In direct opposition to the Gospel of Jesus Christ is "the gospel of self" - first proclaimed by the serpent in the Garden of Eden. In our day it has been highly refined into a respectable religious philosophy by which many of God's own people are being seduced. The deluding influence of this fashionable philosophy is more dangerous because, instead of directly opposing the Word of God, it twists the scriptures to serve its own despicable designs.
    Mother Eve caved in to the tempter when he appealed to her flesh - implying that she should IMPROVE herself, rise above the cramped limitation divinely imposed upon her, strive onward and upward to reach her highest potential - to make something of herself that she and Adam might "be as gods"! This was the gospel of Satan, which led to the fall in Eden - plunging the entire human race into sin! And it is the essence of the many-pronged modern gospel of: self-improvement, self-satisfaction, self-realization, self-reliance and self-respect that promises to make a person so much "healthier, happi-

    For a number of years I have listened silently as brethren whom I love, and have earnestly endeavored to encourage as young ministers, becried the utter FAILURE of their elders in the service of Christ and His church. They have decided that there has been too great an emphasis on: crucifixion of the flesh, faithfulness, the divine order of a New Testament church, and insistence on the proclamation of a pure "Gospel of the Kingdom".
    We have been told that young people will not stand for such regimentation of thought and action in an, enlightened and liberated age. The humanistic spirit of the age has made them more broadminded and tolerable (except toward the "narrowness" of their fathers) - so broadminded, in fact, that many are no longer willing to trust the all-sufficiency of the divine revelation to govern their lives and ministry. Instead, they are turning to such "vain philosophy" as will justify the placing of carnal religious innovations on equal footing with the inspired word of God!
    Whereas the saints of God once assembled in the conscious AWE OF

HIS PRESENCE for: worship, praise and adoration - to receive instruction, to encourage and to be encouraged by the harmonious functioning of the body-members together; the NEW ORDER makes it a "fun thing" to go to church! And, if members of their own age-group are not finding it "fun" to be a Christian, these self-qualified and self-appointed counselors urge them to leave the depressing confines of the "old church" and to seek a fellowship where (joining the fun) they may improve their own "self-image" and lay aside such out-dated scruples as will permit them to "feel good" about themselves - even though this involves rebellion against the truth and abandonment of the path our Lord has clearly charted for His people!
    Such compromise as is being advocated by some of my numbers-oriented brethren today is most astounding. Despising authority, even the narrowness of the Holy Scrip-

tures, there has been a developing movement toward such a denial of authority, asserting of rights and liberalizing of relationships as utterly IGNORES the boundaries set in God's word!
    Who, with a heart that yearns for the honor of God's name and the furtherance of His glorious purpose, can fail to see a similarity to the perilous conditions that existed in Israel just prior to the Babylonian captivity? Through the prophet, Ezekiel, God cried out against those who were misleading His people. "Woe unto the foolish prophets, that follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing! O Israel, thy prophets are like the foxes in the deserts. Ye have NOT gone up into the gaps, neither made up the hedge for the house of Israel to stand in the battle in the day of the LORD. They have seen vanity and lying divination, saying, The LORD saith: and the LORD hath not sent them: and they have made others to hope that they would confirm the word. Have ye not seen a vain vision, and have ye not spoken vanity, and seen lies, therefore, behold, I AM AGAINST YOU, saith the Lord GOD. And mine hand shall be upon the prophets that see vanity, and that divine lies: they shall NOT be in the assembly of my people, neither shall they be written in the writing of the house of Israel, neither shall they enter into the land of Israel; and ye shall know that I AM THE Lord GOD. Because, even because they have SEDUCED my people, saying, Peace; AND THERE WAS NO PEACE!" (Ezek. 13:3-l0a; comp. Jer. 29:8-9).

