J U N E , 1 9 6 8 With May Radio Features
STUDIES for the HOME
STUDIES in PROPHECY by Lehman Strauss
by Henry Brandt
June, 1968 / Volume 8 / Number 6
MONTHLY PUBLICATION OF THE BIOLA FELLOWSHIP
president .....................
5. H SUTHERLAND
editor ............................
AL SANDERS
production ...................
BILL EHMANN
printing ........................
CHURCH PRESS
ON THIS MONTH’S COVER
CONTENTS
Mr. William Carden, Director of Admissions; Diann Johnson, San Jose, Calif.; Todd Lewis, La Mira da, Calif.; Miss Barbara Barke, College Registrar; Mr. William Sie mens, Dean of Students; and Judy Walker, Whittier, Calif.
THE DAY OF THE LORD .......... 3 THE RESTRAINT OF THE HOLY SPIRIT ................ 5 IDENTIFYING THE RESTRAINER .. 7 NO SECOND CHANCE — Dr. Lehman Strauss ............... 9 THE UNFAITHFUL W IF E ............11 THE SNIPER ........................... 13 THE JEALOUS W IFE ................. 15 THE DR INK ING W OM AN — Dr. Henry Brandt...................17 PANEL DISCUSSIONS ............... 19 PARABLES A N D PEARLS .......... 24 STUDIES IN I JOHN — Lloyd T. Anderson .................30
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I T is A blessed study to consider the p ro p h e tic passages in II Thessalonians. Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, it was probably written from Corinth not long after the first epistle. This is a necessary sequel to his first letter which was written to comfort. Here we see the need to correct. The basis was con fusion on the return of Christ. Their minds were in a whirl as we see in 2:2. Distorted views on Bible proph ecy can leave one in a state of con fusion. We need to be very careful in such a study, seeking God’s divine illumination. Theological winds and waves are roaring. This portion was written to steady men in the storm. We want to examine those passages dealing with unfulfilled prophecy. We dare not read into passages thoughts and ideas which are not there. On the other hand, we dare not neglect the difficult or deliberately avoid those sections about which the Bible is silent. We cannot be dog matic. Where God speaks explicitly in His Word, however, we must speak up forcefully. For this first section let us con sider the retribution of the Saviour suggested in II Thess. 1:3-10. The spiritual progress of the believers in Thessalonica was cause for praise to God on the part of Paul, Silvanus, and Timotheus. They may have been confused about some doctrines. Yet they were consistent in their deport ment. Is your faith growing; is your love increasing? Some professing Christians claim they have trusted God for eternal salvation. Still they seem unwilling to trust Him for tem poral things right now. The Thessa lonians’ endurance in faith enabled them to bear up in daily trials and tribulations. Verses 4, 5, 6, and 7 re
veal that there were persecutions, tribulations, suffering and trouble. Each is a term expressing affliction. The enemies of the Gospel were doing their worst. This was an evi dence of their future glory. (Phil. 2:19; Rom. 8:17; II Tim. 2:12). We don’t have to go about with a persecution complex. Our place in the kingdom will be determined by our behaviour when we are called upon to suffer for Christ in this life. If and when affliction comes, we need to exercise both courage and com passion. See the example of the Lord in I Pet. 2:23 and 4:13. The empha sis in II Thess: 1:5 is not that men will enter the kingdom of God only if they suffer for Christ, but rather that the saints who suffer victori ously will have a more abundant en trance. Some Christians are satisfied to settle for any reward. Suffering in itself is not being commended, but rather the attitude of faith and love in suffering. In verses 6-10 we have described the punishment that is going to be meted out to those who persecute the people of God when the Lord Jesus Christ comes back again. The history of the church is marked by the suf ferings of its members at the hands of Christ’s enemies (John 16:33, Acts 17:1-9). Verse six reveals to us that it is a righteous thing for God to recom pense evil for evil; to afflict those who afflict His children. God can never act wrongly. His law is given in Gal. 6:7. To punish evil doers is His prerogative alone (Rom. 12:9; Deut. 32:35). When Paul writes of the day of wrath in Romans of the righteous judgment of God, he also adds, “unto them that are conten tious, and do not obey the truth, but 3
Nadab and Abihu (Lev. 10) ; and when the Lord comes to earth (II Pet. 3; Rev. 19:20). Our God is a consuming fire (Heb. 12:29). If you are going through deep wa ters; if you are having difficult times; if you are under stress and strain, look up to the blessed Lord Jesus Christ. Things will never be equal in this life and world. Thank God, however, when our Lord Jesus comes again, He will set all things straight. Those who deserve divine punishment, will receive it at His almighty hand. Don’t take the matter of vengeance into your own hands; leave it with God. If you have never received the Lord Jesus Christ as Saviour, trust Him at once, while there is still time.
obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath, Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil” (Rom. 2:8-9). The Christians will not be free from trouble until Christ returns, but when the Lord does come, the trouble makers will be punished. Now, the troubled child of God is to rest (v. 7). Reliance upon God’s righteous judgment helps to slacken the tenseness. While it is possible to relax under pressure, it is not always easy. We can rest in Christ while we wait for His coming. In reading verse eight, we are reminded that the righteous judgment of God against sin has often come to sinners in the form of literal fire. Consider the case of Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen. 19);
Dr. Lehman Strauss (left), propheticBible teacher, shares a time of fellowship withDr. Samuel H. Sutherland, Biola president. Dr. Strauss will be featured at the August Biola Family Bible Conterences this sum er. The 21st annual Biola Conference will be held at Mount Hermon,Augusttf to t7 and the annual Conference at The Firsin Bellingham, Washington, August 25 to 3t.
