The world as we know it is in a state of utter chaos. It has embarked on a sickening rampage of self-destruction. Governments around the globe are dedicating themselves to a coercive agenda of humanism and secularism. This move is eroding the foundations of society, and draining its life-blood. Absolute moral devastation is the inevitable result. A shocking characteristic of this phenomenon is that “civilized” Western nations have taken their position at the spearhead of the campaign.

It would be difficult to find a better example of this catastrophe than recent happenings regarding the church of God in Germany. After waiting for five months and two days for a decision from the Regierungspraesidium Stuttgart, Baden Wuerttemberg-Abteilung Schule und Bildung, on an application for government acceptance of our private Christian school, we received on February 9, 2010, a shocking denial of our application. This denial came in spite of the fact that for thirteen years our school had operated very successfully with the tacit agreement of the government. Graduates of our school passed final state examinations with honors and made smooth transitions into the professional world.

Appalling religious discrimination and denegation of religious freedom constituted the main thrust of the letter. It was a blatant attack on the inherent right of children to security and success through the guidance of their parents (to whom they were ultimately entrusted) and the guidance of God–their Creator. From the letter emerges an alarming drive for state control of our children, by a move to forcibly wrench them out of God-ordained parental jurisdiction, and transplant them into a “self-dependence” far beyond their capacity to deal with as children. After all, there is not a single government on earth (however capable and powerful) that was endued with the ability to bear children. Furthermore, there has never been among the billions of this world even one child that was enabled to single-handedly and successfully decide his life’s course. This leads us to the logical and very elementary conclusion that parents were meant to preside over the affairs of their children until they are in a state to do so themselves.

According to the letter of denial from the department of education, requiring obedience of our children inhibits their development of individuality and personal identity. By impregnation of society with this mentality, children are spurred to disrespect their parents, teachers, and fellowmen in general, as well as values and principles that serve as indispensable building blocks of any successful civilization. In fact, obedience is the only preventative measure for anarchy and revolution.

By impeding the free course of biblical belief and practice, government officials are actively promoting ideological coercion. While Germany is a prime example of anti-religious civilization (more properly barbarity), the entire world is falling prey to a move of secularization of society to the exclusion of God from the schools, homes, and lives in general of humanity.

It is utterly ridiculous that education officials mentioned hairstyles and dress of our students (that were normal just a century ago) as argumentation to deny rights to a private school! What underlines the absurdity of this reasoning is that enrollees of German state schools are permitted the most bizarre hairstyles, dyes, and clothing imaginable. Students in public schools are being subjected daily to sexual exploitation through the clothes (or lack of them) of their fellow classmates, the themes and contents of their textbooks, and the overall absence of moral values.

As we retrospect the late 1930’s and early 1940’s, we are awe-struck at the demonstration of absolute control of the masses; we shudder at the inconceivable sway of power and are horrified at the ghastly scenes of atrocity, all of which characterized western Europe. Even Germany itself decries its history of this era. It is of paramount importance to realize that what set the stage for these events was the undermining, and eventual obliteration of religion and religious freedom. It was this that allowed for the persecution of religion and its professors. More precisely said, it was this that paved the way for the creation of death camps like Auschwitz and Dachau. And it is the very same ban of religion, which is allowing for the repetition of history in the same essence of National Socialist thought, only in the Germany of 2010! The accommodation of religion is a prerequisite for the stability of German society in general, as religion is an indispensable and vital component of Germany’s social fabric. The memories of the thirties and forties are to stand as memorials of infamy, the sight of which should forever preclude their re-occurrence.

Whatever happened to the fundamental understanding that diversity of society undergirds national strength? There is grave danger in homogenization of society–the permeation of the public with a single, prevailing, all-pervading frame of mind. The regime of Joseph Stalin and of communist China are examples of the implementation of this ideology. In fact, these infamous regimes are mirrored by the perpetration of the same ideals in present-day Germany.

In this modern society, the state is attempting a coup d’état on God. Atheism and humanism are rampant. The resulting immorality is drowning children and teenagers in a swirling vortex of crime, moral pollution, and acute identity crisis. Schools have turned into every day crime scenes and even massacre sites. Teachers are commonly known to succumb to nervous exhaustion and mental burnout syndrome (if they survive school shootings). An article in the German publication Stern (May 28, 2009), provided shocking coverage under the title “Kampfplatz Hauptschule” (Battlefield Middle School).

With the ideology of relative values, there cannot be anything that is really wrong. The secularized, humanistic state is giving mere children the prerogative to question and criticize anything and everything–even fundamental self-evident truths. Provided all is up for questioning and criticism, there remain no valid grounds to label genocide, abortion, euthanasia, or any other killing of or interfering with human life as wicked or even undesirable. It was the same framework of relativity of values and undermining of biblical principles which so effectively enabled Nazi leaders to practice racial extermination and other heinous crimes, while being adored as honorable leaders of the German nation.

In conclusion, we must realize that we are faced with radically aggressive invasion of basic and vital rights. Religion and the freedom to practice it have received the death sentence. The outlook of the future bespeaks calamity for Christians. However, our confrontation with these anti-religious powers is nothing new. We, as true Christians, have withstood the onslaught of governments and times for centuries and have always prevailed. We will continue to prevail until the end of time itself, for God always leads His people to victory.

West Milton, Ohio, USA – June 2009

Special Singing

Bro. Stephen Hargrave
Your Influence

Strong anointing was felt during the preaching. 32 visitors were present, most of them repeats. It was brought out so clear what effect our life has on others. We look back and we see the people that took a stand for what was right and we see the effects of it. Because of their stand, we sit together in heavenly places now. What about us? What will we do with our lives? Our community will either be blessed or cursed by our influence. Will we stand in our time?

Bro. Stephen Hargrave
Jesus, the War-Maker

Jesus is well known today as the baby in the manger, as the one that healed the people, as the one that did good everywhere, as the one that suffered and died on the cross. But, He is NOT known as the war-maker. And yet, that’s what He does. The stir in the community is not caused by the devil. The war-maker is causing it. He is riding on the white horse (Rev. 19:11). He is not just peace.

