Bethel Baptist Church, Kalispell Montana

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FROM ALL CORNERS of the world comes a challenge to God's Word. Doubt and denial are encouraged by the enemy. Everything seems against the Gospel of Christ. But we must remain to fulfill our duty. What is the duty of Christian men at such a time? What is the duty, in particular, of leaders in the work?

In the first place, they should encourage those who are engaging in the intellectual and spiritual struggle. They should not say, in the sense in which some say it, that more time should be devoted to the propagation of the Gospel and less to the defense of the Gospel. Certainly there should be the propagation of the Gospel. Believers should certainly not content themselves with warding off attacks, but should also unfold in an ordinary and positive way the full riches of the Gospel. But far more is usually meant by those who call for less defense and more propagation. What they really intend is the discouragement of the whole intellectual defense of the faith. And their words come as a blow in the face of those who are fighting the great battle. As a matter of fact, not less time, but more time, should be devoted to the defense of the Gospel.

Indeed, truth cannot be stated clearly at all without being set over against error. Thus a large part of the New Testament is polemic; the enunciation of evangelical truth was occasioned by the errors which had arisen in the churches. So it will always be, on account of the fundamental laws of the human mind. Moreover, the present crisis must be taken into account.

There may have been a day when there could be the propagation of Christianity without defense. But such a day at any rate is past. At the present time, when the opponents of the Gospel are almost in control of our churches, the slightest avoidance of the defense of the Gospel is just sheer unfaithfulness to the Lord.

There have been previous great crises in the church, crises almost comparable to this. One appeared in the second century, when the very life of Christendom was threatened by the Gnostics. Another came in the Middle Ages when the Gospel of God's grace seemed forgotten. In such times of crisis, God has always saved the church. But He has always saved it not by theological pacifists, but by sturdy contenders for the faith.

—J. Gresham Machen (1881-1937)

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THERE IS A SWORD that never wears out. Its edge is never blunted. On its blade no rust ever yet has gathered. It cuts to heal. It smites to save. It kills to make alive. It is the sword of the Spirit. now is the time when it calls for strong hands and brave hearts to wield it. It has the property of giving skill to the untaught and valor to the once fearful and unbelieving. It can be held by a child and do execution. It may be thrust into the right place, when love directs, and made to flash with the light of its own brightness, even when there be the darkness of an almost despairing eye to trace its pathway to its object.

This sword, however, can do nothing while left in its scabbard. It is for use and not for ornament. Soldiers of Christ, Knights of the Cross, what is the world waiting for? Is it not for aggressive action? The battle cry is sounding. Bugles are blowing. Trumpets call. The Great Captain gives the word, "Forward." The Church has been cold, timid, compromising. Religion has degenerated into a sentiment. It has lost in part the power of conviction. Ministers and newspapers claiming to be orthodox and religious have surrendered to a false liberality. They have yielded up the very ark of salvation to the Philistines. They have mumbled a pleasing rhetoric as a substitute for the old Faith of Calvary, they have betrayed the Master.

Is it not high time, when the land is fainting under its heavy burdens, and the people are lost in the tangled wilderness of worldly disappointment, and corruption reeks in high places and in dark places, to bring back the power of the Bible to bear on personal character, on family training, on political morals, and on the Church of the Living God? History has its lessons. When nations have apostatized from faith and lost their way, the Bible has restored and delivered. That has the sovereign virtue. That and that alone can work reformation where all true reformation must begin—in the hearts of the people. Let the sword of the Spirit descend on our land, and our worst foes will retreat.

—T. DeWitt Talmage (1839-1902)

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SOME OF OUR CHURCH LEADERS are devoting a large portion of their time to the effort to answer the prayer of Jesus—the prayer "that they may all be one; as thou, Father, art in me and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me" (John 17:21). Federation of churches is constantly proposed by these voices in Christendom as the solution to this supposedly long unanswered prayer.

Then why is it these leaders ignore the plain words of our Lord's petition? The unity for which Christ prays is a vital unity of life in Christ and in God. It is a prayer that is offered for those who "shall believe on me through their word," and He prays "that they may be one in us." This union is only in the Father and in the Son and is realized through the Holy Spirit dwelling in true believers. It is not a mechanically organized unity at all. It is not a federation of organizations. Such a federation may exist regardless of the Holy Spirit and is usually built upon a compromise of the truth. Such a church unity no doubt is coming, but it is not the unity of the body of Christ. It will be the devil's counterfeit of the body of Christ and will consist of a conglomeration of people who have no right opinions as to the inspiration of the Word of God. It will be a manmade thing (not the spiritual unity God creates) and will come to its doom in the Great Tribulation.

Let us have what outward unity it is possible to have on the basis of the truth as it is given in the inspired Word, but mark the fact that the prayer of Christ is answered by separation not federation.

The frequent appeals that are being made with a view to helping Christ out of a hole by answering His prayer, are largely camouflage. It is another of those weak attempts to find a Scripture passage to help out a manmade theory.

—Dr. Keith L. Brooks, The King's Business, 1922

By Jonathan Edwards

Preached on the day of the funeral of the Rev. Mr. David Brainerd, Missionary to the Indians, from the Honorable Society in Scotland for the propagation of Christian Knowledge, and Pastor of a Church of Christian Indians in New Jersey; who died at Northampton in New England, October 9, 1747, in the 30th year of his age, and was interred on the 12th following.
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By Evangelist Wil Rice IV

From the Branding Iron of the Bill Rice Ranch April-May 2008, Vol. 47-No. 2 (Used with permission)

Last week in Dallas, it was sunny and 70 degrees. Yet as I strode past indoor shops, cafes and bookstores, I saw a number of people in heavy winter coats. Later, as I ate alone at McDonalds, I saw a young man with a shock of red hair and an Irish accent greet a family near my table. He wore a soccer jersey with the word Ireland and an Irish flag stitched to the sleeve. Yet we were thousands of miles from the Emerald Isle and nearly as far away from Shamrock, Texas!
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