October 10
Hy Pickering, born in Newcastle-on-Tyne, was raised in a religious home, but after being christened and confirmed, found he had not been converted. Not far from where he lived, some meeting began in a barn. He said the preacher “made no pretense at eloquence, wore no surplice, used no notes, and feared no man. The first night he preached on the text, ‘The wicked shall be turned into hell’ (Ps 9:17). It was resented. Yet my conscience answered, ‘It is true of you.’ Realizing I had religion without the Redeemer, I sat a hopeless, helpless sinner, anxious to be saved. The preacher pled, ‘Say in...
Read MoreOctober 9
It was Blaise Pascal who said: “Not only do we not know God except through Jesus Christ; we do not even know ourselves except through Jesus Christ.” At the Cross we find both revealed. God’s love, mercy and justice respond to the sinner and his sin. Look at what Christ did to reconcile us to God: “Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures” (1 Cor 15:3). “And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins” (1 Jn 3:5). “When He had by Himself purged our sins, [He] sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high” (Heb 1:3). “God…sent his Son to be the propitiation for our...
Read MoreOctober 8
George Whitfield (1714-1770), who was used by God to spread the Great Awakening, became perhaps the best-known preacher in Britain and America in the 18th century. In May of 1750, after hearing Whitfield preach, John Thorpe and three friends attended a local “Hell-Fire Club,” an atheists’ gathering. To amuse his friends, with amazing accuracy Thorpe recited the sermon he had just heard Whitfield preach. With remarkable tone and clever mimicry, John Thorpe presented the preacher’s message until, suddenly, he slumped into a chair and cradled his weeping face in his hands. With a self-inflicted...
Read MoreOctober 7
No man is greater than his prayer life. The preacher who is not praying is playing; the people who are not praying are straying. The pulpit can be the shop window to display one’s talents; the prayer closet allows for no showing off. Poverty-stricken as the Church is today in many things, she is most stricken here, in the place of prayer. We have many organizers, but few agonizers; many players and payers, but few pray-ers; many singers, few clingers; much fashion, little passion. Failing here, we fail everywhere. The two prerequisites to successful Christian living are vision and passion,...
Read MoreOctober 6
William Williams, in his fascinating account of pioneer work in Venezuela, called It Can Be Done, tells how it was done, how a handful of missionaries, in a country one sixth the size of the U.S., carried the gospel to every city, town, and village in one generation. Facing strong opposition from the priests, long horseback rides over treacherous mountain paths, carrying loads of Bibles, books, and tracts so heavy that they often had to walk leading their mounts, with poor food and accommodations, unhealthy conditions and disease, they just kept at it, sowing the seed of God’s Word until it...
Read MoreOctober 5
What are the most positive and most negative sentences in the NT? The first reads, “God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every (lit. all) good work” (2 Cor 9:8). In the Greek, the root word for “all” occurs five times in this one sentence. The most negative verse is Hebrews 13:5, “He Himself has said, I will never leave you nor forsake you.” Erich Sauer writes: “This sentence contains a five-fold negation, as if the text should read: ‘Not will I fail thee! Nevermore! No! Never and by no means will I forsake...
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