An old theme, do you say? What about it is old? God, Christ, truth, sin, salvation, duty, destiny—these never grow old. There is something wrong with one who thinks any Bible theme is old or out of date. If there were a cure for all fleshly ailments, would it ever be “out of date”? Would any sufferer say of it, “O, that is too old for this progressive age”? But there is no such cure known to man.
But man has a nature more important and enduring than his flesh, and ailments more far reaching in their results than any fleshly ills. And the gospel of Christ is a sure cure for all spiritual and moral ills. As long as there are moral evils to be corrected, sins to be forgiven, sinners to be saved, and downtrodden and discouraged to be inspirited, sorrowing hearts to be comforted, just that long will the gospel be fresh and “up to date.” And what else is up to date?
We have made great advancement in material things, but these do not meet the needs of the soul. Science has made great strides in material things, but it has no remedy for sin and crime. In fact, it has put forces into the hands of the world that the world does not know what to do with. In truth, I think it can be safely said that science has made crime more plentiful and daring, and has enabled the criminal to escape a hundredfold more easily. I am not unmindful of the comforts science has brought to those who know how to use them; it has also done wonders in combating disease. But it has put powers in the hands of man that he does not know how to handle. Even now scientists are seeking ways and means to destroy whole cities with one blast. Science has just about perfected means by which civilization will destroy itself in the next great war. It cannot cure one moral evil, nor generate one spiritual force for the world’s regeneration. And when a scientist tries to become a philosopher, he becomes a great injury to the world; for he usually leaves God out of any scheme of philosophy that he tries to construct. And psychology and sociology, or any of the moral philosophies, are equally helpless. Jesus is the Great Physician, and the gospel is his remedy, his only remedy, for the evils that afflict the world.
Nothing is up to date that does not meet the needs of the times. Many things are up to date in meeting our material needs, but nothing that man has ever thought out or planned is up to date in a moral and spiritual sense. Along these lines man’s theories are out of date before they are announced. The most advanced person in the world along moral and spiritual lines is the one who adheres most closely to the word of God and relies most firmly upon it as the one and only remedy for sin and crime. And the man who says that such a man is behind the times is himself so far behind that he does not know that any one has gone on before! The one who faithfully preaches the word is far in advance of him who preaches something else. And yet the majority of the people have never wanted the plain truth told. They prefer things that please.