The Presbyterian of the South : [combining the] Southwestern Presbyterian, Central Presbyterian, Southern Presbyterian. [volume], April 18, 1917, Page 4 (316), Image 4

About The Presbyterian of the South : [combining the] Southwestern Presbyterian, Central Presbyterian, Southern Presbyterian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1909-1931

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be blinked that today we stand "on the very
verge of the fiery chasm." With us, then, the
supreme question is not, "What next? but a
question of far greater moment, What is our
standing in the sight of God? On the light of
the text and of the history with which it is as
sociated, this is the crucial question, the one
which overshadows all others. The kingdom of
Judah was humiliated and overthrown because
of its sins against God. Are we as a nation
likewise obnoxious to the divine displeasure?
In answering this question let us note some of
the offences of which Judah was guilty.
I. Judah was guilty of idolatry.
The sacred historian says that "all the chiefs
of the priests and the people, trespassed very
greatly after all the abominations of the na
tions." Idolatry was the chief sin of the na
tions surrounding Judah. It probably strikes
many of us as "a mere senseless and ridiculous
obstinacy that drew the Israelites so much to
the worship of the idolatrous gods of their
neighbors," but history discloses the fact that
there was much connected with the idolatrous
customs of those nations that was attractive
to the worldly mind. "Fashionable entertain
ments and free and easy revelries" were asso
ciated with idol worship; on the other hand,
the worship prescribed by Moses was staid
and sombre, having "little to attract the nat
ural feelings of the human heart." Hence, the
people of Judah. allured by that which they
regarded as lively and attractive, prompted by
a desire, like multitudes in our time, to conform
to the spirit of the age, forsook the God of
their fathers, and prostrated themselves be
fore idol shrines.
Idolatry: Is not this the sin of our age? Is
not this sin in all its varied forms the sin of
our land ? Why, one must be as blind as a bat
who does not recognize the dominance of the
idolatrous spirit in our nation. Place on your
table an idol god made of wood or stone; you
look at it, and with feelings perhaps of min
gled pity and contempt, you say, "This is the
senseless thing that poor, ignorant heathen
worship." Put beside it a gold dollar; and
what is it ? Why, it is the idol which the peo
ple of our land are worshipping. A leading
, financial institution in Chicago in one of its
publications says, "We are all fighting for
money, because money means nearly all that's
worth while." This seems to be the well-nigh
universal opinion in our land. Is it surprising,
then, that money is pursued with such fever
ish energy by great masses of our people?
What is the liible interpretation of this passion
for money? Why, it declares it to be covet
ousness, and covetousness it pronounces to be
idolatry. This sin of idolatry, with all that is
connected with it in the way of free and easy
living, personal adornments, luxuries, splendid
mansions, etc., is just as strongly entrenched in
our land as it ever was in the land of Judah.
Why the bitter cry for bread amongst some of
our own people? Why the painful, harassing
struggle upon the part of those who have but
little of this world's goods to "make ends
meet," and to supply themselves with the
things which are obviously necessary to their
sustenance and comfort? Why, the answer is
right at hand: It is greed, soulless greed;
greed with its iron h?el upon the neck of the
poor and needy; greed in the madness of its
passion for money laying its plans and forming
its combinations for forcing up the prices of
the necessaries of life beyond the reach of mill
ions of our people.
II. Judah also wickedly disregarded the
Sabbath.
The whole Sabbatical system, in which the
weekly Sabbath occupied a central position,
was prostituted by the people of Jildah to
their own sinful purposes and pleasures.
This is one of the manifest sins of our time.
The failure to observe the Sabbath is prevalent
amongst nearly all classes of people in our
country. The command, "Remember the Sab
bath day to keep it holy," has, to a large de
gree, become as obsolete as some old and for
gotten law upon the statute book of State or
nation. For many years a strong and earnest
effort has been made by the Christian forces
of our country against the introduction of what
is commonly known as "the Continental Sun
day." For scores of years Sunday on the con
tinent of Europe has been regarded as a holi
day, a day of sport and pleasure. So long as
America was composed of a substantially ho
mogeneous people, "the day commonly called
Sunday," as the law makers styled it, was
largely maintained in its integrity. But the
influx of immigrants, especially from the Euro
pean continent, contributed in no small mea
sure to the gradual breaking down of Sunday
laws in our land, and consequently Sabbath
desecration, open and flagrant in many of our
large cities particularly, is manifest upon every
hand.
