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January 1928
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to the program of Old Testament prophecy, and He never foretold His death without adding that He would be raised again after three days (Mt. 16:21 and six other occasions). “No man taketh my life from me,” He declared; “I lay it dozun of myself, and I will take it up again” (Jn. 10:17- 18). Does that make it appear that He was a victim—-or a Victor ? And have our friends studied the crucifixion scene and the events surrounding it? Who will say that it was an ordinary human death? Was it not full of the super natural ? Has the resurrection been disproved, and if not, what does it proclaim, if not God’s seal of acceptance upon His substitutionary death? T h e W ay of C a in R evived In this denatured form of Christianity there is much that Satan himself might well delight to hear preached, in the light of many New Testament warnings. It is none other than what Jude characterizes as “the way of Cain” We are reminded that “Satan himself hath transformed himself into an angel of light” and that he has his “min isters of righteousness” whose work is to counterfeit the things of Christ. Reform without rebirth is impotent. Legislation is no substitute for salvation. Attainment cannot take the place of atonement. Social service must not be separated from the saving of souls. Education is necessary but cannot take the place of sanctification. Trying is useless apart from trusting. Some may talk glibly of culture, politics, playgrounds, swimming pools, public baths, literature, modern inventions, philosophy and psychology, as though already, the devil was putting on his coat and hat and get ting ready to leave; but all of these put together cannot enable a man to lift himself by his own bootstraps to heaven. Is it not the same old sin-cursed world ? Is it any less true that “the blood o f Jesus Christ, God’s Son, cleanseth from all sin”? Boasting of man’s arts apparently is not curing his sin-sick heart. While civilization collapses and crime increases, some continue to talk of the race moving upward in evolution, and of a day when the earth shall be filled with the genius of man. ¿Mi, First Prayer in Congress T HE Editor has just received a copy of “THE FIRST PRAYER IN CONGRESS,” which is a reproduc tion of the original Prayer that appeared in Thatcher’s Military Journal under date of December, 1777. Picture the opening of the First Continental Congress in December, 1777. Some great events are unheralded; men seem hardly aware of their coming. At the first gathering of the founders of the new Republic, keen and tense expectancy was in the a ir ; every member longed for Providential guiding in the uncharted future which lay before them. The opening Prayer was fittingly pronounced by the Reverend J. Duche, a minister from Holland who had joined forces with the Pilgrims in the new land. The words of the inaugural prayer of the First Congress were not lost. The reproduction of the prayer has hung for over a century in one of the old ancestral homes in Boston. Through the courtesy of the owner, the prayer has been reproduced by the Antique Publishing Company, 19 South LaSalle Street, Chicago, who are desirous of placing copies with all church members and organizations. The prayer, which is a work of art, as well as a sacred relic, is fourteen by seventeen inches in size.
Keystone View Co. Memorial Chapel to Honor American Dead Near Belleau Wood, France Design by Cram & Ferguson and, chosen by the- Ameri can Battle Monuments Commission for a chapel to be erected in the Aisne-Marne American cemetery near Belleau Wood, France, decency could find anything to object to in such a scheme? There is nothing in it that could prick him in his heart and bring him under an awful conviction for sin. It does not call upon him to confess that he is deserving of hell before he can begin the journey to heaven. It is merely a ques tion of being willing to make some sacrifices for the good of others; and of being as good a citizen as he finds it con venient to be. But what person honestly reading the pages of the New Testament, can pass by a single page without getting the thought that the heart of the Gospel is —“He bore our sins in His own body on the tree” (1 Pet. 2 :24) . He was pre sented to the world as “the Lamb o f God who taketh away the sin of theworld” (Jn. 1 :29). “I came to give my life a ransom” (Mk. 10:45), He said; and in the memorial supper which He founded, He gives us a symbol to remind us that His “blood was shed for the remission of sins” (Mt. 26:28). Almost His last words were: “For this cause came I unto this hour” (Jn. 12:27). It is certain that He refused every suggestion that He should turn, aside from the program of prophecy (Isa. 53) and take over the kingdoms of this world. Each time the thought was presented to Him, He branded it as of Satanic origin. Then, how do our liberalistic friends find in the New Testament a notion that Jesus was the victim of circum stances—that death was inevitable for Him simply because it was preferable to apostasy? His constant appeal was
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