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T H E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
November, 1941
foundations for such a system. The people would have to be unified in their loyalty to Christ. They would have to be » united in their acceptance of the Bible as a supreme authority. America never would have become a United States— (and we are, in reality, a United States—one nation; not these united states)—if.we had not first been ■united by. a Common faith in Bible Christianity. UNITY UNDER GOD: • Lincoln said that our government must be under God, or it would perish. We must have unity under God, or we will never truly attain it. We must stand unitedly upon the basis of God’s Word, or we cannot stand at all. We must have divine leadership in our hearts and lives, or we can never have a united leadership in our nation. A spiritual awakening can impart unity ,tq our nation. A return to the Bible can give us our foundation for unity. An acceptance of the authority of the Scriptures can give us a sanc tion for unity. The guidance of God in the hearts of our people can give us a leadership for unity; Unity enforced by regimentation and censorship could not be lasting. It could not be effective. America can find true security only within the Everlasting Arms. America can find true unity only behind the banner of the cross.
Significance of the News By DAN GILBERT P Wàshington,,D. C., and San Diego, California
law. Liberty must be under God and His law. Liberty must be in obedience to God. - UNITY AND EUROPE: • The question is often asked; “Why can’t there be a United States of Europe ? If forty-eight states in Amer ica can live in peace in one union of ’states, why can’t the nations of Europe be similarly assembled in a United States of Europe?” The trouble with all of these plans for a union of nations is that they assume that a structure of this kind can be created artificially. They do not recognize that unity must come out of the hearts of the people, not out of schemes conceived in conferences of diplomats. Unity must exist in the hearts of the people before it can be incorporated into their institutions. There could be—'-there might be—a United States of Europe. But first there would have to be laid the spiritual
THE CAUSE AND CUKEpsi OF NATIONAL, DISUNITY
• Each side says it is. the fault of the other .side, but both isolationists and interventionists ? agree that' our greatest peril is our own disunity. We cali ourselves.-the United States, but we are a Tong way from being’ a^united people. Democracy must rest upon religious foundations, i As George . Washington said, our government rests upon mo rality and morality reSts upon' religion. We cannot have unity in the govern mental sphere unless we first have it in the spiritual sphere. Where can we find unity ? Not in censorship, not in formulas and -theo ries, can it be achieved.' We must find it in Christ and in allegiance to His cause. America was once a united people. We .found unity .-in a common loyalty to the Word o f God. v.In the beginning, America was â Bible-be- lieying péòple. There were, to be ’sure, individual and denominational excep tions and differences; But, as a people,’ we accepted the Bible as our highest authority. Our institutions, our' schools, our traditions, and our "way of life— all were created and integrated, accord ing to the Bible pattern. In recent decades, paganism,, mate rialism, and modernism have bred con fusion in every phase of American life and thought. And that confusion *has bred, disunity—a disunity that strikes at the very foundations of our national existence. LIBERTY: THE PARENT OF UNITY: • Certain excited reformers are tell ing us that in order to restore unity we must g e t , rid o f . liberty. In this time of crisis, they attempt to justify the suppression of individual -liberty and the curtailment of freedom of speech as guaranteed in the Constitu tion. But .the. suppression of liberty does not lead to enduring unity. Unity spread by suppression is short-lived; Daniel Webster pointed out that America rests upon the twin ideals of liberty an d . uintyi ,In a celebrated speech, he said, “Liberty and Union, now and forever, one and inseparable.” Lincoln championed the cause of liberty and union. For the sake of liberty, he sought to., preserve the .Union; for the sake of the Union, he strove to preserve liberty. But liberty cannot be interpreted to mean license. Liberty myst be under
« NENT my. discussion of. the Fatherhood of God in connec t i o n with the International Les NESS of September,, page 344, a reader has written mè in a friendly spirit questioning my assertion that angels are “sons of God.” His argument is based on the statement in Hebrews 1:5, “For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my. Son . . . ?” Since thip same' question ipay have arisen in the minds of other readers, I am submitting the following i points in reply: i. If the entire passage in Hebrews 1:5, 6 is taken into consideration, it will be clear that there is no contra diction. The writer did not say merely, “Unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art’my Son” ; but rather, “Thou a r t’ my-Son, this day have I begotten thee.” To no angel, no matter' how great, did God ever say. that. He had called angels “sons of God” in Job 1 :6 gnd 38:7, bift, no., one of them was ever called .a “begotten son.” There is only one such son of God. Our Lord Jesus Christ is the “only begotten Son,” and there la none else like Him. He is absolutely the only One of His kind. 2. The proof that the expression* “sons of God,” in the 'Book of Job refers to angelic beings, and not to men, may be found in the context of 38:7 which reads, "When the morning stars igjrig together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy.” But just “when” was it that these sons of God shouted for joy? The answer is in the preceding verses, especially 4. God asks of Job the question; “Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? . . . or who laid the comer stone thereof; when . . . all the sons of God shouted for jo y ?” Certainly the picture is Very clear. God is creating the earth; the sons of God are shouting for -joy; and all this takes place long before the creation of man. This is the Very point of the divine irony: Where were you, Job, when all this took place ? 3. Divine sonship for members of our sinful race individually was not experienced in the Old Testament days. If is a truth revealed and realized in the New Testament. In fact, it Could hot be realized until after the incarna tion of our Lord in the flesh. “When [Continued on Page 447] , Are The Angels "Sons of God”? By ALVA J. McCLAIN son Commentary in THE KING’S BUSI
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