Saturday, January 26, 2019
I Know There Is A Heaven # 1
I Know There Is A Heaven # 1
And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away" (Revelation 21:1-4).
Heaven is a prepared place for a prepared people. It is one of the mightiest, if not the very mightiest, rewards of God Almighty holds out to those who accept His Son as Saviour and by persistent well-doing show forth their title to eternal fellowship with the hosts of glory. It is a joyous, noble, inspiring, cheering doctrine. It has encouraged the martyr at the stake and sustained the bed-ridden Christian tormented by the burden, the weight, the ailments of the flesh. It's message has charmed our childhood, heartened our maturity, inspired out old age. It has given us the brave fortitude to bear the trials and temptations of life with unbowed head and unfaltering step. There is not a soul among us, no matter how seemingly indifferent or unconcerned who is not at times - and these times come oftener and oftener with the advance of years - brought face to face with the problems of the reality, of the very existence of heaven. It is my purpose, God aiding, to bring to your minds, hearts, your souls some of the glorious, victorious truths about heaven, its citizens, its perfections, its conditions, and, perhaps most of all, to point out to you what you must do to get there; then to plead with you in all the passion of my soul that you put your feet by faith in the way of the Cross that leads to God and to heaven. My outline is simple, brief, and, I hope, to the point. I know there is a heaven. I know what kind of place it is. I know I am going there.
1. I Know There Is A Heaven
Fairness says so, decency, justice, rightness, honor, honesty, common sense, demand it. Where would the justice, the boasted equity of God, were there no heaven? Christians do not always have the best of it in this life. Many of them are poor. Many of them are sick. Many of them are oppressed, afflicted, tormented. There is very little reward for them in this life. Tell me, can you believe that the sacrificial saint and the selfish sinner will meet God and enjoy the same conditions of life beyond? Fairness requires that there be a difference. Heaven is the difference. Fairness says so.
Feeling says so. There is something in my heart as there is surely in your hearts, some affection, some emotion, some drawing, pulling, echoing something that tells us again and again that there is life beyond the skies, a life with God, a life with joy, of tenderness, purity, holiness, peace, where these troublesome, trying, tempestuous burdens that afflict us will be sloughed off and we shall stand free and upright in the sight of God and of His Christ. Look into the very depths of your souls. Tell me, is it not so? Is there not in your hearts a longing for the fellowship of God, for the communion of Christ, for the freedom of the Holy Spirit, for the presence of the angels? That feeling was placed there by God. It has grown with the passing of years. Surely God would not have endowed you with that yearning, kept it alive all these years, unless He meant to satisfy it in His own good time, in His own good will. This life cannot be the all in all. Our feelings prohibit such a thought. There must be a heaven. There is a heaven. Feeling says so.
Faith says so. Faith is confidence in the Word of God. The Book unmistakable, definitely, shoutingly, pressingly, imperatively teaches that there is a heaven. Doubt it, and the whole Christian system is exploded. Jesus spoke the fact of God when He said, "In My Father's house are many mansions... I go to prepare a place for you. "Faith says so. Backed up by, founded on the inerrant, unchangeable, unmistakable, eternal Word of God. The world that Christians are seeking, is a city whose founder and builder is God, a city of peace, of rest, of bliss, of reward. There is a heaven. Faith says so.
2. I Know What Kind of a Place Heaven Is
My heart tells me. My soul whispers to me. My mind loves to dwell upon it. But, best of all, most assuring of all, safest of all, most satisfactory of all, the Bible definitely describes it. It is good exercise, inspiring practice, uplifting meditation, to run the references in the old Book on Heaven.
~Wilbur A. Maier~
(continued with # 2)
The Deeper Christian Life # 16
The Deeper Christian Life # 16
5. Then comes the next thought. We have just had the presence of Christ desired, and my next thought is - the presence of Christ trusted. The Lord Jesus said, "Come," and what did Peter do? He stepped out of the boat. How did he dare to do it against the laws of nature? - how did he dare to do it? He sought Christ, he heard Christ's voice, he trusted Christ's presence and power, and in the faith of Christ he said, "I can walk on the water," and he stepped out of the boat. Here is the turning-point; here is the crisis. Peter saw Christ in the manifestation of a supernatural power, and Peter believed that supernatural power could work in him, and he could live a supernatural life of faith. Christ had supernatural power, - the power of heaven, the power of holiness, the power of fellowship with God, and Christ can give me grace to live as He lived, if I will but, like Peter, look at Christ and say to Christ, "Lord, speak the word, and I will come," and if I will listen to Christ saying, "Come," I, too, shall have power to walk upon the waves.
Have you ever seen a more beautiful and more instructive symbol of the Christian life? I once preached on it many years ago, and the thought that filled my heart then was this, - The Christian life compared to Peter walking on the waves, nothing so difficult and impossible without Christ, nothing so blessed and safe with Christ. That is the Christian life, - impossible without Christ's nearness, - most safe and blessed, however difficult, if I only have the presence of Christ. Believers, we have tried in these pages to call you to a better life, to a spiritual life, to a holy life, a life in the Spirit, to a life in fellowship with God. There is only one thing can enable you to live it, - you must have the Lord Jesus hold your hand every minute of the day. "But can that be?" you ask, Yes, it can. "I have so much to think of. Sometimes for four or five hours of the day I have to go into the very thick of business and have some ten men standing around me, each claiming my attention. How can I, how can I always have the presence of Jesus?" Beloved, because Jesus is your God and loves you wonderfully, and is able to make His presence more clear to you than that of ten men who are standing around you, if you will in the morning take time and enter into your covenant every morning with Him, "My Lord Jesus, nothing can satisfy me but Thine abiding presence." He will give it to you, He will surely give it to you. Oh, Peter trusted the presence of Christ, and He said, "If Christ calls me I can walk on the waves with Him." Shall we trust the presence of Christ? To walk through all the circumstances and temptations of life is exactly like walking on the water, - you have no solid ground under your feet, you do not know how strong the temptations of satan may come; but do believe God wants you to walk in a supernatural life above human power. God wants you to live a life in Christ Jesus. Are you wanting to live that life? Come then, and say, "Jesus, I have heard Thy promise that Thy presence will go with me. Thou hast said, "My presence shall go with thee,- and Lord, I claim it; I trust Thee."
6. Now, the sixth step in this wonderful history. The presence of Christ forgotten. Peter got out of the boat and began to walk toward the Lord Jesus with his eyes fixed upon Him. The presence of Christ was trusted by him, and he walked boldly over the waves; but all at once he took his eye off Jesus, and he began at once to sink, and there was Peter, his walk of faith at an end; all drenched and drowning and crying, "Lord, help me!" There are some of you saying in your hearts, I know, "Ah, that's what will come of your higher-life Christians." There are people who say, "You never can live that life; do not talk of it; you must always be falling." Peter always failed before Pentecost. It was because the Holy Spirit had not yet come, and therefore his experience goes to teach us, that while Peter was still in the life of the flesh he must fail somehow or other. But, thank God, there was One to lift him out of the failure; and our last point will be to prove that out of that failure he came into closer union with Jesus than ever before, and deeper dependence. But listen, first, while I speak to you about this failure.
~Andrew Murray~
(continued with # 17)
5. Then comes the next thought. We have just had the presence of Christ desired, and my next thought is - the presence of Christ trusted. The Lord Jesus said, "Come," and what did Peter do? He stepped out of the boat. How did he dare to do it against the laws of nature? - how did he dare to do it? He sought Christ, he heard Christ's voice, he trusted Christ's presence and power, and in the faith of Christ he said, "I can walk on the water," and he stepped out of the boat. Here is the turning-point; here is the crisis. Peter saw Christ in the manifestation of a supernatural power, and Peter believed that supernatural power could work in him, and he could live a supernatural life of faith. Christ had supernatural power, - the power of heaven, the power of holiness, the power of fellowship with God, and Christ can give me grace to live as He lived, if I will but, like Peter, look at Christ and say to Christ, "Lord, speak the word, and I will come," and if I will listen to Christ saying, "Come," I, too, shall have power to walk upon the waves.
