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  ABILENE1950 LECTURES
  by Abilene Christian College
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The annual Abilene Christian College Lectureship for 1950, featuring a series of
sermons, lectures, and addresses by prominent preachers and teachers in the
Churches of Christ on themes of faith, doctrine, and Christian living.

  Chapters: 15

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  TABLE OF CONTENTS
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    1. Introduction
    2. “The Death of a Saint”
    3. “Archeology and Faith”—J. D. Thomas
    4. "The Church the Prophets Saw"
    5. “The Church in Japan and India”—E. W. McMillan
    6. “The Church in the Northwest”—L. D. Webb
    7. “The Church and the Times”—Frank Pack
    8. Work of the Church in Germany
    9. “The Church in Italy”—Jimmy Wood
   10. “The Southern Bible Institute”
   11. “The Church Among the Colored”
   12. The Inspiration of the Bible
   13. “Jesus Calls Us”
   14. “The Church in England”
   15. “Open Thou Mine Eyes”

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  CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
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Introduction

INTRODUCTION

We offer with interest and pleasure another volume of a great series of
discourses delivered at Abilene Christian College. The following were given in
February, 1950. The first of these Lectureships was held in the year 1919, and
was published by the Firm Foundation Publishing House in book form. With little
exception they have appeared each year since that time. The printing was done by
others a few times. Those who are fortunate enough to have a complete set of
these fine gospel sermons are possessed of a treasure in religious literature.
Only a few of the later years can now be supplied. The rest are numbered among
the “rare books” and we frequently have calls for them, but of course cannot
supply them. Any reader having a copy for sale is requested to write the office
of the Firm Foundation at Austin, Texas. The “Lectureship” of Abilene Christian
College has be-come a great annual affair to the churches of Christ; thou-sands
are in attendance, many of them coming from Canada and other countries besides
all over the United States. This annual “mass meeting” must not be understood to
be a “Convention” of the churches of Christ. We have no such conventions and do
not endorse them. The Lectureship is simply a feature in the work of Abilene
Christian College, a series of gospel sermons to which friends and patrons of
the school and others are invited. It is our hope that the contents of this book
may enrich the life, and strengthen the faith of the reader.

G. H. P. SHOWALTER Austin, Texas August 20, 1950


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  CHAPTER 2: “THE DEATH OF A SAINT”
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“The Death of a Saint” THE DEATH OF A SAINT Lecture by Glenn L. Wallace,
February 19, 1950, at Abilene Christian College (10:30 a.m.)

“Dr. Alexis Carrell, the biological wizard of the Rocke-feller Institute for
Medical Research is dead. His heart failed him. But the heart of a chicken which
he kept alive for 30 years still lives without body and without purpose. No
human being ever peered deeper into the secrets of life than did Dr. Carrell,
and for his amazing genius he was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1912. It was his
Carrell- Dagan antiseptic solution which saved the lives of countless wounded
soldiers in the first world war. But with all his mastery of life’s knowledge he
never could find the key and in his old age, baffled in seeking the answer to
the riddle of existence, he turned to mysticism as did another great research
genius. Sir Oliver Lodge. Well might such men as Carrell use as their epitaph
the lines of the ancient Omar: ‘There was the door to which I found no key.
There was the evil through which I might not see’.” (Editorial, Detroit Free
Press). We are thankful to God that a Christian does not need to approach the
end of his life with such a philosophy. In the first chapter of the book of
Revelation, Jesus Christ made this announcement, “I am the first and the last. I
was dead, but I am alive and I have the key of death and of Hades,” and it is
because Jesus Christ has the key of death and of Hades that the Christian can
rejoice and be glad.

Death is a forbidden subject with many people and none but the Christian who has
a knowledge of what awaits him after death can look upon it without fear. Only
those who believe the words of our Master who says, “I have the keys of death
and of Hades: be not afraid—” only such today can look upon death without fear.
In the closing part of chapter seven of the book of Acts, beginning with verse
54, is Luke’s account of the death ©f Stephen. “Now when they heard these
things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth.
But he being full of the Holy Spirit looked up stedfastly 'into heaven and saw
the glory of God and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, and said, Behold I
see the heavens open and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God. But
they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and rushed upon him with
one accord, and they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses
laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. And they stoned
Stephen calling upon the Lord and saying, Lord Jesus receive my spirit; and he
kneeled down and cried with a loud voice, Lord lay not this sin to their charge.
And when he had said this, he fell asleep.”

Here we see a picture of evil men who stoned Stephen; men who could not resist
his wisdom and the force of his preaching. These men were of the synagogue of
the Libertines of Cilicia and Asia, and were defeated by the preaching of
Stephen. It is possible for evil men to be silenced by preaching, but not always
those who are silenced become convinced, and it is not all who are convinced who
will be persuaded. And it is altogether possible for argument to end as it did
here—but for brute force to prevail as it did on this occasion. These men no
doubt felt that because they had destroyed Stephen, one of the defenders of the
faith, that they had destroyed all truth. But the record of the Christian
religion shows that it is possible to destroy those who proclaim truth but truth
cannot be destroyed. We may silence the man who preaches, but we do not silence
the message that he preaches; even in death it is not silenced.

Let us look at several things that brought about the death of Stephen. First,
the malignant excitement of the Jewish council that tried him and that gave
permission to stone him. Luke describes it like this: “they gnashed upon him
with their teeth.” One modern speech translation says they “ground their teeth.”
When we read this, we are shocked at the wickedness of which the human heart is
capable. In the past World War we were terrified to read the stories of the
furnaces of Germany that burned those who believed in certain principles opposed
to the teaching's of Hitler. But in no way is the wickedness of man’s heart
demonstrated in such a vile and evil manner as in religious persecution, and
this excitement that we read about here in Acts was caused by religious
prejudice. We would think that in religion one would find something to give him
peace of mind and a calmness that would enable him to face the enemy and think
clearly. But it seems that when they were unable to answer, they were silenced
for but a moment; they picked up the stones and said we will destroy that which
we cannot defeat with our mouth.

There are several examples of such religious persecution as this in the Bible.
The best one, of course, is the model for the action of Stephen on tins
occasion, his Master, the Lord Jesus in the presence of Pilate. That was an hour
in which one would have been tempted to defend himself with a stick or a gun or
anything else that might have been handy. There was a howling mob that cried for
the blood of Jesus. The Roman governor set up a thief and said “which of the two
shall I release unto you, Jesus or Barabbas.” And when the mob was persuaded by
their leaders to say release unto us Barabbas, he then said “what shall I do
with Jesus who is called the Christ?” They said crucify him, and let his blood
be upon us and upon our children.

It is interesting to observe that there was a young man leading the mob whose
name was Saul. The Bible says they put down their cloaks “at the feet of the
young man named Saul.” How one so young could be so bitter in his hatred of
truth and of everything that Stephen stood for, it is difficult for us to
understand. Why would anybody like Saul or this Jewish council become so bitter
in their opposition to such preaching as was delivered by Stephen in the seventh
chapter of Acts? Why does man hate truth? And why will man persecute those who
preach truth? Thi3 enmity to truth and this hatred of those who preach it is
caused by the love of man’s false security.

Along comes someone to preach that which is the truth and it upsets and
disturbs. Man will fight for this peace of mind and this false security, and so
the members of the Jewish council and Saul of Tarsus fought on this occasion.

We as members of the church of God today can learn a very fine lesson on how a
Christian suffers and dies from this example of Stephen. Let us observe the
attitude that was his in the time of opposition. He was calm arid dignified. His
death is a true picture of the Christian religion—lofty and above self. Without
consideration for his own safety and for his life, with a calm heart, and peace
of mind, he faced those who opposed him. In a very pointed way he condemned them
for their sins and then died. The Bible says that Stephen was full of faith. His
was a faith first, of conviction. A man may have faith that God will take care
of him, but he may not have enough faith to preach that which is the truth and
that which might be his conviction. He believed what he was preaching was the
truth of God, and that’s why he was so sincere, so very plain, and definite in
his preaching. There is some preaching that is not likely to stir up people
because it’s not the preaching of conviction. If a man does not believe what he
is preaching, he is not likely to preach it with much force. And if a man
himself does not be-lieve what he preaches, he is not likely to convince those
who listen to him that he does proclaim the truth. Stephen’s preaching was the
preaching of his heart.

There was a little story a few weeks ago in one of our magazines, that told
about a lecture delivered by a modernist in the University of Oklahoma School of
Religion. This modernist was amazed because those sects in America are growing
today who are almost fanatical in the proclamation of that which they believe.
He was wondering why it was possible for such groups to grow and other people
with a dignified system of theology should not grow. He came to the conclusion
that one reason why these small groups did grow is that they believe what they
preach. The early church grew because they believed every word that they spoke.
Stephen believed that the people needed what he had to say and with that kind of
conviction, gospel preachers can convert people today. Wherever our people have
gone in this age and the ages that have passed, if they have gone with the
feeling that we have that which the people must have or else they will die, they
have been able to persuade men to listen to

He was not only a man of conviction but he was filled with the faith of reliance
upon God. He believed that God did everything well. He believed that God would
take care of him. He believed that even though he faced those who stoned him, if
God had made it clear to him that he should preach to these sinners that they
should turn from their sins, God would take care of him, whatever might be the
result. A glimpse of the. attitude of this saint in the hour of death is seen in
this expression—“full of the Holy Spirit.” The resistance of Stephen on this
occasion was not altogether because of any miraculous measure of the Holy Spirit
which he possessed. In apostolic times it is true that certain Christians were
filled with miraculous gifts of the Spirit. They were able to speak with tongues
and to prophesy. That measure of the Holy Spirit no well-informed Christian
believes that the church can have today. But we do not believe that when the
Bible says he was “full of the H,oly Spirit” that it was because of any
miraculous measure of the Holy Spirit he possessed that he was able to resist
successfully the enemies' of the truth. We have the same Holy Spirit today that
he had. In the hour of death, in the hour of persecution, and in the hour of
opposition, the attitude of Stephen can be ours because we possess the same Holy
Spirit that he had.

“He looked up stedfastly into heaven.” That is an evidence of the mind that he
possessed upon this occasion. The expression was an appeal from the injustice of
this earth. He was looking away from merciless men to the compassionate heart of
God. He believed that there was a hand that could save and that bloody hands may
throw the stones, but the hands of God would take care of him when he crossed
over the valley of the shadow of death. This expression is a revelation of a
devout committal of jhimself to the keeping of God. The psalmist says, Psalms
37:5, “Commit thy ways unto the Lord.” If in the hour of tragedy, if in the hour
of our passing we are to die as did this New Testament saint, we too must be
full of faith, full of the Holy Spirit, and look steadfastly up into heaven. In
this story we see something of the reward that God gave to him and something of
the reward that is in store for all of those who die as saints today. First, he
had a vision, which was for the purpose of confirming his faith and giving him
strength to resist those who stoned him. He looked up and saw Jesus. Now,
whether Stephen had ever seen the Lord or not, we do not know. But of one thing
we are absolutely certain; he had never been privileged to see the Lord as he
was privileged to see Jesus on this day. There were those who walked with Jesus
Christ when he was upon this earth in his body. They were privileged to hear him
preach and to see him as he performed his miracles. There were those who had the
glorious privilege of associating with him on such occasions as when he raised
the dead. There were some who were privileged to witness the ascension of Christ
and see him as the cloud received him out of their sight, and to hear the voice
that said, “Why stand ye idly gazing up 'into heaven? This same Jesus that you
have seen taken from you will come back in like manner as you have seen 'him
go.” Though Stephen might not have seen Christ when he was upon this earth,
though he might not have seen the ascension of the Christ, he saw Christ in a
glorified position.

This, witness of the glorified Christ is evidence of great blessings for us as
Christians. First, it is evidence of the resurrection and of life after death.
Throughout the pages of the Old Testament men lived and died with the question
of Job: “If a man die, shall he live again?” The answer was not clear and it was
not given in fullness until the Lord Jesus Christ lived and died and gave proof
that he was alive again. The enemy had told the story that the body of Christ
has been stolen by the disciples and there might have been a few people who
believed it. But Stephen said I see, I know, and I tell you, Jesus is standing
at the right hand of God. This is assurance of his resurrection and it is
evidence that man lives after he dies. This position of the Lord Jesus Christ
gives evidence of interest in the sufferings of Christian people. Stephen looked
up and said, I see “Jesus standing at the right hand of God.” He was raised up,
the Bible says, to sit upon David’s throne. (Acts 2:29-32). When Stephen died,
the Lord stood up to show the interest in heaven in the passing of a Christian.
When the world is dark and the burdens become heavy, and when we have problems
that we think we cannot solve, we have encouragement here that heaven is
concerned—for Jesus stood up. The faith of all of us will be confirmed by that
same glorious vision in the end. John says, “Beloved it doth not yet appear what
we shall be, but this we > know, that when he comes we shall be like him, for we
shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2). Stephen saw him as he is. He must have
seen the Christ who exhorts suffering Christians throughout the book of
Revelation saying, “Be thou faithful unto death.” The vision was not only a
glorified Christ, but it was a picture of the glorified position of Christ. The
Bible says: “standing at the right hand of God.” This was evidence of a place of
power and of authority. When Jesus was upon this earth, he gave the great
commission to his apostles. He said, “All authority in heaven and in earth hath
been given into my hands.” Stephen gives testimony that he saw the Lord Jesus
Christ raised up to that position of power and authority which none of this
earth can possess today. This place of power is made clear in the second chapter
of the book of Acts by Peter when he quoted the prophet and said: “Men and
brethren let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David who is dead and
buried, and whose tomb is with us unto this day. He being a prophet of God and
knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit’of his loins he
would raise up one tcf sit upon his throne ” Stephen tells us that Jesus is at
the right hand of God and he has the position with the power and authority that
Peter proclaimed. We can learn from the vision of Stephen that Jesus Christ is
ruling and reigning and that he lives at the right hand of God.

What are the results of Stephen’s death? Some people preach a better sermon in
death than in life. Often more people are converted after a good mother has
passed on than by her preaching while in life. We do not know how many people
were converted by Stephen’s death, but we do know that there was one man who was
impressed. They laid down their cloaks at the feet of a young man by the name of
Saul, and Stephen prayed for Saul saying, “Lord, lay not this sin to their
charge.” There is a good lesson on the power of prayer. We do not know how long
God takes to answer prayer. We do not know exactly how God goes about giving
answer to prayer. We do not knoAv every means that he uses, but we know that he
does grant the request of those who are his people. It took some time to answer
the prayer, but one day it was answered, on the Damascus road, when Saul saw the
resurrected Christ and heard him say, “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.”
Here we see how Stephen’s prayer was answered. Saul went into the city and
waited for the coming of a New Testament preacher who told him that he should be
baptized for the remission of his sins that he might become a Christian (Acts
22:16). So there was the result of Stephen’s death, and of his prayer.

Stephen’s death was one of prayer. His was a prayer for divine support and for
divine mercy. A man who thinks only of himself even in the hour of death and who
has no consideration for others, is not like Stephen. He is not like the Christ,
and he is not like the New Testament Christian should be. Stephen died the death
of faith. Like the apostle Paul who wrote: “I know him whom I have believed and
I am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him
against that day.” His passing was a death of certainty. He knew tvhere he was
going, and he knew ivhy. He was certain and not afraid. Socrates looked to his
judges and said: “I am going to die, but you are going to live. Which is best?
Maybe God knows, but I am certain man does not.” Here is an interesting and a
beautiful contrast between the feeling and the thinking of those who are pagan
with the philosophy of a saint. This death was one of love. We can not help but
see the strange contrast in the bloody hands of those who stoned Stephen, and
the calm heart of charity as he died. Then his death was a death of peace
because the New Testament Scriptures describe it as a sleep. What a beautiful
picture is the Christian’s sleep of death. If we want to die as a saint and be
received by the blessed Lord who stands at the right hand of God when his
faithful pass away, we will have to live as saints here.

“Asleep in Jesus! 0 how sweet, To be for such a slumber meet! With holy
confidence to sing, That death hath lost its venomed sting. Asleep in Jesus: 0
for me, May such a blissful refuge be! Securely shall my ashes lie, And wait the
summons from on high.”


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  CHAPTER 3: “ARCHEOLOGY AND FAITH”—J. D. THOMAS
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“Archeology and Faith”—J. D. Thomas Archeology and Faith Lecture by J. D.
Thomas, February 10, 1950, at Abilene Christian College (7:30 p.m.)

Let us read two verses from 1 Peter, the first chapter, “Seeing ye have purified
your souls in your obedience to the truth, unto unfeigned love of the brethren,
love one another from the heart fervently; having been forgotten again, not of
corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, through the word of God which liveth and
abideth.” The atheist is a man who has faith. Certainly he doesn’t know the
things that he accepts to be true. His faith differs from ours, but ultimately
and finally, the atheist has to take his leap in the dark. He finds information
that seems to him to justify his course of action, but whenever he has found all
the possible information there is, he yet has to believe; he doesn’t know. If he
knew, he would come around and convince you and me that there is no God and that
the Bible is not the word of God, and we would accept it—if he could prove it.
But he cannot prove it— he has to believe it. And we, of course, have faith—in a
different direction. It is impossibble for us ultimately to prove to the
atheist, that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. The religion of Christianity is a
faith religion, and I would point out that archeology is not going to prove
everything that we might like for it to. The atheist obtains a set of facts, but
we too have a set of facts—definite knowledge— that supports the faith that we
have. All faith, both the atheist’s and ours, is based upon testimony. And faith
in the Lord Jesus Christ is based upon the word of God. You can have a valid
faith in Jesus Christ, a faith unto the 'having of your soul, without ever
knowing anything about archeology! Yea, indeed, there were many faithful
Christians before archeology was ever known. It is the word of God, that has the
power to produce faith in the hearts of individuals. Don’t forget that. And
remember, that God didn’t say—“Here is the word of God, but you must run over to
an archeologist and ask him first if it is all right for you to believe these
things.” The word of God is sufficient, independent of all outside confirmations
and all external arguments, to produce faith. Your faith in God is not dependent
upon archeology or any other objective study, external to the word! . But I do
want to say tonight that archeology is the handmaid, yea, even the friend, of
faith in Christ. Archeology serves to confirm the Bible in many places.
Archeology, further, gives light or illumination for interpretation on different
passages—it clears up things—it tells us about the customs of people and helps
us understand the meaning of passages in the Bible that we didn’t know before.
Archeology serves a third purpose—that of correcting bad theories, and I will
give you an illustration of this point before we are through. Strictly speaking,
archeology is a study of beginnings, or a study of antiquities. Strange to say,
the Bible itself is one of the most ancient things that we have, and to study
the Bible is really to study archeology. But critics and atheists will not
accept the Bible, for some reason, as valid evidence. They challenge it, though
they will accept almost any other ancient thing as valid evidence. This is
obviously nothing less than atheistic prejudice. In studying archeology I would
like to first explain something about the history of excavations, and the
inter-pretation of these excavations. Archeology calls itself a science, and in
a way, it may rightly do so, yet there is much the archeologists claim that is
not provable and cannot be demonstrated. Many people who are archeologists make
subjective judgments. That is,- they guess. But if we recognize archeology as a
science, and to a degree I say we can do that, we need to realize that it is a
very recent science. There had not been any excavating done at all, you might
say, one hundred years ago. Sixty years ago, in 1890, Sir Flinders Petrie made a
discovery that gave opportunity to date the various remains of cities that are
found in Palestine. This method that he discovered is based on stratigraphy and
typology. “Stratigraphy” indicates that the ancient cities were built one on top
of the other in layers or strata. You may have heard of Dr. Schliemann’s
excavations at Troy, the first city excavated in which it was found that one
city was built on top of the remains of a former city. But he didn’t realize the
significance of such a find, and it just so happened that Petrie, while digging
in a mound in Palestine in 1890, happened to find a certain piece of pottery in
a certain stratum that was similar to a piece of pottery that he had seen in
Egypt, where he had done a great deal of excavating, and of which he knew the
date. He assumed, of course, that the date was the same for this newly found
pottery. And in the excavating of that mound he found that cities were built on
top of remains of former cities.

We recognize that sometimes a city burned down and people did not inhabit it
again for a while but when they rebuilt it, instead of clearing out the rubbish,
they just filled in and built a new city right on top of the old one and the
place forms a mound, growing constantly upward. Sometimes they find ten or
twelve or even fifteen layers of strata of different cities in one mound. We
naturally assume that the oldest city was the one on the bottom, and the most
recent one on the top of the mound. Pottery, and other man made artifacts, are
found in these different strata, and frequently coins with dates on them are
found. Perhaps you find enough to determine a “type” of pottery, and there were
many pottery types, and these types changed frequently, somewhat like automobile
models do today. If you should find today, somewhere in a strange place, two
1929 model Chevrolet cars, you would be pretty certain that they both would date
about the same time, knowing the fact that we have all types of varying models
of automobiles in different times. Pottery and its use, and the fact that there
was so much of it and there were different periodic styles and designs, has
given the clue to dating. This we call the science of. “typology.” We recognize
that it is not infallible, to be sure, and as a matter of fact, archeologists
themselves will admit that you cannot date closer than perhaps one century, with
pottery. But in general I think it is justifiable for us to accept the relative
dating based on pottery types and upon stratigraphy. But now, after Petrie
determined this possibility in 1890, it was thoroughly studied, and pretty well
determined to be sound, before the first World War, but it was not until after
the first World War, whenever Britain had the Holy Land under mandate, that the
country of Palestine became really accessible for excavation. Britain arranged
for and made it easy for people to excavate and to study in Palestine and a
great deal of work was done in the period between the wars, and especially
before 1936. Only since 1936 or 1937, up to the present time, which we note is
only about the last twelve or thirteen years, has there been enough real
evidence come together, for analyzing, putting together, and drawing conclusions
from the many excavations and finds to date. So, whenever we say that
archeology, as concerns the land of Palestine and the study of the Bible, is a
recent science, we mean it is almost like the atomic bomb: there is a change or
new development that comes almost every day. It is practically a valid statement
to say that there are many Biblical scholars, people that are called scholars
today, who are not aware of the actual effects that archeology is having on
their particular field of interest. In the strata of the cities one thing that
we ought to point out is that there are sometimes gaps in occupation. A city was
destroyed, like Jericho, and was not rebuilt for several centuries later. And
through the study of pottery, and with the knowledge of the certain artifacts
that should be found in certain strata, they are able to prove the fact that
this site lay unoccupied for several centuries, as the case may be.

We realize that there is a good deal of “glamour” in the study of archeology.
The person, however, who goes to Palestine and excavates, comes to realize that
there is a whole lot of work needed. Much painstaking effort is required, and
then often one doesn’t find anything significant. But when it is all said and
done, I feel that there is yet good reason for the study to have some “glamour,”
and some appeal, even for us who are interested in the Bible as the Word of God.

Let us mention here a few of the confirmations that archeology has given, to
information that we find in the Bible. Archeology has now located the most of
the Biblical sites—ancient towns and places mentioned in the Bible—and
practically all of them, have been definitely located and proven. With respect
to the destruction of ancient Jericho, I would read to you a quotation from the
Westminister Historical Atlas: “The center of interest naturally lies in the
Canaanite city, the fall of which is described in Joshua, chapter six. About
1500 B. C. the city was provided with a strong double fortification of brick.
The evidence of violent destruction was clear. The walls had toppled over down
the sides of the mound. The base of the outer wall had shifted and the debris
gave evidence of a terrific conflagration and earthquake. Houses were filled
with burned remains, including charred roofing beams, onions, bread, wheat,
barley, oats and dates/’1 It is only fair to say that archeologists are
disagreed as to the date of this fall of Jericho. Some think it could hardly fit
the time of Joshua and the conquest of Palestine, varying from it about a
hundred years or so. The main excavator of Jericho, however, and some other
prominent archeologists maintain a date for the fall of Jericho that is very
near the Biblical date. The fact of the conquest of Canaan by the Jews after
they left Egypt and came through the wilderness-wanderings period, and came over
Jordan into the promised land, is now well established and really unquestioned.
We have in Numbers 20 mention of the King’s Highway, east of the Dead Sea, over
which Israel came. And recently the King’s Highway has been discovered. As we
come on into Canaan we find that beginning from Jericho, the order of cities
captured by the Israelites as they went about conquering the territory, fits in
with the natural terrain of the hills, so that it is most reasonable that they
would take each certain one in the order that the Bible lists it as taken. In
the cities of Bethel and Lachish and Debir, we find evidence of violent
destruction, dating in this time. So you see, the Biblical account of the
conquest is supported by this destruction of these several cities, which
accounts are mentioned in the Book of Joshua. We also find at this same time
that new Israelite towns began to dot the hill country, and these towns are
clearly different from the Canaanite towns which were left standing and also
from the towns of the Philistines. This information, it seems to me, is very
positive.

We find in 1 Kings 9:19; 1 Kings 10:26 reference made to the fact that Solomon
had many thousand horsemen—twelve thousand horsemen, and fourteen hundred
chariots. And these were stationed about in certain cities over his empire,
probably for military purposes, but in Megiddo his stables have been unearthed.
The date of the strata in which they are found, fit the time of Solomon, and
they prove to be quite elaborate structures, and definitely are for the purpose
of the keeping of horses and chariots. There is room in these stables at Megiddo
for 3.50 chariots and for 450 horses. In books of archeology you can see
pictures of reconstruction of these finds, as well as of the actual excavations.
It has also been established that during the time of the reign of David and
Solomon we have a period of prosperity in the land and the strata of the cities
all over for this time show a greater degree of prosperity during that period.
Whenver we have, prosperous times today, we have better automobiles, finer
furniture, (homes and such like, and back in that time people spent more money
on their pottery, jewelry, and other things that are found in excavations. There
are many trinkets of value that are found in these strata and the evidence of
prosperity is clearly there for this period. On the other .hand, during the time
of the captivities, whenever the armies from Assyria and Babylonia were keeeping
the land of Palestine under subjugation, we do find evidence of the lack of
prosperity.

Over in Corinth, Greece, they have found an inscription on a lintel, which is
the stone that goes over the door of a building, which reads ‘'Synagogue of the
Hebrews/’ It is not far from the main street of Corinth where this was found,
and it is quite likely that it is from the very building in which Paul preached,
and which was “hard by the house of Titus Justus.” Again, in Isaiah 20 and verse
1 there is a mention of a “King Sargon” from Mesopotamia, and for years and
years that is the only mention of him known in all human history, and many
people claimed that there was no such person, but archeology has now found even
his palace. In Ezekiel 14:14 we have reference to certain men of wisdom of old
time: Noah, and Daniel and Job. But if you remember, Daniel was a young man in
the time of Ezekiel, both being in the captivity in Babylon, and critics have
argued that it is rather strange for Ezekiel to classify Daniel as a wise man of
ancient times. But now we have the Ras Shamra tablets, which are Canaanite
texts, concerning people who lived up in Phoenicia and the northern part of
Palestine, and there are multitudes of these texts—hundreds of tablets, and they
mention a certain wise man, a sage by the name of Daniel, and no doubt he is the
individual that Ezekiel had reference to rather than the young man who was
contemporary with him. As to illumination that archeology furnishes for better
interpretation of certain Biblical passages, we note an in-scription in Delphi,
in Greece, that gives us the definite date, when Gallio became “proconsul of
Achaia.” He is the man before whom the Jews took Paul for trial, as recorded in
the eighteenth chapter of Acts. He is dated as being there in 52 A. D., probably
about the middle of the year, perhaps July 1 in 52 A. D., and that would show
that Paul, inasmuch as he was there eighteen months, according to this record,
to have arrived in Corinth the first time in about January of 50 A. D., and this
gives us our first probable specific date for that period.

We read in 1 Corinthians about the eating of meat sold in the “shambles,” meat
that had been sacrificed to idols; and in the ruins of ancient Corinth we have
the word “makkelon,” which means market place, and is the Greek equivalent of
our word for shambles or meat market, and archeologists have located these
market places. You might wonder about the keeping of meats, in a market at that
time, but a very interesting thing found there is that from springs up in the
mountain about a mile or so out of the city, they made underground tunnels and
brought the cold water down through the city; and right over this tunnel of cold
water, the shops were built. Right at the back of the shops they had wells, and
they could put these meats or any other perishables down in the wells and keep
them cool for a while. This is an interesting sidelight. Another interesting
discovery is the Oracular Shrine that has been unearthed in Corinth. People went
to consult the oracle, or to have the heathen god to give them an answer to a
certain question, and we find a shrine there in the middle of the city of
Corinth that served that purpose. This shrine was a small building fully
enclosed, except the front door; and it had a little water fountain bubbling up
right in the center. This water was bubbling up from one of these underground
tunnels from the mountain springs, and of course the spring was higher in
altitude than this outlet, so that the water would flow through the fountain,
overflowing into a basin and making a nice decorative effect. It then flowed
into an outlet tunnel that went under the floor and out down to a lower level,
and emptied from a spout in a retaining wall. But the excavation of this shrine
has found that not only was there a tunnel through which the overflow water
could pass out and away from the building, but there was also another tunnel
right by the side of this one large enough for a man to crawl in. Thus a man
could crawl right up under this water fountain; and there was a hole there into
the shrine room. When a person came in and asked his question of the god, there
was, then, someone there who could hear the question and would speak out through
the hole, an answer. And so it is true that these men actually “consulted the
oracle” and got an answer to their life problems. Now it so happens that there
was a trap door down where this man crawled into his tunnel; it was covered by
the same style of architecture, so that it couldn’t be detected. In use it moved
to one side, and on the inner side of this false door there was another door
that was kept locked, and they discovered an inscription nearby warning people
on penalty of fine and punishment to stay away from that area. All of this
information aids us in understanding the use of the word “oracles” in the Bible.
My early teachers of Bible used to tell me that the word “oracles” means simply
the utterances of God— God has spoken unto us. But whenever we see what these
oracular shrines were back in that time, and what they meant to these people,
and the fact that they could have a problem in their life and go and consult the
oracle and get an answer to it, we recognize that when Paul says that the Word
of God is the “oracles” of God, it seems to me to have a stronger meaning—that
it is God giving to you and me the specific answer to our problems today, to our
individual needs, if you please.

Archeology has, of course, unearthed a good deal of infor-mation that gives us
light on the life of people who lived in Bible times, in the papyrus documents
found in Egypt. Many non-literary papyri, such as business documents, wills, tax
rolls, tax receipts, appeals to the sheriff to watch out for somebody who has
been breaking into your vineyard, and all manner of details of life are recorded
in the papyri. People did not write them for publication, so they are of
especial value for insight into the life of the times. Many private letters of
great interest have been found, and the study of these papyri for a time will
help one to see that the people who lived then are just exactly the same people
that we are today, with the same emotions and the same great human problems. And
when we realize that the gospel is the thing that met their needs in a spiritual
way, it helps us to appreciate the fact that we also have the very thing today
for humanity’s needs, in the word of God. There are papyri known today that are
dated in every year of the first century A. D. There have been literally tons of
those documents found, and of course many are not even translated yet. For the
Old Testament times we have the Ras Shamra texts, or the Canaanite texts, that
we mentioned—hundreds of tablets. Also thousands of tablets in cuneiform have
just in the very last few years been unearthed in Mesopotamia at Nuzi and Mari
and other places, and these are giving light on the lives and customs of the
people in Old Testament times, the time of Moses and the time of Abraham.

There is a great deal of information now known in the way of textual materials
and textual aids for Bible study. The finding of the “Dead Sea Scrolls” in 194,7
is going to throw a great deal of light, I am sure, on the Hebrew language in
Old Testament, and probably with all the recent finds, we are going to need
revisions in lexicons and grammars and commentaries, which try to bring in all
of these new points of information with respect to the language. The Arabic
language is now in second place as far as comparative grammar is concerned. When
I went off to school in 1945, Arabic was required as a course for Old Testament
students for the purposes of comparative grammar. But since that time Arabic is
now put to one side, because we have something that is more contemporary with
the Hebrew language of the Old Testament, and in the Canaanite literature of Ras
Shamra there are many parallel passages, phrases, and words that throw much
light on the Hebrew of that period. In bringing this lesson to a close, I want
to talk about the greatest challenge that has ever come to the faith of
Christians. You know that to be “Modernism.” Modernism has destroyed for many,
faith in the Bible, and consequently, faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Modernism
is best expressed in “Wellhausenism,” which includes the documentary hypothesis
of the Pentateuch—claiming that Moses did not write the first five books of the
Old Testament, but that different men wrote documents and gathered them together
in the eighth and ninth centuries B. C. and later, which would be at least four
or five hundred years after Moses’ time, and thus these five books are not
dependable, and contain many errors of statement. During Mr. Wellhausen’s time
(1850-1880) there was practically no archeological information available.
Archeology as such had not really been born, and there were some very great
mistakes in this man’s knowledge, on which he based his theories. One of the
theories that Wellhausen had was that Moses could not have written the
Pentateuch for the simple reason that writing was unknown to the Hebrews in
Moses’ time. And that was what he actually thought. But of course you know that
we now have writing, an abundance of it, documents that go back even into the
third millennium B. C., past 2,000 B. C., and thousands of tablets dating
between 2,000 and 1,500 B. C. So writing and learning and literature was well on
its way in Moses’ time, and this man, of course, based his documentary theory,
partly at least, on that idea!

Again, Mr. Wellhausen held that Abraham was a fictitious character, and I have
myself sat in classes in the Old Testament under a Modernist teacher, who said
that Abraham was “possibly a tribebut certainly not an individual. I had another
teacher to tell me that they knew the Bible story of Abraham’s coming from Ur of
the Chaldees was fictitious, because they had dug up a lot of remains over in Ur
and hadn’t found anything about Abraham! An argument from silence. Of course the
Bible didn’t say that if you would dig at Ur that you would find Abraham’s name
all over the place, but the Bible did say that he was there. And they have
unearthed houses at Ur which date in his time. They have learned of the
Mitannians, the Horites, the Amorites and the Hittites, who formerly were just
mere names, like that of Sargon. Archeologists have found that the towns, which
the Bible says were contemporary with Abraham, were all actually there and
occupied in* Abraham’s day. I would like to quote here a statement from a man
who is probably the most eminent Palestinian archeologist in the world today. He
says, “Abraham, Isaac and Jacob no longer seem isolated figures, much less
reflections of later Israelite history. They now appear as true children of
their age, bearing the same names, moving about over the same territory,
visiting the same towns, practicing the same customs as their contemporaries.”
In other words, the patriarchal narratives have a historical nucleus throughout,
so you see, Abraham is not a fictitious character after all.

Another argument of Wellhausen that we want to note in closing, is also
concerning whether Moses wrote the Pentateuch. In this he says that the
information about the customs, habits, and the details of the environment that
are given in the Pentateuch, could not have been written by Moses, because they.
reflect 'ideas and customs and habits of people who lived in the eighth and
ninth centuries B. C. The patterns of thought were like those of people who
lived in this later time rather than the earlier period, and therefore, it could
not have been written by Moses. Now, the Modernists are having to retreat at
this point also. The Ras Shamra texts, mentioned before, tell of the same
deities, the same pagan gods, Baal, Ashtaroth, Beelzebub, Dagon, and so on, that
are mentioned in the Old Testament, with respect to the Canaanite religion. In
these texts we find also that the poetry of these Canaanite peoples is similar
to the poetry of the Hebrew Old Testament with regard to form, number of lines,
and the number of beats to the line, and so on. There are also many parallel
words and phrases. Critics used to argue that Miriam’s song could not have been
written by Miriam because in it she mentions “the mountain of thine
inheritance,” and they reasoned that this referred to Mount Zion and the temple
that was in Jerusalem—Solomon’s temple; and since it had that expression in it,
it had to be written in Solomon’s time or later. But in these Canaanite texts,
which were written actually in the time of Moses, we have found the expression
“the mountain of thine inheritance.” This is, then, a proof that this argument
was based altogether on a subjective judgment. The names of people in the
patriarchal narratives—Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, the sons of Jacob—all of the
commonly used names of that period of time fit in with the names of people that
are found in these texts, which date at the same time. And they do not fit in
with the names that people were using in the seventh and eighth centuries B. C.
This, then, is proof of the fact that the material in the first five books of
the Old Testament is actually material that was contemporary with Moses. And we
quote again from Albright: “Biblical historical data are accurate to an extent
far surpassing the ideas of any modern critical students who have consistently
tended to err on the side of hyercriticism.” This is a strong statement, from no
doubt the greatest Palestinian archeologist in the world in the present day.

What does all of this mean? It means that although people have told you in days
gone by that you could not believe the Bible, and that you could not believe in
the Lord Jesus Christ, because much of what is in the Bible is not the truth,
archeology is now able to tell you that these people are just making pure
subjective judgments, without certainty of what they are saying. How do we know
that they are making subjective judgments without a proper foundation? These
people claim to be “scientific,” and that is why they have been able to
overthrow the faith of many, in the past 200 years. They say that they are doing
it the scientific way—that they are dealing only in facts. But the truth is that
they get a feiu facts and then they spin a whole theory on a “perhaps,” on a
“possibly.” We have found that these men desire to overthrow faith, and they
will stand in their classrooms today and make bold and blatant statements, as
though these things were positively true; statements that really do affect the
eternal welfare of human beings, when in reality they are based, not on facts,
but on mere subjective judgments. The reason we know that they have done that in
the past is because we found that the statements they made were just not so. My
teacher, that I mentioned before, publicly stated concerning the Wellhausen
hypothesis, that critics of the Bible at one time have said that the truth of
the Wellhausen hypothesis is certain and final! But he now admits that “the
truths in the story are much earlier than the 850-750 dates given by
Wellhausen.” He says that there is much dissatisfaction with the Wellhausen
theory now by critics, though he insists that it is still “the orthodox critical
theory.” And he says there is some skepticism about whether the theory is true
at all or not. So you see that Modernism has gone to the end of its rope, and
now it is casting about to see where else to turn. And this man acknowledges
that they have gone to extremes—“that whenever you take one verse and assign it
to one document and then you say the next two and one-half verses belong to some
other document, you are just going too far.” But whenever you accept the theory
of Wellhausen, and then believe that some human being who is living 2,000 to
3,500 years after these things happened, has the infallibility to decide today
that one verse was written by one man and some other verse written by another
man, of course, you realize that you are making a god out of your critic—and
nothing short of it.

There is reason to have faith. There are facts to support it. The Bible has
stood and is standing the test of time. The word of God stands ever true and
ever strong to aid you to believe in Christ, to obey his will and to grow in
your faith and in his grace and knowledge. Are there those tonight who would
respond to the gospel invitation? We urge you to accept Jesus and obey his will
even now as we sing.


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 4: "THE CHURCH THE PROPHETS SAW"
========================================================================

"The Church the Prophets Saw" THE CHURCH THE PROPHETS SAW Lecture by E. R.
Harper, February 20, 1950, at Abilene Christian College (7:30 p. m.)

I want to thank Brother Morris for the things just said. I want to thank him and
his school for the invitation to come tonight and to enjoy this splendid
fellowship with so many fine Christian men and women and with our neighxbors and
with our friends who have gathered here. Truly in the providence of God we
should rejoice tonight. We live in the finest country upon this earth. We live
in a land where millions would love to live if they have an op¬portunity. We
live where we have freedom, where we have liberties, where we have the
opportunities of worshipping God, and that without being afraid. We live in the
land where we can have Christian education, where we can have Christian men and
Christian women to guide the destiny of the souls and hearts of our children. I
am truly grate¬ful, therefore, for the privilege that has been given to me
tonight to talk to you about the greatest institution this world has ever known,
the church of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. I approach the subject humbly.
As I look out upon this audience I see so many that I have known throughout the
years who are more capable of delivering the lesson on “The Church The Prophets
Saw,” than am I. But for our lesson this evening I am reading from Matthew the
sixteenth chapter, and as we read 'it we find the Lord saying this as he is
talking to his disciples having come from an extended journey in that country.
Beginning with verse thirteen it says, “When Jesus came into the coast of
Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the
Son of man am? And they said, some say that thou art John the Baptist, and some
Elias, and others Jeremias, or one of the prophets. He said unto them, But whom
say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the
Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto Jiim, Blessed art thou,
Simon Barjona; for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my father
which is in heaven. And I say also unto thee, that thou art Peter, and upon this
rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatsoever thou
shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on
earth shall be loosed in heaven. Then charged he his disciples that they should
tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ.” In this is the promise of the
building of the church of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. When I say to you
good people tonight, who are assembled here, that we have had much confusion
concerning this grand and glorious institution, I but speak that which all of us
understand and know to be the truth. When we talk about those ideas that have
been in the world and in the hearts and minds of men concerning the church of
Jesus Christ as an ‘‘after¬thought,” as a “substitute” for a plan that had
failed, I know that you understand such has been the teaching throughout the
world. Hence, tonight in my lesson, on the “Church The Prophets Saw,” if I can
humbly, I want the audience assembled here to know that we are not in a
substitute; we are not in a makeshift. We are this hour in the very thing for
which my Lord and yours came to this earth to establish. We are tonight in that
which the prophets saw and we are a part of that about which they prophesied.
And if I shall be able to establish that in your hearts this evening, then I
feel that our coming together shall not have been in vain. That you may see that
the prophets did see the church we are in, I am inviting your attention now to
the reading in the third chapter of Acts, verses 21-24,. The apostle Peter is
speaking upon that occasion, and in order to appre¬ciate this, we will have to
understand that which had taken place. They had come to the city of Jerusalem.
It was the day of Pentecost. They were there waiting for the Holy Spirit to
come. When the Spirit descended upon them, they began to speak as the Spirit
gave them utterance. This was noised about through the city. When the mulitude
came together, they heard these men speaking, every man in his own tongue. They
had never seen, neither had they ever heard anything like this. When they looked
upon these men and heard this, they began to marvel, and they were amazed. They
accused them of being drunk. The apostle Peter made known unto them, that these
men are not drunk¬en men. He declared unto them it is the “fulfillment” of the
prophecies of the Old Testament. He quoted the prophe¬cy of Joel showing that
these were the things that should come to pass in the last days. As they stood
before this great multitude they preached the first sermon in the name of Jesus
Christ ever delivered upon this fearth. Men heard that sermon, they were cut to
their hearts, and being cut to their hearts, convicted of their sins, they cried
out, What shall we do? There came the answer that has been ringing for nearly
2,000 years. The answer came from heaven that day. That answer was, “Repent and
be bap¬tized everyone of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of
sins.” You’ll remember that the record said, three thousand were added that day.
And thus the church of Jesus Christ, about which I am talking tonight, had its
birth upon this earth.

