All The Counsel of God

“Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world” (1 John 4:1).

These are times of moral and religious confusion, and it is sometimes hard to distinguish the false from the true. Our faithful Lord has tried to save us from the consequences of our own blindness by repeated warnings and many careful instructions. It will pay us to give close attention to His words.

Toward the end of the age, we are told, there shall be a time of stepped-up religious activity and frenzied expectation, growing out of the turbulent conditions prevailing among nations. The language is familiar to most Christians: ” … wars and rumours of wars … nation shall rise against nation … famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places … Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations … And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another” (Matthew 24:6-1 0).

Concurrent with this state of affairs will be a great increase in religious excitement and supernatural happenings generally. “For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many” (Matthew 24:5); “And many false prophets shall rise … ” (Matthew 24:11 ); “Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect” (Matthew 24:23-24).

PRAY FOR DISCERNMENT

Many Christians fear to sin against love by daring to inquire into anything that comes wearing the cloak of Christianity and breathing the name of Jesus. They dare not examine the credentials of the latest prophet to hit their town lest they be guilty of rejecting something which may be of God. They timidly remember how the Pharisees refused to accept Christ when He came, and they do not want to be caught in the same snare, so they either reserve judgment or shut their eyes and accept everything without question. This is supposed to indicate a high degree of spirituality, but in sober fact it indicates no such thing. It may indeed be evidence of the absence of the Holy Spirit.

Gullibility is not synonymous with spirituality. Faith is not a mental habit leading its possessor to open his mouth and swallow everything that has about it the colour of the supernatural. Faith keeps its heart open to whatever is of God, and rejects everything that is not of God, however wonderful it may be.

” … try the spirits … ” is a command of the Holy Spirit to the church. We may sin as certainly by approving the spurious as by rejecting the genuine, and the current habit of refusing to take sides is not the way to avoid the question. To appraise things with a heart of love, and then to act on the results is an obligation resting upon every Christian in the world, and so much the more as we see the day approaching.

How can we tell whether or not a man or a religious demonstration is of God? The answer is easy to find, but it will take courage to follow the facts as God reveals them to us.

The tests for spiritual genuineness are: First, the leader must be a good man and full of the Holy Ghost. Christianity is nothing if not moral. No tricks of theology, no demonstrations of supernatural wonders, no evidences of blind devotion on the part of the public can decide whether or not God is in the man or the movement. Every servant of Christ must be pure of heart and holy of life.

While sinless perfection is not likely to be found among even the best of men, still the leader to be trusted is the one who lives as near like Christ as possible and who knows how to repent in sorrow of heart when he sins against his Lord by any act or word. The man God honours will be humble, self-effacing, self-sacrificing, modest, clean living, free from the love of money, eager to promote the honour of God, and just as eager to disclaim any credit or praise on his own part. His financial accounts will bear inspection, his ethical standards will be high, and his personal life above reproach.

THE ACID TEST

But the test of moral goodness is not enough. Every man must submit his work to the scriptural test. It is not enough that he be able to quote from the Bible at great length or that he claim for himself great and startling experiences with God. Go back to the law and to the testimony, if he speak not according to the Word, it is because there is no light in him. We who are invited to follow him have every right, as well as a solemn obligation, to test his work according to the Word of God.

We must demand that every claimant for our confidence present a clean bill of health from the Holy Scriptures; that he do more than weave in a text occasionally, or hold up the Bible dramatically before the eyes of his hearers. His doctrines must be those of the Scriptures. The Bible must dominate his preaching. He must preach according to the Word of God.

The price of following a false guide on the desert may be death. The price of heeding wrong advice in business may be bankruptcy. The price of trusting to a quack doctor may be permanent loss of health. The price of putting confidence in a pseudo-prophet may be moral and spiritual tragedy. Let us take heed that no man deceive us.

The richest quality of love is sacrifice, and the noblest credential of any work is the spirit on the part of its members, which has laid every selfish interest down at Jesus’ feet, counting all things loss for Christ; which holds its money, its friendships, its life, all subservient to the Master’s claim, and living a dying life, at last gives life itself a willing offering to Him who gave His life for us.

