441 Sermon Illustrations on Salvation

Acts 2:14–36 — Peter’s Message — (outline by F. F. Bruce, NICNT) — « Leader information shown in this fashion »

[A]. The Birth of the Church (1:1–5:42)

[1]. The Forty Days and After (1:1–26)

[2]. The Day of Pentecost (2:1–47)

A. The Descent of the Spirit (2:1–4)

B. The Crowd’s Amazement (2:5–13)

C. Peter’s Proclamation (2:14–36)

1. Introduction and Explanation “This is that” — Acts 2:14–21 (NKJV): 14 But Peter, standing up with the eleven, raised his voice and said to them, “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and heed my words. 15 For these are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. 16 But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel {2:28–32a): 17 ‘And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your young men shall see visions, Your old men shall dream dreams. 18 And on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days; And they shall prophesy. 19 I will show wonders in heaven above And signs in the earth beneath: Blood and fire and vapour of smoke. 20 The sun shall be turned into darkness, And the moon into blood, Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord. 21 And it shall come to pass That whoever calls on the name of the Lord Shall be saved.’”

a. 2:14–15: Denial of their charge

(A) what physical endowment(s) did Peter appear to have? « — a loud voice (toughened by years as a fisherman) that could gain attention over the noise of the crowd and the tongues being spoken by the others; maybe also he was taller. The word “said” denotes a solemn utterance as of a prophet, and as in verse 4, inspired though it seems not in tongues as verse 40 indicates this section of the sermon was more or less reported verbatim as opposed to being a digest or précis. »

(B) the third hour of the day is: « 9:00 a.m.; there is a humour in this response which would refute the charge both if it were a jest; if not, humour can turn aside rebuffs to advantage »

(C) morning prayer was from dawn until the fourth hour, with no refreshment until it was over; thus Peter denies both

(1) that « these 120 were drunk »

(2) that « these 120 were irreligious men »

b. 2:16–21: This fulfills Joel’s prophecy

(A) context to this quotation is found in Joel 2:12-14a where there is a call to repentance; Peter later brings in that theme. «

(B) What does “last days” mean? Different interpretations exist. This is mine. God’s purpose for the old economy (Greek: oikonomia; provision, arrangement, dispensation … note that this word differs from “covenant”) was fulfilled when the true Israel, the Christ, died on the cross. Accompanying this were the portents listed. (Note: some point to the lunar eclipse Friday, April 3, 33 as turning the moon to blood, but spring equinox seeming to follow the previous new moon makes that problematical.) With the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost and the birth of the church the new economy of God began. But Revelation (see 6:12) predicts the same signs at Christ’s coming to judge. Joel’s prophecy covers, it is clear, the entire church age. Read 1 Peter 1:10-11, 20. Thus, the last days began with Christ’s appearance on earth, we live in them, His return will consummate them. »

(C) what is one message that is uniformly applicable throughout this age? « — the Gospel invitation to call on the name of the Lord which will save or deliver; this brings salvation; how does this fulfill Moses desire (Numbers 11:29; verse 32) »

(D) who is the Lord whose name does this (Acts 4:10–12)? « — Jesus, the Messiah, of Nazareth (Joel says “Yahweh”!) »

2. The Resurrection of Jesus proclaimed — Acts 2:22–28 (NKJV): 22 “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know — 23 Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death; 24 whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it. 25 For David says concerning Him: ‘I foresaw the Lord always before my face, For He is at my right hand, that I may not be shaken. 26 Therefore my heart rejoiced, and my tongue was glad; Moreover my flesh also will rest in hope. 27 For You will not leave my soul in Hades, Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption. 28 You have made known to me the ways of life; You will make me full of joy in Your presence.’

c. 2:22-24: Jesus’ ministry, death, resurrection:

(A) How was Jesus accredited by God?

