September'/ 1964 W ITH FEATURES FROM AUGUST "BIOLA HOUR" BROADCASTS
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I B IO L A broadcaster Monthly Publication of the BIOLA FELLOWSHIP Vol. 4 No. 9 SEPTEMBER, 1964 CONTENTS BABIES ........................................................... 3 GOD'S SUPERLATIVES ........................ 5 THE PSALMIST'S "I AM 'S" ............. 7 BUILDERS FOR GOD ..............................10 THE LIFE OF FAITH ...........................12 RADIO QUESTIONS ANSWERED ..19 ARE YOU UNCERTAIN? ................. 23 ARE YOU UNCOMFORTABLE? ....26 ARE YOU UNPREPARED? .............. 28 BIOLA FELLOWSHIP PLAN ...........29 ARE YOU UNHAPPY ................... 31 TALBOT SEMINARY TESTIMONIES ......................................33 OPERATION FIREBRAND .................34 COVER: Two Biola students, out of the more than 1200 young people enrolled in the five affiliated schools, meet in front of the Rose Memorial Library. Sue Stewart is from Sacra mento, and George Jones is from Concord, California. STAFF President....................S. H. Sutherland Editor.....................:.............Al Sanders Production .............. Virginia Schwepker Printing ........................... Church Press Published monthly by the Radio Dept. BIBLE INSTITUTE OF LOS ANGELES 558 S. Hope St., Los Angeles 17, Cal. Controlled circulation postage paid at Los Angeles, California.
1280 9:00 A.M. MTWTF 550 7:30 A.M . Sun. 1050 9:30 A.M. MTWTF 1290 8:30 A.M . Sun. 1130 8:30 A.M. MTWTF 6:30 P.M. MTWTF 1570 8:00 A.M. MTWTF 1570 7:00 P.M. MTWTF 8:30 A.M. MTWTF 1460 9:00 A.M. MTWTF 1390 11:00 A.M. MTWTF 1390 10:00 P.M. MTWTF 8:00 A.M. MTWTF 910 8:00 A.M . MTWTF 1400 8:00 A.M. MTWTF 1370 8:00 A.M. MTWTF 1370 8:00 P.M. MTWTF 590 7:30 A.M. Sun. 1080 8:30 A.M. Sun. 7:30 A.M. MTWTF 860 8:00 A.M. MTWTF 910 7:30 A.M. Sun. 1100 8:30 A.M. MTWTF 1440 7:00 A.M. Sun.
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99.5 (FM) 7:00 AM . MTWTF 8:00 A.M. MTWTF 8:30 A.M. MTWTF 8:30 A.M . MTWTF 12:00 Noon MTWTF 12:00 Noon MTWTF 3:30 P.M. Tues. 11:00 P.M. MTWTF (Radio Log continued on page 22) Billings, Montana KURL Caldwell-Boise KBFM Denver, Colorado K LIR Lapeer, Michigan WMPC Miamisburg, Ohio WFCJ 730 94.1 (FM) KBGN 910 990 KLIR 100.3 (FM) . 1230 93.7 (FM)
AUGUST RADIO MESSAGE
BABIES
by Dr. Walter L. Wilson
/ If
O NE OP THE MOST PRECIOUS things in all the world is babies. The death of babies, salvation of babies and what happens to babies when they die makes an interesting study. The Bible does not give us too much information on the subject, therefore, I suggest at the outset that much of our discussion will need to be for our consideration from what we can deduct. Some of our dear readers have lost little ones. As a doctor, I have seen babies die. This is a very hard mo ment. The Saviour Himself said, “Suf fer little children, and forbid them not to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 19:14). Today there is an insidious move ment to keep children from hearing anything about God, or Christ, or the Bible. Our courts seem to be opposed to anything connected with helping a boy or a girl to be righteous and godly. The only thing that will help a child grow up as a Christian is the Word of God. The lawmakers say,
“No, you can’t have the Bible around.” What sad folly. Teachers and professors can tell our young people anything about the heathen gods, anything about base ball or sports, anything about philoso phy and psychology but nothing about the Lord. To mention sin or salva tion is of course taboo. As a result we are raising a generation of law less, wicked, evil hearts. Read the stories of boys and girls who kill their parents, and care nothing about it. Teenagers, and even younger, do some of the most atrocious things, destroy ing property as well as people. The remedy is the Word of God! The only preventative for sin, the only antedote for iniquity is the Saviour. A child is merely a man in small letters; an adult in miniature. A lit tle child has everything you and I have, without his full development. A little child is a copy of Adam be fore the fall. His soul is like a sheet of white paper not as yet written upon. The Lord wants us to give these little children the knowledge of
years old, had contracted double pneumonia. The doctor told her he couldn’t possibly live. So she said, “Doctor, will you stay with my little boy while I go into my bedroom and pray for him?” With wet cheeks she said, “Dr. Wilson, I did. I laid right down flat on the floor and sobbed out my sorrow to God. I told Him, ‘God, please don’t take my little boy. You know my husband is gone. I’ve no relatives. The only living person I have is this little boy. Please don’t take him away from me.’ And Dr. Wilson, he got well. The Lord gave him back to me.” Just then she broke into terrible, terrible weeping. She couldn’t even talk. Finally she told me, “This morning the sheriff took my boy away to the penitentiary for an awful crime. He will get 20 years. Would to God he had died when he was a baby boy!” God sees and knows the end even from the be ginning. Perhaps this would not have happened if God’s will had been de sired above the human will. God knows the future of our babies. So, in His loving kindness and grace, He does something that we can’t under stand at all. He comes in and takes whomever He wants. Fine young mothers who leave babies behind or find strong daddies who leave loyal families behind. He takes all kinds of folks away. He comes when it is time, for it is appointed unto men once to die and after that the judg ment. The atheist may say that there isn’t anything after this life. But God’s Word is true. How would you like to run the universe for a while? The man who thinks he could do a better job of it probably can’t even run his own home. But the Saviour is able to do all things. If you have lost a baby, go to the Lord and say, “Thank you, Jesus. You took the baby because you love babies and I’m glad you took mine. You wanted an gels to raise my little one.” Look up with gladness amid your tears. How wonderful to have this solace and as surance during the deep waters and dark trials of life. 4
