The Ohio Independent Baptist, April 1967

fron1 th G k w Testament B Dr. G o . Lawlor ' 'CONTENDING' ' all trt1e he I it, t"r t l1l' I, , 11tct1d :, 3 .. ' ' \IJ l'll , tl . t 1,, t t 1, t l1c I a It l1 t ) uea rne'\l ,n l: c..' f" r . t l t • :t c.:' Ii, "rt' i t1 ·1 t , t 11 l' tl I n t " .. l"ht' ,, t.' \ re tlliercd In the >\ .\ 1 . •· ....,r11 ... ,t,, ('(\nter1"-i.. 1, ont.: of the 111 · . · l k. Ing C ~)fC I )0 In the 'r1ptt1 c .1nd 1" l )f the greate t "' ig- 11ifi .. ar1 c and 1n1p rtan e to the cau. e f l l1r1 t i, the"e ticl) f drifting the ,1",g1~.11 lrenJ and c ttmenica l ... .1p..: t.1 \ h (1reek , erb ( infi niti ve v .. 1~l 1 ,11<1-e 1/1a1) n1ean.. : Hto contend. ~ru - ~le ,, i th ' trenti u effort and ...... z a1:· The th ught i actual ly ' 'to fight t~ nding tip n a thi:1g which ..1 at1lted and \\ hich the adver ar)' ,, i he to take: and it i to fight o a to defend it and retain p e io :i of i1:· Thi i preci ely ""hat the verb lllC,lll!o,; Ill its ()Ill t Ill ]ll ( l .. 's CJ)i s tlc . lt\1 t11sr,11l , l1 C'1 i.1 tl1' "\\ 1 .T"'~s1a- llll'llt, t l tlll i ti tl1' c 11 rcssi<)tl ,,hir l1 is 11c c~~ :11\ to C<) ll\C\ l<) l1risti,lns a ll tl1.,t is i11,'<Jl\ctl tn () 11 - t tlcling lc11· tl1c faitll . r, ·rll' 1, ,Jic,• ~rs ...., .11c tl1c st.l lllic,, l f Jestis hrist wl,o t1l\1st lit., tl1c t1ght i1,g in th,, tc1ri l1l c ct., 1tl1ct again,t a 11() ta, . an I we 111\1,t ,\II take ttr 11,\ttlc <;,la ti n~ t1pon 1l1 c faith, tlc(c11ct111g that grea t and l1lc"~c<.t h~ ci 'r f t rtt th a n(I rct ai n i ng 11 ,1t all co"t~. r 111 the r ot o l tl1c ve rh ··con– tend.. c n1c the w rd Ha ngt1i h . a g nv." the n10 t ~evere t rt1ggle. and - . en1o t1 n . he co-it nding f r the faith whi ch ha bee n committed to ottr charge and ca re an1ount to a mo. t eve re and determined truggle . a c nflict that will bring rea l uffe r– ing to u . both mental and phy ical. which n1ay at time carry to the point of e treme pai:1 a nd agony. It i. not po ible to ay now ju t what eAact form the ago nizing and uf– fering of thi confli ct wi ll a sume in our time. We do not know the extremitie to which thi con,te:1ding for the fait h will take u . We do kno\v what Jude say , and we know the word of P at1l to Timothy: "Yea. ant.I ull tl1 a1 li ve gl)tll ttl hri I J "' t sha ll sttl l cr pcrs · ltli<~n.'' ( 11 I in J : I ) \\' · k nr> \ t h: 1 t s t anc I i n g t ru l (l the faith wi ll c ) I ti s :-;c tll 1l1ing. c know thi s faith is ,,nclcr vi lcr a .1cl vici<) tJ s attack hy the a r sta t i n ot1r clay. Hc11cc a ll trtac believer n1t1~1 take their J l accs in th, rank ancl exerc ise thcn1 sc lves in the cc,r fl i c t a gooci sc)l<.1 icrs of J est1s hri s '"I he ( hr1\t1an faith is n t the propert of tinbclicvcr,~ it is the sai nt to wh I G d ha\ (lct1vc red thi s faith , an they al ne. Jt is thu c; the high privi cgc and prime rec;po:i ibilit y of be 1ieverc; to guard we) I th is acred cit po<;it, to contend earne.c;tl y an c; trenuou ly for the holy faith co n mitted t their tru<; t, and to defen it a tho e who are it <; c;o le guard ia, ince thi. holy faith come dow from one generation of the fiait hf\ to a:iother generatio n of f aithf\ one , it mean that each generatio mu t hand it on uncorrupted, unper ve rted, till in its or iginal truth. It our constant and uncha:1ging dut to faithfully pass o n to those wh follow u that which we have r( ceived in all it purity and powe and to give our elves unreservedly t it pre ervat ion and defense. salm ttttb orm By Ralph T. Nordlund (Re ad P AL ivf 1 l . 12 and l 3 in your Bible fir t ) Ho\.\ long. 0 Lord, wilt Thot1 forget. nd hide Thy face from me? How long my heart in arrow fret. hamed by the enemy? Con ider. Lord, and hear my cry. ~1 } way i dark and teep: Lighten mine eye , le t I hould die And leep in death' long Jeep. ~fine enemy wou ld urely boru t. "I ha, e o·er him prevailed;' ' E'en now they taunt. thi evil ho. t, \\'hen I am ore a ai led. Thy mercy and salvation . Lord, Ha\'e been my tru t and ong: Thy ble sings v.·ill I yet record In prai e all day Jong. P aim 11, 12 and 13 all deal with the trial of suffer– ing from the tongue of the ungodly, and so may have come out of a common experience in the life of David. In the Eleventh a sl }' tongue ~uggest that he had better flee to a mountain of afet)': in the Twelfth a boa tful tongue tempt him to feel that he is the only righteou man left: and in the Thirteenth a deri ive tongue eeks to make him think that God will not hear and he might ,, ell gi\'e up. APRIL, 1967 PAGE 6 The e three p alms remind us of some ly Pharisee who came from J eru alem to uggest to J e us that Hero wa a fox and that he had better flee from Galilee; c the boa tful Sadducee who so took for granted th~ they were in complete control that they could cast an one out of the ynagogue who befriended Jesus· an of the priests who stood around the cross and scoffe at our uffering Saviour. If David and our Lord e,i perienced such oppo ition from evil tongues, Christian shou1d not be surpri ed if they receive the same trea· ment. The Thirteenth Psalm undoubtedly gives us th climax of temptation, for the trial of unanswered praye i the hardest to bear. It even wrung a "Why,, from ou Saviour when He hung upon the cross . Yet for our encouragement we may notice that afte four "how long ' David ends his psalm with a son of praise ; and our Saviour ended His vigil on the cros by commending Hi pirit to Hi heavenly Father. "Weei: ing may endure for a night · but joy cometh in th n1orning. ' ' The le son for u to learn is that tears usually com before joy if that joy i ' the joy of the Lord." We hav too much frivolot1s churchianity today, in which witti cism of the world furnish u with laughter, and we ar told that Chri tian mu t never have a long face bu always laugh and mile ( Laugh at the devil's jokes, tol• by a worldly preacher?!!!) Then when our laughter turn to weepi ng, a it surely will , we don t know what to de H ow much better to do as David, weep first and pra) and then ing a ong of as urance! THE OHIO INDEPENDENT BAPTIS