VOL. VI "FEBRUARY, 1 1916 No. 2 - S=— Sa The King’s _| Business _ Published once a month by the BIBLE INSTITUTE OF LOS ANGELES LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, TS. A. (ay SS SSS SSE) ONE DOLLAR A YEARTHE KING'S” BUSINESS Vol. VIL. FEBRUARY, 1916 TABLE OF CONTENTS Editorial: Worthy of Emulation—The War Sermon— Misinterpreting Prophecy — War Opportunities for Christian Service—From the Trenches—The Japanese Coronation ...... The Bible as a Message. “By W. H. Griffith Thomas, D. D. Great Revivals and Evangelists—IV. Chas. G. Finney (Concluded). By John H. Hunter... Light on Puzzling Passages and Problems... = Divine Inspiration of the Scriptures. By L. Gaussen... At Home and Abroad Through the Bible with Dr. Evans. Bible Institute Activities, By the Superintendents.... Homiletical Helpe....ccscesce-eee-e International Sunday School Lessons. By R. A. Torrey and T. C. Horton.......... oeoscke Daily Devotional Studies in the New Testament for Ind: vidual Meditation and A Pemily: Worshins By R. A. 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Make all orders payable to the Bible Institute of Los Angeles. ADDRESS THE KING’S BUSINESS SIXTH AND HOPE STS. LOS ANGELES, CAL. ol(] THE KING’S BUSINESS io) — ——[o] || vor7 FEBRUARY, 1916. No. 2 || a fo) : EDITORIAL A well-known gentleman in the Middle West has just Worthy of recognized the value of THe Krino’s Bustness, and Emulation. shown his appreciation by sending the names of ten persons to whom the magazine will be sent each month during the year of 1916, as a gift from him. Many letters come to us from min- isters and ‘missionaries in all parts of the world, commending this magazine and expressing a strong desire to have it regularly, but regretfully stating inability to pay for it. The example of the brother above mentioned is worthy of emulation, or, if donations are made for that purpose, the magazine will be sent to worthy ministers and missionaries, and the names of the recipients for- warded to the donors of the fund. We have had such a fund, but it is now exhausted. Ina recent number of The Life of Faith, the following ~The War letter appears, the substance of which would apply to Sermon. much of the preaching in our own tand:~ te __ “I have just returned home after a month's absence, the past four weeks with their successive Sundays having been spent in various parts of England. My journeyings have given me the opportunity of hearing eight different preachers in as many different pulpits. I have come back assured of one thing, i. e., that it is high time to call a halt to the ‘war sermon.” My experience-during the past month has been that out of these eight sermons seven were on ‘The War.” Because I realize the seriousness of the times in which we live, I plead all the more for the unfolding of the Word. It seems almost impossible that the preachers are so blind to their responsible opportunity. “At the commencement_of the war we heard a great deal of the sudden swelling of congregations. These hopes have not in any sense been realized; and I cannot help but feel that the war sermon is largely responsible. We get our papers daily, reading there all sides of the present crisis, More or less, everyone is affected by the news which filters through day by day and hour by hour. I plead that Sunday should be Sunday. If the preacher Wants to boom ‘recruiting,’ let him do it during the week. If the people’s minds are to be drawn to his yersion of late events, let him go to sfitable platforms. The pulpit on a Sunday is certainly not the place; and there are many of us going to church Sunday by Sunday hoping, looking for a definite spiritual message. We go becausé’We are taking our part gladly in the struggle, therefore stand in need of the further equipment which shall fit us for the coming stress and strain of the week ahead. What about our soldiers home on leave? Is it justo bid them ‘elcome to the old place and pew, there to serve them with nothing better than ‘war fare’? Rather let the minister realize that he is, after all, God's servant; that he, in God’s hands, may be the means of bringing encouragement to those that are cast down —yea, even comfort to them that mourn. Let us with deep humility give back to God His Own Day. Let us acknowledge before Him that it has—at least in some sense—been robbed of its beauty and use. Above all, let the minister have done with the choosing of a convenient text, the which to serve as a ‘peg’ for the ‘hanging on’ of a “war sermon!” )100-__— = THE._KING'S. BUSINESS Pretty much every mail brings us letters in which mod- Misinterpreting ern prophets undertake to tell us just what will be the Prophecy. result of the presept war, and just when the times of the Gentiles are going to end, and similar interesting things. We find many articles in religious journals along the same line. Most of these modern prophets base their calculations upon their interpretations of the book of Daniel. We have just been reading again an attempt of a similar kind to predict the future from a study of Daniel that was made by an esteemed friend some years ago. We give a few excerpts from this to show how little dependence is to be put upon these conclusions that men think they draw from the book of Daniel: “To this we may properly add two centuries for the superiority of the legs (he is referring to the image in Dan. 2:31-45), making 1895. And, as there has been nothing-in history that can be accepted as a manifestation of the ten toes, either before or since 1395 A, D., we may be reasonably confirmed in our calcula- tion that they are yet future, but, as we firmly believe, in the very near future. (The italics here are the writer's). We do not, however, have to guess at the Iength of the legs. This image evidently typifies’ man’s government of the world and especially his domination over the theocratic kingdom of Israel. It is consonant with the ‘times of the Gentiles,’ which, from Lev. 26, we believe measures ‘seven times’. 2520 years. If this be the duration of the image, it will terminate (2520-608) in 1915 A. D.” We do not need, of course, to call any one’s attention to how far wide our brother’s assertions were from the facts as we now know them. Other parts of the tract are equally interesting in the light of history as it is being made today. The writer says: ~ “Germany and Persia will not be included: They will-be the-allics of Russia which will constitute the ‘great company’ that shall ‘come forth ‘out of the north parts’ in the latter years. Ezek. 38 and 39.” Further on he’says, in the supposed light of events that were then occur- ring: “With this thought_before us, how significant is the present internecine strife which is raging in Austria.’ It is, to the student of prophecy, like the hand-writing on the wall, It points to exactly such a division of that empire, as is required for the formation of the ‘ten toes.’ “Germany is not slicing into the territory of defenseless China, without a complete understanding with Russia. Thus we see two great nations of the north gravitating into the alliance described in Eck. 38. France will find her super- ficial compact with Russia a perfect delusion.” Her place is among the ‘ten toes’ and perhaps, as the exponent of the decimal system, she may be a leader in their formation. This combination of Russia and Germany will force England and Italy to seek an alliance with France, Turkey and Spain, and thus bring about the very combination which some mighty upheaval may develop into the ‘ten toes.” How far wide the actual historic combinations have been of those predicted by the attempts of our uninspired prophet, of course we all know. Many of the present-day prophets are just as confident of the certainty of their predic- tions as to what the combinations and issues of the presgnt war will be, as was this brother in 1894, and very likely they will be quite as wide of the mark as he was. The experiences of those who have tried to predict minutely times and events in the past ought to make these present-day prophets more cautious. When will we learn that though prophecy will be exactly and literally fulfilled, prophecy is not history, and one who tries to interpret prophecy as history is bound to get himself into trouble, even if he escapes the greater calamity of bringing reproach upon the Word of God.Oia es THE KING'S BUSIN 101 A recent letter from the captain of a vessel engaged in ‘War Opportunities carrying troops from New Zealand to the scene of war, for Christian . and bringing back the wounded, gives a striking illus- Service. tration of how thegvar has opened opportunities for Christian service. The writer is a very earnest Chris- tian man. We became acquainted with him when travelling as passengers in * 1902 on a steamer in the South Seas, of which he was then captain. We had scarcely left port when we made his acquaintance and found that he was not merely a professed Christian, but an out-and-out Christian man and witness for Christ. The very night we left port he had been holding an open air meeting * not far away from the dock shortly before the vessel pulled om. He writes: “Just a line or two to accompany a Postal Note which I am sending as my subscription for Tue Kinc’s Business for the present year. I duly received the first three numbers during my last visit to New Zealand and I am very pleased to get them and to know that the ‘I'undamentals' are being in a measure at least carried on. “You will see from the heading that I am being employed carrying troops for the New Zealand Government. “It is a sad business and ¢ long and pray the Lord to use some means to bring about a lasting, honourable, peace. Truly ‘all creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now" and it does not know that the only thing that will give it lasting peace and rest is the very One whom it despises and rejects. If the Lord only uses this terrible scourge to chasten and humble the nations most concerned so that they may turn their eyes to Him in their extremity, it might yet be a blessing, but 1 fear from what I read and hear there is very little humbling yet, and there seems very little desire on cither side for a peace, except at the expense of total destruction of the other power. It is well we can stay our own hearts upon our God and know that the Lord God Omnipotent still reigneth, and that He is still ‘working all things according to the counsel-of-His-own will,’ that will which according to the old Hymn ‘Only willeth good for me’ What is goiiig to~be-the-outcome-of- it all? May we not according to His prophetic Word after all this upheaval in which almost all Europe is involved, look for the rise of the ‘United States of Europe out of which the little horn’ will rise and dominate things according to the Book and bring about that state of things which He will destroy by the brightness of His coming? If so, it cannot be very long ere He comes for His church. ‘Yet a very little while and He that shall come will come’ and do not our hearts respond “Even so, come Lord Jesus.” I have carried some thou- sands of men now since I started this and now have nearly 600 wounded and invalids returning to New Zealand where we expect to arrive in a few days. I have had splendid opportunities of service among all these men, and a good response from them; for a long time now they have realized that it is no pleasure trip they are going on, as great numbers of them are being killed, so they are response from them; for a fong time now they have reafized that it is no pleasure little response in the general population, large numbers of the soldiers are getting saved, at least they are making the profession of doing so, Love in the Lord and best wishes to self and all your workers.” “Most people have very vague ideas of just whidtis From the going on in the trenches, and those who have more Trenches. - definite ideas build them upen what the “newspaper correspondents say, which is generally fictitious, so we give an extract from a letter recently written in the trenches. The letter was written by a very dear Christian friend, not only a brave soldier for his country, but a brave soldier of Jesus Christ. Will those who read pray for him that his testimony for Christ among his fellow-officers and among the soldiers. may be greatly blessed, and also pray for his two brothers who are also in the trenches,102 THE KING'S BUSINESS both of them being Christian men, young men who accepted Christ during one of the'writer’s myjssions in England. Among other things, he say: “We got here to find the trenches ina lively state. parapets collapsed, dugouts leaking, and mud, mud, mud everywhere—all this the result of ten days’ abnormal rainfall. One of the great problems is if you slope back the sides of Your trenches properly then they dre no protection from shrapnel, if you don't they fall in. The solution is ‘revetting’ as we call it. Sometimes we use hurdles, sometimes wire netting, expanded metal, timber, anything we can get hold of, but when I tell you that our battalion has at least four miles of trenches to look after, if not more, you will understand it is some job. Of course the brick floor saves us a lot as one doesn't quite disappear in the mud. Our new Mess Dugout is now in use and jolly comfortable it is, with a good fire burning inthe grate. ‘This war is full of contrasts. At 6:30 I sat down to a dimmer such as we might very well get at home: Oxtail soup, stewed rabbit, sausages and Potatoes, pineapple chunks, coffee. Then I went out to the working parties, e. g., Putting a new roof on a dugout in darkness as black as ink, slithering about in the mud. Then I visited other parties wiring and revetting, and then out to the sentries in the