Have you ever seen a more beautiful and more instructive symbol of the Christian life? I once preached on it many years ago, and the thought that filled my heart then was this, - The Christian life compared to Peter walking on the waves, nothing so difficult and impossible without Christ, nothing so blessed and safe with Christ. That is the Christian life, - impossible without Christ's nearness, - most safe and blessed, however difficult, if I only have the presence of Christ. Believers, we have tried in these pages to call you to a better life, to a spiritual life, to a holy life, a life in the Spirit, to a life in fellowship with God. There is only one thing can enable you to live it, - you must have the Lord Jesus hold your hand every minute of the day. "But can that be?" you ask, Yes, it can. "I have so much to think of. Sometimes for four or five hours of the day I have to go into the very thick of business and have some ten men standing around me, each claiming my attention. How can I, how can I always have the presence of Jesus?" Beloved, because Jesus is your God and loves you wonderfully, and is able to make His presence more clear to you than that of ten men who are standing around you, if you will in the morning take time and enter into your covenant every morning with Him, "My Lord Jesus, nothing can satisfy me but Thine abiding presence." He will give it to you, He will surely give it to you. Oh, Peter trusted the presence of Christ, and He said, "If Christ calls me I can walk on the waves with Him." Shall we trust the presence of Christ? To walk through all the circumstances and temptations of life is exactly like walking on the water, - you have no solid ground under your feet, you do not know how strong the temptations of satan may come; but do believe God wants you to walk in a supernatural life above human power. God wants you to live a life in Christ Jesus. Are you wanting to live that life? Come then, and say, "Jesus, I have heard Thy promise that Thy presence will go with me. Thou hast said, "My presence shall go with thee,- and Lord, I claim it; I trust Thee."
6. Now, the sixth step in this wonderful history. The presence of Christ forgotten. Peter got out of the boat and began to walk toward the Lord Jesus with his eyes fixed upon Him. The presence of Christ was trusted by him, and he walked boldly over the waves; but all at once he took his eye off Jesus, and he began at once to sink, and there was Peter, his walk of faith at an end; all drenched and drowning and crying, "Lord, help me!" There are some of you saying in your hearts, I know, "Ah, that's what will come of your higher-life Christians." There are people who say, "You never can live that life; do not talk of it; you must always be falling." Peter always failed before Pentecost. It was because the Holy Spirit had not yet come, and therefore his experience goes to teach us, that while Peter was still in the life of the flesh he must fail somehow or other. But, thank God, there was One to lift him out of the failure; and our last point will be to prove that out of that failure he came into closer union with Jesus than ever before, and deeper dependence. But listen, first, while I speak to you about this failure.
~Andrew Murray~
(continued with # 17)
Saturday, January 19, 2019
The Deeper Christian Life # 15
The Deeper Christian Life # 15
3. Then comes the third thought - the presence of Christ revealed. Bless God! When Christ heard how they cried, He spoke the words of the text, "Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid." Ah, what gladness those words brought to those hearts! There is Jesus, that dark object appears, that dreaded form. It is our blessed Lord Himself. And, dear friends, the Master's object, whether it be by affliction or otherwise, is to prepare for receiving the presence of Christ, and through it all Jesus speaks, "It is I; be not afraid." The presence of Christ revealed! I want to tell you that the Son of God, oh believer, is longing to reveal Himself to you. Listen! Listen! Is there any longing heart? Jesus says, "Be of good cheer, it is I; be not afraid.
Oh, beloved, God has given us Christ. And does God want me to have Christ every moment? Without doubt. God wants the presence of Christ to be the joy of every hour of my life; and, if there is one thing sure, Christ can reveal Himself to me every moment. Are you willing to come and claim this privilege? He can reveal Himself. I cannot reveal Him to you; you cannot grasp Him; but He can shine into your heart. How can I see the sunlight tomorrow morning, if I am spared? The sunlight will reveal itself. How can I know Christ? Christ can reveal Himself. And I pray you to set your heart upon this, and to offer the humble prayer, "Lord, now reveal Thyself to me, so, that I may never lose the sight of Thee. Give me to understand that through the thick darkness Thou comest to make Thyself known." Let not one heart doubt, however dark it may be - Christ can reveal Himself. Ah, thank God often after a life of ten, and twenty years of dawn, after a life of ten and twenty years of struggling, now in the light, and now in the dark, there comes a time when Jesus is willing just to give Himself to us,k nevermore to part. God grant us that presence of Jesus!
4. And now comes the fourth thought - the presence of Jesus lost, was the first; the presence of Jesus dreaded, was the second, the presence of Jesus revealed, was the third; the presence of Jesus desired, is the fourth. What happened? Peter heard the Lord,k and he was content. He was in the boat, and yonder was Jesus, some 30, 40, 50 yards distant, and He made as though He would have passed them; and Peter, in a preceding chapter I spoke about Peter, shewing what terrible failure and carnality there was in him, but bless the Lord Peter's heart was right with Christ, and he wanted to claim His presence, and he said, "Lord, if it be Thou, bid me come upon the water to Thee." Yes, Peter could not rest; he wanted to be as near to Christ as possible. He saw Christ walking on the water, he remembered Christ had said, "Follow Me," he remembered how Christ, with the miraculous draught of fishes, had proved that He was Master of the sea, and of the waters, and he remembered how Christ had stilled the storm; and, without argument or reflection, all at once he said, "There is my Lord manifesting Himself in a new way; there is my Lord exercising a new and supernatural power, and I can go to my Lord. He is able to make me walk where He walks." He wanted to walk like Christ, he wanted to walk near Christ. He didn't say, "Lord, let me walk around the sea here," but he said, "Lord, let me come to Thee."
Friends, would you not like to have the presence of Christ in this way? Not that Christ should come down, - that is what many Christians want; they want to continue in their sinful walk, they want to continue in their worldly walk,k they want to continue in their old life, and they want Christ to come down to them with His comfort, His presence, and His love; but that cannot be. If I am to have the presence of Christ, I must walk as He walked. His walk was a supernatural one. He walked in the power and in the love of God. Most people walk according to the circumstances in which they are, and most people say, "I am depending upon circumstances for my religion." A hundred times over you hear people say, "My circumstances prevent my enjoying fellowship with Jesus." What were the circumstances that were around about Christ? The wind and the waves, - and Christ walked triumphant over circumstances; and Peter said, "Like my Lord I can triumph overt all circumstances: anything around me is nothing, if I have Jesus." He longed for the presence of Christ. Would God that, as we look at the life of Christ upon earth, as we look how Christ walked and conquered the waves, every one of us could say, "i want to walk like Jesus." If that is your heart's desire, you can expect the presence of Jesus; but as long as you want to walk on a lower level than Christ, as long as you want to have a little of the world, and a little of self-will, do not expect to have the presence of Christ. Near Christ, and like Christ, - the two things go together. Have you taken that in? Peter wanted to walk like Christ that he might get near Christ; and it is this I want to offer every one of you. I want to say to the weakest believer, "With God's presence you can have the presence a and fellowship of Christ all the day long, your whole life through. I want to bring you that promise, but I must give God's condition, - walk like Christ, and you shall always abide near Christ. The presence of Christ invites you to come and have unbroken fellowship with Him.
~Andrew Murray~
(continued with # 16)
3. Then comes the third thought - the presence of Christ revealed. Bless God! When Christ heard how they cried, He spoke the words of the text, "Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid." Ah, what gladness those words brought to those hearts! There is Jesus, that dark object appears, that dreaded form. It is our blessed Lord Himself. And, dear friends, the Master's object, whether it be by affliction or otherwise, is to prepare for receiving the presence of Christ, and through it all Jesus speaks, "It is I; be not afraid." The presence of Christ revealed! I want to tell you that the Son of God, oh believer, is longing to reveal Himself to you. Listen! Listen! Is there any longing heart? Jesus says, "Be of good cheer, it is I; be not afraid.
Oh, beloved, God has given us Christ. And does God want me to have Christ every moment? Without doubt. God wants the presence of Christ to be the joy of every hour of my life; and, if there is one thing sure, Christ can reveal Himself to me every moment. Are you willing to come and claim this privilege? He can reveal Himself. I cannot reveal Him to you; you cannot grasp Him; but He can shine into your heart. How can I see the sunlight tomorrow morning, if I am spared? The sunlight will reveal itself. How can I know Christ? Christ can reveal Himself. And I pray you to set your heart upon this, and to offer the humble prayer, "Lord, now reveal Thyself to me, so, that I may never lose the sight of Thee. Give me to understand that through the thick darkness Thou comest to make Thyself known." Let not one heart doubt, however dark it may be - Christ can reveal Himself. Ah, thank God often after a life of ten, and twenty years of dawn, after a life of ten and twenty years of struggling, now in the light, and now in the dark, there comes a time when Jesus is willing just to give Himself to us,k nevermore to part. God grant us that presence of Jesus!
4. And now comes the fourth thought - the presence of Jesus lost, was the first; the presence of Jesus dreaded, was the second, the presence of Jesus revealed, was the third; the presence of Jesus desired, is the fourth. What happened? Peter heard the Lord,k and he was content. He was in the boat, and yonder was Jesus, some 30, 40, 50 yards distant, and He made as though He would have passed them; and Peter, in a preceding chapter I spoke about Peter, shewing what terrible failure and carnality there was in him, but bless the Lord Peter's heart was right with Christ, and he wanted to claim His presence, and he said, "Lord, if it be Thou, bid me come upon the water to Thee." Yes, Peter could not rest; he wanted to be as near to Christ as possible. He saw Christ walking on the water, he remembered Christ had said, "Follow Me," he remembered how Christ, with the miraculous draught of fishes, had proved that He was Master of the sea, and of the waters, and he remembered how Christ had stilled the storm; and, without argument or reflection, all at once he said, "There is my Lord manifesting Himself in a new way; there is my Lord exercising a new and supernatural power, and I can go to my Lord. He is able to make me walk where He walks." He wanted to walk like Christ, he wanted to walk near Christ. He didn't say, "Lord, let me walk around the sea here," but he said, "Lord, let me come to Thee."
Friends, would you not like to have the presence of Christ in this way? Not that Christ should come down, - that is what many Christians want; they want to continue in their sinful walk, they want to continue in their worldly walk,k they want to continue in their old life, and they want Christ to come down to them with His comfort, His presence, and His love; but that cannot be. If I am to have the presence of Christ, I must walk as He walked. His walk was a supernatural one. He walked in the power and in the love of God. Most people walk according to the circumstances in which they are, and most people say, "I am depending upon circumstances for my religion." A hundred times over you hear people say, "My circumstances prevent my enjoying fellowship with Jesus." What were the circumstances that were around about Christ? The wind and the waves, - and Christ walked triumphant over circumstances; and Peter said, "Like my Lord I can triumph overt all circumstances: anything around me is nothing, if I have Jesus." He longed for the presence of Christ. Would God that, as we look at the life of Christ upon earth, as we look how Christ walked and conquered the waves, every one of us could say, "i want to walk like Jesus." If that is your heart's desire, you can expect the presence of Jesus; but as long as you want to walk on a lower level than Christ, as long as you want to have a little of the world, and a little of self-will, do not expect to have the presence of Christ. Near Christ, and like Christ, - the two things go together. Have you taken that in? Peter wanted to walk like Christ that he might get near Christ; and it is this I want to offer every one of you. I want to say to the weakest believer, "With God's presence you can have the presence a and fellowship of Christ all the day long, your whole life through. I want to bring you that promise, but I must give God's condition, - walk like Christ, and you shall always abide near Christ. The presence of Christ invites you to come and have unbroken fellowship with Him.
~Andrew Murray~
(continued with # 16)
The Deeper Christian Life # 14
The Deeper Christian Life # 14
The Presence of Christ
"But straightway Jesus spoke unto them saying, Be of good cheer, it is I, be not afraid".
All we have had about the work of the blessed Spirit is dependent upon what we think of Jesus, for it is from Christ Jesus that the Spirit comes to us; it is to Christ Jesus that the Spirit ever brings us; and the one need of the Christian life day by day and hour by hour is this, - the presence of the Son of God. God is our salvation, if I have Christ with me, I have full salvation. We have spoken about the life of failure and of the flesh, about the life of unbelief and disobedience, about the life of ups and downs, the wilderness life of sadness and of sorrow; but we have heard, and we have believed, there is deliverance. Bless God, He brought us out of Egypt, that He might bring us into Canaan, into the very rest of God and Jesus Christ. He is our peace. He is our rest. Oh, if I may only have the presence of Jesus as the victory over every sin: the presence of Jesus as the strength for every duty, then my life shall be in the full sunshine of God' unbroken fellowship, and the word will be fulfilled to me in most blessed experience, "Son, thou art ever with me, and all I have is thine." God has given all He has to Christ, and God longs that Christ should have you know me entirely. I come to every hungry heart and say, "If you want to live to the glory of God, seek one thing, to claim, to believe that the presence of Jesus can be with you every moment of your life.
I want to speak about the presence of Jesus as it is set before us in that blessed story of Christ's walking on the sea. Come and look with me at some points that are suggested to us.
1. Think, first, of the presence of Christ lost. You know the disciples loved Christ, clung to Him, and with all their failings they delighted in Him. But what happened? The Master went up into the mountain to pray, and sent them across the sea all alone without Him; there came a storm, and they toiled, rowed, and labored, but the wind was against them, they made no progress, they were in danger of perishing, and how their hearts said, "Oh, if the Master only were here!" But His presence was gone. They missed Him. Once before, they had been in a storm, and Christ had said, "Peace, be still," and all was well; but here they are in darkness, danger, and terrible trouble, and no Christ to help them. Ah, isn't that the life of many a believer at times? I get into darkness, I have committed sin, the cloud is on me, I miss the face of Jesus; and for days and days I work, worry, and labor, but it is all in vain, for I miss the presence of Christ. Oh, beloved, let us write that down, - the presence of Jesus lost is the cause of all our wretchedness and failure.
2. Look at the second step, - the presence of Jesus dreaded. They were longing for the presence of Christ, and Christ came after midnight. He came walking on the water amid the waves; but they didn't recognize Him, and they cried out for fear, "It is a spirit!" Their beloved Lord was coming nigh, and they knew Him not. They dreaded His approach. And, ah, how often have I seen a believer dreading the approach of Christ - crying out for Him, longing for Him, and yet dreading His coming. And why? Because Christ came in a fashion that they expected not.
Perhaps some have been saying, "Alas, alas! I fear I never can have the abiding presence of Christ." You have heard what we have said about a life in the Spirit: you have heard what we have said about abiding ever in the presence of God and in His fellowship, and you have been afraid of it, afraid of it; and you have said, "it is too high and too difficult." You have dreaded the very teaching that was going to help you. Jesus came to you in the teaching and you didn't recognize His love.
Or, perhaps, He came in a way that you dreaded His presence. Perhaps God has been speaking to you about some sin. There is that sin of temper, or that sin of unlovingness, or that sin of unforgivingness, or that sin of worldliness, compromise, and fellowship with the world, that love of man and man's honor, that fear of men and man's opinion, or that pride and self-confidence. God has been speaking to you about it, and yet you have been frightened. That was Jesus wanting to draw you nigh, but you were afraid. You don't see how you can give up all that, you are not ready to say, "At any sacrifice I am going to have that taken out of me, and I will give it up," and while God and Christ were coming nigh to bless you, you were afraid of Him.
Oh, believers, at other times Christ has come to you with affliction, and perhaps you have said, "If I want to be entirely holy, I know I shall have to be afflicted, and I am afraid of affliction," and you have dreaded the thought, "Christ may come to me in affliction." The presence of Christ dreaded! - oh, beloved, I want to tell you it is all misconception. The disciples had no reason to dread that "spirit" coming there, for it was Christ Himself; and, when God's word comes close to you and touches your heart, remember that it is Christ out of Whose mouth goes the two-edged sword. It is Christ in His love coming to cut away the sin, that He may fill your heart with the blessing of God's love. Beware of dreading the presence of Christ.
~Andrew Murray~
(continued with # 15)
The Presence of Christ
"But straightway Jesus spoke unto them saying, Be of good cheer, it is I, be not afraid".
All we have had about the work of the blessed Spirit is dependent upon what we think of Jesus, for it is from Christ Jesus that the Spirit comes to us; it is to Christ Jesus that the Spirit ever brings us; and the one need of the Christian life day by day and hour by hour is this, - the presence of the Son of God. God is our salvation, if I have Christ with me, I have full salvation. We have spoken about the life of failure and of the flesh, about the life of unbelief and disobedience, about the life of ups and downs, the wilderness life of sadness and of sorrow; but we have heard, and we have believed, there is deliverance. Bless God, He brought us out of Egypt, that He might bring us into Canaan, into the very rest of God and Jesus Christ. He is our peace. He is our rest. Oh, if I may only have the presence of Jesus as the victory over every sin: the presence of Jesus as the strength for every duty, then my life shall be in the full sunshine of God' unbroken fellowship, and the word will be fulfilled to me in most blessed experience, "Son, thou art ever with me, and all I have is thine." God has given all He has to Christ, and God longs that Christ should have you know me entirely. I come to every hungry heart and say, "If you want to live to the glory of God, seek one thing, to claim, to believe that the presence of Jesus can be with you every moment of your life.
I want to speak about the presence of Jesus as it is set before us in that blessed story of Christ's walking on the sea. Come and look with me at some points that are suggested to us.
1. Think, first, of the presence of Christ lost. You know the disciples loved Christ, clung to Him, and with all their failings they delighted in Him. But what happened? The Master went up into the mountain to pray, and sent them across the sea all alone without Him; there came a storm, and they toiled, rowed, and labored, but the wind was against them, they made no progress, they were in danger of perishing, and how their hearts said, "Oh, if the Master only were here!" But His presence was gone. They missed Him. Once before, they had been in a storm, and Christ had said, "Peace, be still," and all was well; but here they are in darkness, danger, and terrible trouble, and no Christ to help them. Ah, isn't that the life of many a believer at times? I get into darkness, I have committed sin, the cloud is on me, I miss the face of Jesus; and for days and days I work, worry, and labor, but it is all in vain, for I miss the presence of Christ. Oh, beloved, let us write that down, - the presence of Jesus lost is the cause of all our wretchedness and failure.
2. Look at the second step, - the presence of Jesus dreaded. They were longing for the presence of Christ, and Christ came after midnight. He came walking on the water amid the waves; but they didn't recognize Him, and they cried out for fear, "It is a spirit!" Their beloved Lord was coming nigh, and they knew Him not. They dreaded His approach. And, ah, how often have I seen a believer dreading the approach of Christ - crying out for Him, longing for Him, and yet dreading His coming. And why? Because Christ came in a fashion that they expected not.
Perhaps some have been saying, "Alas, alas! I fear I never can have the abiding presence of Christ." You have heard what we have said about a life in the Spirit: you have heard what we have said about abiding ever in the presence of God and in His fellowship, and you have been afraid of it, afraid of it; and you have said, "it is too high and too difficult." You have dreaded the very teaching that was going to help you. Jesus came to you in the teaching and you didn't recognize His love.
Or, perhaps, He came in a way that you dreaded His presence. Perhaps God has been speaking to you about some sin. There is that sin of temper, or that sin of unlovingness, or that sin of unforgivingness, or that sin of worldliness, compromise, and fellowship with the world, that love of man and man's honor, that fear of men and man's opinion, or that pride and self-confidence. God has been speaking to you about it, and yet you have been frightened. That was Jesus wanting to draw you nigh, but you were afraid. You don't see how you can give up all that, you are not ready to say, "At any sacrifice I am going to have that taken out of me, and I will give it up," and while God and Christ were coming nigh to bless you, you were afraid of Him.
Oh, believers, at other times Christ has come to you with affliction, and perhaps you have said, "If I want to be entirely holy, I know I shall have to be afflicted, and I am afraid of affliction," and you have dreaded the thought, "Christ may come to me in affliction." The presence of Christ dreaded! - oh, beloved, I want to tell you it is all misconception. The disciples had no reason to dread that "spirit" coming there, for it was Christ Himself; and, when God's word comes close to you and touches your heart, remember that it is Christ out of Whose mouth goes the two-edged sword. It is Christ in His love coming to cut away the sin, that He may fill your heart with the blessing of God's love. Beware of dreading the presence of Christ.
~Andrew Murray~
(continued with # 15)
Saturday, January 12, 2019
The Deeper Christian Life # 13
The Deeper Christian Life # 13
Dear Friends, are you going to say, "I will have this blessing?" What does that mean? It means, first of all, of course, that you are going to give up every sin, you are going to look around into your life, and if you see anything wrong there, it means that you are going to confess it to Jesus, and say, "Lord, I cast it at Thy feet; it may be rooted in my heart, but I will give it up to Thee. I cannot take it out, but Jesus, Thou cleanser of sin, I give it to Thee." Let it be temper, or pride,k let it be money, or lust, or pleasure; let it be the fear of man, let it be anything; - but, oh, say to Christ at once, "I will have this blessing at any cost." Oh, give up every sin to Jesus.
And it means not only giving up every sin, but - what is deeper than sin, and more difficult to get at - it means giving up yourself - "self", with your will, and your pleasure, and your honor, and all you have, and saying, "Jesus, I am from this moment going to give myself up, that by the Holy Spirit Thou mayest take possession of me, and that Thou mayest by Thy Spirit turn out whatever is sinful, and take entire command of me." This looks difficult so long as satan blinds, and makes us think it would be a hard thing to give up all that; but if God opens our eyes for one minute to see what a heavenly blessedness, and what heavenly riches and heavenly glory it is to be filled with the Spirit out of the heart of Jesus, then we will say, "I will give anything, anything, anything, but I will have the blessing!"
And then, it means that you are just to cast yourself at His feet and to say, 'Lord, I will have the blessing."
Ah, satan often tempts us, and says, "Suppose God were to ask that of you, would you be willing to give it?" - and he makes us afraid. But how many have found, and have been able to tell about it, that when once they have said, "Lord, anything and everything!" the light and the joy of heaven filled their hearts!
Last year at Johannesburg, the gold fields of South Africa, at an afternoon meeting we had one day testimony, and a woman rose up and told us how her pastor two months ago had held a consecration service in a tent, and he had spoken strongly about consecration, and had said, "Now if God were to send your husband away to China, or if God were to ask you to go away to America, would you be willing for it? You must give yourself up entirely." And the woman said - and her face beamed with brightness when she spoke, - when, at the close of the meeting he asked those to rise who were will to give up all to be filled with the Spirit, she said, "The struggle was terrible; God may take away my husband or my children from me, and am I ready for it? Oh, Jesus is very precious, but I cannot say I will give up all, but I will tell Him I do want to do it." - and at last she stood up. She said she went home that night in a terrible struggle, and she could not sleep, for the thought was, "i said to Jesus everything, and could I give up husband or child?" The struggle continued till midnight, "but," she said, "I would not let go; I said to Jesus, "everything, but fill me with Thyself." And the joy of the Holy Spirit came down upon her, and her minister who sat there told me afterwards that the testimony was a true one, and for the two months her life had been one of exceeding brightness and of heavenly joy. Oh, is any reader tempted to say, "I cannot give up all." I take you by the hand, my brother and sister, and I bring you to the crucified Jesus, and I say, "Just look at Him, how He loved you on Calvary; just look at Him." Just look at Jesus! he offers actually to fill your heart with His Holy Spirit, with the Spirit of His love and of His fullness, and of His power, actually to make your heart full of the Holy Spirit; and do you dare to say, "I am afraid," - do you dare to say, "I cannot do that for Jesus?" or will your heart rapt at His feet, cry out, "Lord Jesus, anything, but I must be filled with Thy Spirit!" Haven't you often prayed for the presence and the abiding nearness and the love of Jesus to fill you? - but that cannot be until you are filled with the Holy Spirit. Oh, come and say, in view of any sacrifice, "I will have it, by God's help! Not in my strength, but by the help of God, I will have it!"
And then comes my last point. Say, "I shall have it." Praise God that a man dare say that, "I shall have it." Yes, when a man has made up his mind; when a man has been brought to a conviction and a sorrow for his sinful life; when a man, like Peter, has wept bitterly or has sighed deeply before God." Oh, my Lord, what a life I have been living!" - when a man begins to feel that, and when he comes and makes surrender, and casts himself upon God and claims the promise, "Lord, I may have it; it is for me," - what think you? Hasn't he a right to say, "I shall have it?" Yes, and I give to every one of you that message from God, that if you are willing, and if you are ready, God is willing and ready to close the bargain at once. Yes, you can have it now, Now! without any outburst of feeling, without any flooding of the heart with light, you may have it. To some it comes in that way, but to many not. As a quiet transaction of the surrendered will, you can lift up your heart in faith and say, "O God, here I do give myself as an empty vessel to be filled with the Holy Spirit. I give myself up once for all and forever!" Tis done, the great transaction's done. You can say it now if you will take your place before God.
Oh, ministers of the gospel, have you never felt the need of being filled with the Holy Spirit? Your heart perhaps tells you that you know nothing of that blessing. Oh, workers for Christ, have you never felt a need, "I must be filled with the Holy Spirit?" Oh, children of God, have you never felt a hope rise within you, "I may have this blessing. I hear it from others?" Will you not take the step and say, "I will have it?" Say it, not in our own strength, but in self-despair. Never mind though it appears as if the heart is all cold and closed up, never mind; but as an act of obedience and of surrender, as an act of the will, cast yourself before Jesus and trust Him. "I shall have it, for I now give up myself into the arms of my Lord Jesus, I shall have it, for it is the delight of Jesus to give the Holy Spirit from the Father into the heart of everyone. I shall have it, for I do believe in Jesus, and He promised me that out of Him that believeth shall flow rivers of living water. I shall have it! I shall have it! I will cling to the feet of Jesus, I will stay at the throne of God; I shall have it, for God is faithful, and God has promised."
~Andrew Murray~
(continued with # 14)
Dear Friends, are you going to say, "I will have this blessing?" What does that mean? It means, first of all, of course, that you are going to give up every sin, you are going to look around into your life, and if you see anything wrong there, it means that you are going to confess it to Jesus, and say, "Lord, I cast it at Thy feet; it may be rooted in my heart, but I will give it up to Thee. I cannot take it out, but Jesus, Thou cleanser of sin, I give it to Thee." Let it be temper, or pride,k let it be money, or lust, or pleasure; let it be the fear of man, let it be anything; - but, oh, say to Christ at once, "I will have this blessing at any cost." Oh, give up every sin to Jesus.
And it means not only giving up every sin, but - what is deeper than sin, and more difficult to get at - it means giving up yourself - "self", with your will, and your pleasure, and your honor, and all you have, and saying, "Jesus, I am from this moment going to give myself up, that by the Holy Spirit Thou mayest take possession of me, and that Thou mayest by Thy Spirit turn out whatever is sinful, and take entire command of me." This looks difficult so long as satan blinds, and makes us think it would be a hard thing to give up all that; but if God opens our eyes for one minute to see what a heavenly blessedness, and what heavenly riches and heavenly glory it is to be filled with the Spirit out of the heart of Jesus, then we will say, "I will give anything, anything, anything, but I will have the blessing!"
And then, it means that you are just to cast yourself at His feet and to say, 'Lord, I will have the blessing."
Ah, satan often tempts us, and says, "Suppose God were to ask that of you, would you be willing to give it?" - and he makes us afraid. But how many have found, and have been able to tell about it, that when once they have said, "Lord, anything and everything!" the light and the joy of heaven filled their hearts!
Last year at Johannesburg, the gold fields of South Africa, at an afternoon meeting we had one day testimony, and a woman rose up and told us how her pastor two months ago had held a consecration service in a tent, and he had spoken strongly about consecration, and had said, "Now if God were to send your husband away to China, or if God were to ask you to go away to America, would you be willing for it? You must give yourself up entirely." And the woman said - and her face beamed with brightness when she spoke, - when, at the close of the meeting he asked those to rise who were will to give up all to be filled with the Spirit, she said, "The struggle was terrible; God may take away my husband or my children from me, and am I ready for it? Oh, Jesus is very precious, but I cannot say I will give up all, but I will tell Him I do want to do it." - and at last she stood up. She said she went home that night in a terrible struggle, and she could not sleep, for the thought was, "i said to Jesus everything, and could I give up husband or child?" The struggle continued till midnight, "but," she said, "I would not let go; I said to Jesus, "everything, but fill me with Thyself." And the joy of the Holy Spirit came down upon her, and her minister who sat there told me afterwards that the testimony was a true one, and for the two months her life had been one of exceeding brightness and of heavenly joy. Oh, is any reader tempted to say, "I cannot give up all." I take you by the hand, my brother and sister, and I bring you to the crucified Jesus, and I say, "Just look at Him, how He loved you on Calvary; just look at Him." Just look at Jesus! he offers actually to fill your heart with His Holy Spirit, with the Spirit of His love and of His fullness, and of His power, actually to make your heart full of the Holy Spirit; and do you dare to say, "I am afraid," - do you dare to say, "I cannot do that for Jesus?" or will your heart rapt at His feet, cry out, "Lord Jesus, anything, but I must be filled with Thy Spirit!" Haven't you often prayed for the presence and the abiding nearness and the love of Jesus to fill you? - but that cannot be until you are filled with the Holy Spirit. Oh, come and say, in view of any sacrifice, "I will have it, by God's help! Not in my strength, but by the help of God, I will have it!"
And then comes my last point. Say, "I shall have it." Praise God that a man dare say that, "I shall have it." Yes, when a man has made up his mind; when a man has been brought to a conviction and a sorrow for his sinful life; when a man, like Peter, has wept bitterly or has sighed deeply before God." Oh, my Lord, what a life I have been living!" - when a man begins to feel that, and when he comes and makes surrender, and casts himself upon God and claims the promise, "Lord, I may have it; it is for me," - what think you? Hasn't he a right to say, "I shall have it?" Yes, and I give to every one of you that message from God, that if you are willing, and if you are ready, God is willing and ready to close the bargain at once. Yes, you can have it now, Now! without any outburst of feeling, without any flooding of the heart with light, you may have it. To some it comes in that way, but to many not. As a quiet transaction of the surrendered will, you can lift up your heart in faith and say, "O God, here I do give myself as an empty vessel to be filled with the Holy Spirit. I give myself up once for all and forever!" Tis done, the great transaction's done. You can say it now if you will take your place before God.
Oh, ministers of the gospel, have you never felt the need of being filled with the Holy Spirit? Your heart perhaps tells you that you know nothing of that blessing. Oh, workers for Christ, have you never felt a need, "I must be filled with the Holy Spirit?" Oh, children of God, have you never felt a hope rise within you, "I may have this blessing. I hear it from others?" Will you not take the step and say, "I will have it?" Say it, not in our own strength, but in self-despair. Never mind though it appears as if the heart is all cold and closed up, never mind; but as an act of obedience and of surrender, as an act of the will, cast yourself before Jesus and trust Him. "I shall have it, for I now give up myself into the arms of my Lord Jesus, I shall have it, for it is the delight of Jesus to give the Holy Spirit from the Father into the heart of everyone. I shall have it, for I do believe in Jesus, and He promised me that out of Him that believeth shall flow rivers of living water. I shall have it! I shall have it! I will cling to the feet of Jesus, I will stay at the throne of God; I shall have it, for God is faithful, and God has promised."
~Andrew Murray~
(continued with # 14)
Spiritual Food For A Hungry World # 3
Spiritual Food For A Hungry World # 3
Is the church drawing the hungry world to its tables? There is no dodging or blinking or pussy-footing the fact that in drawing the hungry work to her tables, the church is facing a crisis. That there is a chasm between the church and the masses no one denies. If the gain of the church on the population is represented by eighty during the past thirty years, during the last twenty years it is represented by four, and during the past ten years it is represented by zero. The birth rate is going on a limited express while the "new birth" rate is going by way of freight.
Need the world turn to other tables than those of the church for spiritual food? Jesus said, "They need not depart; give ye them to eat." The church has the power and the food with which to feed the hungry world. It can feed the spiritual hunger of the world by doing what Jesus did when he fed the five thousand.
By a wise use of what it has on hand with the blessing of God upon it...
What has the church on hand with which to feed the hungry world? It has two things:
A set of principles which if put into practice in the life of the individual and society and business and politics will solve every difficulty and problem of city, state, nation, and the world. There is no safer or saner method to settle all the world's problems than by the Sermon on the Mount. These principles are truth, justice, and purity. It has a person who has the power to create and make powerful these principles in the lives of men and women and that person is Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
Many skeptics have said, "Bill, if you will only preach the principles of Christianity instead of the Person, we will find no fault with you." Nothing doing! Wherever a preacher or a church preaches a set of principles without the person Jesus Christ, that church becomes sterile and powerless.
Truth is never powerful unless wrapped up in a person. I take truth and wrap it up in Christ and say, "Take it!" You say, "Give me truth but no Christ." Then you will be lost. You are not saved by truth but by the person of Jesus Christ. Why take truth and reject Christ when it's Christ that inspires truth?
Other religions have preached good things, but they have no Saviour who can take these things and implant them in the human heart and make them grow. All other religions are built around principles,k but the Christian religion is built around a person Jesus Christ, the Son of God, our Saviour. Every other religion on earth is a religion you must keep, but the Christian religion saves you, keeps you, and presents you faultless before His throne.
Oh, Christians! Have you any scars to show that you have fought in this conflict with the devil? What a war is over, heroes have scars to show; one rolls back his sleeves and shows a gunshot wound; another pulls down his collar and shows a wound on the neck; another says, I never had use of that leg since Gettysburg"; another says, "I was wounded and gassed at the Marne in France." Christ has scars to show - scars on his brow, on His hands, on His feet, and when He pulls aside His robes of royalty, there will be seen the scar on His side.
When the Scottish chieftains wanted to raise an army, they would make a wooden cross, set it on fire and carry it through the mountains and the highlands among the people and wave the cross of flame and the people would gather beneath the standard and fight for Scotland. I come out with the Cross of the son of God - it is a flaming Cross, flaming with suffering, flaming with triumph, flaming with victory, flaming with glory, flaming with salvation for a lost world!
~Billy Sunday~
(The End)
Is the church drawing the hungry world to its tables? There is no dodging or blinking or pussy-footing the fact that in drawing the hungry work to her tables, the church is facing a crisis. That there is a chasm between the church and the masses no one denies. If the gain of the church on the population is represented by eighty during the past thirty years, during the last twenty years it is represented by four, and during the past ten years it is represented by zero. The birth rate is going on a limited express while the "new birth" rate is going by way of freight.
Need the world turn to other tables than those of the church for spiritual food? Jesus said, "They need not depart; give ye them to eat." The church has the power and the food with which to feed the hungry world. It can feed the spiritual hunger of the world by doing what Jesus did when he fed the five thousand.
