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EDITORIAL COUNCILEdwin H. Rian Ned B. StonehouseLeslie W. Sloat Murray Forst Thompson

Thomas R. BirchManagIng EdItor

Why Are We Here?A Sermon Preached by the Pastor of Immanuel Presbyterian Church (Unaffiliated), West Collingswood, New Jersey, on the

Occasion of the Fourth Anniversary of the Church's Withdrawal Froln the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A.

By the REV. WILLIAM T. STRONG

FOUR years ago an historic congregational meetingtook place in the old church building two blocks

from here, as a result of which the Presbytery of WestJersey was notified next day that, by an overwhelmingmajority, we had voted to withdraw from the Presby­terian Church in the U.S.A. Four months later wevoluntarily withdrew from our church building and,under the name we bear today, began holding ourSunday services in the local theater. This we continuedto do for 20 months and then, after months of hopingand praying and planning and working, we moved intothis new church building on June 12, 1938. Whatmemories are ours as we review the struggles of theseyears! We shall never cease to be grateful for thefaithfulness and industry of those men who laboredso fervently to enable us to be where we are today.And I am absolutely certain that on the last day theirlabors of love will be remembered by the great Headof the church when He distributes His rewards.

So here we are, a stone's throw from where we usedto be. And a newcomer to our community, unfamiliarwith the story and noting the existence of two Presby­terian churches two blocks apart, would be curious toknow the reason. I want to deal with his question thismorning-WHY are we here?

Because We Are Narrow!There are those who, if asked, would say in tones

of contempt, "Oh, those people over there [pointingin our direction] are narrow." Now narrowness is

supposed to be an unpardonable sin today. To be callednarrow is to be called something that should make aman hang his head in shame. But we accept the indict­ment and plead guilty. They are right! We are narrow,and that is one of the reasons why we are here today!We believe that the gospel of Christ has a very definitecontent and that, although on some things there is roomfor differences of interpretation, there is nevertheless acertain minimum of faith to which it is necessary forone to subscribe in order to be considered orthodox.There is a circle of doctrine which a man cannotabandon without committing the sin of apostasy andbringing upon himself the condemnation of God andof God's people.

The deliverance of the General Assembly of 1923set forth five points which certainly may be regardedas a minimum for faith: 1. The inspiration and infalli­bility of Holy Scripture. 2. The virgin birth of Christ.3. The death of Christ as a substitutionary sacrifice tosatisfy divine justice. 4. The bodily resurrection ofChrist from the dead. 5. The reality and supernaturalcharacter of the miracles of Christ. But people whobelieve these things, and who insist that belief in themis essential to orthodoxy, are considered narrow in ourday. We are considered narrow because we believethem. Well, if that be narrowness, then let them makethe most of it! We glory in it!

More than that, we are narrow enough to refuse tosupport a denomination that says it does not matterwhether its ministers believe these doctrines or not.

34 THE PRESBYTERIAN GUARDIAN August 10

An Important Announcement 40

The Calvary Church of Willow Grove .. 42

Prayer-What Shall We Pray? .... 43Burton L. Goddard

Missionary Heroes of the Past .... 44Robert S. Marsden

So Great Salvation . . . . . . . . . . . 46Henry D. Phillips

TABLE OF CONTENTS

August 10, 1940

Why Are We Here? 33William T. Strong

The Southern Church and theAuburn Affirmation 35

Leslie W. Sloat

Prophet and Priest 37J. Gresham Machen

everybody has either been involved inor knows something about "a churchscrap." Most church fights are whollyunnecessary, springing from pettyanimosities or differences of opinion,and resulting in weakened churchesand injury to the cause of Christ.But our coming here was a part of afight in which God was glorified!Ours was a "good" fight! Yes, weplead guilty to this charge also, andwe do so without shame, for ourfighting was for the glory of God,for the defense of His Word, and inobedience to His clear command. Ifwe engaged in contention, it was thatearnest contending for the faith en­joined upon us in Jude 3. If westrove, it was "striving together forthe faith of the gospel" (Phil. 1: 27).And we have not only the plain ex­hortations of Scripture to send usinto battle, but also the constraint ofunimpeachable example. The LordJesus Christ Himself was a fighter!Did He not scorch with holy angerthe religious teachers of His day whotwisted the Word of God unto thedamnation of their hearers? TheApostle Paul was a fighter! ReadGalatians, and hear him anathematizethose who would tamper with thepurity of the gospel.

Our separation from the Presbyte­rian Church in the U.S.A. was re­quired if we were to be obedient to

J

I,..

Because We Are Fools!There are those who say, with

scorn and perhaps with a mixture ofsadness and pity, "Those people arefoolish." The congregation was fool­ish to give up a comfortable churchbuilding and start again "fromscratch." Think of all the trouble wecould have saved ourselves! The pas­tor was foolish to leave a prosperousdenomination with many opportunitiesfor personal advancement. Yes, wewere fools all right! Satan has nodoubt whispered this in our ears more

(Please Turn to Page 45) ~

God's Word, for we could not havestayed in without tragic and cowardlycompromise. Oh, we could have stayedin, as many professed Fundamental­ists did, and kept quiet about theModernism of the official denomina­tional program-but that would haveheen cowardly and sinful compromise!That would have been the stultifyingof conscience, and the contemptibleevasion of a clear-cut challenge toour loyalty to Christ and His Word.What of those misguided souls whostayed in the camp that had cast outMachen and other defenders of thefaith, what of those men who re­mained behind and declared, "We'llfight from within. VVe have just be­gun to fight!"? Charity forbids themention of their names-but whereare they now? What has happenedto their valiant intentions? Silence!Inaction! Complacent indifference tothe condition of the denomination atlarge! This is the record of the lastfour years as far as they are con­cerned. It will not be denied thatsome have talked-a little. But it hasbeen cheap talk; talk that cost noth­ing; talk that accomplished nothing.The church's battles against heresyhave been won only when talk wasbacked up by sweat and blood andsacrifice, and the whole weight ofthe talker's being!

We admit it-we are fighters; andthat is one of the reasons why weare here today. There are times inmen's lives when they must choosebetween an honorable war and a dis­honorable peace. The Presbyterianconflict brought us to such a time.We chose war. And I am absolutelysure that, on the last day, the greatHead of the church will tell us thatwe chose aright!

47

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NEWS

Editorial

Because We Are Fighters!Then there are those who would

explain our being here today by say­ing, "Those people are fighters." Nowthis sounds very bad indeed. Almost

That this is the actual position of thePresbyterian Church in the U.S.A. isbeyond question in the light of thefollowing facts: 1. Not a single oneof the nearly 1300 ministers whosigned the Auburn Affirmation, thusdeclaring that they did not regard itas necessary for Presbyterian min­isters to believe the five points of the1923 declaration, has been broughtto trial for heresy and cast out ofthe denomination. 2. Within the lastfew years there have been at leastthree professors teaching at Prince­ton Seminary, orthodoxy's last strong­hold among the seminaries of thePresbyterian Church in the U.S.A..who are known to have rejectedsome or all of the five points of doc­trine of the 1923 deliverance. 3. The1940 General Assembly of the Pres­byterian Church in the U.S.A., meet­ing in Rochester, N. Y, unanimouslyelected as its moderator Dr. WilliamLindsay Young, a signer of the Au­burn Affirmation. The runner-up forthat office was Dr. J. B. C. Mackie,also a signer of that heretical docu­ment. 4. A survey of the personnelof the standing committees of thegeneral assembly reveals the fact that50 per cent. of the important standingcommittees were headed by AuburnAffirmationists, with 18 other Affirma­tionists sprinkled throughout the 15committees. 5. And last, but by nomeans least, that assembly unani­mously rejected an overture from thePresbytery of Arkansas requestingthat the five points of doctrine, af­firmed as essential by the assembly of1923, be reaffirmed by the 1940 as­sembly!

It should be tremendously signifi­cant to thoughtful people that the1940 General Assembly of the Pres­byterian Church in the U.S.A. unani­mously elected an Auburn Affirma­tionist to the highest office in thechurch, and then, not long after,unanimously turned down' an earnestrequest from one of its presbyteriesfor a reaffirmation of the clear-cutdoctrinal pronouncement of the 1923assembly ! We are too narrow to be­long to such a denomination!

The Presbyterian Guardian Is published on the lOth and 25th of each month by The Presbyterian Guardian Publlslting Corporation. S/~ Schaff Building, 1505 Race Street,Philadelphia, Penna., at the follOWing rates, payable in advance. for either old or new subscribers in any part of the world. pOStage prepatd: $1:00 per year; five or more copieseither to separate addresses or in a package to one address 800 each per year" introductory rate. for new subscribers only: Three months for 25c. lOe per copy. No responsibilityIs assumed for unsolicited manuscripts. Entered as second class matter Mar'ch " 1937, at Ill. Post Ollioo at Philadelphia. Pa.. under Ill. Act of Marell 3. 1879.

1940 THE PRESBYTERIAN GUARDIAN 35

The Southern Church and the Auburn Affirmation•

TH E primary consideration in a pro­gram of church union should, we

believe, be one of doctrine. Churcheswhich are basically agreed as to theirconception of the system of doctrinewhereby Christianity is to be definedmay well explore the possibilities oforganizational union. Churches whichare doctrinally disparate have no realbasis for such union. They may in­deed get together on a non-doctrinalbasis, or on a basis which is doc­trinally very loose, but such union hasno place in the efforts of true Chris­tian folk. The Baptists, for example,recognize the Lutherans but do notseek union with them. Since thechurches are founded upon doctrine,union of churches must also be basi­cally doctrinal.