Saps. Here it is reported the Germans are cutting our wire; nonsense of course, but still there is strong evidence of Germans moving about, so we fire a few shots to scare them. Then I go out to another sap and here I have an uncomfortable two minutes as a German machine gun is playfully hitting about the top of the parapet a foot above my head. “When the round is finished I pop in here for an hour (i, e, into my bedroom dugout) to write this. I am not without company.. Two cats have met each other on the roof of my dugout and are celebrating the occasion by the most discordant howls. I thought at first some one had been wounded, A rat is busily working behind my cupboard. and a mouse is running about on my bed. The night is very still. We can hear the wheels of the German transport wagon and the rumble of our own, Occasionally a shell comes screaming over and bursts with a vivid flash, or a machine gun rattles away for a minute or two, but otherwise all is quiet. . “How long is this extraordinary war going to last? Here within 700 yards of the enemy we live day after day, always keeping the keenest watch of course, but most of the time almost forgetting the war altogether, eating. drinking, working, sleeping, discussing every question under the sun. from religion to politics. Rumor had it last week that we were going to Servia, but I don't think it is correct. “At home you will just have finished prayers and will be going to bed and here am I sitting ata table littered with rockets, bombs, revolvers, flare guns, respirators, etc,, sitting in my sheepskin coat like a Teddy bear, inditing this epistle to you as comiortable as anything.” One of the most momentous, as well as most interesting The Japanese events of 1915, was the coronation of the Japanese Coronation. Emperor. While the Christians, as such, were not invited to the coronation, they took the deepest interest * in it. We are just in receipt today of a letter from one of the oldest and most honored missionaries in: Japan, that gives us a glimpse of the Christian side of the coronation.ceremonies. We give a few items from this letter, which we wish it were possible to publish in full: “This morning I picked up an old report of probably your first visit to England after your visit to Japan. Next December it will be eleven years ago. I re-read it and noted on it some reflections of my own, on my experiences when approach- ing Japan neatly five times as long ago, or fifty-four years today, a favorable day for such a display. H. M. Yoshihito, the young Emperor in the fourth year of his reign called the Tai’ Sho Great ‘Rightensmen, as the preceding era of forty-five years was called, ‘good government’, made his progress from TokyoSS THE KING’S BUSINE on his way to Kyoto from the East to the West Capitol, where he goes for a service of an ancient form of coronation according to Shristo rites. His departure from Tokyo on the 6th and the return on the 16th on fete days, as well as at the 10th Coronation Day, and the 14th, next Sabbath, a special religious worship of his ancestors, which is at evening and espetally sacred, no music or singing anywhere. I am interested in its not:being a crying sin-in the cyes of the Almighty. Prayer, as you know was long made for H. M. Meiji Tenns and Emperor Horako, and not wholly in vain. The Emperor's attitude toward the benevolent and educational work of the Y. M. C. A. showed appreciation. But the shrine of Monoyana, his tomb at Kyoto, and another to be built in Tokyo for his especial worship is far from comforting. The present Emperor, from his democratic character and association as a iad with Christian youth, and especially the Empress Sadako being reported as very sorry to renounce her Bible and Christian knowledge if not worship, is encouraging were it not for the influences woven about them. Yesterday, leaving his palace at 5 A. M., and between lines of 40,000 soldiers and thousands of school children and people, he entrained at 7 A. M., passing slowly at Yokohama forty minutes later, and stopping at Nagoya last night, a Military Station and its famous castle built by Kato Kojomara, the great warrior under Laiko Sama, in the invasion of Korea two or three centuries ago. Thence today, the progress was to be Kyoto with great procession to the Palace. It began to rain at noon and southward earlier, so has greatly frustrated display. Queen's weather is not at the command of H. M., albeit the reputed son of the Sun Goddess. This is the background of my picture. Now for its foreground or Christian setting. 1 was thankful it did not rain before noon as I heard baptisms as well as the Lord’s Supper were to be administered at the Kaigan, or the first church organized in Japan forty-three years ago the 10th of March last, consisting of eleven members. I baptized that day members of a day school, all young Samurai, or retainers of different Daimyos. The number I heard were a score or twenty-three, an event at any time. I,set out to redeem a backslider, once a servant, and who through vicissitudes grew lukewarm and could not be induced to attend church, though I often visited his family in the-siekness-and-death of wife, son, and daughter. Another wife taken and several children living. Making an effort last Sabbath evening to get him out to hear our missionary, son of Dr. Jacob Chamberlain, a noted missionary: I did not succeed.so I determined to try again, and went in time to bring him with me to church some two miles distant but accessible by trolley. Changing cars at a place I unexpectedly met another wanderer, once a worker whom I had longed for, and had good news to tell him of his grandson in the country having been recently baptized by me. The mother, a widow not much older looking than her son. I at once urged the man to hasten to the Kaijan church while I went on to seek my former servant. The man had a parcel in hand and had to deliver that at some place and would then come. Whether he did or not I could not afterward tell. I found my servant all alone, save a little son he could leaye in charge of the house, and he accompanied me to church. Arriving there we found the service begun and the church full of people. He was recognized by the elders and kindly greeted. He took a rear seat, and as I have to get near to hear, went up front and occupied a_seat with school girls just in rear of seats of the candidates for baptism. That this was the first business of the day was soon apparent. The communion table was spread with its linen cloth cover. The introductory services over, the names of the candidates were read by the pastor and each one placed in line by the elders as ushers. The numbers increased till all the space which had purposely been increased was*filled and the baptismal formulae were read and explained by the pastor plainly amid the greatest solemnity, and though the form was the briefest possible it took many minutes before the last was baptized into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. I and eight-elders, and one or two deacons, stood in our places while all this was taking place and praying for each one it might be as the Lord’s baptism on the banks of the Jordan, and the Holy Spirit descend into their hearts. One of the elders slipped a paper into my hand with the number written thereon “about 69.” Surely a goodly record, and the largest number I had ever seen baptized anywhere or at any time. Heard of thirty recently at Kambara, and ninety said to be candidates for next Sunday at Shiloh Church, the church you spoke at on the ‘Omhipotence of Prayer? and I interpreted for you and had to jump down and get Japanese 103= THE KING'S BUSINESS word for ‘grasshopper.’ Both good p two or three years each in America, Princeton and Richmond Preshyterian Seminaries. An impressive communion A mother's sacrifice of some of her own flesh for a son under a surgical ope ation. How much greater Christ’§’sacritice of Himself, body and blood. Good union church comme Stormy da Ye are saved by grace through faith Thanks be unto God fer His unspeakable gift KING'S BUSINESS EDITORS. Top, R. A. Torrey, editor-in-chief; below, the three associate editors, William Evans (left), J. H. Hunter (right), T. C. Horton (bottom)_ The Bible = : Aas a Message By Rev. W. H. Griffith Thomas, D. D. An address delivered at Montrose Bible Conference, August 4, 1915 F GOD has spoken to us in yy (/* the Bible, and if this Divine ADD revelation is our supreme gg authority, it is of course essential that we should know its contents, what it-says, what it means to us—in a word, its message. That is our present subject—the message of the Bible. And the answer to the question, “What is the message of the Bible?” is found in one word: CHRIST. During the last fifty years quite a num- ber of “Lives” of Christ have been writ- ten, representing all sorts of standpoints. I mention only a few. of them: Neander, Lange, de Pressense, Geikie, Edersheim. and Farrar, not to go further afield or to deal with more recent works. For the most part these “Lives” are characterized by one feature: they com- mence at Bethlehem and end at Olivet; but our Lord’s life did not begin at Beth- lehem, nor did it close with the Ascension. The Life of Christ should cover the whole of the Bible, and this is why-I say that the message of the Bible is Christ. Christ is the message of Scripture from beginning to end. Or to use the title of a well-known book by an honored friend (and Friend), Miss Hodgkin: “Christ in all the Scriptures.” I have been told that in the British Navy every piece of rope has a red thread running through it, so that whenever it is cut at any part, or if any one should happen to help himself to it. it can be proved to belong to the British Navy. Now there is a thread run- ning through the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, and that thread” is Christ; and if we look at the Bible at almost any part, we find traces of that thread, and aspects of that message. But some one may say: Does not this mean twisting the Bible to see Christ in every part? No, it does not. As some one has said, the real danger is the twisting away from Christ in the Bible. We must, of course, be careful about that, for we know it is possible to go to extremes. There was a time when some devout men saw Joseph of Arima- thea in the first ‘psalm, that he was the man of God depicted there, but we have now gone to the other extreme, and do’ not see anybody in it. We believe in nei- ther of these extremes, but we nevertheless believe that Christ is the substance of all Scripture. How, then, are we to look at it? My subject is large and comprehensive. 1. Christ in the glory of the eternal past. This is where His life commenced. John i, 1: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word106 was God.” This is the commencement of all we know of the Lord Jesus Christ: when He was at home in heaven, when He was with the Father. The Eternal Father had an Eternal’Son, and the Lord Jesus Christ is revealed to us in Scripture as the Unique Son of God, in a sense in which no other person can possibly a The passage in Proverbs viii, whieh records the personification of Wisdom and other similar passages, should be associated with Johni:1 in the study of Christ in the glory of the cternal past. be a son. If Christ in the glory of the act of Creation. John 1:3: “All things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made.” Col, 1:15-16: “He is the first-born of-every creature, for by Him were all things created.” Heb. “By whom also God made the worlds.” This is what Lightfoot long ago called the cosmic relation of Christ, and it adds immensely to the glory of our Lord when we think of Him, not only as our Redeemer but as the One through whom God made the world. As we look up into the sky, we can say, Christ made those stars; when we look over the landscape, we can say, Christ was responsible for that. And so, when we look upon creation in the light of that great Colossian passage, we think of Christ as God's instrument in the mak- ing of all things. Many passages can. be associated with this period of our Lord's life. HL. Christ in the glory of the revelation of the Old Test Tt would seem as though the primal Divine purpose had been fellowship between God and man; but that purpose failed three times. It failed first in Adam, it failed next in Seth and his line. it failed in Noah and his family; and then God had to make a fresh start with Abraham. God introduced a new method, a covenant not of works but of grace; and from the time of Abraham onwards the Old Testa- ment is essentially a revelation of grace, though also for the purpose of grace a record of works in the Mosaic law. All THE KING‘ S BUSINESS through the Old Testament there are these two lines of teaching: God was preparing -sthe Messiah for the people, and preparing the people for the Messiah, All along from Genesis to Malachi these two pro- cesses are at work. And as we look at the Old Testament from the standpoint of the Jews we see this first of all: in the Pentateuch there is Divine gion of redemption and deliverance. Then, in the history of the Jews. the Divine religion of redemption is developed, while in the prophetical and poetical books it is deepened. That is the Old Testament view of religion. From the standpoint of the Messiah we see something similar. In the Pentateuch it is the Messiah pre-eminently as Priest; in the historical books it is the Messiah pre-eminently as King; in the poetical and prophetical books it is the Messiah pre- eminently as Prophet; Prophet to reveal, Priest to redeem, King to rule. “Jesus, my Prophet, Priest, and King.” And let me say here that we clergy do ourselves and our people immense injury if we avoid