Pastoral Resources

When we seek to win others to Christ, we must never think we possess any power in ourselves or lead others to believe we do through any air of superiority or lightness as we proclaim the gospel We would do well to heed the advice of Dr Payson, who said, "Paint Jesus Christ upon your canvas, and then hold Him up to the people; but hold Him up so that not even your little finger can be seen."

The body is a delicate instrument which needs to be looked after with great care Yet many of us don't value it as we should or take sufficient care of it God has made each of us a living musical instrument, so to speak, capable of showing forth His praise Each of us is like a harp of a thousand strings on which the most varied and beautiful music may be played Every part of our body is skillfully constructed and admirably adapted to do its proper work God has tempered or blended every organ to produce a harmonious whole But this instrument is exceedingly liable to go wrong The least thing spoils it and makes it unfit for its work Unless it's properly treated we can't use it to the best advantage to glorify or show forth the perfect nature of God, its Architect and Creator This is also true of the body of Christ, His Church We are His members, diverse in our make-up and performance but duty-bound to blend our differences to produce harmonious music and praise that will attract the world instead of repelling it Just as we wouldn't listen very long to an orchestra whose instruments were out of tune, neither will the world listen to Christians who sound forth the gospel against a background of divisions and quarrels.

Frantically a woman pulled her pastor down a dark hall towards a room in the rear of the house.

He understood well what Paul had meant about that "fear and trembling" as he stumbled along behind her Not that he believed there was a demon in her closet, but he surely wondered what might be there! As they entered the dimly lit room, the pastor noticed a dark object protruding from between the garments hanging in her closet "There it is!" she gasped Upon closer examination, the pastor discovered a partially inflated dry-cleaning bag! Thereupon, he "exorcised" the possessed closet, removing the bag and showing it to the dear lady He was, however, unable to convince the poor woman that she had not seen a demon.

As he looked around the room, he noticed on a night table nearby an open copy of that sordid book, The Exorcist At the same time, he caught the faint odor of spirits-of the liquid variety, and he then knew the source of the problem When superstition is combined with beverage alcohol, the outcome is predictably unpredictable! But such experiences are not uncommon for gospel preachers.

His purse to Judas;

His clothes to the soldiers;

His body to Joseph of Arimathea;

His mother to John;

His peace to His disciples;

His supper to His followers;

His gospel to the world;

His presence with God's children.

God, Creator of all, invites us, mere creatures, to pray, and He assures us He will hear He is holy, separate from sinners and undefiled, and we are rebellious and sinful, but as a Father, He invites us to ask favors and promises help "Ask and it shall be given to you...for everyone that asketh receiveth ...If you, then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your Father who is in heaven give good things to them that ask him" (Matthew 7:7-11) Amazing!

Prayer changes things The Bible says, "The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much" (James 5:16) Prayer for the sick is not a substitute for medicine, prayer for daily bread is not a substitute for work, and prayer for the lost is no substitute for the gospel, but those things are no substitute for prayer either Because Christians pray, some are well who would still be sick, some alive who would be dead (James 4:15), souls are saved that would be lost (Romans 10:1), doors of opportunity are open that would still be closed (Colossians 4:3), some are wiser than they were (James 1:5) "More things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of." And many more things yet would be wrought by it, if we prayed more: "You have not, because you ask not" (James 4:2) How amazing!

God commands us to pray "Pray without ceasing" (1 Thessalonians 5:17) "Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving (Colossians 4:2) "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God" (Ph 4:6) The greatest of all privileges is not only allowed, but is even enjoined upon us To let us pray would be marvelous, but He commands us Amazing indeed!

God urges us to be persistent in prayer If at first we do not get what we ask for, we are to keep asking If God, who hears all things, appears deaf to our cries, we are to cry longer Jesus told a parable about an unjust and uncaring judge, who finally ruled in favor of a poor widow simply because she wore him out with her persistent pleas He told that parable, He said, to teach us that we "ought always to pray and not give up" (Luke 18:1) God is not unjust and uncaring, like that judge; but we are to be persistent, like that widow God never wearies of our asking, even when it appears He is not hearing Astoundingly amazing!

We are invited to pray and God has promised to hear Great things happen because of prayer We are commanded to pray by the One who loves us, and reminded that we show Him our love by keeping His commandments We can "come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need" (Hebrews 4:16) Yet, believing all of that, many of us pray so little! That is most amazing of all!

A man was giving out gospel tracts on a steamer One gentleman whom he approached accepted a tract graciously but said, "I haven't much faith in that kind of work." The Christian worker replied, "It was through a gospel tract given to me twenty years ago that I was converted." Asking for particulars, the gentleman discovered that it was he who had given him the tract! He had ceased to do this because he saw so few results from his efforts He added, "But by the grace of God I shall start again."

