Militant Evangelism! (26 page)

"When I've shot and spent all my Gospel bullets and have none left and little effect seems to be made upon my hearers, I then get in the gun and shoot myself at them."

In other words, when he had preached the truth of God's Word, his burden was such that he opened his own heart and simply implored sinners to come to the Savior. In reference to his passionate preaching to the lost, the Apostle Paul cried, "Necessity is laid upon me!" He was saying a "continual, intense distress" was laid upon him. Joseph
Alleine
, a Puritan of the 16th century, wrote a book called
"Alarm to the Unconverted,"
a book which greatly influenced C.H. Spurgeon and George Whitefield. In it, his zeal for the unconverted is very evident. Listen to his heart as he prepares to plead with the sinner:

"But from whence shall I fetch my argument? With what shall I win them? Oh, that I could tell! I would write to them in tears, I would weep out every argument, I would empty my veins for ink, I would petition them on my knees. Oh how thankful I would be if they would be prevailed with to repent and turn?"

Look at his burden
—"I would empty my veins for ink."
How many of us would empty a
pen
of ink to warn a loved one or a friend to get right with God? Are we prepared to let God "lay necessity" upon us? Do we want the communication of our faith to become effectual?

A young girl once needed a blood transfusion. In fact, if the doctors didn't find the right blood-type, she was in danger of losing her life. Her younger brother was found to be the only one with compatible blood. When the young boy was asked if he would give his blood to his sister, he paused for a moment,
then
said that it would be O.K. One would think he would have given permission
without
any hesitation.

As the blood began to drain from the little boy's arm, he looked up at the nurse and soberly asked,
"How long will it be until I die?"
He had hesitated because he thought he was giving his life for his sister.

Jesus gave His life's blood for us, and yet we hesitate to
live,
let alone pour out our life's blood for Him. How can we, in the light of Calvary's cross, shrink back for a moment from presenting our bodies as living sacrifices, holy and acceptable to Him,
which is our reasonable service?

We live in a day when the four most common words in the English language are "I, me, my and money." Sadly, that self-indulgent spirit has crept into the Church. But there is a stirring in the Body of Christ, and those that love Him are feeling His heartbeat in a new way. They want to experience a walk that is closer than they have
now,
they want to stay on the front lines of the warfare.

Forget the Kids

Most, nowadays, are familiar with air travel. It is standard practice in most countries to have airline attendants stand in the aisle and draw your attention to the exits in the plane.

Then, in a calm voice they say something like, "If an oxygen mask should appear in front of you, place it over your mouth and nose. If you have children, attend to yourself first."

Why do the airlines say that?
Don't they care for children?

The answer is simply because they know that if a parent has six young children, and he tries to put a mask over their faces, by the time he reaches the last child, he himself will probably be gasping for breath. They understand that the parent will be most effective
if he attends to himself first.

In John 8:31-32, we see how a Christian can become effective:

"Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed on Him,
If
you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."

There we have the Biblical definition of a "disciple"—he is one who has
disciplined
himself to continue in the word of Christ, and
this results
in freedom. This is a freedom from sin, death and Judgment, and freedom to reach out to others and be effective in our witness to them. Sadly, many

Christians are ineffective evangelically because they are still gasping for air—they have not attended to themselves first.

Stan’s Dog

Many years ago, I had a friend who was quite a character. Stan placed a marijuana plant in his father's greenhouse, and his father unwittingly watered it, thrilled that at last his wayward son had come to his senses and taken an interest in botany. Stan also had a dog he called "Circles." It was so-named because it would walk forward two or three steps, and then do a complete circle, then another two or three steps forward, then another complete circle. It wasn't a
trick,
it was just the way the dog got around. I don't know if the canine is still alive, because he would cross the street the same way.
Apparently, as a young pup it had been locked in a small shed for great lengths of time.
It went around in circles, seeking a way out, and when it came out, it couldn't stop.

Many Christians are just like Circles. They continue to go around in circles—pew to
altar
to pew to
altar
to pew ... wearing out both the pastor and the carpet. If you are such a person, pay close attention, because I am going to share with you the biblical key to get you out of the shed, and onto the straight and narrow path you are supposed to be walking.

Here is the key:

"Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; but his delight is in the Law of the Lord, and in His Law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper" (Psalm 1:1-3).

If we
fulfill
the stated requirements, the Bible promises we will be tall and strong, like a tree planted by rivers of water. Our roots will be deep, and we will therefore bring forth fruit in season (love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, gentleness, faith, meekness and temperance), and whatsoever we do, will prosper—our vocation, our marriage, our evangelical
endeavors
.

