169. THE CHRISTIAN’S MANDATE: GO

(The Information & Edification Series – Batch 3)

J.C. Ryle once stated, “A converted man does not wish to go to heaven alone.” In similar vein, someone else once anonymously explained that, “Evangelism is one beggar telling another beggar where to find bread.”

In light of the foregoing statements, if you have professed to be a believer in the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, my question to you is this: You say you know Christ and are saved from God’s wrath to come but do you have a passion to see lost souls saved? Do you love the ungodly and does your heart break when you see them destined for destruction and eternal damnation or do you think proudly to yourself, like Jonah in the Bible once did, it serves them right?

Have you forgotten that you are nothing but a vile sinner yourself, saved by God’s grace and that you have obtained God’s favour, not through your own effort or good works but because of the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ which clothed you after you were washed with his blood, undeservingly, from your filth?

Truth be told, if you regard the ungodly like Jonah did the people of Ninevah, if you are honest with yourself, even after you came to Christ and received him, you sinned against God and continue to sin against him in so many ways, that if he were to adopt your condescending, scornful, self-righteous and unmerciful attitude (such as which you have towards the lost) and deal with you in similar measure, you would not even be here today, in the land of the living.

As Psalm 130:3-4 rightly assesses: “If thou Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared.”

Maybe you’re sitting there and saying,” But I’m not self-righteous and I don’t cast my nose down at the ungodly and think happily to myself, that one day they’re going to pay for their sins.” To be fair, maybe you’re not like that and so the above description does not apply to you. However, if you don’t pity the lost and your heart does not break for them and you are not actively reaching out to them to help them escape the wrath to come, then you are no better than the self-righteous person. For, while you may not be callous and condescending, you are indifferent. You are selfish. You consider yourself and your loved ones and you are content with the fact that you have salvation, not caring that people outside your family circle are dying daily, outside of the hope that is in Jesus Christ.

Given how far you have come (solely due to the goodness of God) and how he continues to grace you with mercy and forgiveness even as a Christian when you sin against him and repent, how can you be a beneficiary of the good news of God’s salvation and be content to sit in the pews, to focus on your life and that of your family’s and not share it with others? How can you have the light of Jesus burning within and refuse to let it shine before men?

If you are a Christian, no matter who you are God has equipped you with something that you can use to reach the ungodly with the good news. In refusing to use it for his glory and suppressing the gospel, you are like that servant Jesus mentioned in Matthew 25:18, who, although he had received a talent from his lord, went and digged in the earth and hid his lord’s money.

In Mark 16:15, Jesus said: “GO ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.”

The mandate is clear and it applies to all Christians. This is the urgent commission. This is the call. He did not say to sit in a building and wait for people to come and then reach them from there but to GO.

Are you fulfilling the Lord’s commission? I’m not talking about what your Church is doing or not doing collectively. Are you, as an individual, giving it your best effort and seeking opportunities and ways to reach the lost? When God gives you opportunities daily, on the phone, in the streets, on social media, outside that supermarket, in a taxi or at your workplace, do you seize them and use them to spread the gospel or do you let them pass you by, content in the fact that the gospel is preached from the pulpit in Church buildings around the world and therefore, people should visit if they are interested in hearing the truth?

This mentality is not biblical. You can find nothing to substantiate it in the scriptures. When in Acts 8, Philip got the call, to GO join himself to that chariot, he obeyed and as a result, a man, once lost, had the gospel explained to him, believed and was saved.

We must be open to the Spirit’s leading, ask the Lord to show us opportunities to reach the lost and seize them when they come. If we have a heart for the lost and are humble (in that we don’t forget where we came from and how undeserving we are of God’s gift of salvation) and if we truly desire to obey the commission of Jesus Christ, God, who knows our hearts, will put us in places and give us opportunities to use what he has gifted us with to spread the gospel, not necessarily with any fancy words or long, elaborate speech but in its simplicity.

