Part 4
1. He is the door to salvation. "By me if any man enter in he shall be saved." 2. He is the door to life. John 10:10 RV. 3. Christ is also the door to liberty and security. "By me if any man enter in he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and shall find pasture." 4. Jesus Christ is also the door to pasture. "Shall find a pasture." Food, satisfaction. It is in Christ alone that the soul of man can find pasture, find food, find satisfaction. II. To Whom is the Door Open? "I am the door; by me IF ANY MAN enter in, he shall find pasture." That door is open to any man, to every man. CONCLUSION. -- The door stands open to all here. The door will not always stand open. Luke 13:25. {437} # A PLAIN ANSWER TO A GREAT QUESTION "And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" "And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house." Acts 16:30-31. INTRODUCTION. -- The question and answer are found in the sixteenth chapter of Acts. I. The Importance of the Question. II. The Plain Answer. 1. Note first the confidence of this answer. Thou SHALT be saved. What made Paul so confident? (a) God had revealed it to him. Galatians 1:12. (b) Paul had tried it. 2. Note second the completeness of the answer, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be SAVED." Not helped, not made better, not patched up, but "saved." 3. Note third and lastly the simplicity of the answer. "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved." Can not any one understand that? To believe on any one is to commit yourself to them. To believe in a doctor when you are sick is to put your case in his hands, to surrender yourself to his directions. To believe in a lifeboat when you are on a sinking ship is to commit yourself to it, get into it, to surrender yourself to its keeping. 2_Timothy 1:12. "Believe on the LORD JESUS CHRIST." Paul said Believe in
Him as LORD, the Divine One to whom we cry as did Thomas, "My Lord and my God." Believe in Him as JESUS, i.e., SAVIOR, the One who bore our sins in His own body on the tree, the One who, as a risen One in the place of power at God's right hand, saves from the power of sin day by day. Believe in Him as Christ; God's anointed king, to whom we shall render our homage and obedience. The One to whom we shall render absolutely the control of our lives. "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved." {438} # AN IMPERATIVE AND IMMEDIATE NEED "We must be saved." Acts 4:12. INTRODUCTION. -- Every one here who cannot say, "I have been saved," should say with that intensity of emphasis that comes from depth of conviction, "I must be saved." You need a Savior more than you need anything else. That is your most imperative and most immediate need. I. Why We Need a Savior. 1. You need a Savior because you are a sinner. Romans 3:22-23. 2. You need a Savior, in the second place, because you have not only sinned but because you have committed the greatest sin a man can commit. Cf. Matthew 22:37-38. 3. You need a Savior, in the third place, because you are under a curse. Galatians 3:10. 4. You need a Savior, in the fourth place, because you are in bondage to sin. John 8:34. 5. You need a Savior because you cannot save yourself. (a) You cannot save yourself from the guilt of sin. (b) Can we save ourselves from the power of present sin? 6. You need a Savior because if you are not saved you must spend eternity in hell. Revelation 20:15. # A KING'S FOLLY AND WHAT IT COST: A TRAGEDY "Thou art weighed in the balances and art found wanting." Daniel 5:27. INTRODUCTION. -- The Bible is the most dramatic book that was ever written, etc. (Picture scene.) I. Belshazzar was Weighed in the Balance of God. He had been weighed in other balances and not found wanting. Balance of his own judgment?
Balance of public opinion? Balance of worldly philosophy. We, too, each one of us, are being weighed in God's scales. {439} The great question is, What do we weigh there? II. Belshazzar was found Wanting. Why? 1. "Thou hast not humbled thine heart." v.22. 2. Belshazzar had refused to humble his heart in face of God's known dealings with others. "THOUGH THOU KNEWEST ALL THIS." 3. Belshazzar had lifted himself up against the Lord of heaven. v.23. 4. "The God in whose hand thy breath is, and whose are all thy ways, hast thou not glorified." v.23, last half. III. The Consequences of Belshazzar's Folly. What it Cost. 1. His kingdom. v.26. You too have a kingdom. James 2:5. 2. His life. v. 30. So with us. Romans 6:23. # THE WONDERFUL JESUS "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful," etc. Isaiah 9:6. INTRODUCTION. -- The prophet Isaiah with a mind illumined by the Holy Spirit looked down 710 years and saw the coming of Jesus of Nazareth and uttered the sublime words of our text. In them is wrapped up a world of meaning concerning the Divine Glory, the Matchless Character, and Wonderful Offices of our Lord. In the Bible names have meaning, especially when applied to God the Father, the Son or the Holy Ghost. The name is a revelation of what one is. Jesus is called wonderful because He is wonderful. I. Jesus is Wonderful in His Nature. 1. He is a Divine Being. He is Divine in a sense in which no other man is divine. The Bible is full of that great truth. 2. While He is Divine, He is at the same time a Real Man. 1_timothy 2:5. II. Jesus is Wonderful in His Character. His character was absolutely perfect. He was absolutely without blemish and without spot. He was not only blameless but {440} every possible
perfection of character rested upon Him. There is not a perfection of character of which we can think that is not to be found in Him, and found it its fullness. His character is indeed wonderful. He is the wonder of the ages. He stands out absolutely peerless and alone. When any man ventures to put any one else alongside of Jesus Christ he at once loses the confidence of all candid and fair-minded men. 1. Jesus was perfect in holiness. 2. He was also perfect in love. There are many other perfections in the character of Jesus; e.g., the perfection of His meekness and gentleness and humility and patience and courage and manliness. III. Jesus is Wonderful in His Work. 1. In the first place He makes a perfect atonement for sin. Isaiah 53:6. 2. He also saves from sin's power. Indeed Jesus completely transforms men. 2_Corinthians 5:17. 3. Jesus will do more wonderful things still in the future. CONCLUSION. -- Jesus is indeed wonderful in the infinite glory of His Divine nature. He is wonderful in the matchless, absolute perfection of His character. He is wonderful in His work, blotting out all sin by His death, delivering from all sin by His resurrection life, transforming us from all remaining imperfection into the full glory of Sons of God by His living again. Jesus is the Wonderful. Now, what will you do with Him? What will you do with this wonderful Jesus? Will you accept Him or reject Him? # THE GREAT QUESTION OF THE DAY "What shall I do with Jesus?" Matthew 27:22. INTRODUCTION. -- If I should ask this audience what is the great question of the day, I presume I would get a great variety of answers. Some would say, etc. But there is a question of vastly more importance. A question upon the right decision of which immeasurably more depends. The question is this, "What shall I do with Jesus, which is called {441} Christ?" It is not a new question. Pontius Pilate asked it more than 1900 years ago. Thousands upon thousands have asked it since. Upon
