the where nor . the when. It is not whether we were saved, but whether we are saved. That question is deter mined by our acceptance o f such Scrip tures as Ephesians 2:8,9; Romans 10:9,19; John 1:12. A woman came to me, worrying be cause she did not know when she was saved. I said to her, “ Do you believe now, today, that Jesus Christ is the Son of God who died for you, and is He your personal Saviour?” Her face brightened and she said, “ Oh, yes, I do believe that.” “ Then stop worrying about what you cannot remember, and rejoice in your present salvation,” I replied. C bj Is it wrong fo r the Christian to drink sweet wine? According to the best dictionaries, wine, in the strict sense of the word, is a liquor which contains alcohol, and when consumed in quantity, results in drunk enness. The term sweet pertains to the degree of sugar contained in the wine. In the light of this definition and its relationship to the fact that the Chris tian is exhorted to be an example of holy living, to drink wine, whether or not to the point o f intoxication, is wrong (Rom. 13:13; 14:21; 2 Cor. 6:17; Phil. 2:15; 1 Tim. 4:12, 2 Pet. 3:14). Much o f the argument in favor of the drinking of wine is based on the fact that our Lord turned the water into wine at the wedding feast in Cana of, Galilee (John 2:1-11). Oinos is the Greek word translated wine in this pass age and it may mean either intoxicating liquor, or unfermented grape juice. The particular meaning is determined by the context. Every true Christian will agree that to believe that there was drunkenness in the presence o f our Lord at that feast would be unthinkable. In the following Scriptures, wine is classed with “ strong drink,” and is shown to be a hindrance to the perform ance of Christian service, and to re ceiving physical and spiritual blessings from God: Leviticus 10:9, 10; Judges 13:4; Proverbs 20:1. I f the sender of this question had in mind only ordinary, unfermented grape juice which is a non-intoxicating bev erage, there certainly is no harm in serving and drinking it. ☆ ☆ ☆ |—| USH, the little King is sleeping, There He lies upon the straw, Close beside Him is His mother, Angels kneel in raptured awe.. See, to mark the place He lies in, One bright star sends forth a glow;
Please explain Revelation 2:10: “ Ye shall have tribulation ten clays: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give.thee a crown of life.” These words were written to the church at Smyrna. That church, of course, was a literal church in Asia, and exactly what was prophesied happened there. But, in another sense, the letters to the churches, recorded in Revelation, also have a message for the church today. We know that this is true be cause o f the injunction: “He that hath an ear, let him hear” (Rev. 2:7,11). Thus when God wrote to the church at Smyrna, he was giving a message to all of us. The “ ten days” suggest a little while. This expression, “ a little while,” is found in John 16 and also in Hebrews. How we should thank God that, for us who are His children through faith in Jesus Christ, all sorrows and difficulties can last only for “ a little while” ! ®9 ' «9 ' «9 What is meant by the clause “for then must ye needs go out o f the world” (1 Cor. 5:10)? The apostle, in this entire chapter, is exhorting Christians to live a life sepa rated from the godless world. Note verses 9 and 10: “ I wrote unto you in an epistle not to company with forni cators: Yet not altogether with the fornicators of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or with idol aters; for then must ye needs go out of the world.” Then he adds in the following verses, “ But . . . if any man that is called a brother [i.e., a Christian] be a fornicator .. . . put away from among yourselves that wicked person.” This ,is but another way of saying that, as Christians, living in a sinful world, we must of necessity come in contact with ungodly and immoral men. In the world o f business, fo r example, we must have dealings with the un godly. Otherwise, “ we must needs go out o f the world.” God does not intend that we should go into monastic se clusion. Nor does He always take us home to heaven as soon as we are saved. We can not help what the ungodly do. But when it comes to a matter of church discipline, personal purity, and keeping company with professing Christians, whose lives dishonor the name o f Christ, then God says we must put them away from us. *9 *9 «9 7 do not know when I was saved; does that mean that I have not been converted? There are many truly born-again peo ple who accepted Christ in their youth, and who cannot remember any o f the details of that day when they received the Saviour into their hearts. Of course, it is a great satisfaction to know the very spot, and the day and hour when this transaction for eternity took place. The vital thing, however, is neither
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What is meant by being “ baptized for the dead” (1 Cor. 15:29)? This is an important question; for the Mormon doctrine is built upon an er roneous interpretation of this text. The Mormons claim that baptism is absolute ly essential to salvation; that if one should die unbaptized, a friend here on earth could be baptized as his proxy, the credit for this act being applied to the man dead. This is the Mormon’s interpretation o f the text, “ baptized for the dead.” Of course, there is not a vestige of Scripture to substantiate such a per version o f the truth. Paul’s argument all through First Cor inthians 15 is that Christ is risen from the dead, and that because He lives, we too shall live. The resurrection of Christ is the foundation stone of Chris tianity. Without it, our faith is vain, and we are still in our sins. In the resurrection o f Christ, God demonstrat ed the sufficiency and the efficacy of the redemption price that our Lord paid when He died on Calvary. Baptism is a picture of our associa tion with Christ in His death and res urrection. It speaks not only of death, but also o f our being risen with Him. But if Christ is not risen from the dead, as some evidently contended, then, as Paul asked, “What shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all ? why are they then baptized for the dead?” (1 Cor. 15:29). In .other words, if Christ be not risen from the dead, then we have been baptized unto a dead man, and o f what significance or value could that be ? Baptism speaks o f resurrection, as well as o f death; but if Christ be not risen, the ordinance o f baptism loses all of its significance; for then we should have been baptized for (i. e., “ unto” ) the dead (or “ a dead man” ), which would have no meaning at all. The whole trend o f the argument Paul follows in this chapter makes it con clusive that this is what Paul is talk ing .about; fo r he states in verse 20: “ But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them
Hush, the little King is sleeping, Step you lightly. Speak you low.
G. E. Corvesor.
☆ ☆ ☆ THE K I N G ' S B U S I NE S S
that slept.” Page Sixteen
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