VOL.
LII. March/April 1969 No. 2
The Broken Body and Shed Blood
Notice of Postponement of Annual Meeting The Broken Body and Shed Blood"My flesh is meat
indeed, and my blood is drink indeed." - John 6:55. BY
THE Lord's instructions many memorials were instituted by the Jews: the
"manna, and Aaron's rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant"
kept in the ark; the "two stones upon the shoulder pieces of the ephod to
be stones of memorial for the children of Israel"; fringes on the garments
of the children of Israel that they might "remember all the commandments
and do them"; the censers of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram "made beaten
plates for a covering of the altar ... to be a memorial unto the children of
Israel, to the end that no stranger, that is not of the seed of Aaron, come
near to burn incense before Jehovah," etc., all of which interest us for
their historical value and the spiritual lessons that may be drawn from them;
but the one from which we have received. our greatest inspiration, and the one
that was used by our blessed Master himself as a basis for his parting message,
is that of the Passover Supper. With the lamb of this celebration Jesus
identifies himself. The cup which the Jews called the cup of blessing" he
takes as a symbol of his shed blood, but for that purpose blessed anew; and the
unleavened bread a symbol of his broken body. Going
back to the type we see the blood-sprinkled lintels and doorposts, for God had
said, "When I see the blood, I will pass over you." The night had
come for Israel's departure from Egypt. The judgment of God was upon the
land and was to be executed. The angel of death was to pass through and
"smite all the first born; but provision had been made for the safety of
God's chosen -"The blood shall be to you a token upon the houses where ye
are; and when I see the blood, I will pass over you." What cause for
peace, consolation, assurance in these words! While they were spoken to the
children of Israel still in Egypt, they come to the child of God still in the
"land of the enemy with added force. There
are two aspects in which we-may view the 'paschal lamb; first, as the ground of
peace; and second, as the centre of unity. The blood on the lintels secured
peace., Nothing more was required. It
was not a question of good works or of merit. It was a question of the
Israelite having faith to believe what God had said, "When I see the blood
I will pass over you," and to act upon that faith. So with the believer today. It is not because of
any inherent goodness or merit that he finds peace with God, but because of
simple faith in the power of Jesus' blood to cleanse from sin, for "though
our sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red
like crimson, they shall be as wool," when once the blood is applied. The
second aspect of the Passover, that of Christ as the centre of our unity, was
pictured in the assembly of Israel gathered in peaceful and holy fellowship,
partaking-of the lamb. Being saved by the blood was one thing, but being
gathered round the lamb was quite another. The blood of the lamb however formed
the foundation for both. Just so in Christian experience. Apart from the atonement
of Christthere can be no peace with God and no fellowship either with God or
with his people. It is to a living Christ in heaven that believers are gathered
by the holy spirit,, to a Living Head; "He is our centre. Having found
peace through his blood, we own him as our grand gathering point. The holy
spirit is the only gatherer; Christ himself is the only object to which we are
gathered. The holy spirit can gather only to Christ. It cannot gather to a
system, a name, a doctrine, or set of doctrines. It gathers to a Person, and
that Person is a glorified Christ in heaven." It
is our understanding that it was in the evening of the 14th of Nisan, that is,
what we today call the evening of the previous day, that Jesus ate his last
passover with his disciples, and following it instituted "the Lord's
Supper," a memorial of his death,* and, as Paul adds, our communion, a
partnership in his body and blood, saying: "Does not the consecrated cup
which we bless mean that in drinking it we share in the blood of Christ? Does
not the bread which we break mean that in eating it we share in the body of
Christ? Because there is one loaf, we, many as we !are, are one body, for we
all share in one loaf." - E. J. Goodspeed. --------------------------------------- * According
to the Jewish reckoning, to be celebrated this year after sundown of Tuesday,
April 1. As
the literal lamb gave strength to the Jews, so we must feed on the mystical
Lamb, by faith accept the merit of his sacrifice that we may be ready for our
deliverance in the morning of the new dispensation. Our bread, the Apostle
Paul calls "the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth." To eat
that bread means much more than would appear to a careless examiner. Eating and
drinking manifestly indicates our acceptance, not merely intellectually, but
our acceptance, as a moral power for our transformation into his likeness, for
the putting on of Christ, the mind of Christ, by the renewing of our minds.
Drinking the cup signifies that we have accepted Jesus as our life-giver, and
that our utter dependence is on him; also, that we have made a covenant to go
into death with 'him. By the eating of the flesh we covenant to "suffer
with him," and to conduct ourselves as become members in, sharers in, the
"body of Christ." The
eating of bitter herbs with the Pascal Lamb in symbolism speaks of cheerful
endurance (translated "patience" in the New Testament) of those
experiences that are necessary for the testing of every prospective sharer with
him in the bounties of the Promised Land -- experiences that justly try us "in all points," that there
may be assurance that throughout eternity there will be no unwillingness to
fully and joyfully enter into every plan of the heavenly Father for us. From
this proclamation of our desire to "suffer with him" in whatever way
the loving Father shall permit, as pilgrims and strangers, far from the land of
'his promise and our choice, we go forth with staff in hand and girt for the
journey, carrying our bread with us, and, too often, wandering long in the
wilderness state before finally home is reached. In the typical wandering those
who could not in faith accept joyfully, uncomplainingly, the trying experiences
of the wilderness, found in it their burial place. The fact that only two of
the adults who partook of the lamb and who left Egypt for the promised land
reached it, causes us to pause and consider as to whether we too might not
"eat unworthily" of our Passover Lamb. It was not lack of knowledge,
but an "evil heart of unbelief" that caused their bodies to fall in the wilderness. Let us "take
heed, brethren, lest haply there shall be in any one of us an evil heart of
unbelief, in falling away from the living God; but exhort one another day by
day, so long as it
is called Today;
lest any of us be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin: for we are become partakers of
Christ if we hold fast the beginning of our confidence unto the end."
