5
January 1931
T h e
K i n g ’ s
B u s i n e s s
insisting that all Christian men shall agree as to the in terpretation of the Scripture teaching concerning Christ’s - second coming, but we do insist that a doctrine so inter woven with Qie thought of the New Testament is too sacred and too sublime to be laughed out of court. Fur thermore, we do insist that consecrated and able men who find joy for themselves, and give joy to others by preaching the imminence Of Christ’s visible return to the earth, should not be made the butt of ridicule . . . . We plead for Christian courtesy and for the manifestation of the spirit of Christ. Roman, Catholic Imperialism R OMAN CATHOLIC ambitions never die and never. change. World dominion, political as well as religi ous, has always been and still is the aim of this church. Every set-back encountered is considered only a challenge to more subtle plotting and more zealous endeavor to gain the desired end. Rome is today in a very favorable position. She has gathered a financial “war chest” from all parts of the world, much of it by direct and indirect means from Protestants in Protestant lands. In her oath-bound se cret orders, she has most effective agencies for her kind of diplomacy and propaganda. She has quite recently strengthened her political status and power. She has many tens of thousands of devotees prepared to do her bidding in any kind of service anywhere in the world. What, then, is to hinder her onward march ? Laying aside the ,question of God’s overruling and of the limitations that He puts upon Rome, it may be said that one great obstacle in the path of Rome is her own inherent moral and spiritual weakness. The lands that have been completely under her control are little better than in heathen darkness. In some of these lands the masses are turning away from the church that has so sig nally failed. Sad to say, they are not turning to Christ but to infidelity'. This is strikingly true in Latin America. In Europe also it is said that numerically Rome has for decades .been on the decline. In Austria, in the Balkans, in Poland, in other sections there have been mass move ments away from Rome. In France the low birth rate has decreased her power. The Churchmen’s Magazine is authority for the statement that “in 1800, in Europe (out side of Russia), Roman Catholics numbered seventy-one per cent. They now number sixty per cent.” Viewed politically, the situation is quite different. A recent writer who is an acknowledged authority gives the following facts: The Pope now has diplomatic relations with thirty- nine of the civil governments of the world. He is accustomed to making treaties with the civil powers. Dozens of such pacts are now in full force and effect. He deposes rulers and sets aside the constitutions of sovereign states at will. He has enacted and developed the Canon Law, which is one of the three judicial systems administered in Europe and America. The Canon Law vests in nim ultimate title to all ecclesiastical property, so that he is by far the wealthiest individual in the world.
What th e Pew Expects from th e Pu lp it HE Presbyterian has been having a series of articles concerning the church from the point of view of different members. A lawyer, a phy sician, a banker, and a farmer have spoken. It is interesting to notice that the gospel pleases or displeases every class of hearers according to the heart attitude of each toward God and His Word. The farmer, who states that he has been “an elder in the Presbyterian church for thirty years,” said some very timely things that are worth repeating. While attending a rural church conference at one of our universities, I heard an instructor advise the rural pastor to take a short course in agriculture in some state college. Now let me say right here that one of thfe things that I do not want and do not expect from my pastor is an agricultural lecture from the pulpit. When he calls on me, I would much rather talk church than crops and , cows. Pastor, please do not force your ideas on agricul ture or animal husbandry upon us from the church pul pit on the Lord’s Day. Nor do your attempts to inform us on current topics, civic affairs, or even politics, meet with our approval. We believe that with the daily papers and magazines, with our radios and telephones, we are about as well in formed on current topics as you...........No, we farmers go to church to hear the man of God preach and teach the Word of God as contained in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments. “Preach the word,” not ag riculture, current topics, or civics, but “the word,” in season and out of season...........Expository preaching is what we farmers need and what we expect to hear from the pulpits of our churches. Right A ttitude Toward th e Lord’s Return I T is amazing how men who are usually thoughtful and courteous are sometimes driven by unthinking prejudice in their opposition to the doctrine of our Lord’s coming again. Do they not realize that they may be making light of that which was often in the thoughts and on the lips of our Lord when He was on earth? Have they fairly con sidered the fact that the New Testament most certainly declares this truth ? Is it nothing to them that “the blessed hope” has been cherished by a very large proportion of Christians in every period of church history? True, it has sometimes been mixed with error and fanaticism; but, nevertheless, it has always been an effective agency for the building up of the church in godliness and the stirring of the church to world-wide evangelism. Should not these facts be admitted, and should they not temper the language of those who fail to see the importance of this subject? The Editor of the Watchman-Examiner has some very earnest words to say about this tendency to ridicule the hope of Christ’s coming again. We are amazed at the number of men who sneer whenever the subject of our Lord’s return is mentioned. . . . . Their antagonism to all “this second coming non sense” knows no bounds, and their choicest sneers are reserved for “those premillennialists,” among whom might be numbered such scholars as Alford, such preachers as Spurgeon, and such saints as Gordon. We are not
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