Numidia Mennonite Bible School - Reflector Yearbook (Numidia, PA)

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SATAN AND HIS WORKS t'Lucifer, son of the morningw was created by God in all perfection and beauty, his very name meaning day star. But of himself he decided, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God. . .I will be like the most High. QIsaiah l4:13,14fv One third of the angels of God joined him in this rebellious act which gave him the name Satan, mean- ing adversary. Since our holy God could not tolerate sin in His presence, He cast them out of heaven, and prophesied of their final doom. Thus being filled with fury, Satan set out to hinder God's works in every conceiv- able way. Laying his eyes upon man, the crown of Godls creation, he entered into a serpent and approached Eve with the question, Yea, hath God said?,, To his great delight, she yielded to his temptations of disobedience, lust and pride. God en- tered the scene and promised a Redeemer for fallen man, which would bruise Satan's head. Today that promise is fulfilled in Jesus Christ, but Satan continues his work with exceeding zeal, knowing his time is short. Therefore let us not sleep as do othersg but let us watch and be sober? CI Thessa- lonians 5:65 A -Fred Carpenter i,L,,i1.i-1-11-' ETERNAL ABSOLUTES In studying eternal absolutes, we as fin- ite man can get but a glimpse of all eter- nal and absolute truths. Eternal means infinite duration, and absolute means un- changeably definite. Through God's eternal Word, man can truly behold God Omnipotent as the sole Creator and Sustainer of the entire uni- verse, and yet a personal Father to his children. God is omniscient in that He knows everything, even our thoughts afar off. His omnipresence caused the Psalmist to ask, whither shall I flee from thy pres- ence?,' Truly, God is everywhere. We become God's children by accepting the mediatorial work of God the Son, and are kept in personal communion with Him by the eternal Holy Spirit. The Christianis adversary, Satan, is also an eternal absolute, and he, with his angels, 1S sealed to eternal destruction. Godls angels also as eternal absolutes are minis- tering spirits to those that are heirs of 'eter- nal salvation. Man as another eternal absolute, has choice of his eternal destiny. May we then as God-fearing people be a part of God's eternal kingdom. -James Weaver -l ' Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today, and forever. ,iL. FGRMATIGN AND INSPIRATION OF THE SCRIPTURES The Bible is the standard of truth by which we judge what else is true. It is a col- lection of authorized books. As we realize this, we will maintain a right attitude to- ward God. ' In our class we considered what the Bible says about itself. A few things we found were: it is the truth, it cannot fail, it is powerful, and most important, it is the Word of God. The inspiration of the scriptures refers to how it was given. We studied various theories of inspiration and learned why we accept verbal inspiration as the correct theory. We spent some time in studying the struc- ture, progress and unity of the Bible and were all impressed by the way it fit togeth- er. We all saw the reliability of the King James Version as we compared it with other versions and saw the way that lt as endured the test of time. In this study our faith has been strength- ened and we have a much deeper appre- ciation for the Word. -Mahlon E. Neuenschwander 27

