With the new year opening upon
us, as we turn over a fresh leaf in the book of history, is it not well to
challenge our hearts and ask where this new date finds us, and what is really
before us?

 

The Lord Jesus Christ is not only
the Dayspring and Morning Star, but, blessed be His name, He is the Sun of the
one eternal day. The clearer and brighter He is before our hearts, the greater
the ease with which we retire from all down here. All that is eternal and
unfailing is on His side; all below and around us is in reality but sunset; the
brightness and beauty are gradually but surely fading. If our poor eyes are
turned there they are only on what is sinking below the horizon. But when they
are fixed, like those of the martyr Stephen, on Jesus in the glory of God, how
different it all is; then the outline, beautiful beyond all conception, of the
eternal realities, unfolds itself before us.

 

There is one great and blessed
fact which stands out to the eye of faith thus fixed on the nearing, heavenly
sunrise:it is the blessed establishment of communication between the heart and
its absent Object. This is effected by the Holy Spirit, the heavenly
messenger and glorifier of Jesus, who conveys to the soul the sense and comfort
of His love and His blessed thoughts about us. Thus are we really invigorated
and revived. We live, then, with Himself in all the calm and rest of that
blessed region of satisfied desire, and in the peace and power of it we are
carried through the raging storms around us.

 

May our hearts turn more than
ever to Christ and to the heavenly realm during this new year. May we be more
intently looking up to, as well as abiding in, Him who came and died and rose
again, and sits at God’s right hand for us. And may we be always looking
forward to that blessed moment when His shout shall be heard by all His own,
raised or changed, who shall follow Him into the Father’s house, and there
share His heavenly bliss and joys for ever and ever.

 

FRAGMENT

There with unwearied gaze,

Our eyes on Him we’ll rest,

And satisfy with endless praise

A heart supremely blest.                                                                                                J.N.
Darby

 

To the artist He is the
Altogether Lovely One (Cant. 5:16).

To the architect He is the Chief
Cornerstone (1 Pet. 2:6).

To the baker He is the Living
Bread (John 6:51).

To the believer He is the Author
and Finisher of our faith (Heb. 12:2).

To the biologist He is the Life
(John 14:6).

To the builder He is the Sure Foundation
(2 Tim. 2:19).

To the carpenter He is the Door
(John 10:9).

To the doctor He is the Great
Physician (Luke 8:43-48).

To the educator He is the Great
Teacher (John 3:2).

To the engineer He is the New and
Living Way (Heb. 10:20).

To the farmer He is the Sower and
the Lord of the Harvest (Matt. 13:37; 9:38).

To the florist He is the Rose of Sharon and the Lily of the Valley (Cant. 2:1).

To
the geologist He is the Rock of Ages (and it is more important to know the Rock
of Ages than

the age of
rocks) (Matt. 16:18).

To the horticulturist He is the
True Vine (John 15:1).

To the judge He is the Righteous
Judge, the Judge of living and dead (2 Tim. 4:8; Acts 10:42).

To the juror He is the Faithful
and True Witness (Rev. 3:14).

To the lawyer He is the Counselor,
the Lawgiver, the Advocate (Isa. 9:6; Jas. 4:12; 1 John 2:1).

To the merchant He is the One who
paid a great price (1 Cor. 6:20).

To the newspaper man He is the
Good Tidings of Great Joy (Luke 2:10).

To the philanthropist He is the
Unspeakable Gift (2 Cor. 9:15).

To the philosopher He is the
Wisdom of God (1 Cor. 1:24).

To the preacher He is the Word of
God (John 1:1).

To the sculptor He is the Living
Stone (1 Pet. 2:4).

To the servant He is the Good
Master (Mark 10:17).

To the statesman He is the Desire
of all Nations (Hag. 2:7).

To the student He is the
Incarnate Truth (John 1:14).

To the theologian He is God
Manifest in the Flesh (1 Tim. 3:16).

To the toiler He is the Giver of
Rest (Matt. 11:28).

To the travel agent He is the
One who went away and is coming again (John 14:1-3).

To the sinner He is the Lamb of
God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29).

To
the Christian He is the Son of the Living God, the Saviour, the Redeemer, and
Lord (Matt.

