YOU and GOD

Peter, writing to first-century saints who had been scattered due to persecution, exhorted them to “love one another with a pure heart fervently.” (I Pet.1:22) Two questions come to mind when contemplating that command: (1) Do I have a pure heart? (2) How can I love others fervently?

It is possible to have a pure heart through the cleansing power of the blood of Christ. The writer of Hebrews affirmed that we can “draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience.” (Hebs. 10:22)

That being established, let us consider the second question: “How do I love others fervently?” God indicted the children of Israel, through the prophet Ezekiel, for having a love that was feigned: “For with their mouth they show much love, but their heart goeth after their own covetousness.” (Ezek. 33:31)

Unfeigned, fervent love. Is that what 21^st century believers are characterized by? Early Christian author and apologist Tertullian (c.155-c.220 AD) wrote concerning Christians in his day: “It is our care for the helpless, our practice of lovingkindness, that brands us in the eyes of many of our opponents. ‘Look!’ they say, ‘How they love one another! Look how they are prepared to die for one another!’” (Cited by George Sweeting in Love is the Greatest, p.24)

While many assemblies of believers in this day exhibit a “fervent” love for the brethren, an honest observer of contemporary Christianity would probably admit that there are, in many local churches, evident absences of a “true heart” in action. One example is the current trend for churches to increase their numbers mainly by adding to their rolls people who transfer their membership from another church of like faith. It’s not always the case that they have moved into a new neighborhood; too often, the truth is that they have left a previous church because of unresolved conflicts with a pastor or church member. I pastored a local church in Indianapolis for 40 years and can attest that this is too often the case. This city, it has been said, is home to about 100 independent Baptist churches. With other, like-minded churches within a five- or ten-minute drive, it is not uncommon for people to just “move on,” as it is sometimes framed. And, sadly, pastors who receive these “transfer” members seldom make a courtesy call to the pastor who is losing the member to inform him of the member-in-movement’s status. It is a religious version of “musical churches.”

In this context, how can one say that there is “unfeigned” and “fervent” love for the brethren? It is too often, as God said to Ezekiel, love with one’s lips only, driven by self-interest. “He drew a circle that shut me out. Heretic! Rebel! A thing to flout! But love and I had a will to win; we drew a circle that took him in!” (Edwin Markham)

“These things I command you, that ye love one another.” (Jesus, John 15:17)

Those are the famous words of Shakespeare’s leading character from “Macbeth,” quoting Lady Macbeth dealing with the damning guilt she suffered after she and her husband conspired to brutally stab and kill their regal friend, Duncan. The play is a commentary on mankind’s dilemma, brought on by our plunge into sin in the Garden, when Adam and Eve believed Satan’s lie and disobeyed God’s command, all the while thinking that to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil would make them like God.  The opposite occurred, and they immediately knew that their souls were stained with a guilt that no amount of human effort could solve. The shedding of the blood of an innocent lamb was God’s answer to the guilty pair, and to mankind, foreshadowing the coming of “the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world.” (John 1:29)

Jesus, in His lengthy Sermon on the Mount, said plainly that those who are of a pure heart would see God. (Matt. 5:8) Centuries earlier, the Psalmist had declared (by the Spirit) that those who hoped to stand in the presence of God were those with “clean hands and a pure heart.” (Ps. 24:4) Purity of heart and hands can only come through the cleansing power of the blood of Christ. As the hymn says: “What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.” It is the blood of Jesus, shed on Calvary, that “keeps on cleansing us from all sin and all unrighteousness.” (I John 1:7-9) This supernatural, grace-provided cleansing is a necessity for enjoying God’s presence.

It is also a must for enjoying the peace of God, peace that provides believers with full assurance as we approach Him in humility by grace, and peace that gives us a clean and clear conscience before a God who is “Holy, Holy, Holy.” “Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.” (Hebrews 10:22) Lady Macbeth tried in vain to cleanse her hands, bloodied by the murder of a friend. But only the pure water of God’s washing Word could have brought true cleansing to her heart.