He will also guide us as to how to begin and how to use whatever the ungodly is going through or facing, as our launching point, even as Paul did with the Athenians in Acts 17:16-34, as he did with King Agrippa and Festus in Acts 26:1-28, as Peter did with the Jews and devout men on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2:1-41, as Stephen did with the Israelites in Acts 6:5,9-10; 7:1-53 and as Philip did with the Ethiopian Eunuch in Acts 8:26-35. (SEE this discussed in more detail in Article 45 entitled: ‘Sharing The Gospel Message’)

In Philip’s case, the Holy Spirit upon whom he relied and was taking his cues from and was open to hearing when he called, told him to GO and he immediately went. He was sent and had he stayed where he was and been disobedient, expecting whoever was in search of truth to come to him where he was, the Ethiopian Eunuch would have remained lost. Then again, perhaps because God is purposed to save those he has elected and he is ever powerful and all resourceful, he may have used some other one of his servants, to reach the Eunuch with the good news of the gospel.

Of Philip’s experience, the scripture reads:

“And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, and GO toward the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert. And he arose and went: and, behold, a man of Ethiopia, an eunuch of great authority under Candace queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasure, and had come to Jerusalem for to worship, Was returning, and sitting in his chariot read Esaias the prophet. Then the Spirit said unto Philip, GO near, and join thyself to this chariot. And Philip ran thither to him, and heard him read the prophet Esaias, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest? And he said, How can I, except some man should guide me? And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him.

The place of the scripture which he read was this, He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened he not his mouth: In his humiliation his judgment was taken away: and who shall declare his generation? for his life is taken from the earth.

And the eunuch answered Philip, and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? of himself, or of some other man? Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus.

And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him. And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more: and he went on his way rejoicing.”

Phillip was commanded to GO and today, Christians, both at the collective and individual level, have been charged with this same mandate. Are you obeying it?

We are to GO. There is no skirting around it. Jesus calls the ungodly to come to Him but not necessarily to a Church building or gathering. While a man remains in the coverts of the lost therefore, it is our responsibility to reach him and to ensure that we get the message to him.

If we have extended an invitation for him to come to a building and he does not come, we ought not to feel content that we have done our part. We have not. For, we have not discharged our burden until we have delivered the message to him and to do so, God calls us to GO.

We do not have the authority to change Jesus’ mandate to suit ourselves, according to our own intellectual reasoning, so as to justify our disobedience and to convert it into a responsibility on the part of the unsaved man, to come to us. This ought not to be.

What transpired with Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch, underscores the point made in Romans 10:11-15. Salvation is free and available to all but God’s children need to GO into all the world to let people know, even as they have been sent by Jesus Christ.

The scripture reads:

“Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, HOW BEAUTIFUL ARE THE FEET OF THEM THAT PREACH THE GOSPEL OF PEACE and bring glad tidings of good things!”

Similar to the above scripture, in Ephesians 6:15, when speaking of the need for the Christian to put on the whole armour of God, reference to the Christian’s feet is made in relation to the gospel. The scripture states that “…YOUR FEET” should be “…SHOD WITH THE PREPARATION OF THE GOSPEL OF PEACE.”

It is clear then that God never intended the gospel to just remain stagnant in one place or to be suppressed within the walls of an erected building. If the gospel is preached from a building, that is lovely but it is not enough. To fulfil Christ’s commission, we are to GO forth with this treasure to which we have been entrusted and take steps to meet or contact people, so as to tell them about Jesus and the salvation that is being freely offered to their souls.

If we lack wisdom as to how to go about this, all we have to do is humbly ask God for it and he will give us what we need. James 1:5 tells us: “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.”

Truthfully, there are so many ways and avenues and opportunities to reach the lost with the gospel today, that it is mind-boggling to me, whenever a person who has professed Christ operates, as if he or she has not a clue what to do to get the gospel out to people. I believe that, if a person truly has a heart to obey the Lord’s commission and to see people saved and asks God for opportunities to reach people, ideas will come as to what he or she can do to make a difference. It may involve us having to spend some money or give up some of the time we spend on ourselves or make some other sacrifice. Simply put, it may require us to consider something other than just self.

I believe that the Word of God deliberately and repeatedly uses the imagery of ‘feet’ in the scriptures read, not just to indicate that the Christian’s walk and lifestyle before men should be honourable but also to allude to God’s intent, which was and still is that Christians should GO into all the world with the gospel.

The feet signify MOVEMENT and because Christians bear the light of the Lord Jesus Christ within, have the good news in their possession, have been given a mandate by Jesus Christ himself and sent, God expects each and every single one of us, whether we’re black or white, short or tall, rich or poor, male or female, child or adult, good with words or not good with words, single or married, highly intelligent or just average, feeling happy at the moment or a bit down in the dumps, up on a mountain or down in a valley, young or old, English-speaking or speaking some other language, good looking or just average, considered to be very important in society or considered to be a nobody by the masses, CEO of an organisation or Cleaner at an office, highly qualified with degrees or without a letter to our name, to GO with the gospel.

