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Pastoral Resources
Sermon Illustrations Archive
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Dwight Moody used to speak of a miserly farmer recently converted, to whom a neighbor in distress appealed for help. The miser decided to prove the genuineness of his conversion by giving him a ham. On his way to get it the tempter whispered, "Give him the smallest one you have." A struggle ensued and finally the miser took down the largest ham he had. "You are a fool," the devil said. And the farmer replied, "If you don't keep still, I'll give him every ham in the smokehouse!"
Murray McCheyne, that great preacher, said, "The Christian is just a person who makes it easy for others to believe in God." Is it easy for others to believe in God because of your presence among them? And that great scientist Pascal said. "I saw that everything that came to pass in the life of Christ must be repeated in the lives of His followers." And another author said, "Say not that you have royal blood in your veins, say not that you are born of God, if you cannot prove your pedigree by daring to be holy."
When I speak of sacrificial giving, I mean giving that is measured and motivated by the cross of Christ. It is nothing less than giving at its best.
Perhaps a story from the past will illustrate what I mean. Early in the nineteenth century the king of Prussia, Frederick William III, found himself in great trouble. He was carrying on an expensive war; he was endeavoring to strengthen his country and make a great nation of the Prussian people. But he did not have enough money to accomplish his plans. He could not disappoint his people, and to capitulate to the enemy would be unthinkable.
After careful reflection he decided to approach the women of Prussia and ask them to bring their gold and silver jewelry to be melted down and made into money for their country. He resolved, moreover, that for each gold or silver ornament he would give in exchange a bronze or iron decoration as a token of his gratitude. Each decoration would bear the inscription, "I gave gold for iron, 1813."
The response was overwhelming. And what was even more important was that these women prized their gifts from the king more highly than their former possessions. The reason, of course, is clear. The decorations were proof that they had sacrificed for their king. Indeed, it is a matter of history that it became unfashionable for women to wear jewelry. So the Order of the Iron Cross was established. Members of this order wore no ornaments, save a cross of iron for all to see.
The church today needs an army of people who are so committed to the King of Kings that sacrifice becomes a way of life! Such an army would do exploits for God. Such an army would hasten the coming and reign of "the King eternal, immortal, invisible (the) God Who alone is wise" (1Ti 1:17).
A changed life is an indisputable argument. Zeno, the subtle Greek philosopher was once trying to show that there is no such thing as motion; upon which Diogenes simply got up and walked about! So when cynics sneer at Christianity and say it is all a lot of nonsense, the best way to refute them is to produce the evidence of a changed life.
Bill Hybels related a story of integrity in Leadership Magazine.
One evening I stopped by the church just to encourage those who were there rehearsing for the spring musical. I didn’t intent to stay long, so I parked my car next to the entrance. After a few minutes, I ran back to my car and drove home.
The next morning I found a note in my office mailbox. It read: A small thing, but Tuesday night when you came to rehearsal, you parked in the “No Parking” area. A reaction from one of my crew (who did not recognize you after you got out of your car) was, “There’s another jerk in the ‘No Parking’ area!” We try hard not to allow people—even workers—to park anywhere other than the parking lots. I would appreciate your cooperation, too. It was signed by a member of our maintenance staff.
(This man’s) stock went up in my book because he had the courage to write to me about what could have been a slippage in my character.
And he was right on the mark. As I drove up that night, I had thought, I shouldn’t park here, but after all, I am the pastor. That translates: “I’m an exception to the rules.” But that employee wouldn’t allow me to sneak down the road labeled “I’m an exception.”
I’m not the exception to church rules or any of God’s rules. Exemplary conduct means encouraging others to imitate us, even in the small matters.
Proper motives are essential in Christian service. This is especially true in the giving of our money. The Lord is more concerned with shy we give than with how much we give. We must have a right heart attitude. Therefore we should never give in order to receive the praise of others, but because we love God and desire to see His name honored and glorified.
An experience in the life of English preacher and theologian Andrew Fuller illustrates this truth. James Duff, in Flashes of Truth, told of a time when Fuller went back to his hometown to collect money for foreign missions. One of his contacts was an old friend. When presented with the need, the man said, “Well, Andrew, seeing it’s you, I’ll give you five dollars.” “No,” said Fuller, “I can’t take your money for my cause, seeing it is for me,” and he handed the money back. The man saw his point. “Andrew, you are right. Here’s ten dollars, seeing it is for Jesus Christ.” Duff concluded, “Let us remember, it is not the amount we give toward helping the Lord’s work; it is the motive He looks at.”
