is shown by the context that we who have believed, whether Israelites or Gentiles, have entered into the bless ing of the new covenant based upon “the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all,” by which “offer ing he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified” (w. 10,14). Does God Make Mistakes? How do you account for discrep ancies in the Bible? ■ There are no discrepancies in the Bible even though men have sought to make it appear So. Or should I say that Satan has sought to make it appear so? Once we remember that “the natural man [the unregenerated man] receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God” (1 Cor. 2:14), we have the solution to many so-called dis crepancies, that are not discrepancies at all. It is not in man to understand spiritual things; he must be taught by the Spirit of God. And the un regenerate man has not the Spirit of God. There may be faulty translations of certain words, such as world in Matt. 28:20, which should be ren dered age: “Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the age.” But such translations are of little conse quence, insofar as they touch the matter of sin, salvation and eternal life. Moreover, once the Spirit-taught man analyzes these passages cited by skeptical men, he always finds that apparent variations are explained in a most plausible way. Only man’s ignorance of what the Bible says; his repetition of hearsay; and his sin- darkened mind can account for what man may call a discrepancy. God does not make mistakes! And He has seen to it that His Word is inerrant! Readers are invited to submit questions which will be answered in future issues. Address questions to Dr. Talbot's Question Box, 558 South Hope Street, Los Angeles 17, California. — ED.
not bear fruit, says, in substance, “Thou believest that God is one; thou doest well [or, to paraphrase, ‘so far so good’] the demons also believe [that God is one], and tremble.” And why do they tremble? Because they know that their doom is sealed, and that one day they will be cast into the lake of fire with the devil and all his wicked angels. Theirs is a head-knowledge, but not a heart- knowledge. The same might be said of any hu man being who knows that there is one God, yet refuses the atoning work under the law. In the new dispensa tion, believers, all of them are in the of Christ on the cross. He trembles at the thought of judgment—unless Satan has so blinded him that he has deceived him into a false sense of se curity. When the .Lord Jesus was on earth, the demons recognized Him as “the Holy One of God.” On one occasion they “cried out, saying, What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? art thou come hither to tor ment us before the time?” (Matt. 8:29.) They here express a knowledge of certain doom. When the Lord Jesus “suffered them not to speak” of Him as the Son of God, it seems as though He would not receive this testimony from demons. (Mark 1:34; Luke 4:41.) Blood of the New Covenant What is the meaning of the state ment always quoted in the serving of the communion, “For this is my blood of the new testament [or cove nant],” Matt. 26:28? To what cove nant does it apply? The new covenant is clearly de fined for us in Jeremiah 31:31-34, where, of course, its direct applica tion is to Israel, and its fulfillment awaits a time yet future for the na tion. But the language of Jeremiah 31 is quoted in Heb. 10:16,17 where it
Baptized with Fire What is meant by Matthew 3:11— “He that cometh after me is mightier than I . . . he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire”? Is a believer baptized with fire as well as with the Holy Ghost? Not at all. These are the words of John the Baptist, and he was speak ing to a mixed company of the saved and unsaved. The saved were to be baptized with the Holy Spirit. The unsaved were to be baptized with the fire of judgment at the return of Christ. Verse 12 makes it very clear that this is the meaning of John’s words: “Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” The doctrine con cerning the church, revealed later by Paul, comes in between the preach ing of John the Baptist and the re turn of Christ in glory. You will note in Acts 1:4,5 that, just before His ascension into heaven, our Lord referred to John’s words, and told His disciples to “tarry in Jerusalem” to “wait for the promise of the Father.” Then He added, “For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.” In ad dressing believers, the risen Lord made no reference to fire; for believ ers shall not “come into judgment,” but have “passed out of death into life” (John 5:24). Compare these passages with 2 Thes. 1:7-9: “The Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Testimony of Demons Please explain James 2:19, “The demons also believe, and tremble.” If you read the context, you will see that James, in writing to the man whose empty profession of faith does
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THE KING'S BUSINESS
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