the Saviour. Are you doing it? A recent news article tells of some teenagers who got into a church, took mattresses out of the nursery, and put them on the platform where they committed indecent and immoral acts. Afterwards they wrote vile and filthy language on the walls and benches. Now, how did they get that way? No Bible, no God, and no Christ is the answer. Their parents or adults have to share largely in their blame. People will frequently ask me, “When a baby dies, does it go to heaven?” I am quite persuaded that this is certainly true. You remember what Jesus said about the babies that died. He declared that their an gels always behold the face of the Father. It seems that there are spe cial angels appointed to take care of babies. Wouldn’t that be a lovely job? You know, I wouldn’t mind taking care of 40 or 50 babies if I didn’t have to fix bottles, boil the nipples, and change diapers for them. As a doctor I just loved to bring babies into the world and to take care of them after they had come. When a little one dies and we place the body into the ground, do you think that an adult spirit comes back into the baby’s body? The baby’s spirit, of course, goes to heaven. If it grew up there it would be an adult spirit coming back into a baby’s body. This doesn’t seem reasonable. In my judgment the baby’s spirit stays that way up there until the resurrection. If you plant a grain of popcorn in the ground, it doesn’t come up as big as country gentleman corn, does it? If you plant a seed of any type in the ground, it comes up just the kind of a thing it went down. As another interesting aspect of this, I wonder how many of you have prayed very earnestly for your little one to get well when it was sick. Perhaps the little one died. The hard est thing is to thank the Lord for that. A woman came into my office one day terribly grieved. She was sobbing and weeping declaring, “God did answer my prayer.” She had a little boy who, when he was three
by Dr. Walter L. Wilson
GOD'S SUPERLATIVES
S OME OP THE most interesting words in Scripture are the superlatives which God uses through His human writers. In Isaiah 55:7, we read, “Our God . . . will abundantly pardon.” It is difficult for one to enter into the fulness of what this really means. God not only forgives us, but also He does so with a kiss of affection. Have you received this gracious mercy of the Lord? Pardon, of course, has to come now, in this life. “It is appointed unto man once to die, and after this the judg ment.” We find a similar superlative in Psalm 130:7 which tells us that “with Him there is plenteous redemp tion.” Have you noticed that in the American flag there are more red stripes than there are white ones? To the Christian, the red stripes can represent the blood of Jesus Christ. Symbolically, the white ones can rep resent the leprosy of sin. The first one at the top is red and the last at the bottom is red. There are more red
than white, and in God’s love there is plenteous redemption for all our sin and transgressions. No one needs.to hesitate or to be afraid of coming to the Lord. The eighth verse of this 130th Psalm tells us that He forgives all our iniquities. Now “iniquity” is a strange word. There are things in your heart that may never come out. They may be thoughts, ideas, or de sires which, if put into action and fulfillment, would bring sad and dire consequences. Though an act has not been committed, the Bible tells us that it is still iniquity. All our iniqui ties have been placed on the Lord Jesus Christ (Isaiah 53:6). Then we read about the exceeding riches of His grace in Ephesians 2:7. The word “exceeding” could not be made any stronger. Grace is the un merited favor of God showing kind ness to us when He should send us to hell. The Lord sends the rain upon the just and the unjust. This is grace. But who can calculate “the exceeding riches of his grace?” This cannot be measured. Christ shows His matchless grace to everybody and anybody who will come to be saved through Him. In Philippians 4:19, we read about His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Perhaps you know of individuals who are worth a million dollars or more. We say that they are rich. But how about a man who has a billion? Oh, he is very, very rich. But what mind can fathom the riches that belong to the Creator of the university in glory. You can’t measure then, weigh then, fathom them, or describe them. In Colossians 2:13, we read, “Who hath forgiven you all trespasses.” That means not a few and not even most, but all. This is not just up until the day you are saved, because when He died for you all your sins were future. But how feeble our at tempt to describe the exceeding riches 5
Eileen Rahm of Colorado Springs and Richard Hill, Whittier, California, two of the students at Arizona Bible College. Biola's Phoenix affiliate anticipates a record enrollmentthis month.
