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'

lJi,t 'usptl .Unts~ PuBuSHI:D WBll:B:L'I'.

IN THE IN'rEREST OF EVANGELICAL TRUTH, BY JARVIS STREET
BAPTIST CHURCH, TORONTO, CAN., AND SENT FOR $3.00 PER ygAR
(UNDER COST), POSTPAID, 1'0 A!IIY ADDRESS, Sc. PER SINGLE COPY.
T. T. S HIE L D S
PASTOR AND EDITOR
"I alii not ashamed oflhe gOlpel of Cbrisl."-Roman; 1 :16.
Address correspondence: The Goapel Willlels, lJO Gerrard Street E., Toronto.

Vol. :I 1X)RONrl'O, MJA'IWH 6th, 1924. No. 43

mIJf JanriJI &Ufft IIuJptt .

A CALL TO THE SECRET FRIENDS OF JESUS.
A Sermon by the Pastor.
pl'eRched ill Jarvis Street Church, Toronto, Sunday E;lvenlng, li'ebruary 17, 1914.
(Sten08raphicaUy reponed.) ,
"And aller Ihi. Joa~ph 01 Arin"'lhaea, being a disciple oi Jesus, but secretly
for fear of the Jewl, lieaoll8'ht Pilate tut he might take away the body of -
Jelul: and Pilale gave him leave. He cawe therefore, and took the body 01
Jelul.
"And there came .Iso Nicodemus, which al the first came to Jesus by Dight, .
and brought • multure of myrrh and aloel, about an hundred POUIl weight. .
''Then took lhe, the body of Jelus, and wOUlld it in linen dothea with the
spices as the manner of the lewl ia to bury.
"Now in thi. place where h. wal crucified there wal a gardell; alld in th. .
,i! . ' ..
, garden a lIew lel!U~Chre, wherein was never ma .. yet laid.
"There laid tbey Jelul therefore because of the JewI' preparalion day; fur
the .epulchre was nigla at hand".-St. ]ohu 19: J8·42. '

SHA'LL apeak to you thl8 evening or two or the secret friends

of Jeaua-Joseph of Arimathea, an honoura.ble coun8ellor, ",..._B. '4la-
clple of Jeaus, !but secretly for fear of the Jews"; an4- N1004emu8,
a Blaster of 'Israel who came to Jesu8 'by .nlpt, a -.eJlllber of-~
couDcli W'hlch tried Jeaua, and alBo a disciple of Jesua, 'but 88~,
, like J08e,pIl, "for fear of the Jew8". There are maDY JIJ~e' J'oeePh
,.1114 Nlcodemu8 to-day-.fully per8uaded of blie truth of flhe gospel;
I' ~I, convinced of the eilicacy of rhe atoning 88cl'llIIce,; pel'fectly 8ure -that
, "~U8 18 the :SOD or God; ill their henrts U'ustlng In Him and havlDg no bCll)e
i ~~ God apart ·from' Him; and yet, they cherl8h theae hO;lles aeenUy, ;tor
: fear Of 80me mode~ lew. I shall try tbl8 evening to discover 80Dle of thtllle
, ~t disciples, aDd to po~ut out to thelD, III the Name of the .Lord, their privi-
es_ aa th08e who kDOW rbat Jeau8 Christ Is the SOil ot God. What, talen, ·!Were
, the characteristics ot their dlsolpleshlp?
I ',. I.
I "In the IIrst place, we are told cODcel"ulllg Joseph of Arlmat.luU)a that 1&6
~,;:W.ea lor tl&6 IdngtJom 01 God". Joaeph believed the ScrlptuNs; be believed
llae Old, Testament SCI'lptures; they were to hlln the In8plred and authorl-

E ,
l'e Word of God. He belleveduie prophecie8 of the Scripture that /Messiah
. ute! come; aDd that wheD He 8bould come He would teach them all I:btll8B.
. .
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!
He believed. that God had orda.lned One that wae ml8'bty; tbat He ba4
eBalled One chosen out of die people; and that, In due course, He would aPJItar
I
and aa18lbllsh His ·klnB@m, Jpseph had nO hOlNllfor obis own race, In particUlar,
and for the world at large, 'but In the comIng of the kIngdom of God. ADA
when Jaaus came he recogn'lled In Rim the fulfilment of all tbese wondroD.
proPhecies In w21idh b.Is soul delighted. He believed Him to Ibe the MesslQb
sent of Ood to redeem His people, and to establl'-" a kingdom of rlghteousnllllllj
but !be kept all this to hll1lseif. In his heart, he 1W0rshipped Jesus; In hra
heart, he trusted Him; be believed that the hape of the world ·was In Him:
but he did not tell anYbody abOut U. He waa a disciple Of. Jesus secretly.
Are tIlIere some here 1Ike tbat this evening? Some of you bave no doubt
as to tbe divine origin and the divine authority of this Book; you know tbat
Jesus Is the Son of God; your hesrt bas responded to the message of the blood,
and you have lao·ked to Him as tbe One w:ho .bore your sins away; and 'It
you have made no contribution, by an open avowal of your faith, to the on·gol1l11
of tbe truth of ~be gospel. You have not Invested your life In IJhls greatest
of all euterprlsea-maklng known to the ends of the earth tlhls gospel of the
kingdom for a witness unto all nations. There are, perhaps, men and womeo
hel'e this evening wbo .have ,pondered much over the problems of human elllst·
ence; you have been forced to a consideration of the ~mpotence of every torm 01
l\lllllan government; wthen we sang t·hat opening bymn this evening which told
of the certainty and of the glory of the coming King, your heart said, "Ameo!
come Lord Jesus. [wish He would come. 1 can see no hope for tbls SiD'
stained, war·scourged eartb but In the comIng of Him Woho Is tbe Kl1118 of kll\lD
and Lord of lords"; you love to hear the gospel; you even admire any teatimoDY
to the truth of Bcl'lpture, because your heart reBPonds to It; and yet-aD4
yet, you 'have never ~enly taken your stand for Cbrlst; a disciple of JelllD
secretly.
j, Once again: It Is recorded of Joseph tlhat willen he sat In council with
ill
tbose ·who condemned Jesus to death, he had not oonBented to the ooun.sel GIl"
!
deed 01 the1n. W11en the hlg.h priest said, "Wlllat tblnk ye?" and tbey cried.
"He is worthy of death," Joseph did not say -It. When the otbers voted to

I
I
deliver Him up to !:he Roman power. and to demand His execution, Jo_
would not consent. He did not cast hIs vote to plat that crown of thorna; 110
dId not aasoalate himself with those w'ho drove lIbe spear Into His heart. .\114
when, at last, he saw Him hanging there, perbaps he dimly understood, avs:!
J! before the Spirit or God was given as He was given In His fulness at PeJlteCOCi

.' I -perh8IPs he dimly understood that He was dyIng "tlhe just for the u~
that He ml~ht bring us to God"; and as he looked upon that loved forai, ~
he saw tbose eyes closed In deat-h, he said, "I did not do ilt. 1 would bave piO'
vented It 1,1 I COUld. I repudiate that act. I would take that crown or tllD~
from HIs brow, and I would crown Him' with the crown of universal dlal1a
If I had my way. I would not put the reed In His .band: 1 would give to ~e
tbe anlvelllAl sceptre, till COUld." He may have saId all tbat: he was bllll~
no lParty to tbe cruclfhdon of Jesus voluntarily, ellcept, of course, as ibis stD,
like yours and mine, tlroupt the Lamb of God to the Cross. ,
What Is your attitude toward calvary? waaat Is tale reeponse of your lIPid
to the 'blood? Are you ready to admit that He who dIed on !!bat central crcCJo
bowever and ·for whatever reason He died, d4d not dIe for 'Hls own sloat ~
you ready to say, '"Nothing He ever did merited the treatment He n;oelyad.
fain would crown Him wltb tbe laurel of my praises. I fain would aoda~
Him In tbls beart or mine. No wort.hler ever Uved Ulan He?" Oh, Joaepll,
'-- .--, , ,
I
'--~!
 . you had on~y sa.ld Il! If you bad only come out boldly, and said, "I wllllJO with
film to tbs' Cross; but all the' world' sball know tbat I stand: at His side as H{s
disciple! ". But be was a disciple of Jesus secretly. Are you trustl.ng t.bat, some-
how or another, you wlll reap the ,benefits of His deatb, yet unwllHnB to accept
all the consequenc:e6 uf a bold aVDwal of your 'faith in Him?
~icodemus ds t·hree times referred to In John's gospel as havllI8 come to.
JesuB by nl8lht: IIrst, in the third chapter wlbere 'hls coming Is recorded; be la
idenUfled the second time in the seventh chapter-"Nlcodemua . . be tbat 'caPle
to J~sus ·by night"; and now that Jesus Is dead, and Joseph comes to beg His
body, there came wdth him another hon~ura.ble counsellor, named NicodeDlus.
Who. Is he? "Nicodemus, wblab at the IIrst eRnIe to. Jesus Iby night", IbecauSQ be
was afraid to come by day. That Is .the Impllcatlun. He Is the Inqulr:er who
said, "Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come frpm ODd: fOI: no man .,.D
do these miracles that thou duest, except GDd he with him." But he sdd It In
the quiet of the midnight hour, when no one but Jesus was present to ihear blm,
You bought a book the other day. I d'O not know who you are,lbut you were
balr·mlnded to go and ask some servant of Ood what you might do to be saved:
you were half·mlnded to tell somebody that lIote was a great ·problem· fur which
YOIl could lind no solution; you feared that If )'()u once commun.lcated tlhat secret
hope to another your dlsclplesb1.p would h.e out. Therefore you went Into a
religious book'store, and you bOIlg.~t a book that you thought ml·ght 'help you;
and YDU walked away congratulating yourself that perhaps IIofter all you mlgbt
nnd t·hia In It without letting anybody know that you were enquiring, It may
be you passed out of that door, and you said, "Y!'lS, 1 will ta·ke a Gospel W1tneB ....
You were unwilling to. admit that yOU were particularly Interested. You put It
;' In your ~ocket; and you ttJouG'ht you would read It in the quiet of 'your own
. room where nobody was looking. You would be a.frald to read The Gospel W"-
nell or any other religious paper on the stl'eet·car. "The same that came to
'. .Iesus by night."
And yet Nicodemus was a Little bohler on one occasion. When ~he Pharlst:ea
lIad sent the oft'lcel'lll to bring Jesus Into their presence, and they came back
"'thout Him, "they said unto them, Why 'have ye not brou·gIlt him? The oft'lcers
iuswered, 'Never DIan spRike like this DIan. Then a.nawered them the Pharlseea,
Are ye also deceived? Have any o.r the rulers or of the :Pharisees believed on
IIhn?-(Only the "rurraft' come to Jarvis Street, so you ·had heLter 'be careful
Of Jour reputation. You are In danger of loalng It w'hen you croas the thr~hol!1
berel,-18ut this people who. knoweth not the law are curaed. Nlcodemua a~lt~
IUlto 'them ('he that came to Jesua ·by night, ·belng one of them). Doth our law
lIlC!8e any .man, before It hear him, and know what he doeth? 'Vhey anawered
. lad said unto him, Mt thou alBo of Galilee? Search, and look: for out of
llaUlee arlaeth no prophet." 1 thln.k 'NlcodemuB thought he had exceelled tbe
1ao1illCls of 'I1M1dencB then: he 'had not anot.her wurd to aay. He bad reldeved
ble conscience a I1lUe, as I have heard men do by asking questions In a Un.rii--
Ill) Benate-one may aek a question, YOll know, to let people know tbat he. does
~t fUlly agree, alld then have nothing more to aay. The world la full otf people
Ika t'hat to.day-like JOBepb of Arlmathaea, and Nicodemus.
II,
Now I ask, Why? Well, tbe text tella us: "For lear 01 the Jew .... Wh~t ,n
tatraordlnary quality lIhat of moral courage iB! How scarce an arblcle It lsI
I lOok a:bout me I wonder If t.here ever waa a day when there were ma~y .0
80ula as t'bere are to-day; but when I turn the pages of tbla Book I dis-
tbat human nature waa Just tbe same tiben, and tllere is notblng, In ,.r-
. THE GOSPEL WITNESS
tlcular, to complain of. It Is to-clay as It !baa aLways been: "Tbe feu of
brlnge~ a snar.... Tbe elttraordlnary thins Is that .I086p1& tDaB a rich 'IItan., GIld .
116t 1&6 waa afnJCd. I uaed to tlllu-~ t.ha~ It was 0,011 poor people wbo were afralt!:
a poor man who waa afraid of losing b1a Jab-who had to conalder tbe breat
and butter q,uestlon i or pedllllla, the keeper ot a corner store who W88 afraid
of loslns a lew customera. Wben I had lesa experience I neyer dreamed tIllt
the man who ftS, as we 8hould say, Independent.ly rich, could be afraid of any.
Wng. But here was a man who was a rich man, and yet be was maid. He
was afraid, perhaps, of the dlaapproval of his clus. He did not live bY"1I
wealth merely: he was a man of raok and position. More than he ikDew, die
position lIle occupied, his social status-these were elements In his life willi
which he was unwdlllng to dlapense; and he was afraid openly to acknowledp
Christ. .
It may be there Is aome one here tbls even'lug who ia afraid to conre.
Chrlat ·because you fear the disapprobation of a particular circle-men IIl4
women of your clua, whatever that. may mean. "There are not. any 'claBlllll'
In this countrY--1>nly acroaa the aea." Is bhat so, You have not learned mucb
If you think that. TlIere are 'classes' everyow'here. .And I want you to conalder,
as 1 am speaklns, whether there lis aomebody lD the circle In which you moft
whose dlsapproyal Is terrifying you, and Dl8Iklug you afraid to aclmowl.
Christ. Some years ago after I preacbed a certain sermon on worldly am....
menta-you may have heard aibout it; they do talk about such thlll8s sometimll
-1 'had a certain ollidal meeting, and an official or th1s church said thll:
"Bretihren, the altuation Is most serious. Why," be aald, "I was slttlns at IUDcI!
with two friends only yesterday. In the COUrBe of conversation they dlBCOyered
. that I belonged to Jarvis Street Cburch, and one of theae gentlemen allild, 'Ob,
and you belong to Jarvis Street, do you? And so your ,pastor won't le~ you II
to !:he moyle"" And then without a smile be said, "BreNneu, the situation \I
very sertoua when 'we 'lIave to face glbea like that." He really thought he wll
a .full·grown man! He did not know that 'he WBa an Infant In loug clolb"
without a Qal'k of spiritual manliness In him. W'by ahould a man care "hi'
a man says to him across the table at lunc'll? "For fear of the Jews." SolDl
young girl here this evening is "a disciple of Jeaua, but secretly for fear olllle
Jews"-and "the Jews" are the young girls with whom ehe worka. To·morro«
all day, when they ,have time for conversation at all, bhey wtll be talklnc uoat
the last ahow they went to aee, the last Chinese party t.lIey attended, or the_
dance-or aomethlng of that 8Ort. But tJlws young girl, to whom 1 am taWaI
to.nlght, never goes to any of these things without an Inward protest. She
Just like Joseph sitting down at t'he council, 'knowlng In Ihls heart that ,e
In the wrong company. And you know that you are In the wrong comllDalll"l
You come here night !lifter night; you have wanted to walk down lIhose
for Christ; 'but you are afraid the next morning the glrla would aay, "ADd
you 'have become religious, have you '" ·And for fear' of the sneer of your
clates In bualness or pleasure, you have wltbheld your testimony for
'DIIere Is some man here In the same sltuation-afrBlld of the men with
he works. I confess I cannot underatand It. 1 have st.udled a little PSYChOI0'!d
1 have studied aomewhat the operations of the human mind; 'but 1 am lIU1Jl"
about tbls. I do not understand why men should be afraid. I·f onlY the ""
c",le8 of Jesus would have courage and ,boldly take their stand for ~
we GOuld baye a revival at once. A man comes to IDle and saya, "1 am a JD dIA1
of a church. Every time my 'pastor preaches \he deodes tbe inspiration o~~
Book, and the Deity of Christ, and all the great fundamentala of the . •
 THE GOSPEL WITNESS 5
~------Ir-------~--~~--~------~~------------.~
~," be ";e, "what am I to do'" What are you to dol Wbat. .r.-you·t.o do
wileD Jel,.1 Christ la bel"g crl1cUJ,ed· afresh, ~d mea are tearlnJr God'8 Word
10 plec.,,'? Well, In ~he NIUIl'. of the Lord, -l lummoD yoU t.o actlon. Yo ... ,b~ve
nO rlJllt to rem all, . wlt4lout protelt a mePl~r of any dIlurch ·where iJelua
Chrllt. II denied. I 1!ould not lpeak ollenBlvely-1 do not Intend to-b.Ilt there
are 80qle denominations tllat seem to have 'Parted wld!. tbe COlpel entlrel,~ I
"oDde~~ bve aald It before; I will SaY It agaln-1[ WODde..- bow 10Dle membel'll
of tbe Metbodlst Cburch In Canada can poaalltly tolerate tbe Loblngs tbat are
being ol'llolally promulgated in ttle name of tbe cburOb? If yoU are loyal to
Obrlst YOI1 cannot. If tbe secret dllclp)es or Jesus In lbe Method'lst Cburlil In
CaDada-and tbere are bundreds of tbouaaneJa of tbem-If they would bavl!
couras. to rise up tn tbe Name of \:he 'Lord and eay, ''Tbls sball ·not be," tbere
would Ibe an old·faShloned revival In that cburCh. And I want to summon tAbe
members of 'Baptist OhurChea, so far as 1 have any voice or Inftuenc~, to
come out boldly agBiinst every kind of departure ·from tile falt.h, aDd let the
world know that we will not consent to see our Lord 'wounded In the bouso of
His frlenb.
loll.
And then, WIlA'l' THEY MISSED BY THIIlIB FAJLUBE. Wbat happened? Cbrl;;t
went to the Cross, and they did nl)llhing to prevent It. W'hy Is It tba~, In some
denominations to·day, men can oecu'py ChrlaUan pulpits aud do the work of
Tom Paine? I read an article An the secular .press--.Tl1e Cleveland News--as I
was golllg to Cleveland the other day. It said that Lohere was no accounting for
"he ·fublolls In religion; that Ohrlstian pulpits every.where throuchout lhp.
American Continent were preaching lIhe doctrines at Tom Paine, Voltaire. Ilnd
Robert Ingersoll; and IJhat such 'infidel lecturers as -Robert ·Ingersoll were not
need cd 'because Ohrlstian pulpits were. dolng.t!he same business. A few ),earll
Blo, In this country, Professor Jackson began his work. There was a trelllen-
doW! upheaval in the Metbodlst Church at the time. Tbat old-fashioned gloriou"
chlUllJrion of the ralth. Dr. Carman, uttered his VOice agalnBt t'hat Ileresy; IIIIl
he waB old, and ohe was outmatdhed. Professor George Jackson WIlS endorsed;
anel fronl that day untJIl tbls the Methodist Ch·urcb has g'olle from bad to worse
.everywhere. Why? ,Because Joseph a.nd Nicodemus remained disciple:;
BecreUy; .becauBe they d'ld not give thelr voice and their Innuence against il .
. BIId say, "We will' not tolerate ~Is Lohlng that denies tbe great fundamental,;
or ttbe faltlb." lMy friends, 4t IB Ibappenlng everywhere. Everywbere the dri"fl
Is on. 1 do not know whether we can stop It or not. We cannot ,but by the
J01h\r of God; notblng but a great reUglous revival will bring men ·bacl, to thll
1G8pe1. Our bope Is in Him. But. In any event, tbe obligation Is u.pOD us to be
true, If we bave to stand alone tin this matter; and upon you, If you are a Cbris-
!Ian, to come out for Christ.
. And ther me-.ed the 101/ 01 'eUow.Mp with oran.t in lIb .u/lering. Ob, It
""ould have 'been a Joy to have been wlL'h Him, to have gone to the Cross with
Him! Daniel learned more about God In the lions' den than be learned all tbe
relt of bde nfe. The Hebrew children ,formed the acquaintance of Olle, W·bo
"as like the Son of God, in the midst of the names IJhat they never learned
anYWbere elae. You can learn things as you have fellowsblp wlllh His sulrer·
IngS, and aB you are made con·formable unto .His deatlh. AB you rollow Him.
and aB you go wltbout tbe camp bearlll8 His reproa.ch, ·He wlll 10 with you;
&Ill! YOU caD know Him anel tbe 1I0wer of Hla resurrection as you can know'
~t nOWhere else.
I remem.ber a womall wbo used to ibe a ·member of tbls churcb. She bad a