Saturday, March 6, 2010
at the Church of God in Aylmer, Ontario

Bro. Stephen Hargrave
The Man, Christ Jesus

“For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;”
First he dealt with the first part of the verse. “There IS one God!” Just because some people say they don’t believe there is a God, that doesn’t change the fact at all that there IS one God.
“All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.”
This takes care of evolution ALL the way. We don’t need anything else.
Then he showed us how low Jesus came when he became man. He could have come some other way but he chose to come in a human body. That is very special. He can relate to ALL our needs and temptations. He was a baby, had a childhood, was a young person, etc. Oh, what a Savior! The thought that God put on flesh will take all pride away.

A number of visitors were out again. Pray that the Lord will establish their souls. The Lord is strongly dealing with their souls.

Friday, March 5, 2010
at the Church of God in Aylmer, Ontario

Bro. Stephen Hargrave
The Heavenly Bread

The Lord fed our souls in a special way. It was brought out very clear that it is not God’s will for his people to starve. God promised to rain bread from heaven. That is very special. It does not come from out of the earth. This bread will even quench your thirst. Every time we come to service, God wants us to banquet. He wants us to be spiritually fat. This is a good way to find out if you are at the right place where you attend. Are you feasting on heavenly bread or are you starving? Do your young people need volleyball, pizza parties, and dating? The heavenly bread takes care of all of that.

It was a wonderful service from the beginning to the end. To God be the glory!
28 visitors were present; 19 were repeats. Thank God!

Thursday, March 4, 2010
at the Church of God in Aylmer, Ontario

Bro. Stephen Hargrave
The Victory

We were so very blessed by the word of God tonight.
“Them that had gotten the victory… stand on the sea of glass!” The whole world wants to be victorious. Them that have gotten the victory, no longer are afraid of the beast, the number of his name, etc. even if they do not fully understand what those things are. If you have gotten the victory, you stand above that. The only way to be victorious is to build on the ONE foundation which is Jesus Christ. This is a fiery foundation. If you build on here with wood, hay, and stubble, the very foundation will burn it up. When you truly come in contact with the Word of God, it will knock you down, face down.

The Lord helped our dear brother to preach with much liberty and boldness. We are so thankful for the presence of God.

Wednesday, March 3, 2010
at the Church of God in Aylmer, Ontario

Bro. Stephen Hargrave
The Inseparability of Christ and His Church

It was a very sobering message as He brought out the spiritual side of “Jesus Wept”. There was a time when Jesus stood at our grave and wept. Then he spoke the word: Lazarus, come forth! Jesus is still weeping today at many graves. He groans in His Spirit when He sees how dead people are.

More first-time visitors out. Others are in the valley of decision. Please pray that the Lord would remove all hindrances and help each soul to do what they need to do.

Tuesday, March 2, 2010
at the Church of God in Aylmer, Ontario

Bro. Stephen Hargrave
The Inseparability of Christ and His Church

- When John turned, he saw the voice,
seven golden candlesticks AND one like unto the Son of man
- The head has a body; without a body, the head is dysfunctional
- Jesus is the door; a door is attached to a door-jamb
When you think of a door, you know that there is a building
- In our days Jesus is believed to be a floating door somewhere in the middle of nowhere
- If you are in Christ and I am in Christ, we will have to share Christ
- What’s wrong with being ONE??
- It is strange that you would think it strange for all Christians to be together

It is so encouraging to see that the Lord gives us exactly what our community needs. Please keep us in your prayers, especially during this week.

Monday, March 1, 2010
at the Church of God in Aylmer, Ontario

Bro. Stephen Hargrave
Only One Ark

The Lord blessed us richly tonight. We had over 20 visitors and were amazed to see how the Lord inspired his word to minister to our souls. A few important points mentioned:

- The Ark was not Noah’s design; he built as he was directed
- The ark was not equipped with lifeboats and life vests because it was unsinkable
- If we add up all the “arks” today the number equals about = 666
- There was no “wolf ark” and “lamb ark” but they all had to “lie together” in one ark
- Noah was not given a whip to keep order in the ark
- God only has one hope, one escape, one way, and one ark.

Please keep praying for our community. Many souls have been made aware of this outreach meeting by invitations, phone calls, newspaper ads, online advertising, etc.

Gospel Meetings at the Church of God in Aylmer, Ontario

March 1-7

Minister: Bro. Stephen Hargrave, Indiana, USA

Monday-Saturday  7:00 PM

Sunday  10:00 AM & 2:00 PM

Held at the Church of God meetinghouse at 751 John Street North in Aylmer, Ontario, Canada.

The design of this article is to propound several rules by a steady conformity to any one of which a man may preach so as not to convert anybody. It is generally conceded at the present day that the Holy Spirit converts souls to Christ by means of truth adapted to that end. It follows that a selfish preacher will not skilfully adapt means to convert souls to Christ, for this is not his end.

1. Let your supreme motive be to secure your own popularity, then, of course, your preaching will be adapted to that end, and not to convert souls to Christ.

2. Aim at pleasing, rather than at converting your hearers.

3. Aim at securing for yourself the reputation of a beautiful writer.

4. Let your sermons be written with a high degree of literary finish.

5. Let them be short, occupying in the reading not to exceed from twenty to thirty minutes.

6. Let your style be flowery, ornate, and quite above the comprehension of the common people.

7. Be sparing of thought, lest your sermon contain truth enough to convert a soul.

8. See that you say nothing that will appear to any of your hearers to mean him or her, unless it be something flattering.

9. Make no distinct points, and take no disturbing issues with the consciences of your hearers, lest they remember these issues, and become alarmed about their souls.

