Dr. Walter L. Wilson humbled before Ihe Lord. Christ Jesus took the low place Himself. He was willing to be made sin for us. We should acknowledge our guilt and ac cept Him. There can never be any condescension as great as His. November 10, 1946 WORLD PEACE BEGINS WITH ME. Psa. 34:11-16; Gal. 5:22-26; Col. 3:12-17. Peace will not come through a new philosophy but only through a new birth. Peace cannot be brought about by mental processes but by faith in actual facts. We must know the cer tainty of God’s will and His way be fore there can be genuine peace in the heart and life. Christ’s presence pro duces Christ’s virtues in the life, but we cannot have them without the Per son Himself. God is not busy educat ing, training, and polishing the old nature. He gives a new nature en tirely. It comes down from Heaven into the believing heart. God is not interested in reformation, but in re generation. Lasting peace in the soul comes only when we know that God is pleased with us because of our rela tionship to Christ Jesus His Son. God is pleased when we believe His Word and rest in His truth. For Those Who Have Topics 1. WE MUST HAVE PEACE WITH GOD. Rom. 5:1. Peace with God is obtained by sav ing faith in the risen, living Christ. When we receive the revelation in our souls that Jesus at Calvary paid all the debt and that God is satisfied with the work of Christ, then we have peace. When we learn and believe that God has given Christ to pardon, forgive, and regenerate, then peace follows. When we understand that, though wicked, we are acceptable to God be cause of the shed blood of the Saviour, peace results. When we see that Christ took the guilt and the punish ment in our place, peace comes. When we realize that God forgives only for Christ’s sake and not for the sake of our merit, then again there is peace because of this forgiveness. Christ is the Prince of Peace. We must belong to Him if we want peace. T HE K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
November 3, 1946 TRUE BASES OF WORLD PEACE. Isa. 2:2-4; Matt. 5:3848; Acts 17:26-28. For centuries, races, nations,,and in dividuals have sought a bas;s of reace between and among themselves, but it has never been found outside'of Jesus Christ and His Word. There has been peace between the United States and Canada, and between the United States and Great Britain ever since the War of 1812. The reason is evident. The people of these countries are, to a large extent, Christian in character. The Word of God is loved and honored by many of the citizens of both coun tries and the teaching of the Word is widely accepted. Where this condi tion does not prevail, wars are con stantly being waged. True Christian ity is God’s remedy, antidote, and pre ventive for wars, riots, turbulence, and strife. Every effort should be made to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ. For Those Who Have Topics 1. ONLY CHRIST CAN REMOVE SELFISHNESS. Luke 19:8. < Selfish interests and self-seeking are the motivating causes for much of the discord in the world. Russia wants the Balkans and all of Germany she can get, together with Poland and the Baltic provinces. She is armed to rule most of the world. This is the cause of the present distress in Europe. Japan grabbed for China and caused a terrible conflict. Wealthy men de sire to get all the money they can from! the labor of others, while the laboring man wants to give as little work as possible for the biggest pay possible in the shortest hours possible. Drivers on our highways want every body to get out of their way so they can go as fast as they please and where they please. Selfishness is at the root of it all. When Christ comes in, selfishness goes out. Christ is God’s salvation, not only from hell, but from selfishness as well. 2. ONLY CHRIST CAN REMOVE VINDICTIVENESS. Rom. 12:19. When we say that we will ‘‘get even” with someone, we mean that we will get down as low as they are and be as mean as they are. When people do not act as we desire or demand, then
our wicked human hearts want to pun ish them. This is true individually and nationally. The Lord knew that such a spirit would create deep ani mosity in the human heart so He gave this wonderful admonition in the Scripture before us. God is perfectly willing to right the wrong, but He does not always do so as quickly as we would like. Let us seek to pro mote a spirit of faith and trust in the living God, in the Lord Jesus Christ, and in the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Nothing else will bring about a happy state of peace and joy among men. 3. ONLY CHRIST CAN REMOVE TRADITIONS. 1 Pet. 3:18. That which we have learned from our parents and from teachers of vari ous kinds shuts our minds firmly against new light. How often we have heard a person say, “I was bom in . . . church, my parents belonged to it before I did, so it is good enough for me.” It takes the power of God’S Gos pel and a real vision of Christ to open the mind and heart to the truth of the Scriptures. Paul found this to be true as he opposed Jewish traditions. He experienced it at Athens with the tradition of idolatry. Christian work ers find it true today but the Gospel of God’s grace, revealing man’s utterly lost condition by nature and the power of Christ to give him new life, breaks all those bands that tradition has forged. 4. ONLY CHRIST CAN REMOVE PRIDE. John 13:14. A prominent Christian leader once said to me, “I have been preaching and leading meetings for fifty years. I have fought against taking my place as a lost sinner because of my posi tion. Now I am near the end of the journey and am willing to take my place humbly at the feet of Jesus Christ to plead for mercy and to ac cept Him as my Lord and Saviour." Religious pride keeps many from kneeling in penitence before the Lord Jesus for redemption. They feel they must continue in their hypocrisy be cause of what others will think if they acknowledge their true condition. How tragic this is! The soul would rather go into the outer darkness than to be
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