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is no doubt concerning the issue, for “ greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world” (1 John 4 :4 ). The Prince o f life and light has come to grips with the prince o f darkness and death, and has defeated him. The world reached its crisis when He who is the Light was lifted up on the cross o f Calvary, and in due time “ shall the prince of this world be cast out” (John 12:31-33). The prince of darkness is under sentence, and in due time he will meet his doom in the lake o f fire (Rom. 16:20; Rev. 12:9; 20:10). In the meantime, all who take their place under the shel ter o f the shed blood o f Him who is the Light are imme diately born again and delivered forever from the power o f darkness and translated into the kingdom o f God’s dear Son (Col. 1 :13), and from that moment are appointed to show forth the praises o f Him who has thus called them out o f darkness into His marvelous light (1 Pet. 2 :9 ). _ T he N atural M an —B lind All this is set forth with clearness in the Word o f God, but it is hidden from the natural man. He cannot receive, nor perceive, “ the things o f the Spirit of G od : for they are foolishness unto him : neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he that is spiritual judg- eth [“ discerneth” ] all things, yet he himself is judged [“ discerned” ] o f no man” (1 Cor. 2:14, 15). A young southern educator, himself a highly educated man, listened courteously to a friend who was repeating statements he had often made before, concerning these things. The young scholar was himself a professing Chris tian, but he was convinced that the world was to be saved by culture, while his friend was telling him again and again that the gospel was God’s power unto salvation, and that there was no other way. He declared also that, according to God’s plan as revealed in the Scriptures, the world was on the way to ruin, and that one day the Son o f God would come again to rescue the race and govern the world in person as King o f kings and Lord o f lords. The young man was really bored, though he listened attentively. Fi nally, however, he thought to close the interview by saying, “ Well, I can’t see it.” “ You can’t see it?” asked his friend. “ No,” he replied; “ I can’t see it.” “ Well,” said his friend, “ if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost.” “ L o st! Do you mean to say that I am lost ?” “ I f our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god o f this age hath blinded the minds o f them which believe not, lest the light o f the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image o f God, should shine unto them.” These words, quoted £q»m 2 Corinthians 4 :3 ,4, marked the turning point in the young educator’s life. He is still an educator, and is President o f a Christian college in a southern state, but he has a new program, the program o f God. B lindness R emoved The inability o f the natural man to understand the Word o f God is a fact but little comprehended, even among God’s dear children. They often wonder why it is that edu cated men, cultured men, even brilliant men, cannot see things set forth in the Bible so plainly that it would seem that “ the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err there in.” But it is a fact that the world by wisdom knows not God (1 Cor. 1 :21), and that, apart from the illumination brought only through regeneration, the wisest man in the world is utterly helpless to grasp the true meaning o f Scrip ture. The wisdom o f God is “ a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our
glory; Which none o f the princes of this world knew : for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord o f glory. But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart o f man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him [that is, the things contained in the Scriptures, the things between the two lids o f the Book called the Bible]. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things o f God” (1 Cor. 2 :7-10). When the princes o f this world rejected Him who is the Light, He answered and said: “ I thank thee, O Fa ther, Lord o f heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father; for so it seemed good in thy sight” (Matt. 11 :25, 26). Babes do not come through edu cation or culture, but through birth. The most thoroughly educated, cultured, refined, intelligent man in the world must be born again if he would know the things o f the Spirit o f God. If you are a born-again one, a babe in Christ, a child o f God, you have abundant reason for thanksgiving. P aul and the L ight Saul o f Tarsus was a man of education, a man o f cul ture, and a devoutly religious man; but like that other edu cated, cultured, religious man, Nicodemus, Saul needed to be born again. And when he was born again, on the Da mascus highway, he was transformed into a babe, and he saw things which until that time had been hidden from him. He said: “ Lord, what wilt thou have me to do ?” His new Lord sent a man to lead him by the hand, and he was brought out o f darkness into light, and became the great apostle to the Gentiles, used o f God as no other man save the Man Christ Jesus, to change the face o f the world. Now, how was all this done? By what means was it brought about? Let Paul answer this. He says: “ We preach not ourselves, but . . . your servants [“ slaves” ] for Jesus’ sake” (2 Cor. 4 ;5 ). Saul o f Tarsus would never have said that. That proud Pharisee was nobody’s slave. What has changed him? Listen. “ God, who commanded [ Continued, on page 94]
The cuts on these two pages are used through the courtesy o f the Los An geles ‘Bureau o f Power and Light.
Lightning
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