We read in Isaiah 55:10, 11: “For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and retumeth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater: So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: It shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I send it.” How can the Word go from God’s mouth? Only as you and I yield ourselves to the Holy Spirit and let God speak through us. Christ must live out His life through SYMPTOMS OF SPIRITUAL DECLINE When you grow bolder with sin, or with temptations to sin than you were in your more watchful state, then be sure something is wrong; When you make a small matter of those sins and infirmities that once seemed grievous to you and almost intolerable; When you settle down to a course of religion that gives you but little labor, and leave out the hard and costly part; When your God and Saviour grows a little strange to you, and your religion consists in conversing with men and their books and not with God and His Book; When you delight more in hearing and talk ing, than in secret prayer and the Word; When you use the means of grace more as a matter of duty, than as food in which your soul delights; When you regard too much the eye of man, and too little the eye of God; When you grow hot and eager about some disputed point, or in forwarding the interest o f some party of Christians, more than about those matters that concern the greater cause of Christ; When you grow harsh and bitter toward those who differ with you, instead of feeling tenderly toward all who love Christ; When you make light of preparing for the Lord’s Day, and the Lord’s Table, and think more of outward ordinances than you do of heart work; When the hopes of Heaven and the love of God do not interest you, but you are thirsting after some worldly enjoyment and grow more eager for it; When the world grows sweeter to you and death and eternity are distasteful subjects; A ll these are sure signs of a declining state. Let us not be guilty of withholding from those who have never heard. Let us not be so concerned over a day that is coming that we sit with folded hands and do nothing. While we are waiting for that blessed hour of revival, let us do something here and now. Let us scatter that God will bring the increase to the churches in this land, and especially to our own dry and parched hearts. ours. Our words will not return void, for in reality they are not' ours, but His.
by having ravens feed him while angels ministered unto him. This was the miracle. In a similar vein we might ask, “ This program of getting the Gospel out to the ends of the earth, is it going to die?” The answer immediate ly comes back, “No, somehow God is going to find one who will take this Gospel to that last tribe.” Jesus said, “ And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come” (Matt. 24:14). “And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice: and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd” (John 10:16). Since I have on these missionary glasses, Elijah speaks to me of missions. The churches and their members remind me of the widow and her son. If the churches and their members will take care of Elijah (the program ordained by Jesus Christ), the spiritual barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail. By first taking care of missions, the members may rely upon the fact that God will then bring blessing to the local church, almost in spite of the people. For we read in the Word of God, “There is that scattereth, and yet increas- eth; and there is that withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to poverty” (Prov. 11:24). We might be praying fervently for revival here at home and certainly we need it, while at the same time be forgetting that the heathen are dying by the hundreds of thousands. The devil can even use the subject of re vival to keep us waiting for. some certain great day to come. And while we anticipate this, we may fail to grasp the responsibility of the here and now. But which comes first? Are we to wait for revival, or do something now while we wait? Souls are lost and going to hell who need the Lord Jesus Christ now. Why should we asstime a defeatist attitude, waiting until re vival comes, so that we will have a spiritual “ shot in the arm.” While we talk and wait, the devil is carrying on his work. He is a master strategist, intent upon stealing our minds so that we will worry about anything and everything except the essentials. Jesus Christ said, “ Other sheep I have which are not of the fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice: and there shall be one fold and one shepherd.” How can Jesus bring these other sheep? It is only as you and I allow the Saviour to indwell us and to live his life out through us. He must take our lips and speak through us so that He can draw these people unto Himself. God told Moses in the wilderness, as he drew near to the unconsumed burning bush, that He wanted him to go down to Egypt and res cue His people. Moses complained that he was slow of speech. So the Lord promised, “ I will be with thy mouth. I will teach thee what thou shalt say.’' For the timidity of our hearts Christ says, “ They shall hear my voice.”
Author, Dr. J. A r thur M o u w , for many years a pio neer missionary to the Dyaks of Bor neo, sings the song frequently used in h is m e e t i n g s , “ Throw A Line.” Dr. Mouu/s min istry at home and abroad h a s been greatly blessed of the Lord.
21
JA N U A R Y , 1964
Made with FlippingBook Online newsletter