an_ infallible I believe that the Scriptures as Bible?” originally given were inerrant, 2, “Do you helieve in special creation?” I am not sure what you mean by special creation. 1 believe that matter was created, that life was created, that Adam was created. I believe that Adam's body was a special creation. 3. “Do you believe in original sin?” It depends upon what you mean by original sin. 1 do not suppose I would believe in your definition of original sin. 1 doubt if you would detine it as it has been defined by clear-minded orthodox theologians. 4. “Do you believe in total depravity?” 1 don’t suppose | believe in total depravity as you would define it. 1 do believe in total depravity as it has been defined by careful theologians. 5. “Vicarious atonement?” Most as- suredly I do, and I have seen the power of the doctrine in transforming thousands of lives. 6. “Do you believe in physical resur- rection?” 1 believe in the resurrection of the body, not this same body, but none the less a body. 7. “Do_you believe in a general judg- ment?” Depends upon what you: mean by a general judgment. I believe in the judg- ment of the living nations at the coming of Christ and (at the end of the thousand THE KING'S BUSINESS ws years) the resurrection of those who have died before Christ's coming and they are judged then. . 8. “Do you believe in endless punish- ment?” I do. 9. “Do you believe in election?” I do not suppose [ believe in the doctrine as you would deline it. 1 believe in the doc- trine of election as taught in the Bible. 10. “Do you believe in man a free moral Yes, I know that he is. 0 you believe in the sovereignty Most assuredly 1 do, 12, “Do you believe in the Trinity?” I do not suppose I believe in the doctrine of the Trinity as you define it, for I find that Unitarians as a rule do not understand the orthodox doctrine of the Trinity and that their statement of the orthodox doctrine of the Trinity is simply a parody upon i I believe in the doctrine of the Trinity as taught in the Bible, but I do not suppose that is what you understand by the doctrine of the Trinity. 13. “Do, you believe that salvation is from hell?” Not primarily, I believe that salvation is from sin, and as hell is the outcome of sin, being’ saved from sin deliver one from hell. 14. “Do you believe life is a probation?” Certainly. 15. “Do you believe eternity keeps us as death finds us?” Certainly not. I do not know of anybody that docs. 16._ “Do you believe in a personal God?” Yes, Iam a Christian, 17. “Do you believe in a personal de I believe that there is a personal devil necessarily, as I believe the teaching of Christ and the Apostles. Furthermore, I have had some experience with him. But I do not believe in him, 18. "Do you believe in heaven as a place?” Most assuredly, I do. I think Jesus knew what He was talking about when He said, “I go to prepare a flace for you. 19. “Do you believe in hell as a place?” Most assuredly I do. 1 think Peter knew what he was talking about when he said, “God cast the angels that sinned down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness to be reserved unto judgment.” 20. “Do you believe in the devil as a fallen angel?” I believe that the devil is a being who once occupied a very exalted Position, higher than that of ordinary angels, 21, “Do you believe in the Fatherhood of God (a) by nature, (b) by adoption?” I believe that all men are God’s offspring, but we become children of God by accept. ance of Jesus Christ. “To as many asTHE KING’S BUSIN. received Him to them gave He power to become the sons of God.” 22. “Must one be a church member before he can be a Christian?” Most cer- tainly not. One should not be a church member until after he has become a Chris- tian, 23. “Have you ever made a special study of church creeds?” I have. I sup- pose_a more thorough study of them than you have ever made. The wording of your questions seems to betray an ignorance of the creeds of the church. 24. “Do you know the chief doctrines of the different churches?" I do. I sus- pect you don’t. “Name three reasons why you are a mem- ber of your chosen church.” I have no chosen church. I do not believe in sec- tarianism. I do not believe that there is any essentia] difference between the dif- ferent evangelical churches. I would as soon belong to one as to another. “Have you ever read any Universalist literature?” I have a good deal. | have sometimes regretted that I have wasted time in reading so much. “What is your chief objection to Univer- salism?” (1) That it is unbiblical. It con- tradicts the teaching of Jesus Christ and the Apostles. (2) It is impotent. I find that the Universalist church is doing prac- tically nothing for the salvation of the lost. I find that Universalist churches have a con- stant tendency to die out for lack of spirit- ual life. (3). Most of the Universalists whom I have known have been unspiritual men and women, and I have met a great many Universalists who have’ been Univer- salists simply as an excuse for a careless and oftentimes a positively sinful life. I think I ought to add, I was once a Universalist myself, in the sense of believ- ing in a universal restoration. I did believe in hell, but not in an endless hell, but I was not so bigoted as to think that any one who did not agree with me in this must be an ignoramus. I found that my views which I held very tenaciously at the time, would not stand the test of rigid examination in the light of Scripture and reason, therefore I gave that up, but I do not think that every Universalist is an ignoramus, or a fool, or insincere, I leave that kind ‘of bigotry to a certain type of Universalists. Now let me ask you some questions, and as I have frankly answered yours, is it too ‘much to expect a frank reply from you to mine? Have you surrendered your will abso- 2) 235 lutely to God, in a definite act of sur- render? 2. Have you put away every known sin? 3. Are you a man of prayer? spend on the average at least fifteen min- utes a day in definite prayer to God? 4. Have you ever read the entire Bible through prayerfully and carefully? 5. Have you ever read any large and scholarly work on church history, such as Neander’s and Hagenbach’s? 6. Have you taken a classical course, taken a degree in arts? 7, Have you taken a thorough theo- logical course and taken the degree of B.D.? 8. Have you ever read the Greck Testa- ment through? 9. Are you a soul winner? 10, Have you ever led at least ten drunkards in a year to a definite renuncia- tion of their sin and a definite acceptance of Jesus Christ? 11. Of how many churches have you been pastor? 12. How many of these churches have doubled their membership under your pas- torate? 13. Have you ever had one hundred accessions to your church of men and women who have been brought out of the world into an earnest Christian life? 14, Have you ever been baptized with the Holy Spirit? In conclusion may I be permitted to say that as I have written more than a dozen books on theological subjects, and as these books have gone up into the hundreds of thousands and have been translated into French, German, Spanish, Portugese, Danish, Swedish, “Norwegian, _ geveral Chinese languages ‘and several Indian lan- guages, it would hardly have seemed to have been necessary for you to have gotten your ideas of what I teach from the news- papers, nor even by writing me a list of questions. You might have consulted the books. If you would like to know in full what I believe on some of the questions I have answered, 1 would refer you to my book, “What the Bible Teaches.” Sincerely yours, R. A. Torrey.” The Universalist minister made no reply to the letter. Evidently, while he was per- fectly willing to ask questions of others, he was not in a position to answer questions himself. Do you"236 THE KING'S BUSINESS TESTIMONY OF A SKEPTIC By JOSEPH MILLER SA result of allowing myself to be guided by the flagrant attacks upon the Bible by both the rabid and bigoted expounders of this untrue teaching and its extensive literature, my faith in the Bible was badly shaken if not wholly destroyed. I looked upon the Christian world as com- posed of two classes—the fools and the knaves. This latter class, although they knew better, continued to dispense this mythical story, as it were, for their own material benefit. I began to dabble in the major portion of the new cults which are springing up as a result of people desiring a faith which will not encroach upon their own meanness, but allow them to continue in their deprav- ity and viciousness to their hearts’ content; all they have to do is to take long-distance treatments, or lessons in soul culture, How- ever, this rigmarole does not seem to have any effect upon their cussedness. As a result of seeing these shams and hollow mockeries, and realizing that they are a sort of mental gymnastics that they practice, in order to forget their natural meanness, I became disgusted with the whole catalogue. What did more to bring me to my senses than anything, was not masterly use of language by some famous preacher, but some simple, earnest Chris- tian, who had the Christ love within him to go and lift a human being who had made himself lower than a beast through his alcoholic stupor, which made him a nu sance to himself and everybody else. This human wreck, upon whom everybody looked with pity and contempt, but none of whom were willing to soil their hands to lift him up, left him to a surly officer to take and throw him into jail. I did ad not see the “New Thoughtist” or “Yoga- ist” or the Christian Scientist come and tell this wretched human being that there is hope for him to redeem himself and make himself a decent member of society. They were busy taking lessons