399
July 1928
T h e
K i n g ’ s
B u s i n e s s
charity and purity? Not only is this the test of pure reli gion in God’s sight, but it is the criterion by which the world is judging the professed followers of Christ. It has been too often true that those who have had most to say in defense of the Christian creed, have not been conspicuous for their kindly interest in, and care for the needy and afflicted. They have been charged with coldness, selfishness, and bigotry. If men will not listen to our arguments, they cannot fail to listen if we show them that we have a religion which is a living force in humanity Which is ever working out in loving deeds in Christ’s name. That is religion, pure and undefiled. Every other kind is a caricature, no matter how explicit and Scriptural may
tie reasonings, and some of those who call themselves philosophers have little of the humility of Pythagoras, for they pose as intellectualists and scorn as brainless, all who do not agree with them. A Christian, surely, is a “lover of wisdom.” He has a philosophy according to Christ. He sees “the wisdom which cometh from above.” The love of wisdom cannot be dangerous to one who seeks to have the mind of the Master. It is dangerous only when natural reason pro ceeds without rule, working on false or incomplete data. Men have always tried to make over Christianity according to their own systems of thought. The natural man does not relish a system of thought according to Christ. When will men learn that it is impossible to dis cover the highest truths by ignoring God and His Word
be the creed.
God’s religion, if we expect the church to make progress. We cannot leave the widows and or phans to the care of lodges and public charities while we wran gle about doctrinal questions. It is time we stopped and took inventory. Christian being must unite w i t h Christian doing. There must be a greater em phasis by the pulpit upon purity and charity..: Love is the soul of Christianity and it is bound to manifest itself especially to ward. the afflicted. James tells us that a Christian most truly worships God when he does a kindness to another, and that an unspotted character is a per
We must get back to
and by refusing Jesus Christ in whom are hid “all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge”? A stream cannot rise higher than its source, and to follow the world’s empty speculations is to end in despondency. Paul warns us of that philos ophy which is “after the tradi tion of men and after the rudi ments o f the world.” Let us have a . philosophy built upon Christ, the Solid Rock. It is rather amusing that Modernists have referred to those who base their philosophy upon divine revelation,, as “traditionalists.” Paul shows who the traditional
petual act of worship. No true Christian will think to please God with pie tism, sentiment and emotion. His worship will be trans lated into practical service. Christian kindness and char acter will go farther than anything else to break doiwn sectarianism and win men to Christ. “ Shall He F ind th e Fa ith on th e Earth?” T HE Christian leaders of England are slowly awaken- . ing to the fact that the churches face a serious situa tion. “If,” says The British Weekly, a census were taken of church attendance, the figures would be so sen sational that in order to avoid discouragement and panic, it would be wiser not to print them. An even more dis quieting fact is that the small existing congregations are extremely elderly. Today there are 1,663,000 fewer scholars in the Sunday schools than in 1906. The Bishop of Worcester says that 'whereas his predecessors used to ordain 150 priests in a day, he in the course of eight years has only ordained 35. The fact is that the pulpit has lost its power and authority because it has lost its certainty. “In many of the countries of Europe, Protestantism is fighting for its life. Roman Catholicism is showing astounding gains. For instance, in Germany 88 Protestant institutions closed in 1923, while in the five years before that date the Roman Catholic Church opened 700 insti tutions. We stumble along with hasty expedients and desperate experiments,:-and dope ourselves with pious anesthetics.” This paper attributes these conditions to the cooling of ministers toward the Bible message. Reference is made to a well-known Presbyterian minister who has written a book in which he says of some of the Gospel stories that they “are simply Arabian Nights’ inventions.”
ists are, and Jesus also rebuked those of His day who “transgressed the commandment of God by their tradi tion” (Matt. 15:3). I sh S m “Pure Religion and Undefiled” “Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this : To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world" ;(Jas: ,1:27) .*•*, I N the very early days of the church, there were evi dently those who professed the name of Christ but deemed a mere form of religion, with a knowledge of the new creed, sufficient. Against this tendency, James, the Lord’s brother, lifted up his voice like a trumpet. James believed that pure religion should be practical. If one’s religion does not produce charity and purity, it bears no resemblance to the life or teachings of Jesus Christ. If you would know what religion means in the sight of God, look at Jesus. He gave a great place to wor ship and spiritual culture, to be sure, but it was all kept in its proper relation. His days were spent in doing good. Pure religion is life for others, issuing from life sanctified by the Spirit of God. By the test of James’ words, where will some of our very orthodox folks find themselves? What are they ac tually DOING in society? Ho(w many orphans have they cared for? To how many poor widows have they min istered ? Does their religion ever get beyond the circle of personal interests—attending meetings, reading books and articles, saying prayers? Our modern ideas of what Constitutes religion are get ting sadly warped. We speak of one who is a regular attendant at church services as a deeply religious person. Yet according to our New Testament the test question to which religion must submit is—Does it work out into
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