In this selfish and luxurious age, it is the rarest quality to be found, but it is the most needed; and as the end approaches, and the last tribulation draws near, the age of martyrdom will reach the climax, and the tears of sorrow and the blood of sacrifice will be transformed into the jewels of the Coronation Day.

It requires a greater sacrifice sometimes to live than to die; and those who will be found one day ready to die for Christ are those whose lives are now laid down in ten thousand little tests that come to us from day to day.

“I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20).

“Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ: that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel” (Philippians 1:27).

1. Happy is the man whose sins are forgiven.

” … Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin” (Romans 4:7 -8).

2. Happy is the man who delights in God’s Word.

“I have rejoiced in the way of thy testimonies, as much as in all riches. I will meditate in thy precepts, and have respect unto thy ways. I will delight myself in thy statutes: I will not forget thy word” (Psalm 119:14-16).

3. Happy is the man who keeps God’s commandments.

“And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight. And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment. And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him … ” (1 John 3:22-24).

4. Happy is the man who dwells in the house of the Lord.

“Blessed are they that dwell in thy house: they will be still praising thee” (Psalm 84:4).

5. Happy is the man who waits on the Lord.

” … blessed are all they that wait for him” (Isaiah 30:18); “But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength … ” (Isaiah 40:31 ).

6. Happy is the man who puts his trust in the Lord.

“O LORD of hosts, blessed is the man that trusteth in thee” (Psalm 84: 12).

7. Happy is the man who has grace to endure.

“Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him” (James 1: 12).

“And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not” (Galatians 6:9).

Here is a promise for all God’s servants, for we all pass through times when the work seems unusually difficult, when health is perhaps below par, and when personal burdens weigh heavily upon us. It is recorded that David, in the heat of battle, waxed faint; and so it may be written of every servant of the Lord.

THE PROGRAM

We are reminded here of our program, a program of” … well doing … “, in marked contrast to the sin, strife, and selfishness in the world around us. Look at the opening verses of this chapter. The apostle is speaking of the exercise of spiritual ministries, the easing of other people’s burdens, and the communication of God’s Word – in short, the tasks to which we are still called, whether in the homeland or out on the field.

The Gospel has ever been concerned with ” … well doing … ” the lifting of the mind, the healing of the body, and the setting free of the spirit. It has found men brutal and ignorant and made them thoughtful and kind; it has lifted womanhood from degradation and oppression and sought out little children who were neglected and illtreated. Tyrants have read their condemnation in its challenge, while mankind’s greatest benefactors have been stirred to action by its precepts. Such remains our world-encompassing Christian program today.

THE PERIL

But we are also warned of our peril, “…let us not be weary … ” C. H. Spurgeon wrote to his students: “Fits of depression come over most of us … The strong are not always vigorous, the wise not always ready, the brave not always courageous, the joyous not always happy. There may be here and there men of iron, to whom wear and tear work no perceptible detriment, but surely the rust frets even these; and as for ordinary men, the Lord knows, and makes them to know, that they are but dust.”

Often today the enemy is not hostility, but sheer weariness. We see such little results, and echo the faithless word of Elisha’s servant, ” … Alas, my master! how shall we do?” (2 Kings 6:15). But Noah preached for years without a convert; Amaziah was preferred by the crowd to Amos; even our Lord’s early enthusiasts melted away. Hence, Paul’s constant and vigorous exhortations to continue, to strive, and to persevere.

THE PROMISE

In this simple, yet stimulating verse, we are given the promise, ” … in due season we shall reap … ” Of course, ” … they that be with us are more than they that be with them” (2 Kings 6:16). The mountains around us are still filled with horses and chariots of fire. Calvary in the eyes of men was a pathetic failure, but millions worldwide now know it to have been the supreme victory of God. The failure of any Christ exalting and Christ directed enterprise is an impossibility. He has pledged His Word that a spiritual harvest is certain.

