King's Business - 1915-08

THE KING’S BUSINESS 657 Thus, in accordance with the tendency today, which denies everything of a supernatural character, we would soon have no Christ and no Christian Gos­ pel. If Christ be not raised from the dead, then there is no reality or power in the Gospel which bears His name. This is what Paul claims in 1 Corin­ thians 15:14-17. If Christ be not risen then the Gospel is wanting in reality; it is false and unreal (14); it is barren in its results; it is fruitless and in­ effective ; it IS nothing g it DOES nothing. If Christ be not raised then that tomb in Joseph’s garden becomes the grave not only of a man but of a religion, too, with all the glorious hopes, aims and purposes it has aroused and inspired. Instead of being the proclamation of a truth the Gospel then is the dissemination of a lie. Is such a thing credible ? One of the interesting events of the month has been the announcement of the return to the orthodox fold of the Answering, Said.” Rev. B. Fay Mills. It was only a few weeks ago that Mr. Mills was in Los Angeles holding forth to what is termed “The Los Angeles Fellowship,” an organization of which he was the founder and leader for a large part of the time since he renounced his belief in the deity and atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ. No one who loves his Lord can feel anything but glad that Mr. Mills has got back into fellowship with Him. We have heard the question raised, however, “Would it not have been well for him to have preached his new-found faith for awhile to prove his sincerity before applying for re-admission into the Presbyterian fold?” That is probably the ve'ry natural question, but our Lord does not seem to have put the Apostle Peter on the probation list after his return, nor did He do this with Paul, the arch persecutor, even though that godly man, Ananias, would seem to have had some such thought in view. The following item which appeared in a Los Angeles morning paper, is full of interest in this connection: “Former members of the Los Angeles Fellowship held a meeting in Blanchard building last evening to receive a communication from their former minister, Benjamin Fay Mills, giving his reasons for returning to the Presby­ terian church. “In letters read to the gathering Mr. Mills said: ‘I am going back to the old church. The distracted condition of the world, my growing compas­ sion and tolerance for almost all people and institutions, including the church, the fact that the church is the one institution in spite of all its shortcomings that holds the ideals of righteousness and means to work for them, together with a new insight into the unique importance of the life, death, mission and message of the historic Christ, have led us to this step. I believe in the deity of Christ and the unique spiritual revelation and authority of the Hebrew and Christian scriptures. The atonement of Christ seems to me the execution in time of what has been planned throughout eternity and the revelation of the method by which alone man’s sins and sorrows can be borne away.” “And Peter,

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