Because the inner lostness is the same in all human beings the work of God to reclaim them must be the same in all. And the Spirit broods over all, illuminating, revealing, convicting, enabling them to hear and see and understand.
It is one of the wonders and delights of preaching that the same message will often affect people differently, producing in one repentance, in another hope, in still others courage, humility or faith, according as the particular soul has need.
Without this mighty, skillful working of the Spirit, preaching would be futile; with it the ministry of the Word can be easy and delightful as well as marvelously effective.
verse
One of the those listening was a woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from the city of Thyatira, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Pauls message.
— Acts 16:14
thought
It is the Holy Spirit who opens hearts to respond to the Good News. It is the Spirit who illuminates the Word. It is the Spirit who reveals Christ and convicts of sin. We minister in vain without the Spirits ministry!
prayer
Thank You, Lord, that You do not hold me responsible to open the hearts of people. Forgive me for sometimes trying to. It is Your Spirit who so works!
https://cmalliance.org/devotionals/tozer/
The man of God may labor on in complete trust and in full expectation of success, provided he is aware of a few basic truths.
One is that however different people may be in externals, they are all alike fundamentally.
That in us to which the Christian message is directed is the same in every human being.
Before the cross of Jesus we are not old or young, educated or ignorant, cultured or uncouth, dull or brilliant; we are just people-human beings lost and ruined deep inside where incidental differences do not matter, where indeed they are not even known.
As gold is gold whether it is mixed with the sand of the stream or wrought into an exquisite work of art by the hand of a Cellini, so the essential stuff of human nature is the same under whatever conditions it may be found.
That about us which yields itself to social differentiation, is not that for which Christ died.
He did not, for example, die for doctors, farmers, authors, laborers, artists, engineers, professors, vagrants, presidents, musicians, lumbermen; He died for lost humanity, and any one can receive the benefits of His atonement, but only as lost beings.
Color, race, social standings, occupation, cultural levels do not count, for they do not alter the basic human thing for which His blood was shed.
verse
God loved the people of this world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who has faith in him will have eternal life and never really die (Contemporary English Version).
— John 3:16
thought
Whoever we are in the world our most basic need is to know Christ as our Savior and Lord. In dependence upon the Holy Spirit that Good News must be communicated in a linguistically and culturally perceptible form to each one of the worlds billions.
prayer
O Lord, people need You-those people around me and around the world. Use me to reach some of them. In Jesus name.
https://cmalliance.org/devotionals/tozer/
Again, the Christian minister must have a word from God for the teen-aged, the middle-aged and the very aged.
He must speak to the scholar as well as to the ignorant; he must bring the living Word to the cultured man and woman and to the vulgarian who reads nothing but the sports page and the comic strip.
He must speak to the sad and to the happy, to the tender-minded and to the tough-minded, to those eager to live and to some who secretly wish they could die.
And he must do this all in one sermon and in a period of time not exceeding 45 minutes.
Surely this requires a Daniel, and Daniels are as scarce in the United States as in Babylon in 600 B.C.
To add to the pastors burden is the knowledge that in each service there will likely be a few lost sons who should come home, some who never loved God at all and some who lost the love they had.
So he must call sinners to repentance, warn the unruly, comfort the feebleminded, instruct, reprove, rebuke, encourage, console and exhort all at the same time, or at least on the same day.
This is the situation stated baldly, but it is not actually as difficult as it looks.
I said that the preacher appears to be at cross purposes with himself; but it is in appearance only, for what seems to be confusion is but the seamy side of the tapestry.
The artistic pattern is on the other side.
verse
Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage-with great patience and careful instruction.
— Second Timothy 4:2
thought
Were you fed last Sunday? You may have been entertained, amused even encouraged. Were you fed? Was the Word preached?
prayer
Father, may our pastors preach the Word-exegeting, interpreting and applying accurately that truth they have prayerfully received from You.
https://cmalliance.org/devotionals/tozer/
Because we are the kind of persons we are and because we live in a world such as we do, the shepherd of souls is often forced to work at what would appear to be cross purposes with himself.
For instance, he must encourage the timid and warn the self-confident; and these may at any given time be present in his congregation in almost equal numbers.
His effort to encourage those who need encouragement may actually confirm presumptuous souls in their carelessness.
Conversely, his much needed warnings and reproofs may drive timorous and doubting Christians to the borders of despair.
Another problem he faces is the presence in the normal Christian assembly of believers in every stage of development, from the newly converted who knows almost nothing about the Christian life to the wise and experienced Christian who seems to know almost everything.
verse
Again Jesus said, Simon son of John, do you truly love me? He answered, Yes, Lord, you know that I love you. Jesus said, Take care of my sheep.
— John 21:16
thought
Taking care of a flock of sheep is a demanding task particularly if that flock includes sheep like you and me! Are you praying for your pastor/shepherd?
prayer
You are the Great Shepherd, the Good Shepherd. Thank You for Your undershepherds who have faithfully shepherded me over the years.
https://cmalliance.org/devotionals/tozer/
For choosing God as our one all absorbing interest we Christians are sometimes scorned or written off as hopelessly narrow-minded.
But must we apologize?
Must we apologize that we have chosen Christ as our career?
That we deliberately will to walk with those who walk with God?
That we have chosen eternity over time and heaven over earth?
Must we apologize that we have chosen to seek good and not evil all the days of our lives?
That we have chosen so to live that we dare to die?
In so choosing whom have we injured?
Whose son or daughter is the worse for knowing us?
Whose house have we robbed or whose money have we stolen?
Whom have we led into crime?
Who is a worse husband or father or citizen for following our Savior?
If we have wronged anyone it is in spite of our Christian faith, not because of it. No man, no home, no nation is the worse for the presence of a real Christian.
Gerhard Tersteegen, the saintly silk weaver, said it for us in a delightful little bit of verse: Child of the Eternal Father, Bride of the Eternal Son, Dwelling place of God the Spirit, Thus with Christ made ever one; Dowered with joy beyond the angels, Nearest to His throne, They the ministers attending His beloved one: Granted all my hearts desire, All things made my own; Feared by all the powers of evil, Fearing God alone; Walking with the Lord in glory Through the courts divine, Queen within the royal palace, Christ forever mine: Say, poor worldling, can it be That my heart should envy thee?
verse
You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.
— Matthew 5:13
thought
We are to be salt and salt is not always appreciated. We are to be light and those around may resent the light because they love darkness.
prayer
Lord, may I be salt and light in this world. Shine through me though I be only a flickering candle.
https://cmalliance.org/devotionals/tozer/
https://cmalliance.org/devotionals/tozer/
Our Lord, in defining eternal life, summed up the supreme goal of human existence: That they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. And Paul revealed the one overpowering interest of his life when he wrote That I may know him.
The business of the Church is God.
She is purest when most engaged with God and she is astray just so far as she follows other interests, no matter how religious or humanitarian they may be.
There are a thousand useful, even noble, pursuits in which the Church may engage and which may bring her the plaudits of the world but which are nevertheless unworthy of her utter devotion.
Such are social activities for their own sake, philosophical pursuits divorced from Him in whom all wisdom and knowledge is hidden away, art, music, education, travel, to name a mere few.
As these things come to the Christian in his pursuit of God they may have a proper and useful place in his life; but when they are chosen as ends to be followed they are and can only be cheap substitutes for the glory that excelleth.
verse
Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.
— John 17:3
thought
Eternal life is experientially knowing God. It is why we were created. Eternal life is not just an unending quantity of life. It is supernatural quality of life.
prayer
That I may know You, O God, that I may know You. That is eternal life!
https://cmalliance.org/devotionals/tozer/
If we could bring together in one huge directory a list of all the organizations, great and small, that exist throughout the earth for the promotion of special interests we would be astounded at the number of them.
Almost everything that human beings do or can do has its organization, association, society or guild to focus attention upon it and promote its ends.
Some of these are good, some are bad, most of them are just neutral; but each one, however boring or comical it may appear to those who are not interested, has its starry-eyed devotees who live for it alone and who derive their keenest pleasure from their preoccupation with it.
In the midst of all this there is one group of persons whose absorbing interest is, or should be, God.
That group is the Church.
The Church is born out of the gospel and that gospel has to do with God and mans relation to God.
Christianity engages to bring God into human life, to make men right with God, to give them a heart knowledge of God, to teach them to love and obey God and ultimately to restore in them the lost image of God in full and everlasting perfection.
verse
To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ-their Lord and ours.
— First Corinthians 1:2
thought
The Church is the people of God, the family of God. Wherever the people of God are the Church is. We are members of Christs body in the world. We are not confined to a church building. We are the Church wherever we are.
prayer
O Lord, may Your Church be the Church-bold and unashamed. We are Your people through whom You seek to reach those around us.
https://cmalliance.org/devotionals/tozer/
Except for those things that are specifically commanded or forbidden, it is God's will that we be free to exercise our own intelligent choice.
The shepherd will lead the sheep but he does not wish to decide which tuft of grass the sheep shall nibble each moment of the day.
In almost everything touching our common life on earth God is pleased when we are pleased. He wills that we be as free as birds to soar and sing our Maker's praise without anxiety. God's choice for us may not be one but any one of a score of possible choices.
The man or woman who is wholly and joyously surrendered to Christ cannot make a wrong choice.
Any choice will be the right one.
But what about those rare times when a great deal is at stake, we can discover no clear scriptural instruction and yet are forced to choose between two possible courses?
In such a situation we have God's faithful promise to guide us aright.
Here, for instance, are two passages from the Word of the Lord:
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. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering (James 1:5,6).
Thus saith the Lord, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; I am the Lord thy God which teacheth thee to profit, which leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldest go (Isaiah 48:17).
Take your problem to the Lord. Remind Him of these promises. Then get up and do what looks best to you. Either choice will be right.
God will not permit you to make a mistake.
verse
. . . I am the LORD your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go.
— Isaiah 48:17
thought
Sometimes God leads us through scripture. At other times it is direction by His Spirit internally. There are occasions, too, when He leads through other people whom we respect and admire. Or it may be just circumstances. What matters is assurance of hear
prayer
O Lord, may I be increasingly sensitive to You to discern Your will in whatsoever way You show it to me. In Jesus name.
https://cmalliance.org/devotionals/tozer/
Put this down as an unfailing rule: Never seek the leading of the Lord concerning an act that is forbidden in the Word of God. To do so is to convict ourselves of insincerity.
Again, prophet, psalmist, apostle and our blessed Lord Himself join to point out the way of positive obedience. His yoke is easy, His burden is light and He giveth more grace, so let this be the second rule:
Never seek the leading of the Lord concerning an act that has been commanded in the Scriptures.
Now, a happy truth too often overlooked in our anxious search for the will of God is that in the majority of decisions touching our earthly lives God expresses no choice, but leaves everything to our own preference.
Some Christians walk under a cloud of uncertainty, worrying about which profession they should enter, which car they should drive, which school they should attend, where they should live and a dozen or score of other such matters, when their Lord has set them free to follow their own personal bent, guided only by their love for Him and for their fellow men.
On the surface it appears more spiritual to seek Gods leading than just to go ahead and do the obvious thing. But it is not.
If God gave you a watch would you honor Him more by asking Him for the time of or by consulting the watch?
If God gave a sailor a compass would the sailor please God more by kneeling in a frenzy of prayer to persuade God to show him which way to go or by steering according to the compass?
verse
for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.
— Philippians 2:13
thought
Sometimes God shouts to us through our circumstances. His will seems too obvious. But a study of Pauls life shows that God leads us in different ways at different times in our pilgrimage.
prayer
Father, at times I have in effect demanded revelation of Your will to me in life hurricanes and earthquakes. May I discern it as well in the unspectacular circumstances of life-the quiet compass You have given me.
https://cmalliance.org/devotionals/tozer/