REFERENCE was made in the September issue to the sad fact that there are millions who never darken the door of a place of worship, and few are louder in their laments of this deplorable state of affairs than the bishops and clergy of the Prelatic Church of England. In order to attract those who are drifting away they vie with their neighbours of the Dissenting Churches and of the so-called Presbyterian Church of England in making their services as pleasing to the carnal mind as possible. The superstitious element is catered for in so-called Anglo Catholic and Free Catholic churches, whilst those who so arrogantly vaunt the “assured results of modern criticism” may regale themselves to their heart’s content on the poisonous fare which is served up weekly by the Tom Paines who swarm the pulpits of those churches, which say that they are Presbyterian, but do lie. Even in so-called evangelical churches the appeal to the æsthetic is much in evidence, and the Psalm Book has been discarded for songs of merely human composition sung by trained choirs—often composed of unconverted hired singers—to the accompaniment of pipe organs and similar Popish abominations. Others, too, deny eternal punishment, and this is the very thing which the unconverted are glad to hear. Many of the United Free Church ministers preached during the War that those who were killed at the front went “straight to Heaven,” and to-day they are saying the same, even over the graves of departed drunkards and Sabbath-breakers in order to please the poor relatives.
The popular preacher is sure of an audience when denying the doctrine of Election, or explaining it away as being on the ground of foreseen faith, for among the few old women who still attend meetings of the “Keswick” type one still comes across those who fear to read the Epistle to the Romans lest they should come across the dreaded word “Predestination.” There is a terrible enmity against the truth in every one of us by nature, and it is fostered by the modern type of religion in all its forms.
Every well-instructed Free Presbyterian will know that these are only incidents in the age-long struggle between truth and error which began in the Garden of Eden, and shall continue until the Most High arises to have mercy on Mount Sion and the Holy Spirit sweeps over the earth; but it is pathetic to hear of the English bishops bewailing the falling-off in church-going, remembering the part that they themselves played in opening the flood-gates. In April 1917 the Archbishop of Canterbury recommended Sabbath labour in the fields as a work of necessity on account of the War, and shortly afterwards the Rev. Dr Horton, of London, addressed a letter to the “Times,” beginning as follows:—”May I through your columns address a question to his Grace the Archbishop of Canterbury. When and how is the suspended Fourth Commandment to come again into operation? It was wonderful to see how swiftly and effectually His Grace’s dispensation worked. At once the churches were half-emptied, and the fields were filled with toilers on the day of rest. But when and how will the old sanction be restored? It is easier to shatter than to restore . . .” More than twelve years have passed, but a reply from the English Hierarchy is still awaited. As a nation we sowed dragons’ teeth, and are still reaping the crop of armed men which is destroying the heritage handed down by our Protestant forefathers who sealed their testimony with their blood, but the Lord has promised concerning those who keep the Sabbath from polluting it “even them will I bring to my holy mountain” (Isaiah 56, 7.) There is need that He would be putting the prayer of the Psalmist in the hearts and on the lips of His people:—
“Do Thou, O God, arise and plead
the cause that is Thine own.”
F. B.
He is such a Judge, that the wealth of the most wealthy cannot bribe.—Caryl.