Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1923-06-19

mat we are C0mpaSSed ABOUT Wltn
so great cloud of witnesses, lay
aside every weight. and the sin which
doth SO easily beset us, and let rs
run with patience the race that is
set before us, looking unto Jesus,
the Author and FiniSher of our
faith" Heb. 12:1-2.
This appeal in the Scriptures fol
lows the roll call of the heroes of
faith in the eleventh chapter of He
brews. Many of these heroes we
have been studying during the past
three months--Abraham, the man
who believed God and whose faith
was counted to him for righteous
ness; Joseph, who believed in God S
promises and presence under circum-
stances that tried his soul; Moses.
the man to whom God gave the
law. the one through whom He gave
Us the story of His works of crea-
ton; and Ruth and Samuel, and
David, Elijah. jeremiah, and Ne
hemiah and Esther-mighty men and
women whose chief claim to distinc
ton was in their faith in God. 1t
was to them ard to others like them
that God revealed His plan and Him
self-gave them HIS word and show
ed to them and through them and
in them His works. \ review of
their lives impresSes us with two
things about them-One is that they
were men and women of like pas
sions as ourselves. They were just
folks. But they were folks who had
come in touch with God. The other
is that they were different from
us, for they were a part of the out
working of Gods plan to bring about
the salvation of the world. You and
/ may be saints just as they were;
for a saint is just one who is set
apart one who yields herself or him
self wholly to God. There will be
flaws in the character, weak spots
ugly spots. but we may be saints
just the same. On the other hand,
We can never be just what they
were, because God was using them
in a peculiar way to develop peo-
pie from whom should come Him
who was to be Savior of-the word.
So We have from them the faith
once and for and all delivered to
the saints"
In these days there is an increas-
ing bitter conflict being waged
against the faith. and it has seemed
to me that the best way to spend
this hour is in seeing what the bat
tie is, and the part we must play
in the fight.
The Points at Issue
There are five points at issue. The
first is over the Word of God. Is
the Bible the Word of God or does it
only contain the Word of God? Is it
like other literature, written by men
of unusual mould and mind, and con-
tanning lofty utterances and high
ideals. setting forth a system of liv-
ing that will enable the man who
follows it to develop the good that
is in him. until by a process of evo-
luton he will eventually attain TO
God-likeness? Is it, therefore, mixed
with error, and found to contain
some things that are wrong. and
must, therefore, be read with dis.
eliminating mind, so as to be able to
pick out that which will minister to
the upward development, leaving out
those erroneous portions which
would hinder the development proc
ess? Or is it -breathed-written
by men who were moved by the Holy
Spirit in such a way as to keep them
from error? Does it condemn man
a. a sinner, as fallen from a state
of God-likeness IN which he was Gre
ated, and provide a way by which
he may be made over again? There
can be no doubt as to the claim that
it makes on this point. ''All Scrip
ture is God-breathed,' wrote Paul
to Timothy. Holy men of God
spake as they were moved by the
Holy Spirit wrote Peter. Space
will not permit here an extended ar
gument for the plenary inspiration
of the Scriptures-fOr the truth that
the words contained in the original
scriptures are the very words put by
God in the mouths of the men who
had been chosen by God as His
mouthpieces to speak His messages
to all men. But the faith once for
all delivered to the saints contends
for the inerrancY of the Bible be-
cause it is the Word of God-not
only that it contains the Word of
God, but that it is the Word of God.
To maintain any other position to-
day when the Bible is being bitterly
attacked is to line up with the
enemies of God even though you
may claim to be His friend. The
Bible must be recognized as Gods
Word from the first of Genesis to
the last of Revelation. No verse or
word is to be expunged because it
does not agree with your cOnscien-
tious idea of what ought to be.
Somebody else would have an equal
right to eXpunge another. and soon
we would have no Bible at all. 1t
must be all or none
The other four points at issue
vanish if the first one is accepted.
1t is worth while stating them, how
ever, so that we may know clearly
where the battle RACES.
The second one has to do with
the deity of Christ. Was Jesus who
is called the Christ divine? Was He
more than divine; was He deity?
Was He divine as you and I are di-
vine, having been made in the
image of God. the only difference
being one of degree and not of kind?
This is the view of the MOdernist, !
the Liberal, the Radical, the Pro
gressive. (They are called by all
these names-names that magnify
the importance of the man of today,
the man who has developed so much
more than his forebears that he
must think about things differently
from them) Some of them will
come out with the bold statement
oe such a position; most of them are
more subtle and juggle with words,
using the same words that their
forebears used but giving to them
an entirely different and unusual
meaning. For example. our fathers
understood thoroughly the adjective
divine" to refer only to Cod but
these jugglers have given it so many
other meanings that you cannot tell
which they mean when they use it.
We must, therefore. make the dis
tinction between divinity and deity
Jesus Christ was more than God in
man. He 1NAs Cd aud r11a1 The