The Need of the Anglo Israel Truth

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The Need of the Anglo Israel Truth

During times of national turmoil, God always raises up men of equal strength and courage to meet the demands of the time. The Need of the Anglo Israel Truth

By: Dr. Mordecai F. Ham
1877-1961
Introduction By Charles A. Jennings

INTRODUCTION
During times of national turmoil, God always raises up men of equal strength and courage to meet the demands of the time. One such time was the first half of the 20th century and one such man was Mordecai Fowler Ham. He was born on April 2, 1877 in Scottsville, Kentucky, into the home of a seventh generation Baptist preacher. He attended Ogden College in Bowling Green and took private tutoring lessons in law, but was too young to take the bar exam. After college he worked as a traveling salesman for a grocery company and a Chicago photo enlarging firm.
Even as a young boy, he always had a consciousness of and a firm belief in the Lord Jesus Christ. While in business, he began to feel the call of God to preach the Gospel. In July 1900, just before he gave up his secular career and entered the ministry, he married Bessie Simmons. He preached his first sermon one week later. From his first revival at the Mt. Gilead Baptist Church in 1901, he entered an evangelistic ministry that would impact the lives of millions of Americans.
Rev. Ham held revival meetings across the nation which were attended by thousands. He was well known for his boldness in the pulpit when preaching against both individual sins and public corruption. He would single out the most well known sinners in town for his personal evangelism. Throughout his preaching career he endured much opposition, receiving threats, bodily assaults and police arrests.
In December 1905 his wife died of cerebral meningitis. For several months he took an overseas tour to help him recover from his grief. In June 1908 he married Annie Laurie Smith and they were blessed with three daughters. He served as pastor of the First Baptist Church of Oklahoma City from 1927-1929 and then returned to full time evangelism. From 1929 to 1941 he held sixty-one meetings in fifteen states. He claimed that there were 168,550 converts to Christ throughout his ministry. Many prominent and later influential people were converted during his ministry, such as; Wyatt Larimore, ‘king’ of the local Chattanooga underworld in the 1932 crusade; Otto Sutton, a wild and wicked heavyweight fighter from Little Rock, AR in the January 1933 Crusade; and Billy Graham, the internationally known evangelist, with his friend Grady Wilson in the November 1935 Charlotte, North Carolina crusade. It is reported that following the Macon, GA crusade that thirteen brothels closed because all the prostitutes were converted to Christ.
In 1935, Bob Jones University conferred upon him an Honorary Doctorate of Divinity degree and in 1936 he was elected the president of the International Association of Christian Evangelists. In 1940, Dr. Ham started a radio ministry on the Mutual Broadcasting Network of fifty stations and made personal appearances in over 600 American cities. In June 1947, he published a paper known as "The Old Kentucky Home Revivalist" and later authored several books which included. The Second Coming of Christ, Believing a Lie, The Sabbath Question and The Jews. After a long outstanding ministry of Christian evangelism, Dr. Ham passed away on November 1, 1961 in Louisville, Kentucky.
E ven though Dr. Ham is still remembered and revered as one of America’s most prominent and greatest evangelists, his stand against Communism and Zionism is quietly ignored. In 1925, he, along with one hundred other fundamentalists answered the call of Dr. Gerald B. Winrod to meet in Salina, Kansas and to establish the Defenders of the Christian Faith organization. Among the official speakers for the organization were, Mordecai Ham, Paul Rader and Charles E. Fuller. They tenaciously defended the historical Christian faith and fought against the schemes of the Communists and Zionists. As a result, this earned them the label of being ‘antisemitic’ and controversial.
Dr. Ham also took a stand in favor of the Christian Anglo-Israel message of the Bible. The following article is an address given by him at the Seventh Annual Conference of the British Israel World Federation on October 4, 1926. This is a reprint from the August 7, 1954 edition of The National Message magazine.
When Dr. Ham mentions "this message" or "this truth" in the following article, he is referring to the Christian Anglo-Israel message which the British Israel World Federation so strongly advocates.
THE NEED OF ANGLO ISRAEL TRUTH
I am going to give you some of the reasons why I believe that the world is in need of this message.
Carrying Out A Divine Purpose
I am going to quote from the first chapter of Deuteronomy, verses 6-8:
"The Lord our God spake unto us in Horeb, saying, Ye have dwelt long enough in this mount: turn you, and take your journey, and go to the mount of the Amorites, and unto all the places nigh there unto, in the plain, in the hills, and in the vale, and in the south, and by the sea side, to the land of the Canaanites, and unto Lebanon, unto the great river, the river Euphrates. Behold, I have set the land before you: go in and possess the land which the Lord sware unto your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give unto them and to their seed after them."
