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— y NO. 3
VOL. XV
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(c) MARCH, 1924
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LEADING ARTICLES IN THIS ISSUE Pulpit, Pew and Company........... :..Dr. Mark Matthews The Old Paths......:..,....______ .. .Rev. A. S. Hunter Jesus Christ—The Great Advertisement..J. A. Richards An Age of Bible Study......................... .............— ........ ................... Rev. David James Burrell, D. D. Why We Cannot Keep Silent.............. ....... ...... ..... ................... L-.............. Dr. John Murdoch Maclnnis How to Study the Bible......__Rev. W. J. Erdman, D. D. COMING IN APRIL The Resurrection of the Body.................................... —E. M. Bounds In Christ Glorified.......................................... ......................A. T. Pierson Why Did Christ Die?..............................................................F. E. Marsh Authority of the Scriptures............................. ............. William Carter The Necessity of Dogma................................................. ........F. W. Farr Jekyll and Hyde Theologians................................Geo. W. McPherson New Studies in the Life of Christ...........................Charles W . Leggett
The W ritten Word D In s e p a r a b ly TH Y WORD IS TRUTH john - i 7 - i 7
I AM T H E T R U T H john - 14-6
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TH IS MAGAZINE ITS PUR PO SE is them w ith p erson and Volume XV
Number 3
March, 1924
T able of Contents
Editorials Page The Reign of a Righteous Ruler__...........l....................... ~...'...................131 A Confession of Faith, and a Call to A rm s..................................... ........ ..131 Modernism and Missions in Western India.......................... 11.................132 Fooling the Folks by Tampering with Term inology.......,..’................... 133 A Bishop Bows to Bolshevism............... .’........ ...................... -----................. 133 The Construction of Christian Character for Young People.......... ........ 134 Contributed Articles Pulpit, Pew and Company —Rev. Mark Matthews, D. D .........................................1 ....................135 The O ld Paths —Rev. A. S. H un ter.... ............. .............. .............................................. 1-37 Jesus C h ris t—The G reat Advertisement — Joseph A. R ichards.....................:.....................................................139 \ n Age of Bible S tudy — Rev. David Jam es Burrell, D. D ............. ............... .....................141 Why We Cannot Keep Silent . ■ — Dr. John Murdoch Maclnnis.................... . .......................................143 How to S tudy the Bible —The late Rev. W. J. Erdman, D. D ...................................................144 Current Comment ............ 147 The Family Circle..........................................................................................................149 Our Young People.......................................................................................................... 151 T h e Children’s G arden ......................................... 152 Pointers fo r Preachers and Teachers........................................................................ 15 3 Bible Institute in Hunan Province, China.............................................................. 154 Evangelistic W ork and Experiences......... ............................................................... 155 International Sunday School Lessons.............................................................. ....... 160 The Whole Bible S. S. Lesson Course................. 169 Bible Institute Happenings...........................................................................................182 Best Books .......................................................................................................................183 T h e Chosen People,th e Land and the Book (Jew ish N o te s)...........................184 Our Letter Box 186
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MR. J. M. IRVINE O u r New P resident
Mr. Irvine, former Vice President of the Bible Institute of Los Angeles, succeeds, logically, our beloved Mr. Lyman Stewart who occupied the posi tion of President of the Institution from the time of its organization until his home-going to be with the Lord. Mr. .Irvine was identified with The Fishermen Club (ou t of which the Institute grew) from its inception, and was for many years active in its work. He is a member of Immanuel Presbyterian Church of Los Angeles where he teaches a large class of young men. He is a practical Christian layman and brings to his new position as President no t only a thorough knowledge of the work, but a surrendered life and true devotion to his Lord.
THE REIGN OF A RIGHTEOUS RULER There are heavy clouds in the sky today. Yes,— but behind the clouds the sun still shines. There are problems confronting us—difficult of solu tion. Yes,—but “ the Lord reigneth! He is clothed with majesty! The Lord is clothed with strength wherewith He hath girded Himself! The world also is established, that it cannot be moved!” God has not abandoned His throne. Lift up your heads! Satan is the god of this age,—yes, but he is not the god of the universe. “ The Lord reigneth; let the people tremble! He
A CONFESSION OF FAITH, AND A CALL TO ARMS The heading given above is .taken from a report of the Baptist Fundamentalist Conference held in Decem ber in Calvary Baptist Church, New York City. The New York daily papers gave stirring accounts of some of the addresses which we are publishing on page 145 of this issue. The assembly was evidently given no uncertain sound. Clear-cutting, close-fitting terms were used, and these must be used if the church is to be aroused to a consciousness of the peril that confronts it. T h e e n e m y i s
sitteth between t h e cherubims; let t h e earthbemoved!” The 3 h e r u b i m , w i t h spread w i n g s , are over the mercy seat where Jesus Christ p l a c e d H i s own blood. Let all peo ple tremble who are not washed in that blood and who are not under that blood. Judgment awaiteth them. The sorrow of sorrows is b e f o r e them. Pity them. These are strange days. Sin is ram pant. Men, women and children seem to be carried along by ah unseen current in to sin so foul and
pleading for us to use the dulcet, pia nissimo, tones when we speak of t h e m and of their vagaries w h i c h t h e y a r e broadcasting every where. They do not hesitate to insinuate that Christ may not have been v i r g i n - bom, but, of course, they do not c o me r i g h t out and say what that implies in c o mm o n parlance. T h e y do not s a y f r a n k l y that His statements were lies, but s u g g e s t that there is considerable doubt concerning the authenticity of His
EL-SHADDAI “ The God that is enough/’ Gen. xvn., 1.