of His grace; the unsearchable riches of Christ. The Bible also tells us how to get rid of all our worries and to enjoy the peace that passeth all understand ing and a love that passeth knowl edge. You won’t find this kind of understanding in an encyclopedia. You cannot figure the love of the Saviour for us since we don’t deserve WHAT BRINGS SALVATION
heart to Him just tell Him you expect His forgiveness as He promised. He will fulfill His end of the eternal bar gain. You will be left with a record which will be whiter than snow. Another i n te r e s tin g verse is, “Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound” (Romans 5:20). Go down to the seashore and you will see stones, rocks, boulders and all things which litter the beach. Then, when the tide comes in, you go back to see what is left. They are all cov ered with the waves. Where the rocks abounded the water did much more abound. So it is with God’s grace. Our lives are so full of things that are wrong. Then we come to the Lord Jesus Christ and with His precious blood He covers us, washing away the iniquities and trespasses of our lives. We also read that God is abundant in goodness and truth. In Exodus 34: 6, we find that, “The Lord God is merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth.” His mercies fail not; they are new every morning (Lamentations 3:22). You can come and borrow from Him at any time you have a need of heart and life. But remember, if you don’t come and get it now you will not get it after you die. There are those who would sell their soul for what is be yond the grave. But they are foolish. They have no control over the body, soul, or spirit. No one does after an individual dies. You must come for mercy now as the door of grace is abundantly opened to you. The Lord’s mercies will not fail. They are un searchable and unlimited. Think of all the wonderful super latives in God’s Word. Beloved, come to Christ with your whole life. Don’t hold back a single thing. Don’t be ashamed to come. Don’t listen to the devil. God loves to have sinners come and receive what He has to give. He will hold out nothing on you, no mat ter what your need may be. Trust the Saviour with your whole life and soul. He will make you whiter than snow, and then take you to glory when it is time to go. 6
It is not thy repentance, Thy sorrow or thy tears, That bringeth thee salvation Or drives away thy fears: “ It is the cross of Jesus, His death on Calvary That wrought out full atonement For such as -you and me. It is not what thou doest, Or what is left undone: Or giving up a habit, By which salvation's won. ^ Salvation is not winning 'Tis something to receive, God's free and gracious offering To all who will believe. You say, " I read the Bible, In prayer I . daily bow." You say, "Why, I am doing The best that I know how!" But even were thou perfect, The old back score remains; It needs the blood of Jesus To wash away thy stains. Then why not cease thy doing— That way is always wrong— And yield thy will To Jesus, And join redemption's throng? Say, "Lord, I take salvation," Nor doubt that Thou art heard. For, He who dwells in heaven Forever keeps His Word.
— James M. Gray it whatsoever. I John 1:7 tells us that the blood of Jesus Christ is able to cleanse us from all sin. Did you get that? He will cleanse us from all sin. Perhaps you a re harboring some thoughts right now in your heart. You can’t hide them from the Lord even though you have been able to do so from your loved ones. God sees them anyway. As you pour out your
THE PSALMIST 3
by Dr. Walter
"1 AM '3
Wilson
O NE of th e most wonderful things about the Word of God is that it speakes to us of things that last and of things which are perfect. In Psalm 119, there are eight times the Psalmist said, “I Am.” Each time it was for a different reason. In verse 19 of this longest chapter in the Bible he declares, “Hide not thy commandments from me.” This is the “I Am” of position; the place occupied in life. Isn’t it odd that we are strangers on the earth? Ac tually we are made for the earth, aren’t we? Our bodies are of the earth, and yet in His matchless grace and loving kindness He does something to us that makes us strangers here. We sing, “This world is not my home, I’m just a passin’ through.” If this is true, that we are only pilgrims, then we should act like it, live like it, pray like it, dress like it, give like it, and prove thereby that the earth has no hold no us. If we believe in Christ, we are going to glory. We are going to see three persons when we get there. The Father will be on His throne, the Lord Jesus on His throne at the right side
of the Father, and the Holy Spirit before the throne. Lots of people seem to be ashamed when they get saved. The preacher says, “Every eye closed, every head bowed, and nobody looking around.” It always sounds like somebody wants to sneak into the Kingdom of God or that somebody wants to be a Chris tian but he doesn't want anybody else to know it. I think that is wrong. Stand up in front of every body and let the world know that you are now a stranger to it. The next “I Am” is the 63rd verse: “A companion of all them that fear thee, and of them that keep thy precepts." This is the “I Am” of as sociation. I keep company with God’s people because this is the manner in which God has ordained it. When a person is saved he will want to take his place among the Christians. He will be through with the other crowd. They want to live for the world, the flesh, and the devil. It should be your desire to live for the Saviour, and for Him alone. This is how you become known as a saint, a set apart one. - My old companions fare you well, I will not go with you to hell. My testimony I will tell: I mean with Jesus Christ to dwell. Isn’t is strange that ordinarily horses like to be with horses, dogs like to be with dogs, cats like to be with cats, and Christians should like to be with Christians. This shows they have God’s life within them and that they belong to the Saviour. A companion is not just a visitor on Sunday morning. Do you delight to keep company with other believers of like precious faith? Verse 83 is the “I Am” of effort. “For I am become like a bottle in the smoke.” These bottles to which the Psalmist referred were actually skins. They were not made of glass. 7
Dr. RayA. Myers (right), chairman of the Biola Board of Directors, receives copyof Talbot TheolgicalSemi naryyearbook, "The Scroll," from James Imel, editor.
