The Reformed Presbyterian Standard and also 0\ir ... - Rparchives.org

July 29, 1914.
A FAMILY PAPER,
send me. And He said—Go." Jer. i :4-io.
"Then the word of the Lord came unto me
saying: Before I formed thee in the belly I
knew thee; and before thou earnest forth out
of the womb; I sanctified thtQ; and I ordained
thee a prophet unto the nations."
"Say not I am a child; for thou shalt go to
all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I
command thee thou shalt speak." Acts 26:15.
"For I have appeared unto thee for this purpose,
to make thee a minister and a witness
both of these things which thou hast seen, and
of those things in the which I will appear unto
thee; delivering thee from the people, and
from the Gentiles unto whom now I send
Ihee." Gal. 1:15-16. "But when it pleased
QoA who separated me from my mother's
womb, and called me by his grace, to reveal
his Son in me that I might preach Him among
the heathen." Here Paul notes three great
epochs in his existence; viz., his birth, his effectual
calling, and his call to the ministry.
5. Those who enter the ministry uncalled
have no promise of success.
Jer. 23:21. "I have not sent these prophets,
yet they ran; I have not spoken to them, yet
they prophesied." Verse 32: "Behold I am
against them that prophesy false dreams saith
the Lord, and do tell them and cause my people
to err by their lies and by their lightness;
yet I sent them not nor commanded them;
therefore they shall not profit this people at
all saith the Lord."' I have said they have
no promise of success, but this lang-uage goes
beyo-nd that and declares that because they
are not sent of God "therefore they shall not
profit this people." "When I think upon the
all but infinite mischief which may result from
a mistake as to our vocation for the Christian
pastorate, I feel overwhelmed with fear lest
any of us should .be slack in examining our
credentials; and I had rather that we stood
too much in doubt, and examined too frequently,
than that we should become cumberers
of the ground. . . . It is imperative
on him not to enter the ministry until he
'has made solemn quest and trial of himself as
to this point. His own personal salvation being
secure, he must investigate as to the future
matter of his call to office; the firstis
vital to himself as a Christian; the second
equally vital to him as a pastor. As well be
a professor without conversion as a pastor
without calling. In both cases there is a name
and nothing more." (Spurgeon, "Lectures to
My Students," page 42.)
A FORWARD MOVEMENT IN THE COVEN­
ANTER CHURCH.
By the Rev. J. M. Coileman.
NO. 3.
A new standard of conduct. If we have a deeper
spiritual life, a new dependence on prayer.
It IS evident that conduct will not remain what
It was betore. It requires no proof that if we are
setting nearer to God that we are at the same
time getting farther from the world.
^at will define the difference between the
old standard and the new It is tho purpose of
this paper to suggest that instead of seeing how
far we can lean over to the world without losing
grip on Jesus Christ that we try how near
we can get to him. That will change our whole
basis of discussion of conduct.
Concrete illustrations will make clear the difference
between the two standards of conduct.
Some time was taken at the recent Synod in
discussing the question whether Christians might
use the street cars on Sabbath in going to church;
It is not necessary to the purpose here to analyze
the argument used nor to show how far it would
lead a Christian into the world, if followed out.
About this there might be difference of opinion,
but surely no difference in the view that nothing
was settled for those who listened to the
discussion.
Nor does it seem as if anything in the way of
conduct can be finallysettled if the question at
issue is how far the Christian can go without
ceasing to be a Christian. If the discussion had
run through a day we might have been no nearer
a conclusion. If members live Ave miles from
church, they must stay at home, have a conveyance
of their own, or use the trains. The real
question lies in the premise.
Then we have the question of the theater and
theatricals. The Presbyterian bodies from the
General Assembly, up or down, have united in
condemning these things as unworthy of Christians,
but Christians attend the theaters, or the
good theaters, and church schools cultivate theatricals.
The question discussed is how far we
can go in dramatic exhibitions without dishonoring
Jesus Christ and leading others in paths
which end in the destruction of their souls. The
laws of the churches are specific, but they are
not the standard for the members. Here also,
we might discuss long and earnestly how far
one may safely walk in the broad road with
the' world and we would not get a conclusion
that would be final.