Yesterday He helped me, To-day I have Him near; The Future Is in His own hands— What cause have I to fear?
(L. C . H.)
PAST. EBEN-EZER “ H itherto hath th e Lord helped us.” 1. Sam. vii. 12.
PRESENT. IMMANUEL. “God is with us.” Is. vii. 14.
FUTURE. JEHOVAH-JIREH. “The Lord will pro vide.” 'Gen. xxii 14.
M A R A N - A T H A ! “The Lord cometh 9f 1 Cor. 15:22
loathsome that we shudder at the sight. God is not in all their thoughts. We are crushed in spirit when We behold the course of crime as it sweeps into its mad dening stream the multitudes,—but “ The Lord reigneth; let the earth rejoice.” “ Ye that love the Lord, hate evil.” Shall we fall into fear lest the foundations fail, and we be lost in the ruins? Thousands of voices are lifted upv and ten thousand echoes come from the hills around us. There, is a moan and a sob and a cry from broken hearts and homes. The sky is darkened; the moon gives no light; the demons of hell are filled with delight; wicked men in places high and low urge their warfare with un ceasing zeal against our Lord,—but “ The Lord shall reign FOREVER: Praise ye the Lord!” The why, the wherefore of ten thousand things is _unexplained, but we can nestle close to Him whose wings are stretched out above us, and there is always the invitation, “ Come and shelter your weary soul.” He reigneth! We are His! He trod the wine-press for u s ! Let us ne'ver lose the upward look, nor the ability-to-voice the praises of Him who doeth all things well. “ Praise ye the Lord!”
recorded words. It certainly does try the patience of a saint to see the honey dropping from their lips as they fold the Bible to their bosoms and declare their love for it, in spite of the fact that it does not mean what it says. The New York World gave no account of the pro ceedings, but did publish an editorial criticizing our Baptist brethren for using harsh language toward the enemies of the truth, and says : “ Not one note of the humility of Jesus is found in the speeches of these men; not one note of charity; not one note of forgive ness; not one note of gentleness; but instead, curses and pugnacity, fire and brimstone, and all unchari tableness.” The editor no doubt meant well, but where were his gentleness and charity and forgiveness? He does not realize that it is a war that is being waged; that boys and girls and men and women are being deceived; that poison is being injected into the arteries of people, and that the paper with which he is" connected owes its existence to the Bible, for our country was founded on the Word of God.
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protest, and to this translation no objection was raised. This letter was signed by eight missionaries. The sum mary ran: ‘We do not dare to say that all the things recorded in the Gospels are literally true. When we study the four Gospels we find that certain things are differently described in the different Gospels, therefore we do not say all these accounts are without mistake. For example,—it is VERY DIFFICULT TO ESTABLISH INDEPENDENT PROOF (evidence) that JESUS CHRIST WAS BORN IN THE VIR GIN’S WOMB. Its acceptance or rejection depends upon the reader’s first impression, and the present, prevailing state of his mind. Take the story of the demoniac of Gadara: Some of the links in this account must be missing, or the writers must have misunderstood some of the points. Had there not been faults in the account, doubts concerning it would not have been entertained by the reader.’ “In Article Three of this series, * * * we are in formed that: ‘No one will deny that it was a long time before the stories of the Gospels were collected, but no more import ance than is warranted must be placed on this * * * there is less proof for some things in ancient history than for the events recorded in the Gospels.’ “Evidently the writer thought it highly commendable to say that the events recorded in the Gospels are worthy of more credence than some things in ancient history! How grateful the Indian Christian should be for such a trust worthy foundation upon which to rest his faith! “Let it be noted that the writer of this, article, whom we understand is the Marathi editor (and, presumably, also, every member of the Board of Management) dare not say that ‘all things recorded in the Gospels are literally true,’ but he does not think it a daring thing to say that some are untrue! “We wonder whether all the missionaries belonging to the seven missions represented in The Dynanadaya FIND NOTHING TO OBJECT TO in the following extract from the English portion of their paper of December 7, 1922, which runs: ‘Every man, woman and child, however their image might be marred and defaced by sin, ignorance, folly and earthliness,—every man, woman and child, was a potential child of God, one in whom lay the seed of a divine life, a God, though in the germ. If we believe this, then we shall look upon every one about us, however fallen, with a new reverence and a new hope. There is within them, if only it could be stirred to life, this possibility of being a child of God. The root in every man, said an old mystic, is Christ. It has been said of Savonarola, the Italian reformer, that he went through Italy crying, Awake, awake, Christ! and the Christ that men had kept drugged and asleep within their hearts, awoke at his call. This is the task of the evange list. He has to awake the sleeping Christ in men that they may claim their true lives as children of God.” And yet these missionaries are being supported by the gifts of believers in the verity of the Word of God, the very foundations of which are threatened if Genesis 3 :15 is not authentic: “ And I will put enmity between thee and the wo man, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.” Are YOU contributing to missions in India? If so, you have a right to know whether your money is be ing used to defame your Lord, or whether it is being used to preach the pure Gospel of salvation through the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