Dr. John C. Whitcomb, Jr., professor of Old Testa ment at Grace Theological Seminary, Winona Lake, Indiana, brings a series of messages to the Talbot Theological Seminary. Seated behind him is Dr. Charles L. Feinberg, dean of Talbot Theological Seminary. Dr. Whitcomb presented the annual Lyman Stewart lectures for the school.
4
JViaflstAthoini OF THEHOLY SPIRIT
by Dr. Lehman Strauss
I t is well to remember that not all unbelievers will suffer the same de gree of punishment in hell. Contrari wise, not all Christians will receive the same degrees of reward in heav en. The principle is given in Gala tians 6:7. II Thessalonians 1 :7 shows that when our Lord returns to earth, He will bring with Him the judg ment due those who have been against the work of Christ. Punishment is going to be meted out, according to verse 8, on them that “know not God, and that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.” This is all one group. The statement about “them that know not God” doesn’t have reference to those who have never heard but rather those who have purposely tried to remain, as Peter puts it, willfully ignorant (II Pet. 3:5). They are the ones who do not want “to retain God in their knowledge” (Rom. 1:28). When one hears the Gospel and then spurns it, he must suffer the conse quences. Verse 9 in II Thessalonians Chap ter 1 states that the unsaved “shall be punished with everlasting destruc tion from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power.” This does not mean annihilation. It is not total extinction. The awful truth is eternal separation from the presence of God. Their loss is irre trievable. The very thought of a man’s being beyond the reach of the Lord should cause each of us to tremble (Matt. 25:30). The final doom will come when Christ comes to be glori fied in His saints (II Thess. 1:10). Believers will then share the glory, while sinners suffer the gloom. Christ will assume authority over the uni verse. That actual date has not been
revealed. The certainty of it is as sured. In verses 1-7 of chapter 2, we come to the second major emphasis of the prophetic portion of the epis tle. In I and II Thessalonians there are no less than 20 references to the second coming of Christ. While there is only the one advent, there are two distinct phases of it, namely, Christ’s return in the air for His saints, de lineated in the first epistle (I Thess. 4:13-18), and His return to the earth with His saints. The latter is the emphasis of the second epistle. There was confusion in the minds of the Thessalonians in relation to the com ing of the Lord to gather His own to Himself. The word for “coming” here means “presence.” It is used in the first epistle in 2:19 and 4:15, referring to that time when Christ will appear in the air before the tribulation to take His Church from the earth. This gathering of the saints to Christ assured the believers of deliverance from the wrath to come (I Thess. 1:10; 5:9). This is the Great Tribulation which the earth will experience. It is not God’s final wrath which will be manifested in the everlasting judgment of sin ners (John 3:36). These people be lieved th a t the persecutions and tribulations through which they were passing were actually a part of the tribulation, or “the day of the Lord.” In 2:2, the American Standard Ver sion (Revised) uses “the day of the Lord” instead of the “the day of Christ” which is a good correction. The people were being shaken in mind, like a ship tossed from its moorings by the troubled sea. Three things could have brought about his undesirable state of affairs. 5
the revealing of that man of sin. “The falling away" is a most reveal ing prophecy. Verse three is admit tedly a difficult verse to interpret. The difficulty lies in the fact that Greek words translated “a falling away” have both a primary and a secondary meaning. O u r English word “apostasy” comes from a Greek word, apostasia, and is most gen erally interpreted to mean “a depar ture or a defection in a doctrinal sense.” One of the signs of the end times is that there will be a wide spread apostasy or a falling away from the true apostolic Christianity as recorded in the Word of God, particularly in the New Testament. This apostasy will reach its zenith during the Great Tribulation. Our Lord predicted it in His Olivet Dis course. We do not want to overlook a sec ondary meaning which suggests “dis appearance or departure.” Dr. E. Schuyler English points out that many scholars have rendered the Greek word “a departing.” He cites Tyndale’s version of the New Testa ment in 1526, the Coverdale Bible in 1535, the Geneva Bible of 1557. He shows further that this noun comes from a verb which means “to remove or to cause to be removed.” His con clusion is that the day of the Lord will not come until the man of sin is revealed. Before he appears, there must be the departure or removal. This departure is one concerning which the Thessalonians had been instructed by letter, namely, the rap ture of the church (I Thess. 4:13- 18). The prophesied events in order are the rapture, followed by the reve lation of the man of sin, then, final ly, the day of the Lord. This may be the meaning of “a falling away.” We do know assuredly that the Lord Jesus Christ can come at any moment to receive His own to Himself. Are you ready? If you are not a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, trust the Saviour at once. Decide for Him now!
