142 Sermon Illustrations on Spiritual

"The worst bankrupt in the world is the man who has lost his enthusiasm."

- H. W. Arnold

- _Instant Quotation Dictionary_, p. 118.

I heard of a poor, half-witted fellow whose companion, working

beside him, dropped dead. He was found trying to hold up the dead man,

trying to make him stand and sit upright. Finding his effort without

avail, he was saying to himself, "He needs something inside him."

I suspect that is the reason we live at a poor dying rate. We need

a living Spirit within to control and uphold us. -Sunday School Times

Henry Ward Beecher said

man is a three storied being. He may be more than that, but he is at least three stories high or low. There is the first

story. That is the basement, the ground floor, where we spend most of our

time. There appetite rules and passions crawl. We are so made that the

daily cares of our physical selves require much attention. Above is the second

story. That is where we live intellectually. Some of us live up there more

than do others. But if we spend even a brief time in that pleasant room each

day, it gives us strength and happiness. The third story is the best part of ourselves... the highest story. And do you know there are some who

seldom

live in that part of the house? They put in it no furnishings and

treat it as if it were a useless room of their life. It is the tower room where

we live in kinship with God.

"To err is human, but when the eraser wears out ahead of the pencil, you're overdoing it."

- Josh Jenkins

- _Instant Quotation Dictionary_, p. 119.

Over the door of a little cabinet maker’s shop in London there hangs this sign: “Living Above.” It is a notification to his customers that he can be found above his shop if the door is locked. It is a great thing for a worker to be able to say he is living above his work; that his dreams and hopes and real life are above the level of his day’s toil. He may have to work amid the clods and clutter, but at least he can live above. No matter how lowly a man’s work, his life can be above. – Moody Monthly

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The engineer on the Norwegian-American liner Vistafjord had invited some passengers to visit the ship's bridge. After he explained the operation of the navigational equipment, one of his guests remarked that all the brass gleamed as if it were gold. “How often do you polish it?” the man inquired. “Every day,” the engineer replied. “The minute you stop polishing, it starts to tarnish.”

That comment was like the self-appraisal made by the great pianist Ignacy Paderewski. Talking about the need for daily practice, he said that if he missed a day, he would notice the difference in his playing. If he missed several days, the critics would notice the difference. And if a week went by without practice, the public would notice the difference.

Both the engineer and the pianist teach us the same lesson. We had better not be sporadic in our spiritual disciplines if we want to become more like Christ and if we want our lives to be attractive testimonies for Him. Like David, we should praise God every day (Psalm 145:2). Like the Bereans, we are to search the Scriptures daily (Acts 17:11). And like Daniel, we need to set aside times to pray throughout the day (Daniel 6:10).

Does your spiritual life need polishing?

Have you heard about the "gator aid" that was given to enlisted men in

a Florida training camp during World War II? The daily training for

those GIs included a run through an obstacle course. On the final

stretch of the endurance test, they had to grab a rope and swing

across a broad, shallow pool.

Under the blazing southern sun the water looked so inviting to the men

that most of them soon developed a habit of making it only halfway

across the pond--that is, until an enterprising lieutenant made it the

new home for a large alligator. From that day on, the recruits left

the ground 15 feet from the water's edge and fell sprawling in the

dust on the other side.

Likewise, our behavior as Christians must sometimes be shaped by the

"encouragement" of the danger of unfavorable circumstances. Without

God's loving correction and faithful discipline we would never develop

spiritual strength and endurance. If the Lord didn't permit

threatening conditions to come into our lives, we'd soon succumb to

feelings of self-sufficiency and overconfidence.

The next time you feel the pain of a distressing situation, remember

the words of David, "It is good for me that I have been afflicted,

that I may learn Your statutes."

see \reference{Psalm 119:65-80}{Psalms 119:65-80}

At the close of an important speech to Congress on January 6, 1941

President Franklin D. Roosevelt shared his vision of the kind of world

he wanted to see after the war in Europe was over. He spoke of four

basic freedoms which should be enjoyed by all people: freedom of

speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want, and freedom from fear.

Of course, World War II exploded far beyond Europe, and the world

never achieved Roosevelt's ideal. Even if it did, however, we should

still desperately need another freedom the president didn't mention:

freedom from ourselves and the tyranny of our sinful nature.