When the anarchists are trying to destroy the gov ernment, dogs this editor say: “ Come, beloved anar chists, you are all dear fellows, but no doubt a little mistaken. Please don’t destroy your country. Let us love one another.” What did Jesus say to the. Pharisees ? “ And the Lord said unto him, Now do ye Pharisees make clean the outside of the eup and the platter; hut your inward part is full of ravening and wickedness. Ye fools, did not he that made that which is with out, make that which is within also? * * * Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are as graves which appear not, and the men that walk over them are not aware of them.” (Luke 11:39, 40, 44.) And listen to Paul, the apostle, who laid down his life for the.Word of God: “ But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.” (Gal. 1:8, 9.) “ If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema, Maran-atha (let him be accursed, the Lord cometh) ” (1 Cor. 16:22). The Sword of the Spirit is two-edged, and there are no words too strong to utter against men who take a Satanic joy in using the position they have attained, through the funds given by believers in the Bible, to destroy the faith once delivered. Rally ’round the Book! MODERNISM AND MISSIONS IN WESTERN INDIA “ The Indian Christian” relates the following start ling facts taken from “ The Dynanadaya,” one of the oldest mission papers in India, and the organ of the following missions: The American Marathi, American Presbyterian, Church of the Brethren, Methodist Epis copal, United Free Church of Scotland, Wesleyan Methodist, Swedish Alliance. The writer of the ar ticle says: “Before bringing this matter to the notice of oar readers, and those connected with these missions, we tried every available avenue to induce The Dynanadaya to discontinue publishing such articles, and to re-state their position with reference to certain doctrines which have been attacked in its pages. The result of these efforts is summed up in a letter from Mr. J. F. Edwards, the Secretary of the Board of Management of The Dynanadaya, who—in his letter to Mr. A. E. Storrie of April 28, 1923 (writing officially) says: ‘The whole of the correspondence between you and the Chairman of the Board, having been circulated to the Mem bers of the Board, these members having very clearly ex pressed the opinion that there is NOTHING TO OBJECT TO in the articles referred to, these members having also stated that there is, in their opinion, no need for any further con sultation than has already taken place on the subject, the matter can only b.e regarded as settled.’ “In our letter of December 20, 1922, to the Board of Management, in which we drew their attention to the ar ticles, we included our translation of part of the summary of the series of articles concerning which we raised our
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with the modified message given out by these false prophets who assume to changé the certitudes of the Word of God for the conjectures of so-called scholars. God have mercy upon the flock that must feed upon such mush in lieu of the meat of the Word. A BISHOP BOWS TO BOLSHEVISM The Detroit Evening Times published the following statement of an appeal for American aid to the Soviet government in Russia and the Russian Orthodox Church by Bishop Edward Blake : “I am fully in sympathy with the Soviet in that it has gone far to allay suffering among the masses. They have evolved an educational scheme that is rapidly
FOOLING THE FOLKS BY TAMPERING WITH TERMINOLOGY Look at the cartoon for a moment, and let the old “ Red Riding Hood” story come fresh to your mem ory. Where is grandmother ? She has been gobbled up. What is the prospect for the little granddaughter ? Pretty poor ! The little lass represents the common people in the church. She doesn’t like the looks of the “ critter” in the bed, and we don’t blame her. His head gear has fooled some of the folks, but not all. The Modernist preachers and teachers, juggle words in such a wonder ful manner that some of the elect have fallen victims to the reverend voices of these fakers. We have seen with
rescuing Russia from a state of national il literacy. Before the revolu tion, eighty per cent of the Russian popula tion was unable either to read or write. The S o v i e t established a system of education destined to place Rus sia among the leading powers. There is no illiteracy in the Red army, and soon there will be no illiterate class. America c a n not say as much and there has been no rev olution in America. The Soviet has pro moted a freedom of Christian thought and worship never known in Russia during the regime of the Czar. I h o p e t h e Christian people of the world will see that the Rus sian church is given sufficient help to reor ganize. Bolshevism has been a scareword d u r i n g
