By Evangelist Hyman Appelman
I N striving to reach souls for the Lord Jesus Christ, we must always come back to the ministry of the Holy Spirit. I am concerned that we realize what we face in this day and time, and what we must do in order to obtain the power of God for our activities in evangelizing a lost world. The problems the apostles were up against in the long ago were basically the same as those we face in this hour. The world attacks us in a different way, but the world has never been a friend to grace. I believe that the reason for this great tidal wave of sin and delin quency is that Satan knows he has but a short time in which to work, and is trying to drag as many souls to hell as possible. Wherefore let us all rejoice, Singing loud with cheerful voice: Hallelujah! Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, Came at last our foe to smite; All our sins away hath done, Done away Death’s power and might; Only the form of Death is left, Of his sting he is bereft: Hallelujah! The rightful Paschal Lamb is He, Of whom alone we all must live, Who to death upon the tree Himself in wondrous love did give; Faith strikes His blood upon the door: Death sees, and dares not harm us more: Hallelujah! —Martin Luther. ★ ★ ★ Children of God, informed and en lightened by the Holy Spirit, know that there are just two ways of salvation: the false and the true. The true method is that revealed by God, requiring men to humble themselves before God, to con fess their sins, to ask for mercy, and to trust Christ as their Saviour. In our own strength we have not the ability, physical capacity, or the spirit ual power to overcome the hordes of sin and Satan, who are promoting the false doctrine of self-sufficiency with sub tlety, with the persuasion of force of numbers, and with diabolical persistence. The world, the flesh, and the devil in our own hearts and lives, in the hearts ★ ★ ★ HALLELUJAH! In bonds of death He lay, But the Lord is risen today, Who for our offense was slain; Christ has brought us life again.
and lives of those about us, are just too much for us. Thank God, we are not ex pected to deliver the true gospel in our own strength! We must look to the Word of God, to the promises of God, and, most of all, to the presence and power of God. Then, instead of being overcome, we shall be overcomers, our lips filled with the praises of the Most High. Our forebears in Christ praised God with all their souls. “ Thou art God." No one can stop the Lord. He is the same mighty, powerful, victorious God as He was to that apostolic band at Pentecost. There has been no diminishing of His power, no weakening of the strength of His mighty right arm. You recall the name of that great European preacher, Gerhardt Onken. Time and again he was thrown into prison, fined, and persecuted for his preaching. He became a habitue of the courtroom. At one of his trials, the mag istrate arose in fury, shook his finger, in Onken’s face, and cried out: “ As long as I can wag this finger, you are not going to preach!” Gerhardt Onken must have smiled up at him as he replied quietly, “Your Honor, as long as I can see God above your finger, I will keep on preaching.” So long as we can see God above these cults, these false philosophies, the attractions and distractions of a world gone mad with sin, above the backslid den condition of the church, we are go ing to take courage, gird up our loins, and keep on pressing the battle to the gates. We know that “ in due season we shall reap if we faint not.” Like the first Christians, we must praise God.for His greatness. They praised God for sending the Lord Jesus Christ into the world. In spite of our mistakes, shortcomings, tempta tions and failures, according to the Word of God, we shall be presented in the likeness of the Lord Jesus Christ in glory. We have an everlasting Saviour who saves from the uttermost to the ut termost. j They praised God for the glory of Christ’s suffering, and so did not pray for suffering to cease. They realized that it is always a privilege to suffer for and with the Messiah. There is glory in mingling our tears, and, if necessary, our blood, with the tears and the blood of the Son of God to bring the saving knowledge of a Redeemer to others. After their praise, the apostles began to pray. It is only when your mouth (Continued on Page 16) T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
“And they called them, and command ed them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus. “And being let go, they went to their own company, and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said unto them. And when they heard that, they lifted up their voice to God with one ac cord, and said, Lord, thou art God, which hast made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all that in them is: “ Who by the mouth of thy servant David hast said, Why did the heathen rage, and the people imagine vain things? “ The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ. “For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gen tiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together, “For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done. “And now, Lord, behold their threat enings : and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word, “By stretching forth thine hand to heal; and that signs and wonders may be done by the name of thy holy child Jesus. “And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assem bled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness. “And with great power gave the apos tles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all” (Acts 4:18, 23-30, 31, 33.) Page Fourteen
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