Why Jesus Is Better than Santa Claus

Why Jesus Is Better than Santa Claus

Santa lives at the North Pole ...
JESUS is everywhere.

Santa rides in a sleigh ...
JESUS rides on the wind and walks on the water.

Santa comes but once a year ...
JESUS is an ever-present help.

Santa fills your stockings with goodies ...
JESUS supplies all your needs.

Santa comes down your chimney uninvited ...
JESUS stands at your door and knocks, and then enters your
heart when invited.

You have to wait in line to see Santa ...
JESUS is as close as the mention of His name.

Santa lets you sit on his lap ...
JESUS lets you rest in His arms.

Santa doesn't know your name; all he can say to the little
boy or girl is, "What's your name?" ...
JESUS knew your name before you did. Not only does He know
your name, He also knows your address. He knows your history
and future and He even knows how many hairs are on your
head.

Santa has a belly like a bowl full of jelly ...
JESUS has a heart full of love.

All Santa can offer is HO HO HO ...
JESUS offers health, help, and hope.

Santa says, "You better not cry" ...
JESUS says, "Cast all your cares on me, for I care for you."

Santa's little helpers make toys ...
JESUS makes new life, mends wounded hearts, repairs broken
homes, and builds mansions.

Santa may make you chuckle, but ...
JESUS gives you joy that is your strength.

While Santa puts gifts under your tree ...
JESUS became our gift and died on a tree.

It's obvious there is really no comparison. We need to
remember WHO Christmas is all about. We need to put Christ
back in CHRISTmas. Jesus is still the reason for the season.

Yes, Jesus is better, he is even better than Santa Claus

Modesty—A Lost Cause?

Modesty—A Lost Cause?

Kim Melton

“In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array; But (which becometh women professing godliness) with good works.” 1 Tim. 2:9, 10

We live in a society where it is perfectly acceptable for the human body to be displayed in clothing that would have caused our grandparents to blush in shame. It used to be that these displays were on the people “of the world,” but in the past several years immodesty has begun to creep into the church. I have watched a married man avert his eyes when a young lady passed him in church in a dress that was provocatively cut. I overheard a Christian mother and her daughter discuss in a positive way how sexy the daughter looked. I have viewed pictures from weddings (a Fundamentalist pastor officiating) with dresses on brides and bridesmaids that several years ago were sold in stores as sleepwear.

There are many differing opinions among Christians about what is acceptable. Often you hear the term “Christian liberty” used when someone is defending what she is wearing. The purpose of this article is not to set a standard, but to make us stop and think about what kind of example we are setting.

I must confess that as a young woman I never gave the issue of modesty much thought. I had a mother who made sure I was modest. To my shame, I can remember times when I fought her about it, but she stood firm. Now I am grateful for the instruction she gave me in this area.

Even as a young married woman I didn’t think much about what was modest because at that time it was easy to go shopping and find clothing that was acceptable. I remember a time shortly after my marriage when my husband asked me kindly not to wear a certain blouse any more. I remember inwardly wrestling with whether or not I would do what he asked. I realized there must be a reason he didn’t want me to wear it, so I decided to listen to him. Now that I am older and hopefully a little wiser, I realize that a man knows how other men think, and I need to listen when my husband speaks about this important area.

There are many people (not just in our Fundamentalist camp) who are trying to fight this issue of immodesty. I watched a news clip recently on the local channel about a fashion group that was started by an unsaved mother who was concerned about the immodest apparel available for her teenage daughter to purchase. The fashion show demonstrated how to buy and layer fashionable clothing that covers appropriately. If this mother who doesn’t know the Lord is concerned, how much more concerned should we be who represent the King of kings!

Over the years I have heard good teaching in this area and have read many books on the subject. Perhaps the thing that has helped me the most was teaching I received by the former assistant pastor of my home church, Gordon Dickson. He was teaching on the fear of the Lord, and he asked the question, “How can I dress today to show that I fear the Lord?” This simple question has stuck with me over the years, and it can be applied to any area of our life as we seek to show that we fear the Lord.

Sometimes I feel that modesty is a lost cause. It is becoming increasingly difficult to buy modest clothing. Everything is getting lower, tighter, shorter, and more provocative. What are we to do? Sewing is becoming a lost art, but for those who do sew, this is a great solution. You can hire a seamstress to sew for you or to alter existing clothing to make it modest. I did a Google search for modest clothing and came up with a number of sites offering fashionable clothing. God will lead you in this area if you allow Him to do so! “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you” (Matt. 6:33).

Ladies, please don’t give up in this vital area. Set an example for others around you. Train your daughters. Let’s adorn ourselves in modest apparel “which becometh women professing godliness”!

Sanctuary, May 30

May 30

Single Peace

1 Corinthians 7:32

He who is unmarried cares for the things of the Lord—how he may please the Lord.

People are single for four kinds of reasons: physical, medical, spiritual, or they just want to be single—not everybody wants to be married and apparently that is a part of God’s plan. Some of the greatest people who ever served God were single. Rejoice in all the gifts God has given you, including your singleness.

Seeking marriage is not wrong, but don’t let that search dominate your life. We must not make finding a marriage partner the supreme goal of our lives by putting all our energies into searching for a mate. We must learn to be in God’s will. A very wise person said, “There is something far worse than single loneliness, and that is marital misery.” Learn contentment, for it is great gain.

If God has a mate for you, He knows how to bring the two of you together. Don’t take things into your own hands.

Wherever you are, whatever your situation, use the time to grow both mentally and spiritually.

Jeremiah, D. (2002). Sanctuary : Finding moments of refuge in the presence of God (157). Nashville, TN: Integrity Publishers.

The Best Cure for KJVOism: A Real 1611 KJV

The Best Cure for KJVOism: A Real 1611 KJV

It has been widely publicized that the year 2011 is the 400^th anniversary of the original publication of the so-called “Authorized” or “King James Version” of the Bible in English. This translation has historically been the most widely used, at least since it overtook the previous champion, the Geneva Bible of 1560 (chiefly, at least initially, as a result of the legal suppression of the printing of the Geneva Bible by the British monarchy, in favor of the KJV). It should be noted, however, that the great majority of the editions and copies of the KJV printed and read in the past 400 years have been revisions rather than reprints of the original form of the KJV, with literally tens of thousands of revisions in spelling, punctuation and the use of italics, plus many hundreds in the precise wording of the text, to say nothing of the switch from “black letter” (“Gothic”) type to Roman, the widespread omission of the Apocrypha in the 18^th and later centuries, along with the omission of an extended calendar and charts of Biblical genealogies, and most unfortunately, the omission of the extremely important and informative introductory essay, “The Translators to the Readers,” which was in the original edition. In short, most KJV users, particularly those who claim to be “King James Version 1611 Only” in their beliefs, have never actually seen or used a real 1611 King James Version in the original form in which it was issued from the press in 1611.

In the past, there have been from time to time facsimile reprints of the 1611 KJV. In 1833, “The Holy Bible, an exact reprint page for page of the Authorized Version published in the year 1611” was printed at the University Press, Oxford; it was in Roman type (see A. S. Herbert, Historical Catalogue of Printed Editions of the English Bible 1525-1961. London: British and Foreign Bible Society, 1968; p. 377). In 1911, the University Press at Oxford issued two 1611 reprints--the first a facsimile (in black letter) in reduced size of the original 1611 KJV, the other an exact reprint page-for-page but in Roman type, of the 1611 edition, both with introductory essays by A. W. Pollard (see Herbert, p. 458). I have owned a copy of the 1911 Roman type reprint for almost 35 years.

