OCTOBER 31
SUGGESTED READING: LUKE 19:18–27
And Jesus said unto him, This day is salvation come to this house, forasmuch as he also is a son of Abraham (Luke 19:9).
If we are to reach the lost, we must have the boundless confidence of the Lord Jesus Christ about us. We must know that He can save anybody and everybody. There is a great deal of importance to be attached to this point.
Think for a moment about some “frozen types” of people you know. They have no conviction of sin. They are off the main track altogether and are not a bit troubled about it. Talk to them about their wrongdoing and they are totally indifferent to it. You have to learn how to introduce them to the atmosphere of the Lord Jesus Christ. As soon as you do, something dynamic will happen.
Look what happened to Zacchaeus when he encountered the presence of the Lord: “Zacchaeus stood, and said unto the Lord; Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken any thing from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold” (Luke 19:8). Who had been talking to him about his public relations? Not a soul. Jesus had not said a word about his evil dealings. What awakened him? What suddenly made him know where he was? The presence of Jesus!
PRAYER THOUGHT: I am glad that salvation will radically change us. Thank You, Lord.
Through God we shall do valiantly: for he it is that shall tread down our enemies (Ps. 108:13).
If the Spirit of God is having His way in your life, the presence of God will be felt wherever you go. Sinners will feel convicted of their wrong, and they will not like you. Until they learn the reason, they will say you are always criticizing; but you are perfectly conscious that you are not criticizing. What has happened? The Holy Spirit’s presence through you has brought the very atmosphere of Jesus Christ to them; He has thawed the ice around their mind and their conscience, and they are being convicted.
How does Jesus Christ teach us to deal with sin? By forgiving us. How does a pagan world teach us to deal with sin? By telling us to forget it, ignore it, and think no more about it. Can that be done? Of course it can. But one who has forgotten his wrong must still face Jesus Christ; and as soon as he sees Him, the first thing that will flash through his mind and soul is his past wrong!
You must know how to bring Jesus Christ in contact with every kind of person. The only way to do that is by the Holy Spirit and personal experience. If you are trying to work for God with no definite spiritual experience of your own and without knowing how to rely on the Holy Spirit, I pray that God will answer your needs.
PRAYER THOUGHT: Lord Jesus, I acknowledge that I cannot effectively labor for You without grace and strength every day. I rejoice in Your power!
SUGGESTED READING: ROMANS 10:1–9
For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth (Rom. 10:4).
Jesus Christ is incarnate reason. There is something in Jesus Christ that appeals to everyone, no matter what their condition. If anyone seems dead and indifferent and destitute of goodness, love, or rational behavior, let him come in contact with Jesus Christ. You will instantly see that that person can grasp something about Jesus Christ which he could not understand unless he knew the Holy Spirit.
Jesus Christ is incarnate righteousness. So many people try to explain moral things about Jesus Christ; but no Christian worker need ever try that method. Rely on the Holy Spirit, and He will explain Jesus to the seeking soul.
Have this boundless confidence in Jesus Christ’s power the next time you go about working for God. You must!
PRAYER THOUGHT: Lord, I cannot share spiritual knowledge from my own understanding. In all of my dealings with the lost, I must acknowledge that Jesus is “the way, the truth, and the life.”
And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me (Ps. 50:15).
Are you in constant contact with someone—in your family, in your own business, or in a friendship—who is indifferent to Jesus Christ? Have you talked with that person about Jesus, prayed with him, and done everything you know how, but there has not been the slightest sign that he is thinking about a change?
Then get alone with the Lord Jesus Christ and pray, “Lord, do I believe that Thou cannot thaw that man’s or woman’s nature, until the Holy Spirit has a chance of saving them?” Ask Him, “What is the state of my own faith in You?”
Then say to yourself, Do I believe that the Lord Jesus Christ can take that selfish, sensual, twisted, satisfied nature and make it perfect in the sight of God? Do I have confidence in the Lord’s power?
We must believe in the power of Jesus to wash away the sins of the world. Do we? As Christian workers, we are wasting our time if we do not.
PRAYER THOUGHT: Your power is great, Lord. Flow through me!