They had gone to the temple and as they were before the beautiful gate of the
temple Peter and John performed a miracle that attracted the attention of the
people. They came together. It was then that Peter was able to say unto them the
things that I am reading to you this night. In the third chapter when they had
gathered and Peter had commanded them to “repent, therefore, and be converted
that their sins might be blotted out,” he then went back to the prophecy of
Moses and it reads like this: “For Moses truly said unto the fathers, a prophet
shall the Lord your God raise up unto you like unto me.” He said, concerning
that prophet, “him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you.
And it shall come to pass that every soul which will not hear that prophet shall
be destroyed from among the people.” It’s the next verse that too many times wei
have overlooked; it is the nextVerse my friends, that will tell us definitely
that we are in that which the prophets saiv. Therefore, it is not a makeshift,
it is not a substitute. I bid you, therefore, to listen to it kindly. He said,
“Yea, and all the prophets from Samuel and those that folloiu after, as many as
have spoken have likewise fore¬told of these days.” Not of some other day, not
of a day down yonder in the far distant future when our Lord is to return, but
he said they foretold of these very days in which they were then. And he simply
meant they saw the day of Pentecost: They saw these multitudes as they became
con¬verted to Jesus Christ; and the prophets from Samuel, and those that
followed after as many as spake, said the Bible, foretold of these very days.

Reading* again tonight, and this time from the pen of the apostle Paul as he
writes to this great church in Ephesus, we hear him telling them how that by
revelation he was making* known unto them the things written in this book; and
said he I write it down that, “when you read you may understand my knowledge in
the mystery of Jesus Christ.” There was a time it was a mystery, but now it has
been revealed and listen to him; “Which in other ages was not made known unto
the sons of men as. it is noiv revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets.” My
friends, there ivas a time in the ages past and gone when they didn’t
understand, but the apostle Paul said now it has been re¬vealed. I wonder what
the thing was that had remained throughout the generations and centuries, a
mystery to the men of God? Is that not the mystery? In the next verse he said
this is the mystery. What is? That the, “Gentiles shall be fellow heirs and of
the same body and partakers of the promise in Jesus Christ and that by the
gospel.” In all the generations past and forever gone there had been a mystery;
the mystery has now been revealed; it has been revealed that it was in the mind
of God before he ever sent Christ to this earth, that the Gentiles and the Jews
were to be of the same body, and the body is the church (Ephesians 1:23). Hence,
the body of Christ, the body that existed in the day of Paul was that body, that
church, which God and Christ had in their minds before it ever began; before
Christ ever came to earth. As we continue to read we hear Paul saying “whereof I
was made a minister according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by
the effectual working of his power; unto1 me who am less than the least of all
saints is this grace given that I should preach among the Gentiles the
unsearchable riches of Christ.” But I beg of you hear the next verse in this
great discourse of Paul to the church in Ephesus as he says, “And to make all
men see what is the fellowship of the mystery which from the beginning of the
world hath been hid in God.” This mys¬tery was in the mind of God; it was not an
accident; it was not an afterthought; it was not a substitute for a plan that
had failed. My friends back yonder before the days when Paul wrote, this
mystery, though not explained to men, was in the mind and plan of God in sending
Christ to this earth. In verse 11 Paul says “To the intent that now unto the
principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the
manifold wisdom of God, according to the eternal purpose which he purposed in
Christ Jesus our Lord.” Ladies and gentlemen, if the English language can convey
anything, any idea to the minds of human beings, it must convey the great and
eternal truth that the church of our Lord was a part of the great eternal
purpose of God. Being therefore a part of that eternal purpose of God; being a
part of that mystery, which in other ages was not made known as it was then
revealed, the church of our Lord cam not therefore be a substitute, nor can it
be established as a substitute to take the place of a failure upon the part of
God to execute his original plan and purpose in sending Christ to this world. We
must conclude that Paul was not a Premillennialist but that he believed and
taught as do we in this generation, that the church of which he was then a
member was the “Church The Prophets Saw.”

PETER ALSO BELIEVES This time I invite your attention to the words of the
apostle Peter. Again I want you to see that these great men of God, all of them,
believed that the church of which they were members, and that of which they were
a part, was the very thing the “Prophets Saw.” There can be no doubt in our mmds
when we hear him say in 1 Peter 1:9-12 “Receiving the end of your faith, even
the salvation of your souls. Ot which salvation the prophets have inquired and
searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you” Mind
you not should come after the second coming of Christ, but “unto you,” those of
that day. But Peter makes it plainer as he continues to write, “Searching what,
or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when
it testified beforehand of the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should
folloio. Ah! My friends, this is the grave about which the prophets spake; this
is the salvation they sawT; here they prophesied about the death of Christ; here
they saw Calvary with Christ our Lord suspended; here Peter de¬clares they
prophesied beforehand of the “sufferings of Christ” and also of the “glory that
should follow” and that glory is the salvation of the souls of men in the church
oi the blessed Lord. Yea, that glory, my dear beloved friends, is that of which
we are a part tonight, the glorious church of of the Lord and Saviour Jesus
Christ, now no longer a mystery but a. living reality, revealed unto us by his
holy apostles and prophets. In the next eerse Peter says, “Unto whom it was
revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things
which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you
with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desired to
look into.” How men can read this and then declare that God’s original plan
failed and the church came as a substitute for this failure is beyond my power
of understanding. Here he plainly declares that it was “unto its” they did
minister the things which “are noio reported unto you.” It was not to be done at
some future date, at the second coming of Christ, but had then, at that time,
been revealed and they at that very moment were enjoying the salvation foretold
by the prophets. It was being preached, declared unto them by the “Holy Ghost
sent down from heaven.” If heaven did not know what was then taking place, how
are men to ever know? Yes, we, if Peter spake by the Holy Ghost sent down from
heaven, are in the “Church The Prophets Saw.”

JAMES TESTIFIES One of the greatest proof-texts to establish the truth of our
lesson tonight is found in Acts 15:13-19. They have assembled in the city of
Jerusalem to discuss the question of circumcision as related to the Gentile
converts. You know the story. Now after the great discussion of the salvation of
the Gentiles as given in verses 6-11 where Peter arose and said, “Men and
brethren, ye know how that a good while ago God made choice among us, that the
Gentiles by my mouth should hear the word of the gospel and believe,” we then
have this statement by James in verses 13-19, “And after they had held their
peace James answered, saying, Men and brethren hearken unto me: Simeon hath
declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a
people for his name. And to this agree the ivords of the prophets; as it is
writ¬ten, etc., etc.” Time forbids that we enter into this further, more than to
say here that James also declares that the Gentiles had been brought in and that
the “tabernacle of David had been set up” for that very purpose, verses 16-19,
and to this agreed the “words of the prophets.” He con¬cludes his argument by
saying “known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world.
Wherefore my sentence is that we trouble not them, which from among the Gentiles
are turned unto God.” Again inspiration de¬clares that what they were in then at
that time, was “What the Prophets Saw.” It was not a “substitute” for a plan
that had failed. “To this agree the words of the prophets.”

PETER AGAIN TESTIFIES In Acts 3:17-18 we have another statement that cannot be
answered by those who declare that any part of God’s plan failed. Peter says
“And now brethren, I wot that through ignorance ye did it, and did also your
rulers.” What had they done? In verse 15 Peter told them they had “killed the
Prince of life.” Was this in the plan of God? or was it a “substitute measure” ?
Hear him further, “But those things, which God before had showed by the mouth of
all his prophets, that Christ should suffer, he hath so fulfilled. Again in
verse 21 he says “Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of
all things, which God had spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the
world began.” Yes, my friends, this in which we are today, is the “church‘the
prophets saw.” Their prophe¬cies did not fail; they came to pass, every one of
them. THE CONVERSATION WITH CHRIST As our last scripture to show you that what
we are is not a “substitute for a misguided plan;” that it is not to “bridge the
gap from Calvary to Christ’s coming,” because God’s plan had to fail, I read to
you the conversation that took place between Christ and some disciples of his
after his resurrection, the record of which is found in Luke 24:13¬24. This is
on the road to Emmaus. His disciples were talk¬ing. He came to them and
overheard their conversation. Hear it now, “And he said unto them, What manner
of communications are these that ye have one to another as ye walk and are sad ?
And the one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answering said unto him, Art thou
only a stranger in Jerusalem, and hast not known the things which are come to
pass there in these days? And he said unto them, What things? and they said unto
him, Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, which was a prophet mighty in deed and word
before God and all the people. And how the chief priests and our rulers
delivered him to be condemned to death, and have crucified him. But we trusted
that it had been he which should have‘redeemed Israel: and beside all this,
today is the third day since these things were done. Yea, and certain women also
of our company made us aston¬ished, which were early at the sepulchre; and when
they found not his body, they came, saying, that they had also seen a vision of
angels, which said that he was alive. And certain of them which were with us
went to the sepulchre, and found it even so as the women had said; but him they
saw not. Then he said unto them, 0 fools, and slow of heart to believe all that
the prophets have spoken: Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to
enter into his glory? And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded
unto them in all the scriptures the things com cerning himself.” Now they begged
him to eat with them. They still knew him not. Just why I do not know more than
the Bible says, “But their eyes were holden that they should not know him.” As
he ate he made them to know that he was the Christ and disappeared from their
sight. (Then in verse 32 it says, “And they said one to another, Did not our
hearts burn within us, while he talked with us by the way and while he opened to
us the Scriptures?”

Friends, we go no further to prove that what we have today is that which “The
Prophets Saw.” Here Christ told them it was that which all the prophets from
Moses on, as Peter declared in Acts 3, had been telling them should happen. He
reproved them for their “slowness of heart to believe all the prophets have
spoken.” The same is true today, even in the church; they will not believe all
the prophets have spoken and thus we have our division; our hobbies that have
rent the body of Christ asunder in our generation.

We now have the apostles Peter, Paul, and James, to¬gether with the Christ
himself declaring that what took place back there, nearly two thousand years ago
was that which “The Prophets Saw;” that which “They Have Spoken.” It is enough
for me. I believe it. Do you? If not then you are forced to deny the Bible and
set aside the word of God and declare it false. No, we are not a “sub¬stitute
church;” we are not in a church “thrown in, to span the gap from the Cross to
the return of the Lord” all because God could not fulfill his promises made to
us by his holy prophets of old. They did “See the Church of Which We are Members
This Night.”

OLD TESTAMENT PROPHETS AND WHAT THEY PROPHESIED Seeing now that the New
Testament writers, together with the Christ, all spake of the things which were
then taking place as being that of which the prophets spake we are naturally
interested in knowing just what these prophets said would come to pass. If they
prophesied con¬cerning the church or the kingdom of Christ just where is that
prophecy and what was its meaning? THE TWO-FOLD MEANING If I can this evening go
back to their prophecies and establish this one truth, namely: that the prophets
had in mind the “two-fold idea” of both the “church and the kingdom,” then with
the testimony of Christ, Peter, Paul and James stating they were speaking of and
the apostles were in that very thing of which the prophets spake, I have
therefore proven beyond a shadow of doubt that the pre- millennialists are wrong
and the church in which we are today and of which the apostles were members
during their time, is the church of which the prophets spake; is the “Church The
Prophets Saw.” I intend to do just that this evening and I therefore invite your
attention to what the “Prophets Spake.”

2 Samuel 7:12-13 You will recall that Peter said in Acts 3:24 that “all the
prophets from Samuel and those that followed after as many as have spoken, have
likewise foretold of these days.” Hence we begin with 2 Samuel 7:12-13 where
Nathan said to David as recorded by Samuel, “And when thy days be fulfilled, and
thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which
shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall
build an house for my name and I will establish the throne of his kingdom
forever.”

Here we have the promise of the “kingdom’s being set up” which all Bible
scholars declare to be the “kingdom of Christ on David’s throne.” But in this
same connection it also says, “And he shall build an house for my name.” It is
my purpose tonight to show you that the expression “house” in these prophecies
refers to the “church.” Hence in this prophecy of Nathan to David, recorded by
Samuel we have the “two-fold idea” of “Both” the “kingdom and the house—the
church.” That we may see this is true I now turn to Paul’s letter to Timothy and
hear him say¬ing in 1 Timothy 3:15, “That you may know how thou oughtest to
behave thyself in the “house of God which is the church of the living God, the
pillar and ground of the ytruth.” Here the “house of God is the church.” If the
“kingdom,” in 2 Samuel 7:12-13 refers to the “Kingdom of Christ upon David’s
Throne” then the “House built for his name” can be none other than the “church
of the Lord over which he is the head.” Hence when Nathan looked down the stream
of time and saw the seed of David living upon this earth; when he saw the
“kingdom erected, set up” and given to the seed of David, after that Seed—the
Christ, had gone back to the right hand of God, he likewise saw the “house of
God—the church of the living God” existing at the same time. That this is the
truth no man can deny!

ISAIAH SAW THEM BOTH Our next prophet to speak in behalf of the truth of our
lesson is the grand old prophet Isaiah. In Isaiah chapter two and verses 2-4 we
have this reading, “And it shall come to pass in the last days that the mountain
of the Lord’s house shall be established in the top of the moun¬tains and shall
be exalted above the hills and all nations shall flow unto it. And many people
shall go and say, Come ye and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the
house of the God of Jacob: and he will teach us of his ways, and we shall walk
in his paths; for out of Zion shall £o foi'th the law, and the word of the Lord
from Jeru¬Salem. As understood by all scholars, mountain when used as it is here
used, refers to “governments.” That you may know this is true I would urge that
you read Daniel 2:34»35 where he shows the “stone cut out of the mountain became
a great mountain and filled the whole earth.” Then read verses 44-46 of this
same chapter and see that this stone refers to the “kingdom that is to be set up
during the days of these kings.” Yes, “mountain” here as used by Isaiah refers
to the “kingdom of Christ upon David’s throne;” and the same kingdom as spoken
of by Nathan. But at the same time there is the “house of the God of Jacob.”
Therefore, Isaiah saw not the “kingdom alone,” minus the church, the house of
God; he saw both the “house of God” and the “kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ.”
That this is true there can be no argument. It does not admit of argument. If
the kingdom here is the “kingdom of Christ” on David’s throne, then the “house
of the God of Jacob” is the “church of Christ” over which he sits as head.

I know therefore tonight that the church of which I am a member and of which you
are members is not a “substitute;” it is not a makeship; it isn’t to bridge the
gap made possible by the failure of God to fulfill his promises to us by the
prophets of the Old Testament. God did not lie; His prophets did not prophesy
falsely. “It came to pass” as they said it would. No wonder Peter said. The
prophets as many as spake from Samuel down, spake1' of these very days in which
he was then living.” They saw those days; they understood it to refer to those
tfery days; and they had in mind the glorious kingdom of Jes&S Christ, at which
tpme they “saw the called out of this world;” they “saw the church of our Lord
and Saviour Jesus Christ.”

MICAH AGREES WITH ISAIAH Time forbids a long discussion of Micah’s prophecy for
it is the same as that of Isaiah, almost word for word. He refers to the
“mountain of the Lord” and also the “house of the God of Jacob.” You will recall
that it says “it shall be exalted above the hills.”

These prophecies of Isaiah and of Micah forever kill every vestige of hope for
the “future kingdom advocates.” Here this “mountain of the Lord,” the kingdom of
Christ on David’s throne, is to be. established in the “tops of the mountains
and is to be exalted above the hills.” Here the “mountain” in which it shall be
established, and the “hills” above which it shall be exalted, are the “kingdoms
and nations of this earth.” Hence, the kingdom of Christ must be established
during the existence of these governmerits of this earth and not after they have
been destroyed. It is to be exalted above them that they may come into the
kingdom of Christ; into the church of the living God. Hence after the nations of
this earth have been destroyed there will be no need for the kingdom of Christ
for it is to cause men to say, “Come ye and let us go up to the moun¬tain of the
Lord; to the house of the God of Jacob.” Now why? “And he shall teach of his
ways and we shall walk in his paths.” Ah, friends, tonight this kingdom, this
glorious church of our Lord of which these prophets spake was to be established
during the governments of this world that they might be brought to Christ. Let
us exalt this “Church The Prophets Saw” by living lives that will lead them into
this marvelous kingdom of Jesus Christ. THE RELATIONSHIP OF EACH Just here let
me pause long enough to say this concern¬ing the church and the kingdom. If we
understood the relation that each sustains to the other we would have no trouble
in understanding this entire question. The proper understanding of the church
and the kingdom is a death blow to all premillennialists. The church simply
means the “called out of God.” The word from which we get church means an
assembly, a called out group. When applied to the Lord’s people it is the
“called out of the world of sins to serve the Lord.” Now the Lord did not leave
this “called-out number” without a system of gov¬ernment. He placed over them
the Lord Jesus Christ as their king. Hence the “church” is the group called out
to serve God and the “kingdom” is the government that rules over the called
out—the church. We see plainly then that the church, the called out, has a
government and that government is the “kingdom of Christ on David’s throne” and
Christ sits this night at the right hand of God as the “governor (Matthew 2;
Matthew 6, Acts 2:33, Hebrews 12:1-4), and as Lord of Lords, King of Kings, the
ONLY POTENTATE” (1 Timothy 6:15). We therefore thank God tonight that we are in
the “Church The Prophets Saw,” that we are the “King¬dom of Jesus Christ” as he
sits at the right hand of the Father ruling and reigning over us as the “called
out of this world to serve the living God.” The Kingdom Daniel Saw. In Daniel
the second chapter we have the interpretation of the dream of King
Nebuchadnezzar. There stood before him an image; that image, was a great image;
it was an image that represented the rule of the entire earth. He saw these
governments as they passed one by one until they came to the last and the last
of these king¬doms is the Roman Government under ihe Caesars. During this last
kingdom, that of Rome, Daniel said there shall be another kingdom and the God of
heaven shall set it up, for said he “And in the days of these kings shall the
God of heaven set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed, and the kingdom
shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all
these kingdoms and it shall stand forever.” This, my friends, was the same
kingdom of which Nathan spoke, to which Isaiah and Micah referred for there is
but one kingdom promised m all the Old Testa¬ment to the seed of David, and that
is the “Throne of David” promised to Christ Jesus our Lord. You can find no
other kingdom promised to the seed of David. Hence Daniel saw this kingdom set
up and “filling the whole earth” that was seen by all the other prophets. It is
the kingdom of which we are citizens; it is the. kingdom of which Paul spake in
Hebrews 12:28 saying “Receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved;” Daniel said
“That shall stand forever.” The Two Fold Idea in the New Testament. We turn now
to the New Testament. I want you to see that the same “two-fold idea” that was
in the Old Testa¬ment is also in the New. If I can get you to see that, I
believe I can establish within your hearts and within your minds the fact that
we are this mght what God had in mind when he sent Christ to this earth; that we
are the “Church The Prophets Saw—The Kingdom of Jesus Christ on David’s Throne.”

I now invite your attention to the statement mg.de by Christ in Matthew 16:18-19
when he said. “I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail
against it and I will give unto you the keys of the kingdom of heaven and
whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” Here we have the
same “two-fold idea” as found in the prophets. We have the proimse of both the
“church” and the “kingdom,” Christ being the author of the state¬ment. It has to
be right. It can’t be wrong.

ACTS, CHAPTER 2 We now turn to Acts, chapter two. It is the memorable Pentecost
day; it is nine o’clcok on Sunday morning, the first day of the week; the
Apostle Peter, together with the eleven, is speaking. He has told them of the
death, burial, resurrection, and exaltation of Christ at the right hand of God.
He has told them of his having been made both Lord and Christ. They were cut to
thei* hearts as the result of his sermon. I wonder why! Here is what he said as
he goes back to Nathan’s promise to David in 2 Samuel 7:12, “Men and brethren
let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and
buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day. Therefore being a prophet
and knowing that God has sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his
loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his (David’s)
throne.” Just what did he have in mind? Hear him as he says fur¬ther “He seeing
this before spake of the Resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in
hell, neither did his flesh see corruption.” Here we have the fulfillment of 2
Samuel 7 and Psalms the IGth chapter as it all referred to Christ Jesus our
Lord, the seed of David and the right¬ful heir to his throne.

Here we have the resurrection of Christ, we have the throne of David, and we
have Christ “raised to sit on that throne,” and in verses 33-36 it is declared
that he has “been exalted” to the “right hand of God” and shall “sit” there as
both Lord and Christ until his enemies have been made, his “footstool.” Now in
the last verse it says, “And the Lord added to the church daily such as should
be saved.” Friends, we have in this chapter, Christ raised to sit on David’s
throne, exalted to that position at that very hour, and also the Lord, while on
David’s throne, adding to the church. What could be plainer than this? It is the
same ‘‘two-fold idea” of the Old Testament prophets. Here they exist at the
“same time” to the “same people!” Yes, those in Acts, chapter two, are “The
Church and Kingdom The Prophets Saw” and no man can scripturally refute the
truth of this argument.

Acts 8:12 But this time we turn to Acts 8:12 and we shall find the same
“two-fold idea” of the church and kingdom. It reads as follows, “But when they
believed Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God, and the name
of Jesus Christ, they were baptized both men and women.” Can any one deny these
were citizens of the Kingdom? Of what kingdom? There was only “one ever
promised” and it was that of David with Christ, his seed, sitting as its king.
You find another; you bring the prophecy that tells of another! You find the
prophet who told of a “universal kingdom upon which Christ was to sit as the
seed of David before his second coming, which kingdom is not the kingdom of
David.” Find in the pro¬phets the two-fold idea of the premillennialists today,
that of the “universal kingdom of God with Christ sitting on a universal throne”
and the promise of “David’s throne with Christ sitting as its king after his
second coming.” Unless this can be done then their arguments must fall and their
position must be wrong. Show where in the Old Testa¬ment one single prophet ever
prophesied that Christ would die to sit and reign today on a “universal throne
of God” which throne is different to the “throne of David.” It can’t be done and
they go down in defeat. But we read in Acts 9:31 these words, “Then had the
churches rest throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria and were edified.”
They did what? “The church in Samaria had rest.” Yes, there was the “church” in
Samaria. Hence, we again find the “two-fold idea” of the prophets. We have here
in Samaria, at the same time, both the “kingdom and the church.” People became
members of each by “faith and baptism.” Yes, they too were the “Church The
Prophets Saw,” as well as the “kingdom of the Lord.” It can’t be wrong. It has
to be right. It is not some far fetched idea of a “universal throne” which has
been ush¬ered in to take the place of a failure of the part of God, either. It
is the “kingdom of which the prophets spake” in the Old Testament and everybody
should know it is. Find another kingdom spoken of by the prophets! If you can’t
then surrender your error.

Colossians 1:13-18 Turning now to Paul’s letter to the church in Colosse chapter
one and verses 13 to 18 we have a chapter that is too plain to be misunderstood
if we want the truth. Paul said to them, “Who hath delivered us from the power
of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear son.” It was
the “kingdom of Christ; it was the “kingdom of God’s dear Sonth at kingdom was
the “throne of his father David;” it was the “kingdom seen by Nathan in 2 Samuel
7:12-14; Isaiah 2:1-4 and Mi. 4:1-2; Matthew 3:1-4 and spoken of by Christ in
Mark 1:15.” It was not a substitute for a plan that had failed; it was not some
“universal throne” about which they speak. It was the “kingdom of God’s dear
Son” and that is the “throne of David.” But asks one, Brother Harper, this is
not the “Church The Prophets Saw,” this is the “kingdom.” Let us now read verse
18 and we hear Paul saying, “And he is the head of the body, the church; who is
the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the
preeminence for it pleased God that in him should all fulness dwell” But you may
ask, is this the “Church The Prophets Saw?” Read with me now verse 26 of this
same chapter and it says, “Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and
from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints; to whom God would make
known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which
is Christ in you, the hope of glory, etc., etc.” and in Ephesians 3:6 Paul
explains this mystery as follows, “That the Gentiles should be fellow heirs and
of the same body and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel.” Yes, it
is the same “mystery” of the generations of the prophets and in that mystery was
the purpose of Gcd to bless both the Jew’ and the Gentile in the church.

Hence we have the same twro-fold idea as that of the prophets. You have both the
“kingdom of Christ” and the “Church over which Christ is head,” to the same
people at the same place and at the same time. Again we see the church is not a
“substitute for the failure of God” as the “future kingdom advocates” are forced
to teach. It is God's purposes fully and completely fulfilled and not one thing
has fa’iled.to come to pass; “all has been fulfilled.” Find just one!

JOHN WRITES ON PATMOS—HE AGREES The last of which I call your attention on this
phase of our lesson tonight is John as he writes in Rev. chapter one. Here he
says in verse 9, “I, John, who am also your brother and companion in tribulation
and in the kingdom of Jesus Christ, etc." There can be no argument here as to
John and the “seven churches of Asia” being in the “kingdom of Jesus Christ.”
The only kingdom he wras ever promised was that of his father David. Hence this
must be the kingdom about wdiich the prophets spake. Here we have the “kingdom
of Jesus Christ” and John their brother in that kingdom. 'If this is not the
“kingdom Nathan spake about” then what kingdom is this and what prophet ever
told of this kingdom of which John speaks and calls, the “kingdom of Jesus
Christ?” Since Christ was only promised the “Throne of his Father David” and
none other, then it must follow’ that this is that kingdom for John says it is
the “kingdom of Christ.” But you may be ready to ask, is the church also in that
same section? I answer with verse 11 where John still writing about Christ says,
“I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last, and What thou seest write in. a
book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia, etc.” Yes, there
wTere the “seven churches in Asia” at that time. In chapter two of Revelation,
we have the beginning of the letters John wrote to these churches and we have
them named. If you will turn to the 19th chapter of Acts you will find the
beginning of the first of these churches, that of Ephesus. It was concerning the
establish¬ment of this congregation that Paul said in his letter to the church
at Corinth, 1 Corinthians 15:32 that he “fought with the beasts of Ephesus” that
the church might live. In Acts 19 we find that they believed in Christ,
surrendered John’s baptism, and were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
Hence this church began just like all the rest, by preaching the gospel and
being baptized that they might be saved. This done and we have the “church” and
the “kingdom.” Here as the other places we have the “two-fold idea,” that of the
“Church and the Kingdom.” The “church,” the peo¬ple who were called out of the
world to serve God; the “kingdom,” the government that ruled over them. We had
Christ as the “head of the church” and as the “king over the kingdom.” To the
same people, in the same place, and at the same time. Yes, truly it was the
“Church The Pro¬phets Saw” and that church was “The Kingdom of Christ” with
“Christ on David’s Throne.” It was not a “substitute for a plan gone wrong.” So
we must conclude that the church is not just a “vestibule” for the kingdom; nor
did the Lord “postpone,” “defer” the establishment of his king¬dom promised by
the prophets as Boll and others so teach. We are now and tvere bach there, the
“kingdom and the church” promised by Nathan, Isaiah, Micah, Daniel, John the
Baptist and Christ. There were no others. No wonder Peter said, “All the
prophets from Samuel and those that followed after, as many as spoke, foretold
of these days.” What they had said had come to pass and Peter, James, John and
even Christ, as we have read to you, have all so testified. Let us be done with
this “future kingdom” idea and surrender such men and stand for the truth.

CONCLUSION ON THE PROPHETS We now are forced to conclude that as we began with 2
Samuel 7 and close with Revelation 1, that we have traced the “two-fold idea” of
the “kingdom” and the “church” finding them to be to the same people, at the
same time, and at the same place. We found the “throne and king¬dom of, David”
and the “house for his Name;” the “moun¬tain of the Lord” and the “house of the
God of Jacob” and the “kingdom established forever” becoming a “great moun¬tain,
etc.” in the Old Testament. We have the “throne of David—the kingdom of Christ”
and the “house of the liv¬ing God—the church” in the New Testament, which
king¬dom “cannot be moved—and is to be delivered to God the Father. 1
Corinthians 15:24, at Christ's coming” and the “church which shall last
throughout all ages world without end (Ephesians 3:21; “which is to be presented
to Christ” (Ephesians 5:26-28). This being true there will be “no age” after the
“church age,” there will be no “kingdom age” after Christ’s coming, except
“heaven itself” which is “eternity” with God, or banishment from his presence if
we do not belong to Christ. Yes, we are the “Church The Prophets Saw” and we are
not a “substitute” and the Old Testament prophets were not false prophets and
all that God, by them, foretold came to pass... Do not be afraid nor disturbed.
Stand for the truth and against error. The Purpose op the Church as the Prophets
Saw It I pass from that tonight to another phase of the church; namely, the
purpose of the church as these prophets saw 'it. If we can see the destiny and
the mission of that institu¬tion, I believe it will bring us closer together. As
already stated by Daniel, this “stone became a great mountain, and it filled the
whole earth.” You and I tonight are members of that institution. We are a part
of that moun¬tain that shall go forth and fill the whole earth. It is going to
meet its difficulties; it going to meet men who will try to destroy it; it will
meet the beast who will try to take it from the face of the earth. As we face
such opposition we need to unite our hearts in love; we need to blend our souls
tonight as one man, as one institution, and as one heart. And thus, away from
all things that would hinder a united effort to go out in the presence of the
world and fight the enemy, we need to be bound together as Christian men and as
Christian women. This church now is to spread through¬out the earth, and it is
to cover the earth and all men are to hear the gospel of our Lord and Saviour
Jesus Christ. The apostle Paul said that it was for that purpose that he was
sent to be a preacher of the gospel of Jesus Christ. THE MISSIONS OF THE WORLD
I'd like to take you then tonight into the mission fields of this world. I’d
like for you to see the “mission” of this institution, the church. Fd love for
you to behold tonight the destiny of that church. Fd love on the wings of
imagi¬nation to take you to Italy. Fd like for you to see our mis¬sionaries in
Italy as they are bowred down in fear and as they are trying to be overcome by
the pope of Rome as he sits on his golden throne trying to rule and conquer the
world. Fd love for you to think tonight of the Padens who are there, far away
from us. They are going through the sorrows; they are going through the
heartaches; they are going through the tribulations. We sit tonight in America;
toe live tonight in the grandest country upon the face of the earth; toe are
here tonight without being afraid, yet our brethren at this very hour may be in'
danger of their lives. May I say to you good people this evening, this mountain,
this kingdom, this church about which I am talking, of which we are members this
evening, that insti¬tution is to go with the gospel into the ends of the earth.
I am made to wonder if your hearts have gone to Italy; I wonder if your prayers
have crossed the ocean to where these men are, and I wonder another thing: if
you realize this night the great danger, that is hovering over the free¬dom of
our own America? Do you know, and I speak of it kindly, yet I speak of it with
all the power of my being; do you know that the Catholic church defies the
world7 Do you know that our liberty stands this night in jepoardy? And do you
know that unless this kingdom, unless this church, unless this mountain, this
house of God that has been established here upon this earth; unless it unites in
the great effort of sending out with the gospel, that our liberties and our
freedoms shall be taken away from us? The Catholic church sits tonight happy in
the fact that we are - divided among ourselves and divided we cannot stand. But
united, brethren, there isn’t a poiver upon this earth that can take from us the
freedom that we enjoy this hour. When you go home this evening, when you get
upon your knees as you go to bed, you need to breathe a prayer that the pope of
Rome who dominates more than half the world, that his poiver might be broken and
the church of Jesus Christ, in one united band, without any division among us,
united in heart, united in soul, bound together in the spirit of Christ and
marching on to victory, may rescue the world from the power and domination and
danger of the pope of Rome.

GERMANY Let me take your hearts to Germany. I wonder if you have realized that
it is the kingdom, that it is this church the prophets saw, that’s to send the
gospel to the land of Germany? We have the Gatewoods, the Bennetts and others in
Germany. They are doing a marvelous work. But if Germany is ever converted, it
is going to be con¬verted by the “church the prophets saw.” If the gospel is
ever sent, it is going to be sent by the kingdom of Jesus Christ. They are
there, away from America. They have left the beautiful land of America. They’ve
gone into foreign fields; they’re sacrificing tonight that the gospel might be
carried to Germany. They are burying their dead in foreign soils; they are
weeping their hearts out while away from their loved ones, and in a foreign
country. Their babies sleep tonight in the soil over which our boys have gone,
and their hearts come back this hour I am sure, to their homeland—to this very
lectureship; yet they have been willing to make a sacrifice that I haven’t felt
able to make. They have been willing to make a sacrifice that you haven’t been
willing to make. They have been willing to go into a land where hospitals aren’t
as they are here. They have been willing to brave the mighty deep, going to
places where medicine can’t be had as it can here and where doctor’s can’t come
and protect the lives of their loved ones as they can here in our own land. And
yet we sit in America enjoying the blessings, enjoying the pleas¬ures, enjoying
the privileges of this great country of ours, not being afraid. We are letting
them suffer for the many things the church of our Lord needs to send to the
lands across the sea, that the gospel of Jesus Christ might go into their
hearts, which things the church here could send.

That’s the thing that Daniel saw. He was this mountain, the church, filling the
whole earth, and the mountain is the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. He saw
somebody carry¬ing the message of the Christ to the lost of this earth. Where,
in all this, he saw this generation, is yet to be seen. My prayer is tonight
that he saw us in Abilene, having a part in the greatest work the church has
before it since the first century.

BELGIUM We go tonight to Belgium, that brave country ravaged by war, and those
of you that heard Sister Noel when she told of her heartaches and the trials and
tribulations through which she passed; when in tears she begged for the house of
God in America, the church the prophets saiv, just to send them the gospel; and
we the people that the prophets saw, and we the church that the prophets saw,
let it fall upon deaf ears in most places, and tonight the church in Belgium is
suffering. She said, Brother Harper, one of the priests in my home town said to
me, “If you lived in the days of Joan of Arc we’d take you into the court square
and we’d burn you alive.” She answered back, “You can burn my body but you can’t
burn my soul!” My friends of the body of Christ tonight, we let too many things
hinder us, we let too many things come be¬tween us. Hearts that ought to be
blended together, souls that need to be united, and a church that needs to know
nothing but love and fellowship and mercy and compassion and perfect unity, too
many times is rent asunder by hobbiests, factionists, sin and worldliness, and
we fail to lift our eyes upon the harvest field and see the mission that was
given to the “Church the Prophets Saw.” If we could hear more pleas like that of
Sister Noel and could have our hearts touched with the tender message of such
sacri¬fice, the church of Jesus Christ tonight is able to reach the heart of
every nation upon this earth, and we are able to send the gospel to every soul
that lives, who is accountable unto God.

HOLLAND We come to Holland tonight. Those who have been over there say a
wonderful start has been made and yet they are crying for help. America says we
can't help. The churches say we have all that we can do, our budget is filled.
And yet when we look round about us and see the church buildings as they are
surrounded by automobiles, as we walk down the aisles dressed as kings and
queens, when we go home and sit down to a dinner a king would be happy to enjoy
and then say to ourselves that we have done all that we can do, it causes the
blood to chill in our veins. The hearts of people throughout the world are
looking to this institution, this church the prophets saw, and are saying, come
over .and help us for we are dying; we are lost and our children are 'perishing
without the blood of Jesus Christ. Ah! Brethren, let us open our hearts, loose
the pursestrings of our pocketbooks and send the gospel to them before it is too
late for them and us.

ENGLAND We go to England, to Scotland and come to Wales, Australia, etc., and
there are men here tonight who have been there. There are men who live there
that are visiting with us at this lectureship and they are our brethren. They
need not only our prayers; they need a united church. They need a united
brotherhood and they need a brother¬hood who can be touched and reached with the
burden of the lost of England, Scotland and Wales upon their hearts; and the
church the prophets saw should arise and become that mountain the prophets saw
and fill the whole earth. That institution should cease so many things that are
hindering us and we need to unite our hearts and hear these cries and send the
gospel to the ends of the earth.

CHINA I would that I had time tonight to come to China with its teaming millions
overrun by communism. If we had sent more men to teach the Christianity that we
know, they might not be overrun by communism.

JAPAN I would that I had time tonight, as others have done, to speaR to you
about Japan, a fertile field for the gospel, where the church is being
established and where men are going with the gospel of peace to make Christians
of men who once were our enemies.

You can go south of the border, you can go into Canada, you can go to Cuba, you
can go to the dark continent of Africa, on into India and throughout the ends of
the earth and the “Church the Prophets Saw” is the only institution that Christ
placed upon this earth to send the story to all the world, of a loving Saviour
who died for the sins of mankind, to lift men out of sin and bring to them the
forgiveness of their sins, that they might live eternally in the presence of
God. Talk to me tonight about the churches of Christ having touched the hem of
the garment! There are too many things that hinder the people of God. As I look
over this audience I see men that have been preaching the gospel for many years.
They are my personal friends. I know their hearts, I know they are human, and 1
know thev make mistakes, but they love the souls of men. I know if they could
live their lives over they would many times do things differently. I know I
would, but we’ve done the best we could. We need, this night, in the mercy of
God and m the goodness of God, to realize that we are the “kingdom of our Lord”;
that we are “The Church the Prophets Saw.” We are that church and we need to
breathe a prayer and say, Father, forgive us of our mistakes, overlook our
little¬ness that too many times you have seen in us and get away from us all of
the things that would divide us as brethren, and unite our hearts as one, upon
the truth and the truth only, and march on to victory. The church of Jesus
Christ tonight is the only institu¬tion in the world that can meet the pope of
Rome, com¬munism, infidelity, denominationalism, and sin, and drive them to the
utmost ends of the earth and meet every argument that they can possibly present.
The church, brethren, is a glorious institution; it isn’t something that you
need to be afraid of, but with the spirit of Christ motivating us and with unity
characteristic of us and with a love for the souls of men burning in our hearts,
there isn’t anything that we can’t accomplish with Christ our captain and our
king leading us on into fields of activities. THE FINAL DESTINY May I then bring
another thought tonight and that is, the final destiny of this institution that
has been established in the city of Jerusalem, that kingdom over which Christ
reigns as our “King of kings and Lord of lords.” It’s the “destiny” of this
institution that makes it so marvelous and that brings such joy to our hearts.
If it didn’t go beyond the grave, there would be no use standing here tonight.
The institution of which I am a member and for which I am speaking, and that is
gathered here, the mem¬bers of that church individually have helped to make
possible this marvelous institution in which we are gathered tonight. An
institution for which we are grateful; not a perfect institution, because it is
led by human beings, but an institution that has touched the hearts, that has
touched the homes, that has lifted up the hearts of many children who have been
here. My children sit here this evening. I have three who have been to Abilene
Christian College, two of whom have graduated, one now a freshman. I have a son,
Paul, who will enter some day, the Lord willing. I have said publicly, may I say
it again, money couldn’t buy tonight what the institution has meant to my
children. If a man were to say to me, Brother Harper, if you will go back five
years ago to Arkansas and there begin where you were, rob your children of the
opportunity of sitting in Abilene Christian College, and being led and directed
by men who love the Lord and let them be subjected to the things they had to
endure in the schools of Little Rock, and let them live and die, robbed of what
they have enjoyed here; the world laid at my feet tonight would hold no
attraction. I do not mean by this that the school is a perfect institution. But
I do mean that it means that to my children, and it can mean that to yours. We
must keep A.C.C. both pure and sound. I thank God that as a member of the church
I can beg you fathers and you mothers to let’s do that and just remember this,
after awhile the destiny and the glory of it is going to be ours to enjoy. When
we turn tonight to Ephesians, we find Paul talking about this grand and exalted
institution. Paul said Christ is the head of it. In chapter five of his letter
to Ephesus, he said not only is he the head of it, the church 'is in subjection
to Christ and he said he loved it and he gave himself for it and he bought it.
Then he said Christ cleansed it and sanctified it; now why? “That he might
present it unto himself a glorious institution, without spot and without
wrinkle.” Ah, my friends, the destiny of this institution, the destiny of this
church that the prophets saw is to be presented unto Jesus Christ without spot
and without wrinkle. It is to be presented to him a glorious church, a holy
institution. And then finally in 1 Cor. 15 and verse 24 Christ is to deliver the
kingdom unto God the Father and throughout a never ending eternity, you and I,
are to live forever and forever in the paradise of God. That’s the destiny;
that’s the victory of the “Church the Prophets Saw.” That’s why tonight it is
near and dear to my heart. That’s why I am happy tonight that I am a member of
that institution. That’s why we beg you to become a member of the church of our
Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Tonight, there may be sonie precious heart who is
not a member of the church. You may never have obeyed the gospel and when time
shall be no more, and death shall kiss your eyes to sleep, and you take your
departure out into the great eternity beyond, it may be that you will not be a
part of this glorious insti¬tution. If that is your condition tonight, then
while we stand to sing, we invite you-to come believing in Christ and obeying
the gospel of our blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 5: “THE CHURCH IN JAPAN AND INDIA”—E. W. MCMILLAN
========================================================================

“The Church in Japan and India”—E. W. McMillan “THE CHURCH IN JAPAN AND INDIA”
Lecture by E. W. McMillan, February 21, 1950, at Abilene Christian College (9’30
a.m.) In the onset of this address I would like to share the opening remarks of
Brother Smith when he made ref erence to the high privilege which is ours on
occasions like this, to come from far places in America and abroad, and to
assemble m a place of this sort that, together, our hearts may blend as we
worship God. While he was speaking, I thought of our freedom as American
citizens and as members of the Lord’s church. In the full rights of these
freedoms, we have met here to worship God, inspire each other, then go home
resolved upon greater service. There is no greater privilege. I am exceedingly
grateful, unwilling to use the word “honor” though there is honor attached to
the present responsibilities. I feel humbled in the presence of God and in your
presence. To whatever extent there is an honor in this opportunity, the greatest
part of it is the honor of being a servant to you who are kind enough to be
here. To whatever extent I might fail in that service, to that same extent I
would be untrue to the trust reposed in me. . It is encouraging to know that
hundreds of gospel preachers are in this audience. I am past the days when the
glamour of place and prestige has any kind of a gloss for my attention. In the
remaining years of my life there is one holy desire, and only one. That desire
is to make some kind of a contribution that is worthwhile. Throughout this
audience there are gospel preachers with the same noble aim. Some of you are
younger; some of you are older, but through and through that is the structure of
your spirit. Just being a member of a religious fellowship with that holy aim is
one of the highest privileges that God ever granted.