16:16; Luke
2:11; Job 19:25; John 6:68).

 

Once it was the blessing,

Now it is the Lord.

Once it was the feeling,

Now it is His Word.

Once His gifts I wanted,

Now Himself alone.

Once I sought for healing,

Now the Healer own.

 

Once ’twas painful trying,

Now ’tis blessed trust.

Once a half salvation,

Now the "uttermost."

Once ’twas ceaseless holding,

Now He holds me fast.

Once ’twas constant drifting,

Now my anchor’s cast.

 

Once ’twas busy planning,

Now ’tis trustful prayer.

Once ’twas anxious caring,

Now He takes the care.

Once ’twas what I wanted,

Now what Jesus says.

Once ’twas constant asking,

Now ’tis joyful praise.

 

Once it was my working,

His it hence shall be.

Once I tried to use Him,

Now He uses me.

Once the power I wanted,

Now the Mighty One.

Once I worked for glory,

Now His will alone.

 

Once I hoped in Jesus,

Now I know He’s mine.

Once my lamps were dying,

Now He makes them shine.

Once for death I waited,

Now His coming hail;

And my hopes are anchored

Safe within the veil.

 

From Help and Food, Vol.
30.)

 

In this issue we shall begin to
consider some of the archaeological findings that correlate with various New
Testament persons, places, and events. Because the events of the New Testament
are more recent than those of the Old, and because increased use of papyrus
permitted more lengthy writings, as well as the copying of writings, there is a
goodly amount of documentation of biblical names and places in the writings of
contemporary Jewish and Roman historians.

 

But first, before we go to the
New Testament, let us mention an item "hot off the press."

 

King David

 

It was reported in the August 2,
1993 issue of The Baltimore Evening Sun that "an Israeli
archaeologist has discovered a fragment of a stone monument with inscriptions
bearing the first known reference outside the Bible to King David and the
ruling dynasty he founded, the House of David…. The broken monument, or
stele, was found in the ruins of a wall at Tel Dan, the site of an ancient city
in northern Israel near the Syrian border…."

 

The Aramaic text referred to a
"king of Israel" and a king of the "House of David." The
archaeologist surmises that this probably was a victory monument erected in the
first quarter of the ninth century B.C. by the Syrian King Ben-hadad after he
"smote Ijon, and Dan, and Abel-beth-maachah" (1 Ki. 15:20). If this
be the case, the "king of Israel" would be Baasha and the king of the
"House of David" would be Asa (1 Ki. 15:9-24).

 

The article adds that Dr. Abraham
Biran, the archaeologist, "said, There has never before been found a
reference to the House of David other than in the Bible.’ Other scholars agreed
and noted that no reference to David himself had ever appeared before in
non-biblical texts."

 

Now, let us turn to the New
Testament and begin with an event that involved some well-known descendants of
King David.

 

The Taxation Enrollment

 

"And it came to pass in
those days that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world
should be taxed. (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.) And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city. And Joseph also went up from
Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, unto the city of David, which
is called Bethlehem (because he was of the house and lineage of David), to be
taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child" (Luke 2:1-5).
Until the early part of the twentieth century, this passage was judged by many
biblical scholars to be in total conflict with the known history of the day.
There was no evidence in historical records of a general census of the Roman Empire at that time. However, as a result of archaeological findings by Sir William
Ramsay, it is now known that there were periodic censuses of this sort in the
Roman Empire at that time, and the evidence suggests that the practice indeed
began during the reign of Caesar Augustus (31 B.C.-14 A.D.).  (The preceding
was abstracted from M. F. Unger, Archaeology and the New Testament, and
from G. E. Wright, Biblical Archaeology.)

Jesus Christ

 

Was there really a man named
Jesus who was born in Bethlehem, raised in Galilee, and put to death by
crucifixion in Jerusalem about 2,000 years ago? Of course every Christian
accepts by faith the biblical record concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. But what
can we say to the skeptic who believes that the Bible is mostly a collection of
myths and that there never existed such a person? Is there evidence outside of
the Bible for the existence of Christ?

