Classic Christian Quotes

Classic Christian Quotes


When He strikes us--as well as when He strokes us! 

(Abraham Wright)

"You have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons: My son, do not make light of the Lord's discipline, and do not lose heart when He rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those He loves, and He disciplines everyone He accepts as a son." Hebrews 12:5-6 

We may feel God's hand as a Father upon us, when He strikes us--as well as when He strokes us! 

What fools are we, then, to frown upon our afflictions! These, however difficult, are our best friends. 

They are not indeed for our pleasure--they are for our profit. I am . . .
  mended by my sickness,
  enriched by my poverty, and
  strengthened by my weakness!

"God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in His holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it." Hebrews 12:10-11
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The Entrance of Error

Jude 1:4 gives us an ominous warning,

For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ.

Jude is giving us an idea of how the devil brings error into a church.  The key phrase is men have crept in unnoticed.  That phrase literally means to come alongside by stealth.  It pictures someone creeping in and coming alongside, like coming in through a side door.

The folks Jude is talking about look like everyone else, they talk like everyone else, but they are not like everyone else.

That is the way the devil brings error and false doctrine into the Church.  It looks like the truth, sounds good, seems like the truth, and it may even be partially true.  But there is enough poison in it to kill you.

It's like the guy who wanted to break into a used car lot to steal a bunch of auto parts.  The only problem was the two guard dogs.  So for the next week he showed up every night with some pieces of meat.

At first the dogs would bark like crazy, but after the man left, they would eat the meat.  By the end of the week, they didn't bark at all, they just wanted the meat.  So, having become familiar with the dogs, knowing that they wouldn't "sound the alarm," he approached them one last time--with poisoned meat.  The dogs ate, and he was able to get into the lot and steal all he wanted.

That is the way the devil does it a lot of times.  He sends someone among the believers in order to distract and detour them from the truth.  But it is calculated and happens by degrees.  Do not let your "inner alarm system" go silent through familiarity.

Beware of those who would move you away, even subtly, from the clearly revealed truth of God's Word.

~Bayless Conley~

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Jude 1:15-19

(15) to execute judgment on all, to convict all who are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have committed in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him." (16) These are grumblers, complainers, walking according to their own lusts; and they mouth great swelling words, flattering people to gain advantage. (17) But you, beloved, remember the words which were spoken before by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ: (18) how they told you that there would be mockers in the last time who would walk according to their own ungodly lusts. (19) These are sensual persons, who cause divisions, not having the Spirit.
New King James Version 

  

Verse 15 emphasizes ungodliness. These false ministers are the total opposite of what God is, and if we know what God is—what godliness is—then we can identify and avoid them.

Jude then gives four more descriptors to help us identify false teachers: 1) They are discontented murmurers and complainers. They always have something to gripe about. Discontent with their lot in life, they find fault with everything. Nothing is ever right for them. 2) They live to satisfy their every desire, a trait Jude has already explained thoroughly. 3) They speak bombastic bragging words, and 4) they are respecters of persons, if it will benefit them. They will do anything to get ahead.

In verse 17, we were warned that such people will enter the church and try to ruin it, so we have no excuse. They are here already, and we need to make sure they do not stay here by keeping an eye out for them and giving no quarter to them when they begin their ungodly work.

Jude then gives three final descriptions of them in verse 19. He calls them 1) "sensual" or worldly. They are based totally in this world, in the realm of the five senses. They have no connection to the heavenly. 2) They "cause divisions," meaning when they appear, the congregation begins taking sides. 3) He ends his description with the opposite of his description of true church members in verse 1: False teachers do not have God's Spirit. They are not of us. They may be among us, but they are not God's spiritual children (Romans 8:9-17). We can see from their fruits that the spirit they have is not God's.

With these descriptions of false teachers, we can be more confident in testing the spirits (I John 3:24-4:6).

 Richard T. Ritenbaugh

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Second Coming of Christ # 7

Second Coming of Christ # 7

Whenever I remember I'm a part of the Body of Christ, a member of the royal family, I just want to shout "Hallelujah." In talking to men God must, of course, use the language of men, but He can only put into our words just a little of what He would tell us. A very little looking into the matter, however, will show that He has used the most expressive words in our language to show how near and precious is to be our relationship to Him. In fact, He has used about all the words we have that could be used for that purpose, as members of His Body, His Bride and sons of God.

If we are so fortunate as to have a part in that meeting in the air, it will mean that we are among the most fortunate of all the sons of men, and that we have lived in the most blessed of all times for men to live, for only those are eligible to membership in the Body of Christ who live in the present dispensation.

Moses and David and Isaiah and Jeremiah had no such chance as we have, for the Body of Christ had its beginning at Pentecost. Neither will those who live after the Rapture have an opportunity, for the Body will then be complete and the door closed forever, as it was in the faces of the foolish virgins. Jesus said of John the Baptist that he was the greatest of all prophets, but that the least in the kingdom of God was greater than he. What an awful thing it would be, then, to have such a glorious opportunity and miss it! Others will know the joys of great salvation, for the world will be saved during the Millennium (the next dispensation), and the knowledge of the glory of God will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea, but the people of that day will have no place in the Body of Christ; they cannot become members of the royal family. They will be loyal subjects of the king.

That is why Paul could say, "For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us" (Romans 8:16).

There is a vast difference between a son of King George and a subject of Great Britain. The smallest baby of royal blood is greater than the greatest man in the kingdom.

2. If we have a place in that meeting in the air it will mean that we are like Christ, for "when He shall appear we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is."

The true child of God is always longing to be like his Master, and this heart yearning is the sure prophecy of what we shall then be. It will also mean that we shall nevermore be separated from Him. The devil will never again have power to separate us from Him for a single moment, and wherever He is, there shall we be also. The fact that Jesus is to be here during the Millennium would be proof conclusive that we shall be here with Him, even if there were no other Scripture for it.

3. For some that meeting will mean that they reached it without having to pass through death, for it is to be composed of those who have gone before, and those who are still living at that time. Some who are born into this world are never to die, and we may hope to be of that elect number.

The Christian has no business to be looking for death. it is his right to hope to live forever, and instead of expecting to go to the grave, he should be looking for the coming of His Lord and the meeting in the air.

4. It will also mean that we shall then have bodies that will remain young forever. Pains and aches, gray hair, wrinkles and feebleness will never again be known. "Behold, I show you a mystery; we shall not all sleep (die), but we shall be changed. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump, for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible (no longer subject to change or decay), and we shall be changed (into His likeness)" (1 Cor. 15;51-52). And it will come in the twinkling of an eye - in a moment - and that moment will be what all time was made for.

In that moment some will give up old age to be young forever. Others will go from beds of pain upon which they may have lain prostrate for years. Others, from the most grinding poverty, will spring to eternal wealth. Some will go from burdens from which they expected no relief save death. From tribulations and troubles and afflictions will not that moment be a deliverance, and how the angels will begin to crowd the battlements of Heaven upon that glad meeting when they know it is about to come! In a moment! In the twinkling of an eye!

"Come, Lord Jesus; come quickly" ought to be the daily prayer of every Christian heart. And yet as we look about us now, and see how the devil seems to be having his way as much as ever, it looks as if that great time would never come.

But you can't tell by appearances. An hour before the tidal wave comes there is nothing to indicate that it will ever come. Nobody dreamed of an earthquake ten minutes before San Francisco began to rock and tumble.

~Billy Sunday~

(continued with # 8)

Classic Quotes From Classic Christian Ministers.

Classic Quotes From Classic Christian Ministers.



The secret desire of every unconverted heart!(Robert Murray M'Cheyne

"The fool says in his heart, 'There is no God!' They are corrupt, and their ways are vile; there is no one who does good." Psalm 53:1

It is in his heart that he says this. This is the secret desire of every unconverted heart. If the bosom of God were within the reach of men, it would be stabbed a million times in one moment!

When God was manifest in the flesh, He was altogether lovely. He did no sin, and went about continually doing good. Yet they they mocked Him and spat upon Him and crucified Him on the accursed tree! Unconverted men would do the same with God again--if they could. 

Learn the fearful depravity of your heart. I venture to say that there is not an unconverted man present, who has the most distant idea of the monstrous wickedness that is now within his bosom. When you are in Hell, it will break out unrestrained.

Yes, you have a heart that would kill God if you could. If the bosom of God were nor within your reach, and one blow would rid the universe of Him--you have a heart fit to do the heinous deed! 
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Today's Reading: Deuteronomy 30; Mark 15:1-25

Today's Thoughts: Crush, Kill and Destroy

Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. 1 Peter 5:8

Satan is alive and well. His mission has been the same since the Garden of Eden: to crush, kill and destroy (just like the android on Lost in Space). He is good at twisting concepts and manipulating ideas into truths that are not real. Satan’s battlefield is in your mind and starts within your circumstances. He frustrates your plans, trying to crush that peace within your heart. When your attitudes don’t match, you have just become a hypocrite and Satan loves to make hypocrites out of Christians. Once you are aware of this scheme (which for some of us is a lifetime), you learn to pray and resist him by drawing near to God. You do this by learning how to discipline your behavior and choosing not to allow the fruits of the Spirit to be crushed. Praying, submitting to God and meditating on scripture are the next steps. But then Satan’s next plan of attack hits your mind. Now, Satan cannot read your mind but he can discern what you are thinking by your words and behaviors. He can also put his thoughts into your mind. I have found that many times I don’t need the devil to put bad thoughts into my mind because I can do that all by myself. I am capable of taking my own self out of the ministry or walking away from the Lord, with very little effort or attack from him.

So “be on guard” for Satan is seeking someone, like you, to devour. If you look weak, think weak, act weak, and your words express a weakness in your faith, then you will surely become his next target. Peter warns us to be sober and vigilant. Both words have similar Greek meanings: to watch and keep awake.  Obviously, this is more difficult for us because we don’t see into the spiritual realm to understand what’s going on. If we disregard the work of the enemy, we allow him to have the advantage over us.

After we pray, the Lord opens our eyes and gives us discernment to know what’s really going on. Too many Christians are apathetic and complacent. The enemy doesn’t have to bother with an apathetic and complacent Christian. That is just where he wants us to be, but God has so much more for us. The Lord has won the battle; we just have to put the armor on and pray, “Lead us not into temptation.” But when we are tempted, remember 1 John 4:4, “Greater is He who is in us than he who is in the world.” The Lord wants to give us an abundant life on this earth so why not start living it today!

Our mission is to evangelize the lost and awaken the saved to live empowered lives by the Work of God and His Holy Spirit. Daily Disciples Ministries makes a difference for the kingdom of God by teaching and training believers how to be in God's Word, how to pray and how to walk with Jesus every day, as His daily disciple.

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God would be voted out of the world!

(Thomas Boston, "Human Nature in its Fourfold State")

"The world . . . hates Me because I testify of it that its works are evil." John 7:7 

"They have hated both Me and my Father!" John 15:24 
"They hated Me without a cause!" John 15:25 

"Haters of God." Romans 1:30

"Crucify Him!" they shouted. 
"Why? What crime has He committed?" asked Pilate.
 But they shouted all the louder, "Crucify Him!" Mark 15:13-14

Men set up for themselves an idol of their own imagination, instead of the true God--and then fall down and worship it.

Every natural man is an enemy to God--as He is revealed in His Word. The infinitely holy, just, powerful, and true God--is not the God whom he loves, but the God whom he loathes! The Pagans finding that they could not be like God in holiness, made their gods like themselves in filthiness; and thereby they show what sort of a god the natural man would have. God is holy and just; can an unholy creature love His unspotted holiness? 

There is not a man, who is wedded to his lusts, as all the unregenerate are--but would desire to blot out the God of justice. Can the malefactor love his condemning judge? Can a heinous sinner love a just and holy God? No, he cannot!

Men naturally would rather have a blind idol--than the all-seeing God! They no more love the all-seeing, everywhere present God--than the thief loves to have the judge witness to his evil crimes. If it could be carried by votes, God would be voted out of the world; for the language of the carnal heart is, "Leave us alone! We have no desire to know Your ways!" Job 21:14

"The carnal mind is a mass of downright, undiluted enmity to the Most High God. Such a mind is opposed, not merely to the things of God, the laws of God, and the truth of God--but to God Himself!" 

Second Coming of Christ # 6

Second Coming of Christ # 6

The Jews have always been full of energy in business, as no other people, and when they become ambassadors for Christ there will be no lukewarmness or indifference. Either before or during the Tribulation the Jews will have been restored to the holy land, rebuilding their Temple and restoring the Jewish worship.

Also during the tribulation the antichrist will come, most likely in the person of some great king. It is supposed that he will be a personal incarnation of God. He will go to Jerusalem, and there do great signs and wonders, by which he will so delude the chosen people that they will accept him as their Messiah, and pay him divine honors in the Temple. It will be during this that Jesus will return and destroy him by the brightness of His coming. "And then shall the wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of His mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of His coming, even of satan with all power and signs and lying wonders" (2 Thess. 2:8-9).

The devil has got some of you so close to hell that you can smell the fumes. He's no loafer. He's been working for 6,000 years, and he was never laid up with appendicitis nor tonsillitis, nor the grip.

In the Lord's coming there are to be two distinct phases - His coming for the members of His body, and revelation to them at the time of the Rapture, or taking up into the air, and His coming with the members of His body at the close of the Tribulation, when He is revealed to the Jews and destroys the antichrist.

Overlooking these two phases has put some people in confusion about the order of events, just as the failure to distinguish between the prophecies pertaining to the first and second coming confused the Jews, and caused them to reject Jesus, through what they supposed to be His failure to fulfill prophecy.

Yes, Christ will come in person, and will destroy the antichrist. The seat of His power will be Jerusalem. This is literal and not figurative.

The visible Church will be left here, strong in members and organization. It will probably make a great show of missionary activity, but will have no more power against the principalities and powers of evil than did the disciples who missed the Mount of Transfiguration have over the demons that were tormenting the little boy. In a worldly way it will appear to bee in a very prosperous condition, rich in property and elegant buildings; but here is a picture of what it will be after the salt of the earth have been taken out of it: "This know also that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection; truce breakers, false accusers, inconsistent, fierce, dispisers of those that are good; traitors, heady, high-minded, lover of pleasure more than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying the power thereof" (2 Tim. 3:1-5).

Did you ever know a time in all history when the world was worse than it is now? People are passing up the Church and the prayer meeting for the theater, the leg show and the movies. Oh, Lord, how we need someone to cry aloud, "Return to God."

Bear in mind that this has no reference to the Turks, the heathen in Africa or the people in the slums; but that it is a description of the rank and file of the Church, after the Lord has come and taken His Body out of the world. For notice that it is said that these people have a form of godliness which means that they are professors of religion. They are not avowed infidels or atheists, but professed believers.

Let us consider, in the first place, something of what it may mean to have a part in that meeting in the air.

1. Well, the most glorious thing about it is that if we are there we shall be members of the Body of Jesus Christ. It will mean that we are members of the royal family of the universe; that we are kings and princes who are to sit on the throne and reign with Jesus, and that we shall be with Him forevermore, never to be separated from Him again. And this will mean that we shall be the most exalted beings in all the universe, for who could be higher than the sons of God or the Bride of our Lord?

We are living in the most important part of the world's history. Great heaven! I don't see how anyone can fail to be inspired.

It is an awful things to miss being a part of the Body of Christ because you're too big a fool to be a Christian. You would rather play bridge. Well, then, go to the devil, if that's the way you want to live. I can't stop you.

~Billy Sunday~

(continued with # 7)

The Deeper Christian Life # 24

The Deeper Christian Life # 24

4. Then accept and value your place in Christ Jesus. God delights in nothing but His beloved Son, and can be satisfied with nothing else in those who draw nigh to Him. Enter deep into God's holy presence in the boldness which the blood gives, and in the assurance that in Christ you are most well pleasing. In Christ you are within the veil. You have access into the very heart and love of the Father. This is the great object of fellowship with God, that I may have more of God in my life, and that God may see Christ formed in me. Be silent before God and let Him bless you.

5. This Christ is a living Person. He loves you with a personal love, and He looks everyday for the personal response of your love. Look into His face with trust, till His love really shines into your heart. Make His heart glad by telling Him that you do love Him. He offers Himself to you as a personal Saviour and Keeper from the power of sin. Do not ask, can I be kept from sinning, if I keep close to Him? but ask, can be kept from sinning if He always keeps close to me? and you see at once how safe it is to trust Him.

6. We have not only Christ's life in us as a power, and His presence with us as a person, but we have His likeness to be wrought into us. He is to be formed in us, so that His form or figure, His likeness can be seen in us. Bow before God until you get some sense of the greatness and blessedness of the work to be carried on by God in you this day. Say to God, "Father; here am I for Thee to give as much in me of Christ's likeness as I can receive." And wait for Him to say, "My child, I give thee as much of Christ as thy heart is open to receive." The God who revealed Jesus in the flesh and perfected Him, will reveal Him in thee and perfect thee in Him. The Father loves the Son, and delights to work out His image and likeness in thee. Count upon it that this blessed work will be done in thee as thou waitest on thy God, and boldest fellowship with Him.

7. The likeness to Christ consists chiefly in two things - the likeness of His death and resurrection, (Romans 6:5). The death of Christ was the consummation of His humility and obedience, the entire giving up of His life to God. In Him we are dead to sin. As we sink down in humility and dependence and entire surrender to God, the power of His death works in us, and we are made conformable to His death. And so we know Him in the power of His resurrection, in the victory over sin, and all the joy and power of the risen life.

8. All this can only be in the power of the Holy Spirit, who dwells in you. Count upon Him to glorify Christ in you. Count upon Christ to increase in you the inflowing of His Spirit. Seek in God's presence to have the full anointing of the Spirit of Christ so truly that your whole life may every moment be spiritual.

9. Only the Holy Spirit Himself can teach you what an entire yielding of the whole life to God can mean. Wait on God to show you in this what you do not know.

10. "By faith" must here, as through all Scripture, and all the spiritual life, be the keynote. As you tarry before God, let it be in a deep quiet faith in Him, the invisible One, who is so near, so holy, so mighty, so loving. In a deep, restful faith too, that all the blessings and powers of the heavenly life are around you, and in you. Just yield yourself in the faith of a perfect trust to the Ever Blessed Holy Trinity, to work out all God's purpose in you. Begin each day thus in fellowship with God, and God will be all in all to you.

~Andrew Murray~

(The End)

The Deeper Christian Life # 23

The Deeper Christian Life # 23

There are perhaps men and women whose hearts are asking, "What do you want me to do. Shall I be a missionary? No, indeed, I do not ask you to do this. Deal with God, and come to Him and say, "Lord of all, I belong to Thee. I am absolutely at Thy disposal." Yield up yourselves. There may be many who cannot go as missionaries, but oh, come, give up yourselves to God all the same to be consecrated to the work of His Kingdom. Let us bow down before Him. Let us give Him all our powers - our head to think for His Kingdom, our heart to go out in love for men, and however feeble you may be, come and say: "Lord, here I am, to live and die for Thy Kingdom. Some talk and pray about the filling of the Holy Spirit. Let them pray more and believe more. But remember the Holy Spirit came to fit men to be messengers of the Kingdom, and you cannot expect all the love and peace and joy of heaven to come into your life and be your treasures, unless you give them up absolutely to the Kingdom of God, and possess and use them only for Him. It is the soul utterly given up to God that will receive in its emptying the fullness of the Holy Spirit. Dear friends, we must consecrate not only ourselves - body and soul, but all we have. Some of you may have children; perhaps you have an only child, and you dread the very idea of letting it go. Take care, take care; God deserves your confidence, your love, and your surrender. I plead with you, take your children and say to Jesus: "Anything Lord, that pleases Thee." Educate your children for Jesus. God help you to do it. He may not accept of all of them, but He will accept of the will, and there will be a rich blessing in your soul for it. Then there is money. When I hear appeals for money from every society; when I hear calculations as to what the Christians are spending on pleasure, and the small amount given for missions, I say there is something terrible in it. God's children with so much wealth and comfort, and giving away so small a portion! God be praised for every exception! But there are many who give but very little, who never give that it costs them something, and they feel it. Oh, friends! our giving must be in proportion to God's giving. He gives you all. Let us take it up in our consecration prayer: "Lord, take it all, every penny I possess. It is all Thine." Let us often say "it is all His." You may not know how much you ought to give. Give up all, put everything in His hands, and He will teach you if you will wait.

We have heard this precious message from David's mouth. We Christians of the nineteenth century, have we learned to know our God who is willing to give everything? God help us to.

And then the second message. We have nothing that we do not receive, and we may receive everything if we are willing to stand before God and take it.

Thirdly, whatever you have received from God give it back. It brings a double blessing to your own soul.

Fourthly, whatever God receives back from us comes to Him in Heaven and gives Him infinite joy and happiness, as He sees His object has been attained. Let us come to the spirit of David, with the spirit of Jesus Christ in us. Let us pray our consecration prayer. And may the blessed Spirit give each of us grace to think and to say the right thing, and to do what shall be pleasing in the Father's sight.

Daily Fellowship with God

1. The first and chief need of our Christian life is fellowship with God.

The Divine life within us comes from God, and is entirely dependent upon Him. As I need every moment afresh the air to breath, as the sun every moment afresh sends down its light, so it is only in direct living communication with God that my soul can be strong.

The manna of one day was corrupt when the next day came. I must every day have fresh grace from heaven, and I obtain it only in direct waiting upon God Himself. Begin each day by tarrying before God and letting Him touch you. Take time to meet God.

2. To this end, let your first act in your devotions be a setting yourself still before God. In prayer, or worship, everything depends upon faith and adoration, speaking thus within my heart: "God is. God is near. God is love, longing to communicate Himself to me. God the Almighty One, Who worketh all in all, is even now waiting to work in me, and make Himself known." Take time, till you know God is very near.

3. When you have given God His place of honor, glory, and power, take your place of deepest lowliness, and seek to be filled with the Spirit of humility. As a creature it is your blessedness to be nothing, that God may be all in you. As a sinner you are not worthy to look up to God; bow in self abasement. As a saint, let God's love overwhelm you, and bow you still lower down. Sink down before Him in humility, meekness, patience, and surrender to His goodness  and mercy. He will exalt you. Oh! Take time, to get very low before God.

~Andrew Murray~

(continued with # 24)

The Second Coming of Christ # 5

The Second Coming of Christ # 5

Throughout this dispensation the Lord has been working among the Gentiles (those not belonging to the Jewish nation), and this shows the purpose of which He has been working. There is no thought expressed there of the millennium.

"And to this agree the words of the Prophets (about God's purpose in gathering a chosen people from the Gentiles). As it is written (and that means what God says). After this after the number of people to be chosen from the Gentiles has been chosen, I will return (to the direct dealing with Israel) and build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down" (Acts 15:15-16).

What does that mean? What does it mean for a house to be fallen down? Certainly that it cannot longer be used as a house while in that condition. Read the prophecy of Amos, from which this is taken, and see why it is that God is through with Israel until He has taken from the Gentiles the people for His name. (To bear His name, to glorify His name). The mission of the Church - the Bride of Christ, or Body of Christ is to get ready to meet the Bridegroom. When the Body of Christ is completed He will reveal Himself to the members who are alive and in this world at that time, and at the same moment they will be caught up to meet those who have gone on before in the air, and from that moment they are forever with the Lord.

The Body of Christ will be composed of believers from every race and nation on earth. That is why the Gospel must first be preached as a witness to every nation. Not from every dispensation. It had its beginning on the day of Pentecost and will be complete at the time of the meeting in the air; which is called the Rapture. For He is now preparing, perfecting and completing the Church - the Body of Christ, the Bride who is to meet the Lord in the air,and be with Him forevermore.

These different members will be found, one here and another there, and gathered together from all parts of the world, and the moment the last one is saved Christ will be revealed - not to the world, but to His Church - His Bride - just as the electric light blazes out when the last condition is fulfilled. At that time Christ will not be revealed to the whole world, but only to the individual members of His Body who may be alive and here at that time.

There remains no prophecy to be fulfilled. There is not a nation where the Gospel has not been preached. So Christ must be waiting for the completion of the Body of believers.

When the Rapture comes it will come in the twinkle of an eye. Those who have died in the Lord will be resurrected, and they, with the believers who are alive, will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air. When the Rapture comes it will come in the twinkling of an eye, and will be altogether unexpected except by those who have been searching for prophecies and are looking for it, just as Simeon and Anna and the wise men were looking for Jesus at His first coming. After it has occurred there will be an army of Church members and preachers who will not know that it has come, because they are not members of the Lord's Body; for the Lord will not at that time be seen by any except those who have been caught up to meet Him in the air.

The remainder of the world will not know that He has been here, and they will not know what has become of the missing ones. They will seem to have disappeared in all kinds of unaccountable ways, unless their earthly bodies shall be left behind them, as the linen clothes of Jesus were left in the tomb. But things will soon settle back into their old condition, and the world go on its way, as did Sodom after Lot was taken out of it.

The notion that people have about the second coming of Christ is that when He comes the Judgment Day will also come, and that the world will come to an end. This idea is unscriptural and shows how little the Bible has been searched to find and make known the real truth by those who are leaders and teachers in the church. Business will goon and governments will go on as now. After Jesus comes and takes the believers out of the world, then takes place the great Tribulation, a description of which you will find later on. At the close of the Tribulation the Lord will return, bringing with Him His saintly members of His Body, to begin His Millennium reign. Then He will reveal Himself to the Jews. They will accept Him as their long-rejected Messiah. Then the Millennium will begin - the devil will be cast into the bottomless pit for a thousand years; nations will be born in a day, through the missionary efforts of the Jews.

When the Jews accept Jesus Christ and bring to Him all their wonderful energy and intelligence, oh, this world will grow as it has never grown before! Nations will be born in a day.

~ Billy Sunday~

(continued with # 6)

Scarcely Saved # 2

Scarcely Saved # 2

"The ungodly and the sinner." Why are there two words instead of one? On purpose, it would seem, to take in sinners of all sorts - the hardened transgressor, the man who lives in habits of sin, the bold wicked man - the weak and wavering man, the light and careless, the worldly, the empty professor - all who are living without God in the world, all who are not washed in the blood of Christ and renewed by the Spirit. It is quite plain that the apostle means here all who are not righteous; he puts the righteous on one side, and the ungodly and the sinner on the other side; and on one side or the other, he means to take in everybody. It is just the same as if he had said, "If the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall all the rest appear?"

Now, ask yourself honestly, whether you are among the righteous. The question is not whether you are better or worse than your neighbors; that has nothing to do with it - but are you righteous? Does what was said at the beginning apply to you? Are you converted? Do you believe with the heart? Are you seeking daily to live to God? If not, then this question about the ungodly and the sinner is for you.

Perhaps you do not like either of these words. You do not pretend to be righteous - yet you are not so bad, you think, as those who are called ungodly or sinners.

Then, reader, I ask you, if neither righteous nor ungodly - what are you? Put your finger on that word in the Bible which describes you. You cannot. There is nothing in the Bible between righteous and unrighteous, godly and ungodly, reconciled and unreconciled. And if you are not righteous in God's sight, then before Him - whatever you may be in your own eyes or in the eyes of the world - before Him, you are ungodly or sinful. I beseech you - weigh this well.

And now we come to the question itself, "Where will the ungodly and the sinner appear?" But this question must not be taken by itself, it hangs upon what has gone before about the righteous: "If the righteous one is scarcely saved - then where will the ungodly and the sinner appear?"

The full meaning is this. Seeing that even the righteous man is scarcely saved, that his dangers and difficulties are great; that he finds it necessary to put on the whole armor of God", to press toward the mark, to strive to enter through the narrow gate, and that, though saved to the uttermost by Jesus Christ - yet it is as one is rescued from the water or the flames - seeing all this, what will become of the wicked?

Shall the righteous be scarcely saved - and you so easily? Shall he reach Heaven by so rough a road - and you by one so smooth? Shall he go in by the straight gate and the narrow way - and shall you choose the broad gate and the wide road, and yet find it leads you at last to the same happy place? Shall he take up his cross and follow Christ - and shall you follow nothing but your own will, and yet win Christ in the end? Never repenting, never turning, never believing - and yet saved? Finding without seeking; not running the race, and yet winning the prize; wearing a crown, though never having taken up the cross?

Impossible! Reason says so - conscience says so, and, as plainly as words can speak, God Himself has said so. Have you never read of the wheat and the tares (Matt. 13:30), of the sheep and the goats, of the right hand and the left (Matt. 25:33)?

I spoke just now of a broad road and a narrow road, a straight gate and a wide gate; do you remember what the Bible says about them, and about the places to which they lead? Here are the words - our Lord's own words: "Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it" (Matthew 7:13-14).

The righteous and the wicked are traveling different roads - and will come to different ends. It is true, they are mixed now, as plants growing in one field are mixed; but it will not always be so. A great separating day is coming, when every plant which God has not planted shall be rooted up; and all refuges of lies shall be swept away (Isaiah 28:17), and the true sheep of Christ from every quarter shall be gathered together into one fold, into which no mere pretender shall ever come.

To that great day, this question itself seems to point, "Where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?" Appear when? Why, on that very day when the Lord Jesus shall appear in His glory, and the saints who slept appear with Him, and His waiting people on earth shall appear with joy to meet Him. Then, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear? Appear they must, somewhere. They cannot hide themselves. "Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye shall see Him, even those who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him" (Revelation 1:7).

Oh, sinner! Careless and stout-hearted now - where will you appear, and how will you feel then? In vain you call upon the mountains and rocks to fall on you, and hide you. You must come forth - you cannot escape from that all-seeing eye - you must meet the Judge. Where will you appear?

No true believer shall be lost. "Come with us." Turn from sin and the world. Leave the broad road and begin to walk in the narrow way. It is a safe way, the only safe way. Oh, set out on this road without delay! Too much time has been lost already - lost no more. No longer run the risk of appearing among the ungodly and the sinners at His coming - flee to Christ at once; be instant and urgent at the mercy seat; pray for the Holy Spirit, for light, pardon, grace, and strength; and ask that, for Christ's sake, you may even now be reckoned among the righteous, and be saved in the day of the Lord! 

~Francis Bourdillon~

(The End)

Scarcely Saved! # 1

Scarcely Saved! # 1

The Bible states that "the righteous are scarcely saved" (1 Peter 4:18).

Now how can this be? Is not such a man sure to be saved? Is not salvation promised to him? Is there any doubt about it? None whatever! "The righteous" here means - not one who is righteous in himself - for there is no such person in the world - but a true Christian, a converted man, one who is justified by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and seeks daily to live to His glory. There is no doubt about such a person's salvation. He is a branch of the true Vine, a sheep of the flock of Christ; eternal life is given him by Christ; he shall never perish, and none shall pluck him out of the good Shepherd's hand!" (John 10:28).

What then does this "scarcely" mean? Take a case by way of illustration. A fire once broke out in one of the large houses in Hatton Garden, London. It was thought all the inhabitants were saved, when a man was seen hanging by his hands from one of the upper window sills. The fire escape was immediately placed, but did not reach him. The fireman then climbed up and called to him to let himself drop on the top step of the escape, but the man did not answer - he was deaf and dumb. With great difficulty the fireman managed, by standing on the top step, to reach high enough to touch his foot, and so attracted his attention. The man was saved - but scarcely saved."

Take another case. It was a frosty day in winter; the ice seemed strong, and the pond was crowded with people. Suddenly, a sharp cracking sound was heard, and an instant after the cry arose, "A boy is under the ice!" One of the skaters had ventured too near a dangerous part; the ice had given way, and he had sunk beneath. Not a moment was lost. A line was formed to the shore, and those nearest the hole stretched themselves flat on the ice. The boy arose to the surface, the nearest hand laid hold on him, the line moved gently toward the shore, and in a few minutes the boy lay on the bank. But he was senseless. They took him to the nearest house and applied the usual means for recovery - but all, as it seemed, in vain. The eyes were closed, the limbs were stiff and cold; the breath gone. At length when hope was almost past, signs of life appeared; the limbs began to glow; the stiffness relaxed, and he breathed again. The boy was saved, but only "scarcely saved."