To our tasks then, with fresh confidence and fresh devotion! Let the message which proclaims His great salvation be speeded forth on its all-conquering way. Jesus shall reign!

Modem Theological Trends are Making the Gospel Way a Broad Way

We who follow Christ in these perilous times are engaged in a war that has many fronts. Action ebbs in our sector, only to flare up in another, or two, or ten others. The enemy is everywhere, assuming many forms and taking at any given time whatever shape best serves his evil purposes. and he is for that reason often mistaken for a friend.

Traditionally, fighting men proudly wore the uniform of their country and could be identified as far as they could be seen. In World War II, the Nazis sometimes donned the uniforms of Allied soldiers, and thus managed to destroy some who would otherwise have been on the defensive against them. But this trick was not a Nazi invention. It dates back to that hour when the devil, in the guise of a friend won the confidence of Eve and brought about the downfall of the race.

DECEPTION- SATAN’S WEAPON

Deception has always been an effective weapon and is deadliest when used in the field of religion.

There was a time, no longer ago than the twenties and thirties, when a Christian knew, or at least could know, where he stood. The words of Christ were taken seriously. A man either was or was not a believer in New Testament doctrine. Clear, sharp categories existed. Black stood in sharp contrast to white: light was separated from darkness; it was possible to distinguish right from wrong, truth from error, a true believer from an unbeliever. Christians knew that they must forsake the world, and there was for the most part remarkable agreement about what was meant by the world. It was that simple.

But over the last score of years a quiet revolution has taken place. The whole religious picture has changed. Without denying a single doctrine of the faith, multitudes of Christians have nevertheless forsaken the faith and are as far astray as the Modernists, who were at least honest enough to repudiate the Scriptures before they began to violate them.

I have listened to certain speakers and have recognized the ingredients that went to make up their teachings. A bit of Freud, a dash of Emile Coue, a lot of watered-down humanism, tender chunks of Emersonian transcendentalism, auto-suggestion a la Dale Carnegie, and plenty of hopefulness and religious sentimentality; but nothing hard and sharp and specific. Nothing of Christ or Peter or Paul. None of the ” … Who is on the LORD’S side? … ” (Exodus 32:26) of Moses, or the” … choose you this day whom ye will serve … ” (Joshua 24: 15) of Joshua; just tender pleadings to “take Jesus and let Him solve your problems.”

If such as I here describe were cultists or liberals of one strip or another, I would say nothing more about it, but many of them are professed evangelicals. Press them and they will insist that they believe the Scriptures and accept every tenet of the historic Christian faith but The notion “that love is really all that matters” is now pretty well disseminated throughout the ranks of current evangelism, and for that reason we ought to receive everyone whose intention is right regardless of his doctrinal position, granted of course that he is ready to read the Scriptures, trust Jesus, and pray. The unregenerate listen to them teach and you are left wondering. They are building upon sand; the rock of sound theology is not under them.

The notion “that love is really all that matters” is now pretty well disseminated throughout the ranks of current evangelism, and for that reason we ought to receive everyone whose intention is right regardless of his doctrinal position, granted of course that he is ready to read the Scriptures, trust Jesus, and pray. The unregenerate sympathies of the fallen human heart adopt this foggy creed eagerly. The trouble is that the Holy Scriptures teach nothing of the kind.

The Apostle Paul warned against what he called “… profane and vain babblings … ” (1 Timothy 6:20; 2 Timothy 2: 16 ). For instance, that of Hymenaeus and Philetus, stating that their words would” … eat as doth a canker … ” (2 Timothy 2:17) and ” … overthrow the faith of some” (2 Timothy 2:8). What was their error? They merely taught a spiritual resurrection instead of a physical one.

“If a man hath the mind to get the start of other sinners and be in Hell before them,” said an old divine, “he need do no more than open his sails to the winds of heretical doctrine, and he is likely to make a short voyage to Hell; for these bring upon their maintainers a swift destruction.”

This is nearer to Paul’s view than is that of the new evangelical latitudinarians. The way of the cross is still narrow.