When we have the opportunity to contribute to some worthy Christian cause, may we do so with the right purpose in mind. We should never give just because we feel obligated to organizations or persons, nor because we desire to receive selfish recognition or reward. The apostle Paul said, “Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give, not grudgingly, or of necessity; for God loveth a cheerful giver” (2 Cor. 9:7). We should honestly say, “It’s for the Lord!” - R.W.D.
An example from the animal world shows how God makes provision for stability in the most difficult circumstances. In bold defiance of gravity, the mountain goats that live from the Northwest United States through Canada into Alaska demonstrate incredible stability in the most difficult of terrains. They leap surefootedly from ledge to ledge and scamper around steep, rugged mountainsides with the utmost confidence. Unusually flexible, the two toes of the goat's hoof can spread apart wider than the hoof is long to distribute the animal's grip. Or they can draw together to grasp a knob of rock. The goat also has a rough, pliable traction pad on the bottom of each toe which makes them skid-resistant on ice. Dewclaws projecting from the rear of the ankles provide additional traction on steep, downhill routes.
Just as God makes provision in the animal world for creatures to stand with stability in the most difficult terrain, He will surely make provision for His redeemed children to stand in the most difficult spiritual circumstances. He can and will stabilize you in the midst of insuperable difficulty.
Evidences of Original Sin. Test this on the toddlers in your home or church this Christmas!
1. If I like it, it’s mine.
2. If it’s in my hand, it’s mine.
3. If I can take it from you, it’s mine.
4. If I had it a little while ago, it’s mine.
5. If it’s mine, it must never appear to be yours in any way.
6. If I’m doing or building something, all the pieces are mine.
7. If it looks just like mine, it’s mine.
8. If I saw it first, it’s mine.
9. If you are playing with something and you put it down, it automatically becomes mine.
10. If it’s broken, it’s yours.
The book, The World’s Worst Predictions lists some of history’s all-time prophetic goofs.
King George II said in 1773 that the American colonies had little stomach for revolution.
An official of the White Star Line, speaking of the firm’s newly built flagship, the Titanic, launched in 1912, declared that the ship was unsinkable.
In 1939 The New York Times said the problem of TV was that people had to glue their eyes to a screen, and that the average American wouldn’t have time for it.
An English astronomy professor said in the early 19th century that air travel at high speed would be impossible because passengers would suffocate.
This means the turning away of wrath by an offering. It is similar to expiation but expiation does not carry the nuances involving wrath. For the Christian the propitiation was the shed blood of Jesus on the cross. It turned away the wrath of God so that He could pass “over the sins previously committed” (Rom. 3:25). It was the Father who sent the Son to be the propitiation (1 John 4:10) for all (1 John 2:2).
Offering whatever will turn away anger; paying the penalty. Propitiation has to do with persons, expiation with things. Sin arouses the wrath of God; if people are to be forgiven, something must be done about his anger. Jesus’ death on the cross brought about a process of propitiation; it was the means by which divine anger was averted from sinners.
Prospective father-in-law to daughter’s suitor: “How much money do you have in the bank?”
Young man: “I don’t know. I haven’t shaken it lately.”
An employee asked for a raise, telling his boss that several companies were after him. When asked which ones, he told his employer, “There’s the electric company, the phone company and the gas company.”
It costs more to buy the average new car in the U. S. today than it cost Christopher Columbus to equip and undertake his maiden voyage to the New World.
Lorrie Anderson, missionary to the head-shrinking Candoshi Shapra Indians of Peru, was looking for a quiet place for her daily time of Bible reading and prayer, so she went down by the edge of the river. After reading the Bible, she took up her prayer list. Eyes closed, she did not see the deadly anaconda weaving through the water until it struck, burying its fangs into her flesh. It withdrew to strike, hitting her arm again and again as it held her, screaming, in its coils. It reared up for the death blows. Then suddenly the giant snake, never known to release its prey, relaxed its grip and slithered off through the water. While Lorrie was being treated, a witch doctor from a nearby village burst into the hut and stared at her. She couldn’t believe Lorrie had survived. She said her son-in-law, also a witch doctor, had chanted to the spirit of the anaconda that morning and sent it to kill the young missionary. “I’m certain,” Lorrie said, “that except for the protection of God, it would have worked.”
There’s a story about a proud young man who came to Socrates asking for knowledge. He walked up to the muscular philosopher and said, “O great Socrates, I come to you for knowledge.” Socrates recognized a pompous numbskull when he saw one. He led the young man through the streets, to the sea, and chest deep into water. Then he asked, “What do you want?” “Knowledge, O wise Socrates,” said the young man with a smile. Socrates put his strong hands on the man’s shoulders and pushed him under. Thirty seconds later Socrates let him up. “What do you want?” he asked again. “Wisdom,” the young man sputtered, “O great and wise Socrates.” Socrates crunched him under again. Thirty seconds passed, thirty-five. Forty. Socrates let him up. The man was gasping. “What do you want, young man?” Between heavy, heaving breaths the fellow wheezed, “Knowledge, O wise and wonderful...” Socrates jammed him under again Forty seconds passed. Fifty. “What do you want?” “Air!” he screeched. “I need air!” “When you want knowledge as you have just wanted air, then you will have knowledge.”
