brief separation of body and spirit or soul. When the Lord returns His truth tells us that we which are alive will not prevent them which are asleep. The word “prevent” in the Latin means literally “to go before.” It will be an instantaneous transformation so that we will all be going together. There fore, in the light of these two authori ties the Christian’s glorious hope is not built on guesses or surmisals. It is a foundational truth based on the Word of God and the testimony to that Word and the testimony to that Word in the. risen life of our Lord Jesus Christ. By virtue of our Lord having risen from the dead, we know that His work bf salvation is finished; we are justified by Christ. As we look forward to the day of His coming we can sing with great joy: When He shall come with trumpet sound, O then in Him / will be found, Dressed in His righteousness alone, Faultless to stand before the throne. On Christ the solid rock l stand All other ground is sinking sand. * * * Pride is often like a house's attic; it's the highest part and generally the most empty. * * * A TRUE MEASURE OF SUCCESS It was John Wesley who rightly de clared, “Make all you can, save all you can, and give all you can." Too often we fail to understand that the only money we really keep is that which we have given away or invested in the Lords work. A man who is not in terested in investing in the lives of those who need to be reached for Christ has not found true happiness and the joy of the Spirit. * * * Speed it not everything in life. It it the direction in which we ere going that really countt. 27
C omfortng each believer in the time of bereavement is the Scrip tural knowledge and assurance that he will see his fellow Christians? again in the glory for death does not end all. Such a statement is not the opinion of a mere man. Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit Paul wrote, “For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep” (I Thessalonians 4:14, -15). The two authorities given here are the Lord Jesus Christ and the Word of God. Of course, the heart of the Gos pel is the Saviour Himself. Everything we believe, we are, we hope to be, is dependent upon what He was, what He did, and what He is and will do for us. Paul brings this to our atten tion as he gives us the Gospel in a nut shell, “Christ died for our sins accord ing to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he arose again the third day according to the scriptures” (I Corinthians 15:3, 4). The second authority is the written word of God, Whenever anything is taught of a theological nature there is only one basis for truth. The perfect and final scale is the Bible. Such is not true of men. Some live by the au thority of experience. Only the things that they can experience through the senses will they believe. There are others who elevate themselves to live in the area of reason. Upon personal reflection and logic they seek to arrive at a conclusion. This is what is known as rationalism. This is not to imply that a Christian is never governed by ex perience or reason. It does assert, how ever, that there- is a higher authority which is the revealed Word of God. In our last study we pointed out that the word “sleep” indicates the
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