723
T h e
K i n g ' s
B u s i n e s s
November 1927
Thomas Chalmers calls attention to modes of transportation predicted in Scripture: It is; clear now that Isaiah foresaw, the locomotive? and railway (19:23;’ 35 :8,9 62:10 ; -66:20), As some think, he pre dicted the steamship (18:2). We believe that Nahum wrote of the automobile (2: 3, 4). And we have no doubt whatever that the airplane is referred to in Ezek. 38:9, 16, in describing the future Russian invasion of Palestine. It is' to be used also by the returning Jews, as in Isaiah 60 : 8 . It may be intended in Isaiah 31:5. A hint of the telegraph may be found in Job 38:35. —o— “What doth He require of thee but to . . . walk humbly with thy- God?" (Mic. 6 : 8 ). The Hebrew is especially impressive: " Bow low to walk with God," as if only so would sinning mortals hope to come near ,to the Holy One. —o— Christ’s resurrection—attributed to the Father (Rom. 6:4; Col. 2:12); Son (Jn. 10:18; Lk. 24:6, 7) ; Spirit (1 Pet. 3:18; Rom. 8:11) . ' -ftp—? It is well to remember that the word “light” in Jn. 5 :35 means “lamp or torch that has been kindled and so burns and shines.” Christ is The Light that kindles* but was never kindled. ■ — o — Salvation procured* (Rom. 5:6-8); Se cured ( Rom. 5 :10 R. V.) ; assured (Rom. 10:9 R. V.). — o — “The fear, q l the Lord is the beginning of knowledge” (Prov. 1:7). The margin renders it, “the principal part of knowl edge.” In other words, there is no real knowledge without the fear of the Lord. -.-o—- . “Woman, what have I to do with thee?” in Jn. 2:4 is literally : “What to me and thee,, lady?” It was the common Eastern way of saying: “We are thinking of two different things. Your viewpoint is not the same as mine.” Cf. 2 Sam. 16:10; 19:22.' In all passages where it occurs it is clear that it was not offensive, nor was Mary grieved or discouraged by Jesus’ remark. — o - - The longest chapter in the Old Testa ment is Psalm 119 with 176 verses. The shortest chapter is Psalm 117, having two verses;' •—o— Only one person was ever able to say: “I have finished the work,” Even Paul could not say it. He did say: “I have fin ished my course.” —o— The words “only begotten” in Jn. 1:14 mean “single of His kind.” They mark off our Lord’s unique sonship from that of the sons of God. — o — ■ Joshua could stop tKe course of the sun, but all his power could not stop the course of avarice. The sun stood still, but avarice went on- Joshua obtained a vic tory when the -sun stood still; but when avarice was at work Joshua was de feated.—Ambrose. — o — Abel was the first martyr for religion and the first recorded instance of per sonal faith. He was the first man who had to descend into- the grave, and he was carried through on the arms of redeeming love.
grace. We are sanctified in Christ; we are being sanctified more and more as we yield to Him ; and we shall be wholly sanctified when He comes. —o— Paradise an d Hades To -Miss C. C. The Scripture clearly teaches that dur ing the time the body of Christ lay in the tomb His spirit was in hades. Our Au thorized Versibn' translates it “hell,” but this is a very unfortunate translatif® and gives an entirely wrong impression, for hell is still future: Hades was the place of departed spirits, both saved and un saved; and before the ascension of Christ it is clear that it was divided into two di visions, the abodes' -respectively of the saved and of the lost. The saved were in thé part called paradise, or, as it j|?spóken of in Luke 16, Abraham’s bosom. The lost were separated by a great gulf’ fixed (Lk. 16:26)?.? Following the asfcensiqn- of Christ, so far as the unsaved dead are concerned, no change of their place is re vealed in Scripture. At the judgment_of the great white _ throne, hades will give them up. They will be judged and will pass into the final hell (Rev. 20:13, 14). A change’, however, has taken place in paradise, for it was taken, with theïa'scen- sion of Christ, into the immediate presence of God above and is spoken Of as up and not down. Eph. 4:8-10 indicates the time of the changê?;(when He ascended up on high). It ■ is immediately added that He had previously “descended first into