And, too, a pure heart—through the cleansing of the Spirit—is necessary for the enjoyment of God’s people, in love that is true in motive, message, manners, and methods.  Peter calls it an “unfeigned love of the brethren.” (I Pet.1:22) Not a shallow relationship disguised as love, changing with circumstances or conditions, but a love that has been shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. (Romans 5:5)

A heart made pure from the soul’s stain of sin enables us now—in Christ, as new creations—to enjoy His presence, His peace which passeth all understanding (Phil.4:7), and His people in a communion of unfeigned love. All of which money cannot buy, and none of which can be achieved by the interminable “washing of one’s hands with soap” to wipe out the damnable spots of sin.

To God be the glory for the pure hearts that the cleansing of the blood of His Lamb provides!

“Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed according to Thy Word.” (Ps.119:9)

Today, upon a bus I saw a girl with golden hair.
She seemed so gay, I envied her, and wished that I were half so fair.
I watched her as she rose to leave, and saw her hobble down the aisle.
She had one leg and wore a crutch, but as she passed—a smile.
Oh, God, forgive me when I whine, I have two legs, the world is mine!

Later on, I bought some sweets. The boy who sold them had such charm,
I thought I’d stop and talk awhile,
If I were late, ‘twould do no harm.
And, as we talked, he said, “Thank you, sir,
It’s nice to talk to folks like you because, you see, I’m blind.”
Oh, God, forgive me when I whine,
I have two eyes; the world is mine.

Later, walking down the street, I
Met a boy with eyes so blue;
But he stood and watched the others play;
It seemed he knew not what to do.
I paused, and then I said, “Why don’t you
Join the others, dear?” But he looked
Straight ahead without a word,
And then I knew, he could not hear.
Oh, God, forgive me when I whine,
I have two ears; the world is mine.

Two legs to take me where I go.
Two eyes to see the sunset’s glow.
Two ears to hear all l should know.
Oh, God, forgive me when I whine,
I’m blest indeed, the world is mine!

(The American Record, Hagerstown,
Indiana, Vol. XXII, number 11)

Ellen and I wish you and yours the very
best of everything this Thanksgiving!

“Be careful for nothing; but in every-
thing by prayer and supplication with
thanksgiving let your requests be made
known unto God.” (Phil.4:7)

I have asked Ellen to share one of her devotionals in this Thanksgiving week post. So, from the TRBC Times of November, 2009, here is what she wrote. Our granddaughters Audrey and Amy were 4 and 2 at the time.

“Audrey and Amy eagerly waited for the mailman. They might get another package from Grandma Nye. She sends one every couple of weeks, and she knows exactly what little girls like. She sends stickers, paper dolls, candy, books, coloring books, markers, etc. It has become a great source of anticipation.

There was no package on this particular day, so Audrey got on the phone and told grandma all the things she wanted in the next package, and asked her when she was going to send another one. Their mother overheard the conversation and said, ‘Audrey, you’ve got to quit bugging Grandma.’ Audrey replied, ‘I’m not bugging Grandma, because she loves me.’

What a wonderful illustration this is about the way our heavenly Father looks at our prayers. We’re not bugging Him; He loves us, and He loves to hear our petitions. There are so many promises in the Word. How about Jeremiah 33:3? ‘Call unto me and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.’

What promises can you claim from God’s Word today? I just finished reading a lovely story by Mrs. David Cavin, whose husband pastored great churches for 46 years. It was 1939, and they had just accepted their first pastorate in El Reno, Oklahoma. The church had only 29 members, and still fewer in attendance, but they were just thankful to be in the ministry. They were paid $10 a week if there was any money left after the bills were paid, which often there was not. She would prepare Sunday dinner, but the Sunday School class, which met in the living room, would raid the refrigerator and leave little for their meal.

