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THE KING’S BUSINESS BACK TO FUNDAMENTALS
T T N D E R th e title “B ack to F u n d a - m en ta ls’’ th e fo llow in g ap p eal to P re s b y te ria n ch u rch es, m in iste rs a n d officers w as p u b lish ed in T h e P resb y te ria n , A p ril 22, 1915: “T h e u n d ersig n ed , m in iste rs a n d laym en o f th e P re sb y te ria n C h u rch , ap p eal to o u r ch u rch es, m in isters, ch u rch officers an d ch u rch c o u rts to u n ite in actio n in defen se o f th e fu n d am e n ta ls of o u r com m o n faith . “I n view o f th e deep u n re st in th e re ligious th o u g h t o f th e day, w e believe p ro n o u n ced an d p e rsiste n t em p h asis sh o u ld be placed o n th e in te g rity a n d a u th o rity o f th e B ible a s th e W o rd o f G od, th e d eity o f o u r L o rd Je su s C h rist, H is v icario u s a to n e m en t on th e cro ss— th e only w ay o f salv a tio n—a n d H is resu rrec tio n . “W e believe th a t th ese d o c trin es should be p reach ed from o u r p u lp its, a n d th a t th e session o f p u r ch u rch es sh o u ld in sist th a t th is be done. M A N w as a t w o rk at a city dep o t h an d lin g baggage. S om e o f it w as v ery heavy, an d difficult to m an ag e alone. H e lo st his p atien ce a t last, an d b eg an to sw ear an d c u rse terrib ly . A little g irl h a d been w atch in g him , a n d w h en she h e a rd his w icked o ath s sh e seem ed sh o ck ed an d frig h ten ed . S h e b ecam e e x cited p resen tly , a n d c rie d o u t: “ O h, please, d o n ’t ta lk lik e th a t! D o n ’t you k n ow G od h e a rs y o u ? ” T h e m an w as sta rtle d by h e r e arn estn ess, an d lo o k ed about, as if h alf-e x p ec tin g to find h im self face to face w ith a listen in g G od. T h e ch ild ’s w o rd s b ro u g h t a convic tio n o f his w ick ed n ess h om e to him . “D o n ’t y ou k n ow G od h e a rs y o u ? ” k ep t rin g in g in
“W e su g g est, fu rth e rm o re , w h en a ch u rch is seek in g à m in iste r to be its p a sto r, th a t it sh a ll n o t call an y m an sav e o n e w h o u n re serv ed ly an d h e a rtily accep ts th e g re a t fu n d am en tals h erein e n u m e rate d a n d tau g h t by o u r stan d ard s. “W e. h av e been led to e x p ress th is belief an d to o ffer th ese su g g estio n s u n d e r th e deep co n v ictio n th a t o n ly on such a basis can th e C h u rch succeed in its m issio n , an d th e G ospel o f C h rist be p ro p a g ated to H is g lo ry an d a cco rd in g to H is ow n will. “M ay w e n o t u rg e y ou to u n ite w ith us in p ra y e r th a t all o u r ch u rch es, m in isters an d officers m ay feel th e su p rem e im p o r tan ce o f th is a p p eal?” A ttac h ed to th is appeal a re th e nam es of eig h ty -eig h t lead in g m in iste rs o f th e P r e s b y terian d en om in atio n , a n d th e nam es of p erh ap s d o u b le as m an y laym en. h is e ars as he w en t o n w ith h is w o rk . B u t hp d id n o t sw ea r ag ain th a t day. H e could n o t rid h im self o f th e sen se o f G o d ’s n e a r n ess w h ich th e little g irl’s q u estio n • had giv en h im . H e w e n t hom e in a sober, th o u g h tfu l m ood. H e seem ed so u n lik e him self th a t his w ife th o u g h t h e m u st be sick. “N o , I ’m n o t sick ,” h e to ld h er, “b u t I ’m th in k in g o u t som eth in g .” A ll th a t n ig h t a voice k ep t say in g over a n d o v e r to him , “G od h e a rs you.” I t w as th e tu rn in g p o in t in h is life. H e k e p t on th in k in g u n til he “th o u g h t o u t” h is salv a tio n . T h e w o rd s o f th e ch ild h a d done m o re th a n all th e serm o n s h e h a d e v er lis ten ed to , fo r th ey m ad e h im th in k of. G od as he h ad n e v er th o u g h t o f h im b efore.
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GOD HEARS YOU
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