Repentance: It's Nature and Importance # 3
So to face these tremendous facts is to change one's mind completely, so that the pleasure lover sees and confesses the folly of his empty life; the self-indulgent learns to hate the passions that express the corruption of his nature; the self-righteous sees himself a condemned sinner in the eyes of a holy God; the man who has been hiding from God seeks to find a hiding place in Him; the Christ-rejector realizes and owns his need of a Redeemer, and so believes unto life and salvation.
Which comes first, repentance or faith? In Scripture we read, "Repent ye, and believe the gospel." Yet we find true believers exhorted to "repent, and do the first works." So intimately are the two related that you cannot have one without the other. The man who believes God repents; the repentant soul puts his trust in the Lord when the Gospel is revealed to him. Theologians may wrangle over this, but the fact is, no man repents until the Holy Spirit produces repentance in his soul through the truth. No man believes the Gospel and rests in it for his own salvation until he has judged himself as a needy sinner before God. And this is repentance.
Perhaps it will help us if we see that it is one thing to believe God as to my sinfulness and need of a Saviour, and it is another thing to trust that Saviour implicity for my own salvation.
Apart from the first aspect of faith, there can be no true repentance. "He that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is the rewarder of them that diligently seek Him." And apart from such repentance there can be no saving faith. Yet the deeper my realization of the grace of God manifested toward me in Christ, the more intense will my repentance become.
It was when Mephibosteth realized the kindness of God as shown by David that he cried out, "What is thy servant, that thou shouldest look upon such a dead dog as I am?" (2 Sam. 9:8). And it is the soul's apprehension of grace which leads to ever lower thoughts of self and higher thoughts of Christ, and so the work of repentance is deepened daily in the believer's heart.
"Let not conscience make you linger,
Nor of fitness fondly dream,
All the fitness He requireth
is to feel your need of Him.
This He gives you,
'Tis the Spirit's rising beam."
The very first evidence of awakening grace is dissatisfaction with one's self and self-effort and a longing for deliverance from chains of sin that have bound the soul. To own frankly that I am lost and guilty is the prelude to life and peace. It is not a question of a certain depth of grief and sorrow, but simply the recognition and acknowledgment of of need that lead one to turn to Christ for refuge. None can perish who put their trust in Him. His grace superabounds above all our sin, and His expiatory work on the Cross is so infinitely precious to God that it fully meets all our uncleanness and guilt.
~Harry A. Ironside~
(The End)
Saturday, April 27, 2019
An Essay on the Character of the apostle Paul # 1
An Essay On The Character of the Apostle Paul, Considered As An Example and Pattern of a Minister of Jesus Christ # 1
"You, however, know all about my teaching, my way of life, my purpose, faith, patience, love, endurance, persecutions, sufferings" (2 Timothy 3:10-11).
1. The characteristic excellence of Paul, which was as the spring or source of every other grace - was the ardency of the supreme love he bore to his Lord and Saviour. It would not be easy to find many periods throughout his epistles which do not evidence the fullness of his heart in this respect. He seems delighted even with the sound of the name of Jesus, so that, regardless of the cold rules of academic composition, we find him repeating it ten times in the compass of ten successive verses (1 Cor. 1:1-10). He was so struck with the just claim the Saviour had to every highest pitch of ingratitude and wickedness, and deserving the utmost severity of wrath and ruin (1 Cor. 16:22).
When he was conscious that, for his unwearied application to the service of the Gospel, in defiance of the many dangers and deaths which awaited him in every place - he appeared to many as one beside himself, and transported beyond the bounds of sober reason; he thought it a sufficient apology to say, "The love of Christ constrains us!" (2 Cor. 5:14). "We are content to be fools for His sake, to be despised so He may be honored, to be nothing in ourselves that He may be all in all." He had such a sense of the glorious, invaluable excellence of the person of Christ, of His adorable condescension in taking the nature and curse of sinners upon Himself, and His complete suitableness and sufficiency, as the wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption of His people - that he often seems at a loss for words answerable to the emotions of his heart! And when he has exhausted the powers of language, and astonished his readers with his inimitable energy, he intimates a conviction of his inability to do justice to a subject - the height and depth, and length, and breadth of which are too great for our feeble capacities to grasp!
But, besides these general views, he was particularly affected with the exceeding abundant love and grace of Christ to himself, when he reflected on the circumstances in which the Lord had found him, and the great things he had done for him. That he who had before been a persecutor, a blasphemer, and injurious - should be forgiven, accepted as a child of God, entrusted with the ministry of the Gospel, and appointed to everlasting salvation - was indeed an instance of wonderful grace! So it appeared to himself, and at the thought of it he often breaks forth into inimitable digressions to the praise of Him who had loved him, and given Himself for him!
Happily convinced of the tendency and efficacy of this principle in himself, he proposes it to others, instead of a thousand arguments, whenever he would inculcate the most unreserved obedience to the whole will of God, or stir up believers to a holy diligence in adorning the doctrine of their God and Saviour in all things. And his exhortations to the conscientious discharge of the various duties of family life, are generally enforced by this grand motive. In a word, at all times, and in all places, the habitual and favorite subject that employed his thoughts, his tongue, and his pen - was the love of Christ!
Supported and animated by this love, he exerted himself to the utmost, in promoting the knowledge of him whom he loved, and bearing testimony to his power and grace. Nothing could dishearten, or weary or terrify, or bribe him from his duty!
This love to Jesus, must and will be universally, the leading principle of a faithful minister. Should a man possess the tongue of men and angels, the finest genius, and the most admired accomplishments, if he is not constrained and directed by the love of Christ - he will either do nothing, or nothing to the purpose. He will be unable to support either the frowns or the smiles of the world. His studies and endeavors will certainly be influenced by low and selfish views. Selfish interest or a desire of applause may stimulate him to shine as a scholar, a critic, or a philosopher; but until the love of Christ rules in his heart, he will neither have inclination nor power to exert himself for the glory of God, or the good of souls!