10. Avoid a logical division and subdivision of your subject, lest you should too thoroughly instruct your people.

11. Give your sermon the form and substance of a flowing, beautifully written, but never-to-be-remembered essay, so that your hearers will say “it was a beautiful sermon,” but can give no further account of it.

12. Avoid preaching doctrines that are offensive to the carnal mind, lest they should say of you, as they did of Christ, “This is a hard saying. Who can hear it?” and that you are injuring your influence.

13. Denounce sin in the abstract, but make no allusion to the sins of your present audience.

14. Keep the spirituality of God’s holy law, by which is the knowledge of sin, out of sight, lest the sinner should see his lost condition and flee from the wrath to come.

15. Preach the gospel as a remedy, but conceal or ignore the fatal disease of the sinner.

16. Preach salvation by grace, but ignore the condemned and lost condition of the sinner, lest he should understand what you mean by grace, and feel his need of it.

17. Preach Christ as an infinitely amiable and good-natured being; but ignore those scathing rebukes of sinners and hypocrites which so often made his hearers tremble.

18. Avoid especially preaching to those who are present. Preach about sinners, and not to them. Say they, and not you, lest any one should make a personal and saving application of your subject.

19. Aim to make your hearers pleased with themselves and pleased with you, and be careful not to wound the feelings of any one.

20. Preach no searching sermons, lest you convict and convert the worldly members of your church.

21. Avoid awakening uncomfortable memories by reminding your hearers of their past sins.

22. Do not make the impression that God commands your hearers now and here to obey the truth.

23. Do not make the impression that you expect your hearers to commit themselves upon the spot and give their hearts to God.

24. Leave the impression that they are expected to go away in their sins, and to consider the matter at their convenience.

25. Dwell much upon their inability to obey, and leave the impression that they must wait for God to change their natures.

26. Make no appeals to the fears of sinners, but leave the impression that they have no reason to fear.

27. Say so little of hell that your people will infer that you do not believe in its existence.

28. Make the impression that, if God is as good as you are, He will send no one to hell.

29. Preach the love of God, but ignore the holiness of His love, that will by no means clear the impenitent sinner.

30. Often present God in His parental love and relations, but ignore His governmental and legal relations to His subjects, lest the sinner should find himself condemned already and the wrath of God abiding on him.

31. Preach God as all mercy, lest a fuller representation of His character should alarm the consciences of your hearers.

32. Try to convert sinners to Christ without producing any uncomfortable convictions of sin.

33. Flatter the rich, so as to repel the poor, and you will convert none of either class.

34. Make no disagreeable allusions to the doctrines of self-denial, cross-bearing, and crucifixion to the world, lest you should convict and convert some of your church members.

35. Admit, either expressly or impliedly, that all men have some moral goodness in them, lest sinners should understand that they need a radical change of heart, from sin to holiness.

36. Avoid pressing the doctrine of total moral depravity, lest you should offend, or even convict and convert, the moralist.

37. Do not rebuke the worldly tendencies of the church, lest you should hurt their feelings and finally convert some of them.

38. Should any express anxiety about their souls, do not probe them by any uncomfortable allusion to their sin and ill-desert, but encourage them to join the church at once, and exhort them to assume their perfect safety within the fold.

39. Preach the love of Christ not as enlightened benevolence that is holy, just, and sin-hating, but as a sentiment, an involuntary and undiscriminating fondness.

40. Be sure not to represent religion as a state of loving self-sacrifice for God and souls, but rather as a free and easy state of self-indulgence. By thus doing you will prevent sound conversions to Christ, and convert your hearers to yourself.

41. So select your themes and so present them as to attract and flatter the wealthy, aristocratic, self-indulgent extravagant, pleasure-seeking classes, and you will not convert any of them to the cross-bearing religion of Christ.

42. Be time-serving, or you will endanger your salary and, besides, if you speak out and are faithful, you may convert somebody.

43. Do not preach with a divine unction, lest your preaching make a saving impression.

44. To avoid this, do not maintain a close walk with God, but rely upon your learning and study.

45. Lest you should pray too much, engage in light reading and worldly amusements.

46. That your people may not think you in earnest to save their souls, and, as a consequence, heed your preaching, encourage church-fairs, lotteries, and other gambling and worldly expedients to raise money for church purposes.

47. If you do not approve of such things, make no public mention of your disapprobation, lest your church should give them up, and turn their attention to saving souls and be saved themselves.

48. Do not rebuke extravagance in dress, lest you should uncomfortably impress your vain and worldly church members.

49. Lest you should be troubled with revival scenes and labors, encourage parties, picnics, excursions, and worldly amusements, so as to divert attention from the serious work of saving souls.

50. Ridicule solemn earnestness in pulling sinners out of the fire and recommend, by precept and example, it jovial, fun-loving religion, and sinners will have little respect for your serious preaching.

51. Cultivate a fastidious taste in your people, by avoiding all disagreeable allusions to the last judgment and final retribution.

52. Treat such uncomfortable doctrines as obsolete and out of place in these days of Christian refinement.

53. Do not commit yourself to much-needed reforms, lest you should compromise your popularity and injure your influence. Or you may make some branch of outward reform a hobby, and dwell so much upon it as to divert attention from the great work of converting souls to Christ.

54. So exhibit religion as to encourage the selfish pursuit of it. Make the impression upon sinners that their own safety and happiness is the supreme motive for being religious.

55. Do not lay much stress upon the efficacy and necessity of prayer, lest the Holy Spirit should be poured out upon you and the congregation, and sinners should be converted.

56. Make little or no impression upon your hearers, so that you can repeat your old sermons often without its being noticed.

57. If your text suggest any alarming thought, pass lightly over it, and by no means dwell upon and enforce it.

58. Avoid all illustrations, repetitions, and emphatic sentences that may compel your people to remember what you say.

59. Avoid all heat and earnestness in your delivery, lest you make the impression that you really believe what you say.

60. Address the imagination and not the conscience, of your hearers.

61. Make it your great aim to be personally popular with all classes of your hearers.

62. Be tame and timid in presenting the claims of God, as would become you in presenting your own claims,

63. Be careful not to testify from your own personal experience of the power of the gospel, lest you should produce the conviction upon your hearers that you have something which they need.

