own fault because God has made it avail able. Before His ascension into Heaven from whence He had come in His incar nation, our Lord expressly stated this truth: “ Ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you” (Acts 1 : 8 ). The book of Acts is the history of the fulfillment of this promise. The lives of godly men and women ever since are further evidence of the truthfulness of our Lord’s word. The Holy Ghost has come! He is here now! He is resident within the body of every believer. He is available to every person who will re ceive Christ as Saviour and Lord. There is a third encouragement for the fearful soul to step out for Christ. When a man decides for Christ, he discovers that his ability to live for Him increases as he grows in grace and knowledge. The believer receives the Holy Spirit the moment he believes. But this is the beginning of the Christian life. The be liever does not become a mature Chris tian at the time of his conversion. For this reason the young Christian should not become discouraged in the face of his failures. As he grows in Christ, he will find that there are battles and vic tories all along the line. Another reason for the hesitancy on the part of a person who would other wise follow Christ is this: he is afraid of the ripple the Lord will make on the smooth sea of his social life. Thousands of fine men and women would become ardent followers of Jesus Christ today if it were not for the impression they fear they would make on the circle of their friends. Many are the slaves of public opinion, dressing like the majority, talking like the majority, conforming to the stand ards established by the majority. They live in constant fear of becoming a spectacle before the eyes of men. A few extroverts long for and love the spot light. But for one of them there are a million timid souls, who prefer the back- stage to the floodlights. When a man considers identifying himself with Christ, he knows that he will become a part of a minority. Iso lated from the “ run of the mill,” he thus becomes a special object of attention. It is never popular to belong to a minority group. Popular opinion claims that the majority is always right, but that is not so. When God wanted His people to enter Canaan, ten leaders out of twelve voted against it. The majority won, but were they right? These ten men lost their lives because of their fear; the believing two received the blessing. The majority of the nation wept in consternation at the report of the ten spies refusing to accept the promised blessing. But were they right? No, they perished in the wilderness, their carcasses falling on the burning desert sands. But the minority entered Canaan! The Lord said, “ Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to de struction, and many there be which go Page Fourteen
in thereat: because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it” (Matt. 7:13,14). The majority of the world are busily engaged in running swiftly to Hell, only a minority is follow ing Jesus Christ. Who is right? When Jesus was brought in a prisoner of the Sanhedrin, and made to stand be fore the Roman tribunal, the majority shouted, “ Crucify Him! Crucify Him!” I ask you: “Were they right?” The ma jority hated Him, hissed Him, and murdered Him, and are crucifying Him still. When a man identifies himself with Christ, he identifies himself with a great misunderstood minority. This is why many an honest person hesitates to line up with Him. No self-respecting man ★ The Difference With every man it is the same. Upon each one some trials must fall: The difference: who trust His name Are by these things not harmed at all. —Blanton W. Jones ★ ★ ★ likes to have his name linked with a group of crazy people! And this is often what the majority thinks of the church, especially of the fundamental church. The church knows this and has always known it. But oftentimes the desire for popularity has become irresistible and the church has made a bid for the favor of the majority. In doing so the church has deleted from her teaching and from her practice everything likely to offend,, even going so far as to eliminate the cross. The majority is also confused by the radical element within the church. All God’s people are judged by the extremes of a few who profess Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour. The majority does not take the time to study the gracious lives of humble Christians. The steady, day-by-day consistent be lievers in the Lord are the ones to watch and to follow. I say to you who are seriously considering coming out boldly on the side of Christ — do not judge Christ and the Christian life by the ac tion of a few. There is a third obstacle to taking a stand for Christ. Some are not sure that the evidence for the truthfulness of the Christian faith is sufficient to warrant their wholehearted embrace of it. Many Christians will confess that this problem has sometimes gripped their hearts. Questions have often arisen in our minds that have caused us moments of deep perplexity and agony of soul. Do I have adequate reasons for my faith? Do I stand on a sure foundation? Are the evidences sufficient that I am right in holding the Christian position? ★ ★
The Christian has a right to be in tellectually satisfied with Christianity as it is presented to him in the Bible. Every Christian ought to be able to give a reasonable answer to everyone that asks him a reason for the hope that is in him. In the same vein every unbe liever ought carefully to weigh the evi dences for the truthfulness of the Chris tian faith before he repudiates it. As I seek to analyze the Christian faith, I find four great facts as anchors of the soul. First of all, there is the fact of God. This sounds simple, but it is not as simple as it seems. How many of you have ever been stopped dead in your tracks by your little child’s “ Daddy, who made God?” Does it seem to answer the question to say, “ Well, Sonny, no one made God. God always was from the be ginning, from eternity.” We^ speak of God as the Eternal One. This is true. But who of us knows what eternity is, or can even grasp the con cept of endlessness? We call God the Infinite One, as He is. But what mortal, conscious of His own mortality, dares to say he knows what is meant by infinity? This is a concept far beyond our mental ability. We speak of God as immutable or unchangeable. This is true. But what man can understand perfection, for un changeableness means perfection? That which is subject to change cannot be per fect. Take away from perfection and you have imperfection; add to perfection and you have less than perfect. I say that these are truths we can know only by faith and not by sight, for we are creatures of the dust and crea tures of the day. Yet, the believer has a right to his faith in God as the Su preme Being, the Creator and Sustainer of the Universe. Books on Christian evi dences and apologetics list a number of evidences for the fact of God. One of these arguments for God is the argu ment of cause and effect. Because every effect must have a cause, the world must have a cause for its existence. It could not just have hap pened. Something or someone must be responsible for its origin. Certainly the cause of the universe must be greater than the universe. Certainly the cause must be intelligent because the universe shows unmistakable signs of design. The cause behind the universe must be per sonal, because the world is inhabited by personal beings, and it is not logical that the cause should be less than the effect. Theology and philosophy give us other arguments. But the greatest argument of all is Jesus Christ Himself. I will bank my soul on the fact of God when I look into the fact of Jesus Christ. If Jesus Christ was not God, if He did not display God to the world, then the most honest Man who ever lived was a liar, evidences have no value, and no one can ever know anything for sure. When I am tempted to disbelieve in God because I have never seen Him, or because I cannot explain His origin, or because I cannot conceive of perfection (Continued on Page 22) T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
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