and we let ourselves get upset. What can we do when such things take place? The answer is not an overdose of sleeping tablets. Look what the Psalmist said, “Yet do I not forget thy statutes.” He went right to his Bible. This is the place to go when you find your heart is getting cold and indifferent. Read some of the Psalms and you will get up off your knees or out of your chair with a different feeling. Job said, “God maketh my heart soft.” Let Him do the same thing for you. In the 94th verse we read, “I am thine, save me; for I have sought thy precepts.” This is the “I Am” of relationship. We are made for the Lord. Because you are His, ask Him to save you. Do Christians need to be saved? Yes, absolutely! Saved from lots of things: tobacco, profane language, gossip, wrong attitudes, stinginess, laziness, and so many other things. Look up and say, “Lord, I’m yours, save me from saying what I shouldn’t say and from thinking what I shouldn’t think. I do not want to be a hypocrite. I don’t want to hurt or to rob other people.” In verse 107, it is the “I Am” of sorrow, “I am afflicted very much.” Would you think that after you were saved you would not be afflicted or have trouble? When you are the Lord’s He desires to brighten you like fine diamonds. We may have to be placed on the grindstone. Things we hold most dear, friends, relatives, position, wealth, health, may all be taken away from us. The Lord is more anxious to make you what He wants you to be than He is to give you what you would like to have. He sees what you need and gives that to you. In verse 120, we read, “I am afraid of thy judgments.” Here is the “I Am” of faith. He speaks of a fear for what God says in His Word. This should be true of all of us, too. When an atheist tells me he doesn’t believe the Bible, I ask him what it is he doesn’t believe. When pinned down, he can never tell me. Then I ask him, “Isn’t it the fact that you don’t be- 8
When they got near the flame, they would shrivel, shrink, dry up and get hard and brittle, losing their elas ticity. If your shoes get wet it is not too good of an idea to put them on the furnace because when they dry out you won't be able to get your feet into them. Here is a man who THE DISAPPOINTED LORD '"I came to your church last Sunday I walked up and down the aisle I saw that your seat was vacant/' Said the Master with a smile. "Yes, I was at home" I answered. "Some folks from up northern way Drove down for a weekend visit, So we stayed at home all day." "Oh, I had an awful headache; I had a roast in the pan;" «, Or, "We overslept that morning. But, I go whenever I can." " I went to the morning service Not over two months ago. So much work must wait till Sunday There's not time for church, you know." ' •The Master gazed at me sadly, As He was about to speak, "My child," He replied, "are there not Six other days in the week?" " If all my other children Should treat Me the same as you, My House would be closed and de serted, Then what would lost sinners do?" I saw I had grieved my Master, / As slowly He turned away, And I vowed He'd not find me ab sent, Again on His Holy Day. has become like a dried-up, shriveled- skin bottle. The joy and the sweet ness are all gone. What is the trou ble? Things have gone all wrong. There is trouble in the home or the office. It may have started over a little inconsequential matter, but now there is hardness and bitterness. All sorts of things go wrong for all of us,
lieve there s a hell and that you’re going to it?” That is most generally the situation in every case. It is a good thing to have a fear of the Lord and His Word. I believe that God will carry out His holy plan. In verse 125, we have the “I Am” of service, “I am thy servant; give me understanding, that I may know thy testimonies.” Isn’t that lovely? The Lord wants you to serve Him with all your heart. He pays well! Look up to Him and say, “What do you want me to do next?” When a Christian friend of mine had his fac- YOUR PRAYERS FOR US When the battle is long, and I am weary with strife, When the legions of sin and evil are rife: I feel— and new courage flows into my life— That you are praying for us. When victory comes out of seeming defeat, And the dark lowering clouds shine with rainbows replete, 'Tis then that I know — and the assurance is sweet— That you are praying for us. I'll gird tighter my armor and advance in the fight. With a staunch heart and brave I'll battle for right, I'll retreat at no danger, and fear no might— If you keep praying for us. tory burned down he said to the Lord, “You burned up Your own stuff; I gave it to you long ago. What do you want me to do next?” Finally, in verse 141 there is the “I Am” of humility, “I am small and despised: yet do not I forget thy pre cepts.” When you are low you can’t fall down. When you say “I’m small and despised” no one hurts your feel ings. There isn’t anything to disturb. God bless you, beloved. May these sev eral “I Ams” be real to your heart and life each day until the Saviour takes us to glory.
Biola Book Room on La MiradaCampus providestu dents and friends with, latest in Christianbooks and other supplies. Shop ers are always welcometo the Campus store.
God washes the eyes with tears so that they may behold the land where tears shall be no more. * * . * TEMPER PILLS Have you heard, about medical sci ence’s experiments in the use of “bit terness pills”? Actually the research program has been given up on the drug known as benactyzine. It is sup posed to sweeten ill-tempered people. The tests were spread over a two and a half year period, yet the use of the medicine did not conclusively sup press or control outbursts of temper. According to scientific investigators, the drug seemed to create a distance between the individual and reality. It may be that there are certain pills which can relieve a person’s mental and physical tensions, sometimes causing irritation and emotional out bursts. Only God, however, can give an individual a new nature. In the epistle of James there is the warning, “But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not and lie not against the truth.” The Psalmist David rightly declared, “Create in me a clean heart, O God: and renew a right spirit within me.” * * * Godly talk does not always Imply a g'odly walk. 9
by Dr. Walter L. Wilson
BUILDERS FOR GOD
T he B ible contains a very interest ing message to various kinds of tradesmen. But one which particular ly interests me are those exhortations directed to builders. In Isaiah 66:1 the Lord says, “The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me?” Here we see that He wants each of us to be a builder. Each individual is building something for eternity. Think of the terrible record the un saved will have brought before the Lord at the Great White Throne. The child of God is to be building that which has permanency. What are you doing for Him that has such dura bility? The Saviour said, “What man of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost.” This is true in whatever you build. In constructing a building, the first thing which is necessary is the re moval of the dirt and trash from the base. Excavation is necessary for a proper foundation which sometimes is solid rock. Think of the debris we have in our lives. There are traditions from our elders, traditions from oth er religions, traditions from things our school teachers have told us about evolution, bad habits that are filthy and wrong, and many other things. The Bible rightly tells us, “For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ” (I Cor inthians 3:11). Make the Saviour your chief Cornerstone and build up on Him. Trust Him with your soul and give yourself wholly over to His perfect will as Redeemer from all sin. When they constructed the Empire State building in New York City the workmen said they felt like they were going down as deep into the ground as they would above it. It must have appeared that way. They drove piles down into granite in order to get solid footings.
