The Ohio Independent Baptist, June/July 1971

(Continued From Previous Page) Pe ~1 le. ,ve arc told. \\t a nt to find out f r then1 elve \\ hat i o, and we ough t t le t them. It i often dangerous for people to learn by experience. To find o t1t b e ..perience that fire burn an be a r ather painful ex– perience. l 'd ra ther be told than to burn m) hand. It really doesn't make en e to ay you've got to learn every– th ing f ron1 cratch. If 1 ·ou are not going to accept any authority, you are frightfully naive and terribly arrogant. But if you are going to follow that principle, be con- is tent and insis t on it in everything else not just religion. Don' t communi– cate any f acts don't give them any knowledge , just make them sensitive; let them find out for themselves. Ap– ply your principle also in medicine. When we train doctors let's not give them any f acts about the body or dis– ea es Jet 's just make them sensitive. Maybe you could be satisfied with that , but I don't want a doctor trained in that kind of school. Try your theory in music. Give a boy a trumpet, teach him nothing, jus t make him sensitive, and see what he produces. It really doesn t make sense, to say tha t we should tell people nothing and jus t make them sensitive. It won't work in science, medicine, music or theology. We don ' t have to guess in theology because we have divinely re– vea led truth and we can know what is so. We know Christianity is true because of the tremendous historical evidence for the physical resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and because of the awesome proof of ful– fill ed prophesy. The Old Testament was completed over four hundred years before Jesus came, and we know there are over one hundred prophesies liter all y fulfilled in the life of Christ. Th at can ' t be accidental. Thus we do have divinely revealed truth, and we can know what is so. The fourth statement that was made was: "Th e clzurch should si111ply en– courage people to look at the conse– qitences of their behavior. " I have no quarrel with that, as far as it goes. It is very easy, however , in talking about impor tant things, to be terribly simplistic. If you are going to reduce all morality to this one principle, you ar e bei ng very simplistic. One prin– ciple is inadequate. I agree that we ought to tell people that sin h as consequences that you reap what you sow. Surely we ought to tell p eople to look at the conse– quences of sex outside of marriage. P eople ought to look and see how 6 JUNE-JULY, 1971 . e tra-mari tal exual experiences wreck home and damage defenseless child– ren. I agree that people ought to ex– amine the evidence before they preach their theories of permissiveness. Let people see also how destructive lying is. Today lying is called a credi– bility gap. That sounds nicer, that perfume it; but even if it smells better it's just as bad. It damages personal relationships because we need to be able to trust one another. We injure others and ourselves when we make people suspicious of everything we say. Let people observe how destruc– tive drugs are: the brain damage it causes, the personality changes that it effects, the character traits that it destroys, the apathy it creates, the crime it fosters . Did you know that over sixty per cent of the crime in America is related to drugs? If it weren't for the drug problem crime would decrease sixty per cent. Yes we ought to tell people to observe the consequences of wrong-doing. To re– mind people that sin bring sorrow is good, but it is not enough . You know why it is not enough? Let me give four reasons . ( 1) It is not enough becau e the knowledge of consequences often comes too late. That' a sad fact. Unless you have een what a par– ticular sin has done to someone el se, you don't know it con e– quences. And after you've tried it for yourself, it's too late. It's jus t too la te. (2 ) Thi principle alone is in– adequate becau e it doesn't t e 11 people why life i like tha t. Why is it that wrong-doing ha unhappy consequences? Why i it? If you be– lieve in a mechani tic uni ver e, if you believe in a world of chance you have no explanation ; and people are not going to believe in moral principles too much becau e they don't know why life is like that. They can out-wit nature. Well, if nature is all there is, maybe they're right. Who can say? But if you tell them life is like that because God exists then you have a rational undergirding of morality. People need to know that there is a moral Governor of the universe, that this world is a reflection of the nature of God. The phy ical world reflects the nature of God, in being orderly and rational· and the moral world reflects the Holiness of God, Mor– ality is there because God is there. Life is like it is because of God. ( 3) The aforementioned prin– ciple is not enough because, even though people see the consequences of their sin, it does not enable them to be good. It's not enough just to make people afraid of wrong-doings, that may be helpful but that's not enough. Nobody knows how hard it is to be really good except the man who has tried. The people who haven't tried much to be good tell you how easy it is-like the man who said: "It's easy to quit smoking, I can take it or leave it," but he is always taking it and have you ever read the record of some men who have really tried to be good? Have you ever read the live of the Wes– ley ? Do you know that before John and harles were converted, they formed a "holy club" at Oxford and tried to live good lives. Do you know how frustrated they were? Have you ever read the life of Martin Luther? obody ever tried harder to be good than Martin Luther. He fas ted he prayed, he ubjected hi s body to painfully cold tempera tu res, he tortured his body to keep it in subjection ; and as a monk, he did everything he could by i elation from a wicked society, to live in victory over sin, but he didn't ucceed. THE CLEVELAND HEBREW MISSION P. 0 . Box 18056, Cleveland, Ohio 44118 Founded 1904 FUNDAN,ENTAL - BAPTISTIC - EVANGELISTIC Evangelizing th e "kinsmen" of our Lord in Cleveland, Ohio Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil OFFICERS :- l\tlr. George B. Dunn, President Rev. Roy Clark, Vice Presiderit Rev. Gerald V. Smelser, Superintendent Rev. A. Paul Tidball, Asst. Supt. Mr. Earl Helfrick, Sec'y-Treas. REFERENCES: - Dr. John G. Balyo, Cleveland, Ohio Rev. Paul Van Gorder, Atlan ta, Ga . Rev. Vaughn Sprunger, South Bend, Ind. Rev. Lloyd Morris, Flin t, Mich. Dr. Robert Ketcham, Chicago, Ill. Dr. Ralph Stoll, Lancaster. Pa. Rev. Melvin V. Efaw, Huntington , W. Va. Dr. Frank C. Torrey, Boca Raton, Fla. Dr. Kenneth Masteller, H addon Hts., r-.J. Write for your FREE copy of "The Trumpeter fo r Israel" our quarterly magaz ine devoted to the w ork of Jewish evangel ism. THE OHIO INDEPENDENT BAPTIST