our eyes and heard with our ears their dulcet w o r d s a s they speak of “ the goodness of God” ; “ the loving God” ; “ the day of greater i n t e l l e c tuality” ; “ the scholars say” ; “ a new age” ; “ the new u n d e r s t and- ing” ; “ the dawn of a b r i g h t e r day” .; “ an era of greater vision” ; “ the limit ed p r i v i l e g e s of your fathers” ; “ sci ence has demonstrat ed ” ; “ larger liberty of interpretation ’’; “ wè used tb think” ; “ the Scripture does not mean” ; “ Gene sis is not reliable” ; “ we are led to sup p o s e ” ; “ we a r e waiting to see,” etc., etc. B u t—we n e v e r hear them quote our Lord’s w o r d s con c e r n i n g sin, t h e blood, the wrath of
"Brethren, be not children in under standing-be men!' I CO R. 14:SO
the last few years, but in my opinion, class hatred and class prejudice are the world’s greatest present dangers.” There is such a diversity of opinion concerning Rus sian affairs, that one wonders whether any one knows anything very definite about this mysterious country from the North which is destined to play so large a part in the final assault upon Palestine when the battle of Armageddon is on. We are told that much of the money which has been sent to Russia for relief purposes has found its way back to America for political propaganda in behalf of Bolshevism. Perhaps the leaders supply certain spectacles through which some visitors are com pelled to look, and through which they see a fairy-land such as the Bishop describes. This would not be dif ficult, if entertained and feasted and carefully guarded so that only those things would be seen which were favorable and commendatory to the Soviet govern ment.
God. They do not use the word “ hell,” nor “ Woe unto you, hypocrites” ; nor “ there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” They wrap themselves snugly in the time-honored terminology of the fathers, lie up on their beds of ease, and wait for their unsuspecting victims and—they get them. The poor, deluded “ childish” people walk up on Sunday, lay their offerings on the plate, listen to the pretentious words of the preacher, and think they have really attended a house of worship, when, in reality, they have been in a devil’s den, worshipping a wolf Whose words have brought no consciousness of sin, or need of sacrifice; no joy; no peace; no satisfaction; and they have gone back to their homes with the same heavy, hungry hearts. Is the Modernist preacher a real man, or is he a wolf in sheep’s clothing? How does the Scripture de scribe him? Open your Bible and judge for yourself. Look at the message of the Word and then contrast it
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It is certain that reports differ so definitely that one is puzzled, hut we are interested—apropos of the Bishop’s statement that “ Bolshevism has been a scare- word ’’¡r—to note that a large number of good American business men are using their eyes and ears along this line and do not take kindly to the Bolshevist methods being employed in this country. We are sure of one thing—we do not need any more Bolshevist" than we already have, either in the church or in civil affairs. We know the Modernists have spectacles through which they are able to see black as white but through which they cannot see some things in the Scriptures which are as plain as day, but we do not bow to Bolshe vism nor to its twin brother, Modernism. THE CONSTRUCTION OF CHRISTIAN CHARACTER, FOR YOUNG PEOPLE No two persons see exactly alike in all things, but the bulk of people are without individuality. They are trained in the mass and rarely become masters of themselves. They are just one in the crowd, without personality. This is the fault of the schools. Teachers have no time for concentration upon individuals. There is an adage, “ Be yourself.” That is good, but —what kind of a self? A selfish self? A schooled self? Or a separate self? Everything depends upon one’s ideal. Will that ideal be some individual? If so, whom ? Will it be some particular characteristic of some one, and if so, what? Would you choose .some well-rounded character that will enable you to attain the highest character of man hood or womanhood? Then you must lay your founda tions deep and strong. Most people never do that. Most young people drift along with the tide and are swept into the vortex of a changeless crowd. Their footprints are all alike. When you have seen one, you have seen all. Who and what is the ideal character of the civilized World? Is it not Christ, and the Christian character? And when we say “ Christian” we do not mean simply a church member, for so often the church member is just one of a “ Christian crowd,” albeit upon a higher level than the ordinary crowd. When we say “ Chris tian” we mean a real follower of Jesus Christ, one whose character-foundation is laid upon the Bible and whose heart is centered upon Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord,—or Lord and Saviour, as one chooses. Perhaps a mother set Christ before you in your youthful days and painted the picture so that woven into your being was the God-Man, Christ Jesus, and He has never faded from your vision. Perhaps a fa ther held you bn his knee and told you the sweetest of all human stories—the story of the life and death and resurrection of our Lord. But—perhaps this was not your happy experience, and you have been carried along with the crowd until now. It is never too late to choose. Never too late to build. Only, be sure about the foundation. Be sure that you build on God’s Book—the Bible. There can be no question about this. It must be the foundation of any great life, of an individuality that is marked. Hundreds of the best men that have ever lived and ac complished things for their fellow men, who have been outstanding characters, worth - knowing and worth copying, are the proof of this statement.
