The Husband-Wife Relationship

The Husband-Wife Relationship 
Ephesians 5:21-33
by Robert L. Cobb
21  Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.

22  Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.

23  For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body.

24  Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing.

25  Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;

26  That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,
27  That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.

28  So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth  himself.
  

29  For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church:

30  For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.
31  For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.

32  This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.
33  Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband.

Poet Samuel Daniel, a contemporary of Shakespeare, said, "Love is a sickness full of woes, all remedies refusing."  Love is the universal topic of writers, poets and singers.  It is the subject of both highbrow literature and the lowly country song.  Man acts as if he has a working knowledge of the concept of love.  However, true love is not the domain of man.  Love is God's business.  He is its author.  He is its sustainer.
The truest love is that which is shared between God and His children.  Jeremiah 31:3 tells us,  "The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee." Deuteronomy 6:5  says "And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might."  God's kind of love is a deep, meaningful, expressive love that is not easily explained.  It cannot be imitated or counterfeited.

God has also allowed for a special love between a woman and a man.  This love is different from God's love in that it can be expressed physically as well as emotionally and spiritually.  Our passage deals with this marital love.  As I sit at my computer terminal and type these words, I have just been informed of another marriage break-up in my circle of friends.  It is shocking to consider the high number of failed marriages in Bible-believing churches today.  The institution of marriage is under attack by the forces of Satan and society.  No more can the Christian stand back and observe divorce from a safe distance.  It is now a part of most church families.

Marriage was designed by God Himself.  He instituted it and performed the first wedding ceremony in the Garden of Eden.  He has continued it down through the ages.  It is God's vehicle for the propa- gation of mankind collectively and our own happiness and fulfillment.  Satan regards marriage and the home as his greatest battlegrounds.  The easiest way to destroy churches and society is through the home.  The cornerstone of every home is the relationship between the husband and the wife.  God takes special care to make sure we understand His principles in this relationship. 

I.   The Wife's Duty   v. 22-24

In fundamental circles, this passage is well known.  Many husbands take pleasure in sticking their wives noses to the pages of scripture and preaching to them about the duty of the wife to be submissive.   The Southern Baptist Convention has received bad press for their support of this principle.  The world outside the church has a problem with these principles, especially the modern women's movement.  They see it as a serious regression to more unenlightened times.  As believers, however, the Word of God is not debatable.  But what does it mean to be submissive?  How far must the wives go?

The Principle  v. 22    In verse 22 we have a command.  It is not a suggestion nor an outdated idea.  One woman said,  "I'll willingly submit to my husband -as long as he doesn't cross me."  In many marriages there is a power struggle of political proportions.  Paul here speaks directly to the wives.  "Wives, submit yourselves..." The word "submit" means to arrange your life in subjection to another. This seems like a difficult demand, and most women would certainly say "amen."  But we must remember that submission is a Christian attribute, not just a female one.  In verse 21 we find that we are to "submit ourselves one to another..." In Hebrews 13, we are to submit to our pastor; in 1 Peter 5:5 we are to submit to the elder; in many passages we are told to submit to God and His Word;  in 1 Peter 2:13 we are to submit to the law of the land. 

The last portion of this verse is particularly troublesome.  "...as unto the Lord."  In other words, God wants wives to submit to their husbands as they would the Lord Himself.  There are some ladies in the churches that will never allow this verse to touch them.  "It's humiliating," some say.  "It's unfair and outdated," they say.  But we must trust the Lord and His Word not to lead us the wrong way.  The Word of God is not the problem; our understanding of it could be the problem.

The Pattern  v.23-24  Here we find the principle magnified.  The husband is the "head of the wife."  He is the leader and the authority in the marriage.  This does not make the wife a second class citizen, although some husbands use this verse to put their wives in exactly such a situation.  I work for a fairly large company.  My plant manager is my leader and my authority figure.  He is not better than me or even more intelligent than me.  He relies on his workers for many things and trusts us to carry out his wishes, for he is ultimately responsible for the running of our plant.  It is the same situation in the home.  There must be someone responsible for leadership.  God has placed that responsibility on the husband.  Someone said that marriage is "an ordered equality."

As the Church is subject to their leader -Jesus Christ, so is the wife to be subject to her leader -the husband.  Notice to that the husband is  "...the saviour of the body." This means that he is the provider, the preserver and protector of the wife.  He is responsible for her to God as Christ is responsible for the Church.  God has placed the ladies in an exhalted position, but our modern mentality has made it seem antiquated.

II.  The Husband's Duty  v. 25-33

Sometimes the ladies say, "Being a wife is harder, all the husband has to do is love."  That is an underestimation of the love of God.  The husband is to love his wife "as Christ also loved the church."
What does it mean?  How does the husband go about loving his wife in such a way?

Sacrificing Love  v.25  First, the husband's love is to parallel Christ's love in its sacrifice.  "...and gave himself for it."  This means to give over power to another.  It is the opposite of selfish  --it is s-e-l-f-l-e-s-s.  Christ was the omnipotent God in flesh, yet He gave Himself to be crucified because of His love for the Church.  The Christian principle of self-sacrifice is well-documented in scripture.  Jesus gives an object lesson in John 13 when he washes the disciples feet. "Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am.  If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another's feet."  In Matthew 20, Jesus tells His disciples, "whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister;  And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant." Scripture does not give any husband the right to abuse his leadership position.  Conversely, he has the responsibility of living out the love of Christ toward his wife.

Sanctifying Love  v. 26-27   In these verses we see a special truth.  The husband has the responsibility to help his wife develop personally and spiritually.  The husband should be a spiritual leader and help her become more like Christ.  He should allow her to develop her beauty both outwardly and inwardly. Husbands should ask themselves this question:  Is my wife a better Christian and better person because she is married to me?  If the answer is "no,"  you are not fulfilling your obligation as a godly husband.

Self-Considering Love  v. 28-30  Another principle of the husband's love is loving his wife as he loves himself.  "No man ever yet hated his own flesh..."  If we do anything well, we know how to love ourselves.  It is natural to be aware of how we project ourselves and appear to others.  Just as we would never embarrass or belittle ourselves, we are to have this same attitude toward our wives.  How many times have you heard men belittle and denigrate their wives?  Christian husbands should never be guilty of this!  We are to be sensitive to our wives needs and desires, just as we are our own.  The words "nourisheth" and "cherisheth" give us more light.  These words mean to build up, to strengthen and to tenderly care for.  It is like a golden rule for marriage: Do unto your wife as you would do unto yourself.  As the Church and Christ are one, so the husband and wife are one.