in the art of giving absent treatments for mythical diseases. It took the simple faith of an earnest, Christian who could see through the ragged exterior a priceless soul for which his Saviour bled and died, and in whom He was as much interested as if he were the greatest of the great. This simple deed does more to convict human hearts than all the scholarly preach- ing combined; a real love for humanity is only to be found where the individual is wholly abandoned to Christ. —— Worthy of Emulation John Sterry, in far-away Mackwood, South Australia, in enclosing approxi- mately $25 for the Bible Institute harbor work, writes as follows: “I have been much interested in the harbor work at Los Angeles, as given in Tue Kino’s Bustness, and am now enclos- ing a money order for 5 Ibs. sterling. toward the maintenance of the work, and desire that there may be much blessing in this, which is a wide form of seed-sowing.” The example of this loyal Christian Australian should prove an incentive to many others nearer home. This, and other funds for the support of similar work, and for sending this magazine to missionaries who are themselves unable to pay for it, are crying out for just such splendid dona- tions.FOR THE SERMON, BIBLE READING, GOSPEL ADDRESS é Homiletical Helps By WILLIAM EVANS SERMON OUTLINES A ‘Children’s Sermon—Pictures Sand or in the Clay? When at the seaside. have you ever - noticed men who do drawings on the moist sand? Very clever drawings they often are—of churches, or of castles, or even of people's faces. But very speedily the tide comes up and washes out the lines, and they vanish away; or, even before the waves wash out the marks, people walk across them, and the sun shines upon them, and the pictures alter and fade away. Per- haps you feel that your thoughts and words pass away just as swiftly as such pictures in the sand; but it is not so. In various ways we are reminded that the marks men’s lives make endure for thousands of years, thotigh the men had no intention of doing anything particular. . in the In Suffolk there is a valley where the Romans used to live and work. Some tiles which they made out of clay nearly two thousand years ago are still to be found, and on one of these tiles can be clearly seen the mark of the hobnails of the shoe or sandal of a Roman soldier or citizen, He did not dream that any- body would ever notice his footprint when he walked carelessly over the soft clay, but there the mark of his shoe is preserved till this day. On another tile can,be seen the prints of a dog’s paw, and on another « those of a bird's claws; after two thousand years they are as distinct as if made yes- terday. Perhaps you have heard, tao, about the ‘recent excavations in Babylonia. In one city they unbared a great temple, in which had been both a library and a_ school. There they found a multitude of books written, not on paper or wood or skins, but on clay. The writing was made with a fine pointed tool, and afterwards the clay was hardened. Among the different clay books in the temple they discovered some little slabs that were very badly written, and on which the same word appeared over and over again, Just as in the chil- dren's copy-books, so on these old books of clay the same word was repeated. This was perplexing, but soon the excavators understood what they had found. This part of the temple had been a school; children or young men had learned to write there, and there were their copy-books. Here, then, is the copy written by a lad who was careless; his mistakes are still to be read. Here, too, is the work of one who ‘was careful, and see how his handwriting improved. These clay tablets are four thousand years old at least, and they are in our hands today. Perhaps the careless lad thought, “This clay tablet will’ soon crumble and will be thrown away;” but after four thousand years the marks of his carelessness are as plain as ever, Dear boys and girls, our thoughts, our words, our deeds are recorded just as clearly; if delayed ten thousand years, they would meet us some day. That is why you must pray earnestly that your lips may be pure, your hearts kind, your words good. That is why you must seek the Lord Jesus, that you may be pardoned and strength-_238 THE KING'S BUSINESS ened to do better. As the clay has remained throughout the centuries. so there is a heavenly record of your thoughts and words and of mine that remains through- out the millenniums. Think then, think, and pray to the Lord Jesus for the for- giveness He is so ready to hestow. Ask Him to make you strong to do His blessed will, so that you need not fear to see the peitures of your past.—Selected, Theme: The Pharisce and the Publican. Te: Luke 18;9-14, Inrropuction. This is one of two parables on prayer (cf. 18:1-8). Here are two men praying. dissimilar in character, from opposite poles of society, with different titles, receiving different greetings as they came to the temple, but who certainly did not walle on the same side of the street, one not daring, the other not deigning to—two men: the one a Pharisee. the other a pub- lican, Yet these two men were similar in many respects: they went to inquire from the same God, at the same place, for the same purpose, at the same hour. The Pharisee had much in his favor: the respectability of a religious reputation, and, outwardly and apparently, a God-fearing and worthy life. The publican had prac- tically nothing but disdain. Yet the Saviour tells us that the publican was accepted before God, while the Pharisee was rejected, 1, The Pharisee. 1. A man full of self-righteous pride. A self-righteous man is always a censorious man, an unrighteous man, and a practical atheist, exalting himself instead of God. 2. He had a false estimate of his own character. He should have compared him- self with God, not with man. Jesus said, “Except your right- eousness shall exceed the right- eousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom heaven. 3. He bad a false standard of judg- ment Instead of comparing himself with God and with the divine he compared - himself with “other men." and, worst of standard, all’ with the poorest of men, a “publican.” Had he looked above. instead of around about him, for his standard, it would have heen different, NM. The Publican, 1. His condition. Humank speaking. everything was against him: he w ina bad business, in bad company, and following a bad life. Socially and morally, he was separated from his fellowmen. 2. His conviction. He may have heard John preach. He did not visit the temple by accident, but doubtless as the result of a deep feeling of his need of forgiveness. 3. His contrition. This is indicated by his attitude standing “afar off;" refusing to “lift up so much as his eyes to heaven;" “beating upon his breast"—picture of deep sorrow. This is a good argument for pardon (Psalm 51). 4. His confession. It was to “God” He hardly dared say “my God,” not daring to claim that personal relation- ship. He asked forgiveness on the ground of propitiation. Doubt- less his eyes rested on the sacri- fice at that time ascending from ‘the temple altar. What a con- trast with the Pharisee who depended on himself! He blamed himself: “God be merciful to me the sinner.” HeTHE KING'S BUSINESS did not blame circumstances, companions, or environment, but himself. Indeed, he singled himself out as the chiefest of sinners, just as the Pharisee had singled himself out as the chief- est of saints. ‘And so it comes to pass that “every one that exalteth him- self shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.” Theme: Heaven. Ixtropuctioy, A practical subject—for experience and observation show that he who makes most of the future makes most of the present, A vitally interesting subject, The emi- grant is interested in the country to w he expects to migrate. If heaven is to be our future home, it is natural that we should be interested in it. A knowledge of heaven is necessary to a desire for it. When the children of Israel saw the grapes of Eschol, they longed for the country where the grapes grew. “I have tasted Canaan's grapes, and now 1 long to go ‘To where the Lord His vineyard keep’, and where the clusters grow, Our knowledge of heaven is necessarily limited, but, after all, enough is said about it to faith, 1. Where is heaven? Can we locate it? Is it above. or below? On the globe? Has it a geographical boundary ? 1. It is not here below. We arc in no heavenly or millennial period. The conditions now and those in Revelation 21 and 22 are vastly different. The “kingdom of God” and the “kingdom of heaven” are not “heaven.” The grave is not heaven. We Have a better hope than that. For the believer, to depart this life is to be’ “with Christ” (Philippians 1:21). invite our interest and assure our HW. 239 2, Heaven is above. God looks down Christ ascended into heaven and shall descend from it (ef. John 3:13: Acts 1:11; 1 Thess, 4:16). 