Lyman Stewart
- Former user (Deleted)
This is an article about the founder. For the dormitory, see Stewart Hall.
Lyman Stewart (1840-1923) was the first president of the Bible Institute of Los Angeles.
Stewart's name is first on the Articles of Incorporation.
notes for the full entry:
Stewart's will, dated April 14, 1921, bequeathed his estate as follows:
To the Bible Institute of Los Angeles twenty five per cent
To the Bible House of Los Angeles five per cent.
To my dearly beloved wife Lula M. thirty three and one third %
etc.
June 22, 1912, ground-breaking ceremony at 6th street. "In the name of the Bible Institute I know take possession of this ground for the Lord's use by the act of turnign this spadeful of earth. May our united prayers be that every detail of the construction of this building be accomplished in the fear of the Lord and for His Glory. Let it be our hope and prayer that from this place shall radiate streams of influence which will be a great blessingn ot only to the multitudes around us but also to the darkest places of the earth." (henry ms ch. 3 p. 11) Torrey prayed, they sang My Hope is Built.
h4. h1. =
the text below is from Henry, but there is also a write-up and transcript at
http://www2.biola.edu/kingsbusiness/view/4/7/11
KBiz Aug 1913, 322ff.h4.
Ceremony for the laying of the cornerstone of the Institute buildings (May 31, 1913). Horton presiding, cornerstone contains city newspapers for that day, the king's Businessess, doctrinal statement, catalogue, curriculum, list of officers, faculty, and employees, list of students enrolled, architects, superintendent of construction, copy of the address given by the president of the board (stewart), Torrey's What the Bible Teaches, and a Scofield Bible.
Stewart's address, from Henry manuscript ch. 3 p 15ff:
Our Bible Institute, conceived in prayer, founded by faith, and established through sacrifice, has, through the good providence of God, come to this third red-letter day in the history of its efforts to provide a permanent home for its several departments of service. The first was when it succeeded in securing this ideal location, and the second when formal possession was taken for the Lord by the breaking of ground.
We have sought to have buildings planned on a scale somewhat commensurate with the commerical value of this site, the magnitude of the field, and the probable future needs of teh Institute's many-sided work. These dormitories, while a necessary adjunct to the Institute, will also partake of the character of an endowment. The work of construction, however, can proceed only as the means for this purpose can be secured; but the phenomenal increase of our population, and the new problems to be solved when the Panama Canal is opened, impose increased responsibilities, and render haste imperative. Our friends, therefore, need to earnestly pray the Lord to send the means to continue this work of construction unto completion.
While thus seeking to provide for the future needs of the Institute, we trust that none of its friends will yield to the temptation to exploit the possible commercial value of its property, not to compare its prospective buildings with those of like institutions elsewhere. For, however commodious, buildings cannot make a Bible Insitute, nor even constitute its chief asset. The great, and commercially unappraisable, assets of our Institute are its organization, its teachers, its students, its evangelists, its Bible Womoen, its Fisherman boys, its Lyceum girls, its missions, its Bible classes, and its faithful praying constituency. These constitute the nuclei from which the Institute, under the continued blessing of our loving Lord, is to grow; and these buildings will simply house these agencies for service as to promote their growth and development, and thereby increase their efficiency. We trust to see the workers in them greatly multiplied that this entire coast shall feel their beneficent and uplifting influence.
It should also be understood that these buildings are not to be a monument to any man, nor to any set of men, but are to forever stand solely for the promulgation of the eternal truths of God's Holy Word. Over its portals, and running across the front of this central building, will stand the inspired declaration, "For ever, O Lord, Thy Word is settled in heaven." This divinely inspired Word will ever be the source of truth which will inspire all of the Institute's activities, furnishing from its exhaustless resources, the instruction which is to enable the Institute to send forth Bible workers 'furnished completely unto every good work.'
Should the Institute ever depart from these truths, or allow any teaching within these buildings contrary to them, then this property is to revert to the donors or to their heirs.
As to the donors, allow me to say that it is greatly regretted that one of our daily papers yesterday morning, in its notice to this service, through a misapprehension of the facts, referred to Lyman Stewart as 'the donor of the building.' This statement does great injustice to all the donors, and is also an injury to the Institute, as such statements necessarily tend to prevent the successful financing of this great enterprise. I desire to state most emphatically that I am only one of a number of donors, and that I am not the donor of this or any of these buildings.
For the teaching of the truths for which the Institute stands, its doors are to be open every day in the year, and all people, without reference to race, color, class, creed, or previous condition, will ever be welcome to its privileges.
Like the great apostle to the Gentiles, the Institute in its propaganda will have but one theme --Jesus Christ and Him Crucified. Its teaching, therefore, from the standpoint of this world's wisdom, will be narrow. It will also be intolerant of error, but have a love for the souls of men as wide as the world. It will fellowship with, and bid Godspeed to all who love the truth as revealed in the Holy Scritures. It is interdenominational in its organization and character, and seeks to co-operate with and assist all churches, Bible schools, and other organizations which are endeavoring, in obedience to the command of our blessed Lord, to give His Gospel to every creature. It will ever be its purpose in such co-operation to have the Gospel, as far as possible, brought to every home in our state.
With the Gospel given to all people, there will be laid the only foundation which can possibly m ake the prospective great empire of the Pacific Coast permanent. For where the Gospel of the grace of God in Christ is faithfully preached, there the propaganda of hate, selfishness and lawlessness cannot dominate the community. Through the transforming power of the Gospel of Christ men are being constantly transferred from that class which is a menace to society, to that which upholds and supports it. Permanent good government and civic righteousness are only possible through the faithful preaching and teaching of the Word of God. Enduring work must ever be built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner-stone.
The Institute's missionary work will not be confined to our own coast, but a steady stream of bible-trained men and women will, with increasing volume, be steadily flowing into the dark palces of the earth, carrying the glad tidings of salvation. About seventy-five of its young people have already volunteered for this glorious work, and the vanguard of these invading hosts is even now in South America, Africa and China. It is hoped that in due time our Institute will have branch Bible training schools in all of these countries.
For many months we have watched with great interest from day to day the preparations for, and the laying of, these physical foundations. They are laid deep and strong in imperishable cement, stronlgy reinforced with bars of steel. Humanly speaking, they should endure as long as the granite mountains which look down upon our city. But the work of our Institute stands upon an infinitely more enduring foundation than that of these buildings, even upon the eternal truth of God's Holy Word, --a sure foundation, which can never be shaken or removed. Upon this foundation it has been building and will continue to build,with the inspired assurance that its word shall abide.
The inscription upon this corner-stone, Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood, will ever tell to the casual passer-by the sweet, life-giving message of the blood, and remind the believer in Christ of God's great salvation which His infinite wisdom and love devised and provided, as set forth in the wonderful doctrine of the blood, --that the life is in the blood, and that it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul, the precious blood of our Divinely appointed Substitute, upon Whom the Lord hath laid the iniquity of us all; that without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins, and that God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. This is the foundation on which we are building, for other foundation can no many lay that that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Therefore our watchword is and ever will be, Unto Him that loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, ... to Him be glory and dominion for ever and ever.