"Billy" Sunday, the Man and His Message: With his own words which have won thousands for ChristEllis, William T. (William Thomas)
Religion
"Billy" Sunday, the Man and His Message: With his own words which have won thousands for Christ
Ellis, William T. (William Thomas)
Baseball players -- United States -- Biography; Evangelists -- United States -- Biography; Sunday, Billy, 1862-1935
And as we are God's ambassadors why should we fear what the devil may
do? Can it be that you fail to realize his power? Or are you so blind
to the spiritual that you can't see that you need God's help? Let me
ask you one question: Are you ready to surrender to him? A man said
to me: "It was a mighty little thing to drive Adam and Eve out of the
Garden of Eden because they ate an apple." It wasn't the fruit. It was
the principle, whether man should bow to God or God bow to man. That
act was an act of disobedience. You may say it was a mighty little
thing for England to go to war with us because we threw some tea into
Boston harbor. We didn't go to war over the tea. We said: "You can't
brew tea in the East India Company and pour it down our throats." It
was the principle we went to war about, not the price of tea, and we
fought it out. Are you ready to surrender? You, who are in rebellion
against God? You, who are in rebellion against the authority of God's
government? Are you ready to do his will?
A good many people suppose that when they have accepted Jesus Christ
as their Saviour and joined the Church that is all there is to the
Christian life. As well might a student who has just matriculated
imagine that he has finished his education. Nobody has reached a stage
in the Christian life from which he cannot go further unless he is
in the coffin--and then it's all over. To accept Christ, to join the
Church, is only to begin. It is the starting of the race, not the
reaching of the goal. There are constant and increasing blessings if
you are willing to pay the price.
I don't care when or where you became a church member, if the
Comforter, who is the Holy Ghost, is not with you, you are a failure.
This power of the Spirit is meant for all who are Christians. It is a
great blessing for the Presbyterian elder as well as for the preacher.
I know some Methodist stewards who need it. Deacons would "deak" better
if they had it. It is a great blessing for the deacon and the members
of the prudential committee, and it is just as great a blessing for the
man in the pew who holds no office. To hear some people talk you would
think that the Holy Spirit is only for preachers. God sets no double
standard for the Christian life. There's nothing in the Bible to show
that the people may live differently from the man in the pulpit.
Holy Spirit a Person
I once heard a doctor of divinity pray for the Holy Spirit, and he
said: "Send it upon us now." He was wrong, doubly wrong. The Holy
Spirit is not an impersonal thing. He is a person, not an "it." And the
Holy Spirit has always been here since the days of Pentecost. He does
not come and go. He is right here in the world and his power is at the
command of all who will put themselves into position to use it.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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