The Pleasantville press. (Pleasantville, N.J.) 1912-1929, 1923-01-31

'ot Ia hlAh R
or the world it would not be under
stood at all. Just as the Jews re-
iigion" was an apostasy from Judaism.
so is the religion Of c~hrlstendom an
apostasy from Christianity.
Christianity is Christ. OF the di-
vine revelation that sets it forth He
is the center and its cons mt theme.
His atcning death is the foundation
upon which it rests. and He, now fill
ing all heaven with His glory, Is its
one object. By His Spirit alone,
though working through human in
st~rumentality, can it be propagated.
1t is supernatural. and the Christian
Is a supernatural being. His faith
rests upon a supernatural recitation,
and Is constantly fed and ministered
to by that revelation. He is super
naturally begotten OF God in the pow
er Of the Holy Spirit. He is super
naturally indwelt by God in the per-
son of the Holy Spirit. He shall one
day be supernaturally transported to
heaven. By God, who alone has found
a remedy for human sin and who
knows how to deal with it, the Chris
tian is redeemed, justified, born
again. "made nigh by the blood Of
Christ" made accepted in the Be-
loved" made the righteousness Of
God in Him." and thus made meet
to be a partaker of the saints in
light" None but God can accomplish
this.
OF all this, religion knows nothing.
OF the religion of christendom
Satan is the author. 1.-THE god of this
age' is one of his many titles in
Scripture. And this title reveals the
sphere of his activities as being not
morals but religion. By c%orrupting
the truth of Christianity through "the
wisdom of his world" and by imitat-
ing the things of Christ he has devel-
oped this monstrous system called
christendom, with its ten thousand dis
cordant voices and with it's numerous
cults masquerading in a Christian
dress. In many of those a Christ of
some sort may be found, but in none
the Christ of God, the Christ of the
SAOooy thC AL vi thO OOCh SiafO
and glorious exaltGtion. 1t is the
'ideal,'' to which religionists strive,
by various means, to attain. 1t is this
human attainment, by fleshly means,
that fits them for eternal bliss, Christ
and His finished work for sinners be-
ing set aside as unnecessary or I'M
pertinent. Thus religion ministers to
the flesh and nourishes its vanity and
pride, building up it's devotees in self
Righteousness and a false security. In
Christianity, on the other hand. God
presents the Lord Jesus Christ as the
only and all-suficient Savior who be-
not alone the Christians pat
tern but his power to walk worthy
of the Lord unto all pleasing"
Religion pirates of "the universal
fatherhood of God and the consequent
brotherhood of man." but Holy Scrip
ture declares that the children of the
flesh are not the children Of God"
and that the only brotherhood recog-
nized by God is that of believing, re-
generated sinners who are united by
the Holy Spirits baptism to Christ
and to each other.
Religion exhorts men to character.
building; not only fixing its. own
standard but proposing the various
methods of attainment. Christianity
shows man the, sin of his nature and
divinely empowers him against 1t by
the Holy Spirit, teaching him that not
by his own struggling but by Welding
his life to God the Spirit of God shall
produce in him "the fruit of the
Spirit" and thus form the character
hat is so pleasing to Him. d.
Religion makes much of rites and
ceremonies and by outward forms 1t
largely expresses itself. Christianity,
in its outward expression. is the life
of Christ Himself lived out In the
Christian who finds his power for this
in fellowship with Him, needing no
pictures or other %externals, for He
finds Him made real to His heart
through the Spirits ministry in the
Word of God.
If the Satan of Scripture in con-
trast with that mythical monster of
christendom were recognized, it would
be seer that whatever form mere re-
ligion assumes. however high its
ideals or ornate its ritual, the con-
trast between it and our holy Chris
tianity is. in the last analysis, Satan
VS.. Christ.