The first is, “by spirit.” This means some sort of supernatural revelation; one which is divinely communicated. The second is, “by word.” No doubt there was some small statement, may be a sermon, or something which re portedly had been heard. The third is, “by letter as from us.” This sug gests a spurious communication re portedly from Paul, but which the Apostle denied ever having written. This might have occasioned the clos ing comment in 3:17. The Thessa- lonians were clearly told that what ever they heard about the day of the Lord being then upon them was un authorized teaching. Paul denies hav ing taught this. He flatly contradicts this as having come from God. It is important to understand the term, “the day of the Lord.” The ex pression, “the day of Christ” in this particular verse, and “the day of the Lord” are not synonymous. They are not to be used interchangeably. The day of the Lord is mentioned in II Thessalonians 5 :2-3, where it is de scribed as that time when “sudden destruction cometh upon them as tra vail upon a woman with child.” It is the same time as the day of Jehovah in the Old Testament. This is a time of divine judgment. It commences with the Tribulation, following the Rapture of the Church. It leads to the second advent of Christ to the earth. It continues through the end- time millennial reign of the Saviour. It is the day when God will deal judiciously and directly with human sin. Our present age is man’s day. God is dealing in grace. When this time has run its course, judgment will not vary from its course (Isa. 2:12; 13:9-11; Joel 1:15; Zeph. 1: 14-16; Mai. 4:5; and many others). Let me assure you that day of the Great Tribulation upon the earth will not arrive before the Church is rap tured. In verse 3 there is a prophecy revealing giving two things as neces sary, first occurrences. There is to be the falling away and there is to be 6
G od ' s W ord reveals to us some wonderfully helpful prophetic passages not the least of which are found in Paul’s second epistle to the Thessalonians. In chapter two, verses 6 and 7, we see that the man of sin cannot be revealed nor will the Lord Jesus Christ return visibly to the earth to establish His millennial reign until certain things take place. The reason is the restraining power of the Holy Spirit. Those verses do con stitute a puzzle to many students of the Bible. In verses 3 and 4, the Apostle states that the man of sin will be revealed in time. Now he pro ceeds to disclose why the man of sin has been withheld up to this point. The word “let” there means "to hin der.” When our King James Version was issued in 1611, the word “let” meant to prevent; now it means to permit (Isa. 43:13; Rom. 1:13). The anti-Christ cannot be revealed until this Restrainer has been removed. There have been questions as to who or what this is. A popular conception is that the Roman Empire is the re strainer. Others have said it is the Jewish state. Some have gone so far as to say that Satan is that restrain ing influence. The true Bible con cept is that the influence holding back the revelation of the man of sin is none other than the Holy Spirit. There are admittedly some difficul ties in identifying the Restrainer. For example, verse 6 has the words “what withholdeth.” This is a neuter participle with a neuter article, while in verse 7, the words “he who now letteth” is a masculine participle with a masculine article. The neuter seems to suggest a mere influence, while the masculine suggests a personality. Actually, there is no serious prob lem here. The words may indicate
both the influence of a Person and the Person himself. Whoever or what ever restrains was known to the Thessalonians. Paul said; “now ye know what withholdeth” (v. 6). The man of sin receives his power from Satan (2:9). The Restrainer holds back the full manifestation of Satan’s power. Thus, the power of the Restrainer is greater than Sa tan’s power. Who is powerful enough to hold back the devil? Certainly not a nation or a group of nations. Six thousand years of human history have proved that no man-made sys tem can hold in check the forces of evil. The answer is that God only has such power over wickedness. In Gene sis 6:3 we read, “My spirit shall not always strive with man.” Before the flood the third Person of the Holy Trinity restrained evil in the world. In this primary interpretation we have a reference to Noah's time! In its dispensational and prophetic ap plication, however, it can mean any time: our time or the end time. To day the Holy Spirit empowers the Church corporately, and her members individually, protecting against the opposition of Satan and his program. There is no doubt that at times God uses governments, armies, angels, or ganizations. The ultimate force be hind all restraint upon Satan and wickedness is the person and power of the Holy Spirit. The day will sure ly come, however, when Christ shall appear to take out His Church. The Holy Spirit will no longer restrain. The revelation of the man of sin is given to us in 2:8-12. Notice how this man of sin is revealed. He is called the son of perdition, that wicked or lawless one. He will head up the movement of apostasy in its final stages. The anti-Christ shall be 7
portunity to receive Christ. Only two classes make up the human race: the saved and the unsaved. Verse ten has the emphasis on those who have rejected the truth. “For this cause,” verse 11 tells us, “God shall send them strong delu sion, that they should believe a lie.” This is one of the most solemn state ments in the entire epistle. This is an act of divine retribution upon those who heard but willfully reject ed the Lord’s grace. Every violation of any law of God must inevitably bring its own consequence. When Pharaoh hardened his heart, God hardened Pharaoh’s heart. When the king of Israel hated God’s true proph ets, then the Lord permitted him to be deceived by placing a lying spirit in the mouth of other prophets. When men practice impurity, God gives them up in the lust of their hearts to impurity. My friend, you are not one of these, are you ? Having heard the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, have you rejected Him? If this has been the case, I beg you, I implore you, I beseech you, in God’s name, surrender .your heart at once to the Saviourhood and sovereignty of our Lord Jesus Christ. Believe on Him and thou shalt be saved.
