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3-1-1948 Preacher's Magazine Volume 23 Number 02 D. Shelby Corlett E( ditor) Olivet Nazarene University

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Recommended Citation Corlett, D. Shelby (Editor), "Preacher's Magazine Volume 23 Number 02" (1948). Preacher's Magazine. 236. https://digitalcommons.olivet.edu/cotn_pm/236

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Because He Lives I Shall Live Also

I know that my Redeemer lives— What joy the blest assurance gives! He lives, He lives, who once was dead; He lives, my everlasting Head!

He lives, to bless me with His love; He lives, to plead for me above; He lives, my hungry soul to feed; He lives, to help in time of need.

He lives, and grants me daily breath; He lives, and I shall conquer death; He lives, my mansion to prepare; He lives, to bring me safely there.

He lives, all glory to His Name; He lives, my Saviour, still the same; What joy the blest assurance gives— I know that my Redeemer lives! (from an old Methodist Hymnal) The Preacher's M agazine

Volum e 23 M arch-April, 1948 Number 2

CONTENTS

Because He Lives I Shall Live Also (poem) front page The Spirit of the Minister, D. Shelby Corlett ...... 3 A New Editor, D. Shelby Corlett ...... 4 The Keeper of the Keys, Paul S. Rees ...... 6 Gleanings from the Greek New Testament, Ralph Earle ...... 10 He Lives! Frank Colquhoun ...... 12 Making the Scriptures “Click,” Fred Smith ...... 13 The Preacher’s Correspondence, By a Pastor ...... 15 Nuggets of Truth, by the late Edward J. Higgins ...... 15 '“Ye Are .... That Ye Should”, F. hincicom e ...... 16 Preaching That Lifts, A. S. London ...... 18 The Divine Anointing, A. M. Hills ...... 20 The Sabbath Question (clipped) ...... 23 God’s Way of Working, F. B. M e y e r ...... 24 The Minister's Use of Sound Recording, J. Lester Seel ...... 25 A Seldom Mentioned Need (clipped) ...... 26 Sam Jones and the Second Blessing (clipped) ...... 28

D e p a r t m e n t s

The Theological Question Box, H. Orton Wiley ...... 29 Searching Truths for Ministers ...... 31 Quotable Poetry ...... 32 The Preacher’s Scrapbook ...... 34 A Preaching Program, John E. Riley ...... 35 Sermon Outlines, Lewis T. Corlett ...... 47 Sermon Outlines, H. C. Hathcoat ...... 49 Sermon Outlines, H. B. Garvin ...... 49 Sermon Outlines, S. Ellsworth Nothstine ...... 50 Missionary Department ...... 51 Illustrations, Buford Battin ...... 52 Book Notes, P. H. Lunn ...... 56

D. SHELBY CORLETT, D.D., Editor Published bimonthly by the Nazarene Publishing House, 2923 Troost Avenue, Box 527, Kansas City 10, Missouri, maintained by and in the interest of the Church of the Naza­ rene. Subscription price: $1.00 a year. Entered as second-class matter at the post office at Kansas City, Mo. Acceptance for mailing at special rate of postage provided for in Section 1103, Act of October 3, 1917, authorized December 30, 1925. Address all contri­ butions to The Preacher’s Magazine, 2923 Troost Avenue, Box 527, Kansas City 10, Missouri. The Spirit of the Minister

D . Shelby Corlett, D .D ., Editor

OVE must always be the master pas­ congregation as a person. On the base of L sion of the minister of the gospel of the statue of Phillips Brooks, the famous Christ. The preacher who does not sin­ Boston preacher of a former generation, cerely love people is not a Christian min­ are these words: “Preacher of the Word ister in the truest sense; he is a man giv­ of God and Friend of Mankind.” One in ing his time and efforts to the profession speaking of the late S. Parks Cadman said of the ministry, the victim of professional­ that he had a heart as big as Brooklyn. ism. This interesting incident is told of a The supreme example of the Christian younger minister in the city of New York minister is Jesus. A Christian partakes of who came to visit Dr. Cadman and spoke the Spirit o f Christ, as Paul said, “If any of the difficulties he was having with his man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is people. This young preacher said that his none of his.” But it is more particularly congregation was made up of a group of true of the Christian minister that he not spiritual slackers and loafers. But Dr. only partakes of this Spirit of Christ, but Cadman said, “Yes, I know. I know. But if also he must be possessed with the compas­ you would save yourself and save them, sion and love of Jesus as it was manifested you must love them.” This is the spirit in His life in a self-giving ministry to which must characterize the minister of others. When Jesus looked upon the mul­ the gospel. titude He saw them not as a mob; He saw Unless the spirit of Christ, the passion them as sheep without a shepherd. When of love, is the inspiration of the minister’s He looked over His congregation which life he will not have much appreciation had listened to His message until long past for the value of people. He will be con­ mealtime, He saw them not as a congre­ tent to think of them in terms of their gation; He saw them as hungry individuals relation to the church, the organization; who needed to be fed, and He fed them by consider them more in the nature of things the use of His miraculous powers. When or tools to be used or maneuvered at his Jesus thought in terms of greatness He did discretion to make for his own advance­ not use figures of kings, of lords, and of ment and the progress of the church. But masters; He spoke in terms of servants no true Christian can think of people as and ministering; . whosoever will be tools or things; they are persons who must great among you, shall be your minister: be loved and appreciated, whose value and whosoever of you will be the chiefest, must be recognized at all times; persons shall be servant o f all. For even the Son who must be inspired to love Christ and of man came not to be ministered unto, to have such devotion to Him as to give but to minister, and to give his life a ran­ their lives in loving service for Him and som for many” (Mark 10:43-45). The His church. With such devotion and ser­ greatest Christian minister is the one who vice the church will make progress along loves and serves the most. every line. The great Christian ministers of the ages If we love people sincerely we will not have been those who have had the true be quick to lose patience with them. I re­ spirit of a Christian minister; they have member a godly mother who had a son loved Christ and people. With Paul it was who had brought much grief and heartache the love of Christ which constrained him to her and the family; he was called worth­ and inspired him to give unselfish service less and bad by those who knew him. I and sacrificial devotion to Christ and oth­ visited the mother on an occasion of one ers. The mere mention of many of the of this son’s numerous infractions of the names of those who filled a large place in law. She was deeply grieved and em­ the history of the Christian Church is to barrassed because of her son’s actions and call to mind their devotion to Christ and talked quite freely about the number of love for people. It was said of Henry Ward times he had been involved in this manner, Beecher that he swayed the masses simply how they had tried in every way to help because to him there were no masses; he and save him. Then she said, “But there is thought of and loved each member of his some good in him, and I believe if the

March-April, 1948 (71) 3 right person could get hold of him he was He dealing with an emotion? Are we would make good.” This mother had not capable of so regulating our emotions? given the son up; he had failed her time Obviously not. There is something more and time again, but she still had hopes of to this love than a mere emotion. It is a his making good. She felt that there was matter of the will, a determining principle some value in him which could be sal­ of life. Emotionally we do not love people vaged. Why? She loved him. Love gave we do not like. But the Christian is com­ her hope and made her value even the manded to love those whom he does not wayward son. The Christian minister must like. What is this love? This love has have love of that nature if he is to save the been defined as a consistent and persistent wayward and faltering ones of his congre­ spirit of good will toward all people. We gation. may not be able to govern our emotions by our wills; but we can maintain a spirit Love always inspires sacrificial service. of consistent good will toward all people What an example Jesus is of such love! He and toward God. This is a matter o f the wept when His love failed in its efforts to will and not of the emotions. The Chris­ reach the people. There is no more pa­ tian minister can and must by the grace of thetic scene in literature than that of the God maintain a spirit of good will toward Master looking over the city of Jerusalem, all people. This is fundamental in his weeping over the rebellious city: “And qualifications as a Christian minister. He when he was come near, he beheld the can maintain a spirit of good will toward city, and wept over it.” Or when He made people he does not like, toward his op- His lament over the city, “O Jerusalem, posers, toward his persecutors and ene­ Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, mies (although one possessed of such a and stonest them which are sent unto thee, spirit will never recognize a person as his how often would I have gathered thy chil­ enemy), toward the wayward, the vacil­ dren together, even as a hen gathereth her lating, the slackers and spiritual loafers, chickens under her wings, and ye would toward the ungodly and the unsaved. not!” Yet He loved this rebellious people; The minister must guard his spirit jeal­ He died to save the lost. The Christian ously. He must not permit anything or minister must partake of this phase of the anyone to tarnish his spirit in its steadfast spirit of Christ if he is to reach even a devotion to Christ, and love or consistent small number of the people of his city and good will toward others. No minister is win them to Christ. successful as an individual, no matter what Love makes us examine our failure and apparent success he may have with his seek their causes. On one occasion I visited congregation or what credit for success he a physician friend and found him quite may be given by church leaders, unless he nervous and unstrung. Dark lines were guards or keeps his spirit. The statement under his eyes; he was noticeably bothered of the Wise Man of old is true today, “He about something. I inquired, “What’s that ruleth his spirit (is better) than he wrong, doctor?” that taketh a city.” He said, “ I’ve lost a patient I had hoped to save. He was brought to me rather late to do much for him, but I felt that we could pull him through and save him. I have spent the night by his bedside; but an hour or so ago he died. I lost him! I am A New Editor going over the case, considering every an­ gle of it; perhaps there was something I HE IDEA of having a preacher’s maga­ might have done which would have saved T zine in which the message of holiness him. Why did I fail?” would be distinctly emphasized was born in the mind and heart of Dr. J. B. Chap­ If a physician takes such a vital and man, who became its first and only editor heart interest in saving the lives of his until the time of his recent homegoing. patients, would not the true spirit of Christ Dr. Chapman was outstanding in his ability inspire a minister to take at least a like to present great and profound truths in a interest in saving the souls of people? simple and appealing manner. His editor­ What is this love which the minister ials printed in this magazine have been of must possess, this spirit of the true Chris­ untold blessing to the subscribers for over tian minister? Is it only an emotion? When twenty-two years. The last of the edi­ God commanded people to love Him with torials written before his death were print­ all of the heart, soul, mind, and strength, ed in the January-February, 1948, issue. 4 (72) The Preacher's Magazine Since 1937 the writer has been the man­ Request More Symposiums: aging editor of this magazine. He has had the full responsibility of the paper with We are gratified with the unusually fine the exception of writing the editorials; such response and statements of appreciation we work as planning the paper, selecting writ­ have received regarding the symposium on ers, reading all contributions submitted eradication printed in the last issue. Sev­ and editing those which were printed, ar­ eral preachers have suggested that we ranging for sermonic material and keeping have more such symposiums in the maga­ schedule with the publishers have been zine. We shall be happy to comply with under the supervision of the managing edi­ these requests if you let us know what tor. At the recent meeting of the General subjects you would like to have discussed. Board of the Church of the Nazarene the Send your suggestions at once; we will managing editor was chosen to be the edi­ work on them. tor of T h e P r e a c h e r ’ s M a g a z in e . * * * Any thinking person will realize that it is impossible for anyone to fill Dr. Chap­ man’s place as editor of this paper. He New Subscribers: was unique and made a contribution to the Why not do your brother minister a holiness movement which no other person good turn by introducing him to T h e can make. As the chosen editor I shall not P r e a c h e r ’ s M a g a z in e ? We have on our endeavor to fill his place; but I shall do my subscription list ministers of many differ­ utmost by the help of God to make a ent denominations. We have received let­ worth-while contribution to the magazine ters from a number of these telling us of through the editorial pages. the benefits they receive from the maga­ Perhaps a word about our situation will zine. While it is printed by a denomina­ be in order. In a very real sense, T h e tional house and by far the largest number P r e a c h e r ’ s M a g a z in e has always been a of subscribers are Nazarene ministers, the side line activity both with Dr. Chapman magazine is not sectarian. We desire to as the editor, and myself as managing edi­ serve holiness ministers of all denomina­ tor. He gave his full time to the work of tions. Give your magazine a boost to your the general superintendency of the Church brother minister. of the Nazarene and wrote his editorials on his extra time. The managing editor * * * has full-tim e responsibilities as the editor o f th e Herald of Holiness, and has carried on the duties of the managing editor of the Book Supplement: P r e a c h e r ’ s M a g a z in e in his extra time. With this issue of the magazine we are Now the responsibilities of the full editor­ beginning a book supplement in which we ship fall into this extra time activity of will print serially the manuscript of a the editor. This statement of our situation book on “Holiness, as Taught by the Early is made not as an alibi, but as an explana­ Church Fathers,” by Dr. J. B. Galloway. tion. So as the editor serving under these The author says that he spent about a extra time conditions, we pledge to you year gathering the material for this manu­ that we shall do our best to give you the script, and that he has collected all that very finest magazine possible. Using the the early church fathers said on the sub­ words of the Apostle Paul, we make this ject of holiness and related terms. This appeal, “Brethren, pray for us.” will provide our readers with a compila­ D. S h e l b y C o r l e t t , Editor tion of valuable information which can be found nowhere else except scattered through the original messages of these ear­ Send Your Suggestions ly leaders of the Christian Church. If there is a sufficient demand we will We want our subscribers to feel that preserve the type of this book serial and this is your P r e a c h e r ’ s M a g a z in e . We so­ print it in book form. Give us your reac­ licit your suggestions to enable us to make tions to the material. If you want it the magazine all that you desire it to be. published in book form, tell us.

The crosses we make for ourselves out of our faithless anxieties about the future, are not the crosses the Lord ever commanded us to take up.—Selected.

March-April, 1948 (73) 5 The Keeper of the Keys

Dr. Paul S. Rees

I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for everm ore, Am en; and have the keys oj hell and of death (Revelation 1:18).

OMEWHERE I have read a legend empty, but they hadn’t seen Him. It was S about an Indian tribe that lived in a the twig of a tree! The angel declared great forest at the foot of a lofty mountain. that He was risen, but that was not quite One day the old chief ordered that the the same as seeing Him for themselves. It lads of the tribe, the sons of his braves, be was a beautiful flower! Then came the called into his presence. When they came, actual “appearances” of the risen Master—- he asked them to climb the soaring moun­ what Luke calls the “many infallible tain. He knew as they did not, that be­ proofs” of His rising from the dead. It was yond it nestled a marvelously beautiful enough! They had scaled the heights of lake. It would not be easy to conquer the incredibly glorious reality. In Him they peak, he warned them, but if they did it, it had “seen the crystal sea” of life trium­ would make him and the whole tribe proud phant and power tremendous and love and happy. transcendent. A few days later, filled with The eager lads started out. The hours the Spirit of this risen Christ, they went went by. Slowly they began to return. No out to share their vision and herald their one had succeeded. While each was message through all the world. And every­ ashamed that he had not reached the sum­ where they went, they could hear, sound­ mit, all were eager to prove the height ing like a brace of trumpets within their which they had attained. One lad brought souls, this matchless message of our text: a tuft of moss which he had torn from the “Fear not; I am the first and the last; I am rocky mountain side. It indicated roughly he that liveth, and was dead; and behold, the elevation he had reached. Another pre­ I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have sented the broken twig of a tree. He had the keys of hell and of death.” climbed a little higher than the lad with Those keys arouse my interest. I want to the moss. Still another brought back a know what sort of authority and mastery certain flower which bloomed not far from they represent. I ask you to join me in the peak. All the weary climbers were examining them. back now—save one. It was a long time I. before he appeared. The daylight faded For one thing, this risen Christ holds the into darkness. The chief, surrounded by key to the prison house of sin’s tyranny. his men, waited by the camp fire. Then a One has only to go back a few verses in keen ear caught a sound. It was the call this chapter from which our text is taken of the one remaining climber coming from to find such glowing language as this: within the distant forest. Nearer and near­ “ Unto him that loved us, and washed us er came the voice. Nearer and nearer came from our sins in his own blood!” In place the trudging feet until, in one excited mo­ of the word “washed” one translation has ment, the lad stepped inside the fire-lit it “freed” and another is “loosed.” It is circle of the waiting camp. Not a single clear that what the writer has in mind is token did he carry in his hand, but when the bondage which is always associated they looked into his face they did not need with evil, from which it takes the power to ask him if he had reached the heights. of our living Lord to free us. That face was lighted with the glory of There is a tragic irony in our modem vision as, turning to his chief, he cried life. I wonder if you have thought it over aloud, “I’ve seen the crystal sea!” seriously. It is the irony of twentieth The early Christians felt like that—and century man denying sin, mocking at sin, acted like that—after the resurrection of with conscience blunted against sin, on the Jesus. The first rumors of His rising from one hand; and on the other, this same mod­ the grave startled and confused them. The ern man, notwithstanding all his denials women said He was alive, but they hadn’t and mockeries, hopelessly bogged down in seen Him. It was a tuft of moss! Peter and sin and nigh unto the ruin of the whole John had raced to the tomb and found it civilization of which he has boasted. 6 (74) The Preacher's Magazine Here is a sample. On a February day in spired by conceit and selfishness.” The 1942 the author Stephen Zweig committed risen Christ “loosed” him from his sins. suicide. He was neither in financial diffi­ Over his own signature appeared this tes­ culties or in poor health. He was a writer timony in a literary magazine to which he of distinction, near the top of his profes­ was a contributor: “All the barriers swept sion. The reason for his act of self-de­ away, all the sick fears and self-induced struction was given in a note written with phantoms, all the bitterness and cynicism his own hand. It read: “After one’s six­ of thirty years swept away in the mighty tieth year unusual powers are needed to rush of a new revelation .... swept me make another wholly new beginning. Those to my knees to thank God for His goodness that I possess have been exhausted by and loving mercy to me.” long years of hopeless wandering.” Yes, Stuart Wood found for himself that Jesus sinful, prideful, unredeemed man is in Christ held the key to the prison house of prison, and by himself he cannot break out. sin’s tyranny. He who “died for our trans­ Here is another sample. Dr. C. E. M. gressions and rose again for our justifica­ Joad, the well-known British writer, a pro­ tion” gave him the freedom of a new life fessor of philosophy in one of England’s and the hope of a new day. He stands leading universities, has recently announc­ ready to do the same for all the rest of us. ed his conversion. No, it is not an evan­ gelical conversion to full trust in Christ, II. but it is a serious intellectual conversion Think, too, how this risen Jesus holds from being an agnostic to being a con­ the key to life’s anxiety. As this vision vinced believer that the problem of evil unfolded to the Apostle John, the first in man requires the power of God for its words which Christ spoke were: “Fear solution. “For the simple truth,” says not.” “Fear not; I am the first and the Joad, “is that one cannot help oneself. To last; I am he that liveth.” be confronted by a universe which con­ tains evil as an ineradicable fact, to know It seems to have been the delight of Je­ there is no defense against it save in the sus to cast out fear and in its place plant strength or rather in the weakness of one’s faith and hope and love. Listen to Him as own character .... this I find to be a He talks to panic-stricken passengers on a position almost intolerably distressing. For storm-tossed ship: “It is I; be not afraid!” one cannot help but know that one’s own Follow Him to the house of sorrow, as in character is not strong enough .... Our the case of Jairus and his dead daughter, burden in the world, as it has become, is and hear Him say: “Be not afraid; only indeed greater than we can bear.” believe!” Go with Him to the Last Supper and listen to Him as He says to His disci­ There you have no red-hot evangelist ples: “Let not your heart be troubled, speaking but rather one of the coolest neither let it be afraid.” Then go to the brains in contemporary scholarship. And empty tomb and see how, by the lips of what a picture of humanity in prison! The angels, the same message is carried for­ prison house of sin’s tyranny! ward to a magnificent climax: “Fear not And now another sample—with a sequel. ye,” said the angel to the women, “for I He was one of those geniuses with a twist­ know that ye seek Jesus, which was cruci­ ed talent—a talent for writing, warped and fied. He is not here, for he is risen, as he wasted by a career in crime. Behind him said” (Matthew 28:5, 6). were sixteen years in prison. Now he had Do we not need this Easter message of gone straight, so far as the police were unquenchable good cheer and courage for concerned, for six years. But another sort the days through which our world is pass­ of prison held him. He tried to write. ing? Ours has been called “the great age Everything failed. As he put it, he became of fear.” Not long ago one of our national “obsessed by a sense of utter futility.” To magazines devoted several pages to a pho­ a Christian journalist he wrote, "For me tographic study of the characteristic fears there can be no question of belief in a that are said to be preying on the mind ‘Risen Lord.’ Indeed, I am devoid of the and health and happiness of our people. religious temperament.” One head-line asked the question: “What But the journalist kept after him, chal­ do you fear?” Then followed pictures il­ lenging him with our Lord’s words, “If lustrating people who fear loneliness, or any man willeth to do his will, he shall insecurity, or sickness, or old age. Words know of the doctrine, whether it be of of counsel were given as to how to control God.” At last he broke down in surrender or conquer these phobias that are landing to Christ, confessing that he had been “in­ so many people in hospitals or in the

March-April, 1948 (75) 7 hands of nerve specialists. There was a Some time before his death Clarence vague reference or two to religion but, Darrow, the renowned lawyer-agnostic, with this exception, there was no hint that wrote for publication a sketch of his early Jesus Christ might be consulted about life. In it he tells about a little church in these anxiety-states in which there lies so Ohio which he attended as a boy. Years much of human wretchedness. later, he said, he visited that church and In general, Jesus tells us that if we care walked about in the yard where the graves enough about the right things, w e’ll not be of the dead lie bleakly beneath their sim­ much afraid of the wrong things. If I care ple markers. Then philosophizing a bit on enough about truth, I’ll not be afraid of the the subject of death, he declared his as­ consequences of telling it. If I care enough tonishment at what he calls “the general about my Christian character—more about conspiracy to keep silent about that event it, in fact, than about my reputation—I’ll which awaits us all.” not be afraid of the slurs or slights or in­ Mr. Darrow should have had no wonder­ sults that may occasionally come my way. ing in his mind. In the first place, Chris­ If I care enough about cultural and spirit­ tians are not silent about death. In the ual values, I’ll not be afraid of going second place, most people who do not pos­ through life without being prosperous or sess our Christian faith cannot be blamed wealthy. If I care enough about Christ, for being silent about a thing concerning I’ll not be afraid of the crowd. which there is so little to be said and con­ Very well, you say. So be it. But what cerning which they have a certain ele­ has that to do with the resurrection of Je­ mental horror. For Arthur Hewitt is alto­ sus Christ our Lord? Just this: that it gether correct when he declares that “ One forever settles the question of whether of the primal emotions of the human race these higher values are real and depend­ is the horror of death.” So, not being able able. Is it worth while to care supremely to face it with victorious peace, men try about truth? Look at Jesus on Good Fri­ to forget it. day, with His body limp and pale upon a cross, and you would be tempted to say, And it’s trying to forget it that gives “No, it is not worth while. A lie is the them away: they are afraid! Buttrick says thing that wins.” But see how Easter morn­ that death underscores three facts in hu­ ing changes all that. It gives the lie to man existence and, since we don’t like to falsehood and the eternal nod to truth. admit any of them, we try to evade the The same is true of love’s victory over mystery of it. Those three facts are: (1) hate, and purity’s victory over evil, and our wickedness, (2) our ignorance, and faith’s victory over doubt, and compas­ (3) our finiteness. sion’s victory over revenge. Christ’s resur­ But this dear Conqueror from Calvary rection gives ultimate backing to all these and the vacant tomb comes along and lo! values and thereby fires us with courage to all three things suddenly take on a differ­ be identified with them no matter what ent aspect. He redeems us from our wick­ the cost. edness and fashions us into the likeness of I know of no place better than the Empty our Heavenly Father. He flings light in Tomb of Jesus to recite Gladden’s familiar upon our ignorance—light that is a reve­ lines: lation straight from the mind and heart of God. *He supplements our finiteness by And fierce though the fiends may fight, gathering us up into the infinity of His And long though the angels hide, life and love, and assuring us that “this I know that truth and right is life eternal, that they might know thee, Have the universe on their side. the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent” (John 17:3). Ah, my soul. III. He does have the key to this mystery of death. And as he unlocks the prison for Again, this risen Christ of ours holds the you and for me, we see that death is no key to the prison house of death’s mys­ blind alley down which we shuffle de­ tery. “1 . .. . have the keys of death,” is spairingly but an avenue of light upon the confident and authoritative language which we move serenely into the sanctu­ of our text. I take it that no listener at ary of the life immortal. this moment is in doubt that death is a mystery. Apart from the revelation which Let me give you the story of three poems. the Christ of Easter gives to us, it is en­ In the progress of these poems I want you shrouded in impenetrable and unbearable to see how the riddle of death is victorious­ mystery. ly solved when faith becomes fully and 8 (76) The Preacher's Magazine truly Christian. If it stops short of that, I drain the cup and boldly face it may be a stoical faith, or a dignified The heritage of the human race, faith, but it is not a triumphant faith. Whose birthright ’tis to pierce the gloom The first poem is by the Honorable John And solve the mystery of the tomb. Hay, one time Secretary of State. It is I follow some, and others lead called “The Stirrup Cup.” It is based From whom my soul would ne’er divide. upon the biblical figure of the Pale Horse One fate for all. W here moves the great of death, to which is added the custom of Procession, there let me abide. cavalry-men to drink from their cup just as they were in the act of leaping on their There’s a touch of defiance in that, you horses. see; but it’s far from Christian, and there­ fore far from victorious. My short and happy day is done, Now both of these poems were studied The long and lonely night comes on; by a Presbyterian minister of Virginia. And at my door the pale horse stands Dr. James Powers Smith, himself a Civil To bear me forth to unknown lands. War veteran, had been on the staff of Stonewall Jackson. More than once he His whinny shrill, his pawing hoof had ridden through the “valley of the Sound dreadful as the gathering storm, shadow of death” with Christ the Lord And must I leave this sheltering roof right there at his side. Since neither of And joys of life so soft and warm? these poems struck the high note of Easter, Oh, joys of life, so soft and warm, Dr. Smith, taking the same theme and Kind friends, so faithful and so true, figure, wrote these gallant stanzas: My rosy children, and my wife, The pale horse stands and will not bide, So sweet to kiss, so fair to view. The night has come and I must ride; So sweet to kiss, so fair to view; But not alone to unknown lands, The night comes on, the light bums M y Friend goes with me holding hands. blue, I’ve fought the fight, I’ve run the race. And at my door the pale horse stands I now shall see Him face to face, To bear me forth to unknown lands. Who called me to Him long ago And bade me trust and follow. The lilting rhythm is there, but no light, no confidence, no eternal fulfillment. The joys of life have been His gift, Hay’s poem was read by General E. P. My friends I’ll find when clouds shall lift; Alexander, one of the veterans of the Civil I leave m y home and all its store War. He felt it lacked the note of daring To dwell with Him for evermore. and of dauntlessness. So, taking the same What does He give? His cup of love; theme and figure, he added these lines: Until with Him I rest above! I’ll mount and ride, no more to roam, But storm and gloom and m ystery The pale horse bears me to my home! Shall only nerve my courage high; Who thro’ life’s scenes hath borne his part The man who wrote that had met the May face its close with tranquil heart. “Keeper of the Keys.” Those nail-scarred hands, now transfigured into resurrection No trembling hand will grasp the rein, beauty, had opened for him the prison No craven soul the path will trace; house of sin’s tyranny, the prison house This life has not been mine in vain, of life’s anxiety, and the prison house of In unknown lands I’ll seek m y place. death’s mystery.

