Matthew
3:3-4,
“For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice
of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his
paths straight. And the same John had his raiment of camel's hair, and a
leathern girdle about his loins; and his meat was locusts and wild honey.”
I'd like to share a true story
about someone's life.
There was a child, born into a large
family. Tragically, his father died when he was just four years old,
leaving his mother to tend for him, his six brothers and his two
sisters. When he was 17, he attended a church, as part of the conditions of
his employment at his uncle's shoe store. After several months of attending
this church, he converted to Christianity, when his Sunday school
teacher told him about how much God loves him.
Here is what his Sunday school teacher had to say of him:
“I
can truly say, and in saying it I magnify the infinite grace of God
as bestowed upon him, that I have seen few persons whose minds were
spiritually darker than was his when he came into my Sunday School
class; and I think that the committee of the Mount Vernon Church
seldom met an applicant for membership more unlikely ever to become
a Christian of clear and decided views of Gospel truth, still less
to fill any extended sphere of public usefulness.”
The young man had a mind which
was “spiritually darker” than almost any that his Sunday school teacher
had seen. A month after being saved, he was rejected for church
membership (just like Harvest Baptist Church on Guam shamefully rejects
me). He would be saved for 13 months before his application for
membership to a church was finally accepted. No one expected him to be
someone who would receive the Gospel, let alone being of service in the
local community.Teaching A Young Boy About Christ
Later, this seemingly Christian misfit was observed, attempting to teach
a young boy about Christ:
“The
first meeting I ever saw him at was in a little old shanty that had
been abandoned by a saloon-keeper. Mr. Moody had got the place to
hold the meetings in at night. I went there a little late; and the
first thing I saw was a man standing up with a few tallow candles
around him, holding a negro boy, and trying to read to him the story
of the Prodigal Son and a great many words he could not read out,
and had to skip. I thought, 'If the Lord can ever use such an
instrument as that for His honor and glory, it will astonish me. As
a result of his tireless labor, within a year the average attendance
at his school was 650, while 60 volunteers from various churches
served as teachers. It became so well known that the just-elected
President Lincoln visited and spoke at a Sunday School meeting on
November 25, 1860.”
He was in an old shanty building, telling a young boy the story of the
Prodigal Son, having to skip words that he could not read. The person seeing
him noted that he would be amazed if the Lord could ever use such a person
as an instrument for His honour and glory. Within a year, the average
attendance of the church was 650, with 60 volunteers serving as teachers.
The church become so well known that the newly elected President elect
visited and spoke there at a Sunday School meeting.
How was this person?
Dwight L. Moody
The person was Dwight L Moody, who went on to become one of the most
famous Evangelists in modern history. Preaching in America, and the UK,
regularly drawing crowds of up to 20, and 30 thousand.
Dwight L.
Moody
1837-1899
The Wordless Book
Along with the renowned English Baptist Preacher, Charles Spurgeon, they
created and promoted the “Wordless Book,” a teaching tool for cross cultural
Evangelism and for teaching children about Christ.
This 'Wordless Book' typically consisting of four colors:
3. Red Page:
Christ died for you.
4. Clean Page:
You can become a child of God.As Moses Said
Moses told God that he had no skills, no abilities, no talents. God asked
Moses what was in his hand, and he answered, “a rod” (Exodus
4:2). God used that rod, a simple stick, to lead His people from the
cruel tyranny of Egypt to the promised land of Israel.
Regardless of what you have, or what you think you have, or what you
think you don't have, God can and will use you.
Regardless of whether you think you are a misfit, that you are not 'good'
enough for your local church, or other churches, just like Pastor Dwight L.
Moody was, or you say that you have no skills, no abilities, no talents,
just like Moses said, God can and will use you. ...
James 4:6, “But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he
saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.”
God isn't looking for proud people, people others may class as
exceptional. God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. God is looking for the weak, and He will make them strong.
...
2nd Corinthians 12:10, “Therefore I take pleasure
in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in
distresses for Christ's sake: for
when I am weak, then am I strong.”
Just like me, just like you, just like all of us, it is God's strength we
rely on, the Lords, not our own. In the words of the great Preacher, Pastor Jack Hyles:
“Give God your heart, and He will comb the kinks out of your head.”
God isn't looking for committees
God isn't looking for committees, organisations, groups, God is looking
for one man,
Ezekiel 22:30, “And
I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in
the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found
none.”
One man can make a difference, it is not our strength, it is the Lord's
strength. Let us say with Isaiah,
“Here am I; send me.” Isaiah 6:8, “Also
I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go
for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.”
Wherever you are, whoever you are, let us be humble, and remember that
one man, even that one person who everyone has written off, can make a
difference for the Lord. The Lord is a friend that sticketh closer than a
brother,
“A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly: and there is a friend
that sticketh closer than a brother.” (Proverbs 18:24)
“Let your conversation be without covetousness;
and be content with such things as ye have: for
he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” Hebrews
13:15
Eternal Security
BELIEVE “THE GOSPEL” 2B SAVED!
Confession Is Never A Requirement For Salvation
'The Gospel' In
Just One Minute
(by Pastor Max D. Younce)
John 3:16, “For God
so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son,
that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
“As a blind man has no idea of colors, so we have no idea of the manner
by
which the all-wise God perceives and understands all things.”
—Isaac Newton (1642-1727)
Another Gospel Which Is Not
Another (a red-hot MP3 by
Dr.
Curtis Hutson exposing Lordship Salvation)
Psalm 34:8, “O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that
trusteth in him.”
“If you have to look at
your life to prove that you are saved, it proves that you're not!”
—Pastor Ralph Yankee Arnold; an excellent quote from
the awesome YouTube sermon titled, “Why
Lordship Salvation is WRONG! |
MP3.”
