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· THE

WORD AND WORK A MONTHLY MAGAZINE

SET TO DECLARE THE WHOLE COUNSEL OF GOD

R . fl. Boll , Editor J. R. Clark, Publisher

S u bacription, O ne Dolla r t he Year (Including the W. W. Lesson Quarterly where requested)

In cluba of fo ur or more, se•enty -five cen ts Add reaa: The W ord a nd Wor k, 2630 Montgomery S t ., Louinille, Ky. (Entered at tha LouisNille, Ky., Post Office as second class matter) ,_ ________ .... _______________________________ · ~

IN THIS ISSUE

Poem: What, Would He Say '? - - - - - - - - 20 W ords in Soaso n- R. TL B.

-'ftre-A<tverrturerof-eaptain Ricken batl-er _ (}_ft - - - ~u

God's Dealings with the Nations - - - - - - - 30 One of God's Lowly Great - - - - - - - - 3 1

Nows a nd N o t o• - - - - - - - - - - - - - i.13 Christ Foun.d Precious--Paul R. Neal - - - - - - 35 Gibbon on "Persecutions of Christians"-Tona Covey - 35 Saving Fnith-R. H. B. - - - - - - - - - - 36 Not Under Lmv-Stanford Chambe1·s - - - - - - 4] Ts f t Esscnt ii\l'?- A Layman's V<ew-W. B. l-1411 - - - ·12 Spiritual Blessings-Fin.vii Hall - - - - - - - - 4;3 Ben's Budgct--Ben J. Elston - - - - - - - - 44 True Friendship-S. 0 . - - - - - - - - - - - 45 Alexander Campbell on the Future - - - - - - - 46 The Christian and His Creed-1\laurico Clymore - - - ·17 Thoughts Wwth While-D. H. F. - - - - - - - - 48 Lessons o n Ephesians- R. H. B. - - - - - - - - 50 Studies :n the Original Te>..'i- Jonah w. D. Skiles - - 53 On Foreign Fields-D. c. ,J. - - - - - - - - - 55 ,). A. Addison - - - - - - - - - - - - - fi()

VOL. XXXV!l. FEBRUAR~f . 1943. N o. 2

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Church Attendance Builder Postcards Nine Full-color Cards t·hat Get, Revive and Hold the People

Ministers, l'hur1·h oflh·Ns nnd workers uow can sr>rurc llne, re~ull·i::ot tini:: c :inls to lJuilcl church ntteudance, such as STA);l>ARD hns pro\·ided Sunday schools for 111any yl'ar~.

Morning 111111 1>vcning <:hur.-!1 worship, rc,·lvnl st>r\"iceq, midweek prayer meeting an<l ~ i.peri:tl mce tl11_!!S all c•omc• within il11· s1·opt• of lhts 11 1-11· Kt•ril's. 'l'ht!rt· urc• cant~ !'or nc•w • prospects, visitors, ahsentel's, etc., all printed in ltcnuliful colors.

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w111 " '"'1<.lln<, uo~~6 No. !l3G. Meeting Notlfica.

11011. 'l"u i ufcirm 11fhcri·• coin· mlt•t•tlJI uud rn11111h••rSi of lmpor· Hant husi1w1'.:-r r11t•t\th•G'•· 8pnco 10 1111 iu 1111nrn of orgnnitution or kiud of Ulcctiog.

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No. !137. Church Service In­vltMlon, 111th • 11t•dnl IHhlu BJ•· """'· "C:urt•o Wort! lt n• tltv nu· lutf9n for every tiroblcm of .rour life,"' cto.

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No. 038. Olmrch Absentee. •ro•ll a people tbry wen· 111i•b1·1l fruru tho 111..,rvl1wK 1uul luvitt "" tltrm t o be 11rcscn~ tl1c '" •l Suodny.

No. 93\l. VlRltor Follow-up. No. 940. Evonlng Church At- No. 9U. Gcoernl Church In. Kee11• r11111~.-1 .tli'"• n111I pav1•a tonclnnce. 111·11" '" l1uilcl thtJ vttntlon. On n l1~ 11 • 1•(\ tor lrnll~ -wn:r for 1 httrrlt 11111uh~r•hlp. ntt1•111ln11f~ 1.t 1h11 ~v~niu1; In.,. churd1 nt11 ndnnco in nny

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'.No. 942. Welcome for Now Residents. Whun new 11en11le movo Iulo ycJHr community u11oo this curd to <'•lnhllah cunt•ct~ and aecuro uctlve church allllia· 1Jo11.

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No. 043. Midweek Pra.ycr MecUng J.uvltati.on. Tu builtl t\U{l111l:rnrt1 rH. '"'' mitlwet•k prOy1• r nJi,,ltH.iuJ,t'. Jt epTu1Juotiou or the- 11ul111ln;;, .. l'rnyiui; llanda."

No. 9H. Rcvtnl Invitation. A •t rlklni: nn1101111l'<111Cut·inv)· tntion tn bnilcl nw·u<hncr ~ n•vlval rncullni.ra.

On tltn Tl'YCr110 sirlo of every card there i11 ample apace for nnmc of chur•·h, hour ot sc:>r vice, pcr~on:il mc~sngo, etc.

THE WORD ANO wor.K, 2GJO MONTGOMERY, LOUISVILLE, KY.

THE WORD AND WORK (Volume XXXVIl, February, 1943)

WHAT WOULD HE SAY? Of future plans, however fair, In which my Suvior has no share,­

\Vhat would He say? ··u He s hould come today and find my hands so full

"If He should com e today and find my lo,·e so cold. l\Iy faith so very weak and dim I had not even looked for Him,­

·wha t would He say?

" If He should come today and find J had not told One soul abou t my Heavenly fri end, Wh ose bless ings a ll my way allend,-

·what would . Jle say?

"If He should come today, would I be glad- quite glad? Remembering He hncl died for all, And none through me had heard H is call,­

" 7hal would I say?" - Selected

WORDS IN SEASON R. H. B.

THE ADVENTURE OF CAPTAIN RI CKENBACKER

The experience of Captain Rickenbacker nnd his seven companions- how th ey were lost at sea, h ow for days they were withou t food or wa ler {one of thei r num ber dying); how they held prayer m eetings and read from n copy of the Bible which one of them happened lo have in the pock et of his jumper; how they confessed their sins one to another and called upon God for help; nnd the strange and sudden- hardly sh ort of miracu lous- re lief that came lo them- all has been told and retold over radio, in the papers, un.til probably every­one has h eard it. But what does it mean ? For th a l il is God's d oing, and th a t God hutl a purpose in th is would Jwrdly he doubled by any believer.

1. I believe that in thi s incident God bo re wi tn ess to Him­self, to the effecl that Hi s cure and power a rc sti ll awake, and that llis word, "Call upon m e in the duy of troub le and I wil1 deliver thee a ncl thou shall glorify me''- still holds good as in ages p ast. The whole strange event is a living illustration of the 107th Psalm. It wus given for a lesson to a n age of un­belief; nnd Goers providence so arranged ull dclni ls lhnt nJI

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our nation should hear and see and learn. H e is I.he God tha t h ea.reth p rayer , lo who m a ll fl esh shall come (Ps. 65 :2) . It is a re-assurunce a nd invil utio n lo every he lpless a nd despa iring human being.

2. IL was m o re th a n tha t: it was a sp ecia l m essage from God to ou r country in these dark days- showing us as a na­tion th e way o ul of the troub le an d world-wide d is tress, which this wn r hus b rought u po n us. lt is as if God ha d snid to th e w ho le Uni ted S ta les, "See now th a t 1, even I. am He" ; an d "Look u nto me, an cl be ve sa ved , a ll the e nds of the ea rth; fo r I a m God, a n d !here Is no ne e lse."' May the lesso n no t IJc losl or fo rgo tten ! GOD'S DEALINGS WITH THE NATIONS

Altogether nside from th e q uestion of personal sa int l ion, God cla ims certain righ ts in th e world of mankind; He makes cert ain demands u po n the nations ns such. a nd holds lhcm re­s ponsible as lo certa in m ailers. T he nat io na l ·wclfn re, and th e nat io n's con tinued ex iste nce depends on r.od's decision an d judg111 e nl. For He has by no 111 cu 11 s a hdicu te d His au ­thori ty a nd jurisdiction o ver them . IL is He w ho dete rm ines !he ir a ppointed seaso ns- the times o f their rise and fa ll- an d the boundari es of lhe ir habitation. \\Then God fi rst gave th e rule of !he en rlh in t·o lhe ha nds of the Gentil e powe rs, He b ro ught it hom e lo th e heart of Nebuchadnezzar tha t, afler a ll, the: hea ve ns do rule ; that He " rcmovc!h kings and setlc lh up kings," and "lhe Most I-Ugh rule th in the k i ngdom of m en, an d g iveth ii Lo who msoever h e will" : and " those who w a lk 111 pride he is a bl e lo abase." (Da n. 2 :2 1; tl:t7, 37.) H e holds lh cm responsible in regard Co their a ltitude lo wa rd Tiim ; lhei1· n cl m inis lralio n of law and justice; their treatm ent of th e poor a nd opp ressed ; an cl very partic ularly their trea tme nt of His a ncient people Is rael, w hom , th ough now und e r rej ecti o n, H e still preserves and over who m H e keeps wa tch . (Ps. 121 :4 .) It is Hi s w ill that nations sh a ll acknowledge Him a nd Hi s sovere ign power. \Vhen U1ey begin to ignor e Him, w hen they cease lo glo rify Him as God an d to be thankfu l fo r lite b less­ings Ire hes tows o n them ; w he n U1e~· become hi gh-minded and rebe llio us (P s. 2:1 ) a nd begin to b lasphem e (Dan. 7 :11 ; Rev. 13 :5) I heir judgnient is near a t hand. T hough our peop le may now r ejo ice in lhe mi li la ry successes o f Sovie t Hussia, fo r ins ta nce, be sure !ha t no God-de ny ing, God- clef~·i ng, blas­ph eming po w er will lo ng prosper or long con tin ue. Unless a gr eat cha nge should in ter vene the doom of the Soviet power is wT'ille n i n th e counsels o f Go d , and nolh in n will save them. An d if its fa ll does no t come speedily il w ill o~ ly bP. fo 1· a time. tha t thro ugh th em God may execute j udgm e nt upon a n evit genenitio n. And if our own country hopes to escap e her fa te, it will he w e l.I if she d oc..'> not lie up too closely with h er. Goel is now us He alwa ~1s w as. Of old il was wdll en:

"Jehovah looke th from h eaven: 30

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He beholdc lh ulJ th e sons of men; From the place of his habitation he looketh ·forth Upon all lbe inhabitants of the earth , He that fashione th the hearts of th em all, Thal conside re th all their works .''- (Ps. 33 :13-15.)

Be sure th a t He that plantelh the car can hear; and He that formed the eve can see. "He that chastiseth the nations, shall not he corrc-cl. even he that leachclh man knowledge?" -The m essage of God throug~ Rickenbacker is ofl ~ntional sig­nificance, rather than relatmg lo personal salv t1 on. When the nation, like Nineveh, humbles itself, repents, and calls up. on God, He will yet hear. Otherwise th ere is no good ahead.

"Now the refore be wise, 0 ye kings, Be instructed ye judges of the earth. Serve Jehovah with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss th e Son, lest he be angry and _y e pe ris h in tne way, For his wrath will soon be kindled. Blessed are aU they that take r efuge in him.''