In addition to carrying the gospel out to people, the idea is that wherever the Christian finds himself, even if it is in a place he would much rather not be, like in prison or some far away land, the light of the Lord Jesus Christ goes with him. Once there is an opportunity therefore (and God faithfully provides this), he is expected to spread the gospel.

For example, when Paul and Silas had been beaten and were imprisoned, they did not sit and nurse their wounds and feel sorry for themselves, nor were they bitter or angry at God for what he had allowed to happen to them. In the midst of their pain and adversity, they were still Kingdom-minded, mindful of the fact that they were still God’s servants and still charged with a commission that took precedence over their circumstance. They therefore served as a powerful witness of Jesus Christ right in that prison, where they sang praises and prayed (instead of complaining) and from their conduct, which others took note of, they were given the opportunity to spread the gospel, right in that place and beyond.

The Bible states:

“And the multitude rose up together against them: and the magistrates rent off their clothes, and commanded to beat them. And when they had laid many stripes upon them, they cast them into prison, charging the jailor to keep them safely: Who, having received such a charge, thrust them into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks.

And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them. And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one’s bands were loosed. And the keeper of the prison awaking out of his sleep, and seeing the prison doors open, he drew out his sword, and would have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners had been fled. But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, Do thyself no harm: for we are all here.

Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas, And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. And they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and was baptized, he and all his, straightway.”

In Acts 11:19-21, we learn that some believers were scattered abroad due to persecution but as they MOVED, guess what happened? The gospel went with them. They did not sit in a corner and feel sorry for themselves and the plight that they were in and shove the gospel on a backburner for some other more convenient season but mindful of their commission to spread the gospel wherever they went, no matter what they faced or were going through, they did just that.

Can you say the same?

The scripture reads:

“Now they which were scattered abroad upon the persecution that arose about Stephen, travelled as far as Phenice, and Cyprus, and Antioch, preaching the word to none but unto the Jews only. And some of them were men of Cyprus and Cyrene, which, when they were come to Antioch, spake unto the Grecians, preaching the Lord Jesus. And the hand of the Lord was with them: and a great number believed, and turned unto the Lord.”

As women, it can be so easy to give in to the temptation to sit around and do nothing worthwhile for God because we don’t have all we desire and are not where we would like to be in life.

As a single woman, I have been tempted in the past to fall into that trap because I wanted to be married and to have a family of my own but no suitable suitor appeared to be on the horizon. However, the mandate of the Lord overrode my circumstance. Even as a single woman and in adversity, drought, affliction, attacks and unemployment, His fire burned within me and I knew that I could not just sit around and do nothing for the Lord.

As was stated in Jeremiah 20:9, “…I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name. But HIS WORD WAS IN MINE HEART AS A BURNING FIRE SHUT UP IN MY BONES, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay.“

David had a similar experience in Psalm 39:1-3, him stating:

“I said, I will take heed to my ways, that I sin not with my tongue: I will keep my mouth with a bridle, while the wicked is before me.I was dumb with silence, I held my peace, even from good; and my sorrow was stirred.My heart was hot within me, while I was musing THE FIRE BURNED…”

Similarly, I realized that souls needed to be saved. The gospel needed to go forth and so, in addition to whatever the Church may have been doing collectively, I went, both physically and by way of social media.

In 2017 in particular or thereabout, I felt that God was calling me to GO to social media and upload the quotes and material he had given me and which I had been writing about privately for my eyes only, for some time. Although I delayed a bit, when he allowed me to hear two Sermons back to back on a Sunday in January 2018, from two different sources and along the same theme, I was so convicted of my not doing enough with the gifts and talents that I knew that God had given me, that in January 2018 (when I heard the Sermons) I moved and obeyed.

I opened up my first Blog on Facebook called ‘SINGLE Daughters of God – Hephzibah Diaries‘ and once I had obeyed, ideas for more Articles and more Pages came. The work involved and still does involve me spending money to advertise the Pages so that women around the world could find them but this was a sacrifice I willingly made and continue to make, to advance the Lord’s purposes. After all, every cent I acquire is the Lord’s so it is not a big deal to give him back some of it, as may be required.