When Thanksgiving Day came that year, they were scraping the bottom of the barrel. They had only enough food in the house to feed their 2 year-old son breakfast. She and her husband prayed and claimed the promise of Psalm 37:25, which says, ‘I have been young, and now am old, yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.’ She did not have anything to fix, but by faith she set the table. About noon, someone knocked on the front door, and as her husband answered it, someone knocked on the back door. She opened the back door to find a neighbor, who was an atheist, holding a large bowl of mashed potatoes. She said, ‘I don’t know what I was thinking this morning, but I peeled too many potatoes for just the two of us. I’m wondering—could you use these?’ As she came back into the kitchen, she met her husband coming in from the front porch with a large pan of chicken and noodles. A member of the church had to leave on an emergency, and had brought that dish by. God had provided food for Thanksgiving!”*

Remember, you’re not bugging God when you pray; He loves you, and He wants you to ask.

*From the Baptist Bible Tribune, November, 2009

“Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.” (Matt. 7:7)

Genesis says that in earth’s earliest days, the elder son of Adam and Eve, Cain, was angry. His wrath was directed at his brother, Abel, who had worshipped God with the prescribed offering; but ultimately it was aimed at God, who appeared to Cain and asked, “Why art thou wroth? And why is thy countenance fallen?” God graciously counseled Cain that he need only do right by bringing the offering that was required, and all would be well. But Cain yielded to anger and killed his brother, the first recorded murder in history. It was a sin born of hatred and disobedience, and it is written into the record of history as an example of how not to deal with anger towards God and jealousy and ill-will toward other human beings.

American author and theologian Frederick Buechner, in his book Wishful Thinking: A Theological ABC, says that “of the seven deadly sins, anger is possibly the most fun. To lick your wounds, to smack your lips over grievances long past, to roll over your tongue the prospect of bitter confrontation still to come, to savor the last toothsome morsel both the pain you are given and the pain you are giving back; in many ways it is a feast fit for a king. The chief drawback is that what you are wolfing down is yourself. The skeleton at the feast is you.”

Aristotle said that “anyone can become angry. That is easy. But to become angry with the right person, to the right degree, at the right time and in the right way—that is not easy.”

Solomon spoke well and wisely to the matter when he admonished his son to “make no friendship with an angry man, and with a furious man thou shalt not go, lest thou learn his ways.” (Prov. 22:24,25) And, again, the wise man warned: “Be not angry in thy spirit; for anger resteth in the bosom of fools.” (Eccl. 9:7)

A parable on the subject: “A big, mean lion met a monkey in the jungle. The lion pounced on the poor monkey and asked, ‘Who is the king of the jungle?’ The frightened monkey replied, ‘You are, O mighty lion.’ So the lion let him go. The next animal the lion met was a zebra. He pounced on it and roared, ‘Who is the king of the jungle?’ ‘You are, O mighty lion.’ So the lion let him go. The lion next met an elephant and asked him the same question. The elephant grabbed the lion, twirled him around, and threw him 50 feet. The lion picked himself up and huffed, ‘Just because you don’t know the answer is no reason to get rough.’” Maybe the moral of this clever parable is: Be careful about tossing your weight around; you just might rouse the anger of the wrong person!

So, as Aristotle said, there is a time and place for one’s anger to be aroused. Jesus displayed righteous anger on more than one occasion, sometimes dealing with it by what He did, as when He cleansed the Temple in John 2; sometimes dealing with it by what He said, as when He excoriated the self-righteous Pharisees in Matthew 23, when He called them “fools and blind…hypocrites…whited sepulchers…generation of vipers;” and sometimes by both what He did and what He said, as when He again cleansed the temple late in His ministry on His final trip to Jerusalem. (Matt. 21:12-17) So, Henry Ward Beecher—the 19^th-century pastor and abolitionist—may have been right when he said that a man who does not know how to be angry does not know how to be good. A man that does not know how to be shaken to his heart’s core with indignation over evil things, Beecher said, is either a fungus or a wicked man.

The English poet William Blake put it this way: “I was angry with my friend; I told my wrath, my wrath did end. I was angry with my foe; I told it not, my wrath did grow.”  Paul said that we ought at times to be angry, yet in doing so we ought not to sin. He concludes, “Let not the sun go down upon thy wrath.” (Eph. 4:26) He clarifies further: “Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice.” (Eph.4:31)

A Christian counsellor once said, “The greatest danger to a man’s success is uncontrollable anger.” King Herod, angry with the wise men from the east who had come to worship the Christ child, had hundreds, maybe thousands, of Judean Hebrew babies slain in a fit of rage because the wise worshippers did not tell Herod where they had found Jesus.