(1) in ministry? « — the works, as listed, God did through Him. »

(a) What kind of evidence did this comprise? « — it was inarguable as the audience themselves could vouch its truth; amongst them were eye-witnesses; Lk 7:16 »

(2) in death? « — though apparently an act of lawless men, it was completely part of God’s plan and purpose »

(3) in after-death? « — God raised Him from the dead; the verdict of a higher court overturns the “kangaroo” court »

(B) from a moral standpoint, why was it not possible that death should hold Jesus the Christ? « — He was both man and God; the Scriptures had to be fulfilled; it completed the act of our justification; that He might be the first fruits from the dead; that He might be exalted to His rightful place in heaven »

d. 2:25–28: David foretells resurrection (Psalm 16:7–11)

(A) what key assurances did David possess?

(1) « he would not be shaken »

(2) « he would not be left in the grave (Sheol) »

(3) « he would not see corruption »

(B) how did he react to such assurances

(1) « a rejoicing heart »

(2) « a glad (praising) tongue »

(3) « a hope in this physical life

(C) of Psalm 16:9 (NKJV): “Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices; My flesh also will rest in hope.” the much later Midrash Tehillim comments, “my glory rejoices over the Lord Messiah, who will rise from me.” a demonstration that this Psalm was accepted by the Jews as Messianic in character. »

3. Jesus: Lord and Messiah — Acts 2:29–36 (NKJV): 29 “Men and brethren, let me speak freely to you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. 30 Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, He would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne, 31 he, foreseeing this, spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that His soul was not left in Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption. 32 This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses. 33 Therefore being exalted to {or: “by” see Psalm 118:15–17} the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear. 34 For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he says himself: ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand, 35 Till I make Your enemies Your footstool.”’ 36 Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.”

e. 2:29–31: David foretold resurrection of Messiah, not himself — what proofs does Peter use that this is the case?

(A) « David is dead & buried »

(B) « his tomb is there to be seen, near pool of Siloam; also see Nehemiah 3:16; John Hyrcanus desecrated it; Herod tried to do the same, but later built marble monument in its front »

(C) « David is a prophet »

(D) « David had God’s oath that Messiah would be of his seed, Read Psalm 132:11 — that Jesus was David’s descendant was so widely recognized it is merely stated by Paul, Rom 1:3 »

(E) so his words were by foresight about Messiah, not himself

f. 2:32: Witnesses to Jesus the Messiah’s resurrection. — who comprised the witnesses to whom Peter refers? « — it is the group who have just been speaking in other languages (120 assuming that this is the same group who have been continually meeting) »

g. 2:33–35: Further proof of the Resurrection (Psalm 110:1) — what further proofs does Peter use?

(A) Christ has been « — exalted to the right hand of God, even as Jesus stated in Luke 22:69 »

(B) which is shown by « — the fact that the Holy Spirit has come »

(C) and prophesied « — that Jehovah would have David’s Lord (who the Jews understood as, and Jesus confirmed, being a prophecy about Messiah … e.g., see Matthew 22:41–46) »

h. 2:36: Application of the Sermon

(A) who is this message for? « — the phrase, “the whole house of Israel” echoes Ezekiel 37:11 and refers not just those present but all those in Judea and beyond, at that time and forever … this sermon is the fundamental message to the Jews »

(B) what is the application? « — God’s contrasting reception of Jesus as the very Messiah for which the whole house of Israel had long awaited and had now rejected should bring upon them the overwhelming burden of their sin; to this Jesus, then, we fully give the name “Lord,” reserved only for Yahweh »

There is only one baby who was born to be the Savior of the world. This Child was sent from heaven on a divine search-and-rescue mission -- and meeting Him must be our ultimate goal in life.

Who is this Child? His name, Jesus, comes from the Greek words for Jehovah Saves; and that’s why the angels hovering above sleepy little Bethlehem sang: “For there is born to you this day in the City of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:11).