These words were spoken to a people who had just been emancipated from slavery, who had never known anything but the brick kilns of Egypt, and the rigours of bondage; who at this time sat under the shades of Horeb, enjoying, not only the shade, but the sweet cool water that flowed in from that mountain; and who were fed with manna from the hand of God. Free from all terror, they sat there enjoying their freedom. Then God said, "Ye have dwelt long enough in this mount". God did not save Israel out of Egypt just to make pets of them, and to lavish His love upon them, to the exclusion of the rest of the world. Of course, He had a divine purpose, and that purpose down through the ages He has been carrying out. And based upon that, we might study four things that God had in view:
He saved this people, He emancipated them, first of all, to reveal to them the great truth: "Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord." He wanted to give to the world a knowledge of the one and only true God."
The next thing He wanted to show to the world was the beauty of the divine government, "Happy is that people, whose God is Jehovah".
Then He wanted, through them, as the custodians of His divine oracles, to carry the truth to all the world.
And, last of all, to give to the world the promised Savior, the King of Kings, and Lord of Lords.
The World Needs This Truth
Now with this I wish to say, first of all, that the world needs the Truth that you are now putting out, in order that it might have restored to it confidence in governments. The foundations of governments are trembling everywhere. People, because of subtle propaganda, have lost faith in the powers that be, and especially in America we are suffering at this time from the loss of confidence in rulers, in established governments. Everywhere we hear that governments must all be destroyed, and that we must bring in a new order; that everything now existing is wrong.
Suppose, for instance, that all people become obsessed with that idea, that all established authority and all government are wrong, then the result would be that there would be no appeal to patriotism, there would be no enlisting in the hour of trouble, as you had in your last great war. There would be nothing but a chaotic state of society, and such distress and misery as we have never had on this earth before would be the result. The moment that everyone was convinced that the present governments are all of Satan, and of his rule and dominion, and that they are under his power, the only result would be chaos and war and sorrow. We need somehow to restore the confidence of the people of this world in the fact that government is of God. And, as I understand it, I do not see anything that can better serve in this respect than the Anglo Israel gospel, and the Truth that you are presenting.
Then the world needs this truth to enlighten the intelligencer. What do I mean by intelligencer? It is that agitated man without intelligence. We are told that we have come from a lower order of animal life, and the child of today is traced back through some inferior creature down into the cave or to the scum of a drake pond, or somewhere else; and the consciousness of God is being wiped out. Recently a poll was taken of our college boys and girls in the States, and it was found that only one out of ten had not forgotten to go to church when they returned home. The creation of everything is accounted for without God. They will give the theory of evolution, or something of that kind. We need something that is definite.
Divine Plan Behind History
Our histories have assumed that which is not true; they have begun with a falsehood. And it certainly would appeal to any man’s intelligence if he could discover that back of all history is the divine programme and plan. You can trace back practically everything today. If men were but enlightened they would find that God, the great Builder, had a well-defined programme when He started colonizing in this world. Just as there is the architect, then someone to excavate, another to put the foundation, and another to build up the structure, so in God’s great plan. When God laid His hand upon Abraham, and called him out of the land, He had His divine programme, and once you see it, history is interpreted for you, and the great mysteries which our scholars today are trying to account for by speculation and uncertainties will become well-defined, intelligent programmes behind which we can read the words, "In the beginning God". Read and see how God planned that the sons of Isaac should each give to the world certain things.
Needed Unity of our Christian Nations
Then, again, the world needs the Anglo Israel Truth in order that it may ensure the amity and the unity of the great Anglo-Saxon or Christian nations. I was impressed with this fact when, a few weeks ago, I visited the territory where the men who first came from this country came with the idea that, under God, they were doing something. And, as Benjamin Franklin said, when they had wrangled for several days, trying to formulate a constitution without coming to any agreement, "It seems strange that such intelligent men as you are should ever have undertaken such a tremendous task without calling upon the Supreme Being". So they knelt and prayed, and immediately order and harmony were restored. They like you, felt it was under God they were working.
And everywhere you go in Anglo-Saxondom today, you can see the order, the programme, the laws, the institutions; from the circuit judge, on through our entire governmental institutions, you can see that they are based upon the great foundation that God Himself laid down. For what we have with us today, we are bound to give credit to God and His Book.
Britain and America Inseparable
But there is mischief abroad today. There is an effort being made to destroy the amity and the unity between Britain and America. Let me say this to you: Britain and America have never been separated. It is the work of the enemy that is seeking to bring about embarrassing conditions between the two countries. And I know of no truth today that can so restore confidence as this Anglo Israel Truth. Because in my country, in the South land of America, you find the old Anglo-Saxon Puritan blood in the ascendancy. We still believe this Book, in spite of all the attacks that are being made upon it.
This Truth Stimulates Missionary Zeal
We also need this Truth to stimulate missionary zeal. Study God’s Word and note the order. First possession; then practice. God never gives an exhortation, and never outlines for us a practice, or gives us a task to do, until He has told us what we are, and who we are. Read that Ephesian Epistle: "In Him" appears thirty times, perhaps, in the first chapter. Then He comes down and tells us who we are, and where we are, and then He tells us how we are. When we are made to feel that we have been appointed of God to carry to the world His Truth, it brings with it a feeling of tremendous responsibility, and also such a sense of power that we cannot resist.