the one who will endeavor to change times and laws according to Daniel 7:25. Throughout the course of his tory there have been many anti- Christs, but THE anti-Christ of the last days is the little horn (Dan. 7: 8); the prince that shall come (Dan. 9:26); the willful king (Dan. 11: 36); and the beast out of the sea (Rev. 13:1-10). He is not an abstract power, not a mere influence, but an eschatalogical person. He is further described as the son of perdition, thereby identifying him with Judas Iscariot. What are his designs? What is he after? II Thessalonians 2:4 gives us the clear answer. He wants to be worshipped as God. It was this wicked design which caused Lucifer to become Satan (Isa. 14:12-14). Dur ing the 40 days and 40 nights that our Lord was tested in the wilder ness, the devil took him up to an exceeding high mountain. He showed Him all the kingdoms of the world, urging, “All these things will I give thee if thou wilt fall down and wor ship me” (Matt. 4:8-9). The one thing Satan sought from Christ was worship. As the god of this world (II Cor. 4:14), Satan has his false apostles of Christ, appearing as the ministers of righteousness (II Cor. 11:13-15). It is in this way that the devil gains the worship of many re ligious people throughout the world. He will achieve his goal in the end time through the man of sin and the ecumenical world church. A vivid de scription of this final scene of devil worship is given in Revelation 13. Note the five appearances of the word “worship.” His clever approach is one of de ception (II Thess. 2:9-10). He will come in a mighty display of power and miracles that will spring from falsehood. The deceived will be those who perish; or, as the present tense of the verb indicates, are perishing. Verse 10 says, “because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.” They had their op- 8
Mr. JohnOzmon(left), design and layout artist for Biota, discusses a brochure with Mr. Dick Gartrell,who is in charge of Student Employ ment at Biola. Mr. Ozmon, a born-again Chris tian, is responsible for some of the excellent designs which appear in advertising and maga zine layouts for the school.
D eception has always been the key tool of Satan in working his wickedness in the world and in the hearts of men. In II Thessaloni- ans 2:1-10, we see how this will cul minate in the end times. If you are alive at the return of our Lord Jesus Christ, having rejected the Son of God, you will not have another op portunity to be saved. Many, people will be saved in the Tribulation, but you will not be one of them if you are not saved now. The simple reason is that you have already had your opportunity. On what basis do you deserve a s e c o n d chance ? Why shouldn’t all the people who are in hell have another chance? The Bible makes it clear that in that day you will not be able to believe. God will send a strong delusion so that you will rather believe a lie. God is not cruel in doing this. You are the one who is cruel in rejecting the Lord Jesus Christ. God is simply saying, “If this is the way you want it, this is the way you’ll have it.” If you insist on living and dying without Jesus Christ, then you choose the ul timate doom that awaits the sinner. Note the doom of the man of sin (v. 11). What is “the lie?” The truth we know to be Christ Himself (John 14:6). The lie is the anti-Christ him self who claims to be God. The re cent “Death of God” movement is another bold stroke of Satan in his effort to divert the attention of man from God and turn it toward him self. It was this lie of Satan that led to the fall of man when the devil said to Eve, “. . . In the day ye eat there of, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.” Paul also wrote of men who changed the truth of God into a lie (Rom. 1:25). The apostle John
wrote, “When he speaketh the lie, he speaketh of his own” (John 8: 44). The lie here in II Thessalonians 2 :11 is not just any lie that men will accept, but Satan’s great lie, the anti-Christ. As is always true, how ever, God will use this evil design of Satan to work out his own trium phant purpose. The end of the anti- Christ is given in verse 8. The Holy Spirit assures us that when the prop er time arrives, the lawless one will be dealt with properly and perman ently. Two verbs are used to describe the fate of the anti-Christ. The first is “consume.” Notice it in verse eight. The idea is that the anti-Christ will first be slain physically, and that by a single statement from our Lord Jesus. The prophet Isaiah made this prediction in Isaiah 11:4. The apos tle John likewise spoke eschatalogi- cally of Christ in Revelation 19:15. We know that the sword is our Lord’s own Word, according to Ephesians 6:17 and Hebrews 4:12. So swift and decisive will be the action of our Lord, that the issue will be set tled in a moment. Thus “consume” means to slay utterly. By His Word were all things created (Psa. 33:6); by His Word are all things controlled (Heb. 1:3); by His Word are all sinners consumed (Job 4:9). The second verb that Paul uses to describe the fate of the anti-Christ is the word “destroy” (II Thess. 2: 8). The idea is not of extinction, but rather ruin. It is not loss of being, but rather loss of well-being. When Jesus said that believers shall not perish (John 3:16), He was simply assuring us that we who trust in Him shall not lose our eternal well being. When we read that, in the flood of Noah’s day, the earth per- 9
for the prosperity of God’s Word. Note that the prayer here is not for personal blessing, but for the good success of the Gospel. You and I ought to be praying regularly both for the workmen of God and for the success of the Word of God. We ought to pray for every servant of Jesus Christ. If there is a person who is responsible for tempting or seducing a man of God, I solemnly warn you that the judgment of God will fall upon you. If the devil can’t get you through the mishandling of money, he’ll get you through a wo man. Beware of these things, lest you lose your opportunity for serv ice. “Wherefore let him that think- eth he standeth take heed, lest he fall” (I Cor. 10:12). This verse comes to my own heart with pungen cy and power. I know my own hu man weakness and temptations. I urge you to be much in prayer, and much in the Word of God. Remain in unbroken fellowship with God, that we shall not yield to temptation in these difficult days. There is a final word concerning patience (3:5, 13). It is Paul’s final reference in this epistle to the second coming of Jesus Christ. Oh how much those suffering saints needed patience. James wrote, “Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord” (5:7). The patient en durance which characterizes Christ as He waits for the last soul to be saved, should characterize Christ’s own followers. The goal of the Chris tian’s expectation is the return of the Lord. Whatever the cost, the Christian must be persistent, prayer ful, and patient. There must be no forsaking of duty in our walk (3:6- 9) or in our work (3:10-12). Do all in your power to remain faithful to the end. Don’t lose heart, however long our Lord should delay His com ing. Whatever trials may beset, we must remain stedfast. May God help you to be unmoveable in these days!
