908
THE KING'S B USIN ESS
terians will take a similar position. There is little doubt that the Northem Methodists and the Church of the Dis– ciples will do likewise. The Lutheran and other churches have already ex– pressed themselves through many of their synods. If we can judge by the sentiment expressed in recent national conventions the contest will be closer in the Northern Baptist Church than in the other evangelical churches, but there is no doubt that the masses of that church will be found orthodox when a referendum discloses their views. The division in the various churches on the doctrines reaffirmed by the Southern Baptists and the Northern Presbyterians runs deeper than the dif– ferences between the denominations. Those in the various churches who be– lieve in the inerrancy of the Bible, the miracles, the virgin birth, the atone– ment and the bodily resurrection of Christ are nearer together than they are to those of their own church who deny the veracity of the Bible, reject the miracles, the virgin birth, the atonement and the bodily resurrection of the Saviour. The liberals denounce the conserva– tives as "ignorant" and "unintelligent" while the conservatives regard as un– Christian those who think Jesus the son of Joseph, divest Him of His deity and leave Him to sleep in the grave. This is the issue stated in language clear and explicit-it is the Issue in every church and throughout Christen– dom. When it is settled, as I have no doubt it will be, by the exaltation of the Bible and the adoration of Christ as both Saviour and Example, the Church will be ready for a great evan– gelistic movement which will present Christ as the hope of the world-as the only One whose blood can save and whose teachings can solve the problems t hat vex the heart and perplex the world.
PRAYERFUL STUDY The inspired Scriptures form th Inspired vehicle of the Spirit In com. municating to us the knowledge ot the will of God. If we think of God oq the one side and man on the other, the word of God is the mode of convey. ance from God to man, of His own mind and heart. It 1 therefore becomes a channel of God's approach to ue, a channel prepared by the Spirit tor the purpose, and unspeakably sacred u such. When therefore the believer uses the word of God as the guide to determine both the spirit and the dla lect of his prayer, he is inverting th process of Divine revelation and usln the channel of God's approach to him as the channel of his approach to God. How can such use of God's word fall to help and strengthen spiritual !IM What medium or channel of approach could so insure in the praying soul both an acceptable frame and language taught of the Holy Spirit? If the first thing Is not to pray but to hearken, this surely Is hearkening tor God to speak to us that we may know how to speak to Him.-Arthur T. Pierson. SHOHT-LIVED SERMONS A lamentable number of sermons sur. fer a kind of infant mortality. They are born on Sunday, but fail to live out the week in the hearts of those who hear them. Many of them don't sur– vive the Sunday dinner. The trouble is prenatal. Attention is centered too much upon the circumstances of deliV· ery, and not enough upon all those con– ditions that determine what is to be born and whether it is to have vitalit enough to survive the hour of comin& into the world, or, If it does, to be capa ble of any worthy purpose in life. ser mons that are not conceived in praye and developed by unstinted work ar doomed to short, unenviable careers. Biblical Recorder.
Made with FlippingBook flipbook maker