Dr. Kennedy on Modern Evangelism.
In another part of this issue we give an extract from Dr. Kennedy’s pamphlet on Hyper-Evangelism, in which he criticises the movement which had Messrs. Moody and Sankey as its central figures. Dr. Kennedy’s strictures were severely criticised at the time his pamphlet appeared by those who had given countenance to the new Evangelism, but no one can read his pamphlet, severe though it is, without being deeply impressed with the strong grip and deep experimental grasp he had of the scriptural doctrine of conversion. Time has proved that the new Evangelism which came over from America, with all its hustle, was not a blessing to the Churches in Scotland, and it would be well that those who are interested in the salvation of their fellow-men would ponder the words of this Master in Israel.
Praying for the Holy Spirit.
In connection with this subject, we take the liberty of quoting the following from Dr. Kennedy’s pamphlet referred to above:—”It is true,” he says, “that it is quite as unwarrantable to expect the outpouring of the Spirit, without prayer for His coming, as to hope for His coming because this is asked. There is a call and encouragement to ask, and those who ask in faith shall never ask in vain; but the asking is under the sovereign control of God as surely as the giving. I believe, too, that men professing to ask for the coming of the Comforter may really be asking something else, and may, in answer to their cry, be receiving as a judgment what they regard as a mercy. It is also true that to pray for the Spirit’s coming, and not to employ, in all earnestness, the means which He has been wont to acknowledge and to use, is nothing short of presumption. To wait for His coming is not to be idle till He comes. But it is also true that those who are blindly craving some excitement may be preparing instruments to be used by some other power than that of the Spirit of the Lord. The prayers and the efforts, the asking and the preparation, may correspond, but the one may be directed towards something else than that which is presented in the promise of the Lord, and the other adapted for another hand than that by which the promise is fulfilled.”
The Origin of the Philistines.
The origin of this race who occupy such an unenviable place in the Bible has up to the present been a mystery to scholars. Many theories, says the Cunard Daily Bulletin, have been advanced as to who the Philistines were, and from whence they came, but it is generally believed their origin was in the neighbourhood of Cyprus. Reference is made to them in the pre-Mosaic period, but for at least 3000 years they have remained a mystery. Professor Garstang, the archaeologist, has begun his work of excavating the ruins of the cities of Askalon and Gaza. Little is known of the national history of the Philistines, and it is the object of the new excavations to get some knowledge of the uncircumcised race who, in their folly, measured their strength, so often to their own discomfiture, with the might of Jehovah.
The Case Against the Younger Generation.
Under this heading, the Literary Digest (New York) collects the opinions of a number of the leaders in the religious and the educational world of America, as to whether there has been an improvement within the last year or not of the morals of the young. Some of these opinions are distinctly discouraging. Dr. Sandt, editor of the Lutheran, for instance, writes:—”A spirit of libertinism is abroad among our youth. There is little or no respect for parents and superiors in many of our homes and schools and churches. There is an ominous absence of reverence for things sacred, of noble ambition and earnest moral purpose, and a bold and brazen defiance of decency and modesty in dress and speech and conduct. . . . Pleasure-madness and love of luxury have become epidemic, and the vast multitude seem to have banished all noble idealism and usefulness, and refuse to take life seriously, save under compulsion of some misfortune.” Most of the writers agree in noting a marked deterioration in the standard of morals since the war. It is a serious thing for any nation when such a state of things holds true to any extent of the rising generation, and we need not go far afield to discover in the changed outlook of many of the young people of our own nation much that is fitted to cause disquietude of mind to all those who wish to see men and women walk in the good ways of God’s Word. How beautifully and fitly spoken are the words of divine wisdom:—”My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments with thee; so that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding; yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and lift up thy voice for understanding; if thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as hid treasures; then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God. For the Lord giveth wisdom: out of His mouth cometh knowledge and understanding.”
The Church and the World.
On looking over the pages of an American secular weekly the other day, our eyes fell on an article entitled “Has the World Conquered the Church?” The writer, speaking for America, seems to have no doubt that it has. Time was,” says the article, “when the relations between the world and the Church were, to say the least of it, strained. His associations were bad, the flesh, and the devil. Her companionship was of another sort. She walked by faith in God. She was guided by the Holy Spirit. In her the family altars of all saints were raised. She not only renounced the world, the flesh, and the devil, and especially all the latter’s works, she denounced them. . . . Now things are different. Figuratively speaking, it is not going too far to say that the Church has been wedded to the World and that the World is now her marriage name.”
The Church’s Marriage with the World.
“This Union,” continues the writer above quoted, who cannot be charged with a narrow puritanical outlook, “has completely changed her nature, character, and motives. It has revised her convictions and conditioned her very pieties. She is now as truly the Church of the world as formerly she was the Church of the living God. She is far more influential socially and politically. She can elect you to a high office in this Government, and does do it. If you contribute enough to her support she can move you in the worst and highest circles of society. She is now like a rich woman who spends the wealth of her rich husband lavishly. She is determined to make a good appearance in this present world. She keeps up with the Dives crowd. Her edifices compare favourably, when they do not surpass the most expensive commercial buildings in this country. She will yet buy grand operas for her choirs! She demands incredible sums for her charities and her heathens. And she gets them, not merely as she did formerly from her own church collections, but from her husband, the World at large. This is what the innumerable Church ‘drives’ mean. Madam wants money for herself, her institutions, and her commercial enterprises. She has worked that tender conscience developed through her earlier ministry to a finish with these demands for money. She would be in bankruptcy if it were not for this union she had contracted with the World.”
The New Preachers and the Old.
The difference between the preachers of the Church which has married the World and the old preachers who were servants of Jesus Christ is strikingly set forth by the same writer, as follows:—“Preachers must be produced suitable for this Church of the World. We have them. They do not lead their flocks. Their flocks lead them. They are intelligent, entertaining speakers. But they do not speak with authority. Some of them are sensational preachers, but with all the fuss they make, with all the publicity they get from the press, they come woefully short of the stature of those elder preachers of the Word. The reason is that they have themselves no convincing sense of the gospel they preach. . . . A preacher ought not to adopt the fashions of the world either in his clothes, his home, or the gospel he preaches. He should be obviously different, and so make his calling and his right to speak with authority, apparent.” We have given these extracts from the article referred to above not so much because there is anything specially new or original in them, but because of the position occupied by the writer, who cannot, by even the most latitudinarian, be termed narrow-minded. The article reveals what is becoming plainly manifest to quite a number of men, that the Church entered into a bad union when she married the World. The solemn words of Scripture might well be applied to many branches of the professing Church of Christ to-day: “She has played the harlot with many lovers.”