that God w ill answer. “ And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive” (Matt. 21:22). “ According to your faith be it unto you” (Matt. 9:29). 5. W e must abide in Him: “ If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you” (John 15:7). “ And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight” (I John 3:22). 6. W e must pray “ with thanks giving,” praising God for our salva tion and for His providences. (See Phil. 4:6.) Prayer and praise should ever go hand in hand. Many other Scriptures might be given on this subject. IS W IC K E DN E S S SP IR ITUA L ? Q. What is meant in Eph. 6:12 by “ spiritual wickedness” ? How can any wickedness be “spiritual” ? A. The apostle is not using the word “ spiritual” to mean something to be desired, pertaining to the Holy Spirit, but rather to describe the power of Satan and his hosts. The devil is a fallen angel. (See. Isa. 14:12-17; Ezek. 28:12-19.) As such, he is a spirit being. Man is “ flesh and blood,” and therefore unequally matched against his adversary, Satan, who is far more powerful than he. As human beings “ we wrestle not against flesh and blood [other human beings], but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wicked- ness in high places” (Eph. 6:12). Note the translation of this verse in the American Standard Version of 1901: “ For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the prin cipalities, against the powers, against the world-rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wicked ness in the heavenly places.”
ance of angels. Was this because the angels were holy, and in their pres ence man was conscious of his sinful ness? A. Undoubtedly. The very fact that the appearances were supernatural also greatly troubled those to whom the holy angels appeared. However, when we get to heaven, the sight of all the myriads of angels and of the archangel will not trouble us, for heaven will be “home.” Home is the place where there is no embarrass ment and no strangeness. One of the most beautiful terms for heaven is found in the word “ home.” We shall not be troubled there. We shall rejoice to look upon the sinless Son of God, unafraid in His presence, because we are washed in His precious blood. PRESCR IPT ION FOR PRAYER Q. What are the conditions to an swered prayer? A. Let me merely outline briefly some of the conditions to answered prayer: 1. W e must pray to the Father in the name of the Son, even as our Lord said: “Whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask anything in my name, I will do it” (John 14:13, 14; cf. John 16:24). 2. W e must pray for God’s glory, not for selfish ends, “ that the Father may be glorified in the Son” (John 14:13). 3. W e must pray according to God’s will. “We know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit himself maketh intercession for us . . . according to the will of God” (Rom. 8:26,27). “ And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask anything according to his will, he heareth us: and if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him” (I John 5:14,15). 4. W e must pray in faith, believing
BA P T ISM BY THE SP IR IT Q. What is meant by the words of John the Baptist, recorded in Matt. 3:11: “ He that cometh after me is mightier than I. . . . H e shall baptize you with the H oly Ghost, and with fire”? Is a believer baptized with fire, as well as with the Holy Spirit? A. Not at all. John was speaking to a mixed company of the saved and the unsaved. The saved were to be bap tized with the Holy Spirit. The un saved were to be baptized with the Holy Spirit. The unsaved were to be baptized with the fire of judgment at the return of Christ. Verse 12 makes it very clear that this is the meaning of John’s words: “Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the gamer; but he w ill burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” The doctrine concerning the church, re vealed later by Paul, comes in be tween the preaching of John the Bap tist and the return of Christ in glory. You will note in Acts 1:4,5 that, just before His ascension into heaven, our Lord referred to John’s words, and told His disciples to “ tarry in Jerusa lem” to “wait for the promise of the Father.” Then He added, “ For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.” In addressing believers, the risen Lord made no reference to fire, for believers shall not “ come into judgment,” but have “ passed out of death into life” (John 5:24). Compare these passages with II Thess. 2:7-9: “The Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire taking ven geance on them that know not God, and obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ . . .” A PPEA R AN C E OF ANGELS Q. W e often read in the Bible of how people were “ troubled ’ at the appear-
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