Brother Morris worded my subject, “The Church in Japan and India.” Such a
subject could be painfully dry or glamorous and impractical. All of us would
pray that this lecture may be void of superficial glamour, and that it may
linger in memory as a simple recital, humbly given, of some great truths which
inspired us.

We live in a great land. We also live during a most encouraging progress of the
church of Jesus Christ. But prosperity of every kind sometimes blinds the
judgment. Prosperity feeds the pride which always “goes before a fall.” As this
lecture unfolds the opportunities in Japan and India; and especially as the
enchanting story of progress is told, duty dictates that all of us shall be
humbled under the trust reposed in us, that we rejoice in the progress being
made, and pledge ourselves to the largest possible use of our trust.

Two years ago, standing here, I told you about oppor-tunities that existed and
the hopes for the use of those opportunities. I told you about an excited,
frenzied people in Japan, who were pleading for a share in Christianity, which,
to them, had made America what it is. Today I am standing here looking back over
two years, to tell you what has taken place since that time. Japan is not so
frenzied today. India is not so frenzied. Japan and India are more deliberate.
Japan especially is settled in a saner mind now, at times arguing, always
inquisitive and deliberating, exercising its own judgment. Men are standing up
in our assemblies and saying, “I do not believe that, and here is my reason for
not believing it.” They are no longer a dangerous opportunity; they weigh values
and make their choices on an intelligent basis. This lecture, therefore, is
about a new Japan: not about opportunities which we hope will be used, but about
what has been done and is being done. The church in Japan two years ago had
eleven struggling, small, discouraged congregations. Today we have a total of
thirty-three congregations, most of them active, pulsating, thriving,
enthusiastic groups, planted in four sections of Japan. The total membership on
this day of 1947 was around 250, the best that we could know. Today there are
between fifteen hundred and two thousand living, active, enthusiastic, working
Christian men and women. A total of preachers in Japan two years is said to have
been eleven, most of them not preaching much. But today we have not only these
eleven preachers, most of them more active than they used to be; we have
seventeen student young men such as you have in schools) like this, who are
daily taking their education in a college that is standard, studying the Bible
as a part of'that education, and going out on the Lord’s day to preach the
gospel of Jesus Christ. It is a common sight, from the campus of Ibaraki
Christian College, to see young men on foot, or on bicycle, or train going with
sermon in heart and Lord’s supper in hand to serve small groups whom they
baptized during revival meetings last summer.

These congregations are scattered over four states. One group is in Shezuoka,
140 miles southwest of Tokyo on the shore of the ocean. Shezuoka has five
congregations. That is where Miss Hettie Lee Ewing and Miss Sara Andrews have
done most of their work. Miss Andrews is there now. We need at least two
Christian families from the States to go there and give leadership. Fifty miles
southwest of Tokyo is Otsuki, in Yamanashi Ken. “Ken” is the Japanese word,
“Prefecture” is the English word, “State” is the word we use in this country; so
let’s just be American and say “state.” Yamanashi state. Yamanashi is the place
where a man said two years ago, “Tori- zawa is a town of 4,,000 people, without
a doctor, without a nurse, without a store for medicine, without a building of
worship within ten miles. I am the only Christian in this town or in this state.
If missionaries could come here we could take this country for Christ.” That
little story was told in a dozen places, or more, and it finally struck fire
over here in Hamlin. The elders of Hamlin said, “We’ll take that part of the
country for our responsibility.” Ed Brown and Edna are there today, supported by
Hamlin and Anson. They graduated from this school last June, as you know. Soon
Bill Carrol and his wife will go, under the direction of the good Sears and
Summitt church in Dallas, to join the Browns in labor. Money is already in Japan
for the building of a house of worship and a home for the missionary. Bill will
carry the money for his home when he goes, and they are to sail, come summer. In
the town of Otsuki, the church numbers now nearly one hundred Christians; three
doctors are in the church, having returned from medical college the last two
years and been baptized. In Tokyo and Yokohama we have three congregations. One
of them is the congregation that Brother and Sister McCaleb worked in for a long
time. Brother Saito, a native Japanese, converted from Presbyterianism, is the
preacher. They have a membership of around fifty. In Yokohama, there is a
congregation of between seventy-five and one hundred, where Brother E. A. Rhodes
is preaching and teaching’. Then, there is the more newly started work of
“Central Congregation” in Tokyo, where Brother 0. D. Bixler is the leading
influence. Associated with him are three other American couples, working in a
downtown area. More about that a little later. The most aggressive and fastest
growing work is in the state of Ibaraki, a hundred miles to the north of Tokyo.
There we have thirteen missionaries. R. C. Cannon and his wife, Joe Cannon and
his wife, Logan Fox and his wife, Harry Robert Fox and his wife, Charles Doyle
and his wife, Virgil Lawyer and his wife, and Dr. Campbell, on leave*of absence
from George Pepperdine College, teaching mathematics in our College, and a Bible
Class on the Lord’s day. Whereas in 1947, we had four struggling congregations
in Ibaraki, we now have twenty-two. At that time, we had 125 members, now we
have between a thousand and twelve hundred. We then had four Japanese gospel
preachers, and not one single missionary, we now have thirteen missionaries,
five experienced Japanese preachers, and seventeen student preachers, who are
either interpreting for American missionaries in daily Bible classes and on the
Lord’s day or they are themselves going out on the Lord’s day preaching. Here is
a little amusing and promising incident. Two of those young preachers live in
the home of R. C. Cannon and his wife, receiving their education and their
training at the expense of the Cannons. A short while ago Saito San said, “Mr.
Cannon, I am going over here to my regular appointment Sunday, would you help me
a little bit?” And Carrol helped him get his sermon up in good shape. Face
radiant at the breakfast table Monday morning following, Saito San said, “I
didn’t preach the sermon you gave me Saturday.” He explained, “Well, I was
riding along the way Saturday going over and I heard a conversation right in
front of me; a man from my prefecture was talking about farming. He said, we
have to have the right kind of soil, the right kind of seed, and we have to
fertilize, enrich, pulverize, and cultivate ground; and we have to nurture the
plants in order to produce a good crop. I thought of the parable of the sower:
it was a better sermon/than the one I had.” So, he added, “I just got up Sunday
morning and I told the Japanese the trouble with some, of them is that they are
wayside soil, harden in heart.” His further recital indicated that he preached a
good sermon. But his initiative and originality is what impressed me. Probably
he had a better sermon than he had borrowed, because it grew out of the
fertility of his own life, and that always improves a sermon. We are growing
that kind of preachers over there. Last year we held 23 meetings in Ibaraki; 354
were baptized, and a letter the first of January said 25 were baptized during
the cold month of December. The total baptisms during 1949 exceeded 400 in
Ibaraki. However, it is estimated that every story has a “but” in it. When a man
says, “but,” you understand he has driven down a stake and he is going to say
something different. I have to say “but” in this story.

If the work in Japan is to succeed permanently, it must retain the confidence
and the respect of the brethren in the States, it does not deserve to succeed
unless it maintains that confidence. And if it retains that confidence it must
remain in harmony with the Bible. I speak not only my sentiments today, but the
sentiments of the missionaries that are in Ibaraki state. They expressed the
same convictions to me. We all believe this, not only in order to retain your
confidence and support, but because it is right. We recognize the fact that
harmony with the Bible consists not in generalities but in very definite
specifics. At this point I am obligated to correct something that I said here
two years ago. It was said then, that Japan knows nothing about certain false
doctrines that are taught in the States. I told you that because I had been
informed to that effect and believed my informant. I told you that it would be a
tragedy to introduce premillennialism in Japan, believing the Japanese minds not
ready for premillenialism. I believed it would be a tragedy to introduce it if
it had not been introduced, and I believe yet it would be; But when I told you
that Japan knew nothing of premillennialism, I was wrong. I believed I was
correct, but I was not. I learned last summer that I had been wrongly informed.
I am not saying that anybody intentionally misled me; I have no way of knowing
about that. I am setting myself right because you are entitled to know the
truth. Pre-millennialism as a doctrine is well known throughout religious
circles in Japan and has been well known for years. It has been taught in some
measure in Tokyo and Yokohama the last three years. It has become necessary for
us to correct the belief of one of our own brethren in Ibaraki state on the
subject. We have deemed it wise to fully inform the Japanese brethren working
with us in our school in' Ibaraki state on these matters; we have enlightened
them on the whole issue of premillennialism in the church in the States, and
have given them what we believe is the truth upon the subject.

Two years ago, you were promised an honest report on all these developments
when, and if, they ever came: I am giving you that report now. In giving these
facts and corrections, I am occasionally accused of trying to restrict religious
liberty; but it seems to me that all of us at times are too sensitive. Some of
us probably have been too quick to criticize and probably some of us have been
too sensitive toward criti-cism. We have constructed a number of glamorous
statements. We have talked about “religious freedom” and “religious liberty.” I
do not believe, and I have never believed, that criticizing a man for what he
believes is a restriction of his religious liberty. Paul talked about stopping
the mouths of some men in what they teach; he was not restricting their liberty.
He merely recognized that.his right to oppose equalled others’ rights to teach.
Others had the right to express their conviction and he had the right to say
their mouths ought to be stopped. Now, when a man today criticizes another man
for what he taught, he is not restricting that man’s liberty. He is just
correcting what he believes is error. If that correction is a restriction of the
other man’s liberty, his criticism of my opposition is a restriction of my
liberty. On that basis, nobody could correct anybody for anything. And that is
not preaching the gospel. So, let not prejudices and sensitivities deceive us
through the use of false terminologies. Every teacher and preacher should
willingly face the consequences of his teachings. Now, that others have
introduced premillennial teachings in Japan, it is being opposed by the
missionaries in Ibaraki, not because they want to please American brethren but
because they believe that way. Two years ago I urged the use of Brother Bixler’s
influence and talents in Japan as long as he main-tained silence on
premillennialism; but you were further promised all the facts if that silence
was not maintained. My course today is the fulfillment of that promise. But this
small beginning of premillennialism should not diminish our efforts to carry the
pure gospel to Japan. If possible, it increases our obligations.

Now, within a few days you will know something of an alteration in my
relationship to the work in Japan. I am happy to say that the Japanese work
today is at least one year ahead of what I had any right to hope a year ago that
it would be today. I cannot, therefore, justify going on and being a heavy
expense to the Memphis Church, trying to enlarge the annual support from others
for Japan. I have urged, therefore, a release from my responsibilities. That
release will come the first of September, at which time I shall go into other
primary responsibilities. But, my interest in, and devotions to, the work of the
Far East is not diminished. The roots of my life are buried deep in that work. I
am pledged to make speeches for it when the opportunity comes. And though I hope
that I shall never have to cross another ocean for anything, if the time should
come when it seems best, and when my new responsibilities would permit, I am
committed that I will make one more trip over there, for whatever goo'd I may be
able to do. I believe that the work deserves confidence and co-operation. It
will receive mine. The responsibilities in the school are well delegated there.
I know the hearts and the minds of the men that are in it. Brother R. C. Cannon
is the executive vice-president of the school and Brother Logan Fox is the
executive dean. Their responsibilities are well defined. They are as fine a team
of young executives as I have ever seen. They deserve your confidence and your
co-operation. They are honest, sincere, and devout. They deserve your Confidence
and support. The same is true of the others in their responsibilities.

Now, a word about India. Seventeen years ago a man of less than 150 pounds in
weight but with a heart as big and heavy as the world stood up in a Presbyterian
assembly and dared to challenge one point of Presbyterian practice. It was in
the city of Shillong. Shillong is the capital of the most eastern province,
Assam, reaching up through the K & J Hills toward Tibet. This, of course, caused
the man to be cast out of Presbyterian fellowship. Fourteen walked out with him
and they began studying the Bible independently. Those men and women from 1932
to this day have had no commentaries, no books of sermons, no religious
journals, no quarterlies and no anything except honest hearts and minds opened
before the pages of God’s word. They had no idea that anybody else in the world
believed what they came to believe, but this is what they have learned. (1)
Sectarian denominationalism is entirely unauthorized in the Scriptures, so they
cast it all aside and they call themselves churches of Christ. (2) Rules of
faith and practice written by men are wrong, therefore, they have discarded them
and they take the Bible as their only rule of faith and practice. (3)
Ecclesiasticism is wrong, therefore, they use congregational independence and
faith. (4) Instrumental music is unauthorized in the New Testament, and
therefore it will have to go out, and so out goes the instrument. (5) They have
discarded all forms of baptism except immersion for the remission of sins. In
some respects they are behind us; they have never caught the idea of the Lord’s
Supper every Lord’s day, but Brother Glenn Wallace well and easily showed them
the truth on that, and they gladly accepted it. But they are ahead of us in some
respects. One of them is this: the leaders in the eight congregations, with a
total membership of about 800 meet for Bible study at stated intervals two or
three days at a time. They walk barefooted ten to twenty miles to-those
meetings, as well as to preaching services on the Lord’s day. They study a given
subject that was assigned beforehand. They exchange their views about it. They
still have no book to help them but the Bible. They can come to an agreement
about what this book teaches, they go out and preach it; but if they cannot,
they break up and go home to study it more. No man preaches his individual
opinion on that subject until they can all come to an agreement that “this is
what the Bible teaches,” without doubt. So they have no issues, no parties. They
have no great church leaders; they have no followers. They have no hobbies; they
have no hobbiests. They are all one in Christ Jesus. As brethren over here have
been told this story, they rise up and ask, “What can we do to help them?” My
first answer is, “Leave them alone.” To me, they are the finest example I have
ever known in action that the gospel is the power of God and an all-insufficient
guide in faith. Yet, there is help that can be given. They need some books; but
books can be dangerous, as well as helpful. We also can take their four
preachers off their secular jobs and let them give full time to preaching. Money
is available to support them, and that is going to be done. The college church
here paid my expenses from Japan over there and back to Japan in order to make
the investigation. It is is perfectly logical and right that they should take
the lead in receiving and sending the money on; that money is waiting, ready to
go, and a letter from India says that the men are ready to start. So, in India
within a few weeks, we shall have four men giving all their time to preaching
the gospel. What will happen later remains to be seen. But that is the story to
the present.

Now in closing, allow me to offer some very poiuted observations on the work in
the Far East concerning its needs, reasons for success, and suggest some things
for a better understanding among us in America. First of all, I pay a tribute to
the missionaries that have gone to all foreign fields. I was deeply moved last
night by what Brother Harper said along that line. I doubt not the sincerity of
brethren who have referred to those trips as pleasure trips; but let me suggest
kindly that you take some of them. Nobody wants to rob anyone of that pleasure.
Those missionaries over there are not on pleasure jaunts, my beloved. They are
there under an honorable trust. When a man and his wife go to Japan to stay five
or ten years, work there on from two-fifths to a half of what they would be paid
in America for less work; and when today, in addition, undergo the many
hardships in-volved, there are not on a pleasure trip. I pay a tribute to the
men and women who have gone and have stayed. I do not deserve the title of a
missionary. I a?n not a missionary, have never been a missionary. I have only
been a visitor on mission fields, and while there have been given the very best
that could be given there. I was given the best of transportation; no limit set
on cost for my comfort. But my hat is off, and my heart is fervent in
thanksgiving, for the men and the women who have had the love of God in their
hearts to leave home and friends and go there to serve as missionaries.

There is another group of noble men that we too often overlook. They live over
here. One of the primary differences in the church today in comparison with
twenty to fifty years ago is in the leadership, called elders. There has come a
marvelous improvement the last twenty years in the churches of Christ. Fifty
years ago they were built around McGarvey, Lipscomb, the Campbells, Stone and
other such men. Today, congregational work is built around the Bible, under the
decisions of a group of honorable men, called elders. There is no longer a
preacher, thank God, who can lead the church off into the wilderness. In each
independent congregation, there is a group of godly men who, for the love of
service, free of charge, are at the helm of the direction of things. These men,
like old man river, go moving along toward a great destiny. They are farsighted,
they are making long-range plans, working day and night for the love of service.
These men are planning and directing great services. Thank God for them. There
is not a more noble thing in the whole world than a godly man, who is worthy of
the title, ‘‘elder of the church,” or a good Christian woman that lives with him
as a wife and shares his life nobly. There is not a more worthy, valuable, or
potent factor in the church than a man or a woman like that. Leaders of that
kind have developed in the church. They have vision and are bringing these
dreams into reality.

Then, throughout the membership of the church, there are godly men and women who
have made money. They know they will not be able to take it with them when they
die. They cannot preach, but they will have stars in their crowns because they
supported those who did preach. They consider their money a matter of trust from
God. All the way, from the widow that washes to the people who have struck oil
on their land, they are saying, “Here is my money; use it for the salvation of
the world/’ Brother Morris made an announcement last night that he thought was
true, but it just wasn’t as he put it. He said the only appeal that is going to
be made for money during this lectureship is that Thursday night collection. He
was wrong; I am asking you for money today. I want some money. I do not want any
of that special collection. You just make up your mind to double what you gave
last year to it, then you will still have some left. There are some men and
women around here with money in the bank who have not decided where to give it.
I know a very good place you can give it to. I would like to get some $100
checks; and everybody else around here that talks about a field of need would
like to have some money too. Now, Brother Morris knows me. He knows that is not
a veto of what he said, and if he were not quite so modest he would stand up out
in the audience and say “amen.” I know his heart. But allow me to urge you,
friends, it is going to take more money; that is needed very much; and it will
be needed for growth in the years to come. Though I am taking myself off the
payroll of the Memphis church, I am not taking my heart out of the mission
effort. Don’t take your money out of it.

Five minutes more. Let me give a word of caution. The most significant factor in
the influence that trains church leaders today is what we call Christian
Colleges. We have about a half dozen of them throughout these states. I was
amazed in the extensive travels of the last three years to meet so many students
from my Bible classes in Abilene Christian College years ago. I am tempted to
estimate that 90% of the leading influence in the churches of Christ throughout
these United States has been thus trained. It is- equally true of the
missionaries at home and abroad. Does not that say something? To me, it says
that the colleges are making large contributions to the spread of truth
everywhere; it also says that colleges must continue to watch their teaching and
training work. I’ve never been afraid that the schools would try to dictate to
the congregations; 1‘m not afraid of that now. I think they know better than to
try to do that. These elders that I have talked about are men that are not going
to take that. Nor, do I believe they want to do that; our colleges have men that
are devoutly anxious to make the right contributions there. But a word of
caution is still in place, for others will be carrying on when we are dead. We
must see local church work and mission work fifty years from now and give our
present training a direction which will promise security then. With little
exception, congregational work goes apace with its local leadership. But those
leaders are trained largely in the Bible classes of Christian schools. And the
much more serious truth is that those teachers must secure their advanced
degrees in schools whose teaching is either sectarian or atheistic, often both.
I am not casting stones: I was also trained in such schools. I am not speaking
against any person. I am only trying to give a message that will stand in the
Judgment. The men and the women who sit before other teachers to be taught for
their doctor’s degrees—the men and the women who come back to teach Bible
classes in schools like this one—they are the custodians of souls in the world
to come. There is no greater responsibility than that. We have the sacred
responsibility of a trust from God, to see to it that we stand true to that old
Book. Brethren, it is a serious trust. I have no words with which to describe
the joy that leaps in my heart when I hear men like Brother Thomas, stand-ing
here Sunday night, LeMoine Lewis, who stood here yesterday morning, and Frank
Pack, going to stand here tonight; Homer Hailey and Paul Southern, who are
leading- influences in the Bible faculty of this school—not to say anything of
these men with grey hairs and more years that are soon to pass on and look back.
I have no words with which to describe the joy, after they return from this
advanced training when I hear them speak out of an untarnished faith, an
unadulterated life—a life that still believes in God, and still believes in the
Bible, and still believes in Christ, in the old fashioned way. My brethren, God
never wrote but one book. That Book and its message are sacred to me. I do not
remember ever to have thrown away a Bible. I dislike the mutilation of a single
page. God knew how to write it; He knows how to preserve it. I am acquainted
with the arguments about “textual criticisms” and “historical introduction.” I
do not have the answer to all questions, nor a solution to all problems.

I do not have all the arguments that will satisfy the atheist—I may not have one
to satisfy him; but, to me, the Bible is still the book of God. I do not have
one single red mark through one single line or one single word in my book. I
believe it—I believe it from lid to lid. This I know: every time the spade of an
archaeologist has upturned new evidence, it increased the reasons for believing
what atheists formerly said was not true. And when God gets ready, he can upturn
something that will make living fools out of all the men now who dare to sit in
judgment on the inspiration of the word. I intend to die by that faith—I believe
every word of it. The importance of these factors becomes more impressive when
we face the mission work in foreign lands, not because the truth there is more
important there than it is at home, but because circumstances and demands over
there so much more frequently remind us of this importance. The heathen are
inclined to accept all the Book or none of it. -Sectarian teachings and their
deletions of the Scriptures are disgusting to their assumptions of what a
perfect guide should be. Churches of Christ, with their simple plea of perfect
faith and perfect unity have what Japan and others in foreign lands believe the
Christian religion should be. Not only that; we must see the church and mission
work in all lands in terms of what the church should be fifty years from today.
Since most of those missionaries are being trained in schools like Abilene
Christian College, too much emphasis cannot be placed upon the importance of a
training that will send them from home with an implicit faith in, the Bible as
the revealed word of God. I have every reason to believe that every Bible
teacher in this school believes that way. May it ever so be in every school
among us that claims to be Christian.

I do not understand the power that made the world, but I belive that in the
beginning God created the heavens and the earth. I do not understand the great
power that made a highway through the Red Sea, or through the floods of the
Jordan, enabling a million Jews to go home; but I believe the Bible story of
their journey. I may never understand the efficacy of a few drops of blood that
fell from the side of Jesus to cleanse the sins of all the world; but, Lord, I
believe that in his death, a fountain was opened for sin. I do not understand
how or why being submerged in the waters of baptism would wash a man’s sins
away; but, Lord, I believe “he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved.” I
do not understand how God can remember where the ashes of all men’s bodies lie,
or the power that can raise them to life again; but 1 believe that all in the
graves shall rise when the trumpet sounds. Yes, Lord, I believe thy word.
Brethren, whatever else we learn, whatever scholarship we may gain, our lives
must never waver from a simple, trusting faith. The Bible is God’s Book. We need
no other; and we must not delete it. The world needs men who believe it and will
preach it; men that are too big to be little about it, men that are too large to
be envious about it; men who believe it as a message for all the world and will
sacrifice to get it to them. And thank God that we see in this respect a dawning
light. The church of the Lord is now preaching the world around. I am glad that
I live in this age and can be a part, though a very small part, of that great
ongoing of God’s truth.


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 6: “THE CHURCH IN THE NORTHWEST”—L. D. WEBB
========================================================================

“The Church in the Northwest”—L. D. Webb “THE CHURCH IN THE NORTHWEST” Lecture
by L. D. Webb, February 21, 1950, at Abilene Christian College (3:15 p. m.)

Thank you, Brother Adams. Friends, it is a sincere pleasure for Mrs. Webb and me
to attend the Abilene Christian College Lectureship. It has been some nine years
since we have had the pleasure of attending one of these lectureship programs.
We have always been thrilled when we have had the opportunity to return and
associate with our Christian brethren and to hear the wonderful sermons and
lectures that stir our hearts.

It’s a joy for me to talk with you on the subject, “The Work of the Church in
the Northwest.” The Northwest includes a large area: Oregon, Washington, Idaho,
Utah, Montana, and Wyoming. Also I should include Canada and Alaska. There is a
passage of scripture in the New Testament that somewhat describes and depicts to
our minds the condition of the church in the Northwest today. At the opening of
this address I would like to quote that passage. Luke says in Acts 9:31, “The
church throughout all Judea, and Galilee, and Samaria had peace being edified
and walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit was
multiplied.” Of course, I would be too overoptimistic if I tried to lead you to
believe that the church ig growing as rapidly there as it was in New Testament
times; however, during the last “ten years the church has enjoyed a steady
growth. I went to the Northwest to preach the gospel eleven years ago. My first
work was with the church in Pocatello, Idaho. I was the only fulltime supported
evangelist in Idaho at that time. Otis Gatewood was the only evangelist
supported in Utah. There were a very few “full-time” evangelists throughout the
whole Northwest country. The church has made considerable progress during the
past eleven years, both in a physical and in a spiritual sense. I am not going
to talk with you about the outside problems the church is confronted with in the
Northwest because they are very similar to those the church is confronted with
here in the South. I want to confine my remarks this afternoon to three phases
of development within the church. First, the unity of the church.

I. Unity Among Churches Eleven years ago when I went into the Northwest there
was a lack of unity among the churches. There were many churches that did not
accept a man who had attended a Christian college or who believed in supporting
an orphan home. Many of these were influenced by Daniel Sommer and his paper.
These divisions have gradually decreased until now the churches throughout the
Northwest are working together in unity and in harmony. The past four years the
Central Church of Christ in Portland has been conducting some special fellowship
meetings the last part of December. We have seen the interest grow every year in
these meetings. This past year 28 congregations and 30 gospel preachers from
three states and Canada were present. The cooperation and the fellowship that we
are enjoying together in these meetings are certainly evident that the church is
becoming more unified.

Another example of this unity is the Puget Sound En-campment sponsored by the
Northwest church in Seattle, Washington. They have had some of the Texas
brethren who specialize in the organizational work of the church to attend these
encampments. Brother Otto Foster and Brother J. P. Sewell have delivered a
series of lectures on the work and organization of the church. Congregations
from many parts of the Northwest have attended these lectures and have
cooperated together to make such meetings possible. The lectureship that is
conducted each year in Caldwell, Idaho, is attended by many leaders, elders,
deacons, and gospel preachers from over the Northwest. I remember the first
lectureship conducted in Caldwell some eleven years ago; only about six or seven
preachers attended. This past year 25 preachers attended that lectureship.

Another evidence of the unity of the church in the Northwest was the great
Vanport flood that we had in Portland on May 30, 1948. Many of you read or heard
about it. I am sure that you know of the great disaster that occurred there.
Eighteen thousand people were left homeless within 40 minutes. A number of
people were drowned and possessions were destroyed. We saw evidence of unity,
brotherly love, and Christian fellowship in the cooperation! given by the
churches during the flood. When the elders of the Central church in Portland
decided that they would take the oversight of administering aid to the
flood-stricken people, the congregations in the Northwest rallied to our
support. The response was so great and so prompt that we are still amazed at
what was accomplished. Some churches telegrammed money to us, others sent food
and clothing. Quantities of food and clothing came in by truck and by train from
California, Texas, and other places. We turned the Sunday school rooms into a
relief headquarters in order to assist the great number of people who came daily
for help. Of course, brethren all over the nation cooperated with us in this
work, but had it not been for the splendid unity and cooperation of the
congregations in our immediate vicinity, we would have been without food and
supplies because of the great immediate demand. The Red Cross, the Salvation
Army, and the Army itself could not begin to supply the need, because they were
unprepared for such a great disaster. Through the assistance of you good
brethren down here in the South and from all over the country, some $15,000 were
distributed to needy families for medical supplies and for other necessities
that were demanding and pressing at the time. More than a train load of clothing
was given to these people. For the members of the church that lost their homes
or lost their possessions in the flood, we were able to make a down payment on a
home. A number of people own their homes today as a result of the church helping
them get the start during that great flood. As a result of the church’s helping
those flood-stricken people, we have seen a number of souls obey the gospel of
Christ. Some of the strongest and most active members of the church in Portland
today were contacted during the flood. Many have left Portland and this past
holiday season we received cards expressing appreciation for what the churches
of Christ had done for them during that disaster.

Recently I received a letter from Brother Boyd Field in Juneau, Alaska. Several
congregations in Alaska have asked him to secure the services of a gospel
preacher to conduct gospel meetings for them. We have six congregations in the
territory. Brother Field wrote and asked if I would be interested in coming
since the Central church is sponsoring the work in Fairbanks, Alaska. He states
that there is peace and harmony in the church throughout the territory.

I like to mention the good things about the church because I know that it
encourages people. Of course, we have our weaknesses, our shortcomings, and we
are diligently striving to overcome them; however, we need to rejoice and thank
God for the unity of the church in the Northwest, because it is a great blessing
to the cause of Christ.

II. The Leadership of the Church Ah, there is a great need for leadership in the
Northwest, because the churches are so small and few in number. It just thrilled
my heart last evening when my wife and I came through El Paso, Texas, and
started down Highway 80 toward Abilene, because in every little town we came
through we saw a church of Christ. We saw the church signs on the highway and we
saw the buildings on the highways; they are no longer on the back streets in
small buildings like they were ten, years ago. You can travel through the
Northwest and you may be surprised because you won’t see a church of Christ
building in every little town; you will do well if you can find one in the
larger cities. Some of our friends from Texas come out to Oregon, and they are
disappointed because the churches out there are so few and so far between. We
need to realize that the Northwest is still a great mission field. We have
hardly scratched the surface. We only have five small congregations in Portland,
and we need fifty-five congregations to have one congregation for every 10,000
people in the city. Had it not been for the relief work of the Van- port flood
and the benevolent work that the church did in adopting a number of children
which has brought publicity to the congregation, it is doubtful if the church of
Christ would be known in the city of Portland. As a result of the active'work of
the congregation many of the business men, lawyers, judges, and prominent
citizens of the city know about the good work and often speak to me of it. The
charitable and benevolent work that the congregation has been doing has gained
place in the headlines of our papers, and on prominent radio news broadcasts.
These things have been accomplished because of the efficient eldership the
Central congregation in Portland enjoys. However, leadership is lacking in many
churches throughout the Northwest.

Many times congregations here in the South will send an evangelist out into the
Northwest to establish a congregation. He preaches a few sermons, baptizes a few
people, and maybe the congregation will even go so far as to make a down payment
on a building. Then the sponsors withdraw their support and send it elsewhere,
thus leaving a little struggling group of Christians without an evangelist,
without eldership and deacons. Oh, that makes the situation difficult. These
brethren struggle along the best they can. Well, that’s the picture as it has
been in the past, but I’m happy to report that in many instances now the
churches are developing leadership and some of the congregations have a very
efficient and working eldership. Also the moving into the Northwest of faithful
brethren who love the Lord and lost souls has alleviated the condition of
leadership considerably. We have had a number of men who were well qualified
elders here in the South to give up their businesses, move into the Northwest,
go into business, and there work as elders of the church. It is a great thing
when men and women love God and love the church enough that they are willing to
do a thing like that. We have also had some fine evangelists to come into the
Northwest recently. Brother C. M. Cuthbertson who left his work in Amarillo,
Texas, has moved to Salem, Oregon, and is doing a splendid work. The church
building is filled at every service and people are obeying the gospel. Then we
have Brother Omer Bixler at Mosesi Lake, Washington, doing a splendid work there
in this growing mission field. Moses Lake is part of the one million acre
irrigation project in the Columbia River Basin now being developed. The arid
land will be watered from the Grand Coulee Dam and this will result in hundreds
of families moving there. His work is progressing and growing and worthy of our
prayers and support. Brethren Clinton Storm of Eugene, Oregon, Arlie Moore at
Cottage Grove, C. B. Henry at Bend, Oregon, and a number of other evangelists
have come recently to the Northwest to assist us in the Lord’s work, but we need
more faithful evangelists, elders, and deacons. Of course, it is the
responsibility of the church to develop this eldership and to train men for the
leadership. Sometimes brethren are disappointed when they move into our section
of the country, because they were elders down there, and they expect to come
right into the congregation and be elders in the Northwest. The preaching that
we have had in the Northwest during the last few years by faithful gospel
preachers has pointed out the Bible qualifications for elders and deacons. The
church has been greatly aided along this line by Otto Foster and others who have
come to preach and lecture for us. As a result of this preaching and teaching
the churches in the Northwest are no longer accepting just any man or hobbiest
for the eldership. Brother Channing mentioned that England had become a dumping
ground for all kinds of radicals and hobby riders as far as their literature is
concerned. Well, the Northwest in the past has not only been the dumping ground
for hob- biests’ literature but for the men themselves. We have had men come and
teach that there is no judgment, all kind of hobby riders, and men with other
erroneous theories. to promote. The churches are now becoming aware of these
things, and they are demanding of the leadership a high standard. They also are
demanding that they set the right sort of example. Brother Earl Smith, one of
the elders at the church in Portland, moved to Oregon a few years ago. He came
right in and took an interest in the work. The brethren saw that he seemingly
was a well-qualified man for the eldership. They got together and decided that
they needed more elders and asked him if he would serve. When it was announced
to the congregation, a large per cent of the congregation objected to Brother
Smith being an elder, even though he had served as an elder down here, simply
because Brother Smith used tobacco. The members of the church in the Northwest
demand that the eldership set the right sort of an example for children and for
all Christians, so they obpected to his appointment. Brother Smith said, “I have
used tobacco all of my life. I don’t know whether I can quit it or not. Just
give me a few weeks and I’ll do all I can to quit.” He went to the Lord in
prayer and through the help of God he was able to put it aside, and today he is
one of the most active leaders of the church anywhere in the Northwest serving
faithfully as an elder of the church.

Yes, in the Northwest Christians demand leaders to be examples. They demand it
of preachers, too. We are interested in having more faithful and loyal gospel
preachers come into the Northwest, but when you come we want you to live what
you preach. We want you to live the Christian life and set the right sort of an
example. I think you will find most of the congregations in the Northwest
demanding that you do. We also need leadership that has the determination to
stick with the work. Stable leadership! Sometimes we get men to come in to the
Northwest that do not stay very long. They come there for a year or two and
maybe the support falls off a little bit or the work doesn’t grow as fast as
they had expected, or they do not baptize a great number of people immediately,
so they become discouraged and back to the South they come. What we need is men
who will come with a determination to stay! Men who come to work and to build
the church regardless of what it takes, even if their support does drop off. We
need men who are willing to go to work with their own hands that the church
might progress if outside support should fail. Now an example of this is Boyd
Field in Juneau, Alaska. He and his wife went there six years ago to help start
the congregation. An evangelistic campaign closed with only four souls baptized,
but the Fields stayed to work with that very small congregation. They went along
just splendidly for a while, but finally the churches back here in the States
that were supporting them let their support drop off. Boyd Field didn’t pack up
his grip and come on back to the States. He just rolled up his sleeves, went out
there to a sawmill and got a job and went to work. And as a result of staying
with that congregation today they have a beautiful $15,000 building, about 35
members, and the other day Brother Field wrote that eight or ten outsiders are
present at every service. Not only that, their church building is so nice the
public schools have been using the basement in which to conduct a kindergarten.
It’s a fine building, a substantial building, and the work is progressing and
growing as a result of Brother and Sister Field’s stability. Other examples are
Robert Boyd and Raymond Skelton in Fairbanks, Alaska. Their support has dropped
off, yet they are staying right there with the church. The cause of Christ in
that vicinity is growing also.

III. Columbia Bible School We know it’s the duty of the church to develop and
promote its leadership, and we also know that it is the duty of the parents to
train up their children in the way that they should go (Ephesians 6:1-4). The
schools in the Northwest are much more worldly than the schools here in the
South, because there are more Christians in this part of the country. Now it is
the duty of Christian parents to see that their children have an education, but
that education should not lead them away from the faith nor destroy their love
for God and the Bible. Paul to Christian parents in Ephesians 6:4, said,
“Fathers, provoke not your children to wrath but bring them up in the nurture
and admonition of the Lord." Columbia Bible School was started in Portland,
Oregon, in 1947 in order to assist the home in its education of young people. We
saw much worldliness and infidelity being taught in the public schools and in
their textbooks. Young people who attend the public schools, especially high
school are required to dance. Dancing is one of the courses in the curriculum,
and all young people must take a gym class of dancing. We have lost many of our
young people to the world for they have become indifferent as a result of the
worldliness and extravagance learned in the Portland schools. A group of
Christian parents got together and said, “If we can’t have in the city schools
the type of school that we believe our children should have, we will establish
our own. We are going to give our children the right sort of training regardless
of the cost. We don’t want to see them lose their faith and drift off into
modernism and infidelity.’’ The other day while I was preaching in a meeting out
on the West Coast, a young man who used to be a member of the church of Christ
and also had preached some, came into the services and handed me a letter. He
had been taking some philosophy and education at one of the colleges. The letter
says, “I do not affiliate myself with any known organized group and I stand
solely as a child of God through and on the teachings of the only one who taught
truth, living truth and of himself was truth because he was God in man, Jesus of
Nazareth.’’ He believed that Jesus Christ was the only one that taught truth. It
further says, “I charge that some of the teachings of the apostle Paul and that
some of his commandments are at variance with the teachings of Jesus as recorded
in the New Testament.’’ Much of the education today destroys the faith in some
of our young preachers. This young man denies that Paul and Christ taught
harmoniously in the great plan of salvation, but contends that they contradict
each other. (See John 16:13; Galatians 1:1-12; 1 Corinthians 11:23 for the truth
about harmony between Paul and Christ). The purpose and idea in back of our
minds in starting Columbia Bible School was to help our children maintain their
faith in God, in Jesus Christ, and in the Scriptures as the inspired word of
God.

Columbia Bible School offers a high standard of education. All of our teachers
are certified. We teach from the state adopted textbooks but we teach those
things revealed in the textbook from the light of Christianity and do not teach
infidelity and evolution that are sometimes found in such textbooks. We have at
the present time the first eight grades. It is our plan to continue this
instruction on through high school and into college work. After spending eight
years bringing up young people in a Christian school, we do not need to turn
them over to infidels after they get into high school and college. We need to
continue their instruction that they might be firm, strong, and active workers
wherever they go.

Now some have criticized the work of Christian education by saying that young
people need to be exposed to temptation and sin and that teaching children the
Bible from the first grade up has a tendency to prejudice their minds and
hearts. My friends, such arguments are foolish, and they are just a fallacy. If
we wanted our children to be exposed to sin and temptation, we could take them
down to some cocktail lounge or beer joint and by just leaving them in there
they would get plenty of temptation and exposure to sin. The Bible teaches that
Christian parents are to nurture their children. They are to guide, shield, and
protect their children until they can grow up and become strong enough to
develop muscles where they can resist Satan, sin, temptation, and the
extravagance of the world.

Columbia Eible School, some have said, is just a parochial school. Columbia
Bible School is not a parochial school. Columbia Bible School is under the
direction of & Board of Trustees made up of Christian business men in the
Portland area. Columbia Bible School compared 'to a parochial school teaches
true historical facts and not a blind history; it does not teach tradition, it
does, not teach loyalty to some religious power in some other country. It does
teach our children good citizenship, it builds strong character, and it teaches
a separation between church and state.

Columbia Bible School is supported by tuition paid by the children and by
individual contributions of Christian people who believe in and are interested
in Christian education. Yes, we hope through the work of Columbia Bible School
to do a similar work to what Abilene Christian College has done in Texas. We
hope to do what some of our religious colleges have done in Tennessee. These
schools have been a great aid to the home in developing and preserving the faith
of our children and that’s exactly what we propose to do in the Northwest.

IV. Church Buildings I want to say just a few words about buildings. It was
mentioned a moment ago that the churches are building many new buildings. The
lack of adequate facilities has been one of the great handicaps of the church
throughout the Northwest. The cause of Christ is greatly hindered when there is
the lack of facilities to teach the word of God. We see throughout the country
many new buildings going up. There have been new buildings recently built in
Fairbanks and Juneau, Alaska; in Salem, Oregon City, and Newberg, Oregon; as
well as many other cities. We rejoice and thank God for the growth of the church
throughout the Northwest.

Columbia Bible School plans a new building, in which we hope to add our high
school and college work. Recently Columbia Bible School came into possession of
a large tract of land in the city of Portland. It seemed like it was just a gift
of God. We realize that under our present setup we did not have adequate ground
nor room to develop. We began to look around for a place to have a campus and to
build some buildings. We found a beautiful tract of land. Our blocks in length
and one block wide out on North-east 90th and Glison Streets in Portland. When
we began to look into the ownership of the land we found that the Portland
General Electric Company back some 40 years ago had fallen heir to the property,
but they didn’t know they owned it. The county had been using it some and
because of this use no taxes were paid on it whatsoever. We contacted the
Portland General Electric Company and Multnomah County and told them that we
wanted to use this ground for educational purposes. They said, “If you can use
it we’ll be glad to cooperate with you.” Because of the influence of the church
in the city through flood relief, through the adoption of children and other
things whereby the church was known in a favorable light, the county and the
Portland General Electric Company gave us a deed. A clear title to this tract of
land that would cost us approximately $20,000 has been received by the school.
We hope soon to build on this land a fine fire-proof modern school building.
Friends, we request your prayers in the work of Columbia Bible School and in the
great work of the Lord’s church throughout the Northwest. I am just thankful to
God that I’m living in this age. I thank God for the stir the gospel is making
throughout the world, not only in the Northwest, but in. Italy, in Germany, in
Japan, in the Philippine Islands, in Africa, and elsewhere. My plea is that we
all consecrate ourselves unto God; let us live and serve God and his Christ; let
us dedicate our souls to the cause of New Testament Christianity, because the
world is open and ready to receive the gospel of Christ if we’ll go with the
teachings of the Lord. Thank you.


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  CHAPTER 7: “THE CHURCH AND THE TIMES”—FRANK PACK
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“The Church and the Times”—Frank Pack “THE CHURCH AND THE TIMES” Lecture by
Frank Pack, February 21, 1950, at Abilene Christian College (7:30 p. m.)

I would like to open my remarks tonight by reading a passage from the word of
God. Our reading is found in Matthew 16:1-4.

“The Pharisees also with the Sadducees came, and tempting desired him that he
would shew them a sign from heaven. He answered and said unto them, When it is
evening, ye say, It will be fair weather: for the sky is red. And in. the
morning, It will be foul weather today: for the sky is red and lowering. 0 ye
hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs
of the times? A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there
shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas. And he left
them, and departed.” May God bless the reading of this portion of his holy word.

It comes to us on authority which cannot be said to be too reliable that when
Adam and Eve were cast out of the Garden of Eden, Adam turned to Eve as they
were leaving and said, “Dear, we are living in an age of transition.” There have
always been changes, and every age can properly be said to be an age of
transition, and yet I believe that there are certain periods in human history
that are decisive periods—periods that are crucial, periods that are of such a
character that decisions are made which affect human history for ages to come.
And I believe that the age in which we are living happens to be one of those
periods.