This is true even where the pro­posed union is between churcheswhich nominally, at least, hold to thesame system of doctrine. When unionis proposed between such churches, itis important that each shall know theattitude that the other takes towardthe apparently common system of doc­trine. And investigation may revealthat underneath the common bannerthere is a real division-a gulf sogigantic as to preclude any real andtrue and honorable union.

Someone may ask how it can bethat churches which have, shall wesay, identical doctrinal standards astheir official creeds, can actually bemiles apart doctrinally. Do not min­isters, when they are ordained, ac­knowledge as their own the creed oftheir church? And do they not agreeto be loyal to that creed? Such is, infact, what happens on the surface.But unfortunately language does notalways mean what it appears to say.In the matter of the ordination vowof the Presbyterian Church in theU.S.A., for example, it has beenpointed out that there are differentviews as to the meaning of that vow.According to that vow, one "receivesand adopts the Confession of Faith"of the church "as containing the sys­tem of doctrine taught in the HolyScriptures."

Now some have taken the attitudethat this means accepting every jotand tittle, every phrase and clause ofthe confession as true. This is not so.

The confession contains statementswhich do not pertain to the system ofdoctrine, as in its remarks concerningthe duties of magistrates, and thestatement in former editions that thePope was Antichrist. One may agreewith the statements at these points,or one may not, but that does "..notaffect one's acceptance of the docu­ments as containing the "system ofdoctrine" taught in Scripture.

What Is theSystem of Doctrine?

What the vow has historicallymeant, as Dr. Charles Hodge tells usin his famous Church Polity, is thatone accepts the system of doctrinecontained in the confession as beingthe one taught in Scripture and adoptsthat confession as his own. Now thesystem of doctrine contained in theconfession and catechisms is simplythat system known otherwise as Cal­vinism or the Reformed Faith. WhatCalvinism is, as a system of doctrine,can be historically determined. Andit is in this sense that it is supposedlyaccepted by one taking the vow.

On the other hand, there have beenthose who take an entirely differentview of the meaning of the ordina­tion vow. According to this view,what one receives and adopts is notevery detail of the documents, noryet the system of doctrine they con­tain, but only the substance of thesedocuments. Moreover, according tothis view one may determine foroneself what that substance is. Thusa Methodist, looking through the con:fession and finding there certainthings with which he agreed, mightperhaps choose to consider those thesubstance of the confession, andmight accordingly "receive and adopt"the confession. Now we do not meanto say that we think this would beproper, or even intellectually honest.It savors more of certain notoriousJesuitical practices than of sanctifiedChristian conduct. But such a viewhas been held within the Presbyte­rian Church in the U.S.A. and, wemay say, such a view has now cometo dominate the denomination.

It becomes apparent at once that,with this view of the meaning ofordination vows, a church can have

By the REV. LESLIE W. SLOAT

certain doctrinal standards and yetnot hold at all to the doctrines con­tained in those standards, With sucha view, there is never any need tochange the church's creeds. Onemerely changes one's understandingof the "substance" of those creeds.It is really a most convenient pro­cedure. When outsiders who areorthodox ask what the church be­lieves, they are pointed to an ortho­dox creed. But when outsiders (orinsiders) protest against the orthodoxcreed, they are told that only its sub­stance-and that conceived of in thor­oughly modernist terms-really rep­resents the church's faith. The churchis able also to "keep up with thetimes" by "interpreting" the confes­sion according to the latest religiousfads.

Now it is usually very difficult toprove that an individual or a churchis really disloyal to its constitutionwhen this attitude prevails and anorthodox flag is at the masthead. Inthe Northern Presbyterian Church,however, the Modernists failed to keeptheir secret. They issued the notori­ous Auburn Affirmation, and thereintold the whole story. That is the greatsignificance of that paper. Signed byover 1200 ministers of the church,it frankly confesses doctrinal error,but asserts that its signers are andought to be looked upon as true and

-Ioyal to the church.In 1923 the general assembly had

made a declaration reaffirming a pre­vious declaration. Certain doctrineswere declared to be "essential doc­trines of the Word of God and ourStandards" (i.e., the confession, etc.).These doctrines were the inerrancyof Scripture, the virgin birth ofChrist, His death as a sacrifice tosatisfy divine justice and reconcileus to God, His bodily resurrectionand His miracles. All of these doc­trines, except perhaps the last, aredearly stated in practically the samelanguage in the Confession of Faithand the Catechisms. That they areessential to the Christian faith, notonly as understood by Calvinists butalso as understood by the wholechurch throughout its history, cannotbe denied by anyone who has a truehistorical perspective. Dr. Hodge. in

36 THE PRESBYTERIAN GUARDIAN August 10

the book referred to above, gives asummary of the system of doctrinecontained in the confession, and in­cludes by specific mention most ofthese doctrines.

What Is theAuburn ARirmation?

Yet it was against this deliveranceof the General Assembly of 1923 thatthe Auburn Affirmation was issued.That document asserts, among otherthings, that "the doctrine of iner­rancy" of the Scriptures really "im­pairs their supreme authority for faithand life...." It says that the doc­trines included in the assembly's ac­tion are merely "theories" concerningcertain great "facts and doctrines."And persons who do not hold to theseparticular theories, but who hold tothe "facts and doctrines" should haveperfectly good standing. Thus onewho believes the Bible inspired but notinerrant should have good standingin the church. One who believesChrist was divine but denies the"virgin birth" (what alternatives arepossible?) should be accepted. Onewho believes in the resurrectionbut denies the "bodily" resurrectionshould also be received. And one whobelieves Christ somehow saves, butdenies that His death was a sacrificeto satisfy divine justice and reconcileus to God-such an one should alsohave a place of good standing in ourpulpits.

In spite of these frank admissionsof disagreement with the confessionaldoctrine of the church, these menassure us : "We affirm and declareour acceptance of the WestminsterConfession of Faith, as we did atour ordinations, 'as containing thesystem of doctrine taught in the HolyScriptures.''' And again : "We sin­cerely hold and earnestly preach thedoctrines of evangelical Christianityin agreement with the historic testi­mony of the Presbyterian Church inthe U.S.A."

In other words, to accept theConfession of Faith means merely toaccept what we want to accept of it.And to preach Christianity meansmerely to preach our ideas of thedoctrines of evangelical Christianity(which may not be evangelical at all)in agreement with our idea of thehistoric testimony of the church(which may actually be the exactopposite of the real historic testimonyof the church).

It is men who hold this attitude

toward the constitution of the church,and toward the Christian faith, whonow dominate the Northern Presby.terian Church. One of them waselected moderator of the last assem­bly (1940). And The PresbyterianTribune, June 6, 1940, pp. 4, 5, holdsthat this election relieves the Affirma­tionists of all suspicion and puts thestamp of the church's approval uponthem.

Its Significance for theSouthern Church

Now what is the significance of allthis for the Presbyterian Church inthe U.S., the Southern PresbyterianChurch? '

The Southern Church has for someyears been considering union with itsNorthern neighbor. Opposition to thisunion has arisen, much of it doc­trinal in character. Those opposing ithave used the Auburn Affirmation asoneof their chief weapons. The inter­est in the Affirmation has grown tosuch an extent that Dr. Walter L.Lingle has seen fit to print it in itsentirety in his department of theChristian Observer for July 17, 1940.

We are of course glad that thedocument has been placed in thehands of members of the SouthernChurch. But Dr. Lingle has seenfit to make some comments concern­ing it, and the tendency of his com­ments-or so it seems to us-is tooverlook entirely the bad features ofthe paper and emphasize those withwhich there might be agreement. Ofcourse, the comments are brief. Butthey concern almost entirely the ar­guments used by the signers of theAffirmation themselves to justify theirposition. The signers claimed the as­sembly had no power to issue deliv-

'Southern ChurchFund

HAVE you sent your gift tothe Southern Church

Fund of The PresbyterianGuardian? It will enable us tosend this timely article, and ahost of similarly informativediscussions soon to be pub­lished, to the ministers of theSouthern Presbyterian Church.

erances which added to or changedthe terms of subscription of minis­terial members of the church. Suchcould be done only by concurrence ofthe presbyteries. This claim is per­fectly correct. But the error lies inthe implication that in the actionof 1923 the assembly had actuallv"amended" the constitution in anunconstitutional way-that it had at­tempted to "commit the church tocertain theories" of Christianity­that, in, the words of the Protest of1923, it had sought "to impose ...doctrinal tests other than or in addi­tion to" those in the constitution. In1923 the assembly had only statedwhat was in the constitution, andonly some of that. Its right to do sois obvious. It is merely saying thatthe church has a constitution, and theconstitution means what it says, sothat to accept the constitution meansto accept what the constitution says.