Throughout the years, I also spoke to people on the streets, in maxi taxis, in taxis, in eating outlets where I offered to purchase a meal for the less fortunate, on the phone, at my workplace (whenever and wherever I was employed), on my personal Facebook page and wherever God gave the opportunity. I did not do it as much as I ought to have or on all occasions where there was an opportunity to do so but I did and some persons received the gospel and were saved.

As I close, my question to you is this: Have you been GOING with the gospel of Christ, telling those you meet of how they can be saved or have you been suppressing it within, like that unfaithful servant who hid his lord’s talent in the ground? You are busy working for yourself but have you been advancing the Kingdom of God? Make no mistake, this is the most important work that you can engage in on this earth. It is second to none, for it is a job that yields eternal returns.

Stop looking for excuses or a more convenient season. Stop thinking that the preaching done on the pulpit in a Church building is enough and fulfils Christ’s mandate. Be obedient to the Lord’s commission. Even if nobody else around you seems to be doing it, this is immaterial. What people choose to do or not to do, does not excuse you or negate your responsibility before the Lord. Even if you are doing some activity that brings edification to the body of Christ, while this is commendable, you are still responsible to tell the lost about Jesus and his saving grace.

God wants you to be bold and courageous. If you are timid about spreading the gospel to the ungodly (people who are not at all timid about spreading their lies and filth and vulgarity daily), you must examine your heart and ask yourself why. Could it be that you are ashamed of the gospel or that you have spent so many years fitting perfectly in with the world’s system, at your workplace and among your peers, that you don’t want to rock the boat or be subjected to ostracism, criticism, attack, suffering or ridicule?

So what if they consider you strange? So what if they insult you and separate themselves from you? So what if you lose your job because you refuse to compromise or get overlooked in that interview because you dared to mention the name of Jesus and to let them know that you belonged to him? I have been there and done that and obeying God’s commission is worth all that suffering and more.

God did not call you to fit in but to stand out and you can only do so when you swim against the tide, stand up for what is right, let people know from the get-go who you are and to whom you belong and tell them the good news about salvation.

In Romans 1:16, Paul declared boldly: “For I am NOT ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.”

I too am not ashamed. Are you?

In Luke 9:26, Jesus stated “…whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory, and in his Father’s, and of the holy angels.”

What has the Lord given you that can be used to spread the gospel? Have you been using it? Have you been carrying the gospel with you wherever you go and actively looking for opportunities to reach people with it? If not, why not?

Whatever you are going through at the moment is irrelevant. You are lonely, so what? You are tired, so what? You are single and longing for a spouse, so what? You are heartbroken so what? You are in a loveless or childless marriage, so what? Life has dealt you some blows thus far and thrown you some major curve balls, so what? Things have not turned out in life the way you expected or anticipated thus far and you feel majorly disappointed, so what?

Jesus’ commission to you remains. They are not my words. They are His. “GO ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.”

It always amazes me when I see people vying for positions within Churches and competing with each other so that they can be seen by men and considered to be the most spiritual and have their admiration or to have the pre-eminence over others. While they fight within to advance themselves, the fields are ripe outside with desperate, thirsty souls that need to hear the gospel. There is much work to be done without, even if within seems to be crowded and there are not enough people GOING to get it done. Will you sign up for the call?

You may get no recognition and people may not even know that you are doing what you are doing but God knows and that is sufficient. We work for an audience of ONE. We should not be spreading the gospel for man’s accolades, high estimation or fanfare. We should be doing it for Christ because it is a beautiful message of hope, that which we have received and desire to share with others.

As Jesus stated in Matthew 9:37-38, “The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few; Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest.”

(Written on 15^th December, 2020)

ADDENDUM

On 5th March, 2021, I happened upon an Article online written on that very day by an external author, Greg Morse, called ‘THE SIN OF DOING NOTHING‘. It is in keeping with the same theme above and so I thought I’d share an excerpt.

He made reference to Numbers 32 where, the children of Reuben and Gad, on the outskirts of Jordan, found the land of Jazer and the land of Gilead to suit their purposes and so asked Moses whether they and their families could settle down there without the need to join with the other Israelites to go over Jordan to the war. The children of Israel had not yet reached the Promised Land but the tribes of Reuben and Gad wanted to settle down where they were at and leave the rest of the tribes to go forward to the battle.