3. Heaven is not far away. But a veil separates (cf. 6:19). John, Stephen, Daniel caught a glimpse of it. Probably if our eyes were not holden we too, like them and Elisha, might catch glimpses of that heavenly Jand, Heaven is what God is Home is where mother is; so heaven is where God is. It is His dwelling place. God is everywhere, in a spiritual sense, but in heaven in a particular sense (1 Kings 8:30). What is heaven? from heaven. Heb, Is it a state, an emotion, a condition, or a place? How does the Bible_ describe it? In many ways: as a banquet, a paradise, a kingdom, an inheritance, a palace, a sanctuary, etc. 1., It is a city. Ofttimes it is so called. It has foundations, dimensions, gates, walls, streets, rivers, trees. towers (cf. Revelation 21:10). It is an exceedingly large city (Revelation 21:9-17). London and New York are villages compared with it. ‘The Old Jerusalem was thirty-three stadia; the New Jerusalem, four thousand cight hundred stadia. Tt is an eternal ci We look for Babylon, Rome. Nineveh, and all we sce are their ruins. The pyramids and ohelisks speak of perishing civilizations. Heaven is a city that hath undecaying foun- dations, a city that never decays, not built with hands, nor hoary with the years of time, 2. Heaven is a place of rest. It was cheering news to the tired children of Israel in the wilderness to be told that Canaan was the land _ of rest. So is it with us when we240 “THE KING'S There will be sin, and are told of heaven. rest from temptation, affliction. Heaven is home. What tender associations cluster around this word! Compared with it house, mansion, palace are cold expressions. The boy packs up his books, the soldier takes off his uni- form, the merchant closes his desk, and with joy they say, We are going home. Heaven is the homeland, (To be continued) ‘One Thing I Know One thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see.—Joun 9:25. ‘You ask how I gave my heart to Christ? I do not know. ‘There came a yearning for Him in my soul So long ago, T found earth's flowers would fade and die— I wept for something that could satisfy; And then—and then—somehow I seemed to dare To lift my broken heart to Him in prayer, Ido not know—I cannot tell you how; I only know He is my Saviour now. You ask me when I gave my heart to Christ? T cannot tell. ‘The day, or just the hour, Edo not now Remember well, BUSINESS It must have been when I was all alone The light of His forgiving Spirit shone Into my heart, so clouded o'er with sin; I think=I think, *t was then I let Him in. Ido not know—I cannot tell you when; T only know He is so dear, since then, You ask me where I gave my heart to Christ? T cannot say. That sacred place has faded from my sight As yesterday. Perhaps He thought it better I should not Remember where, How I should love that spot! I think I could not tear myself away, For I should wish forever there to stay. Ido not know—I cannot tell you where: T only know He came and blessed me there, You ask me why I gave my heart to Christ? T can reply; Tt is a wondrous story; listen, while I tell you why, My heart was drawn, at length, to seek His face I was alone, I had no resting place; I heard how He had loved me, with a love Of depth so great—of height so far above All human ken} I longed such love to share, And sought it then, upon my knees in prayer. You ask me why I thought this loving Christ would heed my prayer? I knew He died upon the cross for me— I nailed Him there. I heard His dying ery, “Father, forgive!” I saw Him drain death's cup that I might lives My head was bowed upon my breast in shame! He called me—and in penitence I came, He heard my prayer! I cannot tell you how, or when, nor where: only—I love’ Him now.a ram TT a A Te NC The Far Klorizom ‘A Glance at the Field at Home and Abroad ic) CHINA REPORT of the political situation in Southern and Western China is more hopeful for peace. Bishop Cassel says that both the western and eastern provinces are now less disturberd. The city of Tatsienlu was looted by soldiers last sum- mer, indicating that the central authorities have not yet got good control over their troops. Dr. Parry, writing from Chung- king, says: “Things seem to be steadying somewhat at the central government in Chengtu, but not much improvement in regard to the brigandage in many parts of the province.” The missionary force in China grew from 1296 in 1890 to 5865 in 1913, thus being multiplied four times. Six cities in China have more than ‘100 missionaries each, Shanghai leading with 358. What we need, says Missions, is to have better distribution and to send more missionaries into the neglected places. With the development of the railways this will be possible. A farewell service was held in Cathedral Church of Our Saviour (Episcopal) in Peking, China, on August 27, for Rev. D. M. Koeh and Rev. H. J. P’u, who were ordained and selected to start a mission near Sianfu, to be conducted entirely by (Chinese churchmen. This was a significant service, in that Chinese Episcopal ministers were being sent from Chima’s capital of today to the former famous capital of the Chinese Empire, where the first mission was founded in 781 A. D, Dr. Henry G. Adams of the University of Michigan,* adviser to the Chinese Republic on the standardization of railway accounts, says: “When I came out to China I did not think much of foreign missionaries, but I now take off my hat to I RANT a A the missionaries. I have never contributed much to foreign missions, but when I get home I shall put everything that I can spare into the foreign mission collections. They are a noble lot of men and women, and are rendering a very great service to the people of China.” In spite of all the unrest in the world, and even in many parts of China, the oppor- tunities for preaching the Gospel were never greater than today. Rev. Mr. Por- teous recently made a three weeks’ cam- paign in the prefecture of Yuanchow, Kiangsi, and in the campaign preached the Gospel to about 10,000 souls and sold an equal number of portions of scripture. W-. W. Williston of Pachow reports that he recently received a letter from eight men in Uchisi, where Mr. Williston conducted a week’s evangelism last fall, asking for someone to go and teach them the Truth. A Chinese philanthropist, who came into possession of a Bible, was so impressed with its value that he undertook a study of it under the direction of a missionary. Yung Tao, as he is known, became con- vinced that the integrity of so-called Chris- tian nations was directly traceable to the influence of the Bible and its code of ethics. He purchased and caused to be distributed, during 1914, over 5000 New Testaments. He then placed an order for 10,000 Bibles and Testaments, as the initial shipment on a lot of 50,000. Mr. Yung himself gave his consent to be immersed, openlp con- fessing his faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. INDIA What is termed the “Mass Movement” is turning whole communities in India to Christianity, Fifty millions of low-cast people are accessible today. The number eS |242 of converts from the higher classes is greater in the communities affected by the Mass Movement. Missionaries are follow- ing rather than leading. The American Methodist Episcopal Church reported the baptism of 140,000 in the past four years, and last year had to turn back 40,000 for further instruction, while 150,000 other applicants were refused because there were no teachers to instruct them. At present the American section of the Board of Governors of the Christian Col- lege, Madras, is acting as an informal committee on the proposed United Medical College for Women to be established at Villore, says the Lutheran Woman's Work. Since 1902 the idea of a medical college for women in South India has been advanced, Dr. Kugler being one of the earnest advocates of the movement. The preliminary arrangements for opening the college in 1917 rests largely with a general executive committee, composed chiefly of representative medical) missionaries, Dr. Kugler included. THe society obligates itself for $1000 annually in co-operation of the movement. For the first year after Rev, B, N. Bushill landed in India, he spent most of his time in language study. After his first exa tion he began to get into the district a little, and spent a week at Baraut, forty miles from Delhi. The purpose of his visit to Baraut was a “language cure,” and while there he lived with a Hindoo in a strict divorce from his mother tongue. On landing in India, he was deeply impressed by two great facts or conditions, First, the extreme poverty of its people, the wages being low and the laboring class very great. The second impression was the great oppor- tunity. . AFRICA CoH. Patten of Boston relates in Men and Missions, from his visit among the Zulus: “As 1 stood and looked at the grave of the first convert (the result of eleven years’ faithful service), 1 asked the native pastor how many church members were THE KING'S BUSINESS among the Zulus today? He said there were 60,000. "I thought deeply. as 1 stood on the grave of the first Christian of their number. “How many Christian adherents have you from the Christian families?” He replied, “Two hundred and fifty thousan! This is the statistical result of seventy-five years of missionary effort. After Mr. Patten had made several trips around the continent and into the interior, from three different coasts, Africa had another meaning to him. To see the natives clothed, demonstrated what the gospel was doing. That the African, humanity’s most refractory ore, could have his life shaped and transformed in so short a time is a demonstration of incalculable value to the world. Some day China, Japan, Europe and America will be glad for the work of the Christian missionary done in the Dark Continent Though the Congo river was discovered seven years before Columbus reached America. it was not until after Stanley's descent of it, in 1877, that Protestant mis- sion work began there. says the Brethren Reangelist. The gospel is now being preached in about twenty-five languages. ‘The English Baptist Missionary Society subscribes $40,000 a year to the work and provides 600 responsible teacher-evangelists and other helpers. But the call for mis- sionaries is still urgent. The only religion of this people is the degrading superstition of fetishism, and thousands of innocent men and women are killed on charges of witchcraft. Their religion has nothing to do with sin and salvation; they have no hope of eternal life. There is a general movement in each of the American Board. Missions, says the Missionary Herald, Africa is rapidly com- ing into the light, but since the outbreak of the war nearly evety section has been under a war flag. However, our mission stations are not affected. Islam is crowd ing down from the north, but has not yet reached the limit of our fields. In the meantime both the East and West African Missions are consolidating and organizing.