The most notorious false prophet in the world is the vain hope, which men take up for their salvation. It prophesies peace, pardon, and heaven as the portion of one who was never God’s heir. But the day is coming, and soon, when this false prophet will be confounded. Then the hypocrite will confess he never had any real hope for salvation except an idol of his own imagination; and the religious man will throw off his profession, by which he deceived himself, and appear naked in his sinfulness. It is enough to make us carefully search our own hearts and find out what our hope is built upon.
Now hope of the right kind is well grounded. “Be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you” (1 Peter 3:15). All Christians, no matter how weak, have grounded their hearts in Scripture for the hope they profess. What entitles you to inherit God’s kingdom without a promise from Him? If someone should say that your house and land was his, would you give him your property just because he demanded it? Yet many hope to be saved who can give no better reason than this.
Just as a saint conquers fear by asking his soul why it is disquieted, a similar question can throw the bold sinner from his prancing hopes. “What reason do you find in the whole Bible for you to hope for salvation, when you live in the ignorance of God?” Certainly his soul would be as speechless as the man without the wedding garment was at Christ’s question. This is why some dare not let themselves think about salvation—they know this thought would make a disturbance in their conscience that will not be stilled quickly. Or if they do ask, it would be like Pilate, who asked Christ what was truth but had no intention of waiting for His answer.
—William Gurnall
Being an influential man in his village, when Talat Sarin chose to receive Jesus Christ as his Savior, others followed suit. But in this small village in China his younger brother, Vanhi, didn’t want anything to do with it. Instead, he became enraged by Talat’s decision. A staunch follower of the local deity, Vanhi thought his brother was misleading the villagers. And in a drunken stupor, Vanhi grabbed a knife and stood outside his brother’s house, calling for Talat to come out. Vanhi then lunged at his brother, knife in his hand. He aimed to slice Talat’s throat, but Talat’s left arm caught the brunt of the blow as he tried to shield himself. Talat’s family rushed him to the hospital. Right now Talat is recovering from his wound. Talat has forgiven his brother and requested that no legal action be taken against him. He asks for prayer concerning Vanhi, that he would see Jesus as Savior and repent of his actions. Full Story
PESHAWAR, Pakistan, June 25 (CDN) — Muslim students attacked a Christian professor at the University of Peshawar this month after he refused their demand to convert to Islam, the instructor told Compass.
Psychology professor Samuel John, a father of four who has been teaching at the university in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province for 12 years, said that as he came out of his house on the university campus at 8:30 a.m. on June 14, about 20 to 25 students rushed and assaulted him.
“I shouted for help, but no one came to help,” he said.
When his wife learned what was happening, she ran to help him, but the students beat her as well. Both John and his wife were rushed to Lady Reading hospital, where they were treated for their injuries, with John listed in critical condition.
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We need prayer from a person for a person. Scripture and God’s spirit teach us to pray for all society, for the Church with which we are associated, for nations, and for special spheres of work. Most needful and blessed. But somehow more is needed—to take of those with whom we come into contact, one by one, and make them the subjects of our intercession. The larger supplications must have their place, but it is difficult to know when our prayers are answered. But nothing will bring God so near, will test and strengthen our faith, and make us know we are fellow workers with God, as when we receive an answer to our prayers for individuals. It will quicken in us the new and blessed consciousness that we indeed have power with God. Let every worker seek to exercise this grace of taking up and praying for individual souls.
Count upon an answer. He shall ask, and God will give him (the one who prays) life. The words follow on those in which John had spoken about the confidence we have of being heard, if we ask anything according to His will. There is often complaint made of not knowing God’s will. But here there is no difficulty. ‘He willeth that all men should be saved.’ If we rest our faith on this will of God, we shall grow strong and grasp the promise. ‘He should pray and God will give him life.’ The Holy Spirit will lead us, if we yield ourselves to be led by Him, to the souls God would have us take as our special care, and for which the grace of faith and persevering prayer will be given us. Let the wonderful promise: God will give him life, stir us and encourage us to our priestly ministry of personal and definite intercession, as one of the most blessed among the good works in which we can serve God and man. Praying and working are inseparable.
Let all who work learn to pray well. Let all who pray learn to work well.
—Andrew Murray
Jamaa Ait Bakrim, prisoner number 26574, is currently in Prison Centrale, located in Kenitra, Morocco. He has been there since 2005 when he was sentenced to 15 years for “proselytism” and “destruction of goods of others.” “This second charge is a common legal tactic of creating a separate infraction to lengthen the sentence and shift attention from the actual issue of religion,” said a Moroccan Christian whose name is withheld for security reasons. The charge of proselytization is derived from Article 220 of Moroccan Criminal Law which makes it illegal to “shake the faith of a Muslim.” “The charge of ‘proselytization’ is a specific concern because the wide range of applications that are used to suppress other religions,” stated the Moroccan source. This is the same official charge that has led to the deportation of many foreigners from Morocco in the past three months. In 1993 Jamaa returned to his Moroccan village after a trip to Europe where he converted to Christianity. In 1994 he spent seven months in the mental hospital of Inezgane for proselytizing. In 1996 he was condemned to one year, this time in jail, for putting up a Christian cross in public. In 2001 he was prosecuted again, leading to the current sentence he has been serving since 2005.
