Professional Documents
Culture Documents
good.
The Book of Ecclesiastes may be read as
a commentary on the words of Miicah,
Paul and Christ. Solomon tested, as per-
haps no o^ne else has ever done, all the
answers which men give to the great ques-
tion. He tried pleasure, the gratification
of appetite and passion, and said: "It Is
vanity." He tried wealth, and said it does
not satisfy " He that loveth silver shall
not be satisfied with silver." He tried
learning, and said: "He that increaseth
knowledge, increaseth sorrow." He was
a King, and gathered "the peculiar treas-
ure of kings," "more than all that were
before him," but found it "vanity and vexa-
tion." He set forth an ideal of family
comfort a. man rejoicing with the wife of
his youth and surrounded by his children
in peaceful old age, but said though "he
beget an hundred children and live many
years, and his soul be not filled with good.
"
author,
proofs,
Witli this and with all other
is also the testimony
of the Holy
there
Spirit, who witn^ses with
the Word and
His
by it in the hearts of good people.
testimony is unanswerable.
We are some-
and in
times perplexed by arguments,
upon
doubt as to the value of testimony
when, in an in-
which we have relied,
He is There is no room
the only God.
for another; there is no possibility of an-
other. The heathen have idols, but they
are not gods. The ancients deified men, or
qualities in men, but these were not gods.
He is the living and true God, the cre-
ator and upholder of all things.
How shall man stand in his presence?
Before him angels bow and the archangel
veils his face. Before him cherubim and
seraphim continually do cry: "Holy, holy,
holy, Lord God of hosts!" The greatest
thought which can fill the mind of man is
the thought of God and of our relation to
him. How shall man, finite and sinful,
stand before him?
He
is entitled to worship. For what he
is,and for what he has done, our souls
must bless and magnify him. He is a
What Is Godr 25
(3)
THE DIVINE ATTRIBUTES.
He who devoutly studies tke being and
character of God feels, first of all, his own
comprehend the
v^eakness. Thei finite can not
infinite. He cries out with the Psalmist:
"Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
it is high, I can not attain it." No man
can "find out the Almighty to perfection."
And yet some knowledge of God and of
our duty to him is possible. The direction,
"Acquaint thyself with him and be at
peace," is in harmony with the Savior's
prayer for his disciples that they might
"know" "the only true God," and with the
declaratioil that to know him aright is life
(5)
58 Applied Theology.
is accordance to a plan
God's providence
and pursuance of his eternal
In consistent
purpose. "Known unto him are all his
works, from the foundation of the world."
Creation and providence are parts of one
whole. As the Lord hath made, so he sus-
tains all things for himself. All his works
praise him. To end they were created
this
and are sustained. The Lord hath made all
things for himself. "Let everything that
hath breath praise the Lord." This Is
man's chief end, his flrst duty and his hJgh-
pst good.
SPECIAL PROVIDENCE.
(7)
90 Applied Theology.
miracle of
history the resurrection of
all
Christ weregiven for a purpose: that we
"might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the
Son of God, and that believing, we might
have life through his name.'' As to the
prophecy of the great event of Christianity,
there is no question, either by friend or
enemy; and as to the fact of its fulfillment,
provision was made for abundant testi-
mony, which the pen of inspiration has put
on record, that the Church of Christ in all
ages might "know assuredly that God hath
made that same Jesus who was crucified
both Lord and Christ."
In his sermon on the day of Pentecost,
Peter, as the spokesman of all the witness-
es, declared, "This Jesus hath God raised
independent law.
of
Political economy recognizes the fact that,
for the best good of men, liberty must be
limited by law. Every man is born under
law. He is entitled to life, but not to lib-
cant.
Every Christian should be an exact scien-
tist. Not only should he be able to give a
reason for his hope, but he should demand
demonstration before accepting new theo-
ries. As Paul expresses it, he should "prove
all things," and "hold fast that which is
good." The gospel, in which he believes,
has been proved. The Spirit, witnessing
with his spirit, tells him that it is true.
The life of Christ, which from the begin-
ning to the end was a fulfillment of proph-
ecy, proves it true. The resurrection of the
dead, certified to by witnesses, proves it
(149)
150 Applied Theology.
(11)
154 Applied Theology.
(12)
SELF-EXAMINATION.
The chief end of self-examination
is not
whole earth.
will cover the We know this,
hecause God has promised it. The knowl-
edge of God is to "cover the earth as the
waters cover the sea." "At the name of
Jesus every knee shall bow and every
tongue confess that he is Lord, to the glory
of God the Father."
The world may not believe this. It does
not understand the purpose of Christianity
and the mission of the Church, nor appre-
ciate spiritual instrumentalities. It sees
the power of muscle and numbers and ma-
chinery, but not of spiritual forces. These
must be spiritually discerned. Many Chris-
tians may not believe, or at least not
realize They see the power of evil, and
it.