In Aesop's fables a traveler was entertaining some men in a tavern with an account of the wonders he had done abroad. "I was once at Rhodes," said he, "and the people of Rhodes, you know, are famous for jumping. Well, I completed a jump there that no other man could equal within a yard. That's a fact, and if we were there I could bring you ten men who would prove it." "What need is there to go to Rhodes for witnesses?" asked one of his hearers. "Just imagine you are there now and show us your leap." Thus Paul intimated to the Corinthians, "I don't have to come to listen to your words. You can prove the quality of your life by what you do, and I'll know it from where I am."
Setting out from Hamburg, Germany, one day to give a concert in London, violinist Fritz Kreisler had an hour before his boat sailed. He wandered into a music shop, where the proprietor asked if he could look at the violin Kreisler was carrying. He then vanished and returned with two policemen, one of whom told the violinist, “You are under arrest.”
“What for?” asked Kreisler.
“You have Fritz Kreisler’s violin.”
“I am Fritz Kreisler.”
“You can’t pull that on us. Come along to the station.”
As Kreisler’s boat was sailing soon, there was no time for prolonged explanations. Kreisler asked for his violin and played a piece he was well known for. “Now are you satisfied?” he asked. They were!
A grocer was down in the cellar of his shop when he noticed his small son standing at the edge of the open trap door. He called up, "Here I am, Sonny, jump down." But the boy hesitated. "I can't, Daddy; I can't see you." Up came the answer, "No, but I can see you; trust me and jump, and I will catch you." At this point, the boy jumped because he trusted his father.
Well-trained is the son who can hang onto his father’s words as well as he can a fly ball (Prov 4:4).
Happy will be the child who cries because his dad loves him (Prov 10:12)
A wise father hates sin in order to love his son.
A good father shows the value of a book as well as a buck.
The dad who wonders how much of a teacher he needs to be would do
well to go to the school of Solomon.
The man who finds a good woman should show his son how to avoid a bad one (Prov. 2,5,6,7,9).
What a father knows about sex might help his children as much as surprise them (Prov. 23:26-8).
A wise son makes a glad dad as much as a foolish one makes a glum mum (Prov. 10:1).
Thank God for fathers who not only gave us life but taught us what to do with it.
If you’re amazed at how hard your dad can make it for you, try it without him (Prov. 15:5).
Double whammy; foolish son and contentious mammy (Prov. 19:13).
- M. R. De Haan II
It is possible for a person to contend that a poem is nothing but black marks on white paper. And such an argument might be convincing before an audience that could not read. You can examine the print under a microscope or analyze the paper and ink but you will never find something behind this sort of analysis that you could call “a poem.” Those who can read, however, will continue to insist that poems exist.
My argument against God was that the universe seemed so cruel and unjust. But how had I got this idea of just and unjust? A man does not call a line crooked unless he has some idea of a straight line …Thus, in the very act of trying to prove that God did not exist—in other words, that the whole of reality was senseless—I found I was forced to assume that one part of reality—namely my idea of justice—was full of sense.
It is the branch that bears the fruit
That feels the knife,
To prune it for a larger growth
And fuller life,
Though every budding twig be lopped
And every grace
Of swaying tendril, springing leaf
Be lost a space.
Oh, thou whose life of joy seems reft,
Of beauty shorn,
Whose aspirations lie in dust,
All bruised and torn,
Rejoice, though each desire, each dream,
Each hope of thine
Shall fall and fade; it is the hand of love divine
That holds the knife, that cuts and breaks
With tenderest touch,
That thou, whose life hast borne some fruit,
May now bear much.
- Annie Johnson Flint.
I will walk with integrity of heart within my house.
I will not set before my eyes anything that is base.
The Lord is my Shepherd - Perfect Salvation
I shall not want - Perfect Satisfaction
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures - Perfect Rest
He leadeth me beside the still waters - Perfect Peace
He restoreth my soul - Perfect Restoration
He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake - Perfect Guidance
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil - Perfect Protection
For thou art with me - Perfect Companionship
Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me - Perfect Comfort
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies - Perfect Provision
Thou anointest my head with oil - Perfect Consecration
My cup runneth over - Perfect Joy
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life - Perfect Care
And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever - Perfect Destiny
The clock is my dictator, I shall not rest.
It makes me lie down only when exhausted.
It leads me into deep depression.
It hounds my soul.