64. Encourage church socials and attend them yourself, because they tend so strongly to levity as to compromise Christian dignity and sobriety, and thus paralyze the power of your preaching.

65. Encourage the cultivation of the social in so many ways as to divert the attention of yourself and your church members from the infinite guilt and danger of the unconverted among you.

66. In those socials, talk a little about religion, but avoid any serious appeal to the heart and conscience of those who attend, lest you should discourage their attendance, always remembering that they do not go to socials to be earnestly dealt with in regard to their relations to God. In this way you will effectually so employ yourself and church members as that your preaching will not convert anybody.

The experience of ministers who have steadily adhered to any of the above rules will attest the soul-destroying efficacy of such a course, and churches whose ministers have steadily conformed to any of these rules can testify that such preaching does not convert souls to Christ.

“The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.” 1 Cor. 15:26.

This verse unequivocally exposes death for what it is–the enemy of mankind. No sooner had sin entered the world than death came running upon its heels. And so speaks God to the first man, “For dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return” (Gen. 3:19). “In Adam all die” (1 Cor. 15:22). It is a product of the Edenic curse on sin, and thus “death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned” (Rom. 5:12).

Death was not God’s original plan for man’s existence. It is the end of all earthly probation, a sealing up of the deeds of man until the day of resurrection and judgment. It is the blight of all of man’s natural hopes for life and vitality. It severs the bonds of friendship and family. Death has brought untold grief to multitudes of those still living, and more fearful still, the everlasting agony of untold billions since it followed the entrance of sin.

And yet, in the face of all of this, there are actually people who applaud death as a friend and saviour. They welcome death as an end to misery and the curse of sin, when it is a curse of sin itself! As appalling a thing as death is, they languish for it, thinking that only through the venue of death can they ever be rid of sin in their life. As if death were a cleansing from what they could not (or rather would not) part with here! To such, life is not long enough for a person to know conclusively that they are saved. Nor can one attain unto Christian perfection but through the scourge of death.

This is an absurd doctrine, and one completely without warrant in the holy scriptures. It is Satan’s attempt to perpetuate the deception which he first introduced in the garden. It turns an end-product of sin, the most baneful curse to ever soil the history of man, into a blessing. And such a “blessing” this! To hope to be delivered then from what one can most certainly be and must be delivered from now? To put off the day of one’s salvation, claiming it cannot be had until then? To completely undo all the dire warnings of the holy apostles and prophets against sin? To foster lukewarmness and down-right coldness and disinterestedness of vital religion in the soul of man?

Dear reader, death will produce no metamorphosis of the soul. One cannot be cleansed through death of the wrongs they have committed while living. “And if the tree fall toward the south, or toward the north, in the place where the tree falleth, there it shall be.” Eccl. 11:3b. It is a maxim that is every whit true in the spiritual, as well as the natural. Death, the enemy of your soul, will seal your spiritual condition, not change it. If sin is harbored in life, it will crush you in death.

“But this is not so,” says one, “For Paul has said, ‘For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain’ (Phil. 1:21).”

Hold! Death is only gain if you have this testimony of Paul: “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith” (2 Tim. 4:7). And how can you truly have this testimony unless, like Paul you have been “crucified with Christ” (Gal. 2:20) and are “dead indeed unto sin” (Rom. 6:11) in this life? How can death be gain to those whose obvious testimony is that they are yet sinners and continue in sin more or less every day? What! you have fought a good fight when you have been vanquished by sin every day of your life? This is strange language, for sure! Death, the child of sin, a gain to the soul that sins? As if sin itself were a blessing and not a curse!

I would that those who espouse this pernicious doctrine would realize the magnitude of the view they hold. It exalts death over Christ; makes it a saviour, instead of Him. It gives to death the power reserved to the Deity alone, and shames the blessed Son of God, for it yields more power to death than to Him. “We cannot be perfect,” they say, “until we die. No man can live above sin while living.” Never mind that Christ is the “Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29), and it is He who is “exalted…to be a Prince and a Saviour” (Acts 5:31). Nay, for they will have death to do what they will not allow Christ to do for them here.

Why is this, dear soul? Is it because sin is yet sweet to you? Is it because you fear to live a righteous and a holy life now? Are earthly things of such value that you are loath to be deprived of them by being a true Bible Christian?

Hear the words of the Lord Jesus, the Vanquisher of Sin and Conqueror of Death. “Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin” (John 8:34). Not a servant of His. And “know ye not that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?” (Rom. 6:16). Therefore death (in this case the second death, or everlasting punishment) is linked to sin, and yielding to sin makes you its servant and a partaker of its consequence. But “if the Son therefore shall make you free” from being the servant of sin, “ye shall be free indeed” (John 8:36). Indeed. But is death His mechanism for making one free from sin? Surely not, for hear Him again, “Sin no more,” and “Go, and sin no more” (John. 5:14; 8:11). He is the Saviour, and deliverance from sin is found in Him in life, not death.

Sin is a spiritual principle and condition. Therefore, since the soul is in itself eternal and does not pass away with physical death, it remains that sin in the soul also cannot pass away with the body. There is no cleansing element in death. The cleansing of the soul can only be had through the blood of Christ. Death is not His work, nor His means of dealing with the problem of sin. Calvary is.

God feels so strongly toward death that He is destined to destroy it and anything attached to it. This includes your soul, for “the soul that sinneth, it shall die” (Ezk. 18:4).

“Do not venture the hope
that is waiting for death
To waft you to comfort and peace.
There’s no rest for a soul,
in this world or above,
Not saved in the Father’s embrace.”

Precious soul, fly to Christ now for cleansing from all sin. Death is not a saviour! There is one hope for your soul. Newness of life is to be had now.

