Covenanter Witness Vol. 53 - Rparchives.org

church."pew"ToI. Prospects for peace in the coming years rest upona shaky foundation.a. The United Nations Organization offers nomore security in that direction that did theLeague of Nationsb. The winning of an arms race is futile. It isendless and leads nowhere.c. Alliances such as NATO are a false confidence.There is also place for more than passing concern over the granting of autonomy to both WesternGermany and Japan. The recent report of the reinstatement of the formerly Shinto-inspired leadership, as given in the Christian Patriot, was mostdisturbing. The Western nations have already hadsad experience from the re-arming of Germany afterWorld War I. Will it happen again and will the samething happen with respect to Japan ?Are we in the USA so occupied with buildingup military defences in a stock pile of arms and inalliances that we have little or no thought of securing peace on God's terms of repentance and dependence upon Him?ing on to the Lord and to the faith once delivered.They are holding fast.Second, there is a steady and aggressive propagation of God's Word. Despite the fact that somedoors are temporarily closed and some others maybe closed, strong missionary efforts persist and newdoors have been and are being entered. The spirit oftrue evangelism in our country is alive and no one canmeasure the fruitage that springs from the faithfulevangel in the pulpit, the press and over the air.Coupled with that is the strong movement of reformlabors and the application of God's word to the liveproblems of this present day.Signs of the times! May the Lord give us thegrace to discern them. God's purpose is establishedand He will fulfill it. Judgments will fall but God'smercy is upon His own. God can work. He does notdepend upon numbers, that is, size of numbers. Youand I have a place to fill and a work to do. We canthrow our small weight, at least, on the right side,to save America and to promote the kingdom ofheaven.II. Something serious has happened in the matter of attitude toward God's Word. This is true bothin the church and in the field of education. Authorityof the Bible as God's Word has been destroyed by adevotion to destructive criticism in the church andto the theory of evolution in the schools.Soon after the Armistice in 1918, Modernismbroke loose in the church, with its denial of theScriptures, the Virgin Birth and the Deity of JesusChrist, the denial of the blood atonement and thebodily resurrection on the third day. At the sametime, the theory of evolution began to come out infull bloo,~'. Faith in God, in the minds of students wasdisplaced by implanted doubts. Questions raised wereleft unanswered and the effect of spiritual havoc hasbeen increasing ever since.III. The spirit of the old virtues instilled bygodly training has given way to the kind of pagan,epicurean philosophy and way of life.Evidence of this appears all around us. There isappalling wickedness in high places, corruption inoffice and betrayal of trust. Increasing indulgenceof the fleshly appetites is shown in the nationaldrink practice, gambling and the general pursuit ofworldly and carnal pleasures. It is evidenced in theshocking and revolting crimes that beset our homesand communities a logical consequence.So one might go on and enumerate more of thestorm warnings of divine judgment, on the dark sideof the picture. Unless these trends are reversed bya thoroughgoing spiritual revival, what hope is therefor our generation and the one succeeding it*? Jesuswarned the men and women of His generation thatthey were blind and that they had failed to embracethe things which belonged to their peace. Are weblind also?Some Hopeful SignsOn the other side of the picture, however thereare some hopeful signs. First, there is still a staunchremnant of the faithful in the churches both largeand small in numbers. These loyal followers of JesusChrist, many of whom are young in years, are hold-December 22, 1954The Family Pew"The familv has not yet *ror>e the way ofthe prayer meeting and, in some sections, the Sundayevening service, but there are not as many such pe^'stoday as r^ost of us would like to see. In fewer andfewer churches is the custom still followed of thesame families habitually worshiping in the samepews week after week.Of this custom, Dr. Marshall C. Dendy, Executive Secretary of Christian Education, hasMany"The memory of going to church and sitting ina family pew, with the members of the family inthei1'Haces. is ore of t^e happiest and most blessedmemories of life . . . a person has beenstrengthened when tempted, has had the fires of loverekindled, and has had the vision of duty made moreclear, because the 'faith of his father,' discoveredwhen his family worshiped in the family pew, hadbeen r-ade a living experience in his life. ... havea family pew and to worship in it will bless any family."One of the present writer's happiest memoriesof boyhood days is that of his own small family inthe same pew at all the services of the church, and ofthe large and happy familyof six that occupied regularly the pew just in front. Whenever someone speaksof the old First church, that is the picture that comesto mind. Who can say how great an influence sucha memory can have on one's whole life?It was with such a thought in mind th^t thelate Dr. James I. Vance wrote many years ago : "I goto church for the sake of my children. I want them toknow God and make it their life's great aim to discover and do His will. I want them to grow a moralbackbone and join the uplift work for their fellowmen. I want them to escape the greed and animalismof the crowd who live for the sparkle of jewels andchampagne, and in marriage find love and a happyhome and devoted children. And I know of no placethat can do so much to give them these things as theChristian Observer389