At Moscow.
—It is reported in the press that on the night of 23rd November last (Sabbath evening), that “tumultuous cheering met Mr. Ernest Bevin, Mr. James Byrnes and M. Molotov when they took their places at the Bolshoi Theatre—when they saw for the first time the new Cinderella.” What good can we expect from such Conferences? “Be not deceived, God is not mocked; for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. Oh! Britain, Britain, thy Foreign Secretary attending a pagan theatre on the evening of the Lord’s Day! What agony, what fires, what trials and temptations thou must pass through before you will again honour and reverence the Lord’s Day. What shame and pain such conduct will cause the Lord’s people in their souls. Here is a man representing our noble King and Protestant Britain in a nation who do not honour, believe nor respect the God of heaven on Sabbath Days, week-days, in Senate or home. The Lord will visit us for the sins of our rulers, and our poor children are up against the same dreadful situation as confronted us soon after 1918. These poor men think that they can govern the world at their pleasure. They will not. God will frustrate their work, and the result will be confusion, blood, and another terrible slaughter. We are ripening fast in this nation for another terrible chastisement, if not a more severe punishment than we have ever known in all our history. Our only consolation is that the Lord’s people in this nation are now mourning in their souls before the Lord, and weep in secret at the dishonour done to the Most High, His law, gospel and ordinances. It looks like it that the believers here and elsewhere will pass through greater darkness and more horrors than has been experienced for the last sixty years. We say to the young—study your Bibles, pray for light, and pray for grace to enable you to honour the Sabbath Day, and attend on the means of grace.—J.M.
The “English Churchman,” London, has the following comment from “The Watchman” (Sydney, N.S.W.):—
Preference for Priests.
—”Be a priest and get a preference. That seems to be the slogan necessary to adopt these days to avoid restrictions and restraints, especially with regard to travel. As an illustration of this, let us look at a recent happening in Australia. A vessel arrived from England a few short weeks ago, with ninety passengers aboard. Thirty of these passengers were Roman Catholic priests. One could easily imagine that the ship had come straight from Ireland, whereas it actually came from Liverpool. We are given to understand that accommodation is very limited on vessels coming to Australia from England and, as a consequence, many wives of Australian Servicemen are prevented from joining their husbands. Yet, we find that arrangements can be made for Roman Catholic priests to arrive here in the amazing proportion of one-third of a total passenger list. Surely some protest should be made by Protestants and by Servicemen at this unwarranted preference being given to a selected group which represents but 18.5 per cent. of the community. Is the Government going to allow this sort of thing to continue? Will it furnish an immediate explanation as to how one-third of a passenger list can be comprised of priests alone when travel restrictions are operating so severely for the rest of the community? We await the Government’s answer to this question.”— (“The Watchman,” Sydney).
The Authority of Scripture.
—”The authority of the Holy Scripture, for which it ought to be believed and obeyed, dependeth not upon the testimony of any man or Church, but wholly upon God (Who is truth itself), the Author thereof; and therefore it is to be received, because it is the Word of God. “We may be moved and induced by the testimony of the Church to a high and reverent esteem of the Holy Scripture; and the heavenliness of the matter, the efficacy of the doctrine, the majesty of the style, the consent of all the parts, the scope of the whole (which is to give all glory to God), the full discovery it makes of the only way of man’s salvation, the many other incomparable excellencies, and the entire perfection thereof, are arguments whereby it doth abundantly evidence itself to be the Word of God; yet, notwithstanding, our full persuasion and assurance of the infallible truth and divine authority thereof, is from the inward work of the Holy Spirit bearing witness by and with the Word in our hearts.”
—Confession of Faith.
One “god” less.
—That poor, deluded instrument of the devil, Hirohito, at one time thought to be divine, has suddenly discovered that he is not a god after all; in other words, he has been under a misapprehension. His other deluded fellow-helper of the Prince of Darkness has ended his days, if reports be true, in shame and dishonour. The exaltation of these poor wretches to the status of gods by their followers has received a crushing blow from the living and true God. God is not mocked and He has made fools of them who are not gods. The folly of the German and Japanese peoples in exalting men to be gods may not be a black crime in the Court at Nuremberg but in Heaven’s High Court it is a sin of the deepest dye.
Dr. Chinquy’s Book.
—A friend in the B.A.O.R. informs us that this book, noticed in our last issue, may be had from “The Ulster Protestant,” Royal Avenue, Belfast, N. Ireland, price 2/10 post free. We thank Mr. N. MacMillan for his information.