(Ps. 2:10-12.) ONE OF GOD'S LOWLY GREAT ONES

Tha t God still chooses the poor and weak, yea, and the " things that are not"- the "nohodies"-to confound the "some­bodies" and th e wise and strong, is demonstrated in the ca­r eer of a poor lil'l'le ncgro boy born in slavery (day and date of birth unknown) who, going up ugainsl incretUble difli­culties and lu11·dships, became one of lhe f oremosl scientists of the world . J speak of George Vvashington Carver of Tus­keegee Ins tilule, Al~1bama. His spccinl line wns chemical re­search und "chcmiurgy," particuJurJy ui; a pplied to agricul­ture. His was reverent scien ce, based upon the fear of God, motivated by love lo his fellow-man, especially the compas­sionate love for the lowly and underprivileged of his own race. ln 190-l h e lJecuni e co nnected with Tuskegee, a school found­ed by Booker T. Washington, the grea t b enefac tor of his race. George Washington Carver came into notice soon afterward because of a number of remarkable discoveri es and achieve­m ents in his Jiel<l of science. Out of common things in field and forest, such us arc seen and passed by every clay- out of the clay of the hills around, out of the lowly peanut, the sweet potato, th e corn -stalk and ear, and th e very weeds that grew around Tus kegee he brought forlh more, uncl more wonderful things than ever magician pretended lo pull out of a hat- dyes, paints, oils. inks, perfumes, chemicals of strange virtues-to th e amazement of the scient ific world, and the benefit of th e humble tiller of th e ground , whose produce r ose in value because of Professor Carver's researches and dis­coveries. I remember seeing a n ewspaper r eport many years ago to the effect Urnl Carver was interview ed by some scien­tific committee, a nd wns asked how he a rrived at his results. " The L ord helps m e find these things," he unswered ·- "I pray

31

over it, and se t to wor k on it, and the Lord shows m e how." Now that was so highly unscientific that lbe learned inter­vie wers dismissed it with a smile- d ismii;sed Carver, too, from th e ir allenlion, fo 1· the lime. Hut his astou nding achievements kept pili11g up, and the) had lo come back lo him. Repea ted ly (if my information is cotTCCl) h e was invited to position and professo rship in ou lsla ndi11g institut ions of science and leurn­i11g in the >lorlh ; and lhc financia l inducements were g reater in amount than a ll the money the poor teacher of Tuskegee had ever seen. But, like the "great woman" of Sbunem (2 Kings 4:8:13) he nnswcrcd, " l dwell a 111 0 11g my own people." rre never asked 11or sought a nything for himsel f. Ile never married. ln all his habits he was abstemious. llis food, cloth­ing, and living quarters were of the simplest. He never ex­ploited liis discoveries; never look out a pnlenl on anything. I le guve his labors freely and gladly fo r the good of hi s fe l­low-man. And he was well satisfied, and with al a very happ)· man in his humble, bu t g reat work and minist ry. Many litlle 011ecdotes ru·e Loki of him- for inslancr. how two ladies of so<.:i:1I prominence. mudr u pilgri111:1gc to T uskegee, just to sec lhc great scie11List. They me t him by acciden t as he was on hi s way to the laboratory, and thin king the frai l, shabbily dr<•sscd man was some janHor or caretaker on the pince. nskcd him if there ''ere uny chance of their seeing Professor Carver. "Yes"- he said- "come right ulong"; and politely cnrrying his ha t in his hand, h e showed them to the la l>ora­lory, where the slud enl s greeted him and they learned who h e was. Se,·eral months ago some scientific found ation (I do nol recall the tletnils o f name or plucc) decided lo bes tow a medal of high distinction on the old mun- and they changed lhe regular time for this award in Professor Carver's case, hccnuse he had been in ill health, and the'· feared if lheY waited he would not li\'c lo sec lhe honm:.- And now the rudio sends forth the news. that George \'Tashington Carver . lhc brilliant and lowly man of science, a m ong the grea test of his day, and one of the greatest of a ll time, having sc•n·cd his own ge11crn tion iJ~· the wi ll o f God, hus fa ll­r n nslc•ep. And his fnme is uH the brighter for his. humble faith in God a nd in the Lord J esus Christ, in whom. like unto a litllc child. he trusted a ll his days and unto the e nd.

" I wiU !e l no m an <lrng me down so low as to mu.kc rnc• hale him.- Booker T . Washington.

Alexander Cnmphe ll snys in his essays: "Of all the futmc rvcnts, lha l of the coming of th e Lord

in power and glory is the most soul-subduing, enrap turing and transcendent. In one sen tence, it is ' the Blessed Hope.' The church has hecn prayi ng for it and the whole creation groan­ing and travailing for it for two thousand yeur s."

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NEWS AND NOTES Janu&ry C lubbe ra

Below i.s a list of 1943 clubbers up lio January 16. Subscriptions rec~:ved after that. date will be r e­ported next month. Last year we had received 427 names by January 15 as· compared to the 500 in this report. We are indeed grateful to God for our friends. Shall we du­plicate t his 500 next. month? Mnny regulars hnve not sent in clubs yet. Why not join them by 1*lnding a club of four or mor e na mes al 75¢ cnch '! Hemcmber, singles nro also appreciated. Less tlurn four, $1.00. This February issue is be.ng mailed to all our list.

CLUBBERS M. E . Holloway. Ky ......... 69 R. B. Boyd, Tenn. . . . . . . . . . . 48 .Maurice (.;lymore, Ind. . . . . . . . . 3'7 C. 'l'. Gabhart, Ky. . . . . . . . . . . 21 J. W. D. Skiles, Mo ... . ..... 16 J. R. Clark, Ky ........ ..... 16 Harold Beck, Texas . . . . . . . . . 15 .Mrs. J. D. Pepper, Texas , . . . . . 14 Mrs. Geo. H. Leffler, Ky . ... . 10 Cuba M. Ball, Maryland . . . . . . 10 An Indiana Sister . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 G. B. Whitene<:k, Ky. . . . . . . . . 9 Stanford ChamhP.r!I, Ky. . . . . . . 7 ~lorence Howell, Ky. . . . . . . . . 6 Paul Duncan, Ky. . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Mrs. J. A. Brittell, Calif. . . . . 6 .Mrs. J. P. Waldren, Ky. . . . . . . 6 H. V. McMahon, Ind. . . . . . . . . 6 Newton Smith, Ind. . . . . . . . . . 6 Ben Elston, La. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Mrs. Elmer Phillips, Ind. . . . . . 4 La Vern Houtz, Ark. . . . . . . . . 4 E. C. Ringer, Ind. . . . . . . . . . . . 4 .Miss F lor once Hotte,lJ, Ind. . . . . 4 D. R. Bridges, Georgia . . . . . . 4 Mrs. T. N. Lale, Mo. . . . . . . . . 4 Mrs. W. C. Curtis, La. 4 Mn. W. J. Fitts, Tenn. . . . . . . 4

Total in these clubs . . . . . . . . 356 Total Singles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144

Sunday School roe.ms. Additional improvements are anticipa.tea.

"We nro planning several mid­week cottngo praye1· meetings, 11s we feel tlrnt this is another way in which we can propagate the vood News.

"1'he membership responded well to the drive for new Vv ord and Work subscriptions. At. this time we are 1*lnding lo subscr1pt1ons, and we have prospects of more very soon.

•·we arc plann ing ulso, to submit a picture and the history of the South Side church in t.be near fu­turc."-H. E. Beck.

PortaiO In Prairie, .i\lanit0ba : "Thank you and thank the Lord t or all the good things publishea in L.1e Word ana \York auring tho ye .. r 1114<!. Now we pass on our best wishes for health of soul, strength, wisdom, and cow·age to undertuke the great. tasks of 1!)43. .i\lny you all have special blessing from the Lord as He guides and suppl.c:. 1or the features of His work you rep-1·esentl

'"l'~e Lord is enabling us lo press on with ll 1ii work here m spit.o oi cold nn<l 1mow. 'Ihc1·c nl'c encour­aging features and the LLving Word wJJI nnd soil and germinate and grow, bearing fruit to HU! g lory." - 11. L. Richru·dson.

Searcy, Ark. : "1 have rounded up a club or fo ur who wish a year's subscnpt.ion to the Word and Work. Although l am a new subscriber I hnve rend the Word and Work 'as often as 1 have had opportunity and like it very much.''-La Vern Iloutz.

The dateii of E. L. J .'s south­em preaching tour nre slightly changed (since Janu111·y issue) , to read as follows : Begin Dallas Jan. 31 i Begin Amite, La., Feb. 7. It is hoped that a few days with B1·other

Gmnd Total f.or J anuary . . . . 500 j.\'lullins, iu New Orlcnnii, mny ahso Abilene, Texas : "'l'he South Side be "squecz<Xl in," ns well us u few

church is progressing both numeri- days at Jacksonville, Fla. cally and spiritually as we continue Ii preachers who have radio as­to labor and pray. Since our last llignments where lhis jout nal cir­report wo have had three more ad- culales would send In their dates. ditions by bapt.ism. we would be glad to publish them,

" The Lord has made it possible from time to time. for us to have a new roof on the old The W. W. offi ce has information church building wh ich is used for on hand, from the U. S. Treasury

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Department, concerning "non-mil i- about this! Full financial report tary Bonds," available now and will be sent to all contributors each then, through the National Service month-end."-E. L. J. Board for Religious Objectors. Ad- Searcy, Arkl\nJa., Broadcaat dress this offic e, " Attention E. L. The churches of Christ of Sourcy, J." Arkansas, broadcast regularly at 7:

Setrner, Flu.: "The nrtic!c in 30 a. m. each Sunday (Central War Decembe l." Wor d and Work by Bro. Time). To get this program dial Boll on "Four Indisnutable Things" 1010 or 1420, Little Rock, A.rkan­is so good that. I think :t should be sas. Brothers T. 11. Sherrill and J. prjnted in tract form for wide dis- N. Armstrong have charge of this t ribut ion. I wonder if ) 'OU plan to broadcast. Service men, hospital do so. I would likP to usn several patients and their families are es­hundred . . May tho Lord's blessings pecialJy inviood to listen. still rest upon the efforts of the The Word and Work and Truth Word and Work."- 11. C. Hint.on. Advance, both for $ 1.60.

Portland, Oregon: ' 'We like the J asonville, Ind.: "We aTe get--Word and Work so very much an d ting along well at Jasonville and take pride in beinll" able to help Eiiis. The Lord blessed our labors send it out. W c feel that it is a together last. yenr. At J asonville most worthy mission11ry work."- we had 12 uddit.i-011., (8 by baptism), l\fr. a nd Mrs. [L E. Garber. and ut Ellis we had one baptism."-

New Orleans, La.: " 'I'hc Lord is Paul R. Neal. graciously giving us opportunity to Junction Citr, Kan.: "Two ndd­cnlarge the rad io work horc a nd ed by fellowship here the 10th. A supplying nccessarv fonds to pay in young soldier confessed unfaithful­ndvance . Also He gave us the pri- ness to the Lord and asked for the vilege of starting two new programs prayers of the church and the young this week on the 5,000 watt station wife of anothC'I' soldier placed her here at. the same rate we are pay- membership with us. Also new sol­inA" on the 1,000 watt stution for diers in camp mot. with us. Our our Sunday program. The radio mi.di bringll h~t.lors from various bil l now runs to $40 per week, and states giving names of soldiers for the Lord is wonderfully providing us to look up. Almost without cx­that and supplying our person:i l ception tho writers tell us •th c,y needs bountifully, and therefore we heard of tho church here <through hove much reason to praise God. one of our religious papers. Thus Our church attendance is about as one never knows the amount of usual. We continue to have numer- good an a nnouncement of this kind ous visitors."-Frank M. Mullins. may do as hundreds of our boys are

Brot,her J . 's r adio appointment moving from pince to place and they (WHAS) on Feb. 16 may or muy need to locate u pine~ of worship. not be missed; but Murch 16 is to " We wish to state again that our be kept. services aTc h~l~ i'n Junction City,

F . S. Spaulding is n ow laboring Kansas, three miles from Ft. Riley. wit h the good church at Borden, Jn- Sunday services, 10 a. m. and 7 :30 dinna, and is very happy in tho p. m. in Adventis t chapel, West 10th work. i;ind Jackson. There is keen interest

"Th m ~he Sunday evening meeting pre-e Golden Gospel continues on cedrng the preaching service and t he

WINN, 1240 k. c., Louisville, regu- w d d lnrly on Sunday afternoons at 6 to e nes ay cvc!1i!1g meeting, also. 6 :30. Brother Doll'R addresl!os are where many r1ihg1ous questions lll'<'

asked, then discussed and answered of n high order , the cooµ ernt.ing from Biblical vicw·point. Also Sol­ehurches are amply supporting the d. c· T program financialJy, and the chorus ier- iv1 ian Social evenings nrc

scheduled to provide wholesome o! devoted Christian singers is good ~ontnct for boys in the Armed Scrv. enough for WHAS (our largest sta- ice. We u.rc distributing Christinn tation.) But the price of ~135 for a rte tu half hour on t his most desirable i ra re. Write us about any sol­clear-channel station of 50,000 dieT located here, giving full ad-

dress if possible. Address me at watts is not yet nvailnble; ncithper is 224 East 11th Street."-William there any open .time just n ow. ray Wayne Allon.

