THE first session of the conference was opened Tuesday, Dec. 10, at 2:30 P. M., nearly the entire afternoon being devoted to prayer and worship. Many earnest prayers were offered that light and blessing and power might come into the conference, with Boston shaken from center to circumference by the power of the Spirit which might be brought in. The writer certainly hoped it might be so; for it is evident that Boston, like all other large cities in the country and in the world, needs the power of the divine Spirit to shake things, especially the hearts and lives of sinners—to see Jesus Christ as He is, and to know the times in which we live.
The address of "welcome" was given by Emory W. Hunt, D.D., pastor of the Clarendon Street Baptist Church, and he said many good things. In his introductory remarks, he said that this church had for many years echoed and re-echoed the sound of the coming of the Lord. He thought the conference was very timely, in view of the fact there was so much in these days which sought to destroy the blessed Book, and supplant it with something else. There were three strong points he made, which were indeed relevant.
First, whoever discounts the prophetic elements of the Bible, really discounts the whole Book. The Bible is a unit. We can not place discredit on one part without discrediting the entire Bible. The Old Testament and the New must go hand in hand; and if we attempt to disbelieve the Old Testament, we shall eventually disbelieve the New. If we discredit the prophecies of the Old Testament, we shall be apt to discredit the miracles of the New. If we discount what we call the hardest part of the Bible, we shall eventually reject the whole thing.
Second, to eliminate the prophetic part of the Scripture is to place a discredit upon the whole Bible. One great reason why the supernatural is being so lightly regarded is because prophecy, as a part of the inspired record, is not believed. There is only one supposition that prophecy is from heaven, is supernatural, and that is, there is a God. There being a God, prophecy is possible. In order to eliminate prophecy, it is necessary first to eliminate God.
Third, the study of prophecy is needed in these days especially to confirm the faith of the saints. We are exhorted earnestly to contend for the faith which was once delivered to the saints. In the teachings of Jesus He told His disciples great truths before they transpired, so that when they did transpire, they might have a stronger and sturdier faith in Him and in the blessed Bible. With the many rationalistic views, and the higher criticism abroad in the earth to-day, the tendency of which is to undermine the faith of the people of God, the study of prophecy ought to be revived, that the faith of Christians in these days might not grow dim, but may be strong and sturdy.
To these sentiments above expressed by Dr. Hunt, every child of God can say, "Amen;" and if the church of God on earth to-day would devote more time, thought, and meditation to the prophetic portion of God's Word, the Christian church would discover much more light shining in the pathway than they have ever thought of or even realized.
Dr. A. C. Dixon, chairman of the conference, formerly of Brooklyn, N. Y., at the present time pastor of the Ruggles Street Baptist Church of Boston, made the response. He said in substance, that if he were going to give the key-note of the entire conference, he would base it upon John 3:16 and 2 Tim. 3:16. The cream of the conference should be the entirety of the Bible; that the whole Bible is the inspired Word of God. The King James version and not the Revised is the correct rendering of 2 Tim. 3:16. Not only were the men inspired who wrote the words, but the words themselves were inspired, or God-breathed. He quoted several scholars who substantiated the idea that all the Scripture was God-breathed, not only that part of Scripture which was considered by men as inspired. Every scripture of the Bible exalted the Word of God itself. It was becoming rather popular at the present time to deny this fact. To admit the absolute inspiration of the whole Bible was considered rather narrow-minded; to deny, was to be liberal. Yet these liberal people are so broad-minded (?) that if every one does not agree with their ideas they become extremely narrow. Their broad-mindedness becomes extremely narrow. We should be loyal to the truth; and always manifest that loyalty. As to truth we should be as narrow as Jesus. We should never for a moment acknowledge one single error to be right. The Bible is the great yardstick of God to measure everything by. If the measure of ideas does not come up to the Bible, they are valueless. If what is considered as truth does not come up to this blessed standard, it should be rejected. The Bible is God's great Plumb-line to see if everything is all right in belief. What the plumb-line is to the mason to see if the work is all straight, that the Word of God is to all beliefs. If the belief does not come up to the fulness of the Word of God, it is not all right. One beauty, however, about the Bible, different from yardsticks and plumb-lines, is that if the doctrine is not all right, it can make it all right. If the measure of belief is short, the Bible can lengthen it; if the work is crooked, the Bible can straighten it. The Bible is able to do its own work of correcting as well as measuring.
The great battle of the present time, said Dr. Dixon, is not between light and darkness; it is between light and light. The devil at the present time is endeavoring to give people light, as is seen from 2 Cor. 11:14, 15; but what we need to-day is to know the difference between light and "THE LIGHT." The devil is willing for people to get light, if they will not receive "the Light." The great difficulty in the present day is that the devil is trying to palm off onto the world counterfeit; to counterfeit the true light. Morality in itself is all right in its place; but when it is placed in the stead of salvation, it is a counterfeit, and defeats the very object it was designed for. It is passed off for too much. To meet the counterfeits in all forms of religions at the present day, and to discriminate between light and "THE LIGHT" is one great object of prophecy. All these other things are being passed off by the devil to-day for light; the prophecy of God's Word is "THE LIGHT;" by this everything can be tested; by the prophecy of God's Word all things may be discerned.
Many other interesting and pointed remarks were made by Dr. Dixon, which, had the conference carried out, would have brought much more of "THE LIGHT" to many souls than they received. Yet we should be thankful for the many good sentiments which were expressed.
The sermon of the evening was delivered by Dr. L. Z. Broughton, evangelist, of Atlanta, Ga. It was one full of light and blessing; many of the thoughts presented were truly inspiring. His text was Col. 4:12, and he sought to impress upon the minds and hearts of all how we could know we were in the will of God. He said in part:—
How is a man to know whether he is in the will of God? Not by the peculiar experiences of the people; for experience may be misleading. We should desire experience; for Christian experience is very essential to a Christian life. More people needed Christian experience than those who have any at the present time. Still experience could not be relied upon as the surest and safest guide. That which was the most sure was "the law and the testimony." If we were ever in doubt about anything, if we were not positive we were fully in the will of God, we should go to the Book, and have ourselves measured up by it. For if they speak not according to this Word, there is no light in them.
The will of God is that we should be saved. 2 Peter 3:9. The will of God is that we should be sanctified 1 Thess. 4:3. The great trouble with the church to-day is, it does not recognize that God desires His people to be saved and sanctified. The Lord wants a clean people; the whole heart; a pure church, with all uncleanness and worldliness eliminated. We need more of the power of the Spirit to know what it is to be fully cleansed. There is not the difference between the church and the world to-day that there ought to be. So long as the world can explain Christians, so long will the world not be moved. The church should have that sanctifying power of God that the world can not explain her actions.
The will of God is that we should be kept from sinning, should be delivered from sin. 1 Cor. 10:13. God's will is that we should be saved, sanctified, and kept. We can yield if we will, but do not say that God is to blame if we fall. God's will is to give us of His Spirit. Luke 11:13. Jesus told the disciples to tarry in Jerusalem till they were endued with the power from on high. As long as the church's actions can be explained by the world, then she is no better than any other society or organization. When the church has that power from on high, she will be an interrogation to the world; then her Pentecost will be as strange to the world to-day as was Pentecost, in the time of the apostles, to the people at Jerusalem. Acts 2. God's will is that we should be guided daily. God desires to take our lives in His hands, that He may work out every problem, that He may guide us in all our steps. If we do this, then we shall always know we are in the will of God.
And all the people can say "Amen" to these beautiful sentiments. Thus closed the first day of the conference. In the next issue the themes on some of the prophecies will be considered.