“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” 2 Cor. 5:17. “…Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” 2 Cor. 6:2.

Who does not know that it is better to be pure and holy than to talk about purity and holiness? Who does not know that a man is to be reckoned no further pure or holy or just than as he is pure and holy and just in the common course of his life? If this be plain, then it is also plain that it is better to be holy than to have holy prayers.

Every sober reader will easily perceive that I don’t intend to lessen the true and great value of prayers, either public or private, but only to show him that they are certainly but a very slender part of devotion when compared to a devout life.

Bended knees, whilst you are clothed with pride; heavenly petitions, whilst you are hoarding up treasures upon earth; holy devotions, whilst you live in the follies of the world; prayers of meekness and charity, whilst your heart is the seat of spite and resentment; hours of prayer, whilst you give up days and years to idle diversions, impertinent visits, and foolish pleasures are as absurd, unacceptable service to God as forms of thanksgiving from a person that lives in repinings and discontent.

Unless the common course of our lives be according to the common spirit of our prayers, our prayers are so far from being a real or sufficient degree of devotion that they become an empty lip-labor or, what is worse, a notorious hypocrisy.

This may serve to convince us that all orders of people are to labor and aspire after the same utmost perfection of the Christian life.

As certain therefore as the same holiness of prayers requires the same holiness of life, so certain is it that all Christians are called to the same holiness of life.

A tradesman is not called to preach the gospel, but every tradesman is as much obliged to be devout, humble, holy, and heavenly minded in all the parts of his common life as a clergyman is obliged to be zealous, faithful, and laborious in all the parts of his profession.

All Christians, as Christians, have one and the same calling, to live according to the excellency of the Christian spirit and to make the sublime precepts of the gospel the rule and measure of all their tempers in common life. The one thing needful to one is the one thing needful to all.

For the Son of God did not come from above to add an external form of worship to the several ways of life that are in the world, and so to leave people to live as they did before in such tempers and enjoyments as the fashion and spirit of the world approves. But as He came down from heaven altogether divine and heavenly in His own nature, so it was to call mankind to a divine and heavenly life, to the highest change of their whole nature and temper, to be born again of the Holy Spirit, to walk in the wisdom and light and love of God and be like Him to the utmost of their power, to renounce all the most plausible ways of the world, whether of greatness, business, or pleasure, to a mortification of all their most agreeable passions, and to live in such wisdom and purity and holiness as might fit them to be glorious in the enjoyment of God to all eternity.

Whatever therefore is foolish, ridiculous, vain, or earthly, or sensual in the life of a Christian is something that ought not to be there; it is a spot and a defilement that must be washed away with tears of repentance. But if anything of this kind runs through the course of our whole life, if we allow ourselves in things that are either vain, foolish, or sensual, we renounce our profession.

For as sure as Jesus Christ was wisdom and holiness, as sure as He came to make us like Himself and to be baptized into His Spirit, so sure is it that none can be said to keep to their Christian profession but they who to the utmost of their power live a wise and holy and heavenly life. This and this alone is Christianity, a universal holiness in every part of life, a heavenly wisdom in all our actions, not conforming to the spirit and temper of the world.

The lightning bolts of the Bible are destructive only to error and its adherents. Those whose souls are protected by the lightning rods of God’s truth are safe, and can shout and sing while the lightning leaps and the cyclones of Pentecostal purity and power sweep the earth.

We live in the electric age in both the material and spiritual worlds. Light, heat and motion have been drawn from electricity until old customs and appliances have been revolutionized. From the Pentecostal dynamo there has also burst forth into the spiritual world, light and love and power which is causing multitudes to rush from the old candlelit stage-coaches of forms and ceremonies and dry creeds and crooked experiences into the brilliantly lighted, swiftly propelled cars of full salvation, which, by divine power, are bearing their inmates triumphantly on and up from “glory unto glory.”

They startle. Lightning bolts startle by their vividness, intensity and death-dealing power. In all ages the lightning which has fallen from Pentecostal skies has startled the nations. The prayer of the writer is that these bolts may startle and awaken all who are not securely building on the Rock which no storms can shake.

They hit. Lightning bolts always hit somewhere. Sheet-lightning entertains by its beauty and by the fact that it is just “playing at lightning,” but lightning bolts always hit. God never sends them in either world for amusement. At Pentecost they hit the crucifiers of Jesus, and they have continued to fall with gleeful fury upon Pharisees and hypocrites ever since.

They awaken. The thunder which is born of the bolt is a mighty awakening agency. So the life and power and zeal which follow from one person who, like Paul, Wesley, or Finney, has become a lightning bolt of Pentecostal power, often awaken thousands from the sleep of sin and lead them into the kingdom of God.

They reveal surrounding objects. Their vivid light banishes darkness and reveals every enemy lurking beneath its shadows. The prowling wolf, the cowardly assassin, the treacherous pitfall, as well as the place of safety, is seen under its searching light. In the dark night of sin, formality, worldliness and error in which the “church” is befogged, Pentecostal lightning bolts make surprising and often terrifying revelations. They show lost men where they are and warn them of spiritual foes, and reveal Him who only is able to save.

They frighten. People fear their fury. They dread being hit. Yet a God of infinite love creates them, and continues to hurl them where He sees that they should fall. Just so, people fear spiritual lightning. The opposition to ministers who are charged with it is from this source. People who have not Pentecostal protection fear Pentecostal bolts and the storm-centers of Pentecostal ministers, from which they often leap.

They are no respecters of persons. They fall in defiance of color, clime, creed, and social, political or ecclesiastical position, dealing death and doom wherever God sees fit to send them, asking no leave, making no apologies. In like manner, Pentecostal bolts fall wherever shams and sin are found, and give light and comfort to all who, irrespective of names and creeds, love to see error die.

