JUNE, 1962 (WITH MATERIALS FROM THE BROADCASTS HEARD DURING MAY)
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Monthly Publication o f the BIOLA FELLOWSHIP
TheBibleInstituteflor
I B I O L A broadcaster Monthly Publication o f the BIOLA FELLOWSHIP
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CONTENTS MARVELS OF GOD'S CREATION .. 3 LEARNING FROM LOCUSTS .... 6 THE SPIDER SPEAKS .............. 9 LEARN ING FROM THE LION ..... 11 A DEVOTION ON DOGS .......... 13 THE UNYIELDING HEART ........ 15 SEVEN TRUTHS FOR SINGING SAINTS ................. 18 CHRIST'S RETURN .................. 20 ILLUSTRATIONS ......................24 QUESTIONS A N D A N SW E R S ...... 25 PARABLES A N D PEARLS ..........30 THE BIOLA FELLOWSHIP PLAN 30 CRISIS IN MO RALITY ............. 33
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S T A F F President.... S. H. Sutherland Editor ............... Ruth D. Gill Supervision ..Thomas E. Steele Production ......... A l Sanders Printing........... Church Press Published monthly by the Radio Dept. BIBLE INSTITUTE OF LOS ANGELES 558 S. Hope St., Los Angeles 17, Cal.
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Q. Dr. Wilson, 1 was reading a certain portion of God’s Word sometime ago card came upon a very strange group of verses in the 30th chapter of Prov erbs, verses 24 through 28: “There are four things which are little upon the earth, but they are exceeding wise: The ant . . . the coney . . . the locust and the spider . . Now tell me, why did Solomon, the• wisest of all men, choose these four things as the very embodiment of wisdom?” A. Well, Dr. Talbot that brings up points of great interest to us. The ants,
for instance, all those that you see, are females; therefore, you read in Proverbs 6:6 “Go to the ant, thou slug gard; consider her ways, and be wise.” Solomon knew very well that you and I would never see a male ant. You see the male ants remain underground and do the housework while the ladies of the colony go out hunting food. In view of the prospects of life, we need to use diligence and that is the first lesson we learn from the ants. An ant has four pairs of ears. There are (continued on next page) 3
out that winter is coming? Doesn’t that make you to know that there is a God? The ant knows that she must be moving at good speed to gather these things while the weather is warm and the fruit trees are dropping their fruit and pickers are abroad in the land. You know, ants are the busiest peo ple in all the world, but they have plenty of time in which to go to every picnic to gather up the bits of food and hide it away so that they can be snugly tucked away in their nest, eat ing generously when the snow is on the ground. You must have some preparation for the future and that preparation is found in Jesus Christ. When you trust Him He cares for you completely for time and eternity — so I trust you will. Go to Him, get ready for tomorrow! Q. The second thing to be considered is the coney, of which Solomon speaks, and in what lies its “exceeding wis dom,?” A . It is a very interesting animal, also. It is about the size of a guinea pig; is brown in color, and has no tail. The coneys are a feeble little folk that have no power of protecting themselves. They cannot chew or bite an adver- IMPORTANT NOTICE Similar Names for Other Programs For many years the broadcasts of THE BIBLE INSTITUTE HOUR have been heard over stations throughout the west and across the nation. These programs are sponsored by the Bible Institute of Los Angeles, Inc., which was formed under God in 1908. These broadcasts are not to be confused with other programs or publications which bear the name "Bible Institute." Some of our friends have evidently been confused on this point. However, in days of multiplicity of voices, we underscore the fact that we have no other radio ministry than "The Bible Institute Hour." The name in part or whole, used by other religious organizations, has no authorization from BIOLA. We do not like to make these an nouncements but sometimes they are neces sary in order to clarify questions and con fusion. 4
MARVELS OF CREATION (continued) two ears in the head, two in the front legs, two in the thorax, and two in the abdomen. When ants meet they commu nicate with each other by rubbing the front feet over the head, each of the other. In this way they tell every ant where they have been and what they have found. It is most interesting to note that if they find some good food somewhere, they tell other ants about it. I proved this fact of their communi cation by taking a piece of bread out of our lunch basket, when at the park, and laying it alongside the fun of the ants. Soon an ant picked up as much as she could carry and turned around to go back toward her nest, and after going a few feet, she met another ant whereupon she laid down her piece of bread, and with her two front feet she told the second ant where she found the bread and how nice it was. Then she picked up her piece of bread and was on her way once more. Now the second ant did not try to pick up the bread that the first ant laid down because there is a law among ants that no ant will pick up what another ant has had, they respect the ownership of each other. You would not find this true among chickens for if food is thrown out to them and one gets a good bit, then three or four others chase after that hen to get it away from her. Even a dog stands to lose some tasty morsel if other dogs discover he has it. So the Lord directed that we go to the ant and consider her ways — think about what she does, and how she lives. Think about how she acts and if you do you, too, will respect the own ership of others and not take that which belongs to another, no mattei where you find it. And then, again, these ants know that you have to be very busy in the summertime getting food and storing it underground, for they know that the winter is coming and food will not-be available on top of the ground. Now folk, you tell me where the ant found
