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TH E K I N G ’S BIT'S I NE SS
mother or father has heard that good night prayer. He has been a member of the circle about the family altar; he has had Bible stories read to him ;, he has been in Sunday school; he has .been urged to memorize Scrip ture. In other words, he has been nourished in the Christian life, and he has been reared in the knowledge of the Lord. While he has, no doubt, always loved the Lord Jesus Christ, a there comes a day when that love miist become a personal faith of which he. makes public confession. One can easily understand why such a boy or girl as this can, and should, make this decision at a much earlier age than the child who has no Christian background. However, let us remember that the acceptance of the Lord Jesus Christ consists of a willingness on the part of the person, and a prompting of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, if the- boy or girl of reasonable age, with practically no Christian background, expresses a desire to make a public confession of his faith, and has an intelligent un derstanding of this initial step in the Christian life, he should not be hin dered in his attempt by any one who thinks he is “not old enough.” The warning, “Quench not the Spirit ” (1 Thess. 5:19), applies to the prompting of the Spirit in a child’s heart. The fact that the Lord Jesus was allowed to go to the temple when He was twelve years old forms the basis for the opinion on the part of some that a child reaches the “age of ac- , countability” when he celebrates his twelfth birthday. There is no Scrip ture to substantiate this theory. QUE.: Which apostle took the place o f Judas: Matthias o r Paul? The answer - is definitely given in I Corinthians 15:5. Here Paul says that the risen Lord was seen “ of the twelve.” This number certainly in cluded Matthias, because Judas had already hanged himself; and Paul goes on to state in verse 8 of the same chapter: “And last of all he was seen of me also, as Of one born out of due time.” Those who say that Paul took the place of Judas do not understand the peculiar character of Paul’s apostle- ship. He was the minister. to the Gentiles in a special sense (Acts 9:15; Rofh. 1:5; 11:13; Eph. 3:8); whereas the twelve are connected particularly with the twelve tribes of Israel. More over, there is nothing to. indicate that the choice of Matthias (Acts 1:21-26) was contrary to the will of God. Questions for answer in this depart-. ment should be sent to the Editorial Department, THE KING'S BUSINESS, 558 So. Hope St., Los Angeles 13, Calif.
The Hymn That Brought Conviction
E PREE Biola students were pass ing a U. S. O. center near the In stitute when one noticed a sign in the window, offering the making.,of. free records to any one who would send such records to service men. The. bojrs went in and arranged for ah ap pointment to make a record the fol lowing week. But on the- appointed day, two of the students could not go, so, with an accompanist, the o t h e r young . man started for the U. S. O. center. On the main floor of the U. S. O. room, where all the service men present could hear him, he sang “God Under stands,” and thén went upstairs to hear it played back. In between thè times when the recordings were played, the service men were permitted to make records of greeting to send back home. While waiting, the stu dent watched the proceedings. ■He noticed a young sergeant beginning to record greetings for his family. But the young fellow got no further than the first few words when he broke down, bursting into tears. He left the room for a few minutes, evidently to gain control of him-- self, and then came back to try again, only to repeat the same performance. By this time the Biola student was concerned, so as- the sergeant started to leave for the second time, he stop ped him, and asked whether he might talk with him. The soldier was grate ful for the opportunity. The soldier said he had been at tending a Bible school, preparing for the ministry, when, a year ago, he went home for a short vacation. Whén he got there he found that his -, father had remarried, and became violently angry over it. His anger . led into a quarrel with his father and stepmother, and he left home, not to return to school, but to come to California to work. Here he en tered the army. Since then he had led a miserable life. He had worked hard to attain the position of a sergeant, but all the
time a real battle was gbing on with in his heart'. He had not written to his family in over a year, .which in itself made him miserable, and at the same time he Was fighting against God’s call to Christian serv ice. His misery reached the break ing point When he heard the singing of “ God Understands.” After the sergeant had finished his story, the student talked to him, and was rewarded by seeing the young man surrender his life completely to the Lord, promising Him that when army days were over he would again enter Bible school to prepare for the Christian ministry. For the third time h e 1 started a record for his folks, this time successfully finishing it. In it he not only broke the year’s silence by sendingfgreetingS, but also apologized in manly fashion to hfs father and stepmother for his treatment of them. And he sent his love-—the first words addressed to them since he had left home.
Dr. Talbots Question Box
QUE.: When does a child reach the “ age o f accountability” ? God’s Word does not mention any age as that of “accountability.” That is, there is no particular age suggested as that which one must reach in order to be held responsible for either the acceptance or the rejection of Christ. Maturity, both physical and spiritual, differs with the individual. But when a child Is able to distinguish between
what is right and what is wrong, he is not too young to accept God’s plan of salvatidn. We believe that there are many factors to b e ,considered in the ques tion of “accountability” as pertaining to thé youth. For instance, consider the case of the child who is reared in a Christian home: a home in which from the time he is able to lisp thé first prayer s e n t e n c e , either the
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