They shock people. This is a sure sign that they fall near where they live. Scribes and Pharisees were fearfully “shocked” when this kind of lightning first fell and formalists and worldlings and hypocrites are always thus affected by it, while God’s true children

“Can brave the wildest storms

With His glory to the soul;

And can shout amid the tempest,

‘Praise the Lord!’”

It is a department of celestial fireworks with which God entertains His children, and others are apprised of their real spiritual character by the way it affects them.

Sometimes they kill. When they do, we do not blame them or the God who sends them, but say, “He doeth all things well.” Thus they leaped upon Achan, Ananias and Sapphira, to the alarm of evil-doers and the defense of God’s people, and thus they sometimes fall upon like characters today, with similar results.

They attract attention. Lightning bolts attract public attention. The thunder which follows vibrates far and near. So with spiritual bolts. The howls of people who are hit often reverberate through a whole city, and, by the aid of the sounding-boards of the press, through an entire nation. It was these that filled Jerusalem with an uproar in the days of Jesus, and which are to thus fill modern Jerusalem as they leap again with like precision and fury upon the children of those whom they thus destroyed.

They are unpopular. Lightning bolts are unpopular. People, as a rule, dread them. They awaken and startle and kill in such a way as to be a source of alarm, yet they are a part of God’s plan, and have a mission which no other force can fill. The lightning bolt phase of Christianity is just as unpopular for similar reasons, yet none the less needed. The bolts leap from the great storm cloud of divine truth, which has its source in God’s Word.

They never apologize. No matter who is hit, or how many, or how terribly people are “shocked” or criticized, they never take anything back. For the bolts of divine truth which leap from the Word of God, there can be no apologies, no matter how severely and by whom criticized.

They appear cruel. Their work often seems cruel and destructive. Such to limited human sight it may seem. But such, tried by God’s standard, it never is. For in both the physical and spiritual world no bolts leap but from the bosom of infinite love.

They are sudden. “Quick as lightning.” In a similar way the truth leaps upon its foes, until they perceive they are “in the gall of bitterness and bonds of iniquity”; or, Ananias-like, are quickly summoned to a higher court than earth’s; or are, like Pharaoh’s hosts, suddenly drowned in some Red Sea, while those whom they seek to crush sing paeans of victory upon its shores; or, like the antediluvian world, see their folly when too late, and sink beneath their sins.

They are unchangeable. They are just the same now as in the days of Adam, of Moses, and of the primitive church. So with the electric current of Pentecostal truth. The same wires that gave light, and heat, and motion to the salvation cars, in which patriarchs, prophets and apostles sped triumphantly to the skies, will bear their children of this age to the same pearly portals. The bolts which fell on false prophets, and people, and Pharisaical hypocrites of old, leap with kindred fury upon their followers today.

They appear sacrilegious. They often strike churches, and sometimes kill preachers. Indeed, the tall steeples of many modern temples invite them. Sham churches and preachers in a similar way draw down bolts of burning rebuke and exposure from Pentecostal skies. No false plea of sacred place and office can keep them off. No place is sacred where God is disobeyed and insulted, and no man is sacred who profanes his office by betraying sacred trusts. Such places and such ministers are, and ever have been, subjects of divine Lightning Bolts.

Protection provided. There is perfect protection from them. A person perfectly insulated is as safe from lightning in a storm as in the sunshine. Lightning rods of a sham profession have been tried in vain for this purpose, as they draw the lightning instead of diverting it, but all who are insulated from the world by a Holy Ghost experience, fear no bolts from either above or below. If you get “shocked” or killed it will be because you are not properly insulated.

They herald refreshing showers. These showers banish drought, refresh nature, and are a precious, heaven-sent boon. So with the showers of salvation which attend the lightning bolts of power. They turn Saharas of formality into blooming gardens of Christian experience and activity, banish the malaria of worldliness and sin, making the spiritual atmosphere fresh and healthful and laden with the beauty and fragrance of heaven.

“…When Felix came with his wife Drusilla…he sent for Paul, and heard him concerning the faith in Christ. And as he reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come, Felix trembled, and answered, Go thy way for this time; when I have a convenient season, I will call for thee.” Acts 24:24-25.

Felix did not want to give up his sins. He looked around. There was Drusilla. He knew that when he became a Christian, he must send her back to Azizus, her lawful husband, and he said to himself, “I will risk the destruction of my immortal soul sooner than I will do that.”

How many there are now who cannot get to be Christians because they will not abandon their sins! In vain all their prayers and all their church-going. You cannot keep these darling sins and win heaven, and some of you will have to decide between the wine-cup and unlawful amusements, and lascivious gratifications on the one hand and eternal salvation on the other.

Delilah sheared the locks of Samson. Salome danced Herod into the pit. Drusilla blocked up the way to heaven for Felix and unless some of you repent, you shall likewise perish. Yet when I present the subject tonight, I fear that some of you will say, “Not quite yet. Don’t be so precipitate in your demands. I have a few tickets yet that I have to use. I have a few engagements that I must keep. I want to stay a little longer in the whirl of conviviality–a few more steps on the road to death, and then, sir, I will listen to what you say. Go thy way for this time. When I have a more convenient season, I will call for thee.”

Do you know that your boat is on the edge of the maelstrom, and that the foam on the wave is the frothing lip of the destroyed, and that the gleam in the water is the glaring eyeballs of the banished, and that the roar of the wave is the groan of the damned? You had better clutch with both hands the handles of the oars, as with a death grip, and, putting the blades down into the black waters, pull for your eternal life, crying, “Lord, save me, I perish!”

Can you not offer such a prayer tonight, oh man, long wandering away from your God? Who is that I see running up and down in the prison-house of the lost, now trying to break through the gate, and failing, turning around and rushing to the other gate and beating against it, and in despair, crying, “Let me get out!” Who is it? Some soul tonight that will not give up his indulgences; some soul tonight that is bound hand and foot by the powers of darkness; some soul here that has a darling sin that he will not sacrifice, and who says to me when I present the great themes of God and eternity to his soul, “Not yet. Go thy way for this time. When I have a more convenient season, I will call for thee.”