The work is solemn—therefore don’t trifle; The task is difficult—therefore don’t relax; The opportunity is brief—therefore don’t delay; The path is narrow—therefore don’t wander; The prize is glorious—therefore don’t faint. —Herald of His Coming

March- April, 1948 (77) 9 Gleanings from the Greek New Testament

Dr. Ralph Earle

Matthew Fourteen

N THIS ARTICLE we continue our B.C. and forced circumcision and the Jew­ I study of Greek words in Matthew’s ish religion on them. It is one of the in­ Gospel, which has been interrupted for the teresting examples in history of the forci­ discussion of other topics. In our last study ble conversion of a conquered people. Ob­ we treated the seven parables of Matthjw viously such a procedure produces little in thirteen. So now we take up the sequence the way of spiritual results. again at chapter fourteen. Herod’s father—called both Antipas and Mention is made in the first verse of Antipater—had been appointed procurator “Herod the tetrarch.” The English word of Judea by Caesar in 47 B.C. He was a tetrarch is simply a transliteration of the clever politician and managed to further Greek word. (Transliteration means the his own interests at every turn. His son, writing of a word of one language in the Herod, followed in his father’s footsteps. letters of another language. It should never With almost incredible diplomacy—which be confused with “translation,” which re­ often is largely deceit—he succeeded in fers to a very different process.) keeping in the good graces of the changing The Greek word tetrarch.es (or tetra- rulers at Rome. From 37 B.C. to 4 B.C. he arches) is a compound of tetra, meaning ruled as king in Palestine. four, and arche, meaning ruler. It there­ Herod was a cruel, ruthless, wicked man. fore describes one who rules over a fourth Altogether he had ten wives, a fact which part, or one of four rulers of a region. did not help to bring about domestic tran­ This Herod is thus labeled because he quility. When we add to this Herod’s very ruled over a fourth part of the former jealous and harsh disposition we find the kingdom of his father, Herod the Great. materials for constant conflict. Several Herods are mentioned in the The cruel despot killed one after another New Testament. It might be well to dis­ of his sons, driven to desperation by a tinguish them, so that we might have them feeling of jealousy for his throne. He fin­ straight in our minds. ally killed the only person he ever loved, apparently, his beautiful wife, Mariamne, H erod t h e G r e a t descendant of the Maccabees. Overcome Herod the Great was the ruler of Pales­ with remorse immediately afterwards, he tine when Jesus was born. Since we now suffered from extreme melancholy and fits know definitely that Herod died in 4 B.C., of insanity. It was declared to be better it has been necessary to revise the tradi­ to be one of Herod’s pigs than one of his tional date for the birth of Christ. He was sons. At least it was safer. born not later than 4 B.C., and 5 or 6 B.C. is a more probable date. A r c h e l a u s Herod was an Idumean. The name Idu­ When Herod died his kingdom was di­ mea was applied to the territory south of vided among three of his sons, who had Judea. During the Babylonian captivity somehow managed to survive. Archelaus the Nabatean Arabs pushed into the coun­ had been named in his father’s will as the try of Edom—south of the Dead Sea—and recipient of the largest piece of territory. the Edomites moved northwestward into In order to make sure of his title to the southern Judah. They even occupied He­ throne Archelaus decided to go to Rome bron, only twenty miles south of Jerusa­ and present his claims to the emperor. But lem. When the few Jews returned from before he left a riot occurred at the pass- captivity they were not able to repossess over season. With typical Herodian heart­ their former territory in full, but had to lessness Archelaus subdued the riot by permit the Edomites to remain in the military force. The fact that three thous­ Negeb, or south country. That section was and Jews were killed did not add to the finally called Idumea, for Edom. popularity of the new ruler. An embassy One of the Maccabean rulers, John carried a complaint to Rome, but the em­ Hyrcanus, conquered the Idumeans in 125 peror confirmed Archelaus as ruler. How- 10 (78) The Preacher's Magazine ever, he was not allowed the title of king. by scholars as Herod Agrippa I and Herod Jesus may have been referring to this Agrippa II. trip to Rome when he spoke of a certain The former, the Herod of Acts 12, was nobleman who “went into a far country the grandson of Herod the Great. He stood to receive for himself a kingdom and to in high favor with the emperor Caligula, return” (Luke 19:12). and so was appointed king of the tetrarchy It will be remembered that Matthew tells of his uncle Philip, who had died. When how Joseph and Mary did not stop in Herod Antipas was banished, in a .d. 39, Judea, when they heard that Archelaus Herod Agrippa received Galilee as an addi­ was ruling as successor to his father but tion to his kingdom. When Claudius be­ went on up into Galilee. They had proba­ came emperor Agrippa was also given bly heard of the cruel way in which Arche­ Judea and Samaria. So his territories ap­ laus had quelled the riot. In truth the new proximated those of his grandfather, Herod ruler was a “chip off the old block.” the Great. Because of his cruelty the Jews sent In the twelfth chapter of Acts we learn further embassies to Rome. This time that he executed James, son of Zebedee they succeeded. Archelaus was deposed in and brother of John, and imprisoned a .d. 6 and banished to Vienne, in Gaul. Peter. The intervention of an angel kept Peter from his execution. H erod A n t ip a s Josephus gives a striking confirmation of When Joseph and Mary arrived in Gali­ the biblical account of Herod’s death, as lee they settled at Nazareth. A brother of found in Acts 12. This took place in a .d. 44. Archelaus, named Antipas, was ruler of Galilee and Perea (Transjordan). This is H erod A g r ip p a II the one who is called “Herod the tetrarch” This man, the “King Agrippa” of Acts 26, in Matthew 14:1. was the son of Herod Agrippa I. Because Herod Antipas is the one who put John he was only seventeen years old at the the Baptist to death. He had married his death of his father, the emperor appointed brother Philip’s wife, Herodias, having a procurator, or governor, to rule over fallen in love with her on a visit to Rome. Judea. Later Herod Agrippa was made This ungodly union was condemned in no king of territories north and east of Galilee. uncertain tones by the rugged prophet He created a scandal by his relations with from the wilderness. The clever scheming his sister Bernice. He comes into the bibli­ of the unprincipled Herodias achieved its cal picture because of his visit to Caesarea goal in the execution of the Baptist. This to welcome the new governor, Festus. We is the Herod whom Jesus referred to as cannot tell whether his answer to Paul’s the “fox” (Luke 13:32). He is also the personal pleading was sincere or flippantly Herod to whom Pilate sent Jesus in his ironical. At any rate, he did not yield to desperate attempt to avoid having to de­ Christian influence, but continued to lead cide the case himself (Luke 23:7). Herod’s a pagan life. He did, however, show a treatment of Jesus reveals the measure of better attitude toward the Jews than most the man. of the Herods. After the fall of Jerusalem But justice finally caught up with this in a .d. 70 he retired to Rome where he was fox. Agrippa, the brother of Herodias, had honored as praetor. been given the title of king. Moved by H erod an d J o h n jealousy and ambition, Herodias persuad­ ed her husband to go with her to Rome The fourteenth chapter of Matthew tells and petition the emperor for a similar rec­ how Herod Antipas executed John the ognition. But these Herods were not long Baptist. His clever wife, Herodias, stooped on love. Agrippa sent letters to the em­ so low as to allow her daughter to dance peror Caligula against Herod Antipas. The publicly before a group of men, as if she result was that the latter instead of be­ were a geisha girl. But she was desper­ coming king was banished. This was in ately determined to secure the death of a .d. 39. He had ruled for over forty years. the prophet. In comparing Matthew’s account with H erod A g r ip p a I Mark’s there seems to be a contradiction. In the twelfth chapter of Acts we read Mark says (6:24) that the girl went out of “Herod the king.” In the twenty-sixth and asked her mother, when Herod made chapter we find “King Agrippa.” Both his rash offer. Matthew says, in 14:8, that were called “Herod” and both were called the daughter “being before instructed of “Agrippa.” So they have been distinguished her mother” asked for the head of John

Marclv April, 1948 (79) 11 the Baptist. How are we to reconcile these by saying: “prompted by her mother.” two very different statements? Either of these renderings takes care of Fortunately, in this case the solution is the difficulty that lies in the apparent con­ simple. The King James rendering does tradiction of the King James reading in the not well represent the Greek. Weymouth two accounts. translates it: “ instigated by her mother.” As we have noted before, the new trans­ That gives the true thought and does not lations have considerable value as com­ conflict at all with Mark’s statement that mentaries, clearing up difficulties at times she went out and asked her mother. Some­ and frequently throwing fresh light on a times a careful study of the original clears passage that might otherwise be a bit ob­ up the difficulty in a passage. The Ameri­ scure. The earnest student of God's Word can Revised Version reads: “being put for­ will seek any and every means for the ward by her mother.” The Revised Stand­ better understanding of the divine revela­ ard Version further simplifies the account tion given to us in the Bible. HE LIVES! Frank Colquhoutt

I know that my redeemer liveth (Job 19:25).

E SHALL not stay to consider what absolute certitude: the resurrection of Je­ W Job signified when he uttered this sus Christ from the dead. The evidence of majestic confession of faith thousands of the empty tomb is invincible. The hum­ years ago. Whatever the words meant to blest believer can declare, with the accent the patriarch in his day, they certainly of conviction. “I know that my redeemer mean a great deal more to us now, in the liveth!” light of New Testament revelation; and it 2. A Word of Deliverance. We look next is in that light that we shall briefly ex ­ at the word redeemer. What does it mean? amine the text in our present study. Redemption is the act of deliverance— Let us carefully note and underline four deliverance by right of purchase, by pay­ particular words. ment of a price. This word, then, takes us 1. A Word of Assurance. “I know that straight to the Cross and speaks to us of my redeemer liveth.” It is a great thing to Him, “who was delivered for our offences, be able to say “I know” with regard to the and was raised 'again for our justification.” eternal verities. There are many Chris­ The empty tomb is the pledge and prom­ tians who fall short just at this very point. ise of a perfect salvation, a complete atone­ They lack the glad note of certainty in ment. By the sacrifice of the cross our their religion. They doubt their beliefs loving Saviour paid the full price of sin, and believe their doubts. They listen to and on the third day He was raised again the whisperings of the devil instead of from the dead in token that the work was staying their faith upon the Word of God. finished once and for all. The Resurrection, In one of his delightful essays Dr. Bore- it has been said, was the “receipt” by which ham tells the story of the little girl who God attested that the account of sin was came home from school and said that she settled. “We have redemption through his had “learned to punctuate.” "Indeed,” ex­ blood, even the forgiveness of sins.” Won­ claimed the mother, “and how did you do derful Deliverer! Wonderful deliverance! it?” “Well, mother,” she said excitedly, 3. A Word of Triumph. We come now to “it is just as easy as can be. If you say a the word liveth. It is the most emphatic thing is so, you just put a hatpin after it, word in the text. “I know that my re­ but if you are only asking whether it is so deemer liveth!” Oh, the glorious triumph or not, you put a button-hook!” of the Easter tidings! All life resolves itself, sooner or later, There is a story told of an artist who, into a matter of hatpins and button-hooks having completed a picture of the Cruci­ —our affirmations and our interrogations. fixion, went down one day to mix with the Here is a fact which we can affirm with people in the famous gallery, so that he

12 (80) The Preacher's Magazine might hear their comments. Among the It was impossible that He should be holden crowd he noticed a small boy who had of death. The third day He rose again. The come in with some grownups, and, for the Easter music throbs with the note of tri­ sake of interest, the artist stooped to ask umph. He lives! the boy what the picture was about. 4. A Word of Possession. We cannot “Don’t you know?” was the surprised leave this text without underlining that answer of the little fellow. “That’s Jesus.” little word my. Is it not a precious word? “Why is He on the Cross?” asked the ar­ Martin Luther used to say that Christianity tist. “Because of our sins,” was the reply; is the religion of personal pronouns. And “He died that we might be forgiven.” Then, he was right. It is wonderful indeed to having his answer, the artist passed on. know that Jesus died for the whole world, But a few minutes later he found the boy, that He is everybody’s Saviour; but the who had run after him, standing breath­ crowning wonder is to be able to look up less at his side. “Please, sir, there’s a bit into His face and call Him “my redeemer.” more. He didn’t stay dead!” Do we possess Christ or merely profess Praise God for that! We must never Christ? Easter will have a new meaning separate the Cross from the Ressurrection. for us when we can say, humbly but genu­ He who died as the world’s Redeemer now inely, “I know that m y redeemer liveth.” lives as the mighty Victor over the grave. —Heart and Life.

Making the Scriptures “Click”

Rev. Fred Smith

S A MINISTER who makes a practice self was taking the Word of God freely A of sitting in the pew from time to but reverently. He was not merely read­ time that I may the better retain the view­ ing words; he was realizing worths. It point of the layman, I always give atten­ meant something great and grand to him, tion to the way the minister reads the and he communicated that realization to Scriptures. Sometimes I come to under­ others in the way he read the Scriptures. stand what the passage is all about by the Now and again he would tap the page with way he reads it. Too often I find that he his finger tip for emphasis. does not know what it is all about. Just As one who reads to “my people” from by the way he reads it. the Holy Scriptures every Sunday of the Listening to my brethren in the pulpit year, save four, I seek to achieve what each leads me to say that I can assess their of the bishops achieved, only more so. In reading of the Scriptures on various levels my reading of the Scriptures I must be of value. Some ministers, in their reading, second to none. I do not intend to use merely irritate me. They read as those habitually the technique of the finger tap who have only a pedestrian task to do. of the bishop. But I have a notion it will Such was the reading I heard recently, of come in useful at the right time. On the all places, in a University Chapel. The other hand I saw a technique used the other reader just uttered sounds almost without week that earned my approbation, but it meaning. I prefer Mendelssohn’s “Songs will not awaken my imitation. This brother Without Words.” But yesterday I heard minister has an excellent memory. In his the Scriptures read by two bishops of the earlier days, now far off, he evidently Methodist Church at an ordination service. learned “elocution.” He was called upon Both did the reading commendably, a re­ to conduct a devotional service. Instead sult not always achieved by bishops. The of reading the Scriptures, he recited them. reading of the Scriptures clicked in both It was done to good effect. For those who instances. I sought to find the reason by know how it is a commendable way. But analysis. And I came on this result. One not to the carrying of it too far. I knew one had perfect command of diction. Every minister who never read the Scriptures. syllable told. It was music to the heart He recited them every service. The result and mind. The other read as one who him­ was that his people came to admire the

March-April, 1948 (81) 13 technique for what it was in itself. It be­ question a Doctor of Philosophy put to came a good thing carried too far. Jesus.” For the last scripture I read a brief In my own ministry I have found, among portion from the sixth chapter of John. other things, to use on occasion, and rather The comment I made there was that many frequently, the method of the early Pil­ who had not understood the metaphors of grim Churches. Then it was the rule, the Jesus rightly had come to the strange con­ directive, if you please, that the Scriptures clusion that Christianity was a form of never be read in church without some cannibalism. The people listened well that explanatory comment. It is a technique day. that should be restored to frequent use in Another day I devised another method the average congregation of the Protestant that proved effective. I noticed that one of churches of our time. Biblical illiteracy is the “pillars” of the church was not giving more common there than I care to admit. more than a semblance of interest in the In advocating the use of comment, how­ leading of the Scriptures. It is a common ever, I am not thinking of some supposedly attitude in many who have attended the elaboration of the Ur-Marcus theory of the services of the house of God through many Gospels, or the “Rainbow” interpretation years. I decided that his interest was of the Pentateuch; or the dual theory au­ worth capturing. I was reading a portion thorship of Isaiah. There is a time and from Isaiah. I was reading a passage in place for the utterance of these things, but which the judgments of God were to come it is not the average Protestant pulpit. The on the sinful countries of that ancient thing I have in mind is an apt phrase of time. I saw that it was all “old stuff” to the explanation that clarifies in a sentence “pillar” of the church. So I made the what is to follow. Such an occasion came scripture there and then contemporary. to me recently when I undertook to preach Instead of reading the names of the ancient a sermon on “The Meaning of Salvation peoples I substituted the names of Chicago, According to Jesus.” I chose to read four New York, Hollywood. I had heard some passages of scripture. Each passage em­ professor tell that the Scriptures are phasized in its distinctive way the topic I eternally contemporary. On that day they had chosen in the sermon title. The one were proved so. Everybody listened. The thing common to all the four passages was reading of the Scriptures clicked. the characterising word “except.” The first reading was from the Sermon on the Other suggestions can be made. I do so Mount. I preluded the reading of it by briefly. It is well not to make a fetish of commenting that Jesus probably uttered the reading of the over-praised King James the words in a rather sarcastic vein. I then Version of the Scriptures. It often has read it with that emphasis—Matthew 5:17- sonority without sense. It is well not to 20. Then I read the familiar scripture con­ fall into the error of reading the Scriptures cerning a little child and the kingdom of just for the sound of the words. It is done Heaven. I preluded this with the comment more often than many realize. Search all that Jesus probably demonstrated what He the translations to see which one has the was saying by placing His hand on the best meaning for the scripture you are go­ head of a little child. The next scripture ing to read. Then, having found it, read was that in which Nicodemus came to Je­ the words so that the worths they contain sus. I preluded the reading by commenting will be like apples of gold in baskets of as follows: “Please note what a strange silver.

A little boy once long ago, At even, ere the sun sank low, Freely offered his meager food, Which Thou didst take and bless and break, And with it fed the multitude.

Dear Lord, with like simplicity I bring and give my life to Thee To bless and break as seems most good; Then of it take, for Thy dear sake, And use—to feed the multitude. —W il l i a m A t h e r t o n 14 (82) The Preacher's Magazine double space and punctuated at the end The Preacher's Correspondence by a comma. This form of business letter when pro­ perly centered and typed is very attractive. By a Pastor Many large business firms are using it ex­ clusively. F THE LETTERS written by some of Regardless of what form we use, how­ I our Nazarene pastors and evangelists ever, our letters will not be attractive if an were indicators of the quality of work be­ old ribbon is used in our typewriter, and ing done by them and the aggressiveness erasures and strikeovers are permitted. of the church they represent, we would No preacher, who represents the highest not care to have their services nor to at­ and best in this world, should allow him­ tend their churches. In fact, we have self to become careless in this matter. His sometimes been tempted to cancel the letters should be in keeping with his pro­ slated meetings with certain evangelists fession. after having received some of their corre­ spondence; we were afraid that persons so careless about their letters would be Nuggets of Truth equally careless in their work. We have received letters written with By the late pencil on the cheapest kind of paper; there have been letters with no form, little or no General Edward J. Higgins punctuation, misspelled words, errors in grammar, erasures and strikeovers, and an Faithfulness is the crowning virtue. It over-all appearance of untidiness. speaks of strength of character, of nobility, of nature and of true courage. It will face Every evangelist and every church should lions, submit to flames, and follow blindly. use letterheads printed on good quality Keep on the narrow way; it is the only paper. The cost is not prohibitive; even if one free from dangers, and the sure one it were expensive, it would be better to to secure the sunshine of God's favor. sacrifice elsewhere to make it possible. Nothing will bring out the dormant quali­ The form of the letter is important. Any ties of your nature and spirit unless you standard business form is acceptable, but are willing to submit yourself to the disci­ the one chosen must be consistently fol­ pline of the school of development. lowed. One of the most attractive forms There is no new way to the develop­ is the “block” form, in which nothing is ment of character and ability, any more indented except the date which is placed than there is any way to develop oak trees directly under the head in the center of other than that stern discipline which na­ the page. The address is then placed on ture has designed to promote their growth. the extreme left margin with no indenta­ No man will do heartily what he does not tion or end punctuation. A double space think worth doing. separates the address from the salutation Holiness of heart is the best of cures for which is also on the left margin and punc­ lack of zeal, for dissension or dissatisfac­ tuated by a colon. A double space separ­ tion. ates the salutation from the body. What a power is clear teaching when a The body of the letter, of course, is man or woman can back it up with con­ punctuated in the conventional manner, vincing personal experience! but the paragraphs are not indented. They The enjoyment of holiness is a distinct are separated by double spaces. and definite experience, and its exposition, The closing of the letter, quite contrary to be powerful and convincing, must be in to old usage, is also placed on the extreme clear and definite terms. Nothing is so un­ left margin, separated from the body by a attractive as indefiniteness.—The War Cry.

In making your life worth something to God and others, you make it worth something to yourself. The self-centered life is a tragedy. The God-centered life is a glorious reality. It is what God designed it to be; beautiful, enjoyable, a blessing to all concerned. —Selected.

March-April, 1948 (83) 15 “Ye Are .... That Ye Should”

(I Peter 2:9)

Rev. F. Lincicome, Evangelist

OU WILL notice that I have ruled out This not only applies to the work of God Y of this verse the descriptive words in us, but also the work of God through such as “chosen generation, a royal priest­ us. For Jesus said, “ The harvest truly is hood, an holy nation, a peculiar people.” plenteous, but the labourers are few; pray My purpose in so doing is that you might ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that get the chief part of the verse. With the he will send forth labourers into his har­ descriptive words out it reads, “Y e are vest.” Here Jesus has told us He is de­ that ye should show forth the praises of pendent upon our prayers. Heaven is full him who hath called you out of darkness of power that will convict sinners but it into light.” A better rendering of it is that must be released before it can help any­ “Ye might show forth the moral excel­ one, and the greatest agency in releasing lencies of Him who hath called you out of that power is prayer—prevailing prayer. darkness into light.” In the old covenant there were only a few through whom God could transmit this In this is the supreme purpose of our power, but since the day of Pentecost this redemption. has been changed. Since then He makes all who will accept salvation transmitters Y e A re—T h a t Y e S h o u l d P r a y of power. Prayer is the working force in any To leave prayer out is to leave God out, Christian worker’s life. Prayer, with the for it takes prayer to put God to work. Eli­ one that has been redeemed, is more than jah on Mt. Carmel put God to work. He communion with God. Prayer was the prayed and the fire fell and consumed the working force with Christ. He did not pray sacrifice which caused many to come over merely to set us an example. Prayer on God’s side. Elijah put God to work. brought Him, as it does us, power that Rain was needed; Elijah prayed and rain makes us a great force for righteousness. came. Moses put God to work, and as a It was the secret of His career. We need to result Joshua in the valley with his army pray in order to put God to work. Prayer won the battle. Prayer does influence God. affects three spheres of existence. It affects It does not influence God’s purpose, but it the divine, the angelic, and the human. does influence God’s practice. Prayer puts God to work, it puts angels to work, it puts man to work. God has vol­ Y e A re—T h a t Y e S h o u l d P l a n untarily made himself dependent upon our That ye should plan big things—the prayers. churches are suffering from the fatal habit Someone asks, “ Is intercessory prayer of the minimum—from the minimum in necessary so far as God is concerned and belief. It seems to be fashionable to be­ the work He would have accomplished in lieve as little as possible. There seems to the w orld?” We must say that it is. It is im­ be quite a general conviction that the possible for God to bring the world for­ Church should come very close to the ward to its goal without the aid of human world in what it believes. It has become beings. We must not overestimate the quite common to say it does not matter importance of the human agency; nor must what one believes just so he is sincere in it. we underestimate it, for the human is as This is no time to believe as little as possi­ indispensable as is the divine. It thus be­ ble. It is the maximum belief that gives comes evident that God has voluntarily life and swing and triumph. We cannot made himself dependent on our prayers. carry the word minimum and stay with For, after all, prayer is the deciding factor God, for there is no place for a minimum in the life of every one who surrenders to belief in an omnipotent God. God to be used by Him. “What we do in Suffering from the minimum of experi­ God’s Kingdom is entirely dependent upon ence. what we are, and what we are depends It seems most people want as little re­ upon what we receive; and what we re­ ligion as possible. Satisfied to merely exist ceive depends on prayer.” spiritually. Willing to have some experi- 16 (84) The Preacher's Magazine ence but not too much. Must take great Calvary musi itselt through its care not to overdo it. It’s all right to leave sacrificial saints. When our sympathy loses the Ur of Chaldees but stop at Haran. You its pang we can no longer be the servants can be born of the Spirit but don’t get the of the passion. Paul once heard a cry from baptism. Aim at the comparative degree Macedonia and the pain on the distant in religion but have nothing to do with the shore was reflected in his life. His sympa­ superlative degree. People everywhere are thy and passion tore the strings of his living below their rights and are using only sensitive heart and made him go. He was a fraction of their potentialities. Most of exhausted with other folks’ exhaustion. them are traveling on two cylinders and My brethren, do the world’s cry and rundown batteries. Regardless of what­ needs pierce our hearts? I am amazed how ever defense anyone may choose to make easily I become calloused to the world’s against such statements as I have made; need, so much so that the cries of humanity the facts remain that the Church of today from far and near do not seem to reach me. is painfully low on experience when so A benumbment settles down upon me at many try to see what is the least they can times and the pangs of the world invoke take in without refusing it altogether. The no corresponding sympathy. Christ offered Church is also suffering from the minimum up prayers that reached the point of agony. of giving and the minimum of service. “I would you knew how greatly I agonize Let us as preachers do our best to lift for you.” It is too bad that we cannot shed the Church out of the minimum and plan a tear for those, for whom Christ shed His bigger things. Cut our patterns larger. No blood. church can prosper and grow and do its best work run on the least possible basis. Y e A re—T h a t Y e S h o u l d P u l l I n There is such a thing as an extravagant After all, the crowning glory of our min­ economy. This kind of economy will im­ istry is to see souls saved. If we do, there poverish us, cramp us, straiten us in our is one thing we will have to do and one purpose. We cannot effectually represent thing we will need to have. The one thing a great God on a penny basis. The time we will need to do in the language of Mark has come for a larger demonstration of Guy Pierce is to keep ourselves out of our faith; to do it we must cease tolerating sight. Mark Guy pierce was an expert minimum and cut our patterns larger. fisherman and he has laid down what he

