"It pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe" (I Cor. 1:21). It does not please God to save people by praying, without preaching. It does not please God to save people any way in the world that leaves out a presentation of the Gospel to the individual heart. Preaching here, of course, means the preaching of a mother to her child, of a man to his neighbor, just as much as the preaching of an ordained minister in the pulpit. The point is that though it may seem foolish to the world, God will not save people except that some human being takes them the Gospel! You can pray until you are black in the face, but God will not change His plan. Your prayer in that case is a wicked rebellion against God's own plan, and God's clear commands! The Christian must go after people and must take the Gospel to them if he would have them saved. And when we pray, we must pray with the plan of God and in obedience to God's command instead of praying contrary to His plan and in rebellion against His command. I am for praying, if you do something about it. - John R. Rice [Golden Path of Successful Personal Soul Winning, pg. 97]
The other day a dear man wrote to me and said that he was praying day and night to be filled with the Holy Spirit. He has never won a soul he said, but as soon as he felt the mighty power of God upon him, he was going out to win souls. Let me tell you, along with this dear brother, that you ought not to wait even for the fullness of the Spirit. How will you know whether the Spirit of God is with you in soul-winning power unless you do what God has said? And why should you expect God to be willing to give you His Holy Spirit when you are not doing the one business that the fullness of the Holy Spirit comes to aid? I say, go ahead and try with all your heart to win souls. Go in Jesus' name. Use the Word of God. Weep over sinners. Call on God to do His part. And I doubt not that more and more as you go, the Spirit of God will go with you and give you soul-winning power. - John R. Rice [Golden Path of Successful Personal Soul Winning, pg. 109]
Thousands, when they think of Pentecost, assume wrongly that it was simply a dispensational matter, never to be repeated and having only doctrinal importance. They are wrong. In the first place, the day Jesus rose from the dead He breathed on the disciples and said, "Receive ye the Holy Ghost" (John 20:22). So the indwelling of the Spirit promised when Christ should be glorified (John 7:37-39) was fulfilled on the day of the resurrection, and not at Pentecost.
In the second place, if the church, the body of Christ, began at Pentecost, then the Bible never mentions it. In fact, that "general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven," of Hebrews 12:22, 23, seems certainly to contain all who will be called out at the rapture, including Old Testament saints, too - all "whose names are written in heaven." - John R. Rice [Golden Path of Successful Personal Soul Winning, pg. 143]
These shepherds [Luke 2:15-20] were ignorant, but they believed the words of the angel, the message sent from Heaven! And in my heart this Christmas season I praise the Lord for millions of common people who still believe all the story of the Babe who was born in Bethlehem, believe that the angels really appeared, that the Glory of God shone round about, that Jesus was born of the virgin Mary as the Scripture says. Other people may have believed after they went to see, but the shepherds believed before they went! ... Sin is back of all the unbelief about the Lord Jesus Christ and the Bible and God's revelation about salvation. One reason the angels brought the message to those shepherds is that they knew the shepherds would believe it. - John R. Rice [The Birth of the Saviour, pg. 37]
Too many people sit out in the field in the darkened night and say, "I do not believe that any Baby was born of a virgin in Bethlehem. I do not believe what the angels promised. I do not believe that Jesus is a Saviour. I do not believe that He brings good news, glad tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people." Well, as long as you sit out in the field and do not go to the manger to see for yourself, you only prove the stubbornness of your self-will and the sinfulness of your heart that does not want a Saviour. These shepherds WANTED a Saviour. They were GLAD that Jesus was born. So they went, and straightway, and with glad, believing hearts; and all their expectations were met! - John R. Rice [The Birth of the Saviour, pg. 39]
The wise men came from the East! They came in glad expectancy. They came with treasures all ready to give. They were willing to follow the Word of God, as far as it led, and then they rejoiced when they saw that the star backed up the Word of God. And how glad they were when they say the Baby Jesus and opened up their treasures and gave Him gold, frankincense and myrrh! - John R. Rice [The Birth of the Saviour, pg. 39]
Dear reader, God is not concerned about your pious platitudes as you commend the teachings of Jesus in the sermon on the mount. He turns His face with disdain when you speak of the crucifixion as "the martyrdom" of "a good man" who "died for his ideals." There is no way under Heaven that any man can approach God in peace except he come with prayer and praise to Jesus Christ as one who is very God, Creator, Saviour, one to be loved and worshipped, one who answers prayer, one who is worthy of all praises that can fall from human lips! - John R. Rice [The Birth of the Saviour, pg. 54]
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