Dr. Lingle overlooks this fact com­pletely, as he overlooks the doctrinalheresies admitted in the Affirmation.He takes the lead in presenting theAffirmation to the people of theSouthern Church, but at the sametime attempts to suggest the attitudethe church should take toward theAffirmation, and his suggestion seemsto be that the church should be sym­pathetic. But is the Southern Presby­terian Church willing to say thatone's adoption of the Confession ofFaith means merely one's adoptionof what one conceives to be the sub­stance of that confession? Andisthat church willing to go on andsay that its general assembly has noright to say what the confession con­tains, but must leave that to everyindividual to decide for himself? Totake such an attitude is to open thedoors to every shade of opinion andevery heresy that has ever masquer­aded under the name of Christianity.The glory of the Presbyterian Churchduring past years has been that itwas a confessional church, holdingfearlessly aloft the banner of thetrue and consistent Biblical Christianfaith. In the Northern Church thisglory has departed. Those who wouldmaintain that faith have been forcedto withdraw from it.

It is our earnest hope that in allconsiderations of union between theNorthern and Southern PresbyterianChurches the significance of the Au­burn Affirmation, as opening the doorto heresy under the guise, of loyalty,will not be overlooked.

,

If

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1940 THE PRESBYTERIAN GUARDIAN 37

Prophet and Priest

•The Eighth in a Series of Radio Addresses Broadc:ast on the

Westminster Seminary Ho"r D"ring the Fall of 1936

By the REV. J. GRESHAM MACHEN, D.O., Litt.D.

W E ARE now dealing with thethree offices which Christ exer­

cises as our Redeemer. They are theoffices of a prophet, of a priest, andof a king.

So far we have dealt only with thefirst of these-with Christ's office ofa prophet. In that office of a prophetChrist reveals to us the will of Godfor our salvation. In other words, Heproclaims the gospel to us.

We observed how He began thatproclamation of the gospel even inOld Testament times. He sent theHoly Spirit upon the Old Testamentprophets and they testified beforehandof Him. But ordinarily when we thinkof Christ's office of a prophet wethink of that part of the execution ofthe office which Christ accomplishedand is accomplishing after He becameman.

Last Sunday afternoon we spentmost of our time dealing with theteaching of Christ during His earthlyministry. We observed that at! of thatteaching is to be regarded as part ofChrist's execution of the office of aprophet, because in everything Heuttered He had the full presence ofthe Holy Spirit and spoke with thefull authority of the triune God.Other prophets spoke with divine au­thority sometimes; Jesus spoke withdivine authority always. That is onegreat difference between Jesus and allother prophets.

We observed also that another dif­ference is far greater still. That otherdifference is that, whereas otherprophets spoke for God, Jesus not onlyspoke for God but was Himself God.He revealed God not only by whatGod gave Him to say but also bywhat He was. No man hath seen Godat any time, says the Gospel of John.But that same Gospel of John ·says inthe very same verse that Jesus, whowas God's only begotten, has revealedthat unseen God. When men lookedupon Jesus they actually saw withtheir eyes one who was truly God.That is the marvel of the incarnation.To behold with one's bodily eyes onewho was truly God-what greaterwonder can there possibly be thanthis?

We shall one day have that won­derful privilege, as it was had longago by the writer of the FourthGospel and the other eyewitnesses ofthe earthly ministry of Jesus. Weshall have that wonderful privilegewhen Jesus comes again. Then weshall actually see with our very eyesone who is truly God.

Meanwhile we can read in the Gos­pels about the words and deeds ofthat same one. By that reading webecome truly acquainted with Him.Much in His earthly life has not beenrecorded in the Gospels. We are toldlittle about the long years which Hespent at Nazareth until He was aboutthirty years old. Only one glimpse-awonderful glimpse, it is true-is givenus from those years. We cannot giveanything like a complete biography ofJesus. We cannot trace with anythinglike completeness the chronologicalsequence of His words and deeds. Butthere is one wonderful thing aboutthat which we do actually read about,there in the Gospels. The wonderfulthing about it is that it does tellus with matchless distinctness whatmanner 0 f person' Jesus was. If weread the Gospels in sympathetic fash­ion we do come into personal contactwith Jesus.

Many biographies embracing manyvolumes and full of the most minuteand detailed information seem some­how never to present to us the realperson whose life they are startingout to describe. As we read them welearn this thing and that thing thatthe man said and did, but somehowthe man himself seems to be hiddenfrom us; we do not really get ac­quainted with him when we read thelearned book that recounts his life.

It is not so with the Gospels. Howmarvelously lifelike is the picture thatthey give of Jesus of Nazareth! Whatwonderful insight is given into thedepths of His soul! There are, indeed,mysteries there. We always feel, aswe read, that we are dealing with aperson so mysterious that no man canever fathom the depths of His being.Indeed the Gospels themselves, in thewords of Jesus that they report, tellus that. "No one knoweth the Son but

the Father," says Jesus in the l Ithchapter of Matthew. But althoughthere are depths in the person ofJesus which no mere man can know,nevertheless the devout reader of theGospels does acquire a knowledge ofJesus which is wonderfully rich andtrue. It is not merely an externalknowledge; it is not merely a knowl­edge of this detail or that regardingthe things that Jesus saw and did: butit is a knowledge of the person Him­self.

We do rise from a reading of theGospels, if we have read aright, witha true knowledge of the man ChristJesus. Nay, we rise from a read­ing of the Gospels also with theknowledge that the man Christ Jesusis also very God. Always the deityof Christ shines through in the Gos­pel picture. It appears in the loftyclaims of Jesus Himself-His claimto do things that only God can do,His claim to forgive sins, His claimto be the final judge of all the earth,His claim to have in His own beingdepths which only God the Fatherknows, His claim to be one with theFather. The deity of Jesus appears inthe sovereign power of J esus, sub­stantiating His lofty claims. Yes, it iscertainly true that the Gospels presentone who was God and man in twodistinct natures.

Yet they also just as clearly presentone who was one person, and they en­able us to know that person. Ourknowledge of the person is given usby the details which the Gospels tellus about Him; it is entirely dependentupon those details; but it is somethingmore than the sum of those details. Ifwe read the Gospels aright we knowmore than this thing and that aboutJ esus. We know Jesus!

Knowing Jesus, we trust Him. Wecould not trust any other. But whenwe are confronted with the majesticand yet wonderfully tender and lov­ing person who is presented to us inMatthew, Mark, Luke and John, thenwe say, "Lord, I believe," and if wealso say, "Help thou mine unbelief,"we can trust Him even to answer thatprayer. The Bible does more than tellus, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,

38 THE PRESBYTERIAN GUARDIAN Augus+l0

and thou shalt be saved." It also tellsus who that person is in whom we areasked to believe. The Bible is not un­reasonable enough to ask us to putour trust in one about whom we knownothing, but it gives us, in the Gos­pels, a wonderfully vivid account ofthe One whom it presents to us as theobject of our faith. If we really readthat account aright, we say that theOne who is there presented to us isworthy of an utterly boundless con­fidence. We trust Him 'because weknow Him to be trustworthy.

That knowledge of Jesus which isimparted to us in the Gospels is partof Jesus' prophetic work. He pro­claims to us the will of God for oursalvation not only by telling us thisthing or that about the way of salva­tion, not only by telling us this thingor that that we should do, but alsoby presenting Himself to us in veryperson as the object of our faith. Heoffers Himself to us as our Saviour,and in thus offering Himself to us asour Saviour He is truly executing Hisoffice as a prophet.' He is revealingGod to us, as a true prophet revealsGod-yet in a way that goes far be­yond the way in which any otherprophet can reveal God. His ownwords make that clear. "He that hathseen me hath seen the Father," saidJesus. Jesus, my friends, is HimselfGod, and His presentation to us ofHis own person is the very centre ofHis prophetic office.

That presentation of Jesus to us asour Saviour was, as we have seen,carried on by the words and deeds ofJesus during His earthly ministry. Butit is very important to observe that itdid not cease when His earthly min­istry was over, and it is also very im­portant to observe that that part of itwhich was carried on after Hisearthly ministry was over was just astruly carried on by Jesus Himself aswas the part of it which was carriedon during His earthly ministry.

In the first place, Jesus providedeven during His earthly ministry forthe subsequent carrying on of Hisprophetic work. He did that by choos­ing and commissioning His apostles.He invested His apostles with a super­natural authority, and in the exerciseof that authority they gave the NewTestament books to the church. Theauthority of the New Testament booksis not an authority independent ofJesus, but it is an authority whichJesus Himself imparted.

In the second place, Jesus not only

gave the apostles the commission invirtue of which they gave the NewTestament books to the church, butalso He empowered the writers of theNew Testament books in their exe­cution of the commission. He sent theHoly Spirit, and the Holy Spirit in­spired the writers of the New Testa­ment books so that they were pre­served from error and so that theresulting books are the very Word ofGod. Even of the very first coming ofthe Holy Spirit, on the day of Pente­cost, the Apostle Peter said, speakingof Jesus:

Therefore being by the righthand of God exalted, and havingreceived of the Father the prom­ise of the Holy Ghost, he hathshed forth this, which ye now seeand hear (Acts 2: 33) .

The same thing is true of all subse­quent operations of the Holy Spirit.The New Testament delights to callthe Holy Spirit not only the Spirit ofGod but also, particularly, the Spiritof Christ or the Spirit of Jesus, or theSpirit of the Son of God. The HolySpirit proceeds not only from theFather but also from the Son. That istrue not only of the mysterious eternalrelation between the persons of thegodhead, but also of the operations ofthe. Holy Spirit in the church. Sowhen the Holy Spirit inspired thewriters of the New Testament books,so that what they wrote should betruly the Word of God, that was partof the execution of the propheticoffice of Jesus Christ.