By a wise use of what it has on hand with the blessing of God upon it...
What has the church on hand with which to feed the hungry world? It has two things:
A set of principles which if put into practice in the life of the individual and society and business and politics will solve every difficulty and problem of city, state, nation, and the world. There is no safer or saner method to settle all the world's problems than by the Sermon on the Mount. These principles are truth, justice, and purity. It has a person who has the power to create and make powerful these principles in the lives of men and women and that person is Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
Many skeptics have said, "Bill, if you will only preach the principles of Christianity instead of the Person, we will find no fault with you." Nothing doing! Wherever a preacher or a church preaches a set of principles without the person Jesus Christ, that church becomes sterile and powerless.
Truth is never powerful unless wrapped up in a person. I take truth and wrap it up in Christ and say, "Take it!" You say, "Give me truth but no Christ." Then you will be lost. You are not saved by truth but by the person of Jesus Christ. Why take truth and reject Christ when it's Christ that inspires truth?
Other religions have preached good things, but they have no Saviour who can take these things and implant them in the human heart and make them grow. All other religions are built around principles,k but the Christian religion is built around a person Jesus Christ, the Son of God, our Saviour. Every other religion on earth is a religion you must keep, but the Christian religion saves you, keeps you, and presents you faultless before His throne.
Oh, Christians! Have you any scars to show that you have fought in this conflict with the devil? What a war is over, heroes have scars to show; one rolls back his sleeves and shows a gunshot wound; another pulls down his collar and shows a wound on the neck; another says, I never had use of that leg since Gettysburg"; another says, "I was wounded and gassed at the Marne in France." Christ has scars to show - scars on his brow, on His hands, on His feet, and when He pulls aside His robes of royalty, there will be seen the scar on His side.
When the Scottish chieftains wanted to raise an army, they would make a wooden cross, set it on fire and carry it through the mountains and the highlands among the people and wave the cross of flame and the people would gather beneath the standard and fight for Scotland. I come out with the Cross of the son of God - it is a flaming Cross, flaming with suffering, flaming with triumph, flaming with victory, flaming with glory, flaming with salvation for a lost world!
~Billy Sunday~
(The End)
Saturday, January 5, 2019
Spiritual Food For A Hungry World # 2
Spiritual Food For A Hungry World # 2
There has never been a time in my memory when religion has been so reduced to forms and ritual as today. In the mind of Jesus, religion was not to build up the church, but the church was to build up religion. Religion was not the end but the means to the end. Jesus was so far removed from the formalism and traditions, taught by the priests instead of teaching the commands of God, that He was constantly at cross-purposes with them. A church of make-believers will soon beget a generation of non-believers!
The church in endeavoring to serve God and mammon is growing cross-eyed, losing her power to know good from evil. Jesus dealt with fundamentals; His quietest talk had a torpedo effect on His hearers. Some sermons, instead of being a bugle call to service, are showers of spiritual cocaine.
I am satisfied that there has never been a time when it is harder to live a consistent Christian life than now. I believe the conflict between God and the devil, right and wrong, was never hotter. The allurements of sin have never been more fascinating. I do not believe there ever was a time, since Adam and Eve were turned out of Eden, when traps and pitfalls were more numerous and dangerous than today.
The world is not hungry for a religion of social service without Christ. I will go with you in any and all movements for the good of humanity providing you give Jesus Christ His rightful place. You cannot bathe anybody into the kingdom of God. You cannot change their hearts by changing their sanitation. It is an entirely good and Christian act to give a down-and-outer a bath, bed and a job. It is a Christian act to maintain schools and universities, but the road into the kingdom of God is not by the bath tub, the university, social service, or gymnasium, but by the blood-red road of the Cross of Jesus Christ.
The Bible declares that human nature is radically bad and the power to uplift and change is external; that power is not in any man, woman or system, but by repentance and faith in the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ. The church is the one institution authorized to feed the spiritual hunger of this old sin-cursed world.
You will notice that Jesus did not feed the multitude. He created the food and asked his disciples to distribute it. Jesus was the chef, not the waiter at this banquet. Jesus created salvation, the only food that will feed the spiritual hunger of the world; the task of distributing the food is in the hands of his human followers.
For every two nominal Christians, there are three who are not even nominal. Out of every two church members, one is a spiritual liability; four out of five with their names on our church records are doing nothing to bring the world to Jesus. There are twenty million young men in this country between the ages of sixteen and thirty [1925]. Nineteen million are not members of any church; nine million attend church occasionally; ten million never darken a church door.
Seventy-four per cent of our criminals are young men under twenty-one years of age. In the past twenty-five years the age of prostitutes has fallen from twenty-six years of age to seventeen years of age. Five hundred girls fifteen years old and under were divorced or widowed last year. Juvenile crime increased in one year from thirty-two per cent to a hundred and thirty-eight per cent.
There are many institutions that enter into competition with the church in preaching certain phases of religion, but not in preaching religion itself. Associate charities preach charity sometimes with stronger emphasis than the church. Some organizations talk about justice and square-dealing with more vehemence that the church. Some individuals thunder against vice and crime more than the pulpit. Many institutions and organizations preach one or more phases of religion, but it is to the church humanity must ever turn for the last word on salvation and eternal destiny.
People are dissatisfied with philosophy, science, new thought - all these amount to nothing when you have a dead child in the house. These do not solace the troubles and woes of the world. They will tell you that, when they were sick and the door of the future was opening in their face, the only comfort they could find was in the gospel of Jesus Christ. Christianity is the only sympathetic religion that ever came into the world, for it is the only religion that ever came from God.
Take your scientific consolations into a room where a mother has lost her child. After you have gotten through with your science, protoplasms, and fortuitous concurrence of atoms, if she isn't bug-house, I will take the Bible and read God's promise, and pray - and her tears will be dried and her soul flooded with calmness like a California sunset.
~Billy Sunday~
(continued with # 3)
There has never been a time in my memory when religion has been so reduced to forms and ritual as today. In the mind of Jesus, religion was not to build up the church, but the church was to build up religion. Religion was not the end but the means to the end. Jesus was so far removed from the formalism and traditions, taught by the priests instead of teaching the commands of God, that He was constantly at cross-purposes with them. A church of make-believers will soon beget a generation of non-believers!
The church in endeavoring to serve God and mammon is growing cross-eyed, losing her power to know good from evil. Jesus dealt with fundamentals; His quietest talk had a torpedo effect on His hearers. Some sermons, instead of being a bugle call to service, are showers of spiritual cocaine.
I am satisfied that there has never been a time when it is harder to live a consistent Christian life than now. I believe the conflict between God and the devil, right and wrong, was never hotter. The allurements of sin have never been more fascinating. I do not believe there ever was a time, since Adam and Eve were turned out of Eden, when traps and pitfalls were more numerous and dangerous than today.
The world is not hungry for a religion of social service without Christ. I will go with you in any and all movements for the good of humanity providing you give Jesus Christ His rightful place. You cannot bathe anybody into the kingdom of God. You cannot change their hearts by changing their sanitation. It is an entirely good and Christian act to give a down-and-outer a bath, bed and a job. It is a Christian act to maintain schools and universities, but the road into the kingdom of God is not by the bath tub, the university, social service, or gymnasium, but by the blood-red road of the Cross of Jesus Christ.
The Bible declares that human nature is radically bad and the power to uplift and change is external; that power is not in any man, woman or system, but by repentance and faith in the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ. The church is the one institution authorized to feed the spiritual hunger of this old sin-cursed world.
You will notice that Jesus did not feed the multitude. He created the food and asked his disciples to distribute it. Jesus was the chef, not the waiter at this banquet. Jesus created salvation, the only food that will feed the spiritual hunger of the world; the task of distributing the food is in the hands of his human followers.
For every two nominal Christians, there are three who are not even nominal. Out of every two church members, one is a spiritual liability; four out of five with their names on our church records are doing nothing to bring the world to Jesus. There are twenty million young men in this country between the ages of sixteen and thirty [1925]. Nineteen million are not members of any church; nine million attend church occasionally; ten million never darken a church door.
Seventy-four per cent of our criminals are young men under twenty-one years of age. In the past twenty-five years the age of prostitutes has fallen from twenty-six years of age to seventeen years of age. Five hundred girls fifteen years old and under were divorced or widowed last year. Juvenile crime increased in one year from thirty-two per cent to a hundred and thirty-eight per cent.
