Category: General

A tax auditor came many years ago to a poor servant of the Lord to determine the amount of taxes he would have to pay.

“What property do you possess?” asked the auditor.

“I am very wealthy,” replied the Christian man.

“List your possessions, please,” the auditor instructed.

“First, I have everlasting life” (John 3: 16).

“Second, I have a mansion in Heaven” (John 14:2).

“Third, I have peace that passes understanding” (Philippians 4: 7).

“Fourth, I have joy unspeakable” (1 Peter 1 :8).

“Fifth, I have divine love that never fails” (1 Corinthians 13 :8).

“Sixth, I have a faithful wife” (Proverbs 31: 1 0).

“Seventh, I have healthy, happy, obedient children” (Exodus 20: 12).

“Eighth, I have true, loyal friends” (Proverbs 18:24).

“Ninth, I have songs in the night” (Psalm 42:8).

“Tenth, I have a crown of life” (James 1: 12).

“Eleventh, I have a Saviour, Jesus Christ, who supplies all my need” (Philippians 4: 19).”

The tax auditor closed his book, and said, “Truly you are a very rich man, but your property is not subject to taxation!”

The outstanding need of the hour is a revival that will stir the nation from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and that will speedily evangelize the regions beyond. The solution of our problems is an old-fashioned, Heaven-sent, prayed-down, Holy Ghost revival that will make God and eternity real. Even Tolstoi, the humanist, said, “The distinctive mark of the age is its lost sense of God.” Men have forgotten God, and therefore we face a national crises. History teaches us that every nation that forgets God must perish. What we need is a manifestation of the presence and power of God. This divine demonstration can be brought about only through earnest, importune prayer that releases the resources of Heaven and brings back a God-consciousness to the children of men.

God’s challenge in the present crisis is found in Jeremiah 33:3,“Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.” God will answer prayer if we will meet the conditions. We must be on praying ground by confessing and forsaking every known sin. We must believe God. If we pray according to God’s conditions, marvelous things will take place. Something happens when we pray that would not happen if we neglected to pray. People are depending on our prayers. There will be people in Heaven because we have prayed. Prayer makes it possible for the Holy Ghost to convict of sin. Prayer creates an atmosphere fix the Holy Ghost to convict of sin. Prayer creates an atmosphere in which the third Person in the Trinity can work. Only praying men and women can be used in God’s service.

Prayer is a duty, and to neglect to pray is a sin. The tragedy of the present hour is that there is so little prayer. We have allowed Satan to blind us. We are depending on talents, machinery, and organization instead of depending on God. It is because of spiritual laziness that we neglect to pray. Satan knows that his kingdom loses many subjects whenever God’s people pray earnestly. It is Satan’s strategy to keep the church in a prayerless condition.

We need a revival that will make closet prayer common, restore the family altar, and make the public prayer meeting largely attended. We need a compassion for souls that will give us the burden of prayer. We need to spend hours – yea, whole nights – in prayer. Every true revival that has ever come to this world has come in answer to prayer. Hudson Taylor prayed, and the China Inland Mission was brought into existence. George Mueller prayed, and millions of dollars came into his hands to care for the orphan children. “Prayer moves the arm that moves the world.”

The praying people of the nation must bestir themselves in this hour of crisis and pray persistently, earnestly, with heart yearning and tears, “Lord, send a revival, and let it begin in me.” Will you respond to God’s challenge?”

Some time ago, sixty-six teenagers from a Christian camp visited a small town in Ohio and received the shock of their lives.

They approached 675 of the town’s population and asked just one simple question, “How does a person get to Heaven?” One man said, “Fly.” Some guessed. Some did not try to guess. Only a little over 15 percent knew the answer and said, “Receive Jesus Christ as your personal Saviour.”

Of the 675 queried, 561 gave a wrong answer. The ten most frequent answers were: be good to your neighbor, go to church, read the Bible, work your way, live right, be sincere, be baptized, pay your bills, obey your conscience, hope.

If being good, living right, being sincere, could get us to Heaven, why did Jesus go to the cross and die? Why did God send Him there?

The cross was the only way God could provide a remedy for the sin that all of us have in our lives. If you think for one moment that you do not need cleansing, look to Calvary and see Jesus.

If this were not absolutely the only way there could be salvation for you, Jesus would never have gone there. Receive His salvation, so dearly purchased for you. “… now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation” Corinthians 6:2).

