Wednesday 26 November 2014

"Fellowship with him."1 John 1:6 C.H.Spurgeon


When we were united by faith to Christ, we were brought into such complete fellowship with him, that we were made one with him, and his interests and ours became mutual and identical. We have fellowship with Christ in his love. 
What he loves we love. 
He loves the saints--so do we. 
He loves sinners--so do we. 
He loves the poor perishing race of man, and pants to see earth's deserts transformed into the garden of the Lord--so do we. 
We have fellowship with him in his desires. 
He desires the glory of God--we also labour for the same. 
He desires that the saints may be with him where he is--we desire to be with him there too. 
He desires to drive out sin--behold we fight under his banner. 
He desires that his Father's name may be loved and adored by all his creatures--we pray daily, "Let thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth, even as it is in heaven." 
We have fellowship with Christ in his sufferings. 
We are not nailed to the cross, nor do we die a cruel death, but when he is reproached, we are reproached; and a very sweet thing it is to be blamed for his sake, to be despised for following the Master, to have the world against us. 
The disciple should not be above his Lord. In our measure we commune with him in his labours, ministering to men by the word of truth and by deeds of love. 
Our meat and our drink, like his, is to do the will of him who hath sent us and to finish his work. We have also fellowship with Christ in his joys. 
We are happy in his happiness, we rejoice in his exaltation. 
Have you ever tasted that joy, believer? 
There is no purer or more thrilling delight to be known this side heaven than that of having Christ's joy fulfilled in us, that our joy may be full. His glory awaits us to complete our fellowship, for his Church shall sit with him upon his throne, as his well-beloved bride and queen.

Tuesday 4 November 2014

Open Air Preaching -John Wesley

It is no marvel that the devil does not love field preaching! Neither do I; I love a commodious room, a soft cushion, a handsome pulpit. But where is my zeal if I do not trample all these underfoot in order to save one more soul?

Here Mr Wesley bears his soul again! It is no marvel that the devil does not love field preaching! Of course the devil does not love field preaching, or open air preaching, or street evangelism, or gossiping the gospel, or speaking to someone outside a church building about their soul's destiny and their need to put all their trust in Christ! Why? Because he knows that if we limit the preaching of the gospel to church buildings, the majority, the huge majority of those who need the gospel and who it was intended for, will never hear it, and he will be happy! But if we take up field preaching, open air preaching, street evangelism, gossiping the gospel or speaking to all and sundry outside a church building about their soul's destiny, and their need to put all their trust in Christ, he will be in trouble.
Neither do I, states  Wesley, because it is difficult, laborious, filled often with rejection, scorn and even violence, as opposed to the easier option of a commodious room, a soft cushion, a handsome pulpit. But, says Wesley again. But where is my zeal, says the little five foot three inch human dynamo? Here he gives us the reason! Where is my zeal if I do not trample all these underfoot in order to save one more soul?
It is because he has a zeal to save souls rather than have a comfortable time. It is because he has a zeal to save souls rather than become a famous preacher.It is because he has a zeal to save souls rather than make a grand living out of preaching to the rich.

When he preached to the coal miners in their thousands, on hearing the love of Christ for them for perhaps the very first time, their tears would flow down their dirty black faces forming little white gullies- as the blood of Christ would also flow over their hearts, washing away the stains of sin, and making them children of God. It was for this reason that he fought his national inclination for the easy Christian life and went out into the highways and the byways in order to compel them to come in.



Sunday 2 November 2014

Give me one hundred preachers who fear nothing but sin and desire nothing but God, and I care not whether they be clergymen or laymen, they alone will shake the gates of Hell and set up the kingdom of Heaven upon Earth. John Wesley

Here John Wesley makes a bold statement. He believes he can make the gates of Hell shake set up the Kingdom of Heaven on earth with only one hundred preachers. He is not looking for a million preachers,or a hundred thousand, or ten thousand, or a thousand, or even five hundred preachers for that matter. He is looking for a mere- one hundred preachers. But here I ask, what sort of preachers is he looking for? Is he looking for very religious preachers? Is he looking for the wonderful eloquent preachers or degree educated preachers? Is it preachers who have read and know the Bible in its original language? Is it preachers who have been Christians a long time? Is he looking for old preachers or young preachers, for rich preachers or poor preachers, for married preachers or single preachers? Is he looking only for male preachers? No,no,no! 

He is looking for preachers who fear nothing but sin. These preachers  don't fear man. They don't fear a loss of reputation. They don't fear being forgotten. They don't fear becoming poor. They don't fear violence and they don't fear death. They don't fear Satan but they do fear sin! They hate it and will run from it. For them it is poison. For them it will not destroy them but it will injure them. For them it will bring hurt to the relationship they have with their Master. Like a poison, if not dealt with, it will make them spiritually sick and if untreated could kill them. If they take of this poison they must immediately seek healing and forgiveness and restoration.

But Wesley is looking for preachers who not only fear sin but also those who desire nothing but God.Preachers who don't desire money, who don't desire  fame, or power, or influence. God alone is their desire. God alone is their goal. God alone is their first love, their prize, their first thought in the morning and their last thought at night!

Must these preachers be clergy, trained and educated in their own denominational establishment? No, says Wesley - they need only the call of God- plus a fear only of sin and a desire only for  God.