If you want to do the best, you must be the best. I f you want to be the best, then you must bave the best, and if you want to have the best—you must have the Bible. Pick it up and look at it—the wonderful Word of God. There you find the great characters—good and bad. There you find the foundation of the great lives which have accomplished great things. There are the great men and great women of all ages. There you find the incentive for living. There you find the power. Build on the Bible and you will construct a temple that God Himself will honor and through which He will shed forth His power and glory. You must know that Bible. You must know the Man Christ of that Bible. You must tie yourself up to faith in every word of it. You must believe in the blood of Jesus Christ, which gives you access to the secrets of the Bible. You must yield yourself to the Holy Spirit, the author of the Bible and allow Him to develop that life in you which will insure to you a character after His own fashioning, which will be unique and unequalled among the sons and daughters of men. TH E TW ENTY -FIFTH A P PEA L (C u t o u t a n d k eep before you d u rin g 1 9 24). M onth by m o n th fo r tw o y e a rs th ese appeals have gone fo rth— th is one th e tw enty-fifth. T h e y have gone o u t unsigned, b u t n o t uncreden- tialed. T h ey have gone unfinanced by m an, un b ack ed by h um an prom ise o r p ledge of any kind, b u t n o t u n su p p o rte d by the prom ises of God. T h ey have gone forth, n o t to poin t to o r exalt a n y h um an nam e, b u t only H im w hose ¿tame alone is w o rth y of exaltation. W ould th e devil send o u t such ap peals? Does he call th e p eo p le of God to p ra y e r? Is h e lo n g in g for revival of th e saints? D id h e inspire th e disciples to “ ta rry fo r th e prom ise of th e F a th e r? “ Did h e keep W esley on hi® face un til God shook G re at B ritain and A m erica? Did h e rejoice w hen B rainerd w e p t for souls? D id h e stan d back' of Finney, a n d Moody, and C hapm an, a n d T o rre y w hen these w ere in terceding fo r th e lost? N ay, verily! No p ra y e r th a t ever ascended to th e F a th e r in Jesus* n am e in behalf of th e C h u rc h w as inspired by th e h in d ere r of p ra y e r. N o r a re these, and sim iliar ap p eals on th e p a rt of others, thus in spired. God be p raised fo r th e m any saints w ho a re being driven b y th e S pirit to th eir knee«, b u t alas fo r the m ultitudes w ho a re still indifferent! C an it b e possible th a t th e C h u rc h will cro ss th e th resh o ld of th e New Y ear still w allow ing in its u n believing, p ra y erless im p o ten cy ? W ill it be co n te n t to pass th ro u g h 1924, as th ro u g h p reced in g years, a sk in g fo r m ere fleshly toys to co n sum e u p o n itself, ra th e r th a n fo r neighborhoods an d nations, ham lets an d hem ispheres, to lay evangelized a t th e feet of th e w o rld ’s R edeem er? D oes it n o t know th a t th e execution of its C hrist- given task of w orld evangelization will follow speedily the w orld-w ide re tu rn to sp iritu al h e alth of its own paraly zed body? “ O h, th a t T h o u w ouldest re n d th e heavens, th a t T hou w ouldest com e d o w n !” . L et th is becom e th e in cessan t h e a rt-c ry from m illion« of h ith e rto neglected p ra y e r cham bers, an d th e A n sw er will com e. Sim ul taneously on e a rth m eans “suddenly from heaven** (A c ts 2 :1 ). PRAY FO R REV IVA L !