Many years ago, there came to Chicago a man who sold goods for a New York firm. He had been stealing money from his company until the amount totaled a few thousand dollars. The man had worked out a plan by which he thought to stifle his conscience. He would work hard all day and go out to places of amusement at night, and remain to a late hour.

One day in a Chicago hotel, he was stropping an old-fashioned razor, and, looking for a piece of paper to wipe the blade on, he tore out a page from a Bible found in the hotel room. Starting to wipe the blade, his eye caught these words, “For the wages of sin is death …” Conviction struck his heart, and smoothing out the page, he read, “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23).

The startled salesman read the Bible for two hours, and then on his knees beside the bed with the Bible open in front of him, he acknowledged himself to be a sinner and in need of a Saviour. Realizing a new life had been bestowed upon him, he wired the firm in New York that he was returning. He made a confession of the stolen money. This man was not discharged but allowed to pay back the stolen money each month from his pay.

“For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing assunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart”(Hebrews 4:12).

A traveler upon a lonely road was robbed by three men. They then led him into the depths of the forest. There, in the darkness, they tied a rope to the limb of a great tree, and ordered the man to catch hold of it. Swinging him out into the blackness of surrounding space, they told him he was hanging over the brink of a precipice, and the moment that he let go he would be dashed to pieces on the rocks below. Then they left him.

The traveler clutched to the rope, but strength gradually failed him. At last, he could hold on no longer. He let the rope go and fell just six inches – to the solid ground below. The robbers did this to make good their escape. When he let go, it was not to his death but to the safety that had been waiting him all through his time of terror.

It is the devil’s trick to do everything possible to keep you from being saved. Holding on to the rope of this world will not help. While you serve and follow the devil, your heart is also full of fear. Let go, God’s plan is to save you. Underneath is the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the One who died for you and shed His blood for the forgiveness of your sins. Trust Him today to save you and hand over your life to Him for time and eternity.

“Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life” (John 5:24).

We should trust in the Lord for His guidance. “I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye” (Psalms 32:8).

We need His Word to guide us as we journey through life. “Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel…” (Psalms 73:24).“Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path” (Psalms 119:1 05).

We should trust in the Lord for salvation. “Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else” (Isaiah 45:22).

Salvation is of the Lord; He has provided the way. “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life … “ (John 14:6). “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4: 12).

We should trust in the Lord for security. “Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation … “ (1 Peter 1 :5).

Many put their trust in earthly things, and find that they fail. “The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the LORD shall be safe” (Proverbs 29:25). “Trust ye in the LORD for ever: for in the LORD JEHOVAH is everlasting strength” (Isaiah 26:4). “And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand” (John 10:28).

We should trust in the Lord for provision. “Trust in the LORD, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed” (Psalms 37:3). “Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass” (Psalm 37:5)

The Lord is the source of all blessing, temporal and spiritual. ” … A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven” (John 3:27). ” … no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly” (Psalms 84:11), “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ” (Ephesians 1 :3).

We should trust in the Lord for protection. “Mine enemies would daily swallow me up: for they be many that fight against me, O thou most High. What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee. In God I will praise his word, in God I have put my trust; I will not fear what flesh can do unto me” (Psalms 56:2-4).

As long as Israel put its trust in the Lord, it was protected. “Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the LORD our God” (Psalms 20:7). “In God have I put my trust: I will not be afraid what man can do unto me” (Psalms 56:11). “I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust. Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence. He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler” (Psalms 91 :2-4).

We should trust in the Lord for companionship. ” … I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world … “ (Matthew 28 :20).

He is a companion that goes with us and assists us. “And the LORD shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones … “ (Isaiah 58:11). ” … I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee” (Hebrews 13:5). ” … The Lord is my helper … “ (Hebrews 13 :6).

We should trust in the Lord for the future: “Who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver: in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us” (2 Corinthians 1:10).

He has not failed us in the past, so we may look to Him for the future.

“And if l go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also” (John 14:3).

In 1 Chronicles 12:32, we read of ” … men that had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do … “ In Hebrews 5:14, we read of ” … them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.”

It seems that the church could use a goodly number of just such folks today. Compromise has dulled the senses of pastors and people alike to the extent that “fundamentalists” see no harm in working with “modernists” -just as long as it is for the purpose of “winning souls to Christ.” We see the sad spectacle of those who once held and taught sound doctrine now working and fellowshipping with cults, and urging that they be given a “standing” in the fellowship of believers. We see churches where once the Word of God was taught now given over mainly to social activities and religious projects. We see the church, once separated from the world, now engrossed in it.