SUGGESTED READING: LUKE 15:1–7
What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it? (Luke 15:4)
The fifteenth chapter of Luke, in which our Lord talks about the joy of finding things lost, has revealed these questions to me: The Lord wants my eyes to look through; is He looking through them? The Lord wants my brain to think through; is He thinking through it? The Lord wants my hands to work with; is He working with them? The Lord wants my body to walk and to live in for one purpose—to go after the lost from His standpoint; am I letting Him walk and live in me?
The Christian must allow Jesus Christ to have His right of way in each particular area of life. Thousands of Christian men and women today are seeking to train their minds and bodies—for what purpose? To help them “realize myself”! But Jesus Christ wants our bodies so that He can work through them to find those who are lost.
PRAYER THOUGHT: Take my mind, my hands, my whole being and make me a blessing for Your glory.
SUGGESTED READING: LUKE 15:8–10
Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth (Luke 15:10).
If you are a Christian worker, beware of putting anything first in your mind, but Jesus Christ. If you put the needs of your people first, you will have something between you and the power of God. Face Jesus Christ steadily, and allow nothing to come between you and Him. Why? So that the Holy Spirit may flow through your preaching and teaching to the needs of the people. You will find that people will always distinguish between that kind of a message and the message that is spoken out of mere sympathy for them.
Only one Person understands us all, and that is the Holy Spirit. He understands the Lord Jesus Christ too; and if I keep my soul’s avenues open to Him and get my message from Him—not allowing anything to obscure it—He will locate the needs of people.
God will give you people who have been convicted by what you say. You will have to deal with them, whether you like it or not, and you will have to take these cases on your heart before God. God will help you!
God grant that, as we go forth in our varied works, we may fill our souls with Christ and then patiently seek souls for Him.
PRAYER THOUGHT: Spirit of God, fill my soul with Christ’s love of the lost.
SUGGESTED READING: ACTS 8:26–40
Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same Scripture, and preached unto him Jesus (Acts 8:35).
God will hold to our account the souls that have gone uncured, unhealed, and untouched by Jesus Christ because we have refused to keep our souls open to Him. He will reprove us for the times we were not ready to present the Lord Jesus Christ to them by the power of the Holy Spirit. Yet, we deal with some people at great length without seeing any results; and we are tempted to quit trying.
Let us never despair of any soul under heaven. If you have a chronic case (by “a chronic case,” I mean someone who is always coming to the same place spiritually and never getting anywhere—always coming forward at the altar call but getting nowhere), thank God for that one.
I have found out that God uses those chronic seekers to educate me. If they will keep chronic long enough, the Lord will be able to manifest His patience through me as He never could otherwise. And, all of a sudden, those souls come into the light. Praise the Lord!
PRAYER THOUGHT: Give me wisdom to be patient with those individuals who never seem able to surrender all to the Lord Jesus Christ.
SUGGESTED READING: DEUTERONOMY 1:1–8
Behold, I have set the land before you: go in and possess the land which the Lord sware unto your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give unto them and to their seed after them (Deut. 1:8).
David serves as a biblical type of what the Christian worker should be, especially in the way he wielded the giant’s sword to slay the enemies of his kingdom (1 Sam. 22). David used Goliath’s sword much like the Christian must use the sword of God’s Word. Hebrews 4:12 says, “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”
Now it is quite obvious that if anyone except David had tried to use Goliath’s sword, God would not have blessed him. Likewise, if you are not a spiritual David and you try to use the sword, you will do far more harm to your self than damage to the cause of the enemy.
When the saints use the Word of God, they do not damage themselves, nor hurt other souls; but they do great damage to the kingdom of the Devil and great benefit to the souls of men.
PRAYER THOUGHT: I need wisdom from You, O God, as I labor in the interest of winning souls for Christ.
SUGGESTED READING: DEUTERONOMY 1:9–18
Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves (Matt. 10:16).
We cannot deal with ailments of the spirit as we deal with ailments of the body. If we could, ministers would be trained to apply a few curative principles to our various spiritual problems.
But the ailments of the human soul cannot be healed according to any simple principle whatever. We cannot quote certain verses of Scripture and apply them to those who are seeking the new birth, and certain other verses to those who are seeking entire sanctification. That will lead to confusion, because God’s Spirit does not work in such a prescribed manner.