| E N EW TESTAMENT “COPYRIGHT BY WILKIAM EVANS ROMANS (Continued) N OUR previous study of this episile we have considered; I, Sin—The Wrath of God—Man Destitute of God's Righteous- ness; Despair (1:18-3:20), comprising The Failure of the Gentiles (1:18-2:16); The Failure of the Jew (2:17-3:9) ; The Whole World, Jew and Gentile, God and under the Divine Wrath (3:9-20) In our present lesson we will consider: Il. JUSTIFICATION—THE RIGHTEOUS. NESS OF GOD—HOPE (3:21- 5:21). How can a bad man be made good? By showing him that he can become good in another—that is, in Jesus Christ. This section shows us how a bad man may be made good, and how sinners may get from under the wrath of God and become recipients of the righteousness of God. If section I—“Sin"—shows all men, irre- spective of condition, to be alike under con- demnation; then section II.—"‘Justifica~ tion”—shows that all men alike may receive the righteousness of God, which will enable them to stand accepted in the judgment. If all men need justification as. they do (I), then all men may have ‘it (IL). The atonement is sufficient for all; it is efficient for those who believe and accept it. If there is no salvation by works of the law, there is salvation by the grace of God. Here we have set before us a new Sinners before” way of life for all mankind: a by-faith-in- Christ righteousness, not a by-works-of- the-law righteousness. 1. The new way of life briefly described (3:21-31). Gut from amid the silence of a guilty and speechless world is heard the voice of God: “But now a righteousness of God without the law is manifested.” Here, in substance, is the new way of life for the fallen race. This new way is not heathen- istic (cf. -32) ; it is not moralistic (cf. 2:1-16) ; it is not Judaistic (ef. 2:17-3:8) ; it is theistic. It is not by conscience, by morality, or by religion, but by God's appointed way; faith in the redemption pro- cured by our Lord Jesus Christ. (a) God's plan of salvation is clearly and concisely stated in 3:21, 22, It is a new way, a “by-faith,” not a “by- works” way. The message of God is not a gospel of despair, but of hope, It is God's gospel, not man’s, and is of faith, not of self-righteous effort. No penitence, human merit, or good works can earn salvation: There are no self-made men in heaven, Salvation does not come from law-keeping. (Galatians 2:16; 3:10, 11; James 2:10). That should be good news to us, for no living man can keep the law. The right- ousness which is required for acceptance in the judgment is not something which God demands from men, but something244 THE KING'S BUSINESS which He offers to them—His own right- eousness which is accepted by faith in Christ. It is a “faith-in-Christ” righteous- ness, Redemption centers in the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the “union brand” of redemption. We know it by the print of the nails. This faith-in-Christ righteousness is for all, without distinction. All have sinned. There may be a difference in the degree, but not in the fact of sin; so all, without distinction, can have the righteousness of God. - (b) The scheme of salvation, briefly suggested in 3:2, 22, is developed in 3123-31. ‘The apostle drives home the fact of indi- vidual guilt and conscious sin, whether according to the law of conscience or the written law, by the expression “all have sinned,” not merely “all are sinners.” The gift of .divine righteousness is granted “freely, by His grace.” It cost God something, and Christ much, as we shall see later, but it costs us nothing. It is free to us because it cost God and Christ so much. The redemption, although of grace, and free, is “throtigh the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,” thus showing us that, while it costs us nothing, it cost Christ His life. The sacrifice of Christ on the cross was a redemption price to buy back lives that through sin and disobedience had been for- feited. Calvary was the ransom price paid for the deliverance of sinful men. The Threefold Purpose of Christ's Death, We have here set before us a very graphic description of the purpose of Christ’s death. First. It is a declaration of God's right- eousness. We do not disparage the cross as an exhibition and manifestation of the great love of God, but do assert that that was not its primary meaning. The cross stands, first and foremost, for the holiness and the justice of God. This is clear by the reference to the Old Testament sins— “the sins done aforetime,” which God is said to have, in a sense, “overlooked.” Because, in the Old Testament, God had not at once summarily punished sin, it is probable that mankind had come to doubt whether God really considered sin seriously or not, and whether He would in any way punish it, The death of Jesus Christ on Calvary shows how seriously God looks upon and deals with sin. Those Old Testa- ment saints were saved by looking forward to a hope—the cross of Christ, just as the New Testament saints are saved by look- ing backward to a fact—the death of Christ. Here is a lesson for the day in which we live and for future generations. Because God does not at once punish sin when it is committed, we may think that He does not care, or that He will not punish sin. This is a mistake (cf. Malachi 2:17; 3:13- 4:13; Jude 6:7; 2 Peter 3:3-14), God will surely deal with the sinner and with sin, Christ was “set forth,” that is to say. exhibited on Calvary for this very purpose. Second, The death of Christ was to provide a righteousness for man. That righteousness man had forfeited by dis- obedience to the revealed will of God by sin, The death of Christ was the payment of the penalty incurred by such dis- obedience. It was Christ's death, mark you, not His life, that provided the required righteousness. Even as perfect a life as Christ's could not atone for a broken law “The wages of sin is death,” and so Christ had to die to atone for sin, The term “propitiation” is used here to describe the death of Christ. This word is used to designate the mercy seat that covered the ark of the covenant, which contained the law as the revealed will of God. The high Priest took of the blood from the sacrifice on the brazen altar, and sprinkled it on the mercy seat of the ark, thus typifying that the blood of an innocent victim had taken the place of guilty man who had violated the divine law. The sprinkling of blood on the merey seat was an act indicat- ing the covering by atonement of a broken law. God accepted that offering, and thus the claims of a broken law were met, and God could deal in favor with a sinner witheTHE KING'S BUSINESS out doing violence to His own righteous- ness (cf. 2 Corinthians 5:21; 1 Corinthians 1:30) Third. To justify the ungodly, The word “justification” means, not only to pardon, but to reckon innocent, and to treat accordingly. So because Christ died, those who by faith accept Him as Saviour are treated by God as though they had never sinned, Thus we see that the cross of Christ is the very heart and core of the gospel of God's salvation. The gospel of substitution is the gospel of Paul, and the gospel of Paul is the gospel of God The wisdom of this plan In-3:27-31 the apostle sums up his argu- ment by showing that it was God’s inten- tion, in providing such a new way of life, to forever stop all human boasting. What- ever salvation God las to bestow upon a sinner comes to him, not because of what he ‘himself can do, but because of what Christ, the divinely appointed Redeemer, has done for him, Such a method of sal- vation is not only in harmony with God’s law, but is honoring to God Himseli. 2, The new way of life described in full (4:21-5:11). (a) The new way of life viewed from the negative side—not by works (4:1-25)- The new way of life, as here set forth, is in harmony with God's purposes as set forth in the Old Testament, and His deal- ings with His covenant people. First. In verses 1-5 the apostle shows that Abraham was justified in this way— by faith, and not by works. Circumcision in the case of Abraham was but an out- ward sign of a faith already within. Self- saved men would make God their debtor, but God is the debtor of no man Second. David also was justified by faith, David, the royal head of the chosen race, as Abraham was the national head, was justified in the same way—by faith. Circumcision is a sealing, not a saving ordinance. Third, What has been said of Abraham 245 is true of him, not only as an individual, but as the representative head and the father of the Jewish nation (9:18, cf. 19-22). Just as the blessing of God came to Abraham through faith, so must it come to his seed in the same way. It was when all human hope of becoming the father of a great nation had passed away that by faith Abraham believed the promise of God that he would become the father of a multi- tude of people. Thus it was by faith he became the father of the nation. Note the close connection between “counted” or “reckoned” and “righteousness” (4:3-6, 8 11, 22-24) 11 times; also between “faith” and “righteousness” (3, 5, 9, 13, 14, 16, 20, 22, 24) 9 times; and again the apartness between “faith” and “works” (4:2, 5, 6, 13, 14, 16), 6 times. Fourth. The story of Abraham’s life has been recorded for our sakes (4:23-25), Abraham's biography was “written for our learning.” What is true of Abraham's history is true of the entire Old Testament. “All these things happened unto them for ensamples” (1 Corinthians 10:11; ef. 2 Timothy 3:16, 17). Abraham's faith was a resurrection faith (ef. Genesis 22); so is ours, for Christ was raised from the dead for our justification (Romans 4:24, 25). So against all feelings, moods, emotions, we must believe what God's Word says regarding our relationship to Him through Christ. (b) The now way of life described with reference to its method—positively, by faith (5;1-17) Nine blessed results of accepting this new way-of life by faith are set forth in this chapter; First. Justification (5:1). Justification is more than pardon and forgiveness. It involves both these elements, but is more than these. It is that act of God by which a sinner, believing in the Lord-Jesus Christ, © is reckoned or counted righteous in God’s sight, and treated as though he had never sinned. Second, Peace with God (5:1). “Being justified by faith, we have peace with God.”246 The Authorized Version is to be preferred to the Revised Version, which reads, “Let us have peace with God.” The peace spoken of here is one of relationship, and sug- gests an end of strife and enmity. It indi- cates that the moment a man by faith receives Jesus Christ as his Saviour, the enmity and strife which existed between God and him passes away. This is a transaction which takes place absolutely outside of the sinner, and is not to be gauged by the sinner’s emotion in connec- m with it, Peace with God has actually taken place, even though the sinner may not enjoy the consciousness of that fact. There is a “peace of God" which comes to the believer's heart when he comes to believe and appreciate that “peace with God" has been made by Christ. That heart feeling of peace is the result of faith in the Word of God. “The peace of God” which I enjoy will be in proportion as I am able to view the finished work of Christ as being thoroughly satisfactory to God We should not forget, however, that the “peace of God” of which this verse speaks, is a peace of relationship, and not of con- dition or state, Third. The believer is brought into the favor of God (5:2). He has free and unlimited access into the divine presence. He has confidence of approach. He has been introduced by Christ to the Father for the purpose of better and deeper acquaintanceship. “This is a wonderful blessing, and should be appreciated by the believer. Let us make use of our intro- duction for the purpose of further acquaintanceship. “Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all poirits tempted like as we-are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:14-16). Fourth. The believer rejoices in hope THE KING'S BUSINESS of future glory (5:2). We not only get a glimpse of what Christ has done for us by reason of His finished work for us on the crags in the past, but we get large visions of what Christ has provided for us in the future. “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath hestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: ther fore the world knoweth us not, because it knew Him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is” (1 John 3:1, 2). Some day these bodies of our humiliation will be changed and fashioned like unto the resurrection and glorious body of our Lord Jesus Christ (Philippians 3:21). This is the Christian's expectation, and is so different from the expectations of the world which so often disappoint us. ‘This expectation surpasses our fondest anticipations. This hope will not make us ashamed (3:3) Fifth, The believer rejoices even in tributations (5:3, 4). So great is the change that has come into the believer's life through belief in the Lord Jesus that all of life has assumed a different meaning to him. He can no longer look upon things as he used to do. What heretofore seemed disappointments are now changed into His appointments. Loss is gain; death is life; tribulation is glory ; persecution is blessing. All these are considered as part of the experience of life, and which the believer is called upon to count as a benediction (cf. Matthew 5:12; Acts 5:41) ixth. The Holy Spirit is given to the believer (5:5). The Spirit has already revealed Christ to the believer, for no man can see Christ unless the Holy Spirit reveals Him (1 Corinthians 12:3-13; Romans 8:9). From the moment of a man's conversion, the Holy Spirit takes up His abode in his heart and abides with him always in more or less fulness and power, according as by faith He is appro- priated and given place in the believer's heart and life. All believers have the Holy He shall appear.THE KING’S BUSINESS it indwelling, but not all believers have the fulness of the Holy Spirit, All may have that fulness, however. Indeed, it is probably disobeying a command of God not to be “filled with the Spirit” (Ephe- sians 5:18). Many Christians have the indwelling Holy Spirit for the satisfaction of their own spiritual state, but they do not have the overflow of the Spirit for the blessing of others (John 7:37, 39), interesting to note here in what special connection the Holy Spirit is bestowed— with suffering, and with joy triumphing over shame (Acts 7:54-58; 1 Thessalonians 1:67) Seventh. The believer has the assurance of God's love and favor, in spite of his If we are tempted to doubt our relationship to God by faith because of dissatisfaction with our condition, we are reminded of the fact that when we were weak and abso- lutely helpless to do anything to save our- selves, then Christ died for us; that then God saved us. There are doubtless times when all God's people doubt whether there is anything in them worth saving. It is in such moments as these that the comfort of these verses receives its full value, and brings its appropriate blessing. Eighth. The believer. is saved from wrath through faith in Christ (5:9). One wonders very much, after listening to much present day preaching, whether there is any such thing as the “wrath of God,” or whether there is anything in God to be afraid of. Our fathers used to preach the wrath of God, and men trembled. feared. and cried out in agony of soul, “What shall we do to be saved?” Then there flashed upon their hearts and minds, light from Calvary, and the gospel of light dispelled the darkness of the law, and men believed and found rest of soul. Is there such a thing as future wrath? Undoubtedly the Apostle Paul believed so (Romans 2:5, 8, 9; 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9), Jesus taught that there was something in God to be feared (Mark 9:42-50; Luke 12:4, 5). It is also the burden of the prophetic message (cf. It is own conscious weakness (5:6-8). 247 Malachi 3:1, 6, 13-18; 4:1-3). Ninth. The believer has the blessed assurance of eternal security (5:10). He is assured that if when we hated God, when we were at enmity with Him, when we were virtually enemies and rebels against His whole law and will, He then”saved us, He surely will keep us now that we love Him and are seeking to glorify Him in our lives. ‘Thus we are not only saved, but kept by faith. The risen life of our Lord Jesus Christ is the secret of a life of victory. The Christ of the cross saves from the guilt of sin; the Christ of the throne, from the power of sin. knowing the power of Christ's resurrection (Philippians 3:10). He will keep us “for His name’s sake” (Psalm 23:3). “Of all that thou hast given me, I have lost none” (John 17:12), “My... sheep shall never perish; néither shall any man pluck them out of my hand” (John 10:27-29). Paul was desirous of 3. The new way of life described in relation to the race—our choice of remaining in Adam or choosing Christ (5:12-21). Up to this point in the epistle, the apostle has heen endeavoring to shdw only the fact that all men are sinners by nature as well ashy dare therefore under the divine wrath. and destitute of the right~ cousness of God. In this section the apostle identifies the sin of the race with the sin of the natural representative head of the race—Adam: “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned” (5:12). Certain death comes to man through Adam's sin (5:12), so assurance of perpetuity of life comes from union with Christ by faith (5:11). “By the trespass of the one the many die (v. 15). “The judgment-came-of one unto condemnation” (v. 16). “By the trespass of the one, death reigned through the one” (v.17). “Through one trespass the judg- ment came unto all men to condemnation” (v. 18). “Through the one man’s dis- obedience the many were made sinners” act. a248 THE KING'S BUSINESS (v.19). It is, therefore, thie clear teaching of the Apostle Paul that in the fall of Adam the race fell. It is also the purpose of the apostle to show that no man need necessarily be lost because of the sin of Adam, so long as there is presented to him, in the good news of salvation, a remedy for the guilt incurred on the race through Adam's sin. The one who is a sinner in Adam may become righteous in Christ.