    It is obvious that my generation has miserably failed in a number of things. One of the most serious is our failure to EFFECTIVELY commit "to FAITHFUL men" (2 Tim. 2:2) the glorious truths that were committed to us, and which some of us have held most precious. Thus, so very FEW are today ministering according to the principle that "if a man also strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned, except he strive LAWFULLY", (2 Tim. 2:5; comp. I Cor. 9:25-27).
    May God forgive us where we have failed and, in His own wisdom and providence, BRING BACK those who have "erred from the truth". Though proudly strutting like peacocks, some are corrupting the word of God, stirring up strife among brethren and assuming that their momentary material prosperity is a SIGN OF GODLINESS! - unnecessarily piercing themselves through with many sorrows.
    Yes, my generation has failed in many ways (as men judge failure), and some of us take no pride in the fruit thereof!

THE GOSPEL OF SELF ... Continued

er and spiritual that he can really "feel good" about himself! Pulpit psychologists, by proclaiming the gospel of an "improved self-image", are leading countless multitudes down the broad way to destruction!
    The Gospel of Jesus Christ is diametrically opposed to the gospel of the natural man - the gospel of SELF. Our Lord taught us that, rather than trying to exalt or im-

prove, we should DENY self! (Matt. 16:24; Lk. 9:23). Instead of urging self-reliance, He taught us to become "as little children" (Matt. 18:3), and to rely solely on God! Nor did He urge the full development of all our faculties. Rather, the teaching of His word is that we must "mortify" our members, (Col. 3:5). His true witness will be willing to say: "I must decrease" (Jn. 3:30) - to the very abolition of self - until he can joyfully exclaim, with Paul, "Not I, but Christ liveth in me!" (Gal. 2:20).
    The real tragedy of the day is that this "gospel of self" is being proclaimed in multitudes of so-called "Christian pulpits" throughout the land! It is being proclaimed by men who are highly regarded as spokesmen for Jesus Christ. But we have been duly warned of this in the Word of God itself: "For such are FALSE apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel, for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore, it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as ministers of righteousness, whose end shall be according to their works!, (2 Cor. 11:13-15). "To the law and to the testimony!" urges the true prophet of God, "If they speak not according to this word, it is because there is NO LIGHT IN THEM!" (Isa. 10:8).
    The true man of God has no interest in the multiplied affairs, pursuits, interests and pleasures of this present, Christ-rejecting, world-system. His citizenship is

in heaven. With Abraham, he looks for a city that hath foundations, whose Maker and Builder is God. And the only PERFECT MAN who ever walked on this earth is One who had nowhere to lay His head. Despised and rejected of men, He was cut off and had nothing (Dan. 9:26) He could say, "The prince of this world cometh and hath nothing in me", (Jn. 14:30).
    Those who are truly Christ's should be content to be like Him in this present evil world from which he came to deliver them, (Matt. 10:25; Gal. 1:4). E.G.
    We praise God for the recent profession of Sister Jeanette Thompson and welcome her into our body!

    "In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world", (Jn. 16:33).
    Our great literature. and music were not produced in ideal circumstances. Much of it came out of adversity, poverty and sorrow. "Pilgrim's Progress" was written in a prison. And of course much of the Scriptures came from a background of hardship and trial.
   Great character is not grown at pleasure resorts. This world is well suited to the making of good Christians. We do not become saints in our sleep. We have often wished for wings like a dove that we might escape to some favored spot to meditate and cultivate our souls. But great souls do not come out of such idyllic retreats. Our Saviour had nowhere to lay His head and spent. His earthly life in plainest circumstances. If our lives ran in storybook fashion, they might be pleasant but they would not follow the pattern. Great soldiers are developed in battle, not in swivel chairs or on parades. Paul uses athletic figures of speech, and athletes are not made merely by hearing lectures on great athletes of the past but by getting out into the scrimmage themselves. It takes a grindstone to sharpen an axe. This old world is our proving ground. if you find the going hard, remember that you are in training for service above. You cannot only endure the world but must overcome it because He over-came it and you can do all things through Him.