a right decision of that question everything that is really worth having for time and for eternity depends. If you do the right thing with Jesus you will get everything that is worth having for time as well as for eternity. If you do the wrong thing with Jesus Christ you will lose everything that is really worth having for time as well as for eternity. I. What we will Get if we Do the Right Thing with Jesus Christ. 1. If you do the right thing with Jesus Christ you will get forgiveness of sins. Acts 10;43. What an unspeakable blessing the forgiveness of sins is! Psalm 32:1. 2. You will get peace of conscience by doing the right thing with Jesus Christ. 3. You will get deliverance from the power of sin by doing the right thing with Jesus Christ. 4. You will get great joy by doing the right thing with Jesus Christ. 1_Peter 1:8. 5. If you do the right thing with Jesus Christ you get eternal life. John 3:36; 1_John 5:12. Eternal life. What has the world to put in comparison with that? Do the right thing with Jesus and you get eternal life; do the wrong thing with Jesus and you lose it. 6. There is something even better than eternal life that you get by doing the right thing with Jesus Christ. By doing the right thing with Jesus Christ you become a son of God and heir of God and joint heir with Jesus Christ. John 1:12; Romans 8:17. II. What is the Right Thing to Do with Jesus? 1. First of all to receive Him as your Savior. John 1:12. 2. Let Him into your heart. Revelation 3:20. 3. Enthrone Him in your heart. He is the Christ, God's anointed King. Acts 2:36. 4. Confess Him before the world as your Lord and Master. Matthew 10;32-33; Romans 10:9 RV. {442} # HOW TO BE SAVED "And [he] brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house." Acts 16:30-31. INTRODUCTION. -- God has not left us to guess how
to be saved. The question has been asked and answered. The way of salvation is here made as plain as day. Notice the positiveness of the statement. All any one then has to do to be saved is to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. (Cf. John 3;16.) I. Trust in Him for the Pardon of all my Sins. (Cf. Acts 13:38-39.) "Believe on the Lord JESUS." II. The Surrender to Him of the Control of my Entire Life. "Believe on the LORD Jesus." III. Confession of Him as my Lord. Romans 10:9 RV. "Lord Jesus." IV. The Surrender to Him of the Control of my Thoughts. "Lord." V. Looking to Him for Guidance. VI. Study of His Words in order to Know His Will. John 14:23. VII. Dependence upon Him for Strength to Do His Will. John 15:5. CONCLUSION. -- The first step of faith is possible right now, and it is absolutely sure that the moment you take it you will be saved. # THE ONLY FOUNDATION "For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ." 1_Corinthians 3:11. INTRODUCTION. -- Philosophers and wise men have tried hard to lay some other foundation than Jesus Christ, but have failed {443} utterly. Still they keep at it. They are bound in their foolish wisdom to find some other foundation than God's and in this way they are dooming themselves and their followers to wretchedness, failure, disappointment and sorrow here, and to shame, degradation and anguish hereafter. I. Jesus Christ is the only Foundation for Obtaining the Forgiveness of Sin. II. Jesus Christ is the only Foundation for Peace of Conscience. III. Jesus Christ is the only Foundation of Peace of Heart. By peace of heart as distinguished from peace of conscience, we mean freedom from anxiety and worry.
IV. Jesus Christ is the only Foundation upon which to Build a Successful Attempt to Get the Victory over Sin. John 8:36. V. Jesus Christ is the only Foundation for Comfort in Sorrow. Matthew 11:28. VI. Jesus Christ is the only Foundation for Deep, Abiding, Overflowing Joy. VII. Jesus Christ is the only Foundation for Hope. VIII. The only Foundation for Eternal Life. IX. The only Foundation for Social Regeneration. # WHEN IT PAYS TO BELIEVE IN JESUS CHRIST "My God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:19. INTRODUCTION. -- If there is anything in this world that pays it is to have a living faith in Jesus Christ. Just listen to that text. There is a guarantee to the believer on Christ to have every need supplied and that guarantee is good. When it pays to be a believer in Jesus: {444} I. In Health and Strength. It pays to be a Christian when one is well and strong. What has a strong man who is not a Christian to do that is worth doing? Without Christ there is nothing worthy for a well and strong man to do. II. In Sickness. It pays in many ways. 1. In the first place faith in Jesus Christ promotes restoration to health. It does this in an indirect way. Nothing is more conducive to health than a peaceful, contented, joyful, hopeful frame of mind. It is a certain fact that many people are well today who would be sick or dead if it had not been for direct answers to prayers for their healing. 2. It brings joy and blessing in the midst of sickness. III. In Sorrow. Happy is the man or woman who in the time of deep sorrow, the time when loved ones are taken away and the heart is lonely and aching, believes in Jesus Christ. IV. In Adversity. Romans 5:3-4; Romans 8;28. It makes one to rejoice and praise God in the midst of the loss of all one's property, and the
complete overturning of our plans. V. In Prosperity. No one needs faith in Jesus Christ more than a prosperous man. 1. Prosperity will eternally ruin any man who is not stayed and guided by a living faith in Jesus Christ. 2. In order to really enjoy prosperity. VI. In Death. Philippians 1:23; 2_Timothy 4:6-8. How dark is the hour of death if one has not a living faith in Jesus Christ. How bright is the hour of death if one has, etc. {445} VII. In the Judgment. Romans 14:12. It will pay to be a believer in Jesus Christ in the Judgment. VIII. Eternity. John 3:36. In eternity to have believed in Jesus Christ will mean eternal life, eternal joy, eternal glory. In eternity not to have believed in Jesus Christ will mean eternal death, eternal darkness, eternal shame, eternal agony, eternal despair. # ETERNAL LIFE, WHAT IT IS AND HOW TO GET IT "The gift of God is eternal life." Romans 6:23. I. What Eternal Life is. 1. Eternal life is real life. 1_Timothy 6:12, 19 RV. 2. "Eternal Life" is abundant life. John 10;10 RV. 3. Eternal life is joyous life. 1_Peter 1:8. 4. Eternal life is a life of true knowledge. John 17:3. 5. Eternal life is endless life. John 10:28. II. Who can Have it? Revelation 22:17. Anybody. III. How to Get it. 1. First it is a "gift." 2. It is "in Jesus Christ." 3. In order to get eternal life you have simply to take Him in whom it is. 1_John 5;12. # REFUGES OF LIES "Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place." Isaiah 28:17. INTRODUCTION. -- In the preceding verses of the chapter God has announced to Israel that there is a day of judgment coming for them. But the rulers
of Israel regarded this warning with scorn. They spoke just as the obstinate fools today talk. The Assyrian army came and destroyed the stout-hearted princes of Israel. Now God has declared there is to be another judgment, another {446} hail, another day of dealing with ungodly and Christ-rejecting men. What these princes of Israel did: strengthened their proud and wicked hearts and sought comfort in refuges of lies, in false hopes. Many are doing so today. I. How to tell a Refuge of Lies. Five common sense tests by which you can tell a true refuge, one that will stand fast in the Day of Judgment from a false one, a Refuge of Lies, one that the tempest of hail shall sweep away and leave you exposed to the pitiless fury of the storm of eternal judgment. 1. The first test is this: Does the refuge in which you are trusting satisfy the highest demands of your own conscience. If not it will of course not satisfy God. 1_John 3:20. 2. Is the refuge in which you are trusting delivering you from the power of sin? The refuge that cannot save us from the power of sin here cannot save us from the consequences of sin hereafter. 3. Will the refuge in which you are trusting stand the test of the dying hour? 4. Will the refuge in which you are trusting stand the test of the all-seeing eye of God in the judgment? 5. Will it stand the test of Scripture? A refuge that will not stand the test of Scripture is utterly unreliable. The Bible is the book that the ages have tried and tested. Through these ages one philosopher after another has set up his opinions against the Bible. But the philosophers each have had their day and gone down, but the Bible has withstood the wreck of the centuries. II. Refuges Tested and Proven Refuges of Lies. 1. Universalism. Apply tests. 2. Infidelity. Apply tests. 3. Spiritualism. Apply tests. 4. Refusal to consider. 5. Morality. 6. Religious ceremonies.
