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from faith Unto Faith "--Friday Nights With Fpmans
<&y Reb. Len G. Broughton
Perhaps a word of explanation just here is nec
essary. These Friday night lectures by Dr. Brough
ton to his large, popular Bible class at the Taber
nacle were so rich and strong, that the stenograph
er’s notes have been worked out and carefully
revised by Dr. Broughton for The Golden Age.
There are sixteen of them, and The Golden Age
will be glad to furnish back numbers to new sub
scribers. It is confidently expected that they will
be eagerly received as they contain the best work
of Dr. Broughton’s life and will greatly aid the
busy Bible student. Editor.
LECTURE XlV—Concluded.
The Practical application.
111. NON-ESSENTIALS AND DISPUTATIONS.
Chapters 14 and 15, 1-12.
1. The obligation, 14.1.
2. Against judgments. 14.1-12.
3. The higher law. 14.13-23 and 15.1-12.
“Him that is weak in faith receive ye, yet not
for decision of scruples” (v. 1).
I wish that the church everywhere could appre
ciate this teaching. How changed would be our
method of procedure in all of our churches! How
different would be our feeling toward the weak
brother! As it is now the weak brother is looked
down upon rather with a spirit of contempt. We
may not say so, but it nevertheless, is so. The
weak brother when he comes into the church is too
often made to feel that he ought to take a back
seat until he passes through a stage of spiritual
evolution and social evolution to the extent that he
can be given the front seat, and that is especially
so if that weak brother happens to be a sister. She
is certainly made to feel that she must get far
back and stay far back a long time and the world
on the outside sees that the church is that way and
the ordinary man of the world knows that that is
not Christ, and knowing that it is not Christ and
yet seeing that it is persistently so in the church,
the world becomes disgusted. It has not the due re
spect for the church that it should have and would
have if things were operated on a different plane.
It has not been long since I talked to a man in this
town, a man of affairs and a man of fine judgment,
a man who is fair, too, in his judgment, and he was
referring to this very matter about which I am now
speaking. He said to me, “The thing of all others
that is keeping me out of the church (though he
was a professed believer) is the inconsistency of
the church with respect to weak and needy man
kind.” Those w r ere his words, and then he illus
trated what he meant. He said: “My wife worked
hard to pick up and save a poor weak fallen girl,
and she was saved, too, for my wife said she was.”
He thought that everything his wife said was reg
istered in heaven. “And yet my wife’s pastor told
her that he did not think it was wise for her to try
to join his church, that there were churches in the
city where she could go and feel at home, that there
was a great deal of feeling in his church against
that kind of thing, and while he thoroughly sym
pathized with the effort, yet it was not best for
her to come into that church. Now',” he said, “I
cannot join a church that preaches one thing and
practices another, for if that woman is saved, she
is just as good as any other woman in the sight of
God, or your teaching is wrong, and after all who
of us has not sinned?”
I tell you, I do believe that we would not have
one-half the backsliding in the church today —not
one-half —if we were to put into practice this teach
ing. If our officers, and our Sunday school teach
ers, our own Christian men and women, when they
see a man or woman about to stumble, would go to
them and love them back into safety. You know
the opposite of this is true. You let a little bit
of suspicion get out in the community against a
man, or more especially a woman. Where is a
good woman that goes to her and says, “Here, let’s
have a little talk together. I am afraid you are
imprudent, and I want to talk with you about it,”
The Golden Age for November 14, 1907.
and just freeze right on to her, and win
her by love back to the place of security. Instead
of that, they who are strong are certainly strong in
going around and telling everybody in forty acres
about the little indiscreet things that have been
done. The forest fire in Texas does not make half
so much smoke. The Apostle Paul, inspired by the
Spirit of God, was endeavoring to teach this church
to whom he had written this letter, that that kind
of thing is not the way to express the Christian
life.
Then he goes on to give some very strong teaching
with respect to this matter of judgment (vs. 3-12).
Here his purpose is to condemn quick, rapid, hasty,
unchristian judgment of one another, holding up
as a sufficient reason for that that God Himself is
judge, and that we shall all have to stand at last,
and every man give an account for himself before
the judgment bar of God.
But the higher law is the thing that I wish we
had time to consider, from the 23rd verse, chapter
14, to the 12th verse of the next chapter. The
principle there is a very good one, and a very nec
essary one and it is well for us to understand it.
You know there are a great many things that we
are privileged to do in our own right, which, when
we take into consideration the rights of others, we
are not privileged to do. A man has a right to
eat meat, but is there someone who is grievously
offended because of his meat-eating? If by the
continuance of the meat-eating process his influence
is lost over such a one, that meat-eating must be
given up, not that there is harm in the meat, but
there is loss of influence in the thing that he is
doing. This is what we call the higher law of
Christian service, and it is a law that we ought
always to keep in mind. We find it illustrated in
many walks of life. You have heard the story of
the man who was walking down the street swing
ing his cane. He was an Irishman just landed
in this country, in the land of liberty. By thus
swinging his arms he hit a man on the nose and
knocked him down. The man made for him and
the Irishman said, “Is not this the land of liberty?