Said an archbishop to the manager of the acting group, "Tell me, how is it that you actors hold the attention of your audience so vividly that you cause them to think of things imaginary as if they were real, while we of the church speak of things that are real but our congregations take them as imaginary?" The reason is plain," answered the actor "We actors speak of things imaginary as if they were real; while too many in the pulpit speak of things real as if they were imaginary." It was said of one famous old preacher, "He showed us the fires of hell, and then he swept our souls up to the gates of heaven." When you talk about Christ, you have to believe in the transforming power of the gospel if you expect to convince anyone of its power to save.

A skeptical physician declared he could see no reason why he should have to come to the cross of Christ to be saved A friend gave him a famous book on apologetics with a powerful defense of the reasonableness of the gospel It satisfied the doctor's reason, but it did not move his will A short time later he was called to the bedside of a little girl who was dying She whispered that she had something to say to him, that she hardly had the courage to, as it was about his peace with God But she added, "Tomorrow morning, when I am stronger, I will tell you." But in the morning she was dead This led to the physician's conversion and a subsequent life of dedicated Christian service God used a child rather than an apologist of the faith to lead a learned man to Christ Very interestingly the word moron in Modern Greek has come to mean "child, baby."

Thus we could paraphrase 1 Corinthians 1:27 as "But God has chosen the mora-the foolish things or those who are like little children-and the weak ones of the world, to confound the wise and mighty ones."

A young lady went to a rescue mission to help out with the inquirers who would respond to the Gospel As she approached one derelict in order to help him make a decision for Christ, he said to her, "Do you play cards, or dance, or go to the theater, or drink socially?" "No, not now," she replied "Well, then you may talk to me; but I will not listen to one word from you fine Christian folks who are doing on a small scale the very things that brought me a poor wretch to where I am." This young Christian woman later confessed that she had greater joy in leading that young man to Christ than the exercise of all the pleasures that many Christians hold on to simply because they have not yet been ruined by them.

" The church today is raising a whole generation of mules They know how to sweat and to work hard but they don't know how to reproduce themselves." not known who said that, but it is a statement of incredible insight Mules are hard workers They have carried supplies, plowed fields, pulled wagons and transported people The only problem is that they are almost always sterile and thus cannot reproduce They are hard workers, but they are the end of the line They do not produce more like themselves.

The church is full of hard workers They teach classes, serve the physical needs of others, clean up and mow the grass, cook, move tables, organize social activities, visit and even write letters and cards, and do a host of other things There is just one problem They don't "reproduce." They don't teach the gospel to the lost so others can become hard workers They are the end of the line.

The real job the Lord gave us is to go into the world and "reproduce ourselves" by making disciples of others (Matthew 28:18-20) It is a tough lesson to realize that you may have worked hard and yet still haven't gotten the job done Let us say it plainly If we are not evangelizing, we are not doing the job completely If we are nothing more than a generation of mules, we are on the road to extinction Hup, Mule! Gee-Haw!!!

The best carpenter in the county was asked, "Which is your best tool?" Instead of pointing to a costly power saw or drill, he picked up a simple square and said, "This is the best tool; it makes all the others work."

Let us not overlook our best tool; the simple gospel (Romans 1:16) In this verse, Paul gives four reasons why the gospel is our most effective weapon:

First, it is power The original word is similar to our word for dynamite.

Second, it is of God Though Rome with her imperial power was great, the power of God was greater However sincere the motive, any alteration or substitution of that power only weakens it.

Third, it is unto salvation In addition to being a past event and a future hope, salvation is a present reality It can turn hate into love, despair into hope, and defeat into triumph.

Fourth, it is for everyone The saving power of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ is for all!

"How much is your salary?" a Muslem asked a mission school teacher who had once followed the crescent instead of the cross "Five dollars a week," was the answer "Why, you could get ten times that in a government school!" "Yes, but I do not teach for money; I teach for God." "Well-are those all the clothes the missionaries provide? Don't you have a robe also?" The humble teacher looked down at his cotton shirt and trousers "No, these are sufficient," he replied The Muslem shook his head "I never thought there was anything to this Jesus religion," he observed thoughtfully, "but there must be if a man will give up his robe and his lawful wage for it." Could it be that the gospel is impeded because we are more concerned about food and clothing than reaching others with the gospel of the grace of God? This is what Christ meant when He said, "Woe unto you that are full!"

A famous atheist once said, "I can stand all the arguing of Christian apologists, but I have a little servant who is a disciple of Jesus Christ, and her good, pure, honest, truthful life staggers me sometimes." The one irresistible argument for the gospel's power is a regenerated, consecrated life which is a demonstration of the life of Christ The world may miss seeing the life of God in nature, but they cannot miss seeing it in the lives of those men and women who have the life of Christ What a wonderful thought to know that we as human beings can become the carriers of the life of God and our lives can become the reflectors of His life.