preaching sermons from the Old Testa ment. As some one has said: “We must not rol the children of at least half of their bread.” T have heard of a man who used to preach for the most part from the New Testament. and in particular from John and Romans. Occasionally he would wan- der into Isaiah 53, but it is certain that if all his sermons for one year were counted and classified, his use of the Old Testa- ment would he seen to be very small. Mr. Dale used to keep two slips of paper in his study, and put on them the subject and text of his sermons; then he would look at them from time to time, in order that he might preserve due proportion in his preaching. Amd it would be well for us to remember that the Old Testament, on any showing whatever, is full of the Lord Jesus Christ. IV. Ch tion. Here we are concerned with the Gos- pels, and of course we must concentrate a in the glory of His Incarna-_preparation, —. THE KING'S attention very carefully on them, We shall find in these, four pictures of the one Christ. A very interesting book by an American author describes the Gospels in these terms: Matthew gives the profile -Didture in the light of the Jewish past; Mark gives the steel engraving in view of the needs of the present; Luke gives the half-tone portrait. a blending of the shumanity and the divinity; and John gives the life-size picture, in the fulness of His person and work. Qr to refer to another author: Matthew is the Gospel for the Jews. Mark for the Romans, Luke for the Greeks, and John for the whole world. Matthew demonstrates, Mark describes, Luke depicts, and John declares, And when you look at the life of Jesus Christ as a whole, you easily see the four marks or stages which were pointed out long ago hy Dr. Stalker. T am not sure that L can remember his words exactly, but his idea is that the first year was’ the year of the second was the year of ‘obscurity, the third was the year-of-popu- ‘larity, and then there is the closing period of opposition. Thus we get the life of the Lord Jesus Christ. But now in particular let us think of the teaching of the Lord Jesus Christ. We notice in the first four chapters. of John, the Judean ministry, when the teaching was of the Messiahship. Then from the begin- ning of the Galilean ministry, Matt. 4:17, to the end of the Sermon on the Mount, the theme was the Kingdom of God. From Matt. 8 to the time of Casarea Philippi, it was the Person of the Messiah. From Cwsarea Philippi to the interview with the Greeks, it was the death of the Messiah, During the last week in Jerusalem, it was the Second Coming or the future. On the last night in the upper room, it was the dispensation of the Spirit—“in that day.” And after the resurrection, it was the great commission: “Go ye into all the world,” found in all four Gospels and at the open- ing of Acts. The Messiah, the Kingdom, the Person, the Suffering, the Advent of the Holy Spirit, and the great Commission _might be a gospel to preach.” BUSINESS 107 —this is the teaching of the Lord Jesus Christ in the Gospels. Then what have the Gospels to say about Himsek® His work? Just three things: His life. His death, and His resurrection, crowned by His ascension. For as Dr. Dale once said: “Jesus Christ did not come to preach the Gospel, but that there That is Christ in the glory of His incarnation. V. Christ in the glory of His position in the Church. This is the Christ of the Aets and the Christ of the Epistles. The Acts of the Apostles is a book incorrectly named. It should be called the Acts of the exalted Christ, for all through that great and won- derful book we find the Lord Jesus Christ as the living Worker by the Holy Spirit. The Apostles were not agénts, only instru- ments. It is the Lord who is the Worker. Just as Luke's Gospel tells us what Christ began to do and to teach until His ascen- sion, so the Acts of the Apostles goes on ‘to-tell us-what He continued to do and teach after His ascension. And if we tun our mind through that book with the thought of the living Christ, we shall see these three things: Christ as Lord, Christ as Life, and Christ as Law, We find the gospel of the resurrection, the gospel of the kingdom, and the gospel of forgive- ness always preached. They proclaimed the resurrection to prove that He was God. In obedience to their Master they pro- claimed the gospel of the kingdom. But inasmuch as all men are rebels, and were not in the kingdom, they had to proclaim the gospel of pardon, This is the three- fold message of the Acts of the Apostles: Christ as the Saviour, Christ as Lord, Christ as God. So also in regard to the Epistles, we find the same thing: Christ is all. Paul is the Apostle of faith, John is the Apostle of love, Peter is the Apostle of hope. Christ is the Redeemer, the Priest, and the Master. So all through this great section Christ is seen in the glory of His position in the Church of the living God.108 Vi THE KING'S Christ in the glory of His Second Coming. We sometimes sing: “Jesus. my Prophet. Priest, and King.” We do well to remem: ber, however, that the Lord Jesus Christ is not yet King, He is on the right hand of His Father's throne. He has not yet at on His own throne. If we els, Christ is the King of the Jews. but if we look in the Acts and the Epistles, especially the latter, practically nothing is said of Christ Jesus as the King, Never once is He called the King of the Church, only the Lord. But when we go to the Apocalypse and look to the future. He is seen to be King of the Jews and King of kings. So that theologically and strictly it is not right to call Christ King now. He is Prophet in the past. Priest and Lord in the present, He is to be King in the future. We may notice the three appearances of Christ in Heb. 9:24, 26, 28. I know, of course, that they represent different Greek words, but the thought is certainly there. In verse 26, “He appcared to put away sin.” Christ in the past. In verse 24, “Now to appear in the presence of God for us.” Christ in the present. In verse 28, “Unto them that look for Him shall He appear the second time.” Christ in the future. And the glory of that future is very prominent in the New Testament and in the Old. The first part is that He is coming for His people (1 Thess. 4). He is coming, as we often say and sing, when every member of His body has been saved, and when that body has been completed. He is coming, not to the earth, but into the air for His people. And then He will come wifh His people. I am not concerned with details, but I ask: you to notice the glory of this future when He will come with His saints, and will reign over the earth, ushering in what we believe to be the Millennium—that wonderful time of which the Old Testament is so full. If we want to know about the Millennium, it is unnecessary to concentrate upon Rey. 20, We can look at Isa. 4, 9, 11, 25, 35, 65. 