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C HRIST FOUND PREC IOUS IN SICK NESS (These words in a letter from Paul R. Neal, affl icted minis~er of Ja­

sonville, Indiana, are 50 good that we pass them on to <>ther suf_fermg 01;le5.) "My arthritis is worse. I am now on crutches and having consider­

able pain. I shall keep going as long as I have one leg on whi<:h to hop. The Lord knows what is best; how sweet it is llo know that nil things work together for good to them that love Him.

"It is wonderful to be a Christian; it is wonderful to have a personal Savior whom wu can utterly trust and to whom we can utterly give our hearts.' What a privilege in these dm·k days to choose Christ, and in choosing Hirn, to choose ll!e and blessedness and Heaven.. And when we ha,,e chosen Him to cleave close to Him in communi·on and fellowship .

"We experieruce Christ as the one 'who healeth aJl -0ur diseases, who redeemeth our life .from destruction, wh·o crowne th us with tender mercies and 1.oving-kinclness, and satis fi eth ow· mout h with good things.' (Ps. 103 :5.)

"How precious Christ is! He has abundant peace for the troubled (Psa. 37 :11); He has abundant grace for the needy (Rom. 5:17); He has abundant joy for the sad (2 Cor. 8 :2); He has abundant power for the weak (Eph. 3 :20). He puts His loving arms of protection around His children and we hear llim speak in J ohn 14 :27: 'Pence I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, n either let it be afraid.'

"0, how precious Chr ist is in the hour of sickn<'ss when He comes to us and says, 'I will make all thy bed in thy sickness.' <Ps . .n :3.) This is true love-il is God's love.''

GIBBO~ ON "PERSECUTIOi\S OF cnRrST!ANS" Tona Covey

(;ibho n. the infi d e l h istori a n i n hi s " D ec li n e u n d F a ll of til e Homun J·:111pi rc." s h ows hi s pe r p lex ity eontc rn ing lhe p e r ­secution o f Ch r is ti ans by th e Romans jn lhe::;e wor ds :

"If we seriously consider the puri ty of the Christian Religion, the l\Unctity of ils moral 1>recepts, und the innocent u~ well as thr austere lives of Lhc greater· number of those who during bho fi rst ages r mbrac<>d the faith of t he gospel, we should naturally suppose. that so benevolent a doctr ine would have been received with due reverence, nven by the unbe­lieving world: that the learnP.d and polite, hl)wever th<>y may deride the miracles, would huve esteemed the virtues of the new sect: nnd that the magist1·utes. instPad of persecuting, woulcl have 1>roteded nn order of men who yi~ldccl the most pnssh·e obedience lo the laws, though they declined the active c~wes of war and government. 1f on the othc-r hand we ree-01-lect the universal toleration of PolythP.ism, as it was invariably maintained by thP. fa ith of the pP.ople. the incredulity of philosophers, and the policy of the Roman scnnlP. a nd emperors, we are at a loss lo discover what n ew of­fense Lhe Christians had committed, what new provocation could exas­perate the mild ind ifl'eernce of antiqu ity, and what new motives could urge !;he Roman princes, who beheld without concern a thousand Corms of re­ligion subsisting in peace under their gentle sway, to in.flic t a severe pun­ishment on uny part of thei r subjects, wl10 hnd cho~en fo r themselves a s ingular hut an inoffen1<ivci mode of fa ith nnd wo1·ship." (Vol. 2, pp. 1, 2.)

If Gi bbon hncl be lieved God's word he wou ld have know n th at lh c ITo uh le lay deeper than som e w him of lh c. Homan p r inces. One fea ture of lh e Chri:o;t ia n i:e lig ion h as u lwavs mad e' it n l>no xinus l o th e unbelieve r : it c laims to have 1l1e one and o nly nwans of salvat ion, J esus Chris t. Thal pro­vokes nnlngnnism. Bui behind that ca use ·was th e real insti­ga to r o f the lrouhl(•. Satan. wh o has no objec tion to re ligion as s ul'h , hut is th e a\'Owcd e nemv o f lh e true rc li•rion. HC' I I I

. . ::> mows w 1erc lo < irec: I his fi e ry d a rts.

i~il

"SA YING FAITH" R.H. B.

Nothing is 111 o rc plornly revealed in the gospe l than 1hat salvation comes by faith in Jesus Christ. We read, for ex­ample, in John 3:14, 15 that "As i\loses lifled up the serpent in the wilderness. cv~n so must th e Son of mun be lifted up; that whosoever /Jp/if>uel/1 in him should not perish, but have eternal life." Thul is tu say, Christ must die on the cross to make it possible fol' whosoe,·er believetb in Him to be saved from. perdition, 11t1cl to obtain eterna l life. The passage in John continues : "For Clod so loved the world tha t he gave his only begotten Son, tlrnt whosoever bclieuelh in him should not perish bu t have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the wol'J<l ll11t that the world U1rnug h him 111ighl be saved. /fr that belieueth on him is not condemned. but he Lhul IJcli evcth not is condemned already, because he hath not helie.uf'd in the name of th e only begotten son of Goel.'' (.John J :1'1-1 8.) Il is plain, therefore, that sal­,·ation comes hy beli ev ing in Christ.

Bul the \"Cl'Y sim pli city of this thing is perplexi ng to some people. They cannot think that just believi ng in Christ can save anyone. There must be something bt'hincl it- there must be something more lo it than just that. Certa inly there are persons who beli eve that .J esus Jived and that He died and rose again; and that He is what Ile claimed to be. They would not dispute or deny that ut all. Yet they go on in their nwn sin ful way. An d 110 one thinks that such fai th co uld save any~ OllC. Wha l then is 111 cant by " bcli eYing o n Jesus Chris t'"! The maller is not a difficult one. Vle know, for examp le, what it is to believe in a doctor, in a counsellor, in a guide, in a friend. If I b e lieve in a doclor I'll go lo him or send for him when l am sick; I'll com mit my case into his hands; I 'll La ke his medic ine and follow his instructions. And so in like manner ,·vith regard to the other relationships mentioned. \Nhcn you believe in anyone you depend on h im for that whkh you be lieve ltim Lo be nnct lo he able to do. Fttilh in Christ is not different. You accept Him as what He is set forth to be and what He is. You put yourself into His h a nds, and trust llirn to do fo r you whnt He has promise d. Some time ago I !ward a preacher in thi s city illustratr this Ycry si mply. Point­ing to a chair he said, I believe this is a chair; I believe it is a goo d and a comfortahle chair; I believe it to be a stout chair, able to support m)' we1ght. Rut I do not truly und fully know whut it is to IJelievc in that chair till I sit down in it and put m y weight on it. Faith i11 the a bstract is not real; lo believe this or t11al ahout a person or a thing is as nothing, until you helie\·e s trongly enough to do some/ !ting about it. So it is with foith in Christ.

The four gospels ore God's primers, as it were, God 's pie~ lure books, teaching us fundamental concep tions in simplest

36

fashion bv storr and t•xu111ple. Out uf its pugcs l Lake, nlnwsl at randorn, s01i1e illustrations of faith . The firs t one is the case of th e leper- '':1 m an full of lep rosy," as Luke describes him, who came to .Jesus a nd said, "Lord , if thou wi lt, thou canst make m e clcu 11 ." "And" (as gi,·e11 in Mark) "being moved with compassion, he stretched for th hi s hand and touched him, and sa id unto him, I will; he thou made c lean." Now the word " faith" docs not occur in this bri e f narrative; hul here we have nevertheless u full pic lurr of failh. Tn every case faith is produced by a report; and tru e faith com es of .a true r eporl, Thus true faith comes by a tr ue report and tesll­mony concerning .Jesus Christ. Som e such report must haYe reached this lepe r 's cors. Then, of course. there was olso the need tha t drove him lo take holcl of ii and com e to .Jesus. This is always a factor in th e ma tter of faith . Now in the case of Lhis leper we behold a bol<lness and a daring- he dared to come to .J esus wit h an impossible request, yet with full confidence that li e was able to grant it. Leprosy was the most terrib le aflliclion th a t ever cam <' upon a h u­man being. Tl wus loathsom e, con tagious. Leprosy was an uncleanncss-n defilement that pcrmcnled lhe who le be­ing. The lepe r's C:\ islcnce was lh•ed ou l in iso lation, and it was but a long, lingeri ng, hopeless dying. :\o leper h ad ever been known lo be cured by natural m eans. Leprosy was in­curable. Now Jesus hod but lately com e into Ga lil ee. So far as we know it hnd nrver bern hcnrd lha l lle hud ever hea led a leper up to this time. at least not in thut region. Nu one would haYc expected such a thing. There were other lepers. many ; some o f whom certainly must have h eard the r eport concerning .Jes us. Hut none of I hem though I that .J es us cou lcl heal a leper. Ye t he re was one who took hold of it wi th a liv­ing faith, and dared to come lo Jesus asking Him to do what only the supreme power of God cou ld accompli sh. TI1ere was one point on w hich this leper had absolutely no doubt- he was fully assured in his heart of Chr ist's abili ty lo do this trem endous thing; and the onl:--· "if" in his m ind was whether H e would b e willi11g lo do it. Perha ps th e leper looking back over his life co ulcl see much reason why the Lord Jesus might not want to do that for s uch a one as he. Nevertheless h e ventured. He cam e--he knelt- he fell on h is face (for faith is ever reverent and humhle) - he wors hipped-(all these terms a rc used in the three accou nts of l\Jatlhew, Mark, and Luke)-and he sa id to Jesus, "Lord if thou wilt, thou cans l make me clean." Instantly lhe Lord accepted this m an's faith. put forth His holy hand a nd touched him, saying, "I will- be thou made clean." And s tra ightway the lcpros,· departed from him, and h e wus made clea11. -

Now this brings out especia lly one important fea ture of true faith which is too often ubsenl from our be lieving­n amely, th e firm co nvic ti on tha t Christ is able. We arc slow

37

to believe that. Like us nol, you have never given H im credit for ability to handle your p a rticu lar case. Yes, He has helped othe rs, I know; but my case (you may think) is so different, so peculiur- my si n is so d eeply sci and ingruincd in my very natu re from of old ; my s pecial c ircumstances are so extra­ordinary, the tangle and bondage of m y life are so hopeless - weJJ , to make it short, you don ' l rea lly beli eve th a t the Lord J esus c:rn do any thi ng for yo u. Many rail just here. ~ot that you are mistaken nbou t yo urs b eing a bad cnse. It is even good to know !ha t. You r case is probably worse than you ever dream ed. But th e fnil urc li es in you r low estimate of the Savior's power. It is very importnni !hut we should believe in His ab il ity lo su vc. Ile looks fo 1· that, and ex pects it of you. For example, two blind men fo llowed .J es us, saying, "Have m ercy on us. thou Son of David." And J c."us saith unto th em , "Relieve ye that I urn ab/r> to do thi s? They say unto Him, "Yea, L ord ." That was indeed a hi gh confid ence- for in a ll the past, neYcr cltd any prophet (or in a ll the l3ible ever a ny­one except Chris t alone) , restore any 111un 's sight. But be­cause they so uch eved :- "He touched their eyes, saying, Ac­cording to thy fai th he it done unt o you. An<I the ir eyes were opened." (Mutt. 9 :27-20.) Are your sins as scarle t, and crim­son-red ? Arc you bound as with f etlcrs of brass and iron ? Jesus is nble to save. " .Jesus neve r fails." Ire can c lea nse lh~ lepe r, a11d make th e tom e lo walk, and lhc blind lo sec. H e demonstrated His p ower in the bodies of men in order to show wha t h e could do for their sou ls. Don ' t fear to com e lo Chxisl and don ' t fear that ufl c1· vou have come vou mov not be able to Ji ve the Christia n li fe. - Only trust lo His power and faith­fulness lo do a ll and to sec you through to the end.