2. The inseparable effect, and one of the surest evidences of love to Christ, is a love to His people. Of this likewise, our apostle exhibits an instructive and affecting example. The warmth and cordiality of his love to those who loved his Lord and Master, appear in every page of his writings. He so rejoiced in their prosperity, that to hear of it, at any time, made him in a manner forget his own sorrows, when encompassed with troubles on every side. And though, in many instances, he did not meet that grateful return he had reason to expect, yet he could not be discouraged. But when he had occasion to expostulate with some upon this account, he adds, "I will still gladly spend and be spent for you, though the more I love you - the less I am loved." (2 Cor. 12:15). Of such a generous temper as this, the world, would they observe it, must acknowledge, "This is the finger of God!" For nothing but His grace can produce a conduct so contrary to the natural inclination of man, as to persevere and increase in kindness and affection to those who persevere in requiting it with coldness and ingratitude!
~John Newton~
(continued with # 2)
"You, however, know all about my teaching, my way of life, my purpose, faith, patience, love, endurance, persecutions, sufferings" (2 Timothy 3:10-11).
1. The characteristic excellence of Paul, which was as the spring or source of every other grace - was the ardency of the supreme love he bore to his Lord and Saviour. It would not be easy to find many periods throughout his epistles which do not evidence the fullness of his heart in this respect. He seems delighted even with the sound of the name of Jesus, so that, regardless of the cold rules of academic composition, we find him repeating it ten times in the compass of ten successive verses (1 Cor. 1:1-10). He was so struck with the just claim the Saviour had to every highest pitch of ingratitude and wickedness, and deserving the utmost severity of wrath and ruin (1 Cor. 16:22).
When he was conscious that, for his unwearied application to the service of the Gospel, in defiance of the many dangers and deaths which awaited him in every place - he appeared to many as one beside himself, and transported beyond the bounds of sober reason; he thought it a sufficient apology to say, "The love of Christ constrains us!" (2 Cor. 5:14). "We are content to be fools for His sake, to be despised so He may be honored, to be nothing in ourselves that He may be all in all." He had such a sense of the glorious, invaluable excellence of the person of Christ, of His adorable condescension in taking the nature and curse of sinners upon Himself, and His complete suitableness and sufficiency, as the wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption of His people - that he often seems at a loss for words answerable to the emotions of his heart! And when he has exhausted the powers of language, and astonished his readers with his inimitable energy, he intimates a conviction of his inability to do justice to a subject - the height and depth, and length, and breadth of which are too great for our feeble capacities to grasp!
But, besides these general views, he was particularly affected with the exceeding abundant love and grace of Christ to himself, when he reflected on the circumstances in which the Lord had found him, and the great things he had done for him. That he who had before been a persecutor, a blasphemer, and injurious - should be forgiven, accepted as a child of God, entrusted with the ministry of the Gospel, and appointed to everlasting salvation - was indeed an instance of wonderful grace! So it appeared to himself, and at the thought of it he often breaks forth into inimitable digressions to the praise of Him who had loved him, and given Himself for him!
Happily convinced of the tendency and efficacy of this principle in himself, he proposes it to others, instead of a thousand arguments, whenever he would inculcate the most unreserved obedience to the whole will of God, or stir up believers to a holy diligence in adorning the doctrine of their God and Saviour in all things. And his exhortations to the conscientious discharge of the various duties of family life, are generally enforced by this grand motive. In a word, at all times, and in all places, the habitual and favorite subject that employed his thoughts, his tongue, and his pen - was the love of Christ!
Supported and animated by this love, he exerted himself to the utmost, in promoting the knowledge of him whom he loved, and bearing testimony to his power and grace. Nothing could dishearten, or weary or terrify, or bribe him from his duty!
This love to Jesus, must and will be universally, the leading principle of a faithful minister. Should a man possess the tongue of men and angels, the finest genius, and the most admired accomplishments, if he is not constrained and directed by the love of Christ - he will either do nothing, or nothing to the purpose. He will be unable to support either the frowns or the smiles of the world. His studies and endeavors will certainly be influenced by low and selfish views. Selfish interest or a desire of applause may stimulate him to shine as a scholar, a critic, or a philosopher; but until the love of Christ rules in his heart, he will neither have inclination nor power to exert himself for the glory of God, or the good of souls!
2. The inseparable effect, and one of the surest evidences of love to Christ, is a love to His people. Of this likewise, our apostle exhibits an instructive and affecting example. The warmth and cordiality of his love to those who loved his Lord and Master, appear in every page of his writings. He so rejoiced in their prosperity, that to hear of it, at any time, made him in a manner forget his own sorrows, when encompassed with troubles on every side. And though, in many instances, he did not meet that grateful return he had reason to expect, yet he could not be discouraged. But when he had occasion to expostulate with some upon this account, he adds, "I will still gladly spend and be spent for you, though the more I love you - the less I am loved." (2 Cor. 12:15). Of such a generous temper as this, the world, would they observe it, must acknowledge, "This is the finger of God!" For nothing but His grace can produce a conduct so contrary to the natural inclination of man, as to persevere and increase in kindness and affection to those who persevere in requiting it with coldness and ingratitude!
~John Newton~
(continued with # 2)
Saturday, April 20, 2019
Classic Quotes From Classic Ministers
Classic Quotes From Classic Ministers
Matthew 11:28
Come unto me.
Matthew 11:28
Come unto me.
The cry of the Christian religion is the gentle word, "Come." The Jewish law harshly said, "Go, take heed unto thy steps as to the path in which thou shalt walk. Break the commandments, and thou shalt perish; keep them, and thou shalt live." The law was a dispensation of terror, which drove men before it as with a scourge; the gospel draws with bands of love. Jesus is the good Shepherd going before His sheep, bidding them follow Him, and ever leading them onwards with the sweet word, "Come."
The law repels, the gospel attracts. The law shows the distance which there is between God and man; the gospel bridges that awful chasm, and brings the sinner across it. From the first moment of your spiritual life until you are ushered into glory, the language of Christ to you will be, "Come, come unto me." As a mother puts out her finger to her little child and woos it to walk by saying, "Come," even so does Jesus. He will always be ahead of you, bidding you follow Him as the soldier follows his captain. He will always go before you to pave your way, and clear your path, and you shall hear His animating voice calling you after Him all through life; while in the solemn hour of death, His sweet words with which He shall usher you into the heavenly world shall be - "Come, ye blessed of my Father."
