THE K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
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took th e prophecies of God’s Word cor rectly, it is not necessary to g radu ate a t a University or Seminary, and read Greek and Hebrew to he a theologian, b u t it is necessary to be good, to be pure, to be holy. The h ea rt makes the theologian, and th e h e a rt is th e organ of sp iritual vision, and character ra th e r th a n cu ltu re becomes the key to unlock th e m ysteries of prophecy, and th a t is tru e of all Scripture. (1 Cor. 2 :1 4 ). Suppose a man is sittin g beside you on yonder m ountain top, and you are describing to him th e glories of a sun set and th e west is b rillian t w ith all prism atic hues of iridescent rainbow beauty, and you describe it, and th a t man is indifferent, apathetic, uncon cerned, and you grow indignant un til you discover th a t th e man is blind. W hat cares he about sunset? W hat knows he abdut your words? He does not see. You do not scold him, you do no t blame him, you pity him. No un re generated man can know anything about th e mysteries of God and the meaning of th e Bible. A man m ust be a Christian before he can open the Bible w ith any possibility of arfiv ing at its meaning. I t is sp iritually discerned. Suppose I say to you th a t on th e back of your hands th e re are scales like those of a fish, and you look a t your white hand and laugh in scorn, and say th a t is nonsense. Suppose I tak e you out’ in yonder stree t and look up into th e sky and say th e re are four moons revolving around th e p lan et of Ju p iter, and you look up a t th a t g reat white p lanet and th e evening sky, and you say th e man is crazy, it is no such thing. Suppose I ta k e your razo r and say it has a corrugated edge like a cross-cut saw, and you hold the razor up to th e light, and you say it is no t so. P u t your hand under a microscope; it looks like th e back of an alligator. P u t th e sharpest razor you ever saw und er a microscopic lens; it looks like a circular saw. P u t th e telescope on Jup iter, and you see th e four satellites
in th e ir appointed order. T h at form er statem en t was foolishness to your n atu ra l eye, because it was microscopic ally discerned. T h at la tte r statem en t was foolishness to your n a tu ra l eye, because it was telescopically discerned. The axioms of th e Bible are foolishness to the n a tu ra l m ind because they are sp iritually discerned, and a man must be born of th e Spirit before he knows w hat the Bible teaches. F illed W ith th e Holy Spirit Second: A man m ust be baptized w ith th e Holy S pirit as well' as born of th e S pirit to study th e Bible success fully. Every Christian has th e Holy Spirit. “ If any man have not the sp irit of Christ, he is none of His, and by one Spirit we are all baptized into one body.” But th ere is something beyond. There is a reception and an appropria tion of th e Holy Spirit as a teacher and a guide and a helper th a t confers a marvelous benefit upon th e believer. We have m ental salvation. “ Be re newed in th e sp irit of your m inds.” And we’ve talked so much about pu ri fying th e h ea rt by faith th a t we’ve for gotten about clarify in g ' th e m ind, and it is quite as necessary to have a renewed m ind as it is to have a clean h eart. A clear head may be a product of the Holy Spirit as well as a clean h eart. A man may testify to h e a rt p u r ity, and only God and th e angels know anything about it, b u t if a man says anything about his clear head, as soon as he opens his m outh he gives him self away, b u t th e Holy Spirit is like oil to lubricate th e machinery so th a t a man can th in k coherently, imagine vividly, remember retentively, argue logically, when he has th e m ind of Christ, and th e illum ination of th e Holy Spirit. I believe th a t a C h ristian stu den t in th e public schools uniform ly tak es higher ran k th a n a scholar who is not a Christian, and I ask for an explanation of th a t fact, and you say a Christian has a higher motive. He has
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