The scripture reads in verses 1-7:

“Now the children of Reuben and the children of Gad had a very great multitude of cattle: and when they saw the land of Jazer, and the land of Gilead, that, behold, the place was a place for cattle^;The children of Gad and the children of Reuben came and spake unto Moses, and to Eleazar the priest, and unto the princes of the congregation, saying…if we have found grace in thy sight, let this land be given unto thy servants for a possession, and bring us not over Jordan.

And Moses said unto the children of Gad and to the children of Reuben, Shall your brethren go to war, and shall ye sit here?And wherefore discourage ye the heart of the children of Israel from going over into the land which the Lord hath given them?”

After Moses’ rebuke, the children of Reuben and the children of Gad agreed to go over to help the other tribes with the battle. Moses then told them in verses 20-23:

“If ye will do this thing, if ye will GO armed before the Lord to war, And will GO all of you armed over Jordan before the Lord, until he hath driven out his enemies from before him,And the land be subdued before the Lord: then afterward ye shall return, and be guiltless before the Lord, and before Israel; and this land shall be your possession before the Lord.But if ye will not do so, behold, ye have sinned against the Lord: and be sure your sin will find you out.“

Drawing principles from this account, Greg Morse wrote in his Article:

“Too many (myself included) have found our homes in the West. We enjoy religious liberty and pray, “Your kingdom come,” from time to time. We have our wife, two kids, and a pleasant existence — busy, no doubt, with something good. We do not trouble the world and the devil, and are not much troubled in return. Let Satan offer us land for cattle to roam, a hot meal, a warm bed, and we will sit contentedly still and not cross the river.

But our King has given us a mission. This mission is not yet complete. Our oaths are not yet fulfilled. Not all of God’s elect have their inheritance. Our conquest is not yet total — we remain on the wrong side of the Jordan.

“Onward Christian soldiers, marching as to war” are the lyrics bequeathed to us from calloused hands. But the reposed nature of too many men in churches, makes one think we were told, “Sit still Christian soldiers, till your seat is sore.”

To combat the sin of nothing is to refuse entanglement in civilian pursuits. To not get distracted from serving King and our heavenly country. To not lose sight of the mission, no matter what other worthwhile pursuits present themselves to us. To remember that marriage and family are parts of the mission, not the mission itself. We cannot rest until Christ has the souls for whom he died. Holiness awaits at the frontlines. Our call, our privilege, our joy is onward.”

Ironically, it is the thought or perception that a person is doing little or nothing in the secular world that attracts the infamy of many Christians, whether or not that person genuinely wants to work secularly but is having difficulty finding work or figuring out what to do or overcoming (temporarily), certain hurdles or obtaining support for a venture. Yet, in his Article, Greg Morse addresses and exposes the folly of focusing exclusively or mostly on secular pursuits and accomplishments which benefit SELF, while neglecting the work of the Lord.

It reminds me of Haggai 1:4-11, where the Lord rebuked his children for preoccupying themselves with work in the secular world and on their own affairs to benefit themselves, while neglecting HIS WORK which involved building his house, in the process.

Through the Prophet, God stated:

“Is it time for you, O ye, to dwell in your cieled houses, and this house lie waste? Now therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts; Consider your ways. Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes. Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Consider your ways. Go up to the mountain, and bring wood, and build the house; and I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified, saith the Lord.

Ye looked for much, and, lo it came to little; and when ye brought it home, I did blow upon it. Why? saith the Lord of hosts. Because of mine house that is waste, and ye run every man unto his own house. Therefore the heaven over you is stayed from dew, and the earth is stayed from her fruit. And I called for a drought upon the land, and upon the mountains, and upon the corn, and upon the new wine, and upon the oil, and upon that which the ground bringeth forth, and upon men, and upon cattle, and upon all the labour of the hands.”

Today, every Christian is charged with the mandate, to contribute to the building of the Lord’s house the Church, by obeying his call to GO. Secular work is great and Christians are commanded by the Word of God to work with their hands but being busy with our own affairs, whether at a workplace, in our own business or in matters of the household like daily chores and attending to the needs of our families, ought not to be our obsessive, predominant focus, to the point where God’s work and building his house with the gifts and talents he has given us is neglected or placed on a back-burner.

