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Again, their personal love for the Lord made them reject the thought of His being crucified. However, at the close of His pub lic ministry the disciples did seem to understand, in a measure, because in Matthew 24:1-3 we find them ask ing questions in regard to His return to the earth. When the Holy Spirit came on the day of Pentecost, their eyes were fully opened and they preached sal vation through faith in Christ’s death and resurrection. D A V I D 'S T H R O N E Q. Will David’s throne be again set up? A . Certainly it will. Nothing is clearer than that the throne of David will be literally re-established. “ For unto us a child is bom, unto us a son is given : and the government shall be upon his shoulders : and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his govern ment and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to es tablish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth and even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this” (Isa. 9:6, 7; see also Jer. 23:5-8; Luke 1:31- 33, and many other passages). A footnote on the Isaiah quotation in the Scofield Bi bl e s ta t e s : “ The ‘throne of David' is a phrase as def inite, historically, as ‘throne of the Caesars’ and as little admits of ‘spiritualizing.’ ” I N N O C E N C E Q. We often hear it said that babies are innocent. Were Adam and Eve innocent? A . Adam and Eve were the only hu man beings who were ever innocent. We may say that babies are inno cent, but it is not true. Babies are
T H E C O N S T I T U T I O N Q. Is our constitution based upon the Bible? A . Many of its principles are: the worth and dignity of man, liberty, justice and reverence for God. In forming our laws, we followed the laws of Great Britain to a large extent. The Magna Charta Liber- tatum, (Magna Carta), signed and sealed by King John at the demand of his barons, at Runnymede on June 19, 1215, was the basis for the liber ties of England and consequently those of the United States and the whole world. C O N V E R S I O N O F D IS C IP L E S Q. When were the disciples convert ed, before or after Christ died? I f before, why did they not understand when He told them that He was to be crucified? A . They were converted before Christ died, some through the preaching of John the Baptist when he said, “ Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). Christ told them to rejoice because their names were written in heaven (Luke 10: 20 ). There are several reasons why they did not understand when He told them He was to be crucified: The human mind is very dull and slow to grasp spiritual things, and the disciples were no exception. There were ignorant of the Scrip tures. They were so eager for Christ to set up His kingdom on earth that they overlooked the numerous proph ecies that pointed on to the cross, hoping rather for the immediate ful fillment of the even more numerous promises of the reigning Messiah— all found in their Old Testament Scriptures. The New Testament, of course, was not then written. (Com pare Luke 24:25-27, 44, 45; I Peter 1 : 10 , 11 .)
undeveloped. Adam and Eve were innocent but they had a will. Be fore the temptation, they had no opportunity to exercise it, either one way or the other. God allowed the temptation, that they might exercise their will Godward, and thus become righteous. Had they done this, they would have been permitted to eat of the tree of life, and thus live for ever beyond the possibility of sin. They failed in the test by exercising their will in the direction of un righteousness. God is the God of grace, as well as righteousness. The sinful state of man gave Him the opportunity of showing His grace through His matchless plan of re demption. As someone has stated: “When man fell, God was there to catch him by providing a Saviour.” C A R N A L C H R I S T I A N S Q. Will you please explain the pas sages of the Scripture in First Co rinthians which seem to indicate that many Christians are carnal. Romans 8:6, says that “ to be car nally minded is death.’’ Does this mean that a Christian continuing to live in that condition until death is lost eternally? A . Such Christians as we call back sliders are carnal Christians. They will be losers at the judgment seat of Christ, in so far as their rewards for service are concerned. The Co rinthian message indicates that a carnal state of mind prevents spirit ual growth. Many so-called backslid ers, however, have never experienced the new birth; they have never been regenerated. They are mere profes sors, not possessors of salvation. A real Christian may become a back slider. He will be chastised, will con fess his sin, and live for Christ, how ever falteringly it may - be. Only those who persistently reject Christ as Saviour will be eternally lost. The carnal Christian will lose his re wards for service, and lose the joy of fellowship with the Lord.
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THE KING'S BUSINESS
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