Evangéliumi Hírnök, 1981 (73. évfolyam, 1-16. szám)
1981-03-01 / 5. szám
1981. március 1. 7. oldal <<WHO AND WHAT ARE WE? The Bible says: “But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become the children of God—” (John 1:12). Christ can do this, and he does. C. G. Jung underlines the audacity of the claims of Christianity that it can add a further highest link to the existing chain of evolution, can lift whosoever will accept it into a nobler type of life, built on a grander scale than anything this earth knows; can make of him a new creature, able to do and be what no one else can do or hope to be. And then he adds that nobody can laugh this out of court. For it has done it! And every day we meet such new creatures on the streets. Notice that the Bible does not say that Christ will make us into God’s children. It says that He will give us “power to become Gods children”. God is not forcing His Fatherhood on anybody. He is making it possible for us to become His children. This may be compared to going to an institution of learning. No school can make a doctor, a lawyer, a preacher, a teacher etc. It can only provide the opportunity, the power, to become. This is why many people can come out of schools without becoming anything. The instruction was provided, but they did not take advantage of it. In the same way, many people can come in contact with Christ, the Church, the Bible. They may even say that they believe in Christ and have received Him. But they never use the power, or the right their faith could give them to become the children of God. The Bible tells us that even the demons believe in God, and tremble (James 2:19). But they remain demons. We need to use the power Christ gives to us so we may become God’s children. He gives us: I. Power over self. We must exercise self-control, self-discipline, selfdenial, self-sacrafice, self-judgment, self-surrender etc. Unless we do, we cannot be the children of God. We can do these only in and through the power He gives us. II. Power over the world. The world stands for materialism. This is everything opposed to what is spiritual. It stands for secularism which ignores and denies everything sacred and divine. It stands for temporalism which laughts at the eternal. If we do not use the power Christ gives us to overcome the world, we cannot become the children of God. III. Christ gives ud power over Satan. Satan attacked Christ in this very area of Sonship. During the temptation in the wilderness Satan said to Jesus: “If you are the Son of God... ” He wanted Jesus to doubt his Sonship. Jesus knew who He was. As the Son of God, He was more powerful than Satan. Satan Wants to cause us to doubt our Sonship. He comes to * I I am tired of hearing that our great denominations should get away from their humble beginnings, shake the hayseed out of their hair, and come of age. I am tired of all modern efforts, to force a counterfeit kingdom of heaven on an unregenerate society. I am tired of the new freedom that throws the Ten Commandments out the window and does not know the differences between love and lust. I am tired of little professors who enjoy brainwashing young students into disbelieving the Bible. I am tired of popular commentaries that doubt or deny the miracles. I am tired of seeing the Stars and Stripes dragged in the dust, our great American heroes of the past smeared, and patriotism junked in favor of an internationalism that is part of the program of Antichrist. I am tired of hearing sin called sickness, that the alcoholic is just ill and alcoholism is only a disease, that liars are only extroverts with lively imaginations and murderers are victims of traumatic experiences. I am tired of seeing adultery recognized in the slums but not in Hollywood, and illegitimacy made respectable and supported by the welfare state. I am tired of our artifical wealth, of America’s riding to the poorhouse in a Cadillac. I am tired of this joke we call progress. We have learned how to lengthen life but not how to deepen it. us and says: If you are a child of God, why are you sick, why do you suffer, why are you lonely and poor?, etc. If we are using the power Christ gave us, which made us to be the children of God, we will be able to overcome Satan and all its temptations. My dear friend, who and what are you? If you have received Christ and believe in Him, He has given you power to become the son or daughter of God. You are a child of a King! Always act and live up to your divine relationship. I am tired of wading through second-hand tobacco smoke from a generation of lung cancer prospects, while the Surgeon General warns the nation and pulpits keep silent. I am tired of hearing about temperance instead of abstinence in drinking liquor in order to please the cocktail set in our church membership. I am tired of the regimentation of humanity into one faceless mass, the sneaking subtle takeover of the individual by the state. We have become social security numbers with a wallet full of credit cards — tagged, labeled, and catalogued for the mark of the Beast. — Excerpted from Here I Stand by Vance Havner (Moody Press) AMERICAN BAPTIST UNION RECEIPTS FOR THE MONTH OF JANUARY 1981 Home Mission Bethesda Retirement Home, Palm Bay, FL $150.00; Hungarian Baptist Church 30.00; Silliman Memorial Baptist Church, Bridgeport, Conn. 35.40; Bethesda Church, Palm Bay, Florida 100.00. — Total: $315.40. * Literature Gospel Messenger, Treasurer $280.00. * Special Mission Bethesda Church, Palm Bay, Fla. $35.00. Louis Drescher, Treasurer “This above all: to thine own self be true, And it must follow, as the night the day. Thou canst not then be false to any man.” Shakespeare WILLIAM B. MOLNÁR, Secretary Hungarian Baptist Union of America I AM TIRED
