August 1928
T h e
K i n g ’ s
B u s i n e s s
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o f the self-righteous ritualists who worship from the lips and who “ teach fo r doctrines the commandments o f men.” Romanism is especially prolific in this type. The Hero- dians are here, in those who would compromise with the world in order to gain its support. What shall we do in the face o f it all ? The devil would like to get tis side tracked. HE WOULD L IKE FOR US TO SPEND OUR T IM E IN D ISSENSION AND H A IR PULL ING. Let us rather be about our Father’s business, SEEKING AND SAV ING THE LOST. T he T ime is S hort The^ mystery o f iniquity which was already at work m Paul’s day is nearing its consummation. It seems that the whole lump will soon be leavened. What shall we do? Let us hold fast to sound doctrine. Let us “ earnestly con tend fo r the faith.” But in our contending may our pro gram be constructive. Let our lives be holy and our love for lost souls ardent. We, like Paul, have received a commission. Our risen Lord has commanded, “ Go y e into all the world and preach the Gospel.” This commission, after nineteen cen turies, has not been fulfilled. Something is wrong. The trouble does not lie with the apostates. They have no mes sage for a world deep in sin. Modernism is helpless before a lost Sinner. The failure is due to the true believers within the church. W e have worked hard. We have labored for better schools and for better churches. We have fought to protect against the leaven o f apostasy. But Christ meant that the Church’s plan o f warfare should be aggressive rather than defensive. He has put the Sword o f the Spirit into our hands. Let us not lose time arguing 1 Sam. 31:3-6. “ The battle went sqre against Saul, and the archers hit him; and he was sore wounded o f the archers. Then said Saul unto his armour-bearer, Draw thy sword, and thrust me through therewith; lest these uncircumcised come and thrust me through, and abuse me. But his armour-bearer would not; for he was sore afraid. Therefore, Saul took a'sword, and fell upon it. And when his armour-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he fell likewise upon his sword, and died with him. So Saul died, and his three Sons, and his armour-bearir, and all his men, that same day together.” 1 Chron. 10:13-14. “ So Saul died for his transgression which he committed against the Lord, even against the Word o f the Lord, which he kept not, and' also for asking counsel of one that had a familiar spirit, to enquire of it; And enquired not of the Lord: therefore he slew him, and turned the kingdom unto David the son of Jesse.” HE infidel will tell you that in these two passages •we have just another plain contradiction which proves the Bible is not inspired. Some o f the textual critics will suggest that it is a probable corruption of the Hebrew text. And the average ffevout Christian will hurry past these passages with an uncomfortable feeling that the less said about them the bettei:! And thus,men have missed the great truth which is here revealed by the Holy Ghost. Let us analyze the truth revealed in these two passages. We have here, first o f all, an event in history—the death of Saul, the first king of Israel. Two historians come now to consider this important historical event. And your true
about its virtues; let us put it to use. It will do the work. Preach the Word. Preach it to every creature. TH E BEST AN SW ER TO A PO STA SY IS SOUL SAV ING . We need revivals rather than polemics. As in the time o f Paul, the greatest need is to preach the Gospel where Christ has not yet been named. While mil lions of souls have never had an opportunity to hear the message o f salvation, it is wrong for us to spend most of our efforts in resowing the lands where the Gospel has been preached already and Christianity has lapsed into apostasy. The Church should give its finest young men and women to the cause o f missions and should back them to the utmost by sacrificial giving. Every mission agency which proclaims Christ and Him crucified, whether it be denominational or otherwise, should receive the hearty support o f every Christian. Petty differences’ should be set aside and all join arms in a great crusade for missions. Two despondent disciples were walking toward Emmaus. Their Lord had been crucified. The outlook was very discouraging. Then Jesus appeared unto them and said: “ O fools, and slow o f heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken.” Those same words might well be directed to us today as we are perplexed by the awful onslaughts o f apostasy. A ll has been foretold. W e should have expected it and instead of making desperate efforts to separate the wheat from the tares, we should be moved to hasten about the task which our Lord has given us to do TH E ON LY TH ING TH A T W IL L END A PO S TA SY IS TH E RETURN OF JESUS CHR IST TO INAUGURATE THE M ILLENN IUM . The only way the Church can hasten that return is by proclaiming the Glad Tidings unto the uttermost parts o f the earth. historian, remember, is never satisfied with the bare record o f an event. He always wants to know W H Y . He searches for factors and causes. And so the writer of Samuel looks at this event and says that Saul killed him self. Then comes the writer o f Chronicles, looks at the event and he says God killed Saul. Now the important thing for us to see here is not that we have an apparent contradiction which needs to be ex plained. The important thing is to see that we have here a Divine Revelation ; that both these statements are true, and once we have seen this the contradiction vanishes without any further need o f explanation. The revelation is simply this. All history has two sidos — the one hu'inau, the other divine. You look at the historical process from one side and you see men working— Saul killing himself. You look at it from the other side and you see God working— provi dentially arranging the circumstances which finally led to the defeat and death o f Saul. If these two Bible writers had been considering the late World War, the writer of Samuel would have said, “ The Allies defeated Germany.” The other would have said, “ God defeated Germany.” Both o f these viewpoints are true and essential to any Christian view o f history. The Bible never divides history into two kinds, the one secular, the other sacred. But the Bible discovers two factors in history, the one secular, the • other sacred. Man is a real factor in history; he is no
Knowing Christ in History B y P rof . A lva J. M c C lain (An Anniversary Conference Message)
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