Massena, one of Napoleon's generals, suddenly appeared with

eighteen thousand men before an Austrian town which had no means of

defense. The town council had nearly decided to surrender when the old

dean of the church reminded them that it was Easter and begged them to

hold services as usual and to leave the trouble in God's hands. This

they did; and the French hearing the church bells ringing joyfully

concluded that an Austrian army had come to relieve the place and

quickly broke camp. Before the bells ceased ringing, all the Frenchmen

had vanished.

The incident has often been duplicated in individual lives. They

have rung the joy bells in the face of pain, and sickness, and

poverty, and fear, and loneliness, and all other trials. Then the joy

bells have conquered. Speedily, the foe has slunk away. Speedily, the

bell ringers have found themselves in possession of the field. For no

enemy is quite so strong as faith companioned with good cheer.

--Amos R. Wells

The Pilgrim reports Harry A. Ironside as a young preacher visiting

the aged Alexander Fraser and listening enthralled as one truth after

another from God's Word was opened up by Mr. Fraser until he could

restrain him self no more and cried out, "Where did you learn these

things?" "On my knees on the mud floor of a little sod cottage in the

north of Ireland" replied Mr. Fraser. "There with my Bible open before

me I used to kneel for hours at a time and ask the Spirit of God to

reveal Christ to my soul and to open the Word to my heart. He taught

me more on my knees on that mud floor than I could ever have learned

in all the colleges and seminaries in the world" --Christian Digest

The devil fears the light, and this is one reason why we should

always keep it burning. A governor of the Bahamas, who was about to

return to England, promised to do his best to procure from the Home

Government any favour the Colonists might desire. What think you was

their unanimous request: "Tell them to tear down the lighthouses. They

are ruining the colony!" The men were ship wreckers, and they hated

the light. The devil so hates the light, that he would tear down every

spiritual lighthouse in the land, if he only could. --Sunday Circle

A Hindu trader in India once asked a missionary, "What do you

put on your face to make it shine?" With surprise the man of God

answered, "I don't put anything on it!" His questioner began to lose

patience and said emphatically, "Yes, you do!" All of you who believe

in Jesus seem to have it. I've seen it in the towns of Agra and

Surat, and even in the city of Bombay." Suddenly the Christian

understood, and his face glowed even more as he said, "Now I know what

you mean, and I will tell you the secret. It's not something we put

on from the outside but something that comes from within. It's the

reflection of the light of God in our hearts.

A young boy about nine years old went with his parents to

Europe one summer. Part of their tour was visiting the great

old cathedrals of the past. As he would visit cathedral after

cathedral he saw the massive stained glass portraits of the

disciples and of other saints. He was so impressed as he stood

in these great empty halls looking through the beautiful stained

glass windows. Upon return, when asked by his Sunday School

teacher, what about the great churches of Europe did he like the

most, and what was his definition of a saint, he thought for a

moment and he said, "I loved the sense of awesomeness and the

hugeness of who God must be. And what is a saint?" And as his

mind went back to those massive beautiful stained glass windows,

he said, "A saint is a man the light shines through."

In one of his booklets, Adrian Rogers tells of some gold

prospectors who discovered an exceptionally rich mine. One of them

said, "Hey, we've got it made as long as we don't tell anybody else

before we stake our claims." So they each vowed to keep the secret.

Because they had to have more tools and provisions, they headed for

town. After buying all the supplies they needed, they hurried back to

the mine site. But they weren't alone. A crowd of people followed

them because their discovery was written all over their faces.

What happens on the inside shows on the outside. Joyful Christians

with the light of God on their faces are needed in the darkness of

this world.

The following story can illustrate how those who die, rich in this

world's wealth, have been deceived and are actually eternal, spiritual

paupers:

Many years ago John Something-or-other, a gold prospector, at last

believed himself rich. But he was starving amid the shifting dunes of

Death Valley, California.

On a scrap of paper John scribbled, "Died rich." Then hugging a

small bolder of mica, whose pyrites, resembling gold, apparently had

deceived him, John passed away. Recently a party of motor tourists

discovered the skeleton. An old miner's pick lay near by. A rusty

watch was also found, but was not running.

