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TH E K I N G ’ S B U S I NE S S
couraging to consider the hosts of young people in Bible institutes, colleges, and seminaries who, out of their love for the Lord, are preparing for His blessed service. It warms the heart to think of Christian laymen, who use every opportunity to witness for Christ. We call to mind with gratitude the self-sacrificing missionaries, the faithful pastors, Bible teachers and evangelists in our own land and around the globe. Thank God for their Heaven-sent eagerness to serve Christ! What a refreshing contrast to the prevailing apathy of multi tudes of professing Christians! T^HEN the meal under the tree in Abraham’s front ' ' yard was over, the Lord indicated the purpose of His visit. He had corné to bring a blessing. Enemies of God have His holy wrath to fear, but friends of His may expect good from every contact with Him. The Lord reiterated to Abraham His promise of a son; and this time He specified the time of his birth: “when the season oometh round” (Gen. 18:10, 14 R.V.). In her unbelief, Sarah laughed, but she laughed for the last time. The searching questiop: “ Is any thing too hard for the Lord?” (Gen. 18:14) overcame her doubts. In stead of going down in history as an undesirable ex ample of unbelief, she is on the Honor Roll of the eleventh chapter of Hebrews as a heroine of faith. "Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised. Therefore sprang there even of one, and him as good as dead, so many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as the sand which is by the sea shore innumerable” (Heb. 11:11,12). This is significant. The Lord by His grace produced such faith in Sarah’s heart that He was able through her to send into the world not only Isaac, but the entire Jewish nation, and the Lord Jesus Himself, the “son of Abraham” (Matt. 1:1). Do we, like Sarah, ridicule the possibility of our becom ing fruitful for God? Do we look at our natural limita tions, and foolishly limit the omnipotent God? Let us rather believe His promise: “He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, from within him shall flow rivers of living water” (John 7:38 R. V.). TÏ7E discover too that God revealed His secrets to His ''fr ie n d Abraham. “Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do?” He asks. It would not be fitting to withhold information from such a close friend. So we find the Lord of Heaven taking into His confidence a humble man. The cry of Sodom and Gomorrah was heartbreaking; their sin was grievous; judgment was about to fall. Abraham must know about this matter. We envy those who are “in the know,” who have “inside information” respecting worldly affairs. How much greater is the honor bestowed upon those who share God’s secrets! “The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him,” states the Psalmist (Psa. 25:14). Our minds turn'to Isaiah, to Daniel, to Paul, to John and to other prophets who were in God’s confidence. How about our selves? God will never use any of us to bring some new revelation to the world as has been falsely claimed by some; His revelation is complete. But through His written Word He speaks to us, telling us of His plans for the future of the world. Although anyone in a civi lized land can buy a Bible for a mere trifle, only friends of God hear His voice in the Scriptures. To the world this subject is but foolishness. Only to His friends does the Lord Jesus make known the things that He has heard of His Father (John 15:15). T^E see Abraham taking advantage of his position to ’ ' intercede with his Friend. The impending doom of the cities of the plain makes an impact upon his heart. Lot lives down there in Sodom. What about him? So Abraham prays; he pleads boldly. iHs pétition is grant ed, too, in that Lot at least Is delivered from destruction. Is this our experience? Do the prophecies of the awful
days which lie ahead drive us to prayer? Does the teaching of the Word of God concerning eternal punish ment fill us with concern for the lost which finds ex pression in fervent intercessory prayer that they may be saved? AS friends of God, let us seek to find out His secrets; let us be interested in the things that are upon His heart; and let us do His blessed will with joyful hearts. We are the most favored of all His creation because through Calvary we may enjoy such an intimate rela tionship as friendship with Deity. THIS MON TH ’S WRITERS REV. MARTIN O. MASSINGER, President, the Dallas Bible Institute, Dallas, Tex. DR. W. B. RILEY, President of Northwestern Theo logical Seminary and Bible Training School, Minneapolis, Minn. REV. G. M, CLEMENT, Pastor of the Hughson Street Baptist Church, Hamilton, Ont. DR. K. OWEN WHITE, Pastor of the Metropolitan Baptist Church, Washington, D. C. REV. W ILLIAM McCARRELL, Pastor of Cicero Bible Church, Cicero, III. DR. FRANK E. LINDGREN, Assistant Pastor of the Church of the Open Door, Los Angeles, Calif. DR. JOHN A. HUBBARD, Head of the Department of English Bible of the Bible Institute of Los Angeles, Calif.. DR, PAUL R. BAUMAN, Vice-President, and Head of the Department of Apologetics and Theology of the Bible Institute of Los Angeles, Calif. DR. JOHN R. TURNBULL, Founder and Director of The World Evangelization Service, Flint, Mich. Feast of Good Things "DEGINNING Sunday, January 20, and continu- ing through the following S u n d a y , the eleventh annual Torrey Memorial Conference will convene in the great auditorium of the Church of the Open Door. Here is another opportunity for the people of Southern California to listen to God’s Word proclaimed in a most challenging and informative way. Now that gasoline is again available, it is expected that hosts of people will make plans to be here to drink in the truths of the Scriptures. According to Dean Samuel H. Sutherland, who is in charge of the arrangements, the speakers this year will’ include: Dr. C. L. Feinberg of the Dallas Theological Seminary, Dallas, Tex. Dr. John Linton, Scotch evangelist of Wheaton, 111 . Dr. George McNeely, Elizabeth Avenue Baptist Church, Newark, N. J. Dr. George A. Palmer, Director “Morning Cheer Broadcast,” Philadelphia, Pa. Dr. Walter Lewis Wilson, President, Kansas City Bible College, Kansas City, Mo. Dr. J. Renwick McCullough of the First Presby terian Church, Tacoma, Wash. There will be services daily: 8:30, 9:30, 10:30 a.m., and 2:00, 3:00, 7:00, and 8:00 p.m. There will be simultaneous conferences in Long Beach at the First Brethren Church, in Pasadena at the Lincoln Avenue Presbyterian Church, and in Santa Ana at the Calvary Church. A complete program is available and may be secured by writing to the Bible Institute of Los Angeles,. 558 So. Hope Street, Los Angeles 13, California.
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