That brings us to speak of the thirdway in which Christ continues to exe­cute His prophetic office after the con­clusion of His earthly ministry. Heexecutes it in the blessed ministra­tions of the Holy Spirit to the indi­vidual believer. We must not conceiveof the relations of the persons of theTrinity to one another too much afterthe analogy of the relationships offinite persons. We must not apply anymechanical either-or to the questionwhether it is the second or the thirdperson of the Trinity who does this orthat. The New Testament does, in­deed, teach the true personality of thethree persons. I t does make a pro­found distinction between them. Butat the same time it teaches that wherethe Holy Spirit is present Christ ispresent. So close is the relationshipbetween the Holy Spirit and the as­cended Lord from whom He comes

that where the Holy Spirit is presentChrist Himself is said to be present.

Accordingly, when the Holy Spiritenlightens the mind of some still un­saved person so that he shall receivethe gospel for the saving of his soul,that is not only the work of theSpirit; it is also part of Christ's exe­cution of His prophetic office. So alsowhen the Holy Spirit is graciouslypresent with believers in their readingof the Bible, enabling them to under­stand in ever greater fullness themeaning of what they read and en­abling them to receive it ever moreprofoundly in their hearts as well asin their minds, in order that they maypractice it in their lives, that also if,part of Christ's execution of Hisprophetic office.

Very comprehensive, then, is thatoffice of a prophet which Christ exe­cutes as our Redeemer. The ShorterCatechism is quite right in saying thatChrist as our Redeemer executes theoffice of a prophet not only by Hisword but also by His Spirit. And theLarger Catechism is quite right inemphasizing, more clearly even thandoes the Shorter Catechism, the won­derful comprehensiveness of thatprophetic work. "Christ executeth theoffice of a prophet," it rightly says, "inhis revealing to the Church in allages, by his Spirit and Word, indivers ways of administration, thewhole will of God, in all things con­cerning their edification and salva­tion."

But it is time now for us to turnto the second of the three officeswhich Christ is said in the Catechismsto execute as our Redeemer. That isChrist's office of a priest.

As we began our discussion ofChrist's office of a prophet by askingwhat is a prophet, so it would seem tobe in the interests of logical symmetryfor us to begin our discussion ofChrist's office of a priest by askingwhat is a priest.

Fortunately we have abundant ma­terials in the Bible for obtaining ananswer to that question. We not onlyhave descriptions of priests and theiractivities from which we could our­selves derive' a very clear notion ofwhat the Bible regards as essential inthe priestly function, but also in theEpistle to the Hebrews we have some­thing almost akin to an actual defini­tion:

For every high priest takenfrom among men is ordained for

1940 THE PRESBYTERIAN GUARDIAN 39

men in things pertaining to God,that he may offer both gifts andsacrifices for sins: who can havecompassion on the ignorant, andon them that are out of the way;for that he himself also is com­passed with infirmity. And by rea­son thereof he ought, as for thepeople, so also for himself, tooffer for sins. And no man takeththis honor unto himself, but hethat is called .of God, as wasAaron (Heb. 5: 1-4).

Here the fundamental nature ofpriesthood appears very clearly. Apriest is a mediator between men andGod. Men, not having direct access toGod, or at least not having such directaccess until it is secured for them bythe priest, are dependent upon thepriest's mediation in their approach toGod. He represents them in God'spresence. They wait without. Heenters in unto God and pleads theircause.

That being so, it is natural to dis­cover that the priest's function is two­fold. First, he offers sacrifice; and,second, he engages in intercession. Heoffers sacrifice in order to expiate sin,and make God propitious; and thenhe uses the access to God thus se­cured in order to be an advocate inGod's presence of the people of whomhe is the representative. Sacrifice andintercession-those are the two chieffunctions of a priest, according to theBible.

It may perhaps be said, with somedegree of truth, that as a prophet isa representative of God in the pres­ence of men, so a priest is a repre­sentative of men in the presence ofGod. But that formulation of the dif­ference between the two offices ismisleading if it is understood to meanthat as a prophet is chosen by God tobe His representative before men, soa priest is chosen by men to be theirrepresentative before God. The Epis­tle to the Hebrews, in the passagewhich we have just quoted, is carefulto point out that a priest is notchosen by men at all. Like a prophet,he is chosen by God. He is a repre­sentative of men in the presence ofGod, but he does not take this honorunto himself, nor is he given it bythose whose representative he is; buthe is called to this honor by God, aswas Aaron.

Well, then, if that is what a priestis, if a priest is one who approachesGod in behalf of men, by offering

sacrifice and by making intercessionfor them, and if Christ is a priest, itfollows that Christ, in the executionof the office of a priest, will be foundto perform those functions. An exam­ination of the whole Bible will showthat such is actually the case, and onebook of the Bible, the Epistle to theHebrews, is concerned, almost fromthe beginning to the end, with show­ing that it is the case. Christ offeredsacrifice for His people on the cross,and He makes intercession for them.He exercises, therefore, all parts ofthe office of a priest.

It is true, of course, that there areimportant differences between Christ'sexecution of the office of a priest andthe execution of it by other priests.Other priests offer sacrifice re­peatedly; Christ offered it once andfor all. Other priests needed to offersacrifice for their own sins as well asfor the sins of their people; Christ,being sinless, offered sacrifice for thepeople's sins only. Other priests shouldhave compassion on sinners becausethey are sinners too. Christ, beingsinless, has compassion on sinnersonly because He was tempted in allpoints like as they are, and not at allbecause He Himself has sinned.

Do these differences, and others,mean that the Bible is using merely afigure of speech when it calls Christa priest? Do they mean that it ismerely using an analogy taken fromhuman life to describe as best it maya work of Christ which reallytranscends all such analogies? I donot think that is the way to look atthe matter at all. Exactly the oppositeis the case. Far from saying that otherpriests are the real priests and Christis a priest only in a figure, what wereally ought to say is that Christ isthe only real priest, and other priestsare at best priests only in a secondaryand partial sense. Very grandly doesthe Epistle to the Hebrews bring thatout. Even the Old Testament priests,who unlike the priests in heathen re­ligions have not usurped the priest­hood but are truly appointed to bepriests by God, are yet priests only ina secondary and derived sense. Theirpriesthood brought access to God onlyby pointing forward to the one truepriest, who on Calvary offered theonly sacrifice that can take away theguilt of sin and cause sinful men tobe received by the righteous God, theone true priest who alone has constantand untroubled access to God that Hemay continually make intercession

for men. The priesthood of the OldTestament priests was but a shadowof what was to come, and now thatthe reality has been established theshadow has passed away.

We cannot possibly lay too greatstress upon that fact. There is reallyonly one priest who can bring us sin­ners unto God; there is only one whocan present us before the throne.That one is Jesus Christ, and themeans by which He presents us be­fore the throne is His death. Thendid He offer the one complete andall-sufficient sacrifice for sin. Thendid He offer Himself truly as theLamb of God that taketh away the sinof the world.

It should be evident even this after­noon, before we go on to unfold anyfurther what the Bible tells us aboutthe priestly work of Christ, that indealing with the priestly work ofChrist we are dealing with the heartof the gospel. We are dealing withthe heart of the gospel because we aredealing with the cross of Christ.

Will you believe that gospel thisafternoon, my friends, if you havenot already believed it? As Jesusknocks at the door of your heart,will you open the door and receiveHim as your Saviour and your Lord?

Bureau ofVital Statistics

Married: Miss Elizabeth Gillmoreto the Rev. Marvin L. Derby of NewHaven, Connecticut, June 21st, atHamilton, Ohio.

At Bris, Virginia, Miss Phyllis Lit­tle to the Rev. Henry D. Phillips ofWashington, D. c., on July 27th.

At Westminster Seminary, June29th, Miss Elsie Schauffele to the Rev.Robert E. Nicholas.

At Los Angeles, California, MissKathleen Moote to the Rev. DwightH. Poundstone, on June 14th.

Born: To Dr. and Mrs. Donald K.Blackie of Escondido, California, adaughter, Priscilla Frances, on May27th.

To the Rev. and Mrs. Russell DalePiper of Los Angeles, California, ason, Dale Ellis, on May 18th.

To the Rev. and Mrs. John Daviesof Gresham, Wisconsin, a daughter,Beth Ann, on July 19th.

(EDITOR'S NOTE: Ministers of TheOrthodox Presbyterian Church areinvited to submit notices for futureinstalments of this column.)

40 THE PRE'S BY T ER I A N G U A R D I A N AuCJust 10

An Important Announcement• To the Subscribers of

THE PRESBYTERIAN GUARDIAN

Send your renewal now, and avoid this increase in rate

I)

?

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of THE PRESBYTERIAN GUARDIAN will be advanced to$1.50 (an increase of about 2¢ a copy). But because werealize how many people can spare only a dollar at atime, and how convenient the rate of a dollar really is,we are beginning a new regular SUbscription rate ofeight months for $1.00. This is exactly the same priceper month as the yearly rate. You will lose nothing bytaking advantage of it, except that you will have theinconvenience of renewing a little more often.

The club rate after October 1st will be $1.00 a year (amuch smaller increase than in the single subscriptionrate). This rate has purposely been kept low, in ordernot to work a hardship on large groups in local churchesof The Orthodox Presbyterian Church, or on churchesor sessions which subscribe for every member of thecongregation.