A famous publisher declared, “If you are an articulate person, you utter some 30,000 words each day.”

If these words were put in print, they would amount to a fairsized book a day. These books would, in a lifetime, fill a good-sized college library.

All these books are from the same author. All reflect the life and thoughts of the author, in his own words; and not a book can be taken down from the shelves or withdrawn from circulation.

The thought is a bit frightening. It emphasizes the fearful responsibility that goes with the gift of speech, and also the glorious privilege that is inherent in speech seasoned ” … alway with grace … ” (Colossians 4:6).

Man probably has no greater power for good or for evil than the power of speech. Job had the testimony of his friend that his ” … words … ” (Job 4:4) had kept men on their feet- had kept men from falling. What a rebuke to those whose words have thrown men off their feet-causing ill will, suspicion, alienation, broken hearts!

Probably most of us talk too much, and we seldom realize this until it is too late. Perhaps this was what the psalmist felt when he exclaimed, “Set a watch, 0 LORD, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips”(Psalm 141:3).

An elderly woman, much beloved in her community, was asked for her formula for making and keeping friends. “Well,” she replied, “I stop and taste my words before I let them pass my teeth.”

” … out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh” (Matthew 12:34). Therefore, we read, “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life” (Proverbs 4:23); and ” … every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment” (Matthew 12:36).

Men in court have turned pale upon the introduction of recordings of their own speech, and souls will tremble in the judgment upon finding that every utterance, from the first wail of infancy till the tongue was silenced by death, had been noted by the Great Recorder.

Sweeter to our Lord than the melody of music and more important than the oratory of statesmen or the proclamation of kings are the conversations of His children talking together about the things of the Heavenly Father. All is written in His ” … book of remembrance … ” (Malachi 3: 16). ” … they … spake … and the LORD hearkened … ” (Malachi 3: 16). Others also “spake,” and the Lord hearkened. And into the record went every whispered conspiracy, every word of slander, every falsehood, every cutting remark, every obscene utterance, every foul blasphemy.

What a noble attribute is the gift of speech! And what finer tribute to the Giver than to present to the library of Heaven, each day, one clean volume-30,000 words-dedicated to His honour!

Immediately before the last miracle prior to the departure of the children of Israel from Egypt, God gave special directions concerning the judgment about to fall upon that country. In Exodus 11:5, God said that ” … all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die … ” He spoke of the great lament that would be heard all over the land among the Egyptians because of this awful judgment.

“But against any of the children of Israel shall not a dog move his tongue, against man or beast: that ye may know how that the LORD doth put a difference between the Egyptians and Israel” (Exodus 11 :7). It must be noticed and emphasized that this “difference” between the people of the world and the people of God is a difference God Himself puts there. It is a separation given and enforced by divine decree. It marks the distinction between those who are God’s and those who are not. This instruction from God is worth saying again – the difference itself is the work of God. It was not the work of man, but of God. This difference was made effective by blood. Those homes upon which the blood of the lamb was put escaped the death executed upon those without blood. When the Lord saw the blood, He passed over that house, and no one died (Exodus 12: 13). He looked for the “token”-the blood – the sign – of the separation; and when He saw it, He passed over it, and the household remained safe. The “token” – the blood testified that that house where it was put was a house separated unto God, under His special protection, and different from other houses.

The eternal principle-the separation of God’s people from the world-this “difference” is taught everywhere in the Word of God. This separation is obedience to God, that is, God Himself puts an actual difference that the world sees visibly because of the presence of the blood that is applied. There is no partial obedience in this matter permitted by God. The blood of the Passover Lamb had to be applied in three places: above the door and on the posts at either side of the door.

A compromise plan, such as putting the blood on only two sides, or above the door only, would have been completely invalid. Obedience to God’s specific command made the separation effective; and safety, protection, blessing, and His presence among His people was thus perfectly assured.