After the careful base work is cared for, then a builder will usually put a heating plant in the basement. In Jude 21 we read, “Keep yourselves in the love of God.” You know how some children can become so thoughtful and good at Christmas. But God wants our hearts always warmed with His love. Thank God, we do not need to look to our own strength for such power. He gives us the precious Holy Spirit who energizes us. The Bible is always at hand, and with the Spirit’s illumination we can have our hearts warmed amid the coldness of the out side, Christ-rejecting world. As our building for God goes up we need a kitchen and a dining room. In John 6 :35, the Lord tells us, “I am the bread of life, he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.” But to grow spiritually in the house we are building, we must feast on this heavenly manna day by day. “Oh taste and see that the Lord is good” (Psalm 34:8). Then I think that it is a good idea to have some entertainment in the parlor. They do not build these rooms like they used to. In Hebrews 13:2 we are told, “Be not forgetful to enter tain strangers: for thereby some have e n t e r t a i n e d angels unawares.” So there is a need for a place where visitors and neighbors can come in and have the opportunity to see the prominence you have given to the things of God in your building. Talk over the wonders of the Lord in cre ation. Discuss with them what salva tion means and how it is obtained. The Saviour will make you happy and radiant as you build such a room in your own life. Every life has a real need for personal devotions. David said, “My meditation of him shall be sweet.” I like that. Do you meditate on His Word day and night? There is also a need for a music 10
building is a library. II Timothy 2:15 tells us to study to show ourselves approved unto God. The more you know the more influence you will have. Be informed on the things that are essential to life. Be ready thereby to give an answer to every man /that asketh you, a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear. Of course, you will need a bedroom. We are so restless. There must be a place where we can get away from the cares and worries and lean wholly upon our Saviour. Did you ever find that the more you worry about some thing the better off you became? Do you find that you get a better answer if you worry a while? Of course not, but this is the way we act. “Come unto me,” said the Lord Jesus. “Cast ing all your care upon Him, for He careth for you.” The Saviour wants to give us rest. Oh, how desperately we need it. Then there should be some toilet facilities in this house. Things get into our systems, our souls and hearts, that need to be washed out. Dirty hands don’t defile us, but those evil things from within our hearts. There must be someplace we can go to get rid of all these filthy things. Get alone with your Lord; confess it all to Him and let the precious blood of Christ cleanse you from all sin. Then there should be an attic in this house. We need to have a place where we can store away things that we may want to use in the future. Of course we also need an electrical sys tem to see where we are going. Jesus is our light and in Him there is no darkness at all. This can be a lovely house you are building for eternity. What have you done about it today? Sit down and count the cost. Decide, as far as you are concerned, that you are going to construct something that will last for eternity and something that will en able people to know that you belong to the Lord Jesus Christ; that you are saved by grace. What an unspeak able joy there is in building for all eternity. 11
Dr. Wilson at the Mike
Dr. Walter L. Wilson, this month's radio speaker, before theKBBI-BIOLA HOUR microphone.
room in the house. Ephesians 5:19 admonishes us, “Singing and making melody in your hearts to the Lord.” The devil does not like singing Chris tians, people who go around with a radiant spirit and a happy voice. No one wants to be around a person who is always grumpy and down in the dumps. There are some who seem to delight to find fault with everything and everybody. Think of the Gospel song: There is sunshine in my soul today, More glorious and bright, Than glows in any earthly sky For Jesus is my light. When somebody hurts your feelings can you sing that song? When things go wrong and the cake, that you were going to have for company at dinner, falls, can you sing “Hallelujah, ’tis done” ? A singing Christian cannot be whipped. This is the type of be liever who wins souls. David said, “Restore unto me the joy of thy sal vation. Then will I teach transgres sors thy ways, and then will sinners be converted unto thee.” Another important part of your
by Dr. Walter L. Wilson
THE LIFE OF FAITH
O NE OF the most blessed messages to be found in the entire Word of God is, “The just shall live by faith.” This occurs in Habakkuk 2:4, Romans 1:17, Galatians 3:11, and Hebrews 10:38. Have you ever stopped to realize how much we all live by faith? When ever I sit down in a chair I do it by faith. I do not examine the legs to see if they will hold me up. I eat my meals by faith. I trust the one who prepares my food to make it for my good. I never examine the plate with a microscope to see if it has any poison in it. Whenever I ride on an airplane it is by faith. I believe that the pilot knows what he is doing and that he can find that little narrow landing strip a thousand miles away even though it is in the middle of the night. We live by faith in everything we do, except religion. Isn’t it strange ? Abraham was more sure of God than of anything else in the world. But what kind of belief is acceptable to the Lord? Belief in God about na ture does not make one a Christian. Belief in God about history does not make one a Christian. Not until you believe what God says about His Son, and accept Him as your Saviour do you become a Christian. Abraham was more sure of God than anything else. When the Lord told him to do something, he went and did it. James tells us, “Was not Abraham our f a t h e r justified by works, when he had offered up Isaac his son upon the altar?” (James 2: 21). That is a strange expression. Would you say that a man who went out to kill his own boy was doing a good thing? Ask any religious person who teaches that men are saved by works how this is possible. He took the knife in his hand, bound the boy and put him on the altar. He was justified by that act. God said to him,
“You are a righteous man because you believed Me.” What he did there proved that he believed God. When we go out and give some potatoes to the poor, that does not prove that we believe anything except maybe that potatoes are good for them. You pay someone’s doctor’s bill but that does not prove you believe God. These are kind acts. All the good works we do (and there are not many of them to tell the honest truth), do not prove that we believe God. It will generally show that man is trying to buy salva tion by these good works. When God told Abraham to go out, not knowing whither he went, he went! Think, too, of the Apostle Paul. He sold himself out to Christ. Everything else became like shadows to him. That day when he met the Saviour on the way to Damascus, he gave himself over to Christ. He had been an enemy of the Lord. He was going there to kill the believers. The Saviour said, “Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? It is hard for you to kick against the pricks.” Paul wanted to know what the Lord would have him to do. From that moment on his whole ob ject in life was to get people to know the Saviour. We do not read how he lived. We do not read about his tak ing up offerings. Nobody got behind him and pledged their support. He just believed God. Consider David, a man full of glad ness and songs. Samuel anointed him when he was a teenager. He never referred to it later. He believed that God had called him. He was a king even when he was in the cave hiding from wicked Saul. He knew about this himself, but he did not say a word about it to anyone else. He just trust ed the Lord to give it to him in dije time. He did not kill Saul, his enemy, when he had several opportunities. He knew God would some day give him the kingdom. So he lived by faith.