In John 4:42, Jesus is called “the Savior of the world,” and the apostle Paul called Him, “God our Savior” (1 Timothy 1:1 and 2:3). Seven hundred years before Jesus was born, the prophet Isaiah predicted:

• He will send them a Savior and a Mighty One, and He will deliver them (Isaiah 19:20).

• I, even I, am the Lord, and besides me there is no Savior (Isaiah 43:11).

• He became their Savior. In all their affliction He was afflicted (Isaiah 63:8-9).

• He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities.... His soul (was) an offering for sin (Isaiah 53:5,10).

This One of whom the prophets foretold was born to die. He overcame death and He rose again to save us from sin, guilt, shame, despair and hell. His purpose in coming was to seek and to save the lost.

When the Bible uses the words salvation, Savior and save, it’s speaking of the total work of God in bringing people from a state of death -- hopeless separation from God -- to a state of everlasting life through the forgiveness of sin. This is not based on any works that of our own, but rests solely on the redeeming grace of Christ Jesus. Saving us is the greatest and most concrete demonstration of God’s love for us, the definitive display of His grace throughout time and eternity.

The Bible says, “God our Savior ... saved us, not because of the good things we did, but because of His mercy. He washed away our sins and gave us a new life through the Holy Spirit. He generously poured out the Spirit upon us because of what Jesus Christ our Savior did. He declared us not guilty because of His great kindness. And now we know that we will inherit eternal life” (Titus 3:4-7, NLT).

Some years ago as our home was being constructed, I noticed a bird trapped inside the house trying to get out of the skylight. I cajoled, tossed things up to scare it, and even got on the roof, only to discover the skylight was nailed shut. I tried everything, but I couldn’t reach the bird to set it free.

I wanted so badly to save that pitiful creature, but I was unable to communicate with it to explain what I was trying to do. If only I could have become a bird for a few minutes, I could have made it understand that I was there to rescue it. That’s what Jesus did. The gulf between God and human beings is far greater than the distance between humans and birds, yet His grace spanned the great divide. As sinners, we are trapped in the plexiglas of guilt, caught in the snare of our own making, separated from God, lost and alone in the world. But Jesus, who was God Himself, became a man to communicate with us, to die for our liberation, and to rise again for our salvation.

As Alister McGrath put it, “God did not send a subordinate to redeem us. He chose to do it Himself.”

Feel trapped today? Caught in a closet of crooked habits or corrupt relationships? Perhaps you’re able to see the blue sky, but the glass ceiling of sin keeps you down and holds you in. You long to soar on wings of the wind, but you’re exhausted.

Jesus became mortal to give you immortality; and today, through Him, you can be free. This is the Child who was born to become our Savior.

So bring Him incense, gold, and myrrh,

Come, peasant, king, to own Him.

The King of kings salvation brings,

Let loving hearts enthrone Him.

*

[Original illustration at this number was a duplicate of HolwickID #18100]

He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? — Romans 8:32.

Who can look at the cross and not see that God willeth not the death of any sinner? … Why give His only begotten Son? Why bruise Him on that shameful cross? Why hide His face from the only perfect Man that ever lived — that Man His own Eternal Son? Surely it was because God is for us, spite of all our guilt and sinful rebellion, and “if God be for us, who can be against us?” — C. H. Mackintosh.

Measured by that cross, that darkness,

Oh, how great God’s love must be!

Deep as were Christ’s depths of suffering

Is the Father’s love to me.

English author Samuel Johnson once wrote, “There lurks, perhaps, in every human heart, a desire of distinction, which inclines every man to hope, and then to believe, that nature has given himself something peculiar to himself.”

