ascend to the Father for we read that they came and they held Him by the feet — but that is another story alto gether. When Christ cried, “It is finished,” the veil in the temple was rent in twain from top to bottom. This veil separated the Holy of Holies which was God’s dwelling place from the Holy place, and when Christ finished His work on the Cross and went into the Holiest of all, it was then that it was opened so that this side of the Cross, when a believer dies he imme diately goes to Heaven, but before the Lord Jesus died, believers went to a place called Paradise where they waited for the Lord Jesus Christ to finish His work on Calvary. Q. "When we read the term, ‘Abraham’s bosom’, is this the same as Paradise?” A. Yes, I figure that Abraham’s bosom represented rest and it represented Par adise, the place to which the Old Tes tament saints went and awaited the finished work of Christ on the Cross. Abraham, of course, is now in Heaven. Q. A listener would like to know “if Satan can read our minds or does he simply learn from our actions to follow them w ith evil suggestions?” A. To this enquiry I must say that I cannot affirm that Satan knows what is going on within our minds, nor would I deny it, especially when we call to mind the reading powers that some people seem to possess. If the Devil does have the power to hear us think, he certainly possesses our product of thinking very, very quickly and then he suggests a course of action. How necessary it is for us to keep in fellowship with the Lord and study His Word that we might know what is His plan and purpose for us. Q. "I have heard someone say that temp tation and sin are two different things, that a temptation is not actually a sin in God’s sight, but where is the fine line which divides temptation from sin?” A. Satan certainly tempts all people, he even tempted or “tried” the Lord
Jesus Christ Himself when He was on the mount, but the Lord quoted the Scriptures to him saying, “It is writ ten.” There is no sin in being tempted. Remember, the Devil is not concerned about the unconverted person or the Christian who is living outside the will of God — but he is definitely occupied with tempting those who know and love the Lord and are living for Him. There is one thing to do when he comes to tempt you as God’s child, and that is to quote the Word of God to him, a “thus saith the Lord.” Q. “Since God is a God of love, why did He tell His people, Israel, to fight against the heathen nations which were about them — especially to extermi nate them?” A. This is a question that is in the mind of many and I will say this: Those nations that God had com manded be exterminated had had their opportunity to receive the truth and they turned their backs upon God’s righteousness. God had borne with them for hundreds of years. They were idolaters, corrupt in their lives and a menace to the people of God. Time and time again you remember that the peo ple of Israel fell into their snares, worshipped their idols and intermar ried with them contrary to God’s ex plicit command. Since they refused to go God’s way there was nothing left for Him to do but to cut them off in the interest of the preservation of His own chosen people. At times, when some part of the human body which is diseased is beyond medical aid, it must be amputated that the whole body might be saved — this was true of the body politic. God’s command for the extermina tion of these people bespoke their de pravity; read Romans 1:17 to the end of the chapter and you will see their picture. It was necessary that Israel see that such people would be cut off from the living. * * * " It is better to sleep over what you are going to do, than to be kept awake afterwards with what you have done."
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