7. Orthodoxy of belief. {447} CONCLUSION. -- Is there a sure refuge? Yes. Isaiah 32:2. Jesus Christ. Apply tests. # HARDENED "But exhort one another daily, while it is called today; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin." Hebrews 3:13. INTRODUCTION. -- There is not a more solemn warning in the Bible than this. There is not a more timely warning in the Bible than this. All around us we see men and women who are being "hardened through the deceitfulness of sin." Three times in this one chapter God pleads with men, "Harden not your hearts." I. Indications that one is Hardened. 1. The truth does not move us as it once did. 2. Jest about sacred things or listen approvingly to others when they jest about them. 3. Not deeply moved by thoughts of God's love. II. Results of being Hardened. 1. The first evil that results from a hardened heart is a corrupt life. The hardening of the heart against the truth and against Christ leads inevitably to sin. 2. Spiritual blindness. 3. Loss of joy. 4. Utter despair. 5. Eternal death. Romans 2:5. There is no hope in the life that is to come for the man whose heart is finally hardened against Christ. # THE JUDGMENT DAY "He hath appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness, by that man whom he hath ordained, whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead." Acts 17:31. INTRODUCTION. -- Two events in the future are absolutely certain, the coming of Christ for His people, the coming of a judgment day for the world. Note five things about this judgment day: {448} I. The Certainty of it. The resurrection of Christ from the dead is a certain, incontrovertible fact, and it is a guarantee that there is a day of judgment coming. When Jesus was here upon earth He said that in
coming days He would judge the world. (John 5:22-23.) Men scoffed at this claim. They put Him to death for making it, and the other claim involved in it, that He was the Son of God. But God set His seal to the claim by raising Him from the dead. The resurrection of Christ from the dead makes it absolutely certain that there is a Judgment Day coming. II. The Universality of it. "He will judge the WORLD." III. The Basis of it, or About What the Judgment will be. 1. It will be about the deeds done in the body. 2_Corinthians 5:10 RV. 2. The secret things will be judged. Romans 2:16. 3. The great basis of that judgment will be what men have done with Christ. John 3:18-19. IV. Who will Sit as Judge. That same Jesus whom you are rejecting today will be the judge in that day. V. The Issues. They will be eternal. # ETERNITY "For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal." 2_Corinthians 4;17-18. INTRODUCTION. -- The apostle Paul had to endure some things that to most men would seem very hard to bear, and some of these afflictions continued through years. But in speaking of these afflictions {449} in our text Paul speaks of "our LIGHT affliction" and our affliction "which is FOR THE MOMENT." Is thirty years but "a moment"? Yes, when compared with eternity. And is the loss of friends, the loss of ease, the loss of admiration and applause of man, the loss of home and native land, the loss of all men ordinarily hold dear, and imprisonment and shipwreck and scourging and wandering and hunger and stoning, is all this "light affliction"? Yes, when compared with the joy and honor and glory which is to be revealed to us. And when all the wealth, and
pleasures and honors, that one can possibly get in this world are put in comparison with the eternal agony and ruin and despair and shame that it costs to live for the world they too are nothing. I. There is an Eternity and we Must Go there. II. When and How we shall spend Eternity is Settled in the Life that now is. III. How to Secure a Blessed and Glorious Eternity. 1. Believe on Jesus Christ. John 3:16. 2. We must serve Jesus Christ. 3. The sufferings we endure, the sacrifices we make for Christ, make eternity richer. Matthew 5:11-12; Romans 8:18; 2_Timothy 2:12. CONCLUSION. -- The greatest practical question that confronts you and me tonight is, Where shall we spend eternity, and how shall we spend eternity? # HELL "If thy right eye causeth thee to stumble, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not thy whole body be cast into hell." Matthew 5:29 RV. INTRODUCTION. -- Text is from Sermon on the Mount. Many persons say they do not believe the whole Bible but do believe the Sermon on the Mount. I have also taken my text from the Revised Version, for some so-called liberal preachers are proclaiming today that the RV {450} has done away with hell. There seems to be a good deal of it left in our text. I. The Certainty of Hell. Hell is a certainty. 1. Hell is certain because God's Word declares it. Matthew 25:41; 2_Thessalonians 1:7,9; 2_Peter 2:4,9; Jude 14-15. Listen. Jesus spoke after He Himself had gone down into the grave and risen again and ascended to the right hand of God. He certainly knew now what He was talking about when He spoke of the future life. Revelation 21:8. 2. Experience, observation, common sense also point to the existence of hell. II. The Character of Hell. 1. Hell is a place of Physical anguish. This is
plain from the Bible description of the future destiny of the impenitent. "Death" and "destruction" are the terms most frequently used of the future punishment of sin. Both of these terms are defined in the Bible. Revelation 17:8; cf. Revelation 20;10, Revelation 21:8. In the next world we are not disembodied spirits. We have bodies. Not these same bodies, it is true, but bodies. The bodies of the damned will be the fit partner of the degraded spirits that inhabit them and partakers in all their shame and agony. 2. Hell is a place of remorse of conscience. Hell is a place of memory and remorse, remorse without a moment's rest, endless remorse. 3. Hell is a place of unsatisfied and consuming desires. Hell is a place where passion and desires exist in their highest potency, but where there is absolutely no gratification for them. 4. Hell is a place of ever-increasing moral degradation. It is a "bottomless pit." 5. Hell is a place of shame. 6. Hell is a place of vile associations. Revelation 21:8. 7. Finally, hell is a place without hope. {451} # A CHEERING PROMISE ABOUT HELL "All liars shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone." Revelation 21:8. INTRODUCTION. -- The subject of hell is one of the most awful subjects that any man can contemplate. There is but one subject that is more awful and that is sin. Sin is worse than hell. The suffering and misery that sin causes are not so awful as the sin which causes them. Hell with its vast ages of agony and shame is a frightful subject to contemplate, but even hell has its pleasant side. It is found in the text. It is a comforting thought that there will not be one liar in heaven. There will be men in heaven who have been liars and have repented, but there will not be one man or woman there who persisted in their lying. I am sorry that there are any liars in the world, but there are, and as long as there are I am comforted to think that there is a hell for them to go to. A liar is a son of Satan, for the devil is a liar and the father of lies. A liar is the most hopeless case on earth. He can be
saved only by faith, and it is hard for a liar to have faith in God. He is such a liar himself that it is hard for him to put confidence in any one else. Men, you, that is the reason why so many liars are infidels. The case of the liar is very dark indeed, and we need not wonder that it is written that "all liars," etc. I. Classes of Liars. 1. The slanderous liar, the liar who slanders his fellow men. 2. The atheistic liar. The slanderous liar slanders man, the atheistic liar slanders God. 3. The infidel liar. The slanderous liar slanders his fellow man, the atheistical liar slanders God, the infidel liar slanders the Bible, God's Word, infinitely the best book the world ever had; and in slandering God's Word he slanders the God who is the author of it. 4. The fourth class of liars are those who deny the Virgin Birth. The slanderous liar slanders his fellow man, the atheistical liar slanders God, the infidel liar slanders the Word of God and the God who is the author of it, and {452} he who denies that Jesus is the Christ, the apostle John tells us, is the liar of liars. 1_John 2:22. 5. They, too, are liars who say that there is no hell and no future punishment for sin. Any man who says this is a great enemy of his fellow man. He holds out false hopes to his fellow man, and lures him on to eternal ruin. 6. The sixth class of liars are those who make false excuses for not coming to Christ. II. How to Escape Hell. There is but one way in which you can escape hell. That is by the personal acceptance of Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord and the open confession of Him before the world. Acts 4:12; John 3:36; Matthew 10:32-33; 2_Thessalonians 1:7-9. # "GOD'S BLOCKADE OF THE ROAD TO HELL" "The Lord is... not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." 2_Peter 3:9. INTRODUCTION. -- If any man perish it is not God's fault. God has done and is doing everything in His power to bring men to repentance. If men will not repent they must perish. Sin and destruction must
