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T H E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
O, AMERICA! AMERICA!! No honest Christian man or woman, with the Word of God in their hands and the fear of God in their hearts, and the compassion of Christ for the lost in their souls, can confront church, school and world condi tions without conscious sorrow. , There is no more pathetic picture in the Bible than that of our Lord Jesus when, on His last visit to Jerusalem, He stood upon the Mount and looking upon the City of God, with its golden-domed Temple, poured out His soul in pitiful sorrow as He said, “O, Jerusalem , Jerusalem , th o u th a t k illest th e prophets an d ston est th em which are sent u n to thee, how often would I have g athered th y children together, even as a hen g a th e re th h e r chickens un d er h e r wings, and ye would n o t!” In the chapter where this is recorded, Matthew 23, we have Him pour ing out eight woes to the scribes and Pharisees who were the religious rulers responsible for the woeful condition of the people. How our Lord loved His people! How He longed for their spiritual welfare! How His heart went out to them as the heart of a mother! He tvould have had them in His arms, close to His heart-, but they would not. Is there something akin to this sorrow in our hearts today when we think of our beloved country with the black clouds gathering which fore tell the coming days of darkness and gloom? Out Lord did His best for His people. He has done His best for us. Can the tide be turned? Will it be possible for our beloved land to return to God, the God of our fathers? We cannot tell; but we know that it behooves every believer to do his best. Live the life. Preach the Word. Let the Lord use us in saving all pos sible from the wreck. 0, America, America! How often would He have gathered you, but ye would no t! * T. C. H. D. D. D. The Holy Scriptures have some terrible words of warning,—many of them evidently not familiar to the church in these days. Christ used them. Paul used them. John used them. Peter used them. And there are three words used by Peter which are most significant,— damnable— denying-**#; destruction ; ‘.‘damnable, heresies ;P “ denying the Lord that bought them;” “ swift destruction.” (2 Pet. 2:1) “B u t th e re were false prophets also among th e people, even as th e re shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall b ring in dam nable heresies, even denying th e Lord th a t bought them , and b ring upon them selves sw ift destruc tion .” What is a heretic? A heretic is an opinionated person; one who gives his own opinions as to what God ought to say and what God ought to do. What are the damnable heresies of which Peter speaks ? Let jus put the verse into plain English: “There w ere false prophets among th e people of old, and th e re will be false« teachers -in th e church. They w ill b ring in doctrines of th e ir own originating, even denying th e doctrine of th e atonem ent, an d will b ring upon themselves etern al loss; and many shall follow th e ir pernicious ways.” The Bible will always stand the test. Is this Scripture true today ? Are there any heretics among us,-—opinionated men and women who love to
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