the seed of com is sown into the ground, and dies, it doesn’t look much like it will when the final harvest is reaped. How wonderful are the prom ises of God! A LIVING HOPE While digging in the ruins of Pompeii workmen uncovered the skeleton of a child whose arms were outstretched. It so intrigued the scientists that they kept digging trying to find the reason for the hands reaching out. They hadn’t gotten too much further when they discovered the skeleton of a woman, presumably the child’s mother, who also had out stretched arms. Then, they pieced togeth er the sad and probable story. In that awful hour of need, the little one only knew one way to turn. When the storms of life come to assail and buffet you, to whom will you turn? What do you have to which to look forward in the months ahead? Listen to our Saviour’s gracious invitation, “Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest.” PRESSURES OF PARENTS In a certain household, as Christmas drew near, everyone was so engrossed with their responsibilities and projects that they failed to be mindful of one other. Father had certain things he had to do. Mother had last-minute shopping to care for. Their little daughter just couldn’t seem to do anything right to please them. A fter a rather hectic day she was hustled off to bed with a severe scolding. She couldn’t quite understand what it was all about. Kneeling down to say her prayers, with the sound of her parents arguing in an adjoining room, she prayed, rather confused, but so touchingly, “Dear Lord, forgive us our Christmases as we forgive those who Christmas against us.” She meant well; she was just thoroughly confused from the tense nerves so readily displayed. How easily we are fooled by the tinsel and trappings of the season. The Lord Jesus Christ became the Son of man that, through faith in Him, we might become the sons of God. Don’t let the god of this world, the materialistic philosophy which pervades so many, rob you of the true meaning of this blessed season. “Let your conversation ( or behaviour) be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” 29
Jesus Christ speaking through them, foretelling these sufferings and the glory to be revealed. So, you see the Lord was in Noah when he preached for 120 years. Consider the long-suf fering of God to do this for such a length of time. These disobedient souls were preached to by Noah as he was empowered by the Holy Spirit. Q . Denver, Colo. — “I ’ve been confused because I understand that when a be liever dies he goes immediately to be with the Lord. Yet I’ve also heard preachers say that no one enters into heaven until the time of the rapture spoken of in I Thessalonians 4:18-18. How are these two ideas reconciled?” A. You need to understand that the spirit of man does not die. Only the body dies. For help in understanding this consider Philippians 1 :23. When a Christian dies the body is placed in the grave while the soul goes to be with Christ, for, “absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.” there is no such thing as “soul sleep ing.” At the time when the Lord comes back again (I Thess. 4:12-18) the dead in Christ shall be reunited this time with their resurrected or re deemed bodies, likened unto the Lord’s own resurrected body, and so shall we be throughout all eternity.” Q . North Surrey, B.C. — “How can God raise the body of a Christian who has been eaten by a wild animal?” A. The same question could be asked concerning one who has perished at sea, or who has befallen some other physical tragedy. The same Lord who made man originally out of the dust of the ground, breathing into him the breath of life is infinitely able to ac complish this which seems impossible for man to conceive in his finite wis dom. Consider the illustration of a magnet drawn across some iron filings. As it goes over the place of these little shavings they are immediately drawn to it. Even those bodies which have been in the graves for centuries and which have long since gone back to dust, the Lord will bring together. As
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