June 1925
T H E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
251
of God. The Bible had indeed become a book w ith seven seals; it bad been buried under a mass of m isinterpretation never equalled perhaps un til the absurdities indulged in by th e Modernism of the present day— a mass of m isinterpreta- . tion which seemed to hide it from the eyes of men. But at la st an A ugustinian monk p enetrated beneath th e mass ,of erro r, read the Scriptures w ith his own eyes; and th e Refor m ation was born. Thus again was th e precious sa lt pre served. In Calvin’s Day Then came Calvin and th e g reat consistent system which he founded upon the Word of God. How glorious were even th e by-products of th a t system of revealed tru th ; a g reat stream of liberty spread from Geneva th roughou t Europe an d to America across the sea. But if the by-products were glorious, more glorious by far was th e tru th itself, and the life th a t it caused men to live. How sweet and beautiful a thing was the life of the P ro te sta n t Christian home, where th e Bible was the sole guide and stay! Have we’ really devised a sub stitu te for th a t life in these la tte r days? I th in k not, my friends. There was lib erty th ere, and love, an d peace w ith God. But the Church afte r the R eform ation was not to have a n y perm anent rest, as indeed it is probably not to have re s t a t any tim e in th is evil world. Still the conflict of the ages went on, and paganism prepared for an assau lt g reater and more insidious perhaps than any th a t had gone before. A t first th ere was a fron tal attack—Voltaire and Rousseau, and the Goddess of Reason, and th e te rro rs of th e French Revolution, and all th at. As will always be th e case, such a n attack was bound to fail. B u t the enemy has now changed his method, and the attack is coming, not from w ithout, but, in far more dangerous fashion, from w ithin. D uring the past one hundred years the P ro testan t Churches of the world have gradually been becoming permeated by paganism in its most insidious form. In th e Church Today Sometimes paganism is b latan t, as for example, in a recen t sermon in th e F irs t P resbyterian Church of New York, th e burden of which was, “ I Believe in Man.” T h at was the very quintessence of th e pagan sp irit— confidence in hum an resources sub stitu ted for the Christian conscious ness of sin. B u t w hat was th e re b la tan t is found in subtler form s in many places th roughou t the Church. The Bible, w ith a complete abandonment of all scientific historical method, and of all common sense, is made to say the exact opposite of what it means; no Gnostic, no medieval monk w ith his fourfold sense of Scripture, ever produced more
absurd Biblical in terp retation th a n can be heard every Sunday in th e pulpits of New York. Even prayer in -many qu arters is made a th in ly disguised means of propaganda against the tru th of the Gospel; men pray th a t th ere may be peace, where peace means victory for th e enemies of Christ. Thus g radually th e Church is being perm eated by the sp irit of th e world; it is becoming w hat th e Auburn Affirmationists call an “ inclusive” Church; it is becoming salt th a t has lo st its savor and is henceforth good for noth ing b u t to be cast ou t and to be trodden under foot of men. But God has no t left H imself altogether w ithout w it nesses. Humble they may often be, and despised by the wisdom of th e world; bu t they are no t perhaps altogether w ithout the favor of God. In China, in Great B ritain; and in America th ere have been some who have raised th eir voices bravely for th e ir Saviour and Lord. True, the forces of unbelief have not yet been checked, and none can say w hether our own American P resbyterian Church, which we love so dearly, will be preserved. It may be th a t paganism will finally control, and th a t Christian men and women may have to w ithdraw from a church th a t has lost its distinctness from the world. Once in the courso of history, a t the beginning of the sixteenth century, th a t method of w ithdraw al was God’s method of preserving the precious salt. But it may be also th a t our Church in its corporate capacity, in its historic grandeur, may yet stand fo r Christ. God g ran t th a t it may be so! The fu tu re a t any rate is in God’s hand, and in some way or other— le t us learn th a t much from history— th e salt will be preserved. W hat are you going to do, my brothers, in th is g reat tim e of crisis? W hat a tim e it is to be sure! W hat a time of glorious opportunity! W ill you stand w ith the world, will you sh rink from controversy, will you w itness for Christ only where w itnessing costs nothing, will you pass th rough these stirrin g days w ithout coming to any real decision? Or will you learn th e lesson of Christian h is tory; will you penetrate, by your study and your m editation, beneath th e surface; will you recognize in th a t which prides itself on being modern an enemy th a t is as old as the hills; will you hope, and pray, no t for a mere continuance of what now is, bu t for a rediscovery of the Gospel th a t can make all things new;- will you have recourse to th e ch arter of Christian liberty Jn th e Word of God? God g ran t that, some of you may do th at! God g ran t th a t some of you, even though you be not now decided, may come to say, as you go fo rth into the world: “It is h ard in these days to be a Christian; th e adversaries are strong; I am weak; bu t thy Word is tru e and th y Spirit will be w ith me; here am I, Lord, send me.”
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