It is. indeed, a lamentable fact that disre
gard of the obligation to respect the sacred
character of the Sabbath should be manifested
by so many whose names are enrolled on the
communicant rolls of our churches. On that
day they do not hesitate to travel on railroad
trains, go to the post office for their mail, read
the Sunday paper, absent themselves from
church services, and in divers ways pursue
their own pleasure, showing that they did not
regard "the Sabbath as a delight, the holy of
the Lord, and honorable.'
Is God unmindful of such unhallowed treat
ment of His holy day? No more so now than
He was of its desecration by Ilis people of old.
III. Judah's treatment of God's messengers
and their message provoked the divine dis
pleasure.
The people mocked the messengers God sent
to them, and refused to heed the message:* Ihey
delivered. They did all this "until the wrath
of Jehovah arose against His people." The
close connection between such conduct upon
the part of the people and the rising of "the
wrath of Jehovah" should be carefully noted.
It is no slight offence to refuse to hearken to
the messages which God's messengers deliver.
Mockery of the messenger and despising his
message go together; so in our day, the min
ister and his messages are so inseparably re
lated that the rejection of his message is the
rejection of *the minister as a messenger of
God. Hence, Jesus says, "lie that heareth you
heareth me; and he that rejecteth you reject
eth me ; and he that rejecteth me rejecteth
Ilim that sent me." Actual mockery may not
be indulged in, especially by church members,
but there is exhibited by many a disposition
which is almost as bad as mockery, and that
is indifference. Hearing, but not doing, seems
to be very prevalent. Had the people heark
ened to God 's messengers, they and their land
would have been spared. It is equally mani
fest that if God's professed people in our time
should receive and act up to the messages
which God's faithful ministers deliver, the
Church would be lifted to a high plane of godly
living, and the forces of iniquity and unright
eousness would be put under an effective and
powerful restraint. Why is it, then, that an
effectual curb has not been put upon these
forces! Because, in no small degree, those
upon whom Christ's name has been called have
not lived in obedience to Gods commands. By
their conduct and influence they have given en
couragement to the powers of evil.
But what is all this to us, some on? may askf
Just this: As the Mississippi river receives its
supply of water from its tributaries, little and
big, and finally pours its huge stream into the
Gulf of Mexico; so every community in our
land helps to make up the measure of the in
iquity of our nation. Responsibility, there
fore, of the most solemn and imperative char
acter rests upon this community, as well as up
on every community in our country, to forsake
sin, to stedfastly uphold truth and righteous
ness; indeed, to leave nothing undone which
will result in making us that "happy people
whose God is the Lord."
Commerce, Ga.
A GOOD SUGGESTION.
By a Reader.
I wish every Presbyterian family had a
Church paper. For knowledge, nurture and
atmosphere it is invaluable; indeed, I have re
marked a surprising lack of these where a
Church paper is not taken. Sessions should
insist upon its presence in the families of the
church. And where financial inability pre
vents, a fund should be provided for the pur
pose, so that no family should be without this
comfort for the old, stimulus for the young
and information for all. Wesley insisted that
the people should have books. There is no
crying need among our people now for these.
There is for a Church paper, the varied con
tents of which suggest and call for other val
uable adjuncts, as obedience to the word "Re
member" in the fourth Commandment insures
the keeping of the other nine. May the Lord
bless those having the care of the Presbyterian
of the South with wisdom and accomplishment.
"PEACE WITH GOD."
Rev. William H. Bates, D. D.
A publisher issued a series of tracts which
he called the "How Series," and their titles
were such as these: "How to Get Peace,"
"How to Be Happy," "How to Be Saved,"
"How to Fear."
The sales indicated that the first of these,
"How to Get Peace," was in the greatest de
mand, then that which related to the question
of personal safety, while "How to Fear" re
mained almost uninquired for. And still fur
ther, it is said that the demand for the first
came chiefly from Christians!
If this be so, it shows a radical defect some
where : a defect either in Christian earnest
ness, or in apprehending the truths which make
for peace. That it is not in earnestness, seems
clear from the eager desire manifested for
knowledge as to how to secure a peaceful
heart. The defect must be, then, in the ap
prehension of the truth.
If any one has not this peace, it is because
his relations with God are not properly ad
justed, or because he has not an adequate ap
prehension of their adjustment. In the case of
the impenitent sinner, it is because they are
not properly adjusted: in the case of the true
Christian, because their adjustment is not
properly apprehended. What is needed in the
sinner's case is, that he understand the trutli
and accept it: in the Christian's case, a better
understanding of the truth that he has al
ready accepted.
The Greek noun for peace, eirene, occurs in
the New Testament scriptures 92 times. There
is a use of it when referring to the peace
which conies to men through the redemptive
work of Christ, which, as I have studied the
subject, has struck me with surprise: indeed,
it has come with almo?t the force of ft new
revelation.