Vol 2:12 (December 1956)
Editorial
International confusion bewilders the world! Great institutions of statesmanship shake under the impact of political chaos! Diplomatic conferences face the dilemma with tenacity but with futility! Instruments of cruelty in the hands of stronger nations subjugate weaker ones with death and destruction! Stout hearts tremble, loyal hearts hope, cowardly hearts shrink, and courageous hearts look on hopelessly or turn away in disgust! What a challenge to the Christian Church! What a challenge to each assembly of God’s beloved people! What a challenge to each individual Christian!
What are we doing with our knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ? We preach Him from the platform, through the radio, and by our literature. Yes! But do we live Him before a world drunk with pleasure, drenched with blood, staggering under its load of sin, reeling before the onslaught of the powers of evil, before a world system about to collapse under the tremendous pressure of its assumed superior knowledge, its own infidelity, its own pride?
Never has there been a greater opportunity for the Christian to manifest the genuine reality and the true quality of his Christianity. The sombre close of 1956 is a plea to more godly living, more sincere piety, more whole-hearted devotion to Christ, and more sacrificial living for Him. Let us quit ourselves like men and be strong. Let us face the confusion, the bitterness, the hatred, and the sin of the world, not with the petty differences that exist among us, not with a pharisaical attitude to suffering humanity, not with a callousness to the cry of the perishing; but with a manifestation of the peace of Christ in our daily experiences, the love of Christ in our personal relationships, the gentleness of Christ in our motives and in our actions, and with every believer proclaiming, in heavenly dignity and with spiritual fervour, the only remedy for sin, the glorious atonement of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Said the Lord Jesus, “Ye shall be witnesses unto Me … unto the uttermost parts of the earth.” May we throughout this New Year, already preceded by an intolerable burden of grief and woe, testify of the Saviourhood of Christ, and display by our actions His patience and His grace. This we shall be able to do only after spending time “At His Feet” as suggested by John Malcolm in the Devotional section, by identifying ourselves with the Risen Lord as taught us by William McBride in his article on baptism in the Doctrinal Section, and by learning the arts of the Christian gentleman as pointed out by Samuel Jardine’s exposition of Paul’s letter to Philemon. Every one of the spiritual virtues explained in these papers are manifested through the Christian’s body as demonstrated by Ernest Sprunt in the section, Lambs of the Flock. Face the challenge! Accept the challenge! Live the challenge!
Please attend to your renewals for 1957.