“And Peter, fastening his eyes upon him with John, said, Look on us.” Acts 3:4.

As George Whitefield was making one of his whirlwind preaching tours through North America, thousands were being awakened to salvation by his preaching. He preached with authority, unlike the majority of dry, croaking preachers of the day. When he first entered Boston, he was met on the street by a very unfriendly and formal minister. “I am sorry you have come,” said the minister boldly to the great evangelist. Replied Whitefield (just as boldly), “So is the devil.”

This is what we want. It is what the world needs–a ministry with no illusions relating to their calling; a fearless ministry, one that knows where they stand with God and the devil and who will boldly declare war on the latter and all of his hiding places; who can stand before a lost and needy generation and proclaim with Peter and John, “Look on us!”

This is the cry of the ministry of this present restoration. With Paul, they see their calling to confound the wise and mighty and to bring to naught the things that are (1 Cor. 1:26-28). Though they tremble indeed at their own inadequacies, yet they take God as their sufficiency and fail not to declare to the people the whole counsel of God (2 Cor. 3:5; Acts 20:27).

Such is not a popular position to hold in our day. It has been said that today’s generation looks upon “traditional” structures of leadership with skepticism. Instead, they value the “servant-leader,” one on equal footing with them who is glad to serve tables and be their chum. If he will watch the football game with them, and go with them on camping trips, then they are glad to hear him “speak” or “share” on Sundays. If he wears blue jeans or casual clothes in the pulpit, so much the better, as it makes everyone feel “welcome” and “comfortable.” If his sermonettes lack moral courage (because they require no radical commitment from the hearer), then this is a plus, for fanaticism is distasteful. And everyone knows legalism is taboo.

This is the degree to which the ministerial office has fallen. But such is not the mark of a true minister.
True ministers know they have what the world needs. They take the posture of Peter and John, and the certitude of Whitefield. They are not content to leave the Word of God to serve tables. A true minister is blameless and harmless as a son of God, friendly and pleasant to souls and will instruct with meekness those that oppose themselves. But they are equally as bold as lions against sin and all unrighteousness. And because they know exactly where they stand scripturally and prophetically, they can say, “Follow me, as I follow Christ,” and mean it. Their holy examples and burning love for God and man command and demand that we follow them.

Sectarian preachers are afraid to make such scriptural statements. Why? The answer is simple. They are not following Christ. Consequently, they have no authority that produces biblical obedience in those to whom they preach. They use fair-sounding platitudes to discourage people from following them. “Look to Jesus,” they say. “Don’t look to me.” What they mean is that they have no true calling, no word from the Lord. Unlike John, they have the silver and the gold. They can toss a few coins from their missionary fund to help you and feel they have been good Samaritans. Yet, they leave the spiritual need unmet.

Such pretenders to the biblical office, because they lack divine authority, contrive substitutes of their own making and seek out many inventions to bolster their tenuous positions. Some bask in the glory of bygone eras. They quote Wesley, Finney, Fletcher and Warner. Their speeches are replete with anecdotes of famous men and women but are woefully deficient of personal testimony and power. These are modern sons of Sceva, who, having no glory of their own, seek to fight the forces of darkness and meet the spiritual needs of mankind on the bona fides of another. At such the devil laughs and asks, “Who are you?” And at such, the lame at the gate look expectantly and are disappointed.

The devil no longer fears Wesley or Warner. They are no longer here and can do him no harm. The common people scarcely even know about them. Their concern is not with dead people, but with problems more immediate. Though they cry out for alms, they are wanting more than the silver and gold from a so-called “social gospel.” The devil will tremble at, and people will respond to, a living, burning, and shining light. Such is the true minister.

We thank and praise Almighty God that He has not left Himself without witness in this end time. Though false ministers abound, He has raised up a ministry which has more than silver and gold–holy men and women with discernment, gifted to meet the spiritual needs of mankind. Because they say, “Look on us,” they are called proud and exclusive by sectarian preachers. Because they are certain and have spiritual authority, they are called “fanatics,” “popes,” and “lord’s over God’s heritage.” The devil, coward that he is, can only content himself to stand afar off and try to pelt these dear ones with epithets (he dare not come close). But wisdom is justified of her children. There is a whole multitude of formerly lame that are walking, leaping, and praising God. If you doubt it, just come and see.

“And he gave some, apostles, and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers.” Eph. 4:11.

Apostle: Defined as “one sent.” Special mention is here made of this gift as it has been sent and used by God through ages of the gospel day to begin great moves of His Spirit to progressively restore truths lost in the great falling away, and in this evening time of the gospel day, not only to complete the restoration of all truth, but also to lead in and oversee the gathering together of the members of Christ’s body into one fold (1 Cor. 12:28).

Prophet: One who speaks forth or openly the divine message–note: prophecy is not necessarily, nor even primarily, fore-telling. It is the forth-telling of the will of God, whether with reference to the past, the present, or the future (1 Cor. 11:4, 5; 14:3; Eph. 2:20).

Teacher/Master of the scriptures: Instructor (1 Tim. 2:7; James 3:1).

Evangelist: A messenger of good; denotes a preacher of the gospel (Acts 21:8; 2 Tim. 4:5). The evangelist preaches primarily with a burden for the initial saving of souls.

Pastor: A shepherd; one who tends flocks, not merely one who feeds them (Acts 20:28 and 1 Pet. 5:1-2).

Exhorter: One who admonishes, exhorts, urges one to pursue some course of conduct (Rom. 12:6-8; Lk. 3:18).

Bishop: Overseer (Acts 20:17, 28; 1 Tim. 3:1-7, 11).

Elder, Presbyter: Other terms for the same person as bishop, indicating the mature spiritual experience and understanding of those so described (1 Tim. 4:14; Titus 1:5-9).