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Pulpit, Pew and Company Rev. Mark Matthews, D. D., Pastor, First Presbyterian Church, Seattle, Washington
There has crept into the body of the church a false notion. There are those who have thought that God did not insist upon organizing the new converts. Jesus Christ enjoins upon those who are to form the corporation that they shall evangelize and indoctrinate and organize. It is wrong, and a violation of the command for Christian men and women to be brought into existence as such and left unorganized. Responsibilities and Duties There is another thing: The responsibilities and duties of this corporation are to be shared jointly. No member escapes. - The duties and responsibilities must be shared jointly or, in part, separately. There are some common duties. First, we must all go. We must all go; there is not a member who can refuse. There is no possible way by which you can make the gospel static.. There is no power vested in you to make stationary the gospel of Jesus Christ. I fear people have tried to localize the gospel and, when they have tried to do, so they have suffered or have de stroyed the power of the gospel. It is the only thing in all the realm of the activities ©f the Christian that cannot be localized, because you cannot bring the people to you. Certainly, you cannot bring all the people to you. Then you must go to the people. There was never a period when that emphasis should be made with greater force. There was never a time in the history of the church which needed the emphasis on the command to go as much as it is needed today. If I were trying to analyze the condition of the church, I would say frankly that the church is suffering because she is standing in her place trying to beckon the people to her. That is the re verse order of the command. It is the unscriptural way to do it. You have no warrant for that practice. You shall not make the gospel static. You cannot bring the people to you; therefore go to them with the gospel. All must go. It is not just one or two of us, just the preacher, who must go. All must go. There are no ex ceptions. You will say there are two or three ways of going, and there are. You may go personally, or you may be just as responsive by sending what God has intrusted to you. You cannot escape the responsibility. We must go; we must all go; we must go to all the people. Racial Prejudices Now, if you have never seen the people, have never vis ited them in any way, that sentence is meaningless to you. It is meaningless because there is not a person who is free from racial prejudices. God makes it impossible for racial prejudice to control your actions. This country is doing herself an irreparable injury because she is permitting the false note to be preached by rationalists and people who are antagonistic to God and the government, and, in conse quence, is being controlled by a spirit that is destroying her Christian character and program.
“And Jesus came and spake unto them saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.”—Mat. 28:18-20. “Preach the word; be urgent in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuifering and teach ing.”—2 Tim. 4:2. “ ej , «¡UL.PIT, Pew and Company” is a supernaturally m formed corporation. It is of supernatural ori- jSajggjaja gin. Its power is supernatural, its program is supernatural, and everything about it is super natural. When Jesus, in two or three words, delivered the most powerful utterance that' ever fell from His lips, saying ^All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth,” He stated a fact which is not fully comprehended; namely, that the absolute power of heaven- and earth and of the Godhead was vested in Him. There was no reserve power left in God. Jesus spoke of the complete power of the Triune God. He never misused a word; He never used a useless word; He never used a meaningless word, and when He said “All” He meant the complete power of the God head. “All power is vested in me,” said Christ. Therefore, being vested with the complete power of the Godhead, He formed this corporation and commanded us to go. “All power is vested in me,” and, when He said that, He brought into existence the corporation I am to discuss. He said another thing: That it is the only corporation, the only corporate entity, in the universe that can claim the divine right to existence. When we think of it in such terms we see what it means to be able to say we exist by divine right. An Indissoluble Union Then He stated another great fact: It is an indissoluble union. It is impossible to dissolve it by any human power. God has made no provision for its dissolution because it is in an unbreakable-body. There is no power in this universe by which His body can be broken. You cannot break the body of Christ. He made it impossible when He said “I will build the church, and the gates of hell shall be in capacitated and helpless; powerless to prevail against it, to destroy, or in any way to make an indentation upon my body, namely, My Church.” It Is Perpetual This corporation, is continuous, or rather, it is perpetual; perpetual in the infinite meaning of the term. So far as this age is concerned it is a perpetual corporation. ? The business of the corporation is serious. It has three parts: (1) to evangelize the world; (2) to organize; (3) to indoc trinate. The business of this corporation is the evangeliza tion of the world, the indoctrinating and the organizing of the regenerated.
