July 1927
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the wine is partaken of only by the priest. The deluded people look upon the priest as possessed of mysterious divine powers, and depend upon him as mediator between themselves and God, It should not be forgotten that the mass is a sacrifice. There cannot be sacrifice without putting some one to death. In a figurative sense, the priest crucifies the Son of God afresh (Heb. 10:25, 26) every time he professes to offer the literal flesh and blood of Christ upon the altar. The Lord’s supper is not a sacrifice, but a celebration — a “showing forth” (1 Cor. 11:26) of something that has already been done, never to be repeated (Heb. 10:10-12). At the basis of Rome’s mass is a denial of the all-suffi ciency of the sacrifice of Calvary, a rank contradiction of the New Testament teaching concerning salvation, a di verting of the worshiper to a false Christ, the introduc tion of idolatry in the name of Christianity. No amount of psychology in the surroundings can impart to the thing any value whatsoever. The last sacrifice that God can demand for any sinner was made at Calvary (Heb. 9:26). It was absolutely perfect for God Himself provided it. He cannot be dissatisfied with what Jesus has done and want more. Any attempt to offer anything further as essential is a gross insult to Him. There may be something worth considering in Mr. Scotford’s concluding questions: “Does not the Protestant minister talk too much, especially in connection with the incidentals of the com munion service? Have we not exaggerated the intellect ual element in faith? Should we not make the service less an exhibition of the minister’s thought, and more of an opportunity for the worshiper to express his own deeper needs in his own way ? Should we not aim to make man less prominent, letting greater emphasis fall upon the thought of God?”
He Loved, Yet Lingered “Jesus loved Martha and her sister-and Lazarus” (Jn. 11 : 5). “Therefore * * He abode two days in the same place where He was” (v. 6 ). ' N OT even those, whom Christ especially loves can expect to be always exempt from sickness and anguish. The main thing, in such a time, is to know that His love is set upon us and to desire that the affliction should give Him an opportunity to be glorified (Ps. 50:15). Strange that Christ should abide where He was, after having received the urgent call from His sick friend! Does it sometimes seem that His promises have utterly failed? Is all a perplexing riddle? Remember, Jesus lingered because He loved. He knows the proper time to act. The time we set- is Usually the worst time. His delays are not denials. Perhaps He is enlarging our capacity to receive. Come what may, let nothing shake confidence in His love. If we are truly committed to Him we need have no misgiving. Somehow He will be glor ified and we shall get to know Him better. “Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,
But trust Him for His grace. Behind a frowning providence, He hides a smiling face. We leave it to Himself To choose and to command. With wonder filled, we soon shall see How wise, how strong His hand.” ^t£. ' (£. The “New C ivilization”
I N an article entitled, “The Gods of the Moment,” Ber nard I. Bell, in a recent number of The Atlantic Monthly, attempts to analyze what is now being termed “the new civilization.” A professor of sociology not long since made the statement that the Christian religion makes its appeal only to the rural, simple and Arcadian peoples, or else to those who are urbane, sophisticated and disillusioned. “Jesus,” he declared, “has no appeal to the new civilization.” What is this “new civilization” ? After all, it is nothing more than “the way of Cain” gone to seed. There is not much in it that is new, except that just at present
Be Sure to Read The King’s Business Propositions on the Very First Page of This Issue.
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