February 9. 1947 WHO IS MY BROTHER? M a r k 3:31-35
to secure money, position, and power for themselves. This is not God’s will. 3. FRATERNAL SERVICE. Gal. 5:13. Service is made easy and delight ful by the “oil” of love. When one is in love with Christ, thrilled with the Word of God, and filled with a deep desire for the salvation of the lost, then the hardships of India, Africa, or South America seem only steppingstones to the goal of happy service for the Lord. The joy of the battle against the powers of dark ness urges the Christian warrior to spend and be spent for the glory of his Lord. The service of the King enriches and enlivens the soul of the saint as he sees sinners turning to God, the -power of Satan broken in their lives. Whether this service be rendered at home pr abroad is im material to those who love God and the souls of all men. 4. FRATERNAL UNION. Col. 2:2. Men who belong to lodges call one another "brother.” They are brothers in the sense that they are bound by the same oath and are busy on the same program. There is no relation ship of the heart. The brotherhood in Christian thinking is a brother hood of lives. The divine nature pro duced by the new birth in one in dividual links up with the divine nature in another who has received this gift from God. There is no genu ine brotherhood outside the Lord Jesus. At the slightest provoca tion, hearts turn against each other. Treaties are broken, agreements are shattered, and hatred takes the place of the brotherly relationship that seemed to exist. Every bond except the eternal bond is easily broken and the brotherhood dissolved. Christ links His children together forever.
T O O fraternities are recognized in -*■ Scripture. One is the temporal, human relationship which exists in the natural things of life; the other is the spiritual, everlasting relation ship to Christ in spiritual ‘association and activity. Be careful to differ entiate between them when you read the Bible. We are told distinctly to cdre for the poor. We are to rescue the neighbor’s animal if it goes astray. We are to show kindness and grace to our enemies. We are to be patient and long-suffering with those who annoy us. This is the attitude which all should express. This is brotherliness in a temporal sense, but the other attitude is that of the true Christian who sees every person as a soul in need of his Saviour. 1. FRATERNAL AID. Gal. 2:10. Christians are expressly instructed to care for the poor, and for all of the poor, whether they are Christians or not. Our Saviour said, “Ye have the poor always with you,” and this is true. There are some who cannot or will not improve their condition and seem to prefer to live in squalor and dirt. But there are others who have poverty forced upon them by circumstances beyond their control. Both types need our help. With the gifts of food, clothing and fuel, we should carry the Gospel of God’s grace that will transform lives and produce usdful Christians. Care for the body alone is not sufficient. Without Christ, one is as helpless and hopeless as he was before his material needs were met.' 2. FRATERNAL LOVE. John 3:16; 1 John 2:15. These two Scriptures seem to pre sent a paradox. Two paths are in dicated. The one is “love the world” ; the other, “ love not the world.” The reasons are apparent. We are to love the world in that we give the lost in the world the life-giving Gospel of Christ. We are not to love the world in that we refuse to accept anything from it and do not enjoy what it has to offer. We are to go to unsaved men to present Christ to them, not to take part In their pleasures and sins. We are to have a love for them which will cause us to plead with them to be recon ciled to God. The Spirit leads us to love unlovable heathen, to take the Gospel to the far ends of the earth. Paul said, “ the love of Christ con- straineth us." The unsaved go to heathen lands not to benefit the heathen but to exploit them, and J A N U A R Y , 1947
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FIFTY-SIX YEARS AGO Dr. C. I. Scofield, during his Dallas pastorate, founded on “F aith ” principles a mission which has today nearly 100 missionaries and 400 native workers from Guatemala to Panama. More Gospel her alds needed, to enter open doors in Spanish and in Indian lang uages. Will you pray? F op Free Literature and Information Writt THE CENTRAL AMERICAN M ISSION Dept. K., 3611 Congress Ave. Dallas 4, Texas
D O Y O U S P E A K E N G L I S H ? Our Missionaries do. They also speak and teach and preach in the languages and dialects common to Austria, Bulgaria, France, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Palestine, Poland, Rou- mania, Russia and South America. 'T he European Harvest Field” (now in its 27th year) contains the letters from these Missionaries. Send a postal card lor a Free Sam ple or $1.00 for a two-year subscription. American-European Christian Fellowship 15 Philipse Place, Yonkers 3, N.Y.
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