E D I T O R I A L
3 IIIIIBIIBIiaill!IIIIIIIIIIIIIIHIIII
lllllllllllllllllllIlllillllllllliail
LAYMEN’S NUMBER THE LORD’S MESSAGE TO JOSHUA, THE LAYMAN “This book of th e law shall n o t d ep art ou t of thy m outh; b u t thou sh alt m ed itate th erein day and night, th a t thou mayest observe to do according to all th a t is w ritten th e re in ; fo r th e n th o u sh a lt m ake thy way prosperous, and th en thou sh alt have good success. “Have n o t I commanded th e e? Be strong and of a good cour age; be n o t afraid, n eith er be thou dismayed; fo r th e Lord th y God is w ith thee w hithersoever thou goest” (Jo shu a 1: 8, 9 ). LOYALTY TO THE LAITY The great bulk of the members of our evangelical churches are from the common people, and of these, the. larger part -are at heart true be lievers in the Word of God and in the sacrificial offering of Jesus Christ as an atonement for sin. They believe that Jesus Christ, God’s Son,^ paid the penalty of their sins in His death on the cross, and confess Him as their Lord. But the majority of them have never been built up in the faith. They have never had Bible teaching, for most of the sermons they have heard have been of the textual character which, while they may have been true to the Word of God, have left the people in ignorance of the doctrinal teaching of the Word, - The old-fashioned home has disappeared; the old family Bible, thumbed by father and mother, is gone; a thousand things have^ come into the home and into the daily life that leave but slight opportunity for the Old Book and for prayer. It has not been difficult, therefore,, for the enemy to take advantage of these conditions and the people, having been taught to have faith in the ministry, have taken the food spread for them, believed their pastors and leaders were all right, contributed their funds and taken it for granted that all was well. The ecclesiastical system of the Romish church has, by slow degrees, taken possession of the "evangelical churches and the politicians keep their followers in a lamb-like attitude. Thousands of churches have only a small membership, and many of these, small churches are the cleanest in char acter. The hope of the church lies in a revival which shall produce a revo lution. This hope is centered in the men of the church. They pay the bills; they have the controlling power; they have the right to demand that the old Gospel shall be given. When they do this, the ecclesiastical politicians will bow the knee and the good old Book will be restored to its rightful place.
Made with FlippingBook - Online magazine maker