in the way and has to be put away. What does God care about our talents or our gifts? In His grace He knows where we are and what we are He knows what excuses you are making. Beloved, He came to enable us to do everything that has to be done. “How' shall He not with Him freely give us all things” that pertain unto Godli ness and to eternal life. He has come FOUNDATION STONES I would not lose the hard things from my life, The rocks o'er which I stumbled long ago. The griefs and fears, the failures and mistakes, That tried and tested faith and pa tience so. I need them now; they make the ~ deep-laid wall, , The firm foundation-stones on which I raise— To mount therein from stair to higher stair— The lofty towers of my House of Praise. Soft was the roadside tuff to weary feet. And cool beneath the meadows where I fain had trod, And sweet beneath the trees to lie at rest And breathe the incense of the flow er-starred sod; But not on these might I securely build: Nor sand nor sod withstand the earth quake shock: I need the rough, hard boulders of the hills To set my house on everlasting rock. — Annie Johnson Flint to make us able messengers of His. Don’t say, “I’m nobody” because that is an insult to God. “There is a place by me” said the Lord to Moses, “and you can stand there and see my back parts.” “A place by me.” This is what we need. Get close to the Lord through His Holy Spirit. He wants to per form miracles in and through you. But get “I” out of the way and say, “Not I, but Christ.” 13
Mr. Merv Fishback (standing).ExecutiveAdministrator of theArizonaBible College, goes overdaily program heard on KHEP, Phoenix, with Mr. Jack Willis, station manager.
We as believers can. thank God for His demands upon us. He wants to make something out of us. He is in terested in our welfare. He gives us a voice to sing and then He watches to see what we do with it. Do we sing for His glory or do we repeat the vain and emp t y “clatter” of the world? If we live by faith, when He gives us a gift, we should begin using it for Him. He is worthy of it. Faith is living without scheming. The Lord wants us to live right. Faith doesn’t have any back door. It is not just trusting God while there is money in the bank account or when one is in good health. Faith walks alone with God; it needs nothing else. There was a woman going home from church when an atheist met her. He said, “I suppose you went up to church and believed God. I guess you would do anything He told you.” “Yes, I would,” she answered. “Well then, suppose God told you to jump through a stone wall. You would probably try it, would you not?” She said, “I cer tainly would. It is my business to do the jumping and it is God’s business to make the hole.” Now that is trust! Faith believes God will do the im possible and He does it. “The just shall live by faith.” But our little “I am” is selfish. When God says do something we usually respond with, “It cannot be done. I do not have any talents. I do not have any gifts. I cannot sing. I can’t, I can’t, I can’t.” “I” always gets
A cheap skate is always on thin ice with his friends. * * * LIVING THE WAY WE PRAY The average tongue has a double standard. In a certain home, as the family sat down to eat dinner, the father asked God’s blessing upon the food, thanking the Lord for His boun tiful goodness. Then, as they started to eat, the father said something about how tough the meat was, that the potatoes didn’t seem to be quite done, and the salad had evidentally been made too early for the lettuce was wilted. His daughter was puzzled. She asked, “Daddy, did God hear you a moment ago when you prayed?" He looked up for a moment and assured her, "Of course, dear.” Again she thoughtfully responded, “Then, daddy, did He hear you now while we’re talk ing at the table?” Again he nodded his head, “He most certainly did!” Still puzzled, the youngster tried to conclude, “Well then, which time did He believe?” What a picture is given of the tongue in the Bible. James says, “Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God. Out of the same mouth pro- ceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be” (James 3:9 and 10). We need to follow the leading of the Psalmist David who petitioned God, “Set a watch, 0 Lord, before my mouth: keep the door of my lips” (Psalm U l:3 ). * * * Our ability to meet with God in the prayer closet, is the measure of our success in staying WITH God out of it. * * * WHOSE BURDEN? God’s Word assures the Christian that He desires us to burden Him with that which burdens us. Peter encourages us to cast all of our care upon Christ, for we are the special object of His love. I f the load you are shouldering today, problems, pres sures, d isa p p o in tm e n ts , anxieties, 14
THE HANDIWORK OF GOD How perfectly trike science reveals the accuracy of Scripture, for as the Psalmist states, “We are fearfully and wonderfully made.” 4 s an exam ple, think of the human body temperar ture. I f it had been set any higher, we would bum up our tissues, if any less the cold would be unbearable and we would perish. This is true in nature, too, with the freezing point at 32 degrees. Any higher or lower wguld prove disastrous to man and beasts, as well as all plant life. It is also interesting to realize that oceans do not freeze at 32 degrees above zero. We can be thankful for that. In polar seas the yearly thawing would not be able to balance the yearly freezing and ice would accumulate throughout the centuries. To prevent such a calamity God put salt into the sea and arranged that evaporation takes nothing but fresh water back to the land. What an interesting substance wa ter is. Its molecules flock together as a blanket of snow descends in winter. The moisture forms clouds and shades us from the sun. As steam, it drives ponderous machinery. Did you know that if you take water apart and light a match to it, it would blow up? God puts it together and holds it together in just the proper balance. How wonderful the matchless han diwork of God. Of the Lord Jesus Christ, Paul writes under the inspira tion of the Holy Spirit, “And he is before all things, and by him all things consist” (hold together).