“ the trespass of the one, death reigned through the one; much more shall they that receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one, even Jesus Christ. So then as through one trespass the judgment came unto all men to condemnation; even so ‘through one act of righteousness the free gift came unto all men to justification of life. For as througli the one man’s dis- obedience the many were made sinners. even so through the' obedience of the one shall the many be made righteous” (5:17-19 RY.) Man is here recognized as a free moral agent. Whether he remains under the guilt incurred by the sin of Adam, the natural representative head of the race, or whether he will become a partaker of the righteous- ness of God which is offered in Christ, the spiritual representative Head of the race, is a matter each man must decide for him- self. Whosoever will may, by relating him- self to the second Adam, be ireed from the guilt and condemnation incurred by the ‘or if, by disobedience of the first Adam. Or if he chooses. he may. by persisting in dis- obedience, and refusing to accept the gospel of God's free grace, exclude himself from the glorious and blessed results of the work of the second Adam. We have in these verses. (5:12-21) a corroboration of the actual historicity of the Genesis account of the fall. It would be very difficult for us to conceive of the Apostle Paul building so important an argument as is dealt with here on some- thing which is merely fiction or an allegory. The Old Testament is “the book of the generations of Adam” (Genesis 5:1). The New Testament is ‘the book of the genera- tion of Jesus Christ” (Matthew 1:1). By nature every man is born into, and his name enrolled on the pages of “the book of the generations of Adam.” This book is characterized by disobedience and death, and closes with a curse (Malachi 4), Every man may by faith be born into, and have his name enrolled in “the book of the generation of Jesus Christ,” which is char- acterized by life, obedience, and final bless- ing (Revelation ce, 21, 22), We are in the book of Adam by nature; we enter the book of Jesus Christ by faith, “Lord, I care not for riches, Neither silver nor gold ; I would make sure of heaven. I would enter the fold: In the book of Thy kingdom, With its pages so fair, Tell me, Jesus, my Saviour, Is my name written there?”AAA TT TTT International S. S. Lessons Exposition and Practical Application Outlines and Suggestive Points ee ec TTA aT A eT By R.A. Torrey By T.C. Horton a nT A TGF] Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand MARCH 4, 1917. LESSON IX. John 6:1-14. Gotven Text: “Give us this day our daily bread.” (Study 1-21. Memorize vs. 10, 11.) Matt. 6:11. DAILY BIBLE READINGS Mon., Feb, 26—John 6:1-14. (The Lesson.) Tues., Feb. 27—John 6:15-21. Wed., Feb. 28—Mark 6 :30-44. Thur. F March 1—Matt. 15 March 2—I Kings 17 Sat, March 3—Psalm 34:1-10. Sun., March 4—Psalm 34:11-22. EXPOSITION AND PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS vs. 1,2. “After these things Jesus went over (away to the other side of) the sea of Galilee, which is the sea of Tiberias; () And a great multitude followed Him, because they saw His miracles (beheld the signs) which He did on them that were diseased (sick).” Jesus, wearied in body and bereaved in heart (cf. Matt. 14:12, 13), had made a long journey to an unfre- quented spot to be alone with His disciples for much needed rest and quiet, but He did not get the rest or quiet He sought and so sorely needed. He who loved solitude lived continually in a crowd (Matt. 4:24, 25; 8:1; 12:15; 13:2; 14:14; 15:30, 31). There is nothing more wearisome than a crowd, unless one is very full of love. When we grow so tired of the crowd let us remem- ber how the Master's life was spent. It was the incessant “coming and going” of the crowd that -had- driven Jesus to’ seek this seclusion (Mark 6:31), but He did not thus eseape them. They followed Him. And how did He feel about it; vexed? Annoyed? No; “He welcomed them” (Luke 9:11, R.V.). Oh. wonderful love! His own need sinks out of sight as He beholds theirs. The desire and need of rest is forgotten and the whole day, spent ‘in teaching and healing (Luke 9st, 2), vs. 3, 4. “And Jesus went up into \a (the) mountain, and there He sat with His disciples. And (now) the passover, a (the) feast of the Jews, was nigh (at hand).” Jesus was interested in and solicitous about the multitude. They were never to Him “the common herd,” or “the rabble;” they were “sheep not having a shepherd” (Matt. 9:36), and He made Himself shepherd unto them. He ever sought the crowds, for it was the crowds that needed Him. If He were really the acknowledged head of the church today, the church would not seek the boulevards where the rich live, to the neglect of the alleys where the many poor swarm, mountain was largely composed of—the poor, but the souls of the poor were as precious to Him as the souls of the rich (Matt. 11:5). Probably the reason why there were such great crowds gathered together and who wished to follow Him That throng drawing near the.250 was because the passover, the great annual feast of the Jews, was at hand, and the crowds were gathered to go up to Jerusa- lem to the feast. v. 5. “When Jesus then lifled up (Jesus therefore lifting up) His eyes, and saw (seeing that) a great company come (mult tude conecth) unto Hin, He (omit He) saith unto Philip, Whence shall we (are we to) buy bread, thal these may eat?” It was several hours (as we learn by the com- parison of the accounts) hefore this crowd would need feeding, but Jesus considers their coming need at once and sets His disciples to considering it. He takes it for granted that they were to cat with Him; so He puts to Philip the question, “Whence are we to buy bread that these may eat?” Vv. 6. “And this He said to prove him: for He Himself knew what He would do.” It is to test Philip. not to solve any per- plexity of His own, that our Lord asks the question. He knew, from the beginning what He would do. He was never taken unawares, or unprepared. He knows exactly what He will do in every emergency that may arise in the lives of any one of us: there are no after thoughts with Him. But Philip needs testing. Will Philip arise to the occasion and say, “Master, there is no difficulty at all about that, because you are here; Thy hand is quite sufficient for the emergency?” Philip might well have done that; for he had seen the water become wine in another emergency, and he had seen other manifestations of the fullness of Divine power that there was in Jesus. But alas! while Philip might have done it, Philip was just like us, slow of spiritual perception and slow of faith. and just as Moses in the wilderness was utterly at a loss to know how God could provide flesh for six hundred thousand footmen, so Philip is at a loss to see how Jesus can provide bread for five thousand (cf. Num. 11:21-23; Ps. 78:19). How often we are aghast at the seemingly colossal work before us, or rather before Christ, and at the small visible resources at our com- mand. THE KING'S BUSINESS v2. “Philip answwored Him, Povo hun dred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient for then, that every owe of them may take @ littic.” Philip's answer is not only sug- gestive, but amusing. He figured out just Show much it will cost to buy enough so “every one may take a liltle.” Ab! Jesus does not provide “a little” for those who sit at His table, Philip. however. was quite a typical church treasurer, he believed in rrying on the Lord's work on_ strictly business principles.” There are many just like him today. who are figuring out on how little they can dole out to those who come to the Lord Jesus’ table to receive at His hand. ys. 8.9. “Que of His discipics, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, saith unto Hin, There isa lad here, which hath five barley loaves and (eo small (omit, small) fishes: but what these among so Andrew, seeing the difficulties of the occa- sion, for a moment ventured a suggestion that there was a little boy at hand with five loaves aid two little fish (there is no adjective “little” in the Greck, but the word translated “fish” is itself a diminutive form and indicates something carried along to be eaten with bread), but he was immediately frightened at the apparent absurdity of his own suggestion, and immediately blurted ‘but what are these among so many?” Before the day was over he found out that they proved to be quite sufficient among so many, for the Lord Jesus Himself took these insigniticant things into His own hand and multiplied them. We are often tempted to say of our insignificant gifts and pos- sessions, “But what are these?” “Quite sufficient.” Jesus replies. “if you will only put them into my hand.” ‘There is a won- derful naturalness about the whole story, an artlessness that surpasses all the pos: bility of art. What Philip said, and what Andrew said are quite characteristic of the two men, That little chap who had come along with his five cheap barley crackers and two little salt fish about the size of sardines, to eat with them, or possibly to sell to some one who had come out to see arc many?” onTHE KING'S BUSINESS the Lord, little dreamed how great a part he would have in that day's working. But Jesus took him into partnership with Him- self, and Jesus and the lad fed the multi tude. A small boy with very meager means is of vast account if he puts what he has at our Lord’s disposal, even though the Andrews think they do not amount to much, Jesus left His question to work all day in the minds of Andrew and Philip. As evening drew on the disciples had not ~ yet settled the problem how to feed the vast crowd. and came to Jesus and told Him He had better send the people away. for they certainly could not entertain them. They gave it up. and then Jesus came to the rescue (cf, Matt. 14:15; Luke 9:12; Mark 6:35). v. 10. “And fomit, And) Jesus said, Make the men (people) sit down. Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down in number about five thou- sand” Jesus? words here recorded are His answer to a perplexed question put to Him by the disciples, which is recorded in Mark 6:32. It is interesting to compare the four accounts of this miracle (for it is given by each one of the four evangelists), and see how the different accounts play into one another, and how one account explains what is recorded in some other account. The answer that Jesus is here recorded as giving, “Make the men sit down,” must have startled Philip and Andrew, but the stood the test better this time than the test earlier in the day. for they did exactly as they were hidden, perplexed as they may have been to what was dona We always do well to do exactly as the Lord bids us do. even though we cannot see any way out of the difficulties that confront us if we take the line of action which He commands. Doubt- less Philip and Andrew did their part witha good deal_of misgiving. for they knew there were thousands of mouths to feed and they knew there were only five insignifieant barley crackers and two pitiably small fish to do it with, Common sense would have suggested that it would 251 have been better to tell the people to walk than to sit down, but Jesus’ disciples had the uncommon sense to cast their erring reason to the wind and do just as the unerring Lord told them. The multitude, too, did as they were bidden, they “sat down.” Two different Greek words are translated “men” in this verse. Where “men” occurs first the Greek word is the generic word for men and may include women as well as men, It means a human being whether male or female. The second place where it occurs it is the word “men” with a reference to sex, and used to dis- tinguish a man from a woman. It is some- times also used with reference to age, to distinguish an adult man from a boy (see Matt. 14:21). The Revised Version seeks to make this distinction by translating the word “men” in the first instance “people.” It is the men, ie, the adult males, whom Jesus especially notes as sitting down in this instance, though we know from Mat- thew's account that the women and children cre also fed (Matt, 14:21). Notice how minute is John’s account: he recalls the fact that “there was much grass in the place.” It is evidently the account of an eye-witness. Mark adds another detail which shows that his account, too, was derived from an eye-witness; he says, or rather the Authorized Versions record him as saying, “They sat down in ranks.” But the Greek word which Mark uses means * rather a garden bed than a rank (Mark 6:40). Peter, for whom Mark really wrote, recalling the scene, remembered how they looked with all their varied hues of oriental garb, like garden beds set out in regular order. and Mark adds another picturesque detail that shows how vividly the scene had impressed itself upon Peter’s memory; he tells us that they sat down “upon the green grass.” The brilliant green of the grass came before Peter's memory as he dictated the account to Mark. It was the season of the year (v. 4) when the grass would be a brilliant green. It is one of the little details that so convincingly prove that we have here an accurate account of an252 eye-witness as to what actually occurred, vl. “And Jesus (Jesus therefore) took the loaves, (;) and when he had (having) given thanks, he distributed to the disciples, and the disciples distributed (omit, to the disciples, and the disciples distributed) to them that were set down, (:) and likewise (add, also) of the fishes, as much as they would.” It was well that the multitude obeyed Jesus and sat down, for Jesus “distributed fo them that were set down,” We must obey Jesus if we would be fed by Jesus, and we must find rest at Jesus’ feet if we would receive bread from Jesus’ hand. Philip had attempted to figure out how much was necessary if each one was to “take a little,” but Jesus distributed to them “as much as they would.” Jesus does not give little, He gives all that we will. What we get from Him is what we will, There is infinite fullness in Him, abundant supply for every need (Phil. 4:19), but how much of that fullness we personally receive and experimentally enjoy depends upon us. v. 12. “(Add, And) When they were filled, He said (saith) unto His disciptes, Gather up the fragments (broken pieces) that (whick) remain (add, over), that nothing be lost.’ They were all “filled,” and so it always is at Jesus’ table (Ps, 23:1; Phil. 4:19). But bountiful as Jesus was on this occasion, and bountiful as He always is when we look to Him for a * supply, He vould not have His bountiful- ness teach us wastefulness. Even the “broken pieces” must be gathered up “that THE KING'S BUSINESS nothing be lost.” What a lesson here against the wastefulness that so many rich Christians, yes, and Christians who are not so rich, display. v.13. “Therefore (So) they gathered them together (up), and filled twelve bass kets with the (omit, the) fragments (broken pieces) of (from) the five baricy loaves, which remained over and above, (omit, and above,) unto them that had eaten.” The disciples got a basketful apiece to take away, and so were abundantly repaid for sharing with the crowd (cf. Prov. 11:24, 25; Luke 6:38). If they had kept back any of their little store they would have gone away empty-handed. John notes the fact that each of these baskets not merely had something in it, but was “full.” v. 14. “Then those men, when they had seen (When therefore the people saw) the miracle (sign) that Jesus (which He) did, (add, they) said, This is of a truth that (the) Prophet that should come (cometh) into the world.” It was not merely a “miracle,” as the Authorized Version puts it, which the crowd saw, but a “ de, @ supernatural act that was a sign of the Divine mission of the One who performed it. The wondering crowd, seeing the sign, said, “This is of a truth the Prophet.” Of a truth He is “the Prophet,” nothing could de plainer than that. But He is more than “the Prophet :” the One who has the cre- ative power displayed here is the Son of God (ch. 20:31), the One in whom “all the fullness of the Godhead” dwells (Col. 2:9). LESSON OUTLINE (1) Food Needed, vs. 1 Why did Jesus go across the sea? -Mark 6:31. Did the multitude follow Him? 14:14, How was Christ exercised when He saw them? Mark 6:34. When the people were hungry, what did Matt. the disciples propose? Luke 9:12. Was that characteristic of the disciples? Matt, 15:23. Will Jesus ever send any away? John 6:37. Is there ever any lack of anything with Jesus? Phil. 4:19, Why did Jesus want to prove Philip?THE KING’S BUSINESS 2 Chron. 32:31. Had they had evidence of His ability to feed the multitude? John 2:6-9. Where in the ninth ¥aive should Andrew have stopped? v. 9. What little word hurt the heart of the Lord? John 11:21. Of what is the multitude a picture? Matt. 9:36. (2) Food Furnished, vs. 8-11. Was Andrew good at finding? 1:40, 41. What did the Lord say about the five Matt. 14:18. What was the necessary thing to do with them? Matt, 14:19, Will a little go a long way, with His blessing? Lev. 26:8, Should we always‘ask God’s blessing on what we eat? Acts 27:35. What occurred at another time when He broke bread? Luke 24:30, 31. Who feeds the birds? Matt. 6:26. Is He able to supply all needs? 4:19. Can He use the little things for His glory? Ex, 4:24, (3) Fragments Gathered, v. 13. John loaves and the two fishes? Phil. Was Jesus the Creator of all things? John 1:2. Why was He careful of the fragments? Luke 16:1. What could be done with them? 8:10. Neh. 253 Does the Lord see the wasted fragments? Luke 15:13; 16:1. Are we warned against wasting our time? Eph. 5:16. Are we warned against wasting our money? Luke 19;11-17. Are we warned against wasting oppor- tunities? Luke 16:19-31. Who was commended for using a frag- ment? Mark 12:42. PRACTICAL POINTS (1) Man’s method, “send them away ;” Christ's command, “bring them to Me.” (2) Christ is the source and supply for every need. (3) A sin-stricken world is famishing for food. (4) When we put our little lives in His ‘ hand, He mightily multiplies them. (5) What we bring to Him, He blesses, breaks and bestows upon others. (6) We need to be engaged with His mightiness rather than with our lit- tleness. (7) The wasted fragments from Christian homes would furnish funds for the evangelization of the world. (8) Gather up the fragments of time, talents and treasures. (9) Let us be occupied with His resources rather than with our sources.254 THE KING'S BUSINESS Jesus the Bread of Life MARCH 11, 1917. LESSON X. John 6:24-37. Gotpen Text: DAILY BIBLE RB) Mon., March 5-~John 6:22-31. March 6—John 6 :32-40, John 6:41-51. Tue: Wed.. March “Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life.”