May - the Free Presbyterian church of Scotland

Declaring all the Counsel of God. 5
of God, and without which none can see the kingdom of God,
or do any work that is spiritually good. They give the impression
to their hearers or readers that the change from darkness
to light and death to life is in some cases only a slight matter
-a mere finishing touch to a character that is already formed.
It is only the grossly immoral person that needs anything like
a thorough renewal. And again, they take care to say as little
as possible about the doctrine of election, or the sovereignty of
God in the salvation of sinners, while the office of the Holy Spirit
in conversion and sanctification is little recognised or insisted
upon. Great stress is laid upon duties, and the creature is
addressed as if he could, with a little assistance, accomplish
everything that is necessary for his own salvation.
Now, we believe that this was one of the ways in which error
entered the visible Church in past times in Scotland. Even good
men, with the object, by the way, of drawing sinners to the gospel,
avoided those doctrines against which the carnal mind rises up
most readily, and preached smooth things to the people. They
did not deny, perhaps, any truth, but they did not preach all the
_counsel of God, or, if they did, they preached some of it in a slipshod
way, and thus a back door was left open for error, which
Satan took speedy advantage of. In this way Arminianism and
worse have got free course throughout the land. In fact, keeping
back part of the truth is one of the devil's most subtle and
successful means for the destruction of souls-a method which he
employs more freely than the promulgation of positive error.
You may listen to many preachers nowadays and you cannot say
they preach positive heresy, and yet you do not hear any saving
truth from their lips. By this means, however, they allow sinners
to sleep on ~n their sins until they awaken in a lost eternity.
May the Lord enable us, who profess to stand for the faith once
delivered to the saints, to declare without respect to the fear or
favour of men "all the counsel of God," and leave results with
the Most High, who has promised to bless His own truth for the
eternal salvation of souls!
Gambling and the Unemployed Question.-There
tan be little doubt that gambling is one of the most serious evils
in connection with the working classes. It is part of that open
godlessness so much encouraged by a certain type of socialists.
Some time ago Mr. John Burns said that Parliament had granted
him £200,000 for the unemployed, but what could this possibly
do in the face of three millions a week which the people themselves
spend on gambllng, betting, and drink? The socialist·
demagogue vainly imagines he has the solution ofthis great problem
if he had only opportunity to work it out. But it will not be by
atheism that the downtrodden thousands will be raised, and even
,what so-called Christian socialism is too ready to look to the wrong
quarter for deliverance.
- --~------_._---