I was startled by the clairvoyance of the editorialist who connected these sentiments with America's escalating fascination with book writing. His comments put flesh on the motive often hidden behind the guise of individuality. “The search for personal significance,” he writes, “was once nicely taken care of by the drama that religion supplied. This drama, which lived in every human breast, no matter what one's social class, was that of salvation: would one achieve heaven or not? Now that it is gone from so many lives, in place of salvation we have the search for significance, a much trickier business.”(1)

Though he does not necessarily articulate a sense of loss in regards to the replacement of one pursuit for the other, his thought process is helpful. As Christianity has been eclipsed in the West as a provider of significance, humankind is left searching for other sources. From the increased interest in book writing, to spirituality, to extreme sports, it is a quest clearly observed. Nonetheless, the quest to find significance apart from God is hardly a modern phenomenon. The desire to make a name for oneself is as old as the hills upon which we have built our grand towers and conquered great cities. The drive to define significance on our own is as ancient as the Garden of Eden and the Tower of Babel. The aspiration is nothing new; book writing is just one more outlet.

But what is interesting, in terms of understanding human history and behavior, is that we should have this longing for significance in the first place. If we are merely products of an indifferent materialist universe, why are we not at home with our own insignificance? Why should we seek transcendent meaning at all? Unless, indeed, there is something about us that is NOT temporal, nor insignificant.

As Christians looking for windows of opportunity to offer an answer for the hope that is within us, we do well to remember that the cry of the heart for personal significance is a cry we have owned and responded to ourselves. When we answered the call of the Lord to “come and follow,” we found in the person of Christ an answer to the cry we were incapable of answering personally. Recognizing this cry as inherent in the neighbor next door and the atheist in the next office is imperative in understanding the need for a clear and coherent apologetic. Hearts are crying out for the very message we long to offer.

The desire for significance is expressed in many ways. But such expressions provide an opportunity to listen to the true searching behind the searcher and in so doing attempt to remove the obstacles that block him or her from seeing the Cross of Christ. The cry of significance also provides a window by which the truth claims of Christianity can be clarified.

When Jesus proclaimed, “Whoever loses his life for my sake will find it” he was stating something essential for the one searching for significance. Knowing who we are and what we need is the starting point of what we will become. The quest for personal significance commonly among us today reverses this, telling us that we must first become something in order to meet our own needs and make a name for ourselves.

The song of the Christian apologist, 1 Peter 3:15-16, instructs us to always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. Peter adds to this command, “But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.” When we meet the heart of our neighbors and the human desire for significance with gentleness and respect, many will admit their vulnerability. Is my search for significance really panning out? Will writing a book or climbing the corporate ladder really hush the cry within me? Our task as heralds of the hope of Christ is to gently proclaim the radical message of laying down our life in order to find it.

Christ is the one in whom our lives find their greatest significance because he is the only one who accepts who we are and offers us what we need. Attempts to define life's meaning apart from God will always be empty, for significance, like life, is not manmade.

________

1. http://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/28/opinion/28epst.html

________

Copyright © 2006 Ravi Zacharias International Ministries (RZIM). Reprinted with permission. "A Slice of Infinity" is a radio ministry of Ravi Zacharias International Ministries.

*

A terrible storm swept the Atlantic and hurled the billows upon the coast of England and a ship was thrown on the rocks. The night fell dark and lowering. The storm rose higher as the night deepened. Fires were kindled all along the shore, if by any means to help those who were needing help. The lifeboat was manned. Out through the breakers and into the storm they went to the rescue. By and by they came back with all on board except one man; and John Holden, who stood upon the shore, cried: "Do you have all the ship's company?"

They answered, "All but one man."

"Why did you not get him?"

