June 1925
THE K I N G ’S B U S I N E S S
256
T k e Dut}) of In to l e rance T. O. L. in “E astern M ethodist”
H O more heresy tria ls” is a cry of disloyalty or of ignorance. The w rath of God flames out against evil, whether in doctrine or life, and th e Church must discipline its offenders. It must admonish, rebuke, suspend from church privileges, depose from office, and finally, if necessary, m ust say, however sadly: You are , not of us; go your way, ours lies in a different direction; we m ust separate. Of course, it m ust inflict no pains nor penalties which are no t sp iritual or ecclesiastical in th e ir natu re. No calling down of fire from heaven upon anybody now. To separate itself from evil, w itnessing firmly against it, is the extent of its power. No fa rth e r may it go, but thu s far it m ust go. The Church’s Head being absolutely in to leran t of evil, it must be also. The Word is clear. As to immorality, th e re is, of course, no room for two opinions, and when th e testim ony of the Scriptures is seen, evil doctrine is found placed in th e same category. Corruption of doctrine brings in corruption of morals. Its inevitable “ fru it” is a lower stand ard of behavior, some concession to th e flesh, ah easier way than C h rist’s. False teaching makes false Christians. Holiness is th e aim of God for His people, and teaching which does n o t promote this' is suspicious; which tends th e o th er way is wrong. Nothing is tru e which leads to sin; nothing false which leads to tru e holiness. Teachers of Evil Doctrine Teachers of evil doctrine are called in the New Testa m ent: Heretics, false prophets, ravening and grievous wolves, vain ta lk ers and deceivers, false apostles, deceitful workers, m inisters of Satan following his example in. fash ioning themselves as m inisters of righteousness; vessels unto dishonor, men who go onward not abiding in the teaching of Christ, and by smooth and fair speech beguile the h earts of the innocent. And Christians are requ ired to beware of them , avoid them , purge themselves from them,, refuse them ; stop th e ir mouths, rebuke them sharply, sep ara te themselves from them , count them as accursed, not receiving th em into th e ir houses and giving them no greet ing. Even th e gentle K reble is quoted by B rierly as saying th a t destructive critics were “men .too wicked to be re a soned w ith.” A modern view of th e situation is th a t we m ust be open- minded, hospitable to every m an’s proposition. We sit as a court to h ear and determ ine. B ring in your reasons; we will h ear all from every one. There is no adjudicated t r u t h ,. Stare decisis is obsolete. Certainty, if attainable, is not yet attained . We still sit, afte r unnumbered cen tu r ies, to hear argum ents as to God, revelation, Christ, sin, death, imm ortality, judgm ent— anything you like. We wel come tru th from any qu arter, and if you can show us any th ing b etter th a n Christianity we will accept it. We are ready to to lerate everything bu t orthodoxy! W ar is R aging The old view is th a t w ar is raging; th e nations rebel against God, His Word, His Son, His salvation, His heaven, His hell. It is w ar a l’outrance— to the finish. Govern m ent must be m aintained; God or Satan m ust go down. We are not remote from th e seat of war, bu t in it. The United S tates Government, in 1861-1865, would not stop to dis cuss the rig h t and wrong of secession, nor can we pause to discuss th e rightfulness of God’s demand th a t every knee
shall bow to His Son, and every tongue confess Him Lord— nor to listen to excuses for rebellion. We are here to pro claim, to warn, to beseech. Look unto th e Son and be saved; refuse, and th e w rath of God abideth on you. Come, ere it be too late! A lthough th e re are many who are ever learning, yet are never able to come to th e knowledge of the tru th . Moral certainty on all essentials is attainable. We, w ith the apostle, “Know the only tru e God;” “Know th a t th e Son of God is com e;” “Know th a t th e judgm en t of God is against in iq u ity ;” “Know th e grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,” w hither He h as gone, and th e way. We "Know th e F a th e r;” “Knpw the Spirit of God;” “Know the voice of th e Shepherd;;” “Know th a t we have passed from death unto life ;” “Know whom we have believed,” and we know, or ought to know, a fight when we see it, and which side we are on. The Obligation of Good Soldiers We know also our obligation to be good soldiers of Christ and to contend earnestly for th e faith once for all deliv ered. Compromise, n eu trality , to leration of treason are impossible. In the pending issues th ere is no mean between extremes, in which gentle souls may walk. The m iddle way is never th e rig h t way when it is h alf way between rig h t and wrong. In th is case any way b u t the rig h t way is wrong. Is th ere not an irenic view possible? View of what? Of a school -of criticism and theology whose foundation is th a t th e teachings of Christ and th e apostles concerning th e Old T estam ent are not conclusive; which insists th a t the Bible is not a sup ern atu ral book w ith a n a tu ra l element in it, b u t ¡S' a n atu ra l book w ith perhaps some sligh t super n atu ra l element in it; which insists upon th e rig h t of the “moral consciousness” to condemn as u n tru e any teaching of the Bible against which it revolts? No! We may cry peace, peace, b u t th e re is no peace. Christ and His Church must be a t w ar w ith such Amalekites, from generation to generation, forever and ever. As God is God, He m ust assert His au tho rity , vindicate H is tru th , enforce His laws. The universe, to th e last atom of m atter, subm its to His will, and so, is holy. ■His creatu res also must reverence and obey. W ar th e re m ust be un til they do. No peace is possible save by th e su r render of rebels and the crushing of iniquity. Men slew the Son of God and cast Him out. Is th a t all? Is the m a tte r to re st th ere— ignored forever?' Christ is the Peace maker, bu t He makes peace w ith the sword! W ar, flag ra n t and fierce, m ust be occurrent un til He is trium ph an t and this wretched world gladly welcomes Him as its King. T ruly th is is th e day of amnesty, of grace and salvation, b u t not th e day of uncertainty, indifference and th e to lera tion of evil. Men may account it so, b u t th e righteous judgm ent of God is against them . A complaisant or irenic view of th e present state of affairs is impossible. Submit, claim amnesty and grace or endure th e w rath! No other alternative! God must antagonize evil so long as it exists, and so must we. Our “ Dearly beloved b ro ther P au l” took no irenic view of th e “ new theology” of his day and its promoters. If any man or angel preach, any other gospel th a n th a t which He had preached, “ le t him be accursed!” L ater he delivered some such to Satan th a t they “m ight learn no t to blas pheme.” “F rom henceforth let no man trouble me,” he (Continued on page 286)
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