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TH E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
January 1925
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TKe Fundamentals By liev. David Jam es B u rrell, D. D., LL. DC, P a sto r of th e Marble Collegiate Church, New York City R eprinted from “The F undam entals” , a set of books in fo u r volumes, containing articles on th e g rea t fundam ental doctrines of th e C hristian fa ith by th e ablest Bible scholars and teachers of th e world, form ing a veritable lib rary of defense ag ain st th e false teaching of th e day. (B iola Book Boom) H N one of th e d ark est hours of David’s life, when his faith in religion was being assailed like a bird in a storm of arrows, he lifted his eyes to th e immov able hills w ith-th is appeal: “ In the Lord pu t I my tru st. . . . If th e foundations be destroyed, w hat can the righteous do?” (Psalm 11:1-3.) It is simply grotesque for one to call himself a Christian while rejecting th e unequivocal and persisten t claims of Jesus no t only of equality b u t of iden tity w ith God; as for example where He said to Philip (John 14:9, 1 0 ): “Have. I been so long tim e w ith you and yet h ast thou not known me? He th a t h ath seen me h ath seen the F ath e r, and how sayest thou then, Show us the F ath e r? Believest thou not th a t I am in th e 'F a th e r and th e F a th e r in m e?” The only way for one who will not accept this claim is either to assume th a t Jesus was beside Himself, or to stand squarely w ith Caiaphas in saying: “He h ath spoken blasphemy and is guilty .of death.” There is, in logic and common honesty, no m iddle ground. He was an impostor or he was w hat he claimed to be.
Well, what can they do? If th ere ever was a tim e for asking th a t question, it is ju st now; and our Lord answered it in his P arab le of th e Two Houses in Matthew 7:24-27: “Whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them , I will liken him unto a wise man, which bu ilt his house upon a rock: and th e rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon th a t house; and it fell not; for it was founded upon a rock. And every one th a t h ear eth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which bu ilt his house upon the sand, and the rain descended, and th e floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon th a t house; and It fell: and great was th e fall of it.” It is the fashion of late to speak of Christians who stand for th e ir faith as “Fund am en talists.” So be it. Believers are not building castles in th e air. They may dream dreams and see visions, like Jacob a t Bethel, bu t th e ir dream s and visions are founded on the Word of God. The trees of Lebanon may yield to every wind th a t blows, b u t th e foun dations of tru th endure though the earth be removed and the mountains be cast into the m idst of th e sea. The C hristian is Dynamic because his Foundations are Static The fundam entals of Christian faith are not many, but they are fundam ental; so much so th a t if they be removed the whole superstructu re is as rickety and ram shackle as an outhouse floating in a freshet. We say: “ In essentials unity, in non-essentials liberty, in all things ch arity .”: So far, so good; b u t th e essentials come first, else our boasted “ lib erty ” and “ ch arity ” are empty words. W hat th en does Paul mean by saying: “Leaving th e p rin ciples of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfec tion” ? Read on: “Not laying again th e foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God.” (Heb. 6 :1 .) In other words, th e principles of th e Gospel are to be accepted at th e outset and thenceforth to be “ le ft” as facts settled once for all; not left as a wayward boy leaves his fa th e r’s house, b u t as a house in process of erection leaves the foundations set for it. Here is the secret of progress in character and usefulness. The Christian is dynam ic because his foundations are static. H is character rises like a growing sup erstructu re on fundam entals th a t endure. If a m athem atician were to insist on going back continually to prove th e axioms he would never even cross th e pons asinorum . Some things must be regarded as set tled “ once for all” . God in Christ The first of our fundam entals is God in Christ. Observe: a man may be religious w ithout being a Chris tian. The distinction is clear; religion is believing in God, while Christianity is believing in God as revealed in the per son of his only-begotten and well-beloived Son. (Read P au l’s address on Mars H ill, Acts: 17:22-31).
No end of fu tile efforts have been made to build some so rt of church on Jesus as a mere man. Unitarianism , under th a t name or any other, has always been as dead as a still-born child. This is because th e average man is addicted to common sense. “Thus saith th e Lord God, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: . . . th e hail shall sweep away th e refuge of lies, and th e w aters shall overflow the hiding place.” (Isa. 2 8 :1 6 ,1 7 .) The answer to P e te r’s good confession :|,:“Thou a rt the Christ, th e Son of th e living God,” was th is: “Upon this rock will I build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” (Matt. 16:18.) No less positive and unm istakable are P au l’s words to the church members of Corinth: “O ther foundation can no man lay th a n th a t is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” (1 Cor. 3:11-15.) The reason why our Lord said to H is disciples; “Ye believe in God, believe also in Me” (John 1 4 :1 ), was be cause th e re is no approach to th e F ath e r except through Him. No am ount of sophistry can explain away His words: “ I am th e way, th e tru th , and th e life; no man cometh unto th e F ath e r hu t by Me.” (John 14:6.) In other words, Christianity is simply a personal relation of the believer w ith Christ so th a t he can say: “ I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded th a t he is able to keep th a t which I have comm itted unto him again st th a t day.” (2 Tim. 1:12.) The A tonement of th e Cross The second of the fundam entals of our Christian faith is th e A tonement of th e Cross. Sin is a universal fact: “ for th ere is no difference; for all have sinned and come sho rt of th e glory of God.” Any attem p t to prove th is would be like carrying coals to New castle; everybody knows it. (Romans 2:15.) Moreover, sin is a portentous fact, despite all recent efforts of free-thinkers to reduce it to th e insignificance of a harm less epidemic. It autom atically separates the sinner from a holy God; for so it is w ritten in th e Law: “The soul th a t sinneth, it shall die.” The reference, of course, is to sp iritu al death. Hell is anywhere away from God. Salvation by th e same token is reconciliation w ith God. But how can a sinful man be reconciled w ith a holy God except by th e removal of his sin? And how, in pursuance of justice, can sin be “ removed” w ithout expiation? And (Continued on page 39)
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