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NONRESISTANCE When we think of nonresistance. usual- ly we think of non-participation in war. But nonresistance is more than this, it is a way of life for the Christian. It includes the proper use of the tongue, honest busi- ness dealings, proper home and communi- ty relations, and loving even our enemies. Nonresistance is not an Old Testament but a New Testament teaching. God hon- ored those who destroyed the enemy at His command under the old dispensation. But today we do not take revenge on our enemies. f'Vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord. The world's counterfeit for Biblical Non- resistance is Pacifism. Pacifism means- do not use violence or harm anyone. But we, as members of the kingdom of heaven, put into practice the teaching of our Lord, that we 'shave love one to another. May this study help us to love our ene- mies, and pray for them which despiteful- ly use us. - Ruth Torkelson DOCTRINE OF UNITY Unity is a divine teaching dicretly from Godls Word. It consists of being one with God and with other believers. The basis of unity is fellowship with Christ. I John 113. In our study we discussed many different areas of unity: the unity of the Trinity as it relates to salvation, the church, the crea- tion, God's divine Revelation, and many others. We learned that unity is not neces- sarily uniformity in every situation. Just think for a moment what this world would be like without unity. It certainly would be a place of disorder and confusion. We can see God's over-ruling hand all about us, in the balance of nature, by the wonderful way He created the human body, and many other ways. Ti.-is study has been a real value in help- ing us to understand more fully what unity is, and what all is involved in it. Psalm 133:l, HBehold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! -Rebecca Rudolph 26 SEPARATION f'But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar peo- ple, that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous lightf' I Peter 2:9 Christians are called to honor and glori- fy God, but the majority of the world, is worshipping the creature more than the Creator? Since Christians and the world have different goals, their life styles will be different and separated. The principle of separation for God's people is not an end in itself, but rather the means to.an end, that we in daily living might shew forth the praisesl' of God. Separation in practical daily living in- volves our relationship to business life, ed- ucation, worldly organizations, attire, and all constituted authority. Our speech, liv- ing standards, and all human relations need to be under the Lordship of Christ. The separated life is characterized by love, contentment, temperance, and an an- xious awaiting for the time when we will be separated from this ungodly world to ever be with the Lordf, -James K. Nolt ORDINANCES Ordinances are traditions that have been taught, practiced, and handed down to us by our spiritual forefathers. They are ob- ject lessons to help us better understand basic spiritual truths. Their formal obser- vance has no saving merit in itself, but they prove to be a blessing to us as we practice them. The purpose of the ordinances is to main- tain our appreciation and remembrance of what Christ has done for us, and to help us realize our responsibility to our brother. The observance of the ordinances also helps to maintain a pure and orderly church fel- lowship. The preservation of the ordinances will be accomplished as we practice them in their consistent forms, with a clear ex- pression of the spiritual qualities behind them, such as love, submission, and broth- erly assistance. He that hath my command- ments, and keepeth them, he it is that lov- eth mef, John 14:21 -Simeon V. Rudolph

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DOCTRINE OF ANGELS The angels were created by God. They are subject to Christ, yet superior to men. Although they are spiritual beings, they possess the power to appear to men in a bodily form. The angels are personal beings. Those named in scripture have masculine names. It was interesting to notice that while the angels of God are holy, they are very much interested in the salvation of sinful men. They are active in the protection of Godls people and the innocent. Job's hedge seems to have been a hedge of angelic pro- tection. The angels are active in heaven praising the holiness of God. They will be the-reapers in the end of the world. Satan's demons are fallen angels. Their goal is to oppose God and to deceive the Christians. Because of their evil super- human power, may we avoid anything that is questionable. God will give His angelic protection as we are faithful. The One in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowl- edge, will in eternity grant to us a perfect understanding of these celestial beings. -Roland R. Gehman SECTION III CHURCH HISTORY ond MISSIONS MENNONITE CHURCH HISTORY For whatsoever things were written aforetime, were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope. Romans 15:4. This was the key verse for our stu- dies in Mennonite Church History. We looked briefly at the various stages of the growth, spread, and decline of the church, beginning at the Day of Pentecost and con- tinuing on to the present day church. We also looked at the Bible principles which our forefathers believed and stood for, and the persecution they suffered as a result. This served in most cases to increase and purify the church. This study challenges us to stand true to the faith which through much suffering has been passed on to us. - Willis Mast CHURCH EXTENSION Lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes, Isaiah 54:2b, was our text as we 28 met for twelve inspirational class periods. We do not believe in separating the church from the mission, but rather we say, the church in mission. With this concept, the churches at home are also made to feel more responsible. In order to be effective in church exten- sion, we must have a burden for souls, which will be gained when we realize that everyone needs the same gospel as we, and that those who do not accept the truth will be eternally lost. The church is responsible to send out qualified workers. We should never seek to go out on our own, but rather wait for the church to sense the need and choose out workers to fill the need. The church that is active in outreach work according to scriptural direction re- mains sound the longest. Those not in- volved will grow spiritually indifferent. . As Christians we are all missionaries, and taking this class would be one way to better fit us for the great task before us. - Cindy Martin