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the Old Gospel
Modern Intellectualism
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by Dr. H. H. Savage
says, “The fool hath said in his heart, there is no God.” He may quote the Apostles’ Creed with his lips but to the majority of these “ lip service” devotees, God is about as real as Santa Claus, Cinderella, Pollyanna, or Alad din’s Lamp. Isn’t it about time that we get back to fundamentals, to realize that there is an all-powerful, and all-wise God, who must have a plan for everything in His universe, including mankind? and isn’t it about time that we conclude that if God has revealed Himself to mankind, it must be found in the only Book that claims to be from God, and that Book is the Bible? And isn’t it about time that we leave the “wrong and shallow answers built on men’s thoughts and ideas, instead what Christ has said?” And isn’t it about time that we read with the eyes of our hearts, that no one can know God until he has been bom again? For this simple old gospel, repudiated by the majority of our modem intellectuals, has never been repudiated by God, because He, from the throne of heaven, is dealing with universal things, and with eternal verities, while pygmy men attempting to use a slide rule to tell this great God, “Thus far shalt thou go, and no farther.” Romans 3:23 declares: “All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” You see, God Almighty does not agree with our modem intellec tuals in calling alcoholism a disease; He calls it sin. Nor does He agree with them in calling juvenile de linquency a rebellion against the social order; He calls it sin. Nor does He agree with them in stating that the end justifies the means, even though such a philosophy may lead into a crooked business deal; He calls it sin, S-I-N, sin. And there is only one way to deal with the sin question, and that is, according to I John 1:7, “The blood of Jesus Christ, God’s Son, cleanseth us from all sin.” But that promise cannot be applied until the sinner confesses his sin, puts his trust in the Lord Jesus Christ as his sin bearer, and allows the Holy Spirit to come in and take possession of his life. Thus he is “bom again.” The Lord Jesus Christ has stated very clearly that there are only two ways along which mankind can travel. One way is a broad way, that leads through a wide gate, with an eternal, conscious existence in hell as its cul minating goal, “ and many there be which go in thereat.” The other way is a narrow way, that leads through a strait gate, that has eternal life as its culminating goal, “ and few there be that find it.” (Matthew 7:13-14). The Lord Jesus Christ also said, “He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me, scat- tereth abroad” (Matthew 12:30). The Lord Jesus Christ also said, “That which is bom of the flesh is flesh; and that which is bom of the Spirit is spirit” (John 3:6-7). I still believe that the old Gospel has not lost its power, and that God is seeking to win out of this world a people for His name: a people who will look to the Lord Jesus Christ as the way, the truth, and the life; and that no one can go to God’s heaven unless he has put his whole faith in Christ’s death upon the cross of Calvary.
C o l o s s ia n s 2:8, “ Beware lest any man spoil you- through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tra dition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.” We are living in an era here in the United States of a boasted superiority of intellectualism: where some seem to think that all the mysteries of life can be analyzed in the test tube: and where God Himself is subjected to the findings of the laboratory, or to a diagnostical investi gation on the couch of a psychologist. Yet in the final analysis, we have no greater knowledge of the basic meaning of our existence, and what to do about it, than the human family possessed nearly 2,000 years ago. Modem intellectualism has learned how to make destructive instruments so terrible as to be capable of destroying all life upon the earth: but we do not have enough common sense to bring about “peace on earth, and good will toward men.” Our modern intellectualism has learned how to increase the yield of farm products to a fabulous extent: but we do not have enough common decency to see to it that the 50% of the world’s popula tion has the food it requires. Instead, we pay the farmers NOT to raise food. Modem intellectualism can solve problems in elec tronics not even dreamed about a generation ago, yet we cannot solve juvenile delinquency, sex crimes, and an ever-decreasing sense of moral values. Modern in tellectualism can psychoanalyze this frustrated, aimless, dare-devil generation, and give some very convincing arguments for the solution of the problem of human be haviourism: but the volume of suicides still increase; the divorce courts are still jammed; and taxes have risen to the dangerous point of one-third of our national income. Modem intellectualism has added a few more years to our “ life expectancy,” with the result that we now face the danger of a bursting population which in 100 years may not leave standing room for all the people of the world. But we know no more about the basic meanings of our existence than we did 2,000 years ago. We still go back to Aristotle for the latest word on phil osophy, to ancient Egypt for the fundamentals of astron omy, to the scholars of the east for the axiomatic rules of all mathematics. We still have drunken orgies at New Year’s parties to compare with Pompeii, and still spend billions in gambling and the pursuit of corrupt pleasures. Our modem intellectualism can discover the rules of electricity, but cannot answer the question: “What is electricity?” and measure the power of gravitation, but cannot answer the question: “What is gravitation?” It can split the atom, but it cannot answer the question, “Whence does the atom get its power? and what keeps that tremendous energy of the electrons, neutrons and protons in their unceasing display of energy, even in what we refer to as inanimate objects?” We have not added one iota of information regarding the actual, un derlying basic reasons for, sources of, and directive principles of the universe in which we live. The Bible
THE KING 'S BUSINESS
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