Nay, further, this is not only Christ's cry to you, but, if you be a believer, this is your cry to Christ - "Come! come!" You will be longing for His second advent; you will be saying, "Come quickly, even so come Lord Jesus." You will be panting for nearer and closer communion with Him. As His voice to you is "Come," your response to Him will be, "Come, Lord, and abide with me. Come, and occupy alone the throne of my heart; reign there without a rival, and consecrate me entirely to Thy service."
~Charles Haddon Spurgeon~
______________________________
MORNING
Quicken us, and we will call upon thy name.
It is the Spirit that quickeneth. - The Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God. - Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance.
I will never forget thy precepts: for with them thou hast quickened me. - The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life. - The letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life. - If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. - This is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us.
No man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.
PSA. 80:18. John 6:63. Rom. 8:26,27. Eph. 6:18. Psa. 119:93. John 6:63. II Cor. 3:6. -John 15:7. I John 5:14. I Cor. 12:3.
I will never forget thy precepts: for with them thou hast quickened me. - The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life. - The letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life. - If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. - This is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us.
No man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.
PSA. 80:18. John 6:63. Rom. 8:26,27. Eph. 6:18. Psa. 119:93. John 6:63. II Cor. 3:6. -John 15:7. I John 5:14. I Cor. 12:3.
EVENINGHave no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.
Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners.
Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump? Purge out therefore the old leaven. I wrote unto you in an epistle not to company with fornicators. Yet not altogether with the fornicators of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or with idolators; for then must we needs go out of the world. I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat. - That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world.
In a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honour, and some to dishonour.
EPH. 5:11. I Cor. 15:33. I Cor. 5:6,7,9 11. Phi. 2:15. II Tim. 2:20
Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump? Purge out therefore the old leaven. I wrote unto you in an epistle not to company with fornicators. Yet not altogether with the fornicators of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or with idolators; for then must we needs go out of the world. I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat. - That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world.
In a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honour, and some to dishonour.
EPH. 5:11. I Cor. 15:33. I Cor. 5:6,7,9 11. Phi. 2:15. II Tim. 2:20
~Sanuel Bagster~
__________________________
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Repentance: Its Nature and Importance # 2
Repentance: Its Nature and Importance # 2
First, then, repentance is not to be confounded with penitence, though penitence will invariably enter into it. But penitence is simply sorrow for sin. No amount of penitence can fit a man for salvation. On the other hand, the impenitent will never come to God seeking His grace. But godly sorrow, we are told, worketh repentance not to be repented of. There is a sorrow for sin that has no element of piety in it - "the sorrow of the world worketh death." In Peter's penitence we see the former, in the remorse of Judas, the latter. Nowhere is man exhorted to feel a certain amount of sorrow for his sins in order to come to Christ. When the Spirit of God applies the truth, penitence is the immediate result and this leads on to repentance, but should not be confounded with it. This is a divine work in the soul.
Second, penance is not repentance. Penance is the effort in some way to atone for wrong done. This, man can never do. Nor does God in His Word lay it down as a condition of salvation that one first seek to make up to either God or his fellows for evil committed. Here the Roman Catholic translation of the Bible perpetrates a glaring deception upon those who accept it as almost an inspired version because bearing the imprimatur of the great Catholic dignitaries. Wherever the Authorized Version has "repent", the Douay-Rheims translation reads: "Do penance." There is no excuse for such a paraphrase. It is not a translation. It is the substituting of a Romish dogma for the plain command of God. John the Baptist did not cry, "Do penance, for the kingdom of God is at hand." Our Lord Jesus did not say, "Do penance and be converted." Paul did not announce to the men at Athens that "God commandeth all men everywhere to do penance" in view of a coming judgment day. No respectable Greek scholar would ever think of so translating the original in these and many other instances.
On the contrary, the call was to "repent," and between repenting and doing penance there is a vast difference. But even so, we would not forget that he who truly repents will surely seek to make right any wrong done to God. But this is where Christ's expiatory work comes in. As the great Trespass Offering He could say, "Then I restored that which I took not away" (Psalm 69). Think not to add penance to this - as though His work were incomplete and something else were needed to satisfy God's infinite justice.
In the third place, let us remember that reformation is not repentance, however closely allied to, or springing out of it. To turn over a new leaf, to attempt to supplant bad habits with good ones, to try to live well instead of evilly, may not be the outcome of repentance at all and should never be confounded with it. Reformation is merely an outward change. Repentance is a work of God in the soul. What the unsaved man needs is not a repairing of his life. He needs a new life altogether, which comes only through a second birth. Reformation is like watch repairing. Repentance is like the recognition of the lack of a watch.
Need I add that repentance then is not to be considered synonymous with joining a church or taking up one's religious duties, as people say. It is not doing anything, What then is repentance? So far as possible I desire to avoid the use of all abstruse or pedantic terms, for I am writing not simply scholars, but for those of the ordinary man. I wish, so far as possible, to avoid citing Greek or Hebrew words. But here it seems almost necessary to say that it is the Greek word "metanoia", which is translated "repentance" in our English Bibles, and literally means a change of mind. This is not simply the acceptance of new ideas in place of old notions. But it actually implies a complete reversal of one's inward attitude.
How luminously clear this makes the whole question before us! To repent is to change one's attitude toward self, toward sin, toward God, toward Christ. And this is what God commands. John came preaching to publicans and sinners, hopelessly vile and depraved, "Change your attitude, for the kingdom is at hand." To haughty scribes and legalistic Pharisees came the same command, "Change your attitude," and thus they would be ready to receive Him who came in grace to save. To sinners everywhere the Saviour cried, "Except ye change your attitude, ye shall all likewise perish."
And everywhere the apostles went they called upon men thus to face their sins - to face the question of their helplessness, yet their responsibility to God - to face Christ as the one, all-sufficient Saviour, and thus by trusting Him to obtain remission of sins and justification from all things.