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First, the pew must furnish the raw material. Pray the Lord of this corporation to bring into the pulpit those whom He wants to be preachers. Suppose I ask every parent to pray until we come into the consciousness of the thing I am talking about. You will never fill the pulpits by your own efforts, but by the way of the throne. Where is the father who has spent the month praying God to make a preacher out of his boy! Where is the mother who has spent the month praying God to make a missionary of her daughter? Talk about the condition of the world! There is no power in the universe to civilize Russia, except the divine power through prayer and the preaching of the true gos pel. The power is here, yet the average man is praying God to make something commercial out of his son, and something fastidious out of his daughter. The pew must furnish the means for the evangelization of the world. If I were to ask you to give me so many dol lars, you would say I was taking up a collection. God called you, made you His steward, entrusting you with power and money to spread His gospel around the world. Whose money is it? It is not yours. It is God’s. The re sponsibility for the salvation of this world rests in the rightful discharge of your stewardship under this corpora tion. What are you going to do about it? There are thousands of people to whom you have never carried a word of the gospel. You will suffer for it—you are suffering now. Half of your taxes are due to the fact that you are untrue to this trust. You cannot limit the powers of this gospel; you cannot limit the territory of this gospel. Some one says, “I will give you five dollars a month.” What right have you to say that you will give five dollars a month for evangelization? When you were made a member of this corporation, the command was given you to go. You cannot limit your own powers nor your gifts. When the church begins to limit, to even try to limit the boundaries, God withdraws His blessings, the showers of heaven cease, the land becomes dry, and the crops fail. The limiting reflects on you. If you limit your responsibilities, God will limit His blessings. The “Company,”—God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost “All power is vested in me as the executive of the God head, and therefore I create this corporation and commis sion and command you to go. I will accompany you through each succeeding period. I will be with you, and we will do our part and give you the signs. The sign of the resurrection we will never take away.” Wherever the minister or the pew goes, the open tomb and the resur rection of Jesus, and the power of the Triune God, rest. The cross is not the sign of Christianity. It is the emblem of sin, of death, of total depravity, the emblem of iniquity. The open grave is the emblem of Christianity, the sign of success, the promise of victory. He will go with us, He will go with us wherever we go. He goes into the pulpit, but He does not go alone, because Satan goes too. Thank God, Jesus is the victorious one. I wonder if ministers do not make a mistake in saying the “Spirit of God.” He is the third person of the Trinity. God, the first person of the Trinity; Christ, the second person of the Trinity; the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity, all go with us when we preach the true gospel. There are five in this corporation: Pulpit, Pew, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit; super natural, unlimited, glorious, absolutely under the domina- (Continued on Page 185)
There are people in the earth most hideous but their- souls are as precious to God as mine, and for which the blood of Christ on Calvary’s brow was spilt. The Pulpii>—The Authorized Spokesman The pulpit is the authorized spokesman. It is in the supreme position and must carry tremendous responsibili ties. There is no place as high as the Christian pulpit. You have no right to speak of the ministry as a profession. It is a commission. That which #*ou have entered as a lawyer may be so classified, but the ministry is a commis sion. It is the highest place in the world. No pedestal in the world is as bigh as the pulpit of Jesus Christ. It is the supreme place in this world. The combined places of the earth do not equal the height of the Christian pulpit. Men cannot choose the ministry, but I am praying-that God will choose you for the ministry. There is no ladder by which you can ascend, and God has not made an eleva tor. You have no right to choose it; God has reserved the right to select you. He has not vested in you the right to select it. It is the most responsible position in the world, and it is the most difficult. Not only is this true, but also the condition of the country is due to the fact that ministers have not measured up to this responsibility. The condition of this country is to a large extent chargeable to the ministers who occupy the pulpits. They must take the responsibility; they must assume all the responsibility that belongs to the office, and they must be held responsible for their failure to perform their duty. False Note of the Pulpit A large percentage of the unrest, and the dissatisfied and unsettled condition of the Church ahd in the govern ment is due to the false note of the pulpit; I am not talk ing about ministers who do not believe any one of the things that you believe. I am talking about ministers who know Jesus Christ and His vicarious death as the only remedy for the sinful condition of the world, but who fail to announce the note that means the regeneration of this country. This country has been led astray by reformation programs. This country does not need reformation, she needs regeneration. You say, that is a slow process. It is the only process that can bring a remedy to America, or any nation. It is the most rapid process in the world. You must save the individual parts of the mass. You must save the individuals of the mob. God has not promised to save people collectively. If He were to save this world today, it would be brought to Christ by the regeneration of each individual unit. Ministers who have preached the false note are responsible for the present day conditions. Another thing: The pulpit must evangelize before it in doctrinates. Some one has said that the first thing is to reach the intellect. The pulpit is going to lose its place if it preaches such doctrines. Its mission is to the soul, not to an attribute. The intellect is an attribute of the soul. When you have evangelized the country, then you must in doctrinate the individual. The church does not fully un derstand the gospel, her fundamental doctrines. The pul pit must organize and cause the church to observe all these things. Where is the discipline of the church? Jesus Christ said, “Go ye into all the world and preach the gos pel, and cause them to practice, observe, and do all these things.” Where is there a church today that is causing these things to be fully observed? What are you going to do about it? . The Pew Must Share the Responsibility But, there is something else: The pew is required to share the responsibility. How is the pew going to do it?