Anytime we try to take a short cut in dealing with souls, God leaves us alone!
PRAYER THOUGHT: I know, Lord, that dealing with human souls is an important task. I need Your daily strength and guidance to do it.
SUGGESTED READING: DEUTERONOMY 1:19–21
Behold, the Lord thy God hath set the land before thee: go up and possess it, as the Lord God of thy fathers hath said unto thee; fear not, neither be discouraged (Deut. 1:21).
Rely on the Spirit of God to tell you what to say when you are talking with an unbeliever. Do not rely on your memory. Do not try to remember how you dealt with other cases. Recognize and rely on the Holy Spirit. He will bring to your remembrance what you should say.
You will find, over and over again, that God will bring confusion to your preconceived methods of soul winning. He will make you apply a Scripture text that is quite inappropriate to the problem at hand—yet it will prove to be exactly what the other person needed to hear.
If you are not careful to heed the guidance of the Spirit of God, you will make incessant blunders in your work for God. Remember that the Christian worker must rely on the Holy Spirit for guidance in each individual case.
PRAYER THOUGHT: Teach me, Master, not to rely on my soul-winning methods, but on Your example and wisdom.
SUGGESTED READING: DEUTERONOMY 1:22–29
Ye shall not respect persons in judgment; but ye shall hear the small as well as the great; ye shall not be afraid of the face of man; for the judgment is God’s: … bring it unto me, and I will hear it (Deut. 1:17).
Just as in the medical profession there are quack doctors and quack prescriptions and quack chemists, there are the very same things in the spiritual domain. You will encounter plenty of “experts,” so called, who claim to know the best way to witness and work for Jesus Christ. But beware of anyone who does not lead you to be reliant on the Holy Spirit in the work you are called to do. And beware of anyone who tries to beguile you away from your God-given calling.
One of the greatest difficulties in our colleges for training ministers is that they are never taught how to deal with souls. Ministers who have been serving on the field will confirm this. Everything they know about soul winning has been learned redhanded, right out of their own experience. They are trained in everything but the work they have been called to do.
Let’s prepare ourselves to work with souls. The Holy Spirit will aid us.
PRAYER THOUGHT: Lord, fill me with Your Spirit, so that I might do the work You have called me to do.
SUGGESTED READING: DEUTERONOMY 1:30–39
Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits (Rom. 12:16).
We must keep ourselves in touch, not with theories, but with people. We must never get out of touch with them if we are going to use the Word of God skillfully amongst them and if the Holy Spirit is to apply the Word of God through us.
If you are a Christian worker, God will constantly put you to school amongst the facts of human living; He will keep you in contact with “human stuff.” Human stuff is very sordid. Why? Because other human beings are made of the same stuff as you and I. Do not shut yourself away from their problems. Beware of the tendency to live apart from them. Get amongst the common people, for that is where you can reap a great harvest for the Lord.
Jesus prayed, “I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil” (John 17:15).
PRAYER THOUGHT: Thank You, Lord, for the opportunity to live among needy people.
SUGGESTED READING: DEUTERONOMY 1:40–46
To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some (1 Cor. 9:22).
Let me emphasize again these three things about doing Christian work:
First, the Christian worker must rely every moment on the Holy Spirit when dealing with another soul.
Second, the Christian worker must live among human men and women, not theories.
And, third, ransack the Bible from cover to cover, in the most practical way you know. Use the concordance or any other practical tool or method. But by all means, study!
It is easy to ridicule a Christian who begins Bible study by praying, “Lord, direct me to a passage. I am just going to shut my eyes and open the Bible and put my finger on a passage.” Yes, it is very easy to ridicule that method. But it is perfectly absurd to say that God has not led people that way. He has.
You cannot put God in a straitjacket. God uses His own extraordinary methods in teaching His people. Get to know the way God is going to deal through you, in the most practical way.
PRAYER THOUGHT: Like Paul, I want to reach people in every way possible. And I am willing to be taught in whatever way You deem best, Lord.
SUGGESTED READING: 1 SAMUEL 24:1–22
For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts, ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth (2 Tim. 3:6–7).
Have you ever noticed that the Bible requires men and women to read it? There are things in the Bible that will stagger you, things that will amaze, things that will affright—just as there are things in everyday life that amaze and terrify. But we dare not ignore the Bible, simply because we are perplexed by what we read there.
