Back Talk from the PevJ A Message to Christian Workers Published in a Toronto Paper by a Layman
A TO R O N TO LAWYER
Evangelical churches. I t may safely be said th a t some of these do not preach St. P au l’s gospel, bu t “ another gospel,” which is not the gospel of Christ; the preachers of which he de clares to be “ accursed.” Their vapour- ings are never heard in Heaven, b u t are well known in hell from whence they come. O thers again preach a gospel of “ smooth things,” designed to tickle the “■itching ears” of men and women, who like to have th e pleasures (law ful and unlawful they care no t which) of this world fully to enjoy, together w ith a chance for freedom from care in th e place they call Heaven. This cannot be done! Though “ his rest is sweet,” th e couch of th e Chris tia n is not always a feath er bed. “S trait is th e gate and narrow th e way th a t leads to life, and few th ere be th a t And i t ; ” “ In th e world ye shall have tribu lation ,” etc. The present preach ing of pleasant platitudes leads men past th é stra it gate into the broad way which lands them in etern al perdition. We are told by Isaiah th a t "judgm en t He will lay to th e line, and righteousness to th e plummet, and th e hail shall sweep away th e refuge of lies. Your covenant w ith death shall be disan nulled and your agreem ent w ith hell shall not stan d .” O thers again have such dainty fingers and such refined noses th a t they tu rn away in pious ho rro r from w hat they call “th e doctrine of th e sham bles;” and so tram ple underfoot th e Blood th a t atones for th e soul. Those th u s de luded, as well as those who teach them to despise and reject th e only hope of
EING a lawyer and as such liable to have my opinions criticized by opposing counsel, or by th e Judge, I do not apologize for criticizing other
professional men in m atters open to all. The Holy Scriptures are the property of all, and criticism of opinions thereon is th e rig h t of all. In fact it is declared in an analagous case th a t “ the Bereans were more noble th a n those in Thessa- lonica, in th a t they searched th e Scrip tu res daily w hether these things were so.” If therefore they were commend ed for criticizing P aul and Silas, no D.D. can object to a layman criticizing his views as to a book w ritten for all, and ordered to be studied by all. I venture now to charge the great m ajority of those who tak e the position of teachers and preachers of th e Gos pel in these days w ith being more or less negligent in presenting some of the g reat foundation tru th s of Christianity: F irstly, th a t God is an absolutely holy and righteous Being who will not and cannot overlook sin of any kind or de gree. Secondly, t h a t ' He is a God of absolute justice who will “ by no means clear the gu ilty” and as such must be a God of inexorable judgm ent. Thirdly, th a t His Word must be preached in its entirety. F ourthly, th a t the Holy Spirit means w hat He says when He declares (Acts 1 : 1 1 ), th a t “ th is same Jesus which is taken up from you into Heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into Heaven.” Every man, woman and child in this favored land, has heard about a “ gos pel.” I do no t here refer to the Church of Rome which has a gospel of her own, b u t ra th e r to .the so-called
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