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But he was not happy. He
felt that God wanted him in the Gospel ministry. When he was converted
he had become a member of the Episcopal Church, but in 1882, at the age
of 32, he became a Baptist and was ordained as a Baptist minister two
years later. He went directly from business into the ministry.
His first charge was at Kennett Square,
Pennsylvania; his second pastorate was at Fox Chase, Pennsylvania, where
he remained for 20 years. He was not a pre-millennialist at the time of
his ordination, but his study of the Scriptures, with the help of some
books that fell into his hands, led him to adopt the pre-millennialist
position. He began to make large wall charts, which he titled,
"Prophetic Truth," for use in the pulpit. These led to his being invited
to teach, in connection with his pastoral work, in two Bible institutes.
During this time he published a number of prophetical charts, which were
widely circulated.
When World War I broke out in 1914, he
was called on for addresses on The War and Prophecy. Then God laid it on
his heart to prepare a work on Dispensational Truth (or God's Plan and
Purpose in the Ages), containing a number of charts with descriptive
matter. He spent three years of his life designing and drawing the
charts and preparing the text. The favorable reception it has had since
it was first published in 1918 seems to indicate that the world was
waiting for such a book.
Because it had a large and wide
circulation in this and other lands, the first edition was soon
exhausted. It was followed by a second edition, and then, realizing that
the book was of permanent value, Larkin revised it and expanded it,
printing it in its present form. Larkin followed this masterpiece with
other books: Rightly Dividing the Word, The Book of Daniel, Spirit
World, Second Coming of Christ, and A Medicine Chest for Christian
Practitioners, a handbook on evangelism.
Larkin, a kind and gentle man, deplored
the tendency of writers to say uncharitable things about each other, so
he earnestly sought to avoid criticisms and to satisfy himself with
simply presenting his understanding of the Scriptures. Though he did not
intend to publish his own works, the Lord led in that direction. During
the last five years of his life, the demand for Larkin's books made it
necessary for him to give up the pastorate and devote his full time to
writing. He went to be with the Lord on January 24, 1924. |