"Well, our strength was nearly gone, and if we had tarried long enough to rescue him we all should have been engulfed in the pitiless sea." Then John Holden said: "These men who have been to the rescue are nearly exhausted. Who is there who will go with me to rescue the one man?" and six sturdy fellows came promptly forward. Then John Holden's mother threw her arms about his neck and said, "John, don't you go! Your father was swallowed up by the angry ocean, and your brother William two years ago went out upon the sea, and I fear that he is lost, too, for we have not heard of him since. You are the pillar of my life and my only dependence. Who will care for me if the sea swallows you also?" Then John Holden, with his firm, strong grasp, took those arms in which he had reposed in innocent infancy and removed them from his neck; and then he said, as he gently pushed his mother aside: "There is a man there drowning, and I must go, mother. If the sea should swallow me, God will take care of you; I'm sure He will." Kissing her furrowed cheek, he turned and stepped into the lifeboat which was already manned. They pushed out into the breakers and to the wreck. They found the man still clinging to the rigging, and, getting him into the boat, they pulled back to the shore. As the boat neared the shore, someone shouted, "Have you found the man?" "Yes," answered John Holden, "and rescued him; and say to my mother that he is my brother William!"

A lady had a very important lawsuit on hand for which she needed the services of an advocate. She was strongly urged to secure the help of a very prominent and well-known lawyer, but she could not make up her mind to entrust her case to anyone. Time passed on, and at last she was compelled to take steps to secure an advocate, and called upon the great lawyer who had been mentioned to her. He listened while she expressed her wish to engage his help, but in a few minutes he said with a grave face: "Madam, you are too late; had you come to me before, I would gladly have been your advocate, but now I have been called to the bench, and am a judge, and all I can do is to pass judgment upon your case." Now is the day of grace, and the Lord Jesus Christ is our Advocate, ever pleading the merits of His precious blood, but the day will come when He will be the Judge of sinners, and must pass sentence upon them.

The Rev. Edward Judson, of the Berean Baptist Church, New York, prints the following note at the end of a list of the services of his church: "A Christian man, deeply devoted, and wise to win souls, made it a rule to speak to some unconverted person every day on the subject of his soul's salvation. One night, as he was about to retire, he realized that he had not fulfilled his vow that day. He immediately put on his clothes and prepared to go in quest of a soul. But where should he go was the question. He concluded to make a visit to a grocer with whom he was in the habit of trading. He found him engaged in closing up his store. When the errand of his customer was made known he was surprised. He said all sorts of Christians traded with him-Methodists, Episcopalians, Baptists, etc.-but no one had ever spoken to him about his soul. The night visit of his customer and his earnest pleadings made such an impression upon his mind that it led to his speedy conversion.

Dr. J. G. K. McClure tells about an invalid woman residing at Springfield, Illinois, who had been bedridden for seventeen years and was almost helpless. For many years she had been praying to God in a general way to save souls. One day she asked for pen and paper. "She wrote down the names of fifty-seven acquaintances. She prayed for each of these by name three times a day. She wrote them letters telling them of her interest in them. She also wrote to Christian friends, in whom she knew these persons had confidence, and urged them to speak to these persons about their souls' welfare and to do their best to persuade them to repent and believe. She had unquestioning faith in God. In her humble, earnest dependence upon Him she thus interceded for the unsaved. In time every one of those fifty-seven persons avowed faith in Jesus Christ as his Savior."

I once knew an old man who was possessed with a mania for buying up wheels of all sorts. A wheel, whether from a wagon, a cart or a wheelbarrow, possessed peculiar attractions for him; and yet in all his life he never owned even a wheelbarrow. He did not put his wheels to any use. He is a pretty good counterpart of the man the ultimatum of whose idea of successful church work is that of getting people to join the church. A good many churches where this idea has been followed are, therefore, practically nothing more than a heap of wheels and bolts and bars that are of no use because they have been put to none.

"Saved to serve" is a good motto, but it implies more than we are sometimes disposed to take into consideration. It means that we must train people as well as save them. It is not enough that we induce men and women to be good; we are to see to it that they are put in the way of becoming good for something.

S. H. Hadley, of the Water Street Mission, once met a boy in the street utterly ragged and miserable. He had stolen money from his father, and had run away from home. He was reaping the bitter wages of sin, and was penniless in the great city. Mr. Hadley advised him to go back to his father, but the boy said: "You don't know my father. He is a hard man; he will never forgive me."