ever go hand in hand. Men must choose between sin and life. They cannot have both. Any scheme of salvation that proposes to save a man while he continues in his sin is an absurdity on its very face. God will not and cannot save a man unless he repents. But God is doing all in His power to bring men to repentance. God has blockaded the read to hell, and if any man goes there it is of his own choice in spite of God's blockade. How has God blockaded the road to hell? I. The Bible. The first great obstruction that God has put in the road to hell is the Bible. The Bible with its warnings and its invitations and its promises is constantly calling every one of us to a holy life. The Bible is a constant protest against our sins and our unbelief and our impenitence. {453} II. Mother's Instructions. A second obstacle that God has put in the road that leads to rein is a mother's instructions. III. Mother's Prayers. A third obstacle that God has put in the road to hell is a mother's prayers. IV. Sunday School Teacher's Instructions. V. The Sermons that We Hear. VI. Providential Occurrences. Another obstruction that God places in the road to hell are various providential occurrences. VII. The Holy Spirit. One of the mightiest obstacles that God places in the road to hell is the striving of the Holy Spirit. VIII. The Cross of Christ. But the greatest obstacle of all that God has placed in the road to hell, the one without which all others would count for naught, is the cross of Christ. {454} @06 CHAPTER SIX TOPICAL SERMONS IN OUTLINE # THE BIBLE: WHEREIN IT DIFFERS FROM ALL OTHER BOOKS INTRODUCTION. -- The Bible stands absolutely alone. It is an entirely unique book. It is not a book, it is THE Book. Wherein the Bible differs from all other books:
I. In its Depth. The Bible is the unfathomable and inexhaustible book. It is unfathomable not because of the obscurity of its style, but because of the profundity of its teaching. The style is so simple and clear that a child can understand it, but its truth is so profound that we explore it from childhood to old age, and can never say that we have reached the bottom. 1. There are whole volumes of meaning in a single and apparently simple verse. 2. The Bible is always ahead of man. What other book ought to command the attention, the time and the study that this book does which is deeper than all other books, ahead of all other books and ahead of every age? II. In the Absolute Accuracy of its Statements. The Bible is the only book that always says all it means to say, and never says any more than it means to say. III. In its Power. There is perhaps no place in which the supremacy and solitariness of the Bible shines out as in its power. {455} In what direction does the Bible show a power that no other books possess? 1. Saving power. (a) The Bible has unique saving power in individual lives. (b) It has saving power in national life. 2. The Bible has a comforting power no other book possesses. 3. The Bible has a joy-giving power no other book possesses. 4. The Bible has a wisdom-giving power that no other book possesses. Psalm 119:130. 5. The Bible has a courage-giving power no other book possesses. No other book has made so many and such peerless heroes. 6. The Bible has a power to inspire activity that no other book possesses. IV. In its Universal Adaptability. Other books fit certain classes, or certain types, or certain races of men, but the Bible fits man universally. 1. It fits all nations. 2. It fits all ages.
3. The Bible fits all classes. 4. The Bible fits all experiences. It is the book for the hour of gladness, and the book for the hour of sadness, the book for the day of victory and the book for the day of defeat. The book for the day of clearest faith, and the book for the day of darkest doubt. V. In its History. 1. The Bible has been hated as no other book. 2. Loved as no other book. 3. Studied as no other book. 4. It has been victorious as no other book. VI. In its Authorship. Finally, the Bible differs from every other book in its authorship. Other books are men's books, this is God's book. {456} # IS THE BIBLE IN DANGER? INTRODUCTION. -- Many consider that the Bible is in grave danger. Many think so because they are glad to think so; it gives their conscience some little consolation in a life of sin. Others fear so with great reluctance. They love the Bible; would be glad to believe, they are afraid that the old book must go. So let us honestly face the question, "Is the Bible in danger?" We will not deny that the Bible has enemies and most gifted ones. Six reasons why the Bible is not in danger: I. Because the Bible has already Survived the Attacks of 1,800 Years. II. The Bible is not in Danger because it Meets and Satisfies the Deepest Needs of Man. 1. First of all the need of pardon and peace. 2. The need of man is deliverance from sin's power. 3. The need of comfort in sorrow. 4. Need of hope in the face of death. III. The Bible is not in Danger because there is Nothing Else to Take the Place of the Bible. The Bible contains all the truth of moral and spiritual subjects that other books contain, it contains more than all other books put together, and it contains all this in portable compass. IV. The Bible is not in Danger because it has a Hold that Cannot be Shaken on the Confidence and Affection of the Wisest and Best Men and Women.
The Bible has the distrust and hatred of some, but it has the confidence and affection of the wisest and especially the best and holiest of men and women. The men who know the Bible best are the men who trust it most and love it best. The Bible is distrusted and hated by those whose influence dies with them; the Bible is loved and trusted by those whose influence lives after them. {457} V. The Bible is not in Danger because it is the Word of God. Many things prove that this book is the Word of God: its fulfilled prophecies, its unity, its Divine Power, its inexhaustible depth, the fact that as we grow in knowledge and holiness -- grow Godward -- we grow toward the Bible. VI. The Bible is not in Danger because any Honest and Earnest Seeker after Truth can find out for Himself that the Bible is God's Word. CONCLUSION. -- The Bible is in no danger. But while the Bible itself is in no danger those who vent their spleen upon it are in danger. It is no small sin to ridicule the Word of all-holy and all-mighty God. There are others who are in danger. Those who listen to the fascinating eloquence of an Ingersoll and allow it to lull them to repose in a life of sin. # INFIDELITY: ITS CAUSES, CONSEQUENCES AND CURE I. Causes 1. The misrepresentation of Christianity by its professed disciples. Two kinds of misrepresentation: (a) In doctrine. (b) In life. 2. Ignorance. Ignorance of what the Bible contains and teaches. Ignorance of history. 3. Conceit. Men become infidels because they find things in the Bible they cannot understand, because there are apparent contradictions which they cannot reconcile. To think that our finite minds could take in in a day or a month all the truth revealed by an infinite mind; to think that because I can't take a statement in it the statement can't be true; to think because I can't find a solution to a difficulty none can be found, all this is to think that my mind is infinite, that I know all things, that I am God.
4. Sin. This is the commonest and most fundamental cause of infidelity. In two ways: (a) Men sin and betake themselves to infidelity to find comfort in their sins. {458} (b) Sin blinds their eyes to the truth of the Bible and makes it appear foolishness. II. Consequences. 1. Sin. Infidelity breeds sin; there is no doubt of that. It is caused by sin and in turn begets a progeny like its ancestry. 2. Anarchy. Anarchists are always infidels. 3. Wretchedness and despair. 4. Suicide. 5. Hopeless graves. 6. Eternal ruin. III. The Cure. 1. Christ-like living on the part of professed Christians. 2. A surrendered will on the part of the infidel. 3. The study of the Will of God. # WHY I BELIEVE IN JESUS CHRIST INTRODUCTION. -- There is nothing more important for a man for the life that now is and for the life that is to come than a faith in Jesus Christ that is intelligent, clear and firm. I. I Believe in Jesus Christ first of all because of the remarkable Fulfillment of His prophecies. Jesus Christ was a prophet. He made some astounding predictions regarding the future. Predictions that seemed incredible and in some cases absurd, but which history has fulfilled to the letter. Take for example His prediction of a world-wide conquest by His disciples. (In Matthew 28:18-20.); Matthew 24:1-2,5,7,10,16,26,28; Luke 19:41-44; 21:20-24. II. I believe in Jesus Christ, in the second place, because of His Fulfilled Promises. Jesus Christ was not only a prophet but a promiser. He made promises of a most extraordinary character, but promises the truth of which any man could test for himself, and all who have tested the promises have found them true. E.g., Matthew 11:28; Acts 1:8; John 7:17. {459} III. I believe in Jesus Christ, in the third place, because of the Wholesome Character of His Laws.