This 1911 Roman type reprint was reissued in the 1970s (or early 1980s) by Thomas Nelson of Nashville, about the time they issued their New King James Version (and for a time Nelson sold the two volumes together in a slipcase). This reprint omitted the Pollard essay (and perhaps other features--I gave my copy to one of my sons a few years ago and cannot check it directly). Later--probably in the 1990s--, Hendrickson Publishing (the publishing arm of Christian Book Discount) also reprinted the1911 Roman type edition (in precisely the form Nelson had). These two recent reprints are easy to find via the internet.

Besides these, there have been over the years several full-sized facsimile reprints of the 1611 KJV by various publishers; my brother has a copy of one made in the 1950s, for which he paid $350, used, a decade ago. Such full-sized facsimiles are rarely met with and are generally rather pricey (in the hundreds or even many hundreds of dollars)

Now, another edition, widely available and quite inexpensive, has appeared, this made by Zondervan and sold at Wal-Mart (and perhaps other retail outlets). The ISBN is: 978-0-310-44029-1. It is a facsimile--an exact reproduction in the original black letter script--of the 1611 edition, but in a reduced size, and with one feature of the original omitted--the thirteen books of the Apocrypha (as noted on p. viii of the Introduction to this new edition). That the 1611 KJV originally did have the Apocrypha can be visually confirmed in this edition on the page containing Malachi 4, where the “catch-word” at the bottom of the page is “APO-“ which points to “APOCRYPHA” which is at the top of the page in the original (and in my 1911 reprint), after which originally followed the complete text of those non-canonical books).

The printed retail price of this Zondervan 2011 facsimile reprint is $7.99, though I have bought several copies at Wal-Mart in Kansas for $4.97 and I have heard it priced about a dollar higher elsewhere (and I suspect they hope to make a profit on the publication of the KJV at that price). I would strongly urge EVERY PREACHER, EVERY CHRISTIAN READER and EVERY CHURCH AND CHRISTIAN COLLEGE LIBRARY to get a copy AT ONCE. If you have any KJVO friends, buy and give them a copy. There is no quicker cure for KJVOism that the direct and extended study of the 1611 edition, introductory material and all.

One finds in the actual, original, genuine 1611 KJV (no doubt “preserved in the form God wants us to have”) an introductory essay that states the translators' perspective on their own and other translations (they, at least, were decidedly NOT “KJVOnly”). If I could do just ONE thing, I would make every KJVO partisan read carefully those 11 highly informative pages. The original translator's English Bible text has literally thousands of variant marginal renderings (showing that they did not believe their translation as found in the text was infallibly correct), plus variant manuscript readings, showing that they did not believe that the manuscript reading given in their text was necessarily always right. One will also find numerous places where words are “omitted,” “added” or altered as compared with all modern editions of the KJV, to say nothing of a considerable number of printer's errors (are these also part of the “perfect preservation” we hear so much about?). And one can discover on the title page of the NT those revealing words: “cum privilegio” (Latin: “with privilege”) which demonstrate the undeniable fact that this translation was COPYRIGHTED FROM THE DAY IT WAS FIRST PUBLISHED (contrary to the gross misrepresentation on this point that is part of the accepted KJVO “wisdom”).

I am quite sure that the quickest “cure” for the absurdity of KJVOism is the close and careful study of the actual original KJV itself. I would challenge--even dare--every KJVO partisan to get this facsimile of the original KJV and study it “cover to cover” and margin to margin, spending a year and more in the process, and try to prove me wrong.

---Doug Kutilek

----------

from "AS I SEE IT"

Volume 14, Number 6, June 2011

Putting Down the Weights

Putting Down the Weights

BIBLE MEDITATION:
“All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any.” 1 Corinthians 6:12

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:
There are certain weights that an athlete chooses to lay aside. They are not bad for other people, but they are bad for the athlete. In the spiritual realm, it is the same for Christians.

Paul tells us, “all things are not expedient.” The word “expedient” is similar to the word “expedition.” You see, Christians are going somewhere, and if something doesn’t speed us along the way, then it is excess baggage and we need to get rid of it.

ACTION POINT:
Ask God today, “Are there legitimate, lawful things in my life that are keeping me from running the race?” It might be a hobby, friendship, recreational sport, or a cabin in the mountains. It is not bad; it just keeps you from maximizing your life for the Lord Jesus Christ. You must lay it aside.

from lwf.org

Quote

“As the yellow gold is tried in fire, so the faith of friendship must be seen in adversity."-Ovid

We Want You Over There

We Want You Over There

We're going home to glory soon
To see the city bright,
To walk the golden streets of heav'n,
And bask in God's own light.
But some of you are out of Christ
And held by many a snare –
We cannot leave you lost and lone;
We want you Over There.

The pearly gates are open wide,
And we shall enter in –
To know thenceforth no tear or sigh,
No sorrow and no sin.
O come with us, and come at once!
That land is bright and fair!
We cannot leave you lost and lone;
We want you Over There.

We come to tell the story true
Of love so rich and free!
A crucified and risen Lord
Has grace for you and me!
O listen to the words of love
His messengers declare!
We cannot leave you lost and lone;
We want you Over There.

We once were burdened sore with sin,
And dark were we and sad;
But Christ has washed us in His blood,
And He has made us glad!
Fly to His wounds, ye guilty ones;
His love and mercy share.
We cannot leave you lost and lone;
We want you Over There.

Dialogue on "Gay Rights"

Question from Facebook friend: I think its sad that someone like yourself who has such great faith doesnt believe that everyone has equal rights. Arent we suppose to do unto others as they do unto us? How do you think God feels about you excluding people just because they are gay?

My response: God loves homosexuals, but hates the sin of homosexuality. God made 2 people they were male and female, and His plan from the beginning of time was one man and one woman for life. Homosexuality rebels against God's plan. Matthew 19:4 "He answered, “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female," and Mark 10:6 "But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female." If our whole society adopted homosexuality we would all die, it goes against nature. Two members of the same gender cannot procreate.

Romans Chapter 1:26-32 says: [26] For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; [27] and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.
[28] And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. [29] They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, [30] slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, [31] foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. [32] Though they know God's decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.

We see in verse 32, those who approve of homosexuality are worthy of death, as are the ones who practice it. Thankfully God in His mercy gives them a chance to repent from their sinful lifestyle choice.

We also see also 1 Corinthians 6:9: "Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality"

Not only does God hate homosexuality, no unrepentant homosexual is a Christian. Homosexuality is a sin against the very morality that God has established in our world.

Response: I know why he created but you said gays shouldnt have rights. To me thats wrong. God loves everyone equally

My response: They should not have the right to get married to a same sex partner if that is what you are saying, because marriage is between a man and a woman. Homosexuals have the right to marry, it just has to be someone of the other gender. They should have the same rights as a non-homosexual, we have the right to marry someone of the opposite gender and have a natural family. They have the same right, but their lifestyle inhibits that from happening because they choose a relationship that cannot produce offspring. And adoption is a privilege not a right, so I won't discuss that.