Satisfying Love  v. 31-33   These three verses conclude the directions to the husbands.  They are a summation of the previous principles. "For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother..."  The marriage union brings satisfaction to the participants.  It is God's plan for most people.  Marriage, like the Christ's union with the Church, is a mysterious union.  Marriage brings physical satisfaction as well as emotional satisfaction.  It brings a spiritual satisfaction also.  Marriage is God's divine vehicle to meet many of the needs of human beings. 

Conclusion:  To work, marriage must be carried out God's way.  There are no "better ideas" or "new innovations" in the husband/wife relationship.  We don't need new self-help books or psychological tests to determine priorities.  We need Christians, both men and women, to renew their determination to practice scriptural principles in their marriage relationship.  There are few guarantees in today's world.  But if both the husband and the wife put God first and keep Him there, God will ensure the success of their marriage.  Today,  lets make it a time of personal renewal.  May God continue to bless each Christian husband and wife and make us what we should be for His glory.

Spiritual Food for a Hungry World

Spiritual Food for a Hungry World 
by Billy Sunday  (1862-1935) 
 "They need not depart; give ye them to eat." - Matthew 14:16

Some folks do not believe in miracles. I do. A denial of miracles is a denial of the virgin birth of Jesus. The Christian religion stands or falls on the virgin birth of Christ. God created Adam and Eve without human agencies. He could and did create Jesus supernaturally. I place no limit on what God can do. If you begin to limit God, then there is no God.

I read of a preacher who said that the miracles of the Bible were more of a hindrance than a help. Then he proceeded to spout his insane blasphemy. He imagined Jesus talking to the five thousand and, like many speakers, overrunning his time limit. The disciples, seeing night coming, said: "Master, you have talked this crowd out of their supper and there is nothing to eat in this desert place; dismiss them so they can go into the towns and country and get food."

He imagined Jesus saying: "We have some lunch, haven't we?"
"Yes, but not enough to feed this crowd."

"Well, let's divide it up and see." So, Jesus proceeds to divide his lunch with the hungry crowd.

An old Jew, seeing Jesus busy, asked, "What's he doing?" "Dividing his lunch." "Huh," grunts this old knocker, "He is the first preacher I've ever seen who practices what he preaches." Shamed by the example of Jesus, this old tight-wad brought out his lunch basket and began to divide. Others caught the spirit and followed suit and in this way the five thousand were fed. This heretic of a so-called preacher thought such an occurrence more reasonable than the Bible account. Every attempt to explain the miracles by natural laws gets the explainer into great difficulty and shows him up as ridiculous.

I wish to draw some practical lessons from this miracle of Jesus feeding the five thousand. The world is hungry. Jesus stood face to face with the problem of physical hunger just as we, in our day face, the problem of hunger, not only physical but spiritual. 

If one were to believe all the magnificent articles in current and religious literature, one would think the world is disgusted and indifferent to the religion of Jesus Christ. I believe exactly the opposite is true. In no century since the morning stars sang together has there been more real hunger for genuine religion than this. And yet, many a preacher, instead of trying to feed this spiritual hunger, is giving some book review, staking a claim out on Jupiter or talking evolution, trying to prove we came from a monkey with his prehensile tail wrapped around a limb shying coconuts at his neighbor across the alley. 

The world is not disgusted with religion, but is disgusted with the worldliness, rituals, ceremonies and non-essentials in which we have lost religion.

There are some kinds of religion the world is not hungry for:
A religion of formal observances. In Isaiah, first chapter, the Lord says: 

"To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices? I am full of the burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fed beasts. Incense is an abomination unto me; your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth. When you make prayers, I will not hear them. Your hands are full of blood. Put away the evil of your doings; cease to do evil, learn to do well."

Their formalism didn't make a hit with the Lord. He saw through their smoke screen. Religion does not consist in doing a lot of special things, even if branded as religious, but in doing everything in a special way as the Lord directs. Whenever the church makes its observances and forms the end, instead of the means to the end, the world will turn its back on it.

Praying is not an act of devotion-reading - the Bible is not an act of devotion - going to church is not an act of devotion - partaking of the communion is not an act of devotion; these are aids to devotion. The actual religion lies not in prayer, reading the Bible, church attendance, but in the quality of life which these observances create in you. If the doing of these things does not change your life, then it profits you nothing to have them done. Thousands forget religion and allow the forms of religion to take the place of religion. They are substituting religiousness for righteousness. Jesus alone can save the world, but Jesus can't save the world alone. He needs our help.
The world is not hungry for a religion of theory. There was a time when people were interested intensely in fine-spun theological theories. You could announce a debate on the forms of baptism and pack the house with the S. R. O. sign hanging out. That day has passed; a debate on baptism or predestination would not draw a corporal's guard. The average man has not lost interest in the vital truths connected with these topics, but he has lost interest in the type of religion that spends its energy in argument, word battles, and wind jamming. Religion should relate to life and conduct as well as theory.

There has never been a time in my memory when religion has been so reduced to forms and ritual as today. In the mind of Jesus, religion was not to build up the church, but the church was to build up religion. Religion was not the end but the means to the end. Jesus was so far removed from the formalism and traditions, taught by the priests instead of teaching the commands of God, that he was constantly at cross-purposes with them. A church of make-believers will soon beget a generation of non-believers.

The church in endeavoring to serve God and Mammon is growing cross-eyed, losing her power to know good from evil. Jesus dealt with fundamentals; his quietest talk had a torpedo effect on his hearers. Some sermons, instead of being a bugle call to service, are showers of spiritual cocaine. 

I am satisfied that there has never been a time when it is harder to live a consistent Christian life than now. I believe the conflict between God and the Devil, right and wrong, was never hotter. The allurements of sin have never been more fascinating. I do not believe there ever was a time, since Adam and Eve were turned out of Eden, when traps and pitfalls were more numerous and dangerous than today.

The world is not hungry for a religion of social service without Christ. I will go with you in any and all movements for the good of humanity providing you give Jesus Christ his rightful place. You cannot bathe anybody into the kingdom of God. You cannot change their hearts by changing their sanitation. It is an entirely good and Christian act to give a down-and-outer a bath, bed and a job. It is a Christian act to maintain schools and universities, but the road into the kingdom of God is not by the bath tub, the university, social service, or gymnasium, but by the blood-red road of the cross of Jesus Christ.

The Bible declares that human nature is radically bad and the power to uplift and change is external; that power is not in any man, woman or system, but by repentance and faith in the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ. The church is the one institution divinely authorized to feed the spiritual hunger of this old sin-cursed world.
You will notice that Jesus did not feed the multitude. He created the food and asked his disciples to distribute it. Jesus was the chef, not the waiter at this banquet. Jesus created salvation, the only food that will feed the spiritual hunger of the world; the task of distributing the food is in the hands of his human followers.
For every two nominal Christians, there are three who are not even nominal. Out of every two church members, one is a spiritual liability; four out of five with their names on our church records are doing nothing to bring the world to Jesus. There are twenty million young men in this country between the ages of sixteen and thirty [1925]. Nineteen million are not members of any church; nine million attend church occasionally; ten million never darken a church door.
Seventy-four per cent of our criminals are young men under twenty-one years of age. In the past twenty-five years the age of prostitutes has fallen from twenty-six years of age to seventeen years of age. Five hundred girls fifteen years old and under were divorced or widowed last year. Juvenile crime increased in one year from thirty-two per cent to a hundred and thirty-eight per cent.