ished (II Pet. 3:6), it means that the earth suffered the loss of its well-being. The man of sin will be stripped of all power and effective-* ness, and thus rendered completely inoperative merely by the Word of Jesus Christ at His appearing. Our blessed Lord will see to it that the man of sin is put out of business. In conclusion we come to the re sponsibility of the saints in II Thes- salonians 2:15 (also 3:1-2, 13). Here is a word of counsel concerning per sistency. The exhortation to stand fast is a call to continue steadfastly in the apostles’ teaching as given by oral word or the written word. The canonical Scriptures are the full and final revelation of God. No new reve lation has been made since the close of the apostolic age. The word tradi tions is used here, in a good sense, referring to the inspired writings as found in the Bible, the Word of God. The authority is completely out- sidë of the writer himself. These traditions which have their com mencement in God and their con tinuance in His written Word, are to be firmly laid hold of. This calls for the exercise of much care lest we be come confused by the traditions of men. Do you know the difference be tween the traditions of the Word of God and the traditions of man? There are some churches which hold to the traditions of the church, that is, their particular church with men at its head. The exhortation here is to hold to the traditions of the Word of God. There is a word of counsel concern ing prayer in 3:1-2. The believers are exhorted to pray for the preser vation of God’s work. See Paul’s pub lic acknowledgment of his utter de pendency upon God. The verb pray is in the present tense. The need is specific and definite. There were par ticular enemies who were giving Paul a hard time. Thus this definite and concrete situation called for earnest prayer. They were exhorted to pray 10
W HAT WOULD YOU think if, while driving down the highway, you had a car pass you in which was rid ing an unknown man and the wife of your best friend? This occurred re cently, which ultimately caused two clients to come to my office. After the husband received the report he faced his wife with it. “Why, the very idea,” she indignantly responded. So he retreated from the accusation and chose to disbelieve his best friend. When he got similar reports from several others, however, he went to the other man involved. He, too, was most vehement in his denial. “I’ll have you sued for libel,” he declared. Finally a detective was put on the trail, and the evidence was unmistak ably found; his wife was committing adultery. The husband and wife came to my office for help. What had gone wrong? Here was a young man married to a young woman. They had all the hopes and aspirations of any couple when they got married. She came from the kind of a home where mom and dad co-operated, working togeth er in all projects. Mother could ask father to help her, and vice versa! On the other hand the husband came from a home where Dad was czar. One just didn’t ask dad to do any menial tasks. As a result, when this couple were first married and the wife would try to discuss some house hold problem with the husband, he would respond, “Oh, don’t bother me with your troubles; you work them out.” Bit by bit their lives began to drift apart. The husband was ab sorbed in his own work. She was left to build a life all her own. What he didn’t know was that she wasn’t building the kind of a life he thought she was. She had been a very clever
woman and had covered up her diffi culties. Deceit is one of the products of the human heart. When she came in she asked, “Can you blame me for being lonesome and bitter? I was misunderstood. This was my way of getting even.” In that sense, she was right; she hadn’t gotten a square deal from her husband. The human heart, rather than committing a per son unto God and praying for grace to surround them, tries to hit back and get even. This deception of hers led her to adultery. It is quite un derstandable for her to say, “He drove me to it.” He certainly made it easy for this woman to do what she did. A woman has a right to expect her husband to become involved in building a life together. How natural, when we face difficulties and prob lems, to draw within ourselves and to nurse the product of an evil heart. Deception and adu l t e r y are both products of the human heart. Another illustration will also re veal other things that are in the heart. Think of theft and covetous ness. A man came into our office who was very well dressed. He seemed to be a highly respected man. As he sat down, almost immediately, he put his head into his hands and said, “I don’t know how to say it, but I’ve been stealing money from my employer.” I responded, “How did you ever get into that?” It seems that he had some friends who had prospered. They had all started out about the same. They had a little house, a meager but sufficient income, and seeming happiness. But his friends began to better themselves. They were making more money than he was. They ate in better restau rants, drove nicer and bigger cars. This man’s heart began to be filled 11
trol over. That is the product of your heart. Christ died to change your heart if you want it changed. Don’t blame someone else for what goes on in your heart. Most of us have two kinds of problems: what we do about the people in our lives, and what we do about circumstances surrounding us. Actually it is our heart attitudes toward people and circumstances in our lives that make the difference. The product of your heart can be cleansed if you will come to the Lord Jesus Christ and ask Him to do it. “Search me, 0 God, and know my h e a r t : t r y me, and know my thoughts, And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” Don’t worry about the other person, a child or marriage partner. The important thing to you is what are you going to do about your own heart? Christ died to cleanse it and He will if you will just turn your life over to Him.