It leads me in circles of frenzy, for activities sake.
Even though I run frantically from task to task, I will never get it all done,
For my ideal is with me.
Deadlines and my need for approval, they drive me.
They demand performance from me, beyond the limits of my schedule.
They anoint my head with migraines,
My in-basket overflows.
Surely fatigue and time pressures shall follow me
All the days of my life.
And I will dwell in the bonds of frustration
Forever
“When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long”
There is nothing that so takes the joy out of life like unconfessed sin on the conscience.
Now it came to pass that spring turned to summer again. God’s people raised their voices and said:
“Recreation is my shepherd, I shall not stay at home;
He maketh me to lie down in a sleeping bag;
He leadeth me down the Interstate each weekend.
He restoreth my suntan;
He leadeth me to State Parks for comfort’s sake.
Even though I stray on the Lord’s Day, I will fear no reprimand,
for Thou art with me;
my rod and reel they comfort me.
I anointest my skin with oil, my gas tank runneth dry;
Surely my trailer shall follow me all the weekends this summer,
and I shall return to the House of the Lord this fall.”
But then it is hunting season and that’s another psalm.
Patients in the psychiatric unit at Wilson Hospital, Johnson City, N.Y., are forbidden to watch “The PTL Club” television program because of what hospital officials describe as a “disturbing effect” on some patients. Dr. Q. D. Schubmehl, chairman of the psychiatric department, told a reporter for the Binghamton (N. Y.) Press that “many of our patients do have serious problems, and we found that (the PTL show) was exaggerating pre-existing symptoms.” According to Dr. Schubmehl, the program promotes the idea that “if you had faith, you wouldn’t be sick.” He said that “the suggested interpretation by patients is one of anti-physician and anti-medical. Maybe, it’s not anti-physician or anti-medical, but it at least puts things in a way that you can get better through faith alone.”
Karl Menninger, the famed psychiatrist, once said that if he could convince the patients in psychiatric hospitals that their sins were forgiven, 75 percent of them could walk out the next day!
During WWI one of my predecessors at Tenth Presbyterian Church, Donald Grey Barnhouse, led the son of a prominent American family to the Lord. He was in the service, but he showed the reality of his conversion by immediately professing Christ before the soldiers of his military company. The war ended. The day came when he was to return to his pre-war life in the wealthy suburb of a large American city. He talked to Barnhouse about life with his family and expressed fear that he might soon slip back into his old habits. He was afraid that love for parents, brothers, sisters, and friends might turn him from following after Jesus Christ.
Barnhouse told him that if he was careful to make public confession of his faith in Christ, he would not have to worry. He would not have to give improper friends up. They would give him up. As a result of this conversation the young man agreed to tell the first ten people of his old set whom he encountered that he had become a Christian.
The soldier went home. Almost immediately—in fact, while he was still on the platform of the suburban station at the end of his return trip—he met a girl whom he had known socially. She was delighted to see him and asked how he was doing. He told her, “The greatest thing that could possibly happen to me has happened.” “You’re engaged to be married,” she exclaimed. “No,” he told her. “It’s even better than that. I’ve taken the Lord Jesus Christ as my Savior.” The girls’ expression froze. She mumbled a few polite words and went on her way.
A short time later the new Christian met a young man whom he had known before going into the service. “It’s good to see you back,” he declared. “We’ll have some great parties now that you’ve returned.” “I’ve just become a Christian,” the soldier said. He was thinking, That’s two! Again it was a case of a frozen smile and a quick change of conversation.
After this the same circumstances were repeated with a young couple and with two more old friends. By this time word had got around, and soon some of his friends stopped seeing him. He had become peculiar, religious, and—who knows!—they may even have called him crazy! What had he done? Nothing but confess Christ. The same confession that had aligned him with Christ had separated him from those who did not want Jesus Christ as Savior and who, in fact, did not even want to hear about Him.
The public’s image of the clergy has hit an all-time low, with just a bare majority now rating them “very high” (15 percent) or “high” (39 percent) in honesty and ethical standards. One person in three (33 percent) considers clergy ethics to be just average, while 7 percent say they are “low,” and 2 percent consider them “very low.”
In spite of this, members of the clergy are charted second only to pharmacists for honesty and ethics. Physicians, college teachers, dentists, and engineers are next in rank, while journalists, bankers, lawyers, members of Congress, and car salesmen are rated near the bottom.
A vessel was wrecked off the shore. Eager eyes were watching and strong arms manned the life-boat. For hours they tried to reach that vessel through the great breakers that raged and foamed on the sand-bank but it seemed impossible. The boat appeared to be leaving the crew to perish. But after a while the Captain and sixteen men were taken off, and the vessel went down. "When the life-boat came to you," said a friend, "did you expect it had brought some tools to repair your old ship?" "Oh, no," was the response; "she was a total wreck. Two of her masts were gone, and if we had stayed mending her, only a few minutes, we must have gone down, sir." "When once off the old wreck and safe in the life-boat, what remained for you to do?" "Nothing, sir, but just to pull for the shore."