(Heb. 3:12-14.) According to the next chapter, "The word of hearing did not profit them, because it was
not united by faith with them that heard." They and that faith, as it
were, did not become so inseparably united as to become one. Their trial is
past and "Failure" written in their record; but faith in the
antitypical Lamb, which was prefigured in their yearly memorial that was
instituted at their entrance into the wilderness, inspired the Apostle many generations
later to write, "And so all Israel shall be saved." Out of their
ruin that One who will save will erect a memorial which for eternity will proclaim
that the God of justice is also a God of love, wisdom, and power. With
the One who died as the sacrificial Lamb will be 144,000, who like Caleb and
Joshua saw their enemies, giants in the land so great that the other spies
said, "We were in our own sight as grasshoppers., and so we
were in their sight." Also like the two spies, this faithful company not
only see the fruit of the
land, but have
faith in the
One who promised. As
one of the innumerable things provided by our heavenly Guardian that the 144,000
might pass safely through their wilderness experiences was the Memorial Supper
which our Savior instituted on the
last night of his life, building on the foundation of the yearly Passover
celebration and as a substitute for it. "Do this," he said, "in
remembrance of me." "Take, eat; this is my body." It did
appropriately represent him, for it was unleavened bread. "The bread of God is that which comes down from
heaven, and gives life to the world." Therefore he could say, "I am
the bread of life; he who comes to me shall not hunger, and he who believes in
me shall never thirst." "If any one eats of this bread, he will live
for ever." (John 6:33, 35, 51.) (The Revelator tells of a great company
who did not have this satisfaction, but promises for them a future in which
they "shall hunger and thirst no more.") The partaking of the unleavened
bread at the Memorial Supper means to us primarily that we appropriate by faith
the perfect human life which Jesus laid down, accept the restitution rights
and privileges which Jesus' death made secure for Adam and all his race. "IF WE BE DEAD WITH HIM"Very
clearly the Apostle Paul indicates that in the Memorial Supper we not only
yearly commemorate the death of the Savior of the world, but also proclaim our privilege of being
"dead with him": "I speak as to sensible men; judge for
yourselves what I say, The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a
participation in the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not a
participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one loaf, we who are many
are one body, for we all partake of the same loaf. Matthew Henry comments on
this passage: "'By
partaking of one broken loaf, the emblem of our Savior's broken body.... we
coalesce into one body, become members of him and one another.' Those who truly
partake by faith, have this communion with Christ, and one another: and those who eat the outward
elements, make profession of having, this communion of belonging to God, and
the blessed fraternity of his people and worshipers," thus accepting all
whom the Lord hath set "in the body as it hath pleased him." "It
will help us to see the connection of thought here to remember that the words
translated 'communion' in this verse (1 Cor. 10:16), 'partakers,' (ver. 18),
and 'fellowship' (ver. 20), are all forms of the same Greek word. This word
means communion, association, fellowship; and the genitive after it may denote
either the persons or things with which one is associated, or that in which
they are associated and have part together. Now if we examine the argument, we
find that it is here the fellowship or association with the blood and body of
Christ that is meant. In the second analogy used, the Israelites, by eating the
sacrifices, are represented as partaking with thee altar-i.e., as consuming one
part, while the altar consumes the other part of the sacrifices. And in the
conclusion, those who eat the idol--sacrifices are represented in the same way,
as in fellowship with demons. So that here, in the other analogy of the Lord's
Supper, it must be fellowship with some thing or person that will keep up the
correspondence between all the cases, that forms the basis of the argument. '
Some suppose that the fellowship is with believers and in the body of Christ.
But this supposes that the point of the argument--viz., that with which we are
associated in the Supper, is left out by Paul. Moreover, in the parallel cases,
it is not the association with the worshipers, but with the object of worship,
that is pointed out. The consistency of the several parts of the argument
requires, therefore, that we understand here fellowship with the blood of
Christ to be meant. But in what sense? It is evident from the passages (Matt.
26:26 seq., 1 Cor. 11:23 seq., John 6:51 seq.), which give the history and
explanation of the Lord's Supper, that these -symbols represent the sacrificial
death of Christ, and that, therefore, fellowship with the body and blood of
Christ,, is fellowship with the Lord in his death. The partaking of these
emblems brings us into this fellowship. But as the emblems are symbols, not the
real body and blood of the Lord, so our eating and drinking are symbolic acts,
representing the faith by which this fellowship is really accomplished. - Cf.
John 6:51, 53, 54, 56, 57, 58, with ver. 35, 40, 47." - American
Commentary. The
above seems to us to corroborate what we find on page R5342 of the Reprints: "There
is a difference, we believe, maintained in the Scriptures between the bread,
which symbolizes the Lord's flesh, and the wine, which symbolizes his blood.
The Church, in order to be accepted of the Lord as members of his glorified
body, must share in both of these by participation. The loaf, as the Apostle
explains, not only represents to us our Lord, as the Bread of Life necessary
for us, but it also represents us as his members to be broken as our Lord was
broken; and the wine represents not only our Lord's blood, but also the blood
of the Church-that we are sharers with him in his sacrificial sufferings. - 1
Cor. 10:16,17. "The
privilege of sharing our Lord's cup is not for -the world. They will not share
in the sufferings of Christ, because all opportunity to share in his sufferings
and glory will have ended when the Church is glorified. The Lord said, 'Drink
ye all of it'--drink it all. There will be none for the world to drink. And we
who are of the Church class 'fill up that which is [left] behind of the
afflictions of Christ.' - Col. 1:24." Shortly
before instituting the Memorial Supper the Master offered his intercessory
prayer for all who should be of his body, "That they all may be one,"
"As thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in
us." (John 17; 20,21.) This can have reference only to the oneness of
spirit that Paul "begs" us to be "eager to maintain, the unity
of the spirit in the bond of peace," that we may "lead a life worthy
of the calling to which we have been called, with all lowliness and meekness,
with patience, forbearing one another in love." (Eph. 4:1-3.) If an
honest desire for such a unity is not in the heart of one who partakes of the
Lord's Supper, he at least has failed to note the way in which the Lord has associated-the
two thoughts. "Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the
Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body as well as the
blood of the Lord. Let a man examine himself, and so eat of the bread and drink
of the cup.' For any one who eats and drinks without discerning the body, eats
and drinks judgment upon himself." - 1 Cor. 11:27-29. WHO MAY PARTAKE?The
answer of inspiration is that no one should partake unworthily. In this the
Apostle was not forgetting that "there is none righteous, no not
one"; but he is remembering that "we are acceptable in the
Beloved," and only by faith can we be "accepted" "living
sacrifices, holy and acceptable to God." "Let a man examine himself,
and so let him eat of that Bread and drink of that Cup." (1 Cor 11:29.)
"Examine yourselves whether ye be in the faith," or apparently more
exactly: Examinee yourselves, to 'see whether you are holding 'to your faith.
"Test yourselves. Do you not realize that Jesus Christ is in you? -- unless
indeed you fail to meet the test!" (2 Cor. 13:5, R.S.V.) "If we say
we have fellowship with him [in the bread, or in the cup, or in any way] while
we walk in darkness, we lie and do' not live according to the truth; but if we
walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another
and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all ,sin." - 1 John 1:6,7,
R.S.V. It
was immediately following the institution of the Memorial that Jesus warned Peter: "Satan
demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat," and added the
consolation: "But I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail; and
when you have turned again, strengthen your brethren." This was said to
the weak, impetuous Peter, who thought
he was able to follow the Lord into any experience. But instead Jesus told him:
"The cock will not crow, till you have denied me thrice." Perhaps it
was in part for us that Peter was permitted so drastic a demonstration of his
weakness, and for us, as well as for him, that the very next words recorded
are: "Let not your hearts be troubled; believe in God; believe also in
.me" - the God whose "mercy endureth forever," and the Son,
"who ever liveth to make intercession for us." - John 13:38; 14:1;
Heb. 7:25. In
the words of another: "Beloved
brethren, let us 'meditate on these things.' We have tasted, through grace, the
cleansing efficacy of the blood of Jesus; as such it is our privilege to feed
upon his adorable Person and delight ourselves in his unsearchable riches'; to have
fellowship in his sufferings and be made conformable to his death. Oh! let us,
therefore, be seen with the unleavened bread and bitter herbs, the girded
loins, the shoes, and staff. In a word, let us be marked as a holy people, a
crucified people, a watchful and diligent people -a people manifestly 'on our
way to God' -- on our way to glory -- 'bound for the Kingdom.' May God grant us to enter into the depth and
power of all these things; so that they may not be mere theories, in our
intellects -- mere principles of Scriptural knowldge and interpretation; but
living, divine realities,. known by experience, and exhibited in the life, to
the glory of God." -
P E Thomson. The Resurrection"But what things were
gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea, doubtless, and I count all
things but loss, for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord:
for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung,
that I may win Christ, and be found in him, not having mine own righteousness,
which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the
righteousness which is of God by faith: that I may know him, and the power of
his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable
unto his death; if by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the
dead." - Phil. 3:7-11. THE
EVENT forecast by the word "RESURRECTION" is of the greatest possible significance to the
dying and dead of mankind, for only through the operation of God's power
manifested in the resurrection of the dead is there any hope for life or future
existence. The outworking of all God's purposes with respect to this earth and
its inhabitants would fail utterly if there were no resurrection of the dead.
