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London, to which belong many of the richest dukes,
duchesses, lords and ladies of England.
He read that part of the third chapter of the
Revelation referring to the church at Laodicea,
which was neither cold nor hot, and which was
very much satisfied with itself. The analogy be
tween this church and the individual Christian of
the day, he declared, w r as very strong. Jesus is
presented walking among the members of this
church calling their attention to the difference be
tween their practice and their profession, the differ
ence between their conduct and their creed. The
church was saying: “I am,” and Christ was saying:
“Thou art.” The divergence today is so great that
it well-nigh breaks the Master's heart. The differ
ence between the church's estimate of itself and
Christ's estimate of it was due to the blindness of
the church, caused by reason of its self-admiration.
At the door of every such heart Christ stands and
knocks to arrest attention. He does not camp there;
He stands, indicating that He may take His depart
ure at any moment. He calls to any man, to show
that past sins never stand in the way of present
salvation. He desires to come in to be the guest
of the soul, but the soul itself must draw the bolts
from the inside and then the guest becomes the
host, and oh, what enrichment He brings to the
life!-
The earnest manner in which the young English
man spoke, and the simplicity l of his message made
a profound impression upon the splendid congre
gation that crowded every inch of the Tabernacle
space.
The Afternoon Service.
The first address of the afternoon was delivered
by Rev. Joseph Kemp, of Edinburg.
His subject was, “What Kind of a Man is Fit to
Dwell With God”?
He referred to the figure of the devouring fire,
given to represent God. God spoke from the burning
bush, God led the people in the pillar of fire, God
was to baptize the people with the Holy Spirit and
fire and m Corinthians we are told that every man's
work will be tried in the fire. Isaiah speaks of
God as a fire. He spoke of fire as a purifier and
as a destroyer. The man indwelt with the spirit
of God will be purified, the man out of Christ wifi
be consumed by the fire. Sin was the thing that
separated men from God.
From the chapter Mr. Kemp showed that the man
who w r as fitted to dwell with God was one w r ho used
his different powers. He walks uprightly, he speaks
the truth, he shakes his hand away from evil, he
stops his ears from wickedness and shuts his eyes
to the things that lead him away from God. He did
not fear the attacks of infidelity on the church, for
it was written that the gates of hell should not pre
vail against it. He. did fear the traitor within
the church, the one who practiced the miserable art
of slander, gossip and small talk. The sob in the
heart of David and the warning of James were called
forth on account of the slanderous gossiping tongue.
The man whose heart has been purified by the fires
of God is the one who is fitted to dwell with Him.
“Nearer, M/ God, to Thee.”
When Rev. S. D. Gordon’s time came to speak, he
asked all to close their eyes and, without help of
a musical instrument, to sing that beautiful prayer
to God, “Nearer, My God, to Thee, Nearer to Thee.”
Three stanzas of the song were sung and it proved
a beautiful as well as an unusual way of offering
a prayer to God. The last one was sung almost in
a whisper and it sounded as if a band of singers,
from the other world, was drawing near to the
worshipping men and women gathered in the Taber
nacle.
Mr. Gordon read a few verses from the first chap
ter of John, inserting, as he went, words to bring
out clearly the meaning of the apostle who wrote
this book.
There was a message in each one of the Gospels.
Matthew’s message is, “Jesus is the King, and
those who follow Him must live as a king.’
Mark’s message is, “Our King is a serving King,
and those who follow Him must serve somebody
Luke’s message is, “This serving King who is near
est of kin to us is nearest of kin to God, and
therefore when I become kin to Him I am nearest
of kin to God.”
John’s message is. “That Christ was rejected of
the nation, but received by certain individuals and
those who received Him became the Sons of God.”
A congregation that packed every inch of the main
auditorium of the Tabernacle and ran over into the
Sunday school room greeted the Rev. J. Stuart
Holden when he arose to sp*ak to the Bible confer
ence at night. The singing from the chorus choir
had put the people in fine fettle for doing some
singing themselves, and when they were given th*
opportunity they made the welkin ring.
Mr. Holden took for his text the words found
In the fifth chapter of Daniel and the twenty-third
verse, “The God in whose hand thy breath is and
whose are all thy ways, hast thou not gloi-ified.”
Tabernacle Conference In Tull 'Blast (Continued)
The Golden Age for March 18, 1909.
The Story of Belshazzar.
The story of Belshazzar was recited, and the text
was part of the message of Daniel to the wicked
king. The subject of the evening’s address was
the sin of not glorifying God.
Mr. Holden declared that men were not here
to make money and to enjoy social pleasures, but to
glorify God, and the man who failed to do so was
sinning against the Almighty. Belshazzar had dis
regarded the revealed will of God. This hand had
been laid upon Nebuchadnezzar, his father, and the
son knew that His power had been displayed upon
him, and he, of all men, should have had regard
for the will of God.
Belshazzar was guilty of blasphemy, in that he
profaned the vessels of the temple.
Mr. Holden declared that in olden times God
had a temple for His people, but'today He has His
people for a temple.
Each man is but a temple of God. The heart, the
brain, the eyes, the tongue, the hands and feet of
Christian people are the vessels of the temple, and
the man who uses them wrongfully is guilty of
blasphemy.
