Jehovah’ (Prov. 20:27), and it is this that is set aglow when man is born again; and then God’s Spirit testifies with man’s spirit that he is a child of God. God cannot be known by the body, nor by the soul, but only by the spirit. And even the human spirit is incapable of finding out anything about God or of knowing God except by revelation of the Spirit of God.” Two verses from the New Testament state clearly that there is a difference between soul and spirit: Paul wrote, saying to the*Thessalonians, “ I pray God your whole spirit, soul and body be pre sented blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thess. 5:23). “ The word of God is quick [or living], and powerful, and sharper than any two- edged sword, piercing even to the divid ing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a d'scerner cf the thoughts and intents of the heart” (Heb. 4:12). I et me quote from my book God’s Plan of the Ages, pages 23, 24: “ With the possession of a spirit, man became God conscious, which fact determines an im passable gulf between the most sinful, the most degraded and the h'ghest form of animal life. “ Some time ago a noted professor took a chimpanzee into his home, that it might bfe a close companion with his own boy. As we might suppose, he did this in order to studv the animal closely. Later he declared that the chimpanzee acted in many ways as intelligently as his boy, for among other things he learned certain customs of table eti quette. He could use a knife, a fork, a spoon, even a table napkin. The professor thus endeavored to show; how closely related the animal kingdom is to man. Now all that he said about the formation of certain habits may be true; but there is one thing the boy could do that the ape could never do, no matter what his training or development might be. The ape could never reverently look up into the face of God and say. ‘My Father.’ It requires God-’ikeness to do that. It reouires the pn^se-sion rf a spirit. And only to man did God give this likeness to Himself when He created man and ‘breathed into his nostrils the breath of life.’ Man was not left to be guarded by instinct, as in the case of brute creation. To him God gave the intelligence to understand His will and His require ments.” Please explain the meaning of Luke 16:8,9: “And the Lord commended the unjust steward, b-'anse he had do^e wisely: for the children of this world
are in their generation wiser than the children of light. And I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends of the mam mon of unrighteousness ; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlast ing habitations.” The mammon of unrighteousness is money. Mammon is derived from the Greek mammonas, Latin mammona, Ara maic mamona, all of which mean riches. Riches are worshiped by the unright eous world. This parable teaches us the right use we Christians are to make of money: to send people to Heaven. The American Revised Version translates this verse: “ Make to yourselves friends by means of the mammon of unrighteous ness; that, when it shall fail, they may receive you into the eternal tabernacles.” This is right in line with Proverbs 11:30, and Daniel 12:3 which have to do with soul-winning. There is no better invest ment for your money. Camel Knees? H OW would you react to the sug gestion that your knees resembled those of a camel? Would your arteries suddenly be strained to the exploding point? Or would you secretly thank God for “the marks in my body?” According to an early Christian tra dition, the Apostle James was accused of “having knees like a camel.” He had spent so much time on his knees in prayer that they bore a marked resem blance to the calloused knees of that popular beast of burden. This is one tradition which seemingly is supported by the sacred record itself. James remarks, in the Biblical epistle bearing his name, “ The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much,” a statement which has been of vital importance to Christ’s followers through the centuries. This was not a sweet-sounding proverb, or the flashing fancy of a religious fanatic, but the fruits of action-packed years of experi menting with the vehicle of prayer. Who was more qualified to speak with such authority? Indeed, prayer had worked for James, because he had worked at prayer. And his knees bore the marks to prove it. Methinks it a difficult task to find such a sterling example in this present age. When Mr. Christian of the 20th Century discards a suit of clothing, it is usually because the seat of the trousers is badly worn, NOT THE KNEES! — Rev. Herbert J. Pugmire, Pastor of Galilean Baptist Church, Dallas, Texas T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
Dr. Louis T. Talbot
/ have a question concerning Matthew 7:6. I have heard a number of people say that “dogs” and “swine” are people. This I believe, but I cannot believe, as some, that if a person will not accept Christ at first approach, that we are “ casting our pearls before swine” to approach them again. Should we ap proach sinners only once? If this were true, some of us would never have been saved. We should not stop “beseeching” men that they be re conciled to God until there is absolutely no hope of their listening to us any more. And even when they will no longer receive our witness, we can “ pray with out ceasing” for them. I think this ques tion has arisen because of some people’s methods of unkind, harsh, persistent “ preaching at” the sinner. We need to be “wise as serpents and harmless as doves” in personal soul-winning. Give the Word in a loving, appeal'ng way as often as you can to as many people as you can. The Holy Spirit does the trans forming and convicting work in hearts, but He is depending on our lips to carry the message. The late Dr. Pettingill aptly answered your question in the following words (1.) “ Man has a body. In this he is like all of the creation of God throughout the animal and vegetable world. All brutes have liv’ng bodies, and so do the trees and plants. (2.1 “ Man has a soul. In this he is unlike the trees and plants, but he is like the lower animals. The soul is the seat of the emotions, the passions, the feelings, the desires, the likes and dislikes, the affections and the will. All these things we have in common with the beasts. (3.) “ Man has a spirit. In this he is unique among God’s crea tures. ‘the spirit of man is the candle of Explain the difference between body, soul and spirit?
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