"Well, come to the mission and stay tonight."

That very evening a letter went to the father, telling him that his missing boy was at the Water Street Mission, in destitute circumstances, and that he was sincerely sorry for his wrongdoing. The next morning a message flashed over the wire, saying: "My boy is forgiven; tell him to come home."

That is Christ's message to the wandering ones today. How the blessed word "Come," echoes through Holy Scripture! But human hearts too seldom hear its music.

To me it is especially appalling that a man should perish through willfully rejecting the Divine salvation. A drowning man throwing away the life-belt, a poisoned man pouring the antidote upon the floor, a wounded man tearing open his wounds-any of these is a sad sight. But what shall we say of a soul refusing its Savior and choosing its own destruction?

-C. H. Spurgeon

A young Jewish lad named David Mendel, who used to astonish a bookseller in Hamburg by losing himself for hours in volumes so learned that no one else would touch them, was attracted to certain works on Christianity, and read them with glowing interest. He was impressed with the claims which Jesus makes upon humanity, and finally became convinced that He who taught such ethics, and required of His adherents such a life, must be more than a man. For a long time he wavered between fidelity to the teachings of his parents and loyalty to the new conceptions which had entered his soul. At length he could hold his false position no longer, and publicly renounced Judaism and was baptized. To commemorate the change which had occurred in his life he adopted the name Neander, signifying a new man. Such, by a slow but steady process from the first awakening of his mind to the final surrender of his will, was the conversion of the man who has been called the father of modern Church History.

Sometimes God's messenger is home influence. Did you ever hear Mr. Torrey, the far-famed evangelist, tell what an awful unbeliever he was when he was a young man, how he went to the deepest depths of infidelity and scouted everything-the Bible, Christ, God, heaven, hell, immortality-everything like that? But his dear mother yearned after him, and loved him, and pleaded with him, and prayed for him, and after awhile he said to his mother: "I am tired of it all, and I am going to leave and not bother you anymore." She followed him to the door, and followed him to the gate, pleading and praying and loving and weeping, and then at last she said, as her final word: "Son, when you come to the darkest hour of all, and everything seems lost and gone, if you will honestly call on your mother's God, you will get help." Years later, as he contemplated committing suicide in a hotel far from home, the last words that his mother had said came back to him. And Torrey said he fell beside his bed and said: "Oh, God of my mother, if there is such a Being, I want light, and if Thou wilt give it, no matter how, I will follow it." He was converted right then and there, and hurried back home. Oh, the power of a mother's prayer!

-George W. Truett

The moment a man is converted, if he would let himself alone, his instincts would lead him to tell his fellows. I know that the moment I came out of that little chapel wherein I found the Savior, I wanted to pour out my tale of joy. "Now will I tell to sinners round, What a dear Savior I have found; I'll point to Thy redeeming blood, and say, 'Behold the way to God!'"

-C. H. Spurgeon

At a tea meeting in an English seaside town, a poor woman asked permission to speak. When the minister reluctantly consented, she told a terrible story of sin and wretchedness, culminating in a resolve on her part to murder her husband, if as usual he came home drunk, and then to kill herself. She went to look at the place where she meant to drown herself, and on her return found that someone had laid a tract on her table. She always refused to read tracts, but the title of this one caught and held her attention. It was, "The greater the sinner, the greater the Savior." This went to her heart, and she cried to the Savior for mercy. To her surprise her husband came home sober and continued so to the end of the week, bringing home his wages. She told him of the tract, and at his proposal they went to church together. Not finding at first what helped them, they went to different churches, till they heard the gospel plainly preached. "And now," she said, "I hope and believe we are both saved from God's wrath, which we so certainly deserved, by that great Savior, whose great mercy the tract sets forth, and whose Son you so constantly proclaim."

"My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me" (John 10:27).

