girls. In a kindly way, the man asked one particularly bright and radiant child, “If God loves us so, and we know He does, then do you have any idea why He made you blind?” The child thought for only a moment until she eagerly responded with the beau tiful words, “Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Thy sight.” Here is the secret of victory through suffer ing. Q . Tulare, Calif.— “Was Cornelius saved before Peter preached to him?” A. This is taken from Acts 10. We need to remember that this is a transi tional book. Some of those people lived in two dispensations, law and grace. Although Paul was “before the law, blameless,” yet we know he had to be saved. There is a change in God's economy. Cornelius, we are told, was a devout man. That does not mean that he had received the Lord Jesus Christ as Saviour. This is why Peter had to preach to him. He and his company, when they heeded the message of Peter, the Spirit of God sovereignly baptized them into the body of the Lord Jesus Christ. Cornelius was not saved before Peter preached to him. God’s method of imparting the gift of the Holy Spirit is the same today. Q . Tucson, Ariz. — “Could a person keep all of the Ten Commandments and still be lost?” A. This is merely hypothetical theolo gy. Romans 3:19 and 20 indicates that no person in all of the world could keep the Ten Commandments. The Lord Jesus Christ did! He was more than man. When Israel realized the meaning of the law their mouths were stopped. David wasn’t saved by the law. This was actually his undo ing. Moses wasn’t saved by the law. He even smote the rock in disobedi ence to the Lord. The same was true with all men throughout all ages. There is salvation in only One Person, and by only one manner, “This is the work of God, that ye believe Him, whom God hath sent.” 24
of apparel. Such is not the Apostle’s point. He is declaring that the most important thing is the individual's heart-relationship to the Lord. This is what must characterize Godly women. In those days a woman who was over adorned was not always considered a chaste individual. She might have been a woman of unsavory character. Peter is suggesting the definite need for a marked difference. There is something more important than the frills and baubles of this world. Con versely, in this day and age, if a wo man is dressed in a severely primitive fashion, she is likewise drawing more attention to herself than to the Lord. It is just as wrong to be over dressed as it is to be poorly clad. The garment need not be expensive to be neat and most acceptible. Let people see that there is something beyond the exter nal which is the real personality; Christ dwelling in your heart by faith. Q . Seattle, Wash. — “I had great plans for my life but a crippling illness has put me on the shelf. How do you ex plain a thing like this. To me it doesn’t add up that we have to hear that there is a God of love?” A. This is a difficult question to an swer; it touches an intimate part of life. We cannot help but notice how often this person uses personal pro nouns. How easy it is for us to get ourselves thinking only on problems we have. We need to come to the place where we seek God’s plan and will, rather than setting our own goals and then commiserating about them when we fall far short of success. We can claim as believers such promises as Romans 8:28. A crippling illness can work together for good even as a robust health can be used for the Lord’s glory. Remember, God is far more interested in us than we are in ourselves. If He choses to “put us on the shelf” then so be it; to God be the glory. An individual went to visit a school for blind children. The superintendent was naturally proud of her boys and
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