July-1929
313
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The Need of Dogmatism ( i Cor. 1 4 : 7 * 9 ) B y R ev . W alter E . E dmonds M oderator , S ynod of C alifornia and N evada , P astor G len d ale (C a l .) P resbyterian C h u rc h (Substance of Baccalaureate Sermon to Graduating Class of 1929 of Bible Institute of Los Angeles)
f HE text suggests an emergency and rightfully so, for down through the ages God has always dealt with His people on the basis of an emergency. Salvation is planned on an emergency basis be cause of the lostness of man’s condition. Cal vary was an emergency. It was a necessity which God foreknew from before the foundation of the world.
six inches-to a yard. Why play fast and loose in matters of saving faith? Dogmatism is but another expression for militant Christianity. “Take unto you the whole armor of God—” The Sword of the Spirit—the Word of God—Watch, and Fight and Pray. “My soul be on thy guard, ten thousand foes arise.”
The fall of man was an emergency. The proto- evangel was to meet the need, for the “seed of the w o m a n s h a l l b r u i s e the serpent’s head.” This is no ex periment. T h e flood w a s a necessity and God’s ark was the only refuge. E g y p t,—the Promised land—Sinai, —the 1a w,—the fiery f u r n a c e—v i c t o ry through the presence of the Son of God—the den of 1i o n s, God’s hand s t o p p e d their. m o u t h s . The cross, resurrection, ascension, H i s literal return,— now separated, t h e n united. The spirit of dogmatism r u n s a l l through God’s dealings with His people. One word proves it—’“The Jew.” Hence our re ligious life needs to be put on -an> emergency basis. Many t o d a y are afraid of the word dog matism. A small boy thought it m e a n t a dog’s disease and to be compared w i t h astig matism a n d rheuma tism! Others associate it with mysticism, liber alism, Modernism, Rus- selism, etc. The truth
Dogmatism according to the dictionary means “marked by a positive assertion.” It suggests authority. The ten com mandments, sermon on the mount, the Golden Rule, purity and sin cerity of the individual life are all set upon the basis of dogmatism and do n o t suggest milk and‘water or an adul terated moral standard. Spurgeon o n c e said, “There’s n o t enough martyr blood in the Christian Church to fill a thimble.” One of the Catholic Cardinals re cently said, “The Pro testant Church has Jost its fighting s p i r j t . ” This should be accepted on the basis of Eph. 6: 10-17 and does not re fer to church scraps and bitterness among so-called, brethren. The' dogmatic note needs to be sounded as touching the ¡sin ques tion. Quoting ■ from' a r e l i g i o u s periodical, “Time to Tell of Sin” : “One thing can hardly be missed by any open- eyed p r e a c h e r—the times calls for the prac t i c a l elimination of every sermon topic ex-, cept o n e— Sin! The
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REV. WALTER E. EDMONDS
is, however, that John 3:16 is the outstanding interpreta tion of thé meaning of dogmatism which has never been an easy path for men of conviction and moral courage based upon God’s infallible Word. Foxe’s Book of Martyrs is but one proof apart from the sacred Scriptures. “Must I be carried to the skies on flowery beds of ease, while others fought to win the prize and sailed through bloody seas?” Most people plead for dogmatism in morals.-They demand it when it comes to the sixth, seventh and eighth commandments. The commercial world will listen to nothing else than one hundred cents on a dollar and thirty-
theology appropriate to this hour is above all else the theology of sin—God’s hatred of it, God’s pity for it, God’s salvation from it, God’s inexorable justice upon it —all in the light of the mercy, love and atonement of Jesus Christ. A man ought to tremble before the wrath of God if he stands up in the pulpit today and fails to preach against sin.” In this respectable age a minister takes his life in his hands when he denounces sin, especially in high place among those who wear “gold rings” (James 2f:2, 3). “All have sinned.” Sinners by nature, as well as practice. It is safe to assert, though often unpopular, that there can
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