We are face to face in our time with twin instruments of self-destruction:
atomic power and germ warfare which can wipe out what we know as civilization.
Dr. Robert M. Hutchins, who is Chancellor of the University of Chicago, recently
declared that the United States has stockpiled enough atomic bombs to' blot out
every major city in the world, and that we have enough bacterial missiles to
destroy all of the citizens of those cities who would not be killed by the
atomic explosion. In a recent book Elton Trueblood wrote, “Millions are
fatalistic. They feel utterly powerless iff the presence of forces which they
can neither understand nor control. In spite of our proud achievement there is a
widespread sense that we are waiting for a catastrophe.”* When men that are in
high places talk to us in terms of this sort, we are made to feel that these are
decisive times. They are times in which you and I are confronted as citizens of
the world with some of the greatest problems and 'issues that have ever
confronted man.

We sit in the security and peace of this land tonight. We enjoy the blessings
and the freedoms which are ours as American citizens. And yet in the midst of
our world there is feverish preparation for war. There is increasing talk of
destruction, of warfare, of material power, until it is alarming to any person
that is interested in' the cause of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

Someone might say to me tonight, “Well, what has the church to do 'n thinking
about the times? Why should it be bothered with thinking about these worldly
things?” Dear friends, the church is a divine institution and it has a divinely
given message to be sure. Rut at the same time it is composed of men and women
who are living in the midst of time, immersed in the problems of time, and
confronted bv the issues of the human predicament, in which all find themselves.
With the message of the Lord that is desJgned to meet human needs, it will be
able all the better to advance to meet the problems of our age if it understands
in some way those times in which we are living. Therefore, in standing before
you tonight for a little while, Ld like to have you see with me some conditions
which I’m sure you may have recognized already. May we classify them in the way
a physician might give you the symptoms of a disease, for we are living in a
diseased world.

We have just come through a period of warfare and slaughter that is
unprecedented in the history of the world. We have, engaged in two global
conflicts that have shed so much blood that it is impossible for me to make any
comparison that is adequate. Human suffering, sorrow, disappointment, and
disease, and all that go stalking along in the train of war have been visited
upon the human family in a way that is unprecedented. We have seen not only
soldiers slaughtered by every device which the modern ingenuity of men can
invent, but also we have beheld civilian populations rooted out from their homes
and dwelling in concentration camps. We look upon cities that resemble
graveyards more than they do places where human beings have lived. We look upon
blackened earth and war orphans. Oh, can we ever forget, dear friends, those gas
chambers and those piles of human ashes where men by the millions were murdered
with planned intent? Can we ever erase from our minds those stacks of starved
human bodies that were piled up like so many pieces of stove wood, looking more
like demons from hell than like anything that resembles man made in the image of
God ? Slowly, carefully, and with evil plan and satanic intent, they were
starved to death because they happened to be in the way of the designs of those
who were ruling and ruining the nations of the world. Can we ever forget those
pictures of burned Japanese in the atomic explosions of Hiroshima and Nagasaki?
How can any one stand up and talk about the inherent goodness of man? Not only
has the war brought with it all of those things; in addition, it has brought
hatred spewed out upon this world like a terrible vomit until men have been set
at one another’s throats. Humanity (has lived and breathed the atmosphere of
hatred until in our modern times there is confusion, there is mistrust, there is
doubt, and men are set against men and nations are set against nations, and we
talk about “blocks” now— blocks of nations blocking each other and not exactly
knowing why we are blocking! Not only, dear friends, have we come through a
period of warfare, but also the church is faced with a general indifference in
the world, with an indifference that can be best described as a belligerent
indifference. When you talk to somebody about the church, quite often you are
met with this attitude: “‘I’m not interested in the church. I don’t care
anything about the church. I’m not concerned about the church. I don’t want any
of1 this ‘pie in the sky’ stuff that you’re talking about. I’m living for this
life— I’m taking care of Number One. I’m following along the way that I think
will bring me the most good.” It is that belligerent don’t care spirit that
meets you as you go out to try to pierce the armor that is put up by men and
women and get behind it to reach them with the gospel of our Lord and Saviour
Jesus Christ. Our world is a world in which the major interests are secular.
Ours is a money economy and a money world probably more than ever before in the
whole history of human civilization. Oh, men have always been materialistic, to
be sure, but the interesting thing of it is that today it is on such a
tremendous scale. It is boomed at us from so many different angles. It
encroaches upon us as Christians on every hand. We are confronted with this
secularizing, pleasure-mad, self-gratifying spirit all about us. Men are willing
to sell the moral life.of nations because of money. Men are willing for the sake
of dollars to tear down the principles of truth and right-living in the lives of
individuals. I walked into a drug store at Ballinger where I have been going and
helping the church this winter. In meeting the druggist who wasn’t a member of
the church, we talked a bit about just the general things that you would upon
meeting a man before giving him an invitation to come to church. In the meantime
there was a grown man who came 'in and bought some comic books. The druggist had
them laid out over on one side of the store. I said to the druggist, “You sell
quite a number of those?” “Oh,” he said, “Oh yes, and you ought to see some of
the stuff we are selling. Why you fellows don’t know what is going on.” Of
course, he was selling them—he was still getting money out of it—but he wanted
me to see some of the stuff he had for sale over there! So I took a look. I
found such comic books as “My Secret Love,” “My True Confession,” “Modern
Romances,” and others. These things are no longer confined to the magazines
written for adult consumption but are now placed in comic book form to influence
and mold young and impressionable minds. Do you know what kind of comic books
your children are reading? Do you know what kind of influences are shaping their
minds and hearts? This kind of literature goes into homes and is read by the
young with its damaging effect upon the fundamental principles of morality, and
then we wonder why it is that juvenile delinquency is mounting at an alarming
rate. This is just one illustration of what I mean in mentioning the secularism
of our times. Men are willing for the sake of making their dirty dollars to
stoop to any depths and to practice any kind of loathsome thing. It makes no
difference how the money is made, just so it is made! This is an age which has
refused to face sin. The idea of sin, it says, is an old-fashioned idea, a
hangover from man’s prehistoric past. Our times desire to call it by some other
name. We moderns speak of inhibitions, complexes, repressions, phobias, guilt
feelings, but don’t ever use that terrible word “sin” because that will make
some people feel that they are in a bad shape. And, interestingly enough, while
we have driven sin out the front door by our new psychiatry and psycho-analysis
and other forms of what is called the “newer psychology,” our age has been an
age that has sinned on a more stupendous scale, I believe, than any other age in
human history. I don’t see how a man, any man, can have the courage to stand up
in the face of the brute facts of our times and talk about the essential
goodness of humanity. Our times are times, too, in which intellectual sins are
widespread. Atheism is no longer popularized in academic circles alone; it is
fostered and featured by any number of different agencies and, instead of it
being merely confined to a group of college professors or a group of college
radicals who like to feel that they are somehow rebelling against the old order
of things, it has become the evangelistic faith of millions of people in the
modern world. Recently in the columns of the Atlantic Monthly, a magazine that
claims to have a very high-grade clientele, appeared an article written by W. T.
Stace, who is Professor of Philosophy at Princeton University, in which he
talked about our present situation. He said in that article that we are face to
face with a tremendous problem—we are face to face with our destruction. But, he
says, the interesting thing is that we cannot any longer as modern men believe
in God and we cannot hold to the principles that God has put within this world.
To believe in a personal God who has revealed himself in the Scriptures is
outmoded. There isn’t any such thing as any right or wrong as such. So here we
are face to face with a godless world, with God taken out of it. What are we
going to do face to face with our own self-destruction in such a godless world?
Here is all that he could give as an answer. We must all suddenly grow up so
that we can more or less try to handle ourselves in the situation and make our
way through because we don’t have any God upon whom to depend and to follow.
These ideas are popularized through wide circles. Communism has taken up
godlessness as one of its main articles of faith to present with a militant
fervor. Don’t let anybody fool you that even Tito isn’t working with all the
power that is at his disposal to wreck every vestige of any kind of religious
faith regardless of however perverted it may be in the country over which he
rules. We sometimes have tried to fool ourselves that he isn’t of the same
stripe and color as the rest of them, but he walks down the same path and he
presents the same evangelistic message. As this has been spread abroad atheism
has gotten down into the working classes. You’ll run into it among day laborers.
You’ll run into atheism now out in the rural sections. You’ll meet it on every
hand —this militant, this evangelistic preaching of a godlessness that is the
very destruction of all righteousness, truth, and morality in the midst of men.
Not only has atheism been widespread, but in the various churches, particularly
of the Protestant tradition, there .have come the teachings of what we call
“modernism,” or modern liberalism, under various forms. You hear a lot about
this word “modernism”—what is it? What is a modernist? What does a modernist
believe? A modernist can’t accept a miracle as such. He must explain everything
in terms of the natural categories of what he knows about science. He is a man
that cannot believe in any supernatural power that has had any influence upon
the course of man’s development religiously, or in the giving of the Bible to
him. He must account for the origin of the church of our Lord and Saviour Jesus
Christ upon the basis of processes — social processes — that can account for it
without any supernatural power, without any revelation from God as such. When he
talks about ’’revelation” he does not mean what you and I mean. He means that
this prophet or writer has gotten hold of some great idea. He has seen it just
as you can see mentally some great idea, and so he is “inspired” to write this
book just as you might be “inspired” to write a letter home. The book has
faults, it has limitations, and it has lots of things in it that one cannot
accept. Thus the Bible becomes almost nothing in the world but a scrapbook, or,
as one of them said, it is more like a museum of antique relics than anything
else. Modernism takes a certain view toward Jesus; that he was only a man—:a man
who lived in a backwoods part of a country in the corner of the Roman Empire, a
man that was so limited in his world-view, a man that was so limited in his
understanding that you can’t follow him as any model. And consequently, what
must be done with Jesus is just to take out from his teachings certain things
that are great principles and then leave the rest of it. He’s no standard or no
norm. As one of my professors said on one occasion, “We should junk Jesus if
necessary in order to establish a modern world-wide religion.” In other words,
we will take all the religions of the world—they’re all on an equality; God is
revealed in all of them, and God is revealed equally 'in all of them—and then we
will pick out of all of these what we want for a new world faith. That kind of
teaching has cut the heart out of religious faith in- our modern times.

I went to school with a young man who was a very bright young fellow. He was the
son of a famous Methodist preacher, and this boy had a struggle, a tremendous
struggle, as a student because of the fact that his father, high in the circles
of the Methodist Church, had aroused so much antagonism against himself due to
his stand for the fundamental principles of faith in the Bible and in the
divinity of Christ. Recently I came across a paper than the boy and his father
are publishing. They are believers in the inspiration of the Bible, in the
virgin birth. They are believers in Jesus Christ as revealed in this Bible. They
do not agree with you and me on many things, but when it comes to accepting the
Bible as authority, and when it comes to the matter of believing in the Lord’s
divinity, in his virgin birth, in his death for our sins, in his resurrection
from the tomb, and in his ascension on high and his glorification, they say “yea
and amen” right along with us. But here’s their situation. They have to raise
money and send it in to boards in their church which are fighting not only what
they are doing, but are permeating their church with modernism through every
fibre and cord of its being, and tingeing that modernism with a lot of the
“pinkishness” that goes along with it. We are living in a time, dear friends,
when we see individuals all around us doubting, questioning. Oh, I know there
are many things that I have left out. I cannot do more than, just sketch this
picture for you. Yet, I think as I look out upon the world tonight I detect
wistfulness that is there—a longing on the part of men, “Oh, I wish it were so.
I wish it could be true.” The world is ignorant of the Bible and groping in the
midst of all of the “isms,” the philosophies and doctrines of men, sometimes
hoping against hope that somehow there might be some truth in this thing that is
railed Christianity. One of my teachers several years ago said this to me one
day, “My mother believed in the Bible and she was a devout woman of prayer. I
have never known a life that was so serene and so filled with faith as was hers.
I wish that I could believe it but I can’t.” The training, the atmosphere, the
education he had received had so preiudiced his mind until that is where he
stood.

What is the task of the church of our Lord Jesus? May I just suggest a few
things humbly tonight? I know that many of you could make many and much better
suggestions than mine tonight, but may I give these to you for whatever they may
be worth for your thinking, and for the searching of your own soul? The members
of the church, faced with such a great responsibility, ought to be willing to
sit down and look at ourselves in. the light of God’s word. For every time that
you come in contact with the word of God, that word judges you. It shows you
where you are wrong. It points out your sins. It shows you where you are in need
of God’s forgiveness, God’s help, God’s leadership, and God’s grace. And there
is not anything that is so humbling to a man as to be confronted by the word of
God and searched by the word to the very depth of his being. “For the word of
God is quick and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the
dividing asunder of soul and spirit and of the joints and marrow and is a
discerner of the thoughts and the intents of the heart” (Ileb. 4.12). When I
read my Bible, I read about a man by the name of Simon Peter who, after Jesus
had been teaching in his boat, was ordered by our Lord to shove out from the
land and let out his net for a draught. And when he did so and the net was
filled to the breaking, you remember what Simon Peter did. He fell, on his knees
before Jesus and he said, “Depart from me, Oh, Lord, for I am a sinful man.”
When Isaiah saw and was confronted with a great vision of the great, high, and
holy God, lifted up and exalted m the Temple, the very first words that came to
his lips were, “Woe is me, for I am a man of unclean lips and I am dwelling in
the midst of a people of unclean lips.” Until we are humble enough to be
searched by the word of the Lord and when we are confronted by that word to
realize that we are in need, we are lost, we are undone, and that many things
are wrong with our lives, and that our motives and our intentions need to be
brought into conformity to this will, I’ll tell you, dear friends, until we are
willing to do that, we have not any right to talk to anybody else about what he
ought to do. The church of our Lord must be a consecrated group. There must be
utter devotion to God and to his will because Christ is our head, and if he is
the head of the body, then the church itself must be like its Lord, and our Lord
was devoted to God’s will completely. When I read in the Bible about Jesus, I’m
so impressed with the fact that here was a man that lived for God, who lived for
God’s will so completely that there was never a moment nor an hour of his life
that he did not do the will of God. And he said. “It is my meat, it is the food
of my spirit to do God’s will. I do not come down to do mine; I came to do the
will of him that sent me.” Let me tell you, dear friends, we belong to the Lord.
We are not our own. We are bought. We are redeemed and we belong to him. And it
is his will that is our meat, it is his will that makes us and guides us, that
molds us and shapes us. So it means utter devotion, utter devotion, to the will
of God. What does God want me to do? What does God want me to be? What would God
have me to say? How would God guide and direct my intentions and my thoughts?
And to my fellowman there must be utter good will. For after all, I’m living as
a Christian, a representative of God, and you as well are the Lord’s. As the
Lord would have us to love and to live that love, so it is our task as members
of the body of Christ to preach it and to live it in the midst of the community.
It is the church’s responsibility, then, to preach and to teach love as God
teaches us that love in the New Testament. Where am I going to start it? In my
home. Where am I going to start it? In my own individual life in my contact with
that man with whom I work. Where am I going to start living a life of love? In
my local community with that neighbor across the street or next door. Where am I
going to start my life of love? In that local congregation. I cannot talk about
being a Christian in something out here that is nebulously called the church and
say now I am loving the church if in the local congregation, which, after all,
is the church of our Lord 'in that place, I’m not willing to live, to practice,
and to preach the love of God and the love of my fellowman in every way possible
along the way. The church of our Lord must stand firmly against the sins and the
errors of our times. And that only comes as we are searched by the word of God
and we are brought into conformity with that word. We must stand against evils
of every kind, and against errors of every sort, that we might exalt the truth
of God and the glory of God in the midst of men. Last of all, the church of our
Lord in this day and age must reassert its faith in the Bible. We do not have to
take any backseat before others that are fighting the faith. We can equip
ourselves and train ourselves and get the tools at our disposal to go out and to
meet the enemy on his own ground. We do not have to slay him with adjectives; we
do not have to call him names in order to try to beat down his arguments. But we
can meet him with the evidence in such a way that the man who would destroy the
faith is the man that is put on the defensive. We must reassert our faith in a
God that can be known, that is not separated from his people, that does
understand our problems and is the God that Jesus revealed to us in his own holy
word. The church must stand fearlessly and without apology against every “ism”
and every idea that will destroy faith in the Bible as God’s truth and in its
power to enlighten, to lead, and to guide us out of our human predicament, and
to exalt the Saviour of the world who is our Lord and Master. Peter Cartwright,
it is said, was preaching on one occasion in a church with the local preacher
sitting behind him on the platform. In the midst of the sermon Andrew Jackson
came into the audience and sat down. The local minister tugged at Cartwright’s
coattail and when Cartwright leaned back he whispered, “Mr. Cartwright, Andrew
Jackson has just come in.” Cartwright spoke out loudly in the same sort of
rugged way for which he was noted, Andrew Jackson? Who is he? God Almighty will
send his soul to hell if he doesn’t repent and obey him just as quickly as he
will a Guinea Negro.” It is this sort of fearlessness the church must have in
reproaching sin.

Oh, dear friends, it is a wonderful thing to be in the church of our Lord. It is
a wonderful thing for us to be members of the body of Jesus Christ that he
bought with his own blood. It is a wonderful thing to stand and to see the glory
of God that is in the face of our Lord Jesus Christ, to be able to have the
fellowship and the friendship with a Master that walks with us every step of the
way—to be able to have that kind of fellowship that the New Testament talks
about. Paul could say, “No longer do I live, but Christ liveth in me, and the
life that I now live, I live by faith in the son of God who loved me and gave
himself for me.” No longer is this old Paul living— it is Christ that is living
here. It is no longer this old man that is there—it is Christ that is dwelling
there to dominate and control every thought, every word, every deed, all brought
into captivity to the will of Jesus Christ. We belong to the church of Christ,
the church of our Lord, the church of the Saviour, the church of our blessed
Redeemer. We are grateful for that. We ought to form the kind of fellowship with
him that means that our hearts and lives will be cemented together with him in
such a union that death nor any other power can separate us from our Master and
our Lord.

Two men walked along a road one day, so downhearted, so lacking in faith and
confidence, so full of doubt. Then you remember that a third figure joined their
company and as they walked along together he began to unfold the Scriptures and
show to them that the Christ must needs suffer and rise from the dead the third
day. And as they got to the little inn where they were going, these men turned
in to the inn and Jesus made as though he would go on. They didn’t know who this
stranger was, but their hearts had burned within them as he talked to them. And
then, you remember that they constrained him, they plead with him to join them.
“Abide -with us,” they said, “For it is toward even and the day is far spent.”
And so they turned in together and sat down together to eat, and then they saw
this stranger take the loaf as they had seen Jesus so often do and bless it and
break it. No one had ever broken the bread like Jesus! And their eyes were
opened that they knew him. They had been walking with the living Lord and did
not know it. Do you know that the Master promises to walk with us every step of
the way? Sometimes we are just like those men—we do not recognize him nor see
him. Sometimes we leave him behind, yet it is the Lord we need to exalt and the
Lord that we need to make, the Lord of our lives. You may be here tonight and
you are not a Christian. The Lord’s invitation is extended to you to come in
obedience to the gospel of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.


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  CHAPTER 8: WORK OF THE CHURCH IN GERMANY
========================================================================

Work of the Church in Germany Work of the Church In Germany Lecture by Dieter
Alten, February 22, 1950, at Abilene Christian College (2:30 p.m.)

I am very grateful for this opportunity to be here and to talk with you about
some things that I have on my heart: to let you know some things that you may
not know, in order that you may appreciate more Christ and his gospel. I am
especially thankful to the college, to Brother Morris and to all the men who
have made it possible for me to be here. I am aware of the great responsibility
that is mine seeing that so many abler speakers have occupied this place in the
days gone by. I am humbled to stand before you here this afternoon, but
nevertheless I shall try to do my best to give you some information that might
be helpful to you in the years ahead. Before I begin with a discussion of some
of the things that have happened in Germany, I should like to express to you the
love and appreciation of more than 800 Christians beyond the great waters that
have been made acquainted with the gospel of Jesus Christ through your efforts,
through your care, and through your sacrifices. And thus in their behalf I raise
my voice today to tell you of them, of how much they love you, and of how much
they appreciate you, because you not only have sent to them material things and
have given back to them a trust and confidence in humanity, but that you have
provided them with something that nothing can outweigh in this world: the gospel
of Jesus Christ. And if you want to go to the people in Germany, and if you want
to reach more of them with the gospel, it is good for you to know something of
their background, in order to understand the situation in which these people
live, to understand the lines of their thinking.

Before giving you a report of some of the things that have recently been
accomplished, I shall endeavor to briefly sketch for you a religious history of
Germany. We shall go back 3,000 or more years and find there the ancestors of
what are now called German people living in heathenism with pagan cults similar
to that of the Scandinavians. These old Germanic tribes worshipped in the
surroundings of nature, and until the gospel came to them they bowed before a
multiplicity of deities. But then we have a record —I do not know exactly where
that information comes from—that direct disciples of the apostles of our Lord
went into Germany to proclaim Jesus Christ and him crucified to the people
there. Some of them rejected their teaching, some of them even with violence,
but others accepted it. And as we pass through the centuries and see the
development of Christianity, we find that until about 700 A. D., there was a
considerable number of people accepting Christianity, at least the form of
Christianity which was presented to them“ at that time. However, the pope of
Rome did not like the independency of these Germanic Christians and consequently
about 800 A. D., or a little later, he sent Boniface to be the general bishop of
Germany: And thus we have the record how the papacy went over to Germany and
took hold of those believers in Christ. We find then through the next seven
centuries a constant struggle of the German followers of Christ with the pope of
Rome, fighting the authority and the supervision of a foreigner whom they did
not like. The struggle went on, and you know the story of the Reformation, how
Luther raised his voice and carried with him hundreds, thousands, even millions
of people in an attempt to go back to the “evangelical” principles of the
gospel. We have them hundreds of years passing by with a permanent split between
the two groups, on the one side the protestants or the evangelicals as they are
called over there, and on the other hand the Roman Catholic groups. We even
possess the record of the violent outbreak of a war, the thirty-years-war, when
religious convictions brought people to fight each other with the sword. Another
enemy besides the enemy of division raised its ugly head over there: the enemy
of higher criticism and rationalism, trying to destroy the fundamentals of the
faith, and that is one of the reasons why today many of the people are on the
church rolls only nominally. This fact, together with the doctrine of infant
baptism and the procedure to support the church by state taxabon accounts for
the fact that there are many people today who are members of the state churches
on the paper only. It would be misleading to believe the statistics as they are
set up now, that there are 50% Protestants and 46% Catholics, 1% members of
other religions and 3% without religion.' Many more people do not believe
anything or belong to some religious group only by name. This is the condition
which we find over there today and it is well for us to keep it in mind as we
approach these people with the everlasting gospel of the cross in its purity and
simplicity. And here is something else: Germany is a country about half the size
of Texas with ten times its population, which means in other words that where
one Texan lives, twenty Germans have to exist. This is something that you have
to remember if you want to understand the Germans. They are crowded, they live
together, and they are dependent on each other being so close to each other, and
thus, beginning now with, a report of the work, I should like for you to think
of these facts and try to understand some of what I shall now tell you about the
work of the church in Germany. For my report I have chosen a scriptural
illustration of Jesus who once likened the kingdom of God unto a vineyard. This
picture beautifully illustrates what is going on over there. As we know that in
a vineyard there must be workers, too, we know also that in a vineyard there
must exist a particular kind of soil, that there also methods have to be
employed to produce fruits and then lastly that there ought to be results if
this vineyard should be of any value to its owner. Consequently, when we look to
the work of the church 'in Germany with this illustration in mind, we find it
easy to understand the importance of the worker problem over there. Twenty-four
of our American brethren and sisters are busily engaged in the attempt of
preaching and teaching the gospel of Christ to these people. They are assisted
by seven Germans who give full time for the work in the office and for our
relief program. There also are twenty-four more German brethren giving part of
their time to the teaching program of the church, fourteen of whom are the young
men of the Preacher’s Training School of which I shall tell you in just a
minute. In talking about these workers you need to know that these your
brethren, our brethren, are some of the most wonderful men and women in this
world, and I still believe that Brother Gatewood is the best preacher I have
ever heard—he converted me. But when we look now at the soil, and see what these
brethren work at, we shall keep in mind three important facts. Three important
factors are working together to make the people ready to receive the seed of the
kingdom. First of all there is the educational background which is a very
thorough one enabling the brethren to assume a knowledge of a certain
intellectual standard on the part of the Germans who will be able to comprehend
the teachings that are presented to them. Also the religious background that we
have just referred to is a great aid in the preaching of the gospel in Germany
since these people are in some ways acquainted with the Scriptures, at least
they have some copies at home and some of the fundamental principles are well
known to many of them. Furthermore, there is something else that needs to be
mentioned and that is the immediate preparation of the soil. If you have a
field, you will plough it up and turn it all over 'in order to preserve its
fertility so that you may be able to sow again to produce more fruit. Likewise
the last war, like a big machine has ploughed the field over there and has
turned upside down much of the people’s thinking. They have been waked up, they
have been shaken together and have been brought to the realization that they
were following the wrong ways, and that they needed to do something to change
their condition. Something else which also will aid us in the preaching of the
gospel over there is the fact that due to the destruction of so many of the
people’s property, due to the bad experiences that people had when their
property was either burned or else blown up in a very short time they are less
interested in material things and are more concerned about spiritual matters.
And so you look over there at the soil, the people, and you will find them to
some degree ready to receive the gospel of Jesus Christ, if we would just give
it to them.

Now as I mentioned a while ago, if we want to achieve results we must employ
methods to produce fruits. Unless our brethren employ several methods in
teaching the Germans the truth, there will not be many responses. First and most
frequently the method is chosen of preaching to the assembled people who will
come to hear the gospel on the Lord’s days. More than nine services are held
every first day of the week to bring to the people Christ’s message to a world
dying in sin. But this is not sufficient, although many of us show by their
actions that they think it is enough to come to church services only once a
week. Thus the brethren have put up a system of teaching in Bible classes with
an average of about four classes every night which are being conducted in
Germany to the instruction of the people that they might walk more perfectly in
the ways of the Lord. But some of them will never turn out to the services as is
true here also. They will never come to hear the gospel preached, and so you
have to take the message of the cross to them. This is most effectively done by
personal work. Every Wednesday afternoon is now the time when every male
missionary in Germany takes one or more of the boys of the school to go out and
to do personal work, to visit both those who have obeyed the gospel and who need
spiritual nourishment and growth as well as those also who have not yet accepted
Jesus, in order to instruct them in the fundamentals of Christianity. Personal
work is one of the most important methods to teach people Christianity. But
someone has said, I would rather see a sermon than hear one; and since this is
true, some people over there will never be impressed with only the teaching of
the gospel unless action will precede it. And thus our brethren began what is
called the relief program, to help the great need of the people in a material
way. I should like to read to you a letter that has been sent to Brother
Gatewood by one of the refugees from the Eastern zone of Germany who had been
driven out of her former home; and she, being a widow with three or four
children was not able to provide sufficiently for a living. She heard about the
gospel by corresponding with some church over here by a Bible correspondence
course, and thereby she got a remarkable understanding of some of the principles
of New Testament Christianity. Let me read to you this lettei that you may get
an understanding of her situation.

“When some time ago I talked to my children that after we knewT the Bible well
enough we should be baptized, they said to me, But mother, we have been baptized
before, we are no heathens, we hear the word of God, read and learn it from the
Bible. Would we not go to God in case we now died? I told my children that,
according to the Bible, we were not baptized, that we had only been sprinkled,
but that God’s love and kindness is so great that he would accept us even though
w'e have only been sprinkled so far, however on the understanding that wre .had
tried every day to do our best. My children were glad when I told them this for
they do not want to be heathens but want to be Christians. I do not know
however, whether I did right to give them that comfort. The evangelical minister
would have been terrified if he had heard me saying, We people, sprinkled
according to the Evangelical Creed are no true Christians. There are so many
deficiencies in the Evangelical State Church. You cannot imagine how happy I
became by reading the following lines in one of your tracts: The ^ork of the
congregation is the preaching of the gospel, the visitation of the sick and
those in prison, and the providing for widows and orphans.”

. . . And now something about her own condition . . . “When in 1946 we arrived
here, completely robbed, undernourished and brokenhearted, no one had a good
word for us, no one helped us. A two year old dear, blonde boy of mine died in
Stettin, perished of starvation. My girl Barbara was so underfed that she hardly
could walk. The undernourishment was so considerable that she was in danger to
get bbnd. My two big boys were very miserable too. Since 1939 I am having a
closed tuberculosis of the lungs in spite of plain bread—Barbara ate all the
fats and drank all the milk which we received —I kept up I am most of the time
feeling very poorly and am often sick, but I am still able to be with my
children.” And now this remarkable sentence : “Is this not a token of kindness
of ovr Father in heaven? My three children have developed all well now, and
Barbara is still having her eyesight. I am much better off now, thanks to the
love and the great help and the kindness of my friends in the States. My life
has become much lighter. The same, love that I experienced from the States also
the relief work of the Evangelical Church here could have shown. A kind word
only or the visit of that preacher might have worked wonders. Two years ago I
was very sick, I thought I was going to die. My children had to prepare their
food and had to clean the room as well, and they would also attend to me. No
relief work was concerned about me. I suffered from the cold and suffered hunger
in bed, and yet I kept alive. This was another wonder and God gave me a cheerful
heart.” And then she goes on to describe more of her condition, but we do not
have time enough to read this all. This example is typical for many of the
families in Germany that are now without the necessities of life, still living
under conditions that you cannot even imagine, and whom our brethren decided to
help to remedy the situation. They have aided thcrusands of these people with
food and clothing through your kindness and through your interest because these
packages came from you; and many times I have helped in the distribution of
these things that people might know that Christianity is not a set-up of
theories but a very practical way of living, of how to get along with other
people, and especially of how to be pleasing in the sight of God.

Another way of preaching the gospel and a very important one which I shall
briefly mention is seen from the fact that our brethren have started training
leaders for the church for the future. It is very necessary that we supply these
newly established congregations with a trained leadership that they may carry on
the work in the years to come. More and more responsibility has been given to
the German brethren and they have taken it gladly. Some of them have started to
build their own meeting house, a church building for themselves, on their own
initiative. And thus we see, that this is done, not only to bring people to
Christ, but also to keep them with Jesus unto the saving of their souls.
Moreover, the brethren have started training native boys and young men in the
fundamentals of Christianity. Our Frankfurt Bible School has about fourteen
young men who attend daily and on the faculty we have the Brethren Palmer, Bunn,
Bennett, and Brother Artist who is to arrive shortly from Switzerland. These
brethren are busily engaged with teaching these boys the practical aspects of
the ministry. Most of them have received already a very good general education
so that they now need only the necessities for the ministry. Bible, and again
Bible, Greek and church history, English and song leading, and others of the
principal fields of learning which are useful for the preparation to preach the
gospel. These young men are not only useful now in the school and promise to be
very capable workers in the 'future, but they are useful right now in helping to
conduct services all over the country, in helping to teach their fellow men and
also in doing the personal work which I have just mentioned. And thus we see
some of these methods that are employed. Wc do not have time to look over all of
them, but we should be assured that our brethren employ every possible effort to
preach to the people in Germany the gospel which is so urgently needed.

Now let us look at some of the results and to introduce this part of the report
let me make this statement. According to our Scripture example I should like to
say that Brother Palmer and Brother Gatewood planted, the other workers now are
watering, but God gave the increase. It is by the grace of God Almighty that
this work has progressed, and it is only through him that the door of faith has
been opened to the people in Germany. Therefore we cannot boast of ourselves but
should give the glory to the Lord who is for ever and ever. When we see that
there have been about 825 persons baptized into Christ, that there have been
established nine congregations where people meet on every Lord’s day to worship
according to the New Testament pattern, we are glad to hear this report and our
hearts are made to rejoice. We also rejoice when we hear that 83,000 people have
been helped through our relief program with food and clothing, thus giving the
glory to Christ and glorifying the church in the eyes of the world. Not only
this, but we have rendered service to Christ himself since he said, according to
Matthew 25:40, “Inasmuch as ye did it unto one of these my brethren, even these
least, ye did it unto me.” And thus, several things have been accomplished with
this work but we need to keep it up, because still there is need, because still
there is suffering from lack of the daily necessities. When we look over to the
invisible results we find that the gospel has been proclaimed to the people, and
even though many have not accepted it, there are hundreds, even thousands of
them that have heard the restoration plea. How interested they are in it can be
seen from this little incident: One of our German brethren over there, Brother
Pamin, a very old man, made over 500 personal calls for one of the meetings of
the church that was going on at that time. He appreciated the gospel of Christ
so much that he could not keep from telling other people the story and invited
them to share this great knowledge with him that they also might rejoice in
their souls’ salvation and come to the obedience of the truth.

Many things' have been accomplished that we cannot see today; probably some day
we shall see the results. But it is not as important to look at the results as
it is to go on with our work and plans for the future. It is planned to erect a
church building in Frankfurt, combining several purposes with this undertaking.
This building shall be constructed close to the University there where we have
the opportunity to reach many of the thousands of students who will pass by this
building every day. It will also serve as location for our training school of
the native preachers-to-be thus giving them an opportunity to conveniently get
some of their secular education at the Uni versity while studying the Bible at
the school. It would also be advantageous for some of you who would want to go
to Frankfurt to complete your education. You could attend the University and, at
the same time, take some courses by the brethren in the Bible School. From this
you may see that so many things can be accomplished by this building but above
everything else I want to mention the moral support that it will give to the
cause of Christ in Germany since people will then be able to realize that we are
permanently interested to preach the gospel according to the New Testament, that
we want to be there and stay there and that our brethren do not just want to
preach for a few years and then go home. Therefore the moral support will be
very great and will be helpful to encourage others who have not yet taken the
decisive step to obey their Lord in baptism.

Another of the proposed future plans is to spread out the same work that has
been done in Frankfurt and Munich and 'in three other localities to other
communities using the experiences of the Frankfurt work to establish the cause
in other places. Many more places need the gospel and calls are being made daily
for the brethren to come over to Macedonia and help. A group of people have sent
a message to Brother Gatewood to come over and preach to them the everlasting
story of the cross in its simplicity. He had to turn it down because there are
not enough workers yet in Germany. Is this not a pitiful thing that whereas in
America you almost have to drag people into the church buildings over there they
will ask for the gospel and we cannot give it to them? We need more workers for
this field, since it is truly white unto the .harvest. Remarkable also is the
fact that one of the con-gregations of the Lutheran church has broken away from
the state church desiring to go back to the New Testament pattern. Thus we are
not alone in our plea; other people feel this great need of going and restoring
the word of God to its original and proper place.

Lastly, another aspect of the work is that we want to spread the gospel to other
European places through the work of the church in Germany. There is quite an
international membership now in Frankfurt. People of some of the European
countries are being led to the truth, and some day if God permits them to return
home, they can take with them the plea for New Testament Christianity. Recently,
two of the boys of the Preacher Training School of which I have told you, went
home into the Russian zone and there they taught some people the truth; one of
the boys baptized his mother under the most difficult circumstances, since the
Russians are opposed to any “unusual” religious ceremony. But now we have made
the first convert in the Russian zone already. Others are taught and gathered to
learn more of the truth, and more instructing will be done as time passes by. We
just do not know how great the opportunity is now to spread the gospel, not only
in Germany, but also throughout the European continent, that other people may be
taking hold of this great plea for Christian unity according to the word of God.
The work has come to a period now where we do not have as many visible results
every month, but it has reached the stage of a leveling off where more
substantial work 'is done as these young Christians are educated in the ways of
the Lord more perfectly, that they may stick to what they have once recognized
as the truth. Probably you will not read of so many baptisms now, but you may
read in the papers of a great teaching program that is carried on in order that
these people—constituting the nucleus of a greater work in the future—may be
prepared to carry the gospel to their fellow countrymen. And thus we look over
to the work in Germany, we see them struggling along, and to some of us would
come this question: Do these brethren teach the truth? Is it worthwhile that we
are pouring our efforts into that undertaking and upholding their hands? Do they
not teach a different gospel which is not according to the truth? Do they not
proclaim a different gospel than that which Paul preached because they have a
different Bible? ... I want to say most emphatically. No, we preach the same
gospel, having the same Bible, and the word of God means the same thing although
put into a different language. I should like to quote to you the 23rd Psalm as
it sounds to the ears of the German Christians, as they appreciate its great
thought that God is our shepherd, the shepherd of all who have called on his
name and have obeyed his holy will. I want you to take this, as evidence that we
are preaching the same gospel of Christ which you are proclaiming over here. You
may follow it line by line and recognize that it is the same teaching, and that
we are not digressing from the words of the living god. And now here it is, the
23rd Psalm in German:

Der Herr ist mein Hirte; mir wird nichts mangeln. Er weidet mich auf einer
grunen Aue and fuhret mich zum frischen Wasser. Er erquicket meine Seele; er
fuhret mich auf rechter Strasse um seines Namens willen. Uud ob ich schon
wanderte in finstern Tal, furchte ich kein Ungluck; denn du bist bei mir, dein
Stecken und Stab trosten mich. Du bereitest vor mir einen Tisch in Angesicht
meiner Feinde. Du salbest mein Haupt mit 01 und schenkest mir voll ein. Gutes
und Barmherzigkeit werden mir folgen mein Leben lang, und ich werde bleiben im
Hause des Herrn immerdar. And I shall live in the house of the Lord for ever.
The same gospel is bringing forth the same results, thus establishing the same
church over yonder in Germany. These brethren are your brethren, members of the
same spiritual family of which we all are members. And thus we see the
development of Christianity in Germany, in a mixed and altered form in the
beginning, but now being established and replaced in its former purity and
simplicity. And as we see these people struggling along their way, taking hold
of this great goal of eternal life which is through the name of Christ, we must
give to them the necessary means of carrying on this work, we must preach to
them the gospel by the various methods that are necessary in order to make them
understand the principles of our Master that they in turn may be able to go
forward with boldness and with courage to preach to their fellow men also. Many
things have swept the German nation, many ideas have taken hold of the minds of
the German people, why should we not let Christ take a hold of them! Why should
we not give Germany for Christ and let them become a nation according to God’s
holy will?

Arise! the Master calls for thee, The harvest days are here, No longer sit with
folded hands But gather far and near. The noble ranks of volunteers Are daily
growing everywhere, But still there’s work for millions more! Then, for the
fields prepare! The message bear to distant lands Beyond the rolling sea: Go,
tell them of a Saviour’s love: The Lamb of Calvary. Arise! the Master calls for
thee! Salvation full and free proclaim, Till every kindred, tribe, and tongue
Exalts the Saviour’s name!


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  CHAPTER 9: “THE CHURCH IN ITALY”—JIMMY WOOD
========================================================================

“The Church in Italy”—Jimmy Wood

“THE CHURCH IN ITALY - Part One” Lecture by J. R. Chisholm, February 23, 1950,
at Abilene Christian College (9:30 a. m.) Note: Please see the Lecture On Italy
at the end of this Lecture

It is indeed a happy privilege to be here this morning and to tell you about a
little of the work that we have done in Italy. As I have listened during these
past three days, I have been made to feel humble because of the many things that
have been said, the need as it has been shown for the gospel in so many places,
even in our own homeland. This, of course, does not keep us from recognizing the
fact that the gospel is needed in many other places also. I also am aware of the
fact that congregations of the church of Christ are fully capable to meet all of
the challenges that have been issued here during these past few days. It is
simply a matter of awakening Christians to the responsibility that Almighty God
has placed upon them and I trust that we shall awake to that responsibility. We,
of course, are concerned with the preaching of the gospel in Italy. It is not
that we are unconcerned about the preaching of the gospel in other places, but
since we are acquainted with the conditions as they are in Italy, naturally our
first concern is there, insofar as the Crescent Hill Church of Christ is
concerned. So we present the case of Italy to you this morning as one of the
places where the gospel of the Lord is desperately needed. I shall try to tell
you of some of the things that I saw, while I was in Italy and let Brother Wood
tell you of the things that we have done in the United States during these past
few months, and also about the needs of the work now. I realize also as I try to
speak this morning concerning Italy that I cannot put the depth of feeling into
my speech that was displayed by those who spoke yesterday; those that are native
to particular fields, and have presented the cases of their people and their
need of the gospel. I can’t do that. But we do want you to get a little insight
of Italy, the people of Italy, and the need of the gospel in that country.
Sometimes we become concerned over the question of whose soul is the most
precious. Sometimes people, when trying to emphasize the need of their field,
see fit to say that first of all we need to save our own people. I do not think
that the gospel should be preached from that standpoint. I think that the soul
of every man everywhere, the soul of any man anywhere 's just as precious in the
sight of Almighty God as the soul of an American. I think that God feels that
way about it. We have endeavored in the work that we are doing; we have tried to
realize that Jesus wants us to carry the gospel into all the world, and as I
said in the beginning, I feel the congregations of the church of Christ are
fully cap* able of carrying out all of the work that has been set before them
during these past few days. It is simply a matter of awakening them to the fact
that they must do those things. As we think of the work that we have done, the
question immediately arises as to the mistakes that have been made in the
planning and in the carrying out of this work. As I stand here this morning, I
am not trying to tell you that we haven’t made'mistakes. We will be the first to
admit that we have made- mistakes. We know that we have made them; but we made
them because we did not know the things that we knew at this particular time. I
am constrained to believe that perhaps most everyone would have made some
mistakes as they began such a work as this. And so we do not try to say that we
haven't made mistakes, rather we admit that we have. How many mistakes |have we
made? I don’t know how many mistakes we have made! but I expect that we are
going to make still more as we go about trying to preach the gospel of the Lord
Jesus Christ. They will not be intentional, we want to assure you of that; but
we will make mistakes insofar as judgment is concerned, and we ask you to bear
with us and advise us when you see that we are making mistakes in the work that
we are carrying on in Italy.

