Questions From John 11:1-12

QUESTION: Answer the following questions suggested by a study of John 11:1-12: (1) Did John the Baptist in prison doubt the Messiah-ship of Jesus? (2) Did Jesus imply that John was not in the kingdom of heaven? (3) What is meant by taking it by force?

ANSWER: (1) He did not doubt that Jesus was a prophet and a miracle-worker, but because he did not put on the crown, mount the throne and sway his kingly scepter for the deliverance of his forerunner from Herod's underground prison, he began to doubt that Jeans was the long-expected Messiah, the anointed King. He was shut up in darkness, which always tends to produce mental depression or the blues, such as his prototype Elijah had under the juniper tree after his long race to escape the threat of an angry queen (I Kings 19:4). John's faith in King Jesus suffered a partial eclipse, at whom he was in danger of being offended or stumbling. Hence the question, "Art then he that should come, or do we look for another?" (2) He was an Old Testament saint and accepted of God. though not technically in Christ's kingdom, which was not opened till Pentecost. He doubted the kingship of Christ and had in his mind the erroneous conception of a worldly kingdom. He failed to realize the spiritual nature of the Messiah's kingdom, known and enjoyed by the smallest real Christian. (3) The common interpretation that "the violent" are zealous Christians who conquer and win heaven by force of arms, I cannot adjust to the context, which is a description of John. Jesus rather apologizes for him, intimating that his mistake is an error of many, during the whole time of John's ministry, who had been clamoring impatiently for Christ to assume the scepter. The people together with John wished to hurry up the earthly reign of Christ, violently. They would take it by storm. This is the only exegesis that is in harmony with the context.

— Steele's Answers pp. 143-145.

Cleansing the Temple & Church Fund Raisers

QUESTION: Does Christ's cleansing the Temple apply to modern methods of supporting the Gospel by fairs, banquets and entertainments?

ANSWER: So far as these are resorted to to shift the support of Christian worship upon outsiders, so that the church members may hoard their money and become rich, they are a stench in the nostrils of God. The spirit of sacrifice must be in all acceptable worship.

— Steele's Answers p. 143.

Where Were the Money Changers?

QUESTION: In what part of the Temple did Christ find the money changers and those that sold animals suitable private enrichment?

ANSWER: Not in the holy of holies consecrated to the high priests only (and he could enter it only on the day of atonement), nor in the court of the priests sacred to them only, nor in the court of the women prohibited to all who were not Hebrews, but in the court of the Gentiles where none but "proselytes of righteousness," monotheistic, circumcised Gentiles, were permitted to enter. Here enterprising Jewish traders were doing a thriving business with the consent of the priests who shared their gains and were especially mad when Jesus touched their pocket nerve. They had turned the worship of Jehovah into the adoration of Mammon the almighty shekel for their own for sacrifice.

— Steele's Answers p. 143.

Was the Campaign Against the Saloons a Spititual Warfare?

QUESTION: Is the fight now going on, under the laws of many of our States against licensed saloon, led by the Anti­-Saloon League, a spiritual or carnal warfare?

ANSWER: The end aimed, at, the moral well-being of the people, and indirectly the spiritual salvation of myriads of young men, would rank it as a spiritual conflict. But the weapons, sheriffs, courts, fines and prisons, have a carnal aspect. There is in this a mixture of the carnal and the spiritual. Since the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the wicked, it is not only the right but the duty of all good men to assist in its execution. It is the duty of Christian men to use spiritual weapons against social wrongs so far as they are applicable; but if these are ineffectual, then they should resort to weapons of a carnal, or secular, nature. A very good maxim is moral suasion for the tippler and legal suasion for the vendor.

— Steele's Answers p 142.

The "Creature"?

QUESTION: What is "the creature" in Rom. 8:19-21, "For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation," etc.?

ANSWER: The Am. Revision puts "creation" for creature. All physical nature bears the scars of the primal curse pronounced on the sin of the world. But it is probable that Paul was having in mind more especially himself and his fellow-believers in Christ who were awaiting their glorification in the general resurrection of the dead, when soul and body will wear his glorious image. The meaning of "creature" here is a battle ground for critics. Alford in his notes exhibits six different definitions.

— Steele's Answers p. 141, 142.

Paul Would Die for His People

QUESTION: Explain Rom. 9:3, "For I could wish that I myself were anathema from Christ for my brethren's sake, my kinsmen, etc.

ANSWER:  As Christ on the cross was regarded by men as accursed or separated from God in making the atonement, so Paul could, if it were possible, take Christ's place, or make another atonement on the top of Christ's atonement to save the Hebrew people. As dying for one condemned to be executed is the highest possible expression of love, so Paul's love for his race would prompt him to submit to an ignominious, judicial death if that would save his "kinsmen according to the flesh" from the doom of eternal punishment. A present day Arab expresses his love for another by saying, "Let my life be a ransom for thee." The Oriental mind is full of the solemn thought of substitutive suffering.

— Steele's Answers p. 141.

There Is No Drudgery in True Prayer

In the higher states of Christian experience, there is a blending of prayer and praise. This is noticeable in St. Paul. If he begins with thanksgiving, he ends in prayer; if he begins with prayer, he ends with praise. Phil. 1:3, 4, "I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy." There is no drudgery in true prayer. He to whom communion with God the Father is a task has not advanced far in grace. It is very evident that the fullness of the spirit of grace and supplication has not been poured upon him. All who through faith in Christ have boldness and access or introduction to God "make requests with joy." All who come in their own name approach the throne of grace with fear and servility. To them prayer is a sad necessity, and not a delight transcending all the pleasures of sense. Bishop Janes had full sympathy with St. Paul in the joyfulness of prayer. To his roommate who had slept an hour, and awakening saw the bishop still on his knees breathing out his silent supplications, and asked why he prayed so long, he replied, "I delight in prayer." It was the recreation of his soul and body after a day of toil in conference and cabinet. How far in the opposite extreme is the practice of the Papal priests to prescribe prayer as a penance and a penalty, imposing so many Pater Nosters and Ave Marias after the confession of sins.

There cannot be a more sad departure from the true spirit of prayer than to treat it as a punishment. We often feel like weeping over the millions of benighted souls to whom the gladness of prayer is perverted into sadness through sacerdotal despotism.

Yet young Christians to whom prayer is not a delight should be encouraged to persevere in the use of this means of grace, and to pray for such a baptism of the Spirit and fullness of love as will change its irksomeness into an unspeakable joy. Thousands can attest the possibility of such a sudden transformation. They have lived months and years in a state of communion with God so intimate and delicious that, whenever they bow the knee to pray, hallelujahs spontaneously burst from their lips. This shows that in the quality of their piety they are approaching the heavenly state where prayer will be completely lost in praise.

— Half-Hours with St. Paul and Other Bible Readings Chapter 5.