And what our finite minds cannot grasp, concerning His ways with men, we do well to leave with Him, who “doeth all things well.” His wisdom and justice and mercy are infinite! KNOWING GOD'S WILL Q. How may I know the w ill of God for my life? A. Whole volumes have been written on this vital subject. Let me outline a few brief ways which are consid ered fundamental by Bible-loving Christians in determining the will of God: 1. By prayerful, consistent study of His Word. 2. By definite, earnest prayer. 3. By doing well the thing at hand, trusting God to open or close doors according to His will. 4. By taking into consideration the responsibilities and duties God has placed in your path. For instance these things may hinder your going to the foreign field, or the lack of these may indicate a call to go. 5. By heeding an urgent desire to respond to God’s call to some field in foreign lands or in the homeland. This may be the result of listening to another tell of the need for the Gospel message in certain areas. 6. By asking the prayers and coun sel of a godly saint, who may be able to advise, and who certainly can pray. 7. By being willing—yes, glad— to follow the Lord, wherever He may lead. There are many precious promises of definite leading for the child of God who seeks His will. We can quote only one and give a few references here: “I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye” (Psa. 32: 8). See also Exod. 33:14; Deut. 31:6; Josh. 1:9; Psa. 37:3-5; Isa. 30:21; 41: 10; Matt. 18:19; Rom. 8:28.
the Lord Jesus Christ in this life determines forever his eternal state. All must stand before Him, for He is the Judge of all the earth, and the Father has committed all judgment unto Him. (See John 5:22, 25, 27-29.) The best answer to your question about the heathen is found in Rom. 1:18-32. There we read that the “in visible things of him from the crea tion of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: because that, when they knew God, they glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.” Read on in this terrible indictment of sinful man, “without Christ.” It is one of the darkest pictures in the Bible and one of the most graphic descriptions of the baseness and the vileness of the human heart that has gone to the depths of sin. What God is saying here is that, because the nations, or the heathen, refused to have God in their knowl edge; because they deliberately and persistently turned their backs upon His truth, He “gave them up.” And the righteous judgment of God awaits all who refuse to “have God in their knowledge.” Let it be remembered however, that when anyone seeks the light, God gives light, and in grace comes to him again, offering salva tion in Christ. No, my friend, “there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved,” except by the name of Jesus. And there is no second chance after death. (See Acts 4:12.) That is why our responsibility is so great, why we are impelled by the grace of God to take the message of salvation to the heath en world. But let no man dare to question the justice or the wisdom of God in this matter. He is ever the God of love, who died for sinners.
IMMORAL MEN Q. What is meant by the last clause of / Cor. 5:10? A. The apostle, in this entire chapter, is exhorting Christians to live a life separated from the godless world. Therefore, he says in verses 9 and 10: “I wrote unto you in an epistle not to company with fornicators: yet not altogether with the fornicators of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or with idolaters; for then must ye needs go out of the world.” Then he adds in the follow ing verses, “But . . . if any that is called a brother [i.e., a Christian] be a fornicator . . . put away from among yourselves that wicked person.” This is but another way of saying that, as Christians, living in a sinful world, we must of necessity come in contact with ungodly and immoral men, but it ought not to be so in the church. In the world of business, for example, we must have dealings with the ungodly. Otherwise, if we did not “we must needs go out of the world.” God does not intend that we should go into monastic seclusion. Nor does He always take us home to heaven as soon as we are saved. We cannot help what the ungodly do. But when it comes to a matter of church disci pline, personal purity and keeping company with professing Christians whose lives dishonor the name of Christ, then God says we must put them away from us. ARE THE HEATHEN LOST Q. W ill the heathen be lost? W ill there not be, at least, a probation for them after death, since they have died in ignorance and superstition? A. There is nothing in the Word of God to justify even the slightest in ference that there will be probation after death for anyone. On the con trary, there is positive teaching to the effect that what one does with
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