June, 1945
235
In recent ye'ars, however, there has been a united and well organized at tempt on the part of certain church leaders in the Protestant church to confuse the mission of the Church. This attempt has been focused and made all-important by the modernistic Federal Council of Churches of Christ in_ America. Its aim is to make the chief end of the visible Church to be governmental. To this end they have directed all their energies. The out come of this has been the issuance by the Federal Council of a program for a just and durable peace with which America and all churches must cooperate. This peace program is set forth in a folder called “Statement of Political Propositions’’ published by the Fed eral Council. Space will not permit the inclusion of these so-called “Six Pillars of Peace,” but suffice it to say that they are not based on the Word of God, are pacifistic in nature, have no reference to God or to His Son, Jesus Christ. Underlying all their prop ositions is the major premise that all men are brothers and have a common Father, God. This unscriptural and dangerous doctrine underestimates the nature of man and the condition of the human heart, and it was just this same mistake which led to the failure of the Federal Council’s program of peace since World War I. What then should be the believer’s part in the world scheme of things? What part can America play in such a world? What part should she play? America must realize that there can be no peace as long as the Prince of Peace is spurned by the Council of Nations. See Psalm 2. JULY 8, 1945 LIQUOR RUNS AMUCK ! I saiah 5 :20-23; P roverbs 20 - A ; 23:29-33 By Lubin W. Jantsen It has been very aptly said of America in 1945, that its greatest enemy is not without, but within; that this foe is not arrayed in vast modern armies, but in bottles and barrels; that it does not conquer by force, but by allurement and deception. The state of affairs in our country today, in the moral and spiritual realm, is appalling and unbelievable. One of the great causes of this is nothing more or less than that with which our subject deals—liquor. Two factors give evidence of the greatness and danger of this enemy. First, the almost complete absence of warning by Christians everywhere against it. Second, the definiteness and extent to which the Scriptures deal with this subject. Although it is
not popular to speak against the use of liquor, because it is wartime, or an otherwise so-called inopportune time, yet we need to remember that the Christian is today, as Ezekiel of old, God’s watchman to warn the wicked man of his wickedness. Look up Ezek. 33:7-9. Are we faithful in our part? Do we warn men and women of the end to which their liquor traffic leads? Read again verse 8 of Ezekiel 33. Then pray that God may forgive us for our laxness, and make us faithful to Him and to our fellow men. Liquor’s popularity does not in any way mitigate its sinfulness. God has Clearly shown us that the use of liquor is sin, and that it leads to nothing but death. Let us examine the Word more closely. For Those Who Have Topics i t h e d e c e it f u l n e s s o f l iq u o r . 1. It looks inviting (Prov. 23:31). 2. It is a supposed mark of strength to use it (Isa. 5:22). 3. It actually is poisonous (Prov. 23:32). 4. It actually is a mark of a fool when he uses it (Prov. 20:1). No doubt we all have seen some beautiful snakes which we would like to examine closely and pet. We have been taught right along, however, that such a serpent is usually the most poisonous. When will we learn that of liquor? Though it seems inviting to many young fellows and girls, we need to be aware of its actual danger, and run from it lest we be deceived! II. THE DEVIL’S DEFENSE OF LI QUOR. 1. Evil is called good (Isa. 5:20). 2. Good is called evil (Isa. 5:20). 3. The wicked are justified (Isa. 5:23a). 4. The righteous are condemned (Isa. 5:23b). What is more sad than a person who is so influenced that his sense of right and wrong turns to the op posite of that which God sets forth? That is what liquor does. The drunk ard feels himself righteous, and is un ashamed of his sinful folly, and often even revels in it. That is the place to which he is led by bis deception. He makes fun of all that is good and right. III. THE DESTRUCTION OF LIQUOR. 1. Physically, it brings w o u n d s (Prov. 23:20). 2. Mentally, it brings sorrow and strife (Prov. 23:29). 3. Materially, it brings poverty (Prov. 23:21). 4s Spiritually, it brings God’s woe
and eternal death (Rom. 6:23a; Isa. 5:20-22). Conclusion A neighbor who was reared in a fine Christian home, and married a lovely Christian girl, established his home and began farming. For a time he did well. Then liquor tempted and he yielded. Soon he could be seen regularly at the bar, sitting there by the hour, and soon by half-days. He lost his health, his car, the joyous home, and brought heartbreak to his sweet wife. He had said that his drinking was just for a little fun, but he would not stop when warned. Now he is a miserable wreck, ruined in every way, and good for nothing ex cept to warn others to keep out of the snare into which he fell. Indeed, liquor runs amuck! Young people, be-’ ware! JULY 15, 1945 WHEN MOUNTAINS BECOME MOLEHILLS L uke 6:41; C ol . 4 :6 ; 1 C or . 10:31-33 By Ruth C. Ender \ “Which side of the bed did you get up on this morning?” Has anyone ever asked you that? Why did he? Usually it is because you have been “out of sorts,” isn’t it? But did you notice that the person who asked you that question was inferring that the trouble lay within you rather than in the circumstances around you? We don’t like to think that, but it is the truth, nevertheless. The way we react to circumstances varies with the wav we feel. Just the other day a girl was telling me that she had a boss with whom it had been very difficult to get along. And then, suddenly the woman had changed. The girl was so amazed that several times she remarked about it to the boss herself! The boss didn’t exactly appreciate it and finally said, “Did it ever occur to you that you might be the one who changed?” The girl thought a minute and then smiled broadly, “Say, you might be right at that!” And she was! I know, because the girl had recently made a promise to God, a promise she was keeping: "No morning devotions—no breakfast.” And she was enjoying hearty breakfasts! .This proves that unless we are “right” inside, spiritually healthy, in tune with God, little things loom very large, our vision becomes distorted, molehills become mountains. Just where, might these distortions, these molehill mountains, be in our lives? Since we are known by what we say and what we do, let us look for them in those fields. The first is such a broad field, we’ll take it in two sec tions.
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