IV. I believe in Christ again because of the Way He Fits into and Fulfills all O.T. Types and Prophecies. V. I believe in Jesus Christ because of the Fact of His Resurrection. VI. I believe in Jesus Christ because of the Uniqueness of His Claims and the Way in which He Substantiates Them. VII. I believe in Jesus Christ because of His Demonstrated Power to Save. I believe that Jesus can save because He does save. I believe that Jesus can save because I have seen Him do it. # SOME ABSOLUTE CERTAINTIES INTRODUCTION. -- We live at a time when the religions and philosophies of all ages and all lands are being brought together for comparison. What an inextricable tangle there seems to be -- Christianity, Mohammedanism, Buddhism and Zoroastrianism; all the various forms of materialistic and spiritualistic philosophy. Within Christianity itself what a conflict of rival theologies! Where is truth to be found? What is truth? It is a great relief and joy to find some certainties among this endless maze of uncertainties, to find something to stand upon and be able to say here at least I have solid rock underneath my feet. A few of the fundamental truths about which there can be no honest question: I. The first absolute certainty is that there is an absolute difference between right and wrong. II. The second certainty is that a man ought to make an honest and diligent search for the truth and to follow every possible clue that promises to lead to it. 1. Here prayer comes in. It is a possible clue. {460} 2. The Bible is at least another possible clue. Many very credible witnesses claim they have come to this book, not all prejudiced in its favor but honestly seeking truth, and have in this book found what they sought. These two clues should be followed together. III. The third certainty is, a man ought to obey so much of the truth as he finds and as fast as he
finds it. IV. The fourth certainty is that every man is a sinner and needs a Savior. V. The fifth absolute certainty is that Jesus does save those who put their trust in Him. VI. The sixth absolute certainty is that there is no Savior from the guilt and power of sin but Jesus Christ. VII. The seventh absolute certainty is that the life of the one who accepts Jesus Christ as Savior and who surrenders to Him as Lord, believes the promises and obeys the precepts of the Bible, is the noblest, fairest, happiest and in every way the most satisfactory life. # WHY I BELIEVE THAT JESUS CHRIST IS THE SON OF GOD INTRODUCTION. -- There is no subject more important than that of the Divinity of Jesus Christ. If Jesus Christ is not Divine, then Christians are idolaters. If Jesus Christ is Divine then all who do not acknowledge Him as such and accept Him as their Divine Savior and Lord are guilty of the awful sin of rejecting the Son of God and denying Him the honor due to His name. I. I believe Jesus Christ is the Son of God because of His own Claim to be the Son of God, and the Way in which He Substantiates that Claim. Christ's claim to be divine is substantiated: 1. First, by His character. {461} 2. His claim to be divine is substantiated by the miracles which He performed. 3. Christ's claim to be divine is substantiated, in the third place, by His influence on the history of the world. 4. Christ's claim is substantiated, in the fourth place, by His resurrection from the dead. II. Because of the Teachings of the Bible besides His own. III. Because of the Divine Power He possesses Today. It is not necessary to go back to the miracles of Christ when upon earth to prove this. He has divine power. He exercises this power today and any one can test it. 1. He has power to forgive sins. 2. He has power today to set Satan's victims free.
IV. I believe that Jesus Christ is Divine because of the Character of those who Accept Him as Divine. V. I believe in the Divinity of Jesus Christ because of the Result of Accepting His Divinity. The religion that accepts God the Father but rejects Jesus Christ His son has no such deep and lasting moral power as the religion that accepts Jesus Christ as divine. Unitarianism does not save the fallen. Unitarianism does not beget a missionary spirit. Faith in Jesus as divine makes missionaries and martyrs; it produces men of prayer and faith. It produces consecrated living. The denial of the divinity of Christ tends to prayerlessness, religious carelessness, unbelief, worldliness, selfishness and easygoing living. # UNTO PRAYER INTRODUCTION. -- The great need of our day in our church life is more prayer. Passages that put this call in an especially impressive and instructive way: 1_Peter 4:7 RV. The closing words, "BE SOBER UNTO PRAYER." The word translated "be sober" means to be "calm and collected in spirit." To be clear-headed. The thought is that prayer is a matter of greatest importance as the days go fast flying toward the end, and that it demands a man's best thought, {462} and that a man needs a clear head before all else, in order that he may approach the great God acceptably in prayer. Prayer demands our best moments and our best thought. I. "That ye may Give Yourselves unto Prayer." 1_Corinthians 7:5 RV. Here Paul says that there are certain duties incumbent upon married people that they may by mutual consent give up for a season that they may give themselves to prayer. That is, prayer is a matter of such vast importance, and for its proper prosecution demands such concentration of thought and disentanglement from other concerns, that matters of very great weight may properly be laid aside to attend to this weightier matter of prayer. The words translated "that ye may give yourselves unto prayer" mean literally 'that ye may have leisure unto prayer." That is, prayer cannot be properly prosecuted by a preoccupied
mind. It demands leisure. It demands the putting of all other things aside and attending absolutely and wholly to this. II. "Continuing steadfastly in prayer, watching therein with supplication." The third passage is Colossians 4:2 RV. The words translated "Continue steadfastly in prayer" mean give constant attention to prayer, make a business of prayer. It is the same word used in Acts 6:4, where the apostles wanted some one to be appointed to look after the poor in order that they might GIVE THEMSELVES CONTINUALLY to prayer and the ministry of the Word; and in Acts 10:7, where it is said of certain soldiers that they WAITED ON Cornelius CONTINUALLY; and in Romans 13:6, where it is said of officials that "they are God's ministers, ATTENDING CONTINUALLY upon this very thing." It evidently means to make a business of a thing. We should make a business of prayer. It is Jesus Christ's business. That is what He lives for. Hebrews 2:25. When the Church of Christ does make prayer its business our eyes shall behold such great things in conversions and progress in life at home and missionary conquests abroad as we have never dreamed of. Our verse says something else about prayer than making it a business. "Continue steadfastly in prayer, WATCHING THEREIN." It must be a wide-awake business. {463} III. "That ye strive together." Romans 15:30. We should strive in prayer. The word translated "strive" means to "contend" or "fight" or "struggle" against opposition. To put forth intense and determined effort. The noun from which it is derived is translated "conflict" or "fight," as for example in 2_Timothy 4:7. God demands the same earnestness in prayer that He does in work. We get the best things in work only by hard working, and we get the best things in prayer by hard praying. There are obstacles to be overcome by prayer, real obstacles; there are enemies to be conquered by prayer, live enemies, strong enemies, and the prayers that win take a vast outlay of soul energy. CONCLUSION. -- Four practical suggestions. 1. Set apart time from everything else for
praying. A certain portion of every day and frequent special seasons. 2. Prepare for prayer. (a) Examine your heart and life to see if you are in praying trim, and if not, get into it. (b) Think carefully over the things that you are to pray for. Find the best, the most needy, most urgent causes. 3. When you undertake to pray summon all your spirit and energy and pray it through. 4. Look to the Holy Spirit to guide every step of the way, "praying in the Holy Spirit." # THREE FIRES I. The Fire of the Holy Ghost. Matthew 3:11; Acts 2:2-4. 1. First of all fire reveals. 1_Corinthians 3:13. What does it mean to be baptized with fire? The answer to this is found in considering what fire does. 2. Fire refines and purifies. Isaiah 44; Zechariah 1:3,9; Malachi 3:1-3. 3. Fire consumes. It refines by consuming. Ezekiel 24:9-11. There is much in all of us that needs to be consumed, pride, vanity, love of money, love of pleasure, fear of man. 4. Fire illuminates. When one is baptized with fire, truth we did not see at all before becomes as clear as day, the Bible becomes a new book, glory shines from every page. {464} 5. Fire also warms; it makes to glow. 6. Fire imparts energy. All forms of energy can be transformed into heat and by heat we can generate the different forms of force and motion. 7. Fire spreads. II. The Fire that Tries Our Works. 1_Corinthians 3:13-15. Not a judgment regarding salvation. The persons whose works are here burned up are saved. It is a judgment regarding the works we do as Christians and the reward we shall receive for them. All the works we do for Christ, or professedly for Him, are to be tested. They are to be put to the severe test, the fire test. All that will not stand the fire test will be burned up. III. The Fire of Eternal Doom. 2_Thessalonians 1:7-9.