There are many institutions that enter into competition with the church in preaching certain phases of religion, but not in preaching religion itself. Associate charities preach charity sometimes with stronger emphasis than the church. Some organizations talk about justice and square-dealing with more vehemence that the church. Some individuals thunder against vice and crime more than the pulpit. Many institutions and organizations preach one or more phases of religion, but it is to the church humanity must ever turn for the last word on salvation and eternal destiny.
People are dissatisfied with philosophy, science, new thought - all these amount to nothing when you have a dead child in the house. These do not solace the troubles and woes of the world. They will tell you that, when they were sick and the door of the future was opening in their face, the only comfort they could find was in the gospel of Jesus Christ. Christianity is the only sympathetic religion that ever came into the world, for it is the only religion that ever came from God.
Take your scientific consolations into a room where a mother has lost her child. After you have gotten through with your science, protoplasms, and fortuitous concurrence of atoms, if she isn't bug-house, I will take the Bible and read God's promise, and pray - and her tears will be dried and her soul flooded with calmness like a California sunset.
~Billy Sunday~
(continued with # 3)
Spiritual Food For A Hungry World # 1
Spiritual Food For A Hungry World # 1
"They need not depart; give ye them to eat" (Matthew 14:16).
Some folks do not believe in miracles. I do. A denial of miracles is a denial of the virgin birth of Jesus. The Christian religion stands or falls on the virgin birth of Christ. God created Adam and Eve without human agencies. He could and did create Jesus supernaturally. I place no limit on what God can do. If you begin to limit God, then there is no God.
I read of a preacher who said that the miracles of the Bible were more of a hindrance than a help. Then he proceeded to spout his insane blasphemy. He imagined Jesus talking to the five thousand and, like many speakers, overrunning his time limit. The disciples, seeing night coming, said: "Master, you have talked this crowd out of their supper and there is nothing to eat in this desert place; dismiss them so they can go into the towns and country and get food."
He imagined Jesus saying: "We have some lunch, haven't we?"
"Yes, but not enough to feed this crowd."
Well, let's divide it up and see." So, Jesus proceeds to divide his lunch with the hungry crowd.
An old Jew, seeing Jesus busy, asked, "What's he doing?" Dividing his lunch." "Huh," grunts this old knocker, "He is the first preacher I've ever seen who practices what he preaches." Shamed by the example of Jesus, this old tight-wad brought out his lunch basket and began to divide. Others caught the spirit and followed suit and in this way the five thousand were fed. This heretic of a so-called preacher thought such an occurrence more reasonable than the Bible account. Every attempt to explain the miracles by natural laws gets the explainer into great difficulty and shows him up as ridiculous.
I wish to draw some practical lessons from this miracle of Jesus feeding the five thousand. The world is hungry. Jesus stood face to face with the problem of physical hunger just as we, in our day, face the problem of hunger, not only physical but spiritual.
If one were to believe all the magnificent articles in current and religious literature, one would think the world is disgusting and indifferent to the religion of Jesus Christ. I believe exactly the opposite is true. In no century since the morning stars sang together has there been more real hunger for genuine religion than this. And yet, many a preacher, instead of trying to feet this spiritual hunger, is giving some book review, staking a claim out on Jupiter or talking evolution, trying to prove we came from a monkey with his prehensile tail wrapped around a limb shying coconuts at his neighbor across the alley.
The world is not disgusted with religion, but is disgusted with the worldliness, rituals, ceremonies and non-essentials in which we have lost religion.
There are some kinds of religion the world is not hungry for:
A religion of formal observances. In Isaiah, first chapter, the Lord says: "To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices? I am full of the burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fed beasts. Incense is an abomination unto me; your new moons and you appointed feasts my soul hateth. When you make prayers, I will not hear them. Your hands are full of blood. Put away the evil of your doings; cease to do evil, learn to do well."
Their formalism didn't make a hit with the Lord. He saw through their smoke screen. Religion does not consist in doing a lot of special things, even if branded as religious, but in doing everything in a special way as the Lord directs. Whenever the church makes its observances and forms the end, instead of the means to the end, the world will turn its back on it.
Praying is not an act of devotion - reading the Bible is not an act of devotion - going to church is not an act of devotion - partaking of the communion is not an act of devotion; these are aids to devotion. The actual religion lies not in prayer, reading the Bible, church attendance, but in the quality of life which these observances create in you. If the doing of these things does not change your life, then it profits you nothing to have them done. Thousands forget religion and allow the forms of religion to take the place of religion. They are substituting religiousness for righteousness. Jesus alone can save the world, but Jesus can't save the world alone. He needs our help.
The world is not hungry for a religion of theory. There was a time when people were interested intensely in fine-spun theological theories. You could announce a debate on the forms of baptism and pack the house with the S. R. O. sign hanging out. That day has passed; a debate on baptism or predestination would not draw a corporal's guard. The average man has not lost interest in the vital truths connected with these topics, but he has lost interest in the type of religion that spends its energy in argument, word battles, and wind jamming. Religion should relate to life and conduct as well as theory.
~Billy Sunday~
(continued with # 2)
"They need not depart; give ye them to eat" (Matthew 14:16).
Some folks do not believe in miracles. I do. A denial of miracles is a denial of the virgin birth of Jesus. The Christian religion stands or falls on the virgin birth of Christ. God created Adam and Eve without human agencies. He could and did create Jesus supernaturally. I place no limit on what God can do. If you begin to limit God, then there is no God.
I read of a preacher who said that the miracles of the Bible were more of a hindrance than a help. Then he proceeded to spout his insane blasphemy. He imagined Jesus talking to the five thousand and, like many speakers, overrunning his time limit. The disciples, seeing night coming, said: "Master, you have talked this crowd out of their supper and there is nothing to eat in this desert place; dismiss them so they can go into the towns and country and get food."
He imagined Jesus saying: "We have some lunch, haven't we?"
"Yes, but not enough to feed this crowd."
Well, let's divide it up and see." So, Jesus proceeds to divide his lunch with the hungry crowd.
An old Jew, seeing Jesus busy, asked, "What's he doing?" Dividing his lunch." "Huh," grunts this old knocker, "He is the first preacher I've ever seen who practices what he preaches." Shamed by the example of Jesus, this old tight-wad brought out his lunch basket and began to divide. Others caught the spirit and followed suit and in this way the five thousand were fed. This heretic of a so-called preacher thought such an occurrence more reasonable than the Bible account. Every attempt to explain the miracles by natural laws gets the explainer into great difficulty and shows him up as ridiculous.
I wish to draw some practical lessons from this miracle of Jesus feeding the five thousand. The world is hungry. Jesus stood face to face with the problem of physical hunger just as we, in our day, face the problem of hunger, not only physical but spiritual.
If one were to believe all the magnificent articles in current and religious literature, one would think the world is disgusting and indifferent to the religion of Jesus Christ. I believe exactly the opposite is true. In no century since the morning stars sang together has there been more real hunger for genuine religion than this. And yet, many a preacher, instead of trying to feet this spiritual hunger, is giving some book review, staking a claim out on Jupiter or talking evolution, trying to prove we came from a monkey with his prehensile tail wrapped around a limb shying coconuts at his neighbor across the alley.
The world is not disgusted with religion, but is disgusted with the worldliness, rituals, ceremonies and non-essentials in which we have lost religion.
There are some kinds of religion the world is not hungry for:
A religion of formal observances. In Isaiah, first chapter, the Lord says: "To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices? I am full of the burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fed beasts. Incense is an abomination unto me; your new moons and you appointed feasts my soul hateth. When you make prayers, I will not hear them. Your hands are full of blood. Put away the evil of your doings; cease to do evil, learn to do well."
Their formalism didn't make a hit with the Lord. He saw through their smoke screen. Religion does not consist in doing a lot of special things, even if branded as religious, but in doing everything in a special way as the Lord directs. Whenever the church makes its observances and forms the end, instead of the means to the end, the world will turn its back on it.
Praying is not an act of devotion - reading the Bible is not an act of devotion - going to church is not an act of devotion - partaking of the communion is not an act of devotion; these are aids to devotion. The actual religion lies not in prayer, reading the Bible, church attendance, but in the quality of life which these observances create in you. If the doing of these things does not change your life, then it profits you nothing to have them done. Thousands forget religion and allow the forms of religion to take the place of religion. They are substituting religiousness for righteousness. Jesus alone can save the world, but Jesus can't save the world alone. He needs our help.
The world is not hungry for a religion of theory. There was a time when people were interested intensely in fine-spun theological theories. You could announce a debate on the forms of baptism and pack the house with the S. R. O. sign hanging out. That day has passed; a debate on baptism or predestination would not draw a corporal's guard. The average man has not lost interest in the vital truths connected with these topics, but he has lost interest in the type of religion that spends its energy in argument, word battles, and wind jamming. Religion should relate to life and conduct as well as theory.