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Who at My Door is Standing?

Who at my door is standing,
Patiently drawing near,
Entrance within demanding?
Whose is the voice I hear?

Refrain

Sweetly the tones are falling;
“Open the door for Me!
If thou wilt heed My calling,
I will abide with thee.”

Lonely without He’s staying;
Lonely within am I;
While I am still delaying,
Will He not pass me by?

Refrain

All through the dark hours dreary,
Knocking again is He;
Jesus, art Thou not weary,
Waiting so long for me?

Refrain

Door of my heart, I hasten!
Thee will I open wide.
Though He rebuke and chasten,
He shall with me abide.

Refrain

http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/w/h/o/whoatmyd.htm

The Use of Tracts by R.A. Torrey

The Use of Tracts

By R.A. Torrey

R.A. Torrey (1856-1928) was a Congregational evangelist, teacher, author, born in Hoboken, New Jersey. He was educated in Yale University and Divinity School. After a period of skepticism he trusted in Jesus Christ as Saviour. Soon after he pastored in Ohio and then in Minnesota. In 1889 Dwight L. Moody called Torrey to Chicago to become the superintendent of the school which became known as the Moody Bible Institute. He also served as pastor of the Chicago Avenue Church, now the Moody Memorial Church, for twelve years.

Between 1902-1906 Torrey and Charles Alexander conducted a very fruitful evangelistic outreach in Australia, Tasmania, New Zealand, India, China, Japan, Britain, Germany, Canada, and the USA. From 1912-1924 Torrey was dean of the Bible Institute of Los Angeles during which he pastored the Church of the Open Door. His remaining years involved holding Bible conferences, teaching at the Moody Bible Institute, and other endevours. (Adapted from "The Wycliffe Biographical Dictionary of the Church, Elgin S. Moyer, Moody Press, 1982)

The following is from Torrey's larger work, "Methods of Christian Work " (Chapter 5, pages 213-221):

Comparatively few Christians realize the importance of tract work. I had been a Christian a good many years, and a minister of the Gospel several years, before it ever entered my head that tracts were of much value in Christian work. I had somehow grown up with the notion that tracts were all rubbish, and therefore I did not take the trouble to read them, and far less did I take the trouble to circulate them, but I found out that I was entirely wrong. Tract work has some great advantages over other forms of Christian work.


I. Importance and advantages.

1. Any person can do it. We cannot all preach; we cannot all conduct meetings; but we can all select useful tracts and then hand them out to others. Of course some of us can do it better than others. Even a blind man or a dumb man can do tract work. It is a line of work in which every man, woman and child can engage.

2. A tract always sticks to the point. I wish every worker did that, but how often we get to talking to some one and he is smart enough to get us off on to a side track.

3. A tract never loses its temper. Perhaps you sometimes do. I have known Christian workers, even workers of experience, who would sometimes get all stirred up, but you cannot stir up a tract It always remains as calm as a June morning.

4. Oftentimes people who are too proud to be talked with, will read a tract when no one is looking. There is many a man who would repulse you if you tried to speak to him about his soul, who will read a tract if you leave it on his table, or in some other place where he comes upon it accidentally, and that tract may be used for his salvation.

5. A tract stays by one. You talk to a man and then he goes away, but the tract stays with him. Some years ago a man came into a mission in New York. One of the workers tried to talk with him, but he would not listen. As he was leaving, a card tract was placed in his hands which read, "If I should die to-night I would go to ______ Please fill out and sign." He put it in his pocket, went to his steamer, for he was a sailor, and slipped it into the edge of his bunk. The steamer started for Liverpool. On his voyage he met with an accident, and was laid aside in his bunk. That card stared him in the face, day and night. Finally he said, "If I should die tonight I would go to hell, but I will not go there, I will go to heaven, I will take Christ right here and now." He went to Liverpool, returned to New York, went to the mission, told his story, and had the card, which was still in his pocket, filled out and signed with his name. The conversation he had had in the mission left him, but the card stayed by him.

6. Tracts lead many to accept Christ. The author of one tract ("What is it to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ?") received before his death upwards of sixteen hundred letters from people who had been led to Christ by reading it.


II. Purposes for which to use a tract.

1. For the conversion of the unsaved. A tract will often succeed in winning a man to Christ where a sermon or a personal conversation has failed. There are a great many people who, if you try to talk with them, will put you off; but if you put a tract in their hands and ask God to bless it, after they go away and are alone they will read the tract and God will carry it home to their hearts by the power of the Holy Ghost. One of our students wrote me in great joy of how he had at last succeeded in winning a whole family for Christ. He had been working for that family for a long time but could not touch them. One day he left a tract with them, and God used that tract for the conversion of four or five members of the family. Another student held a cottage meeting at a home, and by mistake left his Bible there.

There was a tract in the Bible. When he had gone, the woman of the house saw the Bible, picked it up, opened it, saw the tract and read it. The Spirit of God carried it home to her heart, and when he went back after the Bible she told him she wanted to find the Lord Jesus Christ. The tract had done what he could not do in personal work. I once received a letter from a man saying, "There is a man in this place whom I tried for a long time to reach but could not. One day I handed him a tract, and I think it was to the salvation of his whole family.

2. To lead Christians into a deeper and more earnest Christian life. It is a great mistake to limit the use of tracts to winning the unsaved to Christ. A little tract on the Second Coming of Christ, once sent me in a letter, made a change in my whole life. I do not think the tract was altogether correct doctrinally, but it had in it an important truth, and it did for me just the work that needed to be done.

There is a special class of people with whom this form of ministry is particularly helpful, those who live where they do not enjoy spiritual advantages. You may know some one who is leading a very unsatisfactory life, and you long to have that person know what the Christian life really means. His pastor may not be a spiritual man, he may not know the deep things of God. It is the simplest thing in the world to slip into a letter a tract that will lead him into an entirely new Christian life.

3. To correct error. This is a very necessary form of work in the day in which we live. The air is full of error. In our personal work we have not always time to lead a man out of his error, but oftentimes we can give him a tract that can do the work better than we can. If you tried to lead him out of his error by personal work, you might get into a discussion, but the tract cannot. The one in error cannot talk back to the tract. For example, take people that are in error on the question of seventh day observance. It might take some time to lead such a one out of the darkness into the light, but a tract on that subject can be secured that has been used of God to lead many out of the bondage of legalism into the glorious liberty of the Gospel of Christ.

4. To set Christians to work. Our churches are full of members who are doing nothing. A well-chosen tract may set such to work. I know of a young man who was working in a factory in Massachusetts. He was a plain, uneducated sort of fellow, but a little tract on personal work was placed in his hands. He read it and re-read it, and said, "I am not doing what I should for Christ." He went to work among his companions in the factory, inviting them to the church, and to hear his pastor preach. Not satisfied with this, he went to doing personal work.

This was not sufficient, so he went to work holding meetings himself. Finally he brought a convention to his city. Just that one plain factory man was the means of getting a great convention and blessing to that place, and all from reading that little tract. He was also instrumental in organizing a society which was greatly blessed of God. It would be possible to fill this country with literature on Christian work that would stir up the dead and sleeping professors of religion throughout the land, and send them out to work for the Lord Jesus Christ.