Light in the darkness, sailor, day is at hand!
See o'er the foaming billows fair Haven's land,
Drear was the voyage, sailor, now almost o'er
Safe within the life-boat, sailor, pull for the shore.
CHO.-- Pull for the shore, sailor, pull for the shore!
Heed not the rolling waves, but bend to the oar;
Safe in the life-boat, sailor, cling to self no more!
Leave the poor old stranded wreck, and pull for the shore.
Trust in the life-boat, sailor, all else will fail,
Stronger the surges dash and fiercer the gale,
Heed not the stormy winds, though loudly they roar;
Watch the "bright morning star," and pull for the shore.-Cho.
Bright gleams the morning, sailor, lift up thy eye;
Clouds and darkness disappearing, glory is nigh!
Safe in the life-boat, sailor, sing evermore;
"Glory, glory, hallelujah!" pull for the shore.--Cho.
One morning in the 1620s, in a little village church, a preacher named John Rogers was preaching on the subject of the Bible in the Christian’s life. He allowed himself some pulpit dramatics. First, he acted the part of God telling the congregation:
“Well, I have trusted you so long with my Bible; you have slighted it; it lies in such and such houses all covered with dust and cobwebs; you care not to listen to it. Do you use my Bible so? Then you shall have my Bible no longer.” And he took the pulpit Bible away.
Then he knelt down and impersonated the people crying to God: “Lord, whatever thou dost to us, take not thy Bible from us; kill our children, burn our houses; destroy our goods but spare us thy Bible.”
Then he acted God again: “Say you so? Well, I will try you a while longer; and here is my Bible for you” (replacing it); “I will see how you will use it, whether you will love it more, observe it more, practice it more, live more according to it.”
At this the whole congregation dissolved in tears. What had happened? Rogers, under God, had touched a nerve, reminding them of their need to pay close attention to the Bible because reverence for God meant reverence for Scripture and serving God meant obeying Scripture.
Do we need to recapture some of the same attitude today? Surely disregarding the Bible is the greatest possible insult to its divine author.
Perspective, like punctuation, makes a vast difference in meaning:
he is a young man yet experienced in vice and wickedness he is never found in opposing the works of sin he takes delight in the downfall of his neighbors he never rejoices in the prosperity of his friends he is always ready to help in destroying the peace of society he takes no pleasure in serving the Lord he is uncommonly active in spreading hatred among his friends he takes no pride in helping to promote the cause of Christianity he has never been careless in trying to tear down the church he makes no effort to overcome his evil passions he strives hard to build up Satan’s kingdom he lends no aid to the support of the Gospel among heathen people he contributes largely to the devil he will never go to heaven he must go where he will receive his just reward
Some of these newfangled inventions are great-especially the puncture-proof tire. If you are driving along with ordinary tires and a nail goes through one of them, whis-s-s, you lose all the air. But a puncture-proof tire is different-if a nail goes through, there is some stuff inside that runs around and stops the hole and the air stays in.
The heart of a Christian is like that puncture-proof tire. An ordinary heart may be filled with love, but when someone does something to puncture that heart, all the love runs out and hatred and hard feelings take its place. But a puncture-proof heart is different. It is filled with the Spirit of Christ and when someone, through their words or deeds punctures that heart, immediately the hole is stopped up tight and the love stays in."
Punishment
Logical Consequences
1. Used by an authority figure
Reflect the world with cause and effect
2. Often done in anger
Can be used without much emotion
3. Often unrelated to the misbehavior
Logically related to the misbehavior
4. Moral judgment by parent
Moral responsibility by child/teen
5. Focused on the past
Focused on the present and future
6. Use restricted to home
Transferable to many other situations
7. Appropriate for control (I control them)
Appropriate for influence and motivation (They exercise self-control)
Punishment
Logical Consequences
1. Used by an authority figure
Reflect the world with cause and effect
2. Often done in anger
Can be used without much emotion
3. Often unrelated to the misbehavior
Logically related to the misbehavior
4. Moral judgment by parent
Moral responsibility by child/teen
5. Focused on the past
Focused on the present and future
6. Use restricted to home
Transferable to many other situations
7. Appropriate for control (I control them)
Appropriate for influence and motivation (They exercise self-control)
A young man speeding along a highway crashed into an oncoming car, and the resultant chain reaction caused the death and crippling of several innocent victims. Yet the judge, after only five minutes deliberation, let him go free. The ensuing public uproar caused a re-opening of the case and a conviction-although ultimately the sentence was suspended. The public outrage in this case, and in similar instances where justice is flouted, shows that men have a built-in recognition of the fact that, where wrongdoing goes unpunished, the law-abiding are threatened and the innocent victimized. Parental love cannot allow disobedience to go unchecked or let continued rejection of authority go unpunished. To do so would be to encourage anarchy and to discourage those who are trying to do what is right. The doctrine of love that the Lord Jesus Christ preached was no wishy-washy affair of permissiveness, of "anything goes," but was balanced by stern warnings about sinning against God and man.
