T HE K I N G ’S B U S I N E S S 679 : “ I shall continue to feel th a t th e question ‘W h at’s wrong w ith the churches?’ is justifiable un til I begin to h ear th e voice which comes from lips touched by live coals from off th e a lta r of affirmation. I th in k the preachers have ‘passed the buck’ to me long enough. I ’m going to pass it back to them , and keep praying.” This layman has hit the nail straight on the head. He has said some thing with a sharp point to it. He has arraigned us preachers and called us to time. He has sounded a note of warning. He has called us back to our business. He has criticised our ' ‘soft-pedalling” and demanded a manly message from the preacher’s throne. In common parlance, he says: ‘‘Why don’t you call a spade a spade? Why don’t you tell the truth? Why don’t you say that the wages of sin is death—“ Be sure your sin will find you out;” “ The soul that sinneth it shall die” ; “ And in hell he lifted up his eyes, being in torment” ; “ He that believeth not shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him.” The layman is right.. We know he is right. Men demand a man’s message from the pulpit. Few unsaved men ever darken the door of the church. There is no appeal to them in the mushy, bread-and-milk, weak- as-water, soft, sentimental twaddle which emanates from so many modern preachers. Use the Word of God and “ hit ’em hard” ! Convict their consciences and fill their hearts with fear of eternal punishment and lead them to the cross of Christ where the bleeding body of the Son of God pleads »with a great passion of love for the lost and cries, “Come unto Me, and I will give “E arnestly contend for the faith once for oil delivered to the saints.”—-Jude 3, “ The Faith”—the great cardinal doctrines of the Gospel. “ Contend for the Faith”—implying that it will be powerfully assaulted (see vs. 18-19). “ Once for all deposited’’»-with whom? Councils? Popes? Priests? Scholars? NO—saints, Christians. The safety of the faith rests not in any organizations—not in any ecclesiastical powers. It rests primarily in the experience of individual believers’. So long as God places the seal of the Holy Spirit on the lives of those who believe—so long as this faith is the means of making new creatures out of hell-bound men and women—so long the Faith has nothing to iear. But let us remember that in order to make the truth carry, it needs to be incarnated. It must be held experimentally, consistently. There are some who are very “ contentious” about the Faith, but it cannot be said that they are good specimens of what the Faith can produce. They become so vehement and bitter in the defense of doctrines that they forget to be charitable toward those who have had little opportunity to see the truth. This is not what is meant by “ Earnestly contend for the Faith.” The Faith needs saints to live it more than it needs swords to fight for it. A holy, Christlike life is the Gospel’s best defense. This is the first step in defending the Faith—the secret of successful evangelism. It is better than all the apologetics, as valuable as these may be. Fenelon was a man for whom to live was Christ. Lord Peterburg, you rest” ! —T. C. H. THE FAITH ONCE FOR ALL DEPOSITED
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