The Way to God and How to Find ItMoody, Dwight Lyman
Religion
The Way to God and How to Find It
Moody, Dwight Lyman
Evangelistic sermons; Sermons, American
A man must be made meet before he will want to go into the kingdom of
God. I would rather go into the kingdom with the younger brother than
stay outside with the elder. Heaven would be hell to such an one. An
elder brother who could not rejoice at his younger brother's return
would not be "fit" for the kingdom of God. It is a solemn thing to
contemplate; but the curtain drops and leaves him outside, and the
younger brother within. To him the language of the Saviour under
other circumstances seems appropriate: "Verily I say unto you, That
the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you"
(Matt. xxi. 31).
A lady once came to me and wanted a favor for her daughter. She said:
"You must remember I do not sympathize with you in your doctrine." I
asked: "What is your trouble?" She said: "I think your abuse of the
elder brother is horrible. I think he is a noble character." I said
that I was willing to hear her defend him; but that it was a solemn
thing to take up such a position; and that the elder brother needed
to be converted as much as the younger. When people talk of being
moral it is well to get them to take a good look at the old man
pleading with his boy who would not go in.
But we will pass on now to the other class with which we have to
deal. It is composed of those who are convinced of sin and from whom
the cry comes as from the Philippian jailer, "What must I do to be
saved?" To those who utter this penitential cry there is no necessity
to administer the law. It is well to bring them straight to the
Scripture: "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be
saved." (Acts xvi. 31). Many will meet you with a scowl and say, "I
don't know what it is to believe;" and though it is the law of heaven
that they must believe, in order to be saved--yet they ask for
something besides that. We are to tell them what, and where, and how,
to believe.
In John iii. 35 and 36 we read: "The Father loveth the Son, and hath
given all things into His hand. He that believeth on the Son hath
everlasting life; and he that believeth not the Son shall not see
life; but the wrath of God abideth on him."
Now this looks reasonable. Man lost life by unbelief--by not
believing God's word; and we got life back again by believing--by
taking God at His word. In other words we get up where Adam fell
down. He stumbled and fell over the stone of unbelief; and we are
lifted up and stand upright by believing. When people say they cannot
believe, show them chapter and verse, and hold them right to this one
thing: "Has God ever broken His promise for these six thousand
years?" The devil and men have been trying all the time and have not
succeeded in showing that He has broken a single promise; and there
would be a jubilee in hell to-day if one word that He has spoken
could be broken. If a man says that he cannot believe it is well to
press him on that one thing.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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