Revivals That Stay

Revivals are among the charter rights of the church. They are the evidences of its divinity, the tokens of God’s presence, the witness of his power. The frequency and power of these extraordinary seasons of grace are the tests and preservers of the vital force in the church.

The church which is not visited by these seasons is as sterile in all spiritual products as a desert, and is not and cannot meet the designs of God’s church. Such churches may have all the show and parade of life, but it is only a painted life.

The revival element belongs to the individual, as well as to the church, life. The preacher whose experience is not marked by these inflows of great grace may question with anxious scrutiny whether he is in grace.

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Satan’s Secret Playground

I call these areas, where perils lurk but are covered with a sugar coating, Satan’s secret playground. For just as he enticed Eve with beautiful fruit, so he would like to entice our dear little ones with that playground appeal.

I’m not talking about ugly and frightening pictures or toys, satanic looking creatures or half-animal, half-people toys and pictures. Most of our children would stay clear of those things, treating them as they should, like the poison they are. I’m not even talking about the cute looking but loaded with sorcery characters such as Cinderella, Care Bears, mystical unicorns, or spell-casting princesses. The parents who have studied what God’s word has to say on sorcery, spell casting and necromancy cannot be fooled by such witchcraft wrapped in innocent looking surroundings.

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When You Preach

When you enter the pulpit make no apologies. You may not be a big preacher but you have just as big a Gospel to preach as any preacher who ever lived.

If you have a God-given message, deliver it. If you do not, the spiritual people will soon discover that you are firing only a dud. No matter how well you clothe a sermon with golden rhetoric and fine sentences, it is not a golden tongue that counts but a tongue of fire.

Leave self out of the pulpit but take Christ in. Do not waste time with a long preface or introduction but reach the truths of your sermon as early as possible. Do not keep on talking after you have finished your sermon. It is better to keep the people longing than to send them away loathing.

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