~Harry A. Ironside~
(continued with # 3)
First, then, repentance is not to be confounded with penitence, though penitence will invariably enter into it. But penitence is simply sorrow for sin. No amount of penitence can fit a man for salvation. On the other hand, the impenitent will never come to God seeking His grace. But godly sorrow, we are told, worketh repentance not to be repented of. There is a sorrow for sin that has no element of piety in it - "the sorrow of the world worketh death." In Peter's penitence we see the former, in the remorse of Judas, the latter. Nowhere is man exhorted to feel a certain amount of sorrow for his sins in order to come to Christ. When the Spirit of God applies the truth, penitence is the immediate result and this leads on to repentance, but should not be confounded with it. This is a divine work in the soul.
Second, penance is not repentance. Penance is the effort in some way to atone for wrong done. This, man can never do. Nor does God in His Word lay it down as a condition of salvation that one first seek to make up to either God or his fellows for evil committed. Here the Roman Catholic translation of the Bible perpetrates a glaring deception upon those who accept it as almost an inspired version because bearing the imprimatur of the great Catholic dignitaries. Wherever the Authorized Version has "repent", the Douay-Rheims translation reads: "Do penance." There is no excuse for such a paraphrase. It is not a translation. It is the substituting of a Romish dogma for the plain command of God. John the Baptist did not cry, "Do penance, for the kingdom of God is at hand." Our Lord Jesus did not say, "Do penance and be converted." Paul did not announce to the men at Athens that "God commandeth all men everywhere to do penance" in view of a coming judgment day. No respectable Greek scholar would ever think of so translating the original in these and many other instances.
On the contrary, the call was to "repent," and between repenting and doing penance there is a vast difference. But even so, we would not forget that he who truly repents will surely seek to make right any wrong done to God. But this is where Christ's expiatory work comes in. As the great Trespass Offering He could say, "Then I restored that which I took not away" (Psalm 69). Think not to add penance to this - as though His work were incomplete and something else were needed to satisfy God's infinite justice.
In the third place, let us remember that reformation is not repentance, however closely allied to, or springing out of it. To turn over a new leaf, to attempt to supplant bad habits with good ones, to try to live well instead of evilly, may not be the outcome of repentance at all and should never be confounded with it. Reformation is merely an outward change. Repentance is a work of God in the soul. What the unsaved man needs is not a repairing of his life. He needs a new life altogether, which comes only through a second birth. Reformation is like watch repairing. Repentance is like the recognition of the lack of a watch.
Need I add that repentance then is not to be considered synonymous with joining a church or taking up one's religious duties, as people say. It is not doing anything, What then is repentance? So far as possible I desire to avoid the use of all abstruse or pedantic terms, for I am writing not simply scholars, but for those of the ordinary man. I wish, so far as possible, to avoid citing Greek or Hebrew words. But here it seems almost necessary to say that it is the Greek word "metanoia", which is translated "repentance" in our English Bibles, and literally means a change of mind. This is not simply the acceptance of new ideas in place of old notions. But it actually implies a complete reversal of one's inward attitude.
How luminously clear this makes the whole question before us! To repent is to change one's attitude toward self, toward sin, toward God, toward Christ. And this is what God commands. John came preaching to publicans and sinners, hopelessly vile and depraved, "Change your attitude, for the kingdom is at hand." To haughty scribes and legalistic Pharisees came the same command, "Change your attitude," and thus they would be ready to receive Him who came in grace to save. To sinners everywhere the Saviour cried, "Except ye change your attitude, ye shall all likewise perish."
And everywhere the apostles went they called upon men thus to face their sins - to face the question of their helplessness, yet their responsibility to God - to face Christ as the one, all-sufficient Saviour, and thus by trusting Him to obtain remission of sins and justification from all things.
~Harry A. Ironside~
(continued with # 3)
Saturday, April 13, 2019
Repentance: Its Nature and Importance # 1
Repentance: Its Nature and Importance # 1
More and more it becomes evident that ours is, as Carlyle expressed it, an "age of sham." Unreality and specious pretense abound in all departments of life. In the domestic, commercial, social, and ecclesiastical spheres hypocrisy is not only openly condoned, but recognized as almost a necessity for advancement and success in attaining recognition among one's fellows.
Nor is this true only where heterodox religious views are held. Orthodoxy has its shallow dogmatists who are ready to battle savagely for sound doctrine, but who manage to ignore sound living with little or no apparent compunction of conscience.
God desires truth in the inward parts. The blessed man is still the one "in whose spirit there is no guile." It is forever true that "He that covereth his sins shall not prosper; but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy." It can never be out of place to proclaim salvation by free, unmerited favor to all who put their trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. But it needs ever to be insisted on that the faith that justifies is not a mere intellectual process - not simply crediting certain historical facts or doctrinal statements; but it is a faith that springs from a divinely wrought conviction of sin which produces a repentance that is sincere and genuine.
Our Lord's solemn words, "Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish," are as important today as when first uttered. No dispensational distinctions, important as these are in understanding and interpreting God's ways with man, can alter this truth.
No one was ever saved in any dispensation excepting by grace. Neither sacrificial observances, nor ritual service, nor works of law never had any part in justifying the ungodly. Nor where any sinners ever saved by grace until they repented. Repentance is not opposed to grace; it is the recognition of the need of grace. "They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick." "I came not," said our blessed Lord, "to call the righteous but sinners to repentance."
One great trouble in this shallow age is that we have lost the meaning of words. We bandy them about until one can seldom be certain just how terms are being used. Two ministers were passing an open grocery and dairy store where, in three large baskets, eggs were displayed. On one basket was a sign reading, "Fresh eggs, 24 cents a dozen." The second sign read, "Strictly fresh eggs, 29 cents a dozen." While a third read, "Guaranteed strictly fresh eggs, 34 cents a dozen." One of the pastors exclaimed in amazement, "What does that grocer understand "fresh" to mean? It is true with many Scriptural terms that our forefathers had an unvarying meaning, but like debased coins today lost their values.
Grace is God's unmerited favor to those who have merited the very opposite. Repentance is the sinner's recognition of and acknowledgment of his lost estate and, thus, of his need for grace. Yet there are not wanting professed preachers of grace who, like the antinomians of old, decry the necessity of repentance lest it seem to invalidate the freedom of grace. As well might one object to a man's acknowledgment of illness when seeking help and healing from a physician, on the ground that all he needed was a doctor's prescription.