sary and their only avenue of escape from hawks or predatory animals is to run back into the crevices of rocks where they cannot be followed. In view of the perils of life, we need a defense — just as m the case of the ants, in view of the prospects of life we need diligence. Well, there are perils in life, lots of them, against which we are no match but we find in His Word that “The Lord will be a place of de fence for His people.” In another ver sion it says that the Lord will be a re pair shop for His people. In still an other version it says that the Lord will be a harbor of refuge for His people. Then other translations read that the Lord will be a drydock for His people. Well, that is the lesson we learn from these coneys — He is a shelter for us in time of storm. He is that Himself, and so we run to Him. We read the account of a dove that was being chased by a hawk and the dove was no match for the hawk for when it flew down in the grass the hawk swooped down. She flew through the orchard but the hawk followed. Then she flew on high only to find that the chase was still on and that she was losing. But suddenly she saw a cleft in the side of the rock and that proved to be her place of safety — the hawk could not get to her there. And we are to remember that He is our place of defence and like the co neys, we are to hide in the cleft of the Rock. Remember that “The Lord is a place of defence for His people.” When a wife loses her husband and becomes a widow with several children for whom she must care, she goes on her knees to the One who is the Bread of Life and the Water of Life and tells Him about the hungry mouths of the precious little kiddies. In a blessed way the Lord comes to the rescue and is a shelter in the time of storm. Then there come times when a brother must go to the operating room in a very serious difficulty, and he knows that he may not come out alive. I saw one, a very dear friend of mine— a dentist—and I went with him into
the operating room. He put his hand on his head and said, “Doctor, it would be wonderful to go to heaven from the operating table. I would not be sur prised if the Lord would do that.” He was grateful that God was so near to him in his hour of difficulty and dark ness. The Lord is a refuge in the time of storm. You know, David said that the Lord was his defence, his high rock and his shelter (Psalm 18), and He was that to David and surely David needed Him in all these aspects, and needed Him badly. So are you going to have these sore needs in your life for we all have lots and lots of troubles, problems, and difficulties and you are going to need this lovely Lord to be a place of de fence and refuge for you. The coneys recognize their weakness and so must you; they recognize their inability to fight the battle —- so must you and I. The coneys remain close to the cliffs — they do not run around in the grass es. Well, that is what the Lord wants us to do. He says, “Come unto me . . .” That is because He knows that outside of Him the storms are present and the raging winds are apt to wreck us. And so we walk with the Lord, as did Enoch; we hide in the Ark, as did No ah; and we sing with the Lord, as did David, and we work with the Lord as did Paul. We just stay close to Jesus and like John, lean on His bosom. When the disciples suffered the wrath of men and the storms came in the burning at the stake,, and the hanging and tortures—they found rest and re freshment in the Lord Jesus, the Sav iour of sinners. When a storm comes you know the little one in its crib, frightened at the sharpness of the lightning as it flashes, and the shaking of the house as the heavy winds blow, climbs out of the crib and comes over to the bed and says, “Daddy, may I get in bed with you?” The storm is terrible and the father pretty soon lifts the little thing from the noise of the storm and he finds security in his father’s love. So Christ is our refuge in time of storm. The coneys tell us that story! 5
FEATURED M A Y RADIO MESSAGE SCRIPTURAL LESSONS FROM NATURE earning from locusts
by Dr. Walter L. W ilson
Q. Dr. Wilson, in deeding with the four things (in verses 24 and 27 of Proverbs 30) that are little but exceeding wise, we have come now to a “close-up ” of the locusts. We know that your discus sion of this w ill be as the other two — interesting! A. The locusts are known, of course, all over the world and in view of the privileges of life, we need direction, someone to guide us, someone to teach us. So the verse says “The locusts have no king, yet go they forth all of them by bands.” Now we can learn some lessons from the little locust, and one of them is, they are not content to sit still and starve. There are lots of folk who make no effort to improve themselves or their surroundings, and if you give them money they do not use it to good ad vantage — it is soon gone. Often the beggar on the street will take the mon ey given him by passers-by and use it either for beer or narcotics — this he did not learn from the locusts.