But to obtain these blessings a difference had to be established and maintained between the people of God and those who were of the world. It was the blood that made the difference, or separation, evident to the Lord as He passed throughout the land of Egypt that night. And until now, this spiritual law has not changed from what it was so many thousand years ago in Egypt. The redeemed of the Lord must maintain a separation, must give evidence to the world, that the blood has been applied, and that they are therefore set aside in a special way by that difference that God Himself has made.

This difference, as just mentioned, that God put in those ancient days of lsrael ‘s redemption, still abides. Our Lord Jesus restated it in His words given in John 15:18-19. Reading from verse 18, we are told, “If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.” The difference God places between His people and those of the world will bring misunderstanding, conflict, opposition, and even hatred. Therefore attacks will be made against us because of this difference. The only way to get victory over all this is to remember that the difference is of God. He is the One who put the difference there. Let that difference, therefore, testify to the reality of our relation and union with Him, even our Lord Jesus. It is this difference that shows itself in separation-which is obedience to God. The sign of the separation is the blood of Christ. Only those who are born again, chosen of God, are, by God’s direct command, separated ones. The difference is between them and those who are not born again through the blood of Christ.

It is our purpose to emphasize the importance of this kind of separation. We are not interested in a separation that man makes, that is, that which is based upon men’s opinion while ignoring God’s own true separation. Separation based upon the idea that one man is a better person than another, or that his ability is of a finer grade than his neighbor’s, or that he is in a different and better class in society than others, and other such ideas, all of them issuing from the pride of man, are types of separation in which we have no interest and no part.

We stand for a separation marked by godliness of life, based upon the fact that God has made His children for the purpose of fellowship with Him, the holy God; and so He Himself makes a difference that we must acknowledge and respect, and show to the world as something actually true in ourselves. We believe that we should” … have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them” reproved back to the Word of God, the standards of which are perfect and whose directions for His children are wholesome and pure, producing fruits of righteousness. The Word of God, its pure doctrines, its divine origin, its message, must be proclaimed and defended against teachers of error and false prophets. (Ephesians 5: 11 ). “Reprove” is not criticism from man’s standards of principles, but rather to direct those reproved back to the Word of God, the standards of which are perfect and whose directions for His children are wholesome and pure, producing fruits of righteousness. The Word of God, its pure doctrines, its divine origin, its message, must be proclaimed and defended against teachers of error and false prophets.

We pray that the difference God has put between you and the world will ever be seen by man to be of God- a difference of life and death procured by the blood of the Lamb of God.

” … that your prayers be not hindered” (1 Peter 3:7).

“Behold, the LORD’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear” (Isaiah 59: 1-2).

“For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil” (1 Peter 3: 12).

“If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me” (Psalm 66: 18).

DAILY, REGULAR ANSWER TO PRAYERS SHOULD BE NORMAL FOR ALL CHRISTIANS

The normal Christian life is a life of regular, daily answers to prayer. In the model prayer, Jesus taught His disciples to pray daily for bread, and expect to get it, and to ask daily for forgiveness, for deliverance from the evil one, and for other needs, and daily to get the answers they sought.

That is the way Jesus Himself lived- in daily unhindered communion with the Father, so that He could say to His Father and our Father, ” .. .1 knew that thou hearest me always … ” (John 11 :42). All the teaching of the Lord Jesus about prayer shows that we too have a normal, day-by-day unhindered intercourse with God, asking and receiving, seeking and finding, knocking and having God open to us. He plainly said, “Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full” (John 16:24). When we are told in James 4:2 that ” … ye have not, because ye ask not”, it is proper to infer that God intended asking to be followed by having, and that the Christian in the will of God can live day by day in the fullness of joy of having his prayers answered.

It is perfectly normal for an obedient child to ask for food every meal time and get it, get all he wants, and eat until he is perfectly satisfied. And using that figure, the Saviour said, “If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?” (Matt. 7: 11).

A depositor whose account is in good condition normally has every check he draws honoured by the bank. Why, then, cannot a child of God day by day draw on the bank of Heaven, have his prayers answered as a matter of course, as a daily business? He can! When a Christian fails to have his prayer-check cashed, he should regard it as proof that something is wrong that needs attention at once.

