Editorial

The events of the past month will not be easily forgotten.

Even now the silent images of the jet aircraft, as they hurtled into the World Trade Organisation’s twin towers, remain an undying imprint for imprint for the terrible tragedy that is now called ‘September 11th’.

As the people of God we are driven afresh to our knees searching for the answers to so many needs and anticipating once again as to how near we must be to the moment of the Lord’s return.

We have been called to live in momentous times.

Men are speeding to war and yet proclaiming peace in our time. World forces are being stirred up in an a way that clearly indicates how quickly opinions harden and human lives can be regarded as expendable in a ‘just’ cause.

So where do we find ourselves in all this? May I suggest that we have no different a path to tread than that to which God has always called His people through the centuries. We too must rise to the challenges of faith and service as good stewards of our time and abilities and with ‘loins girded’ we must labour on and look for His coming.

We hear the Lord Himself challenge us from the darkness of His ‘Gethsemene,’ ‘Why sleep ye? rise and pray, lest ye enter into temptation’, Luke 22. 46, and again His words quicken our hearts as we hear Him say, ‘What, could ye not watch with me one hour?’ Matt. 26. 40.

Many of you have communicated to us your appreciation of the magazine and its approach to serving the saints in assemblies today and this has been a great encouragement to us in our stewardship of it. It is a time to stand against error and the articles on the cults continue to do this. In this issue we also tackle ‘Assurance of salvation’, a continuing difficulty for some. It is a time to act responsibly and the concluding article on Stewardship completes the set of three that has covered the ground very fully. Also we have the final part of the series on John the Baptist and hear the Lord’s own high commendation of His servant. It is a time to study and we trust that the deeper and the simpler expositions of New Testament epistles will truly stimulate this in us all, ‘til He comes!