All For Christ # 1
There is an exquisite hymn of Christian experience which tells of the writer's growth in grace. It testifies of an increasing sense of Christ's preciousness. In the four verses four steps show the progress made:
"All for self - and none for Thee."
"Some for self - and some for Thee."
"Less for self - and more for Thee."
Then comes the blessed outcome:
"Higher than the highest Heaven,
Deeper than the deepest sea:
Lord, Your love at last has conquered;
Grant me now my soul's petition:
None for self - and all for Thee."
"All for Christ" is the aim every Christian should cherish in life. We can only enjoy the comfort and peace which Christ gives, in proportion as we walk as He directs. If we desire to spend a happy, useful life, if we desire to meet the trials and the cares it may bring in quiet confidence and hope - we must not only rely upon the Saviour's all-sufficient grace, but carefully obey the precepts He has given us.
Doing this, we need never be afraid. Dark clouds may overshadow our path,disease and death may visit our homes, losses and bad debts and hard times and multiplied troubles may come upon us - but doing God's will, trusting in His never-failing providence, relying upon His free grace and mercy in Christ, we are assured that He is with us, and will never fail us.
"All for Christ" is our motto. The Apostle Paul gives it in a few striking words: "Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks unto God and the Father by Him" (Colossians 3:17).
We mark here, that true Christian principle has universal sway and operation. It has deep foundations. It rests on the solid rock of revealed truth. It takes its stand on sound doctrine, the Divine Sonship, the atonement, the resurrection, the mediatorial power and dignity of the Lord Jesus, on the renewing and regenerating grace of the Holy Spirit, as the source of all peace and consolation. But, resting here, as the ground of hope and security.... the conscience purged through the sprinkled blood, the heart changed and the will molded by the Spirit, the believer goes forward in a spirit of lively gratitude to carry into daily practice the lessons which grace has taught him.
And in the obedience to be rendered, there is no limitation. The precept is as broad as the promise. "Whatever you shall ask the Father in My Name, He will give it to you." "All things, whatever you shall ask in prayer, believing, you shall receive." Thus runs the promise. (John 16:23; Matthew 21:22). Exactly parallel runs the precept: "Whatever you do ... do all in the name of the Lord Jesus;" or again, "Whether therefore you eat, or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God" (1 Corinthians 10:31). On the one hand you have the "whatever" of promised good; on the other, the "whatever" of obedience commanded. You have the "all things" given in love to the believer; you have the "all things" to be performed out of gratitude according to God's will.
So we see that the precept takes in the whole field of a Christian's life and duty. It covers every inch of ground. It distinctly bears on every act and word and thought, and on every moment of our time. It permits no exceptions. From our first waking thought in the morning to the last breath we draw before we sleep at night, from the first day of January to the last day of December, and that of every year of our lives, until our course is run - all is to be yielded, gladly and willingly, to the service of our Redeemer-King.
"Business is business, work is work, religion is religion," is the thought of some who profess and call themselves Christians. Not so! Business is religion, work is religion, our common everyday duties are religion, if only they be done as the Master bids us.
A commercial traveler once gave me his idea on this subject: "Our clergyman comes out of a hot bed," said he, "and preaches on Sunday a sermon on our duty far higher than we can reach. So I listen to what he says, and then go back to my work on Monday remembering my chief duty is to provide for my wife and my family."
There was a measure of truth in his words. I admit that the precepts of Christ are "far too high" for a man of the world. To do as Christ commands must be as intolerable bondage to one who has no living faith, who knows nothing of Christ's love, nor has received the power and grace of the Holy Spirit. But it is not too high for one who is a Christian indeed. No aim can be too exalted for one who has been purchased by the blood of Christ, and who has yielded himself as a living sacrifice to the Father in Heaven. We dare not to please man, lower the standard or lessen the responsibility which is laid upon us. We dare not, and we must not, narrow the limit of our service or the extent of our obedience.
The standard which the Apostle gives, reaches to every sphere and concerns every part of life. It touches the hidden world of the heart, and claims a control over every thought and motive and purpose. It comes to the little world of the family circle, and is our guide as to all we should speak and do amidst children or others about us. It follows us into the social world of friends and acquaintances, and is to control our pleasures and recreations, the amusements we frequent, the books we read, and the company we choose.
It pursues us to the world of business, and takes note of our course of action in the shop, in the counting-house, in the market-place, or the exchange.
It does not leave us in the world of politics, but marks how far, in the use of our influence, in giving a vote at an election, we have regard to the upholding of His truth, and the interests of His kingdom. In the religious world we are still to be directed by the same precept. What worship we offer, what liberality we show, what labor we are willing to give - all this is taken into account by Him who searches the heart and knows all our ways.
~George Everard~
(continued with # 2)
Sunday, March 5, 2017
Thursday, March 2, 2017
The Reward of the Faithful # 2
The Reward of the Faithful # 2
I may relate a little experience. In Philadelphia, at one of our meetings, a drunken man rose up. Till that time I had no faith that a drunken man could be converted. When anyone approached he was generally taken out. This man got up and shouted, "I want to be prayed for." The friends who were with him tried to draw him away, but he shouted only louder, and for three times he repeated his request. His call was attended to, and he was converted. God has power to convert a man even if he is drunk.
I have still another lesson. I met a man in New York who was an earnest worker, and I asked him to tell me his experiences. He said he had been a drunkard for over twenty years. His parents had forsaken him, and his wife had cast him off and married someone else. He went into a lawyer's office in Poughkeepsie, mad with drink. This lawyer proved a good Samaritan, and reasoned with him and told him he could be saved. The man scouted the idea. He said, "I must be pretty low when my father and mother, my wife and kindred cast me off, and there is no hope for me here or hereafter." But this good Samaritan showed him how it was possible to secure salvation; got him on his feet, and guided his face toward Zion. And this man said to me: "I have hot drank a glass of liquor since." He is now leader of a young men's meeting in New York. I asked him to come up last Saturday night to Northfield, my native town, where there are a good many drunkards, thinking he might encourage them to seek salvation, he came, and brought a young man with him. They held a meeting, and it seemed as if the power of God rested upon that meeting when these two men went on telling what God had done for them - how He had destroyed the works of the devil in their hearts, and brought peace and unalloyed happiness to their souls. These grog shops here are the works of the devil - they are ruining men's souls every hour. Let us fight against them, and let our prayers go up in our battle, "Lord, manifest Thy power in Chicago this coming month." It may seem a very difficult thing for us, but it is a very easy thing for God to convert rum sellers.
A young man in New York got up and thrilled the meeting with his experience. "I want to tell you," he said, "That nine months ago a Christian came up to my house and said he, wanted to me to become a Christian. He talked to me kindly and encouragingly, pointing out the error of my ways, and I became converted. I had been a hard drinker, but since that time I have not touched a drop of liquor. If any one had asked who the most hopeless man in that town was they would have pointed to me." Today this young man is the superintendent of a Sabbath school. Eleven years ago, when I went to Boston, I had a cousin who wanted a little of my experience. I gave him all the help I could, and he became a Christian. He did not know how near death was to him. He wrote to his brother and said: "I am very anxious to get your soul to Jesus." The letter somehow went to another city, and lay from the 28th of February to the 28th of March - just one month. He saw it was in his brother's handwriting, and tore it open and read the above words. It struck a chord in his heart, and was the means of converting him. And this was the Christian who led this drunken young man to Christ.
This young man had a neighbor who had drank for forty years, and he went to that neighbor and told him what God had done for him, and the result was another conversion.
I tell you these things to encourage you to believe that the drunkards and saloon keepers can be saved. There is work for you to do, and by and by the harvest shall be gathered, and what a scene will be on the shore when we hear the Master on the throne shout, "Well done! Well done!"
Let me say a word to you, mothers. We depend a good deal upon you. It seems to me that there is not a father and mother in all Chicago who should not be in sympathy with this work. You have daughters and sons, and if work is done now they will be able to steer clear of many temptations and will be able to lead better lives here. It seems to me selfishness if they sit down inactive and say, "There is no use in this. We are safe ourselves, what is the use of troubling?" If the mothers and fathers of the whole community would unite their prayers and send up appeals to God to manifest His power, in answer to them there would be mighty work.
I remember in Philadelphia we wanted to see certain results, and we called a meeting of mothers. There were from five to eight thousand mothers present, and each of them had a particular burden upon her heart. There was a mother who had a wayward daughter, another a reckless son, another a bad husband. We spoke to them confidently, and we bared our hearts to one another. They prayed for aid from the Lord,and that grace might be shown to these sons and daughters and husbands, and the result was that our inquiry rooms soon filled with anxious inquirers.
