last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen.’ Who are the called and who are the chosen?” A. This passage is from the parable our Lord gave concerning the laborers and the vineyard. It does not mean that God puts some people last in His kingdom later to become first, or just the contrary. The statement signifies that those who are last in the sight of the world, or in the estimation of others, may actually be standing first in God’s sight. When the Lord gives out the rewards, some who may seem to be unknown may surprise many who thought only the well-known would reap the greatest benefits. God has His own righteous scale of values we cannot fully know. Then, in connec tion with many being called, we think of a Gospel service, as an example. The invitation goes out with very lit tle results to be seen. This is the gen eral “call” which is given; “whoso ever will may come.” When one does trust Christ as Saviour, he discovers from reading the Word of God that the Lord, in His infinite mercy, has already chosen him before the foun dation of the world. His personal faith has sealed that marvelous choice of God. It is beyond our understanding or comprehension, but what may be beyond us intellectually, can certainly be glorious to our souls. Q , Canoga Park, Calif. — "What’s wrong with a husband and wife dancing to gether?” A. As fa r as these two restricting such actions together, there may not be anything immoral, except for the influence they thereby exert. There is a fa r greater and more fundamental question involved in this whole situa tion. The entire appeal is based upon sex. It is conducive to exciting the de praved nature of men and women. There is an interesting comment that if dancing is supposed to be so good for our young people, why is it that schools take great caution in seeing that every affair is extremely well su pervised?
Q . Vacaville, Calif. — "In Genesis 1:5, why did God say the evening and the morning are a day?” A. This is the first of the six occur rences given in the chapter. Our lis tener may wonder how an evening and a mqrning could become a 24-hour day. The Hebrew really means eve ning came on and then morning came on. God started from the morning which became evening, and then it be came morning. Another aspect to this question may be that some people de clare the 24 hours to be representa tive of an age or a period. There are some good scientists who declare that all of the atoms necessary for the sus tenance of the whole universe could well have been created in the time in dicated in this particular chronologi cal framework. We need not be con cerned with the false hypothesis of those who will not by faith accept the literal interpretation of God’s Word. Q. Escondido, Calif.— “A friend of mine wants to know how a just God can condemn anyone to hell when she her self cannot condemn anyone?” A. We commend the friend for not wanting to condemn anyone. In the first place, let us remember that God can do things which human beings cannot. He does not have to give an acounting of why He does certain things, or why He has reserved cer tain prerogatives to Himself. The sec ond error is that God does not actu ally condemn any person to hell; the individual condemns himself by his rejection of the Lord Jesus Christ (John 3:16-18). God m e re ly pro nounces judgment upon those who have violated His laws. The Lord doesn’t enjoy seeing anyone go to hell for “He is not willing that any should perish,” but that all might be saved. Q. Whittier, Calif. — "What should a person do to receive a reward in heaven?” A. F irst of all, he must be on his way 26
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