up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.” This in dicates that at our Lord’s ascension after His resurrection He emptied Paradise so that the spirits of the righteous dead went with Him to heaven. This means today that when a loved one dies his soul goes immedi ately to be with the Lord in glory, not Paradise. Q . Auburn, Washington — “What is the purpose of the Song of Solomon?" A. This wonderful book of the Bible may at first be puzzling to a Western mind. In these few chapters we actual ly find the whole story of the Bible. It is God’s story to lost mankind. God has so many wonderful ways of indi cating His faithfulness while man is a profligate. If you have never received the sunshine of God’s love in your heart through His wonderful gift, the Lord Jesus Christ, do that now. Be lieve the Saviour died for your sins— yes, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.” Q . Los Gatos, California — “What is meant about sins being forgiven in the world to come as is found in Mat thew 12:3%?’’ A. This comes in relation to the accu sation made against our Saviour when He healed the man possessed with the demon. The Pharisees couldn’t stand this and told the people that Christ was casting out demons by the prince of demons, Satan. The Lord pointed out how ridiculous that would be. The devil would not work at cross purposes with himself. If Satan cast out Satan he would be divided against himself. Jesus then showed the sinful abnor mality of calling the power behind His m ira c le s as an unpardonable sin against the Holy Spirit. This is a sin of the mouth. Many people have said ungodly things about the Saviour.' Through the wooing of the Spirit, however, they have finally come to the truth and been “bom again.” The diffi culty in understanding the phrase in our question may be that it might
sound as though certain sins are for given in the world to come. Actually, however, the translation is “the next age.” Israel looked at two principle periods: the age in which Messiah would come, and the age in which He would set up His final earthly king dom. They did not see the intervening time, namely the church age, in which we live. So the world is in the age of the manifested glory and reign in righteousness of the Son of David, our blessed Saviour. Q . Walla Walla, Washington — “Do you think prayer warriors can help in other people’s problems?” A. Yes, we most certainly do. There is an abundance of Scripture to prove this very point. Think of the exhorta tion, “Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ” (Gala tians 6:2). It is a part of the Chris tian Responsibility to help one an other by means of prayer. It is a glo rious privilege for each of us. James 5:16 suggests, “Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for an other that you may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” This is in con nection with physical problems, as well as those which are mental, spiritual or emotional. In I Thessalonians 5 :25 the Holy Spirit through Paul, gives the compelling word of urging, “Brethren pray for us.” This is a heart cry that many of us need to utter from time to time, We certainly covet your prayers here at Biola. Q . Santo Cruz, California — “Why do pic tures always show Christ with long hair when Paul tells us that it is a shame for a man to have long hair?” A. Paul’s words on the subject are found in I Corinthians 11:14. We need to keep in mind that no artist can truly paint our Saviour as He was, for no one knows with certainty what He looked like when He was here on earth. Some believe that the Lord had taken the vows of a nazarite. Such an individual did not cut his hair or shave his head, as a part of the vow.
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