The locusts were looking for something that was worth while and they go forth all of them by bands to find pastures, something that will enable them to grow and that is good for them, so they are not content to sit still and starve. They have no king but they look up to those of other species that are of like mind with them and so they go forth by bands. You do not find locusts and cows going together. God wants us to learn to find those of like mind, who have the same nature as we do — other Christians. And we are not to find reasons for staying away from them, rather we are to find reasons for getting with them. As we read in Zechariah, “They served the Lord with one shoulder,” all pushing together as men do when heaving a railroad track into place or as a team in playing baseball. They work together with one shoulder. So He is telling us to look at the locusts and note the way they do — they find a pasture together, and when they have eaten that up, 6
they move together to another pasture. They stick by one another. But they also shed their skin once in a while. You will notice these skins sticking on trees sometimes — they are all over the countryside. They know it is necessary to “put on a new coat.” “I have taken off my coat, how shall I put it on?” Why do you suppose these wonderful words are in the Bible? Well, it has something to do with the locust changing its skin. You know a person needs refreshing once in a while Into His Hand If I could place into a living Hand M y offering, Instead of casting it into a plate Inanimate; And if I laid my little gift Into that nail-pierced Hand So marred (because of love for me) On Calvary, How could I grudgingly complain be cause I gave too much; Or dare present to One who gave His all A gift so small? Nay, I would have Him look upon my gift Approvingly, just as He gazed upon the widow's mite With pure delight; And I would see the Hand that has received M y sacrifice, Transforming into treasures up above M y gift of love. Lord, help me see Thy Hand whene'er I give M y offering, Instead of seeing just a passing plate Inanimate! — Rev. Ulysses L. Gingrich — the old robe gets used up and you have to put on a new one, at least He wants us to do that. “Put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ.” That is what He says. You go down to the office and you are on the Board of Trade and you go all but crazy when the price goes
down, and then you are in ecstasy when the price goes up on eggs or whatever it is — you almost lose your religion. Well, you need to go home and put on that robe — the robe of righteousness. We get defiled with men cursing and telling rotten stories, so we need to draw aside ever so often and put on the robe of righteousness which is the robe of salvation. So the locusts change their skin — they have sense enough for that. I won der if you grow tired of the old life and want to put on the new life >— the new garment! To do this you must go to the Lord Jesus and He will do that for you and you will be renewed day by day as you go to Him. He will cleanse you from the sins of the day and the roughness of the walk. Go to Him at the close of the day for the new robe and then you will be fresh to go out and meet the next morning ready and sweet for God—the Word of God filling your heart, the song of the Lord filling your lips, and the work of the Lord filling your hands. Through the day you will fight the good fight. When you return home in the evening you must go to Him again for the new robe and you will be ready for another hew day. Now you know that the locusts can go anywhere they want to, but they never land on a sandbar for that has nothing on which they can feed. So the Lord wants us to learn from them that we must seek out pastures where there is spiritual food for our souls. We must not go to hear a minister who spends the hour telling yams and fails to give us the truths from God’s Word. You must look around and see where other Christians are going and getting fat by being fed on Bible teach ing, where they are worshipping, ac tive Christians. I do not mean active in holding church bazaars and dinners but active in the joy of studying the Word of God and loving to do so! If you press your search for a good, faithful minister who feeds his flock, then you will be doing just as the lo custs do and God has told us to turn to them and find their ways. 7
gems of wisdom featured on "The Bible Institute Hour ”
feel close to God without going to church.” Also, “I have a personal philosophy of self-contained reli gious ideas and there is no need to join any church.” A typical com ment was that of one who said, “For a person to get up in the pulpit and preach to me doesn’t seem to be any better than for me to do my own reading of the Bible.” He was asked, “And do you read the Bible your self?” Embarrassed, he replied, “Well, no, I do not.” Find a man in a pulpit whom you can trust in his abilities and sincer ity and remember that we are not to forsake the assembling of our selves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching. * * * "Conscience is that still small voice that makes you feel still small- A NEW SERVICE STATION opened up in our neighborhood and they really give “bumper to bumper care.” A motorist drove in and asked for ten gallons of gas. Three attendants sprang to immediate attention; one checked the oil, another the tires and the third took care of all the windows and the windshield. The customer extended thanks, paid his money and drove away. In a few minutes he was back asking, “Hey what about my gas?” As a parable of life this gives us to know that we often move in a mad scramble, take care of some of the minor things and miss the main issue altogether. We often seize the minor items and for get the essential — God! “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul?”