October 1st is more than a month and a half away,and in the meantime you may renew your present sub­scription (no matter when it expires) at the presentrate of $1.00 a year for as many years as you wish.There is no limit whatever to the length of time forwhich you may renew; and even a "lifetime subscrip­tion" costs only $25.00. Simply send us your name andaddress, together with your remittance at the rate of$1.00 a year for the number of years you wish to extendyour subscription, and the change of rate need not affectyou for a long time to come. New gift subscriptionsalso will gladly be received at the old rate, as long asthey are postmarked not later than midnight of Mon­day, September 30th. Clubs of subscribers may alsorenew at the present rate of 80¢ each per year (ofcourse, at least five members of the club must agree torenew for the same length of time). But don't delayuntil the last minute! Send a renewal now, and save 50¢a year on future single subscriptions, or 20¢ a yearin clubs.

We feel certain that you who have stood so loyallywith us during these years of struggle will recognize thenecessity that forces us to ask your help. The enemy

truly has come in like aflood, but the Spirit ofthe Lord has lifted up astandard against him.THE PRESBYTERIANGUARDIAN is bearing thatstandard high. Will youhelp us never to be forcedto lower it?

-T. R. B.

New Subscription RatesEffective October 1, 1940

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Eight months .

One year , ..

Club Subscriptions (Five or more)Each, one year .

N0 CHRISTIAN magazine has greater reason to bethankful to almighty God for His sustaining bless­

ing than has THE PRESBYTERIAN GUARDIAN. Through­out the five years of its existence there has been repeatedand abundant evidence that the benediction of God isresting upon its testimony. Despite the frequent attacksof those who find themselves out of accord with thevigorous witness of The Orthodox Presbyterian Churchand of THE PRESBYTERIAN GUARDIAN, our subscriptionlist today is very nearly as large as when Dr. Machenwas the editor.

Those of you who have been subscribers since theinception of the magazine will recall that it wasoriginally published twice a month at the rate of $1.50a year. Later it became possible to reduce that rate tothe present $1.00 a year. In 1937, when retrenchmentwas imperative, it was decided to continue the same sub­scription price, but to publish only one issue a month.That policy was followed until this year.

Last Autumn we became convinced that, if THEPRESBYTERIAN GUARDIAN were to be effective in thefulfillment of its mission, we must return to the orig­inal frequency of publication-twice a month. Sincethis involved a substantial increase in our budget, weappealed to our subscribers for the support that wouldmake such a change possible. A great many friends ofthe magazine recognized the value of the proposal, andgave generously that it might be fulfilled. Althoughonly a portion of the needed additional income was insight, we felt justified in proceeding to enlarge thescope and influence of THE PRESBYTERIAN GUARDIANby beginning twice-a-month publication on January 10,1940. The hearty and appreciative response of a host ofreaders has proven a hundredfold the wisdom of thatmove.

Now we are turning to all of you who have voicedyour approval of the present semi-monthly policy, forcooperation in helping us to continue the more effectiveministry begun last January and even to put into effectadditional improvementsfrom time to time.

The first six months of1940 have proven that itis impossible for us topublish 24 issues a yearat the former rate of$1.00. Therefore, begin­ning October 1st, theyearly subscription rate

1940· THE PRESBYTERIAN GUARDIAN 41

akin to the zeal of the early Chris­tians which we in our day would dowell to emulate.

The present persecution is the logi­cal result of the adverse decisionwhich the United States SupremeCourt rendered in the case of therefusal of two child members of thesect to salute the flag in the publicschools of Pennsylvania. The SupremeCourt held, in an eight to one deci­sion, that it is within the provinceof a school board to make such arequirement and that a board is withinits rights in excluding from its schoolsanyone who refuses to comply withsuch a requirement (THE PRESBYTE­RIAN GUARDIAN, July 10, 1940). Whenthis decision was handed down it wasa signal for the persecution. And thepresent hysteria about "fi fth colum­nists" has undoubtedly done much tofan the flames of the persecution.

The Supreme Court decision strikesat the very essence of religious lib­erty guaranteed by the first and four­teenth amendments to the Constitu­tion of the United States, a libertyclose to the hearts of ProtestantChristians. There can be no true re­ligious freedom unless the individualis permitted to determine for himself,within certain limits, what he regardsas "religion." No Christian churchhas ever taken the attitude that salut­ing the flag was a religious act, yetthe "Witnesses" do take that attitude.For them it is a religious act; in theireyes saluting the flag marks them asdisloyal to the Word of God, for theyregard it as a violation of the secondcommandment. Since they sincerelyhold that saluting the flag is a re­ligious act contrary to the Word,their conscientious obj ections shouldbe respected. No one denies that agovernment has a right to demandevidences of loyalty from those towhom it offers its protection. Salutingthe flag is exactly such an evidenceof loyalty.

But from the thesis that the gov­ernment has a right to demand aparticular and specific evidence ofloyalty which some of its citizensregard as idolatry, we cannot butvigorously dissent. It is recognized in

.,

\j

EDITORIAL

Religious Liberty and"Jehovah's Witnesses"

To VOLTAIRE is credited thewords, "I disapprove of what you

say, but I will defend to the deathyour right to say it." When he pennedthis, the famous agnostic echoed thesentiments of many Christians whoread with sorrow of the modern per­secution of the sect known as "Je­hovah's Witnesses." In this issueagain, as in the past two issues, THEPRESBYTERIAN GUARDIAN publishesnews about this modern religious sect.It carries this news not because ofany essential interest it has in the"Witnesses" themselves, but becauseof the far-reaching consequences itsees in the persecution of these people.

To be sure, we cannet disapprovestrongly enough of the doctrine whichthis sect seeks to propagate. Many ofits doctrines are logically antitheticalto Biblical Christianity and, as such,must be opposed at every opportunityby those who love the Lord. But theright of these people to propagatetheir doctrines, by any means whichwill not interfere with the libertiesof people of other faiths, is one ofthose sacred rights for which Chris­tians may be willing even to die.

The persecution of "Jehovah's Wit­nesses" is an old story. It has croppedup spasmodically for a number ofyears. It has been frequently justifiedon the ground that these people havemade nuisances of themselves by theirmethods of propaganda. They haveused sound trucks; they have usedloud-speaker systems; they have usedphonograph recordings; and they haveconducted vigorous house - to - housecampaigns to distribute their litera­ture. These things, together with theintense anti-Roman Catholic natureof their literature, have done muchto foster hatred and persecution ofthem. While their methods of ex­pressing it may be condemned, theirzeal is to be commended and is much

MissionsYOUR gifts to home

foreign missions areently needed.

andurg-

our nation that the question of whatfalls within the sphere of "religion"is not a matter for the governmentto decide. One may regard an oathtaken in a court of law as a religiousact contrary to the Word of God; inthat case, one is permitted to "affirm."One may be a member of a religiousbody which has as one of its tenetsa pacifism which forbids the bearingof arms; in that case, one may servethe government during a nationalemergency in some other way. Mostof us hold that the Bible permits thetaking of oaths and the bearing ofarms under such circumstances; yetwe tolerate those who do not thushold, and make provision for theirreligious convictions. Most of us rec­ognize that the Bible does not forbidthe saluting of the flag, but again wemust tolerate those who believe other­wise.

The present question is not dissim­ilar to that of the attitude of theJapanese government regarding shrineworship. The government insists thatshrine worship is not a religious actat all, but simply an evidence of one'sloyalty to the nation. And the J ap­anese government holds that its de­cision as to what is a religious actis normative for all its subjects.The Christian, on the other hand, issure that worship at the shrinesviolates the first and second command­ments.We are certain that the issueconcerning shrines is infinitely moreclear than the issue raised by the"Witnesses," yet these two cases havea marked parallelism. Christians liv­ing under Japanese domination arewilling to give clear evidence of theirloyalty to the nation, as symbolizedby the Emperor, but bow down to himin worship they will not! We hopeand pray that the Japanese govern­ment will be brought to accept someother evidence of the loyalty ofChristians, just as we trust that theauthorities, whether they be localschool boards or higher authorities,will permit "Jehovah's Witnesses" tooffer other evidences of their loyalty.If, as is reliably reported, they wouldrefuse proper loyalty to the duly con­stituted authorities, they would there­by declare themselves anarchists whocould no longer claim the protectionof the government, and whose pres­ence could not long be tolerated inthe nation.

"Jehovah's Witnesses" are indeed apeculiar people, but so are Christians.They are a stubborn people, who hold

•

42 THE PRES BY T E R I A NG U A R D I A N August 10

Of The Orthodox Presbyterian Churc:h

The Calvary Church of Willow Grove

and complete church plant.A two-manual Moller pipe organ,

with 665 pipes, is housed in a spe­cially built addition to the church,and special music is a feature of theworship services.

The new building has, of course,stimulated the work. On two occasionsthere has been a church attendanceof nearly 400. During the first quarterof the fiscal year 1939-40, average at­tendance was as follows: Sundayschool, 190; morning service, 180;evening service, 100. During the sameperiod of the fiscal year 1940-41, aver­age attendance was: Sunday school,257; morning service, 203; eveningservice, 115.

