T h e K i n g ’ s B u s i n e s s
226
April 1928
Heart and Mind To J. P. I.
an aid to the sick person’s faith. We believe it was a ceremony, not a heal ing agency, and in no way essential to the cure, or James would have recommended rubbing the oil over the body. The oil was poured upon the head as a symbolic act, .typical of .the Holy Spirit. As a sign of divine grace, accompanying prayer for healing, it was, and is a direct help to the nourishment of the healing faith on which the coming of healing grace must ever depend. “ Regarding your article, ‘Baptism into the Body' (Jan., p. 25) the word, ‘drink’ in 1 Cor. 12:13 is different from ‘drink’ in Jn. 7 :37-39. While your comparison o f the text is helpful, the real force o f the word is lost. In 1 Cor. 3 :6-8, e.g., it.has the sense o f ‘watering,’ or ‘irri gating’ (so. Thayer). Thus the Spirit who convinces us o f sin, enables us to confess Christ as Lord, baptizes us into the Body o f Christ— ‘irrigates’ us as living members to keep us functionally alive-. Praise His name!” We are glad for this helpful suggestion from a teacher at the Moody Bible Institute. “ A fter a careful and persistent study o f the subject from the Scriptures, I am persuaded that ‘the Kingdom of Heaven’ is in present force and operation; that it is a spiritual Kingdom in character, as definitely described by John the Baptist, and that the Kingdom, therefore, as announced by both the Baptist and the Lord, was by no means a deferred, earthly Kingdom for the Jews, but was the same Kingdom as preached by the Apostle Paul. “ It, therefore, has become clear to me that the present kingdom o f heaven is the kingdom o f God, and that the future kingdom of the Son o f man will likewise be the kingdom of God. Regarded in this light, the Gospel of Matthew takes on a new luster, and becomes eminently consistent in its unity, and also in precise harmony with the entire New Testament. The Sermon on the Mount becomes a present, living oracle: it becomes a law o f lib erty that governs all those who are called with the heavenly calling.” __Q__ The Intermediate State To “ A S earcher for T ruth ” (W e prefer that names be signed to questions.) “ I notice frequently in your columns that you speak of those who have died as ‘called to be with the Lord in glory’ as if they went immediately into His presence. If this is true, why should our Lord come back to earth for the saints— they are already in heaven. The apostles all tell us that we must await Christ’s coming, at which time He will awaken those who ‘sleep in Jesus.’ ” This inquirer has not sought a Scriptural definition of death. It is separation o f the spirit from the body (Eccl. 12:7 ; Acts 7:59-60; Lk. 23:46). The spirit o f the true Believers Irrigated F rom P rof . H. R ..S . Kingdom of Heaven F rom D r . G. B. E.
UR correspondent, in visiting a Sun day-school class, quoted the words: “ As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he, and was quickly informed that this passage is unsci entific. He was told that the heart does not think. Other passages, such as: “ The heart is deceitfully wicked” and “ If ye, from your heart believe that Jesus is the Christ, ye shall he saved,” were quoted. The teacher, however, maintained that science has given us better light. The word “ heart” is used, in different senses in the Scriptures. In some places it represents the bodily organ. By easy transition experiences such as fear, love, courage, anger, joy, sorrow, hatred—which affect- the heart, are ascribed to the heart (see Psa. 27:14; 4 :7 ; Deut. 19:6; 1 Sam. 2 5 :37; Psa. 13:2). Naturally the heart came to stand for the man himself. As representing the man himself, the heart is regarded as the seat o f emotions and passions (Gen. 18:5; Lev. 19: 17; Psa. 104:15). This use of the word sometimes em braces the intellectual and moral faculties. As Oehler says: “ In particular, the heart is the place in which the process of self-consciousness is carried out, in which the soul is at home with itself, and is conscious of all its doing and suffering as its own.” In this sense, the word is sometimes rendered “ mind.” W e read o f the “ understanding heart” (Prov. 10:14) and God is represented as .searching the heart (Jer. 17: 10). It also comes to stand for “ conscience,” for which there is no word in Hebrew (Job 27 :6 ; 1 Sam. 24 :5 ). W e may well sum up in the words of Owen: “ The heart in Scripture is variously used, sometimes for the mind and understanding, sometimes for the will, some times for the affections, sometimes for the conscience, sometimes for the whole soul. Generally it denotes the whole soul o f man and all the faculties o f it, not abso lutely, but as they are all one principle o f moral opera tions, as they all concur in our doing o f good and evil.” We, therefore, see that the Scripture use o f the word in the passage quoted by J. P. I. is strictly scientific. A mere head knowledge of Christ does not save anyone. It must come from the soul — the heart life. Furthermore, evil takes its rise not simply in the brain, but in the deepest springs o f a man’s being. “ Some teach the anointing with oil referred to in James 5:14-15 was for medicinal purposes, making James teach ithat cures may be effected by the combination of medicine and prayer.” It seems quite obvious that Jesus does not recommend this oil as medicine, for this anointing was to be done by the elders o f the church, which would not be necessary if the oil were merely medicinal. James does not say that the oil shall cure, or that prayer and oil shall cure. It may be that oil was used for this anointing because it was known to have healing properties, and so might act as Anointing With Oil To A . G.
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