Then we have dancing. Hull House, in Chicago,
cultivates dancing for the upl.ft of the
children of the neighborhood; Chicago has introduced
it in some schools.. The church condemns
it. Therefore we have the discussion about how
much of the dancing feature we can practice
without being guilty of causing the little ones
to stumble, provided that comes into the discussion.
Some draw the line on pig-in-the-parlor,
some bring the Virginia Reel into the list of what
the Christian can do without endangering his
soul. Wlhen we get into what the dictionary and
the world define as dancing, we have little left
only our own inclinations to furnish a dead line
and therefore discussion of the exa'ct hair line
between east) and westy where the Christian
must turn back, gets no finalresult.
Then we have the voting question. "On how
many things and under how many circumstances
may the Christian vote without committing sin,"
does not flnd a satisfactory answer. Now it may
seem clear that if the Covenanter Church is to
hold its place among the churches and serve the
purpose of its Lord that we need to have answers
to these questions that will be binding
on the consciences of the members.
It does not seem to the writer that we ever
find the settlement while we are searching for
the boundary stones on the world's side of our
possessions. The wortd is very skillful in moving
the stakes and trying to persuade us that the
new location is the old landmark and no one
of us is free from the influence of the world in
making up our decision.
The new standard of conduct will be on the
Christ side of our domains. If the forward movement
is to have enduring place we shall discuss
less how far we may safely get from God,
and how near we can get to him. The question
in regard to certain actions will cease to he
whether there is harm in them, but what there
is in them that will glorify God. We are coming
to believe in pure food and questionable food is
ruled out of the market. God is just as particular
about what we do as we are about what we
eat. In this world with its opportunity for splendid
actions there is no need to spend our time
on the questionable. Skating near the edge shows
skill, but not wisdom. When you notice that your
skate track leads someone else where he slips
over the edge, it is a warning to keep on unquestioned
places.
It is the practical acceptance of a new standard
of conduct that will put to the test the new spiritual
life. The practical pragmatism which is making
its appeal to aH of us would make ethics
purely an Individual question in which I have no
accountability for the consequences of my act be.
yond the effect on myself. Getting near to our
ILord, living in him, will give us a new measurement
in which we may all agree.
THE WO'RLD MOVES.
The Washington correspondent of the Pittaburgh
Chronicle-Telegraph writes on June 22:
"The attitude of northern and southern Democrats,
respectively, towards the negro citizens,
and that of Republicans as well, is strikingly
shown in the vote on the confirmation of Robert
H. Terrell to be a judge of the District of Columbia
Municipal Court. Judge Terrell is a colored
man, originally appointed to the local bench by
President Taft, and his record was so satisfactory
that President Wilson reappointed him. Confirmation
was fought bitterly by several southern
Democratic Senators, notably Vardaman, of
Mississippi, and much pressure was brought to
bear on the President to withdraw the nomination,
but after weeks of delay, it was confirmed.
It perhaps shows how the race feeling is in
the South that on Thursday Senators Gore,
of Oklahoma, and Williams, of Mississippi,
asked the Senate to remove the injunction of secrecy
from their votes on the confirmation of
Judge Terrell, and a motion prevailed to remove
the injunction entirely and print the vote in the
Congressional Record. The nomination was confirmed
by a vote of 39 to 24, every Republican
present voting for confirmation, while every
southern Democrat present voted against it, and
with them were Senators Lee, of Maryland, Newlands
and Pittman, of Nevada, and Reed, of Missouri.
The following northern and western Democrats
voted for confirmation: Chilton, of West
Virginia, Pomerene, of Ohio, Hughes and Martine,
of New Jersey, Kern and Shively, of
Indiana, Lewis, of Illinois, Hollis, of New iHampshire,
Johnson, of Maine, Walsh of Montana,
Shaftroth and Thomas, of Colorado, and Lane, of
Oregon."