I DIFFERENCE lavner two continents nearer to God. And Sankey, his singer, had few of the marks of a master musician but these two untrained, almost uncouth, men swayed multitudes with the Gospel. There is only one answer, they were chosen of God and filled with the Spirit. No preacher, whether his field be large or small, can be God’s man for that place unless he has been called and empowered from above. When Paul began his ministry, he conferred not with flesh and blood but went to Arabia for a session with God. He knew what makes the difference. There is an appalling danger that we ministers shall stock up on everything else and come short on that. Without it we may do a lot of shouting and bustling around but nothing will happen. Unless a preacher has had, sometime, an encounter with Almighty God, call it what you will, he will but add to that over-supply already on hand of those who do not make much difference. GOD MAKES THE DIFFERENCE IN CHR IST IANS His presence makes the difference between fear and faith, between defeat and victory, between Romans Seven and Romans Eight. All Christians have eternal life but all do not have abundant life. A ll have peace with God but all do not have the peace of God. There may be relationship without fellowship, privilege without enjoyment, life without health, as Dr. Scroggie has pointed out. It is God Who makes the difference in the filling, the empowering, and the guidance of the Holy Spirit. We argue about it instead of entering into it, we debate it but we do not demonstrate it. We wander in the wilderness or stand on Jordan’s stormy banks and cast a wishful eye to Canaan’s fair and happy land where our possessions lie. We lie to the Spirit, quench, and grieve Him when we ought to yield to Him and to obey Him. The Spirit-filled life is not something queer, odd, irregular, it is the normal experience of the New Testament Christian. The early believers were not running a high spT’tual fever; they were enjoying normal spir'tual health. We are subnormal, and we are afraid to become normal lest we be called abnormal! We need more Christians with a difference. The world sees little difference between insiders in our churches and outsiders. We have too many already of the k;nd that we have. We need a revival today but a revival of what? Surely not more of the present pale brand of godliness without power The early church d d not have much that we have and we do not have much that they had. But thev had what makes the difference. Church-members todav ave manv but not much. Our greatest problem is Dr. Vance Havrer, nofed Bible teacher and conference speaker, is featured ibis month over network broadcasts of "The B b e Institute Hour." A cop' of the book, "But God," which features the messages rf the program, is avnilab'e unon request to "The Bible Institute Hour," Los Angeles 17, Cali.'ornia.
the quality of our quantity. We need what makes the dif ference. One feels it often in Sunday morning services. Everything goes off according to the printed order, “ faultily faultless, icily regular, splendidly null.” And all too often we could have done it all . . . and maybe we did! . . . without the Holy Spirit. It was not a bad meeting. It was a good meeting but the kind of good which is so often the enemy of the best. No wonder we announce “ Services as usual.” They should be unusual and they will be when we have what makes the difference. And finally, WHEN WE FACE THE FUTURE, IT IS GOD WHO MAKES THE DIFFERENCE. If, as W ill Rogers used to put it, all we know is what we read in the papers, we are in a sad plight indeed. Never has the out look been darker, men’s hearts failing them for fear. The threat of atomic destruction hangs over our heads. The rulers of men know not what to do. But the man who knows God and his Bible knows that when these things begin to come to pass his redemption is drawing nigh. He lifts up his head for he is not merely looking for some thing to happen, he is looking for Someone to come. His newspaper is interpreted in the light of his Bible. Others may grope in perplexity, having lost their way, but he does not err, knowing the Scriptures and the power of God. He has the Blessed Hope that makes the difference! In a crowded railway station a throng of people waited for an incoming train. Most of them were restless and fidgety, some were irritable and complaining. They smoked and studied time tables and watched the clock. Amidst it all a young woman with radiant smiling face stood in cheerful contrast. She was not merely waiting for a train, she was looking for the one she loved to come on that train. What a difference! Today a troubled world scans the news and wonders “What next?” A weary gen eration frets and fumes and fears the worst. Even Bible scholars sometimes spend their time arguing over God’s time-table instead of jovouslv awaiting the'r Lord. But here and there is a happy Christ’ an, and the news that frightens the world only brightens his hope. Fie has what makes the difference! And it is not so much the place as the Person who makes heaven what it is. The worst thing about hell is that it is eternal separat'on from God. And the best thing about the life to come for the Christ'an is to depart and be WITH CHRIST. John saw the Holy City from bleak and barren Patmos, and he tells us that it needs no temple for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it. And it needs ne:ther sun nor moon for the glorv of God d:d lighten it and the Lamb is the light thereof. God makes the difference at the beginning of all things — “ In the beginning God. . . .” And when we reach the Pearly White City it will be God Who makes the difference the-e. END
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SEPTEMBER, 1959
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