III. Who should use tracts.

1. Ministers of the Gospel should use them. Many ministers do make constant use of them in their pastoral work, leaving well chosen tracts where they make their pastoral calls, handing out tracts along the line of the sermons that they preach. It is said of Rev. Edward Judson of New York, that he seldom makes a call without having in his pocket a selection of tracts adapted to almost every member of the family, and especially to the children. "At the close of the Sunday evening preaching service, he has often put some good brother in the chair, and while the meeting proceeds he goes down into the audience and gives to each person a choice leaflet, at the same time taking the opportunity to say a timely word. In this way he comes into personal touch with the whole audience, gives each stranger a cordial welcome, and leaves in his hand some message from God. At least once a year he selects some one tract that has in it the very core of the Gospel. On this he prints the notices of the services, and selecting his church as a center, he has this tract put in the hands of every person living within half a mile in each direction, regardless of creed or condition. He sometimes uses 10,000 tracts at one distribution, and finds it very fruitful in results."

2. Sunday School teachers. Every Sunday School teacher should be on the lookout for tracts to give to his scholars. In this way he can do much to supplement his hour's work on the Lord's Day.

3. Traveling men. Traveling men have a rare opportunity for doing tract work. They are constantly coming in contact with different men, and finding out their needs. A Christian "drummer" with a well-assorted selection of tracts can accomplish immeasurable good.

4. Business men. Business men can use tracts to good advantage with the very men with whom they have business engagements. They can also do excellent work with their own employees. Many a business man slips well chosen tracts into many of the letters which he writes, and thus accomplishes an effective ministry for his Master.

5. School teachers. It is very difficult for school teachers in some cities and towns to talk very much with their pupils in school. Oftentimes the rules of the school board prevent it entirely, but a wise teacher can learn all about her scholars and their home surroundings, and can give them tracts just adapted to their needs.

6. Housekeepers. Every Christian housekeeper should have a collection of well assorted tracts. She can hand these out to the servant girls, the grocery men, the market men, the butcher, to the tramps that come to the door. They can be left upon the table in the parlor and in bedrooms. Only eternity will disclose the good that is accomplished in these ways.


IV. How to use tracts.

1. To begin a conversation. One of the difficulties in Christian work is to begin. You see a person with whom you wish to talk about the Lord Jesus Christ. The great difficulty is in starting. It is easy enough to talk after you have started, but how are you going to start a conversation naturally and easily? One of the simplest and easiest ways is by slipping a tract into the person's hand. After the tract has been read, a conversation naturally follows. I was once riding in a crowded car. I asked God for an opportunity to lead some one to Christ. I was watching for the opportunity for which I had asked, when two young ladies entered. I thought I knew one of them as the daughter of a minister. She went through the car looking for a seat, and then came back.

As she came back and sat down in the seat in front of me, she bowed, and of course I knew I was right as to who she was. I took out a little bundle of tracts, and selecting one that seemed best adapted to her case, I handed it to her, having first asked God to bless it. She at once began to read and I began to pray. When she had read the tract, I asked her what she thought about it. She almost burst into tears right there in the car, and in a very few moments that minister's daughter was rejoicing in the Lord Jesus Christ as her personal Saviour. As she afterwards passed out of the car, she said, "I want to thank you for what you have done for me in leading me to Christ."

2. Use a tract to close a conversation. As a rule when you have finished talking with some one, you should not leave him without something definite to take home to read. If the person has accepted Christ, put some tract in his hands that will show him how to succeed in the Christian life. If the person has not accepted Christ, some other tract that is especially adapted to his need should be left with him.

3. Use tracts where a conversation is impossible. For example, one night at the close of a tent meeting in Chicago, as I went down one of the aisles a man beckoned to me, and intimated that his wife was interested. She was in tears, and I tried to talk with her, but she stammered out in a broken way, "We don't talk English." She had not understood a word of the sermon, I suppose, but God had carried something home to her heart. They were Norwegians, and I could not find a Norwegian in the whole tent to act as interpreter, but I could put a Norwegian tract in her hand, and that could do the work. Time and time again I have met with men deeply interested about their soul's salvation, but with whom I could not deal because I did not talk the language that they understood.

One day as I came from dinner, I found a Swede waiting for me, and he said he had a man outside with whom he wished me to talk. I went outside and found an uncouth looking specimen, a Norwegian. The Swede had found him drunk in an alley and dragged him down to the Institute to talk with me. He was still full of whisky, and spit tobacco juice over me as I tried to talk with him. I found he could not talk English, and I talked English to the Swede, and the Swede talked Swedish to the Norwegian, and the Norwegian got a little bit of it. I made it as clear as I could to our Swede interpreter, and he in his turn made it as clear as he could to the Norwegian. Then I put a Norwegian tract in his hands, and that could talk to him so that he understood perfectly.

Oftentimes a conversation is impossible because of the place where you meet people. For example, you may be on the street cars and wish to speak to a man, but in many instances it would not be wise if it were possible, but you can take the man's measure and then give him a tract that will fit him. You may be able to say just a few words to him and then put the tract in his hands and ask God to bless it.

4. Use tracts to send to people at a distance. It does not cost a tract much to travel. You can send them to the ends of the earth for a few cents. Especially use them to send to people who live in out of the way places where there is no preaching. There are thousands of people living in different sections of this country where they do not hear preaching from one year's end to another. It would be impossible to send an evangelical preacher to them, but you can send a tract and it will do the preaching for you.


V. Suggestions as to the use of tracts.

1. Always read the tracts yourself before giving them to others. This is very necessary. Bad tracts abound to-day, tracts that contain absolutely pernicious doctrine. They are being circulated free by the million, and one needs to be on his guard, lest he be doing harm rather than good in distributing tracts. Of course we cannot read all the tracts in foreign languages, but we can have them interpreted to us, and it is wise to do so. Besides positively bad tracts, there are many tracts that are worthless.

2. Suit your tract to the person to whom you give it. What is good for one person may not be good for another.

3. Carry a selection of tracts with you. I do not say a collection, but a selection. Tracts are countless in number, and a large share of them are worthless. Select the best, and arrange them for the different classes of people with whom you come in contact.

4. Seek the guidance of God. This is of the very highest importance. If there is any place where we need wisdom from above, it is in the selection of tracts, and in their distribution after their selection.

5. Seek God's blessing upon the tract after you have given it out. Do not merely give out the tract and there let the matter rest, but whenever you give out a tract ask God to bless it.

6. Oftentimes give a man a tract with words and sentences underscored. Men are curious, and they will take particular notice of the underscoring. It is oftentimes a good thing to have a tract put up in your office. Men who come in will read it. I know a man who had a few words put upon his paper weight. A great many who came into his office saw it, and it made a deep impression upon them.

7. Never be ashamed of distributing tracts. Many people hand out tracts to others as if they were ashamed of what they were doing. People are not likely to read tracts if you hand them to them as if you were ashamed to do it; but if you act as though you were conferring a favor upon them, and giving them something worth reading, they will read your tract. It is often well to say to a person, "Here is a little leaflet out of which I have gotten a good deal of good. I would like to have you read it."

