Our Days and Our Years.
The expressions “our days” and “our years” are used by Moses, the man of God, in his prayer recorded throughout the 90th Psalm. And although there are 365 actual days in a year, these appear to pass swiftly in the experience of many. But Moses, in referring to our years, says: “We spend our years as a tale that is told,” and then he sets down the number of them thus: “. . . Our years are three-score years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be four-score years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off and we fly away.” For us another year has gone and we have now entered 1955, and such an event is fitted to remind us that we are approaching nearer to the close of our days and our years. The consideration of this, to those who fear the Lord, brings into view the reality and the solemnity of appearing before God in Eternity.
Whatever quickens the hearts of believers to turn anew and earnestly to the precious blood of Jesus Christ and to the throne of grace for grace that they may be prepared for their latter end, is indeed a divine blessing to them. It shall be well with them that fear God, when their days and years in the world come to an end. While here they are lights in the world and salt in the earth, and the true servants of Zion’s King. And so may the Most High spare His aged people among us as long as He sees fit; may He heal and strengthen those of them who may be afflicted and laid aside; may He uphold and keep by His power, through faith, those who are actively endeavouring, in the strength of grace, to witness for and serve the Lord Jesus Christ in our midst. But what of those in our families and congregations who are still without God, without an interest in Christ, and without hope in the world? Such are also travelling day by day and year by year to the eternal world. They have their faces toward hell and destruction, for the wages of sin is death and the wicked shall be turned into hell. To such the Word of God cries and also the Church of Christ: “Turn ye, turn ye, from your evil ways: for why will ye die?” Those with the marks of old age upon them, and are still ignorant of repentance toward God and their need of Jesus, are a sad spectacle. And the young men and women who may even be attentive to the public means of grace and are but “hearers only,” still living in vanity, are all matter for prayer on the part of God’s people. In the sovereignty of heaven a day of the power of the Holy Spirit with the truth of the Gospel, during this new year, would indeed be an inestimable token that the Lord hath not forgotten to be gracious and that His mercy is not clean gone for ever. “O Lord, I beseech thee, send now prosperity” (Ps. exviii. 25).
Our Friends Abroad.
A the outset of another year we would take the liberty of reminding our friends abroad, who are partners with us in the work of the Lord Jesus Christ, of our prayerful and affectionate interest in them as to their labours and circumstances. We have in mind the Revs. James Fraser and D. A. MacLean and their helpers in Africa; our two ministers in Canada, Revs. R. MacDonald and Alex. Murray, and all their respective families; and also Rev. F. MacLeod and his wife in Australia. Office-bearers and all other friends of the Cause of Christ in these far-off lands may be assured of the Home Church’s spiritual interest in them also.
Times are difficult at home and abroad for those who fear the Lord and desire to see Zion prosper, inasmuch as Satan has so many methods of either turning sinners away from the ordinances of the Gospel or keeping them completely indifferent to the claims of the Saviour in the Gospel. But however few may cleave to the truth, and however weak the Cause of Christ may be in places, let our friends in other lands “hold fast to that which they have,” and seek to remember, as we also ought at home, the words of the Lord Jesus, “Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them” (Matt. xviii. 20). The Apostle Paul in writing to the Corinthians, addresses them as “. . . all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours.” And, further, he wishes for them: “Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ” (I Cor. i. 2-3). And we herewith desire to record these apostolic words and make application of them to our friends abroad.
Sabbath Observance Committee’s Protest called Interference.
The Sabbath Observance Committee of the Free Presbyterian Church sent a letter to Lord Provost Banks of Edinburgh last October, protesting against the final Sunday serenade concert of the season in the Usher Hall, Edinburgh, last September. The letter stated that such performances were a breach of the Fourth Commandment. And, further, “That the civic heads of the city should permit them to take place anywhere in the city bespeaks the deplorable departure from the place Sabbath observance had at one time in this city.”
The Lord Provost passed this letter on to the civic amenities committee. Later, the chairman, Councillor Marcus Ward, said: “There’s no such thing as desecration of the Sabbath in this.” And then he described the letter as “most intolerable interference.” Thereafter his committee decided that no action be taken regarding the letter. Rev. Donald Campbell, Edinburgh, Clerk to the Sabbath Observance Committee, according to a press report, described Councillor Ward’s remarks as “objectionable.” Rev. Mr. Campbell then stated: “My committee was not interfering when they protested against what they judged to be Sabbath desecration. Mr. Ward may hold the view that it was not Sabbath desecration to hold the concert, but he has no right to describe our view as ‘intolerable interference’ inasmuch as my committee claims to represent a number of Edinburgh ratepayers. Let it also be noted that Mr. Ward is only an elected representative of a section of the citizens of Edinburgh.”