Either of these cases may serve to explain how the righteous is said to be scarcely saved. It is not that he is not quite saved, and certainly saved; but it is because of the great danger he was in, and the great difficulties he has been brought through. He was by nature a child of wrath, dead in trespassed and sins, with no power or wish to turn to God. But through grace he has been led to see his danger and to seek Christ; a change of heart has been wrought in him by the Spirit of God; he has become a new creature in Christ Jesus and has passed fro death unto life.

But his difficulties are not over. Snares and temptations lie in his path; and his heart, though renewed by grace, is by no means free from sin. He finds the Christian life to be no smooth and easy course - but a race, a strife, a warfare, from the first to last; and often has he to mourn over his own backslidings and shortcomings. And probably he has trials of another kind too - losses, sorrows, afflictions; for God does not leave His children unchastised. The chastisements He sends are proofs of love, rather than of anger - and sometimes seem to fall heaviest on the best Christians.

Thus it is through danger and difficulty, temptation and trial - that the Christian is saved. Many a rough place must he pass; many a battle must he fight; many a sorrow must he bear - before his course be done. He is saved, but "scarcely saved." Yet it is surely though scarcely. Tried and harassed he may be - but not lost. Worn, tempted, and persecuted - but not cast away. God's love and faithfulness are engaged for his salvation. "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone pluck them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father's hand. I and My Father are one" (John 10:27-30).

But now comes a solemn question: If the righteous is scarcely saved - then what will become of the unrighteous? It is the Bible that puts this question about the unrighteous. The words are these: "If the righteous one is scarcely saved - then where will the ungodly and the sinner appear?" (1 Peter 4:18). They are in fact the words of God, though written by the apostle Peter. They are God's words to you, reader, if you are among the ungodly and the sinners - God's solemn question to your soul. A question without an answer: the answer is left to you.

~Francis Bourdillon~

(continued with # 2)

The Deeper Christian Life # 22

The Deeper Christian Life # 22

Come, and then God will delight to give. If I may with reverence say it, He cannot help Himself; it is His promise, His nature. The blessing is ever flowing out of Him. You know how water always flows into the lowest places. If we would but be emptied and low, nothing but receptacles, what a blessed life we could live! Day by day just praising Him - Thou givest and I accept. Thou bestowest and I rejoice to receive. Many people have said this morning: "What a beautiful day!Let us throw open the windows and bring in the sunlight with its warmth and cheerfulness!" May our hearts learn every moment to drink in the light and sunshine of God's love.

"Who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able to offer so willingly after this sort? for all things comes of Thee, and we have given Thee of Thine own."

3. If God gives all and I receive all, then the third thought is very simple - I must give all back again. What a privilege that for the sake of having me in loving, grateful intercourse with Him, and giving me the happiness of pleasing and serving Him, the Everlasting God should say, "Come now, and bring Me back all that I give." And yet people say, "Oh, but must I give everything back?" My brother, don't you know that there is no happiness or blessedness except in giving to God! David felt it. He said: "Lord, what an unspeakable privilege it is to be allowed to give back to Thee which is Thine own!" Just to receive and then to render back in love to Him as God, what He gives. Do you know what God needs you for? People say, "Does not God give us all good gifts to enjoy?" But do you know that the reality of the enjoyment is in the giving back? Just look at Jesus - God gave Him a wonderful body. He kept it holy and gave it as a sacrifice to God. This is the beauty of having a body. God has given you a soul; this is the beauty of having a soul - you can give it back to God. People talk about the difficulty they meet with in having so strong a will. You never can have too strong a will, but the trouble is we do not give that strong will up to God, to make it a vessel in which God can and will pour His Spirit, so as it fit it to do splendid service for Himself.

We have now had the three thoughts: God gives all; I receive all; I give up all. Will you do this now? Will not every heart say, "My God, teach me to give up everything?" Take your head, your mind with all its powers of thought, your tongue with all its power of speaking, your property, your heart with its affections - the best and most secret - take gold and silver, everything, and lay it at God's feet and say, "Lord, here is the covenant between me and Thee. Thou delightest to give all, and I delight to give back all." God teach us that. If that simple lesson were learned, there would be an end of so much trouble about finding out the will of God, and an end of all our holding back, for it would be written, not upon our foreheads, but across our hearts, "God can do with me what He pleases; I belong to Him with all I have." Instead of always saying to God, "Give, give, give," we should say, "Yes, Lord, Thou dost give, thou dost love to give, and I love to give back." Try that life and find out if it is not the very highest life.

4. God gives all, I receive all, I give all. Now comes the fourth thought. God does so rejoice in what we give to Him. It is not only I that am the receiver and the giver, but God is the giver and the Receiver too, and, may I say it with reverence, has more pleasure in the receiving back than even in giving. With our little faith we often think they come back to God again all defiled. God says, "No, they come back beautiful and glorified"; the surrender of the dear child of His, with his aspirations and thanksgivings, brings it to God with a new value and beauty. Ah! child of God you do not know how precious the gift that you bring to your Father, is in His sight. Have I not seen a mother give a piece of cake, and the child comes and offers her a piece to share it with her? How she values the gift! And your God, oh, my friends, your God, His heart, His Father's heart of love, longs, longs, longs to have you give Him everything. It is not a demand. It is a demand, but it is not a demand of a hard Master, it is the call of a loving Father, who knows that every gift you bring to God will bind you closer to Himself, and every surrender you make will open your heart wider to get more of His spiritual gifts. Oh, friends! a gift to God has in His sight infinite value. It delights Him. He sees of the travail of His soul and is satisfied. And it brings unspeakable blessing to you. These are the thoughts our text suggests; now comes the practical application. What are the lessons? We here learn what the true dispositions of the Christian life are. 