In far off Syria some shepherds still maintain the old practice of calling their sheep by name. An American, doubting that each sheep would respond to its name when called by the shepherd, insisted the shepherd demonstrate.

"I wish you would call just one or two," he said.

The shepherd called, "Carl."

The sheep stopped eating and looked up.

"Come here," commanded the shepherd.

The sheep came and looked up into the shepherd's face.

He called another and another, and there they all stood looking up into the shepherd's face.

"How can you tell them apart?" asked the American.

"Oh, there are no two alike. See, that sheep's toes are in a little; this one is squint-eyed; and that one has a black mark on its nose." In fact, every one of those sheep had its own marking.

I suppose that is the way the Lord distinguishes His sheep. There is a man that is covetous, he wants to grasp the whole world. He needs a shepherd to keep down that spirit. There is a woman who stirs up the whole neighborhood by her gossiping. She too needs the Shepherd to keep her tongue from deceit and her lips from speaking guile. There is a father whose cursing is damning his reputation. Does he not need the Shepherd's attention?

There isn't a man or woman without some failing, some marking by reason of sin, which makes it easy for the Lord to identify him by his own besetting sin.

"Arise, shine, for thy light is come!" (Isaiah 60:1).

In the Polar regions the summer season causes much joy and brightness. Every hour is utilized, as they well know that in a few weeks the opportunity will be gone, and the severity of a long winter will again set in. They act as those who believe that the time is short. Such is the "accepted time, the day of salvation" (2 Corinthians 6:2). A brief but precious season. Yet many do not heed this-their only chance of a harvest of eternal bliss before the long winter of death and eternal gloom sets in. "Arise, shine, for thy light is come!"

Some shipwrecked sailors have been rescued from an island in the Pacific, who had been for ten months anxiously watching for some opportunity of escape. For ten months and ten days they had kept their flag of distress flying from the treetops during the day, and their signal-fires burning by night. They knew no ship would be seeking for them, and their only hope of succor was in making their wants known to some passing ship. At last their signal was seen, and with joy unutterable they beheld a friendly ship bearing down toward the place of their exile. The sinner has more hope than that, "for the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost" (Luke 19:10). No man who is finally lost can complain that he did not have a fair chance for salvation.

The age of miracles has not passed. To take a young man who has been indifferent, who has been living along as though this world were all, and suddenly confront him with the call of Christ, and have him yield to that call so that he turns away from the things he has loved, and enters upon a new life, rejoicing in the fellowship of Jesus Christ, is surely a greater miracle than to cure a man of leprosy. One Sunday evening a young man heard the story of Christ's love and yielded his heart to it. It was the first time he had ever been in the church where this wonderful change was brought. A few days afterward I received a letter from him that opened with these words: "I have found much peace with my Savior, whom I accepted as my personal Savior last Sunday evening. I only regret that I did not take that step a long time ago; but now, as a young man, twenty-four years of age, I shall do all that is in my power to advance his kingdom. Oh, how grand it is to be a Christian! I have enjoyed unspeakable comfort, peace, and joy during the past week."

Have you never heard of the Indian in his boat upon one of the great rivers of America? Somehow his moorings had broken and his canoe was in the power of the current. He was asleep, while his canoe was being swept rapidly along by the stream. He was sound asleep, and yet had good need to have been awake, for there was a tremendous waterfall not far ahead. Persons on shore saw the canoe-saw that there was a man in it asleep; but their vigilance was of no use to the sleeper: it needed that he himself should be aware of his peril. The canoe quickened its pace, for the waters of the river grew more rapid as they approached the falls; persons on shore began to cry out, and raise alarm on all sides, and at last the Indian was aroused. He started up, and began to use his paddle, but his strength was altogether insufficient for the struggle with the gigantic force of the waters around him. He was seen to spring upright in the boat and disappear-himself and the boat-in the fall. He had perished, for he woke too late! Some persons on their dying beds just wake up in time to see their danger, but not escape from it; they are carried right over the precipice of judgment and wrath.

