Covenanter Witness Vol. 53 - Rparchives.org

matter?"Roadblocks LimitingChurch EffectivenessA series of four lectures given at White Lake Christian Workers' Conference, 1953by the Rev. J. G. Vos, D.D.Lecture IV. The Roadblock of Stagnation, or Regarding the Status Quo as Normal(Continued)4. True Reformation seeks God's Honor and HisTruth above all other Considerations.We live in a pragmatic age, an age impatient oftruth, and concerned mostly about practical results.It is an age impatient of those who rate truth aboveresults. Our age wants results and is quite willing tobelieve that figs grow on thistles, if it thinks it seesthe figs.Is the Time Opportune?I have heard, when someone sought to bringsome feature of the church under the critical judgment of Scripture, the objection that the time wasnot opportune. "You may be right," the objectorwould say, "but is this an opportune time to bring upsuch a Now, we should realize that truth isalways timely, truth is always in order, and that ifwe wait for an opportune time to bring up truththat opportune time may never come. That more convenient season maynever arrive. Always there willbe some reason that can be urged for not undertaking the reformation of the church according to theWord of God.God is the God of truth. He is light, and in Himis no darkness at all. Christ is King of the Kingdomof truth. To this end was He born, that He mightbear witness to the truth. He that is of the truthheareth His voice.Accepting the Status Quo is SinfulThe too-ready willingness to accept the statusquo as normal is one of the great roadblocks in thewayof the real reformation and progress of thechurch today. This attitude is sinful because it isblind to the real sinfulness of the status quo. It failsto realize that the status quo always needs to be repented of, always needs to be forgiven by divinegrace, and always needs to be reformed by thechurch on earth. It fails to realize the truth of thestatement of Augustine that every lesser good involves an element of sin.God's Holiness and Truth Require ContinuedReformationAt bottom, this complacent acceptance of thestatus quo as normal proceeds from a wrong idea ofan idea which fails to reckon with His holinessGod,and His purity ; and from a wrong idea of Scripture,an idea which fails to realize the absolute characterof Scripture as the church's standard.To place God's truth and honor first,above allother considerations whatsoever, requires greatmoral courage and great consecration. In this matter it is true of the church as it is of the individual,that he that saveth his life shall lose it, but he thatloseth his life for Christ's sake shall find it.The EndSpiritual Valuesby John Edgar Hoover, Director Federal Bureau ofInvestigation, United States Dept. of JusticeOf what value is the Sabbath school ?Who has planted a garden without coming toknow that he cannot harvest a fair yield except asthe earth is nourished and cultivated and the sunshines and the rains fall ?If it is not to be dwarfed and stunted, the spiritual side of the human seedling needs care and cultivation and nourishment during the green years quiteas much as the physical side requires food and sleepand exercise.In his letter to the Philippians, the Apostle Paulsays, "Whatsoever things are true,whatsoeverthings are honest,whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely,whatsoever things are of good report,; if there beany virtue, and if there be any praise, think on thesethings."The Sabbath school is a place in which suchthings mav be thought upon, and absorbed, andfused into 'one's being. Its teachings are a major118means by which the spiritual life of the child may benurtured, developed and brought to full growth.It is impossible to evaluate fully the effect of thelessons which are taught in the Sabbath school. Butwho, looking at his own past, will attempt to minimize the impression made on his developing personality by exposure to the great truths of the Bible atan age when everything is new and never-to-be-forgotten ? Who can fail to remember the picture cardswith the Bible verses and the simple stories plainlytold and colorfully illustrated ? What child has failedto learn something of the majestic law set forth inthe Ten Commandments or the challenge in the Sermon on the Mount? What child has not experiencedthe peace of the Twenty-third Psalm and the gloryof praise in the Lord's Prayer?There is no yardstick for assessing the elementswhich go into making the individual conscience. Thethings of the spirit do not lend themselves to easymeasurement. But no one should underestimate therole of the Sabbath school in developing the spiritualvalues which make good citizens and which are sovitally essential to the preservation of a free civilization.THE COVENANTER WITNESS