It is so very distressing to witness the wrath, anger, bitterness and evil speaking in recent days against the Jewish nation, Israel, in the wake of the October 7^th terrorist attack, during which Hamas committed unspeakable atrocities and in which they took hundreds of innocent civilians hostage. Family members and loved ones have posted pictures of some of those Israeli hostages, including children, and we have witnessed angry, hate-filled people pulling down the pictures in contempt.

The Roman emperor Caesar Augustus was quoted as saying that “whenever you are angry, say or do nothing before you have repeated the alphabet to yourself.” And another wise person said, “Call for the grandest of all earthly spectacles, what is that? It is the sun going to its rest. Call for the grandest of all human sentiments, what is that? It is that man should forget his anger before he lies down to sleep.” (Thomas De Quincey)

“Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: for the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.” (James 1:19,20)

Back in the mid-1960s, and probably before and surely after, the preacher boys’ class at Bob Jones University, where I was a ministerial student, began its weekly session in the then Fine Arts auditorium by singing the chorus, “Souls for Jesus.” About 800 young men bellowed out the words, “Souls for Jesus is our battle cry; souls for Jesus, we’ll fight until we die; we never will give in, while souls are lost in sin—souls for Jesus is our battle cry!” Dr. Gilbert Stenholm would then stride to the pulpit, survey the class of primed preachers, and lead in a soul-stirring prayer punctuated with cries of “Amen!” from an auditorium packed with pastors, evangelists, and missionaries in the making. It moves me deeply now, 60 years later, to remember those weekly meetings of hundreds of young men who would soon leave those sacred halls to go out to “shake” America for Christ. It brought “goose bumps” to my neck at the time—and even today, as I recall the experience, my eyes are being washed with tears.

Souls for Jesus. That was our mantra. Probably a cursory study of contemporary church history in the United States would reveal that from the early 1960s to the mid 1970s there was a vigorous effort to plant New Testament churches in America. Churches conducted revival meetings, and young men and women enlisted to go to the mission fields of the world. Others, like myself, answered God’s call to full-time Christian ministry. Many of the great, or once-great, independent churches were planted during that red-hot era of evangelism and church growth. It was a different age than this one, and it was fueled by young people who caught the vision—set on fire by men like Bob Jones, Sr., Lee Roberson and John R. Rice—to make “Souls for Jesus” their battle cry.

Well, the need is as great if not greater today. In fact, the population has doubled, from 4 billion to 8 billion. Visualize a point, then picture one person passing that point every second. It would take more than 250 years for every person to pass that point!

We cannot reach all the 7,402 unreached people groups of the world today, i.e. a group of people who have the same ethnicity and speak the same language. That would require us to reach 3.27 billion people. The task is more staggering when we realize that 3,150 of those people groups are not only unreached, they are unengaged (with no Christian presence or Church planting efforts). Roughly 66,000 of the world’s 8 billion souls perish every day with no access to the gospel. (The Titus Ten, J. Josh Smith, B & H Publishing, p.173). Souls for Jesus!

The late John Broadus, a leading19^th-century Baptist pastor and seminary instructor, told of his joy of leading just one soul to Christ. He related that “the greatest joy of his life was when, as a boy, he found Christ as his Savior, and immediately led another boy to Christ. He said he took him out behind the barn, on a pile of boards, and sitting there together, he told this lad the story of his new-found joy—the story of Jesus. His friend became a Christian and said to young John Broadus, ‘that is the prettiest story I ever heard. I am going to make Jesus my Savior. I thank you, John,’ he said, as they separated.

“Then good Dr. Broadus went on to say that they had both lived in that same city until now; they were both gray-haired men, he a teacher in the seminary, the other man the driver of a dray (wagon or cart); and he said that he had never met that man during all those years but what he touched his cap as they passed and said, ‘Thank you, John, thank you, John.’ Then Dr. Broadus said, ‘When I get to Heaven, after seeing my Savior and my father and mother, I want to see that lad. I know just what he will say when I meet him coming down that golden street. It will be just what he said this morning as I passed him on the way to this building to speak to you: Thank you, John; thank you, John.’” (copied) Ah, souls for Jesus!

