King's Business - 1953-04

a sign unto the Ninevites, so shall the Son of man be to this generation.” Picturing the corruption that will be on the earth at the end of this age, Jesus said, “As the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be” (Matt. 24:37). The apostles also bore witness to the fact of the flood. Again archaeology and the legends of the ancient peoples prove that they knew of the flood, although it must be admitted that some of the stories coming down through history and legend are per­ verted accounts of the Biblical record. Certainly we do not question but that God was able to perform these mir­ acles. They are to be classed with all other miracles as supernatural. In­ deed our whole Christian faith is based upon the supernatural. Renting from non-Christians Is it wrong to rent a house from one who scoffs at the things the Christian holds precious? There is nothing wrong in a Chris­ tian having dealings with the uncon­ verted and the ungodly, provided those dealings are just and right. As a Christian you are not responsible for the unbelief or for the mockery of the man from whom you rent. Your business is to show forth Christ both by life and by spoken word whenever it is possible. Read Isaiah 43:10 where it is written, “Ye are my witnesses . . If, while main­ taining this prayerful attitude toward your unsaved landlord,*you find that his taunts become unbearable, you certainly could feel justified in mak­ ing a change, but be sure before you leave, that he has had a clear under­ standing of how to be saved. It should be remembered at the same time, that believers on the Lord Jesus Christ are exhorted to not enter into any kind of fellowship with the un­ regenerated (2 Cor. 6:14). , Man's Body After the Fall Did Cain, Abel and Seth have bodies like those which Adam and Eve had before the Fall? I would say that from the stand­ point of physical bodily structure, this question may be answered in the

affirmative. Let us turn to Genesis 2:7, “And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breath­ ed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” From Adam and Eve all mankind has in­ herited a human body. For instance, Elihu said, “ I also am formed out of the clay” (Job 33:6). In Job 4:17-19 we read of the unreliability of man who dwells “ in houses of clay.” Again in Job 34:15 we understand it is plainly written “man shall turn again unto dust.” From these Scrip­ tures we conclude that concerning physical features, the bodies of Cain, Abel and Seth were like those of Adam and Eve before the Fall. In another sense it would seem that the bodies of all men after Adam and Eve sinned differed from those of the first man and woman before they fell prey to Satan’s guile. That difference lies in three major points: (1) The bodies of Adam and Eve be­ fore the Fall were sinless; those of mankind after the Fall were sinful (c.f. Rom. 3:23; 5:12; 1 Cor. 15:49). (2) At the time of the first sin of our progenitors, death, disease and pain entered into the physical body and have passed on .to all human beings. Witness the present way of leaving the earth is by physical death (Heb. (9:27). (3) Before the Fall the glory of God formed the clothing for the bodies of Adam and Eve (cp. Gen. 3:7). Just what that glory was we do not know, but we know that when sin entered in, the glory was removed and Adam and Eve realized that they were unclothed. Judas: The Antichrist? A Bible teacher recently stated that the antichrist will be the reincarna­ tion of Judas Iscariot. He supported his argument by linking John 17:12, where Judas is called “ the son of per­ dition,” with Second Thessalonians 2:3 where the antichrist is also men­ tioned in the same words. Please ex­ plain. I do not think these two verses necessarily refer to the same person. It is mere speculation to say that Judas will .be the antichrist. THE KING'S BUSINESS

Dr. Louis T. Talbot

John the Baptist and Elijah Was John the Baptist, Elijah? He denies it in John 1:21. No, John the Baptist was not ac­ tually Elijah. The prophecy in Mal- achi 4:5, does refer to John the Baptist and calls him Elijah, but only in the sense that we speak of a person’s be­ ing “ another Lincoln” or “ another Washington” when we méan that they had the character of the spirit of thart person. John the Baptist’s min­ istry was similar to that of Elijah; in a sense he was the New Testament Elijah. Notice Matthew 11:13, 14. There is no such thing as reincarna­ tion which would be necessary for John the Baptist to become Elijah. Problem: The Flood and Jonah 7 am inclined to believe the Bible, but so many discredit the stories of the flood and Jonah that I hope you can give some Scriptural proof ef these events. The Lord Jesus verified the histori­ city of thèse events during His earth­ ly ministry. In Matthew 12:38-42 He gave the Jews “ the sign of the prophet Jonah” as typical of His own death and resurrection when He said, “ For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the whale (marginal reading of whale in Greek is sea-monster); so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth” (Matt. 12:40). Now let us turn to Luke 11: 29, 30, where Jesus is speaking to a crowd of people “gathered thick to­ gether . . . This is an evil generation: they seek a sign; and there shall no sign be given it, but the sign of Jonah the prophet. For as Jonah was 24

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