Every one of us shall know fire from God. Some of us, I hope, will know the fire of the Holy Ghost. Many of us, I know, will know the fire that tries and consumes our work which is not of the right sort in God's sight. Some shall know the fire of eternal doom. There is a fire of eternal doom. For whom is it? 1. To them that know not God. 2. To them that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus. CONCLUSION. -- There are these three fires, one of which we all must know. Which shall it be? # THE BAPTISM WITH FIRE (Matthew 3:11.) The interpretation that makes the fire of future judgment untenable. 1. In that case it should read "or fire." 2. The way coupled with Holy Ghost, not two "withs," as in AV and RV. 3. Literal translation, "With Holy wind and fire." 4. Fulfilled at Pentecost. Acts 2:2-4. {465} What is it to be baptized with fire? The answer found in considering what fire is said to do in Scripture and what came to the disciples at Pentecost. 1. Refines. 1_Corinthians 3:13. 2. Refines and purifies. The apostles after Pentecost compared with before. Isaiah 4:4; Zechariah 13:9; Malachi 3:1-3. 3. Consumes. Ezekiel 24:9-11; John 5:35. 4. Illuminates. James 16:13; 1_Corinthians 2:14. 5. Fire warms, it makes to glow. 6. Fire imparts energy, generates power and motion. 7. Fire spreads. The great need of ministers and Christian work, of individual Christians and the Church is a baptism with fire. II. How Received. How did the apostles receive it? 1. They recognized their need. 2. They believed it was for them. 3. They really desired it. 4. They continued steadfastly in prayer. 5. They were wholly surrendered to God's will. 6. They expected it.
One gets the baptism with fire in pretty much the same way as one gets water baptism. You wish to be baptized with water, you go to one qualified to baptize with water, tell him what you want and put yourself in his hands for him to baptize you, you being willing to take upon yourself all the consequences of that baptism. Do just the same in this. There is but One qualified to baptize with fire. Jesus Christ, the risen Christ, is the sole and only baptizer with the Holy Ghost. III. Stirring up the Fire. 1. This clearly implies that after one has received the baptism with fire it may burn low and must be stirred into a flame. Experience abundantly proves this. 2_Timothy 1:6. {466} 2. How kindle into a flame? (a) Study of the Word. Ephesians 5:18-19; comp. Colossians 3:16. Just as soon as any one neglects his Bible study the Holy fire burns low. Jeremiah 23:29. (b) Prayer. Acts 4:31. (c) Work. 1_Timothy 4;13-14. CONCLUSION. -- Have you been baptized with the Holy Spirit and fire? Will you be today? Have you been and is the fire burning low? Will you kindle it into a flame? # POWER: ITS SOURCE AND HOW TO OBTAIN IT Text. "God has spoken once... power belongeth unto God." Psalm 62:11. INTRODUCTION. -- The great need in Christian work is power. The father and mother in the home. The Sunday-school teacher. The personal worker. We preachers of the Gospel. We must have power. We can have power. How can we get it? I. The Source of Power. Power belongeth unto God. All real power is from Him. We get power by getting in contact with Him, in union with Him. How often you see a man whom you supposed to be a comparative ignoramus doing a mighty work for God. Why is it? Somehow he has gotten into contact with God. He has got hold of God's power. If you have not the power nobody is to blame but yourself. God is not to blame, for He longs to give; the devil is not to blame, for he can't hinder. You are to blame. II. How Power Is to be Obtained.
What are the conditions upon which God bestows upon us the power that belongs to Him? 1. We must put away sin. Isaiah 59:1-2. 2. We must be separated and stay separated unto God. Judges 16:15-17; cf. Numbers 6:1-2,5. 3. We must get down low before God. 1_Peter 5:5-6. When we give up our own wisdom we get God's. When we give up {467} our own power then and only then we get the power of God. Isaiah 40:29. 4. We must have faith. Hebrews 11:32-34. How to get faith. Romans 10;17. 5. If we are to get God's power we must ask for it. Luke 11:5-10. The place of prayer is the place where power is obtained. Isaiah 40:31; James 4:2. 6. If we are to have power we must have the Holy Ghost. Acts 1:8; 4:31,33. Luke 11:13; Acts 2:39. # THE CHRISTIAN WORKER AND THE HOLY SPIRIT INTRODUCTION. -- There are three passages in the Bible regarding the Holy Spirit that every one who wishes to be used of God in winning souls should ponder very deeply. I. Luke 24:49. 1. WHAT IS THIS ENDUEMENT OF POWER? (a) A definite experience. (b) Separate and distinct from regeneration. (c) A clothing of the believer in Christ with the power of God. 2. How received. Can be variously stated. (a) Must believe there is such an enduement. Acts 19:1-6. (b) Must desire it. Isaiah 44:3. (c) Put away hindrances. The great hindrances, sin and self-sufficiency. (d) Absolute surrender. Acts 5:32. (e) Prayer. Luke 11:13; Acts 4:31. (f) Faith -- claim. Mark 11:24 RV. II. These words are addressed to believers. The Holy Spirit is here set forth as a fire. Significance. There is danger that this fire be quenched. Not enough to receive this fire. Must see to it that it is not quenched. 1_Thessalonians 5:19. 1. How the Holy Spirit is quenched. {468} (a) Through not yielding to the Spirit's suggestions. See context. (b) Through incoming of sin.