Shallow preaching that does not grapple with the terrible fact of man's sinfulness and guilt, calling on "all men everywhere to repent," results in shallow conversions; and so we have a myriad of glib-tongued professors today who give no evidence of regeneration whatever. Prating of salvation by grace, they manifest no grace in their lives. Loudly declaring they are justified by faith alone, they fail to remember that "faith without works is dead," and that justification by works before men is not to be ignored as though it were in contradiction to justification by faith before God. We need to reread James 3 and let its serious message sink deep into our hearts, that it may control our lives. "If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me." No man can truly believe in Christ, who does not first repent. Nor will his repentance end when he has saving faith, but the more he knows God as he goes on through the years, the deeper will that repentance become. A servant of Christ said: "I repented before I knew the meaning of the word. I have repented far more since then I did then."
Undoubtedly one great reason why some earnest Gospel preachers are almost afraid of, and generally ignore, the terms "repent" and "repentance" in their evangelizing is that they fear lest their hearers misunderstand these terms and think of them as implying something meritorious on the part of the sinner. But nothing could be wider of the mark. There is no saving merit in owning my true condition. There is no healing in acknowledging the nature of my illness. And repentance, as we have seen, is just this very thing.
But in order to clarify the subject, it may be well to observe carefully what repentance is not and then to notice briefly what it is.
~Harry A. Ironside~
(continued with # 2)
More and more it becomes evident that ours is, as Carlyle expressed it, an "age of sham." Unreality and specious pretense abound in all departments of life. In the domestic, commercial, social, and ecclesiastical spheres hypocrisy is not only openly condoned, but recognized as almost a necessity for advancement and success in attaining recognition among one's fellows.
Nor is this true only where heterodox religious views are held. Orthodoxy has its shallow dogmatists who are ready to battle savagely for sound doctrine, but who manage to ignore sound living with little or no apparent compunction of conscience.
God desires truth in the inward parts. The blessed man is still the one "in whose spirit there is no guile." It is forever true that "He that covereth his sins shall not prosper; but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy." It can never be out of place to proclaim salvation by free, unmerited favor to all who put their trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. But it needs ever to be insisted on that the faith that justifies is not a mere intellectual process - not simply crediting certain historical facts or doctrinal statements; but it is a faith that springs from a divinely wrought conviction of sin which produces a repentance that is sincere and genuine.
Our Lord's solemn words, "Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish," are as important today as when first uttered. No dispensational distinctions, important as these are in understanding and interpreting God's ways with man, can alter this truth.
No one was ever saved in any dispensation excepting by grace. Neither sacrificial observances, nor ritual service, nor works of law never had any part in justifying the ungodly. Nor where any sinners ever saved by grace until they repented. Repentance is not opposed to grace; it is the recognition of the need of grace. "They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick." "I came not," said our blessed Lord, "to call the righteous but sinners to repentance."
One great trouble in this shallow age is that we have lost the meaning of words. We bandy them about until one can seldom be certain just how terms are being used. Two ministers were passing an open grocery and dairy store where, in three large baskets, eggs were displayed. On one basket was a sign reading, "Fresh eggs, 24 cents a dozen." The second sign read, "Strictly fresh eggs, 29 cents a dozen." While a third read, "Guaranteed strictly fresh eggs, 34 cents a dozen." One of the pastors exclaimed in amazement, "What does that grocer understand "fresh" to mean? It is true with many Scriptural terms that our forefathers had an unvarying meaning, but like debased coins today lost their values.
Grace is God's unmerited favor to those who have merited the very opposite. Repentance is the sinner's recognition of and acknowledgment of his lost estate and, thus, of his need for grace. Yet there are not wanting professed preachers of grace who, like the antinomians of old, decry the necessity of repentance lest it seem to invalidate the freedom of grace. As well might one object to a man's acknowledgment of illness when seeking help and healing from a physician, on the ground that all he needed was a doctor's prescription.
Shallow preaching that does not grapple with the terrible fact of man's sinfulness and guilt, calling on "all men everywhere to repent," results in shallow conversions; and so we have a myriad of glib-tongued professors today who give no evidence of regeneration whatever. Prating of salvation by grace, they manifest no grace in their lives. Loudly declaring they are justified by faith alone, they fail to remember that "faith without works is dead," and that justification by works before men is not to be ignored as though it were in contradiction to justification by faith before God. We need to reread James 3 and let its serious message sink deep into our hearts, that it may control our lives. "If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me." No man can truly believe in Christ, who does not first repent. Nor will his repentance end when he has saving faith, but the more he knows God as he goes on through the years, the deeper will that repentance become. A servant of Christ said: "I repented before I knew the meaning of the word. I have repented far more since then I did then."
Undoubtedly one great reason why some earnest Gospel preachers are almost afraid of, and generally ignore, the terms "repent" and "repentance" in their evangelizing is that they fear lest their hearers misunderstand these terms and think of them as implying something meritorious on the part of the sinner. But nothing could be wider of the mark. There is no saving merit in owning my true condition. There is no healing in acknowledging the nature of my illness. And repentance, as we have seen, is just this very thing.
But in order to clarify the subject, it may be well to observe carefully what repentance is not and then to notice briefly what it is.
~Harry A. Ironside~
(continued with # 2)
The Pattern of Pentecost # 2
The Pattern of Pentecost # 2
As you know, I read Spurgeon all of the time. I copied this from one of his messages:
"Let the preacher always confess before he preaches that he relies upon the Holy Spirit. Let him burn his manuscript and depend upon the Holy Spirit. It the Spirit does not come to help him, let him be still. And let the people go home and pray that the Spirit will help him next Sunday."
I have often thought about that. What if the preacher in the pulpit found that his heart was dead and his message had not the presence of God in it, and the people all went home and prayed? I don't know what would happen next Sunday. God is capable of being moved. God hears His people when they pray. And if we pray in faith and expectation for the presence of the saving, converting, convicting Spirit of God, O Lord, what could happen?