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The Old Paths A Sermon Preached by Rev. A.- S. Hunter (Methodist) Florida
Jews were Typical of the Church As a people, the Jews were typical of the church in the Christian dispensation. Christianity is the lineal successor of Judaism. Judaism was of God, and was designed to merge into Christianity. The Jews should have come with it, and become Christian, but would not. They are now alien in the world, because they refused to follow the way marked out for their religion. Christianity has succeeded Judaism, as was intended; and the church under Christian ity, succeeds to the place occupied by the Jews in Judaism. It is this fact which makes the text—and the Old Testa ment generally—applicable now, and in all ages, past and to come. The Christian church, during two or three centuries, was loyal and faithful to her Lord. Christians were persecuted, both by the Jews and pagans. The gospel of Jesus was (and is) a stranger in an alien world, and it was ill treated on all hands. Under such conditions, people did not iden tify themselves with the Christians, except they had ex perienced Christ’s saving power, or were deeply convicted of sin. They knew the consequences of that step, and counted the cost before taking it. Consequently, they us ually proved true,' and their example drew others. Thus did Christianity grow rapidly in numbers and churches were multiplied. In the third century, Constan tine made it the legal religion of the empire. He and many of the people were “converted” in that they accepted it as a form of worship. Most of them were not Scripturally converted from sin unto righteousness by repentance, faith, pardon and the witness of the Spirit. Instead of being a victory for the cross, it was a defeat. Instead of the Rom ans being lifted up to the level of Christ’s teachings, the gospel was adulterated and lowered to the ideas of the people. The net result was a thousand years of “the dark ages,” when all sorts of sin and corruption existed in and by the sanction of the apostate church. This was man’s failure number three. Always there were some who were loyal and true to God and Christ. How ever dark it was, the light never wholly went out. The Protestant Reformation Then came the Protestant Reformation, culminating un der Luther. It was just getting back to the Bible, the gos pel of Christ, apostolic Christianity, which had been buried under formalism and worldliness, the superstitions and corruptions of Rome. The motto of the reformation was; the words of Habakkuk, “The just shall live by faith”- (2:4); which are quoted by Paul three times (Rom. 1:17; Gal. 3:11; Heb. 10:38). Protestantism spread widely and grew rapidly, having in it the life and power of Divine truth. It gave the people the free,' open Bible, and individual access to God through Christ alone, without priest or confessional. It looked as if, at last, Christianity had come into her own, and would speedily sweep the world. But, for the fourth time, man failed God. Within two centuries, protestantism had de clined into a lifeless formalism. It was less corrupt than Rome, but it had lost the vitality of the Holy Spirit, and could not bring souls to repentance and salvation. The Wesleyan Revival Then came the Weslyan revival in England. It was another return to the Bible and, the gospel as Luther had preached it, and it went a step beyond Luther. The Wes-
“T h u s s a ith Je h o v a h , S ta n d y e in th e w a y s a n d see, a n d a s k fo r th e o ld p a th s , w h e re is th e g o o d w a y ; a n d w a lk th e re in , a n d y e sh a ll find r e s t fo r y o u r s o u ls ; b u t th e y saiid, W e w ill n o t w a lk th e re in .” J e re m ia h 6:16. 0 get the real significance of these words, we need to have in mind the conditions under which they were spoken. Jeremiah lived some six centuries before Christ, and prophesied immediately before and during the Babylonian captivity. It was at the cul mination of Israel’s apostasy, when conditions were about at their worst. Not only did many of the people practice idolatry, but the leaders encouraged it, and false prophets contradicted Jeremiah. He suffered great persecutions be cause of his fidelity to God and the truth, hut nothing could intimidate him or silence his warnings. He was God’s mouthpiece, rebuking a faithless people for their sins. For the Jews, “the old paths” were nothing else than the worship of Jehovah, which He had given them through Moses. That included the moral law, as outlined in the decalog; and the ceremonial law of sacrifices and offerings. In all probability, since idolatry was so openly practiced, the reading of the law and the ritual had gone into discard; and many of the people did not know what the law re quired. Hence, God bade them to “ask for the old paths;” which might include the revival of reading the law, by which they would know what God expected of them. The reply, “We will not walk therein,” was doubtless voiced by the priests and false prophets, and corroborated by the people. Idolatry afforded them greater license and the gratification of their passions, which they were loath to give up. The narrow way of self-denial is never popular, except when the Holy Spirit has shown one the heinous ness of his sins. The broad way of self-indulgence is pre ferred by the natural man. The Beginning of the End Through preceding and contemporary prophets, as well as Jeremiah, God had made known the destruction of Jerusa lem and the captivity of the Jew;s, but they treated it lightly. It was the beginning of the end for them. Dur ing most of the twenty-five centuries since, they have scat tered among all nations, yet a distinct and separate people wherever found, and generally despised and oppressed. They are still God’s chosen people, though temporarily un faithful to Him; with yet unfulfilled prophesies concerning them. God’s plan has not failed nor broken down, but it is working out according to schedule'. Just here is a good place to note that man has ever been a failure, religiously and morally, and has disappointed God. In Eden, we find the original pair, holy and happy in the spiritual image of God. In the exercise of their free moral agency, their power of choice and decision, they heeded the tempter, disobeyed God, lost their purity, be came both guilty in act and corrupt in nature, and were expelled from Eden. That was failure number one. A thousand years later, God wiped the slate clean by the flood, and started the race anew in Noah, a good man. Again man became exceedingly corrupt, which was failure number two. After another millennium, God started a special strain of people from Abraham, through whom He proposed to bless all mankind. As we proceed, let us keep in mind man’s repeated failure, morally and religiously; also that God has never failed man.
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