Too many Christians are “ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.” True knowledge is to be found in God’s Word.
PRAYER THOUGHT: Guide me, Lord, in the ways of righteousness as I study Your Word today.
SUGGESTED READING: 1 SAM UEL 10:1–16
And it was so, that, when he had turned his back to go from Samuel, God gave him another heart: and all those signs came to pass that day (1 Sam. 10:9).
The reader of God’s Word often encounters examples of gross stupidity. Note that stupidity is not the same as ignorance: A stupid act is anything done without reason or judgment, while an ignorant act is something done without knowledge.
I think King Saul is the greatest example of stupidity in the Bible. Saul’s physique was magnificent, his bodily presence wonderful, but he was amazingly stupid. An indication of his stupidity is the proverb that was built on him: “Is Saul also among the prophets?” It was an expression of scorn, spoken by people who were amused to see that a herder of asses could think himself transformed into a prophet of God.
Indeed, God had given him another heart, but it was not for the purpose of making Saul a prophet. From being a cattle manager, he was to become a statesman and a king. But Saul was so carried away by the exultation of the moment that he thought he was supposed to prophesy.
If Saul had gone on in obedience to God’s work, his heart would have been right and Saul’s life would have fulfilled God’s intention. Instead of that, he became a sad example of a stupid soul.
PRAYER THOUGHT: Lord, all of us have done unreasonable things—even stupid things. I thank You for having mercy upon us.
SUGGESTED READING: 1 SAMUEL 15:1–23
Wherefore then didst thou not obey the voice of the Lord, but didst fly upon the spoil and didst evil in the sight of the Lord? (1 Sam. 15:19).
How are we to deal with someone who is floundering in spiritual stupidity? Ignorant souls only need knowledge. But the stupid already know what they should do; they lack the discretion to do it. How are we to respond to such a person?
Every case of stupidity recorded in the Bible is punished by God, so this is a serious matter. Notice how Samuel dealt with Saul. He said, “Wherefore then didst thou not obey the voice of the Lord?” (v. 19). He acknowledged the fact that Saul knew what to do; so he held Saul accountable for it.
Disobedient individuals must be held accountable. God will reprove them. God will not tolerate sin!
PRAYER THOUGHT: O God, there are unreasonable souls in the church today. Help me to deal with them as You do.
SUGGESTED READING: 1 SAM UEL 15:24–35
Now therefore, I pray thee, pardon my sin, and turn again with me, that I may worship the Lord (1 Sam. 15:25).
No other class of people will drive the Christian closer to God than the stupid. They will tax every bit of patience and endurance you have. These dear people always pretend to want to do something for God. Yet they are “ever learning and never able to come to a knowledge of the truth.” Why? Because they do not wish to obey the Word of God they have heard!
Pretending to do right is another characteristic of a stupid soul. Samuel asked Saul if he had fulfilled the word of God with regard to the Amalekites, and Saul said he had. “Then what is the meaning of the bleating of the sheep in mine ears?” (v. 14). Saul said, “I obeyed, but … the people flew on the spoil and I left them.” That was the beginning of his stupidity, which would lead him to consult spiritualistic mediums and openly defy the Word of God.
Do you know someone who is feverishly studying the Word of God to avoid doing what they already know of God’s will? Or someone who is pretending to obey Him, when secretly they are going their own way? Plead with that person to turn back from his foolish ways.
PRAYER THOUGHT: Help me, O Lord, to call people to full obedience.
SUGGESTED READING: 1 SAMUEL 26:1–12
The LORD forbid that I should stretch forth mine hand against the LORD’S anointed: but, I pray thee, take thou now the spear that is at his bolster, and the cruse of water, and let us go (1 Sam. 26:11).
Have you ever noticed how some Christians, after they hear the Word of God too much, will turn and trample on the Word?
A man who ultimately became a great power for God said that the center of his life was full of this kind of stupidity. He was a so-called worker for God for several years, until he came across this verse: “You are not your own, you are bought with a price.” Everywhere he went, this verse kept chiding him. Whenever he read a book, he would come across that verse. Whenever he heard a sermon, it was from that text. He said, “At last I took my penknife and cut it out of every Bible I had.” Then the Spirit of God awakened him to what he had done. He confessed the whole thing before God, and God forgave him the stupidity of his sins.