 

Yes, indeed there is! Pliny
(61-114 A.D.), governor of Bithynia in northern Turkey, wrote a letter
concerning Christianity to the Emperor Trajan in 112 A.D. He referred to the
social problems arising from the rapid growth of Christianity. Pagan temples
had to close down for lack of customers and the demand for sacrificial animals
had ceased. He described the Christians’ habit of meeting on a certain fixed
day (i.e., Sunday) before it was light and sang a hymn to Christ as God. He
stated, further, that their lives were exemplary:one could not find adultery,
theft, or dishonesty among them.

 

Tacitus, the renowned historian
of the Roman Empire, wrote early in the second century about the Christians:
"The name Christian comes to them from Christ, who was executed in the
reign of Tiberius by the Procurator Pontius Pilate."

 

The Jewish historian, Josephus,
wrote the following concerning Christ in the latter part of the first century:
"Now there was about this time Jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful to call
him a man, for he was a doer of wonderful works—a teacher of such men as
receive the truth with pleasure. He drew over to him both many of the Jews and
many of the Gentiles. He was the Christ; and when Pilate, at the suggestion of
the principal men among us, had condemned him to the cross, those who loved him
at the first did not forsake him, for he appeared to them alive again the third
day, as the divine prophets had foretold these and then thousand other
wonderful things concerning him; and the tribe of Christians, so named from
him, is not extinct at this day" (Antiquities of the Jews,
XVIII.iii.3).

 

Archaeological digs have yielded
the Christian symbols of the cross and the fish dating to the first century
(see accompanying article for further details). And in 1945, Israeli Professor
E.L. Sukenik discovered a sealed tomb outside Jerusalem containing five
caskets. The style of decoration of the caskets, plus a coin found in the tomb,
indicated a date of about 50 A.D. On two of the caskets the name of Jesus
appears; one reads in Greek, "Jesus, help"; the other, in Aramaic,
‘Jesus, let him arise." These inscriptions point to Jesus as "the
resurrection and the life," who can help even when a loved one has died,
and who can raise the Christian dead from their graves.  (The preceding was
abstracted from Michael Green, Runaway World.)

 

Herod and Pontius Pilate

 

"Then Herod, when he saw
that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and
slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof,
from two years old and under" (Matt. 2:16).

 

"There were present at that
season some that told Him of the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with
their sacrifices" (Luke 13:1).

 

From sources outside the Bible,
Herod the Great, ruler of Palestine, is known as a Jewish Nero who bathed his
own house and kingdom in blood. His jealousy of power and insane suspicion of
any supposed rivals led him to murder many members of his own family, including
his wife and one of his sons. The biblical account of his ruthless murder of
the infants of Bethlehem and its environs was totally consistent with his
general character.

 

Herod the Great died of a
loathsome disease in 4 B.C., shortly after the Bethlehem slaughter. Caesar
Augustus divided his kingdom between two of his sons, Archelaus (4 B.C.-6
A.D.), governor of Judea (Matt. 2:22), and Herod Antipas (4 B.C.-39 A.D.), tetrarch
of Galilee (Luke 3:1,19; 9:7-9; 13:31; 23:6-12).

 

Caesar Augustus was succeeded as
head of the Roman Empire by his son-in-law, Tiberius Caesar (Luke 3:l ) who
reigned from 14 to 37 A.D. During his reign Pontius Pilate was appointed
governor of Judea (26-36 A.D.), one of the successors of Archelaus.

 

The report in Luke 13:1 of
Pilate’s cruelty is supported by reports of a similar character by the
contemporary Jewish historians, Philo and Josephus. Listen to Josephus’ report
of one particular incident:"After this [Pilate] raised another
disturbance by expending that sacred treasure which is called Corban [referred
to in Mark 7:11] upon aqueducts, whereby he brought water from the distance of
four hundred furlongs. At this the multitude had great indignation; and when
Pilate was come to Jerusalem, they came about his tribunal, and made a clamor
at it. Now when he was apprised beforehand of this disturbance, he mixed his
own soldiers in the armor with the multitude, and ordered them to conceal
themselves under the habits of private men, and not indeed to use their swords,
but with staves to beat those that made the clamor. He then gave the signal
from his tribunal. Now the Jews were so sadly beaten, that many of them
perished by the stripes they received, and many of them perished as trodden to
death" (Wars of the Jews, II.ix.4).