Jesus himself urged his disciples in Matthew 6:33, to put HIS business, HIS work FIRST, instead of subscribing to the model of the world, by worrying and running desperately after things in order to obtain life’s necessities. He instructed them:“…but seek ye FIRST the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”

As I heard a Preacher on Harbour Light Radio state when it comes to God’s mandate to GO: “We must SURRENDER to His PLAN, SUBMIT to His POWER and be STEADFAST to His PROGRAMME.”

(Addendum written on 5th March, 2021)

FURTHER ADDENDUM

I recently came across some quotes from a man (Vance Havner) who, though now deceased, God used greatly, to reach lost souls with the Word and to edify the saints. Most of his quotes appeal to me because they echo much of how I feel about what I see today in the Church and have long been lamenting over. Although he lived many years ago, he perceived a complacency which had come over many of God’s people, them being content to do everything else but God’s work, of reaching lost souls for Christ.

In light of these, he Preached much on the subject and here are some of his brutally honest quotes about the Church’s declining condition:

“Too many are willing to sit at God’s table, but not work in his field.”

“The cause of Christ has been hurt more by Sunday-morning benchwarmers who pretend to love Christ, who call Him Lord but do not His commands, than by all the publicans and sinners. They say they are evangelical but not evangelistic. They glory in being… disciples of the Lowest Common Denominator. They traffic in unfelt truth and refuse to get excited over religion. Their ideal service is “a mild-mannered man standing before a group of mild-mannered people, exhorting everybody to be more mild-mannered”… How many nice, comfortable, lovely people rest smilingly in church pews, their conscience drugged, their wills paralyzed, in self-satisfied stupor, utterly unconscious of their danger while the Lord of the Lampstands warns them, “I am about to spit you out of My mouth.”

“Too many Christians are stuffing themselves with gospel blessings while millions have never had a taste.”

“I know that some are always studying the meaning of the fourth toe of the right foot of some beast in prophecy and have never used either foot to go and bring men to Christ. I do not know who the 666 is in Revelation but I know the world is sick, sick, sick and the best way to speed the Lord’s return is to win more souls for Him.”

“The gospel is not something we go to Church to hear; It is something we go from Church to tell.”

“We are not going to move this world by CRITICISM of it nor CONFORMITY to it, but by the COMBUSTION within it of lives ignited by the Spirit of God.”

“Taking it easy is often the prelude to backsliding. Comfort precedes collapse.”

“The vision must be followed by the venture. It is not enough to stare up the steps, we must step up the stairs.”

“We are suffering today from a species of Christianity as dry as dust, as cold as ice, as pale as a corpse, and as dead as King Tut.”

“It is better to wake up five hundred Christians than to convert five hundred sinners, for if five hundred Christians really wake up, they will win more than five hundred sinners.”

“A Christian is not a depository of the truth; he’s a dispenser of the truth.”

“…We need to get going for God. Faith in itself has no value unless it connects you with God. The Bible is constantly trying to wake us up: “Stir up the gift of God” (2 Tim. 1:6); “Break up your fallow ground” (Hos. 10:12); “Gird up the loins of your mind” (1 Peter 1:13). We need to take ourselves by the nape of the neck and make ourselves do what we know we ought to do, whether we feel like it or not.”

(Addendum written on 27th January, 2023, added to thereafter)

ADDITIONAL FURTHER ADDENDUM

A few days ago, I happened to notice a tract with a poem on it and thought I’d share it here. It was written by Martha Snell Nicholson and it is as follows:

Is my house set in order
If Christ should come today?
What tasks would be unfinished
If I were called away?

Suppose an angel told me
At the early morning light,
“Your Lord will come this evening,
You shall go Home tonight!”

Would ecstasy be clouded
By thought of work undone,
The seed I might have scattered,
The crowns I might have won?

The soul I meant to speak to,
The verse I meant to share,
And oh the wasted moments
I meant to spend in prayer!

The weight of unsaved millions
Would press upon my heart.
In their death am I certain
That I had not a part?

And such a few short moments
In which to set things right!
How feverishly I’d labour
Until the waning light!

O slothful soul and careless heart,
O eyes which have no sight,
Work, lest you reap but vain regrets!
Your Lord may come tonight!

(Additional Further Addendum written on 1st April, 2023)

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