One day Michelangelo saw a block of marble which the owner said was of no value. “It’s valuable to me,” said Michelangelo. “There is an angel imprisoned in it, and I must set it free!”

Yes, souls for Jesus! One imprisoned soul at a time.

Evangelist Gypsy Smith told of a time when he was sitting at a table with some preachers; one of them, a Scotsman, asked, “How did you get on at your meeting?”

“I said, ‘Oh, so many passed through the inquiry room.’”

He said, “Is it safe to count?”

I said, “Well, they counted at Pentecost and put it down at 3,000. He changed the subject.”

“Later the Scotsman asked, ‘Are you married, Mr. Smith?’ I said, ‘Yes.’ ‘Any family?’ ‘Yes.’ ‘How many?’ I replied, ‘Is it safe to count?’

“When the laughter subsided, I added, ‘You count your children, and the Lord counts us. You made enough fuss when your family baby was born. The Lord says there is joy in Heaven over one. The church doesn’t make half enough fuss when one is converted!”

Souls for Jesus!

Franz Kreisler (1875-1962), world-famous violinist, once discovered an exquisite violin on one of his trips, but because he had given away much of the money he had earned, he lacked the money to purchase it. He raised the needed sum and returned to the seller of the prized instrument to buy it, only to learn it had been sold to a collector. Kreisler made his way to the collector’s home and offered to buy the violin, but the collector said it had become a cherished possession, and he refused to sell it. Dejected, the concert violinist was about to turn to leave, but before he did, he asked the collector if he might play the violin before he left. He was granted that request, and the great virtuoso filled the room with majestic, heart-rending music that greatly moved the collector, so much so that he said, “I have no right to keep that to myself. It’s yours, Mr. Kreisler. Take it to the world, and let the people hear it!” Souls for Jesus!

“Likewise I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.” (Luke 15:10) Souls for Jesus is our battle cry!

David said it with an exclamation: “Blessed is the man whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.” (Ps.32:1)

In another of his Psalms of praise, the sweet singer of Israel reminds us that God is one “Who forgiveth all thine iniquities.” (Ps.103:3) In fact, David continued, “As far as the east is from the west, so far hath He removed our transgressions from us.” (Ps.103:12).  That makes Paul’s New Testament admonition much more doable: “And be ye kind, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.” (Eph.4:32)

Isn’t it sad that people, sometimes even those who claim to be recipients of God’s saving grace, live a lifetime without forgiving some old offense against them? As a young college student, studying for ministry, I was asked to preach one Sunday in a little country church close to the town where I was born. God led me to preach from Matthew 5 about leaving the altar where you are worshipping and going to make restoration, or to ask forgiveness, from a brother who has “ought against thee.” (Matt.5:24). Jesus tells His disciples that one should leave his gift before the altar and go and make restoration with the offended brother quickly. I found out some time later that two older women in that small congregation, sisters, had not spoken to each other for years. To my knowledge, they died never having made things right with each other. Had I known that fact before I preached from that text, as a college sophomore preacher boy, I am sure I could not have delivered that message. But I am just as certain that God put that text upon my heart that day. It is almost beyond belief that two people can live and die holding grudges against each other for years.

Jesus gave no comfort to anyone who held a grudge and had not forgiven an offender. When Peter asked his Master if one should forgive an offender “seven times,” Jesus must have startled him with His answer: “I say not unto thee, Until seven times, but until seventy times seven.” (Matt. 18:21,22) And, after a pertinent parable about the kingdom of heaven, Jesus concluded this discussion with a sobering thought: “So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not everyone his brother their trespasses.” (Matt. 18:35) The “so likewise” referred to a man who, having been forgiven a huge debt, showed no compassion on the person who owed him a comparably small amount—and even demanded the poor debtor be thrown into prison. Jesus said that those guilty of that kind of unforgiving spirit were liable to be “thrown to the tormentors.”  It is not a matter to trifle with, this matter of an unforgiving spirit.