Belshazzai’ was guilty of idolatry. There were
many idolaters in America. That thing in every
life, whatever it may be, which occupies more of
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REV. J. W. KEMP,
Edinburgh, Scotland.
our thought, our love, our lime and our money,
is an idol. It may bo music in one life, learning in
another, children in another, business in another,
and a sweet home in another. Any of these may
be idols requiring more time and money than
Almighty God himself.
Mr. Holden’s address was unique in conception, and
delivered in such a pleasing manner that it. made a
profound impression upon the congregation, every
member of which heard it in almost breathless
silence.
Monday Morning.
There was a perceptible increase in the crowd
that pressed into the Baptist Tabernacle Monday
morning. The sunshine seemed to have put a new
spirit into both the speakers and the hearers. After
the praise services, conducted by Rev. W. L. Walker,
the regular order of the conference was taken up.
The first address was made by Rev. Joseph Kemp.
His talk was based upon the words of Paul, “So
iun that ye may obtain.” In a very refreshingg way
he likened the Christian life to a race.
Must Have Goal.
No man ever set out to run a race without hav
ing a definite goal in view. Every Christian should
have one definite goal in view and that is con
formity to the likeness of Christ. He spoke of
salvation as something that had taken place. When
a man definitely accepts Christ he is saved. He had
no doubt as to his salvation. When he gave his
hand to an old Christian twenty years ago, and
definitely decided for Christ he was a saved man.
Paul speaks again of salvation as something that
was taking place. It was but a growth in grace, one
that was to take place day after day, a process
known as sanctification. Maggie, a little Scotch
girl, fell out of bed one night. When the mother
ran to her and asked why she had fallen out of
bed, she replied: “ I went to sleep too close to the
place in which I went to bed.”
That was the trouble with many Christians. They
did not make progress because they went to sleep
too close to the place where they got into bed.
To progress it was necessary to cut off many
weights. He asked each Christian to find out what
his own particular weight was. He knew better than
any one else. When it had been located it should
be cut off. No surgeon would think of amputating
a limb by degrees. He would cut it off, amputate
it at once. So every weight in the Christian life
should be amputated as soon as located.
He spoke of irritability and temper in the home
as among the weights that were well known and
very troublesome to Christian runners.
Salvation was a process that was to be accom
plished, It would be perfected when we had been
glorified in Jesus.
Following the address of Mr. Kemp, Dr. Broughton
announced that the American Baptist Publication
Society would publish the addresses delivered at
the conference if enough people wanted them. There
was a stenographer taking all of the addresses, and
they could all be had in book form for the sum
of fifty cents.
A Great Mix-up.
Dr. Broughton said that he bad been asked so
often about the denominational aifiliations of the
speakers. These things were never considered in
arranging a program, and yet there was a mighty
mix-up of things.
Mr. Gordon was really the only first-class civilized
man in the whole bunch. He was an American
citizen, but before the thing was over the others
would be civilized and naturalized in every sense
of the word.
Mr. Holden was an English Episcopalian. Mr.
Kemp was a Scotchman. He was a Baptist and
he meant no harm by it.
Miss Miller was an Australian Methodist. Any
body could tell that from the fire in her words and
in hel’ manner.
Dr. Bateman, although he now’ lived in this
country, was a Welch Quaker.
Mr. Gordon was an American. He thought he
was a Presbyterian. His reason for that was that
he was so quiet. He would have some American
support later on, because Dr. Potea and Dr. Mullins
were to speak to the conference.
Dr. Broughton said this was a mix up sufficient
to satisfy the most fastidious.
Dr. Holden Speaks.
Rev. J. Stuart Holden prefaced his address by
explaining the Kesweck movement.
Mr. Holden's address was on “The Kind of a
Man a Christian Should Be.”
He saw 7 in an English window a display of bulbs
and seeds. In another window the dealer had ar
ranged the floweYs growing from these seeds and
bulbs.
The world cared nothing for a man’s creed. It
looked for the fruits and flowers. Believing was
not a simple act of assent, but an act of appropria
tion. The first thing pointing to what kind of a
man a believer ought to be was set out in the
second chapter of first Timothy and the twelfth
verse. Paul says he knew whom he had believed
and had committed his life to him. The believer
ought to commit his all to Christ. Christ can use
only what is committed to Him. He cannot use
what is withheld any more than a banker can use
money that is not deposited with him. In the
fourth chapter of Hebrews and the third verse Paul
says those who believe do enter into -rest. It is not
a rest from temptation, a rest from conflict, but a
rest in both temptation and conflict.
Three O’clock Service.
The song service was led by L. R. Gilreath, and
then Miss E. Stafford Miller read the story of Sam
son and Delilah as it is found in the sixteenth chap
ter of the Book of Judges.
Some months ago she saw a number of pictures
of Samson that made an indelible impression upon
her. It was hard to think that a man of so many
gifts as Samson should be cast aside. It was an
awful thought to her that many Christians after
being useful to God should be cast aside as unusable.
The first step in Samson’s downfall was that he
underestimated the importance of the call that had
come to him. God had called him to be a leader
of the people of Israel; but he w’as totally indiffer
ent to the call. He went too much into unspiritual
ways. No man can go into unspiritual ways with
an unspiritual purpose without losing from it.
Careless of Her Company.
Miss Miller told of a -woman coming out from
America as an evangelist. Ministers sat at her
feet and thousands were converted under her min
istry, among them many of the most useful min
isters in Australia of today. So great was her
work that a general mission, to embrace all Aus
tralia, was arranged for. Somehow, nobody could
ever explain it, at a meeting of the committee her