King's Business - 1923-03

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T HE K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S

new line of cleavage had appeared, and th is cleavage is already clearly manifest.. Let me tell of my own experience. I have been a m issionary in the Moslem mission field for twenty-four years, and in th e course of my literary work have edited 400 Arabic books and tracts for the whole' Mohammedan world. Now, one thing has profoundly impressed me, viz., th a t th e Moslem accepts the in fal­ libility of Christ, but does no t on th a t account believe iif Christ as his Saviour; when, however, he is brought to accept th e Infallible Book, then he accepts Christ. For some years I had a literary helper, whose publications went to all parts of the Mohammedan world. He was a Ho- siany, i. e., a direct descendant of Mo­

hammed himself, and had been a student in Al-Azhar and then an Imam (priest) for years. He came to Cairo from Bey- rout, and was baptized by th e American Mission here. A German missionary . came along from India, and I cordially agreed for opr old friend to give him Arabic lessons in his spare tim e; these lessons, however, developed into discus­ sion of critical views of th e Bible. When the missionary left, Sheikh Abdallah smiled and said: “These people believe in a fallible book and yet come and ask us Moslems to leave our infallible one and accept an un tru stw o rthy one. They will not succeed in getting Moslems to leave th e Qur’an in which they believe to accept a Bible in which the missionary himself does not fully believe.” for it is time to seek the Lord, till he come and rain righteousness upon you.” And in 2 Chronicles 7:14 the promise of blessing is, vouchsafed, based, however, upon unalterable con­ ditions: “ If my people, which are called by my name,” declares the Lord, “ shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and tu rn from th e ir wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive th e ir sin, and will heal th e ir land.” Hence, nothing short of a broken h ea rt over sin, full confession and restitu tion will satisfy God. Sin must be forsaken utterly. And not only sorrow fo r the conse­ quences and punishm ent of sin, but for sin itself as committed against God. Hell is full of remorse but only for the punishm ent incurred. There is no real contrition. The rich man u ttered not a word of sorrow for his sin against God (Luke 16:29-30). But David, though guilty of both m urder and adul-

gaÿ gè§ Obstacles to the Revival We Need

—Timely Message to the Church by Rev. Oswald J. Smith is only one obstacle th a t lock up th e channel and God’s power, and th a t r. Sin is the g reat bar­

rier. It alone can hinder th e work of the Spirit and prevent a revival. ‘‘If I regard iniquity in my h e a rt,” declared David, “ the Lord will not h ea r me” (Psalm 66 :18 ). And in Isaiah 59:1, 2, we have these significant words: “ Be­ hold, th e Lord’s hand is not shortened, th a t it cannot save; n eith er his ear heavy, th a t it cannot h ear: bu t your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid His face from you, th a t he will not h ear.” Sin then is the great b arrier, and it must be pu t away. Nor is th ere any alternative. There can be no com­ promise. God will not work as long as th ere is iniquity covered up. In Hosea 10:12 we read, “ Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground:

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