How we have in a measure fulfilled our task can be seen when we know that out of 23,000 missionaries that have gone out into this world, over 19,000 of them have gone from Britain and America. The execution of that noble work in obedience to Christ’s commission has had a wholesome effect upon us. I could better illustrate it than I could establish its truth by argument:
A few years ago, on the shores of Lake Michigan, a steamer was sighted battling with the storms. It was foundering, and it seemed that death was almost certain. Efforts had been made by the little life-saving crew, but they had been a failure. After a while there came down to the shore a little woman, and walking up to her big son, she said ‘remember when you accepted this position, I told you of its responsibility. Have you done your level best? Go, and mother will pray for you’. And, against the persuasion and the advice of his fellows, he leapt into the boat, and battled with the storm. After a while they saw his boat coming back, and when he got near enough to the shore he began to shout, ‘I have saved my brother’.
To the storm-distressed nations we have brought salvation, and have brought blessing to our own people.
This Truth Restores Faith In The Bible
Last of all, the world needs this Truth, and we need it to give us back our Bible. For years I have seen the Book going from us, taken gradually from us by people who profess to believe it. In that subtle way they have interpreted this passage and that, until finally we have concluded that the Book, after all, is only a bit of ancient literature. How different it is when once we see that, from the first, not one single promise that God made to our fathers has failed, and not one single prophecy.
God knows the future, and this is God’s Book, and we need this Book given back to us, and this Truth which rejects none of it, can show the fulfillment of each promise and each prophecy. And let me say without any fear of being misunderstood that, busy in the work as I have been. I have read my Bible more since this Truth got hold of me than I ever did in the same length of time before.
Anglo Israel Stands The Great Test Of Truth
Are these men who cast doubt on the Bible men of experience, of learning, or are they ignorant men? Let me say this: there is one test by which to try them, I John 4:3:
"And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world".
And again in the Second Epistle:
"For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist" (v. 7).
Everyone that does not admit that Christ has come in the flesh is of the antichrist. That is a double test. When people would have me believe that anything is from the antichrist, I put that test, and it settles the question for me. Now I hold in my hand the Bible containing some of the most ancient, and the most modern, of all utterances that men have ever come in possession of, written by different men, under different civilizations, at different times, in different environments, from the kings palace to the shepherd’s tent. There are no contradictions; each is complementary to the other. I made this statement once, and have made it again and again in the university chapels of our land:
"I challenge you to show one single historical mistake, one single scientific blunder in this great Book–a magnificent temple of Truth, containing the utterances of the noblest characters that this old world has ever heard of."
And as President Wilson said when our boys left for the Front: "Boys, read the Bible; the world’s greatest heroes and characters are there. Get acquainted with them."
‘Isaiah Who Talks Of Israel In The Isles’
I pass through the Judges, and into the Psalms. I step down awhile, and hear King David playing with his harp, and listen to the sacred music, and the precious words that express the deepest secrets of my soul. I not only listen to the loftiest music and the rarest poetry, but I pass on to listen to the wisdom of Solomon; and then I pass on to hearken to the glorious strains of Isaiah, who talks of Israel in the isles; then to the minor tones of Jeremiah.
‘Hail The Power Of Jesus Name’
I not only listen to this grand orchestra, but I pass on and sit down in the observatory there with Daniel. I see the rise and fall of kings and empires and kingdoms. Then through each of the minor prophets who with their telescopes, search the heavens for the star of Bethlehem. I travel on through the New Testament, carried, as it were, into the heavenlies, until in the end I see the King of kings and Lord of lords; whether it be what Ezekiel saw, or that which is pictured in the four Gospels. He is ever the same. And in the final Book of Revelation I see the capstone. There we see the redeemed hosts, singing, "All hail the power of Jesus’ Name". And some day you and I, the one great flock of King Jesus, will march into our full inheritance.
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JERUSALEM
(The Glastonbury Hymn)
And did those feet in ancient time
Walk upon England’s mountain green?
And was the Holy Lamb of God
On England’s pleasant pasture seen?
And did the Countenance Divine
Shine forth upon our clouded hills?
And was Jerusalem builded here
Among those dark Satanic mills?
Bring me my bow of burning gold!
Bring me my arrows of desire!
Bring me my spear! O clouds unfold!
Bring me my chariot of fire!
I will not cease from mental fight,
Nor shall my sword sleep in my hand,
Til we have built Jerusalem
In England’s green and pleasant land.
By William Blake
1757-1827
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"God hath not cast away His people which He foreknew."
Romans 11:2
"The Apostles passed beyond the ocean to the Isles called the Britannic Isles."
Eusebius (265-340 A.D.) Church Historian
"We certainly know that Christ the true son, afforded His light, the knowledge of His precepts, to our Island in the last year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar."
Gildas (516-570 A.D.) British Historian