Editorial

Jesus tells us that just prior to his second coming men’s hearts would be failing them for fear. Today we find that men are full of fear and the psychiatrist’s couches are loaded with patients who are seeking relief for their fears, both real and imagined.

Fear is the cause of many organic diseases, especially ulcers, and those in the household of faith are not immune to the fears and anxieties that seem so prevalent today. While we are not immune, we have an antidote that will do away with fear as quickly as an antibiotic kills germs. What is it, and how does it work ?

Well, of course, we know that fear is a state of mind, sometimes we are fearful when there is no danger and other times we could be in great danger and calm because we are not aware of the facts. Two people may react entirely different in the same situation because of training, knowledge, faith, or experience.

Now we believe that “all things work together for good to them that love God.” This being true, our life is in God’s hands and we can say with David, “The Lord is on my side, I will not fear. What can man do unto me ?” Paul said almost the same thing when he declared, “The Lord is my helper and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.”

Why should Christ’s true soldiers be fearful, if God be for us, who can be against us? Nathan Hale, a patriot in the Revolutionary War, said as he died, “I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country.” His zeal for the cause he believed in completely cast out fear in the face of death.

As followers of Christ we can cast out fear even as Nathan Hale did. “Whether we live, we live unto the Lord ; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord : whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord’s.” This being true, why should we fear anything that concerns our personal safety ? This doesn’t mean that we are justified in doing something foolish like running in front of a truck but if we truly believe that the angel of the Lord is encamping around us, then why should we be filled with fear at the thought of flying or driving? Should we allow electrical storms and earthquakes to frighten us ? Where is our faith ? Are we not in God’s hands ? If a sparrow does not fall to the ground without God’s knowledge, do we think that our plane could crash against God’s will ? If God should allow us to be struck dead by lightening or earth­quake, our days of probation would be over. How wise to develop the philosophy of Esther who did all that she could do. She fasted and prayed, and she was reconciled to what ever happened. She calmly said, “If I perish, I perish.” Queen Esther’s faith was rewarded and God delivered her and her people out of their trouble.

If it is God’s will for us to continue our work in His vineyard, no force on earth can harm us. If God is ready to give His beloved sleep, nothing can stay the hand of death. Peter was miraculously brought out of prison by an angel of God the night before he was to be slain. Later he was crucified with his head down. God does not always intervene, but all things are working together for our ultimate good.

How long we live is not important Looking back we realize how insignificant it is that Jacob lived 147 years while Joseph died when he was 110. What difference does it make now that Joseph lived 37 years less than his father? He would be dead now anyway. Hezekiah would have been better off if he hadn’t lived that extra 15 years.

At the judgment seat, it won’t matter how long we lived, but what we did while alive. If we serve the Lord, we need have no fears, for we are in God’s hands. “Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer . . . be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of Life” Rev. 2:10.

Each New Year brings the feeling of a fresh start, a clean slate, a new beginning. Actually each day is a fresh start but it seems that we particularly get the feeling of beginning again around the first of the year.

It is a healthy thing to pause and reflect upon the past and take stock for the future and since it is common to do so now, let us give it some thought.

Certainly our salvation is nearer now then when we believed. We are day by day writing our account and Christ will soon call us before him to read it and pass judgment upon us.

As we stand on the threshold of a New Year, let us then resolve to make more time for the really important things of life. If we aren’t careful, our life is filled with the mundane things which tend to crowd out the things of God.

Many firms find that goals are more easily accomplished if quotas are set. They have production quotas, sales quotas, etc., and perhaps if we set a few quotas of our own we would accomplish more.

Send a short note or card each day to someone sick or alone, visit a needy soul once a week, read at least one good book every month, do our Bible readings every day. We can all think of many more to add to our list.

Now, of course, we can do these things without the aid of a formal quota but perhaps we would be more efficient in the use of our time if we rationed it out.

When it comes right down to it, we are each going to be accepted or rejected of Christ according to the way we used our time. We each have been created equal in this one respect for we all have 24 hours each day but some place a higher value upon it than others. Our future is going to be determined by the way we spend our time.

The hardened criminal and the innocent babe are pretty much alike while asleep so what we do while we are awake will determine the ans­wer we shall receive from the judge of all the earth.