 

Lysanlas, Tetrarch of Abilene

 

"Now in the fifteenth year
of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, and
Herod being tetrarch of Galilee,… and Lysanias the tetrarch of Abilene…” (Luke 3:1).

 

An inscription has been found in
Abila, the capital of the region of Abilene northwest of Damascus, Syria, dating from the reign of Tiberius Caesar, that mentions Lysanias as tetrarch of the region at
the time.  (The preceding and portions of the previous section were abstracted
from M. F. Unger, Archaeology and the New Testament.)

 

The Pool of Bethesda

 

"Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market [or sheep gate, JND] a pool, which is called in the Hebrew
tongue Bethesda, having five porches. In these lay a great multitude of
impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the water.
For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the
water:whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was
made whole of whatsoever disease he had" (John 5-2-4).

 

Near the magnificent temple in Jerusalem, rebuilt by Herod the Great, was a sanctuary for the sick. It was situated at the
Sheep Pools— two large pools filled with rainwater from the nearby slopes. The
temple priest used the water for ritual washing of the animals to be offered on
the temple altar. The Gospel account speaks of one pool (perhaps only one was
used by the sick people) with five porticos or covered colonnades in which the
sick people lay. Excavations in the 1960’s uncovered the architecture of the
pool area, revealing two rectangular pools, each with two porticos, separated
by a narrow central colonnaded causeway which formed the fifth portico.  (The
preceding was abstracted from John Romer, Testament.)

 

Crucifixion

 

Despite Jewish and Christian
references to crucifixion, we have not—until recently—had firsthand evidence of
that gruesome punishment. In 1968 discovery was made of a first century A.D.
tomb in Jerusalem that contained the bones of a crucified man. The two nails
used for the hands were actually driven through the wrists. (This is not
inconsistent with the biblical account of the crucifixion of Christ; the Greek
word, cheir, in Luke 24:39,40 and John 20:20,25,27, may refer to either
the hand or the arm, and thus includes the wrist.) One nail seems to have been
used to attach the two legs to the cross together through the heel bone, and
the legs were broken, in correspondence with John 20:31.  (The preceding was
abstracted from Raymond Brown, Recent Discoveries and the Biblical World.)

 

Grave-Robbing Ordinances

 

Archaeological excavation of the
ancient town of Nazareth has yielded an interesting inscription ascribed to
Claudius Caesar (41-54 A.D.). In it the emperor expresses his displeasure at
reports he has heard of the removal of the bodies of the dead from the tomb,
and he gives warning that any further tampering with graves will incur nothing
short of the death penalty. This may very well have been the official reaction
to reports of the crucifixion of Jesus and the empty tomb.  (The preceding was
abstracted from M. Green, Runaway World.)

 

(To be continued.)

 

Dear child of God, if you are
weary, sick, or downhearted, just remember that:

 

Jacob was sick, but not forsaken
(Gen. 48:1).

 

Elisha lay sick and frail indeed,
but not forsaken (2 Ki. 13:14).

 

Hezekiah fell sorely ill, prayed,
and was not forsaken (2 Ki. 20:1).

 

Daniel, the man of faith, fell
sick, but was not forsaken (Dan. 8:27).

 

Lazarus, whom Jesus loved, was
sick unto death, but not forsaken (John 11:2).

 

Dorcas was sick and died, but she
too was not forsaken (Acts 9:37).

 

Epaphroditus, the preacher,
nearly died, but was not forsaken (Phil. 2:26).

 

The list is endless of those who
suffered but were not forsaken (Heb. 11).

 

And we too may suffer for
Christ’s sake, but will never be forsaken (Matt. 5:11,12).

 

We may be troubled on every side
and persecuted, "but not forsaken" (2 Cor. 4:8,9).

 

Only the Lord Jesus, when
suffering and sorely smitten, was forsaken… (Mark 15:34).

 

… When He paid for our sins on
the cross that we might live forever (John 10:28).