Christian worker, when God calls you to counsel a soul who is stupid, keep at it. Share the Word of God every time you meet him, every time you write to him, every time you talk to him. The only way you will stir that person out of his stupidity is by driving home the Word of God.
PRAYER THOUGHT: Help me to be bold enough to pursue the disobedient person, Lord. Bring to my mind the Word of God as I deal with these needy souls.
SUGGESTED READING: 1 SAMUEL 26:13–25
Then said Saul, I have sinned: return, my son David; for I will no more do thee harm, because my soul was precious in thine eyes this day: behold, I have played the fool, and have erred exceedingly (1 Sam. 26:21).
If you are apt to make a rash statement or judgment, then beware that it does not become a boomerang. God’s Word is always a boomerang to the worker who uses it, if the worker is not right.
Are you quite sure there is no strand of rebellion or stupidity in you? Are you quite sure you are not in the category of those who “ever learn and never come to a knowledge of the truth”? Otherwise, then the Word of God, when you try to deal with another soul, will come straight back to you.
If you are in the center of God’s will, then press the Bible home.
PRAYER THOUGHT: As I use the Word of God, Lord, help me to understand its far-reaching consequences for my life as well as for those I am trying to help.
For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles or the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat (Heb. 5:12).
Are you glossing over the counsel God gave you for someone else? Hammer at it morning, noon, and night.
If you know someone who says he received the Spirit of God, and yet there are signs he has not gone on with God, you will find a corresponding word of Scripture to tell him why. You will be a persistent thorn, annoyance, and aggravation to that person whenever you share a word from God; but he will ultimately thank God and praise you for the annoyance.
PRAYER THOUGHT: Convict those dear souls who are shunning You, Lord, and give me courage to keep pursuing them.
SUGGESTED READING: LUKE 24:13–23
And it came to pass, that, while they communed together and reasoned, Jesus himself drew near, and went with them (Luke 24:15).
How did Jesus Christ deal with the foolishness of the two disciples on the road to Emmaus? This is stupidity on another line: a stupidity of simple souls, honest and true, who had become blinded by their own grief and their own point of view.
Jesus said to them: “O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken!” (Luke 24:25). Here the word fools might be translated, “My little children, when will you believe what the prophets have written?” This is stupidity of a totally different order—a stupidity that Jesus deals with very pointedly, but very patiently. It is a stupidity that obliterates one’s understanding of the Word of God because of personal grief, sorrow, or perplexity.
Is Jesus Christ saying to you, “My child, when will you believe what I say?” Is there a particular problem in your life that has made you become slow of heart to believe? Do not let the stupidity grow. Seek what the Word of God has to say about it.
Oh, there is such a need for people who will search the Bible and learn what God is saying to them!
PRAYER THOUGHT: Forgive me, Lord, when I am slow to fully believe. Increase my faith in You.
SUGGESTED READING: LUKE 24:24–35
And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the Scriptures? (Luke 24:32).
Do not pare down the Word of God to suit your understanding. Never drag the Word of God down to anybody’s understanding. Keep digging into the Word until it drives all laziness out of your life and you are willing to face what the Bible says about your condition.
God grant that we will learn to comprehend what the Word of God says about our need, rather than trying to make the Word accommodate our limited understanding.
PRAYER THOUGHT: Your Word, Lord Jesus, has created new life and joy within me. Praise the Lord!
SUGGESTED READING: PSALM 119:105–112
Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path (Ps. 119:105).
God’s people get off on unreasonable lines when they begin to live by their own instincts, impressions, and vague ideas. That is when they will suffer from the “creepers.”
Do you know who the “creepers” are? People of reprobate mind who creep into the congregation of the saints to lead them astray (2 Tim.
3:1–7). There are a number of religious creepers nowadays. They will steal into your soul, just where you are wandering from the Word of God.
Has something been said to you recently from the Word of God that has awakened you with a startling sensation, and yet you have not obeyed God on that point? Then may God bring you face to face with a faithful Christian who will say the same thing to you until you get the victory. Otherwise a “creeper” may lead you farther away from the truth.
