I have ever heard anything like this. The teaching which you have always be lieved is correct according to my under standing of the Scriptures. How could God write anyone’s name in the Book of Life until first that one possessed eternal life? However, I can understand where this other theory originated. Revelation 3:5 reads: “He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.” By inference this teacher has concluded that the names were all there to begin with and then those who accept ed Christ and lived for Him would not be blotted out. However, it is a very dan gerous thing to build a doctrine on in ference and it is entirely unsafe to base your views upon one passage of Scrip ture alone. How can I know the will of God for me? I am anxious to do His will; in fact, that’s the thing I want more than any thing else in life. God states clearly some things that are according to His will. First, it is His will that men should believe on Christ and be saved. Un believers may frustrate the will of God in this regard. Then “ this is the will of God, even your sanctification.” And Paul also says: “ Rejoice evermore, pray with out ceasing, for this is the will of God concerning you.” But if the inquirer has in mind what the will of God is in regard to some place of service—there are numbers of things by which we may determine God’s will, such as controlling circumstances, one’s health, open doors, one’s own heart conviction, one’s obligations, etc. EVEN IF YOU DON! KNOW A NOTE OF MUSIC NOW... You Can Learn Your Favorite instrument This Easy A-B-C Way No special talent, no previous training needed. This U. S. School home-study method is so suc cessful because you learn to play by playing real tunes by note, right from the start. And just think, you can learn your favorite instrument for 9n]y a cents a day. If interested, mail coupon for FREE booklet and Print-and-Picture Sample. See for yourself how easy it is to learn any instru ment right at home, in spare time, with out a private teacher. • U. S. SCHOOL OF MUSIC 1099 Brunswick Bldg., * -jgfi % New York 10, N. Y. 50th yr.
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Just what is the significance of the present-day happenings in Palestine? Will Israel be able to get along with the other nations of the world? The Jewish and Palestinian questions will never be fully settled until the Mes siah, the Lord Jesus Christ, returns. The Jews have returned to the land in unbelief and have established a gov ernment which is not founded upon the Word of God. Just where all of this fits into prophecy I am not prepared to say at present. However, my own personal conviction is that the end time is not far distant. What about the thief on the cross? Where is he now, and what did Christ mean when He said, “ Today thou shalt be with me in paradise” ? In the 16th chapter of Luke, we have a p ictu re of just what happened when men died in Old Testament times. There were two localities, one to which the righteous dead went, and the other to which the unrighteous dead went. When Christ rose from the dead, He took the souls of the righteous dead from the place where they were confined and car ried them into the presence of God, or into what the Scriptures call “ the third heaven or paradise.” So when Christ promised the thief on the cross that he would be with Him in paradise, He meant that the repentant thief would be in His presence and that of the Father in heaven. Now every child of God at death goes immediately into this place of bliss. Of course, we lay away the body in the earth, but the real person, soul and spirit, goes to be with Christ in paradise. Of course, I do not know just where; it is near the throne of God and the Scriptures speak of it as being “up.” It must be an exceedingly wonder ful place. When are the names written in the Lamb’s Book of Life? I have always been taught that when we accept Christ as Saviour our names are written in the Book of Life, but recently I heard a Bible teacher who said something like this: “ The names of all people are writ ten in the Lamb’s Book of Life in the beginning, and when someone rejects the Lord as Saviour, then his name is blotted out. What is your teaching regarding this?” I must confess this is the first time
I was in a book store the other day and saw advertised a book entitled, The Lost Books of the Bible. These are sup posed to have been parts of the Bible which became lost during various times of persecution. Do you think that this is true or are these books spurious? The supposed “ lost books” of-the Bible belong to the realm of fancy. If the Holy Spirit had inspired them, He would have preserved them for people of every gen eration. The fact that they were “ lost,” even for a period, proves in itself that they are the products of man’s mind. You often speak of the time when the righteous will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea, and then in your book, God’s Plan of the Ages, you teach that at the end o f the millennium period, Satan will raise an army to fight against God. How can this b’e possible if the whole world is under the personal reign of Christ and everyone is righteous? The millennium will be a converted world at its beginning. However, you must remember that children will be born into the world during the millen nium just as children are bom into the world today. Many passages make this clear. Isaiah says that the weaned child will put its hand in the cockatrice’s den. Children will need to be converted then just as now. Upon your recommendation, I pur chased a Scofield Bible and have been on the whole greatly blessed by studying it. However, I note that Dr. Scofield teaches a difference between the “kingdom of heaven” and the “kingdom o f God,” while it seems to me that the Gospel writers use these synonymously. Do you think there is a difference? If you secured a Scofield Bible, you made a wise purchase. The Bible will be a new book to you if you study the references given in the margin and in the footnotes. Yes, I do accept Dr. Scofield’s inter pretation with regard to the “kingdom of God” and the “kingdom of heaven.” But in a word, the difference is that while the “kingdom of heaven” refers to this earth, when the Messiah reigns, it is the rule of the heavens over the earth; the “ kingdom of God” is wider in its scope which takes in all, including even the angels who do the will of God. S E P T E M B E R , 1 9 4 8
FREE! P r in t and P ic tu r e Sam ple U. S. School of Music 1099 Brunswick Bldg., New York 10, N. Y. Please send me Free Booklet and Print and Picture Sample. I would like to play (Name Instrument). Have you Instrument..................................... Instrument... Name......................................................................... (Please Print) Address......................... ......................................
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