Y e A re—T h a t Y e S h o u l d P o u r O u t considers the essential rules for all suc­ cessful fishing concerning which he says God has filled us with wisdom, love, zeal, there is no need trying if you do not mind , grace, and courage that we might pour it them. “The first rule is to keep yourself out upon a needy world. If we begin to out of sight, the second rule is to keep look out for ourselves we might as well yourself further out of sight, the third rule say good-by to any great work for God. is to keep yourself still further out of If our understanding of the spirit of the sight.” A notable angler summed it all up Master is to clothe ourselves in a robe and in his advice: “Let the trout see the angler bedroom slippers and sit down in an easy and the angler will catch no trout.” How chair while souls are groping their way to easily we as ministers, become obtrusive. damnation we must bid farewell to a ca­ How easily we are tempted to aggressive reer as a soul winner. It is said that the prominence. How prone we are to push Czar was going to give a banquet and no ourselves to the front in quest of honor, price for admission was to be asked, but fame, praise, popularity, and money. the guests were to show their hands to a Russian soldier at the door. If the hands The temptation comes upon us in many were white and flabby and fat they got ways. It steals upon us in the study and only the crumbs. If hard and worn and spoils our secret labor; spoils the efficiency calloused with toil they would get the of the bait we prepare. best at the Czar’s table. Let us remember, the first essential in My fellow ministers, that is the way it is the art of man-fishing is the suppression in the Christian warfare. Some of us would and eclipse of the preacher, for as soon as rather see souls saved and burn up our the people see the preacher they won’t lives for the Master than to live in ease take his bait. As soon as we become prom­ and have the chief seats at the table. As inent our Lord is never seen. So let us the suffering needs a herald, as the story keep out of sight. The one thing we will needs a teller, so the gospel requires an need to have is a spiritual sensitiveness— evangelist, and a finished case demands an a soul burden. It was Jeremiah’s appre­ efficient presentation. So the work of hension of the soul’s peril and value that March-April, .1948 (■85) 17 made him weep until his eyes were turned into rivers of water. That made Jesus look Preaching That Lifts over Jerusalem with heaving bosom, weep­ ing eyes, and crying heart. That made the greathearted Paul say, “I could have Dr. A . S. London wished myself accursed for my kinsman.” In view of the soul’s peril and value how HERE are a few things in life that lift we should as ministers estimate its value, T one more than hearing a great ser­ tremble for its danger, labor for its rescue, mon. It is a rare treat to hear a man and rejoice over its salvation. But where preach who has prepared his message, who is the minister that cares as he should for speaks out with authority, lives in the the souls of those who come within the presence of the Divine, and comes to the circle of his activities. Many a soul within people with truth that lifts, inspires, and five blocks of every church could say with challenges one to a higher and nobler life. one of old, “No man cared for my soul.” A man went to hear a preacher in Scot­ We need to recover that evangelistic land. He said, “He showed me the majesty passion and burden we once had. Let us of God.” He heard a different preacher the this day consecrate ourselves anew to the following Sunday and, speaking of this task of saving the lost; and say with the message, he said, “It showed me the loveli­ man who went to the art gallery at the ness of Christ.” And in telling of the third noon hour to view the paintings. The first sermon he heard, he said, “It showed me one his eyes fell upon was a picture of all my heart.” This man heard preaching. Jesus. So intense was his interest that he In each case it was a ministry that lifted, never took his eyes off the picture until he brought him in touch with God, and caused saw it was time for him to return to the him to have a self examination. office. He turned about and started for the A great sermon has a mission to fill. It door; but as he got near the door he should quicken the consciences of the turned and looked again at the picture, hearers by showing them the holiness of and said as he was looking: “Man of God. It should cause the people to open Galilee, Thou canst depend on me.” So their hearts to the love of God, and devote may we as His ministers say today, “Thou the will to the purpose of God. The minds canst depend on me to be earnest and of the people under the influence of a God- constant in my effort to save the souls for given message should be fed on the truth whom Thou didst shed Thy blood.” of God. The imagination should be puri­ Ye are .... that ye should: (1) That fied under the spell of divine truth. ye should—pray; (2) that ye should—plan; Richard Baxter, the great divine of long (3) that ye should—pour out; (4) that ye ago, said that a man should “ Preach as a should—pull in. dying man to dying men.” Someone has said that all preaching that begins not and ends not in pointing the people to Christ is but a giddy, elaborate, and exquisite ig­ norance. Preaching is to uphold divine Transformed by Beholding truth, to save the world from the curse of God, to perfect the church, and to help The story is told of an artist who tried to attain the ends of Christ’s redemption. reproduce on canvas his inward vision of Ezekiel, the prophet, said “So thou, O son Christ. But he never was satisfied with his of man, I have set thee a watchman unto clumsy efforts sufficiently to complete the the house of Israel.” A preacher is to be a sketch. But his own face caught the radi­ sentinel, appointed to keep vigil over im­ ance, and his own life reflected the glory mortal souls. The pressure of such a task which his fingers never succeeded in trac­ causes one to cry out, “Necessity is laid ing on canvas. Some one has finely expressed upon me; yea, woe is unto me, if I preach it in these lines: not the gospel!” This is the cry of any “The canvas never knew the pictured form, preacher who has grasped the essential But, year by year, while still the vision issues of his calling. Redemptive work is shone not easy; it takes all there is in a man, On his own life, the Master’s image grew, physically, mentally, and spiritually, to be And unto men, through him, the Lord a God-called preacher! made known.” In the first place, preachers face a world —A. B. S im p s o n of complacency. This can be found in our

18 (86) The Preacher's Magazine national, social, and spiritual lives. This is an audience. The people stand in dire need the Church’s greatest enemy. The founda­ of divine aid. tions are being undermined; the edifice of Preachers, be real! For God’s sake, and man’s vaunted achievements have come the sake of a brokenhearted race, be sin­ down upon us with a crash. The question cere. Do not try to be eloquent, or clever, is, “Does the preaching of our day give out or sensational. If you are not real, as far a message that offers hope?” Does it in­ as you are concerned, the cause of Christ spire an audience to fight through on a is lost in your field. Anything that is un­ Bible basis? Jesus said in such times as real in the pulpit is an offense against God we now face, “Look up, and lift up your and the cause of the Church of Jesus heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.” Christ. The disillusionment and complacency of Preaching is but the outflow of the our day challenges the God-called preach­ preacher himself. Do not behave so im­ er to give a message of optimism and hope. prudently, or so weakly, that the whole If not, then what is our preaching worth? business of preaching is but a farce. Are In the second place, preachers face a sinners hardened, rather than converted, world of defeatism. This will chill any under your ministry? Do you carry a minister on earth if he does not strike a sense of importance that kills the effect of depth of religious consecration that lifts the message? John Bunyan said, “I dare him above it. A preacher is to be the her­ not play in the relating of the things that ald of a religion which has gone through got hold of me. I must be plain and simple the darkest nights that the world has ever and lay down the thing as it was.” Life known, and come out victoriously, and and death issues are in your mouth when with a conquering outlook. This is no time you preach the gospel of Christ. A living to offer a reduced, milk-and-water type message sends forth streams that water the of religion. We have too much preaching desert. Can you say with the Psalmist, “I that presents a half-Christianity. The believed, therefore have I spoken”? average church member is whipped. Does the preaching have anything to offer that will lift him out of this state? If not, as one has said, “Is the preacher worth his Can You Ansiver This? salt?” A Welsh minister, beginning his sermon, Napoleon put up a placard in a very leaned over the pulpit and said with a dangerous place saying, “The battery of solemn air: “Friends, I have a question to men without fear.” History says that this ask. I cannot answer it. You cannot an­ swer it. If an angel from heaven were here, place was always manned. A whipped, he could not answer it. If a devil from hell cowed preacher who is afraid to speak the were here, he could not answer it.” truth in love has but little lifting power to Every eye was fixed on the speaker, who a suffering race. Dr. Parker once told of proceeded: “The question is this, ‘How shall a sermon and the effect it produced upon we escape, if we neglect so great salvation?’ ” his life. He said: “First, the shock, then •—Free Methodist. the heart-laugh, then the wonder, then the prayer, then the heart-felt thanks.” A de­ feated preacher cannot preach in a manner Law commands; grace bestows. Law to produce such results upon an audience. curses; grace blesses. Law demands love, In the third place, preachers face an age “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God”; grace of skepticism and doubt. The world is “in proclaims love, “God so loved the world, a strait betwixt two”; inner conflicts tear that he gave his only begotten Son.” at the heart of the average individual; un­ Law requires man to come up to its stand­ belief is everywhere. Spurgeon once said: ard; grace comes down where men are. “Preachers, don’t go in for popularity. Law says “Do!” for “Moses describeth the Preach down nothing but the devil, and righteousness which is of the Law, that nothing up but Christ.” The cry is, “We the man that doeth those things shall live would see Jesus.” Give out a message that by them”; Grace says “Done!” for “Christ will lift people out of a state of doubt and is the end of the Law for righteousness to fear; preach for a verdict. Get action in every one that believeth.”—W . H o st e , B.A.

The primary object of the baptism of the Holy Ghost is personal holiness and power for service. Personal holiness is necessary in order to serve effectually. We must live Christ before we can give Him.—A . B. S im p s o n .

March-April, 1948 (87) 19 The Divine Anointing A. M. Hills

USED to think the disciples spent ten that day he preached on “Sinners in the 1 days in the Upper Room getting filled; Hands of an Angry God,” and sinners were but I now believe they were there ten days so moved that they cried for mercy, and getting emptied. M oody writes: “Let us hung on to their seats to keep from slipping ask God to forgive our sins and anoint us into hell. Calvin Worcester had it. Dr. with power from on high. But remember, Bangs writes of him: “Such was the unc­ He is not going to give this power to an tion of his spirit and the bold, resistless impatient man; He is not going to give it power of his appeals to the wicked, that to a selfish man; He will never give it to few of them could stand before him. They an ambitious man, whose aim is selfish, till would rush out of church or fall to the first emptied of self—emptied of pride and floor under his word. It is recorded of of all worldly thoughts. Let it be God’s this holy man that when so far reduced glory and not our own that we seek, and as not to be able to speak above a whisper, when we get to that point, how speedily his whispered utterances conveyed by an­ the Lord will bless us for good...... I be­ other to the assembly would thrill them lieve firmly that the moment our hearts like a trumpet, and fall with such power are emptied of pride and selfishness and on the hearers that stouthearted men were ambition and self-seeking and everything smitten down to the floor; and his very that is contrary to God’s law, the Holy aspect is said to have so shone in the di­ Ghost will come and fill every corner of vine glory that it struck conviction to the our hearts; but if we are full of pride and hearts of many who beheld him.” conceit and ambition and self-seeking and pleasure and the world, there is no room G od G iv e s H is S p ir it t o T h e m W h o O bey for the Spirit of God. I believe many a H im man is praying to God to fill him when he is full already with something else. Be­ How Dr. Akers received this spiritual fore we pray that God will fill us, I be­ power, he relates himself, “Immediately, lieve we ought to pray Him to em pty us.” as I believed for it, I was filled with such a When one is filled, flooded with the Holy sense of Christ’s fullness and grace as Spirit, one must exclaim, as did Moody and overpowered me, and unable to speak or Finney, “Lord, stay Thy hand; I can en­ stand, I sat down. I felt that the power dure no more and live,” then are we em­ working in me was able to raise all the powered to serve the Lord. dead from Adam to the last man that dies, and said to myself, ‘This is the power of Christ’s resurrection.’ The congregation was C l o v e n T o n g u e s affected at the same time in a similar man­ “On the day of Pentecost all the disciples ner. Believers wept and shouted for joy, received double tongues of fire: one to while the impenitent trembled and fell to preach hell-fire to convict the wicked, and the floor, crying for mercy. At last I got the other to preach heavenly-fire to make to my room and lay down, unable to sit up, holy the righteous. Hence the gospel overwhelmed with a sense of the infinite preacher has but two subjects, i. e., hell for grace and glory of God. In some ineffable the wicked and holiness for the Christian, way there came to me a consciousness of and is bound to have a tongue of fire to the presence of the triune God—Father, preach either of these gospels. The bap­ Son, and Holy Ghost—a view of the Holy tism with the Holy Ghost splits the tongue, Trinity as related to human redemption and sets both prongs of it on fire.” and my own need, which filled me with joy It takes the dynamite of conviction to unspeakable and full of glory. But mortal burst up the strong heart of the sinner. man could not long endure such visitations All sin is Satan’s rock. It is so hard that of the living God, and at length I asked nothing but God’s dynamite can blow it Him to stay His hand, and let me live to out of the human heart. When God endues declare His glory. Under my first sermon a man with this spiritual power from on after this forty persons were awakened, and high, he is fitted for service, and becomes most of them were soon converted; and mighty for God. Jonathan Edwards had it under almost every sermon I preached for

20 (88) The Preacher's Magazine years similar results appeared. Nearly half this influence. How easy to lead a sinner a century has passed since then, but the to Christ when this power of Satan is smit­ power is with me still, and I trust will ten! “Thy people shall be willing in the abide with m e for ever.” day of Thy power.”

B y t h e P o w e r o f t h e S p ir it If we would do more pleading with God we would not have to do so much plead­ This spiritual dynamite was given to ing with men. It is not great preaching Finney, with oft-repeated bestowals of the that we need but great praying! It is pow­ gift, until he became a very wonder of God. er, power from on high that we need to­ He tells us that at times, when he was day. I desire to impress this upon every preaching, people fell from their seats as layman who reads these lines. It is one fast as he could have knocked them off of Satan’s wiles to lead the church to throw with a club. With this power upon him, he all responsibility for the possession of this enters a cotton mill. Operators look upon spiritual dynamite and success in spiritual him and begin to tremble, till they can not work upon the minister, the membership tie the threads with their fingers. They indulging themselves in worldliness and are confused, then appalled, and sit down unspirituality. God can not lavish His best and weep. A solemn awe settles upon gifts upon such a church. At Pentecost, it them, as if the angel of God was sum­ was Peter and the whole church filled with moning them to judgment, so mightily are the Holy Ghost that harvested the three they convicted of sin by the power of the thousand souls, and not Peter, alone, facing Holy Ghost. The proprietor of the mill, the mob with a breaking heart. an ungodly man, does not escape that U n i t y o p F a i t h a n d U n i t y o f t h e S p ir it heavenly influence, and says to the su­ Wilbur Chapman once said that, when he perintendent: “Stop the mill; it is more went to Philadelphia to be pastor of Wanna- important that our souls shall be saved maker’s church, after his first sermon an than that this factory should run”; and all old man met him in front of the pulpit, and this time the mighty man of God has not said: “You are pretty young to be pastor of spoken a word. A religious meeting is this great church. We have always had held, and hundreds cry for mercy and rush older pastors. I am afraid you won’t suc­ into the kingdom. ceed. But you preach the gospel, and I am At another time, when for days Chris­ going to help you all I can.” “I looked at tians were discouraged, and sinners were him,” said Dr. Chapman, “and said to my­ enraged and stubborn and would not re­ self, ‘He is a crank.’ ” But the old man pent, Finney and a Baptist deacon went continued: “I am going to pray for you, into a grove together, and spent the whole that you may have the Holy Spirit power afternoon in prayer. Just at evening God upon you, and two others have covenanted gave assurance of victory. Mr. Finney to join with me.” Said Mr. Chapman: says: “The Spirit o f God came upon me “I did not feel so bad when I learned that with such power in preaching that night he was going to pray for me. The three that it was like opening a battery upon became ten, the ten became twenty, and them.” Conviction spread over the con­ the twenty became fifty, and the fifty be­ gregation, and that night, after the service, came two hundred, who met before every he was sent for from many quarters to service to pray that the Holy Spirit might visit people in awful distress of mind, and come upon me. In another room the eigh­ great numbers were saved. teen elders knelt so close around me to pray for me that I could put out my hands C h r is t S u m m o n in g H is P e o p l e t o t h e and touch them on all sides. U ppe r R o o m “I always went into my pulpit feeling All should tarry for this Holy Spirit that I would have the anointing in answer power. I have no doubt that it would be to the prayers of the two hundred and infinitely better for the world if all Chris­ eighteen men. It was easy to preach, a tians would suspend all their efforts in very joy. Anybody could preach with every other direction till, with strong cry­ such conditions. And what was the result? ing and tears, they shall have waited on We received eleven hundred into our the Lord and received this unction. How church by conversion in three years, and few stalwart souls there are in the church— six hundred of them were men. It was moral giants, who can put their arms un­ the fruit of the Holy Spirit in answer der a whole community and lift it Godward. to the prayers of those men. I do not see The power of Satan over the sinner is how the average pastor, under average cir­ alarming. The Holy Spirit alone can break cumstances preaches at all.”

March-April, 1948 (89) 21 O disciples of Christ, remember you have “ 'That night God sent conviction like a something else to do besides going to church chain-shot of lightning to the heart of as curious, idle spectators, to be amused Judge ...... He was a bold sinner— and entertained, or even instructed. It and leaning-post of all the sinners in the is your business to pray mightily that the town—and he was converted. There was Holy Ghost will clothe your minister with another prominent man in the place, and power, and make his words like dynamite as soon as he heard the judge was con­ to the flinty hearts of sinners. verted, he came and cursed us all, and M y G l o r y I W il l N o t G iv e t o A n o t h e r said: “Judge ...... has made a fool of If we would obtain this power we must himself.” I said: “Let the man curse; he feel deep down in our hearts that nothing will pray pretty soon.” The Spirit took can supply its piece. Here lies the diffi­ away the leaning-post, and swept like a culty of the church in multitudes of in­ tornado. In three or four days all the stances. She leans upon other things to prayers that were in the golden vials were do the very work which the Holy Spirit used up. Again, fifty of us went to the was sent into the world to perform. In vestry and prayed till past midnight. A some cases she will lean upon the minister, third night two hundred of us prayed again his talent, his eloquence, his learning or his to fill the golden vials, and the revival swept influence. When the church has secured like a tornado, and one hundred and fifty the man of her choice, she sits down to men—hard, solid men—in that town were rest. She expects he will build her up. converted.’ ” What can a minister do unless he has this^ power to work with him? If he is as elo­ P r a y e r T u r n in g t h e T ide quent as Gabriel, not a soul will be saved without this power. The church must feel Moody said of his work at Cambridge this, and be on her face, and plead with University: “I don’t think the preaching God for the Holy Ghost to work in him had anything to do with it. Mr. Sankey and by him. If the church substitutes the and I had a pressing invitation to go to preaching and talent of the minister, or Cambridge when we were in Engand ten leans upon them instead of this power, God years ago, and I refused. I thought I had will withhold this blessing. no call to go to universities. But when we were over there again, another call came,

C l o t h e d W i t h P o w e r signed by a list of names six or eight feet long, and I said, ‘I will go.’ It was a church leaning hard on God in “The first Sunday night we were in Cam­ prayer for a week, and spending nearly two bridge the students tried to break the meet­ whole nights in prayer, that brought the ing up. I had preached to all classes of Holy Spirit power upon their pastor, Liv­ people—to hoodlums and all—and never ingstone, when he preached the sermon at had that happened before. It looked very Shotts that brought five hundred to Jesus. much as if they were going to snatch the Finney says that it was the praying of “Fa­ whole thing out of our hands. I don’t ther” Nash and Bro. Clary and other souls think there were fifty students out of that who were walking with God that clothed roomful that heard the songs of Mr. Sankey, him with such power from on high that and right on through the whole meeting it the stoutest sinners were broken down by was just the same. his presence and his words. The Baptist evangelist, Earle, tells us: “An evangelist “On Monday night the disturbance was had just closed a four-weeks’ meeting, and just as bad, or worse. On Tuesday the said, ‘The revival is at an end; we can go outlook was darker than ever. But on no further. I stopped in town to rest a day that day a lady, a bed-ridden saint, who or two on the way to a meeting, and was was very much interested in the work, asked to preach. The minute I got in I sent around word to a few Christians to could see that the net was full of fish, but get together in a little upper room, to plead there was not power enough to pull it to with God for a change in those students. shore. And I said: “Now, there is that That turned the tide. It wasn't the preach­ double parlor, and we are going in there ing. They had heard better sermons from to spend the whole of this night in prayer, the best preachers of the Church of Eng­ if Jesus does not answer sooner. You may land. It was those Christians, in that upper rely upon it, He will answer when He has room, praying to God, that made the dif­ got something He can use.” One after ference. And how they did pray! It another we poured out our souls until half­ seemed as if their prayers burst into past two in the morning. heaven, and I said, ‘The victory is ours.’ 22 (90) The Preacher's Magazine “That night I preached. I don’t think I had much power. When I asked, ‘If any The Sabbath Question man in this audience wants to become a Christian, will you go into the inquiry- HEREVER the Sabbath is mentioned room?’—they had their college gowns on; W in the New Testament by our Lord of course, they were known—I did not Jesus Christ, He mentions it in connection know there would be a man. But there with the Jews and their religion. The ac­ was a hush over that audience, and fifty- cusation brought against the Church of two men sprang to their feet and went up Rome by the Seventh Day Adventist Cult, into the gallery, and we had all the in­ that Rome changed the Sabbath is not true. quirers w e could attend to. The Sabbath has not been changed, it still “About one o’clock in the morning—I was falls on the last day of the week, which the getting pretty tired—a man came to me, Gentiles recognize as their Saturday. Christ saying, ‘I wish you would come and talk to was crucified on the Jew’s Friday and this man.’ They were on their faces, cry­ rested in the tomb on the Jewish Sabbath, ing to God for mercy. God had not only and arose on the Jew’s Monday which be­ broken their wills, but their hearts were came the Lord’s Day, which Gentiles call broken. It wasn’t the preaching. I was pretty Sunday, which is the first day of the week. weak that night. I talked to the man, and the God made known His Holy Sabbath to a tears were running down his cheeks. But redeemed and delivered people, while they he found Christ that night. Someone said were in the wilderness (Neh. 9:7-14; Exod. to me, ‘Do you know who that was? That 16:22-30). The Sabbath was not given to was the senior wrangler in Cambridge— the heathen nations, but only to God’s the first in scholarship among three thou­ redeemed people, Israel. Rest could not be sand students.’ There he was on his knees, enjoyed apart from redemption. Israel and the power of God came in answer to alone was redeemed. They were (and still prayer. are) the Lord’s peculiar treasure in the “The next Sunday night there were twc earth (Exod. 19:4-6; Ps. 135:4). At Sinai or three hundred inquirers—men of brok­ God incorporated the Sabbath into the Mo­ en hearts, crying out for God. It isn’t preach­ saic system of laws which He gave to ing we want. It is prayer. I would rather Israel (Exodus 20:8-11). The Sabbath was be able to pray like Daniel than to preach given to Israel for special reasons. It was like Gabriel. We don’t want any more given to them— preachers in this country; we have enough. 1. As a remembrance of their, marvelous What we want is to pray. Let us open up deliverance from Egypt (Deut. 5:12-15). communication with heaven, and the bless­ ing will come down.” 2. As a sign of God’s perpetual covenant BETWEEN HIMSELF AND THEM (Exod. I n c r e a s in g t h e D e s o l a t io n i n Z io n 31:12-18; Ezek. 20:12, 20). It was to be a Churches are calling for men of great “sign” to them that it was God who de­ learning and eloquence instead of men who livered them, and so also of their separation are deeply baptized with the Holy Ghost. unto Him. Seminaries of learning are much at fault. They do not stress this enduement as an 3. With other Jewish Ordinances, as a essential qualification. And so the semin­ shadow of which Christ was the substance aries of learning and the churches them­ (Col. 2:16-17). selves are bringing up a barren ministry to 4. The Sabbath was regulated by special increase the desolation of Zion. O teachers laws, which localized it to Israel. There of ministers! O people of God! Lay stress was no work to be done, not even a fire upon the divine anointing! Pray for it for kindled under the penalty of death (Ex­ yourselves. Above all, bring down the odus 35:2-3; Numbers 15:32-36). It was cloven tongues, the heavenly fire, the spir­ to be a day of complete rest. There itual dynamite upon the ministry so they was to be no burden carried on the will be able to break the hard hearts of Sabbath Day, with an assured blessing sinners, and you, in a measure, will share or curse (Jer. 17:21-27). It is noteworthy in the everlasting glory of reaping floors that Seventh Day Adventists, while in­ full of wheat and fats overflowing.—Herald sisting cn the Church keeping the Old of His Coming. Testament Sabbath, never for one moment insist on enforcing the penalty attached to its desecration. The Sabbath was a Day Neutral men are the devil’s allies.—E. H. of complete rest, and not a day of special C h a p i n . religious worship. The Sabbath was des­ March-April, 1948 (91) 23 tined to pass away, according to some tomb on the Sabbath Day. We are to keep special Scriptures in the Old Testament the Lord’s Day.—The Congregational Meth­ (Hos. 2:11; Amos. 8:4, 5, 9, 10). odist Messenger. Christ was a minister under the law. 1. He was “born of a woman, born under the law” (Gal. 4:4). 2. He was circumcised on the eighth day God’s Way of Working (Luke 2:21, 27). 3. He was presented to the Lord (Luke . . . .The mightiest forces in the universe 2:22-24). are the stillest—Destruction ever crashes 4. He was baptized by John (Matt. 3:15). on its way, like the express which tears through the little wayside station. The roar In this act He identified Himself with of the autumn sea! The vehemence of the Israel. hurricane hurtling through the forest! The 5. He paid tribute-money (Matt. 17:24- crackling of the devouring fire! The thunder, 27). the earthquake, the volcano! But who can 6. He observed the feasts ordained by hear the day break?—or detect the footfall the Law. of the spring stepping through the woods, 7. He came to fulfill the law (Matt. scattering flowers? Who thinks of listening 5:17, 18). to the pulse of the law of gravitation, or the thud of the forces that redden the grape, 8. He came to the lost sheep of the house golden the corn, and cover the peaches with of Israel (Matt. 10:5-6). Thus we see how their delicate bloom. that the Old Testament Sabbath given to Stand on an eminence and watch the ef­ Israel, was never changed, or given to the fect of a long summer day on an English Gentiles. It is an important enquiry, why landscape. There is no sound, but the far we observe the first day of the week as our away bleat of the sheep, the low of the day of rest and worship, when the original cattle, or the lazy murmur of the bee, by Sabbath was the seventh day. In answer­ which the effect of the silence is rendered ing this question, we shall parallel the two still more intense. Nature seems to be Days under discussion. asleep under some drowsy spell of slumber. The hours move slowly, as if loathe to leave THE OLD TESTAMENT SABBATH their merry dance in the woodland glade. But all the while, as you lie in a delightful The Old Testament Sabbath was God’s reverie, you are aware that mighty chemi­ rest in creation. cal processes are at work, by which the The Old Testament Sabbath is linked with juices of the earth and the elements of the Mount Sinai. air, the dew and the sunshine, are being The Old Testament Sabbath is linked elaborated for the sustenance of man. with the Law. So God works in the hearts He loves. He The Old Testament Sabbath is the mem­ does not strive, nor cry, nor cause His voice orial of the Old Creation. to be heard in the streets of the inner city. The Old Testament Sabbath is linked It is sometimes difficult to detect His work­ ing, and impossible to say, Lo here! or Lo with Moses. there! His touch is so gentle; His voice so The Old Testament Sabbath falls on the still and small; His breath so zephyr-like. seventh day. When He is most at work within w e think that we are making no progress, and even THE NEW TESTAMENT LORD’S DAY that we are going back. Comparing the ex­ The Lord’s Day is His rest in His work of periences of some others with our own, we Redemption. are inclined to imagine that we have not The New Testament Lord’s Day is linked been the subjects of His Spirit’s work; or that His operations have come to a stand­ with Mount Calvary. still because there is nothing sensible to The New Testament Lord’s Day is linked record. The presence of the ozone in the with Grace. air can only be detected by the most deli­ The New Testament Lord’s Day is the cate tests, a faint color on a piece of litmus memorial of the New Creation. paper—that is all. And the presence of God The New Testament Lord’s Day is linked in the soul is only apprehended when the with Christ. bloom of perfect health becomes apparent as its result.—F . B. M e y e r , in Religious The New Testament Lord’s Day falls on Telescope. the first day. We are to keep the first day of the week, which is the memorial of the death, burial and resurrection of Christ. Those who keep The difficulty is just this, that altogether the Old Testament Sabbath are keeping the too many Christians live an improverished Memorial of a dead Christ. He was in the existence spiritually. 24 (92) The Preacher's Magazine The Minister’s Use of Sound Recording*

Rev. J. Lester Seel

HERE are various methods of sound T recording, such as the common disk, paper tape, and magnetized wire. For the minister, these are all practical, and not too expensive. It is thought, however, that the wire method is the most versatile and fascinating of all, and in this article, I shall give you some of its characteristics and advantages. The first recordings using wire as a medium, were in 1898. Exhibitions were first made at the Paris Exposition in 1890, by the inventor, Valdimar Poulsen, a Danish scientist. This is contrary to the popular this wire, but can be held in the palm of conception that wire recording is a brand the hand. The cost of the hour spool is new invention. about $6.50, and if the user so desires, the Not much progress was made in the art, recorded material may be kept and used however, until World War II. A recording 10,000 times, without loss of quality. On means was needed which would be port­ the other hand, the one spool can be used able and simple to operate, and capable of over and over again, if the recorded ma­ recording over long periods without inter­ terial is not valuable enough to be filed ruption. Magnetic recording seemed to be away, as the machine will automatically the answer. It offered the additional ad­ erase the last recording, at the flip of a vantages of being compact, unbreakable, switch, a split second before the new goes and capable of being stored for any period on, even as the wire passes through the of time, without loss of quality, or being instrument, if the operator so wishes. affected by normal conditions of heat and Naturally, every minister would like to moisture. preserve the sound of special services, such For home entertainment, in our complex as the opening of a new ministry, or the and varied commercial and industrial life, farewell of an old; wedding ceremonies and in the professions, wire recording has and funeral services are conveniently and now proved its usefulness. simply preserved; permanently, if desired. Many a minister is finding the wire re­ Sometimes, an outstanding singer or a corder of invaluable worth. Spools of wire prominent preacher has come our way, and are available in fifteen-minute, half-hour, thrilled us unspeakably. How often have and hour lengths, at moderate prices. The we fervently expressed a wish that such recording service is uninterrupted, as is a service could have been recorded and not true with disk recording. The hour preserved. It can now be done. The ma­ spool is something like three inches in chine, which, folded, has the appearance diameter, by perhaps three-quarters of an of an expensive overnight case, can be inch in thickness. The wire itself is not set in the pulpit desk, out of sight, and the much thicker than a hair; it is made of small microphone unobtrusively placed in stainless steel of high tensile strength and front of the visitor, lying perhaps behind flexibility. The spool contains 7,300 feet of a songbook. The machine makes no noise, and needs no attention. At the flip of a switch, it starts, and the wire goes through *The Nazarene Publishing House sells the recording mechanism at the rate of the Webster-Chicago Wire Recorder pic­ two feet a second, and does it for as long as tured above. It is the most reasonably an hour, with no interruption and no at­ priced wire recorder on the market. The tention. editor has used it for several months with satisfactory results. He endorses this arti­ Larger churches are now recording ev­ cle by Rev. Seel, and recommends this re­ ery sermon delivered by their prominent corder to any preacher interested in pur­ ministers, and keeping them on file for fu­ chasing one.—E d it o r . ture reference and inspiration.

