QUES. 11. – Is it possible for a Christian to ever get "in the flesh " ? I know we have the flesh in us, and Scripture says :" Ye are not in the flesh " ; but if the flesh acts what would you call it ? In 1 Cor. 3 they were called carnal ; would that not be as men in the flesh ?

ANS. – " In the flesh " is the position before God of the unconverted man, as "in the Spirit" is that of the converted one. In the first he is in that position by his natural birth – he is a child of Adam. In the second by his spiritual, or new birth, he is a child of God and the Holy Spirit dwells in him. Nothing can destroy this new position and relationship with God ( John 10 :37-29 ; Rom. 8:31-39).

To be "carnal " is not at all the same as being "in the flesh." The Corinthians were carnal because there was among them " envying, and strife, and divisions" – they walked as natural men and not as spiritual. But if your child acts as the children of an enemy, it does not constitute him a child of that enemy. You may shame him by comparing his ways with those of the enemy, but you never place him as one of them. The Corinthians brought upon themselves the judgment of God for their carnality (chap. 11:30), whilst at the same time they were told, "But ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God " (chap. 6 :11).

QUES. 12. – Would you kindly explain what the meaning is of a Christian having such an experience as this :The Lord had come and she had been left behind ; and this occurring twice, she feels somewhat worried about it.

ANS. – It may be the Lord wishes to break up the bad habit of trusting in dreams. Before His word was all revealed and written down, He often spoke to His people in dreams, but now that we have His word in our hands all else must give way to it. We must trust in it as the ship in which we sail.

It might also be that you have not settled peace in your soul ; that some form of self-righteousness or self-occupation is lurking there, preventing your Christian progress. In such a case the Holy Spirit might be using the fear produced by such an experience to shake you down upon the Rock till you are at rest. Or it might be that you have been affected by the evil teaching of that school which makes the being caught up to the Lord a matter of merit, thus leaving behind those who have riot that merit, to go through a kind of purgatory to prepare them for being with the Lord later on. The doctrine pleases the Pharisee but torments the tender-hearted.

The word of God says, "Behold, I show you a mystery:We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed," etc. (1 Cor. 15:51). And note in chap. 1:2 that Epistle is not addressed to the Corinthians alone, but also to "all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours." Trust in that Word against any and every other voice, whether it comes from within you or from without. Everything is a lie which attempts to contradict it in aught that it says.

QUES. 13.-It has been suggested that Michael the archangel was the Lord Jesus Christ. Is this right?

ANS.-If so, it would place our Lord in a strange position, as seen in the ninth verse of Jude. Though chief among angels, Michael, according to this verse, is a creature, and we see how he keeps the creature's place. It would be a serious error to put our Lord in that place. But often such suggestions are made without much thought, and with far from evil intent. It is, however, only by having the word of Christ dwelling in us richly that we avoid errors, great or small.

QUES. 14.-Preachers here say that we cannot be born of God ; that we are only begotten, and they use certain changes in the translation of the New Version to establish their teaching. Have they any ground for this ?

ANS.-None whatever. You may trust without fear the common, or "King James" Version. It may not be very critical, but it conveys the mind of the original in such a faithful way as to produce in the reader a divinely-wrought faith, and that is better than all the hair-splitting of men whose knowledge is of that kind which puffs up rather than edifies. Satan has been active to muddle the truth as to the New Birth, both to hide its importance and the greatness of the blessings linked with it. They who maintain in their souls the simplicity which is ever in Christ, will escape the contentions and perplexities of the would-be metaphysicians.

Some answers remain for next No. of Help & Food