In the natural, we often find two children of similar ability in the same family but one studies and invests his time wisely while the other

fritters his away. As adults the one becomes a famous surgeon while the other is a bum. Which would we choose to operate on us ? Obviously the one who had used his time wisely.

Christ also is going to choose those who used their time wisely. It isn’t how smart we are or how much natural ability we have, it is how we use our time.

There are 525,600 minutes in the year 1961 Let us spend them as if our very life depends upon it, because it does.

“God grant me the serenity to accept the things which I cannot change, and the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”

There is a world of wisdom in this little prayer, wisdom which we will all do well to acquire. There isn’t any use trying to move an immovable object and while we may expend a great deal of energy, we shall surely end up a frustrated failure.

On the other hand, if we assume that nothing can be done, we shall surely do nothing when there is so much to do. The crux of the matter is having the wisdom to know what to accept and what to change.

Paul is an excellent example for us to follow in this. God had given him a thorn in the flesh. Three times Paul asked God to re­move it but God declared, “My grace is sufficient for thee.” In the other hand, if we assume that nothing can be done, we shall surely do nothing when there is so much to do. The crux of the matter is having the wisdom to know what to accept and what to change.

Paul’s attitude should be ours, “Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities.” Paul had a problem, a thorn in the flesh, he tried to get it removed by asking God, when God showed him His grace was sufficient, Paul accepted it gladly.

When we have a problem, an affliction, or an obstacle, let us do our best to solve, cure or remove it, but when we find that it is im­movable, let us learn to accept it serenely and learn to live with it.

The only thing to do with a wooden leg is learn to walk on it. There isn’t any use moaning over it and thinking about what might have been.

Let us learn to accept life as God has given it to us and make the best of what we have. We have the comfort and consolation of Paul that “God is faithful, who will not suffer us to be tempted above that we are able ; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that we may be able to bear it.”

The problem is, we do not always look for God’s way of escape but instead trust in our own strength and consequently we are some­times crushed by things that we shouldn’t have even been near.

We believe that “All things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose.” If all things are working together for our good, let us then accept each day as a challenge, meeting our obstacles with courage and serenity, changing the things that can be changed and accepting the things which cannot be changed.

With this attitude, we can wake up each morning with the calm assurance of David who declared, “This is the day which the Lord hath made ; we will rejoice and be glad in it.”

“Conversation is the oral exchange of ideas. Gossip is the idle discussion of the affairs of others. Great people talk about ideas. Or­dinary people talk about things. Small people talk about other people.”

This quotation was copied down and given to us after a discussion on the evils of gossip by a dear brother who has since fallen asleep. The truth expressed by these words is powerful. Gossip is a wicked and harmful pastime in which far too many have indulged.

It is so elevating to our own ego and self esteem to catch another in a fault and how we like to dwell upon it! Christ really put a stop to this sort of thing when he said, “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.’ None of us are without sin and none of us should talk about the faults of others.

Paul soundly condemns those who are not only idle, but tattlers also, and busybodies, speaking things which they ought not. It is inter­esting to notice that the tattlers and busybodies are those who are idle. If they would only go to work doing something constructive, they wouldn’t have time to gossip. This is why great people do not carry tales. We cannot picture Jesus or Paul or Peter bearing tales even if they were true, and sadly we realize that most gossip is greatly dis­torted.

We know that David was a righteous man who slipped. Do we feel that we would have been justified in telling on the King of Israel if we had known his sin? Isn’t it our duty to follow Christ’s command and “go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone ?” Usually we find that when we do this, things are not as we at first imagined and how fortunate that the truth was learned before serious harm was done.

It is possible to start a fire we cannot put out. One little match can start a fire that consumes a whole forest. James compares our tongue to a fire saying, “The tongue is a little member and boasteth great things. Behold how great a matter a little fire kindleth ! And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity : so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body.”

The real test is not only is it true, for some true things should not be told. It must meet all the tests of Paul before being repeated. Of course it must be true but also it must be honest, just, pure, lovely and of good report. The Golden Rule should apply every bit as much in the things we say as in the things we do.

There are some who are going to be kept out of the kingdom just because they talked too much. This comes on the authority of Christ himself who said, “I say unto you, that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.”

May the words of our mouth be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, our strength and our redeemer.

There is a patriotic creed that has recently been printed in several national magazines including the Reader’s Digest which states in part, “I will never cower before any master nor bend to any threat. It is my heritage to stand erect, proud, and unafraid, to think and act for myself, to enjoy the benefit of my creations and to face the world boldly and say, this I have done.”

These thoughts are accepted and endorsed by the nation as a whole despite the fact they are condemned by God and exposed in our Bibles as sin.

The creed states that “it is our heritage to stand erect and proud,” while God states that one of the seven things He hates is a “proud look” and Peter tells us that “God resisteth the proud and giveth grace to the humble.” The prophet Isaiah declared “For the day of the Lord of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty and upon every one that is lifted up and he shall be brought low.”

The creed states “to enjoy the benefit of my creation . . . and to say, this I have done.” Compare this to the utterance of the wicked king Neb­uchadnezzar who said, “Is not this great Babylon that I have built . . . by the might of my power and for the honor of my majesty ?” God was displeased with this arrogant statement as He must be with all who make similar statements and while these words were still in the kings mouth a voice from heaven declared, “the kingdom is departed from thee.” Immediately he became insane and ate grass as an ox until he came to realize and admit “Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise and extol and honour the King of heaven, all whose works are truth, and His ways judgment : and those that walk in pride he is able to abase.”

The creed states, “I will never cower before any master nor bend to any threat.” yet Paul says “as I live saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me and every tongue confess to God” and again “at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow.” Isaiah tells us “the lofty looks of man shall be humbled and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day.”

It seems incredible that a nation that claims to be Christian and God fearing can at the same time endorse a creed that exalts man and ignores God.

True religion exalts God and humbles man. Jesus taught “for every­one that exalteth himself shall be abased ; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.” The day is coming when the meek shall inherit the earth and all who are proud and lofty shall be brought low.

Let us be wise and reject man’s creed and instead adopt David’s for he declared “the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit : a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.”

The mail man failed to bring a check this month from United States Steel Corporation. This really isn’t unusual since we have no connection with U. S. Steel either as an employee or as an investor. This being true, we have no right to expect a check from them, in fact we would be more surprised if we did receive a check since we have nothing to warrant one.

When we transfer this principle to things divine we suddenly find millions who expect to reap where they have not sown. These have completely filled their lives with the temporal things which have no lasting value thereby crowding God and His Word out of their thoughts. This has happened before since Christ told us that “as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of Man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all.” Now none of these things in themselves are sin unless they so dominate our life that the things of God are pushed aside. This is the warning of the Lord Jesus, a warning that is going unheeded today just as it was when Noah preached and when Christ walked along the shores of Galilee. People were just too busy to turn to God, after all, one must work for a living and all work and no play makes Jack dull, so ample time must be allowed for relaxation and where is the time left for God. Unfortunately there just wasn’t any left, but never mind, its all right, God will save you anyhow they hear from the pulpit and they deposit a few shekels and go away again in the pursuit of hap­piness.

It just isn’t reasonable but then when intelligent men consider religion all the wisdom and logic they use to accumulate wealth is cast aside and they willingly accept “false teachers” who says Peter, “bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord . . . and many shall follow their pernicious ways.” When it comes to business, these same “intelli­gent” men refuse to believe a report unless supported by undisputable facts because, after all, their wealth is at stake. When it comes to religion, they will accept another’s teaching because they haven’t time to “search the scriptures” for themselves.

It is a pleasant thought that we can ignore God and spend our time in a mad search for happiness and God will save us anyway, but not only is it not logical but it also is not true. James issues a scorching rebuke to those who have shut God out of their lives saying, “Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you. Your riches are corrupted and your garments are motheaten . . . Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton.

We do reap that which we sow. If we want wealth and prestige in this life and are willing to devote our efforts to this end, then we can attain it, but do not expect to be saved as a by-product. If we want to be accepted of Christ at His coming, now is the time to prepare for that coming. We cannot receive a dividend from U. S. Steel unless we have made a deposit and we cannot receive the approval of Christ at his coming unless we are his. May we be among those who can say in that day, “Lo, this is our God ; we have waited for Him, and He will save us : this is the Lord ; we have waited for Him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation.”