Can’t a man swing his arms if be wants to?” And
the other man replied, “Yes, but your liberty stops
where my nose begins.” There is the law of high
er service. You have heard another story, perhaps,
which occurred at Niagara Falls. A man owned
one of those little islands out there in the early
days, and he posted his land. He had a placard
put on trees and sign boards, reading, “No tres
passing allowed on this land.” A fellow was com
ing down the river on a row boat and his boat got
away from him. Finally, in great excitement, lest
he should be hurled over the rapids, he managed
to turn his boat and carry it up to this island, and
right where he landed his boat was a great big tree
and on that tree was a great big placard, reading,
“No trespassing allowed on this land.” He did
not stop to read that notice. He got out of his boat
and it went hurling down the stream. The man
who owned the land saw him and set a bull dog
on him who chewed him up. The man entered suit
against the fellow who set the dog on him, and they
had a great time in the courts, and finally the man
who was bit by the dog won out, and in passing sen
tence on the other man, the judge said: “You had
a perfect right to post your land. It was your right
to post it, but I propose to sentence you to so many
days in prison and pay so much fine, not because
you posted your land, but because you failed to
exercise the right not to regard the interest of man
kind.” He had a right to post that land, he had a
right legally to set that dog on the man, but he had
a higher right not to set the dog on him for human
ity ’s good. Paul said, ‘ l l have a right to eat meat,
it does not hurt me, but here is a fellow who thinks
that because this meat has been offered to idols, it
is wrong to eat it. I will give up my right to eat
the meat for the higher right of my brother’s in
terest. I have the right to eat and the right to
eat carries with it the right not to eat” If all of
us would adopt that principle, there would be no
more trouble, there could not be any such thing
as trouble in the church.
IV. THE FINAL SALUTATION AND BENE
DICTION. Chapters 15 and 16.
There is nothing in this of special significance. I
will just give an epitomized statement of what is
contained in those two chapters. Prayer for the
church, his compliment of the church, his personal
words to them, his commendation of his co-laborers,
his final benediction.
Now for just a concluding word, the final word
with ourselves. First, we have found in the study of
this book that we are all in sin, and all hell deserv
ing and all hell bound. We have seen also
that Jesus Christ died to save us from sin.
We have seen further that outside of Jesus Christ
there is no such thing as salvation, that the work of
the law avails nothing to the man until, he, by faith
in the death and the resurrection of Christ, is a
saved man. That faith in the death and resurrec
tion of Christ brings not only salvation to one, but
also into his life are incorporated the principles
which actuated Jesus Christ in his life, so that the
matter of keeping the law is no more a matter of
force but the natural outcome. His concern is
keeping in perfect spiritual harmony with Jesus
Christ, and when he is in perfect spiritual harmony
with Jesus Christ, the law keeps itself, for Christ
came as the fulfillment of the law, and in His life
was incorporated all that the law was intended to
be, so that when we embrace Christ, we embrace
Christ as the sum and substance of all that God
wants us to do and be. The position of the Chris
tian is not one of legalism. It is one of liberty,
but only such] liberty as issues from a direct and
personal touch with Jesus Christ. It is just that
liberty that comes to one when he is mastered by
Christ. Hence my injunction at the close of this
study, which I trust has been helpful at least in
some degree to all of us, my one injunction is this:
See to it that Jesus Christ is Lord and Master of
this life. If He is truly Lord and Master, the mat
ter of living a Christian life is not one of stren
uous endeavor, but cne of normal ease, the outflow
ing of the inwrought life of Christ through the Holy-
Ghost sent down from God.
* It
Dr. Broughton’s sermon in The Constitution of
October 28 is one of unusual beauty and strength.
This is the utilitarian age. The works of the old
masters in painting, poetry and song are reproduced
by man’s inventive genius so cheaply that what was
possible a few years ago to none but the rich is
now in reach of all. Travel has been cheapened,
bountiful food provision made possible, and thou
sands of the luxuries of past ages have by means
of inventions become the common comfort of the
millions of today. All has come through the direct
ing providence of God. And so in religion. The
deep and pious study of God’s revealed truth by the
theologians of the past is today, in the providence
of God, working out its theories in practical Chris
tianity. Referring to the impression made by vis
its to the oil fields in Texas, he says:
“Surely, surely, he who made it possible by in
vention and the knowledge of science to bring all
this to pass was more than a poet, more than a
philosopher, for he was putting sentiment into ser
vice and philosophy into action; but he was doing
more than that. He was, though perhaps uncon
scious of it, working out a part of the great plan
and purpose of the religion of Jesus Christ which
has for its temporal object the happinness and the
blessing of the man in need.”
Applying the lesson he says this:
“We have no right toj sit still while the State
or some society of benevolent people administers to
the needy. Thank God for what they have done,
but our Lord wants His Church to do these
things in His name, and whenever we fail to do
it, however much good cn other lines we may ac
complish, we fail to place the crown upon the head
that deserves it”
