Is This the T im e?
T HE press and radio are reporting the debate of the United Nations Or ganization over the proposed partition ing of Palestine. Those Christians who are taught in the Word of God are always greatly interested in any news items which con cern the return of the Jews to their homeland. According to the word of prophecy, we are led to believe that the Jews will return to Palestine and again will become a nation with its own rulers. This event is significant because in prophecy it heralds the near return of the Lord Jesus Christ to this earth. For the last fifty years or more, the Jews scattered from one end of the earth to the other, have indicated a revival of nationalism. The Zionist movement came into being because of the impelling de sire in the hearts of God’s ancient peo ple for a homeland of their own. This effort was foretold in the Word of God and is always inseparably bound up with the Second Advent of God’s Son. The question before us is this: Will the partitioning o f Palestine and the emergence of the Jewish nation be the beginning of that train of events which will first culminate in the short reign of the Antichrist, and then in the personal, visible return of the King of kings and Lord of lords? Dr. W. B. Riley was a frequent visitor at the Bible Institute of Los Angeles and the Church of the Open Door. Al ways when he stood up in the pulpit to preach, there would flow from his lips a powerful defense of the truth, an exaltation of the Lord Jesus Christ and an utterly sincere appeal to men and women, boys and girls, to surrender their hearts and lives to the Saviour. There will be no dearth of memorials to Dr. Riley’s memory. There is the stirring and fearless literature which has come i from his pen. Thousands of God’s children have been established in the faith by reading his books. There are the schools which he has founded, a Bible training institute, a Bible college and a seminary. The First Baptist Church of Minneapolis is a testimony to nearly 50 years as a pastor. But the most imposing memorial to the memory of W. B. Riley are those young men and women, who are today scattered the world around living and preaching the glorious gospel o f the Lord Jesus Christ, whose lives were influenced by this great Christian’s life. T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S A Spiritual Giant Departs S HORTLY before midnight on the evening of December 5, 1947, Dr. W. B. Riley turned on his sickbed and said to his wife, “ Goodbye, dear,” and departed to be with the Lord. Thus the Christian world became decidedly poorer through the loss of a great man of God, who has been on the firing line for Him more than threescore years.
THREE VITAL QUESTIONS CONCERNING MISSIONS— AN EDITORIAL W ELL over nineteen hundred years have passed since the death and resurrection of the Son of God. hearts, making them new and clean and different? Does the preaching o f Christ actually work? Is it, as it claims to be, the power of God unto salvation?
These centuries have witnessed the begin ning of the church, its phenomenal growth, its ebb and flow. It is safe to say, however, that never in all its his tory has the church been so potentially powerful to do the will of God as it is at this present hour. Yet, the truth of the matter is that the church is divided; leaders are occupied with unworthy en deavors, while the great call of Christ for world-wide missions goes unheeded. Here are three great questions which every church and every individual Chris tian ought to ask himself: Are Unbelievers Really Lost? I S it clear in your heart that the person who has not received the Lord Jesus Christ as His own individual Saviour is lost eternally? Are you convinced that those who have not opened the door of their beings to the gospel of Christ will spend eternity away from God, love, light, and Christian friends? This is a grave question and demands a serious answer. The Word of God is solemnly clear. “ There is none righteous, no, not one,” “ All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God,” “ The wages o f sin is death.” The entire Scripture insists that from the time o f Adam to the present moment, men and women, born in sin, are desperately in need of a Saviour. Pride, greed and selfishness are in men’s hearts, and as a result crime afflicts our earth. The Christian will never become vitally interested in missionary endeavor who is not wholly convinced in his heart that every last man, woman and child in the world who does not know Christ intimately is lost, without hope and without God. Will the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ Save Them? T HIS is the second question to which Christians must reply. Is that blessed gospel which we have known and loved able to reach down into the degra dation of sin and lift fallen men and women out of its clutches? Will the story of the crucifixion and the resurrec tion of the Son of God change sinful Page Four
You will find that strong missionary- minded Christians are more convinced of this fact than of anything else in life. God’s Word demonstrates this over and over again. Nicodemus, who came to Jesus by night, found new birth in be lieving the words of the Saviour. The sinful woman at the well drank deeply o f the Water of Life and became a new creature in Christ. Since apostolic times, literally thou sands upon thousands of brave men and brave women have left home and loved ones and, for love of Christ, have gone to the ends of the earth. In any gather ing of Christian people, there will be scores who will testify thankfully that this blessed story changed their lives. Yes, it is true, the gospel of the Lord Jesus is the answer to the world’s woe! What Are You, as a Christian, Going to Do About It? I T is possible for a Christian to be firmly convinced that men are lost and to be absolutely sure that the gospel will save, and yet be so lulled into leth argy that he fails to act upon this im perative need. We must understand that “ Now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day o f salvation.” The challenge of this present hour is that Christians everywhere should arise and unite in sending this glorious news to the ends of the earth. To be sure, our great adversary will oppose and offer all sorts of excuses for not engaging in this effort. Then, again, we must not expect men and women who are outside of Christ and thus spiritually ignorant and unable to understand, to sympathize with what we are doing. We can, how ever, be sure of this one all-important fact that this is the will of God. and we may expect the power of God to rest upon our efforts. Let Christians everywhere pray and unite for action. Let unim portant differences be forgotten. May the world feel the impact of a great Twen tieth Century Crusade for Christ throughout the mission fields of the world!
Made with FlippingBook flipbook maker