-C. H. Spurgeon

When Gypsy Smith was holding a testimony meeting at one time, a man got up and said: "I have spent twenty years in prison for murder, but God has saved me." Another said: "I have been a drunkard for twenty years, and God has saved me." Another said: "I have been a coiner of counterfeit money, and the Lord has saved me." Then Gypsy Smith got up and said: "Men, listen. God has done wonders for you, but don't forget he did more for this gypsy boy than for all of you put together. He saved me before I got there."

In the early days of the French in Canada, those living at Quebec heard that the Iroquois were coming down the St. Lawrence, twelve hundred strong. If they reached the settlements they would burn the houses, and destroy the crops even if those who gained the Fort were secure. They must not reach Quebec. So Daulac with sixteen followers volunteered to go up the river and meet them, and turn them back. On the way they were joined by forty-four Hurons and coming to the foot of a rapid which the Iroquois must descend, they built a little fort of stakes and stones and awaited the foe. And they came twelve hundred strong and hurled attack after attack against the little citadel. But those behind were fighting off the enemy for country and for life. They beat off the enemy for days and days. But the water was exhausted and their parched throats refused to swallow the dry corn. But there was no thought of surrender and so the fight went on. But the task was too unequal even for men such as they, and they were at last slain. But the Iroquois had learned to fear Frenchmen so that they never went on to Quebec. The seventeen brave Frenchmen had saved their countrymen's lives by laying down their own.

A God-pleasing witness is honored with wondrous fruit. God strengthened, honored, justified, and used Simeon's testimony to Jesus through the life of Jesus that followed. God works before, with, and after God-honoring witnesses. An illiterate evangelist preached a simple sermon in an Irish barn. A youth name Toplady accepted Christ, became a minister of Christ and wrote Rock of Ages. A humble shoe cobbler witnessed to a sixteen-year-old lad named Charles H. Spurgeon. Spurgeon has witnessed and still witnesses to the world for Christ through his many published sermons and books.

"Ye shall be witnesses unto me" (Acts 1:8).

A friend of mine, who had been a hold-up man and a kidnapper for twelve years, met Jesus Christ in prison. Christ said, "I will come and live in you and we will serve this sentence together," and they did. Several years later he was discharged, and just before he went out he was handed a two-page letter written by another prisoner. After the salutation, it said in effect, "You know perfectly well that when I came into this jail I despised preachers, the Bible, and everything. I went to the Bible class and the preaching service because there wasn't anything else interesting to do. Then they told me you were saved, and I said, 'There's another fellow taking the gospel road to get a parole'; but, Roy, I've been watching you for two and a half years. You did not know it, but I watched you when you were in the yard exercising, when you were working in the shop, when you played, while we were all together at meals, on the way to our cells, and all over, and now I'm a Christian, too, because I watched you. The Savior who saved you has saved me. You never made a slip." Roy said to me, "When I got that letter and read it through I came out in a cold sweat. Think what it would have meant if I had slipped even once."

A minister was boarding at a certain farmhouse. The farmer was not a Christian, but his wife had been praying for him for some time, and the minister was awaiting his opportunity to make the meaning of Calvary plain to him. Early one morning the farmer beckoned to the minister to follow him out to the chicken house. There on one of the nests sat a hen with a brood of chickens peeping out from under her wings.

"Touch her, Mr.-," the farmer said.

As the minister put his hand on the hen he found that she was cold.

"Look at that wound in her head," the farmer continued. "A weasel has sucked all the blood from her body, and she never once moved for fear the little beast would get her chicks."

"Oh," said he, "that was just like Christ. He endured all that suffering on the Cross. He could have moved and saved His own life, but He wouldn't, because you and I were under His wings. If He had moved, we would have been lost."

The farmer saw the point, and accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior.