King's Business - 1966-03

are constantly exhorted to grow more and more like Him who is “ altogether lovely.” Only when we get to heaven shall we be freed from the very presence of sin, and be like our Lord. THE HOLY SPIRIT AFTER THE TRANSLATION Q. Where will the Holy Spirit be after the translation of the church? A. The church is “ the temple of the Holy Spirit” ; and when the rapture takes place, the Holy Spirit will go with the church. However, He is omnipresent for He is God, equal with the Father and with the Son. Because He is God, and because God never leaves Himself without a wit­ ness in the world, the Holy Spirit will operate in the earth during the tribulation period, even as He did in Old Testament times. He came upon certain individuals then, anointing them for service. His mission for the church age, indwelling the members of the body of Christ, which is the church, will end at the rapture. But He will seal the 144,000 Jews during the tribulation period, and empower their testimony. The church how­ ever, will have been completed, so He will not operate then as He does now in the world. It will be a differ­ ent ministry. Let it be remembered that there can be no conversion, in any age, without the quickening power of the Holy Spirit (Rom. 8:9) . TESTIMONY OF TIME Q. Since all secular history centers about the birth of Christ — B.C., why do men not realize that He is God and the only Saviour? A. We wonder, “Why?” Yet Satan has blinded their eyes to this silent testimony to the deity of our Lord. Every unsaved man, even the infidel, must unconsciously bear witness to Christ every time he dates a letter, a check or a legal document. The poet

spoke with wisdom from above when he wrote : “ In the cross of Christ I glory, Towering o’er the wrecks of time!”

SALVATION OF INFANTS Q. Are infants and young children who die saved? A. Yes, all infants, including still­ born babies, and young children who have not reached the age of accounta­ bility at death, go immediately into the' presence of God. Christ died for “ the world” ; and His atonement pro­ vides for these. “ Of such is the king­ dom of heaven” (Mark 10:14). David’s infant son was taken by God and David said: “ I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me” (II Sam. 12:23). The teaching that unbaptized in­ fants are lost seems to me one of the crudest inventions of religion­ ists. RANKS OF ANGELS Q. What is the difference between the cherubim and the seraphim? A. The cherubim are not identical with the seraphim. There are dif­ ferent ranks and orders in the an­ gelic hosts, the cherubim and sera­ phim being but two of these. The cherubim appear to have to do with the holiness of God as outraged by sin, the seraphim with the unclean­ ness in the people of God. (See Isaiah 6.) "BE YE PERFECT" Q . Does Matthew 5:48 teach sinless perfection in this life? A. Matthew 5:48 reads as follows: “ Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” The word perfect here and in other similar New Testament pas­ sages means the mature and com­ plete Christian experience. It teaches that “ the babe in Christ” should “ grow in grace, and in the knowl­ edge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ,” giving an ever-increasing evidence to the world of His saving and keeping power. Nowhere in the Bible are we taught that we can be­ come sinless in this life. Yet we

THE PERMANENT LOCATION OF ISRAEL

Q. What w ill become of the Jewish nation after the millennium? Where will they dwell? A. They will be in the new earth. “ For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the Lord, so shall your seed and your name remain” (Isa. 6:22). National distinction among saved Gentile nations will pass away but Israel will remain forever the memo­ rial nation. TITH ING FOR THE CHRISTIAN? Q. Are we under the Mosaic law in regard to giving a tenth of our income? I hear Christians talking about tithing all the time as if we had to do this. A. No, Christians are not under the Mosaic law in this respect any more than in keeping the seventh day or observing the Levitical laws in re­ gard to sacrifice and food. This is not to say that it is not a good plan to give a tenth of one’s income to the Lord. The New Testa­ ment has much to say about giving and hundreds— thousands I should say—of the Lord’s people have found giving a tenth a convenient system for them. For one thing, it is a def­ inite amount and they can plan what areas of Christian ministry to give so that the recipients—such as one’s local church or missionaries— can count upon it. Every child of God should be con­ sistent, faithful, systematic and cheerful in his giving. Why should we give less in the dispensation of grace than those were required to do under the law?

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THE KING'S BUSINESS

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