When the Word of God has pierced your mind, your heart, and your spirit, it will begin its wonder-working way. It will heal and recreate you, and dissipate your stupidity.
PRAYER THOUGHT: Protect me, O God, from those who seek to “creep in” and lead my soul astray from You.
SUGGESTED READING: MARK 1:16–22
And they were astonished at his doctrine: for he taught them as one that had authority, and not as the scribes (Mark 1:22).
The relationship of the twelve disciples to Jesus Christ was unique; we cannot repeat anything like it in our generation. Yet, aspects of their discipleship throw a wonderful light on the subject of our own discipleship today.
For the first three years, the disciples of our Lord were attracted to Him by natural affinity. Thousands of people today are similarly attracted by the Lord Jesus Christ; but they will find a marvelous contrast to the unsatisfactory state of their unspiritual lives if they will study carefully the disciples of Jesus.
Jesus’ disciples were not perfect, but they had certain characteristics that are worthy of our study. We shall consider their discipleship over the next several days.
PRAYER THOUGHT: Lord Jesus, Your disciples followed You sacrificially. It is my desire to be like them.
SUGGESTED READING: JOHN 1:35–42
And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus (John 1:37).
Jesus called His disciples to follow Him, and they did so. Was there any sacrifice in this? Not a bit. It would have been harder to stay where they were. The fascination of our Lord Jesus Christ was on these men, and their natural temperaments fitted the call. So when Jesus said, “Follow Me,” they left all and followed Him.
There are scores of people today with that kind of relationship to Christ. They have a natural yen for the higher life; and when Jesus is presented, they say, “Yes, Lord, we will go wherever you want us to go.” A sacrifice? None whatever! A lot of people simply like the thrill of walking with Jesus.
The real test of discipleship is not so much a fast start as a faithful ongoing.
PRAYER THOUGHT: Lord, I know that faithfulness is the characteristic of a true disciple. With Your help and by Your grace, I will be faithful to You.
SUGGESTED READING: JOHN 20:19–23
Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you (John 20:21).
During three years of following Jesus, the disciples more and more misunderstood Jesus. Their discipleship grew more and more strained, until the strain grew so intense that it snapped. They all forsook Him!
What happened during those three years? Jesus Christ revealed Himself to them. He put them through crises to reveal to the disciples themselves who they were.
After the Resurrection, the disciples’ eyes were opened and they understood Him. Then they understood that God had given them the mighty Holy Spirit. But during the early period of discipleship, they were put through crises that revealed their own weaknesses to themselves.
PRAYER THOUGHT: Dear Lord, it is necessary that I understand myself as You see and know me. Give me that understanding, I pray.
SUGGESTED READING: MATTHEW 19:16–26
The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: What lack I yet? (Matt. 19:20)
To whom did the Lord Jesus say, “Marvel not that I said unto thee, ye must be born again”? It was not said to a moral blackguard, but to Nicodemus—a religious leader, a spiritually minded man who had sterling characteristics. The message for every naturally religious person is, “Be born from above by the Holy Spirit.”
Many have been brought up in religious families. They have had religious tendencies put in them, and the fascination of the Lord is on them. When they hear Jesus Christ’s claims, they have a sense of heroic duty like Peter and say, “Yes, we will come.” They do not realize that Christ calls them to a completely new way of life. Let me share with you a portion from one of our Scottish ministers:
There are young and sheltered lives which have grown up amid the sanctities and in the obediences of a devout home. A godly lineage, a careful training, and the example of a winsome religious life have wrought out in them a natural piety. They grow unspotted from the world. But as years increase their growth in the grace and knowledge of Christ quickens their spiritual insight and gives them a keener sense of sin. The awful power of the world, the flesh and the devil dismays them as it dismays no one else. They see men and women whom they love, blinded, seduced, desecrated. They see that the gentle rules that bind their own rebellious thoughts snap like Samson’s tender withes before the brute-like passions of others. And as they turn their eyes more and more on Christ they discover how far they themselves are from His holiness, and how near akin to the passion-driven profligate.
PRAYER THOUGHT: O God, deliver me from self-righteousness. I need You every moment of each day.
