Cincinnati Bible Seminary - Nautilus Yearbook (Cincinnati, OH)

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THE PRESlDENT'S MESSAGE TO THE CLASS OF 1940 E CONGRATULATE the members of the Closs of l94O upon the comple- tion of the courses of study leciding to the degrees thot will be received ot the close of the present school session Alreody you enjoy the thrill of victory. Something hos been occomplished. A definite gool hos been ottoined ond proper recognition is to be received. At lost you ore prepdred to enter your chosen fields of service ond hove the joy of winning souls for Christ ond Eternity. We rejoice with you in your ottoinments ond shore your hopes for rich ond fruitful ministries. We proy thot in the Providence of God your fondest hopes, GS they ore in hormony with l-lis will, moy be reolized, We do not like to soy good-bye to you, for your college doys hove brought much joy to us, but we ore hoppy thot you ore now reody to serve ond thot we hove hod the direction of your preporotion, We sholl not forget you. Sometimes in the evenings of busy doys we sholl sit in our eosy choir ond you, every one of you, will gother oround us in precious ond tender memories, We sholl remember you os we knew you in your college doys, for info teocher's memory his students never grow old. You will olwdys be our boys ond girls, ond no motter how mony students follow you, eoch of you will hold your specidl ploce in our offection, Our deep interest in you ond your ministry constroins us to write to you some porting words of counsel ond odvice, You ore leoving the ouiet peoceful holls of your Almo Moter to go into o world thot, for the most port, hos forgotten God ond, therefore, is in sore distress ond dire need. lvlony notions ore olreody dt wor ond mony more ore to experience its devostotion ond horror. Greed, ovorice, lust of power, ond conquest rule the heorts of men. lvlurder, ropine, treoson, robbery, ond infidelity stolk the eorth. Civilizo- tion is threotened. Even those who do not believe in God ore confounded ond terri- fied. They do not know where to'turn for deliveronce, Remember thot, os messengers of Christ, you hove the only solution for the problems thot vex this oge, Jesus Christ cilone con tronsform the children of dork- ness into the sons of light. The gospel is the power of God unto solvotion in the life of the individuol ond, therefore, in the life of the world, There is no other remedy for the ills of humonity. All other plons ond efforts to sove the world hove foiled ond ore doomed to eternol foilure. You know Christ ond ore fomilior with his Word. You ore prepored to procloim his Gospel ond thrill monkind with the beouty of his perfect life. This is your responsibility, l rejoice thot you hove hod your feet firmly plonted upon the Rock of Ages, thot you hove corefully considered the firm foundotion for your fciith ond ore oble to give ci recison for the hope thot is within you. ln focing on oge of unbelief, we expect you to soy with Poul, we ore set for the defense of the Gospel, ond to follow the exhortotion of Jude to contend eornestly for the foith once for dll delivered unto the sointsf' lt will not be eosy to be loyol to Christ, to your convictions, or to your own high T81

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RALPH L. RECORDS President

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sense of honor. A loyal ministry requires fearless preaching of the Gospel, heroic Christian living, and complete consecration of life. You will be tempted to compromise the Gospel Message to gain the approval and enjoy the fellowship of liberal preachers and leaders of denominational bodies. lf you do not modify your message to meet the demands of these groups you will be called a fighter, a rtroublemaker, a narrow, bigoted partisan. You will be isolated and lonely in your ministry, even as Jesus was. You will be tempted to compromise your warfare against sin, in the church and without the church, in order that the membership may be enlarged and that the members may not find the Christian life too arduous or too difficult. Compromise here may mean larger offerings, a sweeter spirit, and a longer ministry, but it issues in a worldly church, indifferent to the Gospel and the salvation of the world. You will be tempted to compromise your high sense of honor with the lower standards of the world in which you serve. Even church members and fellow preachers will not always follow the ethical teaching of Jesus. There will be the calls of place, power, prestige, salary, and promotion. To refuse the call may mean hardship, sacrifice, and privation, Remember that your Master had nowhere to lay his head. You will be tempted to sacrifice your liberty in Christ for the endorsement and assistance of ecclesiastical machines. lt will be hard to be irregular when you find churches closed to you and disaffection fostered by a foreign power arising in the congregations you serve unless you bow the knee, The system that destroyed Norway's power is abroad in other lands. Remember that you are to stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, Be not entangled in a yoke of bondage, This brief message calls to your attention some of the problems you face as you leave us to enter upon your service in the field. lt is our hope that it also suggests the proper way in which to solve them and the attitude that should characterize you as you undertake the task. You will need the constant guidance and care of our Father in l-leaven. You are sure that you will spend much time in the study of his Word and in prayerful communion with him, l-le will strengthen you for the burdens of the day. l-lis grace will be sufficient, Our love, our abiding interest shall ever follow you. We pray earnestly that God will bless you and keep you. We do not pray that he will keep you from hardship and sacrifice, but that he will strengthen you and guide you to the end that his will may be done and that at last you shall receive the crown of righteousness which he has promised to those who love his appearing. We pray also that the sweet and precious fellowship we have had here in The Cincinnati Bible Seminary may be renewed from time to time in our pilgrimage on earth, and that when this life shall have been finished that we shall renew this fellowship, without the loss of a single one, in that celestial country wheresit shall never be broken throughout the ceaseless ages of eternity, Such a glorious consummation of our lives is not only possible, but has been prom- ised to us. Be thou faithful unto death and l will give thee the crown of life. May God help us to keep the faith. few T91