There are many institutions that enter into competition with the church in preaching certain phases of religion, but not in preaching religion itself. Associate charities preach charity sometimes with stronger emphasis than the church. Some organizations talk about justice and square-dealing with more vehemence than the church. Some individuals thunder against vice and crime more than the pulpit. Many institutions and organizations preach one or more phases of religion, but it is to the church humanity must ever turn for the last word on salvation and eternal destiny.

People are dissatisfied with philosophy, science, new thought - all these amount to nothing when you have a dead child in the house. These do not solace the troubles and woes of the world. They will tell you that, when they were sick and the door of the future was opening in their face, the only comfort they could find was in the gospel of Jesus Christ. Christianity is the only sympathetic religion that ever came into the world, for it is the only religion that ever came from God.

Take your scientific consolation into a room where a mother has lost her child. Try your doctrine of the survival of the fittest with that broken-hearted woman. Tell her that the child that died was not as fit to live as the one left alive. Where does that scientific junk lift the burden from her heart? Go to some dying man and tell him to pluck up courage for the future. Try your philosophy on him; tell him to be confident in the great to be and the everlasting what is it. Go to that widow and tell her it was a geological necessity for her husband to croak. Tell her that in fifty milion years we will all be scientific mummies on a shelf - petrified specimens of an extinct race. What does all this stuff get her? After you have gotten through with your science, philosophy, psychology, eugenics, social service, sociology, evolution, protoplasms, and fortuitous concurrence of atoms, if she isn't bug-house, I will take the Bible and read God's promise, and pray - and her tears will be dried and her soul flooded with calmness like a California sunset.

Is the church drawing the hungry world to its tables? There is no dodging or blinking or pussy-footing the fact that in drawing the hungry world to her tables, the church is facing a crisis. That there is a chasm between the church and the masses no one denies. If the gain of the church on the population is represented by eighty during the past thirty years, during the last twenty years it is represented by four, and during the past ten years it is represented by zero. The birth rate is going on a limited express while the "new birth" rate is going by way of freight.

Need the world turn to other tables than those of the church for spiritual food? Jesus said, "They need not depart; give ye them to eat." The church has the power and the food with which to feed the hungry world. It can feed the spiritual hunger of the world by doing what Jesus did when he fed the five thousand. 

By a wise use of what it has on hand with the blessing of God upon it,...

What has the church on hand with which to feed the hungry world! 
It has two things:

A set of principles which if put into practice in the life of the individual and society and business and politics will solve every difficulty and problem of city, state, nation, and the world. There is no safer or saner method to settle all the world's problems than by the Sermon on the Mount. These principles are truth, justice, and purity. It has a person who has the power to create and make powerful these principles in the lives of men and women and that person is Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

Many skeptics have said, "Bill, if you will only preach the principles of Christianity instead of the Person, we will find no fault with you." Nothing doing, old top! Wherever a preacher or a church preaches a set of principles without the person Jesus Christ, that ministry, that church becomes sterile and powerless.

Truth is never powerful unless wrapped up in a person. I take truth and wrap it up in Christ and say, "Take it!" You say, "Give me truth but no Christ." Then you will be lost. You are not saved by truth but by the person Jesus Christ. Why take truth and reject Christ when it's Christ that inspires truth?

I take justice and wrap Christ up with it and say, "Here, take it." You say, "I will take justice. I deal squarely in business, pay my debts, give labor a square deal; I take justice but not your Christ." You are lost. Why take justice and cast Christ away when it is Christ that inspires justice.

I take purity and wrap it up with Jesus and say, "Here, take this." You say, "I will take the principle purity but not the person Jesus Christ." Then you are lost, for it is Christ that saves, not the principle of purity. "One thing thou lackest," the person Jesus.
Other religions have preached good things, but they have no Savior who can take these things and implant them in the human heart and make them grow. All other religions are built around principles, but the Christian religion is built around a person Jesus Christ, the Son of God, our Savior. Every other religion on earth is a religion you must keep, but the Christian religion saves you, keeps you, and presents you faultless before his throne.

Oh, Christians! Have you any scars to show that you have fought in this conflict with the devil? When a war is over, heroes have scars to show; one rolls back his sleeve and shows a gunshot wound; another pulls down his collar and shows a wound on the neck; another says, "I never had use of that leg since Gettysburg"; another says, "I was wounded and gassed at the Marne in France." Christ has scars to show - scars on his brow, on his hands, on his feet, and when he pulls aside his robes of royalty, there will be seen the scar on his side.

When the Scottish chieftains wanted to raise an army, they would make a wooden cross, set it on fire and carry it through the mountains and the highlands among the people and wave the cross of flame and the people would gather beneath the standard and fight for Scotland. I come out with the cross of the son of God - it is a flaming cross, flaming with suffering, flaming with triumph, flaming with victory, flaming with glory, flaming with salvation for a lost world!

Thy Redeemer (and other devotionals)

Isaiah 54:5

Thy Redeemer.

Jesus, the Redeemer, is altogether ours and ours for ever. All the offices of Christ are held on our behalf. He is king for us, priest for us, and prophet for us. Whenever we read a new title of the Redeemer, let us appropriate Him as ours under that name as much as under any other. The shepherd's staff, the father's rod, the captain's sword, the priest's mitre, the prince's sceptre, the prophet's mantle, all are ours. Jesus hath no dignity which He will not employ for our exaltation, and no prerogative which He will not exercise for our defense. His fulness of Godhead is our unfailing, inexhaustible treasure-house. His manhood also, which he took upon him for us, is ours in all its perfection. To us our gracious Lord communicates the spotless virtue of a stainless character; to us he gives the meritorious efficacy of a devoted life; on us he bestows the reward procured by obedient submission and incessant service. He makes the unsullied garment of his life our covering beauty; the glittering virtues of his character our ornaments and jewels; and the superhuman meekness of his death our boast and glory. He bequeaths us his manger, from which to learn how God came down to man; and his Cross to teach us how man may go up to God. All His thoughts, emotions, actions, utterances, miracles, and intercessions, were for us. He trod the road of sorrow on our behalf, and hath made over to us as his heavenly legacy the full results of all the labours of his life. He is now as much ours as heretofore; and he blushes not to acknowledge himself "our Lord Jesus Christ," though he is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords. Christ everywhere and every way is our Christ, for ever and ever most richly to enjoy. O my soul, by the power of the Holy Spirit! call him this morning, "thy Redeemer."

