31 August 1902 A.D.
Rev. Dr. Gordon Haddon Clark
Born—Sermon: “Hath God Said?”
Archivist.
“August 31: `Hath God Said?’ This Day in Presbyterian History. 31 Aug 2014.
http://www.thisday.pcahistory.org/2014/08/august-31/. Accessed 31 Aug 2014.
August 31: “Hath God Said?”
Gordon Haddon Clark was born on this day, August 31st, in
1902. We have written of him previously, but today present a sermon delivered
by Dr. Clark in 1947. This message was delivered over WLW, Cincinnati, on
the “Church by the Side of the Road” program, Sunday, November 2, 1947. It was
subsequently published in THE
WITNESS, a magazine published
by the Rev. Richard Gray. [Note: If you have old issues of this magazine, I'd love to
hear from you!]
Of
man’s first disobedience and the fruit|
Of that forbidden tree, whose mortal taste
Brought Death into the world, and all our woe,
Sing heavenly Muse . . .”
Of that forbidden tree, whose mortal taste
Brought Death into the world, and all our woe,
Sing heavenly Muse . . .”
Hath God Said?
WITH
these sonorous phrases, the immortal poet Milton began his great work, Paradise
Lost. It was from the opening chapters of the Bible that Milton took his
theme.
God
had created Adam and Eve perfectly righteous and had given them the
well-watered garden of Eden for their enjoyment. The delicious fruits of all
the trees were theirs to eat, with but one exception. God commanded them not to
eat of that one tree.
Then
Satan in the form of a serpent came to tempt Eve. He began by asking her this
question: “Hath God said?”
Of
course if God had not said, if God had given no commandment to Adam and Eve,
then there would have been no reason to abstain from eating of that tree. What
Adam and Eve were to do and what they were not to do, depended on what God had
said.
Later
on in the Bible we read how God spoke to the children of Israel from the
thundering crags of Mount Sinai. There God said: “Thou shalt not take the name
of the Lord thy God in vain . . . Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy .
Thou shalt not steal . . .”
Considering
the disobedience of the Israelites on many occasions, we may imagine that Satan
came to them also and asked, “Hath God said?” Of course, if God had not said,
Remember the Sabbath day; if God had not commanded, Thou shalt not steal; there
would have been no reason to obey. What the Israelites were to do and what they
were not to do, depended on what God said.
Today
there are multitudes of people who care nothing for these commandments. During
the war the armed forces were incredibly profane. In this era of so-called
peace, few people remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Juvenile delinquency
shows that one, or more likely two, generations have not honored their fathers
and mothers. The world has seen not only murders but massacres. Unfortunately,
adultery and divorce are so common as to have eaten away the moral fiber of our
nation. And stealing goes on, if not in one form, then in another.
But,
after all, why should one keep the Sabbath? Why shouldn’t one enjoy adultery
and profanity on occasion? Why not get what you can while the getting is good?
Hath God said?
Our
conduct, so many people affirm, is not to be hampered by ancient traditions.
The Ten Commandments may have been good enough for a bygone age; but today we
have evolved a new code of ethics and we must conform to the morals of our age
and our society.
Maybe
there is a God, and maybe there isn’t. It is hard to say. But even if there is
a God, he is not the tribal deity of the ancient Jews. The Old Testament is
folk lore and superstition. We live today and we must follow the ways of the
society in which we live.
This
is the teaching that has permeated the educated classes of our country. The
sociology departments in our colleges, the psychologists, the philosophers, and
the schools of education insist that it is the society in which one Jives that
sets the standards of conduct.
The
aborigines of Australia have their code of ethics. The tribes of central Africa
have another code. American society requires its type of conduct and Chinese
society sets different norms. No society can impose its mores on another. When
in Rome, do as the Romans do. The particular society is the supreme judge.
Now,
it happens that society changes, in fact, American society has changed
considerably in the last century.
When
our grandparents were alive, an accusation of immorality was a serious charge.
Later on it became smart to be immoral. Today, however, immorality is too
common even to be smart. People no longer use the idea of immorality to
indicate blame or the idea of morality to indicate praise. Morality is old
fashioned. Instead of these ideas, if a serious accusation is to be made
against someone, he is called anti-social. The worst thing to say of a man
today is to say that he is anti-social. We no longer listen for the voice of
God; we pay attention to the demands of society. Society, the society in which
we live, is the supreme judge of our conduct.
But
if this modern humanistic theory is true, several interesting conclusions
follow. When in Rome do as the Romans do, they say. Conform to the society in
which you live. If this be good advice, then was it not right and good for
Germans under Hitler to massacre the Jews? If society establishes the rules of
conduct, an anti-semitic society justifies anti-semitic conduct. It was not
Hitler’s lieutenants, it was not Goering and Goebels who were anti-social; it
was Pastor Niemoeller who was anti-social. That was why he was put into a
concentration camp. He did not conform to the code of society. Similarly, just
before the Protestant Reformation the city of Florence was licentious and gay.
Savonarola appeared and rebuked them for their sins. Savonarola was
anti-social, and they burned him at the stake. Society was the judge.
And
why should not society be the judge, if God has not spoken? Why isn’t
anti-semitism right and good, if God has not siad, Thou shalt not kill? If God
has not spoken, why should not society murder those who disagree with it?
Niemoeller
was anti-social because he believed God had commanded. The Apostle Paul was
killed because he believed that God was superior to society. And Jesus Christ
was perhaps the most anti-social person who ever lived.
Hath
God said? If God has not said, then profanity, murdcr, adultery, theft are all
right wherever these actions are customary.
But
as for me, 1 do not believe this godless humanism; I do not approve the conduct
it produces. I believe that God has spoken. Only on the basis of what God has
said can morality be justified. Only on this basis can individual murderers and
political massacres be condemned. Only if God has spoken can the old fashioned
American principles of freedom challenge the modern forces of a tyrannical
society. Only if God has spoken can we have hope in this life and eternal joy
in the life to come.
Has
God spoken? Yes, “God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time
past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us
by his Son,” the Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory and dominion for ever and
ever, world without end. Amen.
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