the lower parts of the earth,” i.e„ the paradise division of hades. Read also? Lk. 23 :43 ; Acts 2:30, 31. During the present age, the saved who die immediately go to paradise above. The wicked dead wait in hades until the great-white-throne judgment. “I will venture to correct Prof. Trow bridge in his splendid article on Spiritual ■Hymns. He states that the first Pro testant hymn-book was published by Lu ther in 1524. The Moravians published the first one in 1501. We have a copy of .this first edition in our University at Prague.” To this Mr. Trowbridge replies : “We thank Mr. J. G. for his courteous reference to the article in question and he is correct as to the date and character of this early Moravian hymn-book. It is a rare book-including some of the hymns of Bishop Lucas.? But this was before the Reformation, and Luther’s publication of 1524 was the first output of hymns after the Protestant movement began. Possibly a better wording of thé passage referred to would have been ‘the first Reforma tion hymn-book.’” r B I B L E B R I E F S ■f «I Dead for sin—the Savior (1 Cor. 15: 3). Dead in sin—the sinner (Eph. 2:1). Dead to sin—the believer (Rom. 6:2), ?■ —o— The remarkable expression used by the apostle in Galatians 2:4, “unawares brought in,” is literally brought in side ways. This method has been practiced by Satan from the first, and it is the method- adopted by his servants today. (See 2 Pet. 2 : 1 , where “privily” also means side ways.) F irst P ro te sta n t Hymnal F rom J. G.
Genesis 14—Rescue of Lot—F a i t h Fighting. , Genesis IS—Covenant made—F a i t h Strengthened. Genesis 16—Marriage to Hagar—Faith Sinning. Genesis 17—Circumcision established— Faith Symbolized. Genesis 18—Lot Saved from Sodom— Faith Praying. Genesis 20—Life in Gerar—Faith De ceiving. Genesis 21—Isaac Born—F a i t h Re warded. Genesis 22—Sacrifice of Isaac—Faith Tested. Genesis 24—Marriage of Isaac—Faith Separating. Genesis 25—Death of Abraham—Faith Crowned. —I. N. DePuy. Dayton, Ohio. — o — Some of God’s E stim ates 1. The ornament of a meek and quiet spirit is of great price, 1 Pet. 3 :4. 2. He that is slow to' anger is better than the mighty, Prov. 16:35. 3. He that ruleth his spirit is better than he that taketh a city, Prov. 16:35. 4. The tongue' of.the just is as choice sil ver, Prov. 10 :20. 5. The. mouth of the righteous is a well of life, Prov. 10:11. 6 . The prayer of the upright is His de light, Prov. 15:8. 7. Those that remember Him He speaks o f as His jewels (Mai." 3:16), His special treasure (margin), even a pe culiar treasure (R. V.), 1?-------------------------------------------- ■# OUR MAIL BAG Jh ---------------------------------------------4 On Sanctification To Miss M. L. We notice your question about sancti fication. There are some strange teach ings on this subject, but' when we take the word itself, as used in Scripture, it is not difficult to understand. The word means primarily “to set apart.” In Gen. 2 :3 we read that God sanctified the Sab bath day; that is, He set it apart as a special, season. The same word is some times translated “saints;*S and in the Scripture sense a saint is one who has been set apart in Christ. There are three aspects of sanctification taught in the New Testament. When a person is truly born of the Holy Spirit, he is sanctified instantly; that is, set apart for God (Heb. 10:10; 1 Cor. 1:30). Scrip ture represents this as taking place simul taneously with our justification (1 Cor. 6 : 11 ), and our salvation is said to be “through sanctification” (2 Thess.-2:13; 1 Pet, 1:2). We then find that there is a progressive sanctification. The saved man is more and more set apart for God through the operation of the Holy Spirit, the Word of God and chastisements in his life (John 17:17; 2 Cor. 7 :1; the word “holiness” here is the same word as “sanctification”) (Heb. 12:9-11). When Christ comes to receive us and to raise our bodies from the grave; sancti fication will be complete. It is then that we -will be “wholly sanctified” (1 Thess. 5:23; cf. 1 Jn. 3:2-3). You will see from this that sanctifica tion is not necessarily a second work of
Made with FlippingBook flipbook maker