Bible-server.org

Sevenfold Sin of Not Winning Souls-Dr. John R. Rice

(Preached at a Sword of the Lord Conference
in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, 1964)

My message is on the “Sevenfold Sin of Not Winning Souls.” I said sin! If you are a Christian and don’t win souls, it is a sin like getting drunk, lying, hate, murder or adultery. It is a wicked, terrible sin! Every preacher and every Christian ought to win souls. Any Christian who does not win souls is sinning. And we who win a few are sinning if we don’t do our best all the time to win more souls.

A man running for office said to his business manager, “Do you know what my opponent said about me? He accused me of lying.”

“He ought not to have done that. That’s bad.”

“He did worse than that.”

“What’s that?”

“He proved it!”

That is what I plan to do tonight—not only to preach that it is a sin not to win souls, but to prove it by the Bible, the precious Word of God.

“And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.

“Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:

“Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.”—Matt. 28:18–20.

We call this the Great Commission, and it contains three teachings. First, go and teach all nations the Word—that means make disciples of men in all nations by teaching them how to be saved. Second, baptize them. Third, teach them to observe all things that Jesus commanded us.

Soul winning is the main thing with God. If it isn’t first with the preacher, the preacher isn’t right. If soul winning isn’t the first thing with the church, the church isn’t right. If soul winning isn’t first for a Sunday school teacher, he or she is not a good Sunday school teacher. If soul winning isn’t the main reason for a Christian school, it is not a very good Christian school. If soul winning isn’t the main thing for a Christian newspaper like the SWORD OF THE LORD, then it is off the track and not what a Christian paper ought to be. The first and main thing with God is soul winning.

In I Timothy 1:15, Paul said, “This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation.…” That sounds like it was a saying often repeated among New Testament Christians. What was the saying? “…that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.” Jesus came to save sinners.

Jesus said, “I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance” (Luke 5:32).

Again, He said, “The Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10). This is what Jesus came for, what Jesus died for. That is why the Bible was written, why churches are organized, why preachers are called to preach.

Some preachers say, “But I don’t feel led to win souls.” That means you are not led of the Lord. If God were leading you, He would lead you to do what the Bible says. A Christian ought to win souls. That is the most important thing with God.

He gave the Great Commission in each of the four Gospels with slightly different words. The same day He rose from the dead, Jesus entered into the room where the disciples were shut up for fear of the Jews and breathed on them and said, “As my Father hath sent me, even so send I you” (John 20:21).

Another time He came to the disciples as they were eating and said, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15). Again, Jesus met the disciples on a mountain in Galilee and gave the Great Commission to them in the words of our text. Then in Luke He said that “repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And ye are witnesses of these things….but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high” (Luke 24:47–49).

Forty days after His resurrection when He was preparing to ascend back into Heaven, He gave the Great Commission yet a fifth time: “But ye 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 Judæa, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth” (Acts 1:8). He had already given the command four times (and perhaps many unrecorded times during the previous forty days); but in the last minute before He went away to Heaven, Jesus repeated it. These were the last words of Jesus on earth.

When a person is departing, his parting words are likely to be about the thing that is most on his mind, the thing that is most important to him. I’m saying that this is the one main thing Jesus left for us to do in these ages after He went away. This is His Great Commission.

There is a sevenfold sin in not winning souls.

I. Sin of Disobedience to Christ’s Main Command

The first sin is the sin of disobedience to the main command that Jesus Christ ever gave. We have an all-inclusive command for every Christian in the Great Commission. Not to obey that is not to obey Jesus on the one thing He died for, the main thing He gave instructions about.

Jesus told His disciples, ‘All of you go out here and get the Gospel to every creature. Take it into all the world and make disciples in all nations.’ I can imagine they might have thought, Well, we’re only twelve men. We can’t go to every nation. If we put one in Africa, one in South America, one in the continent of North America, one in Eastern Europe, one in the Balkan states, one in Russia, one in China, one in India, one in Indonesia, one in the Philippine Islands, one in Japan and one in Australia, that uses up all twelve apostles. But He said, “Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world” (Matt. 28:20).

Now all the original twelve disciples are dead. But let’s see what happened because they obeyed His commission.

He said to Peter, “Go get people saved.”

“All right, Jesus, and then what?”

“Now get them baptized and grounded.”

“All right, Jesus, then what?”

“Then send them out to do just what I am telling you to do—observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you.”

Jesus is saying, “The command I give you today, you pass on to everybody you get saved.” So the Great Commission is as much to everybody here as it was to Peter or any one of the twelve.

But you say, “I’m not called to preach.” You’re called to be a Christian, though, and this is a part of being a Christian. If you were taught what Jesus said, then you were taught you ought to be a soul winner. In Revelation 22:17 we read, “And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come.” If you’ve heard it, then you are supposed to tell it.

Have you been scripturally baptized? If not, you have missed a joy and a blessing. If you have, then they ought to have told you, “Now, I’m passing on to you the Great Commission that Jesus gave the twelve apostles.”

Somebody says, “The Great Commission is given to the church.” Is that so? Chapter and verse, please! We are to get people saved, and we are to get them baptized, and we are to teach them to do what Jesus told the apostles to do. The Lord Jesus didn’t save church houses or have them baptized or call them to preach.

The Lord Jesus didn’t call denominational headquarters or baptize them or give them the Great Commission. Why doesn’t somebody say “Amen”?

Every preacher, if he is saved, has this Great Commission. If you don’t win souls, you have failed in your Christian life. No one is a good Christian who doesn’t win souls. You are not doing the first things He said you were to do after you got baptized. Those who do not win souls are disobedient in the main command of Jesus Christ, and that is not a small matter.

II. The Sin of Lack of Love for Christ

Sin Number Two is the sin of lack of love for Jesus Christ. You say, “I love Jesus so much.” Oh, do you? Let us see what the Lord says about it. “If ye love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15). Isn’t that a fair, honest statement? He says in verse 21, “He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me.” And then verse 23 says, “Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words.”

So in proportion to your love for Jesus Christ, you will win souls. Not winning souls is proof of the coldness of your heart.

“Brother Rice, I don’t know much Bible.” That isn’t your trouble. “But don’t you use the Bible in soul winning?” Can you learn John 3:16? I have won hundreds of souls with John 3:16. Your real trouble is heart trouble.

You say you don’t have gifts. Well, do the best you can with what equipment you have. When I was called to preach, I said, “Lord, I don’t have a great voice like Dr. Truett, and I don’t have a personality like some other people, but I will do the best I can.” Your trouble is not poor equipment. It is heart trouble. You don’t love Jesus enough to do what He said. The Lord Jesus said three times in this chapter that if we love Him we will keep His commandments.

“Well, I’ve been taught different.” Yes, I know. You are talking about your head, but your trouble is not your head; it is your heart. You don’t love Jesus Christ enough to do what He said.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if God would give us such a floodtide of love in our hearts, shed abroad by the Holy Ghost, that we would beg Jesus for power to win souls?

In the letter to the Ephesians in Revelation 2, the Lord said, ‘I know you have worked. You have been patient. I know you have borne burdens and didn’t faint in hard times. But I have somewhat against you because you have left your first love!’

Wouldn’t it be good if you had the honeymoon again—you and Jesus? Wouldn’t it be good if you just came back to the first wonderful love you had when you were first saved?