It has been thirteen months now since we carried the work of the Lord into
Italy; the group that is in Italy at this present time. Before we went into
Italy in January of last year, almost two years of preparation had been put
'into getting ready for the work over there. I think that most of you are
acquainted with the things that were done during those two years. How this work
came about, of course, was because of the interest that was manifested by those
that had been in Italy during the war. They came back and made their reports to
the brethren in this country; they told them of the conditions as they viewed
them in Italy from the standpoint of religion. It was amazing to these men to go
into a nation of forty-six million people and to find there not one Christian
with whom they could worship. It was amazing to them as they watched these
people in their religious activities, as they bowed themselves down before the
images that are provided for them by the Roman Catholic church. And when they
returned, being as they were zealous Christians, they at once began to tell of
those things, and asked for help to go into Italy and to proclaim the gospel of
the Lord Jesus Christ to the people. Be it known now that we were aware of the
fact that when we went into Italy, we were going into a difficult field. We knew
that we would be confronted with persecutions; we have never said that we didn’t
know it. And we have not asked for sympathy from the standpoint that we are
being persecuted in Italy. In fact, the persecutions were not mentioned for
quite some time after they happened, because our brethren realized that they
would be persecuted and they said that they were willing to bear these
persecutions. In some of their letters to us they said, “We have not told you of
many things that happened because we have found from reading our religious
papers, that many Christians do not believe the things that we have to say;
therefore it is useless for us to tell you all that has happened.” So we are not
pleading for your consideration on the matter of persecution alone. Our plea is
just the right to remain in Italy and to preach the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ. When we went into Italy, we went with the idea in mind that we were
going to help people in every way that we could help them. In other words, when
we entered Italy we entered as Christians, we were going to relieve suffering if
we were able to do that. We were going to feed and care for orphans if we could
do that. We wanted to do all that we could because Brother Paden and Brother
Hatcher, as you remember, had been in Italy in November and December of 1947;
and when they returned to us they made the report that there were a hundred
thousand orphan children walking the streets of Italy. There were multiplied
thousands, yea there were millions, that were without food and clothing in
Italy. The condition of the people was "desperate. And so when we made our plans
to go, we decided that here was an opportunity of living Christianity before
these people. We wanted to do what we could; we were determined to do all that
we could. We did not think that there would be any criticism offered to a work
of relieving the suffering of humanity; and we did know that our Lord had so
commanded us that “you shall feed those that are hungry, you shall clothe those
that are naked, you shall visit those that are ill and are in prison.” This was
the teaching of the Lord; and so we went with that idea in mind. Our primary
purpose, of course, was the proclaiming of the word of God. Some said that it
wasn’t; we say that it was, and it is now. We are there to preach the gospel of
the Lord Jesus Christ, but we also want to preach it to just as many people as
we possibly can. We are not trying to buy the religion of anyone; we don’t want
you to misunderstand that. That was not our purpose: to try to buy them into the
church of our Lord, but we wanted if possible to attract their attention, to
relieve their suffering, to cause them to recognize just what there is in
Christianity. Then in proclaiming the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ to those
people, we would be able to show by the living that we had done before them
that: There is the way that God would have you to go. He wants you to obey the
gospel that he has give us through his Son, and he wants you to live just such
lives, recognizing the suffering of all people and helping as you can.

We began such a work as this on the fourteenth of January of last year. ' In
these thirteen months that have gone by, we have seen the results that have come
from such a work. We have taken a few orphans off of the streets of Italy. Our
purpose was to get fifty orphans into Frascati Orphans' Home by the first of the
year, if at all possible. We were not allowed to do that; and we don’t want you
to believe that which you read in Time magazine, to the effect that the people
in Frascati were unenthusiastic. That is not true. But we were told by the
commissioner of police of Frascati in October of last year that we could not
take any more boys into Frascati Orphans' Home. We pleaded with him through
Brother Paden, asking him to relent and let us take these boys because we have
empty beds. We have tables and food for these boys; let us take some, and he
said, no. We have the signed order to that effect that you can see in our files
in Brownfield. Yes, we were refused the right to do this, and as we read from
the Vatican newspaper and the quotations that are given from the different
officials of the Italian government, they say that there is no need of an
orphanage in Frascati. And yet we find the pope as he makes his plea within the
last few days, sending it all over the world saying, send us help for the
orphans of Europe. There are a hundred thousand of them in Italy, but he said
through the Italian government that they didn’t have any need for the help of
the church of Christ. So we want you to understand that the response of the
people of Frascati was not unenthusiastic. In fact, it was very enthusiastic.
Brother Paden has in his desk in the office at Frascati, more than a hundred, in
fact several hundred, •applications for entrance into Frascati Orphans’ Home.
They want that which we are offering to them and they are denied it. But what
have we done from other standpoints? Of course you have read in our religious
papers that we have relieved much suffering. We have not at any time made it a
necessary thing that they attend the classes that we are teaching in Frascati or
in any other place, for them to obtain the help that we are offering, the
clothing that we give them. In fact, we told them from the very beginning, “You
owe us nothing. We are glad to help you. This is that which is sent by
Christians in America, and they want us to give it to you, and we are giving it
to you, and you don’t have to come to these classes to get it, but we will be
happy if you will come. We would be glad to teach you the gospel of Christ.” We
have always operated in that way. We go into their homes, we examine those
homes, and the ones that have the greater need are given that which we have.
Many times we have had to turn away from some because they had more than their
neighbor, and so we could not help them at that time. We want to help those that
have the greatest need. And we work from that standpoint. We have had them tell
us as we went into their homes and questioned them, concerning their religion,
and as we asked, “Will you come to our classes?” They say, “No, I am a
Catholic;” and we have helped them anyway because they had a need for it. That
has been the way that we’ve carried on that part of the program. Some ten to
fifteen thousand people have been aided through that work during the first
eleven months of 1949. But our primary purpose, as we said, was the preaching of
the gospel.

* When you go into Italy, and walk up and down the roads of that country, and as
you go into the cathedrals of the Catholic church, you can see the need of the
gospel. You see the people as they offer their worship; hardly ever is that
worship offered to Almighty God. In most instances it is offered to the
madonna—to Mary. And in many instances it is offered to the patron saints of a
certain town. In a letter recently received, and after this news of Italy broke
in the United States, the point was made that Antonio was the saint of Monte
Compatri. Someone wrote us from these United States and said, “I have never
heard of Saint Antonio; I don’t believe there is such a person as that.” And in
answering him I said that he needed to go to Italy and find out something about
the saints. Every city has its samt and they look toward the blessing that the
priest promises through the saint of that town and they will do anything within
their power to obtain the blessing from the priest who supposedly has the powder
to give it in the name of that saint. Y es, YOU need to go to Italy in order to
realize just what Catholicism is. As we walk up and down the roads, and as we go
every half mile, perhaps, we find an altar bu-'lt over here and an image of
Mary. We find the people as they pass, pausing to kneel before the altar and
before this unage, as they offer their adoration to her. As we look at the
houses, you will see in the corner of every house an image of Mary, built as a
part of tne house. As you go into their public places of rest, over every bed
you find an image of Mary hanging. That is the religion of Mary. It is a
religion of Mary, and I say that you need to be there in order to know just what
they are from the religious standpoint. As I went into a cathedral at Pompeii I
was amazed as I look up into the gable of the temple to find that it was solidly
covered with gold, gold nuggets that had been given to that church by giateful
people who thought that some miracle had been performed—some help given them m
the name of the church. With gold hanging there in the end of the gable of that
cathedral, you could turn from it and look toward the street where you could see
the children and the poor people by the hundreds, as they walked by the
cathedral m their rags; many of them without enough food to eat. And then
looking into the temple again, you see the richness of the thing. I was also in
a cathedral in Naples and saw a woman as she stood before a life-like image of
Mary and watched her as she stayed there for many minutes with the tears
streaming down her face as she made her petition through this image of ^Mary.
Yes, it is an amazing thing. I went into Saint Peter’s in Rome, also, and
watched women and men as they walked before the statue of Peter. I saw one woman
in particular, as she stroked the foot of Peter and as the tears flowed from her
face as she was there making her petition through Peter. I say it’s a terrible
thing, this religion that they have. They have lost sight of the Christ
entirely. They think of him as best I could tell, as a babe. He is nearly always
pictured as the babe in arms, and that’s the idea many have insofar as the
Christ is concerned. I would not say that in all cases this is so; but in and
among the people where we are working, this seemed to be the prevalent idea. The
Christ is pictured as a.babe in nearly all of their imagery; but the mother is
the one to be adored. So then is it not surprising to us as we pick up our
newspapers of the last few days and find that the Catholic church has just this
year passed another doctrine on to the people of the Catholic church and it is
that Mary has now been taken into heaven, her body is there joined with her
spirit; she is on equality with Christ in the respect of resurrection. And, as
you well know, the teaching of the Catholic church is that Mary is above the
Saviour. They say that if you fail to make your plea to get your wish through
Jesus, you should take it to Mary; she has more influence with God than does
Jesus. And that is what they believe 'in Italy. It’s a terrible thing, I repeat,
to have such a religion as that; to be in a country that is supposed to be a
Christian country, a Christian nation. I was amazed some time ago in picking up
a magazine and reading that in the United Nations, the United Nations assembly,
the United States is recognized as a heathen nation less than 50% religious and
Italy as a Christian nation more than 90% religious. As we travel the streets of
Italy, as we see the condition of their people, it causes us to marvel that such
a country, one that ’is supposed to be Christian, one that has been under the
influence of the Catholic church for these hundreds of years—you would expect
this people to have standards in regard to religion that are above everything
that is called religion. Their living standards surely ought to be much higher
than they are elsewhere. Why? They have been known as a civilized nation for
these many years. Such a conclusion 'is not true, however. Italy, iff my
estimation, is one of the most backward nations, not only from the living
standard, but also on up through the spiritual, the religious standard.

I am casting no reflection upon anyone from Italy. Anyone. that can come from
Italy and can make the progress that some make, is to be commended. I think that
many other Italians would do the same thing if they had the opportunity. They
don’t have it. As we sat in our room in Frascati one night, we were discussing
with a group that had met with us for Bible classes, the prospects for those
that remain m Italy. These were young men from 24 to 30 years of age, and they
began to talk to us of the things that they had to buy in Italy, and the cost of
living. They asked us, “Now how much would I make in America?” Their ideal is
America, if we can only go to America. How much would I get, one photographer
helper who spoke to me asked, how much would I get if I were in America. I told
him about what I thought he would get. He shook his head and he said, I get
2,000 lira a week, that is, above his living expenses. He was living with his
brother, and he gave him 2,000 lira a week—or about $3.00 a week. )They told us
of the many things that they had to buy, and it was very much higher than that
which we were buying. I couldn’t tell him then that he oughtn’t to lift his eyes
toward America, but toward some other place. The conclusion that they gave us
that night was: There is no future in Italy. There is no future for us in Italy;
that’s the way they felt about 'it. But do you know that very same young man
that said there was no future in Italy, later obeyed the gospel of the Lord
Jesus Christ. And because of the interest that he has in the gospel of the Lord
Jesus Christ he is remaining in Italy. He received permission to go into
Argentina; he had his passport to go shortly after he obeyed the gospel, but he
said, “I must stay in Italy, I must help my people by the proclamation of this
gospel. I want to help others with the gospel of Christ.” And though he knows
that there is no future as far as he is concerned, from the material side of
life, he is willing to spend and be spent there in that country. I think it is a
commendable spirit on his part.

We have used a lot of time in trying to tell you of their religion. We have
heard that Italy is ninety-eight per cent Catholic, and some said that it is
ninety-nine and one- half per cent Catholic. But in a letter recently received
from Doctor Fama and from Doctor Gigliotto of Washington, this observation was
made. They said that in Italy today there are more than twenty million people
that do not have any active religious life; but the Catholic church tells you
that they are all Catholic. They are Catholics because the Catholics baptized
them when they were babies, and they can’t get off the rolls of the Catholic
church. That’s the only reason they are Catholics. These men said over twenty
million of thees people are not active at all, from the religious standpoint. So
as we went among them and began to preach the gospel, we had a ripe field. When
you ask them what they are, they will tell you they are Catholic. But when you
question them further, you will find that they have not been active in the
Catholic church for many, many years.

We began to teach the gospel within ten days after we landed in Italy. Though we
at that time could not speak the language, we had Sister McPherson with us, who
as you know is a native Italian. We had Brother Linscott who is good in the
Italian language. He is an American who went over in August of 1948. It was
through these that we worked, teaching the people. We began at that time
wondering, now what will be the reaction of the people toward the teaching that
we have to offer them. Do they want the gospel? Will they be willing to hear
this gospel that we have ? It was slow at first; very few came as we first began
to preach, but from time to time we added a class. A class in Italy may be two,
it may be three, it may be sixty or seventy and up to three hundred persons. It
just depends. But we add a class as we have opportunity.

If someone said that we could come to their house and preach the gospel, we went
into that house and preached the gospel there. These brethren, during the summer
and fall of last year and through the winter, were conducting about sixty to
seventy classes per week in the homes and in whatever public place they might
find; and those places are hard to find because the Catholic church will not
allow us to rent halls in Italy if they possibly can keep us from it. So we have
carried out the greater part of our teaching in the. private homes, and as we
have said, we have taught from sixty to seventy classes each week. This is in
addition to the other work which has been done. We have not let thei benevolent
work interfere in any way with our teaching. When the time comes for classes, we
have those classes. When the Lord’s day comes, we have teaching and that is all
that we have. We impressed it upon the people shortly after we arrived, that we
are not here to give away clothing on this day. This is the Lord’s day and we
are here simply to teach. We would like for you to come and study with us. From
the beginning of the work until October of last year we have seen a steady
increase in the teaching program. The number of hearers had in ihese classes
from week to week, is from 2,000 to 2,500, and there could be many, many more if
we had the teachers to put over more classes. We are extremely fortunate that
among those who were converted in the preaching of the gospel there have been
some seven or eight that have had a desire to preach the gospel to their own
people. Today, these seven or eight are assisting in this work, preaching the
gospel to their own people. Because of this we have been able to carry on such
an extensive teaching program. I might tell you a little of the results of the
work, in just a moment or two. We wondered, when we went into Italy, as I said,
of the reaction of the people toward the gospel. Insofar as wanting to hear it,
we have the answer.

We have only been working) in a few towns around Rome; we haven’t gone out over
any large part of Italy at all. As you go perhaps twenty miles to the southeast
of Frascati, you would reach the limits of the places where we are preaching. As
you come back toward Rome some twelve miles you would reach the limit on that
side. Yet in that very restricted area we are teaching, as I have said, some
2,000 to 2,500 people each week, and we are doing but a small part of the
teaching that we could do in that restricted area. But it’s all that we can do,
so we have tried to carry on there. As a result of the teaching we find that
over three hundred, up until January 15 of this year, had obeyed the gospel.
When we went into Italy a year ago we did not know if we could baptize a person
the first year or not. We had heard so many say that you can’t convert a
Catholic. And do you know, we believed it; we have been believing it all these
years.' The Catholics have caused us to believe that if they get one of the
children and teach him for a few years, he will never depart from it. But these
people have been anxious to know the truth, and we were impressed when we taught
them, for as we began to show them the truth from the word of God, they would
give up their Catholic doctrine, saying, “Yes, that is the word of God, since
the word of God teached it, it must be so.” We were amazed at such a reaction
from the people. It was encouraging, too.

Since this trouble has arisen in Italy the Catholic press has, of course, fought
us from one end of Italy to the other, with the aid of the Communist press. I
think that therein they have made a mistake, because if they had restricted
their fighting to the part of the country where we were working, the towns where
we were working, perhaps they would have been successful in hindering to some
extent the work that we are doing. But now the church of Christ is known from
one'end of Italy to the other. We have inquiries from doctors, from priests,
from men in the schools, from men in every walk of life. We have inquiries from
over all of Italy saying, Come over and tell us something about this church of
Christ.” They have helped us from, that standpoint; if we just had someone to
send, we could really make the church of Christ known in Italy today. One of
those converted, as you know, in the past three months, has been an arch priest
of the Catholic church. This came about because of the debates that were held
with the Catholics in the summer of, last year. The monks of the Capucin Order
came to us and challenged us on the teaching we were doing. When we first went
into Italy and shortly after we began to teach the gospel, we found that upon
some occasions three and four of these monks would come into the class and argue
with the teacher, trying to disrupt the class; that was their way of hindering.
Finally they challenged us to discuss some points of doctrine with them in these
classes. As a result of that, a debate was held. Brother Paden debated with them
for several nights at Villa Speranza and also at Villa Ruffinella, which is just
a few miles outside of Frascati. Because of the teaching that was done, the
arguments advanced by Brother Paden, the bishop of Frascati saw fit to issue a
bulletin that went into the higher levels of the priesthood warning them against
the doctrine that we were teaching. He made known the arguments that we used in
this debate and this priest who was some 150 miles away from Frascati got one of
these papers and began to read it. He said that it sounded reasonable to him. He
sent to the brethren and said, “I’d like for you to come and talk with me.” We
find him trying to learn a little more; coming to the brethren in Frascati and
studying with them for a period of some weeks on these questions, and finally
along the first of December last year he was baptized.

We could tell you incidents of many conversions in Italy, but we don’t have the
time, in fact, we’ll have to close our part of this lesson. In Italy, Communism
has been the issue, so the Catholic church tells us. The Italian Government has
made the plea that our brethren, these people that have come to Italy, have lent
themselves to the aims of Communism, perhaps they are not Communists, they said,
but they have played into the hands of the Communists. That is not true! We have
not at any time had anything to do with Communism. We told the police that we
didn’t want anything to do with the Communists. We have told the commissioner of
police in Frascati that we are not Communist and we are not Catholic; we don’t
want anything to do with your politics. We are just here to preach the gospel of
the Lord Jesus Christ. But that did not deter the Catholic church from making
the charge that we are Communists. As you read in the Chronicle some two or
three weeks ago, the Communists finally turned upon us because we refused to
accept their aid in this crisis. So today, we stand alone in Italy. The
Communists don’t want us. The Catholics don’t want us. And we are glad that this
is so. We can imagine, however, the consternation of the Catholic church when
they found out that the Communists didn’t want us.

It’s impossible to tell you much of what is in Italy at this time. It would take
hours and hours. But we do want to assure you that the Catholic church is not as
well thought of in Italy as you are led to suppose. We are told that only half
of the people are really good Catholics; and we are told that only about half of
those go to mass regularly. So we see the conditions as they are, concerning
religion. The people want the gospel. Six or eight months ago they wrote us from
Italy, saying send us more teachers. We need a hundred teachers; right now. We
have enough calls to use everyone of them. As I said in the beginning, we
realize the need of the gospel in every part of the globe. We know that 'in
Italy they are anxious for it; they want it! As we view” them as they go about
in their bigotry, in their heathenism, in their idolatry, it makes our hearts
bleed to think that we can’t carry the gospel to them; they are willing,
anxious, ready to receive it. Over 300 of them were baptized this first year. I
know not how many would obey the gospel if we could carry it into all corners of
Italy.

I have appreciated this opportunity of speaking along this line. We wish that we
could answer all of your questions, but we don’t know what they are. So we will
let this suffice for this time. Thank you.

“THE CHURCH IN ITALY -- Part Two” Lecture by Jimmy Wood, February 23 1950, at
Abilene Christian College (9:30 a. m.)

We appreciate, too, this opportunity of being privileged to speak to you this
morning and to tell you some of those things that are near and dear to us
because they are the work of the Lord, and because of our association with them.
Remember about a month and a half ago it was our privilege to be in this same
auditorium, and to talk to the students for a few minutes concerning the crisis
of our brethren in Italy. At that time we requested the prayers of the students,
and faculty members for our work in Italy. We have had reports from many
congre-gations where you as students went during the Christmas holidays. All of
them told of the fact that you requested your home congregations to have special
prayers for the Italian work. We are truly grateful for this, and believe that
your prayers have availed a great deal. We would like to take this opportunity
of thank mg each and every one of you for your co-operation and prayers for the
work, and to solicit your continued help. We want to express our appreciation
too, to all of the editors of our gospel papers for the space that they have
given the work in Italy. We feel that this has helped a great deal in getting
the brotherhood to see the need of carrying the gospel, not only mto Italy, but
into all of the world.

Too, we appreciate the efforts of Abilene Christian College in seeing that the
gospel is carried into all of the world. Most of our workers in Italy have
attended Abilene Christian College, and a great deal of their missionary zeal
was begun here at this college in their Bible courses, and in the Mission Study
class. Among the many things that this school has done to mterest others in
Foreign Mission work are these Annual Lecture Programs. laterally hundreds of
appeals are made each year in behalf of Mission Work through these Lecture
Programs. So, for all of these things we are truly grateful, and our hearts
overflow this morning with gratitude for the co-operation and help that brethren
everywhere have given to the work that is being done in Italy. The picture of
our work in Italy would not be complete without a regime of the work that has
been done in our own country. The policy of the Crescent Hill Church of Christ
in Brownfield has been from the very beginning that this is not our work, nor
the work of any one congregation, but that it is the work of the Lord, and of
Christians everywhere. We have been interested in the work, and have put our
hearts and our money into it. However, we do not claim to be the overlords of
the Italian work, nor to control any of the work save Frascati Orphans’ Home,
and Brother Cline Paden whom we are supporting in Italy. This is the extent of
our participation in the Italian work, except that we have sought to give it all
the publicity that we possibly could. Because of our interest in the work the
brethren in Italy have looked to us for the publicity that is to be given it in
this country, and we have done the best that we could. We believe that you are
truly appreciative of this. The work 'in Italy was begun about two and one-half
years ago. Since that time enough interest has been shown in the work in Italy
to raise enough money to begin the operation of Frascati Orphans’ Home, and to
begin the work of the Lord’s church there. Our property in Frascati may be
valued at about $60,000, this money was contributed by brethren everywhere. This
property is used to house the fifty orphan boys that we hope to take into the
home, and to provide a meeting place for the church of Christ in Frascati.
Without the support of the church everywhere this work would not have been
possible. In addition to this brethren have responded most generously in the
support of the seven American Christians that we have in Italy. These men are
under the oversight of the elders of the churches of Christ who have assumed the
responsibility of their support in Italy. The churches sponsoring these men in
Italy are as follows: The Church of Christ in Nocona, Texas, is responsible for
the support of the Jack McPhersons in Italy. They are being helped by several of
the churches in that area. The Sears and Summitt Church of Christ in Dallas is
supporting fully the Gordon Linscotts in Italy. The Hayes Avenue Church of
Detroit, Michigan, is sponsoring the Wm. C. Hatchers in Italy. They are assisted
by several of the congregations in the Detroit area. The East Side Church of
Christ in Lubbock, Texas, has the oversight of the Harold Padens, and they are
being assisted in their work by several of the churches on the South Plains.
Brother Wyndal Hudson is responsible to the elders of the Seagraves Church of
Christ, and is being supported by a number of the churches in that part of the
state. The Crescent Hill Church of Christ is supporting Brother and Sister Cline
Paden, and they are responsible to the elders there. Brother and Sister K. D.
Pittman are being kept in Italy by the North Beach Church of Christ, and other
churches in the Corpus area. These are the American workers in Italy, and we
wish to make it clear that none of them except the Cline Padens are responsible
to the Crescent Hill Church of Christ. In addition to these workers we have
several native workers in Italy that are being supported by American churches.
Like the American workers they are responsible to the churches who have assumed
the responsibility of their support. The church in Burnet is supporting Brother
Lorry Colassanti in Italy. Brother Henry Luccheti is able to do the work of an
evangelist in Italy because of the support of the Pioneer Park Church of Christ
in Lubbock, Texas. Brother Sam Corrazza is supported by the Grand Avenue Church
of Christ in Sherman, Texas. Brother Guiseppi Torrerri, the converted
Arch-Priest, is being supported by the Crane, Texas church of Christ. Brother
Salvitore Puliga is under the oversight of the Central Church of Christ in
Jackson, Miss. All of these workers make bi-weekly reports to their supporting-
con-gregations, and are under the oversight of these churches. All of these
native workers are working full time in the work of the church, and would make
us ashamed of ourselves so far as their progress in the Lord’s kingdom is
concerned. Other native workers are being supported by Brother James Mulkey of
Wewoka, Oklahoma, who is sending $230 per month to the Frascati Church of Christ
to be used m their support. Again we repeat that the church in Brownfield has
nothing whatsoever to do with their supervision, for they are responsible to
their sup-porting congregations, just like I am responsible to the elders of the
Crescent Hill Church of Christ. We believe that this is right, and that it is
the way that the Lord wishes it to be. As a result of the great physical needs
of the Italian people the appeal for food and clothing was made to the
brotherhood in the very beginning. As a result of this appeal over 7,000 boxes
of food and clothing were sent into Italy in 1949. At present there are over
1,000 boxes of food and clothing being held in the Dogona in Rome, because of a
technicality that the Italian government has found. We believe that this shows
the genuine interest of the brotherhood here m the Italian people. We wish to
express our appreciation, and the appreciation of the brethren in Italy for your
co-operation in this. Many doors have been opened in Italy as a result of this
benevolent work, that would not have been open to us without it. The church of
Christ in Italy has a unique reputation because of the benevolent work that has
been done. The support of Frascati Orphans’ Home is another one of the many
things that brethren here in America have been most generous in. ‘In the
beginning we asked that $2,500 per month be contributed to this work. With this
money we have been able to buy and repair the property that we have in Italy,
and we now have facilities to take care of fifty orphan boys there. Though we
have the room to take care of these boys in Italy the Commissario of Frascati
issued an order on October 13th, 1949 that we were to take no more boys into the
home. At this time we have 22 orphaned boys in the home. The Life magazine
article of February 20th showed the empty beds, and the empty seats at our
tables there that could not be filled because of this order. Thus far this order
has not been repealed.

Now let us notice the many things that have been done in the United States in
recent weeks in regard to the obtaining of permanent visas for our workers in
Italy. There has been a great deal of publicity about the work in Italy and
about the work of the church of Christ in our own country. This publicity has
been spontaneous, and hasn’t been encouraged or urged by our brethren in Italy,
by us in Brownfield, or by any member of the church of Christ so far as I know.
I am sure that no member of the church of Christ has wanted any more to appear
in the papers and magazines about the church in Italy than was justly deserved.
This news has come as a result of our work in Italy, and as a result of the
interest that the church of Christ has had in carrying the gospel into all the
world. You will be interested to know that every major newspaper in the United
States has carried the story of the work of the church of Christ in Italy, not
one time, but many times during the past few weeks. Beginning on the sixth of
January, and continuing until now, the complete story has been carried by AP, UP
and INS wires.

We have received a great deal of publicity good and bad, and regardless of what
some have said, we believe that this has done good because many have heard of
the church that would have never heard of it had it not been for these things. A
sister writes from Chicago that the story has appeared on the front pages of the
Chicago Herald Tribune for two consecutive Sundays. The Chicago Herald Tribune
has one of the largest circulations of any newspaper in the United States, one
million and six hundred thousand. This means that one million and six hundred
thousand people heard of the church of Christ that had never heard of it before.
So we believe that a great deal of good has been done by the nublicity that we
have received. It has not only appeared in the Chicago papers, but in the
Washington, the New York, and the Los Angeles papers. In fact it has appeared in
papers all across this great land of ours, and there is not a person in the
United States today that does not know that the church of Christ exists.

News has come from Germany, Japan, Africa, and Italy that the story has been
carried in various foreign papers. Brother Lemmons tells us that the brethren in
Africa have written that it will do them a great deal of good in approaching
those who had never heard of the church of Christ before. Our brethren in Italy
tell us that as a result of the publicity that has been given them in Italy they
'have received letters from every major city in that country begging them to
come and preach the gospel to them. Even the slanted stories that the Catholic
papers have carried in that country have done a great deal of good.

Many of our leading magazines have carried excellent stories concerning the work
in Italy. The story in Time was of course unfortunate, but it was1 more than
offset by the unbiased story that appeared in Life. Such publicity as this could
not be bought with money, and has been worth million of dollars to the church of
Christ. The church will reap the results of this publicity for many years to
come. It is up to us to take advantage of all of it, and to tell as many as
possible the story of Christ in the next few years.

Dr. Gighotti, an official in the Presbyterian church who has done much to
promote religious freedom in the country of Italy, writes us that the Frascati
incident has had more to do with the resignation of Myron C. Taylor than any
single thing that has happened 'in Italy. (As the Lectures go into print it
seems that President Truman due to Catholic pressure is going to appoint another
envoy. We are hoping that this is not so, but at present there seems to be no
doubt but what he will. J. W.) Dr. Gigliotti was one of the protestant ministers
sent from the United States to Italy in 1945 and 1946 to help write the Italian
Peace Treaty and the Constitution. He was largely responsible for the “Religious
Freedom” clauses that appeared in both documents. Clauses that were supposed to
guarantee us the right to do the sort of work that we are doing in Italy. In
permitting our workers to be persecuted the Italian government has violated
these Religious Freedom clauses. It might be well that all of you, if you have
not already done so, write a letter to President Truman, protesting that another
envoy not be sent to Italy. All of these things show us that a great deal of
good has been done by our brethren in Italy.

Many have asked why the Catholics have persecuted us so much in Italy. One of
our representatives asked us while we were in Washington last month, Why the
church of Christ missionaries are being persecuted so much more in Italy than
many Protestant missionaries. Of course it would be impossible to explain to a
man who is not a member of the church why the Catholics are persecuting us more
than other missionaries, but you and I know the reason. The gospel of our Lord
is the only thing in the world today that can offer any real threat to
Catholicism today. The only formidable threat that Catholicism ever (has had, or
ever will have is undenominational Christianity. Our brethren have preached and
taught the gospel of Christ in Italy, and this is the reason that they have been
persecuted.

Instead of our challenging the Catholics for debate, they have challenged us.
The Franciscan Monks came to our services and challenged our brethren for
debates. When we met them in debate for three nights they wanted to quit, when
they had made the statements that they would follow us all over Italy until they
had run us out of the country. The discussions were continued for three nights,
and the Catholics were the ones that were made to suffer. Since the time of the
Campbell-Purcell debate Catholics (have known that the Catholic church could not
stand an investigation of the truth. One of the Catholic bishops in Italy made
the statement after they had challenged us for debate that they had one debate
with us, undoubtedly referring to the Campbell-Purcell debate, and that it
hadn’t turned out so well. These are the reasons that we have been persecuted in
Italy, and the reasons that the Catholic church will oppose us wherever we go.
We have not sought your sympathy, nor the sympathy of our Government because of
these persecutions, but we have asked for the right to continue to work in the
country of Italy.

Some have wondered how the Catholic church will be affected by the things that
have been done in Italy. It seems that everything that they have done in
opposing our work has blown up in their faces. They first said that we were
Communists, and then were made to look foolish when the Communist press in Italy
attacked us. They tried to save their face by saying through the Vatican
newspaper, L’Osservatore, that the Communists had at last seen the true light
and were opposing us. Not only have they lost face in these things, but in
everything that they have done 'in Italy. They have lost ground in our own
country, they have lost ground in Italy. We naturally didn’t know how to cope
with their trickery, and would not have tried to meet them on their own grounds,
but we believe that the Lord has had a hand in all that has been done. The Lord
has prevailed, and the power of prayer has helped us to see that we do not have
to resort to their underhanded tricks in order to grow in Italy or the United
States. None of us should doubt for a moment, but what the Catholic church will
lose ground as a result of these things.

Let us say these things in conclusion now. We need your continued support
financially and otherwise, and will continue to solicit your prayers for the
work in Italy. Our brethren in Italy need your prayers. They are continuously
faced with problems that they have never had to meet before. Their decisions are
all-important to the work there, and they will need the help of brethren
everywhere in making them. Few of the brethren here realize the importance of
making the proper decisions there, or the responsibility that they have in
making them. We have made many mistakes here and in Italy since this work was
begun, but we feel that we have profited from these mistakes. Nobody could
foresee the many problems that would arise as a result of the work that we were
beginning in Italy, and the only way some of these problems could be worked out
was to actually begin this work. We (have appreciated the criticisms of brethren
everywhere, and have striven to profit by them. Our brethren need your prayers,
and we need your prayers that we might do the right things in the country of
Italy.

One of the greatest needs in Italy at present is a need that is felt in every
mission field in the world. The need of more workers in the field. We need more
gospel preachers to go into the field, young and old. Some have criticized the
workers in Italy because of their youth, but we think that they are to be
commended for their willingness to go. Hardly a letter comes from Italy without
the appeal for some older men to come. They feel the need of experience there,
and we wish that some of our older preachers would go. However, since none of
the older ones are willing to go, we are happy that these our breth-ren are in
Italy, and doing the job that they are doing. We have others who are ready to
go. Brother Howard Bybee, a graduate of George Pepperdine College is ready and
anxious to go. Brother Carl Mitchell, another graduate of George Pepperdine, and
at present the evangelist of the Sichel Street Church of Christ in Los Angeles,
is ready to go. Brother James Davis, who holds a degree from David Lipscomb
College is ready to go. Brother Lowell Paden, a graduate of Abilene Christian
College, is ready to go. Each of these men have made their applications for Long
Term Visas, and are soliciting the necessary support for them to go into Italy.
If you know of a congregation willing to assume the responsibility of their
sup-port we would appreciate your getting in contact with them, or with us in
Brownfield, and we will be more than glad to give you their addresses. "Two of
these men are single, and will need approximately $250 per month. The other two
are married, and will need about $300 per month. Surely there are some
congregations who are willing to support these men in Italy.

Many have asked about the possibility of our workers being allowed to stay in
Italy. The Italian Government has not as yet given them the permission to stay
in Italy, but we have beeen assured by our own government, and by the Italian
Embassy in Washington that they will be allowed to stay. One of the officials of
our own State Department told Brother Reuel Lemmons while in Washington a couple
of weeks ago that, the Italian Government could not afford to force us out of
Italy. He went ahead to say that they could give us Frascati easier than they
could force us out of Italy just now. He went ahead to say that the publicity
that they have received in recent weeks after just threatening their expulsion
would be nothing like the publicity that they would receive if our brethren were
to have to leave. He also said that the Pope could do more damage to the Holy
Year by making us leave than by any other thing that he could do. We believe
with all of our heart that these things will be worked out satisfactorily.

We appreciate what you have done in regard to writing to our representatives in
Washington, D. C. The church of Christ is respected in Washington, and we
believe that the majority of our congressmen are on our side. Over 300 of our
congressmen have registered protests with our State Department concerning the
treatment of our missionaries in Italy. All of the representatives that Brother
Chisholm and I saw while we were in Washington told us that they had received
more mail on this thing than on anything that had happened in recent years. One
of Senator Johnson’s secretaries told us that the Senator had received more mail
on the “Frascati Incident” than on anything else since he had been in
Washington. One of the officials in the State Department suggested to Brother
Morris while he was in Washington recently that it would be best for our
brethren not to write any more to Washington for awhile. He said that further
letters just now might serve to antagonize the Italian Government. The State of
Texas is well represented in Washington, and we appreciate all that our
congressmen have done for our work in Italy. If our workers are not granted
visas we believe that we should again voice our protests to our government.

Some have asked what would happen to the work in Italy if our workers were
forced to leave. Of course the work would be hindered if our American brethren
were forced out of Italy, but it would not be stopped. The gospel has been
firmly planted in Italy, and there is no reason to assume that the church would
not continue to grow under the leadership of our Italian brethren. Brother
Gordon Linscott, and Brother Jimmy Cantilli will be allowed to remain in Italy
if our other workers are forced to leave. The property that we have there cannot
be taken away from us. Recently Brother Paden wrote that we need not fear losing
the property if they were forced to leave.

Let us remind you again that this is not the work of the Crescent Hill Church of
Christ, nor the work of any other individual congregation, but that it is the
Lord’s work, and that we are anxious that it redound to his glory and his honor.
Let us all continue to co-operate in carrying the gospel to the lost of the
world, and let us do it in a scriptural way.

Thank you again, Brother Morris, for this privilege of speaking on the 1950
Abilene Christian College Lectures, we hope that we have been able to give the
information that all of you were looking for in regard to our work in Italy.


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 10: “THE SOUTHERN BIBLE INSTITUTE”
========================================================================

“The Southern Bible Institute”

"SOUTHERN BIBLE INSTITUTE" Lecture by Dr. John G. Young, February 23, 1950, at
Abilene Christian College (2:30 p. m.)

Brother Adams, brothers and sisters. As time goes on we have certain interests
that manifest themselves, arid I think as we get older, those interests become
more unselfish. Someone has said up until a certain time our ideas are, that no
one shall do us any harm, that we shall look after our own interest. Then when a
certain milestone is passed in our growth and development it changes and we are
desirous then to make sure and doubly sure that we do no one else any harm, that
we do no one any injury. I think most of us have reached that second stage. You
manifest by your attendance at these Lectureships, you manifest by your
attendance here, your interests in your fellow man, your desire to do other
people good. I firmly believe that this type of thing, sponsored by this type of
institution, does as much good, as almost anything we can imagine in stimulating
good to other people. I felt honored when Brother Morris asked me to come. You
have heard many appeals, you have heard many very laudible and commendatory
statements of what has been done and of plans for the future.

I am going to present you one that’s a little bit different this afternoon, and
I hope it will appeal to every one of you, every individual here, young and old,
man and woman, boy and girl. I think it should weigh on our hearts. In Acts 8:30
are these words, “Understandest thou what thou readest? And he”—who was he? He
was an Ethiopian, a man of the black race. “And he,” the man from Ethiopia,
said, “How can I, except some man should guide1 me? And he besought Philip to
come up and sit with him, and Philip opened his mouth, and beginning from that
scripture preached unto him Jesus.” God through the Holy Spirit saw that
Ethiopian of that time and by miraculous means guided Philip down there that
that man might know the gospel. Several years ago as Brother Adams told you, the
colored brethren came to the white brethren and said, in something like these
words, “Brethren we need more edu-cation, we need more preparation for our
brethren, that they might go out and preach the gospel in a more presentable
manner. The colored race is becoming better and better educated, and we need
help. Will you please, we entreat you, we beseech you, give us help?” The first
meeting I went to down at Cleburne, Brother Otto Foster was there and many
people here were there. I went down more or less lukewarm to the idea of
establishing or attempting to establish a school for colored Christians. I
thought that our hands were filled up. I thought that the white schools took up
all the energy we had, all the stored up energy in the form of money, all of our
work and it wasn’t being done too well even then. But when these colored
brethren standing before us said, “Brethren, we beseech you, we entreat you, aid
us that we might preach the gospel more effectively.” Since then, many, of us
have been giving our time and our thought to this thing.

Why a school for colored brethren? They need it, they want it and they sincerely
desire it. They told us at this meeting that the average education of colored
preachers was about the fourth grade and in order to properly compete before an
audience to present the gospel in a good manner, in an acceptable manner, in a
way that would attract people to the gospel, they must have better preparation.
They have been doing a tremendous amount oh work before. All of you are familiar
with the work of the Nashville Christian Institute. Brother Keeble is to follow
me, in the good works they are doing, but in this great southwest there is no
place where colored people, boys and girls, could go to school under Christian
influence, where they might learn to spread the gospel, where they might learn,
if they did not become preachers, to become good leaders, deacons and elders,
good mothers, deacons’ wives, elders’ wives, good members of the church that
they might further the cause of the gospel among the colored brethren. How many
colored people are there? There are various estimates. I think the recent one is
about 20,000,000 in the United States. Twenty million colored people, many of
them who have not had the opportunity nor the privilege to know the gospel in
its truth, who have not had the opportunity of listening to the word of God
preached in its sincerity and in its simplicity. Now do not misunderstand me at
all, I am highly in favor of missionary work in every zone of the world, at home
and abroad. We at Sears and Summit, as you at your congregation, are doing that
kind of work, I hope. We are supporting missionaries in Africa, in Germany, in
Italy and in Japan, in the north east and in the middle east.

There is a story about a ship that ran out of water off the coast of South
America, and this ship was destitute and people were famished for water, they
could get no water, they had exhausted their fresh water supply, and on the
horizon there appeared another ship, and by signal they signaled to that ship,
“Hurry to us, we are famishing, we are parching of thirst, we have people about
to die.” And that ship on the horizon signaled back, “Let down your pails,” and
they thought they misunderstood. And they signaled again, “We are famishing, if
you don’t get fresh water we shall die,” and the ship on the horizon said, “Let
down your pails, let down your buckets where you are,” and they let them down,
and they drew up fresh water. They were at that wide, wide mouth of the Amazon
where the water was entirely drinkable and free of salt. We in the south can let
down our buckets and do good. It is not necessary that we go afar to do good. It
is admirable that we go afar to do good, it is not necessary. We can do in our
communities, in our own cities, in our counties, in our own state, in our
section a tremendous amount of good by educating and helping the colored brother
that he might preach the gospel and be a better Christian. Then there is a need,
how to fill that need was next.

We have considered for these many months and years, about three years, methods
of trying to do this. We had at first grandiose ideas that we thought to be
possible, we became disappointed. We had the idea of building from the ground up
an institution for Christian colored education and appealing to the brotherhood
for support to the extent of perhaps half a million or a million dollars. We got
discouraged about that of course, when we did not move along very fast. Last
year we decided to start, and iri 1948, the fall of 1948, we began in Fort
Worth, Texas, on the grounds of the Lake Como Colored Church of Christ, a small
education institution for colored brethren. We bought, through aid and through
help, some army barracks and cut them down and changed them until we had an
institution of Negro education last year in Fort Worth, and we had about 45
students to register. That ran through last year. /Then this summer, we had the
proposition presented to us ;that we might start this work on a better scale.
Those of you who are familiar with Terrell, Texas, know that in that city for
many years has been a boys’ private school, the Texas Military College, a school
with a campus of about 25 acres with 14 buildings upon it, an Administration
Building, mess hall, dormitories, houses for faculty, gymnasium, swimming pool,
tennis courts, play grounds, and other buildings that could be used for hospital
or infirmary, altogether 14. This institution functioned as a going junior
college until last June, when it closed down and this property was for sale.
After due inquiry and due inspection, the Board of Trustees of the colored
school, the Southern Bible Institute, decided after much consultation that we
should purchase that campus with all the buildings. It has been estimated that
to duplicate this set up in Terrell would cost approximately six hundred
thousand dollars. That entire campus with 14 buildings furnished has been
purchased by the Southern Bible Institute, for sixty thousand dollars. The
dormitories are equipped, the classrooms are equipped, the library is equipped
with books, with tables, with chairs, with visual education material; there is a
laboratory of chemistry, of physics and of biology, equipped; there is a mess
hall that can seat about 120 at one time and that is equipped with tables, with
dishes, with silverware, with cooking utensils. [There are the other buildings
for other uses, a home for the president, so we have purchased this for about
ten cents on the dollar. Now in this institution we propose, beginning this next
September, the start of a junior college for the education of colored brethren
who desire further education along Christian lines. It is our plan that every
boy and girl, man and woman, that attends this institution shall study the
Bible, that we will make it possible for those who desire to become ministers to
receive adequate training that they may become better ministers than they would
be otherwise. Our curriculum will of course be some-what restricted, we cannot
give everything that Abilene Christian College or other Christian colleges for
white boys and girls have been able to give, but eventually our plan is that
this shall be a well equipped, well functioning completely running junior
college for the colored race. It is our plan that first we shall begin only the
first year of college with either two or three years of high school. Now you ask
why. This is done at the judgment of the colored brethren. They say we do not
have enough colored students who have graduated from high school to limit it to
a junior college! with two years. The second year we hope to add a second year
of college and complete the junior college curriculum, and if as time goes on
there are enough high school graduates, we will eventually perhaps eliminate
that final high school year and have only a junior college, but our plan now is
to do the greatest good to the greatest number of people that we can.