At the commencement exercises for Purdue University’s engineering schools, graduates of each school stood en masse to be recognized by the dean of engineering. When the aeronautical-engineering students rose, they launched a swarm of paper airplanes toward the stage, where the university’s president and other dignitaries were sitting. After students from all the schools had risen in turn, the president stepped up to the rostrum. Looking at the paper planes covering the stage floor, he remarked, “I’m very glad the agricultural-engineering graduates decided not to throw anything.”
Unfortunately, that is not very often how it works. The accusatory rhetoric at the United Nations is not all that different in tone from the way Christians argue with each other. Here is an example from the seventeenth century, when the Puritans and the Quakers were engaged in angry debates:
The great Puritan preacher Richard Baxter wrote a pamphlet in which he lumped the Quakers with “drunkards, swearers, whoremongers, and sensual wretches” and other “miserable creatures.” And then—just in case he had not yet insulted them enough—he insisted that Quakers are no better than “Papists. “The Quaker leader James Naylor announced that he was compelled “by the Spirit of Jesus Christ” to respond to these harsh accusations. He proceeded to characterize his Puritan opponent as a “Serpent,” a “Liar,” and “Child of the Devil,” a “Cursed Hypocrite,” and a “Dumb Dog.”
This is strong stuff. What makes it especially sad is that the angry talk often makes it difficult to get to the real issues. The debate between the Puritans and the Quakers was actually a rather interesting and helpful one. Both parties engaged in some serious biblical exposition; if the heavy rhetoric were removed, the discussion could easily appear to have been a friendly argument between Christians who had some important things to talk about. But I doubt that either group heard the helpful things the other side was saying. Too much angry rhetoric was in the air.
We begin by trusting our ignorance and calling it innocence, by trusting our innocence and calling it purity. And when we hear these rugged statements of our Lord’s (Matthew 15:18), we shrink and say: “But I never felt any of those awful things in my heart.” Either Jesus Christ is the supreme authority on the human heart or He is not worth paying attention to. Am I prepared to trust His judgment or do I prefer to trust my innocent ignorance? As long as I remain under the refuge of innocence, I am living in a fool’s paradise. The only thing that safeguards is the redemption found in Jesus Christ. Purity is too deep down for me to get to naturally; but when the Holy Spirit comes in, He brings into the center of my life the very Spirit that was manifested in the life of Jesus Christ—the Holy Spirit, who is unsullied purity.” - Oswald Chambers
A beautiful blond senior shares:
“When we date, we start giving gifts, like flowers or candy. When a couple becomes engaged, they give special things—a diamond and very personal things. The most personal gift that I can ever give is myself. I have nothing more precious to give. When I marry, I want to give my husband the best that I have—my whole self as completely as I can.”
Many years before Abraham Lincoln was elected president, he was a store-keeper in Salem, Illinois. Abe had a rifle displayed in his store that was one of the most beautiful rifles ever made. The barrel was made from the finest steel, the stock from the best walnut wood; and a world-famous gunsmith had assembled the gun. The price was extremely reasonable. Displayed next to this attractive gun was a rack of ordinary Kentucky squirrel rifles. These long-barrel rifles were made from ordinary gun steel, and plain wooden stocks. Yet, the price was higher.
A customer entered the store looking for a new rifle. He was impressed by the fine-looking gun, but was confused as to why it was priced much lower than the less attractive rifles. Abe explained that the good-looking rifle was for show, while the others were for shooting. The pioneer bought the Kentucky squirrel rifle.
A little while later, a rich farmer was decorating a room in his country mansion. He wanted to place a gun over the fireplace mantle with his big game trophies. Abe’s fancy gun was exactly what he needed. The fact that it would not shoot was irrelevant. The purpose of the gun had changed.
God has given each of us a purpose, too. We can choose to work for God’s glory and make disciples for Christ, or we can choose to be decorations in the church. What purpose are you serving in your relationship with Christ?
