The Farmville herald and farmer-leader. (Farmville, Va.) 1934-1957, 1956-08-17

gu Dug h t to
know. You're not
a perfect one, you -
may not yet even
be very good one 1t Is quite
right to say you don't know just
how much OF Christian you are.
for only God knows that. But if you
have ever decided for Christ. if
you ever accepted Christ as Savior
and Lord. then you are a Chris
tian-by-intention. II you never set
tied that before. you can settle it
before you read another line.
That Ysu May Know"
There is one of the New Testa-
ment letters which has as its
theme. I'VE Know" 1t was writ
ten by the same person who wrote
the Fourth Gospel In both the
gospel and the letter, the author
says plainly why he has written
what he did. To the readers Of the
Gospel, John says. These Ghings9
- "iittC iiinN yoti " htNf llitt
Jesus is the Christ. the Son OF God
and that believing you may have
life in his name (John 20:3l.)
Now there must have been num-
Der OF people back yonder. as there
are now. were uncertain whether
they really belonged as Chris
tians, or not. II you asked them.
DO you believe" they would say
Yes II you asked them Are
YOU sure you have eternal life"
they would say. like their modern
descendants, II don't know. hope
So" John writes to just such peo-
pie, so that they won't have to
give such a timid uncertain an
sWer any more II write this to
you who believe" he says, that
you may know that yotl have etcr-
nal life" Il John 5:l3D
by This We Know"
You know you have a wart b.
looking in the mirror You know
you have a farm because the deed
is on record at the court house
You know you have sixty dollars
in the bank because the bank
statement tells you So But how do
you know you have eternal life? II
is infinitely more important than
any OF these things. Knowing you
! -
knowledge you can have This first
letter of John is not content with
We know" the apostle goes on to
say why we have every right to be
sure. One outstanding reason is ex-
pressed in the sentence. We know
We have passed from death to life,
because we love the brethren -
t3:14) You'll not be much Of an
athlete il you don't like athletes
You II never make a farmer il
farmers don't appeal to you and
you have nothing to do with them
II YOU are Christian. furthermore.
you will surely love Christians. If
you do love them. its good
enough sign for the apostle John
listening 10 the Word
The reader will find various
other signs by which. John says,
We can know whether We have
eternal life This life cannot be
looked at. it cannot be photo
graphed, weighed or measured,
Like any other kind of life. it can
be known by its effects. You know
a plant is living by the fact that it
puts out shoots and leaves. You
can't cut the plant open and see
the life, but you can see from the
way it behaves that it is living So
with eternal life (And by the way,
the reader will note that John
speaks Of having" not going to
have" eternal lfe.) One more
point may be noted here. John has
different ways OF expressing this
assurance: We know we have
passed from death to life we
KNOW he 1D1OeS III US we KNOW
We are of the truth we know
that we abide in him we know
that we are of God Whoever
knows God" he says t4:6D, lis
tens to u.s." In other words, those
who know God listen to one who
speaks the Word of God What kind
of lover is it who will not read
his sWeetheart's love letterso What
kind Of soldier is it who never
reads nor opens an order from his
superior officer? What sort of
sports lover is it who never looks
at the sports page? So it is fair to
ask: How much Of Christian is
one who never reads what his
Father in heaven has to say to him
in his Word? Gods people love
Gods words
tBased .. estli..s .ee-rsss..4 - ~.
Division 81 Chsistia. Etuc.tis- Ne
usaal Council Of the Churches g Chris
in the U. 5. A. Released By Ce-mrri.,
Press SeYvieeD