At the annual business meeting,held in April of this year, it wasevident that the church had had thebest year in its history. Gifts for cur­rent expenses were $4350; for thenew building $3100; for missions andbenevolences, $1200. It is significantthat the gifts to missions were sub­stantially better than in the precedingyear, despite the fact that there wasa very natural emphasis upon theneeds of the building fund. It is alsoworthwhile to note that, at the timeof the separation from the Presbyte­rian Church in the U.S.A., the WillowGrove Chureh was receiving aid inthe amount of $300 a year from theBoard of National Missions; thismeant that its gifts to missions didnot exceed $450. Dr. Strong feels thatthese facts prove how enthusiasticallycongregations respond to the appealof a real doctrinal issue and howloyal in their sacrificial giving are hisWillow Grove members.

There are four Machen Leagues,and a fifth in prospect for the fall.A Christian School Society has beenorganized to further the cause ofChristian primary education. For sixyears a week-night Bible study groupfor young women, founded by Mrs.Strong and called the PhilologusClub, has met regularly and is mostenthusiastically . supported by theyoung ladies; numerous conversionsand additions to the church have at­tended the work of the club. The1940 Summer Bible School enjoyedan attendance of more than 100, andwas the best, from the point of viewof pupil interest, that the church hasever held. Plans are being formulatedfor a Calvary Church radio program-a dream that has long attracted thehopes and prayers of the congrega-tion. -T. R. B.

Calvary Church Auditorium

getic building program have beenrichly reaped by the Willow Grovecongregation. Almost as soon as wor­ship services were begun in the Amer­ican Legion hall, a building fund wasinaugurated. In the following springa $4000 lot was purchased and onApril 23, 1939, ground was brokenfor the new building. First worshipservices and the dedication of thebuilding were held on September 17thof that year.

The new church building, one ofthe finest in The Orthodox Presbyte­rian Church, represents a total in­vestment, including the costs of all

furnishings, of nearly $19,000. Thedebt is less than $9000, and morethan half of this was lent by membersof the church at three per cent. inter­est. The building is of frame con­struction on a concrete block founda­tion, and is located on a much-travelledhighway. The lot is 135 feet by 200feet, and the dimensions of the build­ing are 67 feet by 42 feet. The audi­torium seats 350 persons, and otherrooms include a Sunday school as­sembly room, eight classrooms, akitchen, and the pastor's study. Indi­rect lighting, and hot water heatfurnished by an oil burner, add thefinal touch of comfort to the modern

but a small minority-a minority nolarger, perhaps, than today's littlepersecuted sect. If liberty is deniedto "Jehovah's Witnesses," Christiansmay well tremble for the dawning ofthat other dark day. Religious liberty,they will discover, has perished on a

. totalitarian scaffold.-ROBERT S. MARSDEN

tenaciously to the tenets of their re­ligion, just as Christians hold to thetruths of theirs. It happens that nowin our country the conduct of Chris­tians is not often condemned by themajority of the people. But the daymay come, as it has already come ina large part of the world, when Chris­tian conduct will be the conduct of

O N SEPTEMBER 30, 1936, by avote of 200 to 25, the congre­

gation of the Willow Grove (Pa.)Presbyterian Church voted to with­draw with its pastor, the Rev. RobertStrong, from the Presbyterian Church

New Building at Willow Grove

in the U.S.A. Within two weeks ithad voted also to affiliate with thethen Presbyterian Church of Americaunder the local name, "Calvary Pres­byterian Church." The church prop­erty was yielded without a courtstruggle and, for the next three years,the congregation met in the thirdfloor hall of the Willow Grove Ameri­can Legion Post. At that time thechurch membership was about 200and Sunday school membership about240.

During the years that followed, ad­ditions to communicant membershiptotaled 144. Removals, deaths and theprocesses of discipline, however, makethe net gain smaller. The communi­cant membership now stands at 285and there are 79 baptized children.

The period immediately foIlowingseparation from the PresbyterianChurch in the U.S.A. was the mostfruitful in conversions. Two of theseseveral converts have since becomeelders in churches of The OrthodoxPresbyterian Church.

The rewards of pursuing an ener-

1940 THE PRESBYTERIAN GUARDIAN 43

The Fourth in a Series of Meditations on Prayer

Prayer-What Shall We Pray?

I OFTEN felt that he was merelytalking about God when he

prayed," said a Christian woman ofher former pastor, "but when Dr.J ames Gray used to pray, it actuallyseemed as though God was there inthe room, and that Dr. Gray was talk­ing directly to Him." A collegestudent once remarked that the minis­ter preached twice at each service~in the sermon and in his prayer.A little child recited the ABC's as sheknelt at her bedside, said her amen,and climbed into bed, content with thephilosophy that God knew what sheneeded and could put the letters to­gether better than could she. Talkingabout God, preaching, saying theABC's-strange content for prayer!Would that we might learn to praylike Dr. Gray 1

The quiet hour of prayer has come.Let us catch the soft, melodiousstrains of negro voices, "Steal away,steal away, steal away to Jesus." Yes,we must steal away from the busyworld, forget for the moment its in­cessant clamor and activity anddraw near unto the palace of splendorwhere dwells the King of kings.

Conscious of His sovereign powerand majesty, mindful of His perfectholiness, we come with sobered minds,humbled spirits, eager longings, scarcedaring to enter before Him who isLord of all, and yet remembering thewords of invitation, "Come unto me,"and those of exhortation, "Let ustherefore come boldly unto the throneof grace."

On the Threshold

The portals open. We stand on thethreshold, overcome by the glory ofHis person, entranced by the majesticchorus of heavenly voices raised inunrestrained praise:

"Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts:The whole earth is full of his glory."

Like Isaiah of old, we are moved toearnest confession. Indeed, we arepeople of unclean lips, and we dwellin the midst of a people of uncleanlips. We have all gone astray. We

By the REV. BURTON L. GODDARD

have turned everyone to his ownway. Our rebel hearts have nevermade full surrender; our mutinousspirits have never been completelytamed. We have all sinned and comeshort of the glory of God. We haveturned everyone to his own way.

We see ourselves in the light ofGod's righteousness, measured by Hisholy commandments. Not one of themhave we kept perfectly. We havebroken them all. We have yielded totemptation. God's only-begotten Sonshed His own life's blood to redeemus from sin, but we have continuedto wallow in the mire. We havefailed to live for Him. We havestopped short of sacrifice. Our lipshave withheld their witness; ourhands have withheld their service.

"Depth of mercy !-can there beMercy still reserved for me?Can my God his wrath forbear?Me, the chief of sinners, spare?"

Perhaps men regard us as right­eous. They do not know our hearts.Before God we realize that we arepublicans, and must pray the publi­can's prayer: "God be merciful to mea sinner." He who begins his prayerwith sincere confession of his sin haslearned the first lesson in the schoolof prayer.

Lips which are unworthy and de­filed are yet capable of expressingadoration. On the threshold the ac­knowledgment of sin is mingled withhosannas of praise. If the holy an­gels prostrate themselves before thethrone of God and the seraphim hov­ering round about must shield them­selves from the effulgence of Hisdivine glory, only folly could allowus in all our unworthiness to enterHis presence without doxologies as­cending from our hearts.

"0 worship the King all gloriousabove,

o gratefully sing His power andHis love;

Our Shield and Defender, theAncient of days,

Pavilioned in splendor, andgirded with praise."

In the First Room

Confession and praise may die onour lips, but prayer is not prayer un­less they continue in our hearts as wecross beyond the threshold. Indeed, itis difficult to make clear distinctionbetween the song of the seraphimwhich greets one at the threshold andthat of the psalmist which now fillsthe room:

"0 give thanks unto the LORD,For he is good: for his mercy en­

dureth forever."

We remember and make mention ofthe abundant grace of our God."While we were yet sinners, Christdied for us." When we thirsted, Heled us to the water of life and gaveus to drink. When we were weary, HeHimself took the burden of our sinand bore its penalty. When we faintedalong the way, He restored our souls.When we were in need, He pouredforth upon us showers of blessinguntil our cups were full and runningover. When we passed through thevalley of the shadow, He stayed withus still. How tender was His mercy!How all-sufficient His love! How un­failing His constant provision oftemporal mercies!

He who enters through the doorand does not climb up some other waymust needs pass through this firstroom and read everywhere upon itswalls the words: GRATITUDE UNTO

OUR GOD.

In the Sec:ond Room

There is yet a second room. Manywho hasten through the first, lingerhere at length. It is the room of peti­tion. Here are found even thievesand robbers. Here are the selfish aswell as the saintly. A great host fillsthe room. Countless requests are ad­dressed to Him who is seated uponthe throne. With the graciousness ofa father, He answers the cries of Hischildren. He has bid them make theirrequests known unto Him. He ispleased to regard their pleas and tosupply their needs.

Alien intruders. however, plead invain. Never have they stood on thethreshold and poured forth confessionand praise. Never have they tarriedin the outer room to acknowledge lovefor and gratitude to the King. Theyhave despised citizenship in the king­dom. To them the King has given no

-

44 THE PRE'SIYTERIAN GUARDIAN August 10

General Secretary of the Committees on Home andForeign Missions of The Orthodox Presbyterian Church

Missionary Heroes of the PastBy the REV. ROBERT S. MARSDEN

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18 minute. from The Sheltonto the Fair Ground.

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A. R. WALTY, Manager

promises. He will not answer whenthey pray.