March-April, 1948 (93) 25 I have found that the fifteen-minute spirit of the hour, in their own homes. spool, which costs less than $3.00, may be Many a tear freely flows, and fervent ap­ wonderfully employed in recording bits of preciation is expressed by these dear ones the Sunday morning service, such as the who never would otherwise have the op­ portunity to catch the spirit of the church prayer, the special song, and the reading service. The pastor leaves, feeling he has of God’s Word, and then used in pastoral made a worth-while contribution to the visitation. Shut-ins are vastly thrilled in happiness of his shut-in members. To me, hearing these choice bits from the past visiting the sick in their homes has taken Sunday’s worship service, brought to them on a new meaning since I have been us­ perfectly true to life, and in the genuine ing the wire recorder. A Seldom Mentioned Need ATIENCE is a virtue which springs and longsuffering. As leaders and teach­ P from a principle, and the patience to ers, pastors and people, children and as wait, coupled with a willingness to work, citizens in a world of confusion, we need is the rock foundation of all lasting patience. It is needed in, and will sweet­ achievement. But to talk of patience tries en, all the relationships of life. men’s patience and makes it unpopular T h e T e s t o f W a it in g conversation. Waiting is about the most difficult thing some people can be asked to do. Tw o S id e s t o C o n sid e r And many of us have never learned to In Hebrews 10:36 the inspired writer wait gracefully. We have forgotten that declares that we “have need of patience.” success does not come by a sudden leap The meaning of the word here is stead­ from obscurity to prominence. Instead, fastness, or patient endurance; a refusal to it is a “gradual compilation of the tiny be swerved from a deliberate purpose and grains of application, drudgery, and . . . . loyalty to the faith despite all sufferings struggle toward improvement.” And the and trials. Many, many professed follow ­ most miserable man in the universe is the ers of Christ need this enduring grace. ambitious man who is unwilling to wait. The reference here is to a temper which One’s impatience may drive him to rash­ does not succumb to suffering; it means ness which prevents his enjoying the fruit to suffer without sinking; and “it implies that would have come by waiting. a continual pressure of a harassing nature In one of Victor Hugo’s stories he il­ on the one hand, and a competent con­ lustrated this by the man who allowed stitutional power of passive resistance on his failures to drive him to despondency. the other.” One day in a fit of despair he committed There is a passage in I Thess. 5:14 suicide. And that very day the postman which exhorts us to “be patient toward arrived with a letter bearing the news that all men.” Weymouth translates this in a a relative had left him a rich estate. Poor significant way: “Keep your temper with man, he allowed his impatience to make all men.” Patience is more than endur­ him unreasonable. If he had waited only ance, for many endure without being one day! But isn’t that comparable to patient. The thing we most need today some of our experiences? We may have is not necessarily enduring grace (that written a letter, spoken a word, or taken is needed!) but the possession of a spirit an attitude that we soon wished we had or disposition which is not irritated under not! Perhaps within a short time we saw provoking circumstances; which is com­ our folly. But it was too late to recall posed and self-restrained; which shows the the matter. And we spent many times spirit of Christ, illustrated in I Peter 2:20, as long trying to make amends and ex­ instead of seeking revenge and retaliation plain as it took us to show impatience. by word or by deed. Thus, we see that in one sense patience I m p a t ie n c e a n d S n a p J u d g m e n t is the exact opposite of cowardice and Snap judgment is always dangerous; surrender; and in the other sense is the but it is doubly so when indulged in by exact opposite of being short-tempered. one whose influence has been salutary As Christians we must be both steadfast hitherto. Often such arises because one 26 (94) The Preacher's Magazine supposes that his casual observation and should be the wounds of a friend, that present information (which may be but bind the ties more closely, instead of sever­ partial and perhaps biased!) acquaints ing the friendship between the critic and him fully with the case. What pain has the one he would help; it should come followed someone’s supposition that a as an admonition and not as a denuncia­ course of action merited censure because tion. Criticism when properly dispensed he did not know all that entered into the pays big dividends, but when abused case! He has proceeded to “ speak his proves disastrous in many ways. mind and pass his judgment” without The sorrow which impatience and knowing all the facts. Hence a finger of haste can bring is illustrated by the story accusation, and a sentence of judgment, of Prof. Blackie, the eminent Professor was passed upon what appeared to merit of Greek in the University of Edinburgh. it, and upon one who may not have de­ Under heavy pressure this learned man served it. Often the innocent suffers in became irritable and exacting, and un­ silence while the one who merits censure usually sensitive. Students to be admitted gleefully mingles with the critics. The were arranged in a line before his desk true Christians had rather suffer unjustly for examination and commanded: “Show than to create greater confusion by try­ your papers!” Up they went. But one ing to “explain” and “defend” themselves. lad awkwardly held his paper in his left Those who criticize habitually do so be­ hand. “Hold them up properly, sir, in cause this spirit is in the heart, and when your right hand!” The embarrassed lad an explanation is made they merely shift tried to stammer an explanation, but the to another item. Owing to a weakness and teacher shouted, “The right hand, ye loon!” deficiency which the grace of God and The poor lad, recovering his breath, said, a little self-effort would cure, they are “Sir, I have no right hand.” And he held crippling themselves and wounding others. up a right arm, with no hand on it. The class burst into hisses of indignation at I m p a t ie n c e B egets I n t o l e r a n c e the teacher. But the great man jumped from his chair, flung his arm over the Intolerance is a tragic thing. Look at boy’s shoulder, drew him to his breast, the sorrow it has evoked and the blood it has spilled in this global war. And it and said, “Eh, laddie, forgive me that I was overrough. I did not mean to hurt is disastrous among professing Christians. you, lad, I did not know!” What a lesson Often because one has special weakness for us when tempted to be a bit impatient and temptations of which others know with someone. Let us wait until we know! nothing; or because of inexperience and lack of opportunity his development and No better human description of patience progress in the Christian life may not be can be found, perhaps, than the words of as marked as it is with some who are more Bishop Horne: favorably situated. If one’s motives are “Patience is the guardian of faith, the good and he is trying to improve, we owe preserver of peace, the cherisher of love, him all the help we can give. He deserves the teacher of humility. Patience governs our sympathy, for the same Book which the flesh, strengthens the spirit, sweetens tells us to be patient toward all men also the temper, stifles anger, extinguishes tells us to support the weak! envy, subdues pride, bridles the tongue, In showing sympathy and trying to help restrains the hand, tramples upon temp­ others to live instead of merely letting tation, endures persecution, consummates them live, we enrich our own experiences martyrdom. and enlarge our usefulness and increase “Patience produces unity in the church, our joys. Of course, it is true that there loyalty in the state, harmony in families are times when criticisms must be offered and in society. Patience comforts the poor to secure improvement. But there is a and moderates the rich; makes us humble right, and Christlike, way in which to do in prosperity, cheerful in adversity, un­ this. When criticism must be made it moved by calumny and reproach. Pa­ should aim to elevate and not depress; it tience teaches us to forgive those who ought to come as a handclasp and not as have injured us and to be the first to ask a “slap in the face”; it ought to come as forgiveness of those whom we have in­ a winning reassurance and not as a caustic jured. Patience delights the faithful, and condemnation that sends one away to invites the unbelieving. It is beautiful weep in silence and nurse unnecessary in either sex and in every age.”—The wounds; if there are to be wounds, they Wesleyan Methodist.

March-Apiil, 1948 (95) 27 search down far enough you will find him Sam Jones and the Second Blessing wrong in his life or rotten in his character. I will tell you another thing: whenever “ And. speaketh the truth in his heart” you hear of the sisters in the Church just (Psalms 15:2). pitching into these “second blessing fana­ MAN is never better than his heart. tics,” as she calls them, you may set it down that she is one of them old gals that A clean heart is the need of every A either has a punch-bowl in her house, or Christian man and woman. she slips across to her neighbor and just This should be the cry and plea and the “takes a little,” or leads in some form of earnest object of every believing child of worldliness. God, “Create in me a clean heart, O God.” Sometimes folks have said that I “fit” Thank God that this is our privilege. Thank the second blessing people. I want to say God that many people seek and obtain it. right here and now, it is not true. I never I don’t care what you call it, whether did any such thing. I do not fight ’em; I the second or third or thousandth blessing, just trim ’em up sometimes, like I do all it cleans out and then cleans up—purifies the other gangs, and they need trimming the heart, cleans up the life, and, thank just like the balance of you folks need it. God, so benign and wondrous and so needed The second blessing people are right in a work of grace can be possessed by men heart; some of them are wrong in the head. and women! Welcome it under any name, Some second blessing people (so-called) and have profound contempt for the spirit haven’t got the right spirit and maybe that would depreciate the people who pos­ don’t live right, but I can say this—such sess it or the great grace which has come folks just haven’t got any second blessing, to them. and if they ever had it, they’ve lost it. And You may say what you please about I can say that some of the crowd that is the holiness people, but I want to say this: everlastingly fighting the second blessing I have never seen a holiness man that folks may have had the first blessing when wasn’t a Prohibitionist from his hat to his they commenced the fight, but they have heels. I have never seen one who didn’t fought until they have lost the first blessing. fight liquor, card playing, and every phase You have got to have a clear heart if you and form of worldliness in the church. I have a clean life, and God demands both; have never seen a second blessing man or and yet some of the worldly gang in the woman who believed in or gave card church are whining. parties, indulged in punch slinging, went “I just can’t live without sin; I just have to the theater, or dancing parties, or en­ to sin every day; I am just a poor worm gaged in or encouraged any form or phase of the dust, and poor human nature is so of the deviltry that is cursing the Church frail that I just can’t live without sin.” today. I have never seen a second blessing Well, now, just tell me what sin is it man or woman who wouldn’t pray any­ that you are compelled to commit every where and everywhere when called on, and day? Just sit down and write it out on a who was not ready to stand up and testify piece of paper and look at it, and see which for the Lord whenever opportunity offered. of the commandments you have got to break I never saw a second blessing person in my every day of your life? What sin or life, man or woman, at the head of a family, sins do you have to commit every who did not get right down night and morn­ day of your life? What a libel on ing and pray for the children in that home, your Saviour! What slander on the aton­ and for God’s guiding hand in all things ing blood of the Lamb! For what was the pertaining to their sacred home responsi­ Lamb slain? Why did the crimson tide bilities. flow from the side of Divine Innocence if I will tell you another thing: I never it was not to cleanse us from all sin? Did saw a preacher in my life that was fighting He not come to save us from sin? Where the holiness crowd that was not a dead sin abounded, did not grace much more dog in his own pulpit—can’t bite! You abound? may watch it. Every little preacher that No, brother, sister, thank God, it is false you hear fighting the holiness people is a when you say you have to sin. You sin fellow that hasn’t had a revival meeting or because you want to sin, and you insult a conversion in his ministry for years un­ your Lord and misrepresent the Atonement less he got somebody else to hold his meet­ when you seek to cover your guilt or apolo­ ings. God won’t honor such a preacher. gize for your love for something forbidden You never see a man in the church who by pleading a necessity for sin.—from Holi­ fights the holiness people but if you will ness Banner.

28 (96) The Preacher's Magazine The Theological Question Box Conducted by Dr. H . Orton Wiley

1. What is the source of the tradition the critics had endeavored in many ways to that St. John was placed in a caldron of explain a verse found in Judges—“ out of boiling oil? Zebulon came down they that handle the Tertullian, a North African writer in a pen of a ready writer.” On the supposition well-known passage says concerning the that there were no ready writers at that city of Home, that it was the place “where time, any reasonable explanation was im­ Peter suffered a death like our Lord’s; possible. These tablets, however, show that where Paul was beheaded like John the there was a high degree of education and Baptist; and where the Apostle John after culture. Canaan was the great highway being plunged into burning hot oil without from the Mediterranean Sea to the Eastern being hurt, was banished to an island.” trade centers, and paid a land tax to Egypt long before the Exodus. “There was hard­ ly anything which the Egypt of the eight­ eenth and nineteenth dynasties had not 2. What is the significance of the Tel el obtained from Syria,” writes Dr. Erman. Amarna tablets for the historicity of the “The culture of the Syrians must therefore Book of Genesis? have been very highly advanced to have The cuneiform tablets now known as the obtained such a conquest.” Tel el Amarna tablets were discovered in There is another interesting historical 1887 and 1888, and were taken from the statement in connection with these tablets. ruins of an ancient Egyptian city, the site One of the letters is from Ebed Tob, gover­ of which is now known as Tel el Amarna. nor of “Urusalem”—not by Egyptian ap­ It was from this that the tablets took pointment but as a vassal who paid tribute. their name. They consist of various letters The word “Uru” signifies a city, and Salem and dispatches sent to the Egyptian court “peace.” This therefore was Jerusalem from the kings of Babylonia, Assyria, and which the writer mentions as “the city of Syria, and also from the vassal governors the mountain of Salem,” and speaks of in Palestine. They are written on clay himself as “a priest of the most high God.” tablets in the script of the Babylonian lan­ When, therefore, we read in Genesis the guage which appears to have been the account of Melchizedek, who was king of language of diplomacy in that day. Salem and priest of the most high God,” Two of the most remarkable coincidences it appears to be quite conclusive that this in archaeological researches occured in was the Ebed Tob of the Tel el Amarna 1892. Among the letters of Tel el Amarna tablets, written centuries before the time of Moses. were two which were written by the gover­ nors of Lachish, one of whom was Zimrida. One of the letters from the king of Jerusa­ lem contained the information that Zim­ What do you think is the real signifi­ rida had been murdered by the servants cance of the Song of Songs, and how do of the king of Egypt. In 1890, Dr. Petrie you account for the amatory language? was excavating in Southern Palestine at It would be difficult indeed to express in a mound named Tel el Hesy. From several any dogmatic manner the real significance indications he suspected that this was the of this much misunderstood book. Dr. site of the ancient city of Lachish, which Adam Clarke gives the following summary later proved to be true. Here he unearthed of the different views which have been tablets exactly like those of Tel el Amarna, advanced to explain it—many of them con­ and upon them occurred the name of Zim­ tradictory. He says: rida. The letters from upper Egypt had 1. It is a plain Epithalamium on the mar­ scarcely been translated when their coun­ riage of Solomon with the daughter of terparts were found in Palestine, and thus Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and it is to be the two parts of the correspondence were understood in no other way. brought together. 2. It is an allegory relative to the con­ This discovery was far-reaching in its duct of God towards the Hebrews, in consequences. Whereas the higher critics bringing them out of Egypt through the had maintained that Palestine before the wilderness to the promised land. conquest was inhabited by uncivilized 3. It is intended to represent the incar­ tribes, it was now proved that there was nation of Jesus Christ, or his marriage with a high degree of civilization there. One of human nature, in reference to its redemp­ their cities was named Kirjath Sepher or tion. “House of the Books” indicating that there 4. It represents Christ’s love to the were libraries in Canaan as well as in Church, or elected souls, and their love to Egypt and Babylonia. Before this discovery Him.

March-April, 1948 (97) 29 5. It is an allegorical poem on the glories minister had in mind was a sacred cere­ of Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mary. mony. Protestantism recognizes only two 6. It is a collection of sacred idylls; the sacraments—baptism and the Lord’s Sup­ spiritual meaning of which is not agreed per. Roman Catholicism recognizes seven on. sacraments—baptism, confirmation, Holy As to the amatory language, Dr. Moulton Eucharist, penance, extreme unction, holy has the following which is well worth the orders, and matrimony. The Roman Catho­ consideration of any one making a study lic Church bases its belief in marriage as of this book. He says, “Many readers of a sacrament on the text found in Ephe­ Solomon’s Song are surprised, some of sians 5:32—“This is a great m ystery; but I them shocked, at the amatory warmth of speak conccrning Christ and the church.” its language, and the apparent absence of Here it asserts that the word m ystery all delicacy and reserve as each of the means the same as the word sacrament. lovers catalogue the bodily charms of the Protestantism on the other hand holds that other. Partly no doubt, this is due to the no religious ceremony can be regarded as more. passionate nature of the oriental peo­ a sacrament unless instituted by our Lord ples. But in part such an impression is a himself while on earth. Only two religious false one and caused by the reader’s want ceremonies were thus instituted by Christ of familiarity with the poetic medium —baptism and the Lord’s Supper, and through which the scenes of the story are therefore Protestants hold that only these coming to him. Where western poetry two are sacraments. rests mainly upon imagery, the poetry of the East adds to imagery, symbolism. Imagery paints pictures, appealing directly to the imagination; symbolism is analytical The question frequently arises as to comparison importing ideas as standards whether God created the world in twenty- of excellence which may be incompatible four hour days, or whether the term day with pictorial effect. must be interpreted to mean a long period His head is as the most fine gold. of time. What is your opinion? This line by itself might raise in our I have stated my position I think clearly, mind the picture of a golden beauty, were in Christian Theology, Volume I, page 456. it not that the next line comes as a contra­ diction. Yes, this question frequently arises. Some extreme and militant fundamentalists His locks are bushy and black as a raven. teach that to hold otherwise than to a It is evident that gold and raven black tw enty-four-hour day is a concession to are cited only as two among many types of modernism. This, to use Dr. Shedd’s ex­ beauty, all of which with their self-contra­ pression, is one of the “errors of ignor­ diction may be claimed for the ideal hero. ance.” The best Hebrew exegesis never Similarly, a modern love song would be regarded the days of Genesis as solar days, turned into a farce by a comparison of the but as day-periods of indefinite length. heroine’s eyes to pools of Heshbon, her Only with the scholastics of the Middle nose to the tower of Lebanon, and her Ages and the evangelical writers of the delicately braided hair to the harness of seventeenth and eighteenth centuries was Pharaoh’s steeds; but to the oriental mind this twenty-four-hour day current. Pre­ there is nothing here for the imagination vious to this a profounder view was held. to work upon, but simply standards of ex­ Augustine taught that the term day does cellence, each supreme of its kind. not apply to the duration of time, but to Symbolism has always been popular the boundaries of great periods. Nor is with the mystics. It was the favorite book this a metaphorical use of the word, but of Bernard of Clairvaux who poured out the original which means “to put period his hoarded tenderness in eighty-six ser­ to” or to denote a self-com pleted time. mons to the brethren of Clairvaux. Jona­ This was the common use of the term in than Edwards also, in an account which he the patristic period. When it is taken into gives of his religious experience says, “The consideration that the Hebrew word yom whole book of Canticles used to be pleasant which is translated “day” is used no less to me, and I used to be much in reading than 1,480 times in the Old Testament, and it about that time" and found from time to is translated by something over fifty differ­ time an increased sweetness that would ent words, such as time, life, today, age, carry me away in my contemplations.” forever, continually, and perpetually, it is pure dogmatism to insist on unswerving restriction to only one of those meanings. Recently we heard a minister in per­ forming a wedding ceremony, use the ex­ pression “sacrament of marriage.” Is mar­ riage a sacrament according to Protestant In seeking to follow Jesus, men and teaching? women have not only discovered a clearer No, according to Protestant teaching mar­ moral vision, but the courage and strength riage is not a sacrament. Doubtless all the to live by that vision. 30 (98) The Preacher's Magazine SEARCHING TRUTHS FOR MINISTERS . .

Wesley’s Passion of soft manners and squeamish words. We want the fiery Knox. We want Luther to “Oh! that God would give me the thing tell men the truth unmistakably in homely which I long for; that before X go hence phrase. The velvet has got into our min­ and am no more seen, I may see a people ister’s mouths of late but we must unrobe wholly devoted to God, crucified to the oracles of soft raiment, and truth must be world, and the world crucified to them, a spoken and nothing but truth.”—Pentecost people, truly given up to God in body, Herald. soul, and substance. How cheerfully should I then say: ‘Now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace.’ ” Our Faith Faith is hindered most of all by what we A Question call “our faith,” and our fruitless strug­ gles to work out a faith which after all is Will the road be any easier because you’ve but a make-believe and a desperate trying passed that way? to trust God. This must ever come short Has your travel helped another on the weary road today? of His vast and glorious promises. The Is the path a little smoother in the place truth is that the only faith that is equal to where you have trod? the stupendous promises of God and the And have you helped some other one to measureless needs of our life, is “the faith find his way to God? of God” himself, the very trust which He —Selected will breathe into the heart which intelli­ gently expects Him as its power to believe. Conversion is a great experience. I like Blessed be His name! He has not given to read again of the conversion of some us a chain which reaches within a single of the great men of the church. Spurgeon link of our poor helpless heart...... was saved January 6, 1850, when he was Nay, the last link, the one that fastens sixteen years of age; he had been under on the human side is as divine as the link conviction for five years. It was Sunday; that binds the chain of promise in the he rose early to pray and read his re­ heavens. “Have the faith of God,” is His ligious books. “God was ploughing his soul, ten black horses in his team—the great command. “I live by the faith of the Ten Commandments—and cross-plowing it Son of God” is the victorious testimony with the messages of the gospel. It was of one who had proved it true. a snowy morning and he could not go to Beloved, in the light of this great pro­ his regular church, so turned into the vision, listen to the mighty promise now, Primitive Methodist Church. About fif­ and in His faith rise to claim, “If thou teen persons were in the congregation; the canst believe, all things are possible. . . .” regular preacher did not arrive, so a local preacher, an unlettered man, preached •—A. B. S im p s o n . from the text, “Look unto me and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth.” He Plea to Preachers preached till he came to the young stranger and he said, “Young man, you Frieda S. Dause look very miserable. You will always be Every Sunday as w e wend miserable—miserable in life and miserable Our way to church, dear preacher friend, in death, if you don’t obey my text; but There is a hope within our breast if you obey now, this moment, you will That there we may of God be blest. be saved.” Then he shouted out, “Young man, look to Jesus Christ! Look! Look! Yes, we come to church to be You have nothing to do but to look and Fed, dear preacher friend, by thee. live.” It was a message straight from God. Fail us not, but remain true Spurgeon was converted on the spot. To the trust God placed in you. Spurgeon began to preach soon after his conversion and became the boy preacher Feed us not on hash grown cold, of England, soon to become the most Hackneyed phrases, stories old. sought for preacher of his age. He Fresh food from the Word we need; preached nothing but the pure gospel Show us Him in word and deed. while pastor for over thirty years in the largest church in London. In one of his Seek His face, dear preacher friend, sermons he said: ’Til His message He doth send. “We want John Knox back again. Do Pray that He’ll anoint your speech, not talk to me of mild and gentle men; Then you will the hungry reach! March-April, 1948 (99) 31 QUOTABLE POETRY

“Behold the Man” Easter Praise Out of the tomb, for it could not hold Him, Fred Scott Shepard Back to His own He came! I see a frowning judgment hall— Wonderful Lord, from the grave arisen, A ruler robed in state; Jesus ever the same I see One standing at the bar, ■ Pursued by cruel hate: Sing we Thy praise, O Thou Blest Re­ A throng, by passion moved along, deemer, While right and justice wait. Victor art Thou on this glorious day; Death could not hold in its cruel clutches I see a Man led forth to die— Thou Who art truly the life and the way. Earth’s awful tragedy! Nailed to a cross, sin’s substitute, High on the throne with the Father above To suffer agony! us, 0 Christ, with death to thus keep tryst, There art Thou hearing our songs of My soul from sin to free! praise; Joining the angels’ hosannas to Jesus, Loud, are the anthems to Thee w e raise. 1 see the tomb, wherein was laid —K e n n e t h R o b in s o n His body, scarred and tom ; I see the empty sepulchre, From whence He rose that mom: An Easter Hymn Rejoice, my soul, with grateful voice, In Christ anew be born! He who slumbered in the grave Is exalted now to save; I see a throne in heaven high— Now through Christendom it rings My Saviour reigning there, That the Lamb is King of kings. While myriad hosts there homage pay, Alleluia! In praise beyond compare: Be mine the joy, by grace divine, Now He bids us tell abroad This wondrous bliss to share. How the lost may be restored, How the penitent, forgiven, —The Evangelical Christian How we too may enter heaven. Alleluia! Jesus Will Be There Thou, our Paschal Lamb indeed, Christ, Thy ransomed people feed: The glow of a beautiful morning Take our sins and guilt away, Awakened my sleeping soul, Let us sing by night and day, As the mighty sun threw ribbons of light Alleluia! to herald the coming day; —Old German hymn, trans­ And then as I opened my eyes lated by Winkworth. I saw that the mom was fair, But I knew that the day would be darkest night A Song in the Night If my Saviour were not there. And when they had sung an hymn, they w ent out (Matt. 26:30). I came to the doorway of evening ’Twas night! Where crimson curtains hung, And o’er their troubled spirits hung And I longed to tread the golden paths A heavy cloud of sorrow, flung out by the setting sun— As if impending doom had flung The glory of heaven shone ’round me, Its shadow from the morrow. And I saw that the eve was fair, But I knew there would be no sunset glow ’Twas night! If the hand of God were not there. But in that hour they sung a psalm, I know that the night will be falling, And o’er their spirits stealing, For earthly days must end, Like soothing balm, a heavenly calm But beyond the sky, be it dark or bright, Brought rest, and peace, and healing. there is eternal day. And as I pass through the shadow ’Tis night! No fear will I know, or despair, And ’round us fall its sombre shades; For heaven so bright will burst on my sight, But Faith, though faint with yearning, And Jesus will be there. Sings of the mom when darkness fades— —G ra ce V io l e t M c D il l , The mom of Christ’s returning. in The United Presbyterian —E m m a F. B eere 32 (100) The Preacher's Magazine The Cross .... Was His Own The dreary path which he alone must tread, He borrowed a bed to lay His head Perhaps engender Hope—the burden lighten, When Christ the Lord came down; And banish lurking tho’ts of Fear and They borrowed the ass in the mountain Dread. pass For Him to ride to town; “I’ll sing my song” to those who walk in But the crown that He wore darkness, and the cross that He bore Who grope, benighted, in the gloomy way. Were His own. Perhaps the melody will hail the dawning Of light and life for them—a glad new He borrowed the bread when the crowd he day! fed “I’ll sing my song,” it may be that Love’s On the grassy mountain side; carol He borrowed the dish of broken fish Will cheer the burdened one upon Life’s With which he satisfied; road. But the crown that He wore For I will sing of Him whose sacred Pres­ and the cross that He bore ence Were His own. Illumes all darkness, shares the pilgrim’s load. He borrowed the ship in which to sit To talk to the multitude; “I’ll sing my song” to those who live for He borrowed the nest in which to rest, pleasure, He had never a home so crude; Who, careless, walk amid the giddy But the crown that He wore throng. and the cross that He bore There may be one, perhaps, who’ll heed Were His own. the message, Receive the truth, and help to sing the He borrowed a room on His way to the song. tomb. “I’ll sing my song”—perhaps some way­ The Passover lamb to eat; worn pilgrim, They borrowed a cave for him a grave; Still struggling onward, upward, in the They borrowed a winding sheet; way, But the crown that he wore Will pause to hear, and, listening, will be and the cross that He bore strengthened Were His own. By words of cheer, and music of my lay.