All that Jesus suffered and died to accomplish would be in vain apart from a
resurrection of the dead. No other event is fraught with greater significance;
and we can not imagine anything that would demand a greater display of divine
power and wisdom. When
we consider these facts, plainly set forth in the Word, particularly by the
Apostle Paul in his great dissertation on the subject in the fifteenth chapter
of his first epistle to the Corinthian Church, is it not strange that so
little, comparatively speaking, is said about this great hope in the pulpits of most churches? And would
we not expect it to be a universal topic at funerals? On the contrary, if the
most of them are like those we have heard, it is conspicuous by its absence.
Why is this? What is the reason for so general an avoidance of the subject? The
answer must of necessity be, lack of belief -- unbelief. How much that
word explains in the lives of nearly all men, including those who manifest a
"form of godliness" but lack the evidence of its power in their
lives. Speaking in the spirit of prophecy, Jesus said: "When the Son of
Man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?" - Luke 18:8. There
are perhaps several reasons for a lack of faith in the Bible teaching of a resurrection of the dead, but the root
of the matter takes us back to the Garden of Eden when, in tempting Mother Eve
to disobey God, Satan lied to her, and induced her to believe that she would
not surely die, as God had said. Satan's cunning and power to deceive have been
fully demonstrated in the theories of life and death that most of Eve's
descendants have been led to accept since that time; and he has seen to it that
lying spirits (fallen angels), necromancers, and so called spirit mediums, have
continued the deception by representing themselves to be the spirits of the
dead or as receiving messages from those who have departed this life. Another
thing that has no doubt contributed to men's acceptance of these Satanic
teachings rather than the teachings of God's Word, is that they find it much
easier and perhaps more attractive to their egoism to think that death is just
a transition from this conscious state into another sphere of activity. Some
such thought must have been in the mind of the Poet Longfellow when he wrote:
In
striving for an understanding of truth, just as in sailing for a desired port,
one cannot start on a wrong course and maintain it with any expectation of
coming out right in the end. The penalty of death was pronounced against Adam,
against the man, the soul, the sentient being, not merely against his body;
and, when man dies, the Bible says, "His breath goeth forth, he returneth
to his earth, in that very day his thoughts perish" (Psalm 146:4), his
thinking ends. This is in full accord with the whole tenor of Scripture on the
subject. The wise man in Ecclesiastes 9:5 says, "The living know that they
shall die: but the dead know not anything, neither have they any more a reward,
for the memory of them is forgotten." Again through Ezekiel, the Prophet,
God says, "The soul that sinneth, it shall die." (Ezek. 18:20.) And
when Jesus died to redeem man, the record is that "He poured out his soul
unto death." (Isa. 53:12.) Therefore the thing that needs to be
resurrected (restored) is man himself, and Paul tells us that in doing this God
will supply a body: "Thou sowest not that body that shall be, . . . but
God giveth it
[the
resurrected being] a body
even as it hath pleased him." - 1 Cor. 15:37, 38. The
fifteenth chapter of Paul's first letter to the Corinthians, in which this statement
is found, was written to counteract the teachings of the Sadducees, and to set
the brethren at Corinth straight on this matter of the resurrection. It seems
almost unbelievable that those who claimed to acknowledge Christ as the bringer
of salvation, could so soon
have been led to deny the only hope of life there is. Jesus had warned his
disciples to beware of the leaven (false doctrines, Matt. 16:12) of both the
Pharisees and the Sadducees; but here we find a church of Christ in which many
of its members were being led astray concerning the one and only true hope of life. "Now
if Christ be preached that he hath been raised from the dead, how say some
among you," says Paul, "that there is no resurrection of the
dead?" Then follows an argument that is unanswerable except we believe
that the dead are actually dead, and that our only hope of future life is that
we shall be resurrected from the dead. "But if there is no resurrection
of the dead, neither hath Christ been raised." Here Paul recognizes the
fact that not only was Christ once actually dead, but also that his resurrection
is proof that there will be a resurrection of all who will accept it on his
terms. "And if Christ hath not been raised, then is our preaching vain,
your faith is also vain. Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God,"
says Paul, "because we witnessed of God that he raised up Christ: whom he
raised not up, if so be that the dead are not raised." Paul's argument
shows that either we must believe in a possible resurrection of all, or else give up all thought of future
life. "For if Christ hash not been raised, your faith is vain [useless];
ye are yet in your sins." In such an event, Christ is still dead, and a
dead Christ could not appear in the presence of God for us, therefore there
would have been no atonement made for our sins; they would still be held
against us. And he further says, "Then they also that have fallen asleep
in Christ have perished." In
the fifteenth verse of this chapter, Paul tells us that GOD raised Christ from the dead. Many believe that he was alive while in
the tomb, and that when he was ready, as hymnology expresses it, "He burst
the bonds of death and hell" and arose through the exercise of his own
power. But Christ was dead; he bad no power to raise himself, and such a
thought is wholly contrary to Scripture. Thirteen times in the New Testament do
we read that he was raised by the Father. Then too, Paul's statement that
Christ was "the first-fruits of them that are asleep," is in full
agreement with his previous statement in Acts 26:23 where he tells us that
Christ was the first to experience a resurrection. Evidently, if this be true,
the raising of Lazarus and of the daughter of Jairus was not resurrection, but
only an awakening, a restoring to the small measure of life they had possessed
when the death that was working in them finally triumphed. That this is true, is borne
out by the fact that totally different words in the Greek are used to describe
the two events. ANASTASISAnastasis,
the Greek
word for resurrection, signifies, according to Strong, Young, and- other
lexicographers, "a restanding," "a standing or rising up," "a making to stand
or rise up; restoration." Such a restanding is permanent: death no more
has power to affect one who has experienced such a resurrection; whereas
Lazarus, and those who like him had experienced awakening (egeiro) eventually
died, and will need to experience the anastasis in order to live
eternally. Evidently, resurrection does not mean simply an awakening from sleep
(death), but a full raising up to the perfection of life and being. The words
of Jesus (John 5:28, 29) set forth this same thought; for whereas all hear
his voice and come forth, some to experience an immediate resurrection, others
who have done evil,
to experience a
drawn out process of resurrection through the judgments of the Lord. And so
through Isaiah it is prophesied, "Yea, in the way of thy judgments, O
Lord, have we waited for thee; . . . For when thy judgments are in the earth,
the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness." - Isa. 26:8, 9. PRESENT EXPERIENCE IN RESURRECTIONIt
is evident that our text speaks of two resurrections, or perhaps we should
say, two phases of the resurrection. "That I may know him and the power
of his resurrection (anastasis), and the fellowship of his sufferings,
being made conformable unto his death; if by any means I might attain unto the
[out] resurrection [exanastasis] of the dead." This exanastasis is the
phase which we have been considering: that part of the resurrection that will
take place with the true Church when they are raised from the grave to the
divine plane of existence with their Lord.