THE FAM ILIA R BEATITUDES form one of the most beautiful portions of God’s Word; they are found in Mat thew 5 — the Lord’s Sermon on the Mount. Someone has penned the following declarations fitting for our day: “Blessed is the man who calendar contains prayer meeting nights. Blessed is the man who does not remain away from church fust be cause it drizzles. Blessed is the man who can stay more than an hour in the church service. Blessed is the man who loves the Lord’s work with his check book as well as with his heart. Blessed is the man whose watch keeps church time as well as busi ness time. Blessed is the man who doesn’t take a summer vacation from the Lord. Blessed is the man whose eyesight can stand as much reading of the Bible as it can of the Sunday news paper or television.” "Developing only one bone of the body is sometimes fatal, especially if it's just the W ISH BO N E !" * * * THE APOSTLE PAUL set down these words for us, “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord.” I was interested in a recent ar ticle in the Los Angeles Times con cerning the fact that people still believe in God although the great er number seem to be against at tending church. A group of church leaders listed such comments given by those questioned as, “You can
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hands and we learn from this, in view of the purpose of life, that we need decision. So it says she takes hold with her hands and is in king’s palaces. Now you know very well that the king has maids and butlers to keep the spiders out — every precaution is taken. But what does she — the spi der — care about that? This verse says that she is going to get in. She makes a decision to get in and she succeeds. We note that there is a palace into which she is going to enter and that palace is the home of the King of kings and Lord of lords. It is important that everyone of us makes this definite decision that we will enter there. Since everyone dislikes a spider and attempts to kill it, the spider knows that everything and everybody is her enemy and they want to keep her from from entering. This verse says that she decides she will get in — she makes (continued on next page) 9
Q. In coming to the fourth of the little things which show that they are ex ceeding wise, Doctor, we must say that it is difficult to view the spider as be ing one of the four things, let alone having a degree of wisdom. Please let us have your word on this. A. The verse (Proverbs 30:28) says, “The spider taketh hold with her hands and is in king’s palaces.” Now why does the text say “takes hold with her hands?” It is because you never see a male spider. The spiders that spin webs in your garage and house are sometimes lady spiders and they make these webs with their front teeth — their hands. The Bible says “takes hold with her hands.” You see the Lord is right in gender as well as in numbers, singular or plural — He knows what He is saying! The Word of God is accurate in every regard, and so she takes hold with her
this house and to this end was letting the wind blow her back and forth. There was a fairly good breeze and she helped increase the swing of the thread by movements of her body. When she swung up even with the ledge, she came about two feet short of it, so she went back down and spun out about a foot more of thread. Then she swung away into the wind but missed the ledge again. After several makings of additional thread the wind blew her so far that she landed on the ledge but she found the window closed. My friend, sitting in his chair, saw the spider just sitting there. He had watched the whole procedure and said to himself, “that spider wants to get in here,” so he left the window closed and cautioned the maid not to open it until he told her to. So Mrs. Spider sat there night and day for three days — she had made a decision! On the third day my friend took pity on her and had the maid to open the window. The spider jumped in right now. Well, you see, she had made a decision to get in and the Lord says to you and to me to be like that spider. The Devil does not want you to get into God’s palace, neither do your as sociates out in the world of sin want you to get in — they will use every scheme to keep you from entering. But watch the spider, she has a wonderful way of getting where she wants to go. So we see that “the spider taketh hold with her hands and is in king’s pal aces.” Now there are other spiders with various other methods of getting where they want to go, but they all starf from the springboard of having made a decision. So we see that to the many outside of Christ, who “want to get into the palace of the King” there will be many avenues of finding the Lord when once you have come to accept the fact that you need Him. I hope that you will! Now EVERY Morning in FRESNO 8:30 A .M .— Monday through Friday KRDU , 11:30 on the dial 10
THE SPIDER SPEAKS (continued) a decision! A friend of mine was sitting in his bedroom and chanced to see a spider out on a tree. The tree was about twelve feet from the side of the house. The spider was hanging from the tree Still Will I Trust (Isaiah 41:10) Still will I trust, though all my hopes lie shattered In broken fragments at my feet; Though all my plans, like driven leaves, are scattered By winds of darkness and defeat. For in my need I hear my Saviour saying, In answer to my pleading and my praying, " I am thy God, be not afraid; I will be near, be not dismayed!" Yea, in the deepest shadows of death's valley, Where sorrows circle me around; When all the powers of darkness seem to rally, And scarce a ray of light is found; Then will I trust in Christ with great* rejoicing, In Him who once again His love is voicing— " I am thy God, be not afraid; I will be near, be not dismayed!" So will I walk with Christ, in faith believing, With childlike trust, whate'er be tide; And from His hand His strength and love receiving, As in His presence I abide. Thus shall I journey on to His glad morrow, Where I shall hear Him say, "Lay down thy sorrow. Come dwell with Me in realms above, Where all Is light, and life, and love." — Albert Simpson Reitz by a thread which she had woven — she pulls the threads, I believe, off the spinerette that is on her hind legs. She walks on her two middle legs and works with her two front ones, they are called her hands. The spider was so eager to get into
FEATURED M A Y RADIO MESSAGE SCRIPTURAL LESSONS FROM NATURE
learning from the lion
by Walter L. W ilson
One day, the lion was up on the top pedestal when suddenly one of the tig ers jumped on the trainer, pinned him down and mauled him severly. Instant ly Leo sprang upon the tiger and pulled him away from his murderous effort, thus freeing the trainer. You see, the lion had power and strength, which, in the absence of fear, caiused him not to turn away from any. In the Revelation we read, “. . . the Lion of the tribe of Juda, . . . hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof.” Why is the Lord Jesus compared to a lion? First, partly because of His power, His bravery, and overwhelming desire to protect His own. If the Lord Jesus, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, is yours, He is able to protect you from Satan, and from the world and the flesh, and to keep you for Himself until that day when we shall be with Him in glory. He is able to protect you from those who would like to destroy you. If you will watch a lion, you will see that he is beautiful in his actions and ways. Do you remember the story of Gad? In I Chron. 12:8 we read that the Gadites: “. . . whose faces were like the faces of lions . . .” What meaning lies here? Well, when you look into the face of a lion, you will find that his face does not betray his emotions or feelings — his face is expressionless. (continued on next page) 11
Q. Since we have the good fortune to read after Dr. Wilson in these studies, we shall ask that you open your Bible again at the 30th chapter of the Prov erbs, w ith an area of study covering verses 29, 30, and 31. A. We shall follow the reading of the Word as each teaching falls open to us: “There be three things which go well, yea four are comely . . And here is what verse 30 says, “A lion,” and that is the first one, “which is strongest among beasts and tumeth not away for any.” Well, now, just what lesson flows into our life from the lion? First, we find it to be the supremacy of strength. The lion is the strongest among the animals therefore, everything is afraid of a lion ■— this highlights the power of control in our thinking. A major circus of earlier years had a very gifted and skilled man as its lion trainer. I knew him and enjoyed his work with his animals, especially with the thrilling act which he gave with his lion, Leo, which was the one into whose mouth the trainer used to put his head. The crowds sat trans fixed at such daring, the while not knowing that he had a bar of hard rubber which he slipped into the mouth of the lion so that he could not close his jaws together, and this guaranteed safety to the trainer.