When I tum faucets on in the bathroom or kitchen, I expect water to pour forth every time. If I turned the tap and water did not come, I would be surprised. I would also know that something radically was wrong, and I would immediately set out to find out why the water did not run. If I press a light switch and the light does not shine, or if I plug in an electric motor and there is no power, I know that something is wrong, dead wrong, that the connection with the powerhouse is broken; and I set out to find what is wrong and to remedy it. Just so, every Christian ought to be in daily communion with God and ought to live the joyful life of answered prayer; and when anything hinders his prayers, the Christian ought immediately to be able to find out what is wrong and get it remedied.

Now the Scriptures above indicate that there are sins which hinder the prayers of Christians, sins that tum God’s face away so that He will not hear, yea, sins which make it so that God cannot, in righteousness, heed the cry of His own child, whom He loves! We are not left in the dark about these sins. God, in His wonderful love, has shown us in the Bible the things that grieve Him, the things that make it so He cannot answer fully our prayers.

Often we pray for daily bread or for other daily necessities, such as money for rent, or for a job, or furniture, or clothes, things for which God tells us to pray; and yet no answer comes. Christians often pray for the conversion of loved ones, pray for revivals, pray for help in temptation; all matters about which every Christian certainly has a right to pray, matters about which God has declared in His Word that He is concerned, and which He is anxious to give us; and yet Christians often do not get the answer to their prayers. Why? The answer is that many a good prayers cannot be answered by a holy God because of sins in the life and heart of the one who prays.

It may be that you have some of your prayers answered, or think you do. The dear Lord, who ” … sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust” (Matthew 5:45), and is ” … kind unto the unthankful … ” (Luke 6:35), may give you many things that do not come because He respects your prayers and answers them, but because of His infinite mercy which is poured out even upon the vilest sinners. The God who still gives breath to the murderer, still gives food to the man who never prays, the God who gives all the bounties of nature to a sinning, Christ-rejecting race -that God still loves and cares for His children even when they live in sin and grieve His heart. So perhaps what God has been doing for you when you prayed was not at all the answer to your prayers, but just such mercies as His infinite Love and goodness provide for the most wicked of His creatures.

But whether God hears some of your prayers, or none of them, your prayers are hindered if you do not day by day live in the fullness of answered prayer so that you can sing:

Nothing between my soul and the Saviour, So that His blessed face may be seen; Nothing preventing the least of His favour, Keep the way clear- let nothing between.

Often we are painfully conscious that our prayers are not heard. Last night a man said to me as we parted at the close of the service in a great rescue mission, “Preacher, before you sleep I wish you would pray for me. My prayers never get higher than my head. God won’t hear me.” Is that your case? Do you feel, even as you call on God, that He is not pleased, that He will not hear, that there is no likelihood of your receiving the thing for which you ask? Then, oh, how important it is to clear the line between you and God so He will hear you. How important it is to confess and forsake everything that grieves the dear Holy Spirit and shuts up Heaven to your prayers and stops God’s ears!

The power of a godly home is implied throughout Scripture. Proverbs 31:10-31 is an impressive acrostic, and the unhindered prayers of 1 Peter 3:7 are ever delightful. Indeed the fact that the home relationship is made the background for the display of the love between ” … Christ and the church” (Ephesians 5:32) shows us how precious to God’s heart is the fellowship of husband and wife, in holy dependence on Him and His will.

When we think of Adam and his wife, we see the lack of godly order. Eve was not the ” … help meet … ” (Genesis 2: 18) that God intended her to be to her husband. 1 Timothy 2:14 tells us that Eve was deceived, but Adam was not deceived, his was a deliberate transgression and thus his responsibility is the more manifest. We have many illustrations of sad homes in Scriptures.

Solomon was turned aside by his many wives, and so was Ahab ” … whom Jezebel his wife stirred up” (1 Kings 21:25). Thanks be unto God, there have been beautiful contrasts, and the Holy Spirit emphasizes them for our joy, our praise, and our imitation.