Augustine, before he was saved, had been a profligate rebel against God; on his death bed, he had Psalm 32 written on the wall opposite his bed. The Psalm begins with, “Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.”

“Not far from New York is a cemetery lone, close guarding its grave stands a simple headstone, And all the inscription is one word alone: FORGIVEN.

No sculptor’s fine art hath embellished its form, but constantly there, through the calm and the storm, it beareth this word from a poor, fallen worm: FORGIVEN.

The death is unmentioned, the name is untold; beneath lies the body, corrupted and cold; Above rests his spirit, at home in the fold—FORGIVEN!

And when, from the heavens, the Lord shall descend, this stranger shall rise and to glory ascend,

Well known and befriended to sing without end, FORGIVEN!” (Unknown)

A little boy was visiting his grandparents’ farm. He was given a slingshot to play with in the woods and, though having practiced quite a bit, was never able to hit the target. Heading back for dinner, and seeing Grandma’s pet duck, he let fly the slingshot and hit the duck square in the head, killing it. He was shocked and grieved, and in a panic hid the duck in a woodpile, only to see that his sister, Sally, was watching and had seen the whole thing!

After lunch the next day, Grandma said, “Sally, let’s wash the dishes.” But Sally said, “Grandma, Johnny told me he wanted to help in the kitchen.” Then she whispered to Johnny, “Remember the duck.” So, Johnny did the dishes. Later that day, Grandpa asked if the children wanted to go fishing, and Grandma said, “I’m sorry, but I need Sally to help make supper.” But Sally just smiled and said, “That’s all right, Johnny told me he wanted to help.” Then she whispered again in her brother’s ear, “Remember the duck.” After a couple of days of this, Johnny had about all he could take of it and confessed to his grandma that he had killed her pet duck. Grandma knelt beside him and gave him a hug and said, “That’s all right, sweetheart. You see, I was standing at the window and saw the whole thing; but, because I love you, I forgave you. I was just wondering how long you would let Sally make a slave of you.”

Thought for the day: “Whatever your past, whatever you have done…and the Devil keeps throwing it up to you (lying, cheating, stealing, debt, fear, bad habits, hatred, anger, bitterness)…whatever it is…you need to know that God was standing at the window and He saw the whole thing.” (copied)

“…Thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.” (Micah 7:9)

Just after Peter had rebuked Jesus for revealing to the apostles that He would suffer, be rejected by the nation of Israel, and be killed by the chief priests and scribes before He would rise from dead after three days and three nights (Mark 8:31), Jesus taught His followers that discipleship was absolute, demanding even that a man should be willing to lose his own life for Christ’s and the gospel’s sake. It was a tough lesson to hear on the heels of what Peter had just said to Jesus. But the Lord used it as a teaching moment when He then said, “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Mark 8:36)

The value of one soul. Nothing comes close to it. Its worth is inestimable. Solomon posited that “He that winneth souls is wise.” (Provs. 11:30) Since the soul is life’s most valuable possession—the only part of one’s being that will live as long as God lives—it is wise to value it as God values it.

George Whitefield, the famous English evangelist, did: “O Lord, give me souls, or take my soul,” he prayed.

John Hyde, a missionary to India known as “Praying Hyde,” pleaded: “Father, give me these souls, or I die.”

David Brainerd, early 18^th-century missionary to the American Indians, prayed: “I care not where I live or what hardships I go through, so that I can but gain souls to Christ. All my desire is the conversion of sinners, and all my hope is in God.”

It was the “prince of preachers,” C.H. Spurgeon, who affirmed that “I would rather be the means of saving a soul from death than to be the greatest orator on earth. I would rather bring the poorest woman in the world to the feet of Jesus, than I would to be made the Archbishop of Canterbury. I would sooner pluck one single brand from the burning than to explain all mysteries.”