But the phase mentioned in verse ten, has to do rather with the transformation
of character that is now being worked out in us-the raising from dead works to
walk in newness of life. This,
from many standpoints, is the most important phase of our resurrection: for
the measure of our worthiness to occupy a place in the glorified temple, will
be determined by the way we react to the fashioning power of God's Holy Spirit,
working in us both to will and to do his good pleasure. It
is here and now that God-likeness must be attained: that that "holiness
without which no man shall see the Lord" must be perfected in us; that we
who were once dead in trespasses and sins, wherein we walked according to the
course of this world, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and a reprobate
mind, and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others, have been
quickened by God; who, in his great love and mercy, manifested toward us even
when we were dead in sins, has saved us through faith, and has raised us up
together with Christ, and made us to sit together in heavenly places. (Eph.
2:1-10.) And so Paul says, "If ye then be risen with Christ, seek
those things which are above." - Col. 3:1. PARTAKERS OF HIS SUFFERINGSAnother
point that is emphasized in our text that should be well considered, is the necessity for sharing in
our Lord's suffering and death if we hope to share in his resurrection to
glory, honor, and immortality. The Bible gives a number of pictures that show
the various aspects of the close relationship or oneness which we have with
our Lord: master and servants, captain and soldiers, high priest and under-priests,
shepherd and sheep, vine and branches, bridegroom and bride, head and body;
these all have their particular lesson for us. In speaking of the last one,
Paul shows (1 Cor. 12:12) that the Christ, Head and Body, is just as truly an
organism as is the human body, and that though the members are many, yet being
many they constitute but one body; and if one suffers, then all suffer, and all
share in the one death. The
kind of suffering and death that the Head endured, must of necessity be the
experience of all who become a part of the Christ; and so in this portion of
his letter to the Philippians, Paul cites his own attitude of utter disregard
for the things that he had once counted gain, in order that he might "know
Christ and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings,
being made conformable unto his death; if by any means he might attain
unto the exanastasis of the dead." The
world is full of suffering and death due to wicked works and inheritance; but
Christ had no sin: his suffering and death was sacrificial--he "died unto
sin" as a sacrifice for atonement, not as a penalty for his own wrong
doing. And so when speaking of the suffering and death of the Body members,
the Scriptures are careful to point out that we share in his suffering
and death, not in that which comes to man because of his own or Father Adam's
wrongdoing. Therefore we read in Romans, chapter six, verses three to eleven,
"Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were
baptized into his death? . . . For if we have been planted together in the
likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his
resurrection. . . . For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he
liveth, he liveth unto God. Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God
through Jesus Christ our Lord." Let
us then clearly recognize the
true significance of our suffering and death, and the reality of the
resurrection process through which we are being perfected as new creatures in
Christ, and so give glory to God by being faithful in our covenant of
sacrifice. -
John T. Read. Israel and the Middle EastIn
the following paragraphs, John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the United
States, outlined his views on the problems facing Israel and the Middle East.
These paragraphs consist of extracts from his book, The Strategy of Peace, published in 1960 by Harper &
Brothers, New York City, N. Y. The
book, which is a discussion of the leading questions of foreign policy,
includes a chapter on Israel and another on the Middle East, which should be
of special interest to Herald readers.-
Ed. Com. ISRAEL
is the bright light now shining in the Middle East. We, and ultimately Israel's
neighbors, have much to learn from this center of democratic illumination, of
unprecedented economic developments, of human pioneering and intelligence and
perseverance. In
1939 I first saw Palestine, then an unhappy land under alien rule, and to a
large extent then a barren land. In the words of Israel Zangwill: "The
land without a people waited for the people without a land." In 1951, I
traveled again to the land by the River Jordan, to see firsthand the new State
of Israel. The transformation that had taken place was hard to believe. For
in those twelve years, a nation had been born, a desert had been reclaimed,
and the most tragic victims of World War II-the survivors of the concentration
camps and ghettos had found a home. The
survival and success of Israel and its peaceful acceptance by the other nations
of the Middle East is essential. I
cannot hope -- nor pretend -- to solve all of the complex riddles of the Middle
East. But I would like to suggest some perspectives which might help to clarify
our thinking about that area and to indicate what lines our longer-range
efforts might take. To do this requires, first of all, that we dispel a
prevalent myth about the Middle East. This
myth -- with which we are all too familiar -- is the assertion that it is
Zionism which has been the unsettling and fevered infection in the Middle East,
the belief that without Israel there would somehow be a natural harmony
throughout the Middle East and Arab world. Quite apart from the values and
hopes which the State of Israel enshrines-and the past injuries which it
redeems--it twists reality to suggest that it is the democratic tendency of
Israel which has injected discord and dissension into the Near East. Even by
the coldest calculations, the removal of Israel would not alter the basic
crisis in the area. For, if there is any lesson which the melancholy events of
the last few years have taught us, it is that though Arab states are generally
united in opposition to Israel, their political unities do not rise above this
negative position.. The basic rivalries within the Arab world, the quarrels
over boundaries, the tensions involved in lifting their economies from
stagnation, the cross pressures of nationalism - all of these factors would
still be there, even if there were no Israel. The
Middle East illustrates the twin heritage of modern nationalism. In one of its
aspects it reflects a positive search for political freedom and
selfdevelopment;
in another, it is the residue of disintegration and the destruction of old
moorings. The Arab states, though some have had significantly varying lines of
development, have all too often used Israel as a scapecoat and anti-Zionism as
a policy to divert attention away from the hard tasks of national and regional
development, and from special area problems. One
of these problems, that of the Arab refugees, which has lain like a naked sword
between Israel and the Arab states, is a matter on which the books cannot be
closed and which must be further resolved through negotiation, resettlement,
and outside international assistance. But to recognize the problem is quite
different from saying that the problem is insoluble short of the destruction
of Israel, or only by the unilateral repudiation of the 1949 borders, or must
be solved by Israel alone. Israel today stands as an example for all the
Middle East, in spotlighting how economic modernization may be spurred and
accelerated against high odds, great physical barriers, and constantly growing
populations, as well as against all Communist blandishments. The growing influence
of the Soviet Union in the Middle East and the further diminution of direct
Western influence in that area as a whole, we shall in all likelihood have to
face as realities. And it is sheer delusion to underestimate the cutting force
of Arab nationalism or hope to create puppet regimes or pocket Western kingdoms
in that area. This would only intensify anti-Western feeling in the Middle
East and imperil Western relations with all uncommitted states. Israel,
on the other hand, embodying all the characteristics of a Western democracy
and having long passed the threshold of economic development, shares with the
West a tradition of civil liberties, of cultural freedom, of parliamentary
democracy, of social mobility. It has been almost untouched by Soviet
penetration. Some of the leadership groups in the Arab states also draw
inspiration and training from Western sources. But too often in these nations
the leadership class is small, its popular roots tenuous, its problems
staggering. In too many of the countries of the Middle East the Soviet model
holds special attraction, the more so since the United States and its Western
allies have not been able to develop more than tentative and often only
expedient policies which hardly come to grips with the root causes of political
disintegration and economic backwardness. To countries with relatively
primitive or topheavy economies and low industrial capacity, the Russian and
even the Chinese passage to modernity in a generation's time inspires
confidence and imitation - even as does Egypt's move in less than ten years
from a seemingly subjugated state to at least a strategic power. In
this light a simple military response is not adequate. For, apart from
bequeathing to the United States latent anti-colonial resentments, military