Inconceivable Ignorance about the Bible.
About two months ago the Rev. Dr. T. B. Stewart Thomson, Moderator of the Church of Scotland Synod of Perth and Stirling, stated that this was an age of almost inconceivable ignorance in all age groups, and among all classes, about the Bible and the fundamentals of Christian religion. He also made the significant statement, viz., “In older days almost everyone in Scotland was familiar with the Bible and the Shorter Catechism.” Although Dr. Stewart did not say so, he seems to infer that his view was that knowledge of the fundamentals of the Christian religion was widespread and substantial in the former days. And yet his Church is permeated with modernistic teaching in relation to the Bible to-day, and a committee of his Church have recently issued a modern Catechism, which we firmly believe is intended to eliminate the historic Shorter Catechism altogether from use in Scotland. We shall have more to write on this at a later date (D.V.). Further, Dr. Stewart Thomson suggested that in the congregations of his own denomination many grown-ups were still in the infant grade as to Biblical knowledge. That is a view which we, in writing here, must consider in the light of the deplorable fact that the vast majority of adults in Dr. Stewart Thomson’s Church are members in full communion in their respective congregations. Here we have large numbers of men and women, professing to be Christians and yet grossly ignorant of the Bible and of its doctrines, and of the Bible in the home. Dr. Stewart Thomson has been really speaking about professors of Christianity—not Christians. And at the root of all this ignorance is “another gospel, which is not another,” which is being preached throughout Scotland; one of the terrible effects of which is that all classes, under its blight, are assured they are on the way to heaven whether ignorant of the Bible or not.
Argentine President and R.C. Church.
We were always of the opinion until recently that President Peron and his government in Argentine were firm and permanent friends and allies of the Roman Catholic Church. But it has recently been revealed by the press that Peron is at present, at any rate, very much opposed to the Roman Church in his country. He has accused some Roman priests of working against his regime, and has announced a government plan for the appointment of spiritual advisers to primary and high school children, and the Roman Church was excluded from any part of the plan. It is reported that the President’s fight against certain priests was not a religious question but a matter of “unpatriotic political activity.” Peron, if a devoted Roman Catholic as to his religion, has become what his Church will not tolerate, an independent minded son of his Church. And, secondly, he has apparently discovered that the priests of Rome want to rule his country politically as well as religiously. Whatever advances Rome is making in some quarters to-day, her evil and unwelcome machinations are being brought to light here and there throughout the world.
The Anti-Semitism of Communism.
Mr. Irving Engel, president of the American Jewish Committee, told a House of Representatives Committee in New York, in the autumn of last year, that the Jews in Russian dominated countries have been eliminated from economic life. He averred that, “The number of religious communities is dwindling, synagogues are being closed or transformed into Communist clubs, and the observance of the Sabbath is penalised by extra hard labour.” While we read this and other reports of religious life and activities behind the “Iron Curtain,” it is difficult to obtain a reliable basis of information upon which to form an opinion. Yet we think it is to be understood from the tenets of the hard core of Communism, centred at the Kremlin, that the political and official attitude to religion is out and out anti-God. This, we believe, remains true irrespective of all the reports we read of full Churches in parts of Russia. But God is jealous of His glory and will in His time vindicate the glory of His name.
The Irish Republican Army and Ulster.
