still and be a good listener, you’ll learn a great deal. The richest man I ever knew personally was that kind of a man. He was on the board of education in one of our big cities. Several times I went to that board of education to appeal to them to get evolutionary t e a c h i n g out of the schools. In all the time I was there I never heard him talk except when he was asked a question; yet he was the wisest man there. Because he kept still, everybody knew he knew more than they did. When you listen well, you learn something. When you’re talking, you’re not learning anything. You’re just letting others know how little you actually know. Jesus answered nothing. His silence showed that He was in command of the situation. He knew there was plenty of time coming for Him to an swer. One day Pilate and the others will have to go and meet that One, the Judge on His throne, the very One they crucified. There were some occasions when Jesus answered their questions. When anyone had some thing on his heart, it received His attention. He gave careful answers to those who had a genuine desire to know. He could look right through them and see what was behind the question, and then He answered ac cordingly. The enemies of Christ were cruel and cutting. Their false accusa tions against Him received no atten tion from Him at all. He just kept still. He knew the time would come when He could have to speak with authority on the eternal throne. The Lord doesn’t always work quickly. He settles matters in His own time, and that will be at the Great White Throne when there is no appeal, no avoiding, no evading. The answer stands! Everyone who is listening to me now will stand before God sometime. If you’re saved it will be at the judg ment seat of Christ. If you’re lost it will be at the Great White Throne. Let me urge you to go to the Saviour and throw yourself in His arms for His mercy and His grace and His love. He’ll say to you, “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you.”
DECEPTION Our eyes are wonderful gifts of the Lord, however, sometimes they can fool us. An old jail had been abandoned in British Columbia. It was used some years before when the area was a lumbering and mining community. Before it was tom down, the owners noted the large locks and heavy steel doors. On the win dows were two inch iron bars. Upon closer examination of the now deterio rating walls they had to laugh. It was discovered that- the now rotting walls had been made out of light ¡>1aster board covered with paper, cleverly painted to resemble steel reinforced plating. With a strong kick, a hole could easily be made. Prisoners had been fooled, yet the jail records didn’t reveal that anyone had ever tried to escape. Have you ever felt that you were in what seemed as bad as a jail, your cir cumstances had so hemmed you in? How easy it is for Satan to get us so dis couraged that we sit back, pouting, com miserating in self pity. You feel like you are in a rut (this is the same as a grave, only with the ends kicked out). Yes, Satan knows how to wield his clev er tool of discouragement. He wants us to feel defeated. Knowing he cannot rob ns of our salvation, he seeks to make us content in taking the Lord’s second best. He wants us to be mediocre rather than victorious. Remember, God hasn’t given us the spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. Don’t be like those who spiritually, when trou ble strikes, go out and buy crutches. Look to the Lord, for He wants you to use the “wings of grace.’’ VALUE OF A M A N When Meretus, a French scholar of great renown, accepted the Protestant faith many centimes ago, he was driven into exile, persecuted, and finally brought to complete poverty. He had to end his days in a pauper’s hospital. There, seri ously ill, doctors examined him. He had just enough strength to hear them say in Latin, so that no one would under stand, “Let’s try some experiments on this worthless creature.” To their shock and surprise the well educated Meretus replied to them in Latin, “Will yon call ‘worthless,’ one for whom Jesus died?" In our personal evangelism, we stress here at Biola the true value of the hu man soul. 13
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