working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself” (Phil. 3:21). When that takes place, our redemption will be complete— body as well as soul. ^ QUE.: What did Christ mean by “ the abomination o f desolation, spoken o f by Daniel the prophet” in Matthew 24:15? Both Daniel and our Lord referred to the image of the beast, which he will set up “in the holy place” during the “seventieth week of Daniel.” It will be an idol, an image of himself; and he will require all the world to worship him, or be martyred. An idol, to a devout Hebrew, is an abomina tion; and certainly it is to God. When Israel realizes by this act of the anti christ that he is a false Messiah, the believing part of the nation will re fuse him recognition. He in turn will persecute Israel; and this will be the beginning of the great tribulation, to which our Lord referred in Matthew 24. ^ QUE.: Do the verses in John 6:53-58 not refer to the Lord’s Supper? And do we not eat His flesh and drink His blood when we take the bread and the wine of the communion? These words say, in part: “Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.” This passage has no reference what soever to the Lord’s Supper. Christ explained his own words, leaving no doubt as to their meaning. In verse 52 of this same chapter, it is recorded that the Jews “strove among them selves, saying, How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” And in verse 63 our Lord answers this question: "It is the Spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.” Therefore, to “eat the flesh” and to “drink the blood” of the Lord Jesus—this figurative language simply means that we are to receive His Word into our hearts by the power of the Holy Spirit.
The Word of God is constantly com pared to food, as the following ex amples prove: At the close of the forty days of temptation, the Lord Jesus said to Satan: “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that pro- ceedeth out of the mouth of God” (Matt. 4:4). Jeremiah said: “O L ord . . . Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart” (Jer. 15:15,16). Job also said, “I have esteemed' the words of his mouth more than my necessary food” (Job 23:12). Again, David in Psalm 119:103 wrote, saying, “How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth!” Thus you see, my friend, that you eat the flesh of the Lamb and drink His blood when you receive the words of Jesus daily into your heart by faith; when you have His wonderful Book with its thousands of promises made real, living, powerful, energetic in your heart by the power of the Holy Spirit. This is especially true when you meditate upon those por tions of- the Word that present Christ as the One who died for your sins— when you receive Him into your heart as Saviour and Lord. John 6:53-58 has no reference at all to the Lord’s Supper. ^ QUE.: To what period in Egyptian history does the desola tion o f forty years belong, as prophesied in the twenty-ninth chapter o f Ezekiel? It is difficult to locate historically the forty years of Egypt’s desolation. Some claim that this prophecy refers to a period after the millennium, but to my mind the passage found in Ezekiel 29:13-16 makes it clear that the forty years referred to have al ready passed. For thousands of years Egypt has been “the basest of king doms” ; and, before the rise of the old Roman Empire, she must have known forty years of terrible judgment. T H E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
^ QUE.: How can there be de grees o f reward for saints in Heav en? Would that not be a source of envy and strife? Of course, these things can not be, in Heaven. The Bible teaches that there are degrees of reward in Heaven. See 1 Corinthians 3:11-15. The Bible also teaches that there will be no envy in Heaven. Nothing shall enter there that would defile. We do not have to har monize these things. However, even with our finite minds, we can readily see that just as some have a greater spiritual understanding —shall I say capacity for the things of God?—just as some let Christ take their whole lives now on earth, even so will their capacity for the enjoy ment of Heaven be greater. The little child who loves the Lord is as happy as can be; but surely the older we grow, and the more we have fellow ship with Christ, the greater our love for Him. I like to think of our rewards in Heaven as something that shall be “to the praise of his glory,” something that will mean even greater service for Christ throughout all eternity, rather than think of rewards as some thing for our own glory. I like to think of the crowns awaiting the Christian in this light—all to show forth the praises of Him who hath called us out of darkness into His marvelous light. To me, this settles all such questions as the one you ask. Again, our Lord’s words in Luke 12:48 should cause us to think seri ously of our responsibility in giving out the Gospel: “Unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required.” ^ Q(JE.: What is the meaning o f Romans 8 :10 : “ And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because o f sin; but the Spirit is life because o f righteousness” ? It means that our redemption at present is only partial. My spirit has been quickened, but not my body. The body is yet to be quickened, when Christ comes to translate the Church. Then He will “change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the 16
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