Let me tell you about a mother in Philadelphia. She had two wayward sons. They were wild, dissipated youths. They were to meet on a certain night and join in dissipation. The rendezvous was at the corner of Market and Thirteenth streets, where our meetings were held. One of the young men entered the large meeting, and when it was over went to the young men's meeting near at hand, and was quickened, and there prayed that the Lord might save him. His mother had gone to the meeting that night, and arriving too late, found the door closed. When that young man went home he found his mother praying for him, and the two mingled their prayers together. While they were praying together the other brother came from the other meeting, and brought tidings of being converted, and at the next meeting the three got up and told their experiences, and I never heard an audience so thrilled before or since.
Another incident. A wayward boy in London, whose mother was very anxious for his salvation,said to her, "I am not going to be bothered with your prayers any longer. I will go to America and be rid of them." "But, my boy," she said, "God is on the sea, and in America, and He hears my prayers for you." Well, he came to this country, and as they led into the port of New York some of the sailors told him that Moody and Sankey were holding meeting in the Hippodrome. The moment he landed he started for our place of meeting, and there he found Christ. He became a most earnest worker, and he wrote to his mother and told her that her prayers had been answered; that he had been saved, and that he had found his mother's God.
Mothers and fathers, lift up your hearts in prayer, that there may be hundreds of thousands saved in this city [and around the world].
When we were preaching in Dundee, Scotland, a mother came up with her two sons, 16 and 17 years old. She said to me, "Will you talk to my boys?" I asked her if she would talk to the inquirers, and told her there were more inquirers than workers. She said she was not a good enough Christian - was not prepared enough. I told her I could not talk to her then. Next night she came to me and asked me again, and the following night she repeated her request. Five hundred miles she journeyed to get God's blessing for her boys. Would to God we had more mothers like her. She came to London, and the first night I was there, I saw her in the Agricultural Hall. She was accompanied by only one of her boys - the other had died. Towards the close of the meetings I received this letter from her:
"Dear Mr. Moody: For months I have never considered the day's work ended unless you and your work had been specially prayed for. Now it appears before us more and more. What in our little measure we have found has no doubt been the happy experience of many others in London, my husband and I have sought as our greatest privilege to take unconverted friends one by one to the Agricultural Hall and I thank God that, with a single exception, those brought under the preaching from your lips have accepted Christ as their Saviour, and are rejoicing in His love."
That lady was a lady of wealth and position. She lived a little way out of London; gave up her beautiful home and took lodgings near the Agricultural Hall, so as to be useful in the inquiry room. When we went down to the Opera House she was there; when we went down to the east end there she was again,and when I left London she had the names of 150 who had accepted Christ from her. Some said that our work in London was a failure. Ask her if the work was a failure, and she will tell you. If we had a thousand such mothers in Chicago we would lift it. God and bring your friends here to the meetings.
Think of the privilege, my friends, of saving a soul, if we are going to work for good we must be up and about it. Men can say, "I have not the time." Take it. Ten minutes every day for Christ will give you good wages. Some of you say, "I wish I was young, how I would rush into the battle." Well, if you cannot be a fighter, you can pray and lead on the others. Draw near, old age, and cheer on the others, and take them by the hand and encourage them. If you cannot work yourself, give them cheers to nerve them on in their glorious work. May the blessing of God fail upon us this afternoon, and let every man and woman be up and doing.
~D. L. Moody~
(The End)
I may relate a little experience. In Philadelphia, at one of our meetings, a drunken man rose up. Till that time I had no faith that a drunken man could be converted. When anyone approached he was generally taken out. This man got up and shouted, "I want to be prayed for." The friends who were with him tried to draw him away, but he shouted only louder, and for three times he repeated his request. His call was attended to, and he was converted. God has power to convert a man even if he is drunk.
I have still another lesson. I met a man in New York who was an earnest worker, and I asked him to tell me his experiences. He said he had been a drunkard for over twenty years. His parents had forsaken him, and his wife had cast him off and married someone else. He went into a lawyer's office in Poughkeepsie, mad with drink. This lawyer proved a good Samaritan, and reasoned with him and told him he could be saved. The man scouted the idea. He said, "I must be pretty low when my father and mother, my wife and kindred cast me off, and there is no hope for me here or hereafter." But this good Samaritan showed him how it was possible to secure salvation; got him on his feet, and guided his face toward Zion. And this man said to me: "I have hot drank a glass of liquor since." He is now leader of a young men's meeting in New York. I asked him to come up last Saturday night to Northfield, my native town, where there are a good many drunkards, thinking he might encourage them to seek salvation, he came, and brought a young man with him. They held a meeting, and it seemed as if the power of God rested upon that meeting when these two men went on telling what God had done for them - how He had destroyed the works of the devil in their hearts, and brought peace and unalloyed happiness to their souls. These grog shops here are the works of the devil - they are ruining men's souls every hour. Let us fight against them, and let our prayers go up in our battle, "Lord, manifest Thy power in Chicago this coming month." It may seem a very difficult thing for us, but it is a very easy thing for God to convert rum sellers.
A young man in New York got up and thrilled the meeting with his experience. "I want to tell you," he said, "That nine months ago a Christian came up to my house and said he, wanted to me to become a Christian. He talked to me kindly and encouragingly, pointing out the error of my ways, and I became converted. I had been a hard drinker, but since that time I have not touched a drop of liquor. If any one had asked who the most hopeless man in that town was they would have pointed to me." Today this young man is the superintendent of a Sabbath school. Eleven years ago, when I went to Boston, I had a cousin who wanted a little of my experience. I gave him all the help I could, and he became a Christian. He did not know how near death was to him. He wrote to his brother and said: "I am very anxious to get your soul to Jesus." The letter somehow went to another city, and lay from the 28th of February to the 28th of March - just one month. He saw it was in his brother's handwriting, and tore it open and read the above words. It struck a chord in his heart, and was the means of converting him. And this was the Christian who led this drunken young man to Christ.
This young man had a neighbor who had drank for forty years, and he went to that neighbor and told him what God had done for him, and the result was another conversion.
I tell you these things to encourage you to believe that the drunkards and saloon keepers can be saved. There is work for you to do, and by and by the harvest shall be gathered, and what a scene will be on the shore when we hear the Master on the throne shout, "Well done! Well done!"
Let me say a word to you, mothers. We depend a good deal upon you. It seems to me that there is not a father and mother in all Chicago who should not be in sympathy with this work. You have daughters and sons, and if work is done now they will be able to steer clear of many temptations and will be able to lead better lives here. It seems to me selfishness if they sit down inactive and say, "There is no use in this. We are safe ourselves, what is the use of troubling?" If the mothers and fathers of the whole community would unite their prayers and send up appeals to God to manifest His power, in answer to them there would be mighty work.
I remember in Philadelphia we wanted to see certain results, and we called a meeting of mothers. There were from five to eight thousand mothers present, and each of them had a particular burden upon her heart. There was a mother who had a wayward daughter, another a reckless son, another a bad husband. We spoke to them confidently, and we bared our hearts to one another. They prayed for aid from the Lord,and that grace might be shown to these sons and daughters and husbands, and the result was that our inquiry rooms soon filled with anxious inquirers.
Let me tell you about a mother in Philadelphia. She had two wayward sons. They were wild, dissipated youths. They were to meet on a certain night and join in dissipation. The rendezvous was at the corner of Market and Thirteenth streets, where our meetings were held. One of the young men entered the large meeting, and when it was over went to the young men's meeting near at hand, and was quickened, and there prayed that the Lord might save him. His mother had gone to the meeting that night, and arriving too late, found the door closed. When that young man went home he found his mother praying for him, and the two mingled their prayers together. While they were praying together the other brother came from the other meeting, and brought tidings of being converted, and at the next meeting the three got up and told their experiences, and I never heard an audience so thrilled before or since.
Another incident. A wayward boy in London, whose mother was very anxious for his salvation,said to her, "I am not going to be bothered with your prayers any longer. I will go to America and be rid of them." "But, my boy," she said, "God is on the sea, and in America, and He hears my prayers for you." Well, he came to this country, and as they led into the port of New York some of the sailors told him that Moody and Sankey were holding meeting in the Hippodrome. The moment he landed he started for our place of meeting, and there he found Christ. He became a most earnest worker, and he wrote to his mother and told her that her prayers had been answered; that he had been saved, and that he had found his mother's God.