I have stood in Jerusalem where Simon Peter presented his sermon at Pentecost (Acts 2:14-40), and I have cried in this heart, O God, do it again! Do it again!" I have stood in Samaria where Phillip preached the gospel to the Samaritans, and there was a great turning to Jesus (Acts 8:5-12). And I prayed in my soul, "O God, do it again!" I have stood in Ephesus in the theater there where Paul preached the gospel of Christ (Acts 19;1-20), and I prayed, "O God, Thy Holy Spirit, send Him again." I have stood in St. Sophia in Byzantium, Constantinople, Istanbul, where Chrysostom preached to thousands and thousands, and I have cried in my soul, "O God, do it again!" I have stood in the Duomo in Florence, Italy, where Savonarola like a flame from God Himself preached the gospel of Christ and turned Italy to the Lord, and I prayed, "O God, do it again!" I have stood in Aldersgate Chapel where as he says, was strangely warmed and I prayed, "O God, do it again! Do it again!. A few weeks ago, I stood in the pulpit preaching in the Moody Church in Chicago, and prayed in my heart, "O God, do it again!"
And every time Sunday comes and I prepare to stand in this sacred place where George Truett preached for forty-seven years, and I pray, "O God, come down, come down. May every soul, in divine presence, feel Thy nearness, Thy dearness, Thy preciousness, Thy saving and abounding grace. O God, do it again! Do it again! Do it again!
And to you who have listened to the message, with what infinite
would it be to our hearts to know that you had opened your heart and your house and your home to the presence of the Holy Spirit of God, to the blessed Lord Jesus our Saviour? If you do not know how to accept Him as your Lord, call us. You will find the telephone number on the screen. There will be a dedicated somebody who knows the Lord Jesus who will lead you into that wonderful experience of accepting Him as your Saviour. Call us and God bless you as you find the greatest answer to all of the problems of life in Christ Jesus our Lord. And I will meet you in heaven some glorious and triumphant day.
And to the throng in the sanctuary, in the balcony round, in the press of people on the lower floor, down one of these aisles, "Pastor, today God has called me. I feel His presence in my own heart and this is my family, we are all coming." Or just a couple of you, you come. Or just a one somebody you, accepting the Lord as your Saviour, or putting your life with us in this ministry of Christ, a thousand times welcome and the angels attend you in the way as you answer with your life, while we stand and while we sing.
~Dr. W. A. Criswell~
(The End)
As you know, I read Spurgeon all of the time. I copied this from one of his messages:
"Let the preacher always confess before he preaches that he relies upon the Holy Spirit. Let him burn his manuscript and depend upon the Holy Spirit. It the Spirit does not come to help him, let him be still. And let the people go home and pray that the Spirit will help him next Sunday."
I have often thought about that. What if the preacher in the pulpit found that his heart was dead and his message had not the presence of God in it, and the people all went home and prayed? I don't know what would happen next Sunday. God is capable of being moved. God hears His people when they pray. And if we pray in faith and expectation for the presence of the saving, converting, convicting Spirit of God, O Lord, what could happen?
I have stood in Jerusalem where Simon Peter presented his sermon at Pentecost (Acts 2:14-40), and I have cried in this heart, O God, do it again! Do it again!" I have stood in Samaria where Phillip preached the gospel to the Samaritans, and there was a great turning to Jesus (Acts 8:5-12). And I prayed in my soul, "O God, do it again!" I have stood in Ephesus in the theater there where Paul preached the gospel of Christ (Acts 19;1-20), and I prayed, "O God, Thy Holy Spirit, send Him again." I have stood in St. Sophia in Byzantium, Constantinople, Istanbul, where Chrysostom preached to thousands and thousands, and I have cried in my soul, "O God, do it again!" I have stood in the Duomo in Florence, Italy, where Savonarola like a flame from God Himself preached the gospel of Christ and turned Italy to the Lord, and I prayed, "O God, do it again!" I have stood in Aldersgate Chapel where as he says, was strangely warmed and I prayed, "O God, do it again! Do it again!. A few weeks ago, I stood in the pulpit preaching in the Moody Church in Chicago, and prayed in my heart, "O God, do it again!"
And every time Sunday comes and I prepare to stand in this sacred place where George Truett preached for forty-seven years, and I pray, "O God, come down, come down. May every soul, in divine presence, feel Thy nearness, Thy dearness, Thy preciousness, Thy saving and abounding grace. O God, do it again! Do it again! Do it again!
And to you who have listened to the message, with what infinite
would it be to our hearts to know that you had opened your heart and your house and your home to the presence of the Holy Spirit of God, to the blessed Lord Jesus our Saviour? If you do not know how to accept Him as your Lord, call us. You will find the telephone number on the screen. There will be a dedicated somebody who knows the Lord Jesus who will lead you into that wonderful experience of accepting Him as your Saviour. Call us and God bless you as you find the greatest answer to all of the problems of life in Christ Jesus our Lord. And I will meet you in heaven some glorious and triumphant day.
And to the throng in the sanctuary, in the balcony round, in the press of people on the lower floor, down one of these aisles, "Pastor, today God has called me. I feel His presence in my own heart and this is my family, we are all coming." Or just a couple of you, you come. Or just a one somebody you, accepting the Lord as your Saviour, or putting your life with us in this ministry of Christ, a thousand times welcome and the angels attend you in the way as you answer with your life, while we stand and while we sing.
~Dr. W. A. Criswell~
(The End)
Saturday, April 6, 2019
Classic Quotes From Classic Ministers
Classic Quotes From Classic Ministers
The Word of God
"His delight is in the law of the LORD, and on His law he meditates day and night." Psalm 1:2
"Your statutes are my delight; they are my counselors." Psalm 119:24
"I delight in Your commands because I love them." Psalm 119:47
"The law from Your mouth is more precious to me than thousands of pieces of silver and gold." Psalm 119:72
The Word of God is:
a light to our path,
the key of the kingdom of Heaven,
our comfort in affliction,
our shield and sword against Satan,
the school of all wisdom,
the mirror in which we behold God's face, and
the only food and nourishment for our souls!
