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

Page 32 text:

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

Page 31 text:

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

Page 33 text:

SECTION IV - PRACTICAL STUDIES METHODS OF BIBLE STUDY In this class we studied how to study We must learn how to effectively get the deep truths out of Gods Word Studying is the pathway to great depths of know ledge The Bible contains Splfltual nourish ment for any hungry person who is will ing to dig it out Many new truths and chal when we avail ourselves of the God given armor described in Ephesians 6 14 17 Jesus is a good example of victorious l1v ing When He was tempted in the wilder ness Jesus used the Word of God for a weapon against Satan May we follow this example in each temptation we face My testimony is that Christian victory is . . . . , O . . . Q . - ' 1 O - 0 I . . U I ' a O ' . O 0 Q 0 I I , - lenges can be found, giving us a desire for further study. We learned that the only way to get the correct interpretation is to know the Au- thor, and depend on the Holy Spirit to guide us. Comparing scripture with scrip- ture will help us to understand it better. Studying the verses in their context will prevent us from picking out one here and there and putting them together to prove our own ideas. A concordance and a dictionary are two very valuable resources of help for effec- tive studying. Commentaries are also help- ful, yet their interpretations must line up with the inspired Word of God. We learned that there are different types of approaches we can take to study. We can make book, chapter, verse, paragraph, character, or topical studies. In our study we need to master the truths that we find there and also make application for our lives today. In this way we can live a more perfect life for the Lord. -Mark K. Siegrist ' -1 1-llulin VICTORIOUS CHRISTIAN LIVING Victorious Christian living is something that is attainable. The way to live victor- iously is to let God work through you in every way of life. The spirit of truth will guide us in the way of truth. fJohn 16:13J Victory is possible in every temptation possible only through Jesus' work on the cross for each one of us. Victory is attained by giving up self, and taking up our cross which we must bear till death to win the crown. May each of us take the cross He has for us to bear. - Jerry Neuenschwander Natural abz'lz'tz'es are like natural plants,- they need pruning by study. . YOUTH PROBLEMS I Youth is a time in life when there are many difficult decisions to make. Only with God's help can we make the right de- cisions. The purpose of this class was to lead us in finding Godis will for our lives. How do I know where to work, where to live, and who God might have to be my life com- panion? How do I know if it is God's will for me to get married? One thing that was stressed in this class was that it is most important for me to be the best person I can be, then only will I be worthy of the best companion for life. If we are in God's will, we can go to Him in prayer and know He will reveal His plan to use as He sees fit. We wish at times that God would tell us just exactly what would be the best thing to do or say, but if this was the case, we would not learn to wait pa- tiently on the Lord. We must be in God's will before we can hope to get His blessings. -Julia S. Risser 29