We are not going before any congregation asking for congregational support but
we hope to interest every loyal Christian in, this large community in this work.
The colored brethren are” interested. We have been told for instance that our
largest enrollment will come perhaps from California. Brother Hogan has the
group out there say that they have many students prepared to come to such an
'institution when that institution gets ready to function. The colored brethren
in Detroit and Chicago say ^hat students will come from these environments,
also, to that school. It should appeal to the brotherhood throughout the nation.
There are still those who do not believe that the colored brethren should be
supported. I am sorry to say that there are some who believe still that the
colored brother should not be aided in his advancement. But speaking for myself
and I think the Board of Trustees, we feel it as a burden upon our hearts, as a
weight on our conscience that our colored brethren be aided.

You have had repeated to you, I guess, a dozen times this week a portion of the
great commission, or maybe all of it, “Go ye into all the world and preach the
gospel unto every creature.” That is a command. That is not a suggestion. We are
to go and preach and if we can educate the colored brethren that they can better
preach, if we can make more or less a factory where producers are produced, and
then those producers can go out and make more and (more disciples, can spread
the word of the kingdom throughout the land among their brethren. If we can do
this one thing we will further the cause of Christ in this great southland a
tremendous amount.

I believe as has also been said to you that any worthwhile challenge placed
before the sons of God will be accepted if it is for God’s work. I think that
Christians accept challenges. I don’t think we can make anything to:) large if
it is God’s work. Those other disciples didn’t get discouraged and yet it has
been mentioned to you also during the lifetime of one person the gospel during
the apostolic days was preached to the then known world. It wasn’t too big then,
it isn’t too big now. We should have this on our conscience. Frankly and very
directly I have no qualms of conscience, I have no embarrassment, I have no
hesitancy in asking for support of such an institution. If it were for myself,
for our congregation where I worship, if it were for something of a selfish
nature, then of course I would be hesitant, and I should be hesitant. But I have
absolutely no hesitancy, no embarrassment, in asking you to support such an
institution because it’s entirely unselfish, it’s done for the glory of God, for
the spreading of the gospel, for the enlargement of the borders of the kingdom
of the Lord. Brethren, we must do it, we can’t do otherwise. If we fail to
accept such a responsibility, if we fail to accept such an opportunity, I would
hate to approach my God in the day of judgment and admit that I turned it down.
I think it obligatory, I think also it is an opportunity. Now we do not have
published prayers, we do not have prayers that we read from books, but I am
going to repeat to you one little prayer that I think will be answered every
time it is prayed. Ask God “to help you to do his will more peifectly.” That is
why God sent Christ to earth, that his will might be done. If this is God’s
will, let the gospel he preached to the colored brethren, then we should ask God
to help us to do it more perfectly.

If you will allow me I am going to place on your con-science this among many
other things that have been placed upon your conscience this week, that you help
us to provide for the education, the religious education, the advancement in
religious knowledge of the colored brethren. This is something that cannot wait,
if we are going to open a school in September time is of the essence, we must
pay off this indebtedness. Many of us have given of our time, and our means in
these past years steadily and unselfishly and I am going to give you an idea of
the men who are helping in this work. Many of you know them. I am going to read
to you the members of the Board of Trustees of the Southern Bible Institute:
Brother Caw- thorn of Paris; Brother Otto Foster of Cleburne; Brother H. H.
Grey, colored preacher of Dallas; Brother J. B. Mc- Ginty of Terrell; Brother D.
II. Moyers of Ennis; Brother Gayle Oler of Quinlan; Brother J. H. Richards of
Fort Worth; Brother J. S. Winston of Fort Worth, a colored preacher; Brother
Walter Adams of Abilene; Brother R. N. Allen of Sanderson; Mike Balagia of
Austin; R. B. Bond of Brownsville, Tennessee, a colored brother; Berry Brown of
Wichita Falls; 0. B. Butler of Oklahoma City, a colored brother; Thomas J.
Carter of Dallas; A. C. Chad- dick of Baytown; N. E. Davidson of Cpnroe; J. R.
Fleming of Weatherford; R. N. Hogan of Los Angeles, a colored preacher; Ben
Holland of Austin; G. P. Holt of Oklahoma City; Levi Kennedy of Chicago, a
colored preacher; R. G. Meggs of Dallas; Vance Mitchell of Midland; W. I. Morris
of Kaufman; W. D. Morrison of Detroit, Michigan, a colored brother; R. L. Nunley
of Martin, Tennessee, a colored preacher; George Purcell of Brady; E. A. Sanders
of Childress; Paul Settles of Houston, a colored brother; B. Sherrod of Lubbock;
H. E. Speck of San Marcos; G. E. Steward of Detroit, Michigan, a colored
brother; J. L. Watson of Thorp Springs; Walter Weathers of Houston, a colored
brother. Now this group is ready to go, Again let me say we need your support.
If you are. contacted in your city, if you have opportunity to give, if you
desire to contribute to the support of this institution, we hope you will. Now I
have one more announcement. All of you know Brother E. W. McMillan. It is our
good fortune that Brother McMillan has agreed to be President of this school for
the colored, the Southern Bible Institute, and will take office, take over the
work on September 1, 19ri0. It is my pleasure to present to you at this time for
a few words. Brother McMillan.

REMARKS BY BROTHER MCMILLAN I count it one of the very high privileges in my
life to be a small portion of the great work that is going on among the
disciples of Christ today. I nay my tribute to Abilene Christian College for the
large contribution it has made, and continues to make, to Christian education,
including mission work. In my extensive travels the last three years, as was
stated in the lecture two days ago, I have seen the far reaching influence of
Christian education, in the local congregations, and on the mission fields, at
home and abroad. It does not hurt the financial drive of Abilene Christian
College for it to make a large place in its own program for the voices that call
from other parts of the world. It but sufficiently identifies the spirit of the
school for God to open larger doors to the school itself.

It is an honor to be given the privilege of service in behalf of our negro
brethren, though I lack confidence in myself for these responsibilities. Having
never trained to be an executive and never wanted to be one, I feel myself
incapable; but I have a large, compensating, confidence that leads me to
undertake the responsibilities Dr. Young mentioned. I know personally most of
the Board of Directors. They are men of high honor, intelligence and sincerity.
I trust them. I also have great confidence in my brethren throughout the
country. I have learned that when you give them something that is honest and
honorable, the most of them are willing to hear and help. It is comforting,
also, to know that such men as President Morris and Dean Adams are willing
consellors. But most of all, place confidence and security in God.

Allow me at this point to identify Mrs. McMillan with me in this work. She is
not able to be in the audience this afternoon, but we are one in this service.
We prayed together, counselled together, and our lives are dedicated together in
this work, which we consider one of the most honorable services we have ever
undertaken.

Brother Foster will remain the president of this school until the first of
September. I jovially told him the other day that this is not the first worthy
job he ever started then handed over to me, and it is not. I worked with him
more than four years in Cleburne some years ago. I know' the man. In these
responsibilities there will be mistakes made; be prepared for them. You are not
promised anything close to perfection; you are promised the best that I know how
to give. And I promise you that, when I make a mistake, you will be welcome to
come and talk with me about it. Not only that, you are requested to come and
talk with me.

I read something about Abraham Lincoln sometime ago which helped me a great
deal. One of President Lincoln’s chief advisors told him, with indignation, that
Colonel John Doe said the President was a certain kind of a fool. 'The story
said the President, in effect, replied: “The Colonel usually is right in his
judgments; I shall go over and see why he thinks so.” I’ll try to be that kind
of an honest man with you. If anyone just has to attach descriptive adjectives,
go ahead; but better still, let’s talk it out and pray it out. I promise you the
best that we can give; by your help and co-operation, and by the help of God, we
shall write a chapter in the history of our negro brethren that will be blessed
in memory, we hope.


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 11: “THE CHURCH AMONG THE COLORED”
========================================================================

“The Church Among the Colored” THE CHURCH AMONG THE COLORED Lecture by Marshall
Keeble, February 23, 1950, at Abilene Christian College (3:30 p. m.) This is one
occasion that I am at a loss to find words to express my gratitude and
appreciation to Brother Morris for inviting me to have a part in this great
program. I feel my unworthiness and unfitness for such a great occasion. I have
prayed continuously to God to. give me strength and power to guide me in
whatever way that he thinks is best, or rather knows best, that I might say just
those things that are appreciated and that are essential and necessary, on an
occasion of this kind. I feel that in the common expression, I feel that right
at this time I am “on the spot.” That’s the way I feel. Nevertheless,, we may
have just a little enjoyment, a little laughter, but all of us sincere. I think
sometimes the trouble with the church is we carry too long faces in order to
appear sincere. That don’t count. So I am glad to have the privilege to be here.
When Brother Morris first wrote me, I had an engagement at Los Angeles for about
a month or 45 days, but when I got that call I cancelled that meeting and
decided I would go to Los Angeles at some future time, that this was more
important. Some of you might differ with me —leaving off a religious work, godly
work, to come and lecture on an occasion of this kind for a material matter. I
don’t see it that way. I see that I came that I might help in a great cause that
the Negro preacher would be better qualified to go to Los Angeles. They have
done a fine job, but there is something needed that all of them do not have and
this meeting is for the purpose of giving to us just what we need to meet these
intellectual giants that strut up and down the country and challenge the church
of Christ. You are responsible for it. You can either prepare us or you can let
them slaughter us. Take your choice. It’s up to you. Or you can turn around by
silence and indifference help them to slaughter us. You can—you know how fo do
that.

Now then, Dr. Young not only is a doctor, he is a great doctor; has a great
record and has made a great record in Dallas—not only in Dallas—throughout the
United ,States of America Dr. Young is known. But he has time to be an elder,
church of Christ. He has time to take off from his work that he is needed to do
and help to foster a cause or to lead us in a cause that will develop a race
that is badly in need of civilization.

I expect if we had any way of checking on Dr. Young on his stay up here,
materially speaking, thousands of dollars have been lost. That’s the way you
look at a man to find out whether he means it or not. Thank God for him. He has
been an inspiration to me. The church where he is an elder has (helped our
school for six or seven years, and six hundred dollars a year. The Board of
Trustees of the Southern Bible Institute has established the policy of
soliciting funds from individuals only—not from church treasuries. Gentlemen,
let’s not get excited, brethren and sister, about helping the school. All these
missionaries you heard talked about that’s over yonder doing a great work, we
are all praying for them. You hear Brother Morris and you hear Brother Pullias
and you hear Brother Tiner and you’ll hear Brother Hardeman tell you they are
students of ours. Aren’t we proud of them? I know you are. These presidents have
a right to say they are their students. They have sat at the feet oflhe
faculties where they are presi-dents. They have a right to claim them. And the
church has a right to claim the whole thing. You know, I would like to have a
few amens. Little as you think of it we are retarding the progress of the church
trying to be quiet, trying to be up-to-date and modern, and the preacher don’t
know when he has said anything that suits anybody. We are afraid we will go
sectarian that it’s just as bad to pull off a bridge as to back off. After you
get through, you’re off. It’s a great pleasure to see these great men like
Brother Morris, Brother Young and the whole faculty of this school behind this
movement. David Lipscomb College’s being behind the Nashville Christian
Institute is the reason we have made the progress we have. When we run out of a
teacher or need one we know where to borrow one. He will be there in a about
half an hour and take the class in charge, and competent and prepared to do it.
Abilene Christian College is right behind this movement, a greater thing they
have never undertaken in their life. And it is a great thing, and one thing I am
proud of that the president and the college, all the members of the faculty I
don’t believe are ashamed of it. I really believe the whole thing is a hundred
per cent behind Brother Morris. I do, I do. And God is leading us.

I tell you what happened to me. I was holding a meeting once at a place and
there was a colored man that happened to have finished college, had some
advantage of me intellectually, and he knew that he had it because you could
tell from ouNdiscussion in the language that I was using that I was short, and
the verbs that I was splitting and the adjectives that I was bursting. He could
tell that I was unprepared intellectually to stand before him and he attempted
to take advantage of me. And here’s what he said. When I quoted Acts 2:38, he
got up right in the audience and asked me, “What is the Greek on that?” He knew
that I knew nothing about Greek. What’s the Greek on that? I stood there
puzzled, didn’t know what to say about it, and didn’t want the cause of Christ
to suffer, but he had me. This thought came to me, and I was proud of it. I said
everybody in this audience that knows Greek lift their 'hands. I looked around
and I saw nobody’s hand up. I turned around to this great preacher and I said,
“What’s the need of discussing Greek? Nobody out there knows it,” and I got away
with him and felt sorry for him. But this institution that Brother Young is the
chairman of the Board of Directors, are trying to prepare young men that can
meet that problem. After a while you’ll ask for that in your audience and about
half your audience raises their hand and you're in it. But I got by with that. I
am a little afraid that the young men coming on behind me will not be able to
make it that way, so it is up to you and it’s up to our colored brethren that
are doing everything they can; it will be very feeble, but they will do the best
they can. The colored man can pay for anything if you put it on a small enough
basis. Make the installment payment small enough and we’ll buy this whole city
of Abilene.

I don’t want to forget one young man who deserves a lot of praise and a lot of
credit. in this institution goes up or down. Brother Kirkpatrick deserves a lot
of praise. He was chosen by the Board to travel around and inform the churches
and the brethren and I know he . has a hard job. I know he met some that didn’t
want his message and he met some that accepted him warmly. I meet them, but I
never get offended. I go back agam; if you don’t mind on a second trip, 1 am
accepted. Don’t ever be disheartened. Just continue to trust God in a problem of
this kind. Brother Young said that at first he was opposed, he was opposed to
this. Why, that’s natural. He had his privilege to be so. And many of you may be
opposed to it now. That’sf the reason this meeting is here—to knock the
opposition out of you! If we can introduce enough facts or enough things for you
to think on, by this time next year you may be with Dr. Young, our opponent no
longer. There was a time that the white brethren over this country opposed
holding meetings for the colored people because they feared they were too
spasmodic. 1 have had white brethren to tell me that wTe ought to have done this
20 years ago, Keeble, but we thought your people were excitable and spasmodic
and this would not appeal to them. Thus, we didn’t offer it to them. But wThen
they cahed me, or called for another colored preacher and the colored man
responded they forgot—they forgot if they ever did know—that the gospel can take
the dance out of the man, stop him from dancing, pull him out from under a
mourner’s bench and set him up on a seat. That’s all they need. But look [how
long the colored man suffered with a misunderstanding and a misconception of the
white man. The same is true today. Somebody said the southern problem and the
northern problem. When you meet my brethren in Christ in the north, in the
south, in the east, in the west, there is no problem. My brethren in Christ
inday, white, are looking out every way possible to bring the negro to Christ,
north, south, west and east. I see no problem Only thing I see is this: let’s
carry the gospel to the lost souls of the world. And if the young man needs
preparing to carry it, let’s establish an institution where he can get the
preparation, where he can be. prepared, where he can be able to meet these
intellectual giants that come out of these sectarian colleges. I don’t have
nothing to boast about, but I’m just bragging a little. Now then, somebody is
worried about whether a mixed faculty will work. That has come up and naturally
it would come up; some white people on the faculty and some colored—will that
work? Gentlemen, if it’ll work in a sectarian school, it ought to work better in
a school where everybody is a Christian. It works in sectarian schools. Fisk
University, a congregational school, had a white president and white people on
the faculty for the last 75 years and we have more of the spirit of Christ than
they had, I think. Don’t get excited—it’s God working trying to lift the people
that have been possibly misled. And now your hearts are running out for them.
The very spirit of Christ is in your 'heart or you wouldn’t be interested in us.
It’s the interest of the church of Christ that has missionaries in Africa, it’s
the interest of the church of Christ in America that sent Brother McMillan and
all the missionaries to Japan after they had stabbed us in the back. That’s
fine. That’s the spirit of Christ. I believe these missionaries have forgot that
attack at Pearl Harbor. The gospel of Christ will knock out of us all the
prejudice and malice we have against any man. It will knock it out. And when it
hasn’t done so, we haven’t absorbed enough of the spirit of Christ. Gentlemen, I
must appeal to you. This has been iny experience for the last 50 years, working
with both races, and the colored people are anxious to be led.

I was holding a meeting at Hopkinsville, Kentucky, and the white preacher met me
when I came down on the Pan- American—a lot of colored people standing on the
platform. When this white man grabbed both of my grips and put them in the car
and me following along behind him, it excited the Negro in Hopkinsville and he
couldn't understand that. He never will till he obeys Christ, then he will
understand it. This white brother was trying to make me welcome and show me that
they were behind me a hundred percent—that was all—get me ready for the messages
I had planned to deliver; letting me know that I had friends in Hopkinsville.
That was what he was trying to do. Made a good job of it. Carried me on to where
they had selected for me to stay, told the lady here’s the man He tried to tell
her what kind of a character I was and not to be any ways uneasy; he’ll act
right. So many of us don’t. I ate at that home and then I said to this preacher,
“I would like to go over there where you are putting up the tent at.” He said,
“Well, come on.” I got over there and about 20 white brethren were putting up
the tent, driving stobs, wet with perspiration in August; not a col-ored man on
the ground. Well the colored people were interested. They walked over there and
they said, “What is this?” They said, “It is going to be a meeting.” “Well,
who’s gonna do the preach'ng?” He said a colored man. “Well, how come you all
are putting it up?” He didn’t understand it; the white brethren understood it.
And'-then a white man walked up to me and he said this to me. I thought he was a
brother of the church of Christ when I first met him, but he asked me this
question: “You gonna do this preaching here?” I said, “Yes, sir.” He said,
“Well, there’s no need of you preaching to your people. Why you’re not a nation.
The gospel is not for you all— it’s the nations—you’re not a nation.” He said
something there. I don’t really how now what I am. There you are —I don’t know.
Really to tell you the truth I know I’m not an African. I know that. But what
are you, Keeble? I’m a natural born American. I was born in America and I am
proud of the fact because it is the greatest country in the world. It’s the
richest country in the world. We are lending money now to everybody. We are
feeding the world, ain’t that right? Sure! Amen. America — who wouldn’t be proud
of the fact that he’s an American? Who wouldn’t? A man that isn’t proud that
he’s an American (he needs to get off somewhere and be examined. Something is
wrong with him, mentally, my friends. He said the gospel is to all nations and
you all are not a nation. “Well,” I said, “what are you gonna do about Mark?
Mark said go preach the gospel to every creature. So if I happen not to be a
nation, I’m creeping around here.” And that man couldn’t answer that question.
He walked right on off and never said another word to me and left the ground.
The white brethren said, “Keeble, we’re glad you handled that that way. He has
been here after us all day” —after the white brethren all day trying to
discourage them.

I warit to tell the colored people that are present here today if you are saved
in heaven and you happen to recognize Mark, when you get there, shake hands with
him. Ain’t that right? Why? He’s the only one that included all. Thank God for
Mark. If I ever meet him, I’ll say, “Mark, you took care of all me.” Thank God.
Matthew said “nations,” Luke said “nations,” Mark said “creatures.” And we
wouldn’t know today that baptism saves us if Mark hadn’t told us. Matthew didn’t
say that it saves, just told us what to baptize in—what name; Luke just tells us
it starts at Jerusalem and he quits, but Mark says it’s for “every creature.”
That includes the whole world—anybody that is eligible to believe the gospel has
got sense enough to understand it according to Mark; he’s eligible. Gentlemen,
I’m proud of Mark. And we’re going over now to the tenth chapter of the book of
Acts and show you what misunderstanding does —misunderstanding. Peter was down
at Joppa. He had the keys of the kingdom, but he misunderstood how to use them.
He had let about 3,000 in on the day of Pentecost, he walked and talked with
Jesus, he was on the mountain of transfiguration with him, he heard him say “go
teach all nations,” but yet Peter misunderstood that commission. He
misunderstood it and when he gets down to Joppa he refuses to go preach to the
Gentiles whom the Jews looked upon as dogs. He said Pm not going. God carried
him up on a housetop and performed a vision there, a miracle you might call it,
or whatever you want to call it. A net was let down knit at the four corners
containing all kind of fowls and four-footed beasts of the earth and creeping
things, rather, of the earth. And there was in that net, no doubt, a hog ’cause
he is four-footed. The Adventists ought to read that and see that they can eat
him now. God told Peter to slay and eat, and Peter stood up there on the
housetop and told God he wasn’t gonna eat it. When he got through with him, he
was willing to eat everything in the net. Why did he eat it? He said, what I’ve
cleansed, I’ve cleansed, don’t you even call it common or unclean. That settled
that. Peter didn’t argue any more, came down off of the housetop and he finds
six Jewish brethren that he brought there with him, they were down there waiting
for him to come down. There were some other men there waiting for him to tell
him they want him at Caesarea Philippi, at Cornelius’ house, and' they went up
there.

Now I’m fixing to tell you something that ain’t written now. Just what I’m
fixing to say isn’t written, but it is inferred. I’m reading now between the
lines—I’m fixing to. Those six Jewish brethren went along with Peter, they
didn’t see the transaction on the housetop; they were not up there.
Consequently, they don’t know what happened. When Peter came down, no doubt they
objected to going along with Peter. But Peter might have prevailed with them and
got them to go on down there. It appears to me that there was a little
discussion between them as they went on up there by the way the language reads.
They trodded along, it is possible, that some of them said, Now Peter, I’ll go
along with you but I’m not going to have a thing to do with them—they’re not in
it nohow. Now Peter said, come on, something might happen to change your mind.
That ain’t written, now don’t you all go home and look for that. That ain’t in
there nowhere. That’s what the Baptists ought to do when they’re calling for
mourners. They ought to say come on to the mourner’s bench, but it ain’t in the
Bible nowhere—come on. Then the man would know whether to go or not. The same
way with the Methodist when he’s fixing to sprinkle. Tell the man to let you
sprinkle some water on his head but it ain’t in the Bible, then he would know
whether to be silly enough to sit there. Now somebody says, Brother Keeble,
that’s the only objection we have had of you for years—you call names. But Jesus
calls them, he calls them, and I don’t think a better preacher lived. I don’t
think so. He called them, he called them. And when you find preachers dodging
these names, it’s a little dangerous—it’s a little dangerous to dodge these
names. Now the only way I would suggest that you call a name or you fight
another man’s doctrine, always wrap your message up so he can receive it. If you
were to go to a store tomorrow, say for instance to buy meat, or steak or
something, and the man just handed it to you without wrapping it up—without
wrapping it un — would you carry it dangling on out of the door? Wrap your
messages up with love. Let the individual see that you’re telling him because
you love him and your messages will be well taken. I’ve never run a man off yet.
If I did, he came back. You can tell them, you can tell them, but you must show
to him that you are interested in his soul and you’re not doing it with malice
neither with prejudice, nor hatred in your heart, and he will take anything you
tell him. Why you can call a man a liar, just straight out liar, if you know how
to call him it! And if you don’t know how to call him that, I would advise you
not to call him that. So, therefore, names don’t hurt nothing; names help the
gospel because the man knows you’re not hinting at him.

You know, we have a lot of brethren today said now, when they stand in the
pulpit and I have been sitting in the audience many times—I know what the
preacher wanted to say—you could almost see him wanting to say it— almost. He
said, you sectarians—there you are, there you are, and the denominational
world—well that do sound good. But, brother, you don’t get far. The man you’re
talking about doesn’t consider himself what you called !him. So you missed him
completely. If you had said, Brother Baptist, and you could call him that
without any violence to the Scripture, Ananias called Saul brother before he
baptized him, so you don’t hurt nothing—don’t get excited, it won’t hurt—that’s
the way you do it, and you call him that. Jesus walked up to the grave of
Lazarus and he called him by his name. But why did he call him by his name? If
he hadn’t called him by his name everybody in the cemetery would have got up. He
called him by his name and Lazarus came out of the grave and Jesus told those
that were standing by to just loose him; he didn’t have the power to get up. You
didn’t have power to raise him, but you can loose him. Whatever you can do, God
wants you to do it. And that you can’t do, impossible, He’ll do it for you.
That’s the reason I believe in telling a man who you are talking about.

I was preaching in Los Angeles, California, about 20 years ago. There was a
young white man in the audience —I talked about every church I could think of. I
called every name imaginable that entered my mind, but I had missed this young
man’s church. Did you know he wouldn’t sit down when I said be seated? He
remained standing. He was about six feet, weighing over 200 pounds, in the
middle of the tent—he said, “What about my church?” There’s a man mad because I
missed his church. There you are. It doesn’t hurt, brethren, to call' names. I
looked at him, I said, I didn’t know a thing about the Latter Day Saints—he says
“I’m a Latter Day Saint.” I said, “What are you? Latter Day Saint?” I hadn’t
said nothing about them because I didn’t know nothing about them. I didn’t know
enough about their doctrine for me to discuss that, so I was puzzled as to how
to answer that and I asked him; again, “What did you say?” I understood him at
first. I’m thinking now while he is giving me his next answer— I had the answer
for him—or rather his next question—I had my answer ready. I said, “You say
Latter Day Saint?” He said, “Yes, Sir.” I said, “You’re too late.” You’re too
late—too late! And when I told him that he sat right down. Did you know that
that answer satisfied him? And the next night when the invitation was extended
he came walking down the aisle and was baptized at the Central Church of Christ
in Los Angeles. He was baptized that night; I went right on over—I wanted to see
him baptized. And when he came out of the water and got dressed, I met him and
shook his hand and congratulated him for not being ashamed of the gospel, and he
said, “Bother Keeble, I don’t stay in nothing too late”— nothing too
late—nothing too late! Gentlemen, it’s wise to give these people an answer—if
you got it—of some nature. I’ll help a man—help him to see the light of the
gospel of Christ if you call his name. That young man never would have obeyed
the gospel had he not stood up and told me what he was. It doesn’t hurt—it
doesn’t hurt —it doesn’t hurt.

Now, I know this; Dr. Young is about all I know here that’ll bear me witness on
this. Somebody else might do it, but Dr. Young knows that many cases that he had
had needed to be operated on, but he doesn’t advise an operation right suddenly.
He advised first precaution— see if we can scatter that—see if we move it
through some other process. I hate to cut. No preacher here likes to stand up
and cut on people; if he can preach the gospel and scatter it, why he’d like to
do it, and if not take the Sword of the Spirit and cut it out—perform the
operation. And that’s what men and women ought to be willing to be cut on—with
the word of God—until they are stripped of everything that might prevent them
from entering the eternal city. And then again, Cornelius’ case. When Peter
preached to Cornelius and the Holy Spirit came down upon these Gentiles for the
first time, Peter turned around and says this: “Who can forbid water? Don’t that
sound like they had had an argument? Don’t that sound like an argument happened
there? Can you all forbid water? You fussed about coming up here to preach to
these Gentiles. You argued with me all the way up here. Now can you forbid
water? Don’t you see the Holy Ghost coming on them like it did us Jews down at
Jerusalem? Can you kick on it now? It looks like, brethren, that’s between the
lines. Is that right? Something must have come up or he wouldn’t have used that
language. And then Peter said, now, now we know that God is no respecter of
persons, but in every nation he that feareth God and worketh righteousness is
acceptable with him.

I’m closing with this. A few days ago in our chapel one of our students sent up
there by the Rossville church of Christ—paid his tuition—might be some members
of that church here—but they’ll ge glad for me to tell this—a fine example for
other churches that want to help the unfortunate boy. This boy was sent up there
and they paid his tuition for four or five years—$270 a year—furnished him
clothes, that white church done that. I’ve never been there, but, this boy stood
in chapel the other day and preached the gospel and 22 students came stepping
down the aisle and they were baptized for the remission of their sins. That’s a
nice point there for Christian education. That’t a nice place to tell you that
you needn’t to get scared of helping the school. I got something, ain’t I,
brethren? Now then, 'if that ain’t missionary work, if that wasn’t missionary,
work, after dismissal some of you all tell me what that was. And that isn’t the
first time. I’ve preached there one time at the school when I was in, and 22
came forward and five of them were teachers. Now, somebody said, “Oh, oh, had
teachers not members of the church!” Brother McMillan is going to experience
this. He is going to find that the colored man that’s qualified won’t want to
teach for the salary that the Board authorized pay. You’ll run into that,
Brother McMillan. We ran into it. Our colored brethren and sisters- said no. I
can get so-and-so; I’m not going to teach for that small amount, and that forced
us out there to get a Baptist, and to get a Methodist and finally got a Catholic
as principal of the school. Now there all of you look at me excitable. I told
this at Dallas. Brother J. W. Dunn was sitting in the audience, and when I said
these teachers were not members of the church of Christ he turned right red,
right red—he didn’t like it, he didn’t like it, he didn’t like it. But when I
said I baptized all of them—Catholic and all, the whole thing have been
baptized—Brother Dunn said, “Hire some more of them!” Don’t get excited. You
preach the gospel—you can handle that fellow—hear the gospel every day. Ain’t
nobody can stand it every day, every day, every day, every day! There ain’t
nobody. He’ll either have to quit or obey it. Now then, they were baptized. The
principal was a Catholic at that time. And I wish to say to you, my friends,
that the gospel has power.

Brother J. W. Brents, one of the best Bible teachers we have in the brotherhood,
has been on our faculty now for about six or seven years, on our faculty. He
says it is the greatest work he ever done in his life—and there isn’t a greater
missionary in our brotherhood than J. W. Brents. He hasn’t done anything but
missionary work since he has been in the ministry. But he says, this is his
greatest work. That man ought to know what he is talking about with the
experience he has had. And you brethren ought to take his word for it and not
question him. That’s the trouble with the church of Christ now—we try to
question one another. You know, my friends, and not only that, a lot of these
students that obeyed the gospel were girls that sit at the feet of Sister A. R.
Holton every day. When these girls heard this boy preach why they were ready for
the gospel because of the godly woman that teaches them in the classroom every
day. So that little boy didn’t have much to go to get them to come out. They
were already softened. My friends, you have to learn. And I don’t think there’s
a greater Bible teacher —now I don’t mean no harm, Brother Morris, I don’t mean
a bit of harm—but I don’t think you’ve got a better teacher than Sister Holton.
You’ve got good teachers all right. Now I don’t mean a bit of harm by that.
Ain’t nobody a better friend to me than Brother Morris, but I’ve got to let him
know what we have, in our school on our faculty 'is equal to anybody in the
brotherhood. Now you all don’t know this. Sister Holton and Brother Holton and
Brother S. H. Hall and Brother Goodpasture who teaches quite often in bur school
and comes out—and I’ll tell you another thing about Brother Goodpasture—he
preaches better for us than he does at his own church. Yes, sir. I’ll tell you
what Brother Goodpasture said one day. He preached for us one day and the
students looked like they were taking his messages so good and taking it down,
and when he did stop, he said, “This is closer to heaven than I’ve been in my
life.” Brother, he wasn’t joking— the tears were in his eyes—it was the way we
received his message. Not a greater man among us that B. C. Goodpasture, but he
hadn’t had nobody to stimulate him that way. You know Babe Ruth. Babe Ruth used
to knock home runs. Why he had a right to knock them. He wasn’t that much better
than any of the rest, but the rest of them were not able to get their fans to
back them up like Babe Ruth. When he started after the bat they commenced
yelling. Who couldn’t knock a home run? If you all were to yell right now I
could knock one. Just ain’t got nobody to do it.

I am in sympathy for the gospel preacher in the church of Christ. Why? He stands
up to preach in a frigidaire. The congregation sits out there and try to free
him. Some good pious brother just looks like a cake of ice looking at him. When
I find one trying to freeze me I don’t look at him no more. I want to say a word
to the young gospel preacher. Don’t get discouraged when they try to freeze you,
’cause they know a little more than you do and you’re just making your first
effort of all and they’ll try to freeze you. But don’t get excited—you’ll make
it. I want to tell you what to do. When you see one trying to freeze you, you do
like you do with your modern frigidaire-- turn on your defroster. That’s right.
That’s right. I’ve got a defroster on you all this evening; that’s the reason
you’re smiling and encouraging me. You started in here freezing, but I have you
defrosted.

I hope and pray that the day will come when we all can see this school headed by
Brother McMillan and also endorsed by Dr. Young as the chairman of the Board of
Directors, one of the greatest colleges in the world, educating boys and girls
of the Negro race and preparing them to get out and meet anybody that rises up
against the church of Christ. And these men will rejoice and when they are in
their graves, beneath the sod, they will live in the hearts of these young men
that go out and preach the gospel to a lost and dying world. Brother Morris and
the faculty of this school will live on into the hearts of these boys and girls
when they go out into the fields in foreign lands, they will live on and on in
the hearts of these boys long after they have deceased.

I now conclude with this thought. May the grace of God dwell in your heart and
may the grace of God cause you to look upon no race as being inferior, but let’s
make him what he ought to be and lift him on a higher plane that Jesus can bless
you and give you a crown that fadeth not away.


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  CHAPTER 12: THE INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE
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The Inspiration of the Bible THE INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE B. C. Goodpasture Is
the Bible a product of human reason? Is it merely a book of literature, or is it
an inspired volume? If inspired, in what sense? Is it inspired only in the sense
that it bears the marks of literary genius as do the waitings of Shakespeare,
Milton, and Browning? Or is it inspired in the sense that it was written by men
under the influence of the Roly Spirit? The question of inspiration is vital. If
the Bible is not of divine origin, we cannot rely upon its statement of fact; we
need not bow to its claims of authority; and we cannot derive hope and comfort
from its promises. If it represents only the efforts of uninspired men, we may
view its contents with little or no concern. On the other hand, if the Bible
came from God, its authority is unquestionable and its statements are
infallible. The Bible Claims Inspiration The nature and content of the Bible are
such that the rank and file of its readers in all generations have recognized
God as its author. Man would not have written such a book, if he could; and
could not, if he would. It moves on a superhuman plane in design, in nature, and
in teaching. It caters not to worldly desire and ambition. It condemns much
which men in the flesh highly prize, and commends much which they despise. Its
thoughts are not the thoughts of men.

Moreover, the Bible claims to be inspired. Even the casual reader has been
impressed with the frequent use of such expressions as; “Thus saith the Lord,’’
“God spake,” “The Lord testified, saying,” and “The Lord hath spoken it.” It is
said that in the prophets alone these expressions occur 1,300 times; and in the
Old Testament, 2,500 such phrases, attributing the authorship to God, are found.
The writers of the Bible never pretended that they wrote with no illumination
other than the dimly-burning light of human reason. They claimed to speak as
they were moved—borne along—by the Holy spirit. They spoke of the Bible and its
various parts as having been given through the guidance of the Almighty. Paul
said: “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for
doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that
the man of God may be perfect throughly furnished unto all good works” (2
Timothy 3:16-17). Paul said “all Scripture.” It is evident that he did not have
in mind any “theory of partial inspiration.” What he said is quite different
from the modernistic statement: “The Bible contains the word of God.” According
to Paul, the Bible IS the word of God; it is all given by inspiration. Peter
declared “that no prophecy of the Scripture is of any private interpretation.
For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God
spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost” (2 Peter 1:20-21). When Moses was
about to begin his work as deliverer and lawgiver, God said to him: “Now
therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say”
(Exodus 4:12). At the end of his life, David bore fhis testimony: “The Spirit of
the Lord spake by me, and his word was in my tongue” (2 Samuel 23:2). And the
Lord said to Jeremiah: “I have put my words in thy mouth” (Jeremiah 1:9). Jesus
endorsed the Old Testament in its entirety. He said that “all things must be
fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in
the psalms, concerning me” (Luke 24:44,). These three divisions—“Law of Moses,”
“Prophets,” and “Psalms”— according to Jewish usage, included all the Old
Testament. Further, Jesus specifically endorsed those portions of the Old
Testament which have most often been under attack by the enemies of the Bible.
He put the stamp of his approval upon the story of creation (Matthew 19:8), the
account of the flood (Matthew 24:37), and the story of Jonah and the whale
(Matthew 12:40). He put Satan to flight during the temptation in the wilderness
by using quotations from Deuteronomy, a book which has been often under the lire
of modernists. It is not surprising, therefore, that the devil does not think
well of Deuteronomy. Almost from the time of his defeat in the wilderness he has
been denying the canonicity of this book. In modern times he has moved his most
trusted henchmen, the modernists, to wage a relentless war on the fifth book of
the Pentateuch. Jesus also endorsed the New Testament before it was written. He
promised the apostles that the Holy Spirit would enable them to know “how” and
“what” to say (Matthew 10:19), and that he would guide them into all truth (John
16:13). On Pentecost the Spirit came on the apostles, and they began to speak as
he gave them utterance (Acts 2:4). Paul commended the Thessalonians for having
received his word—not as the word of men, but, as indeed it is, the word of God
(1 Thessalonians 2:13). He spoke not in “words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but
which the Holy Ghost teacheth” (1 Corinthians 2:13). And John, speaking of his
writings, frequently urged his readers to “hear what the Spirit saith unto the
churches” (Revelation 2:11). The Apostles claimed the very guidance of the
Spirit which Jesus promises. Other Scriptures could be cited in support of the
claim of inspiration for all parts of the Bible, but these are sufficient. The
Nature of Inspiration In view of the various modern uses of the word, it is
hardly enough to say that the Bible is inspired. Almost any modernist will admit
that it is inspired, if you will let him define what he means. In like manner he
will grant that Christ is divine, but he means only in the sense that we all are
divine. He will not admit the deity of Jesus. As a rule, in granting that the
Bible is inspired, he means it only in the same sense that Shakespeare, Milton,
and Browning were inspired. He strips the Bible of its inspiration just as he
strips Christ of his deity. All modernistic views of inspiration are wholly
inadequate.

What is meant by inspiration as applied to the Bible? Paul said: “All Scripture
is given by inspiration of God" (2 Timothy 3:16). What does he claim for the
Scriptures in this statement? One word “inspiration” literally means a breathing
in. It is derived from two Latin words, in and spiro, which mean to blow or
breathe into. In the original the Greek word theopneustos is employed. It is
composed of two words—Theos, God; and pneustos, breathed, from pneo, to blow or
breathe. Pneuma, meaning spirit, comes from the verb pneo. “Pneustos, then,
might mean spirited, and then theopneustos would mean God-spirited, or God-
breathed, or ‘filled with the breath of God,’ or the product of the divine
breath (or Spirit), or given by God through the Spirit. The word implies an
influence from without, producing effects which are beyond natural powers.”
(Miller.) “The book that is in this sense inspired is one into which something
of another spirit or mind has been breathed; in order words, its author has been
overshadowed by a power outside himself.” Inspiration means that influence which
God exercises through the Holy Spirit over the minds of Biblical writers to make
them infallible in the receiving and recording of his will. There is a
difference, however, between revelation and inspiration.

Revelation has reference to the imparting of knowledge. It renders its recipient
wiser. It is the means through which God imparts facts and truths not previously
known. Persons uninspired sometimes received revelations in Bible times. The
children of Israel, assembled under the burning crags of Sinai, heard God speak
in awful majesty (Exodus 20:18-21; Ileb. 12:19) ; but no one would claim that
they were all inspired. When the martyr, Stephen, was being stoned, he said,
“Behold, I' see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right
hand of God.” (Acts 7:56.) This was a revelation, but who would claim that the
unbelieving Jews who heard it and stoned Stephen were inspired? On the other
hand, inspiration has reference primarily to the accurate recording and
communicating of knowledge. It preserves its recipient from error in teaching.
It is possible that some of the writers of the Bible received no revelations.
This is possibly true of some of the writers of the historical books of the Old
Testament. The writers were certainly inspired in the selection and recording of
facts within the realm of human experience, but this would not require
revelation. The account of the wilderness wanderings was not a matter of
revelation, but rather of fact known by personal observation. He says he derived
his material from those “which from the beginning were eye-witnesses, and
ministers of the word.” He “traced the course of all things accurately from the
first.” (Luke 1:2-3.) He did this by inspiration, but in doing so he was not
primarily the recipient of any revelation. Thus it is possible for one to
receive revelation without inspiration, and to receive inspiration without
revelation. Not all the Bible is revelation, but it is all inspired. It contains
revelation; it is wholly inspired. The words, as well as the thoughts, of the
sacred penmen are inspired. Jesus promised this very type of inspiration. He
said that the Holy Spirit would teach the apostles “how” and “what” to speak.
The “what” means the thought; the “how” means the verbiage, the manner of
expression. This is verbal inspiration. It would be interesting for a modernist
to tell us how God could inspire the thoughts without at the same time inspiring
the words. How can we carry on a conversation without words? How can we express
thoughts without words or their equivalent? Jesus said: “Till heaven and earth
pass away, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass away from the law, till
all things be accomplished.” (Matthew 5:18.) Thus he asserts the verbal
inspiration and guarantees the verbal indestructibility of the text. Not even a
“jot,” small letter, or “tittle,” part of a letter, shall pass until the law
shall have been fulfilled. Paul said that he spoke “not in words which man’s
wisdom teacheth,” but in words “which the Spirit teacheth.” (1 Corinthians
2:13.) This is a positive claim of verbal inspiration. To deny it is to impeach
Paul. Again, Paul makes an argument to turn on the number of a noun in Galatians
3:16 “Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to
seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.” If the very
words in this case are not inspired, Paul's argument is weak and untenable.