" He breaks th e pow'r of cn ncclled sins, And sets the prisoner free; His ulood cnn m ake the vilest clean, His blood availed for m e."

But let us turn to another faith-pic ture in the gospel-prjm­er. The Lord J esus is in Cnpernnum, in a house. The people quickly learn of His presence th ere. They c rowded in, and crowded around the doorway. Here come four bearing a paralyzed m an on a Jilter lo br ing him lo .J esus for healing. But they could nol ge l to IIim for the throng. ' Vh ile th e Lord .Jesus s tood in the mids t of th e packed house talki ng and teaching them- s uddenly a commotion was hea rd overhead­plastering and dirt began to fall- the peop le backed away­someone was digw ng down through the roof ; and through the hole in th e ceiling they le t a s ick m un on his pallet d own in front of J esus. "Aud Jesus, seeing llteir fail/1 snid unt o the sick of the pa lsy, Son, be of good ch eer: thy sins ar e forgiven:· (i\latt. 9 :1, 2.) The re are severa l points of deepes t interest connected with thi s episode., w hi ch we must pass by in this treatment. But le t us notice those s tr iking words-"Jcsus,

38

---

seeing their f ailh.''- 1 low can faith be seen ? Dy aclion , you would answer. Hig ht. Faith, r eal faith, is always manifest in action: strong faith in prompt, earnest, energetic action. If faith is feeb le it is easil y discouraged, acts s lowly and feeb ly, or not at all. These me1i- a ll five : the palsie d man certa inly most of all- liad a tremendous faith, a faith that would not be turned away by any difficulty or hindrance. It was ~ fai th in .J esus, a faith that He wou ld , that lie could, heal tins man o f the palsy, H only they co uld ge l him lo J esus. So they hoisted Urn invalid on his pallet to the roof, broke throug h, and let him down into th e house where J esus was.. And was He dfapl cased a t this di s turbance? Far from it. Such faith He had com e seeking, as one woul d seek for p r ecious pearls. It could not fail of His response. If !her e had been any pre­scribed way and steps for coming to J esus, faith would have had to follow car efully the s teps divin e ly appointed . (Tha t is the "obedi ence of fuilh " mentioned i11 Romans I :5 and 16 :26.) But ther e was no rule nor instructi o n g ive n as to how a sick man must come lo J esus for healing : they only knew that they must come, a nd so lhey cam e ns bes t they could . And J esus' ftrs l word to lh c inva li d was, "Son, lhy sins a re for­given."

Did perhaps a shadow of disa ppointment pass across the s ick man 's face, or the faces of those who had br ough t him ? Si ns forgiven? On ly tha t ? Thal was no t w ha t they h ad co me for or hoped for. \Vns the man 's f:..tilh s tro ng enough uncl his unde rstanding so e n lightened that he could accept and appre­cia te such a gi ft as thi s'? For su rely the fo rgiveness of si ns wn s by far a gr ea te r boon than !he hea ling of the body. A few vears- and what difference would ii mal{e whether one was cured of the palsy or not? But s ins forgiYen-that would m ea n joy and peace in this life and a future en trance in to r est a nd glory that wou ld e ndure fo r ever.

T her e were scribes pl'eseot who hea rd this ; and they sa.id within lhemselves, " This man blaspheme th" ; and "vVho can forgive sins but God al one?" They were quite righ t- exce pt for one a ll-impo rtan t poin t: they did not know wh a t manner o f l\1an lhis was lha t sp oke. Rut .J esus said to lhem , \.Vhy think ye evil in your hearts? For which is easier to say to the sick of the palsy, "Thy sins are forgiven." or to say,~"Arise, tak e up thy bed a nd walk?" Tlrny would have answer ed that i t was easie r lo say, "Thy s ins ure f'org ive n "- for a nyone could say th a ~ a nd w ho co uld ch eck up on it ? B ui r ea lly ii was much easier for the Lord .Jesus lo heal bodies than to lift our load of sin . The former was but nn act of His powe r, bu t th e Jailer involved mora l values and ther efor e necessitated His a toning death 011 Calvary. "Bu t that ye m ay know,'' Lhe L o rd J es us continued, " th a t the Son Of man hath authority on ea ~lh lo forgive s ins- the n saith he to the sick of the palsy, Anse, toke up lily bed a nd go unto thy ho use. And h e arose

30

and sCraighlway took up the bed." Such are some of Lh c lessons on faith given us in the gos­

p els. We conclud e with one more instance-an instanc~ of n faith at tirst dim and ' ·ague, bu l which in ils exercise grew brighler and clearer like the dawning light Lha.t shine th m ore and more unto the pcrfecl day. I speak of the case of the blind man of John 9, who sat begging by th e wayside; to whom. th e Lord Jesus cam<' of His owa accord, unusked; anointed his eYes wit h cluv madC' of spittle, a nd bade him go to the pool of Siloam and ,\•ash . He weal and washed and came seeing, The lesson of Lhi s has been beaut ifully sel forlh in the poem of Annie .Johnso n l• 11nl.

"Ile wenl"- wilhoul wailing to argue, To question or p onder or doubt,

Though it seem ed like a foolish proceeding To one looki ng 011 from wi th ou I;

\Vhv wash. when the touch of the Savior Had brough l other hlind eyes their sight?

·when His m ere worrl had p ower to hea l them, And turn a ll thei r darkness lo ligh t'!

::----------t'lm-ctwlrvtnth c pool of Siloam ? \Vhal ·good or whaf virtue was there?

W hy not bathe in som e brook by the wayside, Or dip in fl W<' ll anywhere.?

Perhaps th e n10n wondered a lilllc, nut he s tayed for no vain argu ment,

Whatever h e though t, he was si lent: Chri st had bidden him ~o. and he wen t.

* • • "He went .. . and crune seeing"; how certain

Reward of obedience is; Had he tnnied o r loitered in goi ng,

The h lessing might not have been his. Oh, hastc where the Master has sen t you

And go when He bids you to go; Just th ere sh a ll His word find fulfillm ent;

Just Lh en some great gift He'll bestow. To believe in J esus as the Christ, th e Son of the living God.

your Savior; to take Him al His word. to s tep out on His word: this is saving faith . And where faith is, the re operates the grace of God. "For by grace have ye been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves : it is the gi ft of God; not of wor ks lhat no man should glory." (Eph. 2:8. 9.)

The climinntio 11 of selfish in terests is essentia l to good governm ent. Jn other words, the ideal can onlv be obtained when God rules in th e nffnirs of men. No 1rn lion.lias a monop­oly of saints 0 1· sinners -Sir. Wilfred Grenfe ll.

. 40

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"NOT UNDER LAW" Stanford Chambers

It would be impossible for any one to over-appreciate the Gospel truth of the grace of God, o r the fac t that "we are not under law, bul under grace." "Grnce lhrrc is my every debt to pay." "By grace have ye been saved." And ever since "we first believed," it bas been "this grace wherein we stand; and we rejoice in hope of the glory of Goel." But, says Peter, "Set your hope perfectly on the grace to lie brought unto you at the revelation of .J es us Christ." So it is grace past and present and future ever in su!Ticient and abundant supply, that we have been saved, are being saved, and are lo be saved, that the redeemed may re joice in the L ord evermore.

But grace brings r esp onsibility. Grace comes "instructing us to the intent tha t denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soLcrly and righleousI,v and godly in this pres­e nt world, looking for that blessed hope." (Titus 2:12, rn.) Grace comes with gr ea t en ubli ng, lrnl it is in o rd er that we may "walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." It be­hooves those "saved by grace" to "fulfill all righteousness." "For as many as a rc led by the Spirit of Goel, these are the sons of God ."

The grace of God is by many abused. There are those who seem to think that grace has been poured out from heaven into our atmosphere wl1 er e ii floa ts around and onr souls' salva­tion is th e result As though sa lvation could come without a work of grace wrought in the hear t- us though grace could save without entering the heart. Our accep tance and the ac­C<' plableness of our worship :incl ser vice depends upon His g rnce in ou r hearts. The very common sentiment that God got good toward men and lifted Ille lnw and extended grace, and is not so mindful as to sin nor so severe to punish , this is a de lusion. Des pite Paul's "God forbid," these con tin ue in s in that grace may ul>ound. Some even arr " !urning the grace of God into lasciviousness," unmindful that "our God is a consuming fire."

Then !here are those who would shun the appearance of a ll things gross nnd base, hul who take great delight in th e fuel Urnt unde r grace they do not have lo do things. They are not under law, and "where the Spirit of th e Lord is there is liberty"; and "there is there fore now no condemnation to them tha l are in C:liris t J esus." Since th ey do not have to do this or that in orde r lo be suve cl . !hey jus t "clo11'l do ii. thus be trayi ng that their m otive in doing is in ordrr to be saved, that wher e :>alvation is not felt to depend th e do ing is not present. Their kind of theology affords them such u m eas ure of complacency they hold it fast. rejoicing tlinl thev nre ·no t as others lhcv know to be under _law. Those who r ea lly appreciate grAcc want onlv a sugges tion from the " ' ord as lo wnol would please ll im and i t is lhcil' lllt>nt to lie found so doi11g .

• J I

IS IT ESSENTIAL-A LAYMAN'S VIEW W. H. Hall

The q uestion i ·often asked: ls ii esscnli nl that w e s tu dy, try lo u 11 dcrslund o r teach prophecy'!

T her e may uc people who h ave not the intellectual ca­pacity su:Iicien l to e11a!Jlc them to g1·asp and understand prophecy as il is ill u minnlccl hy kindred scrip tures. T o Lhi s class I would a l least suy th a t lo lhcrn th e undr rstunding of prophecy is not csscntiul It> their sul\'ation. I woul <l be afraid. however, lhat there is little hope for the man who assumes th e role of a fool wi th r eference to any portion of Gotl's word. The ent ire Bi b le is a rt•\'c lulion. since ii is God rc\'culing Himse lf und His purposes to mnn. The book which dcsig­nnlcs itself .. The He\'cla tion" deals directly and a lmos t ex­c lusively \Vilh the closing days of this o ld . earth an<l its in­hah ila11ts.

\ Vt• find llrnt by na tu re' people ~H·c e nd owed w ith \'arious drg recs of in tc llcct ua l possibilities and poten tialities. T here fore l have no t th e ri t•hl lo teJI anyo ne tha t lhev have not lh c capacil~· for uncfcr~ ta nd ing propl.1ecy. ncilhcr llus an~· one the right lo pass 011~· Sllch ju dgmenl upo n me. I would muc h rather be the m an who makes an error in atte mpting to und e r­s tand Goers reveln tion. lhun to be the man who m akes the mis­take of not trying nt u ll an d cliscnurngi ng o thers in tr·~·ing lo und rrslan d. I th ink no onC' will di spu te th a t th e scriptures SC' l forth coi1cJusivcJy lhnt every individual a ccou11ta1Jle lo God mus t manifes t suflicie n t r espect fol' God's word us to c11ust• hi 111 lo <.•x lwust his menta l und spiri tua l facu lt ies in 1:11 effort to know an d to understand a ll that God wa nts IIis rliilclren lo know. I ar11 afraid th e re is 110 hupc fo r the p e rson who is so inditfcre nl to the blessed wo rd of God as lo desire to understand only enough of His word as may be necessary. as he thinks, to p lace him into c0Ycrrn11 l rr!at ionsh ip wit h God.

