O r*. T a l b o t ’s j 0 ,- u .e s t io n B o x
everything. Men were responsible for the spiritual training of their wives and children. Women were to learn from their husbands. The Gospel brought liberation for women, but God never intended that the headship should go to the woman, and the New Testament bears this out. How ever, you are absolutely right in your understanding that the Word of God is addressed to all Christians —- wom en as well as men, and you may apply such verses as Roman 12:1 to both: “ I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.” Note Galatians 3:28: “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.” M IN ISTRY OF 144,000 Q. W e are told that the 144,000 follow the Lamb, whithersoever He goeth. What w ill their ministry be? I refer to Revelation 7:4-8. A. The 144,000 will all be Israelites, 12,000 from each tribe, and they will minister between the translation of the church and the return of the Lord in glory. Their special ministry will be to preach the Gospel of the king dom which heralds the coming of the King to establish His rule here upon earth. Have you ever thought, my dear friend, of how well prepared the Jews are for such a ministry? Being scattered all over the earth, they know every language and they are used to every climate. The 144,000 will be called out immediately after the church is translated. The Lord is go ing to take the veil of blindness from their eyes and their message will be: “ Repent, for the kingdom of Heaven is at hand.” They will preach this to all nations. However, there will be in Jerusalem two other witnesses and their special ministry will be a warn ing to the people of Jerusalem against the worship of the image the Anti christ will set up (Rev. 11:3-13). THE KING'S BUSINESS
resurrection of the body. This miracle is being wrought continuously. Re member Christ said: “ Greater works shall ye do.” The purpose of Christ’s miracles which He performed in His earthly ministry was for the identification, the authorization and the corroboa- tion of His Messiahship. The prophets had written that when Messiah came, the lepers would be healed, the blind would see and the dead, would be raised. When John the Baptist doubt ed for a moment, he sent two of his disciples to ask Jesus if He were in deed “ the one that should come,” the true Messiah, and Jesus sent back the message to reassure John: “ Go and shew John again those things which ye do hear and see: “The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached unto them” (Matt. 11:4-5). The miracles performed by Peter, James and John in the name of Christ, and through His power, were to prove that this same Jesus was risen from the dead. God works as mightily to day and when it pleases Him to heal, He does; but there is not the need for those miracle signs. He is risen; He sits at the right hand of God; He saves those who come unto God by Him. We have the written Word of God preserved miraculously for us, and in it we have the evidences of the resur rection . . . “many infallible proofs.” BRETHREN AND SISTERS Q. This may sound like a childish question, but I notice the word “ brethren” is used very often in the Scriptures and it seems to refer to men and women too. Don’t the teach ings given to “ brethren” apply to “ sisters” too? A. Your question is not childish. This question has entered the minds of many people. One must take into con sideration the Jewish background of the apostles and the social structure of the times. Men were the heads of
HOW TO GIVE Q. Should “ storehouse tithing” be practiced in the church today and what is it? A. The storehouse in the Old Testa ment days was the temple and to it the people brought their gifts. In the church today there is nothing that parallels this custom. By “ storehouse tithing” — as some preach it — is meant that all money for the Lord’s work is to go into the local church. There is a great inconsistency here for even those who preach this do not practice it. If they did, no money could be given for radio broadcasts of the Gospel, for missionaries, for Christian schools, for anything out side of the local church. There would be no independent giving at all. Each church member would bring his en tire tithe into the church and allow the heads there to dispose of it as they felt led. Furthermore, if this teaching were followed through consistently, the local church would not take any gifts from visitors in the congregation who may belong to other churches. I believe in giving to the local church regularly according to I Cor. 16:2, but to demand that “ all tithes” be brought “ into the storehouse” seems to me to have no New Testament bas is at all. It referred to Israel, not to the church. MIRACLES TODAY? Q. Why doesn’t God work miracles today as in Christ’s time? W ere the miracles just for that day, and why? Isn’t there a need today for such mira cles to convince men that Christ is really alive? So many say the age of miracles is past. A. There is no conclusive Bible proof that God does NOT work miracles to day, neither is there any reason for this conclusion in history or experi ence. Regeneration is a miracle. The raising of a spirit, dead in trespasses and sins, to life in Jesus Christ, is a more wonderful miracle than the healing of a sick person, or even the 20
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