One clear purpose of miracles was to authenticate the character of Jesus and his relationship with his heavenly Father. In this regard, miracles demonstrate the following: God is with Jesus (John 3:2); Jesus is from God (John 3:2; 9:342-33); God has sent Jesus (John 5:36); Jesus has authority on earth to forgive sins (Mark 2:10-11; Matt. 9:6-7; Luke 5:24-25); Jesus is approved by God (Acts 2:22); the Father is in Jesus and Jesus is in the Father (John 10:37-38; 14:11); in Jesus the kingdom of God has come (Matt. 12:28; Luke 11:20); and Jesus is the Messiah (Matt. 11:1-6; Luke 7:18-23) and the Son of God (Matt. 14:25-33).
A second purpose of miracles was to authenticate the message about Jesus. This was the major function of the miracles as far as the ministry of the apostles was concerned. Mark says that the Lord “confirmed his word [that the apostles preached] by the signs that accompanied it” (Mark 16:20). When Luke was describing the ministry of Paul and Barnabas at Iconium, he said that the Lord “confirmed the message of his grace by enabling them to do miraculous signs and wonders” (Acts 14:3). Notice that in both of these texts the Lord does not confirm the apostles themselves but rather “his word” or “the message” that the apostles were preaching. Signs and wonders do not testify to the apostles but to the message of salvation preached by the apostles. So the two principal things that are authenticated by miracles are the Lord Jesus and the message about the Lord Jesus.
Would you call the farmer faithful who didn't care enough to cultivate, weed, and spray his fields after the seed was planted? He should change his methods if he's not getting an adequate yield of produce. The purpose of farming is to raise a good crop, and the purpose of stewardship is to multiply the investment entrusted to a manager by his employer. Christian stewardship entails the responsibility of investing whatever time, talents, and possessions God has given us to yield the best returns to Him.
In Scripture we see several purposes for fasting. It’s part of the discipline of self-control; it’s a way of sharing that we depend on God alone and draw all our strength and resources from him; it’s a way of focusing totally on him when seeking his guidance and help, and of showing that you really are in earnest in your quest; it’s also, at times, an expression of sorrow and deep repentance, something that a person or community will do in order to acknowledge failure before God and seek his mercy.
We tend to think of fasting as going without food. But we can fast from anything. If we love music and decide to miss a concert in order to spend time with God, that is fasting. It is helpful to think of the parallel of human friendship. When friends need to be together, they will cancel all other activities in order to make that possible. There’s nothing magical about fasting. It’s just one way of telling God that your priority at that moment is to be alone with him, sorting out whatever is necessary, and you have canceled the meal, party, concert, or whatever else you had planned to do in order to fulfill that priority.
1. To do the Father’s will (Jn. 6:38)
2. To bear witness to the truth (Jn. 18:37)
3. To bring light to the darkness (Jn. 12:46)
4. To bring true judgment (Jn. 9:39)
5. To bring abundant life (Jn. 10:10).
Men have pursued joy in every avenue imaginable. Some have successfully found it while others have not. Perhaps it would be easier to describe where joy cannot be found:
Not in Unbelief — Voltaire was an infidel of the most pronounced type. He wrote: "I wish I had never been born."
Not in Pleasure — Lord Byron lived a life of pleasure if anyone did. He wrote: "The worm, the canker, and grief are mine alone."
Not in Money — Jay Gould, the American millionaire, had plenty of that. When dying, he said: "I suppose I am the most miserable man on earth."
Not in Position and Fame — Lord Beaconsfield enjoyed more than his share of both. He wrote: "Youth is a mistake; manhood a struggle; old age a regret."
Not in Military Glory — Alexander the Great conquered the known world in his day. Having done so, he wept in his tent, before he said, "There are no more worlds to conquer."
Where then is real joy found? — the answer is simple, in Christ alone.
Edwin Bliss once said, “The pursuit of excellence is gratifying and healthy. The pursuit of perfection is frustrating, neurotic, and a terrible waste of time.”
“But you, O man of God, flee these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, gentleness”
Just before giving a lavish party at his estate, a tycoon had his swimming pool filled with poisonous snakes. He called the guests together and announced, “To anyone brave enough to swim across this pool, I will give the choice of a thousand acres of my oil fields, 10,000 head of cattle, or my daughter’s hand in marriage.”
No sooner were his words spoken than a young man plunged in, swam across the pool and climbed out—unscathed but breathless. “Congratulations!” the tycoon greeted him. “Do you want my oil fields?” “No!” gasped the guest. “The 10,000 head of cattle?” “No!” the young man shouted. “Well, how about my daughter’s—” “No!” “You must want something,” said the puzzled host.
“I just want to know the name of the guy who pushed me in!”
C. S. Lewis, on the freedom of reaching maturity:When I was ten, I read fairy tales in secret and would have been ashamed if I had been found doing so. Now that am 50, I read them openly. When I became a man, I put away childish things—including the fear of childishness and the desire to be grown-up.