66. If we are not convinced about the Mitlen- BUSINESS nium from these will convince Wis must he particularly careful in read- ing Isa, sl to Invi Our older Bibles have headings descriptive of the Chureh, “The Church alilicted.” the chapter there is nothing about the’ Church at all The Church is probably not referred to in that section at all from xl to Ixyii As some one has said, we have taken to ourselves all the* blessings, and left to the Jews all the curses. The Lord Jesus Christ is coming to. introduce a reign of peace, quiet and rest, such as we find in these passages, and we cannot spirituatise them without: mak- ing them meaningless. They mean what they say, and refer to some future time, and not one that has ever yet been realized through the Gospel. The Lord Jesus Christ has been given the throne: “The Lord God shall g' unto Him the throne of His father David, and He shall reign over the house of Jacob for-ever;and of His-kingdom-there- shall be no end” (Luke i, 32-33). In Psalm ii, is another picture, and in Ps, Ixxii. there is yet another. The Old Testament is full of the glory to be seen when the Lord Jesus Christ shall be on His throne. Christ in the glory of His Advent, first coming for His people, and then coming with His people. And we can put into this section the three hundred or more passages about the coming of the Lord which we find in the Bible. Vil. . then nothing passa But when we look in Jt is Israel. absolutely Christ in the glory of the Future’ Eternity. * At the end of our Lord's reign on earth the great white throne will be set up, and judgment will be executed; then there will be the delivery of the kingdom to the Father, when God shall be all in all; and we find last of all,"the eternal home. Almost the closing picture is that of the throne of God and of the Lamb. And so we notice that Christ has an essential glory, as the effulgence of the Father, and an acquired glory by reason of His redemptive work. God raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory; God highly exalted Him, andTHE KING'S BUSIN gave Him a name which is above every name. And thus we have Christ pre- existent, Christ predicted, Christ pro- claimed, Christ possessed, and Christ pre- eminent. From the beginning to the end, the Bible is full of the Lord Jesus Chri There are just two points of application. I would beg of you to remember again and again that the Lord Jesus Christ lived before Bethlehem, and did not finish His life on Olivet’ And we must study the Bible with this key, This is the first thing. We must look at the Bible from God's point of view. When I went to the Dore Gallery to see the pictures, I remem- ber they told me to stand before “Christ leaving the Pretorium” at a particular place, so that I might view the picture from the standpoint of the artist. That is what we need in -reading the Bible—to look at it from the standpoint of the Author, God Himself, from the standpoint of His pur- pose, and of His plan. His purpose is redemption, and His plan is accomplished through the Lord Jesus Christ. There is a familiar illustration, which I will not even apologize for mentioning, although so frequently used. Dr. Pierson was fond of it, and others have used it many times. Dr. A. J. Gordon, of Boston, was one day at home with his children, and to keep them quiet he gave them a puzzle consisting of different shaped pieces of wood to put together in a picture. He went out, and had to come back very soon, and to his surprise he found they had com- pleted the puzzle. He asked them how it was they had done it so soon. . One replied: “Oh, there was the picture of a man on the back, and so we knew how to do it.” Just so with the Bible, the picture is the Lord Jesus Christ, and if we take that key we shall find we can fit it into every part of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. An American, statesman was once asked by a friend: “Can you comprehend how Jesus Christ can be both God and man?” Ss 109 “No,” said he, “I cannot, and 1 should be ashamed to do so, because if I could, 1 should know that He is no greater than myself.”: “his is the truth of the Bible. “God manifest in the flesh,” “God in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself;” “God over all, blessed for evei And the second part of the application is: We must proclaim this truth with all our hearts, The message of the Bible calls for proclamation. There must be the testi- mony of our lips, and the testimony of our lives. There must be what is called per- sonal work, work done for souls as we bring to bear upon them the Lord Jesus Christ. One of the dangers of the Christian life, a possible danger to all, an actual danger in some cases, is the peril of appreciation without application, of reception without reproduction, of complacency without com- passion. Some years ago I had the great joy of a sail over the Lake of Galilee, In the course of nine weeks I had only thrite had the opportunity of drinking water. I was warned to avoid it, but had been told that on Galilee I might drink of the water of the lake, and I did. I let down my cup again_and again, and enjoyed the freshness of that water. Why?_ In the north it enters, and in the south it goes out; and because the lake is always taking in and always pouring out, it is fresh. A little while afterwards I went to the Dead Sea. But there was no possibility of drinking that water. It is charged with salt. What is the cause of the difference? The Dead Sea receives and never gives out; it is dead because it does nof-pass on what it receives. The message of the Lord Jesus Christ is for reception, and then for reproduction. Christ for us, our atoning sacrifice; Christ in us, our living power; Christ under us, our sure foundation; Christ around us, our wall of fire; Christ beside us, our perfect example; Christ above us, our blessed Master; Christ before us, our eternal in- heritance.UNIVERSAL RECONCILIATION se: By ALFRED SHELL HE following brief and important article on Universal Reconciliation has been sent us by Alfred Shell of Colton. While it is thoroughly satisfactory, we think it might have been made even stronger by calling attention to the fact that in Colos- sians 1:20 it was not persons, but things, that are reconciled to God. Of course, this point is not necessary for the force of argu- ment as given by Mr. Shell, but it makes the point even stronger. He writes: Those who believe in the final salvation of every lost being in the Universe, who calf themselves Reconciliationists. usually fall back on three texts to try to prove their position, These texts are Colossians 1:20, Philippians 2:10, Revelation 5:13. Do these texts teach that all the lost are finally saved? Let us diagram and number them thus: No. 1 Colossians 1 Heaven. Earth. No. 2 Philippians 2:10, Heaven. Earth. Under the Earth. No.3 Revelation 5:13. Heaven, Earth. Under the