75
February 1930
T h e
K i n g ’ s
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thropy and charity and the giving of wealth. But God is in no need whatsoever of that which man calls wealth. He could as easily make the snowflakes of gold as of frozen rain and as easily hang the trees with the best stocks and bonds as dress them with the leaves of beauty. No! No! It cannot be bought with anything man pos sesses. Some think it may be purchased with spiritual things, and speak o f earnest prayers, and religious duties, and righteous living. But the answer to all such is found in the words uttered long since: “ I f thou be righteous what givest thou him? Thy wickedness may hurt a man as thou art” (Job 35:7, 8 ). God is not made richer by the goodness of man, nor is he impoverished by the evil of man. Hence salvation must come to man, if it comes at all, as a free gift from God. And this is just what God offers to man. “ The wages o f sin is death, but the gift o f God is eternal life through lesus Christ our Lord” (Rom. 6:23 ). “ This is the record, that God hath given unto us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son o f God hath not life” (1 Jno. 5:11, 12). “ God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (Jno. 3:16). God has provided His salvation without consulting man, He has placed it within easy reach of man, He has issued a universal invitation to every man to accept His gift, and it is His desire that every man should receive the gift. God’s plan makes salvation possible for each man. That plan is to be heard, believed, and accepted. When it is, and not until it is, does man possess the salvation o f Scripture. “A s Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilder ness, even so must the Son o f man be lifted up : that whosoever believeth in him should . . . have eternal life” (Jno. 3:14-17). “ Ye are all the children of God by faith in lesus Christ” (Gal. 3:26). “ To as many as received him to them gave he power to become the sons o f God, which were born, not o f blood . . . but o f God” (Jno. 1:12-13). What is the difference between the various readers of this article? To man there are differences o f education, social position, financial standing, etc. To God there are all of these, and this one further thing—some possess His salvation and some do not. It is just this one difference which settles the eternal destiny of each. (To be continued.) A Dying Church An artist was asked to paint a dying church. Did he set upon the canvas a small and feeble congregation in a ruined building ? Quite the reverse. He depicted a stately edifice, with rich pulpit, organ, and windows. But in the porch there was hung a small box, with the words above it: “ Collection for Foreign Missions” ; and just over where the contributions should have gone, the slit was blocked by a cobweb! That was the artist’s conception of a dying church. And it was profoundly true. The missionary spirit is the very essence of the Church’s life.. Take away its “ Marching Orders,” and its meaning and history are alike stultified. The words which Whittier whispered just be fore he died, enshrine the supreme duty of all true follow ers of Christ: “ Give my love to the world.”— Norman McLeod Caie.
whom the world cannot receive” (The Holy Spirit) (Jno. 14:17). Knowing nothing of God but knowing something o f the need of salvation, man strives to obtain it by his own efforts. If he knew the truth of this word, “ born o f God,” he would cease from his trying and simply trust God. “ Which were born . . . o f God.” This is as real a birth as that received from earthly parents. Something absolutely new comes to earth. “ I f any man be in Christ, there is a new creation, old things are passed away, be hold, all things are become new” (2 Cor. 5 :17 ). The old and the new are contrasted here: the old are in Adam, the new are in Christ; the old have existence, the new have life; the old are the creatures of God, the new are the children of God; the old are the natural, the new are the spiritual; the old are lost, the new are saved; the old face hell and its terrors, the new face heaven and its glories. God Himself is the source of salvation— “which were 'born o>f God.” It is repeatedly stated in Scripture that salvation belongs to God. “ Salvation belongeth unto the Lord” (P.sa. 3 :8 ). “ Salvation is o f the Lord” (Jonah 2 : 9 ). “ Salvation and glory and honor and power belong unto God” (Rev. 19:1, R. V .). This truth runs all through Scripture, e.g., Isa. 43 :11; Ter. 3:23; Hos. 13:4; Jno. 14:6; Acts 4:12; etc. Hence if man ever possesses the salvation of Scripture three things are necessary. First, God must give it. It belongs to God and man cannot force it from Him, nor buy it from Him, nor steal it from Him. And God is under no obligation whatever to present it to man. God is not asked for it, nor does man desire it when God offers it. Indeed, it is refused over and over when God does offer it to man. This is the amazing thing in all the his tory o.f God’s dealings with man. Plato, standing on a high pinnacle of thought and catching some gleam of the coming light, said, “ If perfect truth were to come to earth, the whole world would be so charmed with his beauty, it would fall down and worship him.” So he supposed, but alas, the philosopher was mistaken! Perfect truth did come to this earth, but instead of falling down to worship Him, the world put Him on a cross between two thieves. In this is seen the answer to those who so vociferously de clare that the mission field is no place for the proclamation of the great doctrines of the Christian faith but for simply living the Christ life and exhibiting the Christ spirit. We are being told that if the missionaries would simply “ live Christ” before the heathen, the heathen would fall at His feet. The advocates of such methods forget or ignore the fact that the Christ life has been lived among men and the Christ spirit exhibited to the full, and man’s answer was the cross on Calvary. Hence if man ever has salvation God must give it to him. Second, God must give it. And herein lies the hope for man. The urge is not in man’s desire to possess sal vation but in God’s desire that man should have it. God’s nature, which is love, and God’s character, which is gra cious, seek for satisfaction in bestowing salvation upon man. God’s power and deity may be clearly discerned in nature, and His wisdom and providence may be discerned in history, but it requires the person of Christ upon the cross dying for our sins to reveal the nature and the char acter of God. “ God is love” (1 Jno. 4 :8 ); and “ by grace ye are saved” (Eph. 2 :4, 5 ). Because God is of this na ture, love, and this character, gracious, he must give sal vation. Third, God must give it for nothing. Some think it may be bought with material things, and speak of philan
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