~Billy Sunday~
(continued with # 2)
The Deeper Christian Life # 12
The Deeper Christian Life # 12
Or, think of the need of the world. If you were to send out missionaries full of the Holy Spirit, what a blessing that would be! Why is it, that many a missionary complains in the foreign field, "There I leaned how weak and how unfit I am!" It is because the churches from which they go are not filled with the Holy Spirit. Someone said to me a few weeks ago, "They talk so much about the volunteer movement and more missionaries; but we want something else, we want missionaries filled with the Holy Spirit." If the church is to come right, and the mission field is to come right, we must each begin with Himself. It must begin with yourself and say, "O God, for Thy sake; O God, for Thy church's sake, O God, for the sake of the world, help me! I must be filled with the Holy Spirit."
What folly it would be for a man who had lost a lung and a half, and had hardly a quarter of a lung to do the work of two, to expect to be a strong man and to do hard work, and to live in any climate. And what folly for a man to expect to live - God has told him he cannot live - a full Christian life, unless he is full of the Holy Spirit! Jesus wants us to come and to receive the fulfillment of the promise, "He that believeth in Me,streams of water shall flow out from him." Oh, begin to say, "If I am to live a right life, if I am in every part of my daily life and conduct to glorify my God, I must have the Holy Spirit - I must be filled with the Spirit." Are you going to say that? Are you going to say that? Talking for months and months won't help. Do submit to God, and as an act of submission say, "Lord, I confess it, I ought to be filled, I must be filled, help me!" And God will help you.
And then comes the second step, I may be filled. The first had reference to duty; the second has reference to privilege - I may be filled. Alas! So many have got accustomed to their low state that they do not believe that they may, they can, actually be filled. And what right have I to say that you ought to take these words into your lips? My right is this - God wants healthy children. I saw today a child of six months old, as beautiful and chubby as you could wish a child to be, and with what delight the eyes of the father and the mother looked upon him, and how glad I was to see a healthy child. And of; do you think that God in heaven does not care for His children, and that God wants some of His children to live a sickly life? I tell you, it is a lie! God wants every child of His to be a healthy Christian; but you cannot be a healthy Christian unless you are filled with God's Spirit. Beloved, we have got accustomed to a style of life; and we see good Christians - as we call them - earnest men and women, full of failings; and we think, "Well, that is human; that man looses his tempter, and that man is not as kind as he should be, and that man's word cannot be trusted always as ought to be the case; but - but -" And in daily life we look upon Christians and think, "Well, if they are very faithful in going to church and in giving to God's cause, and in attending the prayer meeting, and in having family prayers, and in their profession." Of course we thank God for them and say, "We wish there were more such," but we forget to ask, "What does God want?" Oh, that we might see that "it is meant for me and for everyone else." My brother, my sister, there is a God in heaven who has been longing for these past years, while you never thought about it, to fill you with the Holy Spirit. God longs to give the fullness of the Spirit to every child of His.
They were poor heathen Ephesians, only lately brought out from heathendom, to whom Paul wrote this letter, - people among whom there still was stealing and lying, for they had only just come out from heathendom, but Paul said to every one of these, "Be filled with the Spirit." God is ready to do it; God wants to do it. Oh, do not listen to the temptation of the devil, "This is only meant for some eminent people, - a Christian who has a great deal of free time to devote to prayer and to seeking after it, - a man of a receptive temperament, - that is the man to be filled with the Spirit. Who is there that dare say, "I cannot be filled with the Spirit." Who will dare say that? If any of you speak thus it is because you are unwilling to give up sin. Do not think that you cannot be filled with the Spirit because God is not willing to give it to you. Did not the Lord Jesus promise the Spirit? Is not the Holy Spirit the best part of His salvation? Do you think He gives half a salvation to any of His redeemed ones? Is not His promise for all, "He that believeth in me, rivers of water shall flow out of him"? This is more than fullness - this is overflow; and this Jesus has promised to everyone who believes in Him. Oh, cast aside your fears, and your doubts, and your hesitation, and say at once, "I can be filled with the Spirit; I may be filled with the Spirit. There is nothing in heaven, or earth, or hell, can prevent it, because God has promised and God is waiting to do it for me." Are you ready to say, "I may I can, I can be filled with the Spirit, for God has promised it, and God will give it"? And then we get to the third step, when a man says, "I will have it; I must have it; I may have it; I will have it." "No, I won't have it; I long for it"!
~Andrew Murray~
(continued with # 13)
Or, think of the need of the world. If you were to send out missionaries full of the Holy Spirit, what a blessing that would be! Why is it, that many a missionary complains in the foreign field, "There I leaned how weak and how unfit I am!" It is because the churches from which they go are not filled with the Holy Spirit. Someone said to me a few weeks ago, "They talk so much about the volunteer movement and more missionaries; but we want something else, we want missionaries filled with the Holy Spirit." If the church is to come right, and the mission field is to come right, we must each begin with Himself. It must begin with yourself and say, "O God, for Thy sake; O God, for Thy church's sake, O God, for the sake of the world, help me! I must be filled with the Holy Spirit."
What folly it would be for a man who had lost a lung and a half, and had hardly a quarter of a lung to do the work of two, to expect to be a strong man and to do hard work, and to live in any climate. And what folly for a man to expect to live - God has told him he cannot live - a full Christian life, unless he is full of the Holy Spirit! Jesus wants us to come and to receive the fulfillment of the promise, "He that believeth in Me,streams of water shall flow out from him." Oh, begin to say, "If I am to live a right life, if I am in every part of my daily life and conduct to glorify my God, I must have the Holy Spirit - I must be filled with the Spirit." Are you going to say that? Are you going to say that? Talking for months and months won't help. Do submit to God, and as an act of submission say, "Lord, I confess it, I ought to be filled, I must be filled, help me!" And God will help you.
And then comes the second step, I may be filled. The first had reference to duty; the second has reference to privilege - I may be filled. Alas! So many have got accustomed to their low state that they do not believe that they may, they can, actually be filled. And what right have I to say that you ought to take these words into your lips? My right is this - God wants healthy children. I saw today a child of six months old, as beautiful and chubby as you could wish a child to be, and with what delight the eyes of the father and the mother looked upon him, and how glad I was to see a healthy child. And of; do you think that God in heaven does not care for His children, and that God wants some of His children to live a sickly life? I tell you, it is a lie! God wants every child of His to be a healthy Christian; but you cannot be a healthy Christian unless you are filled with God's Spirit. Beloved, we have got accustomed to a style of life; and we see good Christians - as we call them - earnest men and women, full of failings; and we think, "Well, that is human; that man looses his tempter, and that man is not as kind as he should be, and that man's word cannot be trusted always as ought to be the case; but - but -" And in daily life we look upon Christians and think, "Well, if they are very faithful in going to church and in giving to God's cause, and in attending the prayer meeting, and in having family prayers, and in their profession." Of course we thank God for them and say, "We wish there were more such," but we forget to ask, "What does God want?" Oh, that we might see that "it is meant for me and for everyone else." My brother, my sister, there is a God in heaven who has been longing for these past years, while you never thought about it, to fill you with the Holy Spirit. God longs to give the fullness of the Spirit to every child of His.
They were poor heathen Ephesians, only lately brought out from heathendom, to whom Paul wrote this letter, - people among whom there still was stealing and lying, for they had only just come out from heathendom, but Paul said to every one of these, "Be filled with the Spirit." God is ready to do it; God wants to do it. Oh, do not listen to the temptation of the devil, "This is only meant for some eminent people, - a Christian who has a great deal of free time to devote to prayer and to seeking after it, - a man of a receptive temperament, - that is the man to be filled with the Spirit. Who is there that dare say, "I cannot be filled with the Spirit." Who will dare say that? If any of you speak thus it is because you are unwilling to give up sin. Do not think that you cannot be filled with the Spirit because God is not willing to give it to you. Did not the Lord Jesus promise the Spirit? Is not the Holy Spirit the best part of His salvation? Do you think He gives half a salvation to any of His redeemed ones? Is not His promise for all, "He that believeth in me, rivers of water shall flow out of him"? This is more than fullness - this is overflow; and this Jesus has promised to everyone who believes in Him. Oh, cast aside your fears, and your doubts, and your hesitation, and say at once, "I can be filled with the Spirit; I may be filled with the Spirit. There is nothing in heaven, or earth, or hell, can prevent it, because God has promised and God is waiting to do it for me." Are you ready to say, "I may I can, I can be filled with the Spirit, for God has promised it, and God will give it"? And then we get to the third step, when a man says, "I will have it; I must have it; I may have it; I will have it." "No, I won't have it; I long for it"!
~Andrew Murray~
(continued with # 13)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)