with covetousness. There are many of us the same way. We see some body else succeed but rather than rejoicing with them, we turn sour and are covetous. We say in essence, “He got a lucky break. I’m just as good.” Again, the product of the hu man heart is the sort that leads one toward covetousness. My client was in a position where he could see a potential good deal. He could buy a certain quantity of ma terial at a very low price, then turn around and sell it for nearly double the amount. With this he could make himself several thousand dollars. It would, of course, necessitate “bor rowing” some of the company money in order to buy the quantity of ma terials. But, instead of going up, the market hit bottom. He was now in real trouble. He would have to mani pulate the company records. So co vetousness had led to deceit and theft. This man had to face up to the fact that what he did was a result of a sinful heart. How is it with you in your life? Jesus said that the very thought is as sinful as the act itself. The Lord Jesus came to save us from our sins, as well as to cleanse us from a vile and guilty heart. He desires to give us victory over temptation. He died to eliminate covetousness from your heart; to change the tendency toward fornication and adultery; to make it possible for you to find victory over evil speaking, wickedness, de ceit, lust and the evil eye. You don’t ever have to get into situations such as I have described if you realize that what you do is a result of what comes out of you. Christ’s redemp t ion and daily cleansing is good news. You may not be able to control what your husband is going to do. You may not be able to control who moves next door to you. You may not be able to have much to say about the temptations that are going to confront you. But there is one thing you do have con- 12
Anniversary cake for Biola College's 60th year cele bration is checked by Dr. Samuel H. Sutherland (standing left), Biola president. With him is Mr. Al Sanders, vice president of Public Relations. Seated are Mr. and Mrs. Aaron Friesen, dining room man agers, who will provide the dinner for 1,000 guests Monday evening. May 13th in Biota's special banquet.
O NE OP the most difficult things about our ministry is to see the growing number of weary, tired and unhappy people who come for help. The thing that makes it so sad is be cause it is unnecessary. The message of the Gospel is one of positive hope and assurance. It is a message of re conciliation and joy, all of which can be yours, no matter what your prob lem may be. The Lord Jesus Christ died for your problems. The attitude of heart needs to be, “Search me, 0 God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” Working with troubled hearts most of the time, these folks have some body else on their minds. They come in and want to talk about the way somebody else has treated them. They usually ask, “What can I do about somebody else ?” What is really need ed is to center your attention on letting God talk to you. It is like the Pharisees who came complaining to Jesus about His disciples. They didn't appreciate the fact that they chose to eat before washing their hands. The Lord Jesus answered them by saying, “There is nothing from with out a man that can defile him, but rather those things which come out of him. These are the things that defile the man.” Think of some of the things that go into you: alcohol, dope, smoke, too much food, these are a few of the kinds of things that go into a person; But, according to Jesus these aren’t the things that de file Him. Our Saviour pointed out that some of the things which pro ceed out of the heart of man are evil thoughts, adultery, fornication, murder, theft, covetousness, wicked ness, deceit, lust, an evil eye, blas
phemy, pride and foolishness. That is a rather imposing and frightening statement, isn’t it? When, you say to your husband, “You make me furious,” is he putting that into you, or is he bringing it out of you? It makes a big difference because if he is putting it into you, then we will need to treat him. But if he is bring ing it out of you, then we will need to treat you. Some sobering things happened in our office a few weeks ago. In one of our case conferences, the person in charge put two folders in front of me. One of them contained case rec ords of a contact which we had had with a woman. There were also some newspaper clippings in there. A short time ago we had a sniper loose in our community. He was shooting bullets through people’s windows. Naturally it caused considerable consternation, as you might well imagine. People wondered who would be next. Then one day it came out in a newspaper that a woman had been shot and killed. The woman happened to be one of our clients about a year pre viously. She had come because one of the burdens upon her heart was the relationship between herself and her husband. She told us that they were growing farther and farther apart. The biggest current issue was an argument over how to treat their teenage son. She thought the boy should be expected to live according to the precepts of the church which they attended. He, on the other hand, took the attitude that they should be more liberal. The young man himself became a football between two par ents. The argument grew more and more intense. The husband took the position that the wife was wasting her time getting counsel from us. He 13
insisted the sessions be terminated. On our records was the warning, “In our judgment, if these two peo ple do not resolve their tensions we would not be surprised if some very serious and drastic things might have to be faced.” Murder seemed a little remote at the time. But a bitter young man was caught in a feud be tween mother and f a t h e r . The squeeze and pressure were more than he could bear. The Bible tells us that one of the products of the human heart is murder. How plain it ought to be that we must take care of the condition of our own heart through the power of the Holy Spirit. In the second folder were some other small clippings about another sniper. Again it involved a young teenager. After talking with him, we began to realize that behind his life were a mother and father too busy to bother much about him. He was the kind, too, who really needed a lot of attention and very serious guid ance. We had warned the parents of their serious responsibility. A fail ure would mean dire consequences. Fortunately in this case, his aim was bad. While he missed, the attempt was still there. Murder isn’t some thing that happens all at once. Jesus said, “I say unto you that if you are angry with your brother, you have committed murder already.” Actual ly, murder is just getting a little madder, mad enough to kill. Realize, however, that to be mildly annoyed is the first step. To be nursing these miserable situations in our hearts and the manufacturing of t h e s e grievances make the difference. The Lord Jesus has come to give inner peace and to deliver us from the pressures and grief of human prob lems and difficulties. See what God can and wants to do for your heart if you will simply recognize Him as the supreme Source. BIOLA GRADUATION, Sunday, June 2, 3:30 P.M.
Biola graduates assemble at the back of the graduation line for the presentation of degrees and diplomas. This year, Biola anticipates that 180 young people will be graduated from the school. 14
T here is nothing that will upset domestic tranquility more quick ly than jealousy on the part of one of the mates. A young man and his wife, active church workers, came to me with the problem of jealousy on the part of the wife. She didn’t like other people talking to her husband. This made him mad. In the first session, she and I agreed, theoretical ly, that jealousy is a bad thing. The next Sunday they went to Sunday school, attending the married couples’ class. They sat down next to my client’s cousin and her husband. The woman was seated next to my client's husband. That wasn’t so bad until the teacher noticed that my client’s cousin didn’t have a Bible. He sug gested her husband share it with her. The wife didn’t like this. She sat there jealous and “green with envy.” From what I gathered, they had quite a fiery row on the way home from church. That week, when they returned for their appointment, there was a disgusted man who entered the office. His statement was, “I’m just fed up with her! I’ve had it!” Now, not only did I have a jealous woman on my hands, but also an angry man. So, when I talked with the woman, she stated, “I have to make my hus band think I’m jealous. Why, I wouldn’t know what he’d do if I weren’t. How could I trust him?” What a strange way to seek to main tain a marriage! Here was a Chris tian woman who was clinging to the work of the flesh in order to control her husband. Theoretically, it is quite easy to say that the work of the flesh is evil; we should turn God- ward asking for victory. This young woman knew this. Yet it was the last thing she wanted to admit. The solu tion to this woman’s jealous heart
was not for her husband to be care ful in isolating himself- from any other women. Similarly, the solution to this man’s hostile approach toward his wife was not to have her change. It is almost like both partners hav ing pneumonia. The doctor must treat each of them. It might be that the husband kept the window open too wide and as a result the wife got sick. Can she say, “You caused me to be sick. You go get the shots” ? The husband may have been most in considerate but both are sick and both need to be treated. In the case of my clients, each needed to come before God, asking Him to help them to achieve a change of heart. The most wonderful thing is that as be lievers we have a place to go. That is good news! Christ died to take care of jealousy, envy, hate and bit terness. The only thing that can keep you from availing yourself of the power of God in your life, “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” If you decide to nurse your grudge, you will be the loser. It is your privi lege to be miserable, but you don't have to be. There is a fountain of wisdom from above enabling us to respond to all of the affairs of life. “The wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mer cy. . . .” What a wonderful thing to realize that the terrible world about us can’t touch us, unless we want it to. Christ died to enable us to cope effectively with the situations of life. This woman, struggling with a jeal ous heart, and her husband, thor oughly disgusted with her, had a need to turn Godward. Christ died for our sins. He died to give us the power that we need to receive inner 15
peace in a world in turmoil. You have the privilege of coming or you have the privilege of rejecting Him. What will you do with Jesus?
THOU PASSETH THROUGH "When thou passest through the waters" Deep the waves may be and cold, But Jehovah is our refuge, And His promise is our hold; For the Lord Himself hath said it, He, the faithful God and true: "When thou cometh to the waters Thou shalt not go down, BUT THROUGH." Seas of sorrow, seas of trial, Bitterest anguish, fiercest pain, Rolling surges of temptation Sweeping over heart and brain— They shall never overflow us For we know His Word is true; All His waves and all His billows He will lead us safely through. Threatening breakers of destruction, Doubt's insidious undertow. Shall not sink us, shall not drag us Out to ocean depths of woe; For His promise shall sustain us, Praise the Lord, whose Word is true! We shall not go down, or under, For He saith, "Thou passest THROUGH." — Annie Johnson Flint EXCUSES, EXCUSES! Some stay at home because it's cold, And some because it's hot; And some because they're getting old, And some because they're not. Some stay at home to entertain, And some to cook the dinners, And some because they're good enough, And some because they're sinners. Some keep from church because they find The members "cold and funny, Who never clasp them by the hand Unless they're after money." Alas! How sad! Excuses grow To drive our thoughts from God, And turn us from the house of prayer, The place our fathers trod.
Mr. Donald Ranson, general manager of KBBI, checks some of the wiring in studios which have just been completed on the Biola Campus. "The Voice of Biola," at 107.5 on the FM dial, is broadcasting twenty-four hours a day from Marshburn Hall.
Dr. Henry Brandt, Christian Psychologist, will be one of the speakers at Biola's Campus Family Bible Conference, June 23-29. Write for free details and information.