Gelling into covenant re lationshi p with God is one thing, and remaining progr essive ly in tha t r cluti o11 ship is d is­tin c tly unol her thi ng. Enlisti ng as a so ldier into lhe service of one's coun try is an essent ial ite m, hul lo fuil to live, progress 11nd light as a true solcli c1· nullifies the e n lis lm r nt and l..>rings oho ut courtmarli a l, ex pulsion from lhc a rm y and often shame­fu l deat h a t tile hands o f n firi ng sq ua d. :\lainlaining the e n­li s tme nt in th e service' of Ch r ist an d progr<>s.,ing there in dem a nds n "growing i11 /~ ntce a nd in ll tc kn owledge of the Lord" a "going on unto perfcction"- "adding unto ou r faith virtue, to our virtue knowle dge, to knowl edge te mper­ance, to temperance palirncc, to pn tiencc godliness, Lo god li­ness brotherly kind ness, to Jirothc rly k i 11 d 11ess love."

The Jmowleclgc in wh ich we arc to wow a nd unite these Christ ian graces is a k nowledge of (;odt.~ W ord. Old T esta­me nt p rop!Jecy a nd the hook of Re"elation compose n \ 'ery lnrge por tion of God's wo rd. \Vhnt sha ll w e do with il '!

-l~

SPIRITUAL BLESSINGS Flavil Jia ll

In this sta te we rn ny, even now. enj oy "all spiritual b less­ings in the heave nly places in Christ" (Eph. l :3). In the spir­itual body of Christ, the church (Co l. 1 :2-!). faithfu l Christians have freedom from the g uilt of s in, through His redeeming blood, uncf. have th e divin e ussurnncc of being saved eternally fro m its retributions, if th e,· liYc a lways tru e to the ir confess­ion. The fruiti on of their ·hope cannot be enjoyed in a ll its fullness in the present life, but , not "having seen" Jesus, they hclieve on Him, nnd 1"11u s have " joy unspeakable and full of g lo ry" (1 Pet. I :8). " nt o them who believe Ile is precious." Jle hath bequeathed lo them th e ·' inheri tance incorruptible and unde filed und that fadeth not away." This menns the "house of many mansions," the home of pe r.feet and eternal purity, with the glory of God a s the light. Is not all this en­jo~·eu beyond m easure by a nticipa tion ?

AN ILLUST1'ATION lf nn individua l ha s hi s heart set upon ea rth ly things and

som e 011c of w eulth, in a nticipation of curly dea th , beq ueat hs to him a palatial home, with eYery m eans of providing that home wi th all things des irable, would not such a legatee he baptized with joy, such as the w orld can g ive, because of the anlicip:ite d owne rship and plcnsu res of that home'? He would not -hove to wuil until th e will and tes tame n t were execu ted and he lived in that home lo enjoy it. And, though the will and testam ent w ere laden with rcusonnb le conditi ons and the legater hud ad\'C'rsaries s tri\'ing to drreal the will and wrest th e hom e from hi m, w ou ld not he find the bu rd en of complying with th e conditions light '? And, wilh the menns and legal provis ions to overcome the adversaries, would not the s lrng­g les against th c>m , and winnin~ out over them , he fraught with feelings o f rapture? And would not a ll hi s resolute effort s to gain th e lega l ownership of that home make it s abode more sweet to him whe n it becomes his in r eality?

THF. S l'll\ITUAI. .\l'PLH':ATI01' But the heaven ly imhucd sou l soberlv thinks and r e nlizes

that possession in the enrll1ly realm enn~ never give the hUss for whi ch mortals sigh . So he sets his mind "on things above, not on things o n the enrlh," and hi s heart cnrnpturcd with the lcgucy thnl th e l<i11g of glory made to a ll w ho will Jove and serve Hi m. And h e does not have lo wai t until life here is over to e njoy thnl legacy. The "earnes t" of that inheritance is gi\'en to th e fuilhful ones here (2 Cor. 5:~; Eph. 1 :l:l), and in this is comprche nd<•cl the happiness div inely imported as a fo1·e tus te of th a t which is to he known in r eality "hevond the sunset's radiant g low." ·

The will a nd testumC'nl o f J esus, made effective by His <lent h (Heu. 9: 15-17), is concliti o nu l, hut the conclilions " nrc

4i:l

not gri evous.'' The "yoke is easy" and the •·burden is li ght." \Ve have our adversaries who seek to take from us ou r crown (Re \'. 3 :11). But heaven furnishes the means of making il secure; and ou r s truggle:. uga ins t the powers of darkness, and our ' ' ic torv O\'e r th en1 , wi ll hut m nke sweeter the unlicipa­lion and the ren lily of the ·•exceeding and e terna l weight of glory." To th e faithful hei rs ,Jehovah says: "'.\ly grace is suf-fic ient for thee." Al lh r throne of grn cc we "nhluin mercy and ~ find grace lo he lp in time of need."

TIJE CO~Tl\i\ST W hen one seeks happiness in earthly possessions he is en­

cu ml>cred wit h cures th a t s hut out contentm ent and joy. And when he. after a brief struggle for pe ri sha ble things, must lie down and die, a ll tha t he owns of mater ial th ings b the little piece of real esta te into which his body must be committed, wi th th e sou l lost in cndlcss woe. But what of the spiritual hl cssiugs in Chris t for !hose who Dnish the ir course in this sta le'! The fruition of these blessings were wC'l l sturt cd he re. but haYing been freed from the limita tions in which the fl esh holds them, un<l being beyond all sin a nd tempta tion, a nd be­ing "o l hom e with th e Lord" - w e ll , "\Vha t must it be to be I he re'?" Pinc Apple. Ala., Route 1.

BEN'S BUDGET Ben .I . Elsto n

A gentleman who has been much over the earth and who knows m uch of hu m an h istory . pas t a nd present. remarked to

-me th nt our s prrn-uf-lifo t'o,·cre-d thc-irest-of- the United Stut es ns n nation. Before our day advantages were not so good; coming years have Jes!> of prnmisc. I have pnnd crcd over hi s 1·c111nrk. As he meanl it , it may be true. 8ul T lake il that "grea t men a rr not oecidcnts.'1 Ne ithe r a rc opportunities. (;cr1t'ntl Grant said. in his m odesty. ·'O thers cou ld Jw,·e done as well as I." But docs nol our heaven ly Father ca ll the indh·id­ua l for the occasion'? \\'us another Ah::aham, or ;.\loses, or Pau l in wailing'/ Pe ter and .John cou ld h ardly ha ve exchanged pluces. And where would .Jesus hove found another Judas? At leas l, agai n has the man's rem arks emphasized the idea of responsibility to God. I am deeply in debt to God for the time and place and circuJ11str111 ccs of n1y being. Responsibi li ty has by 110 means been c red.ilohly met. And I feel no less excusable in the matte1· because th e sume is true "of mi11 c own notion," a nd of my fe llow-Chris ti ans. God placed us nuliona lly and religiously (the matter of my fi rs t concern) al a great vant age poi nt. The truth and opportun ity God placed in Otll' hands wcl'c not embl'nced with the joy and zeal and hope they so thoroughly m erited. Other opportunities may be given to oth ers and, C\'Cn yel, to us. These of the past can ne,·er, never re turn. God he lp us lo lrurn lo lo\'e duty- " for this is r ight."

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TRUE FRIENDSHIP s. 0 .

(A hcarl lo hearl talk w ith young people) Our paren ts nre ou r firs t and trues t fri ends fulfilling most

n early the well-known definition of a friend. namely "a p erson who knows all about us ancl loves us just th e same." As long as we arc still llll<k r the c lose cn l'C uod p rotection of good parents they will see lo it that our oulsid r fric11clships a rc good a nd only good.

But" as we go lo school, and later , to work, we make new friends and often these fri endships last a li fetime. King Solo­mon, whom you remember as the wisest man thi s old world has ever known , wrote a book of udvi cc lo his son, which we know as '·Proverbs" and thi s book is packed with warnings to his son lo pick his companions .with cnre. Many boys and gfrls have been led inl o wrongdoing und sin through associa­tion wi th ill-ch osen friends. Even Chr istian boys and girls h ave hcen led into lives of crim e by evi l associations, and I can think of al leas t one gu ngstcr of the wild :30's, who was a s traying m em ber or l ite church or Chris t. lie became a crimi­na l because he was ufraid to sav "No" lo friends, who were in r ea lity no friends a t a ll. ~

If is an unsa tisfactory friendship which asks one lo give up h is principles in ord er to k eep up with lhe crowd. "8vH companionships co rrupt good morals" and "Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil wit h good." So w hy not be the lead­er in your crowd- lo paths of high idenlism nnd becoming be­havior?

Friendship is a complex relat ionsh ip hut it really b as only two handles : one is en li ed Giving, the other, Receiving. Some­times \ve abuse fri endship by laking ho ld of only the R eceiv- . ing hand le. IL is like n treasure-filled huskel with two ha ndles and so heavy llrnt the perso ns t:1l'r~· i11 g ii must change s ides occns iona lly in order lo keep il balanced, and lo keep each o ther from exhaustion. One can expect a rea l friend lo help him in trouble; he cnn depend on him 11 ol to liecome qui ckly offended; he cnn share with him his dee pest and m ost sacred though ts. J ohn Burroughs said, "Your friend comple­ments and completes your soli tude un d you experience Hs charm without desolulion."

The Giving handle of friendshi p brings us as much hap­piness as th e Receiving hnndle, even as Christ said: "It is m ore blessed to give than lo recei ve." D o you remember how h ap py you were to be able lo help your frie11d with lus lessons, or cheer him up when li e wus blue and di:;co t11·a~ed? "No man is useless wh ile he has a fri end," said R. L. Stevenson.

And Chris t said, "('rrraler love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his !He for his fri ends,' ' which brings us lo the greatest, trues t, ki ndes t. Friend of a ll. J esus, who, though we were yet s inners, laid down his li fC' for us. If you have

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nol tuke n .J esus as your fri c ntl, lle invites you Lo accepl Him as suc h, botJ1 for this life and for all e ternity.

"I've found a Friend, 0 such a Friend ! Jle loved ml· err I knew Him; He drew me wi th the cords of Jove, An d bound m e to Him. And round my heart still close ly Lwine Those ties w hi ch naught can sever, For I a m His, und lie is 111 inc, Forever and for ever ."

ALEXANDER CAMPBELL ON THE FUTURE OF THE WORLD

An era is just at th e door, whic h will be known as the Re­gene ra tion for a thousand years to come. The Lord Jesus wi l l judge.' tliat adulterous brood, und gi \'e them ove r to th r burning llume, who lta vt• broken the cove nnnt, and formed a l­liances with the governments of the eart h. Now the cry is heard in our· land, "Comt' on! of her, my people, that you par­take 11ot of her sins. and that \ 'OU m u\• not receive of her plagues.'' The Lord .l rsus will soon rehuild J e rusa lem, a nd raise .UP the labernaclc of David whic h has so long been in ruins. Le t th e church prepar e herse lf fo r lhe r eturn of her Lord. nnd sec that s ht• 111uk e he rself rently for his uppea r:rnce.