I have saved myself hours in counselling time by simply asking the problem-laden, defeated, joyless, circles "Christian" one question, before he unloads his burdens on me. This is the question: "Do you read God's Word every day,
without fail?"
The usual answer is "sometimes" or "sort of" or "most days." The truth is they are not continuing in the Word of Christ, they don't know the truth, and they are not free. They are not meditating on the Word "day and night," so they are therefore not like a tree planted by water. Their roots are shallow, so when the winds of adversity blow, they topple over and need to seek the pastor to prop them up. Neither does their fruit remain. They lose their peace and joy and begin to wither at the first sign of adversity, and whatever they do does not prosper.

These poor souls look at joyful Christians and say, "It's alright for them to be happy; they never have any problems." Yet, that isn't true. Ask around, you will find that all Christians have trials, but the ones who keep their joy are the ones who
fulfill
the requirements of Psalm 1—their fruit remains. They stand tall and strong during the storms, because their roots go deep into God's Word. They are not blown away by "every wind of doctrine."

God gave a similar promise to Joshua. If he kept the Law, if he would "meditate" on it "day and night," God said he would be "prosperous," and reaffirmed it with "and then you shall have good success" (Joshua 1:8). So for your own sake and for the sake of those around
you
who are still in their sins, discipline yourself daily to the Word. Put your Bible before your belly. Say to yourself, "No Bible, no breakfast; no read, no feed." The biblical priority is to put your spirit before your body (1
Thessaloni-ans
5:12).

Jesus said to His disciples, "I have food to eat that you know not of," and that "man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God." Job summed up the necessity for feeding on the Word with, "I have not departed from the commandment of His lips; I have treasured the words of His mouth
more than my necessary food"
(Job 23:12, italics added).

Imagine walking along a street and seeing a child stumbling along, his stomach protruding through malnutrition, his eyes bulging, and his cheeks drawn in. You stop him and say, "Hey kid, are you O.K.? Are you eating your food?" He replies, "Sometimes . . . but I don't like eating vegetables, etc." You tell him sternly,
"If you don't eat you will die! I don't care whether you enjoy eating vegetables or not, eat them regularly!"

It makes no difference whether the Christian enjoys the Word as he reads, or whether he finds it somewhat dry, it still benefits him. He is to "daily deny himself," follow Jesus, and "desire the sincere milk of the Word."

Two drunks walked along a wharf one dark night, climbed into a small boat, and determined to row to the other side of the lake. The first drunk rowed for about one and a half hours, sweat pouring from his brow, until he finally collapsed. The second drunk took the oars and rowed for three hours, until he collapsed, exhausted. When they awoke at sunrise, they found to their amazement that they had made only one
mistake,
they were still tied to the wharf!

Sadly, many professing Christians are still tied to the wharf of self-will. The burden of Christ is not "easy and light," but one of
labor
and sorrow. To them, the Christian life is one of struggle, sweat and misery. Their problem is a lack of discipline. They are bone lazy, or worse, strangers to genuine repentance. If they would feed daily on the Word, they would find that it produces faith (Romans 10:17), and faith is what
satan
hates. Faith moves mountains. I have seen the most miserable of Christians rise up in victory, once they grasped the Psalm 1 principle of feeding daily on the Scriptures. The Bible is a supernatural book. When
its pages are read with faith in the heart, that faith produces more faith, and from confidence issues joy, and from joy issues
a "continual feast" for the soul so that he will live in victory over life's circumstances.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN: THE ENEMY’S DEVICES

"Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour" (1 Peter 5:8).

S
ince the time of Christ, there has been continual opposition to the Gospel of Salvation. Jesus said, "You shall be hated of all men for My sake," while Isaiah said, "... he that departs from evil makes himself a prey"—not only a target for those who love darkness and hate the light, but for the anti-Christ spirit which rules the world (Ephesians 6:12, 2 Corinthians 4:4). From the time of Nero, when Christians were set on fire as torches to illuminate the darkness of his gardens, to the present day,
satan
has sought to come against the Gospel with every means possible.

As the world throws itself blindly into sin, the more it will hate righteousness. Humanity seethes with hatred for the truth, and all it takes is a little stirring for that enmity to boil over. Many a Christian would have followed in the bloody steps of Stephen had not civil law restrained the ungodly.

A number of years ago during open-air preaching, an angry young man (who looked like the type who frequented tombs), picked up a large wooden cross, which a Christian had
leaned
up against my preaching-ladder, and used it as a hammer to smash it into a thousand pieces in a fit of demonic rage. I stood back and thanked God that the ladder was bearing the reproach, and not me.