Biola Broadcaster - 1968-11

don’t know much about that medicine but I do know some saints who need a double dose of it as well as some churches. They are talking their heads off answering questions no­ body is even asking. Then, too, Chris­ tians have no business “whooping” it up for all the reforms and projects by which this world tries to super­ impose a false kingdom of heaven on an unregenerate society. We need to wait patiently for God’s time of deliverance, all the while in silent submission. Christians who know their Bibles do not ride the bandwagon headed fo r the “promised land.” They are not dem­ onstrating some scheme to build a new world order down here. We are looking for a pearly white city com­ ing down from God. We will be criticized and ostracized, however, since these programs for a counter­ feit millennium leave us “cold” and unimpressed. It is an evil time and we must not waste precious moments on man’s foolishness as he vainly seeks to work out his own salvation. At the same moment, however, there is a wrong way to keep silent in an evil time. Ecclesiastes tells us that there is also a time to speak. Christians who know their Bibles ought to speak out in churches today. The Word of God is being denied from many a pulpit. Good men dare not keep silent. It was well said that, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” We must cry out against the sins of society, warning men of judgment to come. Amos certainly didn’t keep silent. Alexander Mac- Laren said, “Good men become so accustomed to the corruptions of so­ ciety that they feel no call to rebuke them or to wage war against them.” Such silence is treason against Jesus Christ. There is a lot of high sounding talk today about not getting involved in controversial issues. It is my claim that any issue worth talking about is 10

controversial. There isn’t a doctrine in the Christian faith that isn’t con­ troversial. Jesus Christ Himself was a very controversial figure. As believ­ ers we have the only remedy for the world’s ills which is the Gospel. This can be a day of good tidings. Those lepers in Samaria had a lit­ tle committee meeting when the city was besieged and people were starv­ ing to death. Nobody knew what to do. They said, “If we stay here we will die of leprosy. If we go into town we will starve to death. There is only one direction left. Let’s go straight ahead and see what happens.” They went out and God scattered the enemy. All they had to do was to gather up the spoils. In doing so one thoughtfully remembered, “We are not doing well. It is a day of good tidings and we are holding our peace.” There isn’t any greater in­ iquity than sinful silence; failure to witness privately and publicly for Jesus Christ. We have been entrust­ ed with the good news of the Gospel. We shouldn’t be ashamed to tell it wherever we go. Old Aunt Sophie had bad eyesight. They found her one day doing per­ sonal work with a wooden Indian in front of a cigar stand. When she found out her mistake she said, “Well, I’d rather try to talk to a wooden Indian about Jesus Christ than be a wooden Christian and never talk to anybody about Him.” There is a time to keep silent and there is a time to speak. When it comes to supporting the useless schemes of this world, let us keep silent. But when it comes to crying out against evil in the church as well as in the world, we ought to be heard! Blessed is the man who knows when to keep still and when to speak. Christ died for our sins and rose again for our justification. This is the greatest news ever to strike this planet, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.”

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