T11E Hr·:c.E:-<EH.\TlO:o\ OF T H E \\'onLo AJJ the kingdom s of this world s hnll soon becom e the

kingdoms of our Lord the l\ing. lle wi ll h url all th e present pote ntat es from th ei r lhrones. Ire will gl'incl lo powde r the des potis ms, civil and ecclesiaslical; a nti. with the blus l of hi s m outh, gi\'e them to the fou r winds of hca\'Cll. The Anti-chris­tian power. whether it be called Papisli cal, Mohammedan, Pugun, or Atheistic, w ill as ce rtain ly he des troyed, us .Jesus reigns in ll cave11. No trncc of lhem shu ll remain . The best government on earth, ca ll it Engli sh or American , has within it the seeds of its own destruction-carries in its constitution a mills ton e. which wi ll si nk it to th e bot tom of the sen. The \' ack11owlcdgc not th nt God has set h is C:hris l upon I lis throne. They will 1101 kiss the Son. Society unde r lheir economy is not blessed. The Janel mourns through the wickedness of tllose that sit in h igh pluces. Ignorance, povcrly, and c rim e uho11 11 d , because of th e injust ice un d i11iq11iti es of those who guid e the destin ies of nat ions. i\'lcn that fear 11o l God, and Jove not Hi s Son, nnd that r egard not th e maxims of lli s goYernment. yet wea r the sword and swuy the scepte r in a ll lands .

Th is is wholly adverse to the peact· u11d happi11css of the world . T herefore he wi ll brea k th em in pieces like :1 po tler's vessel, a nd set up an order of society iu which jus ti ce, inflex­ible justice. shall have uncontrolled dominion. Jesus will be universally uclrnowledgcd hy a ll th e race of livi 11g 111e11, and

4U

all nations shall <lo him homage. This s late of society will be the consumm ation o f the Christian religion. in a ll its moral influences and te ndencies up on mankind.

How far this change is to be effected by moral a nd how far by physical means, is not the suJ:iject of our p~esent in­quiry. Dul Lhe prep aration nf a peop le for the commg of the Lord must be the result of th e restoration of the a ncient gospel and order of thin i:(s. And, com e when it mny. the day of the regeneration of th e world will be a day as won der fu l and ter­rible as was the day of the deluge, o f Sodom's judgment, or of .Jerusalem 's ca los trophc. \"\Tho shall stan d when the Lord does th is? But a ll the regenerations. physicn l and moral, in­dividua l, congrega tional, or national, are bul types and sh ad· ows, or means of preparation for the regenera ti on of the heav­ens and the carth.- Millennia/ Harbinger Co11dcnsed, Vol. I, page '1 85.

THE CHRISTIAN AND HIS CREED i\Jaurice Clymore

Every faithful Christian has a creed. If he is a s tudent of the Bible, h e will have a creed. Ile can tell you what he be­Jieves the Bible leaches. The B ible is hi s tex t-book. It is his .source of lrnowle dge. He gleans from its puges th e w isdom of God. As he s tudies, he adds to his c reed or he lakes from it. His cr eed is fl exible, plastic, workable, and capable of being readjusted, rernold ed a nd r esh aped. It must ever remain so, for the Bible is C\'Cr a new book to him. Ile finds beauties a nd gem s nnd truths every day. H e canno t g rasp its fu lness in a lifetime. After years of study, he is forced to make changes in bis creed. Il e sees its weaknesses. Cor rections just have lo be made. As he looks back over lit e vcurs, he wonders how he cou ld ha\'e arri\'ed at some co nclu.sions. 1 le marvels at his ignorance. nut a ll along he has been willing lo s tep into new truths as he has learned them. He has kept himself teachable. I le h as cha nged his c reed lo conform to the teach­ings o t' the Bible uB he has unders tood them. U ever he mixes the cement of know-it-all and unyield ing selfwill wi th his c reed i i w ill set and become a fixed thing. F rom that time on, the Ilihle will be bent lo conform to hi s sci creed. Passages of truth wi ll be twisted anrl made to leach w hat his creed teaches. Ile w ill m ake his cr eed the criterion of the church and woe to those who will not bow the knee to the crack of his whip. lie wi ll mnke declaration!'l of loyally lo the Bible, hut th ese dt'cluralions wi ll not keep him from being n secta­rian in the sigh t of God.

"Prayer digs the ch annels from the reservoir of God's boundless resources to the tiny pools of our lives. Through prayer we begin to live by His power."

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THOUGHTS WORTH WHILE D. RF.

A Tl l\IE T O SHO UT The construe! ion boss was sur veying !he work on a tall

building from his place on the str ee t. Looking up he s aw two men abo ut to ventu re out on some uns upp ort ed limbers. Im­medfa lely he bega n lo s hout to them : "Get back there t Don ' t s tep on th a t timber . Iley, you fellows, ha ven' t you any sense'?" T he m a n's g1·eal bellowing voice a ttrac ted lh<' a ttention of a police o fTi cer seve rnl hlocks awa~r, wh o cam e ru nn ing lo the spot. "Herc!" h e cull e<l , "Can't you give ord ers without mak­ing all tha t n oise? What a r e you doing anyw ay?" "Just trying to keep som e idio ts up there from break ing their necks," was the rep ly. "What'd you want me to do. sing them to sleep ?"- The Look out.

AT YOUR OWN DOOR A r escue mission ary w as lecturing where he was unac­

custom ed lo spenk. He sa id llrnt every Christi an, however poor o r busy, co ul d do per sona l work fo r Chrisl, if wi lli ng. After the lectu re a w om an said: '"Wh a t can I do? I am a poor wi dow with fi ve child r en to support. How cu11 I find tim e to go to a nyone about Chris t 'l'' "Docs th e m ilk11 111 11 ca ll a l your house '!" "Of course." "Do~s tlw lrn ker ?" " Yes.". Docs th e butcher ?" "Yes," was the curl r eply, nnd the wom an tu r ned awa y.

T wo years nflcr. th e man of God sp oke in th e same place After lhc servi ce n wom a n sai d. " l am th e pe rson who was vexed with vou when vou asked wheth er the milk m an and bak er and butcher visited m e. But I w ent hom e lo pray. riod showed m e my duly. Through my lrn.m ble efforts fiuP person.-; have been led lo Ifie Sauior, and /hey all are co11sisle11 t work­ing m embers of the clwrch."-Hom e Study Quarterly.

PROGRESS AND ESTABLISHMENT "One of our eva ngelists in the earli er duys told a s lory of

an old far mer w ho, in lhe pr ayer m eetings of his ch urch, was wont. in d escribing his Christia n experience, to use !his phrase, ·~r ell, I'm 11 ol maki11r; much progress, but I'm estabU.~h ed.' One springtim e w hen the fnrmer was ge ll ing out some logs. his war-o n scrn k in the mud in a soft place in lhc road and he could n ot get out. As he sat on top of the logs reviewing the situation, a n eigh bor who h ad never accepted lhC' princi ple of the old ma n's re lig ious expe r ience. cam e nlong a nd greeted him thus : 'Well, Bro ther Jones, I see you a rc no t m aki ng much progr ess, but you're established.' T o be stuck on the road is not a vcn · sa tisfac tory type of establishment, lm t it is not uo~ common."- Roberl E . Speer.

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-.. \ ...

WHICH MADE THE BETTER CHOICE? Abram Cory says there were two boys in the Taylor family.

The older said. he must make a name for his family, and so turned his face tow1:u-d Parliament uncl fame. The other de­cided to give his life to the service of Christ, and turned his face toward China and duty. Hudson Taylor, lbe missionary, died beloved and' known on every con tinent. "But when J looked in the encyclopedia to sec what the other son had done, I found these words, 'The brother of fludson Taylor.'''

A FOOL IN ACTION A prize essay, by a Georgia school girl. had this telUng

s tatement: "Take one regular, natural-born fool, add two or three drinks of bootleg liquor (any other may be substituted), and mix the two in a high-powered motor car. After the fool ls thoroughly soaked, place his fool on lhe gas and release the brakes. Remove the fool from the wreckage. Place in u b lack, satin-lined box, and garnish with ilowers."-United Presbyterian.

A HANDCLASP \VITI! GOD One day a mother brought her little boy to a noted evan­

gelist, saying, "I would like my boy to shake hands with you." The boy thrus t out his left hand. The evangelist s1aid: "Son, give me ) 'OUT right hand." "Can' t." "Why?" "Because I · have marbles in il."

The reason we do not clasp hands with God is because our hands arc full of "marbles," and we prefer lhe marbles to God. Of course, it is our privilege lo have our h ands filled with marbles, but as the years go by we will gr ow tired of them and Ion~. possibly when it is too late, for a handclasp with God.-William C. Burns.

THE HARPER AND THE HARP You have heard n harper play upon a harp? You can dis­

tinguish between the harp and the harper , between 1'11e hand and the harmony. Defore the harp was framed and when the harp is shattered, the harper still exis ts. The hand that plays it may be paralyzed, but the harper still survives, and even the harmony that has lleen set in motion by him is still echoed in ever widening vibrations of ether , and these ethereal pulses will never cease while lhc universe las ts!

The word of God tells us that all our faculties are but as the harp, and we are the harpers, and tha t what is produced by the contact of the harper with the harp is the harmony. Compare this sublime conceplion with the infidel material­istic theory-that ma n is "only a gill of water, enclosed in a glass vial, an<l dea th is the breaking of the vial, and nobody knows what becomes of its contenlsl" He who prefers such a philosophy of li/e and dealh to that found in the word of God shows himself a foo/.- Arthur T. Pierson.

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LESSONS ON EPHESIANS R.H. B.

THE L ONG S~NTENCE. (Eph. l :3-t4.) This is indeed a long sentence - U1e longest, 1 think, in a ll

Pa ul's writings. Clause is linked lo c lause. In the old days when we parsed, and analyzed, and diagrammed sentences, it would have been int e resting lo sec wl1 a l the student of grnmmnr (or e\'Cll th e teacher) wou ld hnYe done with this. But this a postl e is often heedless of lit erary form a nd rhetor ­ical and g rammaticul rules. Hi s message rushes forth like n mighty flood \\'hich disdains all eonfin cment and overflows nil the banks a nd ehannels. It seems he must tl'll us every­thing a t once. Hut every ullered clause a nd phrnse and word carries its deep and wonderful m eanjn g. T his is perhaps the most d i fi cult port of Lhc cpis llc; but we shall not shirk ii , for it was g ive n by the Holy Spirit for our bkssing- for leach ing, for en lightenment , for c 11co uragemcnt. fo r our s piritual up­huilding. No- we can no t fathom it, for here we are entering upon "the unsenrc ha hlc ri ches of Chris t"; but by the he lp ol' God we sha ll taJce what we can get: a 11d it \\'ill be \\'Orth ull our while and effo rt.

1. Let us begin with the first s tate ment: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord J Psus Christ, who hath

blessed us with every spirrtunl blessing in the lwavenly places in Christ." \ Vhc n Go <l 's people bless (;.ocl ii is ulways lhe res ponse

to His hlessing whi ch Il e fi rst bes towed upon us. If David c ries out, "Bless lhe Lord, 0 my soul; and a ll that is withi n 111 e, bless his ho l\' nume.,- it is because he realir.cs anew what God has done roi· llS ··who forg i\'Clh ull thine iniquiti es, who hcalc lh all thv diseases, who redccmelh th y life from dcs tn1c­lion, who cro\\'ne th thee with lo\'ingkin cl11css and tende r me r­cies; who sa tisfteth thy tlesire with good things .. :· (Psa lm 103.) So. here, Pnul's hea rt O\'c1·flows with thanksgivi ng nnd JH'aise .in \'icw uf ull that God h as bestowed upon us. Let e very soul that has tasted the mercy and goodness of the Lord break forth in prni se u11d thanksgiYing, to bless His :'fame for CYcrmor c. \Ve do far loo lilll c of lhnl. W e nrc loo prone to forge t aJ l lli s be nefits. Yet Lhis is lhe only return we cau make lo Him for His goodness to us, and I le looks for it.