frustrations, are too heavy, ask your self, “Why am I carrying it when the Lord wants to?” We need not be weighted down when everything has been committed to Christ. A Christian one time told his friend with a bright and beaming face, “You know, I’m so happy be cause I’m greatly burdened!” His friend looked at him strangely until he heard the beautiful reason behind this strange paradox. The victorious believer explained, “I’ve given all my cares to Christ, and in their place, as the Scripture promises, He has daily loaded me with benefits” (Psalm 68). It is no wonder that there are so many confused and perplexed people when they continually carry their own loads. Blessings are what God wants to give you in exchange for your entrusting Him with all of your problems and concerns. * * * If you carry the Bible while you are young, it will carry you when you are old. * * * A DROP OF POISON A recent medical journal reported that there is enough bacteria in the human mouth which, if placed in the proper culture and then introduced into the water supply of an average sized city, would be poisonous enough to kill the entire population. A deadly drug need not be taken in large doses. Our newspapers carried the recent ar ticle about a Burbank, California woman who mistook a beaker of boil ing cyanide solution for coffee her first day at work in a metal’s firm. She sipped from it and died within 5 minutes. The last words she ever ut tered were, “What was it?” The com pany reported that the amber colored cyanide solution must be boiling hot when used in metal plating. Em ployees keep it in a gallon beaker on the stove. The coffee urn sits nearby on a box. The woman saw the beaker first and poured from it to her imme diate death. The Word of God tells us that the human tongue is an unruly evil filled with deadly poison. While it is true that no one can completely
Mr. Tery Rose (left) Biola Freshmen Counselor, talks withstudentsSharon Warkentin Hilts and GeorgeJones. Mr. Rose was blindedin Korea while fightingto save "Porkchop Hill."
control his own tongue, certainly the Holy Spirit desires to. The Bible re minds us, “Let no corrupt communi cation or (worthless speech) proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying (benefit ing you and others), that it may min ister grace (blessing) to the hearers” (Ephesians 1:29). * * * We lie to God in prayer if we do not rely on Him after we pray. * * * WHERE THE DIRT IS It wasnearing the endof summer and alittle girl’svacation at her grandmother’s was almost over. Her parents were coming to pick her up and the grandmother wanted to make sure that the house was all in order. Her granddaughter was helping with the dusting. But she couldn’t seem to get the piano to please her granny. Three times the little girl was told, “Go back and do it again!” Frus trated and confused, the child began to cry and explained, “Granny, don’t you understand? The dust isn’t on the piano, it’s right there on your own 15
glasses.” What a parable of life! We look at others and are so ready to complain and condemn jumping at conclusions and all the while not real izing that the dirt is in our own eyes. The Lord Jesus rightly said, “And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but perceivest not the beam that is in thine own eye? . . . Cast out first the beam out of thine own eye, and then shalt thou see clearly to pull out the mote that is in thy brother’s eye” (Luke 6:11-12). * * * An atheist cannot reason that a thiefcannot finda policeman. * * * THE WORLD'S WISDOM While studying Greek history chil dren in a Pomona, California gram mar school were offered a prize by their teacher for the one who wrote the most outstanding essay. Inter estingly enough it went to a little Mexican girl who had a composition of only three sentences and it was titled, “The Life of Socrates.” Here was her trio of thoughts: (1) Socra tes was a Greek. (2 ) Socrates went around giving advice to the people. (3) The people poisoned Socrates. The world is not interested in ad vice. There is the offense of the Cross in the Gospel ministry and people don’t want to hear the truth of God’s Word. In Paul’s letter to the Corin thian believers, he makes this evident as he forcefully writes: “For after that in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe” (I Corin thians 1:21). It may well be that the reason some people get lost in thought is that it is such unfamiliar territory to them. Apart from Christ, there is no true wisdom for it is the divine endowment of God; it is that price less gift which James recognizes when he declares, “Every good g ift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning” (James 1:17).