In the Inner ChamberThere is yet another chamber to be

sought by him who would truly pray.Few there are who find it. It is thechamber of intercession. A lone wor­shipper kneels in the chamber. Hisprayer is answered. A messenger ofthe Most High tells the good news anda soul in distant China is born again,instead of slipping out into eternity­lost. A few words of intercessoryprayer and fever leaves a tormentedbody, a heaping basket is deposited atthe door of an unfortunate family, along feud is broken, an indifferentchurch becomes a power for God.

What shall we pray? Speak to God-from the threshold, from the outerroom, from that which lies beyond,from the inner chamber. Is ever thetime of prayer too limited to proceedin this acceptable way? "Lord, deliverus from such an excuse. Lord, teachus thus to pray!"

XVI. Francis Xavier

A MI SS ION ARY who is said tohave labored "in 52 different

kingdoms, preached through ninethousand miles of territory, and bap­tized over one million persons"; whois characterized by Roman Catholichistorians as the greatest missionarysince the apostle Paul; who is hon­ored by prominent Protestant writersin such glowing terms as these:H... no other life, since Paul's, hasshown such ardor and fervor, suchabsorbing zeal for the greater gloryof God, such self-forgetting, self­denying passion for the souls of men,as that of the young Saint of Na­varre"-such a missionary cannot butbe classified as one of the MissionaryHeroes of the Past. Even a shortlist must contain his name. Such isFrancis Xavier, the earliest and thebest of the long line of missionariesof the Society of Jesus (Jesuits).A contemporary of the ProtestantReformation, he antedates large scaleProtestant missionary effort by overtwo centuries. The name of the So­ciety to which he belonged has oftenstruck terror to the hearts of Prot­estants who have encountered its un­scrupulous and anti-Christian meth­ods, but the first missionary of thatSociety is almost without parallel inhis zeal for the propagation of thef~th. -

Francis Xavier was born about1506 and lived only 46 years. As ayoung man he grew up looking for­ward to a life of ease in keepingwith his station in life. His mission­ary interest dates from his first con­tact with Ignatius of Loyola, whowas the founder of the Society ofJesus. Francis was one of the orig­inal seven who took the Jesuit vowsin 1534. Shortly after this he beganto make plans for a missionary jour­ney to India. With some compan­ions, and with the aid of the Portu­guese who at that time were the mostpowerful force in the East, he landedat Goa in India in 1541. In one monthhe is said to have baptized 10,000converts, and before long he hadestablished 40 mission stations illIndia, having secured reinforcements

from the home lands.It was while in India that he con­

ceived the notion of going to Japan.He had met a _Japanese whom heconverted to Christianity and whomhe took back to Japan with him,where he effected an entry into thatcountry as the first Christian mis­sionary. He was received with muchfavor and baptized thousands of con­verts in the two and a half years hewas there. His was a restless spirit,however, and he travelled throughoutthe islands of the seas, preaching andbaptizing wherever he went. Return­ing to Goa he determined upon amissionary journey to China, whichwas then entirely closed to foreigners,and conceived the idea of enteringthe country as part of the entourageof a Portuguese embassage. Hisplans, however, were cut short bydeath, which came to him on anisland off the coast of China.

This remarkable man was an oddcombination of sincere piety and de­grading superstition. His motto was"To the Greater Glory of God"-anoble motto for the life of anyone.His methods of seeking to glorifyGod were, to say the least, question­able. We are told that he did notknow any of the languages of thepeople among whom he worked, butthat when he preached at all he didso through an interpreter. His meth­ods of carrying on missionary workdid not require a great deal of preach­ing, for he simply went about ad­ministering the sacraments. Believingthat saving grace is conveyed by thesacraments, he administered themfreely to anyone who would receivethem, and counted his converts bythe number who could be inducedor cajoled into being baptized. Sincehe believed that there was no salva­tion outside the Romish church, andsince admission to the church wasthrough the sacraments, his chiefambition was to bring people to anacceptance of them. There was littlecalling upon the heathen to turn fromtheir sins and receive Christ in anintelligent way. He is quoted as say­ing, HI make Christians," and theChristians which he "made" throughthe administration of the sacraments

1940 THE PRESBYTERIAN GUARDIAN 45

WrIteforSamples

left much to be desired in the matterof their Christian profession.

Yet with all the glaring weaknessesin his message and in his methods, itis remarkable how permanent wasthe work that he established. Churcheswere founded by Francis and hisfollowers, and in 1581, about 32 yearsafter he first entered Japan, therewere said to be 150,000 professingChristians in that land. The missionwhich he started in Japan continuedfor many years, and it wastnot untila later generation of Jesuit mission­aries became involved in the intriguesof a difficult Japanese political situa­tion that the mission was destroyed.The reform party which came intopower feared, probably rightly, a ploton the part of the Jesuits to effectforeign domination of Japan, and atragic persecution was instituted,during which thousands of professingChristians were tortured and put todeath for their faith.

Francis was the beginning of along line of Jesuit missionaries fromthat day to this. It was they whorevived missionary zeal in the Romishchurch, and who did so much to carrythe doctrines of Rome to the ends ofthe earth, following the discoveryof the New World and the rediscov­ery of the Far East. The ProtestantChurch of the Reformation periodwas singularly unconcerned about theheathen, and its feeble energies wereoccupied with necessary doctrinalmissionary endeavor. It will alwaysbe to the discredit of early Prot­estantism, however, that it left thefield of foreign missions to the Rom­ish church, and this failure of theProtestants to be foreign missionariesfrom the very beginning allowed largesections of the world to rest for hun­dreds of vears in the semi-darknessof Romanism. In our day there is nomore crying need in missions than formissionary evangelism in the fieldsalready occupied by the pervertedChristianity of Rome.

Why Are We Here?(Concluded From Page 34)

than once. But let me read you a fewwords about this kind of foolishness:"We are fools for Christ's sake, butye are wise in Christ; we are weak,but ye are strong; ye are honourable,but we are despised. Even unto this

present hour we both hunger, andthirst, and are naked, and are buf­feted, and have no certain dwelling­place; and labour, working with ourown hands: being reviled, we bless;being persecuted, we suffer it: beingdefamed, we intreat: we are made asthe filth of the world, and are theoffscouring of all things unto thisday" (I Cor. 4: 10-13). Fools, to sac­rifice and suffer, when it might havebeen avoided! But wait! Is it notwritten, "For unto you it is given inthe behalf of Christ, not only to be­lieve on him, but also to suffer forhis sake?" Let others congratulatethemselves on their discretion in sav­ing themselves hardship and privationby remaining in the old church. Letus rejoice because, as fools forChrist's sake, we have been countedworthy to suffer a little for HisName!

No man is a fool who sacrifices andsuffers in the cause of Christ. Youthree Hebrew children, who werecast into the fiery furnace, your con­temporaries called you fools! But theSon of God honored you with Hispresence in the midst of the flames!And you, Daniel! What a fool youwere to open your windows towardJerusalem and pray to your God indefiance of the emperor's edict! Butyour God shut the lions' mouths!And you, Stephen! What a fool youwere to stand up boldly for Jesuswhen, by a little discreet cleverness,you might have saved yourself froma violent death! But when you weredying under the shower of stones, youlifted your eyes to heaven and sawthe Son of God standing at God'sright hand, waiting to welcome youinto heaven! Fools, all of you! Butfools for Christ's sake, and so notfools at all for, having suffered forHim, you may sit down with Him atHis throne and reign with Him inglory.

So we are here today, because weare narrow; because we are fighters;because we are fools. But our nar­rowness is the narrowness of theway that leads to life. Our fighting isin a holy war, and the Lord God is onour side. Weare fools, but we arefools for Christ's sake. We stand witha small band in our day. But westand in a glorious tradition! Wearein the company of the prophets andthe apostles. So let us take courage!The greatest Christian of them allwas also narrow, also a fighter, andalso a fool. -And when Paul came to

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August 18th

Introduction and PurposeRomans 1: 1-17

Immediately upon opening his epis­tle to the Romans, Paul states "whoand what he is, and what he is goingto write to them." We have alreadystudied a little about this great apos­tie to the Gentiles and therefore letus consider the subject of his letter.It is the gospel of our Lord JesusChrist. As special messenger ofChrist, Paul is the bearer of the gos­pel, the glad tidings. He feels abso­lutely bound to take the Word toevery part of the world and to everysort of people. He recognizes that thegood news is designed for just suchpropagation.

Standing out as the central figureof this gospel is the Lord Jesus. With­out Him there would be no good news,no message to bring, for Paul wouldnot have been satisfied just to enter­tain his hearers. This Christ is, with­out a doubt, God's Son. Three timesPaul affirms this, and with three wit­nesses: the ancient promises of theHoly Scriptures, the Spirit of holi­ness, and Christ's resurrection from

ing and salutary message even for ourday.

The central thesis of the epistle isSo GREAT SALVATION. The problempresented and answered is, "Howmay a sinful man be righteous orjustified before a holy God?" Man'sneed is clearly stated and the resultsof his own efforts revealed as futile.God's provision in the Lord JesusChrist is set forth in all the glory ofHis atoning sacrifice. This justifica­tion may freely be had through faithin Christ. With Christ's righteousnessimputed to us there are certain in­evitable effects which are manifestedin the Christian life. The doctrinalinstruction of the first 11 chapters isfollowed by many practical exhorta­tions in the remaining five. The valueof this study lies, therefore, not onlyin knowing the clear and logical ar­guments of the epistle but in makingthem a very part of our lives. Thisepistle is the heart and core of Chris­tian doctrine and life.

A Study of the Book of Romans for Young People

By the REV. HENRY D. PHILLIPS

So Great Salvation

August 11th

The Author

I OWN myself a victim to the charmof Paul," This is the way Sir

William Ramsey expressed himself re­garding the greatest of the apostles,This charm radiates from each pageof Paul's epistles to those scatteredbut growing churches on the northernshores of the Mediterranean. Paulwas born in Tarsus, "no mean city"for it held its head up with the rest inindustry, literary culture and philo­sophical pursuits. His schooling inthis cosmopolitan city was peculiarlysuited to "mold the mind of him whoin due time would make the religionof the Jewish race intelligible to theGreek-Roman world" (Ramsey). Paulwas further influenced by the RomanEmpire, "an understanding of whichgave him a statesmanlike grasp ofthe problems of Christianity in rela­tion to Rome." The force and beautyof Paul's style is a result of Greek in­fluence.

We have not, however, touched onthe secret of his power and vigor tillwe mention his conversion. Acts 9and 22 do not leave us in any doubtas to the tremendous and instan­taneous change wrought in the apos­tle's life. Here he saw "the light ofthe knowledge of the glory of Godin the face of Jesus Christ." Andwith that glance all the zeal of hisstrong nature was turned from thepersecution of Christians to the proc­lamation of Christ, the only Redeemerof God's elect. This union with Christis the real key to his life.

To Rome Paul wrote his most pro­found and studied epistle. The hub ofthe universe not only attracted theshrewd merchants, ambitious politi­cians and lustful nobles, but there alsoPaul desired to come, that he "mightimpart some spiritual gift." Rome en­joyed relative peace at the time, dueto its wise provincial policy, the em­peror's interest in music, literatureand drama rather than extension ofthe state, and the freedom of worshipgranted the Jews. In the large for­eign settlements dwelt converted Jewsand many proselytes unto whom Paulsent the epistle designed to establishthem in the faith, and bearing a last-

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the end of his course and unbuckledhis battered armor and laid down hissword, he could look back on the pastand say, "I have a clear conscienceand no regrets." And as he lookedinto the future, behold, it was allradiant with hope and glory!

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1940 THE PRESBYTERIAN GUARDIAN 47

Ask your pastor for folder or write

Rev. Franklin S. Dymess, Executive Director, Quarryville, Pa.

DON'T Spend Labor Day Week-End at the ShoreSpend it at the

First General Quarrvville Bible Conferencea Conference designed primarily for adults

Friday Evening to Monday Afternoon-August 30 to September 2

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the dead. If He be God's Son, thenChrist possesses all the power of God.It is through His infinite sacrifice thatChrist's death atones for the elect.But Jesus is also man. In the flesh Hewas born of the line of David. And asman He tasted death.

This great salvadon story Paul de­sired to proclaim in Rome, which al­ready possessed a church famous forits obedience. As the capital of thevast empire, the outstanding Gentilecity and focal point of culture andcommerce, it attracted this keen manof God. Surely he had not fulfilled hiswhole commission until he had bornewitness to his Lord in such a city.

Undaunted by the powers of theenemy, undismayed by the ill treat­ment meted out to the Christians orby the things that he had alreadysuffered for the gospel's sake, hetrusted confidently to come unto themwith the powerful message of thegospel. "I am ready to preach. . . .For I am not ashamed of the gospelof Christ: for it is the power of Godunto salvation to everyone that be­lieveth.... For therein is the right­eousness of God revealed from faithto faith."

August 25th

No Righteousness Amongthe Gentiles

Romans 1: 18-32You recall that in the first lesson

we said that the burning questionasked and answered in this book is,How may righteousness be attained?After his brief introductory remarks,Paul proceeds to give forth the gen­eral truth, so often forgotten, thatGod's wrath is revealed against allungodliness and unrighteousness. Godis justified in doing this because Hehas given a revelation of Himselfin nature to all men and these men,knowing the truth, yet continue intheir sinful habits and conversation.Just as a Christian does not remainstationary in his life but ever con­tinues to increase in the knowledgeand love of God, so also do those whooppose Him descend continually intogreater depths of sin and misery.Here we find 'a picture of the down­ward course of man, a process whichis ever harder to arrest as it proceeds.In the story of the prodigal son thereis a similar description (Luke 15: 12­16). The descent is from ungodli­ness to idolatry, thence to the fulfill-

ing of the lusts of the flesh and theinnumerable sins which follow hardon such a trail. Finally we notice thewoeful lament, "God gave them up."This is indeed a dirge, for when oneis deserted by God his hopes 'are gone.Paul leaves nothing to the imaginationas he recounts sin after sin. Wearereminded of the unspeakable filth ofa long-dead and putrefying body. Sois the condition of one who will dowithout the Christ, our Lord andSaviour.

The lowest depths of those who fol­low the pathway of sin are found inthe last verse, wherein it is statedthat they themselves not only enjoyedthe lusts of the flesh but also that theyrejoiced in those who followed thesame course. So calloused were theyin their evil that they thus encouragedin others that which they knew to bewrong. As young people we shouldfollow the paths of righteousness, fortherein is the way of life. To run theway of sinners will lead but to miseryand distress, grief and the grave. Inthat way there is no righteousness,and God's wrath is heavy in judg­ment. But if we harden not ourhearts against God, we shall findmercy and restoration even as theprodigal received grace of his father'shand.

MACHEN LEAGUE CONFERENCETO BE HELD AT OCEAN GROVE

A N OUTSTANDING vacationwill be combined with a time

of spiritual refreshment by the youngpeople of the Machen League of NewJersey Presbytery of The OrthodoxPresbyterian Church. On Friday andSaturday, September 6th and 7th, theleague will hold its Third AnnualFall Conference in the tabernacle ofthe Ocean Grove Camp Meeting As­sociation at Ocean Grove, New J er-

WHYThe Orthodox

Presbyterian Church?

By the REV. JOHN P. GALBRAITH

A new booklet by the author of"Choose Ye This Day." Informa­tive, concise, and admirablyadapted for distribution to thoseunacquainted or unsympatheticwith The Orthodox PresbyterianChurch. 37 pages, only lOc percopy. Keep a supply on hand togive to your friends. Send yourorder to:

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IAugust 10. 1940

A SSE RT I NG that loyalty to theAmerican flag and the govern­

ment it represents strengthens ratherthan weakens religious Iaith, theHonorable John W. Bricker, Gover­nor of Ohio, denied "Jehovah's Wit­nesses" the right to use the statefairgrounds at Columbus for the na­tional convention they planned to holdthere during the last of July.

Members of "Jehovah's Witnesses"have been removed from the relief rollsat Clarksburg, West Virginia,. it wasdisclosed by Mrs. Josephine Williams,director of the Harrison County pub­lic assistance department. Mrs. Wil­liams said she would continue toremove from the rolls "any personswho do not think enough of theircountry to salute its flag." .

Mrs. Ethel R. Winkler, a workerfor "Jehovah's Witnesses," chose tospend five days in jail at Ocean City,New Jersey, rather than pay a fineof five dollars imposed by the policecourt on a charge of being a publicnuisance in passing out religioustracts at the seaside resort. The sectmember insisted that she was stand­ing on her rights under the FourteenthAmendment and the Bill of Rights."I have a duty to perform," she in­sisted. "This work must go on. I aman American citizen. I have a rightto disseminate this very importantinformation, particularly at this cru­cial time. I have a right to talk topeople. I f expressing an opinion iscausing a disturbance, then I havecaused plenty of disturbances."

A regional meeting of the WatchTower Bible and Tract Society (analias of "Jehovah's Witnesses"),scheduled at Tulsa, Oklahoma, forJuly, has been cancelled. The organ­ization called off the meeting afterit was refused the use of ConventionHall by the city of Tulsa. City offi­cials explained that they could notpermit use of a public building by agroup which refuses to salute theflag. The action was taken in the faceof energetic efforts by the Tulsachamber of commerce in bidding forconventions. Leaders of the sect inOklahoma said they would attend theDetroit convention of their groupinstead.

(For editorial comment, see page 41)

PERSECUTION OF "WITNESSES"CONTINUES OVER LARGE AREA

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are also welcome, and a special floorof the hotel will be reserved for them.The men will be quartered at theHotel Ormond, a short distance fromthe Dun-Haven.

The recreational program includesthree hours on the beach on Saturdaymorning. Both surf and pool bathingunder the protection of experiencedlife-guards will be available.

Those planning to attend the con­ference should send their names atonce to Mr. Edward T. Burton, 306North Chestnut Avenue, Westfield,N. J. An attractive, six-page pros­pectus may also be secured from Mr.Burton. No fee is required for regis­tration. The cost of room, breakfastand Saturday dinner will be $1.50.

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sey, adjoining the famous resort townof Asbury Park.

The theme of the conference willbe: The Religion for Young PeopleToday. Speakers will be the Rev.Clifford S. Smith of Bridgeton, theRev. Leslie A. Dunn of Trenton, theRev. Richard W. Gray of Orange,and the Rev. Peter Pascoe of Roches­ter, N. Y. Music will be in charge ofthe Rev. William T. Strong of WestCollingswood and the Rev. DonaldC. Graham of Westfield.

The Hotel bun-Haven, 10 OceanPathway, will be the conference head­quarters and will provide accommo­dations for the girls and marriedcouples. Older persons desiring to en­joy the blessings of the conference

48