Evangelist D.L. Moody told of his conversion, which occurred at a time when he was working in his uncle’s shoe store, and when he (by agreement) was attending a Bible class taught by Edward Kimball. Kimball, a humble Sunday School teacher, went to the store where young Moody was working, found him, and put his hand on his shoulder, saying, “I’m concerned for you.” His lips quivered, and he was able to say no more. Moody later thought, “Now this is strange! Here is one who has known me only two weeks, and he is concerned about myself!” It is said that Moody straightway went down to the basement, knelt behind a stack of boxes, and gave himself to Christ. (Preacher’s Magazine)

Sometime after Moody was converted, a Sunday morning in 1856, a congregation of well-dressed people had been ushered to their rented pews in Chicago’s Plymouth Congregational Church. Their serene worship was interrupted on that particular Sunday morning by something they had never witnessed before. In walked a young man, a 19-year-old shoe salesman, followed by a motley group of “tramps, slum people and alcoholics.” The young man led them to the four pews he had personally rented for the visitors. He continued in this ministry of evangelism until the Lord called him into a worldwide ministry. (Selected)

John Wesley understood the value of one soul when he advised young preachers: “You may be elegant, you may be a good financier, yea, you may be in great demand, but if you do not win souls, you are a failure. You are not called to do this or that, but to win souls.”

Are you a member of a church that considers its first mission that of winning souls that can be discipled to win other souls? C.S. Lewis challenged Christ’s church: “He works on us in all sorts of ways. But above all, He works on us through each other. Men are mirrors, or ‘carriers’ of Christ to other men. Usually it is those who know Him that bring Him to others. That is why the Church, the whole body of Christians, showing Him to one another, is so important. It is so easy to think that the Church has lots of different objects-education, building, missions, holding services-the Church exists for no other purpose but to draw men to Christ, to make them little Christs. If they are not doing that, all the cathedrals, clergy, missions, sermons…are simply a waste of time. It is even doubtful, you know, whether the whole universe was created for any other purpose.”

There are now about 8 billion living souls upon the earth. If one person per second walked past a given point, it would take 253 years for the 8 billion people to walk past that point. I recently read that there are 7,402 unreached people groups in the world at present, a people group being a group that shares an ethnicity and a language. The total population of the unreached people groups is 3.27 billion, or 42.2 percent of the world’s population. Of the 7,402 unreached people groups, 3,150 are unengaged and unreached; that is, there is no known Christian presence or planted church where they are living. 66,000 souls pass out into eternity every day with no access to the gospel. (The Titus Ten, J. Josh Smith, B & H Publishing, p.173)

Jesus put an incalculable value upon every one of these 8 billion souls. A survey of 10,000 people conducted by a church-growth group found that of those who come to Christ, 2% had a special need; 3 % just “walked in;” 6% were drawn by the minister; 5% liked the Sunday School; less than 1% found Christ because they attended a revival service; 3% liked the programs; but a whopping 79% said a friend or a relative invited them to attend a service where they could hear of Christ.

Our task is daunting. But, we have God’s assurance that we “shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you…and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)

Let’s get busy in doing that which Jesus placed the highest value upon, that of winning souls. If we do, we shall “doubtless come again rejoicing…bringing (our) sheaves (with us).” (Ps.126:6)

“Go ye, therefore, and teach (disciple) all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and  of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.” (Matt.28:19)

A group of about 10 men in our church has met each week for several years, reading through various books that help us walk closer to our Lord so that we can serve Him more effectively. It has been my privilege to lead these men in our weekly book discussions, and to have witnessed spiritual growth in our lives as we share together what God is teaching us, though most of us have been saved for many years. Seeing old truths in a new light, or turning over a hidden treasure that we had not yet discovered, is ever spiritually thrilling.