Minister: A servant. (Rom. 15:8, 16; 2 Cor. 4:5; 1 Thess. 3:2).
The above offices are sub-classifications of “true messenger of God” or “messenger of the truth,” each burdened for the specific work of their calling. Some gifts overlap. Not all believers are called to be messengers of God in the context addressed by this article (1 Cor. 12:29), therefore lack the

Marks of a true messenger of God:

1. Born again and baptized with the Holy Ghost. “Ye must be born again.” “Ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence” (Jn. 3:7; Acts 1:5). Also see John 14:16-18.

2. Maintains an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ. “I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ” (Phil. 3:8). Also see Phil. 1:21.

3. A living sacrifice, consecrated for life and death; given fully to being a messenger of God. “But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God” (Acts 20:24). Also see Rom. 12:1; 1:15; 1 Tim. 4:12-16.

4. Divinely called and gifted by the Holy Spirit with the necessary attributes to fulfill the call–is certain of the calling upon their life from God. “But when it pleased God…to reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen; immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood” (Gal. 1:15-16). Also see Rom. 10:15; 12:6-8.

5. Is not ecumenical, neither a fearer nor pleaser of man. “We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error” (1 Jn. 4:6). Also see 1 Thess. 2:4.

6. Does not operate apart from the visible body of Christ, the church of God, but is in unity with her inerrant doctrine and standards; sees eye to eye and speaks the same thing. “Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice; with the voice together shall they sing: for they shall see eye to eye, when the Lord shall bring again Zion” (Isa. 52:8). Also see 1 Tim. 3:15; Matt. 16:19; 1 Cor. 1:10.
7. Subject on an ongoing basis to all God’s messengers. “And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets” (1 Cor. 14:32); and recognizes and submits to the superior authority of the apostles and elder ministers– “When therefore Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and disputation with them, they determined that Paul and Barnabas, and certain other of them, should go up to Jerusalem unto the apostles and elders about this question” (Acts 15:2). Also see Acts 15:6, 23, 25; 20:17-21.

8. Burdened with an unfeigned love for all souls and knows the sheep. “So being affectionately desirous of you, we were willing to have imparted unto you, not the gospel of God only, but also our own souls, because ye were dear unto us” (1 Thess. 2:8). Also see 2 Cor. 5:14-16; 1 Tim. 3:2.

9. If a man, has his house and family in order and his wife is “grave, not [a] slanderer…sober, faithful in all things” and his children “faithful,” “not accused of riot or unruly.” If a woman, her home will be in order to the greatest extent of her influence, in the case of an unsaved companion, for example. If married, both the messenger and spouse will never have been married to another, unless widowed (1 Tim. 3:11; Titus 1:6). Also see 1 Tim. 3:2, 4, 5; Matt. 19:9.

10. Possesses qualifying graces of a steward of God. “Blameless…vigilant, sober, of good behavior, given to hospitality, apt to teach; Not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre; but patient, not a brawler, not covetous…must have a good report of them which are without;” “not self-willed, not soon angry…a lover of good men…just, holy, temperate” (1 Tim. 3:2-3, 7; Titus 1:7-8).

11. Given to prayer and ministry of the Word, apt to teach, stops mouths and convinces gainsayers; does not joke with the Word of God; takes diligent heed to self. “…we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word” (Acts 6:4). Also see Titus 1:9, 11a; 1 Tim. 3:2; 4:15-16; Zeph. 3:4.

12. Communicates Holy Ghost inspired messages, received from God, directly to the hearts of the people. “Ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart” (2 Cor. 3:3). Also see 1 Pet. 1:12; 2 Pet. 1:21.

13. Has a divine unction, and their preaching and all other work is anointed by the power of the Holy Ghost, producing good fruit. “For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance; as ye know what manner of men we were among you for your sake…ye received the word of God which ye heard of us…which effectually worketh also in you” (1 Thess. 1:5; 2:13). Also see Acts 2:16-18, 41-47; 2 Cor. 4:5-7, 10-12.

14. Proclaims the worldwide, end time, seventh trumpet message revealing the mystery of God, even Jesus Christ and His body, and pouring out the fury of God’s wrath; gathering God’s people into one body and severing the wicked from among the just. “But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets” (Rev. 10:7). Also see Rev. 1:10-20; 11:15, 18; 15:1; 16:1; Matt. 24:30-31; 13:40-43, 49.

15. At some point has been commissioned by God to minister in particular areas of the work of the church, i.e. missionary, evangelistic, pastoral, etc., which is acknowledged by the ministry and the body; is not a novice. “Give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery…that thy profiting may appear to all” (1 Tim. 4:13-15). Also see Gal. 2:7-9; 1 Thess. 2:9-10, 13; 1 Tim. 3:6; Phil. 2:22.

16. Leads authoritatively in the church without “lording” over God’s heritage, and is an example to the flock; is unsalaried. “The elders…feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; Neither as being lords over God’s heritage, but being ensamples to the flock” (1 Pet. 5:1-3). Also see Heb. 13:17; Acts 20:28, 33-35.

17. A person of faith in God who builds up the faith of the people and manifests the gifts of physical healings betimes. “Is any sick among you? Let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up” (Jm. 5:14-15a). Also see Heb. 13:7.

18. Has a personal need for all of the saints. “And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you. Nay, much more those members of the body, which seem to be more feeble, are necessary” (1 Cor. 12:21-22). Also see Rom. 15:30-32; 1 Thess. 3:7-8.

19. Knows will lose salvation if does not fulfill the calling of messenger. “I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway (1 Cor. 9:27). Also see Lk. 12:47; 1 Cor. 9:16.

“But in all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses, in stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labours, in watchings, in fastings. By pureness, by knowledge, by longsuffering, by kindness, by the Holy Ghost, by love unfeigned, by the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armour of righteousness on the right hand and on the left, by honour and dishonour, by evil report and good report: as deceivers, and yet true; as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and, behold, we live; as chastened, and not killed; as sorrowful, yet alway rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things.” 2 Cor. 6:4-10.