212 graved stationery decision reply cards, and postage to reach the 1,000 seniors in the graduating class. So evident was the hand of the Lord in the initial effort that the Biola students decided to contact the remaining underclass men of the university. Having obtained the required permission, they spent hours on the university campus mak ing lists of students, while other In stitute young people assembled in the Biola social parlor to prepare, address, and mail the letters. A contribution box was placed in the Institute lobby, into which the students, acting of their free will, poured more than $100 of tithe money and other offerings, eager, that the Word of God might go forth. Daily prayer meetings were held in which spe cial request was made that the Lord would bless His Word. From Peter Stam III, Director of the Scripture Distribution Society, at.Whea ton College, came this note of encour agement : “Please give our hearty thanks to the students of Biola for the fine cooperation they have given in send ing out God’s Word to students who need it so badly. It is great to see the students of two Christian schools working together in this way. The Gospels are paid for by Wheaton students and seat out by you folks. Let us pray together that the Lord may richly bless His Word to the salvation of many souls.” By Monday morning, April 22, all was in readiness for the mailing of the letters. The plan was that interested Institute students would be responsible for contributing the postage for a given number of letters. It was suggested that if each student mailed nine of these letters, the entire lot could be sent out. As the letters were taken to be mailed, the one who took them received a list of the names and addresses of the per sons to whom the envelopes were ad dressed, for use as a personal prayer list. In this way, all the Gospels were completely covered with prayer. No sooner had the books been sent out than the return mail was flooded with replies from students at U. S. C. On the card provided, many students checked the line which read: “I wish to know more about God’s plan o f free salvation through His Son Jesus Christ.” No time was lost by Biola students in contacting these inquirers personally, and the plan of salvation, as revealed in the Word of God, was made plain to some who never before had consid ered it. Other replies are being received daily as a result o f the distribution of the Word. Prayer is asked for all the young people concerned, that the Holy Spirit may make the Word of God effective and precious to each one.
June, 1940
T H E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
Girls' Query Corner Conducted by M y r t l e E. S c o t t
Questions for answer in this corner should he sent to Miss Scott, 8961 Dicks St., West Hollywood, Calif., and a stamped envelope should be enclosed for reply. No name will appear with the questions chosen for publication.
Dear Miss Scott: Why is it, may I ask you, that I have so little love in my heart? I ap preciate God’s love and all He ha§ done for us, and that ought to fill us with love for Him and for others. I am active in church and try to do all I can to serve God because I feel I should. I try hard to love souls, but I cannot say that I succeed very well. Of course, I love my friends, but I know a Christian should love everybody. I find that I sometimes have to try hard not to be at least indifferent to most people. —Inquirer. Dear Inquirer: It is not surprising that you have not succeeded well in your attempt to make yourself love souls, for Christian love is part of the miracle God works in our lives and not something that we can produce by an act of the will. Have you been born again? When we are bom from above, we become partak ers of the divine nature. And since “ God is love,” it is as natural for one who has been bom again to love as it is for a rosebush to produce roses. In your Bible, turn to 1 John 3:16-18 for the Scriptural definition of love. There we see that love’ is the giving of ourselves in sacrif.cial service for others. The test of love is not how it makes us feel but what it makes us do. May I suggest, too, that there is a difference between “liking” and “lov ing.” You may not like a person’s char acteristics nor feel drawn to her person ality as you are drawn to the one for whom you have a natural or human love. But at the same time you may have a real heart longing to be a help and bless ing to that person. That is the kind of love referred to by the Apostle John, a love that makes us ready to “lay down our lives for the brethren.” Love sent the Lord Jesus *to earth to seek and to save the lost, and His tender, compassionate heart still yearns over needy souls. If He dwells in our hearts, He will put within us a longing to live for others with a real and con tinual heart interest in their welfare for time and eternity. We become the chan nels through which His love flows. He works the miracle, and Christian love will be the normal result. If we are born again, we naturally ■will be especially drawn to others who also are partakers of His nature. The bond of Christian friendship is the strongest earthly tie, and when God has His way in hearts, there is a fellow
ship among His people that is a testi mony to those without. The world mar veled at this fellowship in the early church, saying, “Behold, how these Christians love one another!” It is easy to see why Satan Would try to sow dis cord among God’s people to hinder a love like this, and to destroy the power and blessing of this fellowship. I am glad you appreciate the Impor tance and necessity of Christian love. We may be orthodox in our assent to the truth of Bible doctrine and at the same time may be living heterodox lives because we are lacking in love. And the Lord Jesus Christ said, “By this shall all men know that ye are my dis ciples” (John 13:35). I would remind you again that we experience this love by letting the Lord fill our hearts. WHOSE PRISONER ARE YOU? [ Continued from Page 209] lationship I began to read through the Epistle to the Ephesians. I came to the opening verse of the third chapter: “I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ,” and the first verse of chapter 4: “I there fore, the prisoner of the Lord.” And then the Spirit of God spoke to me and said, “If Paul had considered him self the prisoner of Nero, he would have been straining at the leash to get out, for was not a dispensation of the gospel committed unto him ?” : Note the difference between John and Paul. And if we permit the Spirit to apply this lesson to our hearts, it may transform our ■ lives for God and men. John considered himself the prisoner of Herod, and therefore was distressed and perplexed because Christ did not come to take him out. Paul, on the other hand, is really saying, “I refuse to recognize Nero. I perceive one almighty over Nero. I am the prisoner of Jesus Christ.” Paul acknowledged no second causes in his life. He could not possi bly worry about why Christ failed to come to take him out when he believed Christ put him in. It is as if he said,, “I don’t recognize Nero, I have a divine Jailer, and doesn’t He know what is best for me?” In this, Paul’s faith tri umphed over difficult circumstances. In Ephesians 1:1, Paul says he is an apos tle of Jesus Christ. That means a “sent one,” a messenger. Later in the same Epistle (3:1), he describes himself as a prisoner of Jesus Christ; that means a bound, a fettered one. How apparently inconsistent of the Lord to say, "Goj”
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