—John 40. Memorize vs. 5. (Read DINGS. (The Lesson.) (The Lesson.) Thur. March 8—John 6:52-59. Fri., March 9—John 6 :60-71. Sat., March 10—John 1-13, Sun., March 11—John 7 :14-24. EXPOSITION AND PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS v. 24. “When the people (multitude) therefore saw that Jesus was not there, neither His disciples, they also took shp- ping (they themselves got into the boats) and came to Capernaum, secking Jesus.” The multitude came “seeking Jesus.” That sounds well, but really it was not as well as it sounds, for it was a wrong sort of seeking, and therefore did not bring salva- tion. It was not really Jesus whom they were secking, they were secking the loaves and fishes. There is much of that sort of secking after Jesus still: Many come to Him when it is not really Jesus Himself they want, but the things they can get from Jesus, and not infrequently, as in this case, things of a material kind. It was not the “sign” as indicating the Divine character that drew them, but simply the wonder as indicating that there would be a constant supply of bread. They did not see “in the bread the sign,” but “only in the sign the bread.” Their eyes and desire were entirely fixed upon “the food which perisheth.” vy, 25) “And when they had (omit, had) found ‘Him on the other side of the sea, they said unto Him, Rabbi, when camest thou hither?” The multitude had seen the disciples go away in a boat without Jesus (vr22), and there was-no other boat there for Him to go in, and they were greatly perplexed to know how the Lord Jesus had gotten to the other side of the lake. They would have been more filled with amazement if, they had known the whole truth about the way that He did get to the other side of the lake (see vs. 15-21). v.26. “Jesus answered them (omit ,) and said, Verily, verity (add ,) I say wito you, Ve seek me, not because ye saw the (omit. the) miracles (signs), but beeause ye ate of the loaves, and were filied.” Jesus did not answer their question as to when He came or how He came to Capernaum. It was not for this materialistic crowd to know the great truth set forth in His walking on the sea. They had been utterly blind to the meaning of the wonderful miracle of the multiplying of the loaves, and so they would not be told about the other miracle that set forth His Deity, that of His walking on the water. Jesus saw through their eagerness to find Him. It was not because they “saw signs,” ie. Divine proofs of His Divine mission and nature, that they sought Him; no, they sought Him simply because they wished Him to fill their empty stomachs. Oh, how many hang around the places where Jesus manifests Himself just to get some- thing to eat, concerned greatly about their bodies, not at all concerned about their souls. What is it the great throngs that frequent the Christian Scientists places of gathering are seeking? Is it a Divine Lord? No, in the vast majority of cases simply the healing of their bodies. They profess not to believe in the reality of the body, but that the body is only “mortal thought,” “illusion,” but they are willing to give upTHE the deepest spiritual truths that their spirits need for the sake of the healing of these bodies which do not exist, or at least which they say they do not. v. 27. “Labor (Work) not for the meat (food) which perisheth, but for that meat (the food) which endureth (abideth) unto everlasting (eternal) life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for Him hath God the Father (the Father, even Goad, hath) sealed.” There is “food which abidcth unto eternal life,” and the man who seeks only “the food which perishethy when he can have “food which abideth unto eternal life” is a fool. But it was for this food which perisheth that that great crowd was working, and it is for the food which perisheth that the great crowd is working today. This food “which abideth unto eternal life” is a gift, it cannot be purchased or earned (ef. Rom. 6:23; Eph. 2:8), it is the Son of man, and He alone who gives this most precious food. But though it is a gift. still we are to “work” for it, How to work for it verse 29 will tell. The loaves miraculously. multi- plied were “a sign” of the true bread. The result of eating the food which abideth unto eternal life is that one lives forever (vs. 51, 58). The proof that it is “the Son of man” who gives the food which abideth unto eternal life, is that the Father, even God had sealed Him. As to how the Father sealed Him read Acts 2:22; John 1:33, 34: 5:36. 37: 10:37, 38; Matt. 3:17. The miracles He performed and the voice that spake to Him from heaven were the stamp of God’s endorsement, the seal that the Father put upon Him that He was what He claimed to be. vs, 28, 29. “Then said they (They said therefore) unto Him, What must we do, that we might (may) work the works of God? Jesus answered, (omit ,) and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on Him whom He hath sent.” The multitude desired to know the works of God, and our Lord replied that there was just one work of God. one work that” God requires as the condition of receiving KING'S BUSINESS 255 the bread which endureth unto eternal life. This one work (which leads to and is the source of all other works which please God) is “believing on Him whom He hath sent” (cf. John 3:16-18, 36; 16:3 2:8). “This is the work of God:" other things count for nothing if this is lacking, If this is present all other things that are worth while will come. ‘This “work,” the work of believing on Him whom He hath sent, does not make us merit the true bread, it simply accepts the true bread, it is the hand which is put out to take it, Let us never forget that there is just one work that God demands of men, viz., that men “believe on Him whom He hath sent.” If this is lacking. whatever else may be present it counts for nothing. x. 30. What doest see, “They said therefore unto Him sign showest Thou (What, then Thou far a sign), that we may and believe Thee? What (what) dost Thou work (workest Thou)?” This multitude demanded a sign as a condition of believing on Jesus. The utter unreasonableness of this demand, under the circumstances, is apparent when one remembers that only the day before they had seen the wonderful and. perfectly sufficient sign of the loaves and fishes (vs. 10-14); what blind folly to ask a sign on top of that. But the demands of modern skeptics are just as unreasonable. With all the conclusive proofs that the Lord Jesus is the Son of God, they demand some additional proof of their own dictation. Jesus Himself was the greatest of all signs (v. 36). vs. 31-33. “Our fathers did cat manna (ate the manna) in the desert, (wilderness;) as it is written, he gave them bread fram (out of) heaven to eat, Then Jesus (Jesus therefore) said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not (it was not Moses that gave you) that-(the) bread from (out of) heaven, (;) but my Father giveth you the true bread from (out of) heaven. For the bread of God is He that (that which) cometh down from 1 | | + Cees256 THE KING'S BUSINESS (out of) heaven, and giveth life unto the world.” The multitude sought to enforce their demand for a sign by a reference to Moses and the sign he gave, the manna, but Jesus showed them that the manna was but a type of Himself, the true bread from God out of heaven, and He showed them that it was not Moses who gave them the bread, but the Father. The two characteristics of this bread that the Father giveth are, (1) it “cometh down out of heaven.” (2) it “giveth life unto the world.” He Himself was the bread that had these two char acteristics. He came down out of heaven, and He, and He alone, gives life unto the world. v.34. “Then said they (They said there- fore) unto Him, Lord, evermore give us this bread.” How dull our Lord's hearers were, they did not undérstand Him at all, they were still occupied with bread for the body, and so they exclaimed, “Always give us this bread.” They would not have said that at all if they had understood the real character of the bread. When they came to understand the real character of the bread they “went back, and walked no more with Him” (v. 66). How many there are today who think they really desire Jesus, but it is simply because they do not under- stand Him and the real work that He docs, and the real character of the life that He gives, that they imagine they desire Him. v.35. “And (omit, And) Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life; he that cometh to me, (omit,) shall never (not) hunger: (,) and he that believeth on me, (omit,) shall never thirst.” Jesus now explains to them in a way that they cannot mistake, that He Himself is the true bread of God of which He spake, There is noth- ing more wonderful in the whole book of John than the various “I ams" that Jesus uses (cf. ch, 10:9; 11:25; 14:6, ete.), and the “I am” given here is one of the most wonderful of them all. It is questionable if ever more simple or more wonderful words were ever uttered than these, “T AM THE BREAD OF Live.” As the bread of life He would satisfy every hunger of their “ated “in no wis hearts, and not only would He satisfy every hunger of their hearts, but every thirst as well. “Hunger” may stand for the deep longing for that which ministers strength, “thirst,” the more intense desire for that which satisfies every spiritual cravirig. So we sce that Jesus ministers never failing strength to.all who come to Him, and never failing peace to all who believe on Him. There is a different shade of meaning in “coming to Him.” and “believing on Him.” “Coming to Him” is secking help and blessing from Him; “believing on Him,” is the absolute abandonment of self to Him. The Authorized Version reads, “never hunger;” the Revised Version reads, “not hunger”: the Greek word is not properly rendered “never.” but it is a very strong negative and “not” is hardly an adequate translation. It is the same form of sega- tive that is found in verse 37 and is trans- v.36. “But I said unto you, that ye also (omit, also) have seen me, and yet (omit, yet) believe not.” They had seen this bread ‘out of heaven right before their eyes in the person of the Lord Jesus, but had never appreciated what it was. because so taken up with material and unreal, And men today are so taken up with the material and unreal that they neither appreciate nor believe in the true bread. Alas! for the man who sees Jesus and yet believes not. How blind he is, and how hopeless his con- dition v.37. “All that (add, which) the Father giveth me, Comit,) shall come to (uato) me; and him that cometh to me, (omit, ) I will in no wise east owt.” While the mass of men would not come to Jesus and believe on Him (v. 36; cf. ch. 5:40), some would, “All that which the Father giveth me.” There is a body of men whom God has given to Jesus (ch. 17:2, 9,12). These are His own, and to them He ministers in a special way (ch. 13:1), not one of them is ever lost (ch. 17:12, R. V.; 18:9), and this body of men which the Father hath given unto Jesus are those who come to Him, That which the Father hath given