a Lion of the tribe of Juda who wants to be your friend, who wants to love and care for you and minister to your needs — and He does! He says that He will be a father to the fatherless if they learn to love Him — I trust that you will. The One who can destroy kingdoms can protect you; the One who is preserving Israel through all her hectic days, is able to protect you. When all earthly powers fail, then will He be your Rock and stay. This Lion of the tribe of Juda lives forever. The lions in our day are soon gone, but this Lion has perpetual life and is ready to protect you even when you are disobedient, for He loves you. Empty Hands One by one He took them from me, All the things I valued most; Until I was empty-handed, Every glittering toy was lost. And I walked earth's highways, griev ing, In my rage and poverty, Till I heard His voice inviting, "Lift your empty hands to me." So, I held my hands toward Heaven And He filled them with a store Of His own transcendent riches. Until they could hold no more. And at last I comprehended. With my stupid mind and dull, That God could not pour His riches Into hands already full! — Martha Snell Nicholson The Lion of the tribe of Juda has no enemies that can stand against Him whether they be nations, kings or pow ers for He is King of kings and Lord of lords and He wants to be yours. But, of course, you have to make Him yours. My friends, the Lord Jesus Christ wants to act toward you as a protector, a Saviour who can shield you from all enemies and keep you for His glory, having redeemed you by His precious blood. May I commend you to this Lion of the tribe of Juda because, as the Lion, He has supremacy of strength and might, and of control and power. 12
LEARN ING FROM THE LION (continued) A lion will lie relaxed upon the floor of his cage as if he were sleeping, but let someone come near the bars of the cage and, like a flash of lightning, he is up and at those bars in full com mand. Christians should be of quiet spirit but ready for instant action. Some dogs will growl and show their teeth and at the same time wag their tail, which makes it difficult for any postman to decide upon which end is to be trusted in dealing with the ani mal. The lion, on the contrary, is plac id and does not “fly off the handle” but remains in control of his spirit. However, he is ready for instant action. Beloved, the Lion of the tribe of Juda is a Lion of defense; He is instant in His protection and preservation of those who believe in Him, but He is a terrible enemy if you do not. He is the strong One and He knows how to permit a terrible and just judgment for punishment. You will remember that when He destroyed Babylon, it was destroyed! He destroyed Jericho so that it was all gone. Well, it is better to have Him for you than against you. He is the Lion of the tribe of Juda and we put our trust in Him just as we put our love in the Lamb of God; — as the Lamb, we love Him; as the Lion, we trust Him. As the Lamb, we draw near to Him; as the Lion, we hide beneath the shadow of His wings. Does a lion have wings? Well, that is what the Bible says and I cannot understand it exactly except that it means when you are in trouble you are to come to Him in a hurry! He will come rushing toward you then! The father ran to meet the prodigal son. So, He is in a hurry to exercise His power for you, and then at the end of your days, when the physician says “this is it” — He, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, is there to protect you and take you in. The precious Lamb of God is there to apply His blood and to give you wool for your garment of salvation and to meet your needs at the end of the journey. Isn’t it wonderful to know there is
a devotion on dogs
Dr. Walter L. W ilson
Q. God has mentioned through Solo mon, in the Book of Proverbs, four ani mals — they are: the lion, the grey hound, the he-goat and mention is made of the king. Doctor, you have already dealt with the lesson given to us when looking at the lion and now may we read what is to be learned from the greyhound? A. Yes, and the picture of the grey hound is one of serene swiftness. This dog is built for speed and when you measure its ability by that of other breeds of dogs, you will see that he is able to hold his own — in fact, beat all others in the race. Now this is another picture of the Lord Jesus — He, too, is built for speed. I want to tell you He saves a soul in stantly! He does not take a week or a month to save anyone. He does not ask that you go through a long period of pleading, crying, and praying. The moment you put your trust in Him, that moment you are saved by grace. All of earth’s religions cause you to read a lot of books and promise to do a lot of things, such as study a lot of doctrines, but not so with our lovely Lord, the moment you trust Him He saves the soul. For proof of our Lord’s instant action, let us note that the whole Book of Mark is built on that truth. We read: “at once . . . forthwith . . . straightway . . .
