to the Old Testament prophets and believers. They thought only in terms generally of Jew and Gen tile. The mystery of the church was a new and unheard of thing as we see in Ephesians 3:1-11. Both are now united through faith in Christ who alone can free men from sin and the devil. The term "Body of Christ" and "Bride of Christ" need not confuse anyone who desires to understand Scripture. The explanation is that we are the Body in fact and the Bride in symbol. Israel is the chos en nation in fact and she is the wife of Jehovah in symbol. This present hour, during the age of grace and of the Church, Satan seeks to bring defeat to the pro gram of God wherever believers j gather for fellowship. These days are times of unpar alleled opportunities, as well as of j unprecedented attack and evil in- ; filtration. The darker the age in sin ; and iniquity, the more the respon sibility and privilege to proclaim j the light of the Gospel of Christ. In II Corinthians 4:1-6 we read how Paul, under the inspiration of j the Holy Spirit, is pointing out that '■< we as believers need to walk cir cumspectly. We must know that more and more evil delusions will precede the return of the Saviour j in glory. There are many churches today which no longer have any power of purpose whatsoever. Denominations which formerly preached the Gospel no longer have any impact for God or for righteousness. They have substi tuted social action rather than sal vation by grace. The devil has I sought to blind the eyes of men that they might not see the light of I the Gospel of God's truth.
filled. This was the real reason for His cry of anguish. The Lord Jesus Christ was slain in the mind of Cod before the foundation of the world. Today, He must either be crowned or cru cified in the hearts of men as they accept or reject Cod's perfect gift of love and grace. On the cross, Jesus won the victory over Satan once and for all. The conflict of the ages in this aspect was now over. Doubtless the devil thought that he had won the battle, but soon he would realize how futile and foolish were his vain and dia bolical attempts. Satan Attacks the Body of Christ The devil had lost in his strenu ous efforts to keep Christ from go ing to the cross at God's appointed hour. Yet, he still was not going to give up in his purpose of keeping man from receiving the Lord's promised redemption. His program has now been to keep the Saviour from coming back to this earth where He will assume His rightful place as King of kings and Lord of lords. Satan now turns his atten tion to the New Testament Church which is the Body of Christ. Christianity is the only religion of the world which has a living Leader. He was raised again from the dead, and is now living and interceding before God on behalf of all those who have placed their faith and trust in Him. Keep in your thinking the fact that the Church originated in the mind of Cod before the foundations of the world. It did not come into exis tence, however, until the day of Pentecost when 3,000 believers were baptized by one Spirit into one Body. The church was a truth unknown Page 40
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