(Preface to the Geneva Bible)
"Oh, how I love Your law! I meditate on it all day long." Psalm 119:97
"Truly, I love Your commands more than gold, even the finest gold." Psalm 119:127
"I obey Your statutes, for I love them greatly." Psalm 119:167
The Word of God
"His delight is in the law of the LORD, and on His law he meditates day and night." Psalm 1:2
"Your statutes are my delight; they are my counselors." Psalm 119:24
"I delight in Your commands because I love them." Psalm 119:47
"The law from Your mouth is more precious to me than thousands of pieces of silver and gold." Psalm 119:72
The Word of God is:
a light to our path,
the key of the kingdom of Heaven,
our comfort in affliction,
our shield and sword against Satan,
the school of all wisdom,
the mirror in which we behold God's face, and
the only food and nourishment for our souls!
(Preface to the Geneva Bible)
"Oh, how I love Your law! I meditate on it all day long." Psalm 119:97
"Truly, I love Your commands more than gold, even the finest gold." Psalm 119:127
"I obey Your statutes, for I love them greatly." Psalm 119:167
Let us then be eager to know this rest for ourselves, and let us beware that no one misses it through falling into the same kind of unbelief as those we have mentioned. (Hebrews 4:11 Phillips)
Those who failed to go in failed, it says, to enter into His rest. Those to whom the Gospel was afore preached failed to enter in. That is remarkable! The Gospel was preached to them. These are they to whom the Gospel was afore preached. What is the Gospel? To answer the inquiry in that connection, it is Christ as our Rest. That is the Gospel: and the Gospel of Christ as our Rest was preached to them in type, and they to whom the Gospel was afore preached failed to enter in. Then, says the Apostle, "Let us therefore give diligence to enter into that rest, that no man fall after the same example of disobedience." They failed! God set forth another day, saying, "Today if ye shall hear His voice, harden not your hearts...." The Gospel is preached to believers to enter into His Rest. The Lord Jesus put this in the germ form of truth when He said: "Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest unto your souls." Christ in heaven is our spiritual Rest, heart rest.
What is the essence of rest? It is satisfaction and assurance. If you are satisfied, you are at rest, no matter how much work you have to do. And if you are quite sure that your work is going to be successful, you have assurance, and you are in rest. Everything for us is based upon Christ having entered as the Forerunner, and having become our Rest. We shall labor: we shall pour ourselves out; we shall spend; we shall be spent; but in it all there can be real heart rest. We shall be assailed: we shall be pressed on every side; we shall be cast down; we shall be tried; but Christ can still remain our Rest: for in the first place, we know that these things are not going to be to our destruction, since He has destroyed the power of destruction; and, in the second place, that our labors are not in vain, because He has swallowed up death victoriously. He is our Rest.
~T. Austin-Sparks~
The Pattern of Pentecost # 2
The Pattern of Pentecost # 2
After Pentecost the Spirit of God was poured out without measure (John 3:34). The breath became a mighty wind. And the energizing presence of God became incarnate in human personality. And Pentecost is a pattern, a model to be reproduced again and again and again.
I one time read of a mission in Africa, and the Spirit of the Lord died in the hearts of the missionaries and of the converts. And even the tribal chief stood up and said, "When I worshiped my heathen gods, I was happy. But now having become a Christian, I am miserable and I renounce my Christian faith." The mission stopped. The missionaries in despair, in hurt, began to cry aloud unto the Lord. And the same thing as at Pentecost happened: the Spirit of the Lord was poured out upon the missionaries. The Spirit of God was poured out upon the tribe. Even the tribal chief was preaching once again. And in their language they had a saying "Joy is killing us!"
I have seen that in my own ministry. In one of the meetings I held in one of the great cities of America, the meetings were wooden. They were dull. They were disappointing. And on Saturday night the congregation spontaneously met in intercession, in appeal in prayer, in asking God with fervent soul and heart. And the next morning, Sunday morning, you would have thought you were in Jerusalem when Simon Peter delivered his message at Pentecost! (Acts 2:14-40).
It is repeated again and again and again. In the twentieth chapter of the Book of John, our Lord said to His apostles as He breathed upon them, He said, "Labete." Lambono is to receive is to take labete is the imperative form of it, labete. "Take the Holy Spirit" (John 20:22). God has poured out His presence upon us without measure. And it is just for us to receive Him, to open our hearts to Him, to give the issue of our lives to Him. And God answers powerfully and dynamically, gloriously from heaven.
Pentecost is repeated again and again and again - in the second chapter of the Book of Acts, Pentecost (Acts 2:1-47). In the fourth chapter of the Book of Acts, after having prayed before God, there is another Jerusalem Pentecost (Acts 4:31-35). I turn to the eighth chapter of Acts, there is a Samaritan Pentecost (Acts 8:5-25). I turn to the tenth chapter of Acts, there is a Caesarean, there is a Gentile Pentecost (Acts 20:34-48). And it continues through the centuries. There is no generation but that somewhere there is an outpouring of the Spirit of God. There may be darkness and doubt and death in one place, but in the same time there will be light and the glory and the presence of God in another place. There is no exception to it in the history of the Christian age!
For example, when the church at Jerusalem became deadened by legalism, the Spirit of God was poured out upon the church at Antioch and at Ephesus. And when the church in Thessalonica and Philippi waned in their love for the Lord the church at Milan was alive with the presence of Jesus. When the churches of Carthage and of Alexandria became bogged down in theological minutiae, the churches of Gaul were aflame with the power of Christ. When that pontifical court at Avignon became corrupt, the churches in Germany became aflame with the presence of God. When the churches of France were darkened in superstition, at that same time the stars of the Reformation were rising in Switzerland and Germany and in England. And when the fields of Italy became worthless stubble, a great revival was taking place in Bohemia under John Huss and under our great Baptist preacher Hubmaier. There is no time, there is no age but that somewhere there is a mighty outpouring of the Spirit of God.
And in this present moment when liberalism and doubt denying the Word of God has emptied the churches of the western world, look around you today, here in the First Baptist church of Dallas, under Dr. Truett for forty-seven years, and now under my ministry, fill this sanctuary at an 8:25 service, fill it again at a 10:30 service. The presence and power of God! There is Pentecost always. It is a pattern to be duplicated, to be repeated, to be modeled again and again and again.
The heart of it lies in the preacher. It lies in the ambassador from heaven, in the emissary from the courts of the Lord. Oh, what a tradition in which the preacher stands: Peter and Paul and Ignatius and Chrysostom and Savonardola and Huss and Hubmaier and Wycliffe and Wesley and Jonathan Edwards and - down to the generation just before us - a Scarborough and a Truett and to our day! O Lord, what a tradition!