immediately” all through that book, because it is telling us about “the greyhound”, the wonderful Lord! Do you know how long it took the Lord to crumble the walls of Jericho? It took only the time to march around it seven times and blowing their horns, down came the walls. It did not take very long for them to conquer Babylon. While Belteshazzar, the king, was hav ing a great feast, Darius moved into the city. He diverted the waters of the river Euphrates, went in under the gates of the city on the river bed and the place was conquered before the learned men had completed their in terpretation of the writing on the wall. Our Lord is a Lord of swift action. He made light to travel at the speed of 186,000 miles per second. The earth to travel at the rate of 1,000 miles a minute. There are great stars that move at 195 miles a second and 6,000 miles a second. Other stars and comets travel at varying rates of great speed. The One who made these bodies to move in such tremendous swiftness can act with ever so much higher speed in the affairs of your life. He wants to make you, in your short life span of 20, 30, 40 or 70 years, to become a wonderful person in your witness for the Lord. He lets things happen rapidly in your life to change you. Perhaps business failure
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brings you into a life of active service for Him. Paralysis may set you apart and give time to sing beautiful songs in poem fashion from your soul or dic tate books rich in Christian thought. Some of the finest things to enrich the heart have come from a Christian life under some form of affliction. You remember when the prodigal son came home that the father RAN to meet him. The father ordered the best robe to be put upon the son, that a ring be placed upon his hand, shoes on his feet and that the fatted calf be killed. The lad did not have to beg that these things be done for him. No, the father put his arms around him and it all happened in the twinkling of an eye. When Isaiah said that he was un done — that he was a man of unclean lips living in the midst of a people of unclean lips, then flew in one of the seraphims with a coal from off the altar and put it on the lips of Isaiah and his lips were made won derful. Our Lord sent that angel in a hurry! And when He comes to draw His children up to meet Him in the air, it will be done in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, and that is pretty fast. Now in these days which are look ing to His coming, let Him do some thing for and with you in the majesty of His swiftness! He is beautiful and fie is swift in His every motion! The greyhound points wonderfully to HIM. To Simplify The Administration of Your Estate Write for a copy of Personal Estate Facts. This is a booklet for use in list ing all important data concerning you and your possessions. It will prove invaluable to you personally, and to the executor of your last will and testament. Write: Stewardship Department Biola College
ILLUSTRATIONS M ISSIONARIES FROM CEYLON reported, cm. interesting narrative relative to the Temple of the Tooth in Kandy. Faithful followers believe that in this Temple one of Buddhds teeth lies encased in the innermost of sev en caskets. TIME Magazine recently recount ed something of the interesting back ground of this story. TIME wrote that in the 4th century, so legend holds it, when Buddhism was driven out of India, a princess fled w ith the tooth hidden in her hair. Centuries later, conquerors had the relic ground into powder and spread it over the sea. But customs do not die easily. A Singhalese prince proclaimed that the tooth had miraculously reassem bled itself and returned to its ornate sanctuary where today it is still worshiped and adored. How tragic that the creation is worshipped more than the Creator! But even if one of these ancient teeth still exists Buddha, himself, is dead and his body has returned to the dust of the earth. Not so with our resurrected Lord, He is our Risen, living Saviour. It is He whom we adore! "Prayer is not a means of getting our will done through heaven, but a desire to have God's will done on earth through us." * * * W H A T ARE WE DOING w ith our hours? In all honesty, we must ad m it that we waste many of them — hours that could be used for the Lord. It was said of Abraham Lincoln that he became an avid reader in his early years. In sarcasm a neigh bor asked, “What are you trying to do, Abe, in studying law all the time — do you expect ip become President some day?” Years later, are you, as a Chris tian, found ready w ith the same an swer?