(c) Through going back on our consecration. (d) Through self-indulgence. (e) Through pride. If one has quenched the Spirit what shall he do? Go alone with God and find the cause. Then have done with it. Can power be renewed? Yes. III. Here again the Holy Spirit is compared to fire. The verse tells us it is not enough not to quench the fire. We must feed the fire and stir it into a flame. Here is where many fail. 2_Timothy 1:6. 1. How? (a) The study of the Word. Ephesians 5:18-19; compare Colossians 3:16. (b) Prayer. Acts 4:31. (c) Work. The exercise of the gift increases the power of the gift. 1_Timothy 4:14 (see context, vs.13). # THE HOLY SPIRIT AND THE WORD INTRODUCTION. -- The one who would be an efficient worker for Christ must know the power of two things. The power of the Spirit of God and the power of the Word of God. These two are most intimately related to each other. I. The Holy Spirit is the author of the Word. 2_Peter 1:21; 1_Peter 1:11; Hebrews 3:7; John 4:26; 1_Corinthians 2:12-13. II. The Holy Spirit leads men to the Word. Luke 1:67 (and which follows Scripture), 2:25, compare 2:32; Acts 2:4, 14-17, etc. (25-28); 6:5, compare ch.7. (Whenever a man was filled with the Holy Spirit he was full of Scripture.) III. The Holy Spirit is the interpreter of the Word. 1_Corinthians 2:14. IV. The Holy Spirit enables the preacher to communicate with power to others the truth he himself has been taught. Acts 4:31,34; 1_Corinthians 2:1-5. {469} V. The Word is the instrument the Holy Spirit uses in all His blessed work. 1. John 15:26, compare 5:39. 2. John 16:8, compare Acts 2:37. 3. John 3:5, compare 1_Peter 1:23; John 1:18. 4. 1_Peter 1:2, compare John 17:17. 5. 1_Corinthians 12:9, f.cl., Romans 10:17. 6. Romans 8:16, compare 1_John 5:13.
7. Galatians 5:22, compare Jeremiah 15:16; John 15:11. 8. Romans 15:13, compare v.4 (hope). 9. Acts 9:31, compare Romans 15:4 (comfort). The Spirit of God works through the Word. If we wish the Spirit to do His work in our hearts we must study the Word. If we wish Him to do His work in hearts of others we must give them the Word. Ephesians 6:17. But the Word alone will not do it. It is the Word and the Spirit. We must look to the Spirit to make His Word effectual. 2_Corinthians 3:6. # SOME REASONS WHY EVERY SENSIBLE MAN SHOULD BE A CHRISTIAN I. Every sensible man should be a Christian because the teachings of Jesus Christ are true and right and ought therefore to be obeyed. A learned man is a man who knows a great deal, a sensible man is a man who acts upon what he knows. A man may have much learning and very little sense. The man who knows and believes the teachings of Christ to be true and doesn't act upon them has the least sense of all. II. Every sensible person should be a Christian because the acceptance of Christ brings salvation. Two things are perfectly clear to every candid person who considers the facts in the case. 1st. That men need salvation. 2nd. That Christ does save those who accept Him. The first of these certainties every man knows from experience. The second of these certainties, that Jesus Christ does save those who put their trust in Him, any one can know not only from {470} the sure Word of God that asserts, Romans 1:16, but from observation as well. It is a simple, incontrovertible fact that Jesus Christ has saved men. III. Every sensible man should be a Christian because Christ brings a deeper, purer, more lasting joy to those who accept Him than can be found in any other way. Ask any one who has ever been a real Christian if he finds in Christ a deeper, purer, more lasting joy than he ever found elsewhere and he will tell you yes, far deeper, immeasurably deeper. 1_Peter 1:8.
IV. Every sensible man should be a Christian because real faith in Christ prepares one for every emergency of life that can possible arise. Philippians 4:11-12; Hebrews 11:6; Romans 8:28. # IMPORTANCE OF BIBLE STUDY INTRODUCTION. -- There is nothing more important for the Christian than Bible study. There is nothing as important except prayer, holy living and work. And the one who rightly studies his Bible will pray powerfully, live holy, and work earnestly and efficiently. Bible study is also important for the one who is not a Christian. I. Bible Study is Important as a Means of Intellectual Development. No other study offers the material for such an all-round development of the mental powers as the study of the Bible. 1. The Bible is the profoundest book that ever was written. 2. The Bible gives a wider scope for the legitimate use of the imagination and fancy than any other book, or all other books. It goes back into the eternal past; it looks forward into the eternal future. The greatest masters of literature have allowed their fancy to drink in its highest inspiration at the Bible fountain. 3. The Bible is the world's great masterpiece of style. (a) It is the world's marvel of condensed thought. Volumes are packed into a single verse. {471} (b) It is the peerless model of simple, chaste, strong, Anglo-saxon. (c) It is absolutely unrivaled in its power of terse and incisive statement. (d) It has a power that no other book possesses of saying things in a way that so penetrates the mind and fastens itself in the memory that they cannot be forgotten. Any man or woman who desires to write well or speak well should study the Bible above all other books. 4. Bible study affords such opportunity as is found nowhere else for the cultivation of the powers of observation, analysis, synthesis, inference, memory and recollection. II. Bible Study is of the Highest Importance for the Promotion of Growth in Christian Character.
1_Peter 2:2. III. Bible Study is Important for the Production and Development of Faith. Romans 10:17. 1. Faith as opposed to unbelief. 2. Faith that prevails in prayer. 3. Saving faith. 4. Faith that expects and receives great things from God in work. IV. Bible Study is Important as a Safeguard against Sin. Psalm 119:11. V. Bible Study is Important as Filling the Heart with Joy. Jeremiah 15:16. VI. Bible Study is Important as a Safeguard against Error. Acts 20:29-20, 32; 2_Timothy 3:13-15 RV. VII. Bible Study is Important to Make one Wise. Psalm 119:130. VIII. Bible Study is Important as an Equipment for Christian Service. The Bible is the one Instrument God Honors in Christian Work. 2_Timothy 3:16-17. CONCLUSION. -- You will miss every richest blessing in life if you neglect your Bible. {472} # HOW TO STUDY THE BIBLE I. Study the BIBLE. 1. Not about the Bible, but the BIBLE ITSELF. Satan kept men for years from any Bible study; now there is an interest, etc., he keeps them from real Bible study. Questions of authorship, date, etc., are quite important, but studying these things is not studying the Bible. 2. Not helps and commentaries on the Bible, but the BIBLE. 3. Not devotional books. They are good in their place, but learn to go right to the fountain for yourself. The Bible itself the richest gold mine in the world. II. STUDY the Bible. Not merely carry it. Not merely praise it. Not merely glance over it. Not merely read. Study means close mental application. The Bible is profitable only by the truth in it, and that you must digest. Take its books, its chapters, its verses, its individual words and study them. Ponder them. Look closely at them. Turn them over and over. Weigh them. Psalm 1:2; Joshua 1:8. One great hindrance to real study is having so
many chapters you must read in a day. Leads to skimming, thoughtless reading. Have a definite amount of time for study, but not a definite number of chapters or verses. Go fast or slow, according to what you are studying. Sometimes one verse, sometimes many chapters. III. Study the Bible Daily. IV. Have a Definite Amount of Time Set Apart for Bible Study and a Definite Time in the Day for it. Don't trust to chance. Give the Bible the first place. Let all other books and all magazines and papers have a secondary place. One of the greatest enemies of profitable study is hurry. One of the greatest secrets of profitable Bible study is undisturbed concentration of thought. The best time, other things being equal, is the early morning. {473} V. Study Prayerfully. Psalm 119:18. VI. As the Word of God. 1_Thessalonians 2:13. 1. Humbly and meekly. Cf. James 1:21. 2. Unquestioning acceptance of its teaching when definitely and clearly ascertained. 3. Absolute reliance upon its promises. 4. Prompt, exact, unquestioning obedience to every commandment. 5. As in God's presence. "God says this to me." VII. Have some Intelligent and Definite and Systematic Method of Bible Study. 1. Study of the Bible in course. (a) Five points on each chapter. (1) Subject of the chapter. State principal contents of a chapter in a sentence. (2) Principal persons. (3) Leading lesson. Truth most emphasized. (4) Best lesson. (5) Best verse. Ponder it and mark it. (b) Synthetic. (1) Read continuously. (2) Read repeatedly. (3) Read independently. (4) Read prayerfully. 2. Thorough study of individual books. 3. Topical. (a) Be systematic. (b) Be thorough. (c) Be exact.