 

Though our outward man perish,
the new life draws nearer still (2 Cor. 4:16).

 

Truly, the saint is never sick
unto death, but unto life eternal (John 11:25,26).

 

"For He is not the God of
the dead but of the living" (Luke 20:38).

 

Yes, dear one, He is able to
perform that which He has promised (Rom. 4:21).

 

"Thanks be to God who gives
us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ" … (1 Cor. 15:57).

 

… For "He has said, I will
never leave thee nor forsake thee" (Heb. 13:5).

 

FRAGMENT

When in affliction’s valley I
tread the road of care,

My Saviour helps me carry the
cross so heavy to bear;

Though all around me is darkness
and earthly joys are flown,

My Saviour whispers His
promise—never to leave me alone.

 

Christ’s Responses to Those
Who Opposed and Mistreated Him

 

He was patient "What
glory is it if, when you are buffeted for your faults, you shall take it
patiently? but if, when you do well, and suffer for it, you take it patiently,
this is acceptable with God. For even hereunto were you called, because Christ
also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His
steps…. Who, when He was reviled, reviled not again; when He suffered, He
threatened not; but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously" (1
Pet. 2:20-23).

 

An acquaintance whom I first met
in my prison ministry called me one day and told me he had come home drunk
recently and finding that his key didn’t work, kicked the door in. Only then
did he realize he had gone to the wrong apartment. He couldn’t understand why
everyone was giving him such a hard time, including threatening to send him to
jail, for a little "mistake" like that.

 

Another acquaintance, at a prison
Bible study, was trying to tell me why he had become a drug dealer. He once had
a good job but his boss kept criticizing him for "no good reason" and
the fellow finally told his boss off in no uncertain terms. That was the end of
his job. I asked him why he felt he had to "mouth off" at his boss,
why he didn’t just do the best he could and quietly take the criticism.
"Because I am a man," was his response.

 

Jesus was a man, too, and in His
life on this earth He defines for us what real manhood is. A real man is
one who does not allow the offenses and hurts of others to cause him to swerve
from the path of perfect obedience to God.

 

Using the passage in 1 Peter as
our inspiration, let us consider the several steps to maturity with regard to
the matter of handling reproof and suffering:

 

Step 1. I sin, and when
reproved I fly into a rage; the result is more sin. The prophet Hanani reproved
King Asa for turning to the king of Syria for help instead of relying on
Jehovah. Asa responded with great rage and put Hanani in prison (2 Chron. 16:7-10).

 

Step 2. I sin, and when
reproved, confess and repent and take the reproof patiently; the result,
according to 1 Pet. 2:20, is that there is no particular glory in making right
our wrongdoings. The Prophet Nathan reproved King David for his sins of
adultery and murder. David responded with the humble confession, "I have
sinned against the Lord" (2 Sam. 12:7-13; Psa. 51).

 

Step 3. I do well, and
when I suffer for it I become angry at those who hurt me, or bitter toward God;
the result is that the well-doing degenerates into sin (Num. 20).

 

Step 4. I do well, and
when I suffer for it I take it patiently; the result is being "acceptable
with God" (1 Pet. 2:20)and reaping eternal blessing (Matt. 5:10-12). The
Apostle Paul wrote, "Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my
infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take
pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in
distresses for Christ’s sake:for when I am weak, then am I strong" (2
Cor. 12:9,10).

Step 5. I do well, and
when I suffer for it I do something good to those who are against me; the
result is being "the children of [our] Father who is in heaven"
(Matt. 5:44,45). The Syrian army tried to capture the Prophet Elisha. But
Jehovah smote the enemy with blindness and Elisha led them to the king of Israel. But instead of destroying the enemy, Elisha "prepared great provision for
them, and when they had eaten and drunk, he sent them away" (2 Ki.
6:8-23). And of course an even better example of loving our enemies and doing
good to those who hate us is provided by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself when He
died to provide salvation even for those who cruelly and unjustly crucified
Him.

 

Let us each carefully and
honestly before the Lord examine ourselves as to how far we have progressed up
the ladder to Christ-likeness in this regard.