558 South Hope Street Los Angeles 17, Calif.
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O ur text for today’s prayer mes sage is found in Psalm 26:2, “Examine me, 0 Lord, and prove me; try my reins and my heart.” Here the psalmist invites the Lord to diagnose the actual condition of his heart and soul, the very depths of his being, and to test out, again, his obedience to the voice of the Holy Spirit. God is very much concerned about the thought life of the believer. It is possible for our thoughts, our emotions, and our attitudes toward others, to be come a prison of our prayers. I am convinced that the primary target that Satan has chosen today, in his struggle with God, is the mind and emotional life of the believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. If he can defeat us in this area, regardless of the out ward appearance we maintain, he can restrict our effectiveness for the Lord' Jesus Christ and make us a reproach before the world. The psalmist said in Psalm 66:18, “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.” To put it in 20th century terms: If I, as a believer, permit sin in the area of my thought and emotional life to go unchecked, unconfessed before God, the Lord will not hear me. An attitude of bitterness
will restrict our prayer life and rob us of blessing. I was called as a pastor to a home on one occasion where there was serious illness. In counselling with the wo man who was ill, I listened to a most tragic admission. A woman of culture, outstanding in community leadership and even in the church, facing a very serious and possibly terminal illness necessitating surgery, said “I feel like heaven has been shut up. God hasn’t heard my prayers for months. They do not seem to get farther than the ceiling ■ of the room. I feel like I’ve almost lost faith.” Further counselling uncovered bit terness, rancor, slander, between this lady and another member of her fami ly who was also a Christian. My mind was taken again to the verse, “If I re gard iniquity in my heart the Lord will not hear me.” The sin of hatred and bitterness had closed in on this one until her prayer had been locked in the prison of her own unyielded heart. May I suggest that though we may have truly been wronged by another; though some grievous sin in reality may have been committed against us, to harbor feelings of bitterness, or (continued on next page)
fices of God are a broken spirit; a brok en and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise” (Ps. 51:17). Paul learned this and was able to say, “But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Ghrist, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world” (Gal. 6:14). Unclean thoughts also limit the ef fectiveness of our prayers. Man is in herently inclined toward sin and sla very to his baser appetites. The prophet Jeremiah said, “the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wick- Spiritual Graces Most Needed Help me to walk so close to Thee That those who know me best can see I live as godly as I pray. And Christ is real from day to day. I see some once a day, or year, To them I blameless might appear; 'Tis easy to be kind and sweet To people whom we seldom meet; But in my home are those who see Too many times, the worst of me. M y hymns of praise are best unsung If He does not control my tongue, When I am vexed and sorely tried And my impatience cannot hide. May no one stumble over me Because Thy love they failed to see; But give me. Lord, a life that sings. And victory o'er the little things. Give me Thy calm for every fear, Thy peace for every falling tear; Make mine, O Lord, through calm and strife, A gracious and unselfish,life; Help me, with those who know me best, For Jesus' sake to stand the test. — Author Unknown ed, who can know it” (Jer. 17:9). It is impossible even to understand and explain our own actions when we find ourselves thinking thoughts and doing evil things of which we had believed ourselves incapable. Here, again, Satan lays seige to the mind and emotional life of the believer and seeks to defeat him and bring him to reproach before the world. Some 16
THE UNY IELD ING HEART (continued) hatred, or resentment, or an unforgiv ing spirit serves only to destroy our spiritual communion with God. It is right here in the heart that Satan selects his battlefield and so often de feats us as believers. Jealousy and envy will also limit our prayer life and our usefulness to God. This was another problem David had to face. When he looked at those who had no time for God and noted that they seemed to prosper he had to remind himself, “Fret not thyself be cause of evil doers, neither be thou en vious against the workers of iniquity” (Ps. 37:1). Paul reminded the Corin thians that every believer, every mem ber of the body of Christ is of great significance to God and the Church, and that we are not to despise the posi tion another occupies. Satan would try to make us jealous of others who have a place of service more prominent than we, but if we allow ourselves to be come jealous it will render our prayer life ineffective for God. Covetousness and greed will also limit our prayer life. This is another area in which Satan very effectively attacks us as believers. If he can per suade us to put temporal things above our relationship and stewardship to the Lord, he has succeeded in getting us to bow before the idol of material ism. In this day of “trying to keep up with the Jones” we need to remem ber the words of the Apostle Paul, “Look not every man upon the. things of others but upon his own.” The antidote to such a disease as coveteousness and greed is to be found in the fruitbearing presence and con trol of the Holy Spirit in our lives, as suggested in Gal. 3:25, “If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.” There is a sense in which all sins of the mind and emotional life have their root in the sin of pride. A haughty spirit, a selfish attitude, ex posed and easily hurt feelings, self worship—these are abominable to God. David knew this and wrote, “The sacri
INFORMATION ON THE RELEASE OF MATERIALS Many friends have asked about the dating of material which appears in our month ly publication. Since we are not able to print the BROADCASTER until our pro grams for the month are com pleted, the monthly edition is usually completed at the end of the month. Therefore the current month contains features from the p a s t month's broadcasts. Indica tion is always given on the cover of the individual pub lication. If you have just moved, or are planning to do so, you know all that is involved. But did you realize that your move can also cost the Lord's work? If you have moved and have not as yet informed us, from now on it will cost Biola 8 cents (rather than 4) in order to have the post office give us the in formation concerning your new address. If you use a post card, or the forms provided by the post office, this will mean a sub stantial savings for the work of the Lord. With a quarter of the population moving every year, according to statistics, you can well imagine what this will ulti mately mean for Biola. Thank you for your prayer ful help in this, as well as in our other ministries for the Lord Jesus Christ. MOV ING COSTS EVERYONE
believers today have allowed their minds to become so absorbed with the filth and corruption to which we are subjected from every media of enter tainment, from advertising billboards and signs, from newspapers and maga zines from the conversation in places where we work and the people with whom we are forced to associate, that their thought life becomes a veritable cesspool of iniquity. Tile Psalmist prayed, “Search me 0 God and know my heart, try me and know my thoughts . . This is the first thing we must do in order to clear away those things in our thought life, or in our attitudes toward others that would rob us of blessing in our prayer life. We need to let the Lord search out and convict us of the bitterness, the greed, the pride, and the lust that have become encrusted upon our minds. We need to pray, “Try me and see if there be any wicked way in me,” (Ps. 139:24) “Wash- me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin” (Ps. 51:2). Secondly, we must confess those things and ask the Lord to cleanse us from all unrighteousness by the blood of Christ. Thirdly, with David we need to pray, “Create in me a clean heart O God, and renew a right spirit within me” (Ps. 51:10). Finally, we must practice the pres ence of the indwelling Holy Spirit of God, so that He might set a guard upon our mind, and our emotional life so that, as Paul suggests, we might truly think on those things that are true, honest, just, pure; those things which are of good report, virtuous, and praise worthy” (Phil. 4:8) that we with the Psalmist might truly “bless the Lord at all times,” and that “. . . his praise shall continually be in our mouths” (Ps. 34:1), “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.” 0, the tragedy of a heart that becomes, through sin, the prison of our prayers. But, O, the blessedness of release and restoration when we confess our sin, and God, on the basis of His own faithfulness and righteousness, cleanses us from all un righteousness.