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6 THE GOSPEL WITNESS

famll, of chlld1'8D; but not one of tbem WIUI kind to ber. When I went to Il8e
ber one day, she told me all about her sorrows, and she said, '''There Is not
one of them 'W'bo would make a cup of tea for me now." With great dlii'lcultJ
she bad !been keeping up a Itttle InlRlrance to pa,
ber funeral eJr;P8nses wtlen
she died. And ahe was very anxious, wJ18D she was ta.ken III at last, that t1Ila
Insurance sbould be made over to Jal'Yls Street Cburdh so lUI to .be sure that
sbe would get a decent bumal, We had maintained her; and 80 8he made over
Ihls little Insurance 1I01Icy---.I thtnk It was a ;hundred dollars or so. WIlen al
last ahe died, I gave tbe undertaker In8tructlon8 lor tbe ·funeral. 1n a little
while one or tbe family called me lIP, and wanted to see me at the under.
taker's chapel. I went to meet them. 1'he, were all tJhere, and the, said, "We
could not see our clarllng motber 'burled In a coffin Uke that." It was a respect
able casket; but they must pay fifty or seventy-five dollars more. They wepl
until their e,es were red over tbe mobber tlley had hastened to tbe Irave,
and to wbom only one of tbem had ever been kind. 'Not QUite 80 bad as tbat
wa8 J06eph of Arlmal!baea and Nicodemus; but tJhey let Him die alone, It WI8
not until He was gone tbat Joseph came bold I, and !begged the bod, of Jesu8;
i and Nicodemus came too, "And tbere came also Nicodemus, whlcb at the ftr~t
I, came to Jesus Iby nlight, and brougbt a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an .
hundred ,pound wel8'bt. Tben took the, the body of Jesus, and wound it ID
"i, linen clothes wltb the spices, as \lbe manner of \jhe Jews ds to :bury", and Ihe,
laid Him away In a new grave.
My dear Ifrlends, there Is a Ibetter way of serving Jesus than thaI. He Is a
living ISavlour. He wants your love, and your loyalty, and your Ibeart's devo-
tion, He wants you 1Ioldly to take sides with Him. 1 am going to a8k yOIl,
BS 10vJngly as I ·know bow, and lUI earnestly and Insistently, I·f you will CODle
out from your hiding-place to-nig'bt. How many are there here this evenlDg
who will take sides with Jesus?

LAST SUNDAY
'Sunda.y we reached a hig.h maJ'k In the tide of 8Ipirltual ·blesoslng. We had
our )arpst IIIttendance at OUI' morning BLbie SOI1001-539. We 'had II larger
num'her of 100 ·per cen·t. c)'asses flhan ever before, and a Ial'ler Bible scllool
coUeclion. There was a great mOl'nlng eonog'I'egalJlon, and, lilt the .pUoblic service.
1nc'l'Udin-g sewral Chrls-Uane who accompanied ollhers to the front, s8v.enteeD
came ·forwa'l'll In .response ,to the Invll8ltlon. The eveo4ng service was b8lU!I
lilt Ibalf past six to ahlow more time ,for ·t.he baptismal servloe. A great con'"
gatlon gathered at that hour, and at twenty minutes to seven the church wsa at
least tw04hlrde Illlled. !By seven o'clock there was hM"dly a vacant sewl; to II'
found lin the llLouse. !Eleven were :baptized. Tobe grelllt Ibymn, ".AlII ball die
power of J88\lS' Name", was suug 'While ofIhe Invlt8/t!on was given; and wileD
the verse beg!D·nlng, "Ye choeen eeed of lamel's race" wae sun'g, an In.ltat~
to all Hebrew Christians to come forward and confess. Christ 'Was given. j.
100dl y noum:ber res.pondoed to the InvltwUon, and I'lliter ..veral Jew8 came tor-
ward s·eeklng Ohrlst. W!hen flhe 'Inv,i'tllltion was made genera,I, othere rl'
.... onded·, 80 tha.t a numlber Blbout equal to tibet or the morning went 10If.0 tilt
-II' . 'l'b'
tnqulry room. A grea.t company remained for the Communion service.
names of fifty-ali: new mem'hera were cwlled, ,lIorLy-Wine of whom were praaeD'
to receive Lhe baud of feUOWSIhlp. Lblrly41ve of whom came by ;baptlsID. \Vb::
I he .... rvlce WUII dl!IDlllt8ed al Il late hour, over five hunch'ed Joined In t
01081n'g bymn.

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 THE GOSPEL WITNESS 1

,, THEmember,.
publl~loa of this paper al a missioaar, el!lerprise is made po.lible b, Ibe .!f~~ qt'
of Jarvis Street Churcb aad olbers, and is sent 10 subecribers b, mail for taw"'.
(UDder COlt)' per ,ear. If aD, of the Lord's slewards wbo read tbis bave received blessin.,
we sball be sraleful for any Ihank.oRerias you may he able 10 send 10 The Witness Fund at
an, limei' aad especially for your rrayers Ibal Ibe mellase 01 The Witness may he used by
tbe Hoi, Spirit for. Ibe deleace 0 Ibe Faitb, the lalvalion 01 lOuis, and tbe exaleadOD of
Oriel. AI our fuads make it pouible, we bope 10 add 10 our Iree IiSI, from linle 10 lime,
the names 01 mini siers al bome and mislionaries abroad, -