Millions die with real, earthly riches, and yet they die both

deceived

and spiritually poor. All earthly riches are but "fool's gold" in

comparison

with the true riches--those which are spiritual and eternal.

--Pathfinder

The Amazon River is the largest river in the world. The mouth is

90 miles across. There is enough water to exceed the combined flow of

the Yangtze, Mississippi and Nile Rivers. So much water comes from

the Amazon that they can detect its currents 200 miles out in the

Atlantic Ocean. One irony of ancient navigation is that sailors in

ancient times died for lack of water... caught in windless waters of

the South Atlantic. They were adrift, helpless, dying of thirst.

Sometimes other ships from South America who knew the area would come

alongside and call out, "What is your problem?" And they would

exclaim, "Can you spare us some water? Our sailors are dying of

thirst!" And from the other ship would come the cry, "Just lower your

buckets. You are in the mouth of the mighty Amazon River." The irony

of ancient Israel and the tragedy around us today is that God, the

fountain of living water, is right here and people don't draw from

Him.

A friend visited a very wealthy farmer. He took him out. "Do you

see all these broad acres? These are all mine. Do you see all those

flocks and herds? They are all mine." He took him over to the village.

"All these blocks, and all these mansions and this vast wealth is mine

sir. I came to this place when I was a little boy, very poor; I have

made all this."

The friend stopped a minute then asked: "But what have you up

there?" (pointing upward.) He hung his head a moment, "I confess;

nothing," he said. "Is it possible," said the friend, " that a man of

your discernment and judgment in accumulating should have done all

this barely for the wealth that perishes, where moth and rust corrupt,

and thieves break through and steal, and yet have laid up no treasures

there?"

O think of it my friends! That man, a little while after, died a

pauper. I don't mean that he had not plenty of farms. --Albert P.

Graves

Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758) was a brilliant theologian whose

sermons had an overwhelming impact on those who heard him. One in

particular, his famous "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God," moved

hundreds to repentance and salvation. That single message helped to

spark the revival known as "The Great Awakening" (1734-1744).

From a human standpoint, it seems incredible that such far-reaching

results could come from one message. Edwards did not have a

commanding voice or impressive pulpit manner. He used very few

gestures, and he read from a manuscript. Yet God's Spirit moved upon

his hearers with conviction and power.

Few know the spiritual preparation involved in that sermon. John

Chapman gives us the story: "For 3 days Edwards had not eaten a

mouthful of food; for 3 nights he had not closed his eyes in sleep.

Over and over again he was heard to pray, 'O Lord, give me New

England! Give me New England!' When he arose from his knees and made

his way into the pulpit that Sunday, he looked as if he had been

gazing straight into the face of God. Even before he began to speak,

tremendous conviction fell upon his audience."

see also #574

How's your power source? Are you plugged in? In his book Spiritual Stamina, Stuart Briscoe tells the story of a man who bought a new computer. Bringing his new prize home, he carefully opened the box, gingerly took the machine out, studied its manual, and connected the wires. Eagerly he flipped on the power switch -- but nothing happened. Puzzled, the man switched the computer off and rechecked all the connections. He rounded up a screwdriver and fastened the wires more securely. He read again the relevant portion of the manual. Satisfied that he'd followed directions, he flipped the computer on -- and again nothing happened. As his anger rose the man's little girl walked into the room.

“Hi, Daddy!” her cheery voice rang out. “What a pretty computer! Can I plug it in?”

-- Moody

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Foolish birds are the turkeys that never lift up their heads when they are feeding and never let them down when they are not. So, in the West men are accustomed to select a sort of slope or side hill and cut a little channel or path and surround it with a kind of rail fence without roof or any protection. Along this path they strew corn. And the wild turkeys come in flocks and pick up the corn, following the path, and do not look to see where they are being led to till they have passed under the lower rail and got into the enclosure. Then, there being no corn, there they lift up their heads and see where they are. They cannot fly over the fence (a turkey can not rise on its wings unless he has a chance to run) and they cannot get out unless they lower their heads and that they will not do. So, they are caught. --Beecher

\reference{Job 10:15}{Job 10:15} says, "...if I be righteous, yet will I not lift up my head..." One becomes a Christian by lowering his head, as it were, and he who then lifts up his head in spiritual pride is likely to be caught in satan's snare. The only way out of such a trap is to again lower one's head in humble confession and repentance, and that some will not do. --Duane V. Maxey

"Go forward to help make Jesus king of the whole earth." Pass this

message from one organization to an other. As our Commander looks at

us, can he see that we are all stepping forward?