The thorns on His head were worn in my “I’ll sing my song”—and travel on rejoicing, stead; Altho’ the path may be both rough ana For me the Saviour died; long. For the guilt of my sin, the nails drove in And all the way m y heart shall thrill and When Him they crucified; echo Though the crown that He wore To strains divine—the new eternal song! and the cross that He bore —V io l e t H a d l e y T r a v e r s, in The Free Were His own. Methodist. —Author Unknown

Ablaze with God Faith W hen trouble comes and all seems drear I saw a human life ablaze with God, And clouds obscure the sky, I felt a power divine Stand still and see what God can do; As through an empty vessel of frail clay The storm will soon pass by. I saw God’s glory shine. Then woke I from a dream and cried aloud: ’Tis written in the Book of books, “My Father give to me “The Lord shall fight for you.” The blessing of a life consumed by God So hold your peace, dear weary one, That I may live for Thee.”—Selected. And see what God can do.

Though worldly care may oft depress I’ll Sing My Song And. hold one in its sway, It should not find a lodging place, “I’ll sing my song”; perhaps one strain of For God still rules the day. music Will tremble on the heart-strings of a So, weary one, be calm, serene, soul Discouraged, weary, weak and heavy-laden, And to your Lord be true; But striving evermore to reach the goal. Walk in the light of faith and love, Perhaps ’twill tune his heart to courage, And see what God can do. brighten —A l v e n a E . W ie m a n n March-April, 1948 101) 33 THE PREACHER’S SCRAPBOOK

What Are Good Rules of Living? cumulation of possessions and the care General Booth’s rules of Christian living they become is not the great good, but a great hazard to the life of the spirit; that are these: 1. Consider your body as the temple of he is a fool who invests his life’s interests the Holy Spirit and treat it with reverence in undependable securities, in values that do not last; that God is trustworthy and to and care. 2. Keep your mind active. Stimulate it be trusted, and in that trust we may escape our great enemy, fear; that “God so loved with thoughts of others that lead to doing something. the world that he gave his only begotten Son.”—Angus Dunn. 3. Take time to be holy with daily Bible reading and prayer. 4. Support the church of your faith. Min­ gle with others. Improve the Box 5. Cultivate the presence of God. He A certain soapmaker, having run out of wants to enter your life and will as far as superlatives to define the perfection of his you let Him. product, hit upon a statement that said in 6. Take God into the details of your life. a novel and compelling way the last word You naturally call upon Him in trouble that could be said concerning it; “As we and for the bigger things. couldn't improve our product we improved 7. Pray for this troubled, war-threatened the box.” world and the leaders who hold the desti­ We cannot improve the content of reli­ nies of the various nations. gion, but we can improve the container— 8. Have a thankful spirit for the bless­ ourselves.—Men and Religion. ings of God—country, home, friends, and numerous other blessings. 9. Work as if everything depended upon The average man speaks 11,000,000 words work, and pray as if everything depended in a year and one-half of them are “I,” upon prayer. “Me,” and “Mine.”—Policysales. 10. Think of death not as something to be dreaded, but as a great and new ex­ perience where loved ones are met and God’s Workmen ambitions realized.—The Broadcaster. Most of the people whom the Lord used in His service had an occupation, and were employed when He called them. Take a The Secret of Bible Study few instances, from the first Adam to the in Five Sentences Second Adam: Adam—a gardener. 1. Study it through. Never begin a day Abel—keeper of sheep. without mastering a verse. Hagar—handmaid to Sarah. 2. Pray. it in. Never leave your Bible Moses—a shepherd. until the passage you have studied is a Aaron—a high priest. part of your very being. Joseph—prime minister. 3. Put it down. The thought God gives Daniel—king’s chamberlain. you, put in the margin of your Bible or Joshua—servant of Moses. your notebook. Jacob—laborer to Laban for fourteen 4. Work it out. Live the truth you get years. through all the hours of the day. Amos—a herdsman. 5. Pass it on. Seek to tell somebody what David—a shepherd. you have learned. Nehemiah—a cupbearer. — J . W il b u r C h a p m a n Ezra—a scribe. Saul—on a message for his father. Samuel—serving in the Temple. Those who have been taught of Christ Gideon—threshing his father’s wheat. know in their hearts that the first law of Simon—a tanner. life is to love God, and next to God one’s Zacchaeus—a publican. neighbor; that they are great who serve Lydia—a seller of purple. many, not those whom many serve; that Dorcas—worker . with her needle. we need to be forgiven much and to for­ Peter—a fisherman. give generously; that ill-will blocks the Matthew—a tax-gatherer. channels of life and blinds us to God; that Martha—a housekeeper. the body and all the things of nature are Paul—a tentmaker. not to be despised, but mastered for spir­ Luke—a physician. itual ends; that the life which is self-saving And our Lord Jesus Christ wrought as and self-serving is starved; that the ac­ a Carpenter.—Author Unknown. 34 (102) The Preacher's Magazine A PREACHING PROGRAM . .

Prepared by Rev. John E. Riley

The Enemy Disarmed C. Death shows no discrimination. Death takes the mother from her children and B y the Prince of Life leaves some worthless drunken sot of a (Easter Sunday) man, no good to himself or anyone else. Death passes by the criminal and takes S c r ip t u r e — I Corinthians 15. millions of the finest flower of our man­ T e x t —The last enemy that shall be de­ hood. Death passes by the beds of thous­ stroyed is death (I Corinthians 15:26). ands of hopelessly sick and suffering and Death is swallowed up in victory (I seizes a happy healthy young woman who Corinthians 15:54). cries out, “Life is so sweet, I don’t want Introduction: to die.” Death takes thousands of little innocent babies and leaves groaning crip­ 1. All forms of life have their enemies. pled older people. If death were to come Birds prey upon the insects, insects upon carefully weeding out just the weak and plants. Life is a pretty serious thing, is it diseased and the aged and leaving the not, when it exists only by preying upon strong to become a superior noble race, something else? that might be something in its favor. But 2. The life of man is fraught with myriad death spoils the noblest people and the difficulties. fairest lands and homes and leaves millions a) We have a struggle for existence of suffering hungry cursing cripples that against disease, against the elements, want to die. How cruel death’s apparent against our enemies, against old age. lack of discrimination! b) We have the struggle for happiness: physical, social, educational, moral and re­ D. Death usually comes shrouded in the ligious. robes of might with suffering and fear and c) Many things oppose us. doubt crowding in upon soul and body. 3. But one of our most serious enemies The ebbing of physical vitality usually is Death. We say sometimes, “While there brings a sinking of the mind and emotions is life, there is hope,” thus implying that in the slough of despair and darkness. It death is worse than most of the hard things is rarely ever easy or attractive or beauti­ that come to us, and that death is the end ful. of hope. The scriptural word “death” re­ E. Insofar as possible Death blacks out fers to several different things, but we the future with the pall of night just at usually think of one thing when we speak the same time that all of earth is blacked of death, namely, the death of the body or out and there is the soul in terrifying lone­ the separation of soul and body. No one liness. can quite appreciate the victory of Easter until he has first seen what a cruel enemy F. Death cancels out all the values and has been vanquished by the Christ of beauties of life—love, work, plans, art, in­ Easter. telligence. But you say, “Preacher, you are I. What a cruel enemy is Death! painting death too dark.” Ah, no! I am A. Death means disintegration of the carefully trying to describe it not too body. This is not the most important darkly. No one could really describe it thing, of course, but this is a hard blow for even in terms of midnight black and blood 1. Places and things come to mean much red punctuated with shrieks of terror! All to us—the old house and furniture, some this and worse is death, were it not for the family heirlooms, etc. The old neighbor­ Prince of Life who has vanquished Death hood and familiar sights and scenes. and robbed it of its worst sting. 2. The familiar face and form of loved II. Behold how the Prince of Life, whose ones cannot be laid away without heart­ day of victory is Easter, has disarmed ache. A little babe was born into the home, Death our enemy. grew to a fine strong boy or girl; then was A. He had disarmed Death by receiving taken away. Those hands, those kind eyes, its sting in himself. Some insects and that voice—to have them gone is a cruel snakes can bite but once. Jesus has re­ hard thing. ceived the sting or bite himself—thus we B. Death means separation. go free. 1. Many of the things we think of as 1. He knew separation. hardships are as nothing when compared with separation from our loved ones. a) From heaven’s glory. 2. This is a final separation. There is no b) His worst moment was when He being called back once we have crossed the cried, “My God, My God! Why hast thou great divide. forsaken me?” March-April, 1948 (103) 35 c) Separation to the ignorance, and ha­ Why We Rejoice at Easter tred, and sins, and misunderstanding of (Easter Sunday) men. S c r ip t u r e — I Corinthians 15. 2. He knew suffering and darkness such as none of us will ever know. T e x t — But now is Christ risen from the dead (I Corinthians 15:20). a) Physical pain—sweating drops of blood—crucifixion—visage marred. Introduction: b) Condemnation and shame of our sin. 1. Perhaps more people are happy in our town today than have been for six months. c) Went down into death and hell and Why? Is it spring and the flowers—warm, faced them at their worst and vanquished fair weather? Is it special holiday atmos­ them. phere—something in the air? Is it that we B. He has thus disarmed Death for us. are in a land of relative peace and pros­ There is still hurt there, but the deadly perity? None of these are to be ignored. sting is gone. 2. But when we ask ourselves “Why 1. Disintegration has found a Master in should we rejoice at Easter?” We want to Jesus. know the basic reasons. Is there some­ a) The world is going to smash and to be thing that would make us to rejoice in destroyed with fire but we look for a new rain, in war, in poverty, in sickness, in heaven and a new earth wherein dwelleth death? Yes. Why do we rejoice at Easter? righteousness. I. Because Christ was raised from the b) Bodies of our loved ones have to be dead! We are not thinking now of any­ laid away, but there is coming a resurrec­ thing that may come to us. But because tion day and in glorious resurrected bodies we love Him we rejoice that He was not “like unto' His own glorious body” we shall held captive by death. all stand together on the sea of glass. A. We read the Gospels and our hearts 2. Separation has lost its sting through are captivated by Him. Jesus. B. We read of His seizure and cruci­ a) Our loved ones are better off with fixion, of His being laid in the tomb, and Him anyway. with the Negro spiritual we say, “It causes me to tremble.” b) By faith we know it is simply a tem­ porary separation. 1. If He stays in the tomb. 3. All the injustices of death are set a) Our highest love is dead. The college right through Jesus. student didn’t believe in the resurrection, until his own mother was mentioned. a) Death is cruel and life is often un­ just—Heaven evens it up. Poor crippled b) Our confidence in the universe is de­ boy will probably be permitted to run stroyed. If the highest, holiest, most beau­ over the hills of glory and fly from cloud tiful is left to decay—then what is the use? to cloud for ten thousand years, to make If the one we love best is crushed by that up for his lack here. Poor lonely soul will we fear and dread—what’s the use? be surrounded by saints and have a special C. But He didn’t stay in the tomb. battalion of angels just to do nothing but I. The One we love is restored to us. be company for him for a thousand years. Our hope rises again. Our champion is vindicated. If we never know the resur­ 4. All the suffering and darkness of the rection we rejoice that He arose because valley death are lightened by His com­ He is the best and most beautiful. Why do panionship who is the Light of the World. we rejoice at Easter? 5. All the real values of life are pre­ II. Because of its meaning for us. served through death and transplanted to A. Paul here in I Corinthians 15, traces grow forever in a more fruitful soil over some of the meaning of Easter. There were there. many then as now who disbelieved and so a) “You can’t take it with you!” That Paul reasoned as follows: If the dead rise is true as far as money, etc., are concerned. not, b) But there are many things you can 1. Then Christ is not risen. take with you—love, character, riches of 2. If Christ is not risen— faith and works laid up over there. It is a) Then we are false witnesses; sin, after all, that corrodes and spoils life. b) Our loved ones are forever gone; Through the blood of Jesus all sin is re­ c) We have no hope of immortality; moved so that the values we have as d) Then we are yet in our sins. Christians are non-corrosive in time and B. But Christ is risen! What does it eternity. mean for us? 1. It means we shall live forever—we are Conclusion: immortal. If Christ loved us enough to die 1. Death has been vanquished by Jesus for us; if God loved Christ enough to raise —no longer has power to destroy though it Him from the dead; then we can be as­ may hurt. sured that the same “God who raised up 2. One day it will be banished. the Lord Jesus will raise us also by Jesus.” 36 (104) The Preacher's Magazine 2. It means our loved ones are not for­ a) True it was they failed Him in His ever gone from us. During the war, a hour of deepest need. Left in the garden, mother in London received a telegram with forsook Him, and fled when the enemy black border announcing the death of her came; left Him alone in the judgment hall. son. She said, “No answer,” but there is There is no doubt that Peter backslid, for an answer! Death is just on our way home he cursed and denied his Lord. But, if they through the cemetery. had backslidden, then some place on Fri­ 3. It means He has become an all-suffi­ day, or silent Saturday, or Easter or just cient Saviour from death and sin. after, they had been restored to forgive­ He does bring us “eternal life,” a life ness. Jesus lifted up hands and blessed free from sin because He conquered sin as them, etc. (Luke 24:50-53). They were well as death. ten days praying of one accord—if back­ sliders will do that—give us some more like them (Acts 1). At Easter Looking Toward Pentecost E. If one were to come into our midst S c r ip t u r e —Acts 1:1-8. with a spiritual background like this we would feel like sitting at his feet to learn T e x t —Why are ye troubled? And why do thoughts arise in your hearts? (Luke of him and to hear his story. But all was 24:38). not well with these disciples! Introduction: II. Let us observe their spiritual liabili­ ties. 1. For some weeks now we have been thinking about the last of the life of A. It will not do a bit of good for us Christ and His death and resurrection. to belabor the disciples for their person­ a) There is no saving merit in thinking ality quirks and faults. What is more, if we of the suffering of Christ. We are saved by do get after them too severely, it will make accepting Him and believing on Him. all of us feel pretty small for we all have b) We came last Sunday to the glorious our own peculiar traits and twists. reality of Easter—complete atonement for B. But there are definite spiritual evils sin and victory over death. in them which indicate the need of “more 2. But Easter is not the end, as wonder­ grace.” ful as it is. 1. One thing that struck us so forcibly a) Easter is the completion of the pro­ as we read the Easter story last week was vision for sin. Jesus lived and died and the utter blindness and doubt of these ascended to the mercy seat above to pre­ men. They had read or heard Old Testa­ sent His provision for men. ment prophecies. Jesus had told of His b) But the benefits of the Atonement death and resurrection and of the nature had not been made actual in the hearts of of His kingdom. He died a terrible yet men. Pentecost and the outpouring of the glorious death and they saw it all and yet Holy Ghost were essential for that. remained sunk in loss of vision. We can (1) Christ was raised from death on conclude only that they had never really Easter; but the resurrection power of seen the vision or that it had been crushed Christ did not get into the disciples until out of them. Consider how we see this Pentecost. same thing in the church today. All of us I. Let us observe the spiritual assets of are slow to learn, but that is not what I the disciples after Easter. am speaking of. I am speaking of a blind­ A. They had been called and converted ness that keeps us from ever seeing or by the Son of God. This evidenced by: blacks out our vision once we have caught their names written on Lamb’s book of it. Carnal doubt is as deadly as carnal life; preaching kingdom repentance, etc.; temper. seeing miracles—devils cast out, etc.; Jesus 2. Another thing related to this blindness said, “I call you no longer servants but and doubt is fear “for fear of the Jews” friends,” “These are not of the world, etc.” (John 20:19). John 17. a) Not physical fear. B. They had spent about three years in His intimate companionship. Had talked b) Not normal fear—“those who know with Him face to face. Had seen His kindly nothing fear nothing.” We each have par­ miracles, the raising of dead, etc. Had ab­ ticular things we are afraid of—water, sorbed His teaching, heard the Sermon on lightning, fire, height, mice, etc. Fear is a the Mount. God-given instinct. C. They were there when Jesus came c) But moral or carnal cowardice. You’ll into the valley of the shadow of death— shake, you’ll tremble—but if you turn and the Upper Room, Gethsemane, Calvary. run it is because carnal fear is in your D. They had seen the Risen Lord, had heart. talked with Him and touched Him. 3. Another thing in these disciples was 1. It is impossible to say they had never incipient hate. They wanted to call down been converted. fire from heaven to destroy their opposi­ 2. But some might say they had back­ tion. You may have been to Easter. You slidden. may have seen the Lord. But if you haven’t

