does not in any wise diminish the blessedness of your salvation. As you realize what the Scripture tells us concerning baptism, there is no reason why you shouldn’t go ahead and enter into this blessed act. People will not think anything is amiss. You or the pastor can make it plain that you were saved sometime before. No doubt the church friends rejoice in your stand for the Saviour. Q . Escondido, Calif. — “Is discourage ment sin ? Don’t all people become dis couraged, at least at tim es?” A. Yes, s om e tim e s discouragement can be sinful. It may indicate a lack of trust as fa r as the Lord’s guid ance and providence is concerned. We read, “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee, because he trusteth in thee.” The se cret of overcoming defeat in our spirits is to keep our minds stayed on the Lord Jesus Christ. When we con tinually think about ourselves, dis couragement is only a natural conse quence. This is all a result of pride. On the other hand there are discour agements which perhaps would be bet ter termed “burdens” which need not be sinful. Paul spoke of being bur dened in connection with the work of the churches. This leads to a tremen dous weight of responsibility a con cerned Christian worker must carry. The wonderful part of it is that we can roll even these burdens on the Lord (I Peter 5 :7 ). When one keeps hugging a situation to himself until he becomes despondent, melancholy and morose, he will not be able to lift his spiritual eyes to God. This is a sign of a lack of faith, and may be called sin. The Psalmist David declared, “What time I am afraid, I will trust the Lord.” Again, he testified, “De light thyself in the Lord, and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.” Too frequently our frustrations come from wanting things for ourselves rather than seeking the Lord first (Matt. 6 :3 3 ). Think of others who are less fortunate than you are, and you will find plenty for which to praise the Lord.
Q . Sacramento, Calif ---- “Will you please explain Matthew 13:15? H ere Jesu s explains to H is disciples why He has spoken in parables. It almost sounds as i f H e doesn’t w ish all people to know the truth. I can’t believe such would be the meaning o f this verse. Can you help m e?” A. Read the passage carefully. He re fers to a quotation taken from Isaiah. When people don’t want to listen to the truth of God their hearts become hardened. As in nature where the same sun causes plants to grow and hardens also the clay, so spiritually speaking some men are drawn to Christ while others just go farther from Him. The first chapter of Ro mans gives us an excellent picture of this. Q . Fresno, Calif.— “Why did the Lord use saliva to anoint the blind man’s eyes?" A. This is found in John 9:6. No one knows why the Lord made a pad of clay in such a fashion. Sometimes the Lord healed instantaneously and other times He used intermediate means. Our Lord was not bound by the laws of time or space such as we know them to be. This is an evidence of His absolute sovereignty. He has com mand over all the elements. Q . Portland, Ore. — “Did Gehazi con tinue as E lish a’s servant a fte r he was sm itten unth leprosy?” A. This is taken from the fifth chap ter of II Kings. It is the thrilling ac count of how Naaman, a military leader, was healed of the dread dis ease of leprosy by following Elisha’s command. As a result the captain be came a believer in the God of Israel. He wanted to give a g ift to Elisha as a sign of appreciation. Elisha would not accept it, for he rightly wanted Naaman to worship the Lord without any feeling that he had done some thing to merit his healing. Since Elisha could not see well, Gehazi, his servant, decided on a cunning plan. 17
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