pacts and arms shipments are themselves new divisive forces in an area shot
through with national rivalries. Military pacts provide no long term solutions. On the
contrary, they tend dangerously to polarize the Middle East, to attach to us
specific regimes, to isolate us very
often from the significant nationalist movements. Little is accomplished by
forcing the uncommitted nations to choose rigidly between alliance with the
West or submission to international communism. Indeed, it is to our
self-interest not to force such a choice in many places, especially if it
diverts nations from absorbing their energies in programs of real economic
improvement and take-off. In the Middle East we are moving perilously close to
an arms race which, in the long run, will be of benefit to no one. No other
area stands more in need of a real disarmament effort. The real mutual advantages
for gradual demilitarization rather than build-up are unequaled. The
contours of the outstanding economic and political issues in the Middle East
lend themselves uniquely also to a regional approach. The project-by-project,
country-by-country pattern of assistance is particularly illadapted in this
area. The great river basins of the Middle East are international--the Jordan,
the Nile, the Tigris, and the Euphrates. And there are other nations in the
West besides the United States which can make important contributions in
economic and technical assistance. There has been no lack of pointers toward
what a regional policy might include - a multilateral regional development fund
for both economic improvement and refugee resettlement, the Jordan River
multipurpose scheme, a food pool making imaginative use of our agricultural
surpluses, and, as a coordinating agency, a Middle East Development Authority
to pool capital and technical aid in that area. Unfortunately,
all these and other plans have so far lacked the active political leadership
which can break the paralysis of purpose. Only external Soviet aggression, which
is only one danger to the Middle East, has been the subject of high-level
policy planning. No greater opportunity exists for the United States than to
take the lead in such an effort,
which could diminish the internal bickering in that tense and troubled area,
and bend new energies to new, more promising, and more constructive ventures. Needless
to say, such proposals and programs should not be used as veiled techniques for
placing new economic sanctions and pressures on Israel. Nor should they detract
from our support of Israel's immediate needs. . . . The choice today is not
between either the Arab states or Israel. Ways must be found of supporting the
legitimate aspirations of each. The
Jewish state found its fulfillment during a time when it bore witness, to use
the words of Markham, to humanity, betrayed, "plundered, profaned and
disinherited." But
it is yet possible that history will record this event as only the prelude to the
betterment and therapy, not merely of a strip of land, but of a broad expanse
of almost continental dimensions. Whether such a challenge will be seized
cannot be determined by the United States alone. The Question BoxQuestion: In
Matthew 16:18 our Lord is reported to have said: "Thou art Peter, and
upon this rock I will build my Church." What is the significance of this
statement? Please also explain the meaning of the words in the next verse,
which read: "I will give unto thee the keys of the Kingdom of
heaven." Answer: Roman
Catholic theologians teach that in the words "upon this rock," our
Lord has reference to Peter, himself. It
will be recalled that when his brother Andrew introduced him to the Lord, Simon
had been greeted by Jesus with the words: "Thou art Simon the son of John:
thou shalt be called Cephas, which is by interpretation Peter" (that is,
a rock or a stone. - John 1:42 margin, A.R.V.). At that time Simon was anything
but a rock, but our Lord's penetrating glance saw in the hotheaded, impulsive,
rash, unstable Simon other qualities which, in his skillful and loving
hands, could be, and would be, so trained and developed, so molded and
strengthened, as to give him the self-control he lacked; which would fit him
for service, make him stout-hearted and strong where he was now weak --
helpful, no longer unreliable, in the cause which at heart he loved. Catholics,
indeed, contend for much more than this. It is their position that, after his
resurrection, having previously conferred on Simon the name of Cephas, our
Lord made Peter "Prince of the Apostles"; that when he thrice
reinstated him in the under-shepherd's office (John 21:15-23) our Lord
conferred on Peter a primacy -- a primacy which he began to exercise immediately
following our Lord's ascension. Protestant
expositors readily admit the outstanding leadership of Peter during the early
days of the Church. This is clearly in evidence in the events recorded in the
Acts of the Apostles. Some, indeed, share the Catholic view that in the words,
"upon this rock," our Lord had reference to Peter. However, such
Protestant scholars reject the further Catholic claims that this preeminence
descended to a line of successors. For this idea Protestants of all shades of
belief find no Scriptural basis. Most
Protestant scholars, however, do not believe that the words, "upon this
rock," refer to Peter. Such believe that had that been our Lord's meaning,
he would have said "Thou art Peter and upon thee will I build my
Church." On this point there is an interesting footnote in Rotherham's
translation. Other
scholars, too, have noted that in Matthew 16:18 the word "Peter" is a
translation of the Greek word petros, which means a piece of rock; whereas the word
"rock" is a translation of the Greek word petra, which means a mass of rock.
On this point see the Greek Dictionary in the back of Strong's Concordance, Nos. SG4074 and SG4073. The
word petra suggests the bed-rock out of
which pieces of rock or stones are cut; whereas petros carries the thought of one of
such stones; a large stone, indeed, and perhaps the first-certainly one of the
first -- to be laid upon the great underlying Rock -- foundation on which all
the faithful would be built. Some
of the early Christian Fathers -- indeed some modern Protestant expositors --
have supposed that the rock referred to was not Peter, but Peter's confession
of faith, the faith to which he had just given expression in Matt. 16:16,
namely, that Jesus was the long-promised Christ -- the Messiah of Old Testament
prophecy. Against this interpretation, however, there has been urged, what
appears to be a valid objection. The objection is this: In Scripture, whenever
the word "rock" is employed figuratively, it is applied to persons, never to things. Indeed, the designation
"rock" in the Old Testament is applied only to Jehovah; in the New Testament only to Christ. For example: "He [God]
is the rock." (Deut. 32:4); "Who is a rock, save our God? " (2
Sam. 22:32); "In the Lord Jehovah is a rock of ages." (Isa. 26:4,
margin "They drank of a spiritual rock that followed them; and the rock
was the Christ." - 1 Cor. 10:4, margin. Christ,
then, not Peter, nor yet Peter's confession of faith, but Christ himself is the
rock. And on this
rock he has
ever since been building his Church. The bedrock, the "Rock of Ages,"
is here, in Matthew 16:18, as elsewhere in the Scriptures, God, as revealed in
his Son. In
harmony with this, the Apostle Paul declares: "Other foundation can no
man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ." - 1 Cor. 3:11. We
come now to those other words: "And I will give unto thee the keys of the
Kingdom of heaven." What is the meaning here? In
these words the Savior varies his presentation. He had spoken of his Church as
an edifice, himself as its bedrock, and Peter as likely to become an important
foundation stone, to be well and truly laid upon it. The figure in his mind
was evidently that of a temple. Now he likens his Church to a kingdom. The
headquarters of a kingdom is a city; keys would be needed to open its gates. Elsewhere
in the Scriptures our Lord declares that he, and he alone possesses the key.
This he tells us, in language unmistakable, in his message to the Church at
Philadelphia: "These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he
that hath the key of David, he that openeth and no man shutteth; and shutteth
and no man openeth." (Rev. 3:7.) The only one possessing the power to open
the door into his Church was and is himself. But when lie spoke, his earthly
course was about to be ended. Henceforth he would operate through honored
agents. Whom shall he use to open the doors of the Kingdom? The answer to this question
may be seen in the events which followed his ascension. Very evident it is that to
Peter it was granted, in his great discourse on the day of Pentecost, to open
the door of the Kingdom to the Jews. (Acts 2:14, 40.) To him also was assigned the high privilege of
opening that door to the Gentiles, in the case of Cornelius. (Acts 10; 11; 15
7.) In this privilege of opening the door to both Jews and Gentiles Peter was,
indeed, signally honored; but only in this did he have any preeminence amongst
the Apostles. And of course, such a prominence, granted for a particular
service, could not, in its very nature, be passed on to a successor. It
is worthy of note that the power to bind and loose on earth and in heaven,
mentioned in the closing words of verse 19, was granted not only to Peter, but
to all the Apostles. (Matt. 18:18.) These phrases, "whatsoever thou shalt
bind," and "whatsoever thou shalt loose," were common Hebrew
expressions, having a definite and well-known meaning. "To bind"
meant "to forbid," or "to declare forbidden." "To
loose" meant "to allow," or "to declare allowable."