Mothers and fathers, lift up your hearts in prayer, that there may be hundreds of thousands saved in this city [and around the world].
When we were preaching in Dundee, Scotland, a mother came up with her two sons, 16 and 17 years old. She said to me, "Will you talk to my boys?" I asked her if she would talk to the inquirers, and told her there were more inquirers than workers. She said she was not a good enough Christian - was not prepared enough. I told her I could not talk to her then. Next night she came to me and asked me again, and the following night she repeated her request. Five hundred miles she journeyed to get God's blessing for her boys. Would to God we had more mothers like her. She came to London, and the first night I was there, I saw her in the Agricultural Hall. She was accompanied by only one of her boys - the other had died. Towards the close of the meetings I received this letter from her:
"Dear Mr. Moody: For months I have never considered the day's work ended unless you and your work had been specially prayed for. Now it appears before us more and more. What in our little measure we have found has no doubt been the happy experience of many others in London, my husband and I have sought as our greatest privilege to take unconverted friends one by one to the Agricultural Hall and I thank God that, with a single exception, those brought under the preaching from your lips have accepted Christ as their Saviour, and are rejoicing in His love."
That lady was a lady of wealth and position. She lived a little way out of London; gave up her beautiful home and took lodgings near the Agricultural Hall, so as to be useful in the inquiry room. When we went down to the Opera House she was there; when we went down to the east end there she was again,and when I left London she had the names of 150 who had accepted Christ from her. Some said that our work in London was a failure. Ask her if the work was a failure, and she will tell you. If we had a thousand such mothers in Chicago we would lift it. God and bring your friends here to the meetings.
Think of the privilege, my friends, of saving a soul, if we are going to work for good we must be up and about it. Men can say, "I have not the time." Take it. Ten minutes every day for Christ will give you good wages. Some of you say, "I wish I was young, how I would rush into the battle." Well, if you cannot be a fighter, you can pray and lead on the others. Draw near, old age, and cheer on the others, and take them by the hand and encourage them. If you cannot work yourself, give them cheers to nerve them on in their glorious work. May the blessing of God fail upon us this afternoon, and let every man and woman be up and doing.
~D. L. Moody~
(The End)
Friday, February 24, 2017
The Reward of the Faithful # 1
The Reward of the Faithful # 1
I want to call your attention to the 4th chapter of John, 36th verse. "And he that reapeth receiveth wages and gathereth fruit unto life eternal." I want you to get the text into your hearts. We have a thousand texts to every sermon, but they slip over the hearts of men and women. If I can get this text into your hearts today, with the Spirit of God, these meetings will be the brightest and most glorious ever held in Chicago; for it is the Word of the Lord, and His Word is worth more than ten thousand sermons. "He that reapeth receiveth wages."
I can speak from experience - I have been in the Lord's service for twenty-one years, and I want to testify that He is a good paymaster - that He pays promptly. Oh, I think I see faces before me light up at these words. You have been out in the harvest fields of the Lord, and you know this to be true. To go out and labor for Him is a thing to be proud of - to guide a poor, weary soul to the way of life, and turn his face towards the golden gates of Zion. The Lord's wages are better than silver and gold, because he says that the loyal soul shall receive a crown of glory. If the Mayor of Chicago gave out a proclamation stating that he had work for the men, women, and children of the city, and he would give them a dollar a day, people would say this was very good of the Mayor. This money, however, would fade away in a short time. But here is a proclamation coming directly from the Throne of Grace to every man, woman, and child in the wide world to gather into God's vineyard, where they will find treasures that will never fade, and these treasures will be crowns of everlasting life; and the laborer will find treasures laid up in his Father's house, and when, after serving faithfully here, he will be greeted by friends assembled there. Work for tens of thousands of men, women, and children! Think of it, and the reward. These little children, my friends, are apt to be over looked; but they must be led to Christ - Children have done a great deal in the vineyard. They have led parents to Jesus. It was a little girl that led Naaman to Christ. Christ can find useful work for these little ones. He can see little things, and we ought to pay great attention to them. As I was coming along the street today I thought that if I could only impress upon you all that we have come here as to a vine yard, to reap and to gather, we shall have a glorious harvest, and we want every class to assist us. The first class we want is the Ministers. There was one thing that pleased me this morning, and that was the eight thousand people who came to this building, and the large number of Ministers who seized me by the hand, with the tears trickling down their cheeks, and who gave me a "God bless you!" It gave me a light heart. There are some Ministers who get behind the posts, as if they were ashamed of being seen in our company and of our meetings. They come to criticize the sermon and pick it to pieces. No effort is required to do this. We don't want the Ministers to criticize but to help us, and tell us when we are wrong. There was one Minister in this city who did me a great deal of good when I first started out. When I commenced to teach the Word of God I made very many blunders. I have learned that in acquiring anything a man must make many blunders. If a man is going to learn any kind of trade - carpenter's, plumber's, painter's - he will make any amount of mistakes. Well, this Minister, an old man, used to take me aside and tell me my errors. So we want the Ministers to come to us and tell us of our blunders, and if we get them to do this with us, a spiritual fountain will break over every Church in the city. Many Ministers have said to me, "What do you want us to do?" The Lord must teach us what our work shall be. Let every child of God come up to these meetings, and say, "Teach me, O God, what I can do to help these men and women who are inquiring the way to be saved," and at the close of the meetings draw near to them and point out the way. If men and women are to be converted in great meetings, it is by personal dealings with them. What we want is personal contact with them. If a number of people were sick, and a doctor prescribed one kind of medicine for them all, you would think this was wrong. This audience is spiritually diseased, and what we want is that Christian workers will go to them and find out their trouble. Five minutes private consultation will teach them. What we want is to get at the people. Every one has his own particular burden; every family has a different story to tell. Take the gospel of the Lord to them and show its application; tell them what to do with it, so as to answer their own cases; let the Minister come into the inquiry room.
An old man - a Minister of Glasgow, Scotland was one of the more active in our meetings. When he would be preaching elsewhere he would drive up in a cab with his Bible in his hand. It made no difference what part of Glasgow he was preaching in, he managed to attend nearly every one of our services. The old man would come in and tenderly speak to those assembled, and let one soul after another see the light. His congregation was comparatively small when we got there, but, by his painstaking efforts to Minister to those in search of the Word, when we left Glasgow his Church could not hold the people who sought admission, and I do not know of any man who helped us like Dr. Andrew Bonner. He was always ready to give the weak counsel and point the way out to the soul seeking Christ. If we have not Ministers enough, let those we have come forward,and their elders and Deacons will follow them.
The next class we went to help us to reach the people is the Sunday school teachers, and I value their experience next to that of the Ministers. In the cities were we have been, teachers have come to me and said, "Mr. Moody, pray for my Sunday school scholars," and I just took them aside and pointed out their duties and showed how they themselves ought to be able to pray for their pupils. Next meeting very often they would come, and the prayer would go up from them, "God bless my scholars."
In one city we went to, a Sunday school superintendent came to his Minister and said, "I am not fit to gather sinners to life eternal; I cannot be superintendent any longer." The Minister asked, "What is the reason?" and the man said, "I am not right with God." Then the Minister advised him that the best thing, instead of resigning, was to get right with God. So he prayed with that teacher that the truth would shine upon him; and God lit up his soul with the Word. Before I left that town, the Minister told me all doubt had fled from that superintendent's mind, and he had gone earnestly to work and gathered,from the time of his conversion, over six hundred scholars into the school of his Church. "God can bless, of course, in spite of schools and teachers; but they are the channels of salvation. Bring your classes together, and pray to God to convert them. We have from three thousand to five thousand teachers here. Suppose they said: "I will try to bring my children to Christ," what a reformation we should have! Don't say that that boy is too small, or that girl is too puny or insignificant. Every one is valuable to the Lord. A teacher, whom I found at our services when she ought to have been attending to her class, upon my asking why she was at our meeting, said: "Well, I have a very small class - only five little boys." "What," said I, "you have come here and neglected these little ones! Why, in that little tow head may be the seeds of a reformation. There may be a Luther, a Wheaton, a Wesley, or a Bunyan among them. You may be neglecting a change for them, the effects of which will follow them through life." If you do not look to those things, teachers, some one will step into your vineyard and gather the riches you would have.
Look what that teacher did in Southern Illinois. She had taught a little girl to love the Saviour, and the teacher said to her: "Can't you get your father to come to the Sunday school?" This father was a swearing, drinking man, and the love of God was not in his heart. But under the tuition of that teacher, the little girl went to her father, and told him of Jesus' love, and led him to that Sunday school. What was the result? I heard before leaving for Europe, that he had been instrumental in founding over seven hundred and eighty Sabbath schools in Southern Illinois. And what a privilege a teacher has - a privilege of leading souls to Christ. Let every Sabbath school teacher say: "By the help of God I will try to lead my scholars to Christ."
It seems to me that we have more help in our revivals from young men, except from mothers, than from any other class. The young men are pushing, energetic workers. Old men are good for counsel, and they should help, by their good words, the young men in making Christianity aggressive. These billiard halls have been open long enough. There is many a gem in those places, that only needs the way pointed out to fill their souls with love of Him. Let the young men go plead with them, bring them to the Tabernacle, and don't let them go out without presenting the claims of Christ, and show them His never dying love. Take them by the hand and say: "I want you to become a Christian." What we want is a hand-to-hand conflict with the billiard saloons and drinking halls. Do not fear, but enter them and ask the young men to come. I know that some of you say, in a scornful way: "We will never be allowed to enter; the people who go there will cast us out." This is a mistake. I know that I have gone to them and remonstrated, and have never been unkindly treated. And some of the best workers have been men who have been proprietors of these places, and men who have been constant frequenters. There are young men there breaking their mothers' hearts, and losing themselves for all eternity. The Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ asks you to seek them out. If we cannot get them to come here, let the building be thrown aside, and let us go back and hunt them up, and tell them of Christ and Heaven. If we get someone to preach to, let us preach, even if it be to one person. Christ preached one of His most wonderful sermons to the woman at the well; and shall we not be willing to go to one, as He did, and tell that one of salvation? And let us preach to men, even if they are under the influence of liquor.
~D. L. Moody~
(continued with # 2)
I want to call your attention to the 4th chapter of John, 36th verse. "And he that reapeth receiveth wages and gathereth fruit unto life eternal." I want you to get the text into your hearts. We have a thousand texts to every sermon, but they slip over the hearts of men and women. If I can get this text into your hearts today, with the Spirit of God, these meetings will be the brightest and most glorious ever held in Chicago; for it is the Word of the Lord, and His Word is worth more than ten thousand sermons. "He that reapeth receiveth wages."
I can speak from experience - I have been in the Lord's service for twenty-one years, and I want to testify that He is a good paymaster - that He pays promptly. Oh, I think I see faces before me light up at these words. You have been out in the harvest fields of the Lord, and you know this to be true. To go out and labor for Him is a thing to be proud of - to guide a poor, weary soul to the way of life, and turn his face towards the golden gates of Zion. The Lord's wages are better than silver and gold, because he says that the loyal soul shall receive a crown of glory. If the Mayor of Chicago gave out a proclamation stating that he had work for the men, women, and children of the city, and he would give them a dollar a day, people would say this was very good of the Mayor. This money, however, would fade away in a short time. But here is a proclamation coming directly from the Throne of Grace to every man, woman, and child in the wide world to gather into God's vineyard, where they will find treasures that will never fade, and these treasures will be crowns of everlasting life; and the laborer will find treasures laid up in his Father's house, and when, after serving faithfully here, he will be greeted by friends assembled there. Work for tens of thousands of men, women, and children! Think of it, and the reward. These little children, my friends, are apt to be over looked; but they must be led to Christ - Children have done a great deal in the vineyard. They have led parents to Jesus. It was a little girl that led Naaman to Christ. Christ can find useful work for these little ones. He can see little things, and we ought to pay great attention to them. As I was coming along the street today I thought that if I could only impress upon you all that we have come here as to a vine yard, to reap and to gather, we shall have a glorious harvest, and we want every class to assist us. The first class we want is the Ministers. There was one thing that pleased me this morning, and that was the eight thousand people who came to this building, and the large number of Ministers who seized me by the hand, with the tears trickling down their cheeks, and who gave me a "God bless you!" It gave me a light heart. There are some Ministers who get behind the posts, as if they were ashamed of being seen in our company and of our meetings. They come to criticize the sermon and pick it to pieces. No effort is required to do this. We don't want the Ministers to criticize but to help us, and tell us when we are wrong. There was one Minister in this city who did me a great deal of good when I first started out. When I commenced to teach the Word of God I made very many blunders. I have learned that in acquiring anything a man must make many blunders. If a man is going to learn any kind of trade - carpenter's, plumber's, painter's - he will make any amount of mistakes. Well, this Minister, an old man, used to take me aside and tell me my errors. So we want the Ministers to come to us and tell us of our blunders, and if we get them to do this with us, a spiritual fountain will break over every Church in the city. Many Ministers have said to me, "What do you want us to do?" The Lord must teach us what our work shall be. Let every child of God come up to these meetings, and say, "Teach me, O God, what I can do to help these men and women who are inquiring the way to be saved," and at the close of the meetings draw near to them and point out the way. If men and women are to be converted in great meetings, it is by personal dealings with them. What we want is personal contact with them. If a number of people were sick, and a doctor prescribed one kind of medicine for them all, you would think this was wrong. This audience is spiritually diseased, and what we want is that Christian workers will go to them and find out their trouble. Five minutes private consultation will teach them. What we want is to get at the people. Every one has his own particular burden; every family has a different story to tell. Take the gospel of the Lord to them and show its application; tell them what to do with it, so as to answer their own cases; let the Minister come into the inquiry room.
An old man - a Minister of Glasgow, Scotland was one of the more active in our meetings. When he would be preaching elsewhere he would drive up in a cab with his Bible in his hand. It made no difference what part of Glasgow he was preaching in, he managed to attend nearly every one of our services. The old man would come in and tenderly speak to those assembled, and let one soul after another see the light. His congregation was comparatively small when we got there, but, by his painstaking efforts to Minister to those in search of the Word, when we left Glasgow his Church could not hold the people who sought admission, and I do not know of any man who helped us like Dr. Andrew Bonner. He was always ready to give the weak counsel and point the way out to the soul seeking Christ. If we have not Ministers enough, let those we have come forward,and their elders and Deacons will follow them.
The next class we went to help us to reach the people is the Sunday school teachers, and I value their experience next to that of the Ministers. In the cities were we have been, teachers have come to me and said, "Mr. Moody, pray for my Sunday school scholars," and I just took them aside and pointed out their duties and showed how they themselves ought to be able to pray for their pupils. Next meeting very often they would come, and the prayer would go up from them, "God bless my scholars."
In one city we went to, a Sunday school superintendent came to his Minister and said, "I am not fit to gather sinners to life eternal; I cannot be superintendent any longer." The Minister asked, "What is the reason?" and the man said, "I am not right with God." Then the Minister advised him that the best thing, instead of resigning, was to get right with God. So he prayed with that teacher that the truth would shine upon him; and God lit up his soul with the Word. Before I left that town, the Minister told me all doubt had fled from that superintendent's mind, and he had gone earnestly to work and gathered,from the time of his conversion, over six hundred scholars into the school of his Church. "God can bless, of course, in spite of schools and teachers; but they are the channels of salvation. Bring your classes together, and pray to God to convert them. We have from three thousand to five thousand teachers here. Suppose they said: "I will try to bring my children to Christ," what a reformation we should have! Don't say that that boy is too small, or that girl is too puny or insignificant. Every one is valuable to the Lord. A teacher, whom I found at our services when she ought to have been attending to her class, upon my asking why she was at our meeting, said: "Well, I have a very small class - only five little boys." "What," said I, "you have come here and neglected these little ones! Why, in that little tow head may be the seeds of a reformation. There may be a Luther, a Wheaton, a Wesley, or a Bunyan among them. You may be neglecting a change for them, the effects of which will follow them through life." If you do not look to those things, teachers, some one will step into your vineyard and gather the riches you would have.
Look what that teacher did in Southern Illinois. She had taught a little girl to love the Saviour, and the teacher said to her: "Can't you get your father to come to the Sunday school?" This father was a swearing, drinking man, and the love of God was not in his heart. But under the tuition of that teacher, the little girl went to her father, and told him of Jesus' love, and led him to that Sunday school. What was the result? I heard before leaving for Europe, that he had been instrumental in founding over seven hundred and eighty Sabbath schools in Southern Illinois. And what a privilege a teacher has - a privilege of leading souls to Christ. Let every Sabbath school teacher say: "By the help of God I will try to lead my scholars to Christ."
It seems to me that we have more help in our revivals from young men, except from mothers, than from any other class. The young men are pushing, energetic workers. Old men are good for counsel, and they should help, by their good words, the young men in making Christianity aggressive. These billiard halls have been open long enough. There is many a gem in those places, that only needs the way pointed out to fill their souls with love of Him. Let the young men go plead with them, bring them to the Tabernacle, and don't let them go out without presenting the claims of Christ, and show them His never dying love. Take them by the hand and say: "I want you to become a Christian." What we want is a hand-to-hand conflict with the billiard saloons and drinking halls. Do not fear, but enter them and ask the young men to come. I know that some of you say, in a scornful way: "We will never be allowed to enter; the people who go there will cast us out." This is a mistake. I know that I have gone to them and remonstrated, and have never been unkindly treated. And some of the best workers have been men who have been proprietors of these places, and men who have been constant frequenters. There are young men there breaking their mothers' hearts, and losing themselves for all eternity. The Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ asks you to seek them out. If we cannot get them to come here, let the building be thrown aside, and let us go back and hunt them up, and tell them of Christ and Heaven. If we get someone to preach to, let us preach, even if it be to one person. Christ preached one of His most wonderful sermons to the woman at the well; and shall we not be willing to go to one, as He did, and tell that one of salvation? And let us preach to men, even if they are under the influence of liquor.
~D. L. Moody~
(continued with # 2)
Friday, February 17, 2017
Hot Potatoes with Jackets On, Part 2 - # 4
Hot Potatoes with Jackets On, Part 2 - # 4
Sorry to say, but the time has come when people are wanting talent instead of grace; eloquence instead of piety; rhetoric instead of revelation; reputation and brilliancy instead of holiness. But let us stand by the old land-marks and be advocates of the faith once delivered to our fathers.
Many are saying much about carnality. Could it be possible that they have a few roots left on hand?
If you can't overlook the faults of others, you are not very far up the road of perfect love or brotherly kindness.
Blessed are they who do not allow in themselves anything that they would condemn in others.
You may be so well saved that you will not stoop so low as to criticize the church and find fault with the brethren.
Blessed are they who watch themselves more closely than they watch others, for we will have both hands full to keep ourselves straight!
Blessed are they who have two ears and make good use of both, for they shall hear both sides of the story.
Blessed are they whose ancestors were ordinary people, for we are much alike without divine grace and with divine grace we differ exceedingly.
A valuable asset is neatness of personal appearance. Do not think it a sin to be decent and respectable. If we were able to wear better clothes we might reach a better class of people. A hungry tramp will relish a meal served on a tin plate, but should you attempt to feed the cultured that way, next time they will be some where else at meal time. A hungry soul will feed on the bread of life however crude the vessel may be that conveys it, but those who are not deeply spiritual may first be attracted by the vessel we use in service.
The sincere, devout, and conscientious Christian lives a life of prayer; he carries the spiritual needs of others in his heart. God limits His giving to his asking. He prays the intercessory prayer and keeps a fresh touch of fire on his soul. But without a burden, he is without souls. Don't get crazy to have the daily press write up your church, for unless heaven's record ratifies the daily press, you may be embarrassed at the judgment.
Don't un-Christianize people who fail to walk in your light. While regeneration and sanctification are distinct works of grace, yet there is a developing process, and it takes more time for some than it does for others to apprehend new light.
Practice kneeology, these are peculiar times, "Wait on the Lord," Learn His will and then follow all the way!
Don't be afraid of a hard task which calls for sacrifice; such will develop religious muscle and great faith.
Don't pay too much attention to a compliment, some would rather be polite than honest.
I would not use such expressions as a "higher Christian life," or a "deeper work of grace." People don't know how high or low or how deep. Use Bible terms: sanctification, holiness, pure heart, and perfection.
Stay out of debt - fast, pray, do without, live on two meals a day. You had better boil a soup bone for a week rather than form that awful habit of buying on credit.
Build character, but whatever you do, don't build character on ground leased from the devil.
Be on the watch - don't permit your business to freeze out your spirituality.
Don't talk about being on the solid rock if you haven't prayed through this week.
Watch your words, don't let them be bigger than your ideas. Be simple so a child can understand you.
Don't use a gallon of words to explain a spoonful of thought.
Don't be surprised if some don't believe as you do; know you are scriptural and go ahead.
There are more channels today through which young people may do wrong than formerly; not that they are worse than the young people of other days, but have more temptation. They must be on the job with eyes open if they hold moral standards set for them.
Many hold to the idea, nothing too bad to do providing you don't get caught.
The Cross is the hope of the world making life beautiful, useful, and instrumental.
When gossipers meet for their annual convention the devil and his imps retire to the Lakes for their yearly vacation!
Self-denial is the last thing the devil will allow you to practice after you become religious.
Knowledge without wisdom and character is dangerous. "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom."
~W. B. Dunkum~
(The End)
Sorry to say, but the time has come when people are wanting talent instead of grace; eloquence instead of piety; rhetoric instead of revelation; reputation and brilliancy instead of holiness. But let us stand by the old land-marks and be advocates of the faith once delivered to our fathers.
Many are saying much about carnality. Could it be possible that they have a few roots left on hand?
If you can't overlook the faults of others, you are not very far up the road of perfect love or brotherly kindness.
Blessed are they who do not allow in themselves anything that they would condemn in others.
You may be so well saved that you will not stoop so low as to criticize the church and find fault with the brethren.
Blessed are they who watch themselves more closely than they watch others, for we will have both hands full to keep ourselves straight!
Blessed are they who have two ears and make good use of both, for they shall hear both sides of the story.
Blessed are they whose ancestors were ordinary people, for we are much alike without divine grace and with divine grace we differ exceedingly.
A valuable asset is neatness of personal appearance. Do not think it a sin to be decent and respectable. If we were able to wear better clothes we might reach a better class of people. A hungry tramp will relish a meal served on a tin plate, but should you attempt to feed the cultured that way, next time they will be some where else at meal time. A hungry soul will feed on the bread of life however crude the vessel may be that conveys it, but those who are not deeply spiritual may first be attracted by the vessel we use in service.
The sincere, devout, and conscientious Christian lives a life of prayer; he carries the spiritual needs of others in his heart. God limits His giving to his asking. He prays the intercessory prayer and keeps a fresh touch of fire on his soul. But without a burden, he is without souls. Don't get crazy to have the daily press write up your church, for unless heaven's record ratifies the daily press, you may be embarrassed at the judgment.
Don't un-Christianize people who fail to walk in your light. While regeneration and sanctification are distinct works of grace, yet there is a developing process, and it takes more time for some than it does for others to apprehend new light.
Practice kneeology, these are peculiar times, "Wait on the Lord," Learn His will and then follow all the way!
Don't be afraid of a hard task which calls for sacrifice; such will develop religious muscle and great faith.
Don't pay too much attention to a compliment, some would rather be polite than honest.
I would not use such expressions as a "higher Christian life," or a "deeper work of grace." People don't know how high or low or how deep. Use Bible terms: sanctification, holiness, pure heart, and perfection.
Stay out of debt - fast, pray, do without, live on two meals a day. You had better boil a soup bone for a week rather than form that awful habit of buying on credit.
Build character, but whatever you do, don't build character on ground leased from the devil.
Be on the watch - don't permit your business to freeze out your spirituality.
Don't talk about being on the solid rock if you haven't prayed through this week.
Watch your words, don't let them be bigger than your ideas. Be simple so a child can understand you.
Don't use a gallon of words to explain a spoonful of thought.
Don't be surprised if some don't believe as you do; know you are scriptural and go ahead.
There are more channels today through which young people may do wrong than formerly; not that they are worse than the young people of other days, but have more temptation. They must be on the job with eyes open if they hold moral standards set for them.
Many hold to the idea, nothing too bad to do providing you don't get caught.
The Cross is the hope of the world making life beautiful, useful, and instrumental.
When gossipers meet for their annual convention the devil and his imps retire to the Lakes for their yearly vacation!
Self-denial is the last thing the devil will allow you to practice after you become religious.
Knowledge without wisdom and character is dangerous. "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom."
~W. B. Dunkum~
(The End)
Sunday, February 12, 2017
Hot Potatoes with Jackets On, Part 2 - # 3
Hot Potatoes with Jackets On, Part 2 - # 3
While the conflict rages in the field of full salvation, we are to stand like a stone wall and face the foe. We need the courage of a Luther or the stability of a Wesley when it comes to the defense of Bible holiness. At all times and under all circumstances, let us stand as firm as the Rock of Gibraltar for the principles, doctrines and experience of holiness.
We who belong to the middle class should congratulate ourselves that we were not born with a silver spoon in our mouth and cradled in the lap of luxury. We count it a greater privilege to have come from the humble home, yes, the log cabin, than to have descended in pomp and splendor from the highest rank of distinguished nobility.
Ruskin said, "Greatest trait anyone could possess, was that of humility."
We may have prestige, fame, nobility, honor, riches, wit, wisdom, knowledge, and eloquence, but without perfect love we becomes as "sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal."
A holy man can stand to be discussed and talked about and not talk back as he is accustomed to cold shoulder and hot tongue. While he differs from the world, yet he desires not to be different from other Christians who take Jesus Christ for their pattern, the world for their filed of labor and heaven for their home.
If I ever saw a person I felt sorry for, one who had my profound disgust and heart felt sympathy, it is when I meet a boy or girl all dolled up and trying to act like a dude because they were born in the city. They know nothing of running errands, doing the chores, cutting wood, building fires, hauling wood, rolling logs, piling rocks, plowing corn, hoeing potatoes, pulling weeds, feeding Chickens, slopping the pigs, driving the cows, feeding the horses, mowing the grass, sawing wood, mauling rails, cutting corn, harvesting wheat, and much other drudgery work. No wonder 95% of those who succeed in life come from the farm!
The pastor is one of the divinely constituted orders of the Christian ministry. He is more than an official or dignitary, he is a connecting link, he meets our people and comes in contact with all of their perplexing problems. He marries the living, buries the dead, teaches the young, comforts the old, molds public sentiment, holds a high standard of morals for the community, and preaches the unsearchable riches of Jesus Christ.
In the pioneer days he made a remarkable record; he saddled his horse and led in the trail of civilization. He climbed the mountain, went across the trackless forest, crossed swollen streams, and was on the onward march through summer's heat and winter's cold. Amid falling rains and driving snows he took the gospel to the early settlers of our country. He is a man sent of God, he has religious enthusiasm, he is a live wire. The laity should catch the vision and fall in line for better things. He is a preacher, church builder, pastor, and revivalist. He can rattle the dry bones in the valley, pray, preach, and shout until there is a sound in the top of the mulberry trees indicating victory. He has salvation, common sense, natural ability, mixing qualities, love for souls, consecrated to the task, and with unction and power he goes forward preaching the gospel with the Holy Spirit sent down from heaven.
If we would talk more to the Lord, we would talk less about our neighbors. Of course, we can't be saved so well that people won't talk about us, but we can be saved so well that we won't talk back when they talk. Some people talk so much they have no salvation left, only religion!
The strait gate is at the end of the way,and only straight people will be allowed through the strait gate!
Character is what we are at midnight. Reputation is what we are at high noon.
He who relates the faults of others to you will relate yours to the other fellow at his first opportunity.
Most preachers have intelligence enough to preach the gospel, yet many of them have run short of grace!
~W. B. Dunkum~
(continued with # 4)
While the conflict rages in the field of full salvation, we are to stand like a stone wall and face the foe. We need the courage of a Luther or the stability of a Wesley when it comes to the defense of Bible holiness. At all times and under all circumstances, let us stand as firm as the Rock of Gibraltar for the principles, doctrines and experience of holiness.
We who belong to the middle class should congratulate ourselves that we were not born with a silver spoon in our mouth and cradled in the lap of luxury. We count it a greater privilege to have come from the humble home, yes, the log cabin, than to have descended in pomp and splendor from the highest rank of distinguished nobility.
Ruskin said, "Greatest trait anyone could possess, was that of humility."
We may have prestige, fame, nobility, honor, riches, wit, wisdom, knowledge, and eloquence, but without perfect love we becomes as "sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal."
A holy man can stand to be discussed and talked about and not talk back as he is accustomed to cold shoulder and hot tongue. While he differs from the world, yet he desires not to be different from other Christians who take Jesus Christ for their pattern, the world for their filed of labor and heaven for their home.
If I ever saw a person I felt sorry for, one who had my profound disgust and heart felt sympathy, it is when I meet a boy or girl all dolled up and trying to act like a dude because they were born in the city. They know nothing of running errands, doing the chores, cutting wood, building fires, hauling wood, rolling logs, piling rocks, plowing corn, hoeing potatoes, pulling weeds, feeding Chickens, slopping the pigs, driving the cows, feeding the horses, mowing the grass, sawing wood, mauling rails, cutting corn, harvesting wheat, and much other drudgery work. No wonder 95% of those who succeed in life come from the farm!
The pastor is one of the divinely constituted orders of the Christian ministry. He is more than an official or dignitary, he is a connecting link, he meets our people and comes in contact with all of their perplexing problems. He marries the living, buries the dead, teaches the young, comforts the old, molds public sentiment, holds a high standard of morals for the community, and preaches the unsearchable riches of Jesus Christ.
In the pioneer days he made a remarkable record; he saddled his horse and led in the trail of civilization. He climbed the mountain, went across the trackless forest, crossed swollen streams, and was on the onward march through summer's heat and winter's cold. Amid falling rains and driving snows he took the gospel to the early settlers of our country. He is a man sent of God, he has religious enthusiasm, he is a live wire. The laity should catch the vision and fall in line for better things. He is a preacher, church builder, pastor, and revivalist. He can rattle the dry bones in the valley, pray, preach, and shout until there is a sound in the top of the mulberry trees indicating victory. He has salvation, common sense, natural ability, mixing qualities, love for souls, consecrated to the task, and with unction and power he goes forward preaching the gospel with the Holy Spirit sent down from heaven.
If we would talk more to the Lord, we would talk less about our neighbors. Of course, we can't be saved so well that people won't talk about us, but we can be saved so well that we won't talk back when they talk. Some people talk so much they have no salvation left, only religion!
The strait gate is at the end of the way,and only straight people will be allowed through the strait gate!
Character is what we are at midnight. Reputation is what we are at high noon.
He who relates the faults of others to you will relate yours to the other fellow at his first opportunity.
Most preachers have intelligence enough to preach the gospel, yet many of them have run short of grace!
~W. B. Dunkum~
(continued with # 4)
Monday, February 6, 2017
Hot Potatoes with Jackets On - Part 2, # 2
Hot Potatoes With Jackets On - Part 2, # 2
All live Churches want revivals.
All dead Churches need them.
Many are looking for opportunity, they are all around you. Why not embrace them? They are in your reach.
George Washington said, "a reasoning being would lose his reason in an attempt to account for the great phenomenon of nature, had he not a Supreme Being to refer to." And well has it been said that if there had been no God, "mankind would have been obliged to have imagined one."
The Scriptures abound in warnings to the Church that she should keep herself in constant readiness for the coming of the Bridegroom, for when God's clock strikes the hour, the heavenly Bridegroom will come for His Bride.
Charity is the greatest of all virtues, yet it is one we know but little about, but with a sufficient amount of it in our hearts, our souls become aflame with the task of world evangelism.
Strife between labor and capital continues with lawlessness practiced by both groups. From a moral point of view, the nation is staggering like a drunken man. Since the repeal of the prohibition amendment, many are using this as a spree-period with but a low standard set for manhood and womanhood when it comes to the standard of morals.
In this day of possibilities and perplexities, the world has yet to see what God can do, and He has placed in the hands of a faithful few the key of prayer by which we may unlock this extraordinary situation. Brethren, to you knees and on to victory!
Gifts and talents are valuable, but cannot take the place of the fruit of the Spirit. We should hear fruit, more fruit, and then much fruit.
Of all human privileges, none is so sublime and none so great as the fact that we who are lost in night's darkest night, may be found saved and become partakers of His divine nature, be adopted into His family, and by spiritual birth, become one of His household.
You displayed your littleness in that squabble when it got out on you that you were hurt because of not being elected to that office.
Oh, the power in the sacred name of Jesus. Take it with you where ever you go. It dispels gloom, strengthens the fainting heart, restores the famishing, and supplies needs, whether it be temporal need or spiritual refreshment. By calling on His name we can become equal to the emergency.
The Bible is not a book on science, geology, or astronomy, but it is a book giving information pertaining to the present and future life. It is a book on religion. It is the history of humanity and the story of God's love for a world fallen in sin. It gives us a choice of two destinies, telling us of the country from whence we came and to where we are going. It sets forth two Christian principles showing us how to live right and the fearful consequences if we do not. This should be both our rule of faith and practice. But as we follow its guidance and precepts, it will stir our emotional nature and give us a conscience void of offense toward God and man. It is authority on questions for both this life and the next. The young should read it to know how to live, the old to know how to die, the ignorant for wisdom, the learned for humility, the poor for help, and let all read it for information pertaining to salvation, for it is the book for all classes and conditions of men. I urge all to read it both for authority and for information. Read it to be wise, believe it to be safe, and practice it to be holy.
There are sad memories in the lives of most of us, we find hard to forget, let us not dig them up and brood over them, but let them remain in the grave of forgetfulness; let us live in the present and hope for the future and go forward trusting Him who has promised us grace according to our days.
Jesus did not lay down a set of rules for living, as He knew that rules would sometime be out of date. But He did give us certain eternal principles that never grow old. Such as love, service, duty to each other, and duty to God. Nothing should keep us from fulfilling these to the best of our knowledge and ability. Our one business is to stand unflinchingly for truth. As the conflict is on, we should meet the attacks of the enemy uncompromisingly and stand unmovable; but our one aim should be progress in grace as we go toward our final destination and our Heavenly home.
We should take courage, look up and find comfort in meditation on a glorious future. Let us look beyond war and blood-shed; look to Him who brings peace to the sin-troubled soul, yes, look to a house of many mansions. When He shall appear, we shall be like Him.
The Almighty can give you wisdom enough to be wise, humility enough to be humble, and grace enough to be a saint.
There are many who in the beginning of their religious career were bright, promising, and spiritual,k but today they are formal and spiritually dead just because of inactivity. Nothing will freeze us out and sap our spiritual life any quicker than inactivity in Christian service, and our Christian service must include our devotional exercises as well as Christian service to others.
The question is frequently asked, "Will the Holiness Churches succeed? They will in proportion as the old line of churches fail, and when we aw a holiness church fail God, He will raise up another holiness church to take its place.
Let us have too much religion and too much common sense to waste our time on non-essentials and denominational difference. But let us preach and live the truth, press the battle and win souls.
Someone has said that an honest man is the noblest work of God. In this world of greed and graft, rascality, and dishonesty, it is a last benediction to find an honest man. You may be honest and have no salvation but if you have salvation, you will be honest!
~W. B. Dunkum~
(continued with # 3)
All live Churches want revivals.
All dead Churches need them.
Many are looking for opportunity, they are all around you. Why not embrace them? They are in your reach.
George Washington said, "a reasoning being would lose his reason in an attempt to account for the great phenomenon of nature, had he not a Supreme Being to refer to." And well has it been said that if there had been no God, "mankind would have been obliged to have imagined one."
The Scriptures abound in warnings to the Church that she should keep herself in constant readiness for the coming of the Bridegroom, for when God's clock strikes the hour, the heavenly Bridegroom will come for His Bride.
Charity is the greatest of all virtues, yet it is one we know but little about, but with a sufficient amount of it in our hearts, our souls become aflame with the task of world evangelism.
Strife between labor and capital continues with lawlessness practiced by both groups. From a moral point of view, the nation is staggering like a drunken man. Since the repeal of the prohibition amendment, many are using this as a spree-period with but a low standard set for manhood and womanhood when it comes to the standard of morals.
In this day of possibilities and perplexities, the world has yet to see what God can do, and He has placed in the hands of a faithful few the key of prayer by which we may unlock this extraordinary situation. Brethren, to you knees and on to victory!
Gifts and talents are valuable, but cannot take the place of the fruit of the Spirit. We should hear fruit, more fruit, and then much fruit.
Of all human privileges, none is so sublime and none so great as the fact that we who are lost in night's darkest night, may be found saved and become partakers of His divine nature, be adopted into His family, and by spiritual birth, become one of His household.
You displayed your littleness in that squabble when it got out on you that you were hurt because of not being elected to that office.
Oh, the power in the sacred name of Jesus. Take it with you where ever you go. It dispels gloom, strengthens the fainting heart, restores the famishing, and supplies needs, whether it be temporal need or spiritual refreshment. By calling on His name we can become equal to the emergency.
The Bible is not a book on science, geology, or astronomy, but it is a book giving information pertaining to the present and future life. It is a book on religion. It is the history of humanity and the story of God's love for a world fallen in sin. It gives us a choice of two destinies, telling us of the country from whence we came and to where we are going. It sets forth two Christian principles showing us how to live right and the fearful consequences if we do not. This should be both our rule of faith and practice. But as we follow its guidance and precepts, it will stir our emotional nature and give us a conscience void of offense toward God and man. It is authority on questions for both this life and the next. The young should read it to know how to live, the old to know how to die, the ignorant for wisdom, the learned for humility, the poor for help, and let all read it for information pertaining to salvation, for it is the book for all classes and conditions of men. I urge all to read it both for authority and for information. Read it to be wise, believe it to be safe, and practice it to be holy.
There are sad memories in the lives of most of us, we find hard to forget, let us not dig them up and brood over them, but let them remain in the grave of forgetfulness; let us live in the present and hope for the future and go forward trusting Him who has promised us grace according to our days.
Jesus did not lay down a set of rules for living, as He knew that rules would sometime be out of date. But He did give us certain eternal principles that never grow old. Such as love, service, duty to each other, and duty to God. Nothing should keep us from fulfilling these to the best of our knowledge and ability. Our one business is to stand unflinchingly for truth. As the conflict is on, we should meet the attacks of the enemy uncompromisingly and stand unmovable; but our one aim should be progress in grace as we go toward our final destination and our Heavenly home.
We should take courage, look up and find comfort in meditation on a glorious future. Let us look beyond war and blood-shed; look to Him who brings peace to the sin-troubled soul, yes, look to a house of many mansions. When He shall appear, we shall be like Him.
The Almighty can give you wisdom enough to be wise, humility enough to be humble, and grace enough to be a saint.
There are many who in the beginning of their religious career were bright, promising, and spiritual,k but today they are formal and spiritually dead just because of inactivity. Nothing will freeze us out and sap our spiritual life any quicker than inactivity in Christian service, and our Christian service must include our devotional exercises as well as Christian service to others.
The question is frequently asked, "Will the Holiness Churches succeed? They will in proportion as the old line of churches fail, and when we aw a holiness church fail God, He will raise up another holiness church to take its place.
Let us have too much religion and too much common sense to waste our time on non-essentials and denominational difference. But let us preach and live the truth, press the battle and win souls.
Someone has said that an honest man is the noblest work of God. In this world of greed and graft, rascality, and dishonesty, it is a last benediction to find an honest man. You may be honest and have no salvation but if you have salvation, you will be honest!
~W. B. Dunkum~
(continued with # 3)
Friday, February 3, 2017
Hot Potatoes With Jackets On-Part 2, # 1
Hot Potatoes With Jackets On-Part 2, # 1
When you come to get sanctified, bring your birth certificate along and you can take holiness along with you when you leave.
The longer the preachers preach after nine o'clock at night, the more restless the crowd becomes and the fewer results there are around the altar. Let us not fish up small branches, but stick to the main stream and above all, know when to quit.
There are rough roads over which we are to travel in a sanctified state, but He can give us grace to get over them successfully.
A true holiness preacher will preach without compromise all the fundamental doctrines of the Bible in simplicity and clearness. He has no hobbies to ride and no axes to grind. He will not abuse, criticize, and un-Christianize those who do not see eye to eye as he does. His one and only one business is to get sinners saved, backsliders reclaimed, believers sanctified, and build up and edify the Church.
If parents would work as hard to get their children saved as they do to get them educated, many of them would become well-rounded saints in their early teens.
Often when parents are too busy to shed tears over the sins of their children, many have lived long enough to shed tears over their caskets.
Having such poor examples of salvation makes it rather hard to get people saved.
The devil is catching many on an empty hook.
We sometimes wonder why the pastor has such bad children; it is because of their association with the children of the church, primarily the members' children.
It takes a crisis to reveal character, and one cannot tell what you are until you have been thoroughly tested.
Sinner, your last pay-day is just around the corner, but remember, "The wages of sin is death."
A far-seeing man may be able to see as far as the grave, but is unable to see even one pocket in his shroud.