Earth. Sea. No. 1 says Heaven and Earth reconciled. TWO classes RECONCILED. No. 2 says Heaven, Earth, and Under the Earth bow and confess. THREE classes BOW and CONFESS. No. 3 says Heaven, Earth, Under the Earth, and Sea say blessing, honor, glory, and power to the Lamb. FOUR classes PRAISE. . Now No. 1 may teach salvation, but the two classes do not include all, for, when the Lord would include all He adds two more classes as in No. 3. So that counts No. 1 out. No. 2 has more clas: than No. 1, but not the four classes of No. 3. This then is not broad enough to include all But even if it did it does not they claim. It does not say they are saved. It says they bow and confess Him Lord. This does not mean salvation for them, for we read in Matthew 7:21-23 that many shall say “Lord, Lord,” and tell Him how they did wonderful works in His name, and He will say, “Depart, | never knew John 18:6 tells us that those who came to arrest Jesus went backward and fell to the ground when He told them who He was. Now the Lord who made that compahy fall before Him can just as casily make others bow before Him. Certa inly the saved will do this willingly. but the *ALL of our text will'do it willingly or un- willingly. So bowing or confessing Him Lord does not, of itself, imply. salvation, No. 2 does not teach Universal Reconcilia- tion, No. 3 is broad enough to include all, per- haps, but it again does not say about them the thing claimed. It say they ascribe blessing, honor, glory and power to the Lamb, One who does t is not neces- sarily saved; for demons praised Him say- ing He was the Holy One of God, and sub- mitted to Him, and, ii the person of the one possessed, even bowed to Him, and acknowledged Him also as their Judge; and, at that time at least, they were not saved. So we may state it thus: - No. 1 may speak of Salvation, but it is not broad enough to include ALL, No. 2 and No. 3 may include ALL but they do not speak of Salvation, But the texts are juggled with, and mixed up, and read into one another until, from a combination of them, they think they find their doctrine. you.”faves Great Revivals and Evangelists By JOHN H. HUNTER IV. CHARLES G. FINNEY (Concluded) Copyright, 1915, by John H. Hunter cam EOF ISG ney’s narrative at the point where he was speaking of the conversion of Judge G., : of the Court of Appeals, Rochester, N. Y. “As Judge G’s wife was a particular friend of mine, I had oceasion to sec I not infrequently, and was very sure tnat the word was getting a strong hold of hina He remarked to me after I had delivered several lectures, ‘Mr. Finney, you have cleared the ground to my satisfaction, thus far; but when you come to the question of the endless punishment of the’ wicked, you-will slip up; you fill fail to convince us on that question.” I replied, ‘Wait and see, Judge” This hint made me the more care- ful, when I came to that point, to discuss it with all thoroughness, The next day I met him, and he volunteered the remark at once, ‘Mr. Finney, I am convinced. Your dealing with that subject was a success; nothing can he said against it’ The man- ner in which he said this indicated that the subject had not merely convinced his intel- lect, but had deeply impressed him. “T was going on from night to night, but had not thought my somewhat new and select audience petphepaced for me to call for any decision, on the part of the inquir- ers. But I had arrived at a point where I thought it was time to draw the net ashore. I had been carefully laying it around the whole mass of lawyers and hedging them in, as I supposed, by a train of reasoning that they could not resist. I was aware that lawyers are accustomed ‘to listen to arguments, to feel the weight of a logically presented truth; and had no doubt that the great majority of them wére thoroughly convinced, as far as I had gone, conse- quently, I had prepared a discourse, whieh I intended should bring them to the point, and if it appeared to take effect, I intended to call on them to commit themselves. Judge G. at the time I was there before when his wife was converted, had opposed the anxious seat. I expected he would do so again, as I knew he had strongly com- mitted himself, in what he had said, against the use of the anxious seat. When I came to preach the sermon of which I have spoken, I observed that Judge G. was not in the seat he had usually occupied; and on looking around, I could not see him anywhere among the members of the bar or the judges. I felt concerned about this, for I had prepared myself with ref erence to his case. I knew his influence was great. and that if he would take a decided stand, it would have a very great influence upon all the legal profession in the -city. However, I soon observed that he had. come into the gallery, and had found a seat just at the head of the gallery stairs, where he sat wrapped in his cloak. I went on with my discourse; but near the close of what I designed'to say, I observed Judge G. had gone from his seat. I felt distressed, for I concluded that, as it was cold where he sat, and perhaps there was some confusion, it being near the head of the stairs, he had gone home; and hence the sermon which T had prepared with my eye upon him, had failed of its effect. ‘om the basement room of the church, there was a narrow stairway into the audi- ence-room above, coming up just by the side of, and partly behind, the pulpit. Just as I was drawiig my sermon to a close, and with my heart almost sinking with the fear that I was to fail, in what I had hoped to secure that night, I felt someone pulling112 at the skirt of my coat. I looked around, and there was Judge G. He had gone down through the basement room, and up those narrow stairs, and crept up the pulpit steps, far enough to reach me and pull me by the coat. When I turned around to him, and beheld him with great surprise, he said to me, ‘Mr. Finney, won't you pray for me by name? and I will take the anxious seat.’ I had said nothing about an anxious seat at all. The congregation had observed this movement on the part of Judge G. as he came up on the pulpit stairs; and when I announced to them what he had said, it produced a wonderful shock. There was a great gush of feeling in every part of the house. Many held down their heads and wept; others seemed to be engaged in earn- est prayer. He crowded around in front of the pulpit, and knelt immediately down. The lawyers arose almost en masse, and crowded into the aisles, and filled the open space in front, wherever they could get a place to kneel. .The movement had begun without my requesting it; but I then publicly invited any, who were prepared to renounce their sins, and give their hearts to God, and to accept Christ and His salvation, to come for- ward, into the aisles, or wherever they could, and kneel down. There was a mighty movement. We prayed, and then I dis- missed the meeting. “As I had be n preaching every night, and could not give up an evening to a meeting of inqui I appointed a meeting for the instruction of inquirers, the next day at 2 o'clock, in the basement of the church. When I went, I was surprised to find the room nearly full, and that the audi- ence was composed almost exclusively of the more prominent citizens. This mecting I continued from day to day, having an opportunity to converse freely with great numbers, and they were as teachable as children, 1 never attended a more inter- esting and affecting meeting of inquiry, I think, than that. A large number of the lawyers were converted, Judge G., I might say, at their head, as he had taken the lead in coming out on the side of Christ. THE KING'S BUSINESS WOULD NOT GO TO HELL “This revival made a great change in the ‘moral state and subsequent history of Rochester. The great majority of the lead- ing men and women in the city, were con- verted. A great number of very striking incidents occurred, that I shall not soon forget. One day the lady who first visited me and whose conversion I have men- tioned, called on me in company with a friend of hers with whom she wished me to converse. I did so, but found her to all appearance very much hardened, and rather disposed to trifle with the subject. Her husband was a merchant, and they were persons of high standing in the community. When I pressed her to attend to the sub- ject, she said she would not do it, because her husband would not attend to it, and she would not leave him. I asked her if she was willing to be lost because her, hus- band would not attend to it; and if it was not folly to neglect lier soul because he did his. She replied very promptly, ‘If he goes to hell, I want to go. I want to go where he does. I do not want to be separated from him, at any rate’ It seemed that 1 could make very little, if any, impression upon her, But from night to night I had been making appeals to the congregation, and calling forward those that were pre pared to give their hearts to God, and large ntimbers were converted every evening. “As I learned afterwards, when this woman went home, her husband said to her, ‘My dear, I mean to go forward to- night, and give my-heart to God.’ ‘What!’ said she, ‘I have today told Mr. Finney that I.would not become a Christian, or have anything to do with it; that you did not become a Christian, and I would not; and that if you went to hell, I should go with yor ‘Well,’ sdfd he, ‘I do not mean to go to hell. I have made up my mind to go forward tonight and give my heart to Christ’ ‘Well,’ said she, ‘then I will not go to meeting, I do not want to see it. And if you have a mind after all, to become a Christian, you may; I won't.’ When the time came, he went to meeting alone. TheTHE “KING'S BUSINESS pulpit was between the doors, in the front of the church. The house was a good deal crowded; but he finally got a seat near one of the aisles, in quite the back part of the church. At the close of the meeting. as I had done at other times, I called for those that were anxious and whose minds were'made up, to come forward, and take certain seats and occupy a certain space about the pulpit, where we could commend them to God in prayer. It afterward appeared that the wife herself had come to the meeting, had passed up the other aisle, and taken a seat almost opposite him, the extreme part of the house. When I made the call, he started immediately. She was watching, and as soon as she saw him on his feet, and making his way along the crowded aisle, she also started down the other aisle, and they met in front of the pulpit, and knelt down together as subjects of prayer. “A largé number expressed hope on the spot; but this husband and wife did not. They went home, too proud to say much to each other about what they had. done. and spent a very restless night. The next day, about 10 o'clock, he called to see me and was shown into my room, My wife occupied a front room on the second floor ; and 1 a room in the rear on the same flooP. While I was conversing with him, the serv- ant informed me that a lady was waiting in Mrs. Finney's room to see me. 1 excused myself for a few moments, and requested him to wait, while I went in to see her. I found that it was the woman who but the day before had been so stubborn, and the wife of the man who was then in my room. Neither of them knew that the other had called to see me. [ conversed with her and found that she was on the verge of submit ting to Christ. [ had learned that he was also, to all appearance, in the’ same state. E then returned to him and said, ‘| am going to pray with a lady in Mrs. Finney's room, and we will go in there, if you please, and all join in prayer together.’ He followed me and found his own wife. They looked at each other with surprise, but were both greatly affected, each to find the other 113 there. We knelt down to pray. [ had not proceeded far in prayer before she began to weep. and to pray audibly for her hus- band, I stopped and listened and found that she had lost all concern for herself, and was struggling in an agony of prayer for his conversion. -His heart seemed to break and give w and just at this time the bell rang for our dinner. 1 thought it would be well to leave them together alane. I therefore touched my wife, and we rose silently and went down to dinner, leaving them in prayer. We took a hasty dinner and returned, and found them as mellow, and as humble, and as loving as could be desired.” MR. FINNEY IN ENGLAND In the fall of 1849 Mr, Finney and his wife visited England, visiting several of the large cities and London itself. In Lon- don he held meetings in Whitefield’s old tabernacle, of which the Rev. John Camp- bell was then the pastor. This first visit lasted a little more than a year and was abundantly blessed by God. As everywhere else, so in England, Mr. Einney’s theological position provoked much criticism, both good-natured and otherwise. Though his ministerial brethren did not always adopt his views, they could not deny that he was wonderfully successful in turning men “from darkness to light and from the power of Satan unto God.” Hundreds of people were soundly converted, as proved by their changed lives, and churches that had been virtually dead were roused into newness of life. ~ The next six or seven years were spent in the United States;and then in December, 1858."he again crossed the Atlantic, visiting Scotland as well as England. The same scenes were witnessed as on his previous visit, and his lectures on revivals had a wide circulation. * He retained thi pastorate of the éhurch at Oberlin until 1872, and his chair as pro- fessor of Pastoral Theology in the seminary “until the end. He completed his last course of lectures in July, 1875, a few days before his en During. the last month of his life he preached one Sabbath in the First