Acts 1: 10-11
This same Jesus – let us study these words.
Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
There are those who believe that God selects men and endues them with power denied to the rest
of us. I do not believe that. That would make God a respecter of persons.
We can say that there are some men who God uses more mightily because they make a more
definite surrender to the Lord.
I believe that each of us can be used just as greatly and effectively in our smaller spheres in the
service of the Lord as Spurgeon, Moody, or Billy Graham – if we make the same commitment to
God.
Christians today can be used just as fully and mightily in the service of the Lord as were the
apostles – if they do pay the same price for the same power. There is not enough of that same
power today. The channels of our lives are choked and the power of God is not flowing through
us. We must swing the doors of our hearts open and let the God of glory enter!
"There is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved."
This same Jesus is the only Saviour for lost souls.
His precious blood is still the only possible agency for salvation.
You do not have to explain Jesus!
You do not have to apologize for Him!
All you have to do is to lift Him up!
He will do the rest!
It is the same cross, the same gospel, and the same message.
This same Jesus is still the only Saviour.
Without the slightest hesitation we can still point men to
the Lamb of God, and still cry, "There is power in the blood, power in the blood!"
This same Jesus still has the same work to do that He started to do – that He commanded His
disciples to do – that He wants us to do.
This work is to rescue souls out of sin into salvation –
out of darkness into light.
Thank God for this great work!
We do not have to ponder or to question or to debate or to investigate what Jesus wants us to do.
We have but one task and one work and one plan – to preach the gospel to every individual on
the face of God's earth. All else is secondary.
Again and again Jesus repeated the mission for the Christian – the mission for the church: the
making of disciples.
How clear it all is!
How definite!
How powerful – to concentrate and consecrate all our energies in the one driving objective of
rescuing the perishing – of caring for the dying – of snatching them in pity from sin and the grave.
We must zealously strive to accomplish God's work in God's way!
I am terribly afraid that we are, like Martha, troubled about many things, and forgetful of the most
important thing.
Christians of today are hard, busy workers.
We have more organizations.
We have more conventions.
We have more reports.
We have more records.
We have more standards to reach.
We have more places to go.
We have more resources.
We have more things to do than any previous generation.
We forget, however, the supreme purpose of our activity.
Instead of attacking Satan on the major battleground, we waste our energies and ammunition in
unimportant skirmishes. We must recognize our senseless and superficial busyness. Let us refuse
to be occupied with nonessentials no matter how attractive they may be.
These other things are necessary. I am not minimizing them. But it is altogether possible to pay
so much attention to the machinery that the product (missions) is forgotten. The machinery is
required, but in religious work the less of it, the better.
The Holy Spirit will do more to call out, train, organize, and empower us than all our so-called
experts.
We must concentrate on preaching Christ – on witnessing.
More accurately Jesus still has the same "organism" through which He has done and is doing in these days, and
will continue to do the same work.
The church of the Lord Jesus is the evangelizing agency of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The church was built by the Lord Jesus Christ to go to the ends of the earth to make disciples, to
baptize them, and to teach them to observe all things of the Lord. It is almost impossible to be an
effective and fruit bearing Christian outside of the church.
You cannot be loyal to Christ without being loyal to the church. Throughout the centuries of
Christian history, the church has been Christ's instrument for the telling of the story of salvation.
As you love the Lord, and as you are concerned for the souls of men, let your life be dedicated to
the building up of the church of the living God.
May God really impress this next thought upon your souls!
Not only is this same Jesus the same and only Saviour.
Not only does He have the same work for us to do that He did long ago.
Not only does He depend upon the same organization to which we are to attach ourselves in
order to do that work – He also demands of all who are Christians the same things He demanded
of His apostles.
He demands the same things that He has been demanding of all regenerated souls since then.
There is no exception – no escape – no excuse!
The work is the same.
The workers are identical.
The procedure is to be the same.
Do you want to know the demands of Jesus?
Let Jesus tell you: "If a man love me, he will keep my words."
If you are a child of God, born again, washed in the blood of Jesus, you must demonstrate it by
keeping His commandments.
How are you going to keep His commandments unless you know them?
Therefore, you must spend minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, and years studying the Bible.
You must know The Word of God.
It must throb in your heart!
It must sing in your soul!
It must ring in your mind!
You are a citizen of the heavenly Jerusalem.
You are a pilgrim on the road to Heaven.
You are an ambassador for the King of kings.
Your conversations both in word and in deed must be savored with the aroma of Canaan.
In the Bible you will find your roadmap – your code of ethics – your guide to eternity.
Every problem that you face has an solution in the pages of this divine Book.
Let the Bible be your food by day and your thought by night.
Believe it! Love it! Live it! Lift it up to meet the needs of others all about you!
The first demand of Jesus is that we keep His commandments.
"Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto
you."
What does that mean?
It means just this – give the kingdom of God preference in your home, over your business, over
your pleasures, over your friends, and over everything in your life.
What is the kingdom of God?
I'm not sure that any of us knows all that the Kingdom of God involves, and I doubt that any one of us will know until
we get to Heaven.
This one thing I do know -- every part of the program of the church that is Scriptural and spiritual
is part of the program of the kingdom of God.
We are not seeking the kingdom of God –