The book we are currently reading and discussing, a chapter each week, is The Titus Ten, by J. Josh Smith (B & H Publishing Group, 2022). It is one of the finest books I have read on the subject of discipleship, especially directed to men, indicated by its subtitle, Foundations for Godly Manhood. In his chapter on “Mission”—where Smith talks about our purpose for being here, and for being created unto good works—Smith makes the following unequivocable statement: “The local church is at the center of God’s mission. God intends to accomplish His mission through the local church. As we have talked about at length, the local church must be a priority in the life of every man. A man will never be on a mission with God unless he is connected to a local church.” (p.162)

Words like these seem almost archaic in today’s world. For decades, parachurch ministries seem to have succeeded at doing an “end run” around the local church. We live in a day when affiliation with and attendance at a local church seems like merely one of many options available to those who are called Christians. Smith’s words will probably be met with doubt, debate, or maybe denial. But he has the New Testament with which to buttress his proposition.

Jesus Christ Himself founded the Church, as He promised His disciples He would. “I will build my Church,” was the first time any of His followers had ever heard of such a concept. (Matt.16:18) The Church was the mystery “kept secret since the world began” (Romans 16:25) that in one body, both Jew and Gentile, would be ONE in Christ Jesus through the preaching of the gospel. (Eph.3:1-7)

Most of the New Testament is written to churches about life in His Body, the Church. Of the more than 100 references to church in the New Testament, only a handful could be interpreted as referring to something other than a local assembly. It is, as Paul affirmed, the “pillar and ground of the truth” (I Tim.3:15). And though it is an organism rather than an organization, it has organization—with Jesus Christ as its Head, pastors as under-shepherds, deacons as servants to the body, and members as gifted parts of His Body, all working to accomplish the work of the ministry, edifying one another in the faith, and propagating the faith once delivered through intentional, intense missionary, evangelistic efforts.

The New Testament knows nothing of detached, unattached believers who see no need to be part of a local assembly of saints. Lone Ranger Christians are not biblical—as prevalent as they may seem to be in this 21st century. If a person is too busy to be involved vitally in a local church, then that person is simply too busy!

James Garfield, during his first week as president of the United States, was reminded by a member of his cabinet that there was an important meeting scheduled for 10:00 a.m. on Sunday morning. Though the cabinet member insisted that the president attend this meeting, which would be dealing with a matter of national security, Garfield refused on the grounds he had another important meeting to attend. The cabinet member remarked, “I should be interested to know with whom you could have an appointment so important that it cannot be broken.” The newly installed president replied, “I will be as frank as you are. My engagement is with the Lord, to meet Him at His house, at His table, at 10:30 a.m. tomorrow, and I shall be there.” Garfield honored the Lord’s Day; the crisis passed, and the nation survived.

This week, after almost three weeks of what observers called “infighting,” the U. S. House of Representatives elected a new speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, of Louisiana. Upon being elected, one of the first things the new speaker did was to ask his fellow congressmen to bow their heads with him in prayer, asking the Almighty for His good guidance. Johnson is said to be a Baptist—and from what we have seen so far, he might just be of the same conviction as was President Garfield. Spiritual matters matter most. His Church is still alive and well, and prayer changes things!

Mohandas Gandhi was a leader in the Indian movement toward freedom from British rule. His Hinduism, in religion and in politics, impacted millions of his fellow countrymen. When Gandhi was young, he contemplated becoming a Christian as a result of being influenced by the teachings and example of Jesus Christ. He attended the services of a church in Pretoria, Africa, and later wrote of that experience: “The congregation did not strike me as being particularly religious; they were not an assembly of devout souls, but appeared rather to be worldly-minded people going to church for recreation and in conformity to custom.” The young Gandhi concluded that Christianity had nothing to offer over Hinduism, so, tragically, he turned away from Jesus. Sadly, a local congregation had forgotten the primacy, purpose, and place of their sacred Sunday gatherings.

Body-life in a local, New Testament church is of paramount importance to every born-again person in this day. Christ died for the Church. The Church is pictured as His Bride, “a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.” (Eph.5:27) Nothing in this world demands our sincere attention, and faithful participation, more than His Body, the Church. Local assemblies meet weekly, worldwide, keeping His ordinances, preaching His Word, fellowshipping around His table, and strategizing as to how they might best fulfill His great commission. (Matt. 28:18-20) Jesus promised at some moment, yet future, to return for His Bride. Let us then be found faithfully waiting, working, watching, and serving in that for which He died, His Church!

“Unto Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.” (Eph.3:21)