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S ometimes the stories of real life are even more difficult to com prehend than those made up by the best fiction writers. A woman in her late 40’s came to me who said she was a Christian and very active in a certain church. To her great dis appointment, however, the pastor had become involved with one of the women. It was an unfortunate scan dal and brought disgrace upon the church. She in turn felt quite bitter about the pastor because of her bur den for the work. Then another pas tor came along. It hardly seems pos sible, and yet this was her story. His wife drank. She would sneak a drink of liquor every once in a while. Somehow my client found out about it. She took it upon herself to be friend the pastor’s wife. Once more her concern was for the testimony of the church. There had been one scan dal and another would be too much. This was her reason for befriending the woman. Occasionally, the pastor’s wife would call upon the woman and ask her to come and get her from some bar. She would, of course, ob lige. Sometimes she would park out in front of the bar and wait for long periods of time until she came out. During these periods she would brood over her affairs and troubles. She brooded about the first pastor, she brooded about this pastor’s wife. There was another thing which oc curred to her. You know, you sit and start sorting over all the mor bid things of your life and you can certainly find enough to keep you busy. That is, you can if you choose to live that kind of a defeated life. She also reminded herself of the fact that the sister she lived with (they were both unmarried), was a domin ating, bossy, stubborn soul. “Life is
very tough,” she thought as she sat sorting over her miseries. Paul ad vises every believer, “Finally breth ren, whatsoever t h i n g s are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatso ever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue and if there be any praise, think on these things.” But this was not true with this woman. She would rather dwell on the morbid things. Her ministry was to wait for a ruined life, and it was a reluctant ministry. “Why do I have to do this?” she reasoned. “If she would have behaved herself, I’d be home.” Finally one night she said to her self, “Why should I sit out in this car all by myself? I guess I’ll go in and have a drink, too.” When she did, she learned something: a couple of drinks can make life look much better. There are a lot of people who have found this out. They invest a good deal of money trying to find some temporary peace. It is only for a short time, but it is there. They are willing to suffer a big head tomorrow for a little re lief today. My client discovered, to her surprise, that a few drinks and she would think a little more kindly of the pastor that had gone, and this woman, and her sister. As a result she struck up this unfortunate rela tionship which went on for quite sometime. Understand, she was still busy in the church, but feeling more miserable all the time. It was with this backdrop that she came to see me. Here was a woman with a heart filled with strife. This woman wasn’t all wrong. She had some basis for what she was feeling and thinking. It is a tragic thing when a minister lets you down, isn’t it? (It is a tragic thing when your own sister pushes 17
wire,” the fundamental issue she had to come to grips with was namely, would she pray God’s forgiveness to wards these people. She would al most hysterically declare, “I don’t know what to say; I’m confused; I can’t get things straight.” Yes, where envy and strife is, there is confusion. This woman knew what she needed to do. When anybody takes the posi tion that they will not do the need ful thing, confusion will result. It is a tragic situation. The key to help for this woman was at the point where she repented and cried out, as a penitent sinner, “0 God, help me!” But she felt she still had these peo ple to deal with. In actuality, she wouldn’t get anywhere until she dealt with her own need. “But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be in- treated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hyp ocrisy. And the fruit of righteous ness is sown in peace of them that make peace” (James 3:17, 18). An other kind of response to life is pos sible, but this doesn’t come on your own, it comes from above; it is some thing external to you. It is not for you to decide what the other person must do. Make certain that your own heart is right before the Lord, and rejoice in His blessed provision. The only way to overcome evil effectively is when your own heart is filled with that holy wisdom which is from above. A TEACHER'S PRAYER Lord, who am I to show the way To little children day by day, Myself so prone to go astray. I teach them wldsom, but I know How faint It flickers, and how low The candles of my knowledge glow. I teach them love for all mankind And all God's children, then I find M y own love lagging far behind. Lord, If their guide I still must be, O let these little children see Their teacher leaning hard on Thee!
you around and is most inconsider ate.) She had a point there. And again, it is a tragic thing to see an other woman in the church, the pas tor’s own wife, going downhill. These things are all hard to take. What happens when you are con fronted with difficulties and the prob lems of life around you? What do you do when people don’t treat you as they should; you are getting a dirty deal and are misunderstood? This is not a delusion, it is a fact. All of us face things in our lives that we cannot change. The Bible reminds us, “But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth. This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. For whe r e envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work” (James 3:14-16). There are many of us who grapple with evil but who are on the side of righteous ness. But here was a woman who had become involved in evil. She certain ly didn’t start out that way. At the outset she was not actively involved. The more she brooded the more her heart was filled with strife and bit terness. She didn’t cry out to God for a spirit of patience toward these people. She wasn’t praying for the minister, she was brooding about him. She condemned him in her own heart. The same was true of the others about whom she thought. She nursed her grudge about her sister rather than crying out to the Lord to help the poor woman inside the cocktail joint. That is exactly what happens when one approaches the world with a heart filled with strife. Sooner or later you yourself are going to get involved with evil works just like this woman did. The origin of her evil works was in her heart. It was not the behaviour of the peo ple around her, admittedly not what it ought to be, but her own inner responses to wrong doing. As she and I would come “right down to the 18
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