The sinner who is thoroughly convicted by the Spirit sees himself like a condemned prisoner held by so many irons that escape is impossible. It is not their disease but their physician that kills sinners. They think to cure themselves; and this deception leaves them incurable. If you cling to the self-confidence of repentance and reformation, they will betray you into the hands of God’s justice and wrath. But if you have turned away from this religious self-confidence, you have escaped one of the finest snares that the wit of hell can weave.
Not only is the convicted sinner so convicted that he knows he is helpless, but he welcomes the full provision laid up in Christ for him. And this attitude is necessary prior to faith. Without it the soul convicted of sin is more likely to go to the gallows with Judas, or fall on the sword of the law, than to run to Christ.
The Spirit powerfully but sweetly renovates the rebellious will so it can deliberately choose Christ as Lord and Savior. During a storm a person may run under an enemy’s shelter he would not have even glanced at in fair weather. Do you take pleasure in choosing Christ? Do you go to Him not only for safety but also for delight? As the lover said of her bridegroom, “I sat down under his shadow with great delight” (Song of Songs 2:3). This must be a deliberate choice; wherein the soul seriously weighs the covenant Christ offers and then chooses Him. Even when Naomi spoke the worst she could to discourage her daughter-in-law, Ruth enjoyed her mother’s company too much to give it up regardless of the potential hardships involved in her decision.
—William Gurnall
Never shall I forget how it was with our Sister Claudia. Only thirty-five years old, bubbling over with life, never sick, filled with a contagious joy and a fervent love for Jesus, she was suddenly afflicted with a severe blood disease during her ministry in Italy. She returned to the Mother House and was then sent to a specialist clinic. A few days later we heard that there was nothing more the doctors could do for Sister Claudia. Her days were numbered. We were filled with apprehension at having to break the news to her. But what did Mother Martyria and I experience when we entered her sickroom? (Actually she already knew especially after a hint from the doctor.) She looked up at us with a radiant smile that was not of this world. The Lord Jesus had come to greet her and the glory of heaven rested on her features. It had happened during her return trip from Rome, as she recorded in her diary:
“The plane flew towards the sun. All at once it seemed to me as though the Lord Jesus were asking me, ‘And if this illness should lead to death?’ O Jesus, in this moment You have filled my heart with such infinite longing that I can scarcely restrain the surging joy, soon, to see You, soon, soon to embrace You! Will this flight home be a flight into the arms of my Lord? Will it be the bridal flight for me?”
It is incomprehensible that the suffering cause by fear of death can be changed into the most blissful and heavenly joy. What a wonderful God we have! What miracles He works, transforming deepest suffering into supreme joy! Death brings us home to God and His kingdom of everlasting happiness.
—Basilea Schlink
For nearly two years, El-Gohary and his teenage daughter have been living in hiding because he abandoned Islam and embraced Christianity. He has had to endure death threats, poverty and crushing boredom. El-Gohary, 57, and his daughter were forced into hiding shortly after August 2008, when he sued the national government to allow him to change the religion listed on his state-issued ID from Islam to Christianity. The next month, the State Council, a consultative body of Egypt’s Administrative Court, provided the court with a report stating that El-Gohary’s change of faith violated Islamic law. They instructed that he should be subject to the death penalty. As bad as things have been for El-Gohary and his daughter, their dedication seems rock-solid. They said they have never regretted their decisions to become Christians. Whatever happens, both El-Gohary and his daughter said they are prepared to live in hiding indefinitely. Full Story
Police illegally detained three Christians on false charges of alcohol possession in Sialkot last week. The men – garment factory workers Atif Masih, Kamran Masih and Naveed Gill – said they had objected to their boss demanding they work on Sundays. Factory owner Rana Ejaz promptly accused them of selling alcohol, which is forbidden to Muslims in Pakistan and illegal to sell without a permit. On May 4 the station house officer of Paka Garah, Sialkot, arrested the three Christians even though Ejaz had filed neither a First Information Report nor registered a written complaint, the Christians said. “We went to the factory for work at 9 a.m. on May 4, and at around 11 a.m. we were arrested by the SHO (station house officer),” Atif Masih said. “We were severely beaten and asked to give a false statement that we sold alcohol.” Authorities released them after three days when local human rights groups charged that they had been illegally detained. Full Story
2 Kings 2:2 Elijah said to Elisha, “Stay here; the LORD has sent me to Bethel.” But Elisha said, “As surely as the LORD lives and as you live, I will not leave you.” So they went down to Bethel.