~Charles Spurgeon~

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Things of Value

BIBLE MEDITATION:
“Glory and honor are in His presence; strength and gladness are in His place.”1 Chronicles 16:27

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:
I heard about a little girl who loved her daddy so much she wanted to do something very special for him for Christmas. She decided to make him some house slippers. She went up to her bedroom every evening and worked. The times that she used to sit in her father's lap and talk disappeared. For months she worked alone. Finally, she came down on Christmas Day with those slippers and presented them to her father.

He was appreciative of her nice gift. But he thought to himself, “How much more I would have valued her time just sitting in my lap and being with me than I value these slippers.”

ACTION POINT:
Jesus values the time you spend with Him far more than the things you do for Him. Learn to sit at the feet of Jesus.

~Adrian Rogers~

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Mark 1:18

Straightway they forsook their nets, and followed Him.

When they heard the call of Jesus, Simon and Andrew obeyed at once without demur. If we would always, punctually and with resolute zeal, put in practice what we hear upon the spot, or at the first fit occasion, our attendance at the means of grace, and our reading of good books, could not fail to enrich us spiritually. He will not lose his loaf who has taken care at once to eat it, neither can he be deprived of the benefit of the doctrine who has already acted upon it. Most readers and hearers become moved so far as to purpose to amend; but, alas! the proposal is a blossom which has not been knit, and therefore no fruit comes of it; they wait, they waver, and then they forget, till, like the ponds in nights of frost, when the sun shines by day, they are only thawed in time to be frozen again. That fatal to-morrow is blood-red with the murder of fair resolutions; it is the slaughter-house of the innocents. We are very concerned that our little book of "Evening Readings" should not be fruitless, and therefore we pray that readers may not be readers only, but doers, of the word. The practice of truth is the most profitable reading of it. Should the reader be impressed with any duty while perusing these pages, let him hasten to fulfil it before the holy glow has departed from his soul, and let him leave his nets, and all that he has, sooner than be found rebellious to the Master's call. Do not give place to the devil by delay! Haste while opportunity and quickening are in happy conjunction. Do not be caught in your own nets, but break the meshes of worldliness, and away where glory calls you. Happy is the writer who shall meet with readers resolved to carry out his teachings: his harvest shall be a hundredfold, and his Master shall have great honour. Would to God that such might be our reward upon these brief meditations and hurried hints. Grant it, O Lord, unto thy servant!

~Charles Spurgeon~

A Cup of Cold Water

A Cup of Cold Water 
The Rewards of Refreshing
Matthew 10:42

by Robert L. Cobb
And whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water
only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward.Matthew 10:42

A line in "The Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner" says "He prayeth best who loveth best, all things great and small..."  It is easy to love the great things, the big things.  Our culture celebrates power, money,  influence, and  beauty.    But that same culture ignores the small and seemingly insignificant things.  The good mother, the faithful employee, the day laborer, the plain looking, the simply dressed, the common person...these are just faces in the crowd, extras on the movie set, non-essentials in the quest for perfection.

I'm glad that God does not judge His people as our society judges.  This passage teaches us a great truth.  Jesus is speaking to his disciples just before sending them out on a missionary journey.   We too, are on a mission journey.  We feel insignificant.  We feel that our small accomplishments mean very little in the great plan of God.  "It doesn't really matter if I live close to God, it wont make any difference." " I'm just a nobody."  "God isn't using me."  We do not see ourselves making a difference in the world.

This passage tells us that our labors  for God, however small, are noted by God and will ultimately be rewarded by Him.  The verses preceding tell us "He that receiveth you receiveth me, and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me.  He that receiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet's reward; and he that receiveth a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man's reward." The disciples were sent in the name of Christ.  They were doing His bidding.  Those who received them would partake in their reward. 

This was probably a radical concept to those who heard it!  It would seem to be very easy to receive a reward under this system.  Truly, Christ was making it easy for us!  As if to drive the point home, He takes it another step.  And whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward.  Just a cup of cold water is enough to activate the rewards of God!

Can you see the repercussions of this truth?  Every kind word spoken for Christ will be rewarded.  Every handshake, hug or embrace will be remembered.  Every meal cooked for the sick God has recorded.  Every visitation, every Sunday school class taught, every fellowship meal prepared, every offering....  Don't despair, my Christian friend!  God will reward kind words and good deeds, no matter how insignificant they may seem.

Let us examine this passage and see God's rewards of refreshment.

I.    THE EFFORT"...a cup...of water" 

1.  Good Deeds Even at the Slightest Opportunity.  The cup of water represents only a small portion of the need.  But it is a timely need.  Humans need food, water, shelter, etc. to live.  We may not be able to meet all the needs of a person, but that should not stop us from doing what we can.  Just an insignificant gesture could be the vehicle God uses to show His glory!

2.  Good Deeds Are the Sweetest Obedience.    Has God ever laid it on your heart to speak a word or meet a need for a hurting soul?  Just a hug at the funeral home when someone's family member passes on brings a warm heart.  Sometimes just an encouraging word to a wounded brother will be a blessing to both parties.  The good deed does not have to be known by all or appreciated by the multitude.  The Christian life is moment-by- moment obedience to the Holy Spirit.  It is enough to obey!  Obedience alone brings a blessing!

3.  Good Deeds Bring the Strangest Overwhelming.   Somehow, God uses small and insignificant deeds and multiplies them and makes them great.  In a small Alabama town during the 1960's, black people were having a march for equality.  Many white people opposed the march and showed up to jeer them as they passed.  Police feared a riot and watched nervously along with the news media with their cameras.  As the marchers past, onlookers saw a little black girl of about six carrying a rag doll as she marched with her parents.  She heard and saw all the taunts but did not completely understand what was going on.  As she walked, she saw a little white girl of about the same age standing on the side with her parents.  She seemed just as voiceless as the black girl.  But suddenly a beautiful thing happened.  The little black girl, sensing the bad spirit in the white onlookers, gave her rag doll to the little white girl as she passed.

In the grand scheme of things, it meant nothing.  It did not change the political climate of the day.  But that one little insignificant incident caught on camera melted the hearts of many a news watcher that evening.  God uses little things and sometimes magnifies them into great things.  General William Booth of the Salvation Army telegraphed his convention speech from his sickbed.  His speech consisted of one word, "Others."  Just one little word.  But God used it to say a lot.