Not long after a wealthy contractor had finished building the Tombs prison in New York, he was found guilty of forgery and sentenced to several years in the prison he had built! As he was escorted into a cell of his own making, the contractor said, “I never dreamed when I built this prison that I would be an inmate one day.”
Not long after a wealthy contractor had finished building the Tombs prison in New York, he was found guilty of forgery and sentenced to several years in the prison he had built! As he was escorted into a cell of his own making, the contractor said, “I never dreamed when I built this prison that I would be an inmate one day.”
An incident from the American Revolution illustrates what tragedy can result from procrastination. It is reported that Colonel Rahl, commander of the British troops in Trenton, New Jersey, was playing cards when a courier brought an urgent message stating that General George Washington was crossing the Delaware River. Rahl put the letter in his pocket and didn’t bother to read it until the game was finished. Then, realizing the seriousness of the situation, he hurriedly tried to rally his men to meet the coming attack, but his procrastination was his undoing. He and many of his men were killed and the rest of the regiment were captured.
Nolbert Quayle said, “Only a few minutes’ delay cost him his life, his honor, and the liberty of his soldiers. Earth’s history is strewn with the wrecks of half-finished plans and unexecuted resolutions. ‘Tomorrow’ is the excuse of the lazy and refuge of the incompetent.”
Dwight L. Moody once said, "The great trouble is that people take everything in general, and do not take it to themselves. Suppose a man should say to me, 'Moody, there was a man in Europe who died last week, and left five million dollars to a certain individual.' 'Well,' I say, 'I don't doubt that; it's rather a common thing to happen,' and I don't think anything more about it. But suppose he says, 'But he left the money to you.' Then I pay attention; I say, 'To me?' 'Yes, he left it to you.' I become suddenly interested. I want to know all about it. So we are apt to think Christ died for sinners; He died for everybody, and for nobody in particular. But when the truth comes to me that eternal life is mine, and all the glories of heaven are mine, I begin to be interested. I say, 'Where is the chapter and verse where it says I can be saved?' If I put myself among sinners, I take the place of the sinner, then that salvation is mine and I am sure of it for time and eternity."
In order to uncover the processes that destroy unions, marital researchers study couples over the course of years, and even decades, and retrace the star-crossed steps of those who have split up back to their wedding day. What they are discovering is unsettling. None of the factors one would guess might predict a couple’s durability actually does: not how in love a newlywed couple say they are; how much affection they exchange; how much they fight or what they fight about. In fact, couples who will endure and those who won’t look remarkably similar in the early days. Yet when psychologists Cliff Notarius of Catholic University and Howard Markman of the University of Denver studied newlyweds over the first decade of marriage, they found a very subtle but telling difference at the beginning of the relationships. Among couples who would ultimately stay together, 5 out of every 100 comments made about each other were putdowns. Among couples who would later split, 10 of every 100 comments were insults. That gap magnified over the following decade, until couples heading downhill were flinging five times as many cruel and invalidating comments at each other as happy couples. “Hostile putdowns act as cancerous cells that, if unchecked, erode the relationship over time,” says Notarius, who with Markman co-authored the new book We Can Work It Out. “In the end, relentless unremitting negativity takes control and the couple can’t get through a week without major blowups.”
Haddon Robinson points out that one old recipe for rabbit started out with this injunction: “First catch the rabbit.” Says Robinson: “The writer knew how to put first things first. That’s what we do when we establish priorities—we put the things that should be in first place in their proper order.
An old man said to his pastor, "When I was seventeen, I began, at times, to feel deeply about settling my soul's estate, and this continued for two or three years. But I determined to put it off until I was settled in life. After I was married, I reflected that the time had come when I had promised to attend to religion. But I had bought a farm, and I thought it would not be convenient for me to become religious until it was paid for, since attending church would take time and money. I then resolved to put it off ten years; but when the ten years came round I thought no more about it. I sometimes try to think about it, but I cannot keep my mind on the subject one moment." The pastor urged him not to face death as an enemy of God, to repent, but he said, "It is too late; I believe my doom is sealed; and that is just as it should be, son, for the Spirit strove with me, but I refused."
The wife of a close pastor friend of ours enjoys telling how she awoke one night to find her husband asleep on his elbows and knees at the foot of the bed. His arms were cupped before him as if he were embracing the base of a tree, and he was muttering. “George! What on earth are you doing?” she cried. “Shhh,” he answered, still asleep. “I’m holding a pyramid of marbles together, and if I move, it’s going to tumble down…” A classic pastor’s dream! First, because it was the subconscious revelation of a pressured parson. Second, because the pyramid of marbles is an apt metaphor for a pastor’s work.