The eminent scholar, Lightfoot, tells us that one might produce thousands of
examples from the writings of the Jews to prove that such was the meaning of
the phrases in question. By our Lord's employment of them here, then, may be
understood, in harmony with his promise in John 16:12, that after he had been
crucified, raised from the dead, and ascended to God's right hand, the holy
spirit of truth would be sent to them, to guide and direct them in their ministry,
so that in their presentation of the Gospel, and in all related matters, in
connection with the unfolding of God's great plan of salvation, the true
follower of the Master might have confidence that they were having revealed to
them, not merely the thought of the Apostles, but the very mind and purposes of
God. To
summarize then, Jesus is, as the hymn-writer has suggested:
Meanwhile,
while we do not worship them, we delight to honor those whom Jesus honored,
namely, the Twelve Apostles, as being, all of them, foundation-stones indeed.
The wall of the City (of the New Jerusalem), we are told by Peter himself, is
built of living stones. (1 Pet. 2:4, 5.) And the Master, in "the vision
glorious," has told us that this wall has twelve foundations, and in them
the names of the twelve Apostles of the Lamb. (Rev. 21:14.) And not only are
their names inscribed there; these
foundations are seen to be "adorned with all manner of precious
stones." (Verse 19.) Well may we honor them. To
close with words well known to us all, we "are being built upon the
foundation of the Apostles and Prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the chief
corner stone; in whom every building, fitly framed together, groweth into a
holy temple in the Lord; in whom ye also are builded together for a habitation
of God in the spirit. " - Ephes. 2:20-33, A.R.V., margin. - P. L. Read. Steps in Christian Knowledge"Then shall we know, if
we follow on to know the Lord. - Hosea 6:3. When
the Apostle Paul was in Athens, that great seat of learning, -- waiting for
Silas and Timothy to rejoin him after the disturbance in Berea, he was much
stirred in spirit seeing the city given to the worship of idols (Acts 17). Seemingly
the Athenians whiled ,away much time in giving ear to any new thing (v. 17).
And indeed the apostolic message was new for among other things Paul spoke of
the resurrection of the dead. Admittedly
the Athenians did not know the true God, but by erecting an altar "TO THE
UNKNOWN GOD" they were manifesting a trait of character to which Paul
could appeal. For all their limitations they had one worthy quality, though
misdirected, and that was worship. Worship is a characteristic which seems to be innate in human beings,
and so important that we may well wonder whether the message of truth can
appeal to anyone having no sense of it. if there is within any man the feeling
that there is a Supreme Being whom all must heed, there is a possibility that
he will respond to the gospel when he hears it. It
was in that possibility that Paul declared the way of truth. Paul saw that
though the Athenians worshiped, in effect they worshiped they knew not what; so
he promptly preached unto them that the one God who made the world dwelleth not
in temples made with hands, and is not worshiped with men's hands as though he
needed anything; and that nothing man may erect or perform is adequate worship
of him in whom we live, and move, and have our being. REVERENCE FOR GOD EXPRESSED BY WORSHIPThen
the Apostle, having caught their ear, proceeded to preach important doctrines
of Scripture --repentance, judgment, and resurrection. But the Athenian
practice of disputation arose and few heeded. As
Christians know, the Bible distinguishes between head-knowledge and heart-knowledge;
and the philosophic Athenians, reasoning and arguing for the sake of the
first, declined the deeper knowledge which Paul offered. But on the one worthy
quality they manifested -- worship - Paul took hold, and we observe that he was in
other words restating the axiom, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of
knowledge" (Prov. 1:7). This then is the first step in Christian knowledge -reverence expressed in worship. Some may reason: How can man worship One of whom he has no knowledge. The truth is that worship and knowledge go hand in hand and cannot be separated. Their close linking will be noted when we remember that knowledge often is synonymous with appreciation; appreciation means valuing, praise; and praise is part of worship. Or, reversing the order--worship finds expression in praise; praise means appreciation; and appreciation shows that knowledge is in the heart as well as in the head. REVERENCE RESULTS IN SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGEAnother
incident associating worship with knowledge occurs in the story of the
Samaritan woman at the well (John 4). It is clear from the record that the
keen-minded woman (an outsider of the Jewish faith) had a better sense of
worship than had the intellectuals on Mars Hill, and her willingness to talk to
the Jewish Stranger was rewarded. It was the Stranger who began the
conversation by asking for water. The "to and fro" about living water
may have been beyond her but she listens and, when the conversation turns to
her personal life, she perceives that the Stranger is a prophet and immediately
queries whether Jerusalem was the true center of worship. In reply our Lord
spoke of the coming change when acceptable worship would not be restricted to
any place but would be truly in spirit and in truth. And
to these words Jesus added (John 4:22): "Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we
worship: for salvation
is of the
Jews." Here is the next step in Christian knowledge-one which all must
know in head and heart. Salvation had not entered the mind of the Athenians;
the Samaritan woman was much nearer to that knowledge for she wished to appropriately
worship the one true God. Her knowledge admittedly was limited for John 4:10
reveals that she did not know the gift of God or the identity of the Stranger
who asked for water, but she professed knowledge of one thing (John 4:25):
that when Messiah cometh he would teach them all things, and that earned her
further knowledge. And what knowledge! In fact, a revelation that the Stranger
was indeed Christ. Our Lord did not answer the casual or unworthy inquirer who
asked whether He was the Christ but this woman received without asking, just
because her little knowledge was coupled with worship. Let us not pass by this
story without noticing that in John 4:10 and John 4:14, knowledge leads to eternal life. SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE RESULTS IN FELLOWSHIP WITH GODIn
each example with the additional knowledge of God comes closer relationship
and higher worship. That being so, what knowledge and relationship is the
portion of Christians? Does the New Testament reveal God in closer relationship
to the Christian than to all others, even Israel? Indeed, yes! There is almost
no reference in the Old Testament to God as Father, but with the coming of his
Son, this knowledge and the relationship of being sons of God was initiated,
and later confirmed in the writings of the Apostles. With
such standing before God, with such knowledge, more acceptable worship will
surely follow. True, our worship, praise, and thankfulness are never adequate
having regard to the honor bestowed upon us, but will increase as we see
sonship as a blessed truth rather than a doctrinal fact. And so we shall
proceed to that pinnacle of knowledge when we experience in Paul's words (Eph.
1:18), "The eyes of your heart being enlightened, that ye
may know.... " We cannot pass on without noticing the word
"enlightened" -knowledge by illumination. Let
us in our minds and hearts think of our Lord's teaching in chapters 14 to 17
of John's Gospel. Events were moving to their foreknown climax (it was in fact
the most critical hour of human history), but the central Figure in the small
community was perfectly calm and peaceful while others groped in uncertainty.
Was it not because of his perfect knowledge and the worship of his Father
during the hours that he remained unshaken? He knew the Father's plans.