Oh dear, what could be more thrilling than the memory of these great men of God who have preceded us? And I think of this own pulpit here in which the inimitable George Truett stood behind this very desk for forty seven years preaching the gospel of the Son of God. In the power of the Holy Spirit, John Wesley said in his diary: "I went to America to convert the American Indian, but who will convert this heart of mine?" And in Aldersgate Chapel listening to an exposition of the Book of Romans, he writes in his diary: "My heart was strangely warmed." And John Wesley rose in the power of the Spirit, and that was the birth of the Methodist Church.
Dwight L. Moody, praying and pleading with the power of God to fall upon him, walking down Wall Street, in New York City, ran into the shelter of a neighboring office and there prayed God to stay His hand lest he die - the power of the Lord God was upon him.l Charles G. Finney, those who listened to him said his words were like barbed arrows, they were like a hammer that would break the hardest heart to pieces, they were like a sword that would cut to the soul. In the town at that time of Rochester, 50,000 population, Charles G. Finney in his meeting had 100,000 conversions. The whole of upper New York found the Lord.
~W. A. Criswell~
(continued with # 3)
After Pentecost the Spirit of God was poured out without measure (John 3:34). The breath became a mighty wind. And the energizing presence of God became incarnate in human personality. And Pentecost is a pattern, a model to be reproduced again and again and again.
I one time read of a mission in Africa, and the Spirit of the Lord died in the hearts of the missionaries and of the converts. And even the tribal chief stood up and said, "When I worshiped my heathen gods, I was happy. But now having become a Christian, I am miserable and I renounce my Christian faith." The mission stopped. The missionaries in despair, in hurt, began to cry aloud unto the Lord. And the same thing as at Pentecost happened: the Spirit of the Lord was poured out upon the missionaries. The Spirit of God was poured out upon the tribe. Even the tribal chief was preaching once again. And in their language they had a saying "Joy is killing us!"
I have seen that in my own ministry. In one of the meetings I held in one of the great cities of America, the meetings were wooden. They were dull. They were disappointing. And on Saturday night the congregation spontaneously met in intercession, in appeal in prayer, in asking God with fervent soul and heart. And the next morning, Sunday morning, you would have thought you were in Jerusalem when Simon Peter delivered his message at Pentecost! (Acts 2:14-40).
It is repeated again and again and again. In the twentieth chapter of the Book of John, our Lord said to His apostles as He breathed upon them, He said, "Labete." Lambono is to receive is to take labete is the imperative form of it, labete. "Take the Holy Spirit" (John 20:22). God has poured out His presence upon us without measure. And it is just for us to receive Him, to open our hearts to Him, to give the issue of our lives to Him. And God answers powerfully and dynamically, gloriously from heaven.
Pentecost is repeated again and again and again - in the second chapter of the Book of Acts, Pentecost (Acts 2:1-47). In the fourth chapter of the Book of Acts, after having prayed before God, there is another Jerusalem Pentecost (Acts 4:31-35). I turn to the eighth chapter of Acts, there is a Samaritan Pentecost (Acts 8:5-25). I turn to the tenth chapter of Acts, there is a Caesarean, there is a Gentile Pentecost (Acts 20:34-48). And it continues through the centuries. There is no generation but that somewhere there is an outpouring of the Spirit of God. There may be darkness and doubt and death in one place, but in the same time there will be light and the glory and the presence of God in another place. There is no exception to it in the history of the Christian age!
For example, when the church at Jerusalem became deadened by legalism, the Spirit of God was poured out upon the church at Antioch and at Ephesus. And when the church in Thessalonica and Philippi waned in their love for the Lord the church at Milan was alive with the presence of Jesus. When the churches of Carthage and of Alexandria became bogged down in theological minutiae, the churches of Gaul were aflame with the power of Christ. When that pontifical court at Avignon became corrupt, the churches in Germany became aflame with the presence of God. When the churches of France were darkened in superstition, at that same time the stars of the Reformation were rising in Switzerland and Germany and in England. And when the fields of Italy became worthless stubble, a great revival was taking place in Bohemia under John Huss and under our great Baptist preacher Hubmaier. There is no time, there is no age but that somewhere there is a mighty outpouring of the Spirit of God.
And in this present moment when liberalism and doubt denying the Word of God has emptied the churches of the western world, look around you today, here in the First Baptist church of Dallas, under Dr. Truett for forty-seven years, and now under my ministry, fill this sanctuary at an 8:25 service, fill it again at a 10:30 service. The presence and power of God! There is Pentecost always. It is a pattern to be duplicated, to be repeated, to be modeled again and again and again.
The heart of it lies in the preacher. It lies in the ambassador from heaven, in the emissary from the courts of the Lord. Oh, what a tradition in which the preacher stands: Peter and Paul and Ignatius and Chrysostom and Savonardola and Huss and Hubmaier and Wycliffe and Wesley and Jonathan Edwards and - down to the generation just before us - a Scarborough and a Truett and to our day! O Lord, what a tradition!
Oh dear, what could be more thrilling than the memory of these great men of God who have preceded us? And I think of this own pulpit here in which the inimitable George Truett stood behind this very desk for forty seven years preaching the gospel of the Son of God. In the power of the Holy Spirit, John Wesley said in his diary: "I went to America to convert the American Indian, but who will convert this heart of mine?" And in Aldersgate Chapel listening to an exposition of the Book of Romans, he writes in his diary: "My heart was strangely warmed." And John Wesley rose in the power of the Spirit, and that was the birth of the Methodist Church.
Dwight L. Moody, praying and pleading with the power of God to fall upon him, walking down Wall Street, in New York City, ran into the shelter of a neighboring office and there prayed God to stay His hand lest he die - the power of the Lord God was upon him.l Charles G. Finney, those who listened to him said his words were like barbed arrows, they were like a hammer that would break the hardest heart to pieces, they were like a sword that would cut to the soul. In the town at that time of Rochester, 50,000 population, Charles G. Finney in his meeting had 100,000 conversions. The whole of upper New York found the Lord.
~W. A. Criswell~
(continued with # 3)
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