SUGGESTED READING: PROVERBS 12:1–15
The way of a fool is right in his own eyes: but he that hearkeneth unto counsel is wise (Prov. 12:15).
Scores of men and women have a sense of personal holiness and self-righteousness. Their fascination of the Lord Jesus is based on an external performance of religion. They read their Bibles, but have no spiritual reality within. They have no consciousness of backsliding; but, oh, the possibility of failure! The feebleness of their lives!
So many Christians fall away from Christ right at this point. They try their best to do what is right, but realize only failure. They slowly feel that Jesus Christ cannot do what He says He can do in their lives.
God can show people in that condition who and what they are. He can confront them with the fact that they need to be born from above, of the Spirit.
Consider the cases of Peter. This man was perfectly honest, perfectly earnest, but perfectly shallow in his spiritual experience. Peter had a flash for one second about who Jesus was; but he forgot it immediately. When Jesus talked about the cross, did Peter understand Him? Not a bit. He meant everything he said, but he was simply staggered at Jesus’ prediction that he would betray Him. And Jesus was correct. He always is.
PRAYER THOUGHT: By myself, I am too weak to wrestle with Satan. But with Christ I can overcome and be victorious!
SUGGESTED READING: LUKE 9:51–56
But he turned, and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of (Luke 9:55).
You probably think you are open-hearted and honest. But if you read about John and Thomas, you will find that sincere disciples may be rebuked.
Jesus Christ was preaching through the villages of Samaria and certain villagers would not tolerate Him. What did John say? “Let us call fire down from heaven and consume them.” But Jesus rebuked him and said, “You do not know what spirit you are of.” Thomas got his rebuke after the Resurrection, when Jesus told him, “Be not faithless, but believing.”
If you have had your natural fascination for Jesus broken, thank God. If you have tried your loyal best to follow Him—if you have worshiped Him, given all you know how to Him, and yet it is failure and defeat and disappointment—you are just in the place to receive the Holy Spirit and be born again from above.
Whenever people who are doing a sincere work for Jesus talk about their sense of failure as “carrying their cross,” they simply do not understand. Only the Holy Spirit can expound these things to them.
PRAYER THOUGHT: Lord, help me to learn when I receive some rebuke from You.
SUGGESTED READING: MATTHEW 16:21–28
Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me (Matt. 16:24).
Jesus Christ, while on this earth, taught all He had to teach. Let me say this very clearly: Pentecost added nothing to the doctrine taught by Jesus Christ or believed by the disciples.
What did Pentecost do? Pentecost made the disciples what they preached. They had heard all of Jesus Christ’s doctrines preached in the day of His flesh and had not understood a word He said. Theirs was a life of sentiment. But Pentecost made them living examples of the gospel.
In the dark church she knelt alone,
Her tears were falling fast,
“Help, Lord,” she cried, “the shades of death
Upon my soul are cast.
Have I not shunned the path of sin,
And chosen the better part?”
What voice came through the sacred air?
“My child, give Me thy heart.”
“Have I not worn my strength away,
With fast and penance sore?
Have I not watched and wept,” she cried;
“Did Thy dear saints do more?
Have I not gained Thy grace, O Lord,
And won in Heaven my part?”
It echoed louder in her soul —
“My child, give Me thy heart.”
PRAYER THOUGHT: O Lord, I yield my life to the transforming power of Your Spirit.
SUGGESTED READING: MATTHEW 7:21–23
Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven (Matt. 7:21).
As Jesus Christ talked to His disciples, they grew more and more mystified. For example, take the question of being a “servant of God.” They did not understand what Jesus meant by that, any more than we will until we have received the Holy Spirit.
The difference between a servant of God and an instrument of God is brought out in Matthew 7:21–23. An instrument is a person whom God uses, whether that person is right or not. God will bless His Word, whether a saint or a sinner preaches it. But the servant of God lives in the fullness of His Spirit, evidencing the life of obedience.
Our Lord says in effect, “When you judge the work someone is doing, don’t judge by the fact that you see Me at work. Judge him by his fruit.” What is that? The fruit of the indwelling Holy Spirit—i.e., character. Many can do the work of God, but no one can imitate the fruit of the Holy Spirit.
PRAYER THOUGHT: Lord, I am your servant. Use me as You desire.