II.    THE EXTRA     "....cold..."

It is noteworthy that Jesus made mention that the water was cold.  Water at any temperature will satisfy thirst.  But the gift of cold water is a gift with a little extra attached.   It is the "extra"  that touches the heart.  A missionary to a south pacific island told a story which illustrates this point.  After he had ministered  for one year, the natives held a celebration in his honor.  He was presented with many gifts, but the natives were poor and the gifts  were all seemingly small.  Still, the missionary appreciated the gesture.  One gift particularly intrigued him.  It was a vase of flowers; but these flowers were unusual.  He had never seen any like them.  He asked one of his parishioners where he could find more like them.  The parishioner responded, "The only place you can find them in the world is on the other side of the island."  The 'back side' of their island was almost uninhabited and very difficult to travel.  Later the missionary asked the giver of the flowers, "Why did you go to so much trouble getting me the flowers? You must have walked for miles just to find them."    The native responded, "The walk was part of the gift."      Even in his poverty, he found a way to give a little "extra."

1.  Little Kindnesses Bring Grace to the Needy.  People have needs.  We may be able to meet them.  It is an opportunity to let others see the grace of God working.  1 John 3:17 says, But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how  dwelleth the love of God in him?  The man who fell among thieves in Luke 10 had need of help.  All passed him by until the good Samaritan stopped and "took care of him."  James says,  If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food,  And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit? (James 2:15-16) God is practical and His people should be also.  Let us look for needs to meet.  Let us do the little "extra."

2.  Little Kindnesses Bring Growth to the Christian.  Our labor for God, however small, has an effect upon us as well as the ones we help.  Paul spoke of the house of Stephanas as having addicted themselves to the ministry of the saints.. and he then admonishes the Corinthians ...that ye submit yourselves unto such, and to every one that helpeth with us, and laboureth.  (1 Cor. 16:15)  It is a wonderful feeling to know that God is using you to meet the needs of others.  We grow as we help others.

3.  Little Kindnesses Bring Glory to God.   There are no others on earth quite like God's people! This is not bragging on ourselves, but what God has done for us.  We do not do service to bring glory to ourselves, but to God.   God's kind of service is unnatural and otherworldly.  This is the kind of service He was speaking of when He said, And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain.  (Mat. 5:41)

III.  THE EARNESTNESS   "...in the name of a disciple..."

What is the motivation of our service?  We see in the text that the cup of cold water is given only in the name of a disciple...  In a parallel passage (Mark 9:41) Jesus says, In my name, because you belong to Christ.  Our motivation is most certainly to bring glory to God and fulfill His plan for our lives.  We help others because we are His children and His servants.

1.  Our Care is Because of Christ.   Those we help must know that our assistance only comes because God has changed our hearts and sent us to them.  It is He that cares for their souls, and we are mere extensions of that care.  1 Peter 5:7 says ...he careth for you.  This is the same greek word that is translated "taking thought" or worrying.  Christ cares for us a a mother cares for a little child.  And our care for others is "Christ in us."

2.  Our Comforting is in the Place of Christ.    Three different times in the Gospels did Jesus say "Be of good comfort."  Every sick person He met was healed; every repentant sinner He met was cleansed; every funeral He passed the dead was raised.  Those miracles were part of a different dispensation, but His comfort can still be found in His obedient people.  2 Corinthians 1:4  tells us the He..comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble.."  The same comfort that blesses us is passed on to others.

3.  Our Credit is Forwarded to Christ.  Jesus warns us about doing good works to be seen of men in Matthew 6:2. "They have their reward," Jesus says.  We are extensions of Him and His ministry,  He is to receive the glory from all He leads us to do.  The obedient servant of Christ is not looking to receive the praise of men, but rather the praise of God.

IV.  THE ENCOURAGEMENT"...his reward."

Someone wisely said, "You can't out-give God!"  The child of God who is involved in these small services can rest assured that God has recorded every deed done in His name!   What an encouragement it is to know that God will reward our works, no matter how slight they may seem to us now. 

1.  His Purpose in Rewarding.    The laborer is worthy of his hire.  Though as the children of God, we do not labor as mere employees of God.  Our labor is a family labor; it is the work of sons for their Father.  Even so, God will never allow labor in His vineyard to go unrewarded.  He will give back, in even greater measure, all that we have sacrificed for Him.  It is His nature; it is His sovereign way.  Hebrews 11:6 tells us that God "...is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him..."  His reward is based on faith and our work is accomplished by that same faith.  There is no shortage of fairness when it comes to His rewards.

2.  His Power in Rewarding.   There is no force that can stop Christ's rewarding of His people.  In this life, we may work hard and never be acknowledged for our labor.  Some have labored only to have an unscrupulous person steal the credit.  We can be sure that every deed, no matter how trivial, will be rewarded by our Divine Record Keeper.  There will be no shortage of crowns in Heaven.

3.  His Perfection in Rewarding.   I Corinthians 3 reveals God's plan for rewarding His people.  If we study verses 5-15, we begin to see our God's divine perfection in His dealings.  There will be no bookkeeping errors in heaven!  ...If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward...  Notice the word "lose" at the end of the verse.  It means to abolish, destroy, to render useless.  Our rewards are safe in the vault of Heaven.

V.   THE ETERNITY     "...in no wise..."

Lastly, we see the eternity of our rewards.  In the phrase, "in no wise" we can see the eternal sovereignty of God.  It means certainly not;  not at all, or by no means.    Rewards won in this life are eternal.  They will not rot or rust away.  They do not have a time limit, like a borrowed library book, which must be returned on a certain day.

1.  It Will Be Permanent.  Our rewards are permanent because they are build on the foundation of Jesus Christ. (I Cor. 3:11)   Our works are tested by fire, and all that make it through the fire are accepted by God.  Think of the seriousness of our earthly labors.  In this life, we are affecting our eternal life.  Whatever rewards we gain for our Christian service will be permanent!  Should we not be busy about the Lord's business?  There is no deed too small when we see our rewards in this light.

2.  It Will Be Precious.  There are many that say, "Just as long as I make it to Heaven, I don't care about the rewards!"  Those statements are made in ignorance!  How many times have we watched others win awards and recognition and wished it was us?  I can remember the science fair in my sixth grade school year.  I spent about 2-3 hours on a hastily done project just to insure that I did not get a zero.  At the time, I did not care who won first prize.  I know my project wouldn't win; it did not deserve to win.  I was just glad to be finished so I could go outside to play.  But on the day the awards were handed out, I felt sad and despondent.  I saw how some of my friends felt when they placed in the top five; I saw how the overall winner reacted when he won.  I examined the winning projects and realized that, I too, could have created such exhibits.  It was not above my ability at all.  The personal depression was because of opportunity wasted, because I had not done my best.  Those who say it does not matter about rewards will feel entirely different on Awards Day.  No one likes to lose, especially when they know they did not do their best.

