soul to the true Church, which is the body of Christ. There is no such thing as a Christian who is not a member of the body of Christ. OWNERSHIP OF EARTH Q. Does the world with its wealth belong to God or to Satan? A. The world and all it contains be long to God. “ The earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof” (Psa. 24:1). However, the devil and his people possess much of it at present. There is a difference between ownership and possession. I own my umbrella, but someone else who picked it up somewhere now possesses it. Christ will one day come and take posses sion, and -the uttermost parts of the earth will be included in His king dom. “ He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth” (Psa. 72:8). BORROWING OR TAKING? Q. Why did God tell the children of Israel to borrow jewels of silver and jewels of gold from the Egyptians, when He knew they would not return to Egypt to pay them back? (Ex. 11 : 2 ). A. You will find this expression used on several occasions in the book of Exodus. It does not mean borrow in the literal rendering of the term. The word is ask and is so translated literally from the original Hebrew, in the Revised Version. Why did God tell His people to ask these things from the Egyp- tions? Because they had earned them! For four hundred years they had been slaves, building cities for Pharaoh for which they never re ceived any wages. Therefore God told them to ask for what was theirs by right. When you read the book of Exodus carefully, you will find that one im portant reason why God told them to ask for these important jewels
was because they were to build the tabernacle which was to be a beau tiful, costly structure, temporary though it was. The golden candle stick alone, made from a talent of gold, cost $29,085 in our money (Ex. 25:39). Then let us consider the pieces of furniture covered with brass and gold. There were the sockets of silver for the boards and the mercy seat of pure gold. Re membering the precious stones in the breastplate and on the shoulders of the high priest, you can easily see that for this tabernacle alone Israel had to have great wealth. God pro vided it by giving them their just wages earned over a long period of time. SHEEP AND GOATS JUDGMENT Q. Reading Matthew 25 :32 ,1 under stand this to be a judgment on the earth, when Jesus separates the sheep from the goats. Where will the sheep and the goats go? A. Here we find that the nations will be judged at the return o f Christ, some to enter His millennial kingdom, others to go into everlast ing pun ishm en t. They are the “ sheep” and the “ goats” referred to in verse 31 to 46. The reward to the blessed, the sheep, will be that they will inherit the kingdom. To those on the left hand, the goats, He will say, as recorded in verse 41, “ De part from me, ye cursed, into ever lasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” It seems very clear that this judg ment, immediately following the tribulation, which is “ the time of Jacob’s trouble,” will be on the basis of the manner in which the nations treated God’s chosen people, Israel, Christ’s brethren according to the flesh, during that time of trouble. Then His covenant with Abraham will be literally fulfilled, “ I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee” (Gen. 12:3). 23
THE BACKSLIDER Q. What if a person has been truly converted, but goes back into the world? Does he lose his salvation? A. Consider this in regard to back sliders: (1) Many so-called “ back sliders” never did “ slide forward.” I mean by that they were never re generated. They were professors, but not possessors. (2) A real born-again Christian will not continue in known sin. He will confess it to the Lord and live for Christ, no matter how falter- ingly. (3) A real Christian can become a “ backslider” but he will be a car nal Christian and not a happy, sat isfied one. He will lose his reward at the judgment seat of Christ. (I Cor. 3:1-4. 11-16). God has made provi sion for his restoration: (I John 1 :9-2-6). (4) An apostate, one who finally and irrevocably denies Christ, is not the same as a backslidden Christian. BAPTISM OF THE SPIRIT Q. I have heard you say that every believer is baptized with the Spirit. Will you please tell me your author ity for such a statement? A. In his letter to the Corinthians (I Cor. 12:12, 13), Paul says, “ For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have all been made to drink into one Spirit.” When the Apostle wrote, saying, “We are all baptized into one body” by the Spir it, he was writing to the Corinthi ans, the most carnal of all the apos tolic churches. Paul made it very clear that “ the baptism of the Spirit” is that opera tion of the Spirit, by which a be liever is made a member of the body of Christ. The baptism of the Spirit is not an experience following con version; it is a dispensational act, whereby God unites the born-again JULY, 1966
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