Paul Rogers of Centerville, Tennessee, has done some calculating of just how far the Apostle Paul walked in his efforts to spread the gospel According to Acts, he took three missionary journeys The second of these alone amounted to three thousand miles, two thousand of which would have been on foot The average daily distance of a traveler of that time was about twenty miles, with a Roman Inn being located every 20 to 25 miles along the road These inns were unbelievably filthy, immoral, and bug-infested Paul traveled through snowy mountain passes and spring floods He walked through areas famous for harboring robbers and criminals He braved wild beasts which imperiled every traveler The travel recorded in Acts 16 alone would have covered 740 miles That of chapter 15 would be 500 miles And to think he was walking not for his own health, but for the spiritual well-being of others!

An unbeliever once ridiculed the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ by saying, "If Jesus Christ is able to save to the uttermost, why is it that there are so many unbelievers?" The Christian to whom he was speaking stopped a very dirty little boy who was passing by and turning to the unbeliever said, "Can you blame soap and water for the filth of this boy?" It was available to all, but only those who accept it experience its regenerating power.

"He that sows to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that sows to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting" (Galatians 6:8).

One need not look far today to see that most of society does not want to be bothered with things that are spiritual; they have no time to look at, or reflect on anything spiritual; rather they seem to be primarily concerned with the economy and the temporal things of this life So much that we used to hold dear-the historical ideals of conduct that were associated with the Judeo-Christian heritage-seem of little importance Even our TV screens portray homosexuality and loose morals as simply another lifestyle and nothing to be worried about.

Paul refers to this at length in the first chapter of Romans, and we can see that these are the very things that seem to be creeping into the fabric of society all around us The only thing that has probably stopped God's judgment on the human race thus far is the fact that He still has a remnant; a people that seek to serve the Lord Jesus Christ, and be a light in the midst of increasing darkness May we ever be on our guard as we journey onward, in order that the truth of the gospel will continue to influence the people around us, and ultimately people around the world.

The history of missions is full of examples of Christian manliness We think of Dr Paul Carlson who served as a medical missionary in the Congo He compassionately sought to heal the most loathsome of tropical diseases as he preached Christ as the only cure for sin For several years he worked in the midst of increasing political ferment, preaching and living the gospel in which he so wholeheartedly believed Even when he was arrested, he continued to treat the wounds of the rebels who had captured him Under sentence of death, he bore himself heroically and died boosting another missionary over the wall to safety The prevailing attitude of missionaries everywhere seems to be summed up in the words of one mission board secretary who commented, "It shows merely that we must go back."

The Gospel hidden in mystery should arouse our best and most active faculties That is why we are commanded to search the Scripture, not simply to read it It is the great repository of all the truths and mysteries of our faith It is a rich mine that we ought to dig into and shall never exhaust Just as gold and diamonds and most other precious stones and metals lie concealed in the depths of the earth, so the most valued things of revelation are concealed by the great Creator and Redeemer from the common view of the world Only as this mystery stimulates us to dig into the Word shall we unearth the treasures that God has there for us.

A missionary was preaching on the resurrection when the native chief cried out, "What are these words about the dead? The dead arise? Will my father arise?" "Yes," answered the missionary "Will all that have been killed and eaten by lions, tigers, and crocodiles arise?" "Yes, and come to judgment." "Hark!" shouted the chief, turning to his warriors "You wise men, did you ever hear such strange talk?" The chief then turned to the missionary and said, "Sir, I love you much; but the words of resurrection are too great for me I do not wish to hear about the dead rising again The dead cannot rise; the dead shall not rise!" "Tell me, my friend, why not?" asked the missionary "Because I have slain my thousands Do you think I want them to rise again?" The gospel was all right as long as he did not have to face his sins.

One winter in Chicago, a young man of dissipated habits was happily converted to God His life was so radically changed that not a soul who knew him doubted the depth and genuineness of God's work of grace in his heart He lived like a Christian for many months One stormy evening in November, after business hours, he was on his way home when he was delayed by an open drawbridge A large, brilliantly lighted bar stood right at hand He had often frequented such places before his conversion, but never since that time This evening, however, as he waited for the bridge to turn and let him through, he stepped into the bar for no other reason than to get out of the pelting sleet Suddenly, all the familiar temptations closed around him, and almost before he was aware of his danger, he had ordered a drink One drink led to another, and before he left the place he was partially intoxicated Before he reached home he despaired of his salvation "My family, my friends, the church, will all know about it," he groaned within himself "No one will have any confidence in me I am disgraced, lost."

But two young men from his church who had seen him leave the bar came up to him and said, "Charlie, don't go home tonight Come with us and we'll take care of you We promise that no one in the world shall ever hear from us a word of what happened tonight." They encouraged him, saying that God would forgive and restore him Next morning he was himself again They knelt together in earnest prayer, and when he rose from his knees it was with the glad assurance of pardon and God's favor restored This young man never again yielded to such a temptation and went on to become a successful minister of the gospel.