3.  Will It Be Plentious? (for you personally)   (I Cor. 3:13) Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. Personal tests are sometimes hard to complete.  Its not easy to have your work scrutinized by others, to be examined and tested.   We have seen how perfectly fair and purposeful God is in rewarding His people.  We have seen how easy it is to receive a reward in God's economy.  There is no excuse for us to stand before our God empty-handed because of our laziness and slothfulness.  God will reward even the smallest deed, even the cup of cold water given in His name.
Let us resolve to labor for our Lord, not selfishly with wrong motives; but with the joy and passion of the Spirit-filled saint fulfilling His purpose in our lives.  He wants to use us in His service; He gives us ample opportunity for rewards.  Let us give that cup of cold water when the occasion arises.

The Old-Time Religion

The Old-Time Religion 
by Billy Sunday  (1862-1935)
 "I believe the Bible is the word of God from cover to cover. I believe that the man who magnifies the word of God in his preaching is the man whom God will honor. Why do such names stand out on the pages of history as Wesley, Whitefield, Finney and Martin Luther? Because of their fearless denunciation of all sin, and because they preach Jesus Christ without fear or favor. 

   "But somebody says a revival is abnormal. You lie! Do you mean to tell me that the godless, card-playing conditions of the Church are normal? I say they are not, but it is the abnormal state. It is the sin-eaten, apathetic condition of the Church that is abnormal. It is the 'Dutch lunch' and beer party, card parties and the like, that are abnormal. I say that they lie when they say that a revival is an abnormal condition in the Church. 

   "What we need is the good old-time kind of revival that will cause you to love your neighbors, and quit talking about them. A revival that will make you pay your debts, and have family prayers. Get that kind and then you will see that a revival means a very different condition from what people believe it does.

   "Christianity means a lot more than church membership. Many an old skin-flint is not fit for the balm of Gilead until you give him a fly blister and get after him with a currycomb. There are too many Sunday-school teachers who are godless card-players, beer, wine and champagne drinkers. No wonder the kids are going to the devil. No wonder your children grow up like cattle when you have no form of prayer in the home."

         THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO SUNDAY

   What does converted mean? It means completely changed. Converted is not synonymous with reformed.  Reforms are from without-conversion from within.  Conversion is a complete surrender to Jesus. It's a willingness to do what he wants you to do. Unless you have made a complete surrender and are doing his will it will avail you nothing if you've reformed a thousand times and have your name on fifty church records. 

   Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, in your heart and confess him with your mouth and you will be saved. God is good. The plan of salvation is presented to you in two parts. Believe in your heart and confess with your mouth. Many of you here probably do Believe. Why don't you confess? Now own up. The truth is that you have a yellow streak. Own up, business men, and business women, and all of you others. Isn't it so? Haven't you got a little saffron? Brave old Elijah ran like a scared deer when he heard old Jezebel had said she would have his head, and he beat it. And he ran to Beersheba and lay down under a juniper tree and cried to the Lord to let him die. The Lord answered his prayer, but not in the way he expected. If he had let him die he would have died with nothing but the wind moaning through the trees as his funeral dirge. But the Lord had something better for Elijah. He had a chariot of fire and it swooped down and carried him into glory without his ever seeing death.

   So he says he has something better for you--salvation if he can get you to see it. You've kept your church membership locked up. You've smiled at a smutty story. When God and the Church were scoffed at you never peeped,and when asked to stand up here you've sneaked out the back way and beat it. You're afraid and God despises a coward--a mutt. You cannot be converted by thinking so and sitting still.

   Maybe you're a drunkard, an adulterer, a prostitute, a liar; won't admit you are lost; are proud. Maybe you're even proud you're not proud, and Jesus has a time of it.

   Jesus said: "Come to me," not to the Church; to me, not to a creed; to me, not to a preacher; to me, not to an evangelist; to me, not to a priest; to me, not to a pope; "Come to me and I will give you rest." Faith in Jesus Christ saves you, not faith in the Church. 

   You can join church, pay your share of the preacher's salary, attend the services, teach Sunday school, return thanks and do everything that would apparently stamp you as a Christian--even pray--but you won't ever be a Christian until you do what God tells you to do.

   That's the road, and that's the only one mapped out for you and for me. God treats all alike. He doesn't furnish one plan for the banker and another for the janitor who sweeps out the bank. He has the same plan for one that he has for another. It's the law--you may not approve of it, but that doesn't make any difference.

             Salvation a Personal Matter

   The first thing to remember about being saved is that salvation is a personal matter. "Seek ye the Lord"--that means every one must seek for himself. It won't do for the parent to seek for the children; it won't do for the children to seek for the parent. If you were sick all the medicine I might take wouldn't do you any good. Salvation is a personal matter that no one else can do for you; you must attend to it  yourself.    Some persons have lived manly or womanly lives, and they lack but one thing--open confession of the Lord Jesus Christ. Some men think that they must come to him in a certain way--that they must be stirred by emotion or something like that. 

     Some people have a deeper conviction of sin before they are converted than after they are converted. With some it is the other way. Some know when they are converted and others don't.

    Some people are emotional. Some are demonstrative. Some will cry easily. Some are cold and can't be moved to emotion. A man jumped up in a meeting and asked whether he could be saved when he hadn't shed a tear in  forty years. Even as he spoke he began to shed tears.   It's all a matter of how you're constituted. I am vehement, and I serve God with the same vehemence that I served the devil when I went down the line. 
    Some of you say that in order to accept Jesus you must have different surroundings. You think you could do it better in some other place. You can be saved where you are as well as any place on earth. I say, "My watch doesn't run. It needs new surroundings. I'll put it in this other pocket, or I'll put it here, or here on these flowers." It doesn't need new surroundings. It needs a new mainspring; and that's what the sinner needs. You need a new heart, not a new suit.

    What can I do to keep out of hell? "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved."   The Philippian jailer was converted. He had put the disciples into the stocks when they came to the prison, but after his conversion he stooped down and washed the blood from their stripes.
   Now, leave God out of the proposition for a minute. Never mind about the new birth--that's his business. Jesus Christ became a man, bone of our bone, flesh of our flesh. He died on the cross for us, so that we might escape the penalty pronounced on us. Now, never mind about anything but our part in salvation. Here it is: "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved."

   You say, "Mr. Sunday, the Church is full of hypocrites." So's hell. I say to you if you don't want to go to hell and live with that whole bunch forever, come into the Church, where you won't have to associate with them very long. There are no hypocrites in heaven.

   You say, "Mr. Sunday, I can be a Christian and go to heaven without joining a church." Yes, and you can go to Europe without getting on board a steamer. The swimming's good--but the sharks are laying for fellows who take that route. I don't believe you. If a man is truly saved he will hunt for a church right away.  You say, "It's so mysterious. I don't understand." You'll be surprised to find out how little you know.