I remember when I went down the aisle and trusted the Lord and was converted at the First Baptist Church of Gainesville, Texas. My dad was preaching out in the country that day. I went home and told him I wanted to join the church. I didn’t say I had been converted—I didn’t know what you called it.

He said, “Son, when you are old enough to be really convicted of your sins and repent and be regenerated, then there will be time enough to join the church.”

Well, I guessed so. All of those were nice big words—only I didn’t know what they meant. My dad didn’t know I’d gotten saved, and I didn’t know how to tell him. So the next morning as I went to school and crossed the creek, I knelt under a willow tree in the sand and prayed, “Lord, maybe I’m too young to join the church or get saved, but So-and-so is not, and this one is not, and that one is not.” I cried and prayed under that tree for other people to be saved.

I didn’t know it then, but that was mighty good evidence the Lord had done a work of grace in my heart. I had the first love that Christians ought to have. You are backslidden if you don’t have that first love that makes you concerned about lost sinners.

In a campaign in Spearman, Texas, a French girl came night after night. She spoke in very broken English with a French accent. When I would ask, “How many are Christians?” she would hold up her hand. She had gone to mass regularly back in France and said her prayers, “Hail Mary, mother of God,” etc.

One night I preached on “You Must Be Born Again.” That was news to her. When I asked, “How many of you know you have been born again?” she didn’t hold up her hand. Then when I asked, “How many want to be saved?” she did hold her hand up; but when we gave the invitation, she didn’t come.

The next morning her husband brought her to the home where I was. She wanted to be saved, and I showed her how. She said, “There were a lot of churches in France; why didn’t anyone ever tell me I needed to be born again?”

I said, “Are you ready to ask Jesus to save you?”

She said, “I don’t know English very well. Can I pray in French?”

“Yes, God understands French just as well as English.”

I prayed in English, and she prayed in French and trusted Christ. I read to her John 3:36: “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life.” We shook hands and cried and laughed. But I said, “Now, I’m glad that’s settled. I have to go now to see two young men I promised to meet.”

As we parted, she said, “Oh, Brother Rice, I do hope you save those boys!” She had that first love that is normal for a good Christian. She had what the Lord Jesus was talking about.

If you don’t have it, then you don’t love Jesus like you ought. Lack of love for Jesus is one of the sins of not winning souls. God forgive us for a cold heart.

III. The Sin of Not Following Jesus

Those who do not win souls are guilty of not following Jesus. We sing, “Trying to walk in the steps of the Saviour,” and talk about following Jesus, but in Matthew 4:19 Jesus said to Peter and Andrew, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Those who followed Jesus turned out to be soul winners.

Aren’t you glad God makes soul winners? If I were going to make them, I would pick men with real culture, training and personality. But then they would likely speak to the minds, not necessarily to the hearts. But Jesus makes soul winners, and, thank God, He can make a soul winner out of people not fit for much else in the world.

“Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”

Isn’t this a short, simple, easy way to get to be a soul winner? I follow Jesus, and He does something wonderful in my heart. It gets to where I love sinners as He does and want to go after them like He does. He puts His power on me to get people saved and makes me a soul winner.

If it is true that when you follow Jesus He makes you into a soul winner, it follows that if you are not a soul winner, you are not following Jesus.

“Brother Rice, I joined a church long ago.”

Yes, the churches are full of dead wood like you. Part of the curse of our churches is we have too many Christians of that kind. I would gladly have just one-tenth as many people, if they were all red-hot for God. Brother, we can’t drag sinners over your dead carcass. But if you follow Jesus, He will make you into a soul winner.

Soul winning costs something. During one blessed revival, a woman said to me, “Brother Rice, religion is like the measles. It’s catching.” I said, “You’re right, but you can’t give someone measles unless you have a fever.” We surely need people with fever. And if you follow Jesus, you will have it. He will make you into a good soul winner.

I started preaching before I knew I was called to preach or surrendered to preach. I was in Baylor University, studying to be a college English teacher, when a country pastor, Brother R. H. Gibson, wrote me a postcard asking me to lead singing for him in several one-week revivals. They ran from Friday evening through Thursday evening, with a baptismal service on Friday morning.

I liked to sing, and I wanted to win souls, so I went with him. We started under a brush arbor with a pump organ and sang the old-time songs. We had a wonderful meeting.

On Wednesday night, Brother Gibson said, “This is wonderful. It would not be right to close this meeting tomorrow night.”

I said, “No sir, I don’t think you ought to quit now. New people are getting under conviction all the time.”

“You go to the next place and start that on Friday night, and I’ll stay here and preach through Sunday afternoon. Then I’ll come over there where you are.”

“What is that?” I asked. “I’m no preacher! I’m not called to preach.”

“That’s all right. Just tell them you’re not a preacher and you’re not called to preach. But go ahead.”

I said, “I can’t do it. I don’t know how to preach.”

He said, “Are you saved? Do you know how to tell somebody how to be saved?”

“Yes. But I can’t preach.”

“Haven’t you been speaking some for the Red Cross and raising money for the boys in the army?”

“Well…yes.”

“Weren’t you in the Connally Debate in Baylor University and president of your literary society?”

“Yes. I won a scholarship in oratory.”

“And you gave your high school commencement address, but you can’t talk for Jesus! That’s a funny kind of Christianity!”

That stumped me. He sent me on over there to start the meeting. I walked up and down the creek bottom all day. I didn’t know much Bible. I was studying English; I could tell them about Shakespeare and Tennyson all right. I tried to remember all the Scriptures he had preached on and the things I knew. I preached, and when he got there, we were having people saved, and a revival had broken out. He went on with the revival, and everything went fine.

The next week he did the same thing, and I started the next meeting. It happened that way every week. The whole summer was nearly over before it dawned on me that he had planned it that way.

If you ran with R. H. Gibson, the first thing you knew, you’d be preaching.

And if you run with Jesus, you will be going after sinners. Your trouble is you are not following Jesus. If you were, He would make you into a soul winner.

God, put a burning in the heart of people and made them soul winners!

IV. The Sin of Not Abiding in Christ

Those who do not win souls are guilty of not abiding in Christ. You say, “That sounds like we are not even good Christians.” You’re catching on! Christians who do not win souls are not abiding in Christ.

In John 15 Jesus said,

“Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.

“I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.”—Vss. 4,5.

But you say you thought the fruit He was talking about is the fruit of the Spirit—love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. Bringing forth fruit is one thing; the Christian graces the Holy Spirit produces in you are another matter.

You may brush the old cow and spray some fly powder on her, but the fruit of the cow is either a calf or milk. The Bible speaks of the fruit of the womb—a woman’s baby. Proverbs 11:30 says, “The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life.” A tree? You mean the fruit of a peach tree is another peach tree? Don’t you mean the fruit of the peach tree is a peach? No. Plant the peach and you get another peach tree. The fruit of a Christian is another Christian, and the fruit of the soul winner is another soul winner. The Great Commission is not only to get one saved but to get him baptized and to tell him to do what Jesus told us to do. So if you don’t bear fruit, you are not abiding in Christ.

