Comment By Torchlight

Middle East Disquiet

The arms build-up in the Middle East, both of Arab and Israeli forces, is causing mounting concern. And various pronouncements of an impending renewal of armed conflict are helping to keep the temperature at boiling-point. In such conditions it is not possible to sort out propaganda from fact, but it is clear that the present situation will not continue indefinitely. It needs no special insight into Middle East affairs to observe the probabilities of a new flare-up in those regions.

We know from the prophetic word that God has purposes with the land of Israel and the people of Israel. These purposes will be achieved in His own time and way. But we should beware of forming our own conceptions as to the course present events will take. "God moves in a mysterious way His wonders to perform", and in the past He has brought His word to pass in the most unexpected ways. We should avoid, too, any tendency to political bias towards either Jew or Arab. In the present phase of God's dealings with mankind all men are on one platform. God "willeth that all men should be saved, and come to the knowledge of the truth" (1 Timothy 2.4).

Our present duty, then, is clear. We should pray for all men, and, because of the terrible suffering that a new outbreak of hostilities would bring, we should make supplication for a peaceful settlement of the outstanding problems between Israel and her neighbour's.

Biafra

At the time of writing, the situation in Nigeria is obscure. Here, again, propaganda and fact are difficult to determine, but that this terrible conflict has brought fearful suffering to many thousands of innocent civilians is sadly obvious. It is not only that war brings death and sorrow but it leaves enmities and animosities which affect future generations. These enmities are often the hotbed of future wars. And so it goes on in the dreary record of human history.

We are thankful for the promise that one day, "Nation shall not rise against nation, neither shall they learn war any more", but in the meantime our sympathy and prayers should be directed to those whose daily lives are spent in areas of armed conflict. Surely, too, our prayer should be:

"Then come, 0 Lord, to earth again,

Come, take Thy mighty power and reign;

Bid tumults, wars and conflicts cease,

Rule far and wide, Thou Prince of peace."

Profane Babblings

This is an age of discussion. Modern means of communication provide facilities to discuss and debate ad infinitum. When it comes to matters of the Christian Faith, should we not take care lest we cheapen them by doubtful disputations with unbelievers? Doubtless, our Lord had this in mind when He said, "Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast your pearls before the swine" (Matthew 7,6).

Recently, I came across the following which I thought was worth noting:

"There is danger that today those who name the Name of Christ will be willing to meet error as though it were on a par with the truth. As Christians, we should ever be prepared to give a reason for the hope that is within us, but we should never consider our Christian faith as only one of so many choices or options. We should not, for example, be willing to enter into what is called 'dialogue' with Roman Catholicism as though we might mutually enrich one another by such discussion. Rather, if we have a true love for the Roman Catholic, we should in humility and love point out to him that what his Church teaches is contrary to the revealed word of God. All too often, however, we approach evil, be it in life or in doctrine, in the same spirit in which Eve turned to the serpent. Instead of uttering, 'Thus saith the Lord', we engage in dialogue and we do so at the peril of our own souls" (Young).

The Secret Place

"He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty" (Psalm 91.1).

The tempo of present-day life, the blatant materialism which is the bane of modern civilization and the daring infidelity which is so prevalent today, will undermine the mental and spiritual health of the Christian unless he has frequent recourse to the secret place. By prayer and by meditation on God's word the Christian can commune with God, and such communion is the very breath of his spiritual life. The superficiality of so many of us is due to our neglect of this essential element of Christian experience. At all costs we must make time to be alone with God or else we shall become formal, tepid Christians swept along with worldly thought and worldly fashion.

In the passage from Psalm 91 quoted above, the psalmist uses the term "secret place" in a wider sense than that to which we have alluded. He envisages the life of the godly as a continual dwelling in the secret place of the Most High. The ensuing words of the Psalm recount the blessings of those who make the Most High their habitation and their refuge. Here is a Psalm for you and me amid the perplexities of modern life. "The trivial round, the common task" need not detach us from our true spiritual habitation. To dwell with God and at the same time move around in the duties and cares of life is no impracticable ideal.

For serenity of mind, for the banishing of fear and depression, Psalm 91 is in the divine medicine chest for our use. Let us use it to the full.

unknown | Nov 1968
Comment By Torchlight