While the Holy Spirit moved the penmen of the Bible to write, yet they were free
to speak through their own individual background, personality, vocabulary, and
style. “Inspiration did not involve the suspension or suppression of the human
faculties, so neither did it interfere with the free exercise of the distinctive
mental characteristics of the individual. If a Hebrew was inspired, he spoke as
a Hebrew; if a Greek, he spoke as a Greek; if an educated man, he spoke as a man
of culture; if uneducated, he spoke as such a man is wont to speak. If his mind
was logical, he reasoned, as did Paul; if emotional and contemplative, he wrote
as John wrote.” Their inspiration was not purely mechanical. There may be a few
cases of mechanical, or near mechanical, inspiration in the Bible; but it is the
exception, not the rule. When Balaam’s ass spoke, that was mechanical; and when
men spoke in unknown tongues, as on Pentecost, that was mechanical, or seemingly
so. If the writers had been mere pens, instead of penmen, in the hands of God
the style and vocabulary of the Bible would be uniform. But such is not the
case. Take, for example, the writings of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Their
plan, style, and peculiar expressions are strikingly different. Matthew was a
Jew. He writes with a Jewish background. He gives detailed reports of what Jesus
said, quotes often from the Old Testament, and speaks of the “kingdom of
heaven,” whereas the other writers say “kingdom of God.” Mark features the
mighty works of Jesus. He uses the word “straightway,” or immediately, many
times. Luke was a Gentile and a physician. He uses the expression “a certain”
frequently. His medical background is evident in his writing. When Jesus said
that it was easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich
man to enter the kingdom of God, Matthew and Mark use the Greek word raphis,
which means an ordinary needle; but Luke uses the word belone, which means a
surgeon’s needle. (Matthew 19:24; Mark 10:25; Luke 18:25.) In describing a man
who had dropsy (Luke 14:2), Luke said he was a “dropsical man,” hudropikos. This
is a medical term common in the writings of the Greek physicians. It is not
found elsewhere in the New Testament. John records much that is not mentioned by
the other writers. He uses the solemn “verily verily” twenty-five times. He is
the only writer who uses this expression. Many other examples could be cited
which show the differences of style and expression found among inspired writers.
Dr. William Evans well says: “We must conclude, therefore, that while from the
divine side the Holy Spirit gave through men clearly and faithfully that which
he wished to communicate, from the human side that communication came forth in
language such as men themselves would naturally have chosen. We may, therefore,
safely say that we believe in plenary and verbal inspiration—that is to say, the
words as well as the thought have been given, whether mediately or im-mediately
under the influence of the divine spirit.” It should be remembered that there
are certain limitations on inspiration as related to the writers of the Bible.
In the first place, 'it did not impart omniscience.

Paul was inspired, but he did not know how many persons he baptized in Corinth.
(1 Corinthians 1:16.) He spoke as he was moved by the Holy Spirit, but he had to
send to Thessalonica to learn the faith of the brethren there. (1 Thessalonians
3:5.) Inspiration was limited to the purpose for which it was given, viz., “the
communication of divine truth on certain topics by divine authority.”
Inspiration did not render Paul immune to bodily affliction or make him a better
tentmaker. Inspired men were infallible only as teachers and writers and when
acting as the spokesmen of God. Their inspiration made them neither astronomers
nor farmers. It was limited to the immediate purpose for which it was given. It
did not make them incapable of sinning in their manner of living. The Man of God
from Judah made a startling prediction concerning Josiah and his work, yet he
died for his sin before he returned home. (1 Kings 13.) David sinned grievously.
(2 Samuel 12.) Peter denied his Lord, and Paul gave diligence lest after he had
preached to others he might be a castaway. (1 Corinthians 9:17). Inspiration
does not vouch for the truthfulness of all statements which it quotes. Certain
statements made by Satan are quoted by the inspired writers—for example, “Ye
shall not surely die.” (Genesis 3:4.) It is true that the devil said this, but
what he said is not true. Inspiration never lies, but it sometimes records the
statements of those who did lie. In 1 Samuel 31:3-4 the Bible states that Saul
killed himself. In 2 Samuel 1:1-10 the Bible states that a young man, claiming
to be an Amalekite, reported to David, probably with a hope of reward, that he
had slain Saul. This was false. The Bible does not state that the Amalekite slew
Saul, but it does record the fact that he told David that he slew Saul. His
statement was, according to 1 Samuel 31:3-4, false, but the record of the
statement is inspired and true.” (Miller.) The Evidences of Inspiration The
evidences of the inspiration of the Bible fall into two classes—namely, external
and internal. Josephus and Philo, learned Jewish authors, testify that the Jews
always regarded the Old Testament as a product of holy men writing under the
supervision of the Holy Spirit. From the very nature of the case however, the
chief arguments in favor of the divine origin of the Bible are largely internal.
This fact does not militate against the arguments in favor of inspiration. If
the contents of a given bottle were in question, the best way to find out the
truth would be to make a careful analysis of what was in the bottle. The
internal evidence would be more conclusive than any kind of external evidence
that could be produced. If the nature of a nugget of metal, which many thought
to be gold, was in question, the best way to arrive at the fact would be to
examine the nugget itself. In like manner we have a book, the Bible, which we
claim is inspired. Does it bear the marks of inspiration? Will it stand the acid
test of internal investigation? We have a right to examine this book to see
whether or not it bears the marks of divine origin. It has nothing to fear from
the most rigid investigation.

1. As an evidence of its divine origin, we mention the fact that the Bible has
anticipated and answered every major departure from the faith which has been
made during the past nineteen hundred years. Only an example or two can be
cited. The Roman Catholic Church has denied the cup to the “laity,” the rank and
file of its members. Jesus, as if in specific anticipation of this error, said
at the institution of the Lord’s Supper: “Drink ye all of it.” (Matthew 26:27.)
He did not mean, as some modern cranks have foolishly contended, that they must
drink the entire contents of the cup, the fruit of the vine; but that each one
must drink of it. The disciples so understood him. It is said that “They all
drank of it.” (Mark 14:23.) Again, Paul said: “The Spirit saith expressly, that
in later times some shall fall away from the faith, giving heed to seducing
spirits and doctrines of demons, . . . forbidding to marry, and commanding to
abstain from meats, which God created to be received.” (1 Timothy 4:1-3.) It is
a matter of common knowledge that the Romish Church has forbidden marriage to
its leaders and commanded its members to abstain from meats at certain seasons.
In doing this it 'has followed the “doctrines of demons.” Some so-called
“Protestant” churches ape the “Mother of Harlots” in abstaining from meats. All
such practices have been anticipated and condemned. By no human wisdom or
ingenuity could these errors have been foreseen and answered. The only adequate
explanation is inspiration.

2. The Bible is abreast with the most up-to-date scientific knowledge. Yet the
Bible was not written as a treatise on science. It was written in the language
of the people addressed at the time it was produced, yet it contains no
statement of fact which is at war with scientific truth. The order of events in
creation as enumerated by Moses, is in agreement with the latest scientific
pronounce-ments. Jeremiah said that “the host of heaven cannot be numbered.”
(Jeremiah 33:22.) The ancients thought, however, that the stars could be
numbered. They thought that they had counted them. Now no astronomer ever hopes
to Enow the number of the host of heaven. How did Jeremiah know this? Job said
many centuries ago: “He stretcheth out the north over the empty space and
hangeth the earth upon nothing.” (Job 26:7.) How did the Uzzean sage know that
there is a vast stretch in the northern heavens which is without stars? How did
he know about the law of gravitation and the forces by which the earth is held
in its proper place? He spoke far in advance of scientific discovery. He had no
modern telescopic equipment, and he was not a world traveler. Whence came this
accurate knowledge concerning the heavens and the earth? Isaiah used language
which contemplated the rotundity of the earth. He said: “It is he that sitteth
above the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers.”
(Isaiah 40:22.) Isaiah had never, like Magellan, sailed around the earth. He had
access to no modern maps or geographies. How did he come into possession of such
knowledge? Jesus used language which took into consideration the fact that
people live on a round earth, a sphere. He said that when he comes the second
time two men would be in the field; one would be taken and one left. Two women
would be grinding at the mill; one would be taken and one left. (Matthew 24:40).
Apd in that night two men would be in one bed; one would be taken and one would
be left. (Luke 17:34). Normally, at the time Jesus spoke, persons were in the
field by day, in bed by night, and ground at the mill by twilight. Jesus meant,
then, that when he comes it would be daylight at some places, twilight at
others, and at still other places it would be night. This could happen only on a
round earth. How did Jesus know this? He lived and died in Palestine—he was
seldon outside that country. He lived in sight of the Mediterranean Sea, yet
never mentioned It. There is no evidence that he was ever on its waters, yet he
speaks of conditions which will prevail when he comes again in such manner as to
show that he knew that the world is round. How did he know it? How did he and
the others quoted in this connection know about matters of science so far in
advance of their times? The only answer is that they knew by inspiration of the
Almighty.

3. Another evidence of the divine authorship of the Bible is its utter
impartiality in the delineation of human character. When uninspired men are
writing about those whom they eulogize and adore, they are prone to leave
unmentioned things which are uncomplimentary and sinful. But not so with the
writers of the Bible. Moses, the great lawgiver, deliverer, and prophet, is one
of the most colossal figures in all history. He is the most highly honored
character of the Old Testament. His name alone of the Old Testament worthies is
associated with that of the Lamb in the song of the blest. (Revelation 15:3.)
Yet the Bible relates the sad story of Moses’ sin at the rock and his consequent
inability to enter the land of promise. David sinned, -and the Bible records his
sins. Peter sinned, and the tragic story of his thrice-repeated denial of his
Lord is faithfully given. If men, apart from the moving of the Holy Spirit, had
been writing about these men, they would either have left their sins unmentioned
or would have “written them down.” We cannot account for such fairness and
frankness in the portrayal of heroic characters except upon the ground of divine
authorship.

4. As an additional proof of its inspiration, we suggest the fact that the Bible
does not cater to human curiosity. It never stoops to satisfy the curious
meddlesomeness of man. This is not true of books written by uninspired men. The
Bible often leaves unrecorded that which men would like to know. It is said that
upon one occasion Jesus wrote twice upon the ground. (John 8:1-8.) This is the
only instance of his writing. What he wrote would be news of the first quality,
yet we do not know what he inscribed on the sacred soil of Palestine. It is
significant that the Bible does not contain one book—not even one sentence—from
the pen of Jesus. His childhood' and youth are passed in almost complete
silence. From the age of twelve to his baptism at the age of thirty we have no
word from his lips. How different if men had been writing about him apart from
the influence of the Holy Spirit. The Bible mentions several persons who were
raised from the dead. Yet none of these brought back any word concerning what
they saw and experienced beyond the veil. Their tongues were tied and their lips
were locked concerning the great beyond. How different it would have been had
men been writing according to the dictates of their own nature and learning.
They could not, or would not, have foregone the pleasure of speaking some word
to gratify the longing and anxious curiosity of men. Impostors have ever sought
to solve the mysterious and tell of the world to come. Even the silence of the
Bible is intructive. It, as well as its speech, is an argument in favor of its
divine origin.

5. Again, the unity of the Bible is a mark of its super-human origin. It is
composed of sixty-six books, written by about forty different persons, under a
variety of conditions and in widely separated countries, during a period of
sixteen centuries. Yet it is one book not only in form, but also in purpose,
subject matter, and development. ‘‘The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of
prophecy.” It was written to make men wise unto salvation. Each writer has made
a distinct and fitting contribution to the whole. This can be accounted for only
on the ground that a superior Intelligence directed these men to write what they
did. “If,” as Everest remarks, “forty sculptors, living in different countries,
scattered through sixteen centuries, and belonging to several schools of art,
should fashion, without knowledge of each other or concert of action, as many
different parts of a marble statue, and if at the end of these centuries it
should be found that these portions exactly fitted one another and resulted in a
work of art the most perfect and the most sublime, then all would recognize the
miracle, and that there was a presiding Intel-ligence more enduring and more
exalted than man. Such are the circumstances under which wrought the forty-
sacred writers, and such was the resdlt of their Labors’' —the Bible. Its
inspiration alone accounts for its unity.

6. Finally, we cite its prophecies as a conclusive evidence of the divine
authorship of the Bible. Impostors have generally steered clear of prophecy.
They have been afraid to jeopardize their reputations by making predictions.
When they have yielded to the temptation to prophesy, they have invariably been
embarrassed by what followed. On the other hand, the writers of the Bible have
made frequent predictions, not one of which has failed of fulfillment, in due
season. There are three kinds of prophecies in the Bible—namely, those which
have been fulfilled, those which are in the process of being fulfilled, and
those yet to be fulfilled. Obviously the first two classes are all that can now
be used as evidence of inspiration. From these two classes we select a few
examples. In Joshua 6:26 we read that after Jericho had been de-stroyed, it was
predicted that the man who rebuilt the city would lay the foundation with the
death of his firstborn son and set up the gates with the death of his youngest
son. Time moved on. Five hundred fifty years passed. This was too long a time
for the man who did the predicting to have anything to do with the fulfilling.
Hiel presumed to rebuild Jericho. When he laid the foundation, his first-born
son, Abiram, died; and when he set up the gates, his youngest son, Segub,
died—exactly as it had been predicted centuries before. (1 Kings 16:34.) The
length of time and the number of details involved render it impossible to
explain this prophecy apart from inspiration. Again, we read that a man of God
came from Judah to Jeroboam as he stood by the altar to burn incense, and
predicted that a descendant of David, Josiah by name, would burn on that altar
priests and the bones of men in his efforts to destroy idolatry and restore the
worship of the true God. (Kings 13.) This was a highly detailed and
circumstantial prophecy, yet three hundred fifty years later it was fulfilled to
the letter. (2 Kings 23:15-20.) The author of this prediction could have had
nothing to do with its fulfillment. He died soon after the prediction was made.
Besides, the fulfillment came centuries later. How did the man of God know so
far in advance that a certain man, Josiah by name, of the royal family, would do
these specific things on Jeroboam’s altar? Again, we answer, inspiration is the
only adequate explanation. When Frederick the Great, of Prussia, asked his court
chaplain to give him in one word the evidence for the inspiration of the Bible,
he answered: “The Jews.” This was not a bad answer. The Jews do furnish strong
evidence of the supernatural origin of the Bible. In Deuteronomy 28 Moses gave a
very detailed prediction concerning the future of the Jews. He told them that as
long as they were faithful to the Lord they would be prosperous in the land, and
that no enemy could stand before them. But if they proved to be unfaithful, he
warned, they would be removed from the land and severely punished. The
punishment and the captivities which they would bring upon themselves were
vividly described. Moses even went so far as to describe the siege and
destruction of Jerusalem and the subsequent misfortunes of the Jews. He
predicted that the Lord would bring against the Jews a nation from afar, as
swift as the eagle flieth, whose speech the Jews would not understand; that this
nation would besiege Judea and Jerusalem in all their gates until the walls were
destroyed; that in the siege the inhabitants would suffer unparalleled
misfortune; that the delicate women of Jerusalem would devour their own children
by reason of the famine; that great numbers of the Jews would be killed in the
siege; that multitudes, till no man would buy them, would be carried to Egypt
and sold into slavery; that they would be removed from Palestine and scattered
among all the peoples of the earth; that they would be oppressed and despoiled;
that they would find no rest day or night, but be anxious and troubled
everywhere; that they would be a byword and proverb among the nations. Josephus’
description of the siege and overthrow of Jerusalem is the best commentary on
that part of the prediction which has to do with the destruction of the holy
city. The later history of the Jews is in exact fulfillment of every feature of
the Mosaic prophecy. Jeremiah said: “I will make a full end of all the nations
whither I have scattered thee, but I will not make a full end of thee.”
(Jeremiah 30:11.) The ancient Assyrians are gone, the Babylonians are gone, the
Old Roman Empire has perished; yet the Jews are still here. They are a living
monument to the genuineness and inspiration of the Old Testament prophecies. How
could Moses have foretold the destruction of Jerusalem fifteen hundred years
before it came to pass or related the misfortunes of the Jews down through
thirty- five centuries to our day except by divine inspiration? How did Jeremiah
know that the Jews would survive, even in the fires of* persecution, all their
ancient foes? We can account for the Bible only on the grounds that its writers
spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. The Bible has been in the fiery
furnace of human in-vestigation for these many centuries, yet it emerges without
the smell of fire upon its garments. It has stood the acid test of practical
experience. It has never failed when fairly tried. We have seen it in the forum
of public discussion, we have seen it at the bedside of the dying, we have seen
it at the graves of the dead; yet we have never seen it weighed and found
wanting. It is God’s Book.

“A glory guilds the sacred page, Majestic like the sun; It lends its light to
every age; It lends to all, but borrows none.”


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  CHAPTER 13: “JESUS CALLS US”
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“Jesus Calls Us”

JESUS CALLS US Lecture by Le Moine G. Lewis, February 20, 1950, at Abilene
Christian College (9:30 a. m.)

I want to begin by reading a passage from the first chapter of Luke: “Yea and
thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Most High: For thou shalt go
before the face of the Lord to make ready his ways; To give knowledge of
salvation unto his people In the remission of their sins, Because of the tender
mercy of our God, Whereby the dayspring from on high shall visit us, To shine
upon them that sit in darkness and the shadow of death; To guide our feet into
the way of peace.” Luke 1:76-79. In my work in Boston before coming to Abilene,
one of the most important parts of the whole year’s program was an annual
Vacation Bible School. Every year at the close of the school the children
presented a program for the parents in which each child had a part. Of all the
programs the one that stands out the clearest in my mind is one presented three
years ago in about two minutes by the little pre-school class. The eight or nine
boys and girls lined up across the platform, shied away from the audience, and
sang in a very clear tone, “Jesus Loves Me.” None of us were prepared for the
way the program would end. When they had finished the song, the little boy in
the center of the line stepped forward one step and pointed his finger straight
at the audience and said in a loud, clear voice, “And Jesus loves you, too.” The
audience contact was terrific. The little boy’s name was Larry Lang. I wish I
could say this morning in the same clear convincing way that Larry did—a way
that would beget faith in your heart—“and Jesus calls you, too!”

We must not think that we are lost in a great sea of humanity. The Lord has his
eyes upon everyone of us, and he has a place for us. He has a work for us, and
he calls us to that work. I think it is rather hard to talk to members of the
church of Christ about a call, especially when you make it as earnest and as
personal as I want you to take this call this morning. Our minds almost
instinctively go back to the old revivalistic calls of the last century, or even
the last generation, in which preachers whipped the people up into a mass
hysteria, and the people got up and related the story of physical and psychical
phenomena which they interpreted as being a call, the Lord’s call to them. They
thought they were being called like the apostle Paul. When the Lord appeared to
Paul on the road to Damascus, Paul did not take it as those people took their
call, that that call showed them that they were saved. Paul’s call convinced him
that he was lost, and he went into the city fasting and praying, till one came
and said, “Arise and be baptized and wash away thy sins.”

Great numbers of the people, perhaps most of then now, have gotten away from the
idea of a call such as that for the mass of the people, but I suppose that in at
least three-fourths of the churches they still count very important some kind of
a call to the ministry. And in' their ordination services one of the most
important parts is the asking of the candidate to relate the story of his call.
But it is not just preachers that the Lord is calling. He is calling every man.

Professor Henry Cadbury of Harvard offers a course on problems in the Apostolic
Age in which he assigns a paper entitled, “The Emergence of the Laity.” Here is
a man, a New Testament scholar of world renown, who is saying that in the New
Testament times there was no such thing as a laity. The laity only emerged
later, out of a holy priesthood, in which every man was a preacher. It was only
later that the people lost that great spirit, lost the sense of that call.

If you asked most of the people around us they would not feel that members of
the church of Christ even believe in a call. The word has fallen into somewhat
bad repute among us. Very few of us are very acutely aware that God has called
us for anything personal. A few days ago I was reading a recent book entitled
“Small Sects in America.” I came to the section on the church of Christ and
there I found us classified as a small legalistic sect. When I read that it
stung me, just as I am sure it stings you. But that is the way that people think
of us. There is no use in our quarreling with them. We should rather look down
at ourselves and ask why it is that they classify us that way. And I am sure
that one of the reasons would be that the people around us who know us have
never become aware that we in our hearts feel a deep call to the work of the
Lord. They have observed something in us of a lack of personal consecration.
Perhaps some of them know where a lot of the members of the church of Christ are
on Sunday night. If a stranger who had been at our services on Sunday morning
should come back on Sunday night, earnestly looking for the Lord’s church, he
would say, “This must not be it because these people do not count it very
important themselves.”

Out among the people that we call Fundamentalists when something good happens to
them, they begin to talk about what the Lord has done for them. But when
something comes to most of us, we talk about our “good luck.” And there is a
lack of a sense of a close personal relationship between us and God. People feel
that when they are around us. They know that we have not sent out missionaries
as other people have sent them out. We have not built, hospitals to care for the
sick and suffering; we have not distinguished ourselves in the work of caring
for the needy. And as they listen to our preaching so often they go away
thinking of law rather than thinking of Grace. But as distasteful as the word
“call” may have become to us in the past, you cannot get away from the idea that
the Lord does call you. There is a lot in the New Testament about the call. In
Hebrews the third chapter and the first verse we read about “A heavenly
calling.” Turn to IT Tim. 1:9 and you find that God called us with “a holy
calling, according to his purpose.” 1 Corinthians 1:26 tells us that not many
mighty, not many wise, not many noble are called. In 2 Peter 1:10 we are urged
to make our calling and election sure. In Php_3:14 we are exhorted to press on
unto the mark unto the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus, and in
Ephesians 4:1 to “walk worthy of the calling wherewith you have been called.”
And in II Thessa- lonians 1:12 we have the humble prayer that God may count us
worthy of our calling. Did you ever stop to think how God calls? Let us look at
some of the great men in church history and find out how it was that they were
called into their task. One of the most influential men and one who is sometimes
called the father of theology, the great Augustine, had been a rather profligate
young man. How was he called out of that profligate life into the great life
that he lived? Well, he had had before him the example of the godly Monica, he
sat under the preaching of the great Ambrose, but the crisis and the turning
point came when he turned to his New Testament and read Romans 13:12-14 : “The
night is far spent, and the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works
of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. Let us walk becomingly, as in
the day; not in revelling and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not
in strife and jealousy. But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not
provision for the flesh, to fulfill the lusts thereof.” As Augustine read that
he said, “That is God speaking to Augustine. That is God saying to me,
Augustine, ‘Put on the Lord Jesus and make no provision for the flesh’."

One of the greatest men since the time of the apostles, and the man who
influenced this world more than any other since Paul, was Martin Luther. What
was it .that called Martin Luther out of his monk’s cell, to rock and to shake
the power of the papacy, and to free the world from the yoke of popery? It was
the New Testament that he had read there in the monk’s cell. As Luther read
there of the sinfulness of man, the righteousness of God, and how faith in
Christ could bridge the gap, he said, “That is God talking to Martin Luther, a
poor miserable bag of rags,” and he answered that call.

Then let us take Francis of Assisi, a rich young man, who read, “Get you no gold
nor silver in your purses” and he said, “That is talking to me, Francis,” and he
gave away what he had and went out into the service of others —such service that
many have declared him to be the most Christ-like man since the apostles. But to
come down to times closer to us, to a man to whom we all owe a great deal for
starting the world back on the road to New Testament Christianity, back beyond
denominationalism to the church of our Lord Jesus Christ. What was it that
guided Alexander Campbell out of the maze of sectarian darkness and
denominational confusion? It was his Greek New Testament that guided his feet
through the dark wilderness, and as he read he kept saying to himself, “This is
talking to me, Alexander Campbell.” When he read about baptism he concluded, “I
have not been baptized,” and he went out looking for someone to baptize him. The
call of God will come to you and it will come to me when we sit down with our
New Testament not as dead letters written two thousand years ago, but as God
talking to you individually, and talking to me individually. “For the word of
God is living and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing
even to the dividing of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and quick to
discern the thoughts and intents of the heart.” As you read it, it will lay bare
to you your own heart, your own selfishness, your own failings, your own
shortcomings.

There is a great passage over in the six chapter of John where Jesus says that
no man can come unto his Father except the Father draw him. He goes on to say
that he who hears and learns comes unto him. In his book on prayer, S. D. Gordon
has a chapter entitled, “The Listening Side of Prayer.” Everyone of us should
sit down with our New Testaments and we ought to read them prayerfully,
listening for our names—listening for God to call us. But there are many people
who will never read. God can call them through your life and through mine. They
see us. It is trite, but it is still true, that we are “the only gospel a
careless world will read.” And the Lord expects us to let our lives be
echoes—echoes of his call.

He calls us in the cries of the needy all around the world, and if we do not
hear that call, it is because we have not heard the Lord’s prior call to
self-discipline, to self-consecration unto God. God first calls people to
repentance. His call is not to tell them that they are saved as people took it a
generation ago, but it is as it was in Paul’s case or in the cases of Augustine,
Luther, Francis, or Alexander Campbell. God’s call convinced them that they were
lost. God’s call to us today is still a call to repentance, that if we will
cleanse ourselves, then we can be vessels of honor, meet for the Master’s
service. And it was this call to selfdiscipline that bothered Augustine and he
wrestled with it, “What are the things that I, Augustine, am going to ^ive up?
What are the things that I am going to have to quit?” We do not find many people
today agonizing over this. A lot of people come into the church without ever
going through the agonizing struggle of self-discipline and selfconsecration,
because the church has become so much like the world that a lot of people do not
realize that there is anything for them to give up.

One of the tasks that I inherited from my predecessor in the work in Boston was
the task of teaching two ladies with whom Brother Harold Thomas had been working
for some time. One of these ladies lived right across the street from Brother
Thomas, and she had seen the consecrated lives of those great servants of God,
Brother Thomas and his wife, and how they had sacrificed and even robbed their
own children and done it with joy and gladness that they might work in a
difficult place. The other lady also lived across the street from a very
consecrated family. I had the heart-touching experience of being there with
those two ladies when they were fighting out that battle of whether or not they
would consecrate themselves to God’s service. I saw them as the tears rolled
down their faces, and I saw one of them as she turned to go away, saying, “I
cannot be a Christian; it costs too much. I cannot be and I cannot do what the
Thomases are and do.” There was her family that would cast her off, and there
were the drinks she served in her home, and there were the dancing lessons of
her little girl. Those things bothered her and she felt that strain and that
call because of the consecrated lives that had been before her. The other lady
with tears rolling down her cheeks was going through the same fight because she
had seen the same kind of Christian example. But she bad not been coming to the
Bible classes very long when she began putting into the work of the Lord the
money that her husband allowed her for recreation, ^hose ladies would not have
known that fight and that battle and struggle if they had not seen those
consecrated examples before them. So often we make it too easy, and so often
people do not feel this great call because they do not see lives that have been
consecrated in that way.

Look across the street at the house across from you. Those neople have a salary
comparable to yours. How much less than those people who are not Christians do
you have of the things of this old world? When the time came for you to build
your new home, to get your car, did you stop, sit down and think, “Can I afford
this? .How does this compare with my expenditures in the Kingdom of God?” If you
have just as much and just as many of the things of this old world as your
neighbor, what difference does Christianity make?

I shall never forget that shortly after we were married, my wife and I were
visiting in a godly Christian home. We were talking to this young couple about
our silver pattern, and about how proud we were of it. The lady looked across
the table at us—we knew her life and we knew what good she had done—and she
said, “We did not pick out any silver because Christians cannot afford it.”
Later that day I walked along the streets of Evanston with her husband, a
promising young professor. Along the street were many beautiful homes that I
presumed belonged to the professors of the great university, and I said, “Tom,
it will not be many years until you will have a place like this.” He looked back
and said, “No, a Christian cannot afford a home like those. All I want is a
place adequate to house our boys.” I am not saying that it is wrong for us to
have the new house or to get the new car, but. I am saying that we ought to sit
down and make sure that our expenditures on ourselves are in proportion to what
we spend for the Kingdom of God. And we must never lose sight of the fact that
we are trying to follow one who had no place to lay his head.

Sometimes we miss the whole point of this call to self-sacrifice. God calls us
to sacrifice that others may have. We miss the point when we make it an end
rather than a means. The man who skimps and saves and puts everything in the
bank really is not sacrificing any more than the man who spends all he gets on
some pleasure. God wants us to give in order to meet the needs of others. He
wants us to help people who will never be able to pay us back. Did you ever stop
to compare what you spend entertaining your friends with what you spend feeding
the poor ? And yet Jesus said that when you make a dinner or supper you should
not invite your kindred and your rich friends, but to go out and invite the
blind, the maimed, and the lame who will not be able to repay you. And he said
that then you shall be blessed, and that you will be recompensed in the
resurrection of the just. • All around the world God calls us to service in the
cries of the needy. Sometimes this old world is so filled with suffering and
trouble we wonder how God can allow it all.

“So many nights they pass beside my bed— A weary mother wanting bread Forgetting
self in children yet unfed. ‘0, God,’ I cry, “thy people die. Art thou asleep as
well as I? Wake up! Wake up! How cans’t thou lie Asleep when there’s so much to
do?’ His answer broke the silence through, ‘Sleeping? No, but waking you’!” The
man lying on the road to Jericho was God’s call to the Good Samaritan. Who is
your neighbor? God calls us to give the people more than just bread and clothes.
There is the word of life—the bread and water of life—that if we break to them
they may have life that is life indeed. God calls us to the great task of
evangelizing the world.

It seemed very visionary when that young man of Galilee long ago stood and said
that the field is the world. The only church that has ever been equal to the
task of evangelizing the world of its time was that church of the first century.
But very soon the spirit of the world came in and diluted the spirit in that
church and never again has the church been equal to the task.

It is only a consecrated church that can evangelize the world. We can with
profit go back to that Old Testament story of Gideon’s army. There was Gideon
with his 33,000 men confronted by a whole valley of Midianites. God told Gideon
that he had too many men. When Gideon told the men that all of them that were
afraid could go home, 23,000 of them left because they did not think they had a
chancA But God said that he still had too many men. With three hundred Gideon
won the victory. God always wins with a consecrated loyal few. When the church
permits itself to be filled with half-hearted people, then it falters and it
stumbles before the great task that God has given it. The field is still the
world and we need that spirit of Madam Curie when they had failed in their 487th
experiment and Pierre said, “It can’t be done; it may be done in a hundred
years, but not in our lifetime,” and she said, “If it takes a hundred years it
will be a pity; I cannot do less than give it the best I have as long as I
live.” That is what God wants when he calls. He wants the kind of people who
will say like Samuel, “Speak Lord, thy servant hears; command and I’ll obey.”
And people like Isaiah who said, “Here am I, Lord, send me.”

There is always something urgent about God’s call. And when Christianity loses
that sense of urgency, it becomes cold and legalistic and formal and drifts into
high ritual or into sheer hypocrisy. When Jesus stood and surveyed the world he
saw a field white unto harvest and I think all of us are close enough to the
farm to appreciate what that meant. It is very real to me because just before I
was ready to come to college my father planted some extra wheat so that he would
have money to send me. There was the beautiful wheat waving in the breeze. As we
started in with the binder, the clouds began to gather; my father whipped the
team on with the clouds boiling. At last the storm broke and the harvest was
swept away.

Jesus saw the world white to harvest. He saw the laborers were few and he said,
“Pray the Lord of the harvest to send forth laborers into his harvest.” Jesus
walked beside the sea. He saw some fishermen busy with their nets. He said to
those fishermen, “Follow me,” and they followed him and he made them fishers of
men. He did not send them out unprepared. Three years he trained them, and the
church today stands as a monument that they were fishers of men. And God calls
you, and if you will answer that call, he will make you a fisher of men, too. As
the late William Temple in his little book, Basic Con-victions, if we accept the
gospel as the truth, “We have no longer any real option in the matter of being
or failing to be missionaries. If it is the truth, it lays upon us missionary
obligations by the very consideration that it is true. ... If you have received
the fullest of what God offers, then you cannot keep it to yourself because of
what it is. The fact that you are not passing it on proves that you haven’t got
it; and if you have got it, it will make you pass it on, because of what it is .
. . To be a Christian is to be a missionary.”

There is a constraining power about the Truth. There is something about it that
we must make it known when we know it ourselves. If the world is going on to
judgment, going on to destruction, then to be quiet we would be like the
sleeping watchman, and God will require the souls of the people that are lost at
our hands. This gives us a new rule by which to measure ourselves as Christians.
We are not going to fulfill this task or these calls that the Lord gives us by
just five dollars here and ten dollars there for Italy or Japan. God calls us to
let the neighbor right next door know, and all the people around us, till the
whole world knows the Lord. And we can measure ourselves as Christians by asking
ourselves, “How many people have I called into his service?” A part of the rule
that I think we have never used as much as we should is the part, “How many
people have I called to go spread the word?” You fathers and mothers—you have
two, three, four chil-dren. How many of these children are going out to preach
God’s word? You say, “None.”

Why? Did you ever pray for it? Did you consecrate your children to the Lord as
Hannah did Samuel? You Sunday School teachers: You have been teaching for five,
ten, fifteen or twenty years. Out of your classes how many men have gone forth
to preach the word, and how many girls to labor at their

You elders of the church: You have been watching over the flock for fifteen,
twenty, or twenty-five years. Out of your flock how many workers have gone out
into God’s kingdom? How does the number of men who have gone out to preach the
word compare with the number who have drifted away? Drifted away under your
teaching. These are men for whom some day you will have to give an account. And
those of you who are preaching: You have been preaching for ten, twenty, thirty
years. How many young men look to you as Timothy and Titus looked up to Paul?
How many young men as they sat under your preaching looked up and said, “I want
to preach, too?” Here is the real test of good preaching. If those boys and
girls who heard you speak the word have not longed to have a part in that work,
then something is wrong with your life and something is wrong with your
preaching. The Lord calls us to be fishers of men. But even when he was here all
the people did not hear that call. There were some in whose ears the siren voice
of pleasure was ringing so loudly they did not hear what Jesus said. The
Sadducees and the Pharisees could hear only the call of tradition and the call
of position. And there were some— I am sure there were people right there in
Jerusalem, who when the news of the crucifixion reached them, they said, “You
know, I intended to go hear that man sometime, but I just never did find time.”
And there was the young man who came running to Jesus because he thought he was
the Messiah. But when the Lord told him to sell all he had and give it to the
poor and to come follow him, he went away sad. The Lord put to that young man
almost the same call that came to the fishermen. Did you ever think how
different the story would have been if that young man had put himself and all
that he had into God’s service? His name would be told wherever the gospel goes.
But we do not even know his name.

How different it was with those fishermen. They could not know that day all that
it meant when Jesus called them. He was just a stranger there on Galilee’s
shore. But there was a strange power in his words and a strange winsomeness in
his face. They answered. It meant toil and suffering. It meant death for almost
everyone of them—a martyr’s death. But as we come to the close of the New
Testament we read of the great city four-square with the twelve foundations and
on those foundations the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. They answered
God’s call.'

God is calling everyone of us. He created us for a purpose. We came into this
world for a work. And no one else can do that work for us. Every man has his own
task. If we do not seize our task, God’s work will be weakened that much.

You and I will never find perfect happiness except in answering God’s call. The
happiest man is the man who has the deepest conviction, “This is the job for
which I came into the world; it is worth all that I can give to it and more. And
I can be confident that all the way the Lord is going to be with me and uphold
me and keep me.”'

I would not have you think that it will always be a glamorous call of world
traveling, of some great world ad-venture. It may be in a very humble place, but
in a very real way giving- yourself in service, in consecration, in echoing
God’s call to men. We need to learn the lesson of that little servant girl in
London, who prayed, “God of all pots and pans and things.” She had learned there
in her work 'in the kitchen to be a worker together with God. Our call may be
like that of the Philippians, to uphold the hands of those like Paul. But what
we want to make sure of is that we are carrying our end of the stick; that our
sacrifice is equal to that of any who go, that some day God will count us
workers together with them.

We shall never be able to find happiness running away from that call any more
than Jonah found it in trying to run away from Nineveh. That call went with him
to the very depths of the sea. The Lord calls us to get the world ready for his
coming. Through long ages God was getting the world ready for his first coming,
and as a last crowning act of all that preparation, he called John the Baptist,
“And thou child shalt go before the face of the Lord, to make ready his ways.”
As the apostles stood on the hill and watched Jesus going back into the heavens,
the angel stood by them and said, “This Jesus who was received up from you into
heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye beheld him going into heaven.” And he
is counting upon you and on me to keep faith alive on the earth, and he calls us
to get the world ready for that coming.

Perhaps there is someone here in the audience this morning who has never
purified himself for the Lord’s work. You feel that call that his word brings
you to repent, to arise and be baptized and wash away your sins. That is what
God calls people to—not to tell them that they are saved, but to tell them that
they are lost and that others are lost and that he wants them to help bring them
to salvation. And if there is someone here who has made a mess of his life, who
has left the Lord long knocking at his door trying to get back in, there is a
great company of good people here. Would you have all these people this morning
join in prayer for you that you may rise above your difficulties and above your
troubles to give yourself with all your heart into God’s service? Let us stand
and sing.


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  CHAPTER 14: “THE CHURCH IN ENGLAND”
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“The Church in England” THE CHURCH IN ENGLAND Lecture by Leonard Channing,
February 21, 1950, at Abilene Christian College (2:30 p. m.)

Thank you, Brother Wallace, for that fine introduction which I feel is very
undeserved and unmerited. Incidentally, I must correct him on two points. The
first is concerning the teabags. I am quite happy to leave those teabags behind
because such a monstrosity is unknown in Britain. We don’t use them and believe
me, therein I have come to this conclusion, that the American people can no more
make tea than the British can coffee. Also, as regards my desire to become an
American, well that wouldn’t worry me in the world. After seeing the abundance
here and receiving overwhelming kindness, almost embarrassing to a reserved old
Britisher, I really would not worry if Mr. Truman offered me a permanent visa
tomorrow. But at the same time I realize that the greatest call for my services,
small as they are, lies in Britain, and, therefore, of course there is no reason
for the work’s sake I should stay over here and once again my eyes are towards
Britain and what I can do there. Incidentally, a slight apology asking your
indulgence for a cold. I have picked up an American cold which I find just about
as helpful to a speaker as a British cold. But the slight naval twange perhaps
is not that I am becoming American or anything like that; it is due simply to
the cold. In all other respects, I am a typical Englishman, except fortunately
some of them are a bit more handsome than I.

I am deeply grateful for this privilege that the brethren have extended to me of
being on this lectureship this afternoon. We have heard a great deal about the
Christian colleges in America. We have heard a great deal of A. C. C. and for a
long time this great college and its work only existed insofar as what I read
and in my mind. But now it is wonderful to come and see all those things of
which I have read; see them in action and see many in the flesh of whom I have
read. It is indeed inspiring to me and I want to express my sincere and
heartfelt gratitude to Brother Glenn Wallace in particular for all the work he
has put in in arranging this good will trip, and to Brother Hudson and Brother
McGaughey who so ably cooperated with him and to the College Church here and
also to the college itself. I am deeply grateful and deeply conscious of the
privilege that is extended to me.

I am here, as Brother Wallace said, on a good will tour. There have been many
things that have disturbed the smooth and even relationship between the British
and American brethren and I am coming here to observe, to learn, and to carry
back many of the lessons which I will learn. I am conscious that my greatest
work lies in Britain when I get back to endeavor to break down some of the
misunderstandings and prejudices that have arisen. My lecture this afternoon, of
course, in the time allotted me, can only be a cursory glance and is humbly
dedicated to this great task: That we might thereby be able to cement more
firmly the ties that exist between us. I am conscious of course, as I set out on
this task of a responsibility, a responsibility to my British brethren that I
rightly and justly represent them and yet I am going to bring, not a picture
that is glossed or glazed not as I hope we should be, but I am going to present
to you facts as they are. And I believe that that will help you to understand
something more of our difficulties, our problems and our aims in Great Britain.

First of all, I want to look very briefly into the external difficulties that
meet the evangelist as he preaches the gospel in Britain today. From a
superficial glance at the kingdom of Great Britain we may imagine that it is
indeed a Christian nation that is motivated by Christian principles as far as
any notion can so be motivated by those principles. We see, for instance, that
there is a great deal of religious worship of a kind in Britain. We find that
there are religious articles in the various periodicals and magazines. We find
that there are talks, religious talks, on the British Broadcasting Corporation,
the state controlled radio, and every way we sense that Britain is a Christian
country. It is when we look behind this facade that we see the real Britain and
we see the real British attitude toward spiritual things. I am sorry to say that
the picture is far more ominous and far darker than that which appears on the
surface. In the first place, in recent years partly due and accelerated by the
war, there has been a widespread falling away from attendance of any place of
worship in Britain. It is estimated that only about ten per cent of the people
of Great Britain are permanently affiliated to any religious body and attend a
place of worship regularly. It is further estimated that something like ten or
twelve per cent go to some kind of service on some special occasion. But over
fifty per cent are completely indifferent to spiritual things, and another
fifteen per cent are actively hostile. Now it is this large number, this large
body in Britain—over fifty per cent, very nearly sixty per cent—over half of the
population of Great Britain, who are so indifferent to the call of the gospel
that presents the evangelist in Great Britain such a problem today. When a man
is even actively hostile against you, you know what to do with him, but when
yo'u can, as I do in London over and over again, meet the attitude of a sweet
smile, and know very well that the words you are speaking are going in one ear
and out of the other, are just not registering, then it is the most difficult
barrier to overcome.

Now with this, too, there is a widespread — and it is widening—a widespread
materialism in Great Britain. Men are looking to the state instead of Christ for
salvation. Undoubtedly Britain in recent years has undergone a social revolution
and this may have something to do with it. But unfortunately, among the poorer,
we find that they are looking to the government to solve their problems, both
material and spiritual (if they ever think of spiritual problems), instead of
the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. It’s very rarely in Britain (and I know
that building problems are certainly difficult), but it’s very rarely in Great
Britain today that we see a church building erected. Since I landed in this
country on January 10, and have come down through various areas from New York, I
have seen many new church buildings of various sorts being erected. Undoubtedly,
of course, much of it is in error, but at the same time it does show that at
least the American people are to a degree interested in spiritual things. Now
that is not seen in Britain.