II isn't so much ability that God wants« but availability and pliability. * * * WHICH IS WORSE? Sociologists in our country are alarmed and concerned with the im moral and inconsistent growth of lying evident on every hand. What were once considered deliber ate lies are now just “exaggerations” of the truth. A little girl asked her mother, “Mommy, which is worse, to steal or to tell a lie?” The mother thought about it for a moment and then she said, “Tell me which you think?” The little girl rightly de fined it: “To tell a lie must be worse. I f you steal something you can always take it back, but a lie is forever.” Too often people are like the little boy who, when asked what a lie was, be came very pious and righteously de clared, “A lie is an abomination to the Lord, and a very present help in time of trouble.” * * * To know God'swill is man's greatest treasure, and to do His will is life's great est privilege. * * * MANAND DUST The late Dr. Edwin E. Slosson, a chemist of international fame, de clared, “The greatest miracle of the Bible is its chemical accuracy. The first book declares that man was made out of the dust of the ea/rth and this is literally and scientifically true. From the plain earth there are 16 different chemical elements. In the body there are those exact same chemical elements. How could Moses have known this long before the sci ence of chemistry came into exis tence? I can only say that God alone could have so inspired the writer of that day. True science and the Bible are never at odds. Should all of the space between the atoms in the body of a 200-pound man be removed and only the solid substance retained, he would be no bigger than a particle of dust.” While the Lord God formed man out of the dust of the ground 16
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BIOLA STEWARDSHIP REPRESENTATIVES *
BiolaStewardshipRepresentatives met
M annual sessionsat La Mirada. First row trom left to rightare Mr.
FrankWatson, Mr. Eugene Poole,Mr. Ray Weiskopf, director, and Mr. Jack Findlay. Standing from left to rightare Mr. Theron Debour, Rev. Wiliam Richards, Mr. RonaldBrightwel, Mr. Gary Boren,Mr. Edwin Johnson and Mr. Lawrence Cruzen.
and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, yet He remembers our frame, that we are but dust. Man who is dust can be spiritually productive only i f he is irrigated by the water of life! * * * The average Christian can stand adversity much better than he can prosperity. * * * THE HYPOCRITE AND CHURCH A frequent excuse some people make for not attending church is that there are too many hpocrites who go. Unfortunately, the assertion is some times correct. There was a very learned man, an unbeliever, who en joyed hearing the sermons of the pas tor. But, so that he would go unno
ticed, he always sat in the balcony. One day as he was leaving, however, he told the preacher frankly, “I like your sermons but I despise what I see from the balcony. After the service is over I see little groups of Chris tians gathering together in cliques, discussing this person and that one, and even condemning you. You know, if it weren’t for these hypocrites, I’d be a believer.” The pastor smiled and explained, “I f you’re interested in finding out what’s happening in your neighbor’s fireplace, don’t go to his housetop and look down the chimney. I f you do, you’ll only get smoke in your eyes. The church may be full of hypocrites, but remember, there’s always room for one more.” Strange, 17
change us? God is in the transform ing business. The Scriptural promise is, “I f any man be in Christ he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold all things are become new.” There is relief for our souls as we follow the invitation the Lord extends to us, “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). * While giving is a grace for the Christian, not giving is a disgrace. * * * SELF-DESTRUCTION It was envy and jealousy which lurked in the sinful depths of this earth’s first murder. That was what caused Cain to kill Abel, his brother. A deacon of a certain church was asked how the ministry was coming along. He was rather dejected and re plied sadly, “Well, we’re in bad straits; we’ve been slipping back. Things seem to be getting worse all the time. But thank the Lord, none of the other churches in the neighbor hood are doing any better.” How sad such a philosophy. Sometimes we get the mistaken idea that we elevate our standing when we bring someone else down to our own level. The Word of God warns us of the danger of having bitter envy and strife in our hearts. There is nothing in which we can glory. I f we do seek such prominence in pride we are only deceiving our selves. How many people rationalize their errors, excusing themselves. It is like the man who, seeking to re duce, when his wife and family aren’t looking, begins to eat like one con demned. He is only fooling himself. When there is jealousy in our hearts, we are only destroying our own selves. From the urisdom of the book of Proverbs we read: “For jealousy is the rage of a man: therefore he unll not spare in the day of vengeance. He will not regard any ransom; neither will he rest content, though thou giv- est many gifts” (Proverbs 6:84, 85). 18 * *
isn’t it, that while the business world is filled with hypocrisy we don’t stop working. Society itself is full of hy pocrisy, yet we don’t become hermits. Married life also contains hypocrisy and yet there are still marriages. God’s message of eternal life is di rected to the individual. We unll be held responsible, not for what others have done, or for how others have lived, but for our own response to the question, “What will you do with Jesus who is Christ the Lord?” Do not keep one eye on the temptation you have prayed God you would not be led into. * * * REFUGE FROM ABOVE A man complains that he had taken a vacation to get away from it all, b u t unfortunately, the t r i p was spoiled because he had to take himself along. It is true, we can’t get away from our dispositions or our thought patterns. A nervous person soon finds that there is plenty to upset him on a trip. One who has an uncontrolled lust finds temptations lurking even in vacation spots. The Psalmist David also felt his need of getting away from it all. He knew the pressures of responsibility and the tensions that come from trying to satisfy people. In introspection he asked, “How say ye to my soul, Flee as a bird to your mountain?” (Psalm 11:1). He soon realized that the strength and calm ness one needs is not to be found in escaping from the problems right where we are. Our refuge is not from around about, but from above. We need not just a new view but rather a different viewpoint. It is not an alti tude but an attitude we must face. What did David do? Listen to his tes timony, “I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth.” We may want the Lord to change our circumstances or other people about us, but how often have we gone to Him and honestly asked Him to
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