He knew that he had to seal the Divine Purpose of redemption by his own
death. He knew that he would be raised from the dead when the great work
was finished. But most of all he knew his Father. It was his fullness of
knowledge (a higher knowledge than all the others we have considered) that
enabled him to stand. But
what of the chosen disciples? In these four chapters he seemed to be
endeavoring to give them those certainties of knowledge which he himself
possessed. If he could implant into their heads and hearts the knowledge and
love of God, they would survive the coming ordeal and he would triumph. The
position of the disciples at that time was so critical that sure knowledge of
the love of God would probably be of greater help and comfort than
factual knowledge of his purpose. And this has often been true of later
Christians, for it is another way of trusting God where they cannot trace
him. ETERNAL LIFE THE FRUIT OF TRUE KNOWLEDGEIt
could be assumed by the questions which the disciples asked their Lord in the
closing hours of his earthly life (such as John 14:5, 8, 22 and John 16:17, 18)
that their knowledge of the Father and his purpose was meager, and that our
Lord's summing-up of their faith in John 16:31, 32 showed their weakness; but
their Lord knew them better than they knew themselves and in John 15:15 tells
them that their knowledge of God's workings had raised them to be friends of
the Father. In fact it is clear that he is pleased with them in spite of their
doubts and uncertainty. In
the Lord's personal prayer (John 17) we notice how much the disciples had
accepted of truth and knowledge by their Lord's ministry. In John 17:4-8 he
details his work at the first Advent in these words: "I have glorified
thee on the earth: I have finished the work . . . I have manifested
thy name unto the men which thou gayest me and I have given unto them
the words which thou gayest me; and they have received them, and have known
surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou
didst send me.... I pray for them.... " The
disciples, for all their seeming doubts, were growing in Christian knowledge (they were well ahead of their brother Jews and far
ahead of the others mentioned), and when the Spirit of Truth came to them at
Pentecost following the resurrection of their Lord, it fulfilled one of its
functions and led them into all truth, and showed them things to come. Further
knowledge with the satisfaction which it brings awaited them, bringing with it
fellowship and more incentive to worship him who in grace had done so much for
them, bringing them out of darkness into marvelous light. Only
a year or two later there arose the Apostle Paul whose knowledge of the
Purpose of God has been a great stimulus to those who have since believed. Much
of his knowledge of the facts of Christian doctrine came to him by revelation
and he became a great champion of truth, spreading the knowledge of God
throughout the then known world. Thankfulness that he had been given the light
of truth never left him, but still he wanted to know more. His
aspiration for knowledge is summed up in his words to the Philippian brethren
(Phil. 3:10): "That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection,
and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable to his
death." That is knowledge received only by experience, thankfulness, and
worship of him who has so blessed us. Fullness awaits the time when we shall
know even as we are known. John
17:25 tells that the world does not know God, but John 17:23 affirms that they
will when those who have been sanctified by the truth are made perfect in one.
And then John 17:3 will be brought to fulfillment (and this appears to be a goal rather than a step):
"that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom
thou hast sent." With that knowledge comes eternal life. Knowledge,
worship, and eternal life move along together. Of what purpose is
life to man without knowledge of God to accompany it? Of what purpose would
the knowledge be without life? With the knowledge of him who gave his Son, and
knowledge of the Son who gave his life, must come worship and thankfulness.
They cannot be separated: the goal of knowledge will be reached, and then the
Samaritan woman and others will understand the full answer of John 4:10 to her
question. -B.
J. Drinkwater Godliness Is Profitable"But refuse profane and
old wives' fables, and exercise thyself As
St. Paul went about Greece, telling the glorious Gospel of the Unknown God, he
noticed everywhere young men with determined faces, running, jumping, throwing
the discus and javelin, or performing other athletic feats. Paul knew they
were training for contests held in the valley Olympia, each intent on improving
himself, well knowing the excellence required to gain the prized olive wreath.
Those crowned in the quadrennial games received the plaudits of the
spectators, and back home statues were erected in their honor, the chief places
were given them in public gatherings, and many were exempted from taxes, and
supported by public funds. So
to warn the godly of the seriousness of our own contest, St. Paul wrote:
"Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one
receiveth the prize? So, run, that ye may obtain. And every man that striveth for
the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible
crown; but we an incorruptible. I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so
fight I, not as one that beateth the air; but I keep under my body, and bring
it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I
myself should be a castaway" (1 Cor. 9:24-27). Remembering
the crowds watching these boys as they ran, stripped of their robes that
would have impeded them, the Apostle also wrote: "Wherefore seeing we
also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside
every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with
patience the race that is set before us" (Heb. 12:1). In
our heading text he compares the Olympic contests with the Christian's fight
against world, flesh and Devil, saying in effect: "Don't listen to the irreverent fictions of Jewish and heathen
folklore, nor to gossip; exercise thyself rather unto godliness. For bodily
exercise is of benefit for only a short time (until the flush of youth is gone
and one's arms and legs are no longer supple), but godliness gives lasting
benefits both in this life and that to come." The
word "exercise" in these verses is from the Greek gumnazo, meaning
"to practice for the games." This Greek word has been transliterated
into our language as "gymnastics" having the same meaning, "to
train or exercise." Before
an athlete practiced the skill he wished to develop, he had to learn of what,
the skill consisted and be taught how others had achieved the excellence for
which they were crowned. So with. the Christian; he must learn what godliness
is, determine he will be godly, and study the examples in the Bible of those
who pleased God and how they did it. Exercise of the human body consists of
doing the same thing over and over, trying each time to do better than before.
So with godly exercise. We must think godly thoughts and do godly deeds, at
first most imperfectly, but by repetition gaining skill in well doing.
Godliness means godlikeness, being devoted to God, to steadfastly believe in, to
earnestly love and reverence him, and to sincerely and diligently observe God's
commands -to have enlisted in the Christian race, and to have entered the
narrow way that leads to, life. Godliness is more profitable than human
attainments because by it we gain more in the present life and obtain part in
the First Resurrection of the life which is to come. Godliness also prepares us
to do the things that will be required in that life. CONTRARY VIEWS CONSIDEREDMany
think that while it might be profitable in the life which is to come,
godliness definitely is unprofitable in this life. It interferes with success
in this world. Trusting in God destroys one's self-reliance, and keeps one from
aggressiveness in business; makes one so trustful people take advantage of him.
If one loved his neighbor as himself, it interferes with salesmanship, for one
couldn't urge a customer to buy things he could not afford, nor claim better
quality and cover up weakness in the seller's goods, etc. Then they cite
scripture: "Be careful for nothing, "Set your affection on things
above, not on things on the earth," and such texts to show that godliness
is not profitable in this life. To
such arguments we reply that God has promised his children a hundred times as
much in this life as they give up (Mark 10:30). The Bible is replete
with promises such as "There is no want to them that fear [God].
The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger: but they that seek the Lord shall
not want any good thing" (Psa. 34:9, 10); "There shall no
evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.
For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy
ways" (Psa. 91:10, 11); "Whatsoever he doeth shall prosper"
(Psa. 1:3). Who wouldn't rather be heir to such promises even though for
conscience' sake he lose a few dollars of dishonest or questionable profit.
Matt. 16:26: "For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole
world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his
soul?" Godliness
does not encourage laziness: "Not slothful in business" (Rom.