Again, there is another problem, and that is the widespread religious hypocrisy
in Britain. That is represented by the state backed ecclesiastical system known
as the Church of England. That system has not only apostacized from the faith,
but also in many respects become a political tool. Indeed, it is still bound up
with politics. The senior clergy of the Church of England are appointed by the
government, by the Prime Minister, and the senior clergy sit in the House of
Lords, the Upper House of the Houses of Parliament. Add to this the fact that as
far as their services and gatherings are concerned, it presents to the man in
the street a cold and hypocritical formality, formalism, and we can see the
reason why it has lost touch with the common people. Men look upon this system,
they look upon the services, they hear of its hypocrisies, and they turn away
from Christianity and from Christ disgusted.

There is another problem, too, and that is the peculiarity of the British
character. In the first place, the Britisher is a lover of tradition. Now that
is all very well in one sense. Certainly, if you want to get on with a Britisher
just tell him something of history a few hundred years back and he will be your
friend for life. But in things spiritual that is indeed a detriment to the
spread of the gospel, because it means this, that the Britisher will hang on to
the traditions that have been taught him even after he rejects the system that
has taught him those traditions. And so we find almost superstitiously men and
women in Britain are still taking their children to be christened, thinking that
by that they have a passport to joy in this life and eternity in the next. And
it’s a very difficult thing to break down. The argument that is often logically
put forward, or seemingly logically, is because my father has followed in such
and his father before him and so generations back; therefore, it’s good enough
for me.

Then, again, there is another peculiarity of the British character and that is
his natural reserve. He will not readily open up to you. He will not readily
discuss anything so personal as his soul’s salvation, if he thinks of it at all,
and therefore one must work with him and talk with him to gain his confidence,
and so the teaching of the truth is by a far greater degree a slower process
than here with the American public and the man in the street in this country.
These are some of the external problems that we face in Britain. There are many
of them but these are probably the most difficult.

Now what of the internal problems that are within the church itself? What are
the difficulties there? In order to appreciate this it will mean going a little
into church history this afternoon. In many ways the cause in Great Britain has
had a longer history and goes back farther than the equivalent work here in the
United States. We can trace back the beginnings, or at least the link, with the
restoration movement right back to the beginning of the eighteenth century. In
the year 1727, John Glass, a minister of the Church of Scotland, withdrew from
that body protesting against many of the principles for which the Church of
Scotland stood, and founded a few years afterwards several churches taking his
name and founding a body known as the Glassites after the name of their founder.
Now in many ways John Glass was near New Testament truth, but he was not near
enough. For in-stance, he realized the necessity of celebrating the Lord’s
Supper every Lord’s day. He also taught a simpler form of faith than had been
taught up to that time, and he protested against the emotionalism which passed
for gospel preaching of his day. And he had a clear view of congregational
independency. But unfortunately he still hung on to the old system and the
erroneous teaching of sprinkling.

However, from that body grew another body. They were known as the Scotch
Baptists, and they were founded by Archibald McClean and Robert Carmichael who
had been former elders of the Glassites. Now Archibald McClean, by study of New
Testament truth together with his colleague, came to understand that sprinkling
was not the baptism of the New Testament. And once he understood it, he made a
journey all the way to London, no mean journey in those days, in order to obey
his Lord, and came back and baptized his colleague. Now they held to many of the
tenets of the Glassites, but they went further and they came much nearer to New
Testament truth and they are important in this respect: The Scotch Baptists were
the soil in which the seeds of the restoration movement were sowed. They indeed
represented the beginnings of the restoration movement for the New Testament
church. It probably began by withdrawal from the Scotch Baptist, and many of the
first leaders of the restoration movement in Great Britain were formerly members
of that body. Indeed we can go today into Scotland in Kilcoddy in Fife and we
can see there a church which was formerly a church building which formerly
belonged to the Scotch Baptists—and incidentally, see the very pulpit in which
Alexander Campbell preached on his visit to England.

Another body which ought to be mentioned at this time was that founded by the
Howdain brothers. That again strove to get near New Testament truth and when
Alexander Campbell visited or was forced to stay in Scotland, he came in contact
with the Howdain brothers and their work, and it had a profound effect upon
them. But'we can go further back at this time and we can see that there were
churches founded upon New Testament lines long before Campbell, either Thomas or
Alexander, ever began to write or to preach. For instance, in the year 1804
there was such a church founded in Dungannan, Ireland; also a few years later in
Denvershire and two or three in Scotland. But the most remarkable of all is a
piece of research that has come to light in recent years, and for this
information I owe the president of the Digressive College in England, though
unfortunately it is hard to learn the lesson that it teaches.

It has been found that there were churches of Christ founded on New Testament
lines as far back in Britain as the year 1669 in the reign of King Charles II in
the days that this great nation, this great America, was still being colonized.
Now you know, this is a remarkable fact, it has been found that those churches
(and we have records in an old minute book that has been discovered)—it has been
found that those churches called themselves churches of Christ, that they
practiced baptism by immersion, that they celebrated the Lord’s Supper each
Lord’s day and that they had a clear view of congregational independency
appointing to each of those churches—and there were eight existing in the
Ulverston district of Lancashire in North West England—appointing to each one of
those elders and deacons. Now* this is a remarkable fact, brethren, many of the
denominationalists over here and to a lesser extent in Britain, call us by the
name Campbellites, as if the name Campbell, or Stone or Kelly or Scott or
anyone, else of the pioneers, had anything to do with the founding or the
setting of the New Testament church.

These facts prove, as the facts concerning the Christians in India prove, of
which Brother McMillan told us this morning—prove historically that which we
have heard scripturally, that any man who is unprejudiced, who is unbiased, who
is not blinded by the traditions and teachings of men, can come through the word
of God alone to a knowledge and understanding of the will of God, not only
concerning him as an individual, but concerning the community to which he
belongs, that they can see patterned in the New Testament clearly all that is
required to set up a New Testament church. And so clear is that pattern that the
New Testament church can reproduce at any time, at any place, in any age. Now
this is proved by those facts in Britain. In an age when the Bible was indeed
rare, in an age when a man had to give his years, his life-savings almost, to
possess any part of a copy of the Scriptures, yet there were brethren there
worshipping truly and purely on New Testament lines, guided by the word of God
alone. However, when we look at the restoration movement proper, we associate it
with the influence of Alexander Campbell in Britain.

Alexander Campbell was born in Ireland. His father, ,Thomas Campbell, was a
minister of the church of Ireland. In the year 1801 Thomas Campbell sailed for
the United States for health reasons and very shortly afterwards Alexander
Campbell was bidden to follow with the family. His ship was wrecked on the west
coast of Scotland and so instead, he spent a year in Scotland studying at
Glasgow University. It was then that he came in touch with Grevel Ewings who was
principal of the college which the Howdain brothers had set up in that city. But
Britain heard no more of Alexander Campbell for many years, and perhaps the
restoration movement would not have been known so early in Britain if it had not
been for one casual contact that was made in the year 1883. An American student
was in London at that time, a Mr. Wise, and having walked into a Scotch Baptist
church he contacted a Mr. William Jones, who was elder of one of those churches.
Now Jones had heard of the writings of Campbell; he had heard of Campbell, too,
as a consequence of a debate he had had with Owens a few years previously, but
until this young man had told him of Alexander Campbell, he had not realized
that the view of Campbell was so near his own. Correspondence ensued and soon
Campbell was sending his writings over to Jones, and so impressed was Jones,
that he launched a special publication with the express purpose of republishing
the writings of Campbell known as the Millennial Harbinger and Church Advocate.
That went on for about 16 months and it had a profound effect in Scotch Baptist
churches because many that were seeking the truth in that body realized that
though they were near the truth in many respects, they were not near enough, and
there began to be withdrawals from that body. The first withdrawal of this kind
was made by a man named James Wallace in the Midland district of England in
Nottingham. He withdrew in the year 1836 with 14 others on December 25 and began
a church which was purely and simply of New Testament lines. And there in
Nottingham was the first church immediately connected with the restoration
movement which, was indeed in every respect a church of Christ. Their numbers
grew to 40, 60 and then 200, and all over Britain the same thing was happening.
Men and women were coming back to the truth and setting up churches on purely
New Testament lines.

However, the work in Britain lagged behind the work in the United States. There
were at that time no evangelists, few brethren, very little in the way of
churches, and no gospel papers except the paper which James Wallace had
launched, the “Christian Messenger,” for the express purpose of carrying on the
work that Jones had begun of republishing the works of Campbell. The first full
time preacher of the gospel in Britain was a man by the name of James Reed, and
he began working with the churches in the year 1837. He was a pastor of an
independent church in Dundee and he not only discovered and obeyed the truth for
himself, but he went further by teaching his congregation. Very shortly
afterwards the whole congregation of 110 members obeyed the truth and there was
set up a church of the Lord Jesus Christ in the city of Dundee. Would to God
that men were so receptive to the gospel today.

Now James Reed went among the churches teaching and preaching, but he did not
see how the cause in Great Britain could be promoted without some co-operative
effort between the churches. So largely as a result of his effort in the year
1842, a United Meeting was called and a committee was set up, a committee of
three, of which James Wallace was one, to promote evangelism, to encourage men
to enter the field and also to gather funds for their support. Now from that one
committee has come the digression which we in Britain today fight. This
committee was set up by sincere men and women with the purest motives in the
world, merely of promoting the gospel in Britain, yet unfortunately those who
were lovers of God’s truth and have been following it, have not followed it to
the degree of realizing that no such central organization in any shape or form
was to be found in the New Testament. And unfortunately, as a result of their
effort there has grown up a complete ecclesiastical system which has well nigh
warped the cause of New Testament truth in the kingdom of Great Britain. That
committee functioned for five years. The British brethren were very suspicious
of it, and rightly too. The whole.time that it functioned only three evangelists
entered the field and only L400—$12,000 was ever subscribed, and it faded out of
existence, and would that it would have faded permanently out of existence. In
the year 1847 efforts to bring Alexander Campbell over were successful. James
Worlick had invited him to that country ten years back from that date, but until
then some were opposed; however, Campbell eventually came to Britain. He did
some good in Britain. He toured the churches but unfortunately Campbell met
prejudice from the British churches wherever he went. Incidentally, and
digressing from the subject, owing to the activities of the Anti-Slavery Society
in Edinburgh, Campbell spent a week in prison in Scotland. Now, brethren, don’t
think that’s a typical English or British welcome! Anyone who may be thinking of
coming to Britain, I assure you we don’t treat you that way. But Campbell
presided at the second general meeting of the churches of Christ in Great
Britain. But owing to certain views that the British brethren then held and
still hold, they were prejudiced against him in many ways and they virtually
boycotted that meeting. Instead of the 80 churches that existed in Great Britain
at that time and the 2,300 members, there were only some- fhing like 26 churches
represented, and really Campbell’s tour was not the success that it ought to
have been. In the year 1848, the following year, Britain had to fight further
digression, this time from without for Doctor Thomas, the founder of
Christadelphianism, came to Britain. He had been associated with the churches
here in the U. S. A. and actually he had been baptized by Walter Scott, but he
had severed his connections and began formulating the views which afterwards
became known as Christadelphianism. The British brethren, news traveling slowly
at that time, did not know of his severing from the church, and they received
him, and by reason of that he was able to get in among the British churches.
They were weak, very weak, at that time and this blow almost overwhelmed them.
Many were separated from the New Testament church, many churches went out of
existence, but thank God, the leaders of the movement in Britain were not
swayed. In the year 1854, the Central Evangelistic Committee having faded out,
there was again an attempt to set it off, which this time unfortunately was
permanent. And from that body has really and directly grown the ecclesiastical
system in Britain that we fight today. That body has supported three evangelists
of note that we ought to mention at this time. The first was David King, a man
of whom Britain knows much, a man who became the leading writer, the trainer of
the brethren, the leading evangelist and the leading debater of Britain. David
King was a remarkable man. He was formerly associated with the Camden Town
church, which is now the Kentish Town church with which I am connected, and his
conversion came about — and this is an interesting point to you brothers and
sisters — his conversion came about by reason of a tract written by an American
brother sent over to England. For years he looked for someone to baptize him for
remission of sins and finally found one there in London.

He was a remarkable creature. Some of his achievements make very interesting
reading. For instance, he went down to an Adventist church in the south of
England in Sussex, preached for them several Sundays, and as a result of his
preaching, the whole church of 150 members came over and obeyed the gospel and
became a church of the Lord Jesus Christ. That church is still there today,
though unfortunately digressed. In Birmingham he did the same thing, winning
over a Baptist church. In debates he was just as remarkable. He debated on one
occasion with a lecturer, a secularist lecturer of Leeds University, a man by
the name of F. H. Gordon. A six-nights debate was to take place, but after the
fourth night he had the remarkable experience of having his opponent stop the
debate and renounce his secularist views and become a Christian. Brother David
King was a powerful influence upon the church. He had very strict views with
regard to clericalism. He had very strict views as regards the communion and he
has left his mark upon the British churches in this region, but unfortunately
through some of those views—and whether they are right or wrong, we’ll not go
into for the moment—through some of their views differences began to creep in
between British and American brethren which well nigh, in his day, led -to an
open breach. Even Benjamin Franklin, so great a man as he, was discouraged from
coming over and preaching in Britain because of those views.

Another man that ought to be mentioned is Joseph Bryan Rotheram, who you will
remember as the author and compiler of.the Rotheram Emphasized Bible. He was a
Briton and formerly a Baptist pastor.

One more evangelist who is outstanding in that age is Sidney Black. Now he ought
to be mentioned because he was responsible for founding the largest church that
Britain has ever had in Fulham, in London—some 678 members, and owned the only
orphanage that the British have ever supported. Unfortunately, both orphanage
and church have now digressed to the Baptists. The British churches had other
difficulties to face. Towards the end of the last century there was a brother in
the north\yest district of England, Lancashire, who was impressed by the
disciple preachers, by some who visited Britain, and as a result he came over to
the United States, met the Foreign Missionary Society of the Christian Church as
it was then called, and arranged for disciple preachers to come over. They well
nigh wrecked the cause in Britain as they did elsewhere. The British brethren
established churches in France, in Paris, and the disciple preachers wrecked
them and they are out of existence today. The British churches established the
cause in Australia and New Zealand and in South Africa, and the disciples have
done the same thing there — very nearly wrecked that cause. And they have very
nearly done the same thing in Great Britain.

They came over to teach the brethren how to evangelize their own country, but
they failed miserably. They succeeded in founding, or at least the only churches
existing afterwards, were 17 churches and they formed a separate association,
the Christian Association of Churches. Consequently, there was friction betwen
the Christian Association and the British Association, namely as it is called,
the Co-operation of the Churches of Christ. This went on for 40 years until
finally the digressive churches, the American Disciple churches, were received
into the Co-operation of the Churches of Christ. Those preachers were indeed
modernists and liberalists. They were passed as one-man pastors. They were open
communionists and they were modernists in their teaching, and they have only
added to the digression which the cause in Britain has suffered. But thank God,
from this growing apostacy there were men who had the cause of New Testament
truth at heart and had the courage to protest. In 1917, one did protest—Brother
Walter Crosswaithe, the present veteran editor of the only gospel paper in
Britain, The Scripture Standard. He withdrew in the year 1917 and worked for the
pulling back of the church into the truth. In the year 1924 he called a protest
meeting and from that there has arisen not only a protest of individuals, but
whole churches protested and gradually the churches began to withdraw from the
Co-operation of the Churches of Christ. In turn, unfortunately, from this
protest meeting a com-mittee was set up to fight digression — a committee of
loyal brethren. Now you’ll say, well surely the loyal brethren are in every way
copying the very passage of the brethren before and the very thing that caused
digression before. That is true, but remember that these brethren had been
brought up in the committee atmosphere. They knew no other way as isolated
brethren of protesting against this digression, and undoubtedly the Old Paths
Committee, as it is called, veered from the truth. We certainly owe to them
today in Great Britain the fact that those who are loyal and have come back to
New Testament truth are there as a direct result of t&eir work and the work of
Brother Walter Crosswaithe. Now the churches are gradually, more and more as
individuals and as churches, withdrawing from the Co-operation of the Churches
of Christ. But there was a further desire to get back to New Testament truth. It
was thought by many British brethren, especially the younger element, that the
committee was wrong, and so in the year 1945 as a result of the cooperation and
the fellowship that we had with the American brethren, the Kentish Town church
in London was the first church to take the step of supporting their own
preacher, their own evangelist', that is in regard to myself, and now other
churches are following suit. There are four churches supporting four
evangelists. There are in all today eight loyal gospel preachers in Britain, and
there are something like 44 churches outside of the corporation, but above all
in Britain there is a desire not only to get back to New Testament truth but to
hold to it and there is a new spirit of evangelism arising among the loyal
British churches.

We are not only working with those outside of Christ, but we are working with
those inside the digressive movement. We are bringing them promise, and daily
there are more and more individuals and churches coming from that digressive
group which now indeed from one committee has grown into a monster — a monster
of ecclesiasticism with 20 committees, with a central council representing the
churches of Christ of the British Council of Churches, and the Federal Free
Church Council as a denomination among denominations with district committees
and with a theological college that is daily turning out modernistic preachers,
teachers, leaders and elders.

Now my time has almost gone, brethren; in fact, it has gone, but just let me
speak on two major points of difference which has caused difficulty among the
British and American brethren. Upon the question of the communion (at the
morning worship) that is, the gathering around the Lord’s table is exclusively
for believers alone, for immersed believers alone, and as a result they have not
only laid stress upon the teaching that it is for immersed believers alone, but
they actually discourage visitors from being present at that meeting. Now I
believe that there is something that is good in that and I believe that there is
something that is in error, and in these things I believe, brethren, we can
learn from each other. And that is what I am here for: to tell these things
frankly so that we can indeed understand purely and simply the situation as it
exists in each country. I believe in the first place there is always the
necessity not only generally, but expressively and specifically, to teach at the
morning meeting that the emblem is of no avail and can have no meaning for the
one who is outside of Christ, who has not taken upon himself the likeness of the
Lord’s death, burial and resurrection by faith, repentance and baptism. On the
other hand, I believe the British churches have made a mistake in that they have
failed to realize the significance of Paul’s words in I Corinthians, that it
shows forth the Lord’s death till he comes; that is, to the unbelievers. But I
believe co-operation and understanding between us will endeavor to overcome this
difficulty which has been a source of prejudice and that was a source of
prejudice even in the days of Campbell. That was one of the reasons why Campbell
was virtually boycotted in his visit to the British Isles. The second is the
British brethren’s emphasis upon mutual ministry; that is, the right of every
brother to edify the church as he has ability. Now there is a good point there
and there is a point of error. In the first place there is always a need to lay
stress upon the necessity for developing the talent within the individual
congregations. And I believe we ought to really indeed launch fully, far more
than I have seen here at present, a training program among our young men in both
countries for that purpose. Then, too, much misunderstanding in this connection
has arisen between British and Americans, by the British rather, through the
different use of terms or different use of certain words in our various
countries and cities. One is the term ‘‘minister.” Now British brethren have
seen on American correspondence the word “minister” at the head of a page. Now
“minister” means in Britain the pastor, and so British brethren are unable to
differentiate between the law of digressive churches and in some respects have
assumed that the evangelists or the preacher of the individual church over here
is a pastor. Now I have seen no evidence of the one-man pastor over here, and
thank God I haven’t, but on the other hand, brethren, I believe there is a point
there. We often use the term “the minister” and that I believe is scripturally
incorrect. It is wrong to speak of the minister and the mission. I am a priest,
but not the priest. I am a jninister, a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ but not
the minister, and therefore there is a difference. I believe that we must guard
in both countries against the rise of clericalism, against the rise of a
separate and separated class which are preachers alone, and we must get back to
God’s ordained gospel and hold to it; that is, the government by elders in the
leadership in the individual local congregation. On the other hand, I believe
the British brethren are in error in that in their conception of mutual ministry
they have formed two assumptions and both of them are false. The first is. that
each brother is a potential speaker, and secondly, because he is a potential
speaker, he has a right to the platform. I believe that that conception is doing
harm to the cause of Great Britain today. Another thing, brethren, and I would
pray that you would use every influence that you can to check this in Britain,
that the British churches and the British faith is rapidly becoming the dumping
ground—and I am going to be colloquial in this — rapidly becoming the dumping
ground for the literature of every hobbyist in America. Unfortunately, probably
those brethren in America here have been well summed up and their field is
limited here and therefore for that reason they will go over and place their
perversive doctrines in Britain. Undoubtedly this has led to further
misunderstanding. The British brethren turn up some gospel paper, which is
indeed extreme, and look at it and say, “Look, the American brethren for you.”
And that harm is being done by those who are disloyal to the New Testament
truth, and T will pray, brethren, that you will use every endeavor as far as
lies in your power to stop that happening in Britain today.

Now may I draw the conclusion with just one lesson. The apostle Paul warned the
Ephesian elders, he said, “after my departure grevious wolves shall enter in
among you.” Grevious wolves — and notice wolves, “ravenous wolves shall enter in
among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise,
speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.” The greatest
danger to the church and its truth, brethren, lies from those false teachers who
have arisen from within and not those who have endeavored to get in from
without. And I believe that we must always watch that. Paul warned those elders;
he said for the space of three years and with tears I warned you, and he left
with them this charge. “Therefore watch,” for, brethren, I believe the lesson of
the British theme for you American brethren and people is this—the same words,
“Therefore watch.” It isn’t sufficient to say we have the truth. It isn’t
sufficient to say we are a New Testament church. We must be always stepping back
to New Testament truth and once we are there, we must watch and continually be
on our guard that we stay there, that no influence from within or without may
indeed draw us away from the truth as it is revealed in Christ through his word.
I pray, brethren, that in our individual lives and as a community, as a church,
we may be on our guard and that together in future years misunderstandings,
prejudices and all the other things that separate us and have separated us in
the past, might indeed be overcome, and that we might walk together and abound
together for the cause of New Testament truth and the establishing of the church
of the Lord, that that church may become in both countries all that the Lord
desires it should be to be pure in doctrine, to be powerful in wisdom, and to be
persevering in its work for the Lord Jesus Christ. Think of us, brethren, pray
for us, and work towards that one and glorious end for his cause.


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  CHAPTER 15: “OPEN THOU MINE EYES”
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“Open Thou Mine Eyes”

OPEN THOU MINE EYES Lecture by C. E. McGaughey, February 22, 1950, at Abilene
Christian College (7:30 p. m.) In every age of the world God has wanted his
people to have their eyes open. In the Patriarchal Age he took Abraham from his
tent out to a lofty place where he would be able to see a great distance and
said to him, “Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art,
northward and southward and eastward and westward: for all the land that thou
seest to thee will I give it, and to thy seed forever” (Genesis 13:14-15). After
the Patriarchal Age had passed and the Jewish Age had come into existence, we
find David praying in Psalms 119:18 : “Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold
wondrous things out of thy law.” Centuries later the Lord came, and during the
days of preparation as he saw the golden opportunities present he said to his
disciples, “Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields, that they are white
already unto harvest” (John 4:35). Finally his church was brought into
existence. About thirty years passed by and the apostle Paul, an old man in
prison, wrote to the Ephesians, and in the fifth chapter, he said, “Look
therefore carefully how ye walk, not as unwise but as wise; redeeming the time,”
(the margin says: “buying up the opportunities”), “because the days are evil.”
In all these passages we have seen that in every age God wants his people to
have their eyes wide open. And certainly in 1950 after these many centuries our
Lord is still just as concerned about his people having their eyes open.
Consequently the text that we have chosen, the words of David, “Open thou mine
eyes,” is very, very appropriate.

What are some of the things that we should see as a group of people? The
specific thing that David asked for is an appropriate prayer for us now. “Open
thou mine eyes that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.” In this
poverty stricken age, from the standpoint of Biblical knowledge, all of us and
all of God’s people everywhere should pray that they will be able to behold
wondrous things out of the word of God. God wants us to be capable people; to be
able to teach those around about us. The writer of Hebrews says in Hebrews 5:12,
“By reason of time ye ought to be teachers,” likewise, we read in 1 Peter 2:2
that we are to “desire the sincere milk of the word.” And in 2 Peter 3:18 we
read, “But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus
Christ.” In II Peter the first chapter we read the Christian graces, emphasizing
the fact that we must add knowledge if we are going to enter into the eternal
kingdom. If any group of people, therefore, in all the world should be
thoroughly familiar with God’s revelation it should be that group that claims to
be Christian and “Christian only.” How unfortunate that there are many Bibles
today that have no marks within them, no tear-stained pages and so little
evidence of use. May God help us to open our eyes and look in his book so that
the word of Christ will dwell in us richly as we are told in Colossians 3:16.
But not only do we need to know the Bible that we may be able to teach others,
and that we might grow unto salvation, but we need to know the deeper things of
God; our knowledge must not be a superficial knowledge. I love that prayer
prayed by the apostle Paul for the Ephesians (Ephesians 1:15-20). He said, “For
this cause I also, having heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, which is
among you, and the love which you show toward all the saints, cease not to give
thanks for you making mention of you in my prayers; that the God of our Lord
Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you a spirit of wisdom and
revelation in the knowledge of him; having the eyes of your heart enlightened,
that you may know what is the hope of his calling, what the riches of the glory
of his inheritance in the saints, and what the exceeding greatness of his power
to us-ward who believe, according to the working of the strength of his might
which he wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead, and made him to sit
at his right hand in the heavenly places.” In Ephesians 3:13-19, is another
remarkable prayer. “For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father, from whom
every family in heaven and on earth is named, that he would grant you according
to the riches of his glory, that you may be strengthened with power through his
Spirit in the inward man; that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; to
the end that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be strong to apprehend
with all his saints what is the breadth, and the length, and the height, and the
depth, and to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge, that he may be
filled unto the fullness of God.” Studying the Bible, therefore, is like mining
for gold. The deeper one goes, the greater the nuggets are. Therefore, as a
people, let us pray: “Open thou mine eyes that I may behold wondrous things out
of thy law.” But we need to open our eyes to the great blessings God has
provided for his people, to the lofty position that we have the honor of
occupying. 1 John 3:1, we read, “Behold what manner of love the Father hath
bestowed upon us, that we should be called children of God! and such we are.” 1
Peter 2:9 says, “But ye are an elect race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a
people for God’s own possession.” No wonder John says, “Behold what manner of
love the Father hath bestowed upon us.” We must remember also that great
blessing of having Jesus Christ as our high priest at the right hand of God. In
the fourth chapter of the book of Hebrews beginning with verse fifteen, it is
written, “For we have not a high priest that cannot be touched with the feeling
of our infirmities, but one that hath been in all points tempted like as we are,
yet without sin. Let us therefore draw near with boldness unto the throne of
grace that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in the time of need.”
Also in Romans the eighth chapter, verse twenty-six, Paul says, “The Spirit
himself also maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.”
Thus we see that the Holy Spirit of God and the Lord Jesus Christ himself are
interested in the welfare of each individual child of God. The providential care
of God is about us. For in Romans the eighth chapter and verse twenty-eight, it
is recorded, “And we know that to them that love God all. things work together
for good, even to them that are called according to his purpose.” All these
blessings are ours; the Fatherhood of God, the'high priesthood of Christ, the
intercessory prayers of the Holy Spirit in our behalf with groanings that cannot
be uttered, God’s providential care for us, and a God who hears our prayers;
promising that “The supplication of a righteous man availeth much in its
working.” (James 5:16).

How often we live beneath these privileges. I am reminded of the prodigal son’s
brother. You remember when the prodigal returned, his brother would not even
come in to greet him but said to his father, “Lo, these many years do I serve
thee, I never transgressed a command of thine; and yet thou never gave me a kid
that I might make merry with my friends: but when this thy son came who hath
devoured thy living with harlots, thou killest for him the fatted calf.” The
words of the father should sink deeply in our hearts. Listen, “Son, thou art
ever with me and all that is mine is thine.” Truly the apostle Paul says, “all
things are yours” (1 Corinthians 3:2). Brethren, let us not live beneath our
privileges; let us enjoy them to the fullest. Realizing our great blessings, we
should go out with a spring in our step, and happiness on our faces, because we
are God’s people.

We should open our eyes also to the beauties of worship. How often people attend
worship and go away empty, without having been helped. It is not God’s fault for
Jesus said in Matthew 18:20, “For where two or three are gathered together in my
name, there I am in the midst of them.” When we meet, our Lord comes. If we fail
to see him, it’s not his fault. We must learn to “walk by faith, and not by
sight.” We must learn to see the unseen. And when we sing “Beneath the Cross of
Jesus” we must by faith see the Lord Jesus Christ himself. I am confident that
in our own private devotions in our own homes at the close of the day or in some
closet where we have gone to shut the door or in the meeting house where we may
have assembled, that if we worship God in spirit and in truth, a strength will
come to us giving us “the people of God that passeth all understanding,” and a
“joy unspeakable and full of glory,” permitting us to go out and face the old
world heroically, indicating that truly we have been with Jesus. Let us
therefore open our eyes to the beauties of worship, and when we approach the
services, let us do so reverently, humbly and with great concern. Let us
remember that worship is not something that we can turn on and off like we do
our radios, but something we must prepare for. When we come, let us learn to see
Jesus, feel the nearness of his presence and go out from the place of worship
with renewed strength and enthusiasm to do things for God.

We should open our eyes to our great mission as a people. What is the mission of
God’s church? Certainly many sermons could be preached on this theme if time
permitted. I merely mention a few of the things that compose our great mission.
First of all, it is ours to glorify God. Man’s chief function upon this earth is
to glorify him who made him. I read the rest of that verse we quoted a few
minutes ago. “Ye are an elect race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people
for God’s own possession, that you may show forth the excellencies of him who
called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” We are to show forth the
excellencies of God. And Jesus said in Matthew 5:16, “Let your light so shine
before men; that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in
heaven.” Our lives, therefore, must indicate that we have been redeemed. We must
be a people that “walk worthily of the calling” wherewith we have been called.
We must, in the words of the apostle Paul, “live soberly and righteously and
godly in this present world; looking for the blessed hope and appearing of the
great God and our Savior Jesus Christ;” (Titus 2:12-13). When every boy and girl
and man and woman realizes that it is his to glorify God and to watch every word
and every thought and every deed, that the world may see Christ within us, then
God truly will be pleased with us, and not until then. But our mission in
addition to glorifying God by living soberly and righteously and godly, is to
live a life of service. It isn’t enough to merely be good. We must be good for
something, and consequently, we must remember that the church of the living God
has for its function to save those round about and those in regions beyond. It
is said in Revelation the twenty-second chapter and verse seventeen, “And he
that heareth let him say come.” And we read in Jude 1:22-23, “And on some have
mercy, who are in doubt, and some save, snatching them out of the fire.” Each
boy and each girl, each man and each woman who is a member of the church of the
living God is supposed to be a soul winner for the Lord Jesus Christ. Our hearts
must be burdened for those who have not yet found the way. We must be a people
that learn to lie awake at night and shed tears about the millions round about
us who need the gospel of our Lord. It’s our mission then, to be a soul winning
people. If we are content merely to worship and forget that the world is waiting
for us, we have missed the mark. . But our mission also is to continue to help
those whom we have won to Christ, to see that they are trained and educated, and
that they are nurtured and cared for. For Jesus in the great commission said,
“Go ye therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the
name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all
things whatsoever I have commanded you: and lo, I am with you alway, even unto
the end of the world (Matthew 28:19-20). Jesus wants us to see that the
membership of the church is taught all things. We read in Colossians 2:6-7, “As
therefore ye have re-ceived the Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted
and builded up in him, and established in your faith.” Likewise it is said in
Hebrews 6:1, “Let us press on unto perfection.” We must not be content,
therefore, merely to become members of the church of our Lord. We must be a
people that go on unto perfection, trying to attain heights that are lofty where
God can use us to the very fullest. But our mission also consists in looking
after the members of the church who need special care in a spiritual way.
“Admonish the disorderly, encourage the faint hearted, support the weak, be
longsuffering toward all,” wrote Paul in 1 Thessalonians 5:14. We ought to see
that those who need encouragement get it, that they are admonished in every way
possible.

I am also reminded that our mission also consists in what the brethren told Paul
and Barnabas to do when they went out to preach to “remember the poor”
(Galatians 2:9). Also the Holy Spirit says, “Pure religion and undefiled before
God the Father is this, to visit the fatherless and the widows in their
affliction and to keep oneself unspotted from the world” (James 1:27). As our
mission, therefore, we are to remember those who are. in need. We are to have
souls. We are to glorify God by the way that we live. All these things compose
the great mission of the church of the living God. We ought to pray, “Open thou
mine eyes, oh God, that I may understand what it means to be a Christian, that I
may not be satisfied with merely coming into Thy church, but that I will live
right and do good, thus serving as the Lord Jesus Christ served.” But we must
open our eyes also to our pleas as a group of people. There is no group of
people under the sun having such a magnificent plea as we have. It is our aim to
restore New Testament Christianity, to point men back to the old Jerusalem
church, to Christianity as it was 1900 years ago. We are not trying to reform
some old denomination and we are not trying to build a new denomination, but we
are urging men to lift up their eyes and look back through the mist and fogs of
denominationalism, back to Pentecost day and to the old church we read about in
the New Testament. Our plea is for no church save the church of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Our plea is for no name but the divine name Christian; no plan of
salvation but the plan of salvation preached by Peter upon Pentecost, no plan of
worship except the worship we read about in the New Covenant, no organization
but that organization we find in the New Testament, no rule to govern us and to
guide us save the word of God and the word of God alone. That is our plea as a
group of people. And many, blinded by denominationalism, are yearning for the
very things that we cling to as the followers of Christ. May we never forget our
plea. History has a way of repeating itself. Nineteeen hundred years ago there
was only one church, the church of the Lord Jesus Christ, but the apostasy came
and Catholicism came into existence. Centuries later the restoration movement
began. After the restoration movement when it looked as if denominationalism
would completely fall before the mighty march of God’s people, there was another
apostasy, and the Christian church and Disciples of Christ came into existence,
turning away from the plea which had caused the old pioneer preachers to go out
and convert men by the thousands.

Now as I look out and see this mighty group of people and when I think of the
great membership we have throughout the. world, nearly a million people, I am
reminded of a passage in the book of Judges, the second chapter, where it is
said in verses seven through ten, that they remembered all the days of Joshua,
all that God had done for them, and they remembered all the days of the elders
that outlived Joshua, but finally Joshua died and all their generation died and
a new generation came into existence that knew not Jehovah and forgot the mighty
things that Jehovah had done for Israel. We must be careful, my brethhren, that
we do not become a denomination in any sense of the word, that we leave off
denominational phraseology, de-nominational organization, and anything which we
cannot find authority for in the New Testament. Let us remember our plea as a
group of people. Let us teach our boys and our girls so that in the years to
come in the new generation they will remember the battle that has been fought by
men like those who have been preaching Christ forty years, and by those who
preached even before them. May we always be content to just restore New
Testament Christianity and point men back to the Bible church. If we forget our
plea, we have no right to exist. We will then have to close our windows and shut
our doors and say we have ceased to be what we ought to be, for we have no right
to exist unless we keep before us constantly our plea of returning to the New
Testament. So may we have our eyes open to the grandest plea in all the world,
the restoration of New Testament Christianity. But it is altogether appropriate
now as we think of this marvelous text to open our eyes to the great
opportunities that confront us. As this Lectureship has been attended, I have
marvelled at the progress that has been made by God’s people in the past few
years. I remember that when I used to atend these Lectureships several years
ago, there was a mere handful compared to the great multitude that comes now. I
recall when we had few workers in various places in the world where we now have
many. A few years ago if someone had even dared to suggest that a group of young
people would go over into the very shadow of the Vatican and baptize 300 Roman
Catholics in one year, many would have thought it fantastic. Not long since if
it had been suggested that we would soon have 24 workers in Germany and 800
members of the church, it would have been considered an idle dream. At that time
if someone would have prophesied that shortly we would have possibly fifteen
thousand members throughout all of southern Africa, many would have said it
would never come to pass. But only recently as I listened in Washington to
Brother Reuel Lemmons as he gave us an account of the great work that is going
on in Africa, as I listened this afternoon to our good brother, Dieter Alten
from Germany, as he told us about the great work being done there, and as I have
studied about the work being done in Japan, in Italy, in the various other
places, my heart has been lifted up and I have been caused to rejoice, for truly
there are great opportunities in this old world waiting for us, opportunities we
have never seen yet. The words of the Lord Jesus are so appropriate, the words
that he spoke to his own disciples when looking up and seeing the host coming
out of the city of Samaria, he said, “Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields
that they are white already unto harvest.” And truly they are white even now.
When I think of our own great country and the section in which I live,
Washington, D. C., and the northeast, where the church is so small, I marvel at
the opportunity we have. One-third of the population of this great United
States, 40 million people, live in that section and we have about 30 preachers
trying to preach to this one-third. I wish that I could take all of you with me
on a magic carpet some Sunday morning and drop you gently into various cities in
the northeast, cities of over a hundred thousand and tell you to look for a
church of the New Testament. I would like to see the look of dismay upon your
faces as you sadly realized that you were unable to find a congregation, and as
you heard individuals say, “What do you mean by church of Christ?” Then I wish I
could come back with you that very night as you tell the congregations where you
regularly worship that you looked all morning in a city of a hundred thousand
where you found no church. Yes, in our own great United States, in the northwest
and many other sections, there are various regions waiting to be evangelized.

I rejoice that the work has been done in Germany, in Italy, in Belgium, the
little congregation now being started in France. I rejoice at the work being
done in Africa, in the Panama Canal Zone, in Hawaii, in the Philippines, China,
Japan, Alaska, in Cuba, in Mexico and any other place where good is Toeing done.
I rejoice at the good that is being done, and may God give us courage to
continue and do even a greater work at all these places. But we must face the
fact that large sections of the world are unevangelized. South America is
waiting. Europe and Asia have barely been touched. There are a billion people in
the world that haven’t even heard of the Lord Jesus Christ. We need to open our
eyes to that vast throng of people. If someone should try to even call the names
of all the individuals in the world who never heard of Jesus, and if every time
the watch ticks its seconds away, one of those names should be called, minute
#after minute, hour after hour, day after day, week after week, month after
month, year after year, ah, my friends, it would take thirty long’ years to even
call the names of them, mentioning a name every second. That many people have
not even heard of the Lord Jesus. If all these were to die and we were to dig a
grave for them, allowing 36 inches to each individual, that grave would reach
out yonder 600,000 miles long, 24 times the circumference of this earth. That
many people haven’t heard of the Lord yet. Certainly we must not become
satisfied with what we have done. We ought to rejoice that our efforts have been
blessed and we ought to thank God from the very depth of our hearts, but we
ought to remember that teeming millions are still lost. If there ever was a
generation that had an opportunity, it is this one. No greater opportunities
have come to the church of the Lord since the days of the apostles and I am glad
I live in this age. We ought to pray, “Open thou mine eyes, oh God, that I may
see these marvelous opportunities.” But while we are opening our eyes, we also
ought to pray the prayer, “Open thou mine eyes, that I may see the resources at
my disposal.” So often, my brethren, we as a group of people have not been able
to see just what God could do with us if we would only give him a chance. We
have too many who say the job cannot be done. We have too many who say it is
impossible to win the world for the Lord Jesus Christ. But it is not impossible
for us to give people of this generation a chance. Every person should be given
an opportunity. Surely all need to be told the story at least one time. And so
many of us have heard the gospel day after day and week after week since our
childhood. We ought to have upon our hearts the benighted millions who are
crying, “Come over into Macedonia and help us.” Let us not rest until all of
them have been given the privilege to learn of Jesus, until all of our neighbors
and our friends round about us have been taught and urged to obey. Y.es, we
ought to see the strength at our disposal. We must not be guilty of
misunderstanding our resources. When the Lord told the little band of disciples
to go into all the world, they were few in number and had poor transportation
facilities. They had little money. They had practically no conveniences, but
they went out with a mighty faith in a mighty God. And during one short
generation the gospel was preached unto all creation (Colossians 1:23). Today we
live in an age when we have the printing press, the radio, television,
telephone, all sorts of means of communication. We live in an age when we have
comfortable automobiles, fast trains, safe ships, airliners that can take us to
any part of the world in just a few hours. We live in a small world. The
inventions and discoveries of today permit us to be very close to the people who
live in the remotest sections of the earth. With all of this God expects much of
us. We need to open our eyes to the fact that a million people consecrated to
God can go out, if they will only say, “Here am I, Oh God, send me,” and conquer
this world for Christ. We need to recognize that we are not poverty stricken as
a group of people.

We have comfortable homes, good clothes, and comforts that millions of people in
this old world have never even dreamed about. God has blessed us with an
abundance of everything, and we must not forget the source of all that which has
come to us in the providence of God. Remembering this therefore, if you can, I
can get upon our hearts the great work that needs to be done, if we can
visualize the resources at our command, if we can see the fine group of young
people in the church of the living God, well educated and trained, many of whom
are waiting for someone to send them, we can do things for God that we did not
even dream about five or ten years ago. But someone says, there are some
difficulties you have not considered. Yes, I’m sure that there are. There may be
difficulties of which I am not aware, but after all, in computing our resources
and the strength at our disposal, we must remember that God is an omnipotent
God, and if we will remember God is able by the power that he has working
through us when we are thoroughly consecrated to him, having given our very life
and our silver and gold to him, he is able to work that which seems humanly
impossible. Every Christian ought to have this passage of Scripture burned into
his very heart, “Now unto him that is able to do exceedingly abundantly above
all that we can ash or think, according to the power that worketh in us, unto
him be glory in the church, and in Christ Jesus unto all generations forever and
ever. Amen” (Ephesians 3:20-21). And at this point I am reminded of a story in
the Old Testament, in II Kings, chapter six. Early in the morning the servant of
the prophet Elisha arose and went out to look round about the city of Dothan.
What met his eyes brought to him consternation. He saw the host of the
Midianites surrounding the little city of Dothan. He ran with a cry of dismay to
his master, Elisha, the mighty prophet of God, saying, “Alas, my master! how
shall we do?” And that mighty prophet of God calmly replied, “Fear not; for they
that be with us are more than they that be with them.” And then Elisha prayed a
prayer, brief but full of meaning, “Lord, open his eyes that he may see, and the
Lord opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw, and behold, the mountain was
full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.” His fear vanished. If
you and I could see by faith a mighty God and what he has at our disposal, our
fear would vanish and then we would be willing to say, “Here am I, oh God, send
me.” Let us remember the words of David and let us pray sincerely, “Open thou
mine eyes, in Jesus’ name. Amen.”


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Source: https://sermonindex.net/books/abilene1950-lectures/
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