You plant a seed in the ground--that's your part. You don't understand how it grows. How God makes that seed grow is mysterious to you.  Some people think that they can't be converted unless they go down on their knees in the straw at a camp-meeting, unless they pray all hours of the night, and all nights of the week, while some old brother storms heaven in prayer. Some think a man must lose sleep, must come down the aisle with a haggard look, and he must froth at the mouth and dance and shout. Some get it that way, and they don't think that the work I do is genuine unless conversions are made in the same way that they have got religion.  I want you to see what God put in black and white; that there can be a sound, thorough conversion in an instant; that man can be converted as quietly as the coming of day and never backslide. I do not find fault with the way other people get religion. What I want and preach is the fact that a man can be converted without any fuss. 

If a man wants to shout and clap his hands in joy over his wife's  conversion, or if a wife wants to cry when her husband is converted, I  am not going to turn the hose on them, or put them in a strait-jacket.  When a man turns to God truly in conversion, I don't care what form  his conversion takes. I wasn't converted that way, but I do not rush  around and say, with gall and bitterness, that you are not saved  because you did not get religion the way I did. If we all got religion in the same way, the devil might go to sleep with a regular Rip Van  Winkle snooze and still be on the job.    Look at Nicodemus. You could never get a man with the temperament of Nicodemus near a camp meeting, to kneel down in the straw, or to shout and sing. He was a quiet, thoughtful, honest, sincere and cautious man. He wanted to know the truth and he was willing to walk in the light when he found it.   Look at the man at the pool of Bethesda. He was a big sinner and was in a lot of trouble which his sins had made for him. He had been in that condition for a long time. It didn't take him three minutes to say, "Yes," when the Lord spoke to him. See how quietly he was converted. 

"And He Arose and Followed Him"!

   Matthew stood in the presence of Christ and he realized what it would be to be without Christ, to be without hope, and it brought him to a quick decision. "And he arose and followed him."   How long did that conversion take? How long did it take him to accept Christ after he had made up his mind? And you tell me you can't make an instant decision to please God? The decision of Matthew proves that you can. While he was sitting at his desk he was not a disciple. The instant he arose he was. That move changed his attitude toward God. Then he ceased to do evil and commenced to do good. You can be converted just as quickly as Matthew was.    God says: "Let the wicked man forsake his way.  " The instant that is done, no matter if the man has been a life-long sinner, he is safe. There is no need of struggling for hours--or for days-do it now. Who are you struggling with? Not God. God's mind was made up long before the foundations of the earth were laid. The plan of salvation was made long before there was any sin in the world. Electricity existed long before there was any car wheel for it to drive. "Let the wicked man forsake his way." When? Within a month, within a week, within a day, within an hour? No! Now! The instant you yield, God's plan of salvation is thrown into gear. You will be saved before you know it, like a child being born.  Rising and following Christ switched Matthew from the broad to the narrow way. He must have counted the cost as he would have balanced his cash book. He put one side against the other. The life he was living led to all chance of gain. 

On the other side there was Jesus, and Jesus outweighs all else. He saw the balance turn as the tide of a battle turns and then it ended with his decision. The sinner died and the disciple was born.  I believe that the reason the story of Matthew was written was to show how a man could be converted quickly and quietly. It didn't take him five or ten years to begin to do something--he got busy right away.   You don't believe in quick conversions?  There have been a dozen men of modern times who have been powers for God whose conversion was as quiet as Matthew's. Charles G. Finney never went to a camp meeting. He was out in the woods alone, praying, when he was converted. Sam Jones, a mighty man of God, was converted at the bedside of his dying father. Moody accepted Christ while waiting on a customer in a boot and shoe store. Dr. Chapman was converted as a boy in a Sunday school. All the other boys in the class had accepted Christ, and only Wilbur remained. The teacher turned to him and said, "And how about you, Wilbur?" He said, "I will," and he turned to Christ and has been one of his most powerful evangelists for many years. Gipsy Smith was converted in his father's tent. Torrey was an agnostic, and in comparing agnosticism, infidelity and Christianity, he found the scale tipped toward Christ. Luther was converted as he crawled up a flight of stairs in Rome.   Seemingly the men who have moved the world for Christ have been converted in a quiet manner. The way to judge a tree is by its fruit. Judge a tree of quiet conversion in this way.    Another lesson. When conversion compels people to forsake their previous calling, God gives them a better job. Luke said, "He left all." 

Little did he dream that his influence would be world-reaching and eternity-covering. His position as tax-collector seemed like a big job, but if was picking up pins compared to the job God gave him. Some of you may be holding back for fear of being put out of your job. If you do right God will see that you do not suffer. He has given plenty of promises, and if you plant your feet on them you can defy the poor-house. Trust in the Lord means that God will feed you. Following Christ you may discover a gold mine of ability that you never dreamed of possessing. There was a saloon-keeper, converted in a meeting at New Castle, who won hundreds of people to Christ by his testimony and his preaching.   You do not need to be in the church before the voice comes to you; you don't need to be reading the Bible; you don't need to be rich or poor or learned. Wherever Christ comes follow. You may be converted while engaged in your daily business. Men cannot put up a wall and keep Jesus away. The still small voice will find you.

                 At the Cross-roads

   Right where the two roads through life diverge God has put Calvary. There he put up a cross, the stumbling block over which the love of God said, "I'll touch the heart of man with the thought of father and son." He thought that would win the world to him, but for nineteen hundred years men have climbed the Mount of Calvary and trampled into the earth the tenderest teachings of God.  You are on the devil's side. How are you going to cross over?    So you cross the line and God won't issue any extradition papers. Some of you want to cross. If you believe, then say so, and step across. I'Il bet there are hundreds that are on the edge of the line and many are standing straddling it. But that won't save you. You believe in your heart--confess him with your mouth. With his heart man believes and with his mouth he confesses. Then confess and receive salvation full, free, perfect and external. God will not grant any extradition papers. 
Get over the old line. A man isn't a soldier because he wears a uniform, or carries a gun, or carries a canteen. He is a soldier when he makes a definite enlistment. All of the others can be bought without enlisting. When a man becomes a soldier he goes out on muster day and takes an oath to defend his country. It's the oath that makes him a soldier. Going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than going to a garage makes you an automobile, but public definite enlistment for Christ makes you a Christian.   "Oh," a woman said to me out in Iowa, "Mr. Sunday, I don't think I have to confess with my mouth." I said: "You're putting up your thought against God's."    M-o-u-t-h doesn't spell intellect. It spells mouth and you must confess with your mouth. The mouth is the biggest part about most people, anyhow.

                   What must I do?