(d) Write down your results. 4. Study for personal work. # FIVE PLAIN RULES FOR HOLY LIVING INTRODUCTION. -- The Bible is a plain book for plain people. It is true that the Bible sometimes takes us up to heights where our {474} heads swim at the prospect that stretches before us. It is true also that there are places in this book so deep that no scholar's plummet has ever yet struck bottom. But the book abounds in plain, simple directions for everyday living. I come to you today with four simple rules for holy and healthy and happy living. It may seem to some of you like milk for babes, but it is well to remember that there are babes in most families, and even those who are sure they are full grown need plain victuals occasionally lest they get the dyspepsia. The fact is there are many spiritual dyspeptics in our day, and they are always grumbling at the food unless it is prepared by their own spiritual cook. I. "Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it." John 2:5. These words were spoken on a certain occasion concerning Jesus by His mother. They gave directions as to the way out of an emergency then at hand. But they point the shortest and best way out of all emergencies that ever aries. There is no better rule for holy, healthy, and happy living than this, "Whatsoever Jesus says unto you, do it." Whenever in a quandary what to do, just find out what Jesus says and do it. Never mind what it is that He says, do it. The thing that He says to do may seem very insignificant, a matter of no great importance. Never mind that, do it. Something else may seem very like it, or "quite as good," but don't you do that something else. Do the thing, the exact thing that Jesus says. How many people are robbed of blessing by doing something "just as good" as what Jesus said, instead of doing the very thing Jesus says. "Do it." "Whatsoever." "Whatsoever." How are we to tell what Jesus says? He is here in the written Word, the words which He Himself spoke directly and the words which He spoke by His Spirit through apostles and prophets. Besides that He is present personally. Matthew 28:20. If we are fully
surrendered to His will He is always at hand to make known that will to us. Don't ask Him to make clear by His Spirit what He has already made clear by His Word. II. "Do as Jesus Did," or, to put it another way, "Do as Jesus would Do if He were in Your Place." 1_John 2:6. {475} III. "Whatsoever is not of Faith is Sin." The Rule is this: "Do Nothing that you have Doubts about." Romans 14:23. IV. "Whatsoever ye Do, do All to the Glory of God." There are really two Rules in that one. The First is, Do Nothing that you can't do to God's Glory; that Settles a good many Questions. Second, When you Do the things that you could Do to His Glory, actually Do it to His Glory. 1_Corinthians 10:31. V. Throw your Soul into Everything you Do; as unto the Lord, heartily. Colossians 3:23. # GREAT THINGS, AND HOW ANY ONE CAN GET THEM INTRODUCTION. -- There are many who think that only a few men can ever attain unto great things, that the great mass of men must rest content with small things. This is not so. The very greatest things, the things of infinite and eternal value, are open to all men. There is not a man or woman here tonight who cannot have great things, the very greatest, those of the most priceless worth. I. First of all any one can have Great Joy. 1_Peter 1:8. II. Great Peace. Philippians 4:6-7. III. Great Position. John 1:12. IV. A Great Hope. Titus 1:12. V. A Great Inheritance. 1_Peter 1:4-5; Romans 8:17. # D. L. MOODY: THE UNITY OF HIS LIFE "This one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." Philippians 3:13-14. INTRODUCTION. -- Mr. Moody loved to urge men to concentration of purpose and effort. He practiced it even better than he {476} preached it. His life was a constant and unanswerable argument for the power of concentration of purpose and action.
His life was one of marvelous unity. There was in it a seven-fold unity. I. First of all, he was a man of one passion, love for Jesus Christ. II. A man of but one aim, that aim was to please God. III. He was a man of one book, the Bible. IV. A man of one work, soul-saving. Mr. Moody did many things, but he always had one definite end in view, the salvation of the lost. V. A man of one idea, "God is love." VI. A man of one source of power, the Holy Ghost. VII. A man of one endeavor, "to do what he could." # MESSIANIC PROPHECIES INTRODUCTION. -- Importance of subject. Peter's argument on the Day of Pentecost. Acts 2. Paul's argument. Acts 9:22; 1:3. Christ's argument. Luke 24:27, 44. There are said to be 333 prophecies and references to Christ in the Old Testament which are expressly cited in the New Testament. I. Classes of Messianic Prophecies. 1. Explicit prophecies that refer directly and wholly to the coming Messiah. 2. Explicit prophecies that have an immediate reference to contemporaneous or nearly contemporaneous persons and events, but which have their final and complete fulfillment in the Messiah. 3. Passages the Messianic application of which is not explicitly noted but which are fulfilled and marvelously fulfilled in Christ. {477} 4. Types. To the first class of prophecies -- those that refer directly and wholly to the Messiah belong; e.g., Isaiah 53; Genesis 49:10; Micah 5:2. A very strong attempt has been and is being made to show that Isaiah 53 is not Messianic. It is said to refer to suffering Israel. This chapter cannot refer to Israel. (a) The sufferer is represented as perfectly innocent and suffering for the sins of others. Vs. 5,6,8,9. (b) He is a voluntary and unresisting sufferer. V.7. (c) The sufferer is stricken for the transgression of another than himself, viz., God's people. V.8.
But Israel is God's people, so the suffered cannot be. This 53rd chapter has been accepted by the Jews themselves as Messianic in the Targums, the Talmud, the Zohar. In the Jewish prayers on the Day of Atonement and by the Jews at the present time. To the second class of prophecies those, etc., belong; e.g., Isaiah 7:14; Psalm 72:45. To the third class of prophecies belongs Psalm 22 (vs.1,6,8,14,18). To the types belong all the sacrifices and institutions and personages; e.g., the Passover, Exodus 12; the goats on Day of Atonement, Leviticus 16. The typical personages, Joseph, Genesis 37, David, Solomon; e.g., 1_Kings 4:24-34; 10:1-9. II. The Development of Messianic Prophecy. Messianic prophecy in the Bible like everything else in God's world and Word grows. First we have only the seed of the woman shall bruise the serpent's head. Genesis 3:15. Next it is Shem's descendants. Genesis 9:26-27. Then it is the seed of Abraham. Then it is the tribe of Judah. Genesis 49:10. Then the Son of David. Other particulars also being constantly added. {478} III. What is Prophesied of the Messiah in the Old Testament. 1. His family. Jeremiah 23:5-6; 33:15-16. Of the family of David. He was to be born at a time when that family had been cut down and lost its glory. 2 State of family at His birth. Isaiah 53:2; 11:1 RV. 3. The time of His appearing. Genesis 49:10; Haggai 2:7-9; Daniel 9;25. 4. The place. Micah 5:2. Bethlehem. 5. His nature. (a) Divine. Micah 5:2; Psalm 45:6; Psalm 110:1; Psalm 2:7; Isaiah 9:6. (b) Human. Isaiah 53:3. 6. His character. (a) Meek. Isaiah 53:7. (b) Gentle. Isaiah 32:3. (c) Retiring. Avoiding notoriety. Isaiah 42:2. (d) Full of the Spirit. Isaiah 42:1; 11:2.