March-April, 1948 (105) 37 been to Pentecost you have hell in your (2) We are not to be a silent people. heart. May be the violent hate of explosive We are to cry aloud against sin and spare temper. Or the silent brooding hate—but not. We are to warn men against sin and it is all the same. It is of the devil. judgment. We are to sing God’s praises C. The result of these three (doubt, fear, around the seven seas. We are to be an and hate) is powerlessness. eloquent people, a preaching, praying, 1. The church has in a large measure praising people. Our lips are to speak failed in her mission to the world. forth His praise. “I believed, therefore 2. Even where the church has preached have I spoken” (II Corinthians 4:13). conversion she has left the needs of the Hitherto impulsive, boastful, cowardly, disposition untouched. Peter—now a different Peter—speaks. 3. That’s the reason the church is power­ d) The method Peter used. First, he ex­ less. She needs to go on to Pentecost to plained what this phenomenon was not. receive the Holy Ghost and His power. Then he explained what it was. Then he Conclusion: made the application. Then he made the 1. Where do you stand today? altar call—and there were three thousand 2. Turn your eyes to Pentecost. saved and sanctified that day. 2. We might say, first, what “this” is not. a) Peter said — sanctification is not “This Is That” drunkenness, (Pentecost) b) It is not dehumanization—we are still S c r ip t u r e —Acts 2:1-21. human with our natural faculties and pro­ pensities. T e x t —This is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel (Acts 2:16). 3. It is not irrationalism—We cannot (Joel 2:28f.) comprehend all of God’s ways and Introduction: thoughts, but God certainly does not con­ 1. Note the occasion of the text. sistently offend our reason and our sense a) The occasion—the outpouring of the of propriety. Holy Spirit upon 120 disciples of Christ in 4. Pentecost is not its concomitants. Jerusalem during the Feast of Pentecost. Whenever a person gives major emphasis This outpouring came after Christ’s ascen­ to the sound or the tongue of flame or the sion and at the termination of ten days of divinely given languages, he loses to that waiting upon God. It was accompanied by degree the heart of Pentecost. For the a sound as of wind, by tongues as of fire, heart of Pentecost is—“I will pour out of and by the disciples’ speaking in the lan­ my Spirit.” The incoming of the Holy guages of the various visitors in Jerusa­ Spirit into a consecrated heart, purifying lem at that time. In languages never known and filling—that is Pentecost. And it would to themselves before but clearly under­ do despite to the Spirit of grace to minimize stood by their listeners the disciples pro­ His coming by looking for a noise, or a claimed, “The wonderful works of God.” flame, or any physical manifestation or The news spread like wild fire and several concomitant. “These are not drunken,” said thousand people gathered around. Peter. This is not something spurious. But b) The audience— “This is that.” (1) “Devout men,” Jews from every na­ I. This is that of which the prophets tion under heaven. These men were spoke amazed at the phenomena. But though it A. Of which Joel spake (Joel 2:28f). He was miraculous it was not unintelligible, called it the “outpouring of the Spirit.” for they understood the message of the dis­ Results in reverse order. ciples, i.e., “the wonderful works of God.” 1. Old men dream dreams. Dreams are These men were hungry. They wanted the made of the stuff of yesterday. Old folks truth. Their’s were open minds and hearts. will meditate upon all the good things of They asked sincerely, “What meaneth the past. They will rejoice in that which this?” These are the kind of people it is God has done for them. Their old age a pleasure to preach to. will be sweetened by their dreams. God’s (2) But there were others there who word promises you a sweet old age if you mocked and ridiculed and said, “These men are filled with the Spirit. are full of new wine.” These were those 2. Young men and women shall see vi­ who had heard the messages of Christ be­ sions. Visions are forward-looking. Young fore and had rejected it—hard of heart, people don’t have so much behind them blind, prejudiced. but if they are Spirit-filled how God will c) The speaker—Peter. inspire them with faith and vision. Youth (1) Certainly this was the time to speak. filled with God laughs at impossibilities The Bible says that we should always be and cries, “It shall be done.” Pessimistic, ready to give a reason for the hope that downhearted, easily discouraged and lieth within us. While we speak sometimes frightened young people are not Spirit- when silence would be far better, it is also filled. true that there are times when God’s peo­ 3. All, both young and old, shall prophe­ ple should and must speak. sy; that is, preach the gospel, the un- 38 (106) The Preacher's Magazine searchable riches of God. A Spirit-filled holiness (or the sanctification) without church will be a soul-winning church, a which no man shall see the Lord” (He­ preaching, testifying, singing, soul-winning brews 12:14). church. As Peter and John said before the B. That which the Church needs to live Sanhedrin, “We cannot but speak the above sin. That does not mean that a things that we have heard” (Acts 4:20). believer always commits sin. He doesn’t B. This is that of which John the Baptist as a rule. If he does then he has to seek spoke. “John answered, saying unto them, forgiveness again. But it does mean that I indeed baptize you with water; but one with an inward propensity to sin the un­ mightier than 1 cometh, the latchet of sanctified believer is far more likely to whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose: fall into sin and remain there. An un­ he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost sanctified church is so likely to cool off, and with fire: Whose fan is in his hand, compromise, let down, cut corners, get and he will throughly purge his floor, and discouraged, split up, or any one of a will gather the wheat into his garner; but hundred and one things. the chaff he will burn with fire unquench­ C. That which the church must have to able” (Luke 3:16, 17). John calls it being save the world. Carnal disciples, fearful, “baptized with the Holy Ghost.” He em­ selfish, grasping, ambitious, envious, did phasizes purity. very little for Christ, but when they were filled with the Spirit three thousand were C. This is that of which Christ spoke. saved the first day. “Ye shall receive “But tarry . . . .” (Luke 24:49). “But wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith power .... and ye shall be witnesses . . . .” You are not much of a witness un­ he, ye have heard me .... etc...... But less you are filled with the Spirit. ye shall receive power, etc.” (Acts 1:4-8). Conclusion: Jesus speaks of the Holy Ghost “coming upon” them or of their being baptized. He 1. This is that which you need. emphasizes power, the power to live and 2. This is that which God has promised. witness, the power of missionary drive. (The Holy Spirit is the agent of missions.) II. This is that for which Christ died— A Living Memorial the destruction of sin in the heart of the (Communion Service) believer. “For this purpose the Son of God was manifested that he might destroy S c r i p t u r e —Luke 22. the works of the devil (I John 3:8). The T e x t —I Corinthians 11:24. work of the devil is sin in the believer’s Introduction: heart. Robbery, lying, etc.—that is our 1. There are memorials to most of the work. We are to blame for sins, the devil world’s great. for sin or depravity. It was more than for­ a) In Washington D. C. there is a beau­ giveness of sins that Christ died for—it was tiful marble building. Before it is laid for destruction of sin. Anybody that a rectangular pool of water which mirrors stops short of the cleansing fails God and the columns in its smooth surface. Inside frustrates the grace of God. “Wherefore that magnificent structure you will come Jesus also that he might sanctify the peo­ face to face with a large life-like statue of ple with his own blood suffered without the most loved of all Americans—Abraham the gate. Let us go forth therefore unto Lincoln. him without the camp, bearing his re­ b) In New York City between Riverside proach” (Hebrews 13:12, 13). “And for Drive and the broad Hudson River is an their sakes I sanctify myself that they also imposing circular stone structure, beau­ might be sanctified through the truth” tiful for its artistic design and its stately (John 17:19). “It is expedient for you pillars—the Grant Memorial. that I go away, for if I go not away the c) Over in India reflected in amazing Comforter will not come unto you” (John detail in the water before it is the most 16:7). “Christ loved the church, and gave magnificent monument ever erected to himself for it, that he might sanctify and womanhood—The Taj Mahal. This marble cleanse it with the washing of water by palace was built by an Indian Prince as a the word, that he might present it to him­ memorial to his wife. self a glorious church, not having spot, or The world over there can be found sta­ wrinkle or any such thing; but that it tues, buildings—memorials of every kind should be holy and without blemish” to departed friends and relatives. And (Ephesians 5:26). everywhere are to be found cemeteries with their countless memorials to those Believer, how can you frustrate the gone before. New England farms and grace of God when you know that Christ churchyards are dotted with little family died for your cleansing? How can you plots, surrounded by rusting iron fences continue to say you love Christ when you and sprinkled with mossed covered tomb­ refuse to do His will? stones. III. This is that which the church needs. 2. Why isn’t there a memorial to Jesus A. That which the Church must have to Christ? get to heaven. “Follow peace .... and I. Because He isn’t dead? March-April, 1948 (107) 39 A. He was dead and is alive forever- B. His image is engraved on the Chris­ more. He ever lives to make intercession tian’s heart and is continually before his for us. With such ceremony as only Bur- eyes. mans can elaborate, some reputed relics C. Then there are living memorials— of the Buddha had been given religious those who are saved, sanctified, recreated repose before great festive throngs on the in His likeness. The greatest memorial to pagoda-covered slopes of Mandalay Hill. motherhood is a son or daughter, strong, The Sunday following, in the unostenta­ healthy, clean, righteous, intelligent, noble. tious morning service of a near-by mission The greatest memorial to God’s grace is chapel, the preacher quietly but thrillingly not a towering mountain range. It is a asked: “Have you thought what it would lofty character, a noble life. Jesus Christ mean if, instead of these relics being of the can so transform men that all heaven will Buddha, they had been of the Christ?” rejoice throughout eternity. Angels will “It would mean,” he tellingly added, “that stand by in amazement and men them­ this could not be Easter morn.” selves will never cease wondering. B. It matters not what Christ may have IV. And there are memorial services. done, what He may have taught, if He is A. Everytime a Christian bows in prayer. not alive then Christianity is powerless. B. But the Communion service is par­ Paul says, “If Christ be not raised, your ticularly and sacredly a memorial service. faith is vain. Y e are yet in your sins.” “This do in remembrance of me. For as But Stephen saw Him standing on the often as ye eat this bread, and drink this right hand of the Father, and all of us see cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till He Him by the eye of faith. No one would come” (I Corinthians 11:24, 26). think of building a memorial to one who 1. Looks back upon His earthly ministry had gone away for a short time to prepare and service and suffering. a home. When I survey the wondrous cross II. Because He is God. On which the Prince of glory died My richest gain I count but loss, A. God is Spirit and they that worship And pour contempt on all my pride.” Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth. Ours is not a God of silver or gold. 2. Looks up to Him now at the mercy seat. He is not made with hands. Ours is a God “Looking unto Jesus the author and fin­ that created out of nothing all things that isher of our faith, who for the joy that was are. He is present everywhere, filling, em­ set before Him, etc., and is set down on powering everything. the right hand of God the Father on high” B. He needs no memorial—all the world (Hebrews 12:2). “If any man sin we have is a memorial to Him. an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous” (I John 2:1). III. But there are memorials to Jesus Christ—or rather remembrances, reminders 3. Looks forward to seeing Him again. of Him. And I shall see Him face to face. A. There are tens of thousands of church And tell the story saved by grace. spires pointing toward Him, chapels, cathe­ “Come Lord Jesus, come quickly.” drals, humble missions the world over which speak of Jesus Christ. Upon mil­ lions and millions of lips His name is the Christ and Company sweetest, the most adorable and the most S c r i p t u r e —Matthew 4:17-22. assuring. There are church bells tolling T e x t s —The Lord gave the word: great was out a beautiful invitation to come to Him. the company of those that published it There are millions of priceless paintings (Psalms 68:11) and reproductions portraying our concep­ And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. tion of His dear face. There are costly And let him that heareth say, Come. church windows which become startlingly And let him that is athirst come. And beautiful when the sun falls upon His whosoever will, let him take the water likeness— Jesus of Nazareth. Almost count­ of life freely (Revelation 22:17) less are the homes where there is a picture Introduction: of the dying Son of God upon the cross, or 1. There are three false and dangerous of Him praying in Gethsemane, or sitting attitudes in regard to the salvation of the in the Upper Room, or blessing the little world. children. When we look at that face we a) One is that salvation is all the Lord’s cannot face our sins with an easy con­ work—that man has nothing to do. science. In it shines a light divine. b) Another is that salvation is all man’s A rough old cattleman who never had work—that it is man’s task to build a bet­ been to church in his life was waiting in ter world. This is the general position of a doctor’s office. He sat looking and look­ the liberal worldly church which relies ing at a picture of Christ. When the doctor upon human plans and programs to save came in, the cattleman said, “When I look the world. at that picture I feel like I could never do c) Another is that salvation is the Lord’s anything mean or selfish or sinful again.” work plus the effort of a certain restricted 40 (108) The Preacher's Magazine class of men and women, usually the min­ Oh, the awful and unavoidable obligation istry. that rests upon every person who has 2. All of those positions are false and heard God speak! We have left so much dangerous for they lead to partial or total to the ministry and the ministry alone failure. cannot do and has not done the task. Has 3. The true story of the plan of salvation it ever occurred to you that Moses com­ is revealed in these two texts. This is the missioned at the burning bush was a lay­ theme of my message and it presents three man? That Isaiah in the temple was a fundamental principles. layman? That Paul on the road to Da­ mascus was a layman? That Jesus Christ a) Salvation is of God. himself in a certain sense was a layman? b) Every saved person is to spread sal­ That He was never ordained to the priest­ vation abroad. hood by man? c) Every one who hears should accept B. It thrills my heart to think that this salvation. I visualize Psalms 68:11 as the is a “great” company that publishes the Christian Publishing House with everyone word of God—young and old, ignorant and busily at work. learned, old men with trembling voice I. The Lord gave the Word. Salvation is speak His praise, little children lisp the divine in its origin. story of His love. It should include every­ one who names the name of the Lord Jesus. A. His word has power. C. This is a “glad” company. B. His word has authority. 1. Glad because they have received the C. His word has tender forgiveness. word of the Lord—and it has wrought D. His word is “ Come.” The God of wonders for them. power is also the God of love. The God 2. Glad because they know it is that whose word brought into being a universe which everyone needs. so vast that every time we add a few 3. And so this company goes along sing­ inches to the diameter of our telescopes we ing and smiling, giving the glad news in see new stars millions of miles farther sermon and song and witness. from the earth than those we have seen Singing I go along life’s road, before, the God whose word causes the Praising the Lord; praising the Lord. universe to shake and tremble—He is the Singing I go along life’s road, God who, with love and patience and ten­ For Jesus has lifted my load. derness, speaks the word, “Come.” D. Their word is “Come!” “ ‘Let him He said, “Come,” when He made man in that heareth say, Come!’ Come to the one His own image. He said, “Come,” when He who saved me!” met Adam and Eve in the garden. He said, III. “Let him that is athirst come.” In “Come,” in every bleeding sacrifice of the the last analysis this business of salvation Old Testament, in every sunset, in every comes down to a personal choice. yearning of man’s soul. He said, “Come,” A. The greatest of all of man’s powers is in the wonderful life of Jesus, “Come unto the power of choice. me all ye that labour and are heavy laden.” B. Choose today to “come.” He said, “Come,” in the dying Son of God C. And if you have already come, then and today, echoing from Calvary, He says, echo and re-echo the message, “Come.” “Come,” until the invitation sounds from every corner of the universe and from every faculty of man’s being. That such indescribable, irresistible power should The Unchanging God speak in such gentle pleading tones is the S c r i p t u r e — Hebrews 1:10-14. greatest wonder of all time! But that is T e x t — For I am the Lord, I change not only part of the text! (Malachi 3:6) II. “Great was the company of those that published it.” The proclamation of Introduction: God’s word is the greatest duty of the 1. See the uncertainty or changeableness church! of everything about us. A. It seems strange, but it is a fact that a) At some time or other we all com­ “the word of the Lord” will never reach plain about the monotony of things. the ears of men unless there is a great b) But certainly the fear of insecurity company that publishes it. because of change far outweighs the dis­ 1. The Lord is infinite, surely. He sends content with the sameness of life. the flash of lightning from east to west in (1) We ourselves change. We are inter­ a moment of time. He lights the windows ested today—disinterested tomorrow. We of heaven and speeds the light on its way are bright today, depressed tomorrow. We at the rate of 186,000 miles a second. He are young and strong today—old and fee­ scatters His intimations of immortality in ble tomorrow. People say to me frequent­ every soul. ly, “I used to be able to do this. I didn’t 2. But in His sovereign wisdom He has used to mind this. I never used to be like left the publication of His word to us. His this.” True—but we change. New Year’s will is, “Let him that heareth say, ‘Come.’ ” Day sees men with great resolutions; March-April, 1948 (109) 41 February sees them back in the same ruts. vices of men. “God is of purer eyes than As the bit of ironic verse goes— to behold evil, and canst not look on ini­ Toiling, rejoicing, sorrowing, quity” (Habbakuk 1:13). So I my life conduct. 1. See in the context—God coming to Each morning sees some task begun judge the wickedness of men—verse 5. Each evening sees it chucked. As long as time shall last God will not be­ come accustomed to sin; and though men Only by God’s grace can we hope for shall learn to smile at sin and roll it under character and dependability. their tongue as a sweet morsel, God will (2) Others are changing about us con­ not. Psalms 50:21—Men think that God is tinually so that they are fortunate who altogether such an one as themselves, but have a dozen friends who change not in God is never smirched with sin. Romans their devotion. Paul and Barnabas—gods, 1:23—Man would feel easier if he could then devils to be stoned. Christ—king, bring God down and change the glory of then blasphemer to be crucified. Mobs are the incorruptible God into the image of like weather vanes—gentle with southerly corruptible beast or creeping thing. But breezes, then swinging with wild cold God cannot be bought or teased or in­ hate. And many times one’s dearest friends fluenced into tolerating sin. are uncertain supports on which to lean. C. God’s attitude toward trusting, obe­ Psalmist says, “Mine own familiar friend dient souls remains unchanged. in whom I trusted which did eat of my 1. Here in the context—verse 11—obey bread, hath lifted up his heel against me” (Psalms 41:9). “My kinsfolk have failed, me and I will rebuke the devourer for your sake, etc. “A broken and a contrite my familiar friends have forgotten me” (Job 19:14). spirit I will not despise,” He has said. (3) Places change 2. Right in this connection may be pro­ fitable a study of the use of the word (4) Society and world change “repent” in speaking of God. There are (5) The future is going to see a shaking several places where it says God is un­ that will remove everything which can be changeable and cannot repent. And then moved. Stars will tumble and the universe several places where it speaks of God re­ will be changed. penting. As we study them I believe we 2. But thank God, in the midst of this will come to these two conclusions. change there is One who remains ever the a) That God never changes His basic same, the eternal God, the great I AM. attitudes to sin, unrighteousness, atone­ a) Though the sinful condition of men ment, obedience, etc. be better or worse; the source of spiritual b) That God changes somewhat His atti­ power remains undiminished. tude toward individuals and groups as they b) The conditions of spiritual awaken­ change their attitude toward him. (This ings remain the same; and we still see the is based on the free moral agency of man arm of God revealed to the degree we trust and the conditions of salvation.) Him. Jeremiah 18:8f explains the problem I. God is not static like a painted sky or pretty well—God loves all men but only a flat-nosed Buddha—He is alive and dy­ as they believe and obey Him can He namic. really bless and save them—else He would A. God moves. God sees. God speaks. break down the whole moral fabric of the God loves. God thinks. All these denote universe. God’s conditions are not based the highest form of activity. on whim or caprice but upon moral and B. We can never get beyond God. We spiritual law (which of course He made can never move or think or act too fast for himself). Him. We can never surprise Him or come D. God is unchanged by geography or up behind Him. Faster than light, stronger racial differences. God is no respecter of than all other power combined, sympa­ persons, “for there is no difference between thetic and loving human thought, effective the Jew and the Greek (or the German in His justice, God is more alive than Aryan): for the same Lord over all is rich anything in the world—He is the source of unto all that call upon Him” (Romans life—He is life. 10:12). “In every nation .... is accepted II. And yet God is changeless—“I am the of Him ...” (Acts 10:34f). Lord, I change not.” E. God “hath an unchangeable priest­ A. God is changeless in His nature. hood” (Hebrews 7:21-27). Christ’s priest­ 1. All else changes. Iron rusts, steel cor­ hood is efficacieus today to cleanse the rodes, granite crumbles to dust, civiliza­ sins and sin of any and all who come. tions are buried, men rise and fall. “By one offering he hath prefected forever 2. But God remains. Eternal, unchange­ them that are sanctified” (Hebrews 10:14). able, omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, F. God has an eternal kingship. etc. 1. He reigns supreme today. B. God’s attitude toward sin remains the 2. He reigns forevermore. “I am Alpha same regardless of the fashions, fancies, or and Omega, the beginning and the ending, 42 (110) The Preacher's Magazine saith the Lord, which is, and which was, testimony of centuries that sin doesn’t pay and which is to come, the Almighty” and that God is right. (Revelation 1:8). “God is still on the 3. This age, as no other, is ignoring God. throne! ! ” a) Take counsel, oh yes. Committees, III. Therefore we must conclude— discussions, etc., conventions, planning 1. That just as far as we obey and be­ boards. Bureaucracy in the nation. Inter­ lieve God His mighty changeless power national committees, etc., until the world will work. has become like Washington, an alphabet 2. That it’s up to us to make the next soup of councils. move. b) But not of God. Religion is openly Conclusion: denied. Or the Bible is cut to pieces until Psalms 102: 28—The unchanging God can it is no longer the Word of God.—Creation, put some of His stability into us. Fall, Atonement, Second Coming, New Birth—these are quite generally unknown or disbelieved. The Three Deadly Sins of Today If theoretically accepted, the Bible is not seriously followed and lived. See what is S c r ip t u r e —Revelation 3:14-22. in the church—liquor, tobacco, gambling, T e x t — Woe to the rebellious children, saith dancing; separated life”—family altar, the Lord, that take counsel, but not of me; prayer meeting, etc. are quite unknown. and that cover with a covering, but not of Our own wisdom, our own desires control my spirit, that they may add sin to sin: our lives. God says, “The soul that sinneth that walk to go down into Egypt . . . . it shall die.” But we say, “Thou shalt not to strengthen themselves (Isaiah 30:1, 2). surely die.” Introduction: B. “Cover with a covering, but not of 1. If we were to start out from our own my spirit.” Oh, yes, we have our coverings! observation and reactions to select the 1. The covering of denial. We close our three deadly sins of today we would pick eyes and bury our heads in the sand to out the most glaring. deny the need of the world. We wrap our a) Drunkenness—The U. S. A. liquor cloaks about us and sit in our nice homes annual bill is approximately seven billion and churches and close our eyes to the sin dollars. That would be over $4.00 a minute and suffering of the world. since the time of Christ, spent for liquor 2. The covering of excusing sin. Yes, this in one year in U. S. A.—2,000 years, 730,000 has gone so far as to glorify sin and paint days, 1,051,200,000 minutes. it in pretty colors. We see Bruno Mussolini b) General breakdown of morality— —dropping bombs on defenseless Ethio­ robbery, juvenile delinquency, parental de­ pians and saying that their brown bodies linquency, neglect of children, drunken­ being blown into the air looked like a flow­ ness, infidelity. er. We hear Pope Pius XII on February 23, c) War 1936, in a speech to the Italian soldiers be­ 2. But let us turn to the Word of God fore they started on the Ethiopian cam­ and from a prophet of 3,000 years ago find paign saying, “From Rome go forth forces the threefold accusation he leveled at the which go to sacred and holy conquest.” people of his day. There is not a single violation of the Ten a) Sin is ageless. They accuse us of be­ Commandments but is glossed over and ing old-fashioned because we are Chris­ excused today. A typical wise saying of tians. Sin is as old-fashioned as salvation today: “The chain of wedlock is so heavy is. Pride, envy, lying, thievery, murder, that it takes two to carry it—sometimes adultery, irreverence, and God-forgetting three.” are not bright new inventions. They are 3. The covering of human righteousness ancient and damnable diseases as old as and scientific remedies. There needs to be the fall of Adam. They become worse as human effort and legal and moral controls with increased knowledge our responsi­ but none of these are good enough to cover bility becomes greater. human need. For example, every effort b) The prophet Isaiah here brings out must be made to control venereal disease the root sins of his day and ours. See the but nothing can stop it as long as sin and background II Kings 18, 19; II Chronicles loose living continue. Like all sin it must 32. Assyrians had taken Samaria and Is­ be rooted out—and science cannot do that. rael—were coming against Judah under 4. God’s covering has always been the Sennacherib. Isaiah warned they were do­ blood of atonement—Adam and Eve and ing wrong to trust in Egypt. coats of skin, Passover, thief on the cross, I. See the threefold sin of today. Saul, the righteous Pharisee on the road to A. Take counsel but not of me. Damascus. God’s way is for us to say, “I 1. That began with Adam and Eve— take Christ as my life and righteousness; God told them, but Satan contradicted I plead the blood.” God and they believed his lies. C. “Go down into Egypt for strength.” 2. You say, “But you have to learn.” 1. Church has compromised with the True, but if we choose not to believe God, world until the world has a gun in the you would think we would believe the church’s ribs. March-April, 1948 (Ill) 43 2. The church ought to call for prayer three weeks. A praying church!” John and fasting, preach the Word and call for Knox prayed, “Give me Scotland or I die.” penitent seekers. David Brainerd groaned in such agony of II. See the result of sin—“Breach in the spirit—would perspire even in winter out­ wall.” Egypt failed them and they were doors. William Bramwell had it as a rule finally scattered. So with us today. to pray at five in morning and to pray at III. See the cure for sin—Giving heed— all opportunities until ten or eleven at verse 21; crying out—verse 19. night. IV. See the glory of restoration—verse B. But the enemies of God, the Philis­ 26f.—Sennacherib smitten, God’s blessing tines, had stopped the wells, had filled outpoured. them with earth. Conclusion: 1. Who were the Philistines? They were The key is God. the people of the plains and coasts, pros­ 1. Ignore or reject Him—failure. perous farmers and merchants; wicked, a) Reject God’s wisdom—trust our own. idolatrous, immoral, ungodly; always op­ b) Reject God’s atonement—trust our posed the Israelites. Goliath was a Philis­ own righteousness. tine. They were not a pastoral people. c) Reject God’s strength—trust our own. They did not need the wells out there on 2. Confess and obey Him—victory. the plans. So worldly people and worldly churches may not need blessing, may seem to get along without it, but God’s people Life’s Choked Wells cannot. 2. It is significant that they stopped the S c r ip t u r e —Genesis 26:1-22. wells with “earth.” It is usually the “earth” T e x t — Genesis 26:18. that chokes spiritual wells. Introduction: a) Anything wrong stops the flow of 1. See the man Isaac. Prospers as a spiritual blessing. This has always been cattleman. Famine comes, but he sojourns the history of revivals—heart-searching, in Gerar since God warns him not to go to then confession, then blessing. Wrong Egypt. He stays and is blessed. He' digs thought, wrong word, wrong deed. again Abraham’s wells which had been stopped by the Philistines. There is a b) Even legitimate things can choke our great lesson to be learned from Isaac’s pa­ spiritual life. “Demas” (popular) hath for­ tience. But I wish to make an application saken me having loved this present world” to our spiritual lives in regard to a spir­ (II Timothy 4:10); it doesn’t say “evil.” itual awakening. “Martha, Martha, thou art careful and I. There is a danger that the Wells of troubled about many things” (Luke 10:41). Blessing may become choked and useless. The rich man said, “Soul, thou hast much These wells are not a luxury; they are a goods .... take thine ease” (Luke 12:19); necessity. he was choked with earth. A. These wells had cost Abraham some­ II. It is not easy to reopen choked wells thing A. First (and this seems a little unnec­ 1. Separation—he had left his country— essary until you think it over) you must “Get thee out . . . .” “Come out from acknowledge that the wells are choked. among them and be ye separate, saith the 1. Serious thought and quiet honesty are Lord, and touch not the unclean things, necessary. There must be heart-searching and I will receive you, and will be a Father —“break up your fallow ground” (Hosea unto you, and ye shall be my sons and 10:12). “If my people which are called by daughters, saith the Lord Almighty” (II my name . . . .” (II Chronicles 7:14). Corinthians 6:17, 18). 2. Expectation—faith—“Abraham believ­ 2. Am I prepared for a revival? (Read ed God and it was counted unto him for from Finney’s Revival Lectures—“Hin­ righteousness.” drances to Revival”—29 points, pp. 18-28.) Are we more interested in temporal things 3. Consecration—He gave Lot the best. than in spiritual? Have we lost our zest 4. Perspiration—he had to dig wells. for Bible, for prayer, for communion with “For as soon as Zion travailed, she brought Christ? Are we concerned for the lost, forth her children” (Isaiah 66:8). Sun ready to weep over souls? Are we as sen­ never rose on China without finding Hud­ sitive to the Spirit? son Taylor on his knees. Charles G. Finney said, “I once knew a minister that had a B. Then you must fight and dig and revival fourteen winters in succession. I work and believe to dig the wells again. did not know how to account for it till I Go to the spot (you will know it; there is saw one of his members get up in prayer no water there, but you remember there meeting and make a confession. He had used to be. Fight it through until you been praying Saturday nights till after strike water.) midnight, but had neglected it for two or 1. You will have to fight the Devil. Isaac 44 (112) The Preacher's Magazine called his first wells Contention and hatred prophets). Isaiah was cut in two with a because they (the Philistines) were bitter saw. Jeremiah was imprisoned in a deep in their opposition. The devil will have well to starve to death. Micaiah was im­ 10,000 objections—what will people think, prisoned and starved. John the Baptist etc.? was beheaded. Others were stoned, beaten, 2. You will have to fight yourself. Le­ wounded, killed. thargy, pride, self-will, temptation to (2) Then God sent His Son, Jesus Christ dodge, or compromise, or get eyes on —they were ready now to kill Him, and others. Peter said, “What of John?” (John soon did. 21:21). Through the rock of indifference, (4) Finally, God will come and destroy clay of selfishness, shale of deceit, mud of them and give the vineyard to others (to worldliness, dig on, dig on—it is work, hard the Gentiles). A million Jews were killed work, but God will see you through. by Romans in a .d. 70. The Jews have been cut off from the gospel ever since and the 3. Then you must believe God. The fact Gentiles (the wild olive branch—Paul) is that even as you dig you must believe. have been grafted in. III. When you get through you will have 3. But, after all, the Jews were only the waters of spiritual blessing in your life free moral agents as we are and this again. Scotch revival, Irish revival of 1859, scripture has application to every individ­ Jon. Edwards, Wesley, Finney, Moody, ual and every nation. Especially there is Welsh revival. New Haven, Connecticut— something pointed about that phrase “and when Moody was there, theaters were at the season” that calls to my mind God’s closed, streetcars would break out in song. great time clock. See the natural division Wherever people gathered they would be of this passage of scripture that shows the likely to talk salvation. inevitability of God’s movements. Revivals are still waiting if we will dig I. God’s day of creation—“A certain man again the wells of blessing. O my soul, planted a vineyard, and set a hedge, etc.” keep thy wells of spiritual blessing un­ See the wisdom and generous love of God choked and the waters fresh and free. in creation. A. God made the world a place of fruit­ fulness (a vineyard). God has always been The Master of the Vineyard prodigal in His provision for mankind. Every man could be a king if only sin and S c r ip t u r e —Mark 12:1-12; Matthew 21:33- selfishness were not here. There is enough 46; Luke 20:9-18; Parable of the Wicked wool for every man’s back, enough food Husbandmen. to feed him, enough beauty to feast his soul upon. T e x t —And at the season .... (Mark 12:2). B. God made the world a place of safety. Introduction: Here He put a dense thorn hedge to pro­ tect it from beasts and thieves. God put 1. Observe the scriptural setting. Adam and Eve in a garden and there was Last week in the public ministry of nothing to hurt or destroy in all His holy Christ. Had finished His tours of preach­ mountain. Even now, without sin and ing and healing. And now He knew that hate, what a wonderful world this world the hatred of the scribes and Pharisees would be. had crystallized against Him. And He C. God made the world a place of activ­ knew that this trip to Jerusalem would ity, for labor and constructive toil—“digged mean His crucifixion—yet He steadfastly a place for a winefat.” Life is not happy set His face to go to Jerusalem. The battle without some place to work. lines were drawn and the Jewish leaders were simply looking for an excuse to take D. God made the world a place of vision. Him. He in turn was pouring in the truth “Build a tower”—to protect against thieves, and exposing them. to view the country, to catch the breezes. 2. One of the most pointed parables He II. God’s day of stewardship—“He let it leveled at the Pharisees was that of the out to husbandmen, and went into a far wicked husbandmen. country.” a) That this was intended for them is the A. The world of nature and of grace was plain statement of the Scripture—Mark man’s to use as a steward. 12:12—“for they knew he had spoken the parable against them.” B. Man’s it was to enjoy. God never in­ tended that life should be boring and b) The parable refers to the Jewish peo­ painful. ple. C. Man’s it was to make a living, a life, (1) They were the husbandmen of the with. The Christian life is not narrow— gospel. But they refused the servants (the God wants us to make the best of it.