You have tried to walk on both sides of the ditch until the banks have become slippery and both crowds have lost confidence in you.
Many a man has worked hard a life time, done without and even sacrificed principle to get a home paid for, and when the last payment was made, someone else was living in it.
It takes more than a suit of clothes to make a man- must be some character and principle there. No doubt some women have found that out because, when they drew, all they got was a blank.
You will testify against wrong conditions or it will only be a matter of time until you will be swallowed up by them.
Don't let ambitions become colored with your own interest.
One dying bishop said, "Let us advance on our knees."
A child that doesn't grow must be sickly, and if it continues in that condition, will soon die. A Christian that does not grow will die spiritually.
One mater theologian said, "I had rather teach one man to pray then ten to preach."
An altar service is a slow train for those who have too much baggage to catch the limited.
A stamp is worth face value and you can tell what it is by looking at it. Are you worth face value and can one tell what you are by looking at you?
When we think of redemption, our mind runs back to the Garden of Gethsemane where the greatest battle of all ages was fought.
The salvation of Jesus Christ stands the test in the hour of depression.
A six-story building was on fire, six fire engineers were working to save it. A man looking on said, "I wish people would work that hard to save me."
Tradition tells of a man who was present at the crucifixion, who, when asked what he saw, said, "I saw nothing, I had the tooth ache."
A lady comes to prayer meeting and professes the highest standard of the New Testament, and in her testimony speaks very emphatically against carnality, but on her return home she demonstrates the fact that she has carnality in her as large as an elephant. As she passed the boys on the street, they were heard to say, "there goes a lady who is a conglomeration of inconsistencies."
You will not be big enough to fill a big place until you are little enough to fill a little place.
Better live in poverty than die satisfied with ill-gotten gain. That man who gets gain for himself by trampling on the rights of weak members of his community will be certain to meet his doom sooner or later.
It would save trouble, expense, and blood-shed if we would take God into all our counsel and obey all His laws.
While many are taking bankrupt laws because of failing financially, yet they are failing religiously and quite largely morally.
With many, ideals are gone, hence we have but little to hope for and not much to build on.
When you get good old-time salvation, you will change your hitching post.
China said, "If the Americans will keep the movies out of our country, our people will not know how to rob."
A good philosophy: "Live as if you expect Jesus to come tonight, and work as if you do not expect Him in your day."
While the masses are not alarmed, yet facts are stubborn and we are going from bad to worse and the worst is yet to come. "Wickedness shall wax worse and worse,deceiving and being deceived."
I has been said, "theology is truth on ice, while evangelism is truth on fire."
Never was so much talk about peace and so much preparation for war as of late years.
Dr. Ham said, "Every depression has been preceded by a backslidden ministry."
Some Church leaders desire to take credit for all good done, then why not take blame for all good things not done?
Good old-time Holy Spirit religion will bring you under the reproach of the Cross.
Christianity is more than a crisis, it is a life to be lived after the crisis is passed. When we major in conversion and sanctification only, we miss the Christian goal. Much attention should be given to Christian living and to the building of Christian character. "He that endureth to the end shall be saved."
When a church ceases to be evangelistic and to advance in aggressive evangelism, her moral standards will soon collapse and the work of the Church will be of a shallow type.
Many of our large influential church centers feed on husks alone; hence we find a turning to Modernism, Skepticism, and Infidelity, thinking it is food when it is only starvation. Brethren, don't bite at such. It may give you indigestion the rest of your life.
If you want to live a life worth while and be a blessing to others, let God burn truth into your heart and when He does, the devil can't burn it out.
~W. B. Dunkum~
(continued with # 2)
When you come to get sanctified, bring your birth certificate along and you can take holiness along with you when you leave.
The longer the preachers preach after nine o'clock at night, the more restless the crowd becomes and the fewer results there are around the altar. Let us not fish up small branches, but stick to the main stream and above all, know when to quit.
There are rough roads over which we are to travel in a sanctified state, but He can give us grace to get over them successfully.
A true holiness preacher will preach without compromise all the fundamental doctrines of the Bible in simplicity and clearness. He has no hobbies to ride and no axes to grind. He will not abuse, criticize, and un-Christianize those who do not see eye to eye as he does. His one and only one business is to get sinners saved, backsliders reclaimed, believers sanctified, and build up and edify the Church.
If parents would work as hard to get their children saved as they do to get them educated, many of them would become well-rounded saints in their early teens.
Often when parents are too busy to shed tears over the sins of their children, many have lived long enough to shed tears over their caskets.
Having such poor examples of salvation makes it rather hard to get people saved.
The devil is catching many on an empty hook.
We sometimes wonder why the pastor has such bad children; it is because of their association with the children of the church, primarily the members' children.
It takes a crisis to reveal character, and one cannot tell what you are until you have been thoroughly tested.
Sinner, your last pay-day is just around the corner, but remember, "The wages of sin is death."
A far-seeing man may be able to see as far as the grave, but is unable to see even one pocket in his shroud.
You have tried to walk on both sides of the ditch until the banks have become slippery and both crowds have lost confidence in you.
Many a man has worked hard a life time, done without and even sacrificed principle to get a home paid for, and when the last payment was made, someone else was living in it.
It takes more than a suit of clothes to make a man- must be some character and principle there. No doubt some women have found that out because, when they drew, all they got was a blank.
You will testify against wrong conditions or it will only be a matter of time until you will be swallowed up by them.
Don't let ambitions become colored with your own interest.
One dying bishop said, "Let us advance on our knees."
A child that doesn't grow must be sickly, and if it continues in that condition, will soon die. A Christian that does not grow will die spiritually.
One mater theologian said, "I had rather teach one man to pray then ten to preach."
An altar service is a slow train for those who have too much baggage to catch the limited.
A stamp is worth face value and you can tell what it is by looking at it. Are you worth face value and can one tell what you are by looking at you?
When we think of redemption, our mind runs back to the Garden of Gethsemane where the greatest battle of all ages was fought.
The salvation of Jesus Christ stands the test in the hour of depression.
A six-story building was on fire, six fire engineers were working to save it. A man looking on said, "I wish people would work that hard to save me."
Tradition tells of a man who was present at the crucifixion, who, when asked what he saw, said, "I saw nothing, I had the tooth ache."
A lady comes to prayer meeting and professes the highest standard of the New Testament, and in her testimony speaks very emphatically against carnality, but on her return home she demonstrates the fact that she has carnality in her as large as an elephant. As she passed the boys on the street, they were heard to say, "there goes a lady who is a conglomeration of inconsistencies."
You will not be big enough to fill a big place until you are little enough to fill a little place.
Better live in poverty than die satisfied with ill-gotten gain. That man who gets gain for himself by trampling on the rights of weak members of his community will be certain to meet his doom sooner or later.
It would save trouble, expense, and blood-shed if we would take God into all our counsel and obey all His laws.
While many are taking bankrupt laws because of failing financially, yet they are failing religiously and quite largely morally.
With many, ideals are gone, hence we have but little to hope for and not much to build on.
When you get good old-time salvation, you will change your hitching post.
China said, "If the Americans will keep the movies out of our country, our people will not know how to rob."
A good philosophy: "Live as if you expect Jesus to come tonight, and work as if you do not expect Him in your day."
While the masses are not alarmed, yet facts are stubborn and we are going from bad to worse and the worst is yet to come. "Wickedness shall wax worse and worse,deceiving and being deceived."
I has been said, "theology is truth on ice, while evangelism is truth on fire."
Never was so much talk about peace and so much preparation for war as of late years.
Dr. Ham said, "Every depression has been preceded by a backslidden ministry."
Some Church leaders desire to take credit for all good done, then why not take blame for all good things not done?
Good old-time Holy Spirit religion will bring you under the reproach of the Cross.
Christianity is more than a crisis, it is a life to be lived after the crisis is passed. When we major in conversion and sanctification only, we miss the Christian goal. Much attention should be given to Christian living and to the building of Christian character. "He that endureth to the end shall be saved."
When a church ceases to be evangelistic and to advance in aggressive evangelism, her moral standards will soon collapse and the work of the Church will be of a shallow type.
Many of our large influential church centers feed on husks alone; hence we find a turning to Modernism, Skepticism, and Infidelity, thinking it is food when it is only starvation. Brethren, don't bite at such. It may give you indigestion the rest of your life.
If you want to live a life worth while and be a blessing to others, let God burn truth into your heart and when He does, the devil can't burn it out.
~W. B. Dunkum~
(continued with # 2)
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