in Scripture where children of God were given into Satan’s hands tem porarily. Job was the first—Job 'was delivered unto Satan. Read about it in the first and second chapters of Job. Evidently Job was delivered into Satan’s hand to demonstrate the suf ficiency of the sustaining grace of God. Then Peter was given over to Satan for sifting as wheat, but he was warned of it and assured by the Lord of his advocates’ prayer in his behalf “ that his faith fail not.” Indeed our Lord H im self was turned over to Satan, driven by the spirit into the wilderness to be tempt ed according to the first chapter of Mark. It is good to note that the sinning Corinthian Christian was evi dently brought to repentance by his experience with Satan and restored' to the fellowship of the church. This is indicated by the Apostle’s message in Second Corinthians 2:6-11. Baptism of Believers W ill you kindly explain the differ ence between Matthew 28:19, 20, “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son± and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to ob serve all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, l am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.” and Romans 6:5, “Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?” , and Gala tians 5:27, “For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ’? The first verses refer to the ordi nance of baptism with water; the sec ond reference is to the spiritual trans formation which takes place when one accepts Christ. Baptism is an outward sign of an inward work. When one goes down into the waters of baptism, it represents a burial; and if the person who is being baptized has experienced a genuine regenera tion, he will realize that his old life died with Christ on the cross, and that he, through Him, has come into the resurrection life of the Son of God. The Galatian reference has also to do with the spiritual life and par ticularly the walk of the Christian who puts on Christ, and thus shows to all the world that he is :the Lord’s.
heed to the things of God, will he be eternally saved if he does not repent of his backsliding? Such persons as we call backsliders are very often carnal Christians. They will be losers at the judgment seat of Christ, insofar* as their rewards for service are concerned. (Read 1 Cor. 3:1-4; 11-16). Again, many so-called backsliders have never “ slid forward” . By this I mean they were never really convert ed, never regenerated. We may call them mere professors, not real pos sessors. A real Christian will be chas tised (Heb. 12:11), will confess his sin and live for Christ. A real Chris tian may become a backslider, but he can never become an apostate. An apostate is one who denies the faith, the Bible and even the Lord Jesus who is the only Saviour. The Location of the Garden of Eden Do we have any Scriptural proof as to the location of the Garden of Eden? Yes. It is true the exact boundaries of the Garden of Eden are not defin itely stated, but at least four of the proper names recorded in the second chapter of Genesis may be located on the maps of ancient history. “Ethi opia . . . Hiddekel [the ancient name for the Tigris River] . . . Assyria . . . Euphrates River.” These will be found in Genesis 2:13, 14. Secular history calls the Tigris-Euphrates val ley, or Mesopotamia, the “ cradle of civilization,” and this is correct ac cording to the Genesis story of cre ation. Destruction of the Flesh W ill you kindly explain First Cor inthians 5:5, where it says: “ to deliv er such an one to Satan for the de struction of the flesh.” Does not this teach something else than eternal se curity? In this verse the Apostle Paul com mands the Corinthian church to de liver one of its members who was guilty of uncleanness “ to deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.” This command is put into another form in v. 13: “Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person.” There are at least two other places
Origin of the Negro Race W ill you interpret Genesis 9:25? Does this refer to the Negro race? This verse reads: “ Cursed be Ca naan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren.” Canaan was the fourth son of Ham. The Hamitic descent of Canaan was formerly a mooted question, but is now proved authentic by the monuments. It is true that the students of anthropology and ethnology are strangely silent on the origin of the Negro race except as many of them try to make all mankind fit into the unscriptural theory of evolution. Many scientists differ as to the reason for their being black. It does not seem a difficult thing for a child of God to take God at His Word, and believe Him for what He says. Let it be remembered that the God of Shem has always offered salvation to the sons of Ham as well as to “all the families of the earth,” through Jesus Christ our Lord. Remember al ways that one of the most valuable documents in all literature as to how and why the nations were divided after the flood is to be found in the tenth and eleventh chapters of Gen esis. Will God Blot Out Our Names? I believe in the eternal security of the believer, but am puzzled as I read Revelation 3-5. How can a name be blotted out of the book of life? It is only by inference that the falling away doctrine can be built upon this quotation from the holy Scriptures. I assure you these words mean just what they say, and give us the blessed assurance that God will not blot our names' out of the book of life if we are trusting in the finished work of our Lord Jesus Christ. Moreover, “no prophecy of the scripture is of any private inter pretation” (2 Pet. 1:20); and if spe cific passages are considered in rela tion to the whole body of truth as set forth in the Word of God no contra dictions will be found. When Christ promised: “My sheep . . . shall never perish,” He meant exactly what He said. Are Backsliders Lost? What if a person has been truly converted but goes back into the world, and does not seem to pay any
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THE KING'S BUSINESS
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