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seven truths for singing \ saints y
by Walter L. W ilson
B eloved , I would like to give you an outline of the seven things I would wish the Lord to bestow upon you. You know we want you to have the best there is in life, in death, and in eternity. And so here is the list of the things I desire for you. First, I trust God will give you enough happiness to keep you sweet; enough trials to keep you strong; enough labor to keep you from rust ing; enough leisure to keep you broad; enough of sorrow to keep you human; enough of hope to keep you singing and enough of Himself to keep you satisfied. Now don’t you like that? Now let’s look at them. A wish for enough of happiness to keep you sweet. We read in Romans 15:13 “The God of hope fill you with all joy and peace through believing.” You believe what God says about you. You know when you go to the doctor you have to accept his diagnosis. The strange thing is that God never says anything good about us, that is the truth. We go to God and we find out how bad we are, how far short we come of the glory of God, how little we are like the Lord Jesus. We find how many sins, iniquities, trespasses, transgressions and offenses fill our hearts and minds and souls. Sins of omission, sins of commission, sins of permission, and sins of ignor ance because other people commit sin and we become involved in their atti tudes. We surely need someone to do 18
something for us to make us fit to live in this life and in the next. So the Saviour comes to do this for us and the Scripture says, “The God of hope fill you with all joy and peace through believing.” You believe what God says about you. Then you believe what God says about His Son, and what the Lord Jesus said about Him self — also what Paul said about Him. Therefore, we go and kneel at Jesus’ feet and trust Him with our souls and with our sins and ourselves. Then He gives us enough happiness to keep us sweet. Then we need enough trials to keep us strong. So we read in I Peter 1:7 that “the trial of our faith is more precious than gold that perisheth . . .” And every time we have an experience of faith with God, it strengthens our faith, strengthens our trust. It strength ens our testimony and we remember what David did back in the 61st Psalm, “Because Thou hast been my help, therefore will I trust under the shadow of Thy wings.” He wrote this Psalm when he was in a cave running away from Saul. When was God his help? He remem bered one time when a lion snared a lamb out of the flock and he went after the lion and tearing his jaws apart, rescued the lamb and then killed the lion. He had another such experi ence with a bear. And then he remem bered that God was his help when Go- litfth loomed large, complete with spear, shield and armour bearer. It was then that God gave into his hands only a stone. But David’s aim was accurate — it was guided, and he took the sword and cut off the head of Goliath. He remembered that and so he said that “past deliverances” make me trust you in “present distresses.” Then the Lord give you enough la bor to keep you from rusting. And we read in Hebrews 12:28 “Serve the Lord with reverence and godly fear.” What a joy it is to have a job to do for God — helping others or perhaps visiting the sick or ministering to those in sore trouble. We can help make known His truth by helping missionaries in all
phases of their labors. You know a rub ber band gets hard and stiff unless we use it. In this illustration we can see that God wants us to have enough work to do for Him to keep us bright and happy. And listen, when you go into eternity, you will be so glad that you did have this abundance of work be cause He gives a reward to those who live for Him and serve Him. And the Lord give you enough lei sure to keep you broad: In Psalm 37, verse 7 He says, “Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him.” Now lis ten, did you ever sit down just for a while and think things over, get away alone from the busy life, the home life or the business life just to think and meditate on your own soul’s welfare, on your condition, on how you’re getting on and how you’re doing your work and whether its successful or not? Whether it’s profitable or not and whether you’re keeping well in the things of God and strong in your faith. Whether you’re learning from your Bi ble as you should and acting toward others as you should. You know it’s a wonderful thing to do. We read over in Mark 6:31 “Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place and rest awhile for there were many coming and going and they had no leisure so much as to eat.” So we get too busy! Now you take the battery out of the car long enough to charge it, don’t you? You take the sythe out of the harvest long enough to sharpen it, don’t you? We have to do things like that in our souls and bodies so the Lord give you the privilege and oppor tunity, or make it, to get alone and have leisure and that will broaden your vision, and make you a more useful Christian. Then the Lord give you enough sor row to keep you human. We read in Romans 12:15 “Weep with those that weep” and we ought to do that. Share with others their problems, and their griefs. And as you do so, you find the neighbors and friends will love you for it and different ones will come to you for comfort and cheer and help (continued on page 32) 19
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