To be and abide in continual dependence upon God. Become nothing, begin to understand that you are nothing but an earthen vessel into which God will shine down the treasure of His love. Blessed is the man who knows what it is to be nothing, to be just an empty vessel meet for God's use. Work, the Apostle says, for it is God who worketh in you to will and do do. Brethren, come and take tonight the place of deep, deep dependence on God. And then take the place of a child-like trust and expectancy. Count upon your God to do for you everything that you can desire of Him. Honor God as a God who gives liberally. Honor God and believe that He asks nothing from you but what He is going first to give. And then come praise and surrender and consecration. Praise Him for it! Let every sacrifice to Him be a thank-offering. What are we going to consecrate? First of all our lives. 

~Andrew Murray~

(continued with # 23)

Second Coming of Christ # 4

Second Coming of Christ # 4

Too many who are now masters in Israel are as much in the dark as Nicodemus was. The truth is no harder to get at than corn on the cob, if we will first strip off the husk, and shell it. We need to depend more upon the Holy Spirit and less upon our libraries if we would preach so that those who hear us will also hear the voice of God in our message. It is not what Doctor This or Professor That has to say about it that settles the question, and settles it right, but who reads the Bible. What does the Bible say about it? And what we need to do is to take the Bible as it reads, not as some big man says it means.

Big men have been mistaken about vital things just as often as little ones. The safest pilot is not the one who wears the biggest hat, but the one who knows the channel the best. We should let the Bible speak to us just as God means it should, without distorting it by the prejudices and vagaries of those who are always trying to put their own camel into it and strain out somebody else's gnat.

It is high time for Christians to interpret unfulfilled prophecies by the light of prophecies already fulfilled.

The curses on the Jews were brought to pass literally - so also will be the blessings.

The scattering were literal; so also will be the gatherings.

The pulling down of Zion was literal; so also must be the building up.

The rejection of Israel was literal; and so also must be the restoration.

The first coming of Christ was literal, visible and personal, and what right has anybody to conclude that His second coming will be all together spiritual? If His first advent was with a real body, why not the same with His second coming?

When Jesus first came the smallest predictions were fulfilled to the very latter; and should this not teach us to expect that the same will be true when He comes again? There are very many more prophecies concerning His second coming than the first, and does not this mean that God wants to give us the most favorable opportunity possible to prepare for it? If the humility and shame of Christ at His first coming were literal and visible, should not His second coming in power and glory be also literal and visible?

While face to face with them, Jesus taught His disciples to be in constant expectation of His early return, and they so understood Him and lived accordingly. They preached the doctrine and taught it in their epistles, every one of them. Certainly, if anybody ever understood the Lord correctly, it was the men whom He personally trained to do that very thing, that they might hand the truth He gave them down to us. If they failed to understand Him, what hope is there that anybody else may do so?

Jesus is going to come and reveal Himself to the members of His body at the very moment when the last soul is saved necessary to complete that body - for the body of Christ must consist of a certain number of souls, or it never could be completed. If it were an infinite number it would be an endless task, and Jesus would never return, for He can no more come with His Heavenly body than He could come the first time without a human body. It is the completion of the body of Christ, therefore, that will bring Him, and this shows how we may help hasten His coming.

"Looking for and hastening unto the coming of the day the God wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved and the elements shall melt with fervent heat" ( 2 Peter 3:12).

Every time we do personal work or try to get anybody saved, we may be doing something that will bring the coming of the Lord. Instead of being discouraged by looking about us and seeing what a small prospect there is of the whole world being converted, it will set our bones on fire to think that perhaps the last man needed to complete the Lord's body and bring Jesus back to earth may be converted this very day. That gives us something definite and tangible to work for, and hope for, don't you see? Colonel Clark, the founder of the Pacific Garden Mission in Chicago, put in six nights out of every seven at the mission as long as he lived. One day somebody said to him: "Colonel, why don't you take some rest? You are killing yourself by sticking to that mission so close. Why don't you take a vacation and go away somewhere and rest?" "I can't do it, brother," answered the Colonel. "I could never do that, for every time I start for the mission, I think, maybe the last man may be saved in our little meeting tonight, and the Lord will come, and I wouldn't miss being at my post for anything in the world!. When Jesus comes I want to be right where He expects me to be."

The Bible very clearly makes known the great truth that God's purpose for this dispensation is the completing of the Body of Christ. He is not trying to save the world now; that is to be the work of the next dispensation. Here is the scripture for it:

"God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for His name. (The body of Christ) And to this agree the words of the prophets; as it is written: "After this I will return and will build again the tabernacle of David (the Jewish nation) which is fallen down (scattered and no longer being used) - and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set them that the residue of men might seek after the Lord (through their missionary efforts)" (Acts 15:14-17). That is the present dispensation, and that is what God is doing now. There is nothing said here about the conversion of the world, but it is made clear that a people is being chosen, and much Scripture might be quoted to show that the people so referred to will constitute the body of Christ.

~Billy Sunday~

(continued with # 5)