There are a lot of false teachings about abiding in Christ—consecration, sanctification, baptized of the Holy Ghost, entered into the rest of God. “Oh, I have found in Him the key for life. I’ve had a testing experience.” A lot of people have been brainwashed. Nobody is sanctified or consecrated who doesn’t do what God wants him to do about soul winning. Any so-called Keswick experience that doesn’t make you a soul winner is a fake. If you don’t win souls, you’re not a good Christian and you are not abiding in Christ. If you were, you would bring forth much fruit.

In a Toronto revival, we had back-to-back services to accommodate the crowds. After a service where fifteen adults had come to Christ, we had a brief intermission. A man came up to me and said, “Brother Rice, have you been baptized with the Holy Ghost?”

“If you mean some holy anointing enabling me to win souls, then, thank God, yes.”

He said, “I didn’t mean that.

I meant, have you talked in tongues?”

I said, “Why didn’t you say what you meant?”

“Well, I meant where you just let go. Something comes on you, and you just feel light as a feather. You don’t know what you are saying, but you feel so good.”

I said, “If I can get enough sinners to come down the aisle; keep people out of Hell; see drunkards made sober, harlots made pure, convicts made into decent citizens and homes reunited, I’ll be happier than if I felt light as a feather with electricity coming in my head and going out my fingers and toes. I was talking in the English tongue tonight. Do you think everyone could understand me?”

“Well, yes.”

I said, “If I have a message from God and everybody understands English, what is wrong with preaching in English? Now let me ask you one. Did you ever win a soul?”

He said, “I’ve witnessed to them.”

I said, “Did you ever win a soul?”

“I’ve prayed for them”

I said, “Quit dodging. Did you ever get your Bible out and show a man he is a sinner and show him how to be saved and get him to trust Jesus and start out to live for Him? Did you or not?”

“I guess I never did.”

“Then don’t you ever again pretend you have something better than some man who preaches the Bible, who weeps over sinners and who in God’s mercy is being used to win souls.”

I’m tired of these deeper-life conferences. The pastor of a church that for years has had only a handful attending, mainly children, wanted me to run several articles in the SWORD OF THE LORD on the deeper life. I wrote that every time we put something in the paper about soul winning, we’re teaching about the deepest life there is. D. L. Moody and R. A. Torrey and Billy Sunday had the deeper life. You can tell, because they bore fruit.

The deeper life is keeping people out of Hell. That is what brings eternal rewards and causes rejoicing and hand clapping and bell ringing and singing the “Hallelujah Chorus” up in Heaven. If you don’t win souls, then you are not abiding in Christ.

V. The Awful Sin of Dishonesty in a Sacred Trust

Those who do not win souls are guilty of dishonesty in a sacred trust. Dishonesty? Brother Rice, that sounds like one is crooked. That is exactly the point. Anybody who does not win souls is crooked.

In Romans 1:14,15 Paul says, “I am debtor both to the Greeks, and to the Barbarians; both to the wise, and to the unwise. So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also.” You are in debt, Paul?

“Yes,” Paul said. “I got salvation which I didn’t earn and couldn’t pay for. I got it on credit, on the mercy of God. I’m going to Heaven when I ought to be in Hell. He called me to preach. I’m not worthy.”

If you are saved like Paul, you got salvation by God’s mercy. You didn’t deserve it. How much in debt you and I are!

Will you admit that you got salvation you didn’t deserve, couldn’t pay for and didn’t earn? Well, you are in debt then, aren’t you? This is a Gospel for the rest of the folks too, and you are dishonest if you don’t pass it on.

Matthew 25 tells of a man who took a far journey and he left his goods with his servants and provided for them.

“For the kingdom of heaven is as a man travelling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods.…every man according to his several ability” (vss. 14,15). When the man returned, one servant told him, ‘I worked hard. I made five talents into ten.’

“Well done, thou good and faithful servant…enter thou into the joy of thy lord” (vs. 21).

The second servant came and said, ‘I worked hard and made two talents into four.’

The lord said to him also, “Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord” (vs. 23).

Another fellow with one talent returned it, saying, ‘Here is your talent. I knew you were a hard man, so I took your talent and hid it in the earth.’

And the lord said to him, ‘You wicked and slothful servant. If you didn’t want to risk this money, why didn’t you put it in the bank so I could at least have earned some interest on the money?’ He called him wicked and slothful—crooked and lazy! He didn’t bring anything in on the investment made on him.

If you don’t win souls, you are wicked. God has a lot invested in you—the precious blood of Jesus, the wooing of the Holy Spirit, the writing of the Bible, the preaching of the men of God, Mother’s prayers. Shouldn’t God get a little back on His investment? If you do not pay some back to God by spreading the Gospel, then you are dishonest in a sacred trust.

Dr. H. A. Ironside once sent a sermon for the SWORD OF THE LORD with a note on the back of a handbill that was advertising some meetings he was going to have. The note said, “Just trying to pay my debt to my brethren.”

You have a debt to pay too, and you are dishonest if you don’t pay it. God has a right to some soul-winning effort from you. Don’t be dishonest in a sacred trust.

VI. The Sinful Folly of a Shortsighted Fool

You mean a man is a fool if he doesn’t win souls? Yes sir. He is putting his money, his time, his energy where it won’t bring much reward or do much good. Listen to Proverbs 11:30, “The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise.” The soul winner is wise, because he is going to reap for eternity.

We read in Daniel 12:3, “And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.” Who are wise? They that win many souls!

I may be nobody much now, but if God in His mercy be willing, I will be somebody in the next world. Somebody will be at the gate to meet me. When some of you get there, you will have to hire a taxicab and get a map of the city to find your shack out in the suburbs. I want to have a brass band of praise when I get there.

At a filling station in Dallas one day, I asked the attendant, “How are you today?”

He replied, “Well, if you really want to know, I’m the biggest fool in Dallas.”

I asked, “Why is that?”

“I got my pay last night and went on a big bender. I don’t remember a thing, and when I woke up this morning, this was all I had from a week’s wages.” He pulled out a few coins. “I have to pay my landlady today, and I don’t have the money. All I’ve got is a guilty conscience and a dark brown taste in my mouth. Of all the fools in Dallas, I’m the biggest.”

I said, “I’ll say amen to that.”

A lot of you Christians are like that. You think of food for the belly and clothes for the back and a new-model car and wall-to-wall carpeting and four bedrooms and two baths. A heathen has that much sense. You had better put your money and your time where you will have a real reaping someday.

I’m only an evangelist, and everybody knows an evangelist isn’t anybody much. I don’t have money laid aside, and I don’t have life insurance, but I have some put away where thieves don’t break through and steal.

In Japan some years ago, I preached through an interpreter in a revival meeting for a missionary. I preached on the Prodigal Son, and God was there in power. Five people came forward to be saved. Only one of them had ever heard the Gospel before, so we took about half an hour to make sure these five understood it. They had come to the meeting after working for eleven hours in a rice paddy, and now it was late.

As we went outside, the missionary said, “I want you to meet this young man who interpreted for you. He is your grandson in the ministry.”

My booklet “What Must I Do to Be Saved?” had been translated into Japanese, and we had about four million copies of it published in Japan. In the first six months after the first printing, missionaries received letters from 2,800 Japanese who had trusted Christ as Saviour, and they followed them up.

