King's Business - 1954-03

of the religions of the world? Dead and in some cases, returned to dust. Where is Jesus Christ? Alive and at the right hand of God interceding for us. This tremendous and significant fact gives us an historical and factual basis for our faith in Christ. In thinking about the resurrection of Christ, two facts ought to be cleared up in our minds. The first of these is the attitude of many people, expressed when they say, “Well, you only find the resurrection of Christ in the Bible; and I don’t accept the Bible.” This is a very unintelligent attitude to assume and cannot be maintained. For example, if a doc­ ument is introduced in court as evi­ dence in a case, it certainly won’t do for the opposing attorney to say, “I don’t accept as evidence this docu­ ment and therefore will disregard it.” No man trained in law would attempt this. He knows that the burden of proof to show that the document is fraudulent or defective rests upon him. And until he can do so, it must be accepted at face value. So it is with the gospel record of the resur­ rection of Christ. These documents have stood for almost 2,000 years. Un­ til you prove that they are fraudulent or defective, you must accept them at face value. And they testify through eyewitnesses, that Christ rose from the dead in the same body in which He had died on the cross. The other attitude sometimes taken might be expressed this way: “ A ll the religions of the world have some 27 sacred books, including the Christian Bible. You only accept one more than I do, so the majority is on my side.” Applying this argument to a practi­ cal situation, let us suppose a man interested in developing oil fields reasoned the same way. He has drilled 26 holes in the ground and not one of them has shown any signs of oil. But when the 27th is drilled, it gushes oil in a mighty stream. Logic­ ally, the oilman ought to plug it up, because the previous 26 were dry and the majbrity of his attempts were failures. Does anyone do this? You know the answer. Two men who were neighbors oft­ en vvalked to the bus stop in the morning and sometimes met in this way. One of them, not a Christian, said to the other, who was a believer, “ Say, do ypu belong to the church over on the avenue?” “ Yes,” he re­ plied, “ I do.” “Well, do they believe in the resurrection of Christ and all that stuff.” “Yes, they do and so do I.” “How do you or anybody else know that Christ rose from the dead and is alive.” “Why,” answered the Christian, “ I was talking to Him just ten minutes ago before I left the house.” END.

the uniqueness of

Christianity b y C . Ra ym ond W h ite

S ome years ago in Pennsylvania, a farmer noticed a scum on the water of the little stream where he wa­ tered his cattle. He skimmed it off and watered his stock. The next morning the scum was thicker and each suc- ceediiig morning it was harder to remove. Finally, he sold the farm and bought one with a supply of pure water for his cattle. A man who was later known as “ Coal Oil Johnny” heard about this farm and a little later bought it. He dug a hole in the ground and hit oil. A fortune was taken from the farm which was sold because its first owner couldn’t make a living from it. He didn’t realize the value of what he had. Many people do not realize what we have in Christianity through Christ. It is only when we awaken to what He offers us^ that we come to know why Christianity is unique and there is nothing else like it in the world. For one thing, the Founder of Christianity is absolutely essential to it. In other words, Christ is Chris­ tianity. This isn’t true in other re­ ligions. You can be a Buddhist with­ out any connection with Buddha; or you can worship a t.a Shinto shrine without any living connection with the object of worship at the shrine. You can be a Muslim by reciting the creed, “ There is no god but God and Mohammed is His prophet” ; by giv­ ing alms; by saying your prayers five times, a day; by keeping the fast of Ramadam; by making a pilgrimage to the tomb of the prophet. And all this can be done without any vital touch with Mohammed. But not in Christianity. Take THE AUTHOR The Rev. Mr. White is resident director of Horton Hall, University Christian Fellowship, University of California, Berkeley. The work, an affiliate of Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship, was founded by the late Vernon Morgan. Mrs. Morgan (daughter of Biola's T. C. Horton) is still actively engaged in this evangelical work on the campus of the world's largest university.

Christ out, and you have absolutely nothing. Truly exercise heart-faith in Christ and even if you don’t know the first thing about the doctrines of Christianity, you have life in Christ. He is your life, now and eternally. Christianity is unique because in it God is seeking men. In other re­ ligions, men are seeking God. One of the significant utterances from the lips of Christ is when He said, “ The Son of man is come to seek and to save that which is lost.” And in the conversation with the woman of Sa­ maria, He told her, “The true wor­ shippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.” Those who have lived and worked in other lands without gospel light have told of the weary and fruitless search of men for God, in their blindness not realizing that God was seeking them, and in the person of His servants was trying to give them the message of light and life. It is well to remember too that Christianity is unique, in that the Holy Spirit comes to dwell with us and witfiin us. What other religion offers its devotees the Holy Spirit with all His transforming, enabling, purifying and illuminating presence and power? Not one in all the world. Concerning the Holy Spirit, Christ said in John’s Gospel, “ That he [the Holy Spirit] may abide with you forever; for He dwelleth with [along­ side of] you and shall be in you.” Think of the tremendous significance of having the third Person of the Trinity in such close, personal rela­ tionship with us. No wonder the Saviour called Him the Comforter, One who was to be of the same kind as Christ Himself and to minister to us in His absence. It is almost impossible to think of the uniqueness of Christianity with­ out turning to the resurrection of Christ. Where are all the founders

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THE KING'S BUSINESS

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