blessing. Can God thus be bargained with? A. I do not look upon this as a bar gain with God. There is no question at all but that in many cases, under great emotional strain or danger to life, men and women have pleaded, “ Lord, spare my life, and I will serve you better,” and that there have been wonderful deliverances. I think this is due to the mercy of God, not to the promises of the distressed ones. How ever, we must not overlook the teach ing of chastening for the child of God in the Word. “He chasteneth every son whom he receiveth.” He chastens us for our spiritual welfare and often when the fires of God’s chastening come, we see ourselves and our sins and thus He has accom plished His purpose and can mitigate the punishment as it pleases Him. I think the wonderful account of Hezekiah’s experience is a case in point, as described in Isaiah 38:1-8. How much attention God gives to the promises of people under these Circumstances is known only to Him. He sees the heart and knows how sin cere we are and whether we will do the thing we say. In all prayer for all things, our attitude should be: “ If it be TTiy will, O God.” WAS CAIN SAVED? Q. Is there anything in the Bible to indicate that Cain was ever saved? A. No. Quite the contrary. There is everything to imply that he died a lost soul. In the first place, he tried to offer a bloodless sacrifice to God, the work of his own hands — and this was in open rebellion against God. In the second place, we read in Gene sis 4:16: “ Cain went out from the presence of the Lord.” Having turned his back upon God, he and his de scendants built a godless civilization which became so corrupt that it had to be wiped out in the flood. Hebrews 11:4 indicates that Cain’s offering was not made in faith, as was Abel’s. Abel brought a lamb, the type of the Lamb of God, Christ.
inthians, 12:7-10 he tells us that, lest he should “ be exalted above meas ure,” become proud because of the revelation given unto him from God, he was given a “ thorn in the flesh,” to keep him humble. Bible students gen erally agree that this “ thorn in the flesh” was very poor eyesight. Paul prayed thrice that it might be re moved; but God said, rather, “My grace is sufficient for thee; for my strength is made perfect in weak ness.” CHRIST AND HIS MOTHER Q. Why did the Lord Jesus Christ ad dress His mother as “ woman” as in John 2:4? Was this not a title of dis respect? A. Not at all. When Jesus was on the cross, He addressed her in the same way: “When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son!” (John 19:26). It is thought by some that in those days the word woman was also equal to our word “lady.” It was a title of respect; for when one woman went to Jesus, exercising great faith, and He wished to commend her, He said, “ 0 woman, great is thy faith” (Matt. 15:28). There is, however, no evidence that the Lord Jesus ever used the title “mother” when speaking to Mary after He entered upon His public min istry. A new relationship had been established the moment He stepped out of His home life at Nazareth, and began His ministry. (Compare Matt. 12:46-50). From that time on, it was His supernatural parentage that He emphasized — that He was the only begotten Son of the Father in Hea ven. A VOW WITH GOD Q. Many times I have heard or read by some alleged Christian witness the statement to the effect that he vowed to do thus and so IF God spared his life or gave him some particular
ASSURANCE OF SALVATION Q. The expression in Rev. 3:5 about blotting one’s name out of the book of life troubles me. Is anyone’s name so blotted out? A. You read that passage again. It is a blessed assurance, not a threat, “He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life.” That is one place vtfhere our names will remain forever. In the church at Sardis, according to the Apostle John, there were only a few who were saved. The church had a reputation of being spiritually alive but it was “ ready to die.” In other words, here was a church on its last legs . . . so the few true believers there needed just such assurance as this verse gives us. Another passage often quoted in this connection is Revela tion 22:19 which the American Stan dard Version (1901) has corrected to read: “ If any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the tree of life, and out of the holy city, which are written in this book.” The person thus referred to is not a saved person, whose name was ever written in the Lamb’s book of life. We need to search the Scrip tures and not jump to conclusions based upon one passage. Compare Scripture with Scripture and there will be no contradiction. HEALING PROMISED? Q. When we pray for the restoration of a dear one’s health, should we add, “ Thy w ill be done?” I have been told that, to do this, shows a lack of faith, and that we are to claim heal ing. A . In matters like bodily healing, we should be submissive to the will of God; in fact, we should always glory in the will of God, vwhatever that will should bring. Sometimes it is contrary to the will of God that we should be healed, as in the case of Paul. In Second Cor
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THE KING'S BUSINESS
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