   Philosophy doesn't answer it. Infidelity doesn't answer it. First, "believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved." Believe on the, Lord. Lord--that's his kingly name. That's the name he reigns under. "Thou shalt call his name Jesus." It takes that kind of a confession. Give me a Saviour with a sympathetic eye to watch me so I shall not slander. Give me a Saviour with a strong arm to catch me if I stumble. Give me a Saviour that will hear my slightest moan.  Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved. Christ is his resurrection name. He is sitting at the right hand of the Father interceding for us.  Because of his divinity he understands God's side of it and because of his humanity he understands our side of if. Who is better qualified to be the mediator?  He's a mediator. What is that? A lawyer is a mediator between the jury and the defendant. A retail merchant is a mediatdr between the wholesale dealer and the consumer. 

Therefore, Jesus Christ is the Mediator between God and man. Believe on the Lord. He's ruling today. Believe on the Lord Jesus. He died to save us. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. He's the Mediator.   Her majesty, Queen Victoria, was traveling in Scotland when a storm came up and she took refuge in a little hut of a Highlander. She stayed there for an hour and when she went the good wife said to her husband, "We'll tie a ribbon on that chair because her majesty has sat on it and no one else will ever sit on it." A friend of mine was there later and was going to sit in the chair when the man cried: "Nae, nae, mon. Dinna sit there. Her majesty spent an hour with us once and she sat on that chair and we tied a ribbon on it and no one else will ever sit on it." They were honored that her majesty had spent the hour with them. It brought unspeakable joy to them.   It's great that Jesus Christ will sit on the throne of my heart, not for an hour, but here to sway his power forever and ever.

                  "He Died for Me"

   In the war there was a band of guerillas--Quantrell's band--that had been ordered to be shot on sight. They had burned a town in Iowa and they had been caught. One long ditch was dug and they were lined up in front of it and blindfolded and tied, and just as the firing squad was ready to present arms a young man dashed through the bushes and cried, "Stop!" He told the commander of the firing squad that he was as guilty as any of the others, but he had escaped and had come of his own free will, and pointed to one man in the line and asked to take his place. "I'm single," he said, "while he has a wife and babies." The commander of that firing squad was an usher in one of the cities in which I held meetings, and he told me how the young fellow was blindfolded and bound and the guns rang out and he fell dead. 

Time went on and one day a man came upon another in a graveyard in Missouri weeping and shaping the grave into form. The first man asked who was buried there and the other said, "The best friend I ever had." Then he told how he had not gone far away but had come back and got the body of his friend after he had been shot and buried it; so he knew he had the right body. And he had brought a withered bouquet all the way from his home to put on the grave. He was poor then and could not afford anything costly, but he had placed a slab of wood on the pliable earth with these words on it: "He died for me."  Major Whittle stood by the grave some time later and saw the same monument. If you go there now you will see something different. The man became rich and today there is a marble monument fifteen feet high and on it this inscription : 

 SACRED TO THE MEMORY OF WILLE LEE
  HE TOOK MY PLACE IN THE LINE
HE DIED FOR ME

   Sacred to the memory of Jesus Christ. He took our place on the cross and gave his life that we might live, and go to heaven and reign with him.  "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, confess him with thy mouth, and thou shalt be saved and thy house."  It is a great salvation that can reach down into the quagmire of filth, pull a young man out and send him out to hunt his mother and fill her days with sunshine. It is a great salvation, for it saves from great sin.  The way to salvation is not Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Vassar or Wellesley. Environment and culture can't put you into heaven without you accept Jesus Christ.  It's great. I want to tell you that the way to heaven is a blood-stained way. No man has ever reached it without Jesus Christ and he never will.

God Already Knows (and other devotionals)

God Already Knows

BIBLE MEDITATION:
“And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son.” Genesis 22:13

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:
I don't know what your problem is today, but God already knows the answer.

Abraham thought he had a problem when he was going up to sacrifice Isaac. He didn't know how his need was going to be met. But the moment Abraham started up one side of that mountain with Isaac, on the other side, a ram started up—the ram that was going to be the substitute for Isaac.

Abraham never saw the ram, but God saw it. And I want to tell you, God knows a way for you. God has a plan for you—a plan for all of us.

ACTION POINT:
God's children are never to panic. Worry is an insult to Almighty God. Trust God—He already knows.

~Adrian Rogers~

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4 Simple Rules for Witnessing at Work by Adrian Rogers

In all labour there is profit: but the talk of the lips tendeth only to penury. Proverbs 14:23 I've heard people say, I sure would like to be in a Christian company and be surrounded by Christians. The only time I hear God's name mentioned where I work now is when people are cursing. And you just cannot believe the obscene jokes, gossip, greed, back-stabbing, throat-cutting, and all of the materialism! Oh if God would only get me out of this place so I could serve Him! Do you know how I would respond? I would tell them, God put you in that place so you could serve Him. We are to let our light shine in every place where God has places us! Matthew 5:14-16 says: “Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." Your job is the lampstand that God has ordained where you let your light shine! You have been saved out of the world and then sent back into the world to witness to the world, and that's the only business in the world you have in the world, till you're taken out of the world! Now, let me give you four rules for witnessing to those with whom you work. Don't Brag The Bible says let your light shine. It doesn't say make it shine. Your light is to glow, not glare. Also, people are to see the light, not the source of the light. If you go to work with an air of self-righteousness, you're going to make your coworkers sick and not want to even be around you. 1 Corinthians 1:30-31 says: “It is because of Him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: "Let him who boasts boast in the Lord." Don't Nag If you’re always thumping a Bible or nagging somebody when he gambles, smokes, or curses, you're not going to win that person to Christ. You may think that you're doing a good job, but that person is not going to take a step closer to Jesus Christ through that kind of witness. You see, his behavior is not his problem. You would be just like that person if you didn't know the Lord Jesus Christ. He needs Jesus Christ. So let's see how we are to respond from Colossians 4:5-6: “Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time. Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.” Don't Lag If you're a lazy Christian—not getting to work on time, doing personal stuff on company time, procrastinating on work that you ought to do, then you're a disgrace to grace. It is a sin for a Christian to do less than his best. Let's revisit Colossians 3:23-24 says: “And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ.” Don't see if the boss is looking before you work hard. I don't care how dull or boring, it may seem. It's not that way…if you're working to the glory of God. Do your job to the best of your ability. Don't Sag I want to tell you something about those people with whom you work. Most of them are not all that interested in going to heaven or hell. They just want to know how to hack it on Monday. And when they see you come in the office without a hangover and with the joy of the Lord Jesus on your face, they're going to ask you, "What makes you so happy?" And at that moment, you're going to be able to share the Lord Jesus with him because you will have sanctified the Lord God in your heart. 1 Peter 3:15 says: “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear.” ~Adrian Rogers~