But what ca ll ed forth thi s outbreak of praise upon God '! Because He has " blessed us with e ve ry s piriluu l blessi ng . .. in Chri st." If Ile has l> lcsscd us with ev<'l'!J s piritual hlessing th ere never has been nor ever can be a11y spiritual blessing whic h is not ours in Christ. IL may we ll be lhal we have not npprop riat ed th em. i\los l Chris tia ns a rc like m e n wh o huve n m illi on dollars in th e bank, ond try lo ge l a long pauper's fore . \Viii the day come when "the house of Jacob sha lJ pos­sess the ir posessions·· (Ohcd. 17) and lhr c hur ch of the Lord will avail h erse lf o f all lha l is now hers?

The e.x prt•ss io11 .. i11 the heavenly places·· ( lit. in " tlw ht·uv-50

........

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e nlies") is found fi vr limes in th is le ller lo the Ephesia 11s (1 :3, 20; 2:6 ; 3:10; ():12) and nowhere else in the Bib le. We wi ll defer the discussion of that term until la ter.

2. Now le i us go on chopping up our long sc r~l cnce into s hort er pieces. Th e ncx l s ta lemrnl we find (v. t1) 1s m ade to <lepend on the fir s t o n ~ h )' the words "~vcn as"- 01:, n1~ her , the wonderful d eclarnl1on of v. :3 finds its expl:rnallon m v. ·I. T he spiritunl blessings God beslowrcl up~n us in Christ (v. 3) are g iven us because before lhe founclat10n of the world He chose us in Chris t ; un<l thi s is in line with the pur pose of th ot eter nu l c hoice- namely, "that we s hou ld be holy and without blemish befor e him in love." For lhis end He chose us; and to mukc this possibl e He " blessed us with every s pirit­ua l b lessing in Christ. ''

Som e one m ay he troubled a l thi s. and ask, " Isn' t th at Cu lvinism ?'' W ell- we are not in te r ested in "Calvini sm ," o r a ny other sort o r "ism ,'' either lo µr ove i i 0 1' disprove ii. All we are after now is the word of God . \Vhateve r it says, a nd all that ii says, on any subject, is to the s imple Christian accep lah le and welcome. Only tak e heed tha t no u nwarranted <·011 clusions he tlruw11. No le here tlwl ii is "i11 Chris t" thul (;od so blessed us and c hose us . .Jus t as in choosing Abra ham He chose and blessed Abraham's seed after him- so it is i11 Christ (neYe r as sepnrnle from Christ) thal God chose us be­fore the wol'ld w ns, and acco rdingly blessed us. Bui the offer to the privilege of be ing " in Chris t" i; la nds open today to e,·ery man wherever the gospe l is preached. (Gal. ~3 :26, 27.)

3. " re m oYe on to the n exl statement. (V.,1.) God nlso "forrordai11<>d us u11/o acloptio11 as sons lhro11gh Jesus Chr ist 1111/o himsf'lf ." The word "adoption" has certai n ly been mis­unde rstood and misused by many. ll ow often we hear it s taled tha t we are "chi ldren of God by adopt ion." T ha l is simpl~' imposs ib le. No mnn can adop t his own child. And Christians o re " bego ll<' ll of God" and "born of c;od." \Ve arc children of Go d by birth. by the " new birth." (.John 1 :12, 13.) In every ins tance where it is used in the New T estame nt the word "adoption" (1111iolhesia) h as r e fe rence lo promotion to fu ll e r privi leges un d li igher stnnding. Jn Rom. 8:18, H>, 23 (and here also) he s pe uks of our promotion to the g lory of p erfect sonship. (In Gal. 4: 1-6 the ap ostle uses the term r e latively. with regard to those who, under lh r Law , w er e as ch ildren 011<1 minors, hul h ave now, by fni lh in Chris l, be­com e sons.) T hus we, w ho a r c now in lowly s tale and sore trouble by manifold trials an<l temptations, shall som e tiny s tand perfect before Ilim, in His like ness, and cnlcr in upon nil the inherit a nce und high pri vilege as God's sons. That is adoplio11. To this I le fore-o rdained us "according to the good p leasur e of h is will." (Comp. Rom. 8:28-30; 1 J ohn 3: 1-H.)

·l. Verses 6 to !J turn abou t the g race of God. :\ow gracr is (~od 's free lovingkincln ess to th ose who have no c la im, nn cl

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prcle11 d lo no me r it. but com e lo .f (!S llS just as th ey a re "w ith­out o ne plea." lL overtops a ll our sin (Rom . 5 :20) . By grace h ave ye been sa ved (Eph. 2:8) ; by gr ace we are freely j usti­fi ed (Rom. ~~ :24); a nd in gr ace God 's j ust i:fied o nes s ta nd (Rom. 5 :1, 2) . And all th a t (~ocl has do ne fo r us, o f which we read in ver ses :3-5. was done "to the pra ise of th e glory o f his gr ace"- tha t is, th al God 's g lori o us grace to sinners may com e in fo r du e praise. W ith th is grace I le f reely he-gr aced us ( thi s is the lite r a l re ndering) - I lc free ly llestowe cl it o n us " in the Be loved" (a nd we cannot fa il to unde rstan d who "the Be loved '' is.) In Him we a lso ha\'e our adoption thr ough His blood. the for giveness of o ur trespasses, according to the riches of llis grace. And furthe r, H e m a de lh a l g race lo abound to us in giving us heavenly wisdom a nd unde rs ta ncling. by making know n lo us H is secret cou nsels (" the myster y of h is will ' ')­to th e apostles. a nd to us nil through them .

!). All this, Pa ul Lelis us, was in accorda nce w i th His good pleasur e which Ile purposed in Chris t. Now w ha t is tha t gr ea t purpose and des ign which God planne d lo carry o ut throug h Christ ? It is s lat ed in ver se 10, lo b e "a d ispensation of fh r fulln es.'i of lhe limes." whe n God wi ll sum up. ga ther u p , hea d u p, every thi ng- lh mgs in hen ve n a nd th ings on earth- in Chris t. T o tha t e nd He is s tead ily working. The day will coine when His every e nem y shall have hec n m a de th e foot­stool o f His fee t a nd Christ shall he a ll in a ll. Then will He surrender the kingd om to God. even th e Fathe r, lhul H e m ny be a ll in all. (l Cor. rn :.28.)

6. In verses 12 and 1:3 th e apostl e d isting uishes be tw een beli eve rs from th e .Jews a nd believc>rs of the Gentiles (as he does also in o th <' r pa rts of thi s e pis t le) hut u lways carefu lly showi ng th at the ir s ta n(ting a nd pri vileges in Chr ist arc pre­cisely th e sam e.

Of the Jewish Christians he says that i n Chris ! th ey wer e made a herit age (ha ving bee n fo r eorda ine d accordi ng lo th e purpose of l-Um who works a ll thi ngs a ft er l!Je cou nsel o f His will); and this lo lhe e nd tha t in lhe .J ewish believers. wh o befor e hoped in Christ (for lo Him the devout Israeli te had eve r looked forward) should be Sf' l fo rth the praise or I liH glory.

Of the Ge ntile Christ iuns he says tha t they a lso . having heard the word of the truth, th e gospel of their salvation, an d having received it by fa ith ("having a lso be li eved '') were ''se aled with the Holy S piri t o f p r omise."

7. But in v. 14 he speaks witho ut d istinction, of all wh o are in Christ. Speaking o f the H o ly S pirit (whi ch both J ew and Gentile a l ike receive d in ClJn st) he sa ys that " w b1ch is an earnest of o ur inher i ta nce, un to th e redem p tio n of God's own possessio n." And aga in he r e ite rates that ull this is un­to the praise of <..iod's &lo ry.

Her e a new Ihem e 1s touched up on - the Ho ly Spi rit. ::is . -., ;) _

_ .. ....

-..

..-.,.

bestowed on the Christ ian. He is "the Holy Spirit of prom­ise"- i . e., the promised Holy Spirit. He is the seal of God's c hi ldren by which His ownership of them is estnbl.lsh ed. (Rom. 8 :U.) JJ c is lhe ''cu rncst "- the fo relastc, tbe fi rs t in­stallment, Lit e " first-fruits' ' of our inheritance- for the m ean­while, as we look fo rward to the day of the complete re­demption of God's own possession. (Sec Eph. 4 :30; Rom. 8 :23.) NOTES AND PERSONAL THOUGHTS

Now w<: have made our way through "the long sentence." Have you round it d iJlicult? If so do not be wea rv 0 1· d1scour­aged_:_il pays well for all th ought and s tudy 'vc pu t on it. (io over ii again and again-you wiJl find ii a t last more pre­cious than gold, yea. than much fine gold ; sweeter also than l1onev and lhe dropp ings of the honeycomb.

Nolr how oflrn he says "according lo.'' \Vhnt docs "ac­col'ding lo" mean? And "according to" w hnt did God do those things of which he speaks? How good is that "will" of (1od 1

flow often i.~ God menl ionecl in thi s "long sentence"? lluw oflrn !.hri.sl? !low often does th e phrase ''in Christ" occur'! ' \'hat do 1vr have "in Christ"?

How is I/Jr lloly Spirit obtained? (Sec v. 13; also Acts 2::3~. nn d 5 :32.)

STUDIES IN THE ORIGINAL TEXT J onnh W . D. Skiles .Joh n 5 :20 to 6 :32

20. "Thu l vc mav marvel (l lwmad=ete, presen t subjunc­ti\ (',' ' i. c .. "keep 011 1i1on·e lling." :!8. ·';\lar\'C'I (llw1111wd: ele, present impcrntive) not,'' i. e., .. Don't kc('p on marvelling."

:~ 1. '·Howbeit (de)" or simply "howe,·er" or "but." .Jesus did not nerd John's endorsement of God, but he cited .John (/nnla '' these things'') because these p eople k new .John and what he said and lhis evid ence aided in bringing them to Jesus.

3:i. "l lc was the la mp that hu rnelh and shi ne lh (kaiomen­O!i /mi plwi1w11 , prese nt pnrl iciplcs showin g lh c snm c lime as ''w,~ts") i. c., " lh nl wus burning and shining." T hey were r ead y 10 get o n the ba n cl wngon,'' for John struck them by hi s rugged force fulness.

:lO. "Ye scnrch (Na11nafe) ." H e rc th e form mny be either prl'scnl indicative "ye search'' (American S tanda r d) o r present jmperativc ·'search" (King James), but the context seems clearly to point to th e present indicative, for it docs not seem thnt .TC'sus \\'OUld commune! them lo search the Scrip tu r es be-1.·nusc ''lhrtJ think that in them" they "have c tcrnn l life." His

53

meaning is: "You keep on searchiug the Scriptures because you are looking fo r e ternal life in them ; as a mailer of fact they tell about me, the giYer of eternal life. and you won't ac­cept their message ...

'12. •·r know (eg11oka, perfect)," i.e., " I have known." Vve cannot be su re whether the reference is lo J esus' foreknowl­edge or whether it is s imply "I haYe already lea rned you."

43. "I am come (e ld11llw, perfect),' ' helle r " J hn ve come." ():(i. "Whal he would (Pm ellen, i111perfecl) do.'' i.e., "what

he was going lo do." 9. "A1nong (eis) so many." i. c., "for so many." 12. " \Vhen they were filled (e11epleslhesa11, aorist pass­

ive) ," belier "had been filled.'' 14. "Which he did (epoiesen, aorist)," helte r ·'had done." 17. "It was (egegonei, pluperfect) now dark (.~kolia) ,"bet­

te r ''darkness had alrench· come." 22. " .J esus entered (.~ 111u• iscllfle11, aorist) not ," be tt er "had

not ent ered." "His di sciples went uway (1•11lwyo11, aori sl) ," helter "had gone away."

