50
T H E
K I N G ' S
B U S I N E S S
February,-':-! 936
more in New York State, over forty per cent o f the Bap tist churches have not reported a single accession to mem bership on confession of faith and baptism.” No wonder the Methodist Protestant-Recorder finds: “ Since the days o f the Reformation and Counter Reforma tion, no religious movement in Vienna has caused such great membership losses as the desertion during the years 1919 to 1927; when 140,043 people had severed their con nection with the churches . . . . All the denominations are suffering from this trend, which is literally a mass deser tion from the church.” W here S hall the H ungry G o ? A church whose ministry has capitulated should be deserted. It has no right to bear the name of him who came “ to seek and to save that which was lost,” and whose power and will to save have never been diminished. When the
me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part o f the earth” (Acts 1 :8). Since we did not feel called to “ the uttermost part,” how can that circumstance excuse us from witnessing “ in Jeru salem” ? God has ordained that every believer should be a witness, somewhere. If we are not witnessing, we are not in His will. It is not enough that I know Him; I must also make Him known. I can not hire another to do that work. If I claim to have a share in the Pentecostal outpouring o f power, where is my witnessing that was to be the fruit of it? Oh, this demon of dumbness, how it has entered our souls! W e mingle, daily, with people who may, tomor row, be in eternity, and we have never told them of the only Door to heaven. We may have warned them of danger to their property and investments, but we never warned
minister substitutes human philosophy for the simplicity of the gospel, when he dab bles in science and politics and is more concerned about the life of the organiza tion than the life o f the soul, he has ceased to be a disciple and has become a traitor. “ Cursed be he that doeth the work o f the Lord deceitfully” (Jer. 48:10). A soul hungering for reality will never come near him. And yet the hungry are everywhere. The editor of Harpers Weekly, though seemingly not a Christian, makes this statement: “ For religion itself— the Chris tian religion— there never was a greater demand than there is now. Any individual who seems to understand it and can put it across gets a hearing, and what organiza tion he belongs to does not matter as much as one might think.” W hen C hrist I s K nown P ersonally But the appeal o f Christ is ever a per sonal appeal." The loveliness, power, and compassion of Christ must be lived to be convincing. The minister is often at a dis advantage. Our skeptical age looks at him as a professional. He is being paid for what he is saying. It asks - with the preacher’s little son, “ Daddy, did you mean what you said, or was you only preachin’ ?” A man who will not cross the street to
them of the impending doom. We may have informed them o f a trifling bargain, but we never informed them of the only security for the soul. G od ’ s S ecret of P ower W e thank God that there is a Protestant ministry, today, that is not “ played out” ; men who know' not only their theology but also their Christ; men who do not bow to popular opinion, nor fail to proclaim the full counsel o f G od ; men who are not in the ministry for personal gain, but because the love o f Christ constrains them; men whose faith in the supernatural power of the gospel is strong and unwavering. But their witnessing can never be a substitute for mine. They are the men who feel most keenly their failure to cope with “ this kind,” the spirit o f stagnation, apostasy, and power lessness that is eating its way into the most fundamental and e v a n g e lis tic church. They are the men who go aside to ask “ Why|i from the One who alone can give a final answer. To them— and to us, if we will humble ourselves and take our stand with them - comes the secret, from the lips of G od : “Nothing, hut by prayer and fasting.” PHothing” ! And we thought fine churches and big choirs and well-trained
A church whose ministry has capitu lated should be deserted. It has no right to bear the name of Him who came "to seek and to save that which was lost," and whose power and will to save have never been diminished. When the minister substitutes human philosophy for the simplicity of the gospel, when he dabbles in science and politics and is more concerned about the life of the organization than the life of the soul, he has ceased to be a disciple and has be come a traitor, unqualified to lead.
listen to the most earnest sermon will be stirred into ac ceptance of Christ through the stumbling testimony of his “ pal.” HoW it behooves the Christian to live for Christ and speak for Him every day! F ailure to M ake C hrist K nown Yes, we are in the midst of a great need, but we are not meeting it. As a church we are not meeting it, cannot meet it, for the unsaved do not come to church, unless we go out to compel them by showing them the power in our own lives. But most of us do not have any power to show. It does not require any power to sit through a rousing evangelistic service on Sunday night, and at the close to speak a few words o f commendation to the minister, and then go home to hang our religion up in the closet with our Sunday frock. “ I certainly enjoyed your message!” How would that have sounded in the ears of John the Baptist or Christ? Can you imagine their reply? All the power Christ ever promised the believer was for service. “ Ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon y ou : and ye shall be witnesses unto
leaders and modern methods and “ pep” and dash and noise would do it. But “nothing,” not even the most faithful preaching of the Word, will do it, except prayer and fasting. This is God’s way, but who will walk in it? From the President o f our nation, who has ignored repeated ap peals to proclaim a day of fasting and prayer, down to the professors o f religion, “ we have turned every one to his own way,” and there is nothing we have so little time for as prayer. And yet how great and precious, are His promises 1 “ They shall not be ashamed that wait for me.” “ For from o f old men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen a God besides thee, who worketh for him that waiteth for him” (R .V .). “ They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength.” “ Ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.” “ This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting.” Shall we take the Master’s words to heart ? The “ strong man armed” is in our midst. The enemy of souls knows his time is short. He is rallying all his
Made with FlippingBook - professional solution for displaying marketing and sales documents online