March-April, J945 (113) 45 D. Man’s it was to use for the glory of Defeated Gods God, to return interest on God’s invest­ ment. “And at the season” He sent His S c r i p t u r e — II Chronicles 25. servants to receive the fruit of the vine­ T e x t — Why hast thou sought after the gods yard. of the people, which could not deliver III. God’s day of'grace. their oivn people out of thine hand? (II Chronicles 25:14, 15). A. He repeatedly sent servants, even Introduction: though they were maltreated, beaten, etc. “many.” See the dealing of God with 1. The story of Amaziah, the king of Israel—Moses, Amos, Elijah, Elisha, Hosea, Judah (about 839 B.C.) Isaiah, Jeremiah, John the Baptist. Said a) Amaziah served God; he did that Abraham to the rich man in hell—“If they which was right in the sight of God. hear not Moses and the prophets, neither b) But not with a perfect heart. would they hear though one rose from the (1) When a man doesn’t serve God with dead.” a perfect heart it will get out on him B. Finally, He sent His Son, “his well sooner or later. His pride or avarice or beloved son,” saying “they will reverence anger or worldliness will show. him.” Notice the process of disintegration (2) Amaziah was the kind of a man in these husbandmen. that will be all right as long as he is around where people know him; but away 1. Undoubtedly they had started out sin­ among strangers will stoop to most any­ cerely. thing. 2. They began to see the beauty and the c) The first letdown comes when he puts profit in the vineyard; selfishness and money first, verse 9. Having paid 100 tal­ greed were born in their hearts. ents to hire 100,000 m en, he w ou ld rather disobey God than sacrifice the money. How 3. They felt they wouldn’t give it up— much like some of us! so they beat the first man and sent him d) Overcomes the men of Seir. away. e) Comes back to find that the Ephraim- 4. Gradually they became hardened in ites that he had sent back had destroyed their sin until they killed the son and heir some of his cities and had killed 3,000 p eo­ and threw him out of the vineyard. ple. C. No one can tell the extent of God’s f) Having already compromised b y mercy but finally “at the season” we have bringing the idols of the Seirs back with him, he now bows down and burns incense IV. The day of God’s return, verse 9— unto them. “The Lord will come” back from the far g ) Then we see his rebelliousness in re­ country. fusing to hear the prophet God sends to rebuke him. A. He went away 2,000 years ago. But h) Next we see him foolhardily sending He left a charge. And He promised to re­ a messenger to challenge the king of Is­ turn. rael. Joash speaks of the thorn wanting to B. He’s coming back someday. marry his son to the cedar’s daughter. Jo­ 1. Much is being said about the world ash defeats him, breaks down the wall of of tomorrow. There is great talk about Jerusalem and takes his wealth. the peace and prosperity, etc., and I think i) Finally, Amaziah is slain by some of we ought to co-operate in every way we his own subjects. can except to make a religion out of it and 2. Move this incident forward 3,000 years, as long as we remember change the names, and make it a story of 2. That at any moment the Lord may business rather than fighting and you have return to earth again and set His house in an accurate picture of many people today. order. His return will be sudden and un­ I. It seems strange that Amaziah would expected. It will be personal. It will mean forsake Jehovah. the removal of all the saints and the iso­ A. Jehovah had done so much for Ama- lation of sin. ziah’s fathers. 1. Called Abram and befriended him. a) The signs of His coming multiply— 2. Delivered Jacob’s family from famine. chaos of world conditions, indifference of 3. Delivered Israel from Egypt. the world trend toward united world 4. Gave them Canaan. power, moral and spiritual degradation, 5. Had been so patient with them in Matthew 24, etc. their wanderings, b) It will mean glorious release for the B. Jehovah had done so much for him. saints. 1. Had given him the kingdom. c) It will mean destruction for the un­ 2. Sent prophets to warn him. believer or the unfaithful. C. But you can see some of the reasons why Amaziah deserted Jehovah. Conclusion: 1. He loved money. Judas wasn’t the Are you ready for His return? only one to sell his soul for thirty pieces 46 (114) The Preacher's Magazine of silver. Many even now are putting a 1. They know these gods have failed to few paltry dollars between them and God. deliver. Men in a dispute over a few yards of land 2. They know they can administer no have chosen to reject God and to land in comfort. eternal ruin rather than give up a little 3. Yet people worship because property. Sometimes for less than that men will lose their souls. a) They demand only a little incense. 2. Amaziah was rebellious and stubborn. b) They do not condemn unrighteous­ ness. a) He wouldn’t hear God’s messenger. c) Because they can do with them as b) Men will rebelliously harden their they please. hearts against God. They would rather go to hell than yield. So terrible is the re­ Conclusion: bellion of the human heart that men will Why do you cling to your defeated gods? curse God rather than yield. The Scripture 1. They haven’t satisfied you. To wor­ says, “He that being often reproved and ship them is idle, vain mockery. stiffeneth his neck and hardeneth his heart 2. They have been broken up in the shall suddenly be cut off and that without presence of God. Dagon fell down twice remedy.” in the presence of the ark. 3. Amaziah was proud. a) The conviction of the Holy Spirit has a) He foolishly challenged Joash to his shown them up. own hurt and ruin. b) You have seen something better. b) Men will put their own pride before c) You know the fate of the worshiper being right with God. of a defeated god. A defeated god is no 4. Amaziah thought that Jehovah de­ god at all. manded too much. And he was not ready 3. Turn to the one true God! to yield his will and his pride and humbly to do the will of God. II. It seems strange that Amaziah would turn to these defeated gods. God’s Better Provision A. They had failed to deliver their peo­ L e s s o n — H ebrew s 11, 12, 13. ple. T e x t — H ebrew s 11:40. B. They could not administer comfort or I. God’s provisions are progressive. sympathy. A. His revelation was given in parts 1. They had no feeling, no eyes, no ears, (chap. 1:1). no hands, no heart. B. A Superior Priest followed inferior priests (chap. 7:16, 26-28). 2. Men crave gods that can sympathize C. Sacrifices of the Mosaic order were with them and comfort them. excelled and replaced by the Great Sacri­ C. Yet there are apparent reasons why fice (chap. 9:13-15). Amaziah wanted these gods. D. The former covenant was superceded 1. They demanded little. All they want­ by the clearer and more powerful new ed was incense. covenant (chap. 10:16). 2. They did not condemn unrighteous­ II. God’s provision is better than what ness. the world acclaims as worthy of note. 3. The worshiper could do as he pleased A. A sensational program—Noah (v. 7). with them. Take them on a journey or 1. A large vessel built in the desert sands. leave them home, exchange them for 2. Would receive a place on the front others, break them, deface them, destroy page today. them. B. The pioneer spirit—Abraham (vv. III. Despite the apparent folly of Ama­ 8-19). ziah and his sad end men will still cling to 1. The world has always honored true defeated gods today. pioneers. A. They will forsake the true God. 2. Abraham went out unto a country he 1. Despite His goodness. Despite the fact did not know anything about. they are hungry for Him and He is the 3. Equal to any pioneer project of his­ only one that can help them. tory. 2. Because C. Sacrifice, self-denial—Moses (w . 23- a) They love something else more than 29). God. 1. Edward leaving a throne for the love b) They are rebellious and stubborn. of a woman received world publicity. c) Because they are proud. 2. Moses walked away from the throne d) Because God asks too much of them for the sake of a distressed, downtrodden and they refuse to give up sin. people. B. They will fall down before defeated 3. Equal to any sacrifice of position or gods—before the world, the flesh, and the honor of world fame. devil; before other people’s opinions; be­ D. M artyrdom — “What shall I say m ore” fore their own sinful habits. (vv. 32-37). March-April, 1948 (115) 47 1. World always acclaims people who die 1. Something twisted or distorted. for a cause or for others. 2. Brought into contrast with straight 2. The list of heroes of faith includes the line. names of many who gladly gave their lives 3. Distortion of the right standard. for a righteous and often unpopular cause. E. Guile—disposition to deceive. III. The better provision. III. Reveals God’s method of delivering A. Centers in personality—Jesus Christ from sin. (chap. 12:2). A. Transgressions forgiven. B. Built on an immovable Kingdom 1. To lift and bear away a load or bur­ (chap. 12:28). den. C. Protected by a God of fire (chap. 12- 2. Removal of guilt or rebellion. 28). 3. Buried in the sea of His forgetfulness. D. Specifically stated -— sanctification B. 6in is covered—blotted out and re­ (chap. 13:12). membered not. Covered by the blood. 1. For the believers. C. Iniquity is not imputed. Lay to ac­ 2. A second work of grace. count. God clears the record—hidden sin IV. Reasons for the superiority. removed. A. More intimate with God. D. Guile—cleansed—Psalms 51:7, 9. 1. Law was external. IV. State of one freed from sin. 2. This is personal, individual, and in­ A. Blessed—Oh, the blessedness of the ternal. man. B. Solves man’s inner problem—“The sin B. Rest of assurance—Rom. 8:16. which doth so easily beset us” (chap. 12:1). C. Peace of confidence—Rom. 8:1; 5:1. 1. Cleanses from inbred sin. D. Bliss of love and sonship—Rom. 5:5; 2. Purifies the motive life. I John 3:2, 3. C. Gives necessary preparation for the E. The joy of a new life—II Cor. 5:17. race. F. Happiness of a directed life under His 1. Definite goal— (12:2). guidance. 2. Clear purpose—to do thy will—“The G. Joy of prospect and better things. race set before us.” Blessedness of release.—L e w i s T. C o r ­ 3. Unwavering attitude—“to run with l e t t . patience the race.” 4. Strength for conflict (12:12, 13). D. Gives proper preparation for heaven (12:14). The Atonement, or V. It is the privilege, as well as duty, of Why Christ Died each Christian to accept God’s better pro­ S c r ip t u r e —Romans 5:8-11. vision.—L e w i s T. C o r l e t t . Introduction: People view the death of Christ in var­ ious ways: The Jews say it was a crimi­ Freedom from Sin nal’s death; the atheist says it was a mar­ tyr’s death; others say it was because He Psalms 32:1, 2 loved us so. I. Personal testimony is always interest­ Various phases and elements of the ing. Atonement: I. He died a propitiation (Rom. 3:25; A. Especially when it is definite, direct, I John 2:2; 4:10), to appease or satisfy a and positive. demand. B. In this case it reveals two different A. It was not wrath but love that states one individual experienced. prompted God to let His Son die (John C. It exemplifies and implies the condi­ 3:16). Love the cause, not the results. tion surrounding many throughout history. B. His death showed God’s displeasure II. Reveals the state of one afflicted with of sin and upheld God’s moral government. sin. C. This propitiation was necessary be­ A. Gives a fourfold description of sin. cause of God’s nature—not notion (II Cor. B. A transgression — directed against 6:14); man an orphan and God bereaved. God. II. Christ died vicariously or in our be­ 1. Separation—departing from—rebellion. half (II Cor. 5:14, 15, 21; Gal. 3:13; John 2. Going away from Lawgiver. 11:50). 3. Gravity of sin is that an intelligent A. This did not make salvation certain, person turns the back on the ever-present but did make it possible. Lord. B. There is a difference between what C. Sin, to the person, is missing in aim, Christ did for us, and what He has done missing that which ought to be the goal of in us. life. C. This moral influence of love not only 1. All sin is a blunder, never hits what it appeals to but transforms the sinner (I aims at. John 3:16; 4:19); can be overdone. 2. It misses the mark it ought to aim at. III. To reconcile us to God. (Rom. 5:10- D. Iniquity—divergence from law. 11; II Cor. 5:18-19; Eph. 2:16; Col. 1:20-22). 48 (116) The Preacher's Magazine A. It means at-one-ment (Rom. 5:11). C. He died as the sacrificial Lamb of B. It brings reconciliation with each God. other also (see Eph. 2:14-16). D. His incarnation, suffering and death C. Amnesty in Old Testament becomes was the voluntary work of a redeeming peace in New Testament (Rom. 3:25). Lord and Saviour. IV. To redeem us from Satan’s bondage E. He chose to die; He “tasted death” for (Rom. 3:24; Eph. 1:7; I Peter 1:18; Rom. every man. 5:9). III. Christ the Life-giving Saviour—“Be­ A. Man was bankrupt and could not re­ hold, I am alive for evermore.” deem himself. A. His life, His death, His resurrection, B. Christ suffered the pangs of eternal made Him the Saviour of men. punishment while on the cross. B. He now lives, He intercedes, He C. This ransom price “made us God’s atones for sin. twice” (I Tim. 2:6). C. This living Christ challenges the V. It delivered us from the law (Rom. pangs of human thirst; “If any man thirst, 6:14). let him come unto me . . . .” A. He delivered us from its legal re­ D. He satisfies the hunger of men’s souls: quirements (Col. 2:13-17). “I am the bread of life.” B. He brought a better and higher law. E. He promises rest for the weary soul: C. Christians are not under the law of “Come unto me, .... I will give you rest Moses. .... and ye shall find rest unto your VI. It made God immanent in the race souls.” (Gal. 4:6). F. He opens the door to all that will A. The Holy Spirit is again restored to come: “Whosoever will, let him take the man. water of life freely.”—H. B. G a r v in . B. The principle of spiritual death is overcome (Rom. 8:2). C. Those who die in infancy are saved. Conclusion: God’s Promise to the Overcomer It is universal in appropriation, but must T e x t — Revelations 2:12-17. be personal in application; no proxys.— H . C. H a t h c o a t . Setting of text. I. God knows where you live. A. Physically—Saul, Acts 9:11; Peter and Cornelius, Acts 10:5-6; Job 23:10. The Living Christ B. Spiritually—Peter, betraying Christ, Jesus turned and looked at him. S c r ip t u r e — Revelations 1 :1 0 -1 8 . C. In your life of Christian service. T e x t —I am he that liveth, and was (be­ came) dead; and, behold, I am alive for II. It is possible to live a Christian life evermore (Revelations 1 :1 8 ) . any place: Introduction: A. Christianity is not a thing of locality We have more than a historical Christ to but of character. Christianity can live offer men; we worship and serve a living wherever man can live. There were saints Christ. Christ’s Church is more than an in Caesar’s household (Phil. 4:22). There organization—it is a living organism— were Daniel and the three Hebrew young Christ is its living Head. Christ lives and men in Babylon; there was Obadiah in the walks among His churches (“in the midst court of King Ahab and Queen Jezebel; of the .... candlesticks” “where two or there was the centurion believer in the three are gathered . . . .” ). Roman Army; many boys in World War II stood true to Christ. I. Christ the Living One, the Source of Life. “I am he that liveth”—the Living B. Since this is true we must be careful One. not to be prejudiced because of locality. Illus: What Nathaniel said about Jesus. We A. Christ has life coexistent with God test one by what he is and not where he the Father. comes from. B. Christ is the Creator and Giver of C. But we must not excuse ourselves for life; (“By him were all things made . . . .,” our lack of deep spirituality because of “the first .... the last,” the Living One). our circumstances. It is never necessary C. He has the authority of life and death; to do wrong; sin is always voluntary. the keys of death and of hell. III. It is harder to be a Christian in some D. He is the Resurrection and the Life; places than in others. “I am the resurrection and the life.” A. In some homes it is natural for the II. The living Christ and dying I,ord— children to grow up in the beauty of holi­ “and became dead.” ness and be loyal to Christ while in others A. The Living One became dead to save they have much opposition. the world. B. But God has the grace for each indi­ B. His death was an atoning, vicarious vidual, special need. Paul found obstacles, death: for others. false brethren, friends untrue, much suf­ March-April, 1948 (117) 49 fering, but God’s grace was sufficient. He ship, it is not likely that they will grow had confidence in his God! He gave God a up to be a comfort to you in your old age. free hand with his life and found His Do the pictures on the wall suggest whole­ promises true. some things? Are there mottoes that speak C. The one who has kept faith in God of God and good things? Is there whole­ in the face of opposition great trials and some reading on the center table? A moth­ obstacles, may be marked with blemishes. er once wondered why her son was deter­ But that one will receive more honor than mined to go to sea, but the wonder ceased the person without blemishes, who has when someone called her attention to the had no conflicts and achieved no victories. picture of a ship at sea as the most promin­ The harder the fight, the greater the ent feature on the walls of his bedroom. victory, and the more glorious the reward. If you brag on the movie stars and hang IV. The reward—“The White Stone.” their pictures around, you will have only A. A white stone was given to him who yourself to blame if the daughter aspires was condemned to die by a court decree, to the stage instead of the mission field. but was pardoned, and set free. He kept III. What do visitors see in your house? the white stone as proof of his pardon. B. A white stone was also used as a Consciously or unconsciously your house passport to a king’s banquet, which was furnishings have an effect on your visitors only to a chosen group; the white stone for good or bad. They will go away up­ must be shown to the gatekeeper. lifted or depressed as a result of their visit C. It also was given as a token of one’s to your house. There should be something love, as the diamond is used today in the in your house that will tell the visitor the engagement ring. first time he comes that yours is a Christian Conclusion: home. The almost unconscious effect of a Spiritualize on the last above three book on the table or a motto on the wall, points. or the absence of some things, have their S. E l l s w o r t h N o t h s t in e effect on the visitor. If an ash tray with cigarette stubs on it is a prominent feature A House Examination of your reception room, your visitor will have you sized up before you say a word. If T e x t —What have they seen in thine house? an open Bible lies on the center table, (II Kings 20:15). looking as though someone had recently been reading it, it is not likely that your Introduction: visitor, even if a sinner, will say vulgar This question was first asked of king words in your house. He cannot be other­ Hezekiah by the Prophet Isaiah concern­ wise than impressed helpfully. It will serve ing his visitors from Babylon. But it is a as one more call to repent of his sins and very applicable question to ask every house­ seek salvation. holder. Every house has things in it that represent the character of the people who IV. What does God see in your house? live there. We may ask: This is the most important question of I. What do you see in your house? all. He sees what no one else notices. Does He see a room in your house where you This depends a good deal on what you retire for private prayer at frequent inter­ consider your house is for. If it is merely vals? Does He see you gather the family a place to sleep and eat your meals you about you for prayer at least once each will very likely not consider the furnish­ day? Does He see unnecessary furnishings ings very particularly outside of beds and in your house? Is your wardrobe such eats. But if your house is intended to be that you could look a ragged European a home, a place where the cares of the fugitive in the face without blushing? Fur­ day can be laid aside, where your wife thermore, does God see that your profession is more contented than anywhere else; of Christianity is genuine, or is it a veneer where your children love to be; where over a selfish heart that loves this present visitors get that hospitality that makes world more than the world to which you their lives happier after being with you, profess to be going? you will put something in your home more than beds and tables and chairs. V. Who is responsible for what is in your II. What (Joes your family see in your house? house? You, as head of the family, have the au­ If your wife and children are to be happy thority and the responsibility to say what in your house they must see things there shall be in your house. Your wife, as your that make it homelike. If your children helper, has her part to do in keeping the had rather be in some other people’s home house in order. You should both want the than yours, there must be something miss­ same things in the house. ing in your house. If no Bible is seen in If your house is not what it ought to be, your house, if your children never hear let’s clean house.—W m . M. S m i t h , in The you pray at your table, or in family wor­ Gospel Minister.

50 (118) The Preacher's Magazine MISSIONARY DEPARTMENT

Not Evolution but Revolution loved not their lives to the death,” that other missionaries were sent to the deso­ Charles Darwin wrote a book entitled, late land. Glorious results followed. Those The Voyage, of the Beagle. It is the record poor natives accepted the Good News. For of a scientific expedition lasting five years, them “old things passed away, and all that explored part of the continent of things became new.” South America, and islands of the southern Pacific Ocean. Darwin was a member of Ten years after his first contact with the party as “a naturalist without pay.” them, Darwin again was on the wild and barren shores of Tierra del Fuego. Though The ship touched at the tip of the lower “seeing is believing,” he could scarcely continent of the Western Hemisphere; trust his sight. Those folks of whom he there the scientist met and studied the had written that he could “hardly believe Tierra del Fuegians. He wrote thus con­ they are fellow creatures,” were “new cerning these pitiful people: creatures in Christ Jesus.” Through the “They were the most abject and miser­ efforts of the self-denying missionaries able creatures I anywhere ever beheld. there had been a tremendous transforma­ These Fuegians were quite naked. These tion. “Clothed, and in their right minds”— poor wretches were stunted in their their former miseries had passed away. growth, their hideous faces bedaubed with Darwin was so delighted, so astonished, white paint, their skins filthy and greasy, at the change that he became a regular their hair entangled, their voices discor­ contributor to mission work, unbeliever dant.” though he was, and as long as he lived he Darwin found them so repulsive that he helped in the glorious work. made this confession: “Viewing such men, one can hardly make one’s self believe that According to his own scientific theories, they are fellow creatures, and inhabitants a long “process of the suns” would have of the same world.” been required to bring about the improve­ ment he had noted in those apparently He learned that for their food they took sub-human beings. But what evolution shell-fish from the rocks, while the women was powerless to do, “the power of God became divers to gather sea eggs. Or, “with unto salvation” wrought in an incredibly a baited hair line, without any hook, they short time. jerked out small fish.” The naturalist stated: “If the floating carcass of a putrid Yes, it meant for them “a radical whale is discovered, it is a feast.” He told change.” Thus my dictionary defines “revo­ of a white man’s account of meeting a lution.” Hearing the message of those mis­ party of these Tierra del Fuegians, who sionaries, they beheld the glory of the had been out on a food-hunting trip. Lord, and were “changed” (II Cor. 3:18). “Each man carried a great square piece of I wonder if Darwin did not have doubts putrid whale’s-blubber with a hole in the as to his God-dishonoring theories, after middle, through which they put their he had visited Tierra del Fuego the second heads, as the Gauchos do through their time. ponchos or cloaks.” “Their rock is not as our Rock, even In later life (Darwin was only twenty- our enemies themselves being judges” two when he began his voyage in the (Deut. 32:31).—E. Wayne Stahl. Beagle), as he was working out his theory of evolution and remembered those in­ habitants at the extremity of South Amer­ ica, the surmise was his (it has been re­ ported) that they might be “the missing link” ! A Shining Example Time went on. Another ship sailed down The gift of one man shines out in these to Tierra de Fuego. Men on board then latter days like a star. Robert Arthington, were not scientists, but missionaries. Their of Leeds, a Cambridge graduate, lived in hearts burned for the poor, degraded na­ a single room, cooking his own meals; and tives. For seven years that band of seven he gave foreign missions 500,000 pounds on ambassadors of Christ labored to bring the condition that it was all to be spent on the Christian message to them. In all that pioneer work within twenty-five years. period not one convert was made. At A slip of paper was found after his death last the devoted group died of starvation. on which he had written these words: It “seemed” that all their sacrifices had “Gladly would I make the floor my bed, been useless. a box my chair, and another box my table But Christians in home lands were so than that men should perish for want of stirred by the story of their efforts, “who the knowledge of Christ.”—Church Chimes.

March-April, 1948 (119) 51 ILLUSTRATIONS...... Supplied by Rev. Buford Bat tin

Seeing Jesus Through Chaplain the cracks had opened up and not a bar­ rel would hold a drop of water. I lost the During the war between the states there rain and it taught me a lesson. The next was a chaplain who was walking over a time I saw a sign of rain I took my barrels battlefield, and he came to a soldier who up to the big spring and soaked them until had been wounded and was dying on the every hoop was tight. I set them under ground. The chaplain happened to have the dripping and after the rain every bar­ his Bible under his arm and he stooped rel was overflowing with water. I heard down and said to the man, “Would you like this revival was coming. I took my old me to read you something that is in the dried-up soul every day to the woods and Bible?” got down under a big old tree, and prayed The wounded man said, “I am so thirsty, God to let the Spirit come down on me I would rather have a drink of water.” and tighten up the hoops and this morn­ The chaplain hurried off as quickly as ing, bless the Lord, I was ready, and when possible and brought the water. the refreshing shower came it filled me to After the man had drunk the water he overflowing.” said, “Could you lift my head, and put Go to the fountain, brother, and “tighten something under it?” The chaplain took up your hoops.” Keep in a good spiritual off his own overcoat, rolled it up and ten­ relationship with God and the services at derly lifted him, put it as a pillow for his your church will be a blessing to you. tired head to rest on. “Now,” said the man, “if I only had something over me; I am so cold.” The Relief of Lucknow There was only one thing the chaplain About the middle of the last century could do, and that was to take his coat off (1857) a British colony was planted at and cover the man. As he did so the Lucknow, India. The native troops orga­ wounded soldier looked up in his face and nized against the British. There were said, “Chaplain, if there is anything in that 10,000 native troops making an attack on Book that makes a man do for another Lucknow with only 1,700 British troops to what you have done for me, let me hear it.” defend the city. Macgregor and his British The world could not know God until it troops used all their power to withstand saw Him in the face of Jesus Christ. Multi­ the attack until reinforcements could ar­ tudes in our day are so carried away by rive. The British were in great fear. Every worldliness, they are so oppressed by the able bodied man was used to defend the burdens of life, and are so seduced by the city. The men stayed by their guns night pleasures and gaieties of life; they will and day. The women prepared food and never see Jesus until they see Him in our carried it to the men in battle. For three lives. weeks the British fought desperately to hold back the enemy troops but it looked Tightening Up the Hoops as if all in the colony would perish. They prayed for God to send relief and to save A revival started in a country communi­ them from death. ty, and at the first service, while all the One day while the battle was raging a congregation seemed cold and indifferent, Scotish woman in the colony came running one faithful, honest old fellow seemed to to the men and said, “The Highlanders are be overflowing with joy. At the close of coming! The Highlanders are coming! I the service he walked along with his neigh­ hear the sound of the bagpipes. It is Camp­ bors with tears of joy on his radiant face, bell and his Highlanders; they are coming.” shaking hands and rejoicing. The men listened a moment and said, His neighbor said, "John, how is it that “No, you are mistaken. We do not hear you seem so full of religion, and all the bagpipes. All we can hear is the roar of rest of us seem so cold and empty?” He artillery in the distance from the enemies’ replied, “I learned a lesson from the guns.” weather. During a long dry spell some But this Scottish woman’s ear was tuned time ago the cisterns were all dry, and to the sound of the bagpipe and she said, there was no water except at the big spring “Take courage, hold on, Campbell and his two miles away. We had to haul water. Highlanders will soon have the enemy A fine shower of rain came and I had driven back and we will be saved.” barrels under all the gutters around my After a while the Highlanders came near. house to catch the water, but when the All could hear the bagpipes and it brought rain had ceased, I found my barrels empty. new life and courage to every man, woman, They had dried during the dry weather, and child in the colony. The shrill notes 52.'(120) The Preocben’s Magazine seemed to cry out vengeance against the When the boy, Chester, was small he enemy and the soft notes sounded comfort would sit with his grandfather and listen to the friends in distress. The gates of the to stories told of experiences on the high city were opened and Campbell and his seas and in naval expeditions. Ships would Highlanders marched in. The enemy had be pointed out to the lad and thrilling inci­ been driven back and the British were dents told that were connected with them. saved. Though he was some distance from the In many of the battles in life we are sea, the boy grew up in a ship and his often outnumbered. We may throw our attention contsantly called to ships. best into the struggle but it seems we can When Chester became a man his great­ see no way for victory. The days drag on est interest was the Navy. This boy be­ and it may appear hopeless. All we can came Admiral Chester William Nimitz hear is the enemies’ artillery. If we keep who was the man of top rank in the United holding on, throw all our resources in the States Navy during World War II. He di­ struggle and petition God to send rein­ rected the biggest Navy the world has forcements to help us, after a while if we ever produced. are faithful we will hear the heavenly bag­ Environment of youth has its lasting in­ pipes. We must not become so deafened to fluence. the enemies’ guns that we can not hear the bagpipes in the distance. God will always come in time to give us victory. Seeing God’s Love In the day before automobiles, one Christmas Eve, a rich lady of New York Gettysburg Address City had her coachman stop her sleigh in At the close of the Civil War, President front of one of the department stores. As Lincoln visited the Gettysburg battlefields she got out, a lad whose clothes revealed and cemetery. He was deeply touched with his poverty was peering anxiously at the the tragic consequence of the war and the lovely things in the window. The wealthy bloody battlefield. Congress decided to lady was touched by the scene and she set aside the site as the Gettysburg Na­ asked him what he would like to have. tional Cemetery. One of the most gifted He told her that he was not thinking of orators, Mr. Edward Everett, was chosen himself but of how he would like to get to deliver the dedication address. He gave a present for his sick mother. She had the a very carefully prepared address and little boy go with her and when she had lacked three minutes speaking two hours. bought something for his mother, she had Abraham Lincoln was on the program to him taken and dressed from head to foot speak two minutes. Lincoln gave his ad­ in new clothes. Then she had him get in dress in two minutes. Today the two-hour her sleigh and ride to his home, which address of Edward Everett is forgotten and was the garret of an old mansion. When seldom read. The two-minute Gettysburg the little lad got out and was loaded Address of Abraham Lincoln is recognized down with his bundles, just as the sleigh as one of the most famous speeches ever was about to be off, he said, “Lady, who is delivered by any statesman. Mr. Everett you? Is you God’s wife?” And she was a wrote Lincoln that he would feel flattered thousand times repaid. if he could think that he came as near to Most people will see God’s love only as ' the central idea of the occasion in two they see it manifested through our lives. hours as Lincoln did in two minutes. Lin­ coln’s Gettysburg Address has been read by students through the years and mem­ Responsibility of an Ambassador orized for orations. The words are en­ There are times in which an ambassador graved on the Lincoln Monument in Wash­ may save his country war, expense, de­ ington, D. C. Everett’s two hour speech is struction of property, and loss of lives. At forgotten. What made the difference? Lin­ the middle of the last century there was coln felt what he was saying and was a misunderstanding between our country speaking in response to his inner emo­ and France. A t the time France and Eng­ tional feelings. land were at war (Seven Years’ War), and we were trying to remain neutral. A treaty with England (Jay’s Treaty) placed us on Admiral Nimitz friendly terms with that country. Then Chester William Nimitz was born in the France thought we were favoring England little south Texas town of Fredricksburg. and against her interests. Several of our The town was established by German emi­ ships were captured by the French Navy. grants. The grandfather had settled in There was a loss of American lives and Fredricksburg as a retired German Navy property. It seemed likely that we would Admiral. The retired Admiral built his be engaged in war with France. The army home in the shape of a ship. The walls of and navy were strengthened and as plans the rooms in his house were lined with were being made for war, our president, pictures of ships and he displayed many Mr. Adams, sent a committee of three am­ relics from his naval career. bassadors to France (Pinkney, Marshall, Mctrch-April, 1948 (121) 53 and Gerry) to try to come to peace terms at once counted out fifty dollars instead with France. When these three represen­ of five, and passed them to the widow. She tatives from America arrived in France was amazed when she saw so much money. they were not met with a brass band nor “Sir, there is a mistake here,” she said. by a salute of soldiers and escorted through “You have given me fifty dollars and I the streets in gay parade. Instead, the have asked for only five.” The banker French Foreign Minister (Talleyrand) looked at the note once more and said, failed to receive them or listen to their “The check calls for fifty dollars.” The message. The French would not consider widow said, “I must not take it. It is a terms of peace and asked for a bribe before mistake.” The banker asked her to wait they would respond. and he went to contact the merchant who Two of the ambassadors were ready to had given her the note. When the mer­ board the next ship back to America and chant heard the banker’s story he said, advise our nation of the insult and to go to “ I did make a mistake. I wrote fifty instead war with France. The other ambassador, of five hundred. Give the poor widow five Mr. Gerry, was a man of wisdom and pa­ hundred dollars for such honesty is poorly tience. He seemed to realize his responsi­ rewarded even with that sum.” bility and that his nation and the lives of his people were at stake. He lingered in France and finally, after weeks of work Ingratitude and planning, he was given a hearing and There was a farm woman who, at the a peaceful agreement was arranged. Mr. end of a busy day during the harvest sea­ Gerry saved the lives of many of our men son, set before her menfolks a heaping pile who would have been killed in a bloody of hay. They came to the table, but instead war. He saved our country a heavy ex­ of finding the table set with appetizing penditure of money and the destruction of food, they found the bowls stacked full of property and the hatred that arises be­ hay. When they insultingly demanded tween nations as the results of war. It was whether she had become insane, she re­ done by one ambassador. plied: “Why, how did I know you would Paul said, “We are ambassadors for notice it? I’ve been cooking for you men Christ” (II Cor. 5:20). We are all under for the last twenty years, and in all that a serious commission as Christians. The time I haven’t heard a word to let me conflict is on between sin and righteous­ know you were eating anything better ness. We are trying to bring the world to than hay!” peace with God. Christians with the mes­ With all the blessings that come from sage of salvation may not be cordially re­ God and with all the privileges God has ceived by the world today and there are made available for us to enjoy, a spirit of those who will not listen to our message. ingratitude has made men act as though We must not give up the task in discour­ God had done nothing. agement. If we fail, think of the destruction of sin and the eternal loss of souls. Let us realize our responsibility to God and to The Lord Sent It souls. In a certain village there lived a widow who was very poor. Her cabin was old Widow and the Merchant and cold, and water dripped through the roof when it rained. Throughout the sum­ There is an old story of a merchant who mer, with the family washings she could was very fond of music. There was a get and with a little assistance from the poor widow and her little daughter living neighbors, she managed to get along. But in the town whose husband had been a midwinter found her in actual want. She musician before he had died and left the was cold and hungry, and as a last resort widow very poor. This poor widow came she knelt before her fireplace with its few to the merchant asking for assistance in smoldering chunks and prayed: “O Lord, their great need. The merchant saw that I know Thou art going to take care of me, the widow and her daughter were in great but, O Lord, I’m hungry. O Lord, send me distress. He looked with pity into their pale some bread. O Lord, send me some bread. faces and was touched with the story of O Lord, send me some bread.” their great need. Over and over she prayed in her agony. The merchant asked the poor woman The village skeptic was passing by and how much she needed. The woman replied heard her. He thought this would be a that five dollars would save them. The good time to put one over on religion. So merchant sat down at his desk, took a he hurried down to the village bakery and piece of paper, wrote a few lines on it, and bought a dozen loaves of bread, climbed gave it to the widow with the instructions quietly on top of the shanty, and threw that she take it to the bank on the other the bread down the chimney. side of the street. The grateful widow and The good woman with shouts of joy be­ her daughter, without stopping to read the gan to praise and thank the Lord. “I knew note, hastened to the bank. The banker You would not forget me, Lord; I knew 54 (122) The Preacher's Magazine You would take care of me. I thank and will not let him go.” So the mother replied praise Thee, Lord.” to the offer in a courteous way that they The skeptic threw open the door and could not let one child go, no not for shouted, “You silly goose. Why, the Lord wealth that would lift them from poverty had nothing to do with that bread. I threw and toil. She was thankful to work for all it down the chimney myself. The Lord the seven. sent it! There is no Lord.” The good woman replied, “Yes, there is a Lord, too, and He sent the bread in Prevention vs. Cure answer to my prayer. He sent it just the A young murderer, shortly before his same, even if He did choose the devil to execution, said, “if one per cent of the bring it.” attention churchmen have given me since I was put in here, had been given me be­ fore I committed my first crime, I would Thanks to General Patton not be in prison.” It is estimated that 40 A soldier in the American Third Army boys and girls could be given religious training for the amount spent to keep one during World War II was sent to a rest prisoner in the penitentiary.-—The Mission­ camp after a period of active service. When ary Worker. he returned to his outfit, he wrote a letter to General George Patton and thanked him for the splendid care he had received. Immortality General Patton wrote to the young man that for thirty-five years he had sought to The aging Victor Hugo wrote to a friend: give all the comfort, convenience, and con­ “I feel immortality in myself. Winter is on sideration he could to his men. He added my head, but eternal spring is in my heart. that this was the first letter of thanks he The nearer I approach the end, the plainer had received in all his years in the army. I hear around me the immortal symphonies of the world to come .... For half a century I have been writing my thoughts Which Child? in prose and verse; but I feel I have not said one-thousandth part of what is in me. A father and mother were sitting one When I have gone down to the grave, I evening in their modest little cabin. Their shall have ended my day’s work, but an­ seven children had gone to bed and were other day will begin next morning. Life silent in sleep. The mother looked at her closes with the twilight and opens with the husband and thought how poor they were. dawn.”—A r c h e r W a l l a c e , in Leaves of The husband loved her as in youth and if Healing. possible was more devoted to her than ever. He had to work so hard to support the family of nine. He denied himself and “Law of Substitution” received so little of the money for his own Many tracts and leaflets are passed by use but spent it all for the comforts of his unnoticed, but an impressive one appeared family. The mother thought of her un­ recently, entitled, “He Took My Whipping ending toils from day to day. The mother for Me,” published by the Pilgrim Tract went to sleep in her chair as she sat before Society. Briefly, it is a story related by a the fire. While asleep she dreamed that Baptist minister, Rev. A. C. Dixon, con­ one had come and asked for one of their cerning a school in his mountain section of children. If any one of the children would Virginia many years ago. So rough was be given in return they would receive a this school that no teacher could stay long. house and lands as their own. The parents Finally, a young, grey-eyed teacher tried must decide which child should be given. tactics that won. The bullies of the school Hand in hand the parents went to the began in their usual way, with “Big Tom” cradle where the baby slept. They looked boasting that he could lick him single- at her little form in the cradle and said, handed. Calmly, but firmly, the teacher “No, we can’t give our baby.” They stooped began, “Now I want a good school, but I over the trundle-bed and looked at the confess I do not know how unless you help rosy cheeks and golden locks pressed me. Suppose we have a few rules. You against the white pillows. With a gentle tell me and I will write them on the black­ kiss they passed on and whispered, “Not board. With the completed list of 10 rules these little ones. We can’t give them.” To went the pupil-made penalty for anyone a wayward son they came. The mother who broke them—“Beat him across the said, “We can’t give him, for no other back 10 times without his coat on.” would have the patience with his rude In a few days Big Tom’s dinner was ways and we must keep him or he will stolen. The culprit, an undersized lad never be cured of his reckless, idle ways. named Jim, came forward for the punish­ Only a mother’s heart can be patient with ment, coat buttoned up to the neck, and him.” Then to the eldest son who was so pleading, “Teacher, you can lick me as trusty and truthful and so much like his hard as you like, but please don’t tnake me father. The mother said, “I can not and take my coat off.”