2a. ''They at e (ephaao11, aoris t)." helt er "had ea ten." 27. "Huth sca led (esphragist'n) ... This is the w ord used

fo r seu ling a Jellcr or a document and therefore has the con­notation of putting one's s tamp of approval on something.

28. "What must we do (poiom en. present subjunctive)'?" he lle r " \Vhnt should we do '!" or " \Vhal shall we do '!''

30. "Thal we may see (idome11. aorist subjunctive), and believe (pisleusom en, aorist suhjuncli,·e) ." ~ot the present suhjunctive, which wou ld have meant " that we may keep on seeing nnd beli eving," but the aorist is used, whi<.:11 indica lc•s th a t they had 1101 ycl comprehended and heli cvcd .Jesus' s igns.

:32. " (jives (didosi11, present)," i. e., "stilJ gives."

Leuon on Daniel by R. H. Boll, author "Studies in Hebrews," "Truth and Grace" and othe)·s. !l2 png<'S. Du1·able paper cover. The Word and Work, Louisville, Ky.

The study of prophecy is one of our neglected matters which may account for losses to the Russellitcs and Adventists. It is a profitable and practical study. Prophecy is not a dark thing which can not be brought into Lhe lighl with reasonable effort, but it is "a lamp shining in a dark place." The author is a reverent and scholarly student of the whole word of God who has specialized in this field for over forty years with the re­sul t that he has acquired a remarkabl~ knowledge of the general contents of the Bible and a special gn1sp of prophecy which exceccls thnl of any one else known lo the \vriter. Out of his ieontinunl contuct.. wilh lhe Scr1ptm·es in his evangelistic und editorial work fo r several decndes, his regular week ly preaching, and his special work, writing the Bible school quurterlies, and numerous Bible classes, has come an ample preparation for ~~ writing simply, ably and soundly in th~ field of prophecy and we urc happy " lo recommend his "Lei;sons on Dnn:el" (similar in size and style to "The Kingdom." "The Second Coming," "Lessons on Romans." und "The Rev­elation") as of great value in comprehending the Xew Testament, par­ticularly the last book of the New Testament.

Th<' pricP is 50¢ a copy or 3 for $1.00. 5-1

Don Carlos Janes.

ON FOREiGN FIELDS 0 . c. J .

There is such a thing us our missionary obligation and. neither peace nor war cancels il. ** From Oklahoma comes a call for a group of missionary pictures to be mounted near u collection box for missionarv effort in a chul'ch which has never done foreign missionury" work. The suggestion is good and our Missionary_ Porlrailure ($2) with fie lds and dales is jus t the thing. And in the opposite dfreclion. fur up in Can­ada comes a request for "information relat ive to foreign mis­sionary work.

At holiday time, the Ormsby Ave. church, Louisville, sent the Garrell fomily al Searcy, Ark., a gift for each one of the eight members and a fruit cake for all of 'em; u Bible class of littl e girls sent $7.00; severn l senl greeting eal'ds, and three sent $1.00 each. ** World Vision, Charles R. Brewer, editor and B. D. Morehead, field man, published quarterly at Nash­ville, Tenn., enjoyed fine business a round the end of the year. A single order ca lled for 12 Bibles. ** Bro. Thos. Hartle, of the \Voodstock church in Cape Town, reports an October con­ference of a number of churches in Vigilance Hall, Grassy Park, with two sessions a day from 11 lo 1 and from 3 to 5 with several speakers with lwo sisters present from the Bel­gian Congo mission field . ** · Bro. Emmett Broaddus died in Hong Kong Feb. 1st, with his wife and seven chi ldren down in the Philippines unaware of it. The latest word received from the widow indicated tlrnt she and the chilcfrcn were "well; Emmett's whereabouts unknown," which means that she was not yet aware of his cl eulh !

The mere fact lha l the Japanese have cut ofT our m aj J service to .Japa n, Chinn a nd lhc Philippines does not mean that we should lose interes t in U1e 21 missionary persons thus isolated. Gifts should continue for them. They a rc probably going into debt eYery dny as we believe some of them have received no support in over a year. There m ny have been ex tra expenses for meclicn l servi ces. It is not impossible lhnt some of the number may have p erished. Al the close of the war or the earliest opportunity, some or several of these peo­ple may need to come home for rest a nd recuperntion. We nre bu ilcUng up a rese rve for that duy-espeein lly for Sister Broaddus an d seven children without a father , three of whom are fu ll orphans. ** Sister Zelma Lawyer, Stu. A, Searcy, Ark., is publishing un interesting biographica l hook on the South Afri can mission work in which she pnrticipuled and in which her husba nd los t his life by accidentally fa lling on a native spear which passed entirely through his abdomen. ** This is a fine lime to be opening some new home missionary work which in many cnses costs only a minimum of monelnry expense. ** As to presen t means of missionary subsistence

55

for those in th e Far Eas l, "The De partment of S lat e, through th e Protectin~ P ower , wi ll advance fina ncial assistance to the

American civili ans in the hands of the enemy. Funds ad­va11c('(I in this man ne r a r e considered loans," says the War De­partme nt w hich cases our mind 11 bit. lf they cn n gel help in this way, w e do not fee l like be in g a l Lbe considerable expense of cab ling m oney where such is possible, bul w e urge and wurn a ll donors to keep up support and leave each treasurer lo net in the best light he m ay have, and a ll of them pre pa red lo giw re li e f ul the end of lhe war (or sooner) wilh the ver11 lea.st possibl<' delay. "'* Herma n Fox. wife and one chHd have settled in California where he is in governmen t wor k and upparently faced with the necessity of buyi ng u house jn order lo have s he ller us there was nothing in his tow n or sur­rounding te rrito ry lo be rented ! Missionary gifts fo r free for ­warding fo r an y missionary m ay be sent to Don Curios Janes. 104H Dudley. Lo uisYille. Ky.

ADDISON On Dec. 2!l, 1942, Bro. J. A. Addison fell asleep in the Lord to rise

again with them who arc Christ's a.t His uppcnring. He always believed tho N!'w Testament teaching relative Lo i;:i lvat.ion f1mn s in and to tho church. So when Bro. Abraham Foster came into the Flor ida Pai-ishes prMching the word Bro. Addison became obedient to the faith. His li!e and character was aptly described briefly in well chosen words by Bro. A. K. Rnmsey who was frequently at his bedside in the time of his sickness: "A mnn of deep conviction, who loved the truth, and gave freely of his means Lo il.s support. Unwilling to compt'<>miec he contended for the faith. And besides, his life was an exnmple of faithfulness in attendance on the first day o( the week at services where he could brook the bread in memory of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. His favorite chapters were Acts 2 and Rom. 8 and 12. He loved these because of their teaching concerning the pardoning of alien sinners, the church, and how one should live in the Lord'11 servi~. And be:ng 11 student of tho prophecies he could look beyond death to the coming of Christ. in His kingdom in power and great glory. Of these things he liked to speak." Services were conducted at the chw·ch of Christ in Amite, La., where many relati'Ves nnd friends gat.horcd ·to pny their last NlSpccls Lo him he fore his body w1111 lold to rest. in the Amite cemetery. In November he visit.ed us in our home in Alexan­dria. We enjoyed ha\·ing him with us. To m<' he was n. father, a friend and brother, my wife's father in the flesh. A great reunion awaits us.

W. J. Johnson.

"A h ! \\'he n sha ll a ll 111 en's good be each m un ·s rule a n<I L~ni\'Crsal pence li e like n shaft of light across the land. and ltk c• a lane of beams a th wart the sea through ull •hP ci rcle or thr go lden vc-n r ?'·- T e nnvson.

A nswc r:: W hen "The kin gdom of I he wor ld iii l1 ccomc th e kiflgdom of ou r Lord , and of his Chri st" a nd lie l"C'igns.

. DEAR R !·;A DER: I wont e\·ery Lob1•cco user lo w1 itc to me and I will be .glad to t.cll you about II simple, harmleu herb remedy that stops all cravmg for tobucco which you run easily mukP. Thousands hnve cured thcmsc.lves of the filthy, injurious and cx1wnsive habit of smoking. chow­ing nnd using snuff 1vith bhis most wondrrful ri>medy. Write to mt> today. Yours in Chri!1t. Loomi• O. Hinton, Spencer. Indiana.

5()

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Fonr·rolor :irt l'nrch, :ittrnc-li"rl~· dcMig111:d, result ·got ting. l!'or uso of :ill dcparl men ts fro111 Bej!inncrs to Allulti \\'ilh severn I c.nrcls of general nppen . Rc,·erso side has corrcspo11d­c11ce spnl'<• for locu I or pcr"onu I mcs­~nge. Wl11•th<'r yuu wanl to reach ab-11011tccs or pros111•(•1 l\·o 11101111.Jcrs, there is a card here for your ucell.

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No. !l17-J1111lor No. 021- Y . P. 1tn1l Atlult No. Ul!l-::1te:1-cdl&tc

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P oo1>lu :1111! .t .. h· IL (I r,: 1111y 1l•IJ>nrtmcnt)

TH!: WORD AND WORK, 2630 MONTGOMER Y. LOUISVILLE, KY.

A P,ARTIAL LIS,T OF THE CHURCHES (Continued)

Thal Ha ve Already Adop ted Our New Alphnheticnl Hymnal

"Great Song1 of The Charch," No. 2 Note: The list oI 600 churches that follo\vs does not include aome

40,000 copies ilold wholnsa lo up to now, d ir&ct to publis hers and mus ic .__. deniers, Ior resale by ~hem-representing probnbly 400 churches; nor does , .. it toke account of a thousand churches that bought our older book- now called the "No. l"-which is still in use in hundreds of places. Great Song11 Press has thus s upplied the books for about 2000 churches, except !or some over-lap of the No. 1 1md the No. 2. The list increases every day.

(Tcxa.\, cont inu1.>d) Sherman Stan ton Stcr linit City Toft. Tex on Trumbull (Pa lm;•rr. ) 'l'uxedo Tyler Win!{ale

Nodolk Petersburg

Auburn Bellingham Bremerton Lynden Nooksack l'inc City Prosser

Vir c inia

Wa.ahin g t on

Seattle (Greon Lak6J (Northwest church}

Spokane ••

Wenatchee Ynkimn

Aurora Belle

W e i t Virginia

Cenlrnl Station Ch11rle11ton (-- Church) Eunice Fairmont Foster Glon Daniel Grnfton Nitro Spring Hill (First .811 r tist) Saint Marys Uneeda Wh celing Williamson

Cihcridan W yominr

Charlton Erin Hamilton Meaford Milton Moose Jaw Ottawa Oungr~ Rodne) Sl. Catherines Thessalon

Canad a

Toronto (Strath more) 1

' (Bathurst; Chorus only) ' ' (Keele St. Christinn)

Sarnia Welland

( Addi t ionnl Reccin t Orde r• ) Glendale, Ari:.. Prescott, •' Knobel, Ark. Long Beach, Cal. ( LOth & Redondo) l.\J>nrtinez, Cnlifomi11 Nom11 Sacranumto, Santa Maria Tracy Vallejo Washington, D. C. (G Place) 'l'rcnton, Ga. Urbana, Ill . Bloomington, Ind. (Blue River ) Fayettsville, ' ' New Albany (Silver St.) Paoli, I nd. ( U. li . church) Shoals ' ' Walkerton, Ind. Cottonwood F alls, Kan. Louisville , Ky. (" East Viow' ' )

'' ' ' ("High View") Eighty-Four, Pa. ( Vanccv1lle)

Price, prepaid in ao7 quant it7, t o 1>tt7 p oint in the U. S. A . 654' c ru:la

(Round or Sha11c ~otes: Specify which) G R l!:A T SONGS P R ESS, Dnt t r S tat io11 1 LOU ISV I LL~. KY .