the very words were God-breathed. That is inspiration. “ All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruc tion in righteousness” (2 Tim. 3:16). “ The prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost” (2 Pet. 1:21). “ When shall these things be?” How can it be that a retired minister, who claims to have studied the Bible fo r fifty years, says that, as he sees it, not enough prophecy has been fulfilled fo r the Lord to come during our lifetime? Possibly your friend has in mind the rc relation of Christ before the world as King of kings and Lord of lords. If so, he is correct. Certain things must take place before that event, such as the translation of the Church, the reve lation o f the man of sin and his brief reign on the earth, the great Tribula tion, and the Battle of Armageddon. There are no prophecies, however, to be fulfilled before the translation of the church as described in First Thessalon- ians 4:13-18. Signs do not have refer ence to the church, but to Israel only. We are not looking for “ signs.” We are listening for a sound. (See 1 Cor. 15-52; 1 Thess. 4:16.) The coming of the Lord for the Church is always imminent. Hence the oft-repeated exhortation to be ready for His coming. What is your understanding of Reve lation 16:13, H ? “ And I saw three un clean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. For they are the spirits of devils [demons], work ing miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.” What are these spirits like frogs, and are they in the world today? They are evidently evil systems of teaching, because they emanate from the MOUTH of the dragon, and of the beast, and of the false prophet. They will go forth, permeate the masses, and bring about a world-crisis, ending in Arma geddon. We are not to set “ times and seasons” for the Lord’s return; but we are to discern “ the signs of the times.” And the systems might prove to be Communism, Nazism, and Rationalism. All are godless! To say that these “ unclean spirits” are in the world today, would be to set dates, approximately; and we must guard against that which is expressly forbidden by Christ in Acts 1:7. A t the same time, Satan’s tactics do not change much; and his purpose has ever been to seek to bring to naught God’s great plan of redemption. His is ever an attack upon Christ and upon God’s people. So that in a real sense, his systems of teaching have been in the world, in one form or another, ever since the fall o f man. Page Nine
Dr. L. T. Talbot
ing rewards for service, not salvation. He uses the illustration of the Olympian games to show the meaning of running the Christian race. Only freeborn citi zens could contend in these games; and only born-again children o f God can run the race as Christians. Salvation is not the goal; it is the starting place. The judgment seat of Christ is the goal. Now the word castaway in the Greek means disapproved. The prize went to the victor in the Olympian games; and the crown awaits the Christian who is not disapproved, in so far as his service is concerned, at the judgment seat of Christ. Salvation is not a reward; it is a free gift. And Paul was not writing about salvation in this passage, as the context clearly shows. Yes. All orthodox, fundamental Bible lovers believe in the verbal inspiration of the original manuscripts, in the He brew and Greek languages. Moreover, we believe that God has guided the translators of our English Bible, as well as those of other tongues, seeing to it that we have the exact sense of the Word o f God, simply put into language that we can understand. The greatest scholars o f all time have spent literally years of their lives, comparing the dif ferent sources — manuscripts, versions, quotations from the church fathers, dis coveries o f archeology—they have spared neither time nor money nor effort to give to the world the exact meaning, even to the slightest shade of difference in the use of a word or phrase. The story o f how our American Standard Version was translated, together with the English Version, reads like a chap ter from fiction; it is so interesting. And the longest telegram ever sent over the wire was the whole New Testament in this version, transmitted from New York City to Chicago by 99 telegraph operators. Why? Just in order that Chicago might sell it on her streets promptly, as did New York and London! What is that but a testimony to the divine origin of this Book o f books? By verbal inspiration we mean that the Holy Spirit so controlled the pen and thought of the human author that Do you believe in the verbal inspira tion of the Bible?
Is there such a thing as dying before one’s time? Did not Paul refer to this in one of his letters? My sister died recently leaving three little children, all under ten years of age. Can you help me? My faith is impaired. You evidently have in mind what Paul wrote to the Corinthian Christians, but it does not necessarily apply to your sis ter’s case. Corinth was a very wicked, corrupt city; and some of the early Christians, not long out of heathenism, were not giving a good testimony ,before the world. For example, some were abusing the sacred ordinance of the Lord’s Supper, evidently making it a time of eating and drinking unworthily. (See 1 Cor. 11:27-34). Therefore, Paul wrote to them saying: “For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep [that is, die]. For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned of the world. Where fore, my brethren, when ye come to gether to eat, tarry one for another. And if any man hunger, let him eat at home; that ye come not together unto condemnation.” However, Paul did not say that those who had died because o f this practice were lost. Their souls were saved if they believed on the name of the Lord Jesus; but when they did not give a good testi mony to Him, God took them home to Heaven, out of the way, as it were, lest they be “ condemned with the world.” They will suffer loss at the judgment seat of Christ, when rewards are given to Christians for service rendered for Christ. But this is not a question o f sal vation; that is determined once for all by one’s faith in the crucified and risen Lord Jesus. Yet these verses teach us a solemn lesson on faithfully witnessing to Christ. As for your sister’s case, this may not apply at all. Often we cannot under stand the providences of God; and this is one of the things we have to leave to Him. Please tell me who is a castaway, as mentioned by Paul? To find the answer to your question let us read the entire passage in First Corinthians, chapter 9. Paul is discuss- JULY, 1950
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