But most tragic of all perhaps is the loss of spiritual discernment which makes folks content to disobey God’s Word- and then try to “twist the Scriptures” to justify their ungodly conduct. It is indeed heartbreaking to see pastors, evangelists, missionaries, and church members in the midst of such compromise that apparently can no longer “tell the difference between truth and error.”

May God deliver us from such a position and give us so much love for His Word that we will “… meditate therein day and night… ” (Joshua 1:8) and willingly obey it, exercising discernment and warning others of the dangers of compromise.

An outstanding example of the proverb that “prayer is work, but prayer works” is found in the life of Hannah, the mother of the prophet Samuel. It is interesting to note that the record of Hannah’s prayer of intercession begins with the utterance that an adversary had provoked her. Why is it that many of us have to face some great test or crisis in life before we really pray? Is this the way that the Lord has to bring us to see our inadequacy and insufficiency before we cast ourselves upon Him?

The pressure on Hannah was such that she wept and refused to eat because of the heaviness of her heart. Does God have to permit circumstances like that to come into our lives before He can get us to earnestly intercede? Hannah went to the temple, the place of prayer, and there poured out her soul in agony before the Lord. It was there, in bitterness of soul, that the sacred writer says she wept and prayed and made a vow to God, that if He would grant her petition for a man-child she would give him back to God. This prayer that burst from the inner resources of her being was labor that cannot be defined in words.

Her very persistence in intercession drew the attention of Eli the priest, who, when he saw this woman in agony of spirit with only her lips moving, rebuked her for her drunkenness. Hannah’s condition was not the result of an intoxicant, but of a consuming passion for a son. She desired a son to such a degree that she cared little or nothing about what others thought or said. Have you ever had such a longing for God to give you spiritual sons and daughters that what others said about your dedication in prayer made little impression?

Everything the Lord Jesus did was easy except prayer. In His ministry, He would speak a word and the sick were healed, the hungry were fed, or the dead were raised to life again; but one thing was work, even sweat, tears, and agony, that was His praying.

We might say that Eli, the man of God, should have been able to discern or sense Hannah’s spiritual need. But how alert are we to those in our own homes and among our acquaintances who are in need of a spiritual ministry? We are so taken up with the activities of this life that we are not in a place to discern the hunger of human hearts whom God brings across our paths.

Did Hannah give up in discouragement following the rebuke of the priest? No, of course not. Otherwise she would never have realized that prayer works.

“And he brought him to Jesus … ” (John 1 :42).

By personal work we mean person-to-person work; the individual Christian dealing with the individual needing spiritual help. This personal work of a Christian dealing with one soul may be a great aid to the mass meeting where the preacher preaches to the people as a whole.

Instead of inviting the individual to come to you, in personal work, you go to him. We are commanded to “Go … and teach all nations … ” (Matthew 28:19).

JESUS DID PERSONAL WORK

It was not beneath the dignity of Jesus to deal directly with a single lost soul. In John 1:43, He “ … findeth Philip … ” Jesus Himself won Philip. Philip did not come to Jesus; Jesus went to Philip. Jesus sought for him until He found him. In John 4, His spiritual hunger and thirst were satisfied as He dealt with and won the sinful woman of Sychar! In John 5, He wonderfully healed the impotent man at Bethesda’s pool. In John 8, when Jesus was left alone with a sinful woman after all her accusers had fled, He spoke words that brought salvation to her heart. In John 9, He searched out the blind man whom He had previously healed, and when He had found him, led him into faith in Himself as the Son of God. In the three great parables of Luke 15, uttered by Himself, Jesus reveals His insatiable thirst for individual souls, placing the emphasis on one lost sheep, one lost piece of coin, and the one lost son. He left the many to go after the one, and when He had it, He brought it home rejoicing. Jesus was happy when He won a single soul. He died for the individual sinner. He “…loved me, and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20). People are saved individually as they believe, not in groups. John 3:16 says, “ … whosoever believeth in him should not perish … ” This literally means, “every one believing in him shall not perish.” Jesus honored personal work.

THE APOSTLE DID PERSONAL WORK

“He first findeth his own brother Simon … And he brought him to Jesus … ” (John 1:41-42). “Philip findeth Nathanael…” (John 1:45). Philip follows his great Master who sought and found him. So he seeks out Nathanael and brings him to Jesus. In Acts 8, we have a Spirit-inspired account of Philip, the evangelist, doing personal work in leading the Ethiopian eunuch to Christ and salvation. What a wonderful example of a Christian, led of the spirit of God, dealing with a lost soul over the open Bible until the soul is gloriously saved for eternity! Though they must part, the new convert goes on his way rejoicing.

WE ARE TO DO PERSONAL WORK

All born again believers are to do personal work! We read of the great persecution against the Jerusalem church in Acts 8, which resulted in a great blessing as “ … they that were scattered abroad went every where preaching the word” (verse 4). Notice that they ” … went every where … “! All the church was scattered (verse 1) which certainly means the individual members. With burning hearts and flaming tongues, they did personal work- everywhere! Jesus says, “ … ye shall be witnesses unto me … ” (Acts 1:8). Christ’s witnesses tell lost souls what they know about Christ and His salvation that they may be saved. Surely this is our main business of life!

THE BELIEVER’S SOLEMN RESPONSIBILITY

An old man who was dying called me to his home. He had listened to me as I preached over the radio on the believer’s responsibility.

Tears began to roll down his cheeks. He reached under his pillow, pulled out a dollar bill, and handed it to me as he said, “Preacher, I was raised in the country and spent most of my life there. Only recently when I became ill my boy brought me here to his home to take care of me. He bought me a radio. I never had listened to one much and did not care for it, but he urged me to tune in to your broadcast, so I began to listen. You were preaching on the responsibility of Christians to reach others for Jesus. I had never heard this before. I know I was saved when I was a boy in the little old country church. I thought that all I needed to do was to enjoy my salvation all to myself. Nobody ever told me I should try to win others until these last few days, and now it’s too late. Preacher, I’ve wasted my life! I’m saved, but I’ve wasted my life.”

Oh, it was pitiful to see the anguish of this old man on the brink of eternity! I tell you, next to losing your soul, the most horrible thing I know is to lose your life!

STIRRING CHRISTIANS TO PERSONAL WORK

The preacher must constantly remind Christians of their duty and privilege to win souls by personal contact. Certain truths from God’s Word will shock and awaken Christians to this great work that God requires of us, and to the solemn fact that we must one day give an account of our Christian lives. These truths show us the great shame, the reproof, and the sorrow in store for those who disobey the Master’s orders and refuse to do the work He outlines for us to do. Such themes and texts as the following should awaken the most careless: 1) The judgment of Christ; 2) The awful sin of not doing personal work when God had ordained this means to reach lost souls; 3) “Blood required”! or when God requires the sinners’ blood at the hands of a Christian! 4) Disobedience – the Christian’s sin of ignoring and refusing his Master’s plain command!; 5) Multitudes of Christians who will lose the soul winner’s crown!; 6) The awful punishment for unfaithfulness!; 7) ” … that servant, which knew his lord’s will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten … ” (Luke 12:47); 8) Christians who will shine as the stars forever!; 9) The glorious future and rewards for those who win many to Christ!

What! Is the ship which carried Jesus overtaken in the storm? If there is a providence, might we not expect that, when the Son of God was sailing, the sea should be quiet? Shall the rude winds heave the waves on high, or assail the ship which carries the Creator? Would not human wisdom forbid every rude blast, and command gentle breezes to fill the sails? Not so in the wisdom of Divine providence. Jesus goes aboard, and the howling tempest is let loose: the ship reels, and the yawning abyss threatens to overwhelm all in ruin.

“And when he was entered into a ship, his disciples followed him. And, behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the ship was covered with the waves: but he was asleep. And his disciples came to him, and awoke him, saying, Lord, save us: we perish. And he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm. But the men marvelled, saying, What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him!” (Matthew 8:23-27).

And this was a wise providence. It glorified the Son of God, by giving Him an opportunity of manifesting Himself as the Lord of the seas and of the winds. ” … Peace, be still … “ (Mark 4:39), said the Lord, and the sea was as smooth as a pail of milk. This was the same power that spake the world into existence. This providence was also for the good of the disciples. It increased their faith in the Son of God.

When the Lord’s people sail, they should not fanatically suppose that providence will certainly give them fine weather. If the Son of God experienced a storm, His people cannot plead exemption. But they have ground to pray for a prosperous voyage, and reason to expect that providence will give it, if Divine wisdom has not purpose to serve by a tempest.

The Lord does not put his people to trial without necessity: if He presents dangers before their eyes, it is to excite them to call on Him, and trust in His power and love. Jesus rebukes the fears of the disciples. Where was their faith? Was not Jesus at hand? And is not Jesus always at hand with His people? Let them, then, with confidence call on Him, ” … Lord, save us … “ (Matthew 8:25).