During the war in Ashante, the chief officer of the Scotch Guards,

when reviewing this splendid regiment, asked who among them would

volunteer for the Ashante expedition: Those who decided to do so were

asked to step one pace forward. Expecting a response from one or two

only, the officer turned his back. When he looked again, he saw the

regiment precisely as he had seen it before, all in unbroken line.

"What!" said he, "the Scotch Guards, and no volunteers?" Another

officer replied: "They have all stepped forward and volunteered."

Consider what it would mean if every member of our great church should

in this coming year take but one step forward! --Over Land and Sea

In "The Encourager," Charles Mylander writes: "Sunrise was dawning when Los Angeles motorcycle police officer Bob Vernon saw a red pickup truck speed through a stop sign. This guy must be late to work, he thought to himself. He turned on his emergency lights and radioed that he was in pursuit. The pickup pulled over, and the officer approached. "Meanwhile in the truck, the driver thought, The cops already know! He was scared. He rested his hand on the same gun he had used a few moments before to rob a twenty-four-hour market. The sack of stolen money was beside him on the seat. "The officer said, 'Good morning, sir, may I see your -- ' "He never finished the sentence. The driver shoved his gun toward the policeman's chest and fired from just inches away. The cop was knocked flat seven feet away. "A few seconds later, to the shock of the criminal, the officer stood up, pulled his service revolver, and fired twice. The first bullet went through the open window and smashed the windshield. The second tore through the door and ripped into the driver's left leg. "'Don't shoot!' the thief screamed, throwing the gun and sack of money out the pickup window. "What saved the policeman's life was dozens of layers of Kevlar, the super strong fabric used for bulletproof vests. Only three-eighths of an inch thick, Kevlar can stop bullets cold." In \reference{Ephesians 6}{Ephesians 6}, the Bible instructs every Christian to put on the full armor of God. Simple qualities like righteousness and faith can deflect what the Enemy of souls may fire at us. -- Mike Neifert Lynn, Indiana

A well-known conductor was holding a rehearsal one night with a vast array of musicians and a hundred voice choir. While the mighty chorus sang out there was also the peal of organ, blare of horns, and clashing of cymbals. Far back in the orchestra the piccolo player thought, "In all this noise it doesn't matter what I do." So he stopped playing. Suddenly the conductor flung up his hands stopping the music. Someone, he knew, had failed to play his instrument. The shrill note of the piccolo had been missed. Just as many notes are needed to make a tune, and many colors needed to make a painting, so many gifts are essential for the functioning of the body of Christ.

When the Bastille, a castle-like prison in Paris, was about to be destroyed in 1789, a convict was brought out who had been confined in one of its gloomy cells for many years. But instead of joyfully welcoming his liberty, he begged to be taken back. It had been such a long time since he had seen the sunshine that his eyes could not endure its brightness. His only desire was to die in the murky dungeon where he had been a captive. In the same way, some men continue to reject the Savior until they eventually become so hardened in their sin that they prefer the dark ways of eternal death.

On entering a mill, the noise of the machinery stunned and

bewildered me. The owner of the mill explained the various processes

as we went on, but it was a dumb show to me. I heard nothing. Suppose

when I came out, I had been asked whether the gentleman spoke to me

during my visit and I had replied, "No." Would it have been true?

Certainly not. He spoke but I did not hear. His voice was drowned in

the surrounding noise. And so it is with thousands of those around us.

God speaks to them, but His voice is drowned in the hubbub by which

they are surrounded. They are awakened in the morning with the

postman's knock and, before they have time for a thought about God or

eternity, the noise of their own mill is all around them. Before the

letters are finished the morning papers arrive, and the roar of the

world is added to the sound which already existed, and henceforth it

is whirl and excitement till evening. --Charles Garrett