March-April, 1948 (123) 55 The teacher knew the letter of the pen­ continue. While he hesitated, the whole alty must be exacted, so off came the coat, school began sobbing as little Jim caught revealing that Jim wore no shirt. Tearfully Tom around the neck, “Tom, I am sorry I he confessed that his widowed mother was stole your dinner, but I was awful hungry. washing his one shirt that day, so he had Tom, I'll love you till I die for taking my worn his big brother’s coat to keep warm. licking for me! Yes, I’ll love you forever.” As the teacher prepared to wield the rod, Is that not what Christ did for our hun­ “Big Tom” rushed up, “Teacher, if you gry souls? He took our deserved licking don’t object, I will take Jim’s licking for for us, atoning by His blood for our sins. him.” Can we do less than believe and accept All agreed to the teacher's suggestion Him, and love Him forever? He is our that there is a law that one can be a sub­ human-divine Saviour whom John re­ stitute for another. Five hard blows with peatedly has presented to us as the ful- the rod—then it broke—and the teacher filler of prophecy, the Son of God, and bowed his head, wondering how he could Redeemer of sinful mankind.—Selected.

BOOK NOTES

By Rev. P. H. Lunti

A M a n C a n L ive ture, Can You Get Along Without God? By Bernard Iddings Bell (Harper, $1.50) The Glory of the Church, Your Cross and Many of our readers will recognize in Mine, What Men Need Most, The Religion Dr. Bell the author of The Church in Dis­ of the Towel, Don’t Postpone Life, Jour­ repute and God Is Not Dead both of which neying Toward the Sunrising. were disturbing and stimulating books. The thesis is that a man can live and live T h e E t e r n a l W h y triumphantly in this the most confused By L. Fuerbringer (Concordia, $1.50) and disconcerting of centuries. He can A message that will be appreciated by keep his head amid wars and rumors of Bible lovers and especially by Bible schol­ wars. He can believe that life makes sense ars. This is a discerning and exegetical and is worth living when all around him study of the Book of Habakkuk which the materialists are insisting that man is book is a veritable gem in the prophetic only an educated animal struggling to no literature of Israel. The book raises a purpose and whose ends are frustration puzzling question: Why do the righteous and death. He applies the moral and spir­ suffer and the wicked seemingly go un­ itual revelations of Christianity to the punished. The Book of Habakkuk has the present situation. And most important of answer. all, he indicates sources of strength avail­ able today for those who are determined A M a n u a l o f C h u r c h S e r vice s not to lose faith in God or in humanity. By Gordon Palmer (Revell, $2.25) This is a practical manual of the rites, B o o k s o f F a i t h a n d P o w e r ordinances, and ceremonies practiced in B y John T. McNeill (Harper, $2.00) Protestant churches. Special stress is laid A discussion of six great religious clas­ on the significance and importance of all sics which have inspired and given direc­ the observances which include: Scripture tion to what we are pleased to call the Reading, The Ordinance of Baptism, Holy Protestant Reformation. Books do have a Communion, Marriage Services, Funeral significant place in any reform movement Rites, Dedication of Children, Receiving and in any definitely progressive trend. Tithes and Offering. An unusual feature is The six books are Martin Luther’s On a summary of state laws governing mar­ Christian Liberty, John Calvin’s Institutes riage. of the Christian Religion, Richard Hooker’s The Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity, John M is s io n a r y P r o g r a m T o p ic s Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress, William By Vivian Ahrendt (Warner, $1.50) Law’s A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy If the pastor himself has not found a Life, and John Wesley’s Journal. need for a book of this kind his missionary leaders certainly will welcome it. There T o w a r d t h e S u n r is in g are fifteen complete programs with plenty By Henry Alford Porter (Broadman, $1.50) of background material for the speaker or A volume of seventeen sermons by this leader to present an entire service of in­ Southern Baptist pastor who has fifty years spiration and information. There are pro­ of preaching to his credit. Some of the grams of biographical nature as well as sermon titles are: What I Believe That I those devoted to some particular fields of Won’t Take Back, Life’s Gorgeous Adven­ missionary endeavor.

56 (124) The Preacher's Magazine Holiness in the Light of Historic Research or A Study of Holiness from the Early Church Fathers

By Professor J. B. Galloway, B.S., Ph.B., B.D.*

Introduction Holiness Challenged TF the teachings of the modern Holiness Movement are cor­ rect concerning the doctrine of holiness and the baptism with the Holy Ghost as an experience for the saints of God today perfecting them in Christian love and freeing them from carnal sin, it seems that we should find some evidences of this faith and teaching in the period of the history of church where they were the closest to the days of Christ. At least a germ of all truth should be evident when God planted the Church in the world. The Early Church before it had left its first love should show some traces of such an experience and doctrine. A careful study of this period of Church History will show that the early Christians believed in holiness, and that an unbroken chain of witnesses have never ceased to give this great truth to the world. When we examine the writings of the first three hundred years of Christian history we see that without doubt the early church believed in, prac­ ticed, and taught holiness. There was a diversity of opinions on some subjects, and sects arose that were not orthodox; yet we find much more on holiness than we would suppose could be found in the primitive church. They were in an age far from the intellectual light of modern times. Some of the doctrines of the church had not been thought out very clearly yet many of the writings of the best and holiest men of that day show clearly a trace of a belief in holiness. Few early writers do not contribute something to this great doctrine. We do not say that the statements made in the early liter­ ature always means the same that we would read into similar statements today. Detached expressions separated from the

*Twenty-nine years a teacher of Bible Church History, and Theology in the Nazarene colleges; contributing editor, Nazarene Sunday-school literature, four years; author of “The Whole Bible for the Whole Year,” “Studying the Book of Revelation,” “Principles of Bible Study,” “Sur­ vey of the New Testament” and “Studies in the Pentateuch.”

March-April,..1,948 (1251 context may at times be misleading and the translations may not always be exact, yet there is enough left after due allow­ ance is made for all this to show the light of holiness gleaming out from age to age where the saints of God served Him in truth. Realizing that this phase of the subject of holiness has not had very much study the author has tried to make this work as exhaustive as possible. Years have been spent examining the literature of the early church. Between ten and fifteen thousand pages of the old writers have been tediously gone through from the writings of the Apostolic Fathers, Ante- Nicene literature, Apostolical Constitutions and Canons, apol­ ogies, homilies, liturgies, Apocryphal books, biblical comments, and various other treatises, also old sermons, prayers, hymns, and the creeds from the early church. Also the Ecclesiastical histories written before Constantine and the recent fragments that have come to light by modern archaeological research have not been overlooked. Most of the early literature has come down to us in the Greek or Latin tongue. Some has come in Hebrew, Syrian and other languages, and some of this has not been translated. Where possible the author has used the original and the best translations obtainable that have appeared in England and America.

A Challenge to Holiness The evidence is before you. Did the early church teach holiness? Is holiness a heritage of the whole church? Every great crisis in Bible history was an effort on God’s part to bring the world back to holiness, every great revival of re­ ligion contributed something to holy living. It was the message of holiness that the fire-baptized dis­ ciples preached. It was the baptism with the Holy Spirit that made the martyr-age of the Church so glorious. Lactantius says: By reason of our strange and wonderful courage and strength new additions are made to us; for when people see men torn to pieces with infinite variety of torments, and yet maintain a patience unconquerable, and able to tire out their tormentors, they begin to think (what the truth is) that the consent of so many, and the persever­ ance of the dying persons, cannot be in vain; nor that patience itself, were not from God, could not hold out under such racks and tortures. Thieves and men of ro­ bust bodies are not able to bear such tearing to pieces; they groan and cry out, and are overcome with pain, be­ cause not endured with divine patience; but our very women and children (to say nothing of men) do with silence conquer their tormentors; nor could the hottest fire force the least groan from them.

(126) The Preacher's Magazine The places of martyrdom became such holy recruiting places where so many were converted to the hated faith that the Roman Emperors were forced to forbid the public execution of the holy saints of God. The young people of this generation have received from their fathers the clear definite preaching of the doctrine of holiness. Will the children of the holiness movement bei as faithful in giving this truth to the world and as consistent in living holy lives before all? They can not afford to fail. Arise, on with the work of holiness until all have heard the message “holiness unto the Lord.”

It is the message of the Holy Bible. Bishop Foster says: It breathes in the prophecy, thunders in the law, mur­ murs in the narrative, whispers in the promises, suppli­ cates in the prayers, sparkles in the poetry, resounds in the songs, speaks in the types, glows in the imagery, voices in the language, and burns in the whole scheme, from the alpha to the omega, from its beginning to its end. Holiness! Holiness needed, holiness required, holi­ ness offered, holiness attainable, holiness a present duty, a present privilege, a present enjoyment, is the progress and completeness of the wondrous theme. It was the original intention of the author to give a study of holiness from the Creeds of Christendom and holiness in other periods of church history, but space will make it neces­ sary to use this in other works later.

Chapter One The Apostolic Fathers

T h e F i r s t L i g h t A f t e r t h e D a y s o f t h e A p o s t l e s

A FTER the closing of the book of the New Testament it seems almost as if the church had entered a dark tunnel of obscurity. The torch that had flamed forth from the hill­ sides of Judea was not eclipsed by the uncertainty of our knowledge of the history of those days, but it has continued to radiate its holy light to this day. We know very little of the history of the church from the closing events of the Book of the Acts of the Apostles until the second decade of the next century. As we emerge from the shadows of the dark period following the days of the apostles we find a number of writ­ ings which were written by the Apostolic Fathers. They were so-called because they immediately followed and were acquainted with the apostles. The earliest of these is Clement of Rome.

March-April, 1948 (127) 59 Clement o f Rome a n d His Epistle Clement of Rome is the connecting link between the days of the apostles and the great stream of Christian writers which has continued unbroken from the second century. He has been identified with both the Clement mentipned by Paul in Philippians 4:3, and Flavius Clemens a kinsman of Domi- tian, who was put to death by the latter for becoming a Chris­ tian. The ancient writer of the Epistle of Clement may be the person that Paul referred to, for Eusebius, the Father of Church History places his death in a .d . 95 about thirty years after the time that Philippians was written. In the epistle itself St. Paul and St. Peter are mentioned together as men “of our generation.” Church history records that Clement was the third bishop of Rome. He may be the writer of this epistle. It is evident that Clement was a very great man in the estimation of the church. The fact that the name of St. Clement was used in connection with the many legends that have gathered around his life is a proof of the great estimate in which he was held. Bishop Lightfoot came to the conclu­ sion by studying his epistle that he was a Jewish Christian. Two epistles are attributed to him. The first is universally received as genuine, but it seems certain that the second is not his. The Shepherd of Hermas calls him the author, and Hermas mentions that he knew him personally. The Epistle of Clement was written at Rome and carried by three mem­ bers of the Church at Rome to the Church at Corinth. Its ob­ ject was to exhort the church at Corinth to unity. One or two persons had started a schism and driven out the presbyters. The trouble seems to have started over the question of re­ establishing the old ways that were vanishing from the min­ istry.

Clement of Rome on Holiness In the days of John the church was already leaving its first love. Doubtless many if not most of those of the church at Corinth were living holy lives, but he would have them all united in this. He begins his epistle as follows: The Church of God which is at Rome to the Church of God which is at Corinth, elect, sanctified, by the will of God, through Jesus Christ our Lord: grace and peace from the Almighty God, by Jesus Christ be multiplied unto you. Effusion of Holy Ghost In chapter two of the Epistle of Clement of Rome he speaks of the Holy Ghost coming upon them. Thus a firm, and blessed, and profitable peace was given unto you; and an unsatiable desire of doing good, and a plentiful effusion of the Holy Ghost.

(128) The Preacher's Magazine Life of Holiness In chapters twenty-nine and thirty he exhorts the Corin­ thians to a life of holiness thus: Let us therefore come to Him with holiness of heart, lifting up chaste and undefiled hands unto Him; loving our gracious and merciful Father, who hath made us to partake of His election...... Wherefore, we being the portion of the Holy One, let us do all these things that pertain unto holiness; fleeing all evil-speaking against one another. Holiness Instead of Strife Chapter forty-six is an exhortation for unity and holiness instead of division and strife. Wherefore it will behoove us also, brethren, to follow such examples as these; for it is written, “Hold fast to such as are holy; for they that do so shall be sanctified.” And again in another place He saith, “ With the pure thou shalt be pure (and with the elect thou shalt be elect), but with the perverse man thou shalt be per­ verse.” Let us therefore join ourselves to the innocent and righteous; for such as are elected of God. Wherefore are there strifes, and anger, and divisions, and schisms, and wars, among us? Have we not all one God and one Christ? Is not one spirit of grace poured out among us all? Have we not one calling in Christ? Why then do we rend and tear in pieces the members of Christ, and raise seditions against our own body: and are come to such a height of madness as to forget that we were mem­ bers one of another? Remember the words of our Lord Jesus, how He said, “Woe to the man (by whom offences came)! It were better for him that he had never been born, than that he should have offeneded one of My elect. It were better for him that a millstone should be tied about his neck, and he cast into the sea, than that he should offend one of My little ones.” Your schism has perverted many, has discouraged many; it has caused diffidence in many, and grief in us all. Also chapter forty-eight is along the same line as the pre­ ceding. Let us, therefore, with all haste, put an end to this sedi­ tion; and let us fall down before the Lord, and beseech Him with tears that He would be favorably reconciled to us, and restore us again to a seemly and holy course of brotherly love. For this is the gate of righteousness, opening unto life: as it is written, “Open unto me the gates of righteousness; I will go in unto them, and will praise the Lord. This is the gate of the Lord; the right­ eous shall enter into it.” Although therefore many gates are opened, yet this gate of righteousness is that gate in Christ at which blessed are all they that enter in, and direct their ways in holiness and righteousness, Doing all things without disorder. Let a man be faithful; let him

March-April, 1948 (129) 61 be powerful in the utterance of knowledge; let him be wise in making an exact judgment of words; let him be pure in all his actions. Perfect Love He speaks of those who had the experience of perfect love, in chapter fifty. All the ages of the world, from Adam to this day, are passed away; but they who have been made perfect in love have, by the grace of God, obtained a place among the righteous, and shall be made manifest in the judg­ ment of the kingdom of Christ. Just before closing his epistle, his soul cries out in prayer, Guide Thou our footsteps to walk in holiness and right­ eousness and singleness of heart, and to do all things that are good and well-pleasing in Thy sight and the sight of our rulers. Yea, Lord, show Thy countenance upon us for good in peace, that we may be sheltered by Thy mighty hand and delivered from all sin by Thy lifted up arm, and deliver us from those who hate us unrighteously. Give oneness of mind and peace unto us and all those that dwell on the earth, as Thou didst give to our forefathers who called upon Thee in Holiness, in faith and truth (Chapter Sixty). A Peculiar People Now, God, the overseer of all things, the Father of spirits, and the Lord of all flesh— who hath chosen our Lord Jesus Christ, and us by Him to be a peculiar people —grant to every soul of man that calleth upon His glor­ ious and holy name, faith, fear, peace, longsuffering, pa­ tience, temperance, holiness and sobriety, unto all well- pleasing in His sight; through our high priest and pro­ tector Jesus Christ, by Whom be glory, and majesty, and power, and honour, unto Him, now and forevermore. Amen. Ignatius of Antioch and His Epistles The second name among the Apostolic Fathers is that of Ignatius. He was appointed the bishop of Antioch about the

year a .d . 70. This is the city where the disciples of Christ were first called Christians. St. Paul started from here on his great missionary journeys, and planted the Cross in the cities of Asia Minor and Greece. Then we lose sight of the city until the days of Ignatius. Little is known of his life. He was proba­ bly a disciple of St. John and an ancient tradition makes him the little child whom our Lord took up in His arms, when He told His disciples that they must become like little children if they would enter the kingdom of Heaven. This cannot be proved. He is described as. A man in all things like unto the apostles, that as a good governor, by the helm of prayer and fasting, by the con­ stancy of his doctrine and spiritual labour, he exposed himself to the floods of the adversary; that he was like a

62 (130) The Preacher's Magazine divine lamp illuminating the hearts of the faithful by his exposition of the Holy Scriptures; and lastly, that to preserve the church, he doubted not freely, and of his own accord, to expose himself to the most bitter death. We are not certain how long he was bishop at Antioch. But persecution arose and he was condemned to be killed by the wild beasts in the arena and for that purpose he was taken to Rome, under a guard of ten soldiers. On his way he was al­ lowed the hospitality of the Christians but at times was treat­ ed very cruelly by the ‘ten leopards,’ the soldiers. During this journey he wrote many epistles to the churches, Ephesus, Magnesia, Tralles, Rome, Philadelphia, and Smyrnaean. Also he wrote to Polycarp, the Bishop of Smyrna. He suffered martyrdom between a .d . 107 and 117. The few bones that the wild beasts left were taken up by his friends and carried back to the city where he was bishop and were held as very precious jewels and an annual festival was held in memory of him. Seven of his epistles are regarded as genuine, others are disputed.

Holiness in the Epistles of Ignatius Wholly Sanctified From his Epistle to the Ephesians, chapter two, we read: It is, therefore, fitting that you should by all means glorify Jesus Christ, who hath glorified you—that by a uniform obedience you should be perfectly joined to­ gether in the same mind, and in the same judgment, and may all speak the same things concerning every thing; and, that being subject to your bishop and the presby­ tery, ye may be wholly and thoroughly sanctified. Full of Holiness From the ninth chapter of the same epistle we quote: As being the stones of the temple of the Father, prepared for His building, and drawn up on high by the cross of Christ as by an engine, using the Holy Ghost as the rope: your faith being your support, and your charity the way that leads unto God. Ye therefore, with all your com­ panions in the same journey, full of God: His spiritual temples, full of Christ, full of holiness; adorned in all things with the commands of Christ. No Herb of Devil Chapter ten reads: Pray also without ceasing for other men; for there is hope of repentance in them, that they may attain unto God. Let them, therefore, at least be instructed by your works, if they will in no other way. Be ye mild at their anger, humble at their boasting; to their blasphemies, return your prayers; to their error, your firmness in the faith: when they are cruel, be ye gentle; not endeavoring to imitate their ways: (let us be their brethren in all kindness and moderation, but let us be followers of the

March-April, 1948 (131) 63 Lord: for whom was ever more unjustly used? more destitute? more despised?) that so no herb of the devil may be found in you: but ye may remain in all holiness and sobriety both of body and spirit, in Christ Jesus. Faith and Charity He shows that a believer lives above sin in chapter four­ teen. Of all which nothing is hid from you, if we have perfect faith and charity in Jesus Christ, which are the begin­ ning and end of life; for the beginning is faith and the end is charity. And these two, joined together, are of God; but all other things which concern a holy life are the consequence of these. No man professing a true faith sinneth; neither does he who has charity hate any. The tree is made manifest by its fruit; so they who pro­ fess themselves to be Christians are known by what they do. God’s Temple The last quotation from this epistle that we offer is from chapter fifteen. He that possesses the word of Jesus is truly able to hear His very silence, that he may be perfect; and both do according to what He speaks, and be known by those things of which he is silent. There is nothing hid from God, but even our secrets are nigh unto Him. Let us do all things as becoming those who have God dwelling in them, that we may be His temple, and He may be our God. Just before closing his Epistle to the Magnesians, Ignatius says: “Knowing you to be full of God, I have the more briefly exhorted you.” Wheat of God Ignatius shows his devotion in time of trial and his courage in the face of martyrdom as he writes in his Epistle to the Romans. I am willing to die for God, unless you hinder me. I be­ seech you that you show not an unseasonable good-will toward me. Suffer me to be the food of wild beasts, by whom I will attain unto God. For I am the wheat of God; and I will be ground by the teeth of the wild beasts, that I may be found the pure bread of Christ. .... Let fire and the cross; let companies of wild beasts; let breaking of bones and tearing of members; let the shattering in pieces of the whole body, and all the wick­ ed torments of the devil come upon me; only let me enjoy Jesus Christ. Christian Perfection In chapter eleven of his Epistle to the Smyrnaeans he rec­ ognizes that there are those who have reached Christian per­ fection. He writes:

(132) The Preacher's Magazine For as much as ye are perfect yourselves, ye oxight to think those things that are perfect...... I would to God that all would imitate him (Burrhus), as a pattern of the ministry of God...... Be strong in the power of the Holy Ghost. The Martyrdom of Ignatius From an ancient story of the martyrdom of St. Ignatius translated out of the original Greek in Spicileg Patrum, tom. 2, we read an account of the trial and martyrdom of Ignatius. We quote the following: Trajan (the Roman Emperor)—“Dost thou carry Him who was crucified within thee?” Ignatius— “ I do: for it is written, ‘I will dwell in them.’ ” Then Trajan pronounced this sentence against him: “ Forasmuch as Ignatius has confessed that he carries about within himself Him that was crucified, we command that he be carried, bound by soldiers, to the great Rome, there to be thrown to the beasts, for the entertainment of the people.” When the holy martyr heard this sentence, he cried out with joy, “I thank Thee, O Lord, that Thou hast vouchsafed to honor me with a perfect love toward Thee.” Martyrs Perfected The writer of this story tells how Ignatius was devoured by the wild beasts except a few of the larger bones. And he says that he was an eyewitness to how this holy martyr per­ fected the course he had piously desired in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Polycarp, a Disciple of Saint John Poly carp was another one of the Apostolic Fathers. He was the bishop of Smyrna and one of the most celebrated of the early Christian martyrs. We have little information con­ cerning his life. Such meager information that we have about his life is found in the writings of Irenaeus, Eusebius, and the anonymous “Martyrdom of Polycarp.” He was born

about a .d . 69. As a youth he was acquainted with and later became a disciple of John. When Ignatius passed through Asia Minor on his way to Rome to be martyred he stopped and visited Polycarp, who was a bishop at that time. He afterwards addressed a letter to him. One of the last things that Polycarp did was to go to Rome to consult with the bishop there on the question of Easter. Soon after his return he was arrested by the Roman officers, tried on the charge of being a Christian, and condemned to death by burning. He was taken by the soldiers in a house near the city where he had taken refuge. He declined to avail himself of an oppor­ tunity to escape. When he was required to curse Christ, he

March-April, 1948 (133) 65 answered: “Six and eighty years have I served Him, and He hath done nothing but good; and how could I curse Him, my Lord and my Saviour!” Refusing to renounce the faith, he

was burned to death February 23, a . d . 155. Such was the holi­ ness of his life and such his heroism in martyrdom that he has been held ever since with the deepest veneration. He is said to have written several epistles only one of which has come down to us. Polycarp on Holiness In Ignatius Epistle to Polycarp he called him most holy Polycarp and exhorts him, “Stand firm and immovable as an anvil when it is beaten upon. It is the part of a brave com- batent to be wounded, and yet to overcome.” In Polycarp’s Epistle to the Philippians he advises them to call to mind the doctrine which Paul taught them and exhorts all classes of Christians to holy living and Christian activities.

(To be continued)

66 (134) The Preacher's Magazine PREACHER, DEFINE YOUR TERMS!

What do you mean when you t cd : about "eradication" of sin? What is the distinction between forgiveness, justification, regeneration, adoption, etc?

What is the difference between the calvin- istic and the arminian view of sin and its cure?

These are typical of the questions that Dr. Chapman discusses in TERMINOLOGY OF HOLINESS

The material of this book was originally presented as a series of lectures at Eastern Nazarene College and Pasadena College. The purpose of the lectures w as not to convince anyone of the truth of the Wesleyan interpretation of the theme of Bible holi­ ness but rather to offer assistance to those who hold this doctrine in the matter of describing it as ac­ curately and fairly as possible.

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SEVEN SAYINGS ABOUT THE CRUCIFIED • By A. Milton Smith, D.D. This new book contains seven messages each based on a statement made concerning Christ at the scene of the crucifixion. It is a rather No. 4223 unusual treatment of very familiar Scriptures. The emphasis is decidedly on the spiritual 100, $1.50; 250, $3.50; 500, $6.00; 100, meaning of the Calvary scene. Price SI.00 $ 10.00

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