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February, 1933
T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
G r u m L f r o m T m K IN G ’S TABLE . . . B y the E ditor
conflict of laws and of judicial decisions, thus enhancing uncertainty in the administration o f justice. Surely the world cannot be saved by law. Law con demns. Law reveals the deep necessity for a Saviour. “ Thou shalt call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins.” A Cleansed Ministry Needed T h e c h u r c h e s in America have lost their grip on the troubled millions o f America. It is interesting to see that the men who are leading in the great affairs of state and economic life feel keenly that the church has failed the people and the nation. Mr. Babson again and again points out that the great necessity of the hour is a ' revival; that it has been the departure from God and ordained religion that has brought conditions to the impasse they have reached. And now comes Judge Kavanaugh in his book, The Criminal and His Allies, saying: It is because the ministers o f our religion have grown satisfied with the mere routine and mechanical work of their calling. Sermons are not so much needed by the tempted as the personal touch. The old-time clergyman, who sought out and understood the needy homes, and who talked with the tempted boy and girl, was worth a dozen eloquent scholars in the pulpit, as far as prevention of crime was concerned. With a general return to the old-time reverence for Almighty God, the laws would almost enforce themselves. But in the actual life o f many o f our public universities, colleges, schools, as well as in our social centers and places of philanthropic activities, religion is considered only a gesture; in numbers of these places, the mention of A l mighty God is taboo. In many o f our churches, too, there is only a grudging seat for a man with a shabby coat, or for a woman who has lost her standing. Why do not the ministers, rabbis, and priests take a hand in the troubles and intimate temp tations of their neighbors? Why don’t they follow the mourning processions, which drift every Saturday from the sorrow-infested courthouse back to the desolate home ? The Saviour of mankind spent little time in the temples. He wandered out into the byways where the needy, the sorrowful, and the sinful might touch His very garment, and on whom His healing might be directly laid. The clergy of the United States should be reminded that the people of a country never desert their church until the church first deserts the people. Ministers of Christ, awake! I f, revival is needed in this nation, surely it must come by a cleansing of the foun tain, the ministry o f the land. In the days of Malachi, we hear the prophet ringing out the words that have significance and meaning for our day: “ Behold, I send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before m e; and the Lord, whom ye seek, will suddenly come to his temple ; and the messenger of the covenant, whom ye desire, behold, he cometh, saith Jehovah of hosts. “ But who can abide the day o f his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner’s fire, and like fullers’ soap: and he will sit as a refiner and purifier o f silver, and he will purify the sons o f Levi, and refine them as gold and silver, and they shall offer unto Jehovah offerings in righteousness” (Mai. 3 :1 -3 ). The leadership o f the church must be cleansed and ■[Continued on page 58J
In the temporary absence of Dr. White, the editorials this month are written, as were those o f last month, by Dr. Stewart P. MacLennan, Pastor of the First Presbyte rian Church, Hollywood, Calif., and a member o f the Executive Committee of the Bible Institute. A Coming Dictator
S tewart P. M ac L ennan
echnocracy has swept the country in the brief space of a few weeks. Everybody is talking it. America sürely will not, in her sane moments, adopt the program that is now being projected. In reality, it is only communism with a hair cut and a shave. The Technocrats, however, are serving their purpose. They are facing America with some real facts that must not be overlooked. The machine is putting man on the shelf, as surely as it put the horse in the same place two decades ago. The significance for lovers o f the Bible and students o f the prophetic Scriptures is that the day will come when a dictator will arise to take over the reins o f government. There can be no escape from the conclu sion that the world calls for a superman to lead. The late war was won when the governments united to deliver their power and will to one mind. In America, one man became virtually dictator. Into President Wilson’s hands were given autocratic powers. The wealth of Amer ica was at his disposal. It may be that before this present depression is ended—and it is undoubtedly as great a siege as was that of Belgium and France— the situation will again require that even in America there shall arise a dictator. All o f this points to the day prophesied in the Scrip tures. At first men may succeed and bring on a counterfeit millennium, but when they say, “ Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child,” and then will God send forth the world’s righteous Ruler, who is King o f all kings and Lord of all lords. The coming o f the Lord draweth nigh! M a n g e l s announced to the humble shepherds in Bethlehem that a Saviour was born. Paul recalls their mes sage in his letter to the Galatians, saying, “ When the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman . . . to redeem them that are under the law.” Law, then, could not save. It required a Saviour. And the law today cannot save. W e are the most law-ridden nation on the face of the earth. A committee o f the American Law Institute on July 29, 1927, ascertained that 112,111 new laws had been ground out by the lawmaking powers of the nation during 1926, and that we had on our different statute books alto gether 1,900,000 laws. It is easy to perceive how this glut of law dams up the currents o f justice, and brings about Law Cannot Save
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