Let us look at Abraham – yes, believing Abraham, and was not his wife believing Sarah? “Through faith also Sarah herself received strength … ” (Hebrews 11:11 ), just the same as her husband (Romans 4: 18-20). And the encouraging words are added, ” … she judged him faithful who had promised.” Such a testimony is among God’s many striking declarations concerning godly women. Some of the most impressive examples of holy service are found among them. The Apostle Peter was moved by the Holy Spirit to lay stress on Sarah as one of the” … holy women … who trusted in God … ” (1 Peter 3 :5-6). Godly Christian woman today may be viewed as walking in the same family. Thanks be to God, this family is not extinct.

In Luke, we read of Zacharias and Elisabeth, “And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances ofthe Lord blameless” (Luke 1 :6). In Job, chapters 1-2, note how God makes a contrast between the faithful patriarch and his unbelieving wife. It is a privilege to be a” … help meet … ” which is the reverse of the hindrance, that husband and wife may easily become to one another.

It is refreshing to find that after the birth of John the Baptist, the father and mother were of one mind (Luke 1 :60-63), neither one was turned aside by relatives. Thanks be to God for fixity of character. John’s fidelity shines forth, emphasizing God’s approval of a godly home.

Joseph and Mary set forth a beautiful relationship to one another (Matthew 1:20-25; Matthew 2:20-23; Luke 2:41-52). The Lord Jesus in the perfection of His childhood honoured both. No words are more impressive for children than those of Luke 2:51, “And he went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was subject unto them … ” He was the mighty God; yet when He came into this world, He filled every sphere perfectly.

In the book of Acts and the Epistles, we read of Aquila and Priscilla. They are always mentioned together, and there is a remarkable placing of Prisca, or Priscilla, first on three occasions. There should be no rivalry or antipathy or jealously where God appoints or works.

It is good to ponder these graciously recorded examples of godly homes. We praise God for the witness of the unnamed overseers of Christian assemblies, chosen according to 1 Timothy 3:5-6 and 1 Timothy 3: 11-12. Ephesians 5 concerns Christ and the church and sets forth again the beauty of a Christian home. God has set high honour upon the husband and wife who follow the principles of His Word, but the joy of this blessing is not reached by mere desire. There must be a humble walk with God in the enabling of the Holy Spirit. Let us all, who own the Name of the Lord Jesus, married or unmarried, prayerfully seek that walk.

First of all, soul-winning is commanded by God. Mark 16:15,”And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature”; and it is the Christian’s responsibility. To stay in existence, everything must reproduce after its own kind. Surely this includes Christianity!

Secondly, soul-winning builds character. Soul-winning is not always easy. Everyone will not gladly receive what you have to say. We should set a time to go soul-winning each week; no matter what the weather is, go! It takes character to do something no matter what the circumstances. You may be cursed, spat upon, or jeered at, but if you don’t bow or bend some will get saved, and you will be a better person because of it.

Thirdly, soul-winning gives you a chance to show Jesus how much you love Him. Jesus gave His life so that we could go to Heaven. Time is life, and if we give part of our time to Jesus, it is like giving part of our life to His work. Jesus could come down and tell everyone how to be saved, or He could send His angels, but He gave us the opportunity. We should make the most of it to show Him our love for Him and His gift to us.

Fourthly, soul-winning gives us a chance to earn rewards. The Bible says, in Proverbs 11:30, ” … he that winneth souls is wise.” The Bible promises us the earthly reward of wisdom for soul-winning!

Fifthly, it will help enlarge the kingdom of Heaven and spare souls from an eternal Hell. It will be a sad time when we see many or our friends and loved ones thrown in Hell. Many times the reason for their going there could be our failure to take time to show them from the Bible how to be saved. We are promised success if we are truly concerned for their salvation, “He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him” (Psalm 126:6).

Finally, soul-winning can help us save the nation! Our nation’s day of reckoning is fast approaching. The responsibility of preventing it lies on the shoulders of Christians.

Why don’t you share the plan of salvation with someone today. It would benefit you, them, and our nation. Let’s go soulwinning!