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machine in a ddrive to strang le the periodical and persecute its publisher. Lulling th e Lost to Sleep. The P ark Avenue B apiist Church of New York is trying out church services w ithout a prayer, Scripture reading, sermon or hymn. The entire service consists of organ and violincello music. The .pastor explains th a t the Object is to instill in th e congregation a religious mood through th e medium of music w ithout recourse to any of the fam iliar, forms of worship. “Religion and music are all mixed up anyway,” he declares accord ing to a New York paper. The n atu ral man will thrive on this kind of “ re ligious services.” The solemn music, stained glass windows, and dimmed lights, will all combine to make him feel religious, although he has not heard a word th a t will arouse him to his lost condition or point out th e way of salvation. The papers say these, ser vices will probably be made a regu lar Sunday* evening'feature. We hope not. Is th e re no L im it? The Russian Christmas, which; us according to the Ju lian calendar and falls on the 7th of January , was characterized by the most blasphemous anti-religious demon stration s in Moscow1and other parts of th e country. Thousands of university students and young Communists joined in a Widely heralded “attack upon Heaven,” which ' consisted of a grotesque carnival procession, th a t was a vice mockery of th e Christian religion, te r m inating in th e building of a gigantic bonfire around which; the students daficed while burlesque images of God were gleefully tossed, into the flames. Flam ing stars of redi dp mockery of the S tar of Bethlehem , $ e re borne aloft at th e head of the parade,T followed by posters and banners, upon which were daubed cartoons of deities and saints. When the world comes to the point of burning A lm ighty God in effigy, it has reached th e lowest depths of \ moral degradation and. ;spiritual depravity. Even th e secular press called atten tion to the fact th a t th is is the first tim e such a thing has ever been done. One of Our subscribers w rites concern ing the above: Is th e re any difference between th is shockingly blasphemous rejection of th e sacred things Of the Christian religion by :th e young Com munists of jMoscpw, and the equally blasphemous a n d complete—-though
possibly more “ refined”— rejection of them by th e Modernists of America, who, under the camouflage of “a dif feren t in te rp re ta tio n ;” “a slightly dif feren t point of v iew ;” or, “ a u s e 'o f old terms, w ith new meanings,” etc., are as really tram pling under foot the blood of Christ, and casting upon th e bon fires of tlieir sp iritu al bolshevism, the inspired records, th e fundam ental doc trines, and the supreme au tho rity of the Word of God? Are not the two methods bu t different manifestations of th e same spirit, viz— th a t of A ntichrist? “ If Principal Sir George Adam Smith in his address a t the P resbyterian As sembly a t Columbus, Ohio, has been correctly repo rted ,” says the Evangel ical Christian, “ his u tterances th ere cannot be too widely published.” The following Statement of th is g reat leader of the H igher Criticism should, if pos sible, be made to reach every studen t and m in ister who has been influenced by his teaching. “I have come back to th e faith of my covenanting forefathers, to the Gospel of Salvation by -g race, to the God who died for me on Calvary’s Cross,” W hat is implied by th a t mag nificent confession? F irst, th a t like h is * g reat contemporary-teacher and w riter,.: Marcus Dods, he acknowledges th a t he has been a backslider. Secondly, thiat the H igher Critical teaching leads away from the faith of our forefathers, away from salvation by grace, away from th e GoSpel, and away from a Savior God, who, by an atoning sacrifice, recon ciled the world unto Himself. SECRET OF HOLINESS The Lord Jesus received is ho lip ess begun. The Lord Jesus ■cherished ■ is holiness advancing. The Lord Jeisus counted upon as never absent would be holiness complete. ;.j The desire to sin grows w ith its ’com- ~ mission. “Sinners” says St,: Gregory, “would live forever th a t they m ight sin, forever”— a powerful argum ent for the endlessness ,of fu tu re punishm ent;.. The desire to sin. is£. endless.. : i;i j THE DESIRE TO SIN
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