One of those booklets had gotten into the hands of a man who was serving a life sentence in prison. He read that he could be born again and could have a new heart, that God would forgive him, that he could be a Christian and go to Heaven.

He believed it and trusted the Lord and was saved. A wonderful transformation took place. The guard began to say, “You ought not to be in jail.”

It wasn’t long until the warden and the guards all talked about him: “He is a better man than any of us. He shouldn’t be here.” The warden went to the judge and recommended that they turn the man loose, and they did.

One afternoon the former convict came upon a young man in the park who had his head in his hands. He asked, “What is the matter?”

“I wish I were dead! I slashed my wrists, but they rushed me to the hospital and saved me. I then got out of bed and beat my head on the brick wall. I was put in a straight jacket and strapped in bed until I got well. I’m an alcoholic, but I wish I were dead.”

This former prisoner said, “You need what I got.” He showed him this booklet and began to tell him about how to be saved.

“That doesn’t sound reasonable.”

“Come to the missionary, and he will tell you.”

He talked to the missionary and was saved. That is the man who interpreted for me that night.

While the missionary was telling me that, the young evangelist was talking in Japanese with his hands held high. The only word I could understand was “Hallelujah!” He rejoiced to meet the man who had written the little booklet that won his friend and him to Christ. My spiritual grandson! Bless God!

Many people curse me now. I preach plain and make people mad. But I’m going to have people who will be glad to see me when I get to Heaven!

What a fool anybody is who spends his time making money and on these other things! It is the folly of a shortsighted fool not to win souls.

VII. Not to Win Souls Is the Sin of Bloodguilt—Spiritual Manslaughter

“Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me.

“When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand.

“Yet if thou warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.”—Ezek. 3:17–19.

If Ezekiel did not warn the Israelites about their iniquity and they died in their sins, God required their blood at his hand. What a staggering thought that God says to a man about sinners, “His blood will I require at thine hand”! But if Ezekiel warned the wicked, even if the wicked did not turn, then God said, “Thou hast delivered thy soul.”

That strange commission was given to Ezekiel for the nation of Israel, but surely it implies that God still holds people to account for the souls of those that they do not warn! Surely we are guilty of the blood of every poor lost soul who goes to Hell if we had a chance to warn him, to weep over him, to woo him tenderly and win him and get him to come to Christ, and we did not!

Paul had this in mind when he came to Miletus and had the elders of Ephesus meet him there. Solemnly facing these preachers, Paul told them that they would see his face no more, and then said, “Wherefore I take you to record this day, that I am pure from the blood of all men. For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God” (Acts 20:26,27). Then he said again, “Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears” (Acts 20:31).

Paul could solemnly say, ‘After three years in Ephesus, I have no blood on my hands! I have gone night and day with tears, publicly and from house to house, carrying the whole counsel of God. I am not to blame if anybody goes to Hell!’

O Christian, is there blood on your hands? Are you guilty of the death of immortal souls for whom Christ died, because you did not warn them?

When a boat overturned in a Chinese river, a missionary urged some nearby Chinese fishermen to bring their boat quickly and help him rescue a man who was drowning. The fishermen insisted on a price of fifty dollars before they would come. The missionary gave them all he had and at last persuaded them to help him, but it was too late. The callous hearts of the fishermen took no responsibility for their drowning countryman, but they were guilty of murder, as certain as there is a God in Heaven to hold men to account!

But are you much different, Christian, when you let people near you go to Hell and never warn them, weep over them and see that they have the Gospel?

In Roosevelt, Oklahoma, I promised to go see a dying woman who was distressed about her soul. But I waited until the second day, and she died before I ever saw her.

In Dallas, Texas, an elderly man wrote, saying, “I am dying with cancer, and I am not ready to die. Brother Rice, please come and pray with me.” But I had so many burdens that I postponed it. After two weeks I sent a young preacher to visit the old man, but a neighbor told the young preacher that the old man had died and the family were then gone to his funeral!

I hope that in their extremity these two people turned to the Lord, but I have no certainty at all. What will I say to the Lord Jesus when I see Him, if He asks me to give an account for the souls of these two who sent for me and I did not get there in time?

The sin of not winning souls is the bloodguilty sin of soul-manslaughter. I beg you in Jesus’ name, consider how guilty you must be in God’s sight if you do not put your very best and all your heart’s strength and love into the one precious business of soul winning!

So, Christian, if you do not win souls, you are not right with God. You may be saved, but you are not a good disciple. If you follow the Saviour at all, you follow afar off.

Consider again this sevenfold sin of failing to win souls. It is the sin of disobedience, of lack of love, of failing to follow Christ, of not abiding in Christ, of dishonesty in a sacred trust, of shortsighted folly, and of bloodguilt for which we must give an account.

May God convict us of our sin in not winning the souls who are dying all around us!

LWF Devotion, 3-28-2011

Head-Belief Is One Thing--Action Is Another!

BIBLE MEDITATION
“And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath He reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in His sight.” Colossians 1:21-22

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT
A man stretched a tightrope across Niagara Falls and pushed a wheelbarrow across it. Next, he filled the wheelbarrow with 200 lbs. of cement and pushed it across. The onlookers were astounded.

Then the tightrope walker asked the crowd, "How many of you believe I could do this with a man in the wheelbarrow?" The hands flew into the air. He pointed to a man who had his hand up and he said, "All right sir. You get in first." Well, you couldn't see the man for the trail of dust he left behind.

ACTION POINT
It's not enough for you to say you believe in God. Are you willing to act upon your belief? God is calling you to a relationship with Him. Will you answer His call?

New Years Prayer

The following is from former Berean Call board member William MacDonald, who died 3 years ago. Dave Hunt sent this note from Bill out around New Year's Day in years past:

As we come to the beginning of another year, we would do well to make the following prayer requests our own:

Lord Jesus, I rededicate myself afresh to You today. I want You to take my life this coming year and use it for Your glory.

I pray that You will keep me from sin, from anything that will bring dishonor to Your Name.

Keep me teachable by the Holy Spirit. I want to move forward for You. Don't let me settle in a rut.

May my motto this year be, "He must increase; I must decrease." The glory must all be Yours. Help me not to touch it.

Teach me to make every decision a matter of prayer. I dread the thought of leaning on my own understanding. "O Lord, I know the way of man is not in himself; it is not in man who walks to direct his own steps" (Jer. 10:23).

May I die to the world and even to the approval or blame of loved ones or friends. Give me a single, pure desire to do the things that please Your heart.

Keep me from gossip and criticism of others. Rather, help me to speak what is edifying and profitable.

Lead me to needy souls. May I become a friend of sinners, as You are. Give me tears of compassion for the perishing.

Lord Jesus, keep me from becoming cold, bitter, or cynical in spite of anything that may happen to me in the Christian life.

Guide me in my stewardship of money. Help me to be a good steward of everything You have entrusted to me.

Help me to remember moment by moment that my body is a temple of the Holy Spirit. May this tremendous truth influence all my behavior.

And, Lord Jesus, I pray that this may be the year of Your return. I long to see Your face and to fall at Your feet in worship. During the coming year, may the blessed hope stay fresh in my heart, disengaging me from anything that would hold me here and keeping me on the tiptoes of expectancy. Even so, come, Lord Jesus!