dom of God” is anywhere where God reigns, whether it is in your heart and life, or in some other life; whether it is in the worship of the holy angels; whether it is in Heaven or on earth. Of course, the angels that fell through sin are not in the kingdom of God. It is an inclusive term, and applies to every place, everywhere, in Heaven and in earth, where God is obeyed. God’s kingdom is where He reigns. An un saved man is not in that kingdom. He is doing his own will, and will never be in that kingdom until he is born again. That is why Jesus said to Nicodemus (John 3:3), “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” With the kingdom of Heaven, we have nothing to do. It is Christ’s personal rule on earth. The term, the kingdom of Heaven, is confined to the book of Matthew alone. Matthew wrote particu larly for the Jews, proving that Jesus of Nazareth is their Messiah and prom ised King. It is the same kingdom as that described in Daniel 2:44. When the seventieth week of Daniel has run its course then He Himself will bring in His own kingdom. What does Jesus mean when He told Peter in John 21:18: “another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not” ? Jesus is here telling Peter how he should die. Our risen Lord said: “Verily, verily I say unto thee, When thou wast young, thou girdest thyself, and walk- edst whither thou wouldest: but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands [suggesting crucifix ion], and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not. This spake he, signifying by what death he should glorify God.” This is all the Scriptures reveal to us as to how Peter died. Tradition says that he was cruci fied with his head down. But that is only tradition, and may, or may not, have been so. Do you think that Mary and Martha had any faith or hope that Jesus would raise their brother, Lazarus, from the dead? I do not see any suggestion in John 11 that they had even such a hope. Do you? In the raising of Lazarus from the dead, which is certainly one of the greatest miracles, faith and hope seem to have completely vanished from the hearts of the sisters. While they believed in the ability of the Lord to heal their brother while he was still alive, their faith did not extend to the raising of the dead. Yet this mighty sign was
wrought by Christ in spite of their lack of faith (John 11:1-44). We must not conclude, however, that Christ made faith an indispensable re-' quirement for healing, for He did not. Some of His miracles were wrought without any reference whatsoever to faith. In fact some who were healed had no inkling that the Lord was about to perform a miracle. Luke 1:15 sheds light on this ques tion. The verse quoted concerns John the Baptist; it reads “ For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink.” Notice that you have a difference here between “wine” and “ strong drink.” The wine would be unfermented; the strong drink, fermented. I do not profess to know just what the wine at the mar riage feast was like, but I do know that our sinless Saviour, throughout His in spired Word, warns against the use of intoxicating liquor, and that He would have no part in creating a thing that would cause one of His creatures to sin. In Romans 14:21, we read: “ It is good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor anything whereby thy brother stumbleth, or is offended, or is made weak.” We should abstain, not only from wine, but also from anything that would cause the weaker brother to stumble. I f W e Only Understood Could we but draw back the curtains That surround each other’s lives, See the naked hearts and spirits, Know what spurs the action gives, Often we would find it better, If we only understood. Could we judge all deeds by motives, See the good and bad within, Often we should love the sinner All the while we loathed the sin. Could we know the powers working In the heart's integrity We should judge each other’s errors With more patient charity. Was the wine the Lord made at the marriage in Cana fermented? Oh, we judge each other harshly Knowing not life's hidden force. Knowing not the fount of action Is less turbid at its source. Seeing not amid the evil All the golden grains of good. We should love each other better If we only understood. —Anon. T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
Dr. Louis T. Talbot
Why were concubinage and polygamy permitted in Israel, especially in view of the seventh commandment? The fact that the law forbade adul tery is evidence that polygamy and con cubinage were contrary to God’s will. Trouble and tragedy followed its prac tice as the Old Testament accounts prove. It is clear from the account of i;he creation of woman in Genesis 2, and Jesus’ own reference to it in Matthew 19:3-12, that God’s original plan for the home was one husband and one wife. Israel adopted the sins of the heathen nations around her. We must remember that they did not have the full light of God’s revelation as we do today, and those men whose lives seem to us so sin ful were the only instruments through which God could reveal His truth at all. Acts 17:30, R.V., throws much light upon this question: “ The times of ig norance therefore God overlooked ; but now he commandeth men that they should all everywhere repent.” What is the meaning of Matthew 16:28: “ Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom"? This is a prediction of the transfigu ration of Christ which took place six days after this statement fell from the lips of the Son of God, as recorded in the 17th chapter of Matthew. In Mark 9 the prediction is included in the same chapter describing the transfiguration. Of course, there were no chapter di visions in the original Greek in which the New Testament was written. It is profitable to read what Dr. Luke records in the ninth chapter of his Gospel (vv. 27-36). Will you please explain what is the difference, if any, between “ the kingdom of God” and “ the kingdom of heaven” ? Yes, there is a difference. “ The king- Page Six
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