 

In the passage in 1 Peter 2 we
read that "when He was reviled, reviled not again." Christ’s example
in this is essential for those who engage in the work of restoring a
backsliding soul to the Lord. "Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault,
you who are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness" (Gal.
6:1). What this means is that the servant of the Lord may not find a ready audience
for his reproof. Rather, the one who is overtaken in a fault may retaliate with
charges and insults against the servant. For this reason, the servant must be
girded with Christ-like meekness so that if he is reviled, he reviles not
again.

 

"When He suffered, He
threatened not, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously"(l
Pet. 2:23). I remember, at least a couple of times, in the heat of battle with
another believer who had made some unjust charges against me, saying, "You
just wait till the judgment seat of Christ; then you will find out who is
right!" Perhaps this is so, but it is likely that I will learn that
neither was I right in my response.

 

He was calm and gentle and held
His peace. When the traitor Judas led the band to Jesus to take Him, what a
calm and peaceful— yet at the same time probing— response Jesus gave to him:
"Friend, why have you come?" (Matt. 2650; see also John 18:3-6). And
when Jesus stood on trial before first the high priest and then Pilate, He
"held His peace … He answered nothing… He answered him to never a
word, insomuch that the governor marveled greatly" (Matt. 26:63;
27:12-14). In this He fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah, "He was oppressed,
and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth; He is brought as a lamb to
the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so He opens not His
mouth" (53:7).

 

Following Christ’s example, we
have the privilege of remaining silent or saying, "I don’t care to talk
about it," when one is trying to "get our goat" by making false
charges against us or trying to provoke us into an argument.

 

He forgave His enemies. They
falsely accused Him, they charged Him with blasphemy, they spat in His face,
they punched and slapped Him, they plucked out the hair of His beard, they
scourged Him, they pounded a crown of thorns into His head, they bowed before
Him in mock worship, they stripped Him, they pounded nails into His hands and
feet, they subjected Him to a most shameful as well as painful kind of death,
they taunted and reviled Him as He suffered on the cross. And how did He
respond to all this? "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they
do" (Luke 23:34). What a heart-stirring, soul-searching response!

 

Can we be expected to respond in
such away toward our enemies?  Yes, we are commanded, "Love your enemies,
bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you/ and pray for those
who despitefully use you and persecute you" (Matt. 5:44).

 

Also, we have the example of
Stephen in this regard. In response to Stephen’s speech, the Jews "gnashed
on him with their teeth … cried out with a loud voice … and ran upon him
with one accord … and stoned him." And Stephen cried out, just before he
died, "Lord, lay not this sin to their charge" (Acts 7:54-60).

 

He withdrew or hid Himself from
His enemies. When the Pharisees "held a council against Him, how they
might destroy Him.. .He withdrew Himself from there" (Matt. 12:14,15).
When "they took up stones to cast at Him … Jesus hid Himself" (John
8:59). When "they sought again to take Him… He escaped out of their
hand, and went away again beyond Jordan" (John 10:39,40).

 

The macho man may foolishly stand
up and try to defend himself against a much stronger opponent. But Jesus, who
had all of the power of omnipotent God available to Him, and could easily have
overcome His enemies had it been God’s will, did not do so because it did not
fit in with God’s purposes for the time. "The Son of Man is not come to
destroy men’s lives, but to save them" (Luke 9:56).

 

May we be wise like our Lord in
such situations. "A prudent man foresees the evil and hides himself; but
the simple pass on and are punished" (Prov. 22:3; 27:12).

 

He reasoned with His opponents.
When the Pharisees came to Him with questions, even if with the intention to
"accuse Him" (Matt. 12:10), Jesus usually took time to reason with
them from the Scriptures, often pointing out inconsistencies in their thinking
(Matt. 12:1-8,10-12; 15:1-6; 19:16,17; 22:23-33,41-46). "Love … hopes
all things" (1 Cor. 13:7); perhaps behind an antagonistic exterior there
is hiding an anxious and searching mind. A gentle, reasoned response will
attract the soul that is really seeking the truth. "The servant of the
Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, in
meekness instructing those who oppose them" (2 Tim. 2:24).

 

In the next issue, Lord willing,
we shall consider Christ’s responses to man’s sinful behavior in general.