12:11); "If any provide not for his own, . . . he hath denied the faith,
and is worse than an infidel" (1 Tim. 5:8). The great difference between
the attitudes of the godly and godless toward earthly business and profits is
illustrated by the cobbler who, when asked "What is your business?" replied,
"My business is to serve God and I mend shoes to pay expenses while doing
so." Oh, that Christians would always remember, whatever their earthly
employment, that they are only holding their jobs to pay expenses; their real
vocation is serving God. Some
say, "Religion is only for the poor, the unsuccessful in this life, the
sick, crippled, and aged who gain solace for present disappointments in
promises of golden streets and harps in heaven." This is as ridiculously
untrue as it would be to say that all the ungodly are rich, successful and
happy in this life. Who would class Jesus as an underprivileged person? The
vast changes in the world since his day prove the greatness of his concepts.
History says the teaching of Christianity throughout the Empire overthrew Pagan
Rome, the most wicked government before or since Jesus' day. St. Paul, the
foremost Christian missionary, so far from being "down and out,"
moved in the highest circles of Judaism. "An Hebrew of the Hebrews"
he describes himself in Phil. 3:4-7. He also inherited from his father the
special rights of Roman Citizenship, which he used before Festus, the Roman
Governor of Judea, in the words, "I appeal to Caesar" (Acts 25:11).
All such "gains" Paul renounced to become an Apostle of Christ,
perhaps the most remarkable and influential character in history, next to
Christ himself. Compare
Sir Isaac Newton, a godly man, with Voltaire the atheist. Newton wrote
commentaries on Daniel and Revelation. On Dan. 12:4, which reads, "In the
time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be
increased," he wrote, "I would not be surprised if in fulfillment of
this text human knowledge would so increase that men would possibly travel at
the rate of fifty miles an hour." Voltaire scornfully remarked on this:
"Now look at the mighty mind of Newton . . . when he became an old man and
got in his dotage, he began to study the book called the Bible, and in order to
credit its fabulous nonsense he would have us believe that the knowledge of
mankind will yet be so increased that we shall by and by be able to travel
fifty miles an hour! Poor dotard." People
who say "there is no God" or flippantly "God is dead," and
that all the godly are subnormal persons, are opposing the misconceptions of
God and the false doctrines of the dark ages. If the religious leaders would
study the Bible with the aid of better translations and earlier manuscripts
uncovered since the start of the nineteenth century, they would find that
Eternal Torment and Purgatorial flames are not taught by the Grand Old Book.
Then these leaders could openly repudiate these libels against God and teach
the Divine Plan of the Ages which Eph. 3:10, 11 (Diaglott) says is the present
work of the Church, "In order that now may be made known to the
governments and the authorities in the heavenlies, through the Congregation [Church]
the much diversified wisdom of God, according to a Plan of the Ages, which He formed for the
Anointed Jesus our Lord." Then the carping of unbelievers would be
silenced. PROFITABILITY OF GODLINESS IN THIS LIFEThere
are four fundamental benefits of godliness in this life. The first, the baptism
of God's holy spirit, is the
greatest benefit enjoyed by Christians now. This gift initially came on the
disciples at Pentecost, fifty days after Jesus' death. Acts 2:1-4 tells of a
sound as of a rushing mighty wind filling the house and of cloven tongues of
fire resting on their heads. Three and a half years later the holy spirit fell
on Cornelius and his household when entrance into the Kingdom of heaven was
opened up to Gentiles. We can only vaguely realize what a great thing God has
done in giving us this faithful guide. This is what Jesus meant when he said,
(John 14:23) "If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will
love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him." Think
of that! God and Jesus coming and living within the godly! This lifts one from
the ways of the ungodly and enables walk in newness of life. "If any man
be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all
things are become new" (2 Cor. 5:17). Preliminary
to the gift of the holy spirit, the godly must be justified by faith, another
present benefit.. This. could not be until after the Ransom had been provided
at Calvary, accepted by God, and arrangement made for release of believers
from the Adamic death penalty (Acts 17:30, 31). The fullness of justification
is attained by a change from a sinful course of life to following after righteousness,
and to steadfastly pursue this course though it encounter opposition and
involve sacrifice. This is brought out in Rom. 12:1: "I beseech you
therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a
living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable
service." A
third benefit is that the Bible is opened up to the godly so that they may have
its teachings direct and illuminate their lives. It is the mirror referred to
in 2 Cor. 3:18: "But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the
glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as
by the Spirit of the Lord." The
fourth great profit of godliness is in the effect
that the
holy spirit, justification by faith, and guidance of the Bible have on the life
and character of the godly. Instead of continuing in the tarnished image of
Father Adam, they are transformed into the image of Christ and have developed
in them faith, courage, integrity, temperance, patience, brotherly kindness
and Godlike love for neighbors and all men (2 Pet. 1:5-8). COLLATERAL PROFITS IN THIS LIFEIn
addition to the four basic benefits of godliness in the life that now is, there
are many other related profits for the godly now, which in today's language
would be called "fringe benefits." A few of these are spiritual freedom,
peace, security, honor and power, pleasure and riches. (To
be concluded in next issue) - B. F. Hollister Wise Counsel on CreedsQuestion: Is
it proper for a Christian to have a creed? Answer: It
is not only proper for a Christian to have a creed; it would not be possible
to be a Christian without one. We content ourselves here in quoting from
Brother Russell, who wrote very helpfully on the subject years ago: "The
word creed comes from credo, and means I believe. It is entirely
proper that every Christian have for himself a creed, a belief. And, if a
number of Christians come to a unity of faith upon the lines of the Word of
God, their assembling together for fellowship and communion is both proper and
helpful, as the Bible declares. The general difficulty is that, when groups of
Christians meet as brethren, they either make a written or on understood creed,
which goes beyond the Word of God and includes human tradition; or else they
ignore all faith, and make morality -good works -the only basis of fellowship.
But, as the name indicates, Christians are believers in Christ, and not
merely moralists. While, therefore, a creed is necessary, and he who has none
has no belief, and would therefore be an unbeliever, and while in Christian
fellowship harmony of faith is necessary to communion, all should see that the
fellowship and faith of the early Church, under divine direction, were built
upon the first principles of the doctrine of Christ; and nothing more
nor less should be the basis of Christian fellowship here and now.... And since
the credo or belief of each Christian professes to be built upon God's
Word, it follows that each should be not only willing but ready at all times to
change his belief for one more Scriptural, if such can be pointed out to him."
- Reprints, p. R1578. In
another illuminating discussion Brother Russell himself raised the question:
"Why not abandon all human systems and confessions, now used for tying
men's tongues and consciences, and let each other stand free to study God's
Word untrammelled, and to build, each for himself, such a creed as he
shall find authorized in God's Word; adding to his creed or subtracting
therefrom continually, as he continues to grow in grace and in knowledge and in
love of God. This is the attitude which God designed; this is the liberty
wherewith Christ made us all free. Why surrender our liberties and enslave our
consciences and tongues to a sect, or the decisions of majorities in sects? If
all of God's children were really free, thus, it would not be long before they
would be at perfect oneness of heart and nearly at one in faith and work-the
only true union."-Reprints, p. 1168. -
P. L. Read Notice of Postponement of Annual MeetingThe
Annual Meeting of the Pastoral Bible Institute, due to be scheduled for
Saturday, June 7, has been postponed to Saturday, September 20. Plans are now
under way to hold it in Atlantic City, New Jersey. We
are making this early announcement: so that Institute members, who might wish
to participate in conventions now being planned by Associated Bible Students
in various parts of the country to be held during the summer months, will know
that they need not reserve the June date for the Institute's Annual Meeting. Further
particulars as to the hour and place of meeting will be announced later. Entered Into Rest
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