EDITORIAL
MORE AlBOUT ,PRAYER
'~nUy some .papers In the Un.Jted States have pufbllahed aome refereuce
to the J&l'VIa &zeel 'pr&.yer-meetingB. We JLave not 'S88DJ 'liheae 'Iteme; ,bu.t a
num'ber or l'etter& Ib&ve reaohed us enqulrln'g how It was posatble -to maintain
fa.,.. prayer-meeUnga &. week. In Il!ttempting 'to answer thelP8 questions, . we
d6lPl'1'6, dint or all, to cuard agaln.st ,the iJ)OSSlbUlty of an)"On8"a a.eaumlng ,that
we !COunt CJW'IIeI·ves 'to have IIIpprebend,ed tbe ,fuB meanlnJ and 'PQ8sLbllfties of
·lJIe minJstry or prayer. In 'tJrls matter we can on·ly eay 'tbat we ",fol·low on".
-Having said -this, ohowever, we may now remal'lk IIlILat the Quest-ion as to
how live ·pra.yoel'·meeting·s a '\V·eek can ,be maintained ought 'to be regarded as
'belng as unnecessary as to IlSIk: a .JIving person how he manages ·to .keep on
bl'88.t,hlng eeven days a week. oMol!tgomery wait right ,In saylng-
"Prayel' la ·the Ohrlatlan's vl·tal breath,
'JIb,e Oh·rlstlan'e nllotive air."
Tl'lle pl'uyel' Is COUl'merce w·lth God. Lt Is more than .peoUtiou; it is 'nlore
than thanksgiving: It In'Vol·ves a ,fellowship Wlblch resultll' fl'om vlta'i union ,with
God Himself. We do not 'bel,Lev08 -that muc.h can be accom·pllshed ..by ·t:he ·mere
holdJng of meetings. "'hell people learn the IUKu·ry -of 'prayer, t.hey· 'wll:l simply
pray. Just as one breabhes deeply when sbepplng out; of his door on a ,bea·uUrul
i Spring morning; or, 8S when one stands In t'he prow ()If a vessel as she 'I)loughs
' \t~e seas, teeHng -the fresh air upon one'.jj cheek and 1111111.. nosbrlls, It .becomes
..
\ "natural to eXIPand the chest aud to In,l1a'le as much as I)Ossl'ble of tohe fl·efllh·lHIss
~ of the Indlnlte eea; so, ,by some mean,s or anoth,er, it Is '.Drs,t necessary La ·learn
the value of 1'I'ayer: ,prayer-meetings will then llIuHlpl;y themse,lv·es, and thtl
W'hole oburoh wm ·become a br.e&bhlng, vita'l body, 'Ins'tinct with the atmo-
• ~here of the heavenly .places, the regenerlllted soul's "native ah· ........the ~plrlt
or God IHtmaelot. But how CIln -this condition be brough·t about In tlhe Uf.e of
a ClllU~h'?
FIrst, by a 'ministry which magnifies God. The ministry that glorl.Des
blhDan nature, whlc.h preaches salvation :by character and 'Uy good wOflks, ma¥
IIllilke a very bnsy churoh, .but wlU never make a pra.ying ohu·rch. Tohe 'mln,lswy
,tbat &eta .tortJh ·the ot:undamental ·taots of the g06,pel-;bh.e Inherent sln·f,uinees
aDd Impotence of human nature, flhe etrlcacy of tlhe blood, the. preciousness of
I, lobe promises of GolVs Word and the power of the Holy Ghost, 'wl.ll 11lI8vlliably
bUlllble people lbefo~e God, and lead them to prll},.
·i'u.rtJher oSuch a m,lDlstry win 'ul'lng to people 8n elOperlence of the reality
. or aplrltual 'things. The telegraph, and 'Lhe telephone, and 'the ra.dlo, In oCIhe.lr
Iv.ney, 'Were aU regarded as toys. As soon as It was d'8tel·IU\Jll8d· tha.t ·they
COlloid .be used tor practical 'I)U,l'Iposes, they ·comr...anded universal Interest. So
. a hLblical ministry wHI bring .to the peoille BI,bllcal experiences, in wh!loh the
DrolDls.es of the Word and bhe exefIClse of prayel' will become vl'lal and ea·86n·
8 THE GOSPEL WITNESS
'---------------~~~~~~~~~~~----------~
Ual e1emel1'tB. Payer 'Will cease 10 ,be an experiment, a~4 wiill ,becolnit. "-
experience. Instead or being resarded as the occupation of & dreamer, ·It Wid
become the dlret duLy and privllegoe of 'practlcal Chrlaotlan men. The ut.lllt,ot
prayer, thel'efol'e, balDs demonatMted, It wUI natun1ly t.aaLe It.a .place 88 at
lodispensll'ble factor In the cburch's Itte. 10 the Ibudget. of any church. provlalo•.
Is made to flU the 'bIos with coal to keep the fires burning: to light and furoll' .
the dtou&e, to provide the nece.. aar.y laobour to .keep t!he Ihouse ctean and In tlUOd
repair; and all Lhese :tJhlnga wi'll be reokoned. amoDIK th.& ChUTCh'. neC888ltlea.
Thus, 8:lso, an experience of ·the IlIplrLtuu 'WIlTmlJh. and UgfM. and ofreshn.,
'Wihk:h must always J'I881tit from waiting UoJIOn God, wlUo Inevlt.a.bly Incillde
pra)"e1" in the churc.h·8 spiritual necessities.
On'ly ;))eoa'U'lle we are .receIving so man,y Inqulrleso on 't.bia su.bject do we
venture to refer to our own es.perlence. Bwt we do g,lve Lhle tJeaUmon.y, to ·the
glory of God, tlhat Jarvia Street hll8 had to 'P&88 througb lohe Btoa. and journe,
Ibrough the wilderness. and wal·k t.hrough tJhe flames. and sit amoog the 1I0n8,
11Ild dwell III a ·Dothao besieged &by enemy forces--and In al'l these emerg-enolel
the arm or lIesh 'has ll'roved Impotent to Jlel'p; but. In every caee. oI>y the
abounding gl'ace of God, s'be 0118$ ·been more 'tban conqueror. God has thus
taught us absolu't.8ly 1.0 depend u.pon Hlnl, and. puLling our trust In .Hlm. we
have not been ·made a.shamed.
:J.r ot.her churohes. and 1p.d~·vlduaI8 enquire IUt to how a churcb may lie
tlllught to pray. our only answer Is, .Put Ohrl8t ;IIII'M. and take the consequeoc81.
'rhen In the mldlS't of "'he lIo6a. and In the burn-Illig ·ftery (urnsee. lessons will ~
learnell W.lllch ean never be learned els8wohere. In JanIs Street t11~ -tide of
'hlesBolng sUN flows on. Last 'Weck every pra.yer·meeLing was packed to tbe
wall with ,people. and fll·led wlt.h the presence 01 God.

WE DON'T LIKE HIS SPIRIT AND METHODS

Whenever a man OppOI!leS the progress of evil ·effectlvely. those ·who are
In sympathy with the thing oppoaed, ·but w'ho are not bold enough opellly to
champion It III the face of effective IJopposltlon, wfl.l ,be SUTe to SIlly thai t.htJ'
do n·ot like their OoPllonellt's "m.eLhods". There Is no man Wlho c.ham·pIODs tilt
everla::lLlng gospel. as opposed to the vagaries of the inlldels who dOilY It. WbD
Is not attaoked becaue·e of the alleged un'WIBldom of ,his "met.hods". T.bla II
t;boe cry that Is raised In relation to th'e Editor of this pa.per. The moal eubtli
among those wbo would undermine the faith once deUvered. 'boldly avow their
ort.bodoxy: and, by the ehameles.sness of tbelr hyopocrla1. CIIiI'.ry ma.u.y a -
senaUve wl,tll ,tlhem. 'l'hus we find not a few of the lftllJhfu:l 'l'6'PMtlll'
common obJectioo. "01 stand fOr the same prln~J)lelll '8& Mr. So-and-so.
cannot approve of biB methods." The }!:dltor of tbls PIllpel' Is not 'Wadded
any particular metJhod. One thing ·he desires Is that the faith ,be ....lIm..·~~~
and th·at error :be &xposed. 'His methods of contending ·for the .faltb maf
very d.erectlve; his on,Ly excuse Is th'l\ll bhey al'e the ,b9l101 he knows.
What If we go 'baok over denominational blstory of recent yeare-"bJl
sba.lI be .find! I
Wben Professor I. G. Mattbews resol'gned bls chair at .McMaster. \VII:,
met.hnd eliel anyone eml110y to ensure that his ·place BhouJ.d not be flUed
IInollwr llIan of the Ramo sl'lIool? The Editor of this paper wrote the •
and 110:11',1 of Govel'unrK warning them of the con.sequences of appolnl lll• 1,
1
"'Iccet;!;or of Ihe same school. We did It Be politely as we knew how to dO
and, Rt the 8lIlme Ume, as stron·gly. If our method In !.hat partlcula.r waH
why did no one else propose some other metlbod?
""hpl! 10 few monlhs laler the herellY that ball ,found expression IP .
 I

.
THE GOSPEL WITNESS
, ••
.
~r MafitheYAi teachlos appeared In ,the edl1.orlal oolum'lI8 of 'l'U CanJAdllln
,uaptllt, we ddd .tIh-e :best we colllld tQ .tay tbe ,progreas of error In .that cllreotlon,
We OP~lIily ohal'lenged It, and lought the ,ba/tltle on ·the ·floor of -thAt OolllYeaUon.
Wlbat 'Was wrong w~1lh our "metboda" In thll particular case? TlLere mlsht
baye been ~ belll.er way of doing It; we abou'ld have 'been 8'1&4 '1.0 foUow ~y­
one who WOJlold have ilropoaad a obetIt.er meLhod. But 81nce nobody elee aotecl,
we acted wIth what 'WIBdom God .bad gIven IUS.
!Again, when .tIb.e Oh.ancellor.ahlp became ·va.can·t, we end_TOured to secure
a BtroDC' man ifIor ,the .poaltlon :by waiting .upon the OommUtee a,ppointed to
oomlnate a Nomloll'tlog Com·mlttee. 'Niat method ma.y not ha:ve :been the !beat
one; bllt we knew of no ot'ber way to .proceed. Wben we law that notdLlng'1N8
, accomplIshed there, we openly oPPoled three of the men Whoae term of oUlce
88 Governora of the UO'IYeI'IIfty would expire at the Wa'lmer'Road Convention.
We mIght have taken -them by aurpmle on the floor of the CoDventl9n and
carried lJle ConV'en,t1on. IDBtead, we gave them due warning, Our method may
bave ·been 'W'I'On·g; .but sInce not a &OU:I In bILe entire DeoomlD1IIf.lon l'I·l!ted hll
voice &plnat that which menaced our progreas and 'prosperity, 'we u~ Buch
Judgment 88 we :had and d,ld the !best we COUld. TiLe whole Denomluatlon now
knows t.he result of ,the election ,to (;he Doal'd on ·that oocasdon of ,the man
whose election we opposed. Ours may have ibeen the 'wrong way; ·bu.t why did
not 80me ~r of !lhe tru·th Blhow us the orl·gh·t way?
Once again: Wihen ·McMaeter Unlverslt.y con'f-erred an bODOral'y degree
u.pon t.he IlIIftdel, Dr. ·}t'aunce, 'Who ·11 01Le of ofJIe worst enemies of the goepell of
ChorlSlt to be fOllDd on the 'ADlel'ican Continent, why did· not some 011'8 else
raise dlls voice or Dllllke a prot.e&t. In ,flbe .rlgtllt way? OU'r method may Mve
been wrong; we did the best we could. And 'We &ay now, w!lth re&peCt :to 1th,ls
m'a:tter of tile defence of the 'faith In general, 'we are wUUq to otb·1'O'W OIl!1'
Dle4.lh.odB on tbe 8crapJbelllP, and loUow any 'man or companY' of men WIIlo 'will
ahow us BlOme ,beUer way at purging oM'oMastel' Unlv.eridty of ,thos'e de8Aloly
elements whlcb &9ek to destroY' the DenoDLJnwtion, We orepeat, we are not
Wedded ,to methods. We 'Want the t.h:Ing dODe; and we ar~ wlUlng to ff;)lww
an, legJottm.aa.e 'mellhod, provided onl'y 'Uhll/t It 'brings reSoUits.
lBut what Is bile true In'war4DJe1l& of thlB crlticlem? ;S1,mply fIllls: The
only method of which the critic will approve Is the method that ·brlngl Dothlll&'
flo Pass. Any nlall WIllO olfera an ed'ectlve r8Sllstan'Ce to tbe 'prog:resa of ·Mod-
_IBm wl'lol !OO criticized ,for hie ·met.h0d8 and for bois spirit. r.ro the eQd of
~ chapter, however, we may expect ,that ·men who olear to ocham:plon- theolo-
IlGallCberallsm on ,bbe one Ib.and, bUit who yet !fear to oW»086 the l;DaDlIoIne tJIM
~tea dt on the otber, wUI ,take the mlddl&-Of~the·road position by - ..,uS,
"lVe approft of ,the Funda.m'6lltaddsta' prlndpJ.es, bLtt dllNllPprove of 4lheIr
--hod&." Modern'lsm, dlo8.v·lng no OIUJe eitber In reyeJaoUon or reason, r~
to the expedIent of 't.ryOnog ,to ,blacken Ilb.e ohanwter of everyone ·who witneasee
_IDlt It.

THE W;HOLE BIBLE S.8. LESSON COURSE.

LESSON XXIV. MARCH 16, 1924
THE FIVE OFFERINGS-Leviticus 1-7.
We llIust ever bear ,Ill mind that God Is the lame In all dllpenlatlons and J.n
'lI loges. W1ha.tever vallYilng st.andardil of condJUct t1bere may Ibe amon'g lleapl •
. 01 Varied: degrees (JOf moral culture, Godf.s standrard of rlgh'l.eousneas, Is 1IIIl'W..,..
lite Bame. He Is the Ab60lu'te 'With W'bom right Is r..-ht, IIInd· truth IB truth.
~ the Ug'ht of INew Tes-tament teadhlnc and e~perleDlCe, thes~ ,orreorlll'g'8 wbdc'h
 THE GOSPEL WITNESS
Mo888 directed the people to ofter to the Lord, represent the duties and
teBes or BlllCh ae "beloDg to tble houaehahlJ or G:MI.
I. The Burnt Offering Represented an Act of Dedication on the Part CIf
the Offerer. .
1 IAn exam4JUltlOlll of the test ar the ftrEil <mapter woill s'h.:YW that It ftI
requlrect to be the ofteTer'., best. We ehoold· not .present to the LoriIJ the
remna.nls of oor time, or the defectl've !products .JIf O'ur la'bour; .but the '11li1t
we ,have-so far as It Is possible, all offering "without blemish". (2) In tbe
next p.lace, It \WWJ a free will offering: "He shall offer It cot 'hls OW'D vO'I'U'n1a1'J'
Will". Thus '00'1" wills should B'\Irrenoer to God, so that It will become oU'l'de-
light vdiuntarll7 and wlthoot external, cO'mplLlslom to give to Him and to HII
service our very ·best. (3) He waB to give 1/.i7ll.ell wI·t1l. At. oUering (VB•• ,
"He shall put biB hand Ullon tbe head of the burnt offering". Thus he appro-
~rIated It; and as It W86 presented. to the Lord, he Baw himself In tbp .ama
meaaure dedicated to the d,lvlne service. (4) Such offerlnl!!; Involved death.
When the Lord JesllS 4ns,lsted ttJat ,His disciples must ta,ke liP t'helr croBs, He
meant. by the crOSB all Jllstrument of death. We must be cruclfted with
Cbrllllt. (.5 It was an offering of blood. Onl'Y ,thTough the hlood can the dedi·
oatlon of ourse·lveI! be aoceptAble to God, (6) This dellicaHon required that
the offerln~, representative or the offerer, should be Inwardly washed. Thul
David, Psalm 61: 1·7; so also the New 'I'eatament aplllh:atlJn, John 15: 3,
and Eph. 5: 26·27. (7) lit was. to be a whole burnt offering presented' unto
tbe Lo'rd. So s'hould we present ourselwes., Rom. 12: 1·2, (8) !It was
an offering made by fire. Only the ftre of the H-JLy Ghost CillO turn 0111' burnl
olferlng to ashes, and cause It to asceml as "a sweet savour unto the Lord" .
.n. The Meat Offe'rlng.
Tbls rl!&lr8B'8nted' the yle'ldln'g liP to God ar the rrult of the eart:h-the
mea'UB of sustell8uce. Thel'e waB nJ! bloodl4m t.be ofterlng, u()r wa& It Intended
to nllllke a.tonement. As the lJrurnt offeorlng Tepl'8sented the dedication 01
r1ul'ln8elves, the meat offering rellrB'Sente(1 tbe dedication 0" t'het.. substaoce
to the Lord. (1) Like the other offel'in(g8, It waa made by fire. Th'us the
lAllPernlltural element, the ftl'e kindled ifl'JIIIl the skies, entered! l'Oto ilJh4s act 01
service. ,So oucht 'We to give, even, 'as we ,pray, by tbe g.Nlce of the Hoi,
Spirit. (2) It was to be offered wlt:hont leaven. We should 'be sincere 10
OUT givinG, and' love shollid be "wtthO'ut d'ls'MDl'll.latbJl'''. (3) It wall! requtrad
that the meaL olferln,g Should be offered.: with salt. The meaL offerlug In B')'1DbOI
was an a.ct akin to that which the God M'8n requested of t'he Samaritan womea
J

wh6'Jll He s8;ld, "Give me t.:) ,d·rlu'k". The Ealt of gq'a.ce anll of falth should ,be .
ml:l:ed with every act or service renderecll to tb·e Lord.. ''II.et YOU'r con"~
tion be always wtth grace, seasoned with salt."
1M. The Peace Offering.
Not an offering to mn.ke peace, but an ofterlng of t'hsll'ksg\ovllnc, ,\)808.""
peaoce wae mad·e. It seemB to us 1.:) rBlPresent the approprl'Btlon of the price-
less gUt of peace. "·Belng Justlfted by faith, we have peace with GGd." 80"
great our golftB should be In view of the ,prolce paid for ollr red-em.ptlon! Our
pea.ce W~B mad'e bhroug'h the !blood ':l'r the 'Cross. T'hls '81&0 was an olferiDl
mue by lire u·nto the Lord. Only as the Spl'rlt Dr God dwel.ls 'Within us ~
we live In the enjoyment of God's peaC81.
IV. The 81n Offering of Chapter Four waa for 81na of Ignorance. 'fb'
Several prlnl'lpieB of abiding vlllue are taught In this chapter. (0 I
thing "wblch ought not to be done", wh.lch Is contrary to rlg'hteouan8118,I. a I ~
whether the doer of It knowa It or not. Hence, In the divine ,goverD'lDent,' .
 THE GOSPEL WITNESS
..' .
must be talten account of, Irreapeot1ve at motive or Intention. :In Ood'a 'alght,
sin Is sin, knd must be atoned ·for. Hence, the 'sln offering for lbe aln of Ipor-
aDOe. (II)' The nat prlncflple I, that when luch aln comea to the knowi"ge
.,·the Iinner, It mUlt be aoknowledged In order to be forgiven. (3) The aloae-
meat of Chrl&t o:noel'8 aU OWl sly· at -Ignorance; Indeed, It ma'kelr atoa.emeot
not for' OUI' '6Ilns, but for our sin I/IB a whole. But as we progrees In tbe cDl.V'llie
lUe, 8IIId It comes to our koowledlJe tbat thimp w'hldh we have allowed, he-
cause tbey were n·n 81nlul, reaJollY 'belong to the category or "tMnp Whleb
Oll3ht not to be done", we mus·t oonfess them In order to cibtaln Iforgiveneee.
"rt we confess our slnos, he Is faltJh:ful a'lld Just to forgive us ·our Sins, 1lad to
clean'Se liS ·from all unrlg'hteou8lnest!l."
V. The Fifth Offerlnc. ('Chs. "', 6 and 7) was tor Acts of Treepaaa.
Sumrnarliled In chllip. 6: 1"6. The cond·IUon of .tol\!lvenl!BS In this case
was In effect repentance and reslitutlon-repentance for the sill oommUtecJ,
and resUtnlion ·to the offended. one .of the thing baken away. TIlIa clone, the
tre&pa.ss offerlul,I became effecUve, and Bill .·WlIUi ·fol'8'l·ven. 180 also, still, re-
peota.nce is a (:onllillon ·ar forglvenesllo; and where others- have ·heen InJured,
restitution is alIso required. (-See Lu.ke 19: 1-10).

NEWS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS.

LAST WEEK
'rhel'e wel'e three grent prayel·-meetln.gs-'l'uesdIlY, Thursday and Satur-
day. On Tuesd'RY every seal In the 'Iarge lectur·e hall was la.ken; on Thunsday
Lhe prayer-mom downll'tall'8 was packed as 'we have nevl!.1' seen It paoked, with
many w.ho could not get In; Sa·turllay even'ing -I'he meeting was almost equally
large. But best of a.M. the presen'ce and power of ,the Lord was ~here.

ANOTHER PRAYER MEETING

It has been sugg1!&ted that mlllny poopl·e, vaJ1loU'sly occupied In th~ even-
Incs, find It Im-poss-I'ble to attend ·lIbe evening prayer-meetings. ,Some of these
bave leisure dIu ring tlLe day and w'ou~d JoIk-e to join In ,t'he ohurch'·s mlnfMry or
prayer. The honou'r of sugelltlng a way whereby ,these rna.y be InoClud.ed
belongs to M.r. Harvey Ingal.J. T,here wlU, therefore, be a meetln'g,for prayer
until furtlJl,er uotlce, every Wednesday morn~n.g lilt ten· o'clock, under ·Mr.
,IJ1~Jr.. leadership. In IIhe Ohuroh parlor. Th.ls' meeting 'wlH .he open to every-
body; and 811.1 'Who are Roble to oomm'an<l their time are invited· to spend a pari
I or Wednesday forenoon In this way.

YOUNG WOMEN'S' MISSION CIRCLE.

The regular meeting of the Young Women's Mission Circle will be held
at 8 p.m. on Monday evening, March 10th. ·Mrs. Reddick will speak of her
"ork at MemorIal 'Instltute and Royce Ave. Mission. All the young women
or the church and congregation are Invited to attend.

JUNIOR DORCAS SOCIETY.

Tbe Junior Dorcas will meet on Monday, ,March 10th, at 7 p .•. , to lew.
• 4.11 young 'women of tbe churcb are Invtte4,

~.
 ,
12 THE GOSPEL WITNESS

SENIOR DORCAS SOCIETY.

"Dorcas" and ber he1.p,rs wID meet In the 'churOh parlor. Thurad.y ar~~
noon. March 13th. at 2o·clook. for work. All ladles of the churoh are requeatlld
to aSllst In this missionary ministry by cominS prepared to make garment.
or qUlit. Supper will be prepared by the young ladles of the Juolor·Dorcsa.
and lerved at a.so. We hope lor a lal'le catherlq of the young peop'le. whU,
the new members of tbe church are urged to come and enjoy this ,hour togetller.
A oollectlon is taken at the tables to defray elqlenses. and any surplul II ullBd
In Dorcas WOI"k. Business meeting at 6 o·clock.

THE BtBLE SCHOOL LIBRARY.

Some time ago the Sunday School .LI'brarlan went over tbe books In the
llbrary wUh a view to eliminating all 'books w.blch did not oUphold t.he testimon,
of Jarvis Street Church. '.rule result was that many of the shelves were lett
empty, particularly In the section for younger children. We appeal to tile
members of the cb·urch to fill up these gaps with BOund .scriptural ·books. It
18 the .prlmary function of Ilbe Bible School to ,point out Jelus, the Son of
God. as the only Saviour. To this end nothing serves better than ItrlctlJ
orthodoJ:, evangelical, and Scriptural ·Uterature. dlstrlbUoted carefully and
prayel'fully. We need books for all agee from the Prlmal'Y to tbe Adult De-
partments; /but books suitable for children !from 9 to 12 years' al'e our greateet
need. .

JARVIS STREET CHURCH DIRECTORY.

T. T. Shield•• Pa.tor. II Winche.ter Street. Tel. Randolph Oa28.
Georlfe Greenwll7, Tree.urar, Z8 Broad_" A"enue. Tel. Hud.on 0910.
VIolet Stoalrley. Church Clerlr and Office Secretal7. Tel. M. 5870. .
W. J. Hutahin.oa. Sunday School Superintendent. 295 Georlfe St. Tel M. _ '
C. Leona rei Penny. Director of Mu.ic. 38 Earl.court A_.. Ken. Insw.
WUUam Fra.er, Pa.tor·. Secretal7, 40 Nanton Aye. TeL Randolph 1288.

GtfJe (:~UrtfJ (:alenbar

Sunday. For the week beginning March 9th, 1924.
9.4S-Biltl. Sch_1, including an Ir.terces.ory Class. W. 1. Hutchin,oD,
lUIO-PuhHc Wonhip. Dr. T. T. Shields will preach. .
6.00-Prayer Meo..... in Church Parlor.
6.3O-Communloa Service.
7.00-Public Wonbip. Dr. T. T. Shields will preach.
Baptism will be administered. .
Taetday, ThundaF _. S.aanla)'-8.00-Prayer· Meetl....
Tuaday-8.4S-Bible Lectuure by the Pastor. Levnicus 1-7.
W .......day-3.00-Women·s Gospel Service. 7.1S-Iunior
Service. .
Th. ParlJalD_t St. Branch. 250 Parlia~ent St. Sunday: Bible Sc..-L
J.OO. Evangelistic Service, UIO-McMaster Evangelistic Band.
Monda,-a.OO-Young People'. Meetioa.
FrWar-7.1S-Iunior Meeting-Mr. F. Turney c::ut Mr. W. 1. Hurtet....."'!J.
Wedn._)'-8.00-Prayer Keetin••
 IN THE INTEREST OF EVANGELICAL TRUTH, BY JA-RVIS STREET
BAPTIST CHURCH, TORONTO, CAN., AND SENT FOR $2.00 PER YEAR
(UNDER COST), POSTPAID, TO ANY ADD~ESS, Sc. PER SINGLE COPY.
T. T. S HIE L D S
PASTOR AND EDITOR

"I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ.n-RomanB 1 :16.

Address correspondence: The Gospel Witness, 130 Gerrard Street E., Toronto.

Vol. 2 TORONTO, MARCH 13th. 1924. No. 44

i
m~t Jurui.8 ~trttt Julptt
"THE SUPERNATURAL THE STORM CENTRE OF ·CHRISTIANITY."
An address by Dr. T. T. Shields, delivered in the City Auditorium, Richmond,
Va., Sunday afternoon, February 24th, 1924, and .repeated in Jarvis
Street IQI1UTc:h, ~orO'DJto, Sundiay evening, Ma.rch 2nil, 191M.
(Stenographically reported ill Toronto)

"But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me i.
not after man. .
"For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the reve·
lation of Jesus Christ."-Galatians 1: 11·12.

WEEK ago last Monday, just as, I was a,bout to leave for Boston, 1 gol a
A telegram asking me if I could take Dr. Mullins' ·place at Richmond, Va.,
on !Sunday, February 24th, and give an address on, "T,he Supernatural
the :Storm Centre of Christianity". The good friends at Baltimore, w'here I
was engaged to IPreach 011 that day, 'Were kind enough to release me. Between
mee"tings In Boston and New York I ib.ad a little time to -thiD!k on the way.
A great company assembled in iRichmond last Sunday afternoon, and 1 thiD'k
it may be profitable for me to cover the saine ground with you this evening
and spea;k to you on the same su'bject~"T,he .Superna.tural the Storm Centre
of Ohristianity." •
Obviously, we must needs ,begin with the inquiry, What is Christianity?
Is it a mere philosophy of life, or a mere system of ethics, "propounded by a
man now long-since dead, anld propagated Iby those w·ho have adopted his prin-
ciples? I read recently a statement 'by Professor Shailer Mathews, who was
recently in this city, in which he said that conceiva.bly, though to his mind
tragically, Christianity might supplant Jesus. While dealing' with the attempts
of the most extreme school of criticism to disprove the 'historic existence of
Jesus, though still confessing hds own 'beUef in an hdstoric Jesus, Dr. Mathewtl
says tha.t even were the most radical school of criticism to prevail, and Jesus
be shown never -to have lived, "conceivably, but to my mind 'tragically, Chris·
tianity might sup.plant Jesus"'''. I venture the affirmation that no one who
knows what Christiani,ty really is ~ould make such a statement. RObbed ,of
the aut'hority of the Personality of Jesus, the Christian reUgion would soon
lose its acq'uired momentum, and would peri,sh in the limbo of mythology.
Christmnity is insepara'ble from the Person of Christ. You cannot ha,ve
Christianity without the teachings of Christ; nor can you separate .the teachings
of Christ from the ,persoll of 'Christ, because ,the teachings of Ohrist gatherejl
about His own Person. He was especially concerned with showin'g His relation·
shi'p to God, and how men mi~ht ibecome related to God th~oug,h Him. Cbrls-
*The Gospel and the Modern Kan, page 92.
 2 THE GOSPEL WITNESS

tianity i,n a word, is Christ. It is His con tin ned life-the life and power of
Him Who said: "1 am the way, the truth, and the life."
But why associate storm and stress with the religion ()f the Prince .of
peace? His ,birth was heraIded ,by angels who sang of peace on earth, good will
toward men; and it is popular n·owadays, in some circles, to emphasize .that
aspect .of the Christian religion. There are in the army .of .the Lord, or at least
in the Church of Christ-for a large section of -the Church of Chr.ist is not an
army in any sense, unless it be 'an army in retreat~but in the churches there
are many ·religious pacificists who insist that there should be no contention;
that we must have peace at any price. Yet our .Lord Himself said, "Tohink not
that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.
For I .am. come' to set a man at variance against his fa;ther, and the daughter
against her mother, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And
a man's foes shall ·be ·they of 'bis own household."· He declared that w'hoever
would .follow after Him must deny himself and take up his cross daily. He
Himself exemplified ,the principles of His teaching. ilIe "was ,born in Bethlehem
of Judaea in the days of Herod the ,king." He was 'born into a storm; ana
that storm ,beat upon His infant head, and never' ceased its raging until He
departed to be with the Father. FideIi'ty to the commission He received of
His Father brought Him lilt last to the cross, and to the ·grave. He died in the
d'oing of His Father's will. ,
In the' ACts of the Apostles, you will find it was true of all the early dis-
ciples. Their path 'lay always through the storm. The figures of S'cripture
also are suggestive. We are admonished ,to "endure hardness, as a good soldier
of Jesus Christ"; and to "put on the whole armour of God". 'We are told
that "we wl'estle not against fiesh and blood, 'but against principalities, against
'powers". "If ye were of the world, othe world would love ,his own: but 'because
ye are not of the world, 'but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the
world hateth you." From the 'beginning, Christian experience has proved that
to follow the Lamb whi,thersoever He goellh necessitates .passing through the
storm.
Our subject, howeve.r, suggests that the centre of the present stol'm is the
supernatural element in the Christian religion; that it is against that':particu-
1arly the human mind is now di·recting its opposition. Therefore, I shall speak
to you as ,briefiy as 1 can of three things: first of all, wherein OhriBt'anity is a
supernatural religion; why men a1·e espec£alZy opposed to the supernatural;
. and then 'to ask, how the supernatural may be (tefended.
I.
WHEREIN, THEN, DoES 'CHRISTIANITY CLAIM TO BE SUPERNATURAL?
1 affirm that the Ch·ristian religion is ,from ;beginning to end a supernllltural
religion. The Bible is a supernatural Boo1c. .It did .not come into being by
natural processes of thought and understanding. .
It claims to be supernatural in its origin.. On every ,page i,t claims to be
the Word of God, to have come from Ood. We can tolerate a Munchausen who
boldly assumes the role of a humorous liar; but a 'Book which deals with the
solemn realities of life as this 'BLble does, that is not ,true 'in every par,t, cannot
command the confidence of sane men. It is either what it claims to be, or it ,
is the g,~eatest fraud that ever imposed itself upon the human mind. I say,
the Bible claims to 'be supernatural in origin. Ta.:ke, for example, the very
first words of Scripture. You know them. You have read them a 'hundred
times. 1 want you to think of them for a moment. "In Ithe ,beginning God
created the heaven and the earth." Now you are aware, many of you are,
at least, that there is much discussion as to the 'human sources from which
the writer or wri,ters of the Pentateuch-'the ,first five 'books of the Bible-
derived their information. It is contended ·by the critics that it is a composite
book; tha.t it really was not written by Moses. He may have had some part
in it; 'but it was written at different periods, illy different persons; and these
fragments were aH put together .into this book, which we call the Pentateuch.
I see nothing inconsistent wUh the prinCiple of divine inspiration in the use
by the inspired authors of human sources of information. The genealogical
ta.bles, ~~r instance, may have ,been copied from family records, whic'h had 'been
providentially .preserved. Buot what 1 want to call your attention to is this:
that:the first v~rse of the Biillie dea,ls with the subject of "the beginning". Now,
su:ppose you had never read any-thing at all about the' B~ble; suppose yOU had
no knowledge whatever of ,the progress and ,theories of modern cr~tlcism; and
______________~T~H~E__~G~O~S_P_E~L__VV
__I_T
__N_E
__S~,S~_____________ 3

"yOIlopen ,the 'Bilble at the dirst ,book, the very first ohapter, and the first verse:
"In the beginning .God created the heaven and t~e ea.rth"? Who is ,this who
presumes to speak of "the beginn'ing"? VVho wrote it? VVhether Moses or
somebody else wrote it, upon what source did -he draw for his information?
Wlho Is·thls who presumes to speak of "the beginning"? Who was present as
eye-witness of "the beginning"? 'Fron;!! what man.uscript did the writer of the.
first verse of ' the Bible copy, or -upon whose oral report d'id he rely, when he
lJenned these pregnant words: "In the beginning God created t'h~ heaven and
t'he ea.rth". VVho is speaking? VVho was there? Obviously, nobody but God!
Therefore, eUher God inspired tJha:t Book, or iot was written Iby a man who was
talking of something ~bout which he 'had a.bsolutely no knowledge. Only God
can speak of ",the 'begdnning". The Bi,ble, in .its very first sentence, challenges
your faith, the submission of your intellect, of everything-an absolute surren-
der to the Infinite. Let us for a few moments listen to the voice of ·inspiration.
Take, for instance, the book of Exodus. On every page supernatural revela-
lion and inspiration are implied. "The Lord appeared"; "The Lord spake unto
Moses"; ''T,he, Lord spake unto Moses the word of the Lord"; "As the Lord
commanded Moses".' Tu,rn to the twen,tieth chapter: "And Goll spake all these
words." Did He speak them, or dId He not? Is the record true, or, Is it untrue?
Whoever the author he claims to ,be writing the very VVord of God. "I certify
YOIl, 'brethren, that the gospel which was 'p,reached of me is not after man."
Whoever the 'w'riter of these early ,books may ,have ,been, he, too, mig.ht have
said, "I certIfy you, 'brethren, that the w'ords I now write are' not written after
man. They come from God. They are ,the very wor-ds of God Himself." In
Leviticus and Numbers, we read, "The Lord said---"The Lord said-The Lord
said." And when you come to that ma.rvellous ,book of Deuteronomy divine
inspiration is expressed or Implied on every page: "'Dhe ·Lord our God spake
unto us In Horeb"; "These are the commandments, the statutes, and the judg-
ments which the Lord your God commanded us ,to teach you." As th,o'llg.h it were
3aid, "These are the very words which we received ,from God."
Had I time I could take you through the enUre Old Testament, and show
YOIl that the principle of supernatural inspiration is assumed in every Ibook.
Consider the Psalms, for instance: "The Lord said unto my .Lord, Sit thou at
my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool." All through the
prophets it is said, "the VVord of the Lord came" unto this prophet or the other.
"In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the -Lord sitting u.pon a throne,
hig.h and lifted up, and -his train filled the temple." Isaiah declared that he
heard God speak; and he wrO'te down the very words of God.
-In the 'New Testament you find' the same princi,ple implied. It is contained
in the passage I have read as a text. ,Paul in the Epistle to the Ephesians
expressly claims divine inspiration. He Is writing to the .Gentiles, and assumes
that they have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God, which is' given
him to them-wa.rd-"How ·that by 'revelation ,he'made known unto me the mys-
tery; (as I wrote ad:ore in few words, whereby, when ye read, ye may under-
stand my knowledge of the mystery of 'ChTist) which lin other ages was not'made
known un.to the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto ,his holy apostles and
prophets :by the Spi·rit." This surely ds an assertion of divine inS'Piration. There is
also a .great word in Petea': "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, which according to h1.s abundan't mercy hath begotten us again unto a
lively hope .by the resurrection of Jesus 'Christ f;rom the dead," and leading u·p
to th1s, ''Of which salvation the prophets 'have enquired and searched diligently,
who pTophesied of the 'grace that should come unto you:-11 wan.t yoU students
to mark t'hiB--'Searching what, or what manner of time the ,Spirit of Christ
which was in them did signIfy", when it testified ibeforehand the \lufferings of
Christ, and the glories which should follow. Unto whom it 'Was revealed, that
not unto ,themselves, 'but unto us they did minister the things,: which are now
reported unto you ,by them that have pl'eached the gospel unto yOU wIth the
Holy' Ghost sent down .from heaven; whioh things the angels destre to look
into." Tile Apostle Peter ,declares that the 'prophets who w·rote of the sufferings
of Ghrist, and the glol1ies which should follow, did not even understand the words
they wrote. There are 1'hose who say, "No, I do not ,believe in the inspiration
of Scrdpture: I believe in the inspi-ration of the writers rather than ,the writing.
I ;believe that men were inspIred, :but that they were left much liberty to eltpress
themselves after their own manner and according to their own type of mlind."
But the Apostle Peter said that ,the pro.phets who Wl'ote of the sufferings of
Christ did. not understand what they were writing. They "enqul'red"; they
 4 THE GOSPEL WITNESS

"searched diligenilY"-'~Searching what, or what manner of ,time the Spirit of

Christ which was in them did s.ignify, when it testified .beforehand -the sufferings
of Christ, and the glory that should follow." And all they knew was this: "Unto
whom it was revealed, that not unto ,themselves-Ilhey were not writing to them-
selves, ,but unto us-yonder in the ddstant future-generations yet un'born-but
unto us Ilhey did minister the things-what things? The ·things of the Old Testa-
ment-whdch are now reported unto you ,by them that 'have preached the gospel
unto you with ,the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven-(".Amen!" "Halle~ujab!")
which things the angels desire to look into." Aa though angels would like to take
a course in some Bible Toraining CoHege; Ilhey would Like to sit at the feet of
Jesus; they would Uke to enqui-re into the myster-ies of the ,gospel. Oh, the
privilege that is given to us! I think t'hat I could talk to you a month on that.
The Bible everywhere claims to 'be supernatural as to its origin. ,Let no
one pull 'down the Bible to the level of other books. It is not a 'book amon'g
books: it Is the Book. There is no other like it, it is "the word of G.od, which
liveth and! abide.th for ever."
Furthermore, (t 4.8 a record 01 supernatural events. W'hat is the revelation
of God in this opening chapter? T·he revelation of a personal, transocendent
God, Who said, "Let there ,be -light: and there was light". "And God 8aid-
And God said-And God sa1d~And God said." "Through faith we un'derstand
that the world·s were fram'edJ by the Word! of God". Not a mere FOl"ce; not an
impers'ona} First 'Oaus'e; but God, with all the attributes of',Persoonlillity-the
very Trinity written into the first verse, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Go
through the re'cord of 'Genes,is. I dQ n.ot wonder that men do not believe the
"tory of the Deluge. It is the story of a supernatural event; it is' the story of
a divine interposi,tion, which rDr. Faunce says "has become Incredible". God
dId not make this wor}d and wind' it up as' a machme, and fling it into space,
thenceforwa;rd merely taking the attitude of a spectator. He is not only in
His works. He is above His works. He can stop the clock when he Ukes, and
set it going again. The story of the Deluge is the story of a divine ju'lilgment,
of a personal God inter,fering in the affairs of men. It is a sllpernatural' event
. -there was n{)thing like It before, there has been nothin'g like it s1nce. Isaac's
birth was not according to the course of nature; he was supernaturally ibO'Tn.
,So of Ja,cob's drream: ,being himself a prophet, he saw "a ladder'S'et up on the
earth, a.nd the top of it reached to heaven"; it was a re'velation from aoove.
So also of Josep'h's dreams. The Oenesis story of Joseph is the ·record of a human
life writ.ten by the pen of d'ivine in,spiration; and' the hand' of God is . upon him
every step of the way. He said, "God did send me before you to' pres'erve
life." It is God'--God--God', everywhere, i·n the book of Ge,ne'sis. "In the 'be-
ginning God"~that ds the truth of 'Genesis. Or look art Israel's passage th,roUgh
the Red Sea-there ·is God again! Look at the manna from the sldee--God
again! The pHIar of cloud and of fire, the hea'Ling of those bitten with the fiery
serpent-it was a supernatural' life altogether that the people of God lived!
They crossed the river dry s'hodl and it is God' Wh,o stays the river ill' its flow.
and makes, a path for Hois peopIe. "By faUh the walIa- of Jedch'O felI down.';
How? Not with great battering r,ams used by human power, :but. 'by the in-
visl·ble armies of the skies. Here Is God again'! All through the record of
their journey to the pr.omise,d land, we s'ee >God marching on. Thus I could take
you through' the e,n'tire Old Testament. TaJte, for exam,pIe, the instances of
the lives of iElijah and !Elisha-types of Christ, acco~ding to HiS teaching: Elisha
had power to heal the leper. "Am I God, ,to ,kill and to make 'alive, that this msn
doth send unto me to recover a man of his' lepro,sy?" s'aid lsrrael's, king,-
me,anin'g, {)f course, "Only God can do that." An'di 'EUSlha said,' ''Let him come:.
now to me, and he shaU know that there is a prophet in Ls,rael"-anw that
behind the prophet there. is a person'al God. 'The de'ad are rai-sed up' the
pOis,on is neutralized. The record of the lives of thes'e men, I say, is Ii recoro
of superll'atural events. Andt then ,we were studying in our le'8I8'on this morning
that the supernatural fl,re ·came down, ,kIndled from the skies-and that there
waS' a supernatural element in the Hebrew worship aU the way through. .Ellja.h,
too. called God to witnes's for Himself, saying, "The God that 'answereth by
fire, let him be God." And flre came d'own from heaven. When that bum'ble
band of one hun'dired and twenty gathered on the day of ',Pentecost; 'and they
prayed, "suddenly there came a sOUD'd· from heaven as of a rushing mighty
wind. and it fiUed aU tbe house where they were sItting: And' "there' a,ppeared
unto them cloven tongues as of fire, and it sat upon each cir ,them>' W!lJat
was the explanation? Simply that God had come! .
So:' ,bY. 'sign~ and
.' . ',.. .".
',"", .
',.:
:. " I : ~ " ;.
 THE GOSPEL· WITNESS s
wondeN God testitled to the gospel as preached by the apostolic
ministers. All the way through, dowII> to the end, it is a record of snpernat'llral
events .
. ,.' Very especially, the Bi·ble .Is a record of a supernatural PersOf/-. .He is in
the drat pages of the Book: "I will put eD!mity between thee and the woman·;
and between thy SJeed and her s'eedi;-there is the storm predicted-it ·shaU
.bruis's thy head and thou shalt bruise his heel." The Superman-nay, more
than t!b.e Superman, tlb.e Go'Cl-Man i& to .com'e. The storm ,broke in ,bhalt 'fil'6lt
human family 'bet-ween· Cain and Abel; and it has' been ra.ging ever since. The
two seeds have' alwayS' been contending. Then fonowed throu~ the ages a
S'uccession of great pers·onalities-Noah, Abraham, Isaa:c, Jacob, Jos'eph, Moses,
Aaron, Joshua, Gideon, ISamuel, iJ)lIIVid" Elijah, EUs·ha, David:, Jeremiah, and
a.ll .the prophets-aU like unto Him in 8!{)me respects, but aL~ falling short of
the fu:l!l meaSIUre of ·the 'World's: Redeemer,-untH tHe ca.me.
How dtid He come? Read the record of the Book. It is not surprising'
that modernists s,hould reject the records of Matthew and of 'Luke; becau&e,
their recol"dis a:ccepte'd" the whole modernist· philosophy fal,ls to the ground.
How drid Christ come·? He came in the f!ul-filment of propheCy.. His coming
".
was an act of divine '"interference," as i))r. Faunce would ·say. He came· by no
accident. He ·was ,begotten or the Hol,y -Ghost: "The' Holy Ghost shall ·come
upon thee, and the power of the Highest shaN overS'hadow thee: therefore
also that holy thing which shall be 'born of t.hee shall be called the Son of God."
He came, 'born 'of a vi.rgin, ,born as no other man was ever bor.n; ·begotten by
d,ivine power. Moreover, He manifested supernatural powers all through His
life; He lived supernaturally, andl ever showed HimseLf superior to the wor·ks
of His hand'; He stilled the storm; He muliUpl'ied the loaves';-accelerated the
process,es of nature·; He opened the eyes of the blind'; raised the d,eadl ; dis-
ease and death fled at His approach. He died supernatu·ralIy; He chOlSe the
time and manner of His death; ·and went, at last, to the 'place appointed ,fr,om all
eternity, the place called Golgotha. The whole earth shuddered when the God-
Man laid down His life. When, ,but at sight of the Cross, doid ever the constella-
tions form in funeral procession, and the heaven·s put on sackcloth, and the sun
exchange at noon 'his wonted 'bridal vestments for the mourn·in·g ·robes o·f night?
'OWell migh.t the sun in darkness hide
And shut his glories in;
When Christ, the mig.hty Maker died
For man, the creature's sin."
All nature recognized and acknowle.d'ged the absolute sovereignty of Him
Who ·died u·pon the cl"oss. The dead came forth fr.om their ·graves; - and the
works of His 'han·ds testifled that He was the ,Son of God. He was raised again
from the dead, and "shewed himself alive after his passion Iby many infallible
proofs, being seen of them ·forty days". And then in lI'efianee of all natural
law He ascended into the glory; and the angel said, "Tlli13 same Jesus, which
is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in Uke manner as ye have
seen him go into ·heaven." Men 1l-ke Ji'osdick hate that. truth wbout His coming
on the clouds or heaven; I do not wonder. But "the grace of God that ,bringeth
salvation hath ap·peared to all men, teaching us ,tha·t denying ungodliness and
Wo(}r11l1y lusts IWe should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present evIl
world; 'looking f.or that blessed ,hope, and the gilorious a.ppearing of the great
God and our Saviour Jesus Christ." He is more than a man: the ·powers of
Deity were and are ,resident ill Him. The Bi'ble tells us His story fr·om Genesis to
Revelation. The whole 'Bible, not the New Testament only, ds "the ·record that
God gave of His ·Son". I-t begins with -the promise of His coming; it gives
us the record of His supernatural allvent and of 'His supernatural achieve-
ments, of His resurrection and ascension; and closes with a prayer, "iEven so.
come, Lord Jesus." He is coming again!
But furthermore, the Gospel is the promise of a supernatural ea;perience.
It does not promise you shaH be transformed ,by being taken in,to -the studio
of the Divine Artist, and 'by having set ,before you some exalted Idea:l, which
you are to 'keep on copyin·g until you learn perfection. 'Thrut is not the promise
of the gospel. Saved by the example of J·esus? No! .Saved by the expiation o.f
Jesus; and being saved ·by divine power, we are thenceforward to follow His
example. There Is a world of difference between those two views of the func-
tion of the gospel. What does the g.ospel promise? A new crea·tion. Does
it matter whether Genesis Is ,true? What relation has that to conversion? Let
me Q!1ote these fi·rlit worda: "And the earth was wdthout form, and void; and
 6 THE GOSPEL WITNESS

darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the ,Bpi,rlt of God moved upon
,the face o.f ,the waters. And ,God sai'd, Let there 'be light: and there was light.
And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from' the
darkness. And 'God caned the light Day, and ,the dukness he called Night.
And the evening and the morning were the first day." "God saId, Let there
be light: and there was light". What is conversion? In the view of the
Apostle Paul, it is the beginning of a new creation: "For God, who commanded
the light to shine o.ut of daJ'lkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light
of the 'knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Ohrist." It is the
creation over again: "If any man ilIe in ,Christ,- he is a new creation: old things
are passed away; !behold, all things Sire become .new." ("Amen!") "Ye must
be born again". Does it matter whether I ;believe dn the virgin birth? It
matters to. this exteDlt: you never can ,be saved unless that miracle is repeated
In your experience. What is salvation? '~hrist in you, the hope of glory."
Christ must be ,born In y.ou; ,the miracle of ,Isaac's 'biJ'lth must be repeated; the
miracle of the virgin ,bir1th must 'be repeated; the miracle of the resurrection
must 'be repeated. The same power which raised Jesus J',rom 'the dead is to uS-WSIrd (
who 'believe; and we aTe to ,believe and appropriate thSit truth that we may our-
selves, 'by that same !power, :be raised from' the death of sin to sit .in ,the heavenly
places in Christ Jesus. You cannot surrender the supernatural witho.ut surren-
dering your whole gospel. His coming again, I have said, is supernatural, and
is the consummation of all. It 1W1ll be a supernatural event: "T,he whole crea-
t
tion groaneth and travaiIeth in ilain together until now. And not only they,
but ourselves also, which have the fi:rstfruits of ,the Spirit, even we ourselves
groan within o.urselves, waiting for ,the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our
body." I am ,glad to read of the achievements of men Uke -Banting, and
others, who have discovered some means o.f alleviating human pain. But, after
all, the illest they c~ do is to patch up the old tabernacle. I am longing for
the day' when He shall come, "who shall change ,our vile :body, that it may be
fashioned Uke uDJto his glorious ,body, according to the working whereby 'he is
able even to su,bdue all things unto 'h,imselof."
II.
WHY SHOULD ANYONE BE OPPOSED TO A' RELIGION 'LIKE THAT? The funda-
mental reason for thSit o.pposition ds that "the carnal mind is enmity against
God; for it is nOot subject to the law of God, nei·ther indeed can 'be". But while
that is true, there is a phlIosophy o.f life, and of the universe gener-ally, which
fa ,p&rtlcululy agreewbll:e ,to Ibhe earn;ao} nature, wihi'oo reqUJires no S'Ol"lt of tran,s-
fJOl'IDll8lt.ion of Ufe, no. repentance, no chSinge of ,ClOours'e. 'An.d -tih'at phUosophy
Ues at ltihe root o.f 'W1haJt we 'now ,oo:H "ModJernd<sIlll". ,Now, ~olIow me. The
go.spel lIB'SUmes an offence aga.inst God; th·e goS!P61 pos,tula'tes a r~belUoue race';
th'e gIOSlIel 'lIIS6umes the dn.terierelIl'C8 Iby an allien power with God'lSI plan a:nd
.p.u.I'!pose. .Amd ltJh:e gos'peil ,teHs us' tWlJt, in ord~r ,to ,overcome it, oam inC81rnation
of. Deity was necessary, an atoning 8aeri·fice must needs be offered. III other
wOrQ'SI, 1Jhe 'giOoSpel is ,not 81n e'volutionary ·bu.t a revoluti'ODJary plvioIo.soIJih.Y. The
~spel demands that we turn .rigWt 'wbou-t Iface; ,the gos'P'81 demands tlve o.ver-
tJb.row of ,tihe pJ'leseIllt gQver,nm'ent of ibumoo life, ,bhe 'prOoclSlIImJtion a.nd eS't1llbliBh-
ment of a new 'glov8ll'Il-IDlent, the entihronem-en't of a new Kin,g. Tihe programme
o'f 'bha 'gosopeI involves, ,the ,turning of the wOnld u.p:sdid'e down. '11b.Ie gos'p'eI
inosist.s th'lllt 'Soin ts 'SIn inversion of ;Ilhe l'aw,s o.r o.rder; and iflhait God 's'ent (Hi-s
Son :00 ,bring ,Ws old wo.rld ,ba'c,k oagaJin to His feet. But o.Pposed t() ,that, tJh'ere
,t
t
is a theory Ilhwt -this unilvel"lS'8 in all ilts proeeent oNi-ered' .beaUity .clllme iDito ,being . I
from 8Om'e simple and pr.imdtive form:; 1lha!t someWib8!l'le, 's'om6iLow, at some
tiome, ill. gl"6at First 'Ca.use--.caU Him Force, caJJ. .Him Law, cMl Him the' AI·
miglhtY, ·ca1-1 Him the Un,kno.wn, lea,u :HiIl}. SlnY'tlving I1lhaJt plea'sea you, caB- Him :
God, if you Uke--<but a great First Cause originated, released a v,ital power :
Wh1:Clh ·by in-numerable tNlnsmutations- thooug1b i-ncaIcU'Ia:bIe ages was, choanged '.
and chan,ged an'll db.Slnged, until at last the universe ,}uw, com-e 100 'be w1bat it .
now is. ,Evo..Jultlon, -in the nawre of ,the ,crus'e, denies .tihe fact of sdn a's, s,ln. It
, does ;JJ.!Ot requdre rapentwn.ce. Why re.-pent wJI-ell I 'am on the '8s'Cend1ng scale,
and improving every day? It does not require a t'ransformation of lite: it is
ex,ceeldoinglly complimentary to human 'nature. We are seIt-made m·en. We
are pmised fOor our vdrltUl8S, lfor we .haY'e 'acqul;red them. We are oto 'be excused
for our vices, for they are tl;J.e. residue of a !baser life belonging to earlier stages
of development. A friend of mdne toid me what happened at a ministeriall meeting
in New York t'he other day. The speaker said, that in everyone of us there is
a bit of tIlle tiger, and a bit of the enake, an4 a bdt Of tlve monay, and a hit
 THE GOSPEL WITNESS 7
of neaTly E),yerytJl).ing t.hat iha6 four .feet. Well, if you can pel.'lS.uad·e a man of
tJImJt, he iso not to !be 'bla;med if the plays Ith'e tiger occa.s~onalqy, 18· 'he? It -is' no
f.a:u1t of hd.s; tha.t is where .he ea·me lIlr.om. Have you o.bs·8l'IVed Ithat evel'Y :mam.
is· by n8iture am evo'LutionISIt? I heard a -man say some ·Y'eal1S ago -that the
natural man ,ie a RJoman Ca.tholic. By t'hwt h·e .meam-t tlhwt RoDl/aD. Catlhol'iJCi'S>m
was agreeable to .the natural -man. I think perhaps that that is ·generally true;
but I am s-u~'e o·f 1lhi'S': the natw'8Il ollam bS· an evolu-tion·i8It. ·Learn from Y'Ou.r
UUle ;boy or girl. You :hel8.r 'a c.rasIh in !tJhe next ifIOOm, an:d' you go ·in to see
what h8.11 happened. You find your little ·boy or ~rl looking In pllty conster.
na.tion a"t a ,broken disih o.r o.rnwnoot. You- aB,k, "Why did you dJo IbhaU" or
: "Wlho dtd.· thaU" and you get ·tJhe an'Swer, "J.t :bT·oke. I didn't do it." Of ,CQUl1l116!
"It .broke·! ". And tlha.t, in a ·wor.d, is the .philos·ophy wMc.h .Is· :pa.rtlJcula.rly ag.ree.
wble to th·e .caTIIl'a:l mind. ·Beyond questJion, muah iJS ·broken in 1tib.1s presen,t evil
world . .But 'WIho d& res'pons,ible? Nobody! "I:t ,brokJe!" We are nOlt to bl'8lme.
'l1he gospel, ihowev.er, is ,th·e very ·O!p;p:os·~te -to tha·t, and' decIaJl'eB ·thilllt you are
reapon'S1!bl-e to God for every Wl'on.g tJhougrht you have eVl6l' ·en·tJel'ltained; ·!lor
every .wrong W'OIl"d yOIU ihave ·ev·er spoken; :for ev·ery w·rong deed ·you have ever
done. It demands that YDU repent and turn to God. It was reported to me the
, . other day -tha-t someone 'had said, "I never go down to that Jarns Street ChurCh
without ·.bei·ng made to feeI w:retched and' IUncoDllforita,ble." ThillJt is what I a-m
r here Ifor., .my fr:iend~o ·m8ike you as uncDm·fortable a·s poslS'i.lJ.le, IOn the natunill
plane, and to preac'h to you '8. l1&volu,tionary gos.pel tl:Jo itJh.e emeot, 1.oot :trua
'life, 'amd pea'ce, and joy IIl;bound1ng, may !be ·experien'Ced only 'ws we repent, iliurn
rig-hot albout ·face, and' '8nthron·e J·esu'S· Chrlet ·as our OIIl'ly Kl!l.g!
put, I say, the philosophy of evolution is widely accepted, and it Is a stan·
dard to which it Is in&isted· all matters must 'be ·bTought. Evolution leaves no
room for the ·supermi.tural. It denies the supernatural In the BI'ble, In the Ohrlst
of the BI'ble, and In all OhrIstian experience.
~he wh!CJle Bible mus't he edited, and· recast to fj,t in w-it!h -man'.s ideas of
evoLutionary Pl1og;res'S. The Looo Jesus ie to ,be 8iCcounted :for, and apprlais·ed
by the same standard, and Chrl.stian experience is to ,be psychologically explain·
ed. Dr. W. H. P. Faunce, in his book, "What Does Christianity Mean?" !liP. 73-74,
8!Ii.)'S: "The o.ld6l' or-tib.odl()xy, Ii'me ,jjb.·e oIodea- rati'Onal'lsm., put God at 18. dlstan.ce.
P8Iley'·s· world W'8.S lUre a watClh .once wound up, ·DiOW 'Ie1lt to ·run dow:n. except
when 'tJlle ~aker interfered. It 1-&1 pr·ecd&ely ,that .inJterfeJ'leIlJce Wihich hM ·now
become in'credi'bIe. We cannot gramt that ,thie ,creat1on was ISO ·bungled and
mo~s·sh'lllpen as' ,to n'eexi·. a.ny bal8ltled int6l'·ference. We .camnot ,believe In a
De'UlC ell) machina, or a God who comes and goes, coming in at emergencies like
a poHceman or ·a <fire :patrol. We canno.t ·bel1eve tJhia,t he appea;red once at tlhe
creation .of the world and again at the d·awn of Ufe on Itbe 'pllan'et, '8IIlId' again
intl'lud,ed in·to the CQIlUliic ord·er ,00 eSltaibl1'S1h -cOIl6CIDUSn'eslsi or ,t.o crelllte man.
For us he Is everywhere .or noWhere. His action Indeed Is not like that of
gI'avltatlon, a.lways th·e :same because alWIII.YS bliioo'. l't may vlairy v8IStly ·from
oentury .to ,00000000000y and lan.d .to land. But iIlhe unchan·ging ·pur,pose !behind· aU
tJh·e variation ·Is· ever :present-'Rai's·e th'Ou the sotone 'a'lld tihere 111m I.'" SUiOh
is tille ~earned lunacy, ·the "J'leaJSOn1.ngs·" and "lmagimtions.", wlh.ich, in iIJle
lIiIIlIIl.e of "soholuslhip" ram'gas iIts'el·f wwh !the "hi'gh thi.n'gIS· ·whlch ·exaJt them·
selves agaf.nst the knowledge Dr God".
III
Is ON! -How SHALL WE DEPORT OURSELVES? WHAT SHALL OUR
\ THE STORM
ATTITUDE BE? What will Baptists do a:bout It? Every Evangelical denomination

r In Ohristendom Is all but rent dn twain by this great controversy. I am aware that
thel1& are greaot booties of men and women who Ihave no.t ,been aW'8lklened to ·the
perdI of the ihour. They are like P8O'p1e Wlho iha.ve el~ 'Iwte, and ·bhey do not
know that the storm :has been .raging all night. You had ·better get up and
throw IUP your blindlS! Not·a few of the Lord's !peo.ple 'a.I'16 Uk~ people ·J.ivI-ng in
a plla"g,ue-1I11fes,ted dty, wttJh nei-glhbo.uM dyoi.ng across ,1Jhe 'IIItr·eet and on 81,the.r
side of th.em, -but who pul,l d.own i1Jhe .bUnd,s ,a,nd 'Close their woor that i1Jhoey ma.y
not see the hearses which carry the ,plague victims to thel,r goraves. You had
better rec.ognize that the plague ds 'here; and that the day ·is rapidly coming
when you must take sides aga"lnst It, or fall :before It.
I wen,t to a p:lace tlhe otiher d!8.y in ·a certain Western ci·tY'; am.d ill brother
w.ho i-nvilted me ·to SlPe·a"k In ibis -chu.r.ch aslred! the oth:6l' ipaSitDriB to announce
bhe meetin·g. '1'hey refus:ed ·to do ·S'O. He ru;.ke-d them wlh.y. 'l1hey _i·d, "We
do not 'Want any s·torm ,up ,here." I w·as tJelnlng .a Ilr·lend that,· and he said,
. I "You a"re in .pretty good company. OniCe .upon 'a tme Wohen ·certa.in apoBltol1e
preachers:08Im-e to a ·town .there was g.rewt ·coDister.nation, a.nd· they sa·ld, ''l1hese
 8 THE GOSPEL WITNESS
-------------------------------------~---------------
th~t ha.ve' tlllrned tihe world upsid'e down are 'come h·~tJhel' a,l81o.''' The Ciharge
againoSlt ,ma.n;y a ·mod.em ,Clhuroh .fill' ,thwt it does not tum wn:ything upside down;
it does not W8ike anYlbody up 'lilt a:H. T.be ;baJtJtle 1IS on, ·and you and I, sooner 'Or
loMer, win have to take sides.
Is there nQ' mIddle ~ound? NQ, tJhere can ·be no comp;roDllfse. And, I may
show y'Ou why, 'by de1ln.ing clearly in a sentence 'Of two that ·thing we call
Moder:nisom. lit is ant1-OhrlBtian. I w'Onidoe.r if you ·read lut week i8Jl a·ppreoia-
tion 'Of,!tJhe lIl:utJhor 'Of ,thOS'6 a.rtidles that ihave been runnin:g <in The WQl'ld's
WQl'k, "The War in Ilhe Chul'ohes"_n ap.p'J'Ie(Ciation by Dr. ·Satlem. iBland. [Jr.
Salean. Bla.'ll.d is Sin acc.red·ited Methodif:SIt minol·Slter; but Ibha,.t whole .1lhf:n,g is
abs'Olute, 'llnad'lllLtel'oted bliaS!Pihemy. Som<ebody tfalls in love 'WioUh: JestU18 when Ihe
has stTipped· Him of His, .Deilty, of His in;f.a.Il·I'iobility; wihen· ,he hilLS ma.c1e Jesus
over to fit bhe conce.ption of his pIgmy ID:in:d! No, IlhlaiIlik you! The Lord Jesus,
the Saviour of sinners, will not be accepted on those terms. ("Amen! ") The
Modernists' Christ is not 'Our Christ; the 'Modernists' Bi·ble is not our Bi'ble;
the Moderndats' Gospel is not our Gospel; the Modernists' experience is not 'Our
e~perience! Christianity and Modernism are as contrary to each 'Other as
Ohrist and Belial.
'l'he d·rilit is 'On 6very.wthere in e. v·ery <9UIbtle "'lUIIhion. ·It is on f.n our 'Own
d·en'Ominlloti'On. I dare to ,bel'i-eve .thaJt .the 'great majority 'Of our ;p8JSltol1l are 'in
hoeafiL stiH true tQ the tla,.illh·, if we 00!Il ,0nIy save IIJhem ifrom. ,tihe <terror of that
machine that is the Devi!rSl ID:Slt:rum.eIllt tQ cor:rup,t ,tJhiiP denomoinSitiQn. .As God
gives ·me tSitl'8ll.gtjh, and· ilLS He, by .the mIglhtt 'Of HliS' Spirit, wUl ra,i,SJe u.p men,
we wIll not cease to contend against it ·for the glory of God, ("Amen!") and
to d'el'ive.r men from. the galling Slh8lOk1'68 'WIll.ieb ·bInd ·tJhem. TIhte moderniflotJs· of
the BaptitSlt ,naome wlho prate so mlUch of Bapt,1M. "Hberty," claim i~bert7 to de:ny
Ilhe IfMllh; 'bilit would a·lIIo.w no Uberty tQ iIIJlyone to pl'each t£t. .
Let .ne rtake our stand on Ilhis mraJtter, and be 'out iIIlIld 'Out fOIl" Christ. There
can be no compromise. Why should there be, with such a 'Saviour? Some day
He 'if!! ooming dQwn tJb.e Btkies. Some day He wUl tlloke 1t'O HImeelif His' great
power a:nd reign; and even now Hits, angels, a,.re a.t the colllJlIlia.oJld 'Of llaith. This
gospel, which, as I told you a. few weeks ago, is the very dynamite of God, is
'Ours·. 'We have plenlty 'Of Ihiglh e~plosives~ Let us WQW Itlhe enean.y up, and Cout
a .path through the very :hos'ts 1)f Hel'l <to victory! llbw shaH 'We Ido iJt? 'By
en-throning JesiW! in 'Our own hearts., Iby HVlln'g H1s' l'1·fe, ,by preadhing Hits, gos,pel,
by wi,tneSlSlimlg fQr Him 8'Verywih'ere i·n the p'~wer 'Of the Holy Ghost.
I wan-t to ask you this' evening where you standi. I shaLb give you all an
opportunity, in' a few moments, to Slay where you stan'dJ on this matter. Do
YO'11 believe in the·LordJ J.esus Chri·at as' the Incarnate Ood? Do you believe
that ",Chris.t died for our s-ins according to the B'criptures; and· that he was
buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures?" Do
YOU 'believe He ascended! into the glory? .Do you believe He iSt coming agaiIli?
Do you belle·ve we have the power of the HoLy 'Spirit t'O ,convert men to-day?
(From the audience, "Yes.") When all the ·critics are dlead, this old Book
win stand. ("Amen-!") If we .}oive long enoug.h, s'Ome ().f us' win preach their
funeral sermons from thiS! IScripture. I am D-ot afraid: th·at the Book wlU BlUf-
fer. YO'll can no more destroy it than you can. d·estroy God Himself: "For
ever, 0 (Lord, thy word! is settled in heaven." I 'bring YQU a meSlSlll.ge from a
sovere·ign iSaviour. I challenge you this even·ing, ill' view of this' gre·at battle,
of this great warfare which is bound to wax 'fiercer and fieroor--I ,challenge
you to eruldst in the army of the Lord', to make Jesus' Christ y·our Lord, and d'O
it t.his evenill'g. "Brin·g f'Orth the royar d.ladem. aDd, crown Him"-nQt the
Methodist Church, not the Presbyterian Ohurch, nor any Baptist church, not
any pet theory 'Of life that you have evollVed, n'Or your family, D'or y.our worldJIy
prospects-subQrdlnate aU thes·e. 'May God save our Baptist Dell'om~n·ation.
and purge it of everything that w'Ould destroy it! ("Amen!") But If It must
. go as other d'enominatio.ns have g'One, and depart from the faith. then 1 for
one refuse to g'O with it. I d'O nQt care w.hat YGU ·call me.: 1 am not going to
fol·I'Ow a denomination be,cause It i·s cabled Baptist, if it dQeS' not honour my
Lord. (".Praise God!"--"AmeD'!") I])on't put your denomination first. Doll"t
put McMa·ster University fiut, you stud·ents: honour it, support it. 'pray for
it, help j t in every possi,ble way to be true to Christ; ,but oppose it at every
turn where it is disl'Oyal to ·Christ. Let nothill'g take first place. That is my
simple word: Set the Lord always before yOU; and if He is at your right
hand. you cannot 'be move,d. ("Halleluj.ah!") Set your faith upon him. anl1
cry, "Jesus! Jesus! JESUS! at all costs, I will crown Huf. Lord of all!" Will
you do it to·ni·ght?
 THE GOSPEL WITNESS 9

THE publication of tbis paper as a missionary enterprise is made possible by the gifts of
. members of Jarvis Street Church and others, and is sent to subScribers by mail for $2.00
(under cost) per year. If any of the Lord's stewards who read this have reeeived hlessing,
we shall be grateful for any thank·offering you may be able to send to The Witness Fund at
any time; and especially for your prayers that the message 0.£' ~ "Vitnes. may be used by'
the Holy Spiri t for the defence of the Fai tb, the salvation ·of. souls,' and' the exaltation of
Christ. As our funds make it possible, we hope to add to our' free list, from time to time,
the names of ministers at home and missionaries abroad.

EDI~~ORIA·L .
"A,LW,AYS ABOUNDING."
If the m-Ukma..n .of your s'treet were to cal:1 only one day a week ·instead of
seve·n; or, i·f callin·g every day, he "Were Iha:ltf -the'4ime to !bring som-etJhing e,lse
instead of mHk, he wO'Illd soon be told not to cali at rul. If tIDe blllker we·re· to
·brin·g you :breau' only willen he wa.s l,n .the mood -to 'd~ so.. a.nd· at otlher ,tim'es
were to offer you an Ice-cream brick, or somethting else in its ,place, 'he, too,
would soon fi-nd his trad,e at an e·nd. If -the electrIc a1ght ·company;, UJPOu which
Y'OI1l depend for ,the ,i:Hum,ina.tion of your hOllS'e or .plaice of ous'!ness, were to
an'nOUDIce its ·pur·pose to give iots employees a prolonged .vacation, tlhus· eompell-
tug you to return to tihe old d'ays of cand,les,. y'QU wou1d lSoOon endeavour to
establish connectIon with a ,c<im.,pany whose servi.ce could ·be depenu'ed· upon.
If tbhe raiil,way .companIes were to dj,sregard their lilIOhedu].es, and run Itrheir
tmins Ito wit ,the convenience of 1lheir employees, ,ctih8Y, ,too, .would soon d.is-
cover the impossilbiUty of doing loosi-n-es's at aM. In ·a.ll .these ·matters, and a
thousand other industries we might mention, their usefulness depends upon
their regularity. . ·1
The same is true of spiritual commodities.. What.a church does some-
times, it 'ought to do all the time. If occasional prayer is useful, cOD;tinuous
prayer is a u~cessi'ty_ Ii the c.hurch is justl:ll:ed In perdodicaillly holding evange-
Ustic servces, and making Us house of worslbi,p a. place wJlere people may :be
sure at ·suCib. times 'to Ihear w:hlllt they -mu®t do to be ,saved, evangeli:sllIl aurely
ought ,to ,be the .clhuroh's regular em'Ploymoo't. ''rule truth is, ·the ;Lord·'s work
can not 'be done by spasmod,ic efforts. We are not Sll'r.prised that the occa-
slon:aJ. big evangeliSltic me'etin-g has fllllIen i·nlto ,d·iilofalvQ1Ul'. We are not ·oplposed
to spe'c,Jal evangelis,tic efllol'ts 'by any means. SuOb e1'furt.8 ought. to lJJe made;
but w·e are ceman they are only a &eoond best: 'rule -best ,thIng is for a ohurch
to be always· evan.gelisti,c; alIwaytS at prayer; a;lwa..;V!s 'witn~si·ngi()r Christ;
alw,aYlS seeking tihe lost; a.lways exempUfYlin,g the Sia.vJ.n,g· ~\Ver' of the gospel
-in s!hort, "always a·bounding in the work 'of' ·the 'Lord."" I'll if.!hes·e marotel's it
Is not necessary ,to foB-ow the ca:lendar y.ear .. Any day may ·become iflhe Ibe-
ginu~ng of days, any month the 'beg,innin'g of montill&, to the indivi'd'U!8.1 Obl"is-
tian, ·or to the ehu·rcih who will definitely d·eddCtaite ,himself or iotself ·to the work
of -the Lord as to alife...if:tas.k.
WHAT OTHERS THINK OF US_
The Gospel Witness is profoundly grateful to The Searchlight, of Fort
Worth, of which Dr. J. Franlk Norris is the versaHle Editor. Dr. Norris is
Pastor of one of the largest churches in the world, and pOSSi'bly of' the largest
Sunday School~at' all events, we have neVer "heard of .11. la,rger one-yet he
finds time to edit a paper whIch circulates all over America, and; _indeed, to the
four corners of the earth.. According to 'an article we read in one of ·the popular
American magazines, the minimum circulation of The Searchlight is fifty-five
thousand copies weekly; and we 'a-re in·formed that dn .Massachusetts alone
The Searchlight has a circulation of nearly two thousand. Anyone who desires
to ,breathe the atmosphere of a vital church, ,'wh-ose ministry has 'been 'blessed
as that perhaps of scarcely any other church in the world, should subscribe
to The Searchlight. One ·rises from its ·reading feeling that. nothing is dmpos-
sible. Not infrequently, the 'Editor of The Searchlight, ·however, shows rather·
questionable judgment ,by reprinting the sermons· published' in The Gospel
Witn~ss! Only a great-souled man Uke Dr. Norris ·wouJ.d.do such a thing. The
latest copy of The Searchlight, just to hand, contains the 11rst instalment of the
add'ress of the Editor of this paper on "'McMaster's Approval of Dr. ~unce's
Infidelity." An ann<!uncement is made that the entire add·ress Ie to be ,published
 10 T~E GOSPEL WITNESS
in three or ··four ,we6kly instalmen~s. Thus this important message, which has
gone' out througli th.is p.aper by the tho.usands from thds office, will' now be
. circulated' to 'ot}ler thousands all over the Amer-iean Continent. Therefore w!!
are once niore indebted' to. Dr. NorrIs.
An'oth~r paper wb.·ich is doing a great work for the Lord .fs The Temple
News, edited and ;publIshed by Dr. Oliver W. Van Os del, Pastor of ,the Wealthy
Street Baptist Chur-ch, of Grand Rapids, Mieh. It is a much smaller paper than
Dr. -Nor-ris', but ds' widely cIrculated, and ris exercising a valiant ministry in
defence of the faith. We wish all our .readers could read The Temple News,
also weekly. On many occasions Dr. Van Osdel has made us his debtor iby
republishing items ·from The Gospel Witness, and !by very kindly noticing this
paper; and he never does so 'but we hear from somebody about it. We are
grateful to the Editor of The Temple News.
The Sunday Sc1KX>l Times, also, has been good enough to call attention to
some matters COB-mined dn this' paper. It would ·be impossible to be 'Offen·ded
with so gracious·a soul as the Editor of that great paper; ,but he, in a com-
paratively recent issue of The Sunday SchooZ Times. referred to tliis important
journal as "a 'parish paper"! It .Is true we a're little, but Oh my! We are
young; but we ·a·re dOing the 'best we can to grow. Was -it not John Wesley
who declared that the world was his parish? In that sense The Gospel Witness
is a parish paper. It bas a w,ide circulation in Canada, a very considerable
circulation in the United States, in the Anti·podes, in India, and in China, a fair
number of subscrlbehl in the British 'Isles, with at least one subscriber in
France, of whdch fact we are very proud.
We a·re ·finding a good deal of satisfaction ~n the fact that Western Baptists
are taking a partic~'ar interest in The Gospel Witness; and we are receiving
a good numiber ().f subscriptions from Western Canada. We 'believe the testimony
of 'l'he Gospel Witness, or some other .paper Uke dt, is g·reatly needed among
the Baptists of Western Canada; and we ask all our Western readers who ·read
these words to assist us in extending 'Our circulatiDn.
FROM TALBOT STREET CHURCH-LONDON.
We rejDice to' hear that a .gracious wDrk is going on in the TalbDt Street
Churcli, Lon·dDn. Dr. Bowley Green is IDyal to the ·great fundamentals of the
faith; a11d has been preachtng the 'Old message with great pDwer in special
meetings. We hear. that during the progress of these meetings not a night
passed without inqiif.rers and cDnverts. .There are wDnderful victories of grace,
and many homes .are united in salvation. Joy unspeakable is the experience
'Of many· WhD 'hiive "ljdtherto 'been strangers tD .the church and to the .saviou·r.
AccDrding to our lAtest advice, nearly one 'hundred have already confessed
coiIversion; and there are baptisms every Sunday.
GC)OD NEW.S FROM DUFFERIN STREET.
In the city·papers.of March 10th, we read that Rev. Edgar Allen's :pastorate
in .the Dufferin St-r.eet Church has .begun with every token of divine favou·r and
bleSSing. AccDroing tD the <l'epDrt last Sunday morning, at the clDse of the
service seventeen responded to the ,Pastor's invitation, and came fDrward seek-
ing Christ. We .rejDice. with 'Our Dufferln ,Street friends. Let us .pray for a
revival everywh~re. Nothing shouldrejDice the heart {If the child of God like
news of conversiejiis. .
GREAT liliEs'SiNG AT' THE PARL~A:MENT STREET BRANCH.
Last Sunday was a day of. extraordinary bleSsing at the Branoh. Mr. Mac-
Kay was assisted ,by the McMaster Evam.gelistic Band--a cDmpany of students
who are 'On fl·re fDr 'the LDrd. In the afternDon thirty came forward" and about
an eq\\al num'ber'in the evening. The cDngregatiDns were large; and the ·pres-
ence and po:wer. bf ..the HDly Spirit was felt. Mr. 'MacKay 'reports that he never
eXI,Ier.ienced any thing 'like It. The" Parliament Street Branch is manned by a
splend·id body of teachers; and much prayer is constantly ascending fDr t>he
. work. The yooog ··men .who came to Mr. Ma·cKay's ,help were men who believe
In·the 'Old ·Qospel;.a;nd·)tho are·t·raining tD preach It with all their might. Mr.
'MacKay reports' ihat he.'·has upwards of fl,fty names with whom he will deal
carefully llcr.sonally, 'fully explaining to them the way of Li!e. '
 11
. THE WHOLE BIBLE SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON COURSE.
LESSON XXV. MARCH 23, 1924.
THE DAY OF ATONEMENT.-Leviticus 16.
The 'best commentary on this 16th chapter will be ·found in the Epistle to
the Hebrews. There the "light of the knowle4ge of ·the glory oOf 'God", which
shines full-or-bed in the gospel dispensation, illumines the types and shadaws.
of the Old.
I. A Sharp Contrast Between the Old and the New Dispensations is
Drawn in the First Four Verses of the Lesson.
(,1) . :It 18 well to observe that "the Lord spake 'unto Moses"; and again,
"The Lord sdd un,to Moses". Therefore, we have here the voice of divine
revelatioOn. In Heb. 9:8, we II:re told that 'the ,regulations set forth in the first
four verses of this chapter represent certain things which ''the Holy Ghost
signifie·d". This is a very important matter when we are ,being told that Moses
did not write it; and that whoever did wrote it was not inspired by the Holy
Ghost so to do. (2·) Moses was for·bidden ,to ,come at all times into the holy
place. The reason for this we a,re .told in the -New Testament was that the
way into the holiest was not yet made manifest. In contrast w-lth this read
Heb. 4: 14-16, where we are admonished to coine with 'boldness. Since the
veil ()of the temple was rent dn tw'ain, and the one great Sacrifice was offered,
we may come at any time and at all times to the Lord. (3) ,It is worthy of
note that this special word, (jf di'rection was given to Aaron after the death of
the two sons of Aaron, when ·they offered ,before the Lord and d-led (Oh. 10: 1-2)
-the teaching of these verses being ,that whoOever would come to God must
come in His way and in His .time, "that he die not."
II. The Contrast Between Aaron and Christ. .
(1). Aaron was i"equired·to ,bl'ing a sin offering for 'himself and his house;
for he was not without sin. Read Heb. 7: 2&-218, where we are taught that our
Lord needed' not to offer up sacrifice "first for his own sins, and then for the
people's." We have a perfect Hi-gh Priest separate from sinners. (2) In the
4th verse, the ~riestly garments which AM'on ,was Tequired to wear are describ-
ed: Our Lord Jesus dId not need to put on such garments; yet. there. is a sense
in which he was speciaUy and appropl'ia.tely clothed for Hds task: "For verily
he took not on him the nature of angels ;but he took on him the seed of Abra-
ham. Wherefore in all things it behoved Mm to be made like unto his breth-
ren, that he might be a ·merciful and 'fai,thfu11 high ,priest in things pertwining
to God, to make .reconciliation for the sins of the people." (Heb. 2: 16-17).
(3) Aaron went into ·the holy place once every year. Thus there was an annual
remem'brance of sin. 'But Christ offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, and
sat down (Heb. 10·:12). .
III. The Offering for Atonement.
(1) For Aaron and his house. 1.'his consisted in a 'bullock ·for a
sin offering, and a ram f-or a bu,rnt offering. The one represented
an atonement for sin; the other the dedicat:ion -of the priest to
... his holy office (vss. 111-14). ·BeHevers are "a kingdom of priests,"
"a royal 'priesthood"; and this should surely teach us that they only can render
an acceptalble service to the 'Lord, who look to Christ as their great Sin-Bearer,
and w-ho are gdven wholly ,to Him for His service. (2) The offering of a.tone·
ment for the people consisted of two kids of the goats. There were of necessity
two, because ·both death and life, crucifixion and resurrection, are necessary ·to
the taking away of sin: And these two goa,ts represent two aspects of the
atoning. work of Chl'ist--4;hat which He does for lis 'by His death, and that
whIch is accomplished by His Ufe. (3) Lots were cast upon the two goats-
one lot was fo.r the LO'rd, and the other for the sca,pegoat. That upon which
the Lord's lot fell was slain; and the high priest ,brou'ght his blood within the
veil, sprinoklin'g it upon the mercy seat, and making an atonement for the con-
gregation. Thus Christ enters with His ow·n 'blood into the holy ,place 'for us.
(4) The high priest was for-bidden to have assistance -in making atonement
(vs. 17): "There shall be n<l m·an in the tabernacle of the congregation when
he goeth in to make an atonement in ,the holy place." When ou'r ,Lord ml!lde
atonement for llS, "of the people there 'Was none with him"; He stood alone.
''Neither is there salvation in any other." We need no man to help us. Salva-
tion comes to us through Jesus only. (5) The other goat was called the scape-
goat, and represents the principle of the resurrection in the atoning work of
Chr.ist; ,for He who makes atonement for sin lives to take away sIn. (a) Aaron
laid both 'his hands upon the 'head of the live goat. and confessed the sins of
12 THE GOSPEL WITNESS

the people, "putting them 11iPOD the head of the goat". Thus we are to la.y
hold upon a Uving SavlolH', and confess ou'r sins to Him, leaving them where
God has put them; for "the Lord, bath laid upon 'him the iniquity of us all".
(b) "And the goat shall 'bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land not
iooabited." Thus our Lord, ,the Lamb of God, taketh away the sins of the
world. (c) The directions given. in ,this chapter for making atonement were
to be observed without change, until He should come Who was the An·titype
of all that was there represel1ted. In Him ou·r salvation is complete. And as
Aaron came forth from bis atoning work to the 'people, so "unto them that look
for him shaH Christ appear the second time without a sin offering unto salva-
tion".
A MESSAGE TO THE MEMBERS OF JARVIS STREET CHURCH.
We are exceedingly glad as we approach the end of our Church Year to
be a;ble to inform the membership that we are just closing ,the year of greatest
spird.tual 'blessing ever eX!perienced in the long history of Janis Street Baptlat
Chureh. The' ,full .record of what God has done ·cannot be told until ,the month
18 actually closed; but, with three .Sundays yet 'before us, we .have a tale of
abounding mercy to tell.
.Du·ring the eleven months of ,this Churoo Year, ,64 have united with the
church by 'letter; 66 by experience; and 23'5 by ,baptism-a total of 366. This
nu·mlber will, we expect, be considerably increased in the next th·ree Sundays.
We venture, 'ho.wever, to remind our members that the year now closing is
the third year of phenomenal increase. Three years ago at this time we were
facing a very serious crisis in our chu,rch Ufe. That bas now ,passed into
history. In the Church Year of 1921-1'922, we had 219 additions; the Year 19,22-
1!J.23, 182; and for the eleven months of this year, 35'5: that ·is to say, for
the three years ou·r additions have 'been, by letter, 172·; by experience, 1,43; 'by
baptism, 441-a total of 766. During th,-is year alone, the net increase in ou·r
membership will, we expect, !be at least 300.
For all ,these mercies, we are profoundly thankful to God. Our prayer-
meetings have ;been maintained at the same white heat. Every meeting is
now crowded.
The Bible School has had a phenomenall lincrease; although we are confi-
dent we are still only in the ·begdnning of w,hat is to 'be accomplished in that
direction. •
Ou·r congregations a're ·great; and the presence of the Lord .fills the place.
~e growth and the circulation of this paper has exceeded our utmost
expectations, and .is ~ow touching, week by week, the ends of the earth.
Notwithstanding the trade depression and the unemployment which have
cha,racterized ,the· 1Iast year, we shall close our year with all accounts paid,
and wIthout the necessity of asking for a specIal offering. This estimate is based
upon the expectation that mem,bers of the church will continue to make their
l
wee!kly offering as usual for the. next three .Sundays; and that some who are in }
arrears wdll 'be able to ma,ke up their payments. We include in our estimate
Dof assets for the next three Sundays, '-two Sundays' average plate collections:
that is to say, that ·by the week·ly offering contributors conti-nuing their support,
'and provid·in·g our 1I18lte collections average what they have averaged now tor
the past few months, 'all obUgations willibe met when the Ohurch Year closes.
This article is written to propose that the last Sunday in March sha,Il be
observed dn Jarvis ·Street as a day of ,thanksgiving 'and ,praise to God tor a
year of uneq~alled ·blessing. It Is also proposed that that day shall be recog-
nized !by a special thank-offering fol' Miissions. 'We invite, therefore, all mem-
'bers of the church, and all interested in our work, to share with us thIs great
day of than·ksgiving :by ,presenting a than:k-offering to the Lord, to 'be devoted
wholly to Missions. The partf.cular 'Missions to which ·this offering should ,be
devoted, the deacons will suggest 'later; alofuough, of cou·rse, .it mus.t always
remain open for every individual contl'ihutor to give to whatever Mission the
Lord IlIlI8JY lay ·UJPon his hea,rt. TMs' annOlmc6ment 181 merely an indication
of the principle, that our offerings on the last ISunday of March, outside of the
regular weekly offering envelop!)s, shall be devoted to the cause of MiSSions,
as a thank-offering to God .for the great ·blessing which has attended the
chul'ch's work during the year. It ,is tu,rther proposed that there sha.lI be in
all the prayer-meetings from now until the end of -the year a special remem·
·brance of this thank-offering, and speCial intercession ·that the ·Lord may ena·ble
us ,to make It an oft'el"lng wortJhy of t'he great occasion.