A remarkable report on the activities of the Irish Republican Army was published in The Daily Record of Glasgow on the 23rd October, 1954. A member of the I.R.A. is reported as saying, “We have struck, and we shall continue to strike, until the English forces which illegally occupy our territory (Ulster) are forced to surrender and evacuate.” “The Government of Eire,” he said, “can sit on the fence as long as they like. In the North they can take our volunteers into custody. We don’t care. We are strong now. We have the arms, the men and the reserves.” This member of the I.R.A. also declared that it would be only a matter of time before they unite Ireland, and unite it by force. Whatever value we give to these reported utterances, the fact is that the I.R.A. are even presently making their existence felt time and again, within Ulster or on the borders of this part of the United Kingdom, in the form of armed raids. Who are behind this evil and violent organisation? We know that the Roman Catholic Church policy is to regain supremacy in and over Protestant Ulster, and we can be sure that Rome will not refrain from any means which may be thought able to accomplish that end. The Eire Government, as such, could not very well openly support the I.R.A. as this would have too severe repercussions in Northern Ireland and at Westminster. But it seems that the I.R.A. can flourish underground in Eire without let or hindrance. The Eire Government are all for the abolishing of Partition and the inclusion of Ulster in an All-Ireland Republic, separated from the British Protestant Throne and Constitution. It is all part of the Vatican scheme to weaken and disrupt this Protestant nation of ours. May the Lord so rule that the weapons of the I.R.A. shall never prosper.
Rev. Dr. D. Soper—Methodist and Modernist.
Dr. Soper is a well-known Methodist minister who has gained for himself a good deal of publicity as an open-air speaker at Tower Hill, London, and as a writer of books and articles to the press. His Church originated with the ministry of John Wesley in 1739. In 1932 three branches of this Church, viz., Wesleyan, Primitive and the United Methodist Churches, became one Church, known as the Methodist Church. There is said to be a million and a quarter members in Britain and overseas, and over 5,000 ministers. The religious beliefs of Dr. Soper are revealed in a leaflet published in the Protestant Standard, issued by the National Union of Protestants, London. This leaflet was issued in Belfast during a visit to that city by Dr. Soper some time ago, to warn Methodists against his teaching. Dr. Soper has written two books, viz., Christ and Tower Hill and Question Time on Tower Hill. From these books the leaflet quotes Dr. Soper as follows:—”I suppose I shall have to call myself a Modernist.” Asked by someone, “Is it necessary to believe in the virgin birth and a material resurrection?” he replied: “Personally I believe in neither. All the evangelists exaggerated about the size of the congregation . . . Personally I expect the actual crowd was nearer 500 than 5,000.” About Christ he says: “In many ways He was a child of His age. I expect He thought the earth was flat and I am sure He knew nothing about aeroplanes or trigonometry.” He said, “I believe the best writing and traditions of all religions can help to lead men to Christianity.” And he would have “. . . the exhortations of Buddha alongside those of Jeremiah.” Further, it is revealed that Dr. Soper is President of the Romanising Methodist Sacramental Fellowship. The Month, a Roman Catholic organ, welcomed the formation of this movement. This leaflet also states that Irish Methodist leaders in the Irish Christian Advocate of 2nd April, 1954, testify that Dr. Soper is intensely loyal “to the central truths of the Gospel.” Dr. Soper is an ex-President of his Church, and if his views are really known the Methodist Church also must be in a serious state doctrinally when they would give place to such a man as a leader who is not worthy to be called even a nominal Christian. There are many calls to-day for the exercise of Christian charity as between professing Christian Churches, and the question of collaboration and union is so popular. But when lovers of the truth of the Word of God examine the beliefs prevalent in most denominations, then a deplorable and God-dishonouring state of affairs prevails in this backsliding age.
The Piltdown Hoax.
Our Lord, when on earth, acknowledged Satan’s efforts to mislead men. To-day his wiles are plain for all Christians to see. Romanism, Christian Science, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Evolution, Spiritualism, Modern Theology are all cunningly devised Satanic schemes evolved to deceive, if possible, the very elect. The Geographical Society has now decided that “Not a single piece of all the ‘prehistoric’ remains found in the gravel-pit at Piltdown, Sussex, by the late Charles Dawson, solicitor and clerk to the Uckfield Bench, was genuine.” Yet one remembers how elated the Evolutionists were when the “discovery” was made. But still the Bible lovers clung “old-fashionedly” to God’s Truth and will continue to do so in spite of all the “branny” arguments of those who want to believe that man has “evolved” and was not made in the image and likeness of God. It is not known who planned the clever hoax at Piltdown, but it is good to know that at long last it is proved to have been a trick. Is it not time that those people who are hoaxed by Judge Rutherford, Mrs. Eddy, the many Popes and others who trade on the credulity of unthinking people dusted their Bibles and searched the Scriptures for themselves? Truly our Lord said: “Ye do err, not knowing the Scriptures.”—The Churchman’s Magazine, August, 1954.