The medical profession likes to tell the story of the matronly patient that was on a strict diet but continued to gain weight. Finally, after weighing her for the sixth straight week only to find that she had put on another four pounds, the doctor asked her if she was eating anything else beside her diet and she replied, “only my regular meals.”

There are many nominal Christians who take their religion just like this lady took her diet. Serving God is fine so long as it does not get in the way of the things they want to do.

Everyone who has ever dieted knows that self control and re­straint are necessary to lose weight. Everyone who has read the Bible also knows that the natural inclinations of the flesh are as opposed to God as candy is to dieting. We can not truly be in Christ and also be slaves to the flesh.

If our faith in God does not change our way of life and produce works for him, then our faith is a dead faith for James tells us, “faith if it hath not works is dead, being alone.”

Jesus said, “If ye love me, keep my commandments.” and Paul warned us that “in the last days perilous times would come when men would be lovers of their own selves, lovers of pleasures more than lov­ers of God ; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof.” Paul’s words aptly fit our day and generation and if we are not care­ful they could even fit us.

Out of the 168 hours each of us spent this last week, how many were spent for our own pleasure and how many for God? Time spent before TV or on a golf course could only be charged up to our own pleasure. If our days are spent working or keeping house just as our neighbors spend their days and then our free time is taken up with the trivial pleasures of this life, how are we different from the world which Christ commanded us to come out from ?

This type of self examination is uncomfortable but how much better that we ask ourselves this question now, then wait until our Lord calls us before him to ask us what we have done.

If our life is not different because we are in Christ, then Christ is not really in our life. If we eat our regular meals in addition to our diet we are not really on a diet. The reward for dieting will only come to those who are faithful to their diet. The reward Christ has prom­ised will only come to those who are faithful to his precepts.

May our way of life so reflect Christ that when he comes he will find us in top condition spiritually, trim and fit, so that we may hear those longed for words, “well done.”

In the fierce competition of the business world today, successful salesmen have learned to answer the objections that most often are given as the reason for not buying. Sales psychology has discovered that the objection given is rarely the real reason for the hesitation and those with patience and skill are often able to find the real objection and answer it in such a way as to complete the transaction.

When we come to the scriptures of truth, we should try to be just as efficient in answering the common objections which those outside of Christ offer. All too often the first spark of interest is ignored for fear that we will appear foolish and the opportunity to tell another of God’s saving gospel is passed up. The other extreme is equally wrong. These pounce on the poor unbeliever with both feet and tell him as fast as their breath will allow that he is all wrong.

There is a right way and a wrong way to present the truth. As children of God we must not only be “ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh us a reason of the hope that is in us with meekness and fear” but we should also be able to do it in such a way as to arrest their attention.

Paul showed us how to do this when he stood on Mars Hill in Athens. He took their own words and used them to profit in saying “I found an altar with this inscription, To The Unknown God. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you.”

Jesus in calling fishermen to become preachers talked their lan­guage and said, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”

Paul in describing his preaching declared “I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some. And this I do for the gospel’s sake.” For the Gospel’s sake we too must adjust to the times and conditions around us in order to save some.

This by no means implies that we water down the gospel’s message, far from it, but like Paul who while telling the men of Athens that they were too superstitious used their own words admitting an unknown God to declare unto them the true and living God. Paul was an oppor­tunist. Christ was an opportunist. We also must be opportunists.

To do this we must “preach the word ; be instant in season and out of season.” We must always be prepared. We should be familiar with the objections and arguments that are most likely to confront us. Does Lucifer son of the morning and the great red dragon of Revelations teach a supernatural personal devil ? Of course not, but our friends de­serve a true explanation of these verses.

We possess the pearl of great price. There is nothing on this earth that can be compared to it. We are commanded to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. Are we preaching the truth to those we know ? Are we presenting it with skill and humility ? We live in exciting times. We know what Russia will do, the outcome of the final world war and many other things that can secure the attention of those around us. Let us be skillful in the word knowing that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins