REV. B. D. REIMER — PRINCIPAL Synthesis, Missions, Christian Doctrine. THE DOOR OF OPPORTUNITY “I know th-y works: behold I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not de¬ nied my name.” Revelation 3:8. This was God’s message to the ancient Church at Philadelphia. But God’s mes¬ sages never grow old! The same truth, under the same conditions, with the same demands is none the less true today. And, since human nature remains unchanged, the character and mission of the church of God have not altered. We note that the church in Philadelphia was made up of an exceptional body of believers. They are the only company of the seven to whom these letters of the Revelation were writ¬ ten that escaped criticism and were highly commended. Because of this honesty, loy¬ alty and trustworthiness God opened to them the Gate of Opportunity. Oh, what a privilege! What a wonderful thing to have God Almighty open the door of op¬ portunity which no man can close. But, you ask, to whom does God proffer this privilege? Is it for a select few only? Does God have to be begged or coaxed to open this door of service to us? No! No, indeed not! God does not want anyone doomed or damned; He does not want anyone to suffer or go to hell. He is long¬ ing to bless people. He is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. He wants everyone to hear the message of life and hope in and through Christ. He wants everyone to have the opportunity to meet Christ and receive forgiveness and remission of sin, eternal life and a home in heaven. And, just as God opened the door of opportunity for service to the Philadelphian Christians he is longing to open it to everyone, if they will let Him do so. Note also, that He says, “I have set before thee an open door, . . . for thou hast kept my word . . . etc.” The use of the singular pronoun shows that the promise of the open door is not only to groups of Christians, but to every single individual who will meet the conditions. In looking for the conditions to be met, as we find them in this verse, we are crowned with immediate success. They are unmistakably set out in the passage before us. The Lord himself, the Omnis¬ cient One, who is speaking here, says, ‘‘I know thy works”, and because of these works “have set before thee an open door, which no man can shut.” Three Concluded on page 37
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10 STEINBACH BIBLE ACADEMY YEAR BOOK MR. A. F. PENNER, B.A. Theology, Exegesis Pedagogy, Notation, Prayer The Christian - A Servant Servant, minister, steward, slave —• these are the names describing the Christ¬ ian’s obligation to God and his fellow- man. He is a servant because of his uni¬ que position between God and man. God has chosen to bless the world through His own redeemed children. He has chosen that they must be the bearers of the Gos¬ pel. The Gospel was made by Christ, but it was written by Christians. Christ in¬ deed preached the Gospel initially, but He chose the twelve and the seventy through whom already during His lifetime He touched the lives of many. Since that time He has depended completely on those who have obeyed His departing command. Not only has the Gospel been written and preached by Christians so that a sinful, dying world might hear, but it is also the Christian church which has been the only repository of the blessed message. It has cost blood, sweat and tears to retain the Gospel when the enemy bent every pos¬ sible effort to stamp out the Christian re¬ ligion, because, to destroy Christianity, the Word of God must be destroyed. And, again, it is the Christian who has made the Bible a world book. He was respon¬ sible for its translation and dissemina¬ tion. But earthly gain and temporal bene¬ fit were not his motive in these activities. The Christian does all this because he is a servant of Jesus Christ and of his fel- lowman. Also, the Christian is a servant because he has chosen Jesus as Master. Did not Jesus say expressly that He had not come to be ministered unto but to minister and to give His life as ransom for many? The servant is not above his master. As Jesus therefore ministered and served so must they who will be called by His name. Lastly, the Christian is a servant be¬ cause of his organic connection with the human race. The total life of a Christian falls into two parts in terms of service. He is either in service to God and man or, else, he is in dis-service. Here seems to be no neutral ground. He serves God and man when he helps to contribute to the fulfilment of God’s design for mankind. It is God’s design for man which is man’s highest possible good. But when the Christian hinders the realization of God’s design upon earth, he stands, it is clear, in a place of dis-service. He stands in dis¬ service to God because he does not help God to fulfil His purpose. He stands in dis-service to man because he hinders man’s realization of his highest good. These are solemn things. Do they not call for a new inventory of the Christi¬ an’s life and work? Notice that it has been stated that it is the total life that can be analysed thus. It is not only an era here or there of a Christian’s life that must be submitted to this analysis. Nor is it only the life’s work of service for the Lord which the Christ¬ ian has chosen which is subject to be con¬ sidered as service or dis-service. It is rather the whole Christian — his acts, his thought-life, his character, his per¬ sonality, what he hates, what he loves, and all that goes to make up life — who stands in service or dis-service before his God. Thus the Christian in the totality of his life stands in the stream of mankind. He makes his indelible impact upon it. Man¬ kind can never be the same after it has passed him as it was before him. A ser¬ vant he is by virtue of this connection with the human race. What kind of ser¬ vant he is will be decided by the kind of impact he makes. Each of the four words used to des¬ cribe the Christian’s obligations emphasiz¬ es its own particular aspect of service and each carries its own directional idea. Ser¬ vant and minister show more the man- ward obligations of the Christian, while steward and slave more the Godward. Neither the Godward nor the manward obligations can be fulfilled alone. The Godward relation must produce the ful- Continued on page 11
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