“As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me, Barnabas and Saul, for the work whereunto I have called them.” —Acts 13:2
I come this morning, I am sure, with a surprise, in a sense, to this audience.
For some little time before I left on my trip around the world, there was a discussion as to what my future relationship to The Moody Church should be. At that time I handed in my resignation and then left for the trip.
Since I have returned, I have been much in prayer, as has the Committee, …
“But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you, bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you. And unto him that smiteth thee on the one cheek offer also the other; and him that taketh away thy cloke forbid not to take thy coat also. Give to every man that asketh of thee; and of him that taketh away thy goods ask them not again. And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise. For if ye love them which …
Before you really understand the import of this question you probably would like to look at its setting in the Word of God. Job was a man marvelously blessed of God, blessed because he honored God, because he served God, because he testified about God, because he was a living, walking example of what God could do in a man’s life. Job had so walked before God, so obeyed God, so listened to the dictates of the voice of God that God could afford to bless him. He had many cattle, …
“Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judaea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of Ituraea and of the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias the tetrarch of Abilene, Annas and Caiaphas being the high priests, the word of God came unto John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness. And he came into all the country about Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins; As it is written in the book of the words of Esaias the prophet, saying, The voice of …
(Helpful to Sunday School Lesson of May 16, 1920, 1 Samuel 7:2–17)
“The time was long.” This has been the testimony of all the saints of God when the glory of the presence of God has dimmed, and when the heart has been far from His will. Here the ark was far from the heart of the people. One of the poets has said:
“The midsummer sun shines but dim, The fields strive in vain to look gay,”
Whenever the Lord is not near, and His presence real.
“Return unto the Lord with all your hearts.” This was Samuel’s first …
This is my last message in The Moody Church News as Senior Pastor of the church. I want to use Paul’s words in the last chapter of 2 Corinthians as the basis for this message. Of course, I must point out that the conditions in the Corinthian church do not parallel those in The Moody Church! How I praise God for the unity of heart and the devotion to the Word that we have in our fellowship.
But the spiritual principles Paul deals with do apply to us, just as they did to the believers in Corinth. In Paul’s “farewell …
“Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is transgression of the law.” —1 John 3:4
That is the Authorized Version, and of course that is true, but it is not all the truth. The Revised Version and several other translations make it clearer: “Every one that doeth sin doeth also lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness.”
You see, sin is not necessarily simply the transgression of the law of God, for where there is no law, still, men sin. Sin is lawlessness. That is, sin is self-will; the will acting in independence of God.
In a letter to the Board of Elders dated Sunday, May 7, 1978, Pastor Wiersbe submitted his resignation as Senior Minister of The Moody Church. The letter stated in part: “I feel the Lord would have me engage in a wider ministry of Bible conference teaching and writing. Let me state clearly and sincerely that my decision is not because of any problems in the church…Be sure of my continued support of The Moody Church ministry. My family and I plan to retain our membership at The Moody Church and stand behind the work there…” He indicated his last speaking …
This past year has been a difficult one and a demanding one for many people. Here we are, starting a new year, and perhaps wondering just what lies before us. It seems that so many things we used to depend on are no longer dependable. The very foundations of life are shaking. How easy it would be to throw up our hands and just give in; but we know that giving up never made any situation better. I think the answer to the problems of life today are found in some of the things that never shake and that never …
“One of the Pharisees desired him that he would